'No!' Lan Zhan said for what felt like the hundredth time, fighting hard to keep his temper in check.

'Yes!' Wei Ying responded, either not trying or not succeeding in keeping his own temper controlled.

'No'

'Yes'

'No'

'Yes'

'Enough!' Lan Zhan's temper finally snapped its leash as he stormed forwards, pinning Wei Ying's arms to his sides against the wall of the JingShi.

Both men looked each other straight in the eye as Wei Ying tried to free himself from Lan Zhan's grasp, which was quite honestly verging on painfully tight. Lan Zhan himself was breathing heavily as he tried to reign in his temper once again, his eyes blazing, but his voice came out deceitfully cold.

'If you can get away from me, I will agree to you coming to Nevernight with us'

Wei Ying of course was at a big disadvantage, firstly he was already pinned against the wall with his hands fixed in place, and secondly Chenqing was uselessly out of reach on a table across the room. No matter how much he struggled he could not get out of Lan Zhan's firm grip. Of course there was one drastic way to make Lan Zhan let him go, but Wei Ying could not make himself knee the man he was growing to love in the groin.

The staring match continued, Wei Ying wasn't stupid he knew he couldn't get out unless Lan Zhan let him go. Lan Zhan wasn't stupid either, he knew what he was demanding, and knew that by doing this he could be breaking the trust the two had built up. Both were determined that they were not going to be the one to back down. Wei Ying was determined Lan Zhan was being unreasonable in what he was demanding and Lan Zhan was equally determined that he wasn't letting Wei Ying walk onto the battlefield unprotected.

Eventually the pressure on Wei Ying's wrists got too much and he let out a small groan. Lan Zhan immediately let go and stepped back slightly, although not enough to give Wei Ying a clear path to the door.

'You can't even get past me Wei Ying' Lan Zhan's voice was thankfully more normal this time 'how do you think you can defend yourself on the battlefield?'

Wei Ying sighed quietly but never took his eyes away from Lan Zhan's

'I have Chenqing….and I have you…I will be fine'

Wei Ying….'Lan Zhan paused and took a breath before speaking at a barely audible whisper '…..please'

Wei Ying just stood there dumbstruck, he didn't think Lan Zhan had ever begged anyone for anything and yet here he was begging him to remain here. Part of Wei Ying wanted to say yes, that he understood Lan Zhan's concerns and he didn't want to be a burden to him on the battlefield, he didn't want to cause the man he loved any harm by being a hindrance rather than a help. Another side of him though had fought his own battles all his life, even from being very small he had fought stray dogs for food to survive. The idea of staying behind while everyone else went to fight didn't fit well in his mind, didn't fit well with who he was.

In the end though Wei Ying had to admit that he would be more worry than help to Lan Zhan on this particular battlefield, and it was going to be a hard enough battle as it was without him being distracted. He reluctantly agreed to remain in the Cloud Recess while the others attacked Nevernight City. Lan Zhan had been so happy with his agreement that Wei Ying had once again found himself pinned to the wall of the JingShi, only this time it wasn't anger behind Lan Zhan's actions. Lan Zhan's lips soon found his own before his hands began to roam up his back towards his shoulders. Wei Ying found himself leaning into the kiss as his own hands ran through Lan Zhan's hair, pressing his head more forcefully to his own. Eventually the two had released each other and taken much needed deep breaths before returning to their respective beds, and a fitful night's sleep.

Two weeks later Wei Ying sincerely wished he had not promised anything to anyone. Here he was alone in the JingShi, pacing up and down trying to find something, anything to take his mind off the fact that he was here instead of being helpful. OHH he had enough work to do to keep him occupied! While the others where off preparing for a battle that would probably ring through the ages, Lan QiRen had reluctantly allowed Wei Ying to remain behind and watch the children and elderly. Wei Ying himself was equally reluctant to be grouped together with the children and infirm.

His day currently involved walking around the, mostly empty, Cloud Recess. Speaking to the old members of the clan, who largely ignored him anyway, and then going over to the where the children lived to check on their welfare. The only thing that was actually interesting in his days at the moment was that he got to teach the youngsters archery without any input from the elders of the clan. The youngsters where so much more fun than the elders which gave him a few smiles and laughs, well it did until he went home at the end of the day to his empty JingShi and saw the empty bed at the opposite side of the room. The sight of that empty bed always bought back the memories he had been trying to ignore throughout the day….the memories that he was so useless to anyone that he couldn't even stand side by side with either Lan Zhan or his brother anymore.

In the evenings he bought a little life into the empty space by practicing with Chenqing, however somehow without Lan Zhan there playing with him it seemed harder to control. The spiritual energy inside him now he didn't have a core to control it seemed to have a life of its own. Sometimes it was as quiet as a pond and just as hard to get hold of as the crystal clear waters of the cold pool, but sometimes he felt like he was in the centre of a raging rapid, fighting with all his strength not to be pulled under by the torrent of power that seemed to come and go to nowhere. Finding a pattern to this strange phenomenon wasn't easy, his temper and mood was all over the place with being stuck in the Cloud Recess like a naughty child, so finding the link between his mood and the spiritual energy wasn't going to work. Lan Zhan's zither music had always seemed to take the edge of the feeling of rapids and allowed him to control himself, but now he wasn't sure if it was actually the music or the man.

No matter how much he practiced or how much he thought about how to control this new cultivation power, it all seemed to come down to one person. Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan had helped him somehow control it in the beginning, worrying about Lan Zhan was the reason he couldn't focus enough to practice now, and not seeing Lan Zhan for 2 weeks was driving him so much to distraction that he couldn't even control his own thoughts and moods.

Sorry Lan Zhan…Wei Ying thought to himself almost unconsciously. Picking up Chenching from the table that usually held their duel instruments he paused for a moment as if second guessing his decision. A moment later though his shoulders straightened and he walked out of the JingShi with a purposeful stride. His purpose was simple….he was going to find his brother…he was going to find Lan Zhan…..he was going to Nevernight!