Rest Stop Pt. 1

Deep in the dark lake, Hai Yin was fighting something he could not see, the night was quite young, so the lake was still rather dark, and the glow of his sword did not do much. Swinging Endian a few times he cut away tentacle like things that kept continuously attaching itself to his body as he cut away at it. As Hai Yin swung Endian, cutting away the last piece of tentacle, he made a desperate dash for the surface, but just as he did, another tentacle attached itself to his ankle, plunging him deeper into the lake.

Hai Yin had been underwater for too long and it was becoming harder to hold his breath, he needed to get to the surface soon or he would surely run out of air! Just as Hai Yin swung his sword again at the tentacle holding onto his ankle, something blurred past him. A dark blurry figure seemed to have appeared beneath him, and it spun around, creating a bit of a whirlpool. After the whirlpool had dissipated, Hai Yin realized that his ankle was free and he hurriedly swam to the surface, opening his mouth just before he reached it. Once his head was out of water, gasping for air Hai Yin coughed, breathing heavily.

It took Hai Yin a few seconds for his eyes to adjust as he searched for the boat that was nowhere in sight, it must have sunk by now.

"Kang Lei!" he called out, looking around, but there was no answer. Hai Yin pulled his panicky self together, slowing down his heavy breathing. Once he had calmed down a bit, he looked around the river again.

"Kang Lei!" he called out, once more but of course there was no answer. Taking a deep breath, Hai Yin quickly submerged himself back under the river to look for Kang Lei. Pulling out his sword, Hai Yin nervously looked around, shinning his sword this way and that way, but there was still no sign of Kang Lei. Turning his body downward, Hai Yin swam deeper into the river and as he did, he saw what looked like a faint dark figure, floating just beneath him. Unsure what it was he was looking at, cautiously Hai Yin got closer and the figure still had not moved. When Hai Yin was positive it was not the creature he had been fighting with, he sheathed his sword and quickly swam toward it, grabbing the dark figure and swimming to the surface.

As Hai Yin reached the surface, he could indeed see that it was Kang Lei lying limp and unconscious. Holding Kang Lei with one arm and swimming with the other, Hai Yin struggled for quite a while to make his way to land.

When Hai Yin finally reached the riverbank, he quickly pulled himself and Kang Lei onto land.

"Kang Lei!" he called out, but the young Master was pale and unresponsive, had Hai Yin saved him too late?

"Kang Lei!" he called out again, as he quickly put his index and middle finger on Kang Lei's forehead, passing his own spirit energy while he applied moderate pressure over and over to Kang Lei's chest with the other hand.

After a while, there still had been no change and Hai Yin was in a state of panic. His eyes were watering as he continued to pass his own spirit energy and do his best to clear Kang Lei's lungs of water, what else could he do?

"Kang Lei!", he called out again as the tears in his eyes began to stream down his face and suddenly Kang Lei spat up water, coughing as he gasped for air.

"..." Hai Yin fell backwards onto his bottom as he watched with wide eyes, he was sure that Kang Lei had died! Gasping for air still, Kang Lei slowly sat up, grabbing his head that was heavy with pressure, almost drowning was not fun at all.

Kang Lei lifted his head to see Hai Yin, still in a state of shock, although he could not tell that he had been crying since they were both soaking wet.

"I told you I could not swim.", said Kang Lei with a chuckle.

"Why are you so reckless!?" Hai Yin suddenly blurted out, raising his voice.

Kang Lei suddenly furrowed his brows, "why are you upset? We are both alive, and the water ghoul is dead is it not?" Kang Lei said back. Calming himself, Hai Yin lowered his head and sighed heavily, it had most certainly been an eventful night to say the least. Helping Kang Lei up, the two young masters wobbled their way back to the inn they had stayed at the night before, the only room they had previously stayed in still available.

After a bath to warm his cold skin, Hai Yin walked into the room to see Kang Lei, his gaze fixated out of the window. There he stood, almost angelic like in a pure white robe provided by the inn until their clothes dried, his aura as pure as day.

Without making too much noise Hai Yin sat on a cushion at the table in the room, it didn't seem as though Kang Lei had noticed he had entered the room. Looking at the young master once more, Hai Yin sighed heavily. Kang Lei had been rather quiet after their ordeal with the lake, and rightly so.

"The ghoul in the lake." Kang Lei suddenly said. "Did it seem as though it appeared out of nowhere?", he said turning around to Hai Yin, his blue eyes sparkling from the glare of the moon.

Hai Yin quickly stared down at his lap, "My thoughts are the same, there were no problems on the way there."

Kang Lei came over and sat on the opposite side of the table, his brows furrowed, "someone knows we are looking for them."

"Only reason to be more careful. You mustn't be so rash when there is danger.", said Hai Yin.

Kang Lei exhaled, "Hai Yin, why is that the only thing you remember?" Kang Lei complained.

Hai Yin stared down at his lap, he had witnessed death before, but seeing Kang Lei lying there lifeless had flipped a switch in his brain. He knew that Kang Lei probably hadn't thought long enough about jumping in to save him even though he couldn't swim. Thinking of the words he had overheard clan leader Kang speak as he went to visit Kang Lei in the infirmary after the incident with the weeping woman, Hai Yin could not allow young master Kang to die believing that he was 'useless' if his life didn't serve a purpose for others. Even though he had these thoughts in his head, Hai Yin looked up at Kang Lei and simply said, "I shall teach you to swim before I return to Mount Grace."

A nervous smile suddenly broke out on Kang Lei's face as he placed a hand on the back of his head, "Hai Yin, that really isn't necessary. I promise I do not go near water that often to have a need to swim." Kang Lei rambled on while Hai Yin poured himself some water. Picking up his cup, Hai Yin took a sip, leaving the cup to cover his mouth he smirked.

After a goodnights rest, when day broke, the two left the inn in the town of Tian, making their way to the town of Gu. The town of Gu was a straight path away, more or less a day's travel depending on how fast a person walked, and with long strides the two were making good headway. Walking along that same path the two came up on a water well where other nearby travelers had stopped.

"Let us stop here for a moment.", said Hai Yin as he made his way over to the well and Kang Lei suddenly put his hand out in front of him.

What is it?", said Hai Yin as he quickly turned his head to see what Kang Lei was up to. "Hai Yin, do you see that? We are being watched.", said Kang Lei.

Hai Yin looked at the other travelers resting and saw nothing out of the ordinary, "What do you mean?", he asked. Kang Lei raised his arm to cover his mouth and leaned closer to Hai Yin, "It seems we have caught the eye of some young maidens, should we lengthen this pit stop? What is your type?" said Kang Lei. Hai Yin glanced over in the direction that Kang Lei was focused on to see there were indeed three young women flirtatious glancing from afar and Hai Yin rolled his eyes, brushing past Kang Lei to get to the well.

"Oh come on, shall we not at least try to enjoy our trip?", said Kang Lei as he chuckled, running behind Hai Yin. Young Master Hai took two gulps of water before passing the ladle to Kang Lei, the young master taking three gulps before they proceeded on the path toward the town of Gu.

The sun had grown to the highest point in the sky and was on its way to setting as the two young masters walked side by side. Young master Kang let out a soft sigh, as he kicked his legs far out in front of him as he walked, he had grown weary and was quite bored although they weren't that far from the town of Gu.

Taking a quick glance at his restless traveling companion, Hai Yin suddenly stopped walking, "I think we have traveled far enough today, let us make camp for the night." and Kang Lei nodded, following Hai Yin into the woods so that they would have more privacy while they rested.

Gathering some wood, Hai Yin and Kang Lei stopped at a spot in the woods that had a clearing, lighting the fire, the two sat resting their feet for the night. Kang Lei leaned back on his his hands, looking up at the sky, and his face lit up, "Hai Yin, the night sky reminds me of Mount Grace, we cannot see the stars this clearly in The Unholy sect."

Hai Yin sitting in the lotus position too glanced up at the sky, "What is the Unholy Sect like?", he asked.

"Nothing like Mount Grace if that's what you're wondering, but it is home." Kang Lei replied, with a chuckle. "The thing I enjoy the most is the field of night flowers; you have to come and see it sometime."

Hai Yin directed his attention from the night sky and toward Kang Lei who still had his gaze fixed upon the sky. A smirk made its way onto Hai Yin's face as he placed his hand above his heart to feel the night flower he had placed in between his robes, perhaps this little flower was lucky after all.

As the two relaxed, suddenly a scream echoed throughout the woods causing Hai Yin and Kang Lei to jump up.

"Help me!" a voice yelled, and Kang Lei took off in the direction he heard it coming from.

"Kang Lei!" Hai Yin yelled as he quickly put out the fire, darting away, trying to catch up with his altruistic companion.

"Help!" the voice called again, and Kang Lei stopped running to see a small cliff beneath him. He leaned over, squinting his eyes to see past the dark, but it was indeed futile.

"Is there someone there?", a woman's voice called from below. Quickly Hai Yin caught up to Kang Lei, his breath heavy, "What is it?", he asked.

"I think there is someone down there.", said Kang Lei.

"I am here! I fell down, please help me up!" the woman shouted. Kang Lei took a step to go down the cliff, but Hai Yin suddenly grabbed his arm and the two locked eyes for a moment.

"I will go down and get her.", said Hai Yin, as he let go of Kang Lei's arm and jumped down from the small cliff, disappearing into the darkness.

"Hai Yin!" Kang Lei called out as it had been quiet for a moment. "Hai Yin, what is happening? If you do not answer, I'll have to come down.", but as soon as he said that Hai Yin jumped up, emerging from the dark, with a woman on his back. Landing on the ground Hai Yin helped the middle-aged woman down from his back, her clothes were dirty, and she had a few bumps, scrapes and bruises, but nothing major.

"Oh, young master's I am grateful, thank you so much for your help! How should I repay you?" the woman bowed, thanking the two.

"There is no ne…", Hai Yin began to say, but Kang Lei elbowed his side, shutting him up.

"Madam, we only heard you because we were camping in the woods since there is no inn nearby, could you maybe put us up for the night?", said Kang Lei.

"Why yes of course! It is the least I could do!", said the woman making her way past the two. Hai Yin raised an eyebrow at Kang Lei and the blue-eyed young Master shrugged, smirking before grabbing Hai Yin's sleeve and pulling him along, truthfully who wanted to sleep outside?

After a short walk, the three made it to the woman's little cabin in the woods. The woman offered the two a seat at her table before she went to her small kitchen heating some water for tea and bringing over almond cookies for the two. "I hope this is enough, dinner is still cooking.", said the woman as she joined them at the table.

"It is more than enough, we are grateful.", said Hai Yin, nodding to the woman and sipping his tea, although he didn't partake in sweets that often.

The woman nodded back and looked up, catching a glance at Kang Lei's blue eyes that she hadn't noticed before. "Why young Master, you have such breath-taking eyes, where do you come from?"

"I am from a small clan; I am sure you do not know them.", said Kang Lei, stuffing a cookie into his mouth, figuring that would be the end of this conversation.

"Really? Although we are not a part of any sect, I am fairly good with names.", the woman persisted, but Hai Yin cut in.

"Madam, if you do not mind me asking, why were you out during this evening? These are dangerous woods for a woman to go for a stroll after it is dark.", said Hai Yin.

"Ah yes, they are, but I was not going for a walk. My Father, he suddenly got up and walked out of the house without any shoes. I asked him where he was going, but he wouldn't say anything, it was like he didn't even hear me calling after him. I ran to the bedroom to grab his shoes, then went out to look for him, but I could not find which direction he had went. I wandered quite far, falling off the small cliff, that's when you heard me calling for help." The two young masters eyed each other quickly, both with their brows furrowed, a man wandering out of his own house in the middle of the night certainly sounded familiar.