Whumptober 2020 "Take me instead", "Run!", Ritual Sacrifice
Rain falls in gray sheets, running off the edges of Wei Wuxian's wide-brimmed hat as his robes drag through the puddles on the street. He cradles the medicine for Shijie close to his chest. It's worth nothing if it gets too wet. A pair of men duck into an inn as he approaches the lone vendor on the street.
"Three steamed buns," he says and drops a piece of silver in the vendor's hand. He looks up and down the street, counting five Wen disciples coming from the direction he came. He watches their approach out of the corner of his eye: their ambling strides, how one bumped his shoulder against another's, the fluidity of how they straighted up when the leader saw him.
They approached him like the street mutts did when he was a child and he had food and they didn't. Rain dripping off the tips of their noses, eyes narrowed on their target, and teeth bared in a vicious smile because they know you know there's no escaping their snapping jaws.
He glances up the street. Could he drop Shijie's medicine with the innkeeper before being captured and without revealing his siblings' location?
His heart seizes, and for a moment, he forgets how to breathe. He should look away before the Wens, who are almost on top of him, notice his attention. But he can't, because he knows that purple anywhere and that's his idiot shidi clearly sizing up the situation.
He can't let Jiang Cheng sacrifice himself. He's the heir and Wei Wuxian's just a servant's son no matter how you look at it. If the Wens capture him, YunmengJiang dies completely unless Shijie finds a husband willing to marry in but that would weaken them in other ways. He loves her, but she isn't a fighter.
No. Jiang Cheng will not be captured. He cannot be.
"Protect my son with your life, Wei Wuxian. Do you understand me?"
The vendor passes the steamed buns to him. He brings the package close to his chest, close to the medicine. The warmth of the buns spreads down his arm. He elbows a Wen disciple out of his way and races down the street.
The Wens chase after him, their feet pounding and splashing against the ground. The rain strikes Wei Wuxian's eyes as it angles beneath his hat. Jiang Cheng's eyes widen, and his hands drop loose by his sides. Wei Wuxian slams into him.
"Take them and run," he says as Jiang Cheng catches the packages he drops against his shidi's chest. He shoves Jiang Cheng back.
"What? No!"
Ah that familiar scowl and stubborn jaw. Wei Wuxian can't help but smile. "Sect Leader Jiang," Jiang Cheng straightens in front of him with a pained expression on his face, "let me be your shixiong one last time." He shoves Jiang Cheng again, this time sending him several paces back and almost to the ground.
"Wei Wuxian!"
He turns away and dashes into the Wen disciples. Kicking, and biting, and hitting, and grabbing, he screams, "Run!" and prays that Jiang Cheng will listen.
He doesn't stop fighting, even as Jiang Cheng's splashing, pounding footsteps start fading away. He doesn't stop fighting even when the Wen disciples curse as they give chase. He closes his eyes and stops his fight when finally, they come back empty handed.
They drag him before Wen Chao in the grand hall of Lotus Pier, and Wei Wuxian says nothing, no matter what he's offered. No matter the threat and carrying through of the discipline whip falling across his shoulders.
"Where are they?" Wen Chao snarls.
Wei Wuxian glares up at him. The hands of the Wen soldiers are the only things holding him anything remotely upright. "Go to hell," he says.
A single finger twitch, and Wen Zhuliu steps forward, raising his fist.
Wei Wuxian refuses to scream as his golden core melts.
He's dropped to the floor, and he can't help but grin up at Wen Chao. Wen Chao kicks him sharply in the diaphragm, and his breath bursts out from his lips. "Wen Zhuliu," Wen Chao yells as he steps on and over Wei Wuxian who curls in on himself to protect already bruised and broken skin. "Take some disciples and throw him into the Burial Mounds."
"But, but," Wang Lingjiao whines. Wei Wuxian can easily picture her leaning on Wen Chao's arm and pouting. "Cut off his hand first. For me?"
Wen Chao laughs. "You. Do as she says." Red robes approach, and a sword scrapes out of its sheath.
Wei Wuxian rolls over, meets Wen Chao's eyes, and snarls, "I'm coming back to haunt you."
Wen Chao pales, even as he stammers denials. The sword drops. There's pain and then darkness. Then, the next thing Wei Wuxian knows: he's falling.