As the sun dipped toward the horizon, Du Wei's search finally bore fruit. Deep in the western woods of the small island, he stumbled upon a modest puddle, likely a remnant of the rainy season. The island was devoid of beasts, and the shaded spot showed no signs of animal tracks. Du Wei cautiously inspected the surroundings, then tasted the water. It was fresh. Relieved, the two parched youths—thirsty for most of the day—flung themselves at the puddle's edge, gulping greedily. The cool, slightly odd-tasting water soothed their burning throats, and Du Wei let out a contented sigh. The refreshing trickle down his throat sent a shiver of comfort through his entire body.
Sated, Du Wei promptly yanked off his sheepskin boots and began rinsing them in the puddle.
"What… what are you d-doing?" Vivian blinked, her wide eyes tracking his movements.
"Washing my boots," Du Wei replied, his hands moving briskly. "Then using them to carry water."
"C-carry water? In b-boots?" Vivian's face twisted in confusion.
"Of course." Du Wei smirked. "Unless you've got a bottle or jar stashed somewhere? My boots are sheepskin—waterproof. Perfect for the job." He glanced at the bewildered girl. "Don't frown. It's our only option. We can't stay here guarding this puddle forever; we need to get back to the coast. If you think my boots are too foul, you're welcome to use your own."
Vivian stood frozen, still processing, until Du Wei prodded, "Hurry up. Unless you fancy drinking from my boots tomorrow."
That snapped her out of it. Panicked, Vivian fumbled to remove her own shoes. The young mage's boots were also leather, perhaps even finer than Du Wei's. Barefoot now, she seemed lost, her white socks stained with blood from blisters that had burst during their trek. Mimicking Du Wei, she knelt by the puddle and scrubbed her boots furiously, washing them over and over.
Du Wei, growing impatient, cut in, "Twice is enough. Why are you washing them a hundred times?"
"They're… d-dirty…" Vivian mumbled.
Du Wei chuckled at the naive girl. "Look, this puddle's small. You keep scrubbing, and sure, your boots get clean—but the water gets filthy. And guess what? You'll still be drinking it."
Vivian froze, her lips quivering with a mix of realization and grievance. Clutching her water-filled boots, she stood, whispering, "D-do we… r-really have to drink this?"
"When you're parched tomorrow, you'd guzzle water ten times dirtier without a second thought," Du Wei said coolly. "Come on, let's head back."
On the return trek, Du Wei led the way, using a long stick to clear a path through the underbrush. But soon, he noticed Vivian lagging behind. He paused, frowning. "Speed up. It's getting late. If the sun sets, it'll be pitch black, and navigating these woods at night is a nightmare. We could lose our way."
Vivian nodded vigorously, quickening her pace, but after a few uneven steps, tears welled in her eyes. "M-my… my f-feet… they h-hurt."
Du Wei approached, crouching to inspect her feet. Her delicate soles were scratched by thorns, her ankles and toes smeared with mud and blood. He sighed, a touch of sympathy softening his gaze. Expecting a frail girl like her to traipse barefoot through a jungle was unfair.
Without a word, Du Wei slung his boots around his neck, turned, and crouched slightly. "Get on."
"H-huh?" Vivian blinked.
"I said, get on!" His voice was stern, unyielding. "Don't waste time. I'll carry you back."
"B-but—"
"No buts!" Du Wei snapped, still facing away. "Listen, little girl, we're racing against the dark. We don't know this island well, and neither of us is in fighting shape. We need to reach the dragon before nightfall. Move it—now!"
Intimidated by his tone, Vivian obeyed. She hung her boots around her neck and climbed onto his back, her movements timid but compliant.
Carrying her, Du Wei trudged forward, each step heavier than the last. Though his mind was that of an adult, his body was still that of a frail, teenage boy—one who'd been sickly since birth. The weight tested him, but he pressed on.
"Th-thank you…" Vivian's voice was barely a whisper, so faint Du Wei almost missed it.
He grunted, saying nothing, and kept moving.
Under the gathering night, on this desolate island, Vivian clung to the back of a boy she barely knew. Above, slivers of black sky peeked through tangled branches. Below, she could hear Du Wei's labored breaths as he forged ahead. For the first time, the sharp-tongued noble who'd teased and scolded her didn't seem quite so frightening.
Back at their crash site, the dragon still slumbered. Vivian had explained, in her halting way, that the injured beast could heal slowly in its sleep, needing neither food nor water. Du Wei exhaled in relief. Good. Their meager water supply wouldn't have stretched to feed a dragon anyway.
Exhausted, Du Wei set Vivian down and collapsed, gasping for air. "Done… I'm done…" he panted, sprawled on the ground like a man on his last breath. "Back in the day, I could've carried a girl like you and another in my arms, run a kilometer without breaking a sweat. This body, though… it's just too weak."
Vivian, unceremoniously dumped onto the sand, didn't complain this time. Instead, she scrambled to her feet, eyeing Du Wei's heaving chest with concern. Suddenly, she darted to a nearby tree, plucked a broad leaf, and sat beside him, fanning him gently with it.
Du Wei caught his breath and glanced at her. "What're you doing?"
"Y-you… you l-look so t-tired," Vivian said earnestly, her big eyes sincere. "I-I'm f-fanning you."
Du Wei couldn't help but laugh. The girl was naive, maybe too naive, but her earnestness was oddly charming. "Thanks… but it's early spring, you know. It's already chilly."
He gently took the leaf from her, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he noted her flushed cheeks. "Alright, we need a fire. It'll get cold tonight, and without supplies, we can't afford to get sick. That'd be a real mess."
Sleeping near the dragon could keep them warm—its fiery nature guaranteed that—but curling up beside a massive, slumbering beast was risky. One careless roll, and they'd be flattened. Vivian might even go down in history as the first mage crushed by her own magical pet.
Du Wei gathered branches and leaves, and Vivian, with her dwindled magic, conjured a small fireball to ignite them. Holding a makeshift torch, she followed as Du Wei carried an armful of wood to the beach. There, he built a roaring bonfire, stacking the branches high to ensure the flames burned bright.
In the darkness, the fire's glow was a beacon, visible from miles away. Du Wei sighed, staring into the flames. It was their best shot. Maybe a passing ship would spot the light and send help. Maybe.
His strength spent, Du Wei flopped onto the sand, letting out a long breath.
Then… gurgle.
He froze. Another gurgle followed.
Sitting up, he shot Vivian a teasing look.
"S-sorry… m-my s-stomach," she mumbled, clutching her belly, her face reddening in the firelight. "I-I'm h-hungry."
"Me too," Du Wei admitted with a sigh. "Too bad we haven't found any critters on this island. A couple of rabbits, and we could've had a proper barbecue."
"W-what about… w-wild fruit?" Vivian ventured, hunger sharpening her wits.
Du Wei gestured at the barren surroundings. "Take a look. Any fruit trees? Berry bushes? Nothing but leaves and grass. If there was anything edible, you think I'd need you to point it out?"
"Th-then… f-fish?" Her eyes, wide and pleading, turned to the sea. "Th-there's fish in the s-sea, right?"
Du Wei shrugged. "Can you swim?"
She shook her head.
"Neither can I," he said, chuckling wryly. "We're both landlubbers. I checked the shore earlier—nothing but empty shells and conches. Unless your stomach can handle grinding down clamshells?"
"B-but… I-I'm so h-hungry," Vivian whined, her lips trembling as she gazed at him.
"No helping it now," Du Wei said. "Let's sleep. Tomorrow, I'll try fashioning a spear from a branch, see if I can catch something in the shallows. But tonight? It's too dark, and we're not drowning ourselves trying."
Vivian sighed, resigned, and settled beside him, closer than she'd meant to.
"Let's talk," Du Wei suggested, grinning. "Chatting keeps the hunger at bay. Besides, we barely know each other, and we're in this mess together now."
"H-how… do we g-get to kn-know each other?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Like…" Du Wei leaned back, gazing at the starry sky. "You're young, probably not much older than me. How'd you become a great mage? That's no small feat."
"I-I d-don't know," Vivian said softly, hugging her knees like he did. "I-I've b-been with my t-teacher since I w-was little. Th-this… this is my s-second time l-leaving home."
Du Wei glanced at her, a smile playing on his lips. "Your voice is pretty, you know—sweet, soft. If you didn't stammer, it'd be even nicer."
"S-sorry… I-I d-don't mean to," she said, blushing. "I-I've n-never been g-good at t-talking."
"The more you talk, the better you'll get," Du Wei said kindly. "Tell me about yourself. How'd you become an eighth-rank mage at your age? That's rare, even in the empire."
"Eh?" Vivian stared at him, confused.
Du Wei laughed. "I'm complimenting you, silly. At least react a little."
"Oh… s-sorry, I-I…" She fumbled, flustered.
"Little fool," Du Wei teased, shaking his head. "Outside of magic, you're clueless, aren't you?"
Patiently, he drew her out, and Vivian, haltingly, shared her story.
Vivian Yang had lived with her teacher since she could remember, studying magic in a secluded mountain retreat. She'd only left twice in her life. Her days were spent learning spells, memorizing ancient, cryptic texts, and… washing her teacher's clothes.
"Washing clothes?" Du Wei grinned. "You?"
He lifted her hand, inspecting it. "These soft little hands don't look like they've scrubbed a day in their life."
"I-I c-can!" Vivian protested, her cheeks flaming—whether from his doubt or his touch, she wasn't sure. "I-I use m-magic… a s-spell, and the c-clothes wash th-themselves."
"Like a washing machine," Du Wei mused, intrigued.
Her first trip away was to the Magic Union's headquarters in the capital, where her teacher had her take a secret assessment. He'd boasted, "Let those fools at the Union gape! Let them see the genius I've raised!" And gape they did. At fourteen, Vivian was an eighth-rank mage—a prodigy unheard of in magical history.
"That was a year ago," she said shyly. "Th-they wanted me to s-stay in the c-capital, b-but my t-teacher said n-nobody would w-wash his c-clothes, so he t-took me b-back."
Du Wei snorted. "Your teacher didn't want the Union poaching you. An eighth-rank mage your age? You're a treasure. Even the Union doesn't have many above that rank."
Vivian blinked, not fully grasping his words, but she brightened. "A-after the t-test, my t-teacher was s-so happy. He g-gave me a g-gift… Scorching Sun!"
"Your dragon?" Du Wei asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Her face lit up, glowing with pride. "That's h-him!"
Du Wei shook his head. A dragon as a gift? Her teacher was no ordinary figure.
Vivian's second journey—her current one—was to retrieve her teacher's escaped pet, a Terror Illusion Goblin. Suddenly, Du Wei's eyes gleamed. "Wait! That goblin—it's still with you, right?"
Vivian nodded, lifting her robe to reveal a small cage at her waist, the creature inside.
"My stomach's saved!" Du Wei's voice was gleeful, his eyes glinting with hunger. "Look at that thing—plump, juicy! No spices, sure, but roasted over the fire? It'll do just fine."
Vivian froze, then shrieked, "N-no! Y-you c-can't eat m-my Cheche! I-it's my t-teacher's p-pet!"
"We've been starving all day," Du Wei countered. "If we don't eat, we'll be too weak to move tomorrow. And who knows if I'll catch any fish?"
"N-no! Not Cheche!" Vivian clutched the cage tightly, shielding it. "P-please!"
Du Wei huffed. "Fine, what about your dragon? It's huge—cutting off a chunk won't kill it."
"E-eat… m-my d-dragon?" Vivian's vision swam, her voice faint.
She stared at him, horrified. Just when she'd started to think he wasn't so bad, he turned into a monster. Eating a dragon? By the gods, who even thought of such a thing?
"N-no! Not Scorching Sun! N-not Cheche!" Tears streamed down her face as she wailed, "F-Father… M-Mother…"
Du Wei sighed, relenting at the sight of her sobs. "Alright, alright. Nothing tonight. Tomorrow, I'll try for fish. But if I come up empty, we can't starve to death. If it comes to it, that goblin's on the menu."
Vivian sniffled, slightly reassured, but she silently prayed: Merciful gods, please let this fiend catch fish tomorrow… not for me, but to save Cheche. I'll skip eating… or maybe just one fish. Oh, but I'm so hungry…
Inside its cage, the trembling goblin, understanding every word, curled into a quivering ball, its tiny eyes fixed on Du Wei in terror.