Power Up, Artist Yang!

She got to meet the puppy, which was an adorable little brown dog, seeming like a similar breed to Mimi. His floppy, soft ears and a tendency to lick everything made him a hundred times cuter. Yujia practically fell in love with the puppy the moment she saw him.

Zixu got leashes made for Mimi and the puppy, giving her the leash for the puppy. Like that, the two set off on their walk.

Things began to go wrong when a rabbit appeared.

About halfway through their walk, a rabbit leapt out of the bushes, skipping across the path in front of them. It stopped, freezing right there, staring at the two dogs as if it could stay invisible if it just didn't move. 

Mimi, who Zixu claimed to be "trained", looked at Zixu, looked at Yujia, whined, and sat down. Mouth hanging open with his tongue stuck out, Mimi began to pant, staring at the rabbit with such intensity that Yujia swore that if Mimi's gaze was fire, the rabbit would be completely charred into ashes right now.

The puppy, on the other hand, completely untrained, lost it.

He began to bark madly and tug on the leash, which Yujia managed to control him with, since a puppy didn't have much strength at all. All the while, Zixu glanced back and forth, trying to figure out how to chase the rabbit away. It didn't look like it wanted to move at all. It was almost like the rabbit wanted to be eaten. Even when Zixu pretended to lunge at the rabbit, it remained as still as a rock. 

Yujia bent down, gently grabbing the puppy in an attempt to soothe him. Zixu moved over in her direction, reaching out the leash and calling out for her to temporarily hold Mimi while he chased the rabbit away. 

For some reason, Mimi took that step towards Yujia as a welcome invitation to leap on her, since in the next second, the dog jumped at her. The "attack" startled Yujia. She fell back, eyes wide, hands momentarily loosening on the leash by reflex.

And just like that, the puppy took off after the rabbit. The rabbit sprinted as well, suddenly having the guts to dash in the opposite direction.

As a result of that dash, Yujia and Zixu had no choice but to chase after the puppy. During about the half hour that Yujia had gotten to know the puppy with, she had already gone far too attached to let it just run off like that. 

Moments later, the two were stuck in a ridiculously familiar scenario. 

They caught up to the puppy. The rabbit hadn't gotten killed and ran away in time. Except, the tragic predicament was that the two of them were both stuck in the middle-of-nowhere, yet again.

Yujia's eyes circled the surroundings, and then she sighed deeply.

"We are doomed to get lost in forests, so it seems." She glanced over at Zixu, almost laughing because of how comical their situation was. "Let's not do this again, next time."

"What to do now?" Yujia paused for a second, then replied, "Remember our strategy before? We walked in the same direction instead of making turns. That led us to the river last time. This time… maybe we'll find our way back to the path before the sun sets?"

He glanced up and shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. Shall we?"

Staring at the puppy on the leash in front of her, who was innocently wagging his tail like nothing ever happened, Yujia grinned and nodded. "Let's go."

She was sure that they wouldn't get as lost as they did back then. 

Yujia began to walk ahead, taking a couple steps and looking to the distance, in hopes of catching a landmark past the trees. Distracted by the thought of how to get out of the forest faster, the one thing Yujia didn't notice was a root of an old tree, extending past the surface of the ground.

Her foot caught onto the root.

And then she tripped.

And then she fell.

Unlike what may have happened in a make-believe world, where Yu Zixu would reach forward and catch her just in time, the fall was too quick.

One second, Yujia was looking to the distance; the next second, she was face-planted into the grass and dirt.

Yujia didn't move for a few split seconds, sprawled on the ground. She could practically feel Zixu's gaze fixed on her, and she could just imagine how red her face was, even if it was pressed into the ground and she had no way of seeing herself.

"Are you alright?" he asked almost immediately, rushing in front of her.

She wanted to sink into the soil and let the earth bury her. "Don't look at me," she muttered, "This is embarrassing."

"Are you sure? I could give you a hand— "

"Just— look away for now and erase the image of me face-planting from your head," she blurted.

Rising up slowly, Yujia felt a sharp pain in her ankle. The moment she fell, she did feel a tearing sensation in that area, but she was so overcome by embarrassment that she really didn't even notice it. Only now, when she tried to move her leg, did she realize just how great the pain was.

With very awkward movements, she managed to twist herself around so that she was in a sitting position. The ankle that she probably sprained or twisted— her right one— was refusing to move at all, so it had been extremely difficult to even push herself up. 

Zixu glanced over, peeking from the turned away position he stood at.

"What just happened?" she interrogated him.

"Nothing. We were just walking and you merely took a seat to rest."

Finally cracking a smile, Yujia replied, "Nice."

She crouched up, first placing her weight on her left foot, then testing to see if she could rise with her right foot. The pain was far too much, burning the entire area of her foot with a sudden flash. Letting out an involuntary gasp, she fell back, landing back on the dirt.

At this point, Zixu dropped the act that "nothing had happened". He let go of the dogs' leash and rushed by her side, eyes darting from her face to her right foot. 

"How hard did you fall?" he muttered, holding out a hand. "Let me see your ankle."

Yujia could not care much about modesty right now. She wanted to see how her ankle looked herself. Gingerly, she took off the embroidered shoe she wore, observing the ankle. It was red, beginning to show signs of turning purple.

"That looks terrible," Zixu noted. His eyebrows were tightly knitted in concern.

"It feels terrible," she responded. Wincing, she placed the shoe back on her foot. "But— " she continued, gritting her teeth, "I think I can walk."

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Zixu repeated, "You think?" 

"Yeah, if I just… just put my weight on my left foot. And drag this one behind me."

Yujia rose up, as if to prove her point. Zixu quickly stood up by her side.

Pushing her screaming nerve fibers to the side, Yujia began to take a step with just her left foot. The moment she tried that, she knew that it was a bad idea. A bad, bad, absolutely horrible idea.

She wobbled, her step unbalanced. And then, she toppled to the side.

This time, Zixu caught her, arm around her.

She glanced at him, face scrunched up with pain. He looked back at her, lips tightly pressed into a thin line.

"You can't walk," he informed her, though she already knew this deep down inside. "Don't force yourself."

"If I don't walk, then what do we do? We have to get out of this forest somehow!" she exclaimed, hands tightly clenched by her side.

She was furious— but only at herself. She was just frustrated at herself for being clumsy enough to trip over a stupid tree root. She didn't want to be a burden. If she had just been a little more careful…

"It's not like we have zero solutions." Zixu's tense expression relaxed, eyebrows unfurling. He took a step in front of her, crouching down and holding his arms by his side. "Come on," he patted his back.

Yujia paused, realizing Zixu wanted to give her a piggyback ride. "Are you sure? I might be heavy," she said. Her eyes narrowed.

"Please." He looked back, laughing. "You look like you could be blown away by the wind. You must eat more. When we get out of this damned forest, let's have a feast."

"Alright," she muttered, "but don't feed me a thousand pastries again. No human can eat that many pastries. After that one day, I don't think I ever want to eat pastries again."

"Anything you say goes. No more pastries," he hummed. He looked back over again. "What are you waiting for? Get on."

Cautiously, Yujia took a step forward. This was the first time that she had ever gotten someone to carry her like this. She looped her arms around Zixu's neck and got on his back. He hooked his hands behind her, making sure that she was secure while gently avoiding contact with her ankle. Then, he tilted his head back.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

Letting out a small, nervous laugh, Yujia replied, "Yep."

"Let's go, then." He grinned. "Hold on tight."