writetomyheart | [Team Three] Catharsis

Hello, team three! I've been reading lots of xianxia novels and fanfics lately, so this is uuuh kinda inspired by that. Or something. Anyway, it's just an original snippet about a young couple of female cultivators ~

Original — Rated G — 574 words — Hurt/Comfort

"We're all hopelessly lost, aren't we?"

Qiu Nianzhen winces and looks at Wang Yinyue from the corner of her eye. She looks tired, but ruefully accepting of their fate. It’s not the first time they’ve gone on a night hunt and fallen into an array maze. Their shixiong and shijie had told all the juniors to stay close together, but somehow, somewhen, they’d come across the array and, without noticing, the group had separated. Qiu Nianzhen hopes that at least their youngest shimei and shidi hadn’t been left without guidance. At least there doesn't seem to be any fierce corpses around.

“...a bit?” Qiu Nianzhen answers, and immediately cringes, eyes closed. She forces herself to take a deep breath, then exhales, trying to calm down. “Sorry—I’m sure we’re going to be fine.”

“We always are,” Wang Yinyue replies, wryly. “In the end, we always are. It just takes some time to get there.”

Qiu Nianzhen fidgets and lets out a small, dry laugh. “Yeah.”

A frown creases Wang Yinyue’s brow, and she gives Qiu Nianzhen a worried glance. “Are you okay?”

“Mm.” The sound is non-committal as she tries to get out of answering, but it is obvious that Wang Yinyue is not going to let it go.

She stops and takes hold of Qiu Nianzhen arm, tugging just enough to make her turn around. Qiu Nianzhen looks slightly down, avoiding looking at Wang Yingue’s face.

“Hey,” Wang Yinyue says, and her voice now is softer, calmer than before. “Hey, tell me what’s wrong.”

Qiu Nianzhen shudders, but keeps her lips closed and her eyes averted. Wang Yinyue sighs and, hooking a careful finger beneath Qiu Nianzhen’s chin, she forces her to raise her head. It startles Qiu Nianzhen into compliance, and their eyes meet.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Yinyue asks again.

“I—” Qiu Nianzhen starts, but then her breath hitches and tears gather in her eyes. She’s unraveling, and she doesn’t really know why. “I don’t know! I don’t know, I—” A sob catches in her throat, and when she blinks the tears start falling down her cheek, hot and embarrassing and inevitable.

“Shh.” Wang Yinyue cups Qiu Nianzhen’s cheeks with warm hands and gently wipes off the tears with her thumbs. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” she yells, now angry and scared and embarrassed, an explosive combination. The knuckles of the hand that’s holding her sword are white. “We’ve gone through worse! We’ve—I shouldn't be, there’s nothing to be—”

She makes a wordless noise of annoyance and defeat, then buries her head in the crook between Wang Yinyue’s left shoulder and neck, and then lets herself sob.

Wan Yingyue cradles her closer, a hand gently petting her hair and the other clutched around her waist, and lets Qiu Nianzhen cry. She doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but it’s enough to let her purge all those helpless feelings that have been bottling up in the last couple of hours. It’s cathartic.

“Better, now?” Wang Yinyue asks when Qiu Nianzhen’s sobs have finally stopped and her breathing has calmed down.

Qiu Nianzhen feels spent, but can’t help but chuckle. There’s no awkwardness, however. “Yeah, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Wang Yinyue says warmly, and Qiu Nianzhen feels her chest fill with warmth. “And we’ll be fine. Let’s find the way out of here.”

It's your turn, shinysylver :)