World 3.9

That night, Ru Xian dreamed that he was alone in a place surrounded by fire, he was a kid. Then he saw another kid, crying in an old burning hut, people were screaming everywhere. Ru Xian wanted to help him, but he couldn't move his feet. The child cried out loud but it was too late, the fire already ate him alive. His feet trembled, he was shocked. Ru Xian fell hugging his knees. 

Suddenly, a voice dominated the area, little Ru Xian ran and hid in the bushes, he saw how the fire swallowed the whole village with his two eyes. The voice followed him until a black shadow appeared in front of him.

"You are the curse prince, lots of lives have been sacrificed because of you, you will never escape your destiny!"

Little Ru Xian compressed himself into the bushes "G-Go a-away!!" he yelled in fear

The black shadow laughed hysterically, the kid hugged his knees more, clenching the hem of his cloth. 

"You will never find a way to save yourself! Poor curse prince! You will die in vain and all of your people will hate you!!"

And then the black shadow slowly vanished into thin air. 

Meanwhile, Wuwu can't sleep, he was wide awake. He wanted to help Ruru sleep well by hugging him, but it looks like he's the one who can't sleep right now. He was quietly staring into nothingness when he heard a groan, it was a mournful sound.

He turned around and saw the other man full of sweats, he was trembling and mumbling some words.

"Xiao..Wu"

Wuwu was stunned for a second but grabbed his senses back when Ruru pulled the hem of his robe, he clenched it.

{Oh my! I think he's having a nightmare!}

AUTHOR: That explains everything

{Should I get a pail of cold water?}

AUTHOR: Water what?

{You know, to wake him up?}

AUTHOR: Wait? What?

{Nevermind!}

Wuwu moved towards the prince and then he slowly pulled him close "Ruru" he uttered, he buried his head on his chest while rubbing his hair "Ruru...I'm here" he comforted

The male stopped murmuring, it seems like he was calming down. 

He was going to move back to his sleeping position when Ruru wrapped his arms around Wuwu's waist. He tightened the grip, letting his head rubbed on Wuwu's stomach "Don't go" he pleaded

A mischievous smile stretched Wuwu"s face, his palm went to Ruru's back "Okay, I'm not going anywhere" he said, patting his back.

Ru Xian was always rude and cold towards him, but tonight...he saw a soft side from him. Wuwu smiled deeply, he really can't imagine that one day, this short-tempered prince will cling to him like a baby. He was enjoying his happy thoughts until he remembered that Ruru was only having a nightmare and he needed someone to comfort him. Wuwu slapped his forehead in dismay, the smile on his face vanished.

'LOVE METER RAISED TO 35%'

{Oh my, please! I don't want to wake up without my head tomorrow}

AUTHOR: Idiot! You can't wake up without a head!

The next morning..

Ru Xian woke up, he was still sleepy but he needed to get up for the morning ceremony. He blinked his eyes a few times, letting himself feel his morning thoughts. Suddenly, he noticed a heavy thing on his body. He was astonished the moment he saw Wuwu hugging him so tight. He blushed in so much embarrassment, it caused his right foot to kick the body laying next to him out of the bed. 

"Argh!!"  Wuwu, who had just woke up, groaned. Trying to figure out what's wrong  with his surrounding. 

"You!!" Ru Xian stood up, raging his voice early in the morning

Wuwu, sitting on the floor frowned, feeling the pain from falling down

"Don't you dare lay your hands on me!!" Ru Xian yelled in annoyance

Wuwu felt displeased, he stood up with his chest high, he took three deep breaths "Such a shameful prince!" he exclaimed, it caused Ruru to get more irritated. His sword quickly flew onto Wuwu's neck

The male dodge the sword "Thank God! I still have my head!" he exclaimed 

Ru Xian swayed his hand on the air, pulling the sword back into his palm "How impertinence! Explain yourself!" he ordered 

The other man cleared his throat "Glad you asked for that" Wuwu fixed the wrinkled part on his hem and then he sat back on the bed, while Ru Xian was following his moves by his sword

Wuwu crossed his arms "The cold and short-tempered prince were having a bad nightmare last night, so this kind man over here, comforted him without any malicious thoughts" he said

Ruru glanced at him, blinked his eyes a few times before averting his sight away. He was hesitant at first, but he can't deny that he's really having some nightmares often. He then put away his sword.

"Humph!" Wuwu snorted, Ruru ignored him as he took the seat in front of the mirror. The prince was busy combing his hair until Wuwu said something…

"Xiao Wu...you said that" 

Ru Xian froze, he was deafen for a second. His heart beat rapidly, a sudden reaction came to his stomach like he wanted to puke. The name seemed familiar, but he can't remember anything. 

"You!!" he stood up, the chair hit the floor

The said name made him agitated and annoyed, he wanted to kick the fallen chair but he got all the strength to hold himself back. He dashed to the door "You!! Go back to the forest!...in the secret chamber!" he ordered 

Wuwu looked at him with a blank face "Wha--" it was too late to speak back, Ruru vanished into thin air without a second word

***

"What's wrong with him?"

Yang took another bite of the apple he was eating, he was walking freely on the pathway, going back to the secret chamber, just like what Ru Xian ordered, He picked the apple on his way. He was hungry the moment he woke up and sadly, Ru Xian didn't even let him taste the palace foods. 

{Did I trigger him or his memories?}

AUTHOR: You're always acting like you did nothing wrong

{But I didn't do anything wrong!}

AUTHOR: Moron! Did you lose your brain? 

{The hell is wrong with you!?}

AUTHOR: Oh! You don't have that in the first place

{Shut up!}

Wuwu spit the apple seeds one by one annoyingly before heading to the secret chamber's front door, he stopped for a second the moment he realized that the door was slightly opened. "Is there anyone inside?" he whispered to himself

{Oh? Did Ruru come earlier than me?}

Then he starts imagining Ruru standing in the kitchen, chopping some ingredients. He can even smell the warm soup inside his daydream. Wuwu suddenly felt more hungry, he could tell himself that he was drooling.

Incautiously, he opened the door very wide "Ruru? Are you there?!" he called out

No one answered him, he headed straight to the kitchen. He thought that Ruru would probably not answer him because he was always cold towards him. 

He smirked secretly, maybe Ruru was too shy to tell him to eat with him this morning so he decided to cook for him. And then they will eat together while he's complimenting the prince. 

He really likes Ruru's cooking skills, especially the way he serves the food. 

His happy face and cheerful smile vanished quickly the moment he entered the kitchen, a white transparent smoke greeted him. 

"Urghh!!!" Wuwu fell down, he collapsed the moment he smelled an unusual scent, it was invading his nostrils strongly. He covered his nose and mouth.

The scent was too powerful for him, it was like somebody set up some trap inside the chamber. Suddenly, his knees started to tremble, his whole body was shaking. He fell down completely on the floor, head down. He didn't expect that something like this would happen. 

"What is this? I can't handle the smell" he thought

Come to think of it, Ruru didn't tell him the reason why he let him stay in the palace, and one thing is he was exposed to the palace guards. Gossips are unpredictable, maybe the guards he tricked will ask for payment. They have their own mind and body, they will sabotage him the way they want.

He wanted to yell but his throat was dried up, his surroundings were becoming blurry like it was glitching. Ruru was a cold hearted prince, but he knows that he will never cross the line doing something risky like this. If he really wanted to kill Wuwu, he should have done it the first time they met.

Wuwu felt weak, he wanted to crawl outside but he can't even move his legs nor his fingers. The scent was making him numb and paralyzed. Buzzing sound echoed back to his ears, there were footsteps coming to his way, his eyelids were slowly falling.

"H-Help…" he uttered for the last time, before losing his consciousness