I am so sorry it took so long to upload here. I'm way ahead of this chapter by now and have those uploaded elsewhere but I've just been having so much trouble getting my uploads to work properly here that I've avoided it for now. And then my old computer decided to kick the bucket too so...took longer still. I do apologize. Hopefully I have it worked out now.
Chapter 4
Ling watched out the window from his room at the Inn they were staying at. They had been in that town for nearly two days now and the Monsoon showed little sign of letting up.
People had for the most part just hunkered down to wait it out but, the nearby river had long since rose over flood crest and was starting to flow over it's banks. So now people were rushing about trying their best to stem the rivers flooding progress, trying to keep the water at bay as long as they could. Ling, being the man that he was and this being his people to watch over, wasn't about to sit around and let them struggle like this. So making up his mind, he quickly got up and headed out of his room, rushing down the hall.
He managed some rain gear from the staff at the Inn and ran out into the raging storm.
Almost as soon as he got passed the precipice, the wind hit him, trying to shove him back the way he came. But he refused it's push as best he could and struggled towards the townspeople that were desperately doing their best to save their town.
He said nothing as he reached them, and just began to pile up sandbags where he could, only barely noticing the grateful looks on their faces. He was just one extra man out there, but even one extra was welcome help. That just meant they could go that little bit faster.
He kept at it for what seemed like hours, but in actuality was only about half an hour. In that amount of time they had slowed the rivers progression, but not by much. With each sandbag they laid down, the rough waters battered at it, eventually causing some of them to tear open. It was really beginning to look like they were fighting a losing battle. Mumbles had already started passing through the group about getting everyone in town to higher ground as soon as they could.
But Ling knew how difficult that would be. It wasn't a huge town but it wasn't a small one either. Trying to get everyone ready and moving would take more time than they had. And the strong winds and heavy rains would slow their progress even more. He knew if that option came to be, people would have to stay behind and continue to lay out sandbags just to give them time to escape. And that would more than likely cost those individuals their lives.
They needed more hands out here, that's what they needed. Just a small group more would be enough to get the sandbags high enough to stave off the river for a bit longer. Maybe long enough for the storm to lessen, or at best, pass altogether.
And it was with this thought in mind, that Ling noticed a different chi signature next to him. He only glanced slightly to his left to notice someone in the same rain gear next to him. And as the man looked up, Ling's face scrunched up in confusion.
Li was next to him, giving him a wide grin as he grabbed sandbags and began piling them.
Ling stood, floored for a few moments before yelling over the wind at him.
"What are you doing!?"
"Helping! What's it look like!?"
"You...didn't think you would...jump in like this!"
"What kind of a man do you think I am really Ling!? I'm not a heartless monster! Anyway, this river goes then we all die!"
Ling only nodded at that. Li knew what others in the town might soon come to realize themselves. That unless they got out there and helped, they didn't have a chance.
And in fact, not long after, more and more people did start to join the group on the rivers banks, passing bags to be piled as quickly as they could get them filled. In fact the only ones not outside now were the children and the elderly. But even they were busy. They were preparing warm drinks and soups for anyone that needed to duck out for a break. The women on the other hand were busy filling the sand bags a ways back from the rivers edge. Including Li's sister, to Ling's surprise.
Everyone in town was doing something, no one was idle.
After a few hours of battling, they had managed to build the piles high enough to hold the river off, for now anyway. While further down the river, both to the North and South of it, people had busied themselves digging trenches off the river, trying to divert some of the waters flow. They knew they had to make some sort of sacrifice to save the people of the town so, a field was chosen to let the water flow into. Effectively flooding and drowning what crop remained there. A necessary sacrifice. The town was large enough that the loss of one field wouldn't doom them. And everyone involved already vowed to help the family who owned the field, out as much as possible for the coming season.
So for now, the town was safe. Other than a few people who took shifts to keep an eye on the river, everyone else returned indoors.
Li and Ling were both more than grateful to get some soup and warm drink in them. Unlike the others, neither of them had quit since they had went out there. Both were exhausted, soaked, and frozen to the bone. They shivered immensely as they tried to spoon the soup to their mouths without spilling any of it.
Upon seeing their suffering, one of the Inn owners; a nice elderly man, lead them to the kitchen to let them settle around the fire.
Despite the situation they were in, Ling couldn't help but frown. He never realized just how much in the past some of these people still lived. These kind people didn't even have a proper stove, they still used a fire pit to cook with. Granted, Ling had to admit the food tasted much better cooked this way, everything tasted natural. But he couldn't help thinking how much work it must be. Especially when running a business.
They had electricity, yes. That wasn't the issue. Stoves just cost so much that Ling doubted even if they saved for years, that they'd ever afford to be able to buy one.
He was pulled from his dreary thoughts as Li nudged him slightly in the arm. Ling turned to look at him, teeth still chattering but much more slowed than earlier.
"You ok Ling?" He asked, true worry written on his face.
"...yeah. Just...thinking."
"Yeah, I got that. But bout what?"
"How little these people have. Amenities aside...they don't even have enough to afford better weather equipment in this town. That river could have been more properly handled if they had the means to build a flood break quickly enough..."
"That's the world we live in Ling." Li said as he paused for a moment to drink the remaining liquid from his soup. "Palace don't care about the little people. And definitely not the small towns. They're good for taxes and farming, that's it. They take their money and most their food and then forget about them till the next harvest season."
"...I'm sure not everyone in the Palace is like that..."
"Hell have you been man? Ain't no royalty good."
Ling looked at him for a moment before finishing off his own soup and standing up, silently making his way over to the sink to deposit his bowl.
"...you can't honestly tell me you think there's some good in that Palace Ling..."
"You don't know for sure that there isn't Li. Worlds changing. If we don't change with it we fall behind...risk getting used by everyone around us."
"Well go petition to the Palace then, cause I assure you ain't no one gonna change the way things are run."
Ling was starting to boil inside a bit, getting annoyed with Li's conjecture. But really, he had no right to be angry with him. How could Li know if there was any good in the Palace? The people of the country weren't even allowed to look at their faces so forget trying to talk with them.
So instead Ling just sighed, his shoulders dropping a bit.
"...I'm just going to head back to my room for the night. Want to start getting a plan together to gain back the time we lost. Find a quicker route to meet up with my sister."
He started to head out, but heard the rustle as Li stood, and stilled as Li grabbed his wrist. "What's up with you? Why do you want to put any kind of trust in the Palace? Just how delusional can you get?"
"I'm not delusional Li." Ling offered up as he looked over his shoulder. "I just refuse to condemn people I know nothing about."
"Know nothing about? We know everything about them."
"We know everything about the ones that pass down the laws. But the family is big Li. We can never know everything about everyone. And the past has more than proven good can come from that place. So unless everyone of them come out here to stomp their feet on our faces, I'll give some of them the benefit of the doubt." With that Ling yanked his arm away and stalked out of the kitchen, leaving a bewildered Li standing alone.
When he got back to his room, he slammed the door and flopped down on his bed, covering his face with his hands. He'd gotten so upset he nearly showed his hand. God knows what would happen if they found out who he was. He couldn't afford to lose their help right now, he needed them.
Then he dropped his hands to settle on his legs, staring down at them. It only occurred to him now that he was really just using them. He never really even thought once about how they were getting revenge in their own way for their friend, that girl Li had loved. All he thought of was how it at least kept them at his side, kept them willing to help him. Though, he supposed, they were really all just using eachother. Both had their own reasons for doing this but he was sure that once it was said and done, they'd never speak to eachother again.
Really it was common occurrence, people meeting up like this to help eachother for a bit then disappearing. But for Ling, a man trying so hard to change how things went, it wasn't right. He shouldn't be using them like this.
He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. He was starting to wonder just how much of Greed had rubbed off on him before he left.
Growling then, he fell back on his bed, hand falling over his face. He was being stupid, he knew it. Yeah, he needed their help, but he in no way didn't care what happened to them. He would surely not let them die or be harmed if he could help it. But it still just...bothered him. What if they died because he got them into this? Or Li's sister got taken or something?
Growling again as even more frustration racked him, he finally gave in; rolling over to switch the light off. He wasn't getting any proper thinking done tonight. Best to just try and sleep. Try being the opt word.
By the next morning, everyone was up and getting ready to leave. Everyone but Ling that is. He had been awake most the night and so had heard when the rain lessened in the early hours of the morning. He was glad they could probably set off bright and early and try to make up the lost time. Problem was, he wasn't accounting for the cold that was quite obviously coming on. Or at least he hoped it was a cold, the way he was feeling it could be much worse.
But he didn't get much time to ponder on it, as a rough knock on his door hit his ears like a ton of bricks.
"Oi! Get your ass up so we can get going huh!?"
Qiao...of course it'd be her. Ling grumbled quite loudly, both from irritation and from the fact he was sore all over. From being sick or the work from the night before, he couldn't be sure. Maybe from both.
He grunted another response to her as she yelled again, his voice just not wanting to work today; and he heard her swear loudly and pound her way down the hall.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to his feet, almost instantly becoming dizzy. He went sideways a bit, managing to catch hold of the bed frame and preventing himself from hitting the floor hard. In that short period of time, he had broken out in a cold sweat, his stomach turning several times over and it's contents barely keeping themselves in place.
This was not good, this was very far from good. He could not afford to be sick now. If he got stuck laid up in bed, that gave Lan Fan's captors more time to break her and sell her. He might never find her then, and he'll have failed her. So, ignoring his bodies complaints, he slowly made his way over to pack up his things; eventually joining the others in the lobby.
It was a long quiet walk as they made their way to Suching. Li had to figure a new route out himself since Ling could barely see straight. And as time passed it became more and more obvious Ling was very far from alright. He got weaker and weaker as the day went on and the occasional rain showers and storms that still popped up from time to time weren't helping. Li swore he could see steam rising off Ling as the cold rain hit his feverish body. If Ling kept on this way, he wouldn't even live through the journey.
But Ling refused to stop no matter how many times Li asked him to. Ling just kept pushing himself harder and harder. Even Qiao had a look of worry on her face, which was really saying something. The whole group was now actively discussing how to get Ling off the road and into bed for a bit. They didn't even worry about if Ling heard them because he quite obviously couldn't. He was either very distracted or really that sick. Most likely the latter. He could barely pick his feet from the ground anymore and so was stumbling quite frequently. By the time Qiao had just suggested, in her true to form way, that they just grab him and drag him to the next town; he had slipped in the mud and fell face first to the ground, unmoving.
_
Ling had fallen into a deep dark place. His eyes darted around, trying to figure out where he was. Where anyone was. He was alone in pure darkness, not even any sort of sound piercing it. And that, he discovered, included his own voice. He knew he was yelling, calling out, but he heard nothing. Panic began to creep it's way through his body, as he realized that it wasn't just that he couldn't hear anything, but he couldn't even see his hand when he put it in front of his face. Couldn't even feel his body as it moved. Was he really even moving then? Was he paralyzed? Worse...was he dead? The panic rose, he tried to run but without any feeling he couldn't even tell if he was moving. Or what he was even trying to escape. Trying to escape death maybe? Surely an impossible feat at the stage he was in now.
He again tried to scream out, over and over and over again, but still nothing was heard. He knew at this point he was sobbing, his mind was telling himself he was, it was like the only thing existing was his mind itself.
But then...he heard it. It was small at first but he was almost certain it was a voice. A small weak voice. Again he tried to call out but his own voice just didn't want to cooperate. All he could do was listen. And again he heard it, a bit louder this time. It was definitely a voice, a female voice. Asking for help? That's what it sounded like. A sad voice begging in the darkness. But soon the darkness itself parted a bit, just in one small area but enough to be noticed. And he knew he could see someone standing there, face in their hands, sobbing. He made an effort to reach out and this time, he could see his hand, feel it moving. Some of the panic left him at that moment but his concern was still strong. But, emboldened, he tried to talk again. It came out rough, almost as a squeak at first, but it was there; and the form ahead of him definitely heard it.
Arms dropping to the side, the form looked up at him. He had been right, it was most certainly a female...but...no...it couldn't be. It was Lan Fan.
She turned her head from side to side, as if searching, like she heard him but couldn't see him. So again he yelled out, voice at the top of his lungs, pain echoing from within it. And with it, her head turned in his direction...and he gasped.
She really couldn't see him. The dark crimson trails running down her cheeks and the dark voids where her eyes should be was proof enough of her blindness.
Her face contorted then, as she raised an arm and pointed an accusatory finger at him, glaring as best as the voids of her eyes would allow.
"You failed me! You let this happen to me! The things they did to me, the things they made me do to them! This is all your fault! You let her sell me off! You couldn't get to me in time! You were slow and unreliable just like you always were! You never do what you're supposed to, you just run around and make other people chase you! And when they need you most...you disappear...you let people down...If you had paid more attention for once you would have caught onto your mothers plans. Just like if you hadn't been such a greedy bastard and let that...thing into you...if you hadn't even decided to go to that country for that damned stone...grandfather would still be here! You failed us! You murdered us both!"
"No!" He cried out. "I mean...I...I had to do what I could! Our people would have been lost forever if I hadn't! It was the only thing I could do to gain the support needed! To bring something like that back...is the only thing that could have swayed the balance in my favor..."
She let out a dry, mirthless laugh as she dropped her arm back to her side. "Favor. Favor was all you ever wanted. You always just wanted your fathers approval. It was all greed Ling...greed that murdered both grandfather and I in the end."
She slowly moved forward, the darkness around her parting with each step she took, and filling in with each area she vacated. And with each step an article of her clothing would fall, till she stood completely naked in front of him.
"Look at me Ling. Look what your greed caused."
He forced his gaze away, both out of awkwardness and because if he didn't see, he didn't have to admit it to himself.
"LOOK AT ME DAMMIT!"
He flinched, still hesitating, but eventually allowing his eyes to fall back on her. They slowly traced a path over her body, from head to foot. His mind registered every bruise and burn. Every festering cut and the ones still bleeding, deep and angry. And even lower still...
He turned his head away quickly with a agonized cry. Once he saw the dark bruises on her hips, each in the shape of fingers...he had to look away. He couldn't see the damage below that. Couldn't admit it happened. If he didn't...then it didn't happen. Well, he could pretend at least.
"You can't you know." She said at last, drawing his attention back to her. "Nothing you try will change anything. You caused this, all of this. Everything I went through was your fault. The beatings...the cruel words, the ra..."
"STOP IT!" He screamed out, throwing his hands over his ears. He wouldn't listen, wouldn't except it.
"...you're worthless...you always were. So just go home. You're obviously too late."
He squeezed his eyes shut, mumbling incoherently over and over to himself, blocking out any words that did manage to get through to his ears. But then...nothing. He felt alone again.
He cautiously opened his eyes, arms falling to his sides as he realized she was gone.
He stood there, for how long he really didn't know. But at some point he finally broke, falling to his knees and burying his face into his hands. His shoulders shook as the sobs came heavy, completely uncontrollable. He knew it couldn't be. Somewhere inside, he knew he wouldn't make it on time.
He stayed that way till he thought he could hear another voice. It didn't sound like Lan Fan's this time, but it did sound familiar. And the direction it was coming from...there was a light. The darkness was being broken there.
So, building up what courage he could, he walked towards it. If he was lucky, it was the afterlife calling to him, then all this pain could finally end. Yes. He wouldn't have to worry about anything anymore. So with a forced smile on his face, he stepped into the light.
"...complete idiot you know that?"
Confused by the words, Ling slowly opened his eyes. He was in a room...somewhere. Sure as hell wasn't the afterlife, otherwise they had bad fashion sense. But as his mind started to clear a bit more, he realized someone was leaning over him. He let his eyes wander up a bit to see Mei leaning over him, applying a wet cloth to his forehead.
"...there you are. Thought we were going to lose you for a bit there idiot." But this time her voice sounded less biting and more relieved. "You had a real high temperature, slipped into a sort of coma. Took everything we could do to get it down, and you were throwing a right fit...guessed you were hallucinating or something..."
Was he then? Was that what all that was? Just a hallucination from the fever? It had to be, because there's no way Lan Fan would talk to him like that...would she? What if the coma just left him open to hear her ghostly words? What if she was dead? What if she did mean all those words? What if they really did...
His thoughts trailed of as he began to panic again, his breathing quickened, causing him to hyperventilate. He tried to throw the covers off and jump from the bed, despite his sisters attempts to keep him on the bed. But she was still quite obviously much smaller than him and it was a losing battle, so she called out for someone to come in and help her.
Li was in there in no time, rushing over and grabbing a hold of Ling, forcing him down. But in his delusional state, Ling was insanely strong and it was taking everything Li had to keep him down. He soon had no other choice but to call the others in there, and it took the whole lot of them to finally push him down. But he still fitfully thrashed about beneath them, eyes wide in absolute terror.
"I'm sorry! Oh god Lan Fan I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this!"
"What's he on about?" Qiao yelled over his cries.
"He's still in a delusional state! Probably dreampt something up and he thinks it's real!" Mei yelled as she tried to avoid her brothers thrashing limbs. But finally, suddenly, he went still.
The others seemed momentarily alarmed but Mei knew what was up. "Back up, the lot of you!"
They did so quickly as Ling shot up again. Mei barely got the bucket in front of him before a mixture of odd colored things poured forth from his stomach.
It wasn't long though before he fell back on the bed, spent. Mei grimaced and set the pail back on the floor again, covering it so she wouldn't have to see it or endure the stench.
"...there...you alright now...?"
Ling was breathing heavy still, trying to center himself, but he did manage to carefully nod his head. Then he looked at her again, alarmed. She frowned and looked up at the others.
"...could you guys leave us for a bit?"
"You sure?" Li asked.
"Yeah, he's ok now. Has his senses back. I'll call if I need you again though."
He nodded a bit reluctantly as he lead the others out, closing the door soundly behind them.
It was almost instantly that Ling started going off on everything he had seen, what had happened. It took all poor Mei could do to keep up with what he was saying. But finally he quieted, exhausted.
"Ling...it wasn't real. Those were all fears made up in your head, brought on by the fever. You...you collapsed on the way here, the others carried you as far as they could till they lucked out and saw a farmer with a wagon up the road. He brought you here. They told me what happened, that you were out in the Monsoon damming the river. Are...are you an idiot? You remember what happened before don't you? You have to be careful when out in the weather. You were weakened..."
"Yeah, I remember." He said, his voice rough and barely audible. "I was there...how could I not remember?"
"And you still risked it?"
"They needed help."
"They had a whole town to help. They obviously were all going to pitch in whether you went out there or not." She let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a moment while she thought. She opened them again as she continued to speak. "You can't help anyone if you're dead Ling. Not the whole of Xing...not Lan Fan...you can't take risks like that. They said it could take ages for your system to recover...if at all."
He managed to push himself into a sitting position, despite his sisters protests. "There's more important things to deal with right now then me getting a little sick."
"A little sick!? Ling, you've been out for a week! You stopped breathing I don't know how many times! It was Pneumonia again, just like before! When..." She did her best to calm herself again, seeing the look on her brothers face. "When are you going to learn to just settle for a bit. They couldn't move either in that. They were as stuck as you. If anything you risked it by pulling that and getting yourself sick. You gave them more time..." She paused then, realizing that wasn't the right thing to say. "I...but I mean..."
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." Ling said, feeling horrible that he just bought the slave smugglers time. "I just...I wanted to get her back. I didn't want to waste any more time than I had to...I wasn't thinking..."
"Well...", Mei started slowly, "that's what love will do to you. But you can't take anymore risks like that Ling. Not if you want to get her back safely. Not if you want to fix this country. She'd scream at you till your ears bled if she knew the risk you just took you know..."
He blinked at her for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I know she would..."
It was Mei's turn to blink now. "You really don't know...do you?"
"Know what?" He asked, raising a brow.
"I heard it from Fu once...not long before...before we all went to Amestris...about when you were sick. When you got Pneumonia the first time. Lan Fan shrugged off training to sit with you the whole time..."
"...she did...?"
"Yeah...took a nasty beating from the teacher because of it...but she felt it was worth it..."
He was quiet then, thinking over things. He'd never known that. He knew they had become pretty close friends when they were kids, and he knew she'd do anything for him now. But he had no idea she had done something like that...when they were kids. Well, truthfully, he didn't remember much from that period in time to be honest. When he got sick the first time, the fever had been so bad it effected his memory, and for a short time, his motor skills. He just remembered his mom was really angry with him for some reason. His father...seemed stoic at best. But to this day he couldn't remember just why. What had happened. All he remembered was falling in the lake at the Summer Palace and getting real sick after. He remembered they had gone in early spring for some reason, thus the water was cold and he got sick. But he really couldn't remember how he fell in. Or why he was being yelled at later.
"Hey!"
He shook his head, not knowing he had zoned out for very long. "Yeah, sorry. Listening."
"You can't move for a while yet Ling. You're still in a pretty rough state. So for the time being we'll send some people out to get information, try to dig up some of the smuggling rings."
"...we?" He asked, confused.
"Come on Ling. You took my house under your wing, the lowest house of all. We're already far better off than we were before. Do you think they wouldn't be willing to help you?"
Honestly he was a bit caught off guard by that. He still thought they would in some form resent him for getting what they wanted for a member of their own house. Looks like there really was hope for the families after all.
A small smile crossed his face then. It felt good to have at least one family not trying to murder him violently.
"...but as I said, you need to stay in bed Ling. This is the second time you nearly died from this."
"...I don't even remember the first time. I...I don't remember what happened exactly. Just...cold water, and mother yelling..."
Mei quirked a brow at that, but she didn't say anything smug to him about it. She had heard the stories, stories kept from him in an effort to use his memory loss as an advantage. Which of course failed.
She then let a slight smirk tug at the corner of her lip as she looked at him. "Happened cause you were doing what you do best. Disobeying and getting involved with a class lower than yourself. You saved Lan Fan's life..."