The boat was being blown around the narrow stream, barely making any headway towards its destination. A young, handsome man was just giving up the oar as a bad job and ducking low to enter the small cabin in which his idiotic friend lay.

Xiao was still unconscious despite having two doctors attending him night and day along with many of his friends. Even the ones who had looked down at him paid their visits out of concern. His mentors came a few times a day, often sighing and shaking his head. Cole didn't know how much good that did.

He never left Xiao's side except when he had to and he cut those times short. He didn't need to eat when Xiao was barely swallowing down anything. The first time he rescued Xiao, Xiao had chanted Bradley's name again and again. That had been some indication of his livelihood, though it got annoying in the night. This time, Xiao lied stock still.

This afternoon though, with the wind behaving like a wild beast, Xiao seemed to be doing quite well. His pulse had gradually gotten stronger. Cole had refrained himself from shaking his head at Xiao, too, because it was just like Xiao to pull something so stupid. It was also just like Xiao to wake up on a particularly bad day.

"Cole," he croaked. 

"You recognized me this time," Cole returned. He sat down next to where Xiao laid, his blood vessels visible under his translucent skin and his eyes dilated. He was still handsome though, and would return to his Mount Huai state in a few weeks. Cole doubted Xiao would be as happy as he had been though.

"What?"

Cole shook his head. Xiao wouldn't remember calling him Bradley. "Nothing. How are you doing?"

"Thirsty and feeling a headache. All the normal symptoms."

Cole resisted the urge to slap him all the way out of the boat. Instead, he helped Xiao up into a sitting position against the cabin wall. The boat shook even more violently.

"Where are we?"

A boat, you idiot. Cole glared at him. "Why?" he asked instead.

Xiao knew what he was asking. "I was allergic to - "

"Why did you do it?" Cole cut across him.

"Oh," Xiao said. He slid back down into his nest of blankets and smiled up at the ceiling, eyes closed. "I felt like being the hero."

Cole left him alone after that. Behind the slit of his eyes, Xiao peered at Cole. He was way skinnier than before and his eyes were bloodshot with fatigue. He must have tired himself out in looking out for him.

"When did you start liking me, Cole?" he asked, purposefully slurring his words.

Cole snapped his neck in the process of turning towards him. Then he calmed down when he realized that Xiao was half asleep. He thus began rambling. "At Mount Huai, the second day at the clearing. It's a cool thing really. There is this concept that a person would like another because of their humour but then come to hate it. For me, it's the entire opposite - "

"It's so like you to call yourself a rare occurrence," Xiao said, laughing lightly.

Cole smiled at him indulgently. In the yellow light of the lanterns, Xiao saw Cole as an angelic creature, with the golden hue around his frame.

They reached the temporary palace in Jonas City the day after. Xiao was told that Cole had saved him after he fainted and that they had all the criminals captured by Jonah. Once he regained consciousness, he quickly became well enough to walk, talk, and eat.

His mentors' treatment to him were not too different. Grandmaster Maguire scolded him for using such a disgusting trick while his first mentor, his mentor of nine years, told him that he was kicked out from his sect.

"Mentor!" Xiao protested.

"You knew what you did was not of the standards of Mount Huai," Grandmaster Liang said. "I can't tolerate it, no matter what your justification is."

Xiao closed his mouth and sighed. There was no arguing with his mentor about this. Him using hidden weapons and being told off was a foreshadowing to this that he should have known. Thus, he nodded, which it seemed, angered his mentor more. 

His mentor glared at him once more. "I wish you would not make any connections between us two. We are no longer mentor and disciple but strangers."

Xiao nodded again, looking anywhere but at his mentor. Don't cry, he told himself. "Yes grandmaster."

"And you're not to interact with my disciples."

Xiao jumped up. "What? Grandmaster, they are like my brothers!"

"They are not your brothers anymore" was the reply.

Xiao sat down again. "Alright."

"We are all going to see the King tomorrow, so be on good behaviour in case anyone else dies."

Xiao wanted to hit his ex-mentor but refrained. "Would you like Qiushui back?" he asked.

Grandmaster Maguire looked at the sword, newly polished, hanging by his side. He seemed to be struggling with getting back something he loved and touching something he hated. "No. I hope it serves as a reminder of doing good for the world."

"When have I - " Xiao bursted out before shutting up. He didn't have enough energy for a fight over ideologies. "Alright. I'll be off then."

He strolled across the guesthouse room and left his mentor alone in the room. He hoped for solitude but Peter, Jonah, and Stephanus crowded him. "If you have any guts, you would know what happened," Xiao said gruffly.

"We do know," Jonah said. 

"Xiao, we will keep in touch," Peter assured him.

"I'll even go around Xenon with you," Stephanus offered.

"Aren't you scared of your mentor?"

Jonah's face fell. "Don't, Xiao. He's your mentor too!"

Xiao chuckled drily. "Right. You guys be good alright. Practice diligently and stuff. And don't die on me."

Stephanus furrowed his eyebrows. "Where will you go?" he asked.

Xiao shrugged. "I'll see. Listen, Bradley's funeral will happen in two weeks in his hometown. I'll be there - "

"All of us will go," Jonah promised. "Aidan, Lucas, all of us."

Xiao smiled slightly and nodded. Then he sweeped out of the yard, the white cloak he was wearing billowing out behind him. 

On his way out, he was slapped on the back with a force so great he nearly fell face first onto the ground. "Who the - Oh hello knight Laken," Xiao greeted.

"Little brat," the old man said.

Xiao looked down, ready for some more scolding. However, the knight brought up something completely unexpected. "I live with my nephew Jacob Laken in the Forrest Village of Mount Greenston. I could teach you a few things. Come to me after the funeral."

Xiao's eyes lit up with gratitude. Somehow, he felt that Laken understood how lost he felt. "Thank you knight Laken."

"You'll need the shaping up," the old man said gruffly. "I've seen you mixing up the Lightning Sequence with Yueyang sword of Sunfall among many others."

Xiao grinned. "Thank you," he repeated.

"Run off now."

The city outskirts often had pavilions erected for people saying goodbye. Xiao didn't expect anyone to come to his goodbye party though, as he hadn't told anyone that he was leaving. He had slipped out from the guesthouse right after talking to Laken.

The sunset was purely orange tonight, with slivers of clouds spread across the firmament. There was a gentle breeze, too, fit for the journey he was about to make. It ruffled the tops of the tall grass on either side of the main road, making waves. They were as tall as he was, thus he could easily enjoy the sunlight flickering between the yellowy, greenish tips. In fact, the green tips extended on either side for as long as he could see, until it reached the edge of the world.

Xiao let himself look at the view for as long as he liked because the next time he came, the land might have been changed into precisely measured squares of farm land. Good things are short lived like that.

Finally, he drew his gaze away from swaying long grass, slender and fragrant. He looked back the way he had come and he smiled wistfully. He should have spent more time with his brothers. He had imagined talking to Rose. He had wanted to talk to George. Once upon a time he would have welcomed meeting the king properly just to figure out why exactly he deserved to be king. There was one important person he wanted to talk to ...

Footsteps sounded and a slender figure turned around the bend. He was sporting white robes, perhaps a new one, with golden embroideries on the hem. He looked more like a goddess than anything.

"Xiao!" Cole called. "Wait up!"

Xiao thus stopped and watched as Cole closed the distance. Cole and he stood right outside the pavilion, which casted half of Cole's face into the shadow. 

"The pavilion is here for a reason," Cole said slowly. "I brought you some farewell wine."

Xiao liked that he didn't ask him to turn back. He knew Cole would never do that because he didn't want to drag Xiao down. He knew Cole faced the backlash of many people. He knew that Cole had saved his life many times. "Thanks, Cole."

They didn't have any sophisticated wine goblets, so Cole handed the whole of the flask to Xiao. That was more Xiao's style anyway. Xiao downed a good deal of it. 

As he lowered the flask, his eyes met Cole's. Xiao knew what Cole was dying to ask. Cole was too thin-skinned to say it, but Xiao knew. When will I see you again? His eyes were filled with a quiet desperation that Xiao understood.

He wanted to give him an answer but he didn't have one. He wanted to tell Cole that he would go to Wen River with him but he couldn't lie. Instead, he forced himself to smile, his cheekbones protruding, eyes narrowing. "I'll still count on you to save my life, eh?" He said, bumping Cole's shoulder.

Cole reluctantly smiled. "You can count on me," he said. Xiao knew he meant it.

He downed the whole of the wine flask and then he saluted Cole one last time before walking away, his sword slung over his shoulder like a farmer would his rake. Seeing this, Cole couldn't help but smile.

As friends came and went, wars won or lost, the tall grass swayed on.