Hello everyone! Since the last chapter was so short (being the prologue and all), I'm giving a double chapter update. So here's the first chapter to get everything rolling. Enjoy!

-Chapter One-

"See you later Xie Lian!"

Waving to his friends after school, Xie Lian turned and headed for home. He gave a sigh as he looked at his report card in hand.

"Mom's going to kill me…." While his grades weren't bad, his mother strove for him to be perfect in every subject. Something he wished he could do but couldn't achieve no matter how much studying he tried to do.

Walking the not too long trek back home, he paused outside the door. He gave another sigh before reaching up and opened it. Stepping inside, he took off his shoes after shutting the door behind him.

"Xie Lian? Is that you?"

"Yes Mother. It's me." He gave another sigh as he went down the hall to the kitchen where his mother was doing dishes.

"Alright. Let me look at your report card," she spoke up as she dried off her hands when he entered and set his school bag down on the table. He reluctantly handed it over and stood there silently while she looked at it. The cheerful look turned to one of disappointment. "How many times have I told you that you need to get higher grades? You'll never get into a good college with these."

"I'm trying the best I can." This was what he was dreading. Just because he had a few B's she thought it wasn't good enough.

"Obviously you're not trying hard enough."

"But I am trying as hard as I can! I can't be perfect like you want me to be!"

"Don't you talk back to me, young man." His mother's tone was not happy as she gave him a scowl. "Go to your room. You're grounded for a week."

"But Mom….!"

"No buts!" She pointed towards his room. "Now go."

Xie Lian bit his bottom lip before turning and went to his room, shutting the door behind him. He went over to his bed and flopped down, burying his face in the pillow as he silently cried.

'Why can't she see I'm doing the best I can?' he thought to himself as he cried. 'I hate it. I wish I could just disappear.' He paused as he sniffled before sitting up and looked towards his door. 'She's always been this way since Dad left...'

Wiping his tears away and sniffling again, he got up and looked outside his window across the field in the back behind his house that stretched towards the woods beyond. They were the woods that he had always been told never to go into. He'd always listened to that advice but he was upset. Plus, there was an alluring pull towards them he'd been feeling for a while now.

Looking back towards the door, he gave a sigh before going over to his closet and pulled out a spare pair of shoes he had in there. Putting them on, he went over to his window and opened it, glad that he was on the ground floor, instead of upstairs like his mother's room was. Then slipping out the window, he shut it behind him and turned, running for the field and woods beyond.

Getting to the edge of the woods, Xie Lian paused and looked up at the trees towering above before glancing back over his shoulder at his house. With a sigh he turned back to the trees and headed inside. It didn't take long before he'd gone in far enough to lose sight of his house. A sense of peace washed over him as he continued along.

"I don't know why everyone is so afraid of these woods," he muttered to himself as he walked along, touching one of the tree trunks and pausing to look up at the top way up high.

Continuing along, he felt his anger towards his mother fading away. He paused looking around just as his stomach gave a small growl. A furrow creased his brow slightly when he realised he should have brought some food with him. But given his anger was also gone, maybe he should just go back and apologise to her for talking back. Though he still hadn't been wrong when he'd said he had tried his best.

"Now which way did I come from?" he asked himself as he looked around. Everything looked about the same to him. He gave a furrow of his brow again before heading in the direction he thought he had come in from, though he hadn't gone in a straight line and had wandered off to one side and the other as he'd walked along.

'Crap. I think I'm lost,' he thought to himself after wandering for several minutes and the trees only seemingly getting thicker. His stomach gave another growl as he paused under a tree and sat down at its base holding his stomach. Maybe this wasn't the best of ideas he'd had after all. Plus he was getting tired and doubled with being hungry didn't make him feel any better. He closed his eyes trying to calm himself down as sleep started taking over.

Feeling his senses coming back to him, Xie Lian felt strong arms supporting him and the soft rocking motion of being carried. The scent of the earth permeated his nose as the soft sound of footsteps came to his ears. There was also a soft clinking sound like metal with every step. Though what he noticed while being carried was the absence of warmth as the person held him so his head laid on their shoulder.

Slowly opening his eyes while remaining still, Xie Lian could barely see anything in the darkness that surrounded them. Only the vague outlines of trees in the cloudy twilight with the scent of rain on the wind.

Suddenly a translucent, silvery butterfly fluttered into his vision. It seemed to be glowing ever so slightly, giving it that ethereal look. It fluttered near the opposite shoulder of the person carrying him, allowing him to see the faintest colour of a red jacket. Another fluttered into view for a brief moment. Just what were they and who was this person?

Remaining silent and still, Xie Lian let the person continue to carry him wherever. While part of his mind said he should be afraid of who they could be and what they could do to him, another part had a sense of ease. Then there was the question of how they were able to see in the darkness without a light to find the way. Were those butterflies lighting the way?

Feeling the person stop for a moment and shift him ever so slightly in his arms, he then continued for another few moments quietly. The sound of the light footsteps echoing a little as everything got darker made Xie Lian blink. The person walked several more long strides before stopping and the feeling of being lowered made Xie Lian close his eyes.

Realising he had been set down on a ledge of rock because it was cold and slightly rough, he remained still as he felt the person pull his hands back from where he'd held him around his back and under his knees. There were a couple of soft footsteps before a little bit of rustling. Xie Lian opened his eyes and looked towards the sound but couldn't see anything in the darkness. What was the person doing?

Suddenly a spark of orange flickered in the dark before a flame spread across a few logs. The soft light lit up the person's outline, who had their back to him. As they stood back up, keeping their back to him, he could tell the other was a young man. With a blink, he looked at the red coloured jacket with silver vambraces on his arms and black boots with silver chains hanging down from the tops. His hair was dark, flowing down to his waist with a loose tie holding it together several centimetres up from the bottom.

"Are you hungry?"

Blinking, Xie Lian was surprised to hear him speak. His voice was smooth, somewhat deep, but soft in tone. As if in response, his stomach gave a small growl. He gave a somewhat embarrassed look while slowly sitting up, curious as to how the stranger knew he was awake to begin with. The man turned to look towards him; his face hidden in shadow from the firelight behind him. Even so, Xie Lian could see the dark left eye looking at him while his right remained hidden behind his dark hair that covered half of his pale face.

Coming forward towards him, the man reached down to his side where a bag was tied to his waist. He undid it before holding it out to Xie Lian to take, who furrowed his brow a little. Taking the bag, he unwound the tie that held it shut as the stranger stepped back then turned and walked around the fire to the other side of the small cave before leaning up against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest as he tilted his head down a little and closed his visible eye.

Reaching inside, Xie Lian pulled out a dumpling still warm as if it had been freshly made. He gave a blink before glancing up at the red clad man then took a bite. The taste of still warm, fresh meat inside filled his senses of one of his favourite snacks.

"Um...I didn't get your name," Xie Lian spoke up as he ate on his first dumpling while studying the young man across the cave. The firelight made shadows dance around his features. He didn't appear much older than Xie Lian.

Opening his dark eye to look at the kid across the fire from him, the young man remained silent for a moment as he studied him. He closed his eye again after a moment.

"Hua Cheng."

"Hua Cheng," Xie Lian repeated. He gave a soft smile. "I like it." The dark eye opened again to look at him. "I'm Xie Lian. I uh...I wanted to thank you for helping me out."

Hua Cheng merely inclined his head slightly as if to say he was welcome but kept a neutral look to his face. "You shouldn't go sleeping in the woods like that. You never know who might be out there and what they'll do."

Xie Lian gave a blink as he looked at the second meat dumpling he'd pulled out of the bag. He realised Hua Cheng was right. After all, anyone could have come along. Then again, the red clad man before him was also a stranger. He could easily have done something bad to him too.

Suddenly the rumble of thunder resonated in the air as the wind stirred and picked up outside. Xie Lian gave a blink while looking towards the entrance of the cave several metres away as a flash of lightning lit up the opening. He remembered it had smelled of rain in the air as Hua Cheng had carried him and the sky had been overcast most of the day.

Eating the second dumpling, he thought about Hua Cheng's words. "I guess I'll try not to fall asleep like that again. It's just...I got lost." Xie Lian gave an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was upset because my mom got on my case about school. As hard as I try, I can't make her happy with the grades I do get. She wants me to have perfect grades." He pulled out the third dumpling and nibbled on it a little.

"She's just trying to look out for you."

"Yeah, I know." Xie Lian gave a sigh as he pulled out the last dumpling before looking up at the other and held it up towards him. "You should eat something too. I mean...you did carry me all that way."

"It's fine. I'm not really hungry."

Blinking and furrowing his brow slightly, Xie Lian set the bag aside before standing and walked over to Hua Cheng. The other gave a blink as Xie Lian split the dumpling in half, took his hand, and placed one half in it. The dark eye that showed looked down at the dumpling as Xie Lian smiled and ate the other half.

Giving a small tilt of his head in curiosity, Xie Lian reached his hand up and started to brush the hair out of Hua Cheng's face. The other immediately turned his head enough to hide his right eye from being seen. This made Xie Lian furrow his brow in confusion.

"Is something wrong with your eye?" he asked curiously. The other merely pulled his lips into a thin line. "Can I see? Please?"

Hua Cheng looked at the boy from the corner of his eye while keeping his head still turned away. There was a concerned and yet curious look on his face. Dare he show him? He gave a small sigh before slowly turning his head back to show both of his eyes to the kid, who gave a blink at him.

"Whoa. Two toned eyes," Xie Lian spoke, seeing that Hua Cheng's right eye was red tinted while his right was that dark colour. A smile tugged his lips upwards. "That's neat. I've never met anyone with eyes like yours."

Hua Cheng gave a blink in surprise at Xie Lian. He hadn't been expecting to hear him praise his mismatched eyes like that. After all, everyone else had always berated him and called him a monster for such eyes.

Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder boomed outside near the cave. Xie Lian gave a small jump in surprise as he grabbed Hua Cheng and clung to him. This surprised the red clad man.

"S-sorry," Xie Lian apologised as he let go and took a step back; an embarrassed look on his face. "That was really loud."

Watching him take another step away, the boy went back over to his spot on the ledge. He remained quietly watching the fire for a few moments as the storm continued outside. Xie Lian glanced up towards the other across the fire as he brought the meat dumpling he'd shared with him up and ate it before folding his arms back over his chest and closed his eyes. The firelight continued to flicker, making the shadows dance around the cave and on the stranger.

"Um….you don't have to stand over there all night," Xie Lian spoke up after several moments. Two toned eyes opened to look at him as the younger boy patted the spot beside him. "There's plenty of room over here to sit."

Watching the boy for a moment longer, Hua Cheng pushed off the rock as he dropped his hands to his sides and silently walked over to the ledge. He didn't say anything as Xie Lian scooted a little so he could sit down before watching the fire in silence. Both watched it quietly for several moments.

"Um….t-thanks again for helping me out," Xie Lian spoke up, breaking the shared silence between them. "It really would have sucked being stuck in the storm without any shelter."

"As I said, next time don't go falling asleep in the woods. It's dangerous." His tone was soft but had enough of a warning to it.

Sitting there quietly again, there were a million and one things Xie Lian wanted to ask. Where had Hua Cheng come from? How had he found him? And those beautiful butterflies. What were they really? But he also didn't want to be rude and ask everything either. He was just grateful that this red clad saviour had come along.

Listening to the storm outside as it started to tamper down along with the fire starting to turn to embers, Xie Lian gave a sleepy blink and tried to hide a yawn.

"Hua Cheng?"

"Hmm?"

"C-can I borrow your lap?"

Mismatched eyes gave a blink before he inclined his head to the younger boy. Xie Lian gave a sleepy smile before shifting himself and laid his head down in his lap. Hua Cheng looked down at his face as he relaxed and his breathing evened out signalling he'd fallen asleep. He brushed some of the longer bits of short hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear before shrugging off his coat, being careful not to disturb the sleeping boy. Then laying it over him stretched out along the rest of the ledge, he continued watching him as he slept.

"Xiao Hua…." Xie Lian muttered in his sleep.

Hua Cheng's hand twitched slightly as he rested it on Xie Lian's chest and stared down at the boy in surprise. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. But it made his lips tug upwards in a smile as he gently brushed his fingers along the sleeping boy's cheek.

"So you do remember, Gege," he whispered quietly as he brought his hand up to the lock of hair pulled forward over his shoulder where a red ribbon was braided into it. He touched the red pearl that hung from the end he'd received what seemed so long ago.

Well, that's the chapter. Looks like Xie Lian has his run in with Hua Cheng. And Hua Cheng knows him. What might be in store, you'll have to see. *grins*
Anyways, thanks for reading so far. I'll do my best to get updates as often as possible. This year is going to be a busy one as I help my mom around the house to get things fixed up. So bear with me as I juggle that, writing, and doing some artwork that I do for art shows throughout the year. But I promise that I'll get on updating this and my other stories better this year. And again, hope everyone has a great New Year as we roll into 2022! *hands out chocolates to celebrate*