RTYY 296 - Alone Again

Even though it was already considerably late, there were still a few people in the common room, occupying some of the tables. Mostly men, Snow noticed. The majority of them with a few glasses or a jars of something on their tables, since the evening meal hour had long passed. Still, the general ambiance of the room was considerable calm, unlike some of the inns Snow remembering passing by in Weiin. People were just having a drink while talking with their companions, he concluded. There were no shouting, no cursing, now laughing like madmen.

Closing his cloak over his chest, he quickly made his way to the door. He did enjoy that quieter environment but, on the other hand, it made sneaking out unnoticed all the more difficult.

The instant he stepped outside he was immediately grateful that he had brought his cloak. Cold wind whipped his face and slipped down his neck, making him shiver.

"Ah! Here you are! Finally!" a voice greeted him, and he immediately turned back to see RyuXin holding a small fire lamp while awkwardly trying to rub his arms. Even under the week light of the lamp Snow could see that his nose was red, his pale lips shivering, and he couldn't help feeling guilty that he had made him wait for so long, out there in the cold.

"I'm sorry. I got a bit delayed."

RyuXin smiled.

"Don't fret. I'm just glad you managed to came at all." His smile widened, even though it never reached his dark eyes. "You look good. That's a relief."

Snow smiled embarrassed.

"I am sorry I couldn't send news to let you all know that I was okay. I had now idea of how to contact you."

RyuXin waved his hand nonchalantly.

"As long as you're safe. That's all that matters. Shall we go?"

Snow nodded vehemently. Go fast. Return even faster!

With another friendly smile, RyuXin started walking down the street and Snow followed him.

"Where's RimJan?" he asked, noticing the little girl's absence, and RyuXin sighed.

"She wanted to come. And she wasn't happy at all when we told her she had to stay. It's too cold for her outside. She's a bit sensitive to low temperatures."

Snow's guilt was immediately reignited at that.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to make you wait so long."

"Oh! I'm fine," RyuXin immediately replied. "Like you, I was born here, in Pon. I'm used to the cold."

Snow blinked, startled with that unexpected piece of information. And then he remembered RyuXin and RimJan telling him that they had been trying to find him since before he was even born, and that they had arrived too late to rescue him. Which obviously meant that they knew where he had been born. That in fact they were probably the only ones left alive who knew about that missing part of his life.

"RimJan said I was born in this city …?" Snow carefully asked and RyuXin nodded eagerly.

"That's right! We couldn't believe it, when RimJan told us that she'd heard your song, an that you were so close to your birth-home."

Heard his song? Was it from when he had tried to help ZaiWin reestablish his energy after all those jumps?

"I told you that we could be almost like true brothers, you and I. I was born not very far from here, to the north, closer to the mountains."

"So we're in Pon," Snow concluded. Back to Pon. Well, now that he thought about that it could only be either Pon or Sur, where Snow had lived with Sand. After all, those were the only two Provinces that shared borders with Nox. And he doubted ZaiWin would be able to jump any farther than that without succumbing from exhaustion.

RyuXin frowned.

"You didn't know that this is Pon?"

Snow blushed from embarrassment.

"I … know this city is called Seven Waters," he offered in his defense and RyuXin sighed with a sorrowful expression on his face, one that Snow could not comprehend. He didn't know exactly where they were because he had never gone to the trouble of asking. He normally didn't care about such things.

"Still, Pon seems to be an extremely blessed Province," RyuXin declared with a proud smile on his face.

Snow couldn't help staring at him in confusion. How so? Wasn't Pon an ungoverned Province? As far as he had come to understand, no Governor meant no Tien'Elhar to bless the land.

RyuXin grinned.

"Most of us were born here. I, for example, was born in a small village, near a quarry, where they tried to smash me to death under two boulders," he calmly declared as if he were talking about the weather, and Snow couldn't help staring at him in horror.

"What? Isn't that more or less what happened to all of us? What happened to you as well?"

Snow lowered his gaze.

"I … couldn't say …"

"Oh … that's right. RimJan told us. Somehow you can't remember, right?" RyuXin asked with a worried expression on his face, as if Snow were sick or something.

"You do?"

"Of course. We all do. We can never forget a single thing. Even if we want to," he added with a hint of sarcasm. "In that, unfortunately, we're all the same. The golden ones too. They can never forget a single second of torture that they are forced to endure."

Snow recalled the little girl he had seen, happily playing and jumping around the Temple, in Weiin. Except she hadn't really been there. She had been at the Palace's Temple. And he couldn't help worrying about her. She was just a child, after all. He prayed they weren't hurting her or making her suffer in any way.

"Oh, look! We're almost there! See? That house on the other side of the bridge?" RyuXin announced excitedly, and Snow glanced towards the direction he was pointing.

Dread immediately filled his heart. He was finally here, he thought. Back to the beginning. Would he really be able to remember? He wanted to know … and didn't want to know. And since when the huge construction in front of him could be called a house?!, he thought, unable to stop gaping at the sight of its imposing gates and tall walls made of black stone. The bridge led directly to the front gate, and there were no other houses around that Snow could see, since the tall walls surrounded two entire city blocks. Everything felt so unnecessarily big that Snow couldn't help comparing it to VinWei's huge home, back at Weiin.

"No one has lived there for the last sixteen years," RyuXin informed him, a wide, cold smile on his lips. "Apparently they were one of the last noble Clans of Pon.

"After the entire ruling Clan of Pon was condemned and executed for treason by the El'Dur, since Pon had become and ungoverned Province, most noble Clans left the Province as well. Of those that remained, most ended up being killed by the same people that had served them, their lands and wealth usurped.

"Apparently the Myu Clan was actually well liked by the people of Seven Waters, and they were smart enough to distribute part of their wealth amongst the most needed. I guess their ... generosity, allowed to live … That is until you came along."

Snow fisted his hands when they started shaking. He wished with all his heart that ZaiWin could be there with him. Like he had been when he had faced that horrible bedroom in Weiin. Or how he had stood right next to him when they had stopped outside the house where Sand had died. Now that he thought about that, ZaiWin had always been there every time he had been forced to relieve his darkest memories, even during his daitai training. Every time Snow had had to face his bitter past, ZaiWin had always been within hand reach, always ready to place a comforting hand on his head, or to simply whisk him away to somewhere safe. Even without saying a single words, even glaring coldly at him, he had always been like a firm, unmoving rock that Snow could hold on to in case of need. Now he was nowhere to be seen. And Snow was … alone, again.

Taking a deep breath he raised his head and strengthened his heart.

This had been his choice! He wasn't a child anymore! And besides, it wasn't as if he would never see ZaiWin again. He was actually just a few blocks away, waiting for his return. He wasn't alone at all!

RyuXin halted in front of the huge gates and took a peek at him.

"Ready?"

Snow nodded. Yes, he was ready! And he wanted to get this over with as fast as possible, so that he could return to ZaiWin's side as soon as possible.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hmm, it's kind of strange, thinking about Snow as the child of a noble Clan ... 😅