Past and Present

Chapter 25- Trip

The boys were 18 now. They were growing up well and strong, and healthy as well.
Chenxing was looking exactly like Xingchen except for his eyes, they were still red like Xue Yang's.
While Yue looked exactly like Xue Yang, and had Xingchen's eyes. He acted like Xue Yang and was very impatient and a bit bratty.
Xue Yang was better and had accepted the fact that Xingchen was dead. He moved past it but never forgot the man. His clan was also growing and thriving in where they lived.
Their main colors were black and white, so the uniforms were all white with a couple of black flower designs. Every inner disciple had a necklace with a black rose, which allowed them to enter certain rooms in the mansion.
They had seniors and juniors, and inner disciples and outer disciples. Xue Yang was the leader and his second in command was Song Lan and Qing, who later changed her name to Qingzhao.
Chenxing was training hard to be the next leader while Yue trained to be the best cultivator there was. The two trained together and learned together about everything.
Yue was well known as the Black Swan. He was hotheaded and very violent like his father. Always looking for trouble and picking fights to win. But he also had a good side to him, like defending his older brother. Chenxing tended to be calm and not talk back, so Yue did it for him.
Chenxing was known as the Dove. Calm and kind and loving. He knew how to control his emotions very well and when to get mad at others. He was, like his brother, well known as a good fighter, and being a bit violent at times. He kept an eye on Yue and made sure the young man didn't kill anyone, but also helped hurt anyone who did something bad.
The twin brothers were both known as the Twin Birds. Like the Lan Clan had the Twin Jades, the Xue Clan had the Twin Birds.
"Baba! Can we both come with you?" Yue asked Xue Yang, "We want to learn more about the main clans and how they act. Besides wouldn't it be a good thing for Chenxing to learn about them? He can get to know all the clan leaders."
Xue Yang sighed, "A-Yue, I already told you no. You and your brother are staying here to keep an eye on the clan with Song Lan."
"Baba," Chenxing said, walking up to them, "a-Yue is merely curious and wants to know how the other major clans are like."
"I know but I don't want anything happening to you," Xue Yang said.
"Baba what if we stay close to you the whole time?" Chenxing suggested, "Or you bring someone else with us and they look after us."
"A-Yue won't stay with them or me," Xue Yang said, "he'll just run off on his own."
"I can take care of him and when I have to do something have someone else look after him and follow him," Chenxing said soothingly.
"Yeah, I'm not stupid you know," Yue said, "I know when to be serious."
Xue Yang sighed in defeat, "Fine, you can come."
"Yes! Thank you Baba!" Yue hugged the man before running off to his room. Chenxing bowed his head as a thank you and walked away to his own room to get ready.
They gathered their things and went outside to meet with their father. The two got on their horses and followed Xue Yang through the trees and to Gusu.
The trip would take around five days so it was pretty long.
  They rode their horses all day, taking no break, and finally arrived at a small town.
   Xue Yang bought a couple rooms at an inn and they all rested there. Chenxing and Yue shared a room, while their father took a room to himself.
   "A-Yue, are you hungry?" Chenxing asked.
   "A little bit, but it's fine," Yue said.
   "I'll go get you some food," Chengxing said and walked outside to the kitchen. Yue sighed and sat down on the bed in the small room. He waited and a couple of minutes later Chenxing returned, "Here."
    "Thank you," Yue said. He took the bowl of food and began eating, "Did you get anything?" He mumbled through a mouthful of food.
    "No, I'm not hungry yet," Chenxing said, "you eat and then sleep."
    "Fine, but you better eat," Yue said, "or else I'll rip that fan of yours."
   Chenxing shook his head and smiled, "Silly, you can't even get close to it," he looked at the young man and glared with red eyes, "if you did, I would hurt you."
   Yue smiled and stared back, "Chenxing, you forgot that threatening me won't work."
   "It will," Chenxing said standing up. He took his white fan out from his sleeve and fanned himself, "Do you think we'll get to meet Hanguang Jun and Wei Wuxian?"
   "Probably," Yue said, "they're everywhere chaos is."  
    "I guess," Chenxing nodded, he snapped his fan shut, "but didn't Baba say they hate him?"
   Yue hesitated before answering, "He did, but they won't do anything. This is a meeting between all the clans, so they can't do anything."
   "It's a meeting between the gentry clans," Chenxing pointed out, "so they can do anything and just lie about it. Everyone would believe them."
    "If they try anything we'll kill them," Yue said, "Baba killed a lot of minor clans before, he can kill the big ones too."
   Chenxing nodded slowly, "But that would ruin our reputation."
  "No. It makes us look stronger," Yue said smiling wickedly.
  "You're so weird," Chenxing sighed, "we can't do that. But if someone makes Baba uncomfortable or mentions Mama, we're both killing them."
   "Alright," Yu agreed. He finished eating and took off his top layer of clothes and laid down on the bed.
   Chenxing did the same and faced away from his brother on the bed. Yue rolled his eyes and hugged his older from behind and nuzzled his face in the young man's neck.
   "Don't touch me," Chenxing said.
   "No," Yue smiled. Chenxing sighed and closed his eyes, letting his consciousness fly away.