OBSERVE >:)
A DRABBLE FOR YOUR TROUBLES / accepting! / @diimsum
early song dynasty, somewhere along the yangtze river
Snaking his way through the dense thicket of bamboo, Longwei’s discerning eye never remained in a single place for very long. He continuously scanned his surroundings, bracing himself for anything that might jump out from the brush and attack him. A few paces ahead of him, Jialong ran eagerly forward without a care in the world.
“Jialong! I said to stay close. You’ll hurt yourself running off like that,” he begins to shout after him, trying to avoid drawing any unwanted attention towards himself. While the last thing he wanted to do was bring a child on a scouting journey in the ruthless wilderness, Jialong had insisted on coming and as Longwei would find out, he was sadly not immune to his young brother’s persistent and surprisingly persuasive pleas. So here they were, scouting together, although Longwei was sure he was doing most of the scouting between the two of them. He had a light bounce to his step now, trying to remain within at least an arm’s length of the child he was responsible for. And sure enough, as soon as Longwei broke eye contact for just a second, Jialong was out of sight. Luckily, Longwei didn’t have to look much farther. A mere few moments later he heard a faint thud, followed by a muffled yelp. He throws all caution to the wind, and rushes out into the open to find his brother on the verge of tears, examining what appears to be a scrape on his elbow. “Oh, my little dragon…” Longwei sighs in weary relief, kneeling down in front of him to survey the injury. “This is why I told you to stay close to me. You always manage to hurt yourself when you wander off like this.” His gentle scolding is accompanied by a laugh, which perhaps lessens its impact, but that was a price he would pay later on. “Well, you’ll be alright,” he croons after giving Jialong a quick once over, “it’s not much more than a flesh wound. Besides, I’m sure it’ll take a lot more than that to stop a fierce dragon such as yourself! You take after your big brother in that way.” He gives a satisfied little hum, rising to his feet. “Now come along. You know as well as I that a journey only stops when the task at hand is complete.” Jialong is quick to try and take off again as soon as the opportunity presents itself, but Longwei quickly nips it in the bud. “Oh, no you don’t,” he hollers, swooping in and pulling his brother into his arms, nestling him right on top of his shoulders. “You’re staying right here where I can see you.” His hands secured tightly around his brother’s legs, Longwei walks along the glistening river’s bank. His eyes travel up towards his brother, and when they do, the ghost of a small but content smile can be seen lingering on his face— a true rarity for him. Although Longwei had taken on the role of protecting Jialong from harm, he realized then that in some ways, his little brother had done the same for him. At that very moment, amidst the symphony of the babbling brook and the crying ospreys, he mumbles something only he alone would hear. “My little dragon… thank you for saving me.”
