Chapter Text
Pangzhi had spent much of his life wandering in the wilderness, and was much used to the howling of the wind and the aching emptiness of a forest in November. He was accustomed to the sharp crack of branches under his feet that he had never cared to quiet the sound of.
He was never one for sneaky approaches, quoting that it was a wasted effort to only be discovered in the end anyway. A straightforward approach was more his known style among his crowd, which was often what led people to believe he was obnoxious. A title that he wouldn't deny, as his rambunctious personality often did fit into such category, the only issue that he had with it was how it was assumed that obnoxiousness and stupidity went hand in hand.
He knew perfectly well when to hold his tongue, it simply wasn't often that he felt the need to do so.
Now he stood in the woods, at a loss for words as he watched the scene unfold. A hooded figure stood before his younger friend, seeming familiar, but Pangzhi couldn't see his face well enough beneath the hood to know where he had seen the man before. He exuded a dangerous aura, but somehow Pangzhi knew that the other was here for the same purpose as himself, not a threat but a saviour.
Still he stayed silent, not giving himself away yet in case he needed to jump in.
A whisper carried over, proving that this person at least knew who he was.
"Wu Xie." It sounded cautious and exhausted, and most of all a sense of relief carried over the name like a breathe.
Said person startled from his tranced state and reached for his belt, likely reaching for a weapon he would usually carry there, although Pangzhi doubted he had it with him now. The young man seemingly came to the same conclusion as his hand failed to grasp the handle, and he stared back at the man in front in a panic.
The unknown person held his hands out in a placating manner, with his palms open and on display to show a lack of weapons, and slowly approached to let the younger see his face. The angle did not allow for Pangzhi to have the same view, and he dated not move for fear of startling them both, but he could see the recognition begin to fall over Wu Xie's face, along with confusion.
"Xiaoge." He finally said, a mix of relief and disbelief in the word. "What are you doing here?" He sounded exhausted, voice barely carrying into open air.
The man, now known as Xiaoge, stayed quiet, not dropping his stance.
The younger stared a bit more, before seeming to decide he wouldn't get an answer. "Forget it, we'll talk about this later. Given that I've seen you I believe I can safely assume that you haven't been newly hired to kill me, so, do you have a vehicle?"
Xiaoge nodded with a small tilt of his head, body a little rigid.
"Let's go then." Wu Xie pushed himself from the tree, and barely took two steps forward before his eyes fluttered closed and he was falling. Xiaoge rushed forwards to catch him, maneuvering him onto his back after shuffling his sword and the backpack to hang off of his arms instead. Wu Xie did not react to the change at all, passed out cold with his head lolling on the man's shoulder.
Pangzhi watched as the man adjusted his grip one more time before looking up and walking away, making his way back towards the road. Once he had made it far enough that Pangzhi felt he could move without alerting him, he moved to follow, waiting at the edge of the treeline until the man had gently settled his young friend into the passenger seat, throwing his extra burdens into the back and driving off.
Only after the vehicle was over the hill did he himself returned to his vehicle and follow at a distance for several hours, until they came to a small town just off the highway.
He watched the small red car pull into a motel parking lot, and the man called Xiaoge went inside, returning before Pangzhi even had a chance to open his door. The man looked around as he opened the passenger door, carefully unbuckling and pulling the younger out of the car, once again he carried him on his back, and went into a room.
Pangzhi quickly got out of his car, going towards the room, but paused as the hooded man left the room once more and returned to the car, pulling the backpack and sword out of the backseat before running back slamming the door behind him. Pangzhi stared at the sword as he ran back inside, finally recognizing this man as a fellow tomb raider, and one with a high repute as a guide and protector, and also as a killer.
He steeled his nerves and reached for whatever weapon he might have in his pockets, having shoved random objects in his pockets before leaving his shop not working well in his favor as he came up with a grenade and a small lollipop candy from his right pocket, and a lonely flashlight in his left. He glanced between the objects before shoving them back in their places, grumbling at his fortunes.
Looking back up, he saw the curtains drawn in the windows of the room, and his hackles raised. Despite knowing that he himself would naturally close the blinds in a sketchy place such as this, for his own comfort and security, he still felt a sense of foreboding over it. He strode to the door and wasted no more time in banging his fist heavily against the old wood.
"Come out!" He hollered at the occupants, "come out or I will break this door open!" He heard shuffling inside the room, and a muffled cursing, but the door stayed closed.
"You think that I'm joking? Alright I'm coming through, don't be surprised!" With that he heaved his weight against the door, feeling and hearing as the old boards creaked under the burden. When the door still failed to open at the warning, he backed up a few steps, then gaged his distance and placed himself further back, before running at the door with the determination of a bull in a ring. With a splintering crash, the door burst from its hinges at the impact, and fell to the floor, exposing the scene within.
The previously hooded figure stood a few feet from a bed, sword drawn and stance ready for a fight. Behind him, the beds occupant sat up in a shock at the commotion, and processed for a moment the scene before his eyes, before a blank expression overcame his features.
"You're paying for that," Wu Xie stated monotonously before turning over and pulling the blanket over his head, fully intending to ignore both men in the room with him in favor of sleep.
Pangzhi stared in bewilderment for a second, emotion mirrored by the swordsman before him, before the man sheathed his sword and turned to face the bed, shooting a wary glance at the new arrival.
He leaned over and patted the blanket covering the youngest's head, earning a muffled growl in response.
"Wu Xie, we can't stay in this room anymore, the door's gone." Pangzhi shifted guiltily, still perplexed as to what this situation was.
"We literally sleep in tombs, this is fine." Was mumbled from beneath the comforter, and Pangzhi watched as the man's expression showed a hint of amusement, thinly masked by annoyance.
"Wu Xie, get up, we'll go somewhere else."
An unintelligible mumble was barely heard in response. The other merely hummed a small sound of assent in response, and Pangzhi was left to wonder what sort of discussion they had just exchanged without words. And then chaos happened as the tall man leaned down and simply scooped up the bundle from the bed, comforter intact, and began to leave the room as Wu Xie startled and flailed.
"Xiaoge! What are you doing?!"
Ah, so Wu Xie must know him well to call him a nickname. The thought was hardly reassuring, but he would take what comfort he could until the situation became clear.
"We're leaving." Xiaoge stated as a fact, ignoring the other's flailing.
"Ugghhh, whyyy??!" Pangzhi was tempted to laugh at this point, not having had many opportunities to see Wu Xie this tired and behaving like a child.
"Your friend broke the door. It's not safe." He remained unfazed by the childish response, only a hint of amusement showing in the quirk of his brow.
"Pangzhi!" Said person startled at finally being addressed, having easily fallen into the background of watching these two interact.
He shrugged helplessly at the glare directed his way by both boys, and he suddenly realized how ridiculous this was. He was the oldest goddamnit! "Yah! You should have opened the door first! Then I wouldn't have to break it down, you're lucky I didn't use any bombs!"
The glares did not stop at his words, and Pangzhi only felt more wronged in the end.