Power Up, Artist Yang!

"You've gone crazy," Yujia whispered, drawing in a sharp breath. She didn't need to guess to know who Yufeng wanted to kill. Without letting go of Yufeng's arm, she continued, "Do you have any idea how ridiculous this idea is? You — you, armed with one small dagger — are trying to kill a member of the imperial family, in a camp full of soldiers that follow his every order?" 

Yufeng didn't relent. "I'm going to do it."

"You can't do it," Yujia insisted.

"How do you know?" Yufeng's eyebrow twitched upwards. "You don't know me."

Yujia admitted that she was a bit taken aback by the statement. She faltered for just a moment, her heart wincing, before ending up saying, "You and I, we've been through life and death together."

"Then consider it a favor, and let me go do what I need to do."

"I won't let you go send yourself to death's door—"

Yufeng turned away, exhaling deeply. "If you're afraid that I will drag you down, don't worry. Even if I get caught, you won't be brought into any of this. You'll be safe."

What was that supposed to mean?

Yujia let out a scoff, her lips curling up, even though it was clear by her gaze that she was anything but joyful. "Do you really think that poorly of me? If I was that selfish, on the cliff, would I have told you to let go of my hand?"

Yufeng now paused. For a moment, she didn't seem to come to an answer, and Yujia could tell by the shift of the look in her eyes that the emotions within Yufeng changed, ever-so-slightly. Yufeng looked down, muttering, "I never asked you to do that."

Hand moving down, Yujia grabbed Yufeng's hand. She repeated the words that Yufeng told her, only hours ago, on the cliff.

"If we're falling, we're falling together."

Yujia then drew in another breath before adding on, her voice slow, "I won't let you go kill him. Not because I care about my life, but I care about yours. When you told me those words on the cliff, did you not mean that you would not let me die, at the cost of your own life? That is how I feel now."

Yufeng, with her free hand, covered part of her face, squeezing her eyes shut. Both of their voices were low, but Yufeng began to speak faster now, her tone carrying a sense of urgency. "You don't understand. This is quite possibly one of the only chances I have to do this. I don't know when another opportunity like this will come again. I need to— I must—" 

"Not now." Yujia shook her head. She kept her calm, so that Yufeng would not feel further agitated. "There is still a long time ahead of us. Right now, don't rush ahead without thinking. Take things slow. And I will be here for you. You're not alone."

"Why?" Yufeng looked up now, eyes scanning over Yujia's.

It was a one-word question. It seemed simple enough. Yet with another thought, Yujia realized that Yufeng must've never heard something like this from another person. 

Although Yufeng put on the appearance of someone too straightforward for her own good, she kept more secrets than anyone. Despite all the time that Yujia had known her, she actually didn't know much about who Yufeng truly was. All these secrets… Yufeng must've had to shoulder them by herself. They weighed her down, but she never dared to tell them to anyone else. She was alone all this time, never having another person on her side.

Yujia knew what kind of answer she should give.

"Well," she pressed her lips into a smile as she answered, "I just consider us family. And I wouldn't let family face all this by themselves."

After saying this, Yujia took a glance at the soldier standing patrol on the opposite side of the camp. He was still facing away. Their hushed conversation was most likely too quiet for him to hear. But still, it wouldn't be good for him to catch a glimpse of the light reflecting off of Yufeng's blade.

"Put that away now, alright? Let's sit down and talk," Yujia gently advised. 

She nudged her head in the direction of Yufeng's dagger. Then, she looked up, catching a glimmer of something sliding down Yufeng's cheek.

Tears?

This was bad. Yujia wasn't good at dealing with crying people.

Before she could think, she ended up blurting, "Skies, don't cry." She then reached for both of Yufeng's arms. "Let's sit down, okay?" 

Yufeng followed her, sitting down, and indeed putting away her knife. She then raised a hand up, fingers grazing against the tear. Looking down at her hand, Yufeng murmured, "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me. This isn't proper—"

"If you're going to cry, I'm going to cry," Yujia declared, her expression pinched in an attempt to stop her eyes from watering.

"Why are you crying?" Yufeng now showed hints of a hesitant grin.

"I don't know!" Yujia threw her hands up. "I'm an empathetic person, alright?" She bit her lip and covered her eyes with her hand for a minute, before she was sure that she wasn't going to cry. "Let's just both calm down."

"I don't think I can go back to sleep," Yujia admitted.

She wasn't happy to hear that Yufeng wanted to go assassinate someone in such a precarious situation, but she didn't want to go back to thinking about what happened earlier today. At just the idea of recalling those memories, her heart began to race again to an uncomfortable level. The feelings of nausea from before threatened to come back.

"Neither can I," Yufeng replied. She had her legs gathered to her c.h.e.s.t as she rested her head against the tree trunk.

Yujia imagined that this made sense. Yufeng was fully prepared to commit murder just moments ago. Which person would be capable of falling asleep after that?

"Then…" Yujia began, "do you want to tell me? Why do you want to kill him so badly? What happened between… you two?" After a brief pause, she quickly added on, "Though, if you're not comfortable, you don't have to. I was just… curious."

"No," Yufeng shook her head as she replied, "it's fine. I feel like you deserve to know."

…

It all began with a nameless girl.