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Entry tags:
[Ye Jin & Chu Yuan]
Title: Bide time as you must
Fandom: Di Wang Gong Lüe (The Emperor's Strategy)
Characters/Pairing: Ye Jin & Chu Yuan
Rating: 0+
Length: ~700 words
Summary: It's worse than he thought. They have little time.
Other: Missing scene from episode 08. Spoilers, obviously.
Bide time as you must
It was dark in their hiding place, but moonlight slipped in through the entrance to the cave, giving them enough thin light to see by.
Ye Jin would have wished for more light – and a whole host of other things – but there was no point in thinking about that. He had more important things to attend to.
"Here," he said. "Let me take care of this."
Tian-er –" Chu Yuan began, then stopped, whatever he was going to say disappearing beneath a flinch of pain.
When he had previously called him that revolting name, Ye Jin certainly had something to say about it. But this time, he was able to bite his tongue and hold back a comment. "We can talk later," he said, keeping his voice as even and calm as he could, as if the man beside him happened to be an ordinary patient, and not his half-brother.
He knew there would be a lot of questions later, and he knew that he wouldn't want to answer any of them.
It didn't matter.
Ye Jin could feel Chu Yuan looking at him as he set to work, drawing away the ruined fabric to expose the shoulder. It didn't matter, he told himself again, as if it would become true if he told himself that enough times.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would be difficult to hold back his feelings about his brother. But with the task currently in front of him, it was different. Ye Jin staunched the bleeding as best he could, improvising the bandages with strips of fabric, trying all the while to keep his expression as neutral as possible.
Even with nothing to see by except for the dim moonlight that poured in through the cave's entrance, he could tell that this was no ordinary wound.
Poison. The sword had been poisoned.
Ye Jin ran through his options.
There weren't many.
What he wouldn't give for clean, hot water, and proper bandages, and all the materials he'd ordinarily use to manage such a wound. There were plenty of medicines in his dried stores at home that could take care of this. But he wasn't at home, and for now, he would have to do the best he could to improvise a fix.
"I'll need to make a poultice," Ye Jin murmured to himself. The red fern grew in this area, and it wouldn't be hard to find it, even in the dark. He'd be able to take care of this without any problems. But there was the fact that they were being followed – he'd have to contend with that.
If he slipped out quickly and quietly, and moved as silently and efficiently as possible, he could find it and return before the people chasing them arrived.
Risking a glance at Chu Yuan, Ye Jin took in the sight of his familiar face in the dim light. His brother hadn't said anything else; he was occupied with biting his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain.
Think of him as another patient, Chu Yuan reminded himself. It doesn't matter who he is.
He drew away from him, wiping his hands on a scrap of ripped fabric. "It's not the best I can do, but it's the best I can do for now," he said, keeping his tone even. "But I will need to poultice that as soon as possible."
But how to do that? He looked over at Nan Moye, wondering how he should put the question. Was it safe outside of the cave? Could he risk slipping out for the few minutes it would take to find the red fern?
The man looked quiet, contemplative, as if waiting for something. Or someone. But whatever or whoever the old man was expecting, they hadn't arrived.
It was possible that this person wouldn't come before their enemies found them.
I can't just wait around, Ye Jin told himself.
As he opened his mouth to say that he was leaving, a shadow slipped across the cave's entrance, blocking the light.
Ye Jin looked up, expecting the worst - then looked again to Nan Moye, who only smiled.
Well, Ye Jin thought.
Maybe everything would turn out right, after all.
Fandom: Di Wang Gong Lüe (The Emperor's Strategy)
Characters/Pairing: Ye Jin & Chu Yuan
Rating: 0+
Length: ~700 words
Summary: It's worse than he thought. They have little time.
Other: Missing scene from episode 08. Spoilers, obviously.
Bide time as you must
It was dark in their hiding place, but moonlight slipped in through the entrance to the cave, giving them enough thin light to see by.
Ye Jin would have wished for more light – and a whole host of other things – but there was no point in thinking about that. He had more important things to attend to.
"Here," he said. "Let me take care of this."
Tian-er –" Chu Yuan began, then stopped, whatever he was going to say disappearing beneath a flinch of pain.
When he had previously called him that revolting name, Ye Jin certainly had something to say about it. But this time, he was able to bite his tongue and hold back a comment. "We can talk later," he said, keeping his voice as even and calm as he could, as if the man beside him happened to be an ordinary patient, and not his half-brother.
He knew there would be a lot of questions later, and he knew that he wouldn't want to answer any of them.
It didn't matter.
Ye Jin could feel Chu Yuan looking at him as he set to work, drawing away the ruined fabric to expose the shoulder. It didn't matter, he told himself again, as if it would become true if he told himself that enough times.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would be difficult to hold back his feelings about his brother. But with the task currently in front of him, it was different. Ye Jin staunched the bleeding as best he could, improvising the bandages with strips of fabric, trying all the while to keep his expression as neutral as possible.
Even with nothing to see by except for the dim moonlight that poured in through the cave's entrance, he could tell that this was no ordinary wound.
Poison. The sword had been poisoned.
Ye Jin ran through his options.
There weren't many.
What he wouldn't give for clean, hot water, and proper bandages, and all the materials he'd ordinarily use to manage such a wound. There were plenty of medicines in his dried stores at home that could take care of this. But he wasn't at home, and for now, he would have to do the best he could to improvise a fix.
"I'll need to make a poultice," Ye Jin murmured to himself. The red fern grew in this area, and it wouldn't be hard to find it, even in the dark. He'd be able to take care of this without any problems. But there was the fact that they were being followed – he'd have to contend with that.
If he slipped out quickly and quietly, and moved as silently and efficiently as possible, he could find it and return before the people chasing them arrived.
Risking a glance at Chu Yuan, Ye Jin took in the sight of his familiar face in the dim light. His brother hadn't said anything else; he was occupied with biting his lip to stop himself from crying out in pain.
Think of him as another patient, Chu Yuan reminded himself. It doesn't matter who he is.
He drew away from him, wiping his hands on a scrap of ripped fabric. "It's not the best I can do, but it's the best I can do for now," he said, keeping his tone even. "But I will need to poultice that as soon as possible."
But how to do that? He looked over at Nan Moye, wondering how he should put the question. Was it safe outside of the cave? Could he risk slipping out for the few minutes it would take to find the red fern?
The man looked quiet, contemplative, as if waiting for something. Or someone. But whatever or whoever the old man was expecting, they hadn't arrived.
It was possible that this person wouldn't come before their enemies found them.
I can't just wait around, Ye Jin told himself.
As he opened his mouth to say that he was leaving, a shadow slipped across the cave's entrance, blocking the light.
Ye Jin looked up, expecting the worst - then looked again to Nan Moye, who only smiled.
Well, Ye Jin thought.
Maybe everything would turn out right, after all.