Hey everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Hope everyone's new year has been going well so far. Anyways, enjoy!

-Chapter Two-

The sound of birds chirping outside came to Xie Lian's ears before the sense of laying on something not so comfortable, hard, and cold. The scent of earth and lingering campfire also caught his attention. With a small furrow of his brow, he opened his eyes to look up at the ceiling of the cave above while he was stretched out on the ledge from last night.

Groaning, he slowly sat up and glanced around to find himself alone in the cave. The remaining ashes of the fire sat on the ground.

"Hua Cheng?" He gave a confused blink before turning his head to see a plate sitting not too far from where his head had laid. Four meat dumplings were on it.

Reaching over and picking up the plate, he gave a blink at them being warm and fresh. He glanced around the cave again but there was still no sign of his red clad saviour from last night. A smile came to his lips as he picked one up.

"Thanks. Wherever you are," he muttered quietly before biting into it. It didn't take long before all of them were gone.

"Xie Lian!"

"Xie Lian, where are you?"

"Xie Lian!"

Blinking at hearing multiple voices calling his name, he recognised one as his mother's. Setting the plate to the side, he slid off the ledge before going over to the entrance of the cave where the sun shone brightly from a clear sky. Only the still somewhat damp earth gave away that it had stormed last night.

"Xie Lian!"

"I'm over here!" he called as he took several steps out from the entrance of the cave and looked through the trees. Several figures appeared scattered throughout them. His mother caught sight of him and ran for him.

"Xie Lian!"

Blinking, he could see the tears in her eyes as she came running up and pulled him into her arms. Several others came running over, some he didn't recognise. A couple were his neighbours from down the street.

"Oh Xie Lian. I'm so glad you're safe!" his mother cried as she held him before letting him go and brought her hands up to his face to check him. "Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

"No. I'm just fine," he replied.

"You scared me so much," his mother replied as she wiped her tears away.

"I'm sorry. I...I got lost." Xie Lian gave a somewhat embarrassed look. He knew she wouldn't go yelling at him with others around like this.

"You must have gotten lucky to find this cave here," one of the others commented. "That was one nasty storm."

"Well...actually I met someone who led me to it." His thoughts went back to his red clad saviour as he carried him through the darkness and those ethereal butterflies.

"What?" His mother gave him a stunned look as did the others. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" She took his arm and looked at it before taking his other arm and looked it over.

"N-no. He was nice. He made a fire inside to keep warm and gave me some meat dumplings to eat." Xie Lian gave a smile. "Though I guess I fell asleep at some point. When I woke up, he was gone. But he did leave me a plate of warm meat dumplings to eat."

Pointing inside the cave, he turned to go in to grab the plate. The others followed him inside. His brow creased in a furrow as he went to the ledge where he'd left the plate only to find it gone. Even the ashes from the fire had disappeared.

"There's nothing in here," one of the others spoke up.

"I swear, it was right here." The boy put his hand right where the plate had been. He looked around confused. Had he dreamed it all up? No he couldn't have. His stomach was still full from the dumplings he'd eaten.

"Well, at least you are safe now," his mother said, giving a shake of her head before pulling him back towards the entrance. The others followed out, a couple rubbing their arms as they looked over their shoulder at the cave. "Let's just go home."

"Okay." Xie Lian gave a small sigh as everyone started heading back through the trees. He glanced back to the cave's darkened entrance before continuing on; his mother holding his arm as she guided him back with everyone.

"Man that cave had a creepy feeling to it," one of the others said quietly as they walked through the trees. It was quiet enough that neither Xie Lian or his mother heard.

"Yeah you're telling me," another added. "I wonder who he ran into though? Hell I didn't even know there was a cave this far into the woods."

"Do you think it could have been him?" the first one asked curiously.

"You know that's just a bunch of folklore to keep people from just wandering into the woods," a third replied with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't know. I mean, there was definitely a feeling I got being in there," the first pointed out. "Plus, who would be in the woods at night to help a kid out like that?"

"I still say it's a bunch of folklore," the third person said with a shake of his head.

"Thank you for your help finding him," Xie Lian's mother spoke as they all came out of the woods and gathered in the field between the trees and her house.

"It was no trouble at all ma'am," one of the others replied with a nod of his head.

"Come on and let's go inside now," the boy's mother said as she led him across the field back to the house. Xie Lian didn't protest as she opened the door and he went in first. She shut the door behind her before turning to him. The sting of the slap across his face stunned him for a moment as he saw her look of gratitude towards the others drop and was replaced with a pissed off glare. "You've humiliated me in front of everyone. You're grounded for the next month. If you try running off again, you won't like the consequences." She gave a pause and pointed in the direction of his room. "Now go to your room. You're staying home from school today. But you better get ALL of your homework done. And you'll apologise to everyone in class and your teachers. Understand?"

"Yes Mother." His voice was quiet as he lowered his gaze to the floor while keeping from putting his hand to his cheek as it continued to sting. Talking back to her right now would only upset her more.

Turning silently, Xie Lian went to his room and shut the door. His bag was on his desk. He figured his mother had put it in there upon coming to check on him yesterday only to find him gone.

Sighing, he went over and pulled out his homework, setting it on his desk, before going to change his clothes. He sat down and worked on it, pausing a couple of times to glance out the window at the nice day it had turned into. Once he was finished, he went to his window and looked out to the woods in the distance.

'Hua Cheng,' he thought to himself as memories of last night flickered through his thoughts.

Glancing over to his desk, he thought a moment before going over and pulling out his sketchbook. Sitting down again, he pulled out his sketching pencils and opened to a fresh page. He wasn't the greatest at drawing but he could still capture the essence fairly well. With a small smile, he started sketching his red clad saviour's face and shoulders from what he remembered. Some of his features were a little hard to make out given the firelight wasn't that bright but he did remember the details he saw when he was in front of him. He got to his hair, remembering the plaited lock that had been pulled forward with a red ribbon and a dangling red ball-like ornament braided in. As he finished sketching it, he gave a furrow of his brow. It reminded him of someone he once knew but he couldn't place the memory right offhand.

Shaking his head of the thoughts he couldn't quite place, he sketched in the two silver butterflies he'd seen flying around Hua Cheng. Lastly, he wrote his name underneath at the bottom, set his pencil down, and smiled.

"I wonder if I'll ever meet you again," he quietly said to himself as he held up the book in his hands and looked at his work. "Then I could properly thank you."

Sighing softly, he set his book down and shut the cover before going out to get something to eat. His mother didn't say anything to him for the rest of the day. Before he went to bed, he looked out towards the darkened woods as the moon shone in the clear sky above. With a last sigh, he went over to climb into bed to get some sleep. He had school to get back to tomorrow after all.

Well, that's the chapter. Poor Xie Lian getting to deal with a strict mother. But looks like Hua Cheng had an impact on him. *grins*
Anyways, thanks again for reading. I'll get another chapter up soon! *hands out cookies*