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Waiting on the steps to the Cloud Knight headquarters’ entrance is rather conspicuous, unfortunately. For anyone else, it might not be, but Dan Feng has fought long and hard to be able to have the few freedoms he has as the High Elder of the Vidyadhara. Still, even he knows that stopping people from staring and whispering about him is a lost battle.
It must look peculiar, he has to admit, someone of his stature waiting at the door, even with Yingxing at his side. But he cannot leave the newest addition to their squad to make their own way to the docks. Too much precious time lost to figure out who has sent this newest spy to complete their five-man cell.
Jing Yuan, had been the name on the papers. His most obvious connection is to the knights.
He ignores the many eyes burning into his back, the whispers always following him like the wind rustling in the trees, and focuses on the figure coming through the door. It’s a youth with a mane of white hair this time, gangly in the way only those who haven’t quite grown into their shoulders are. Dan Feng is already looking behind him — a minute more and the new addition to their team will be late — when the young man stops in front of them and bows.
"Cloud Knight Jing Yuan, at your service."
Dan Feng’s gaze snaps back to him. It can’t be. Do the higher-ups think he will be less vigilant if they send him a brat with cow eyes? Jing Yuan is only the latest in a long line of men meant to corral what will not be tamed, as if these people know how to handle Yingxing, let alone Baiheng.
As if Dan Feng would trust anyone enough, to let them into this haven of bald-faced honesty and care he’s created for himself in the middle of the violence he bought his relative freedom from the preceptors with.
"They’re sending whelps after us now?" Dan Feng looks down his nose, though it’s hard with how tall the young man is.
Jing Yuan chuckles. "A whelp? I am taller than you these days, Imbibitor Lunae. And I am far from the youngest here either."
Yingxing laughs at that and only shuts up when Dan Feng gives him the evil eye. He coughs, at least trying to hide his laughter behind his fist. Appeased, Dan Feng turns back to Jing Yuan. "Manhood takes more than height or years to grow into."
Jing Yuan’s eyes sparkle, but he inclines his head respectfully. "As you say, Imbibitor Lunae," he murmurs.
Dan Feng huffs. "We'll see. Now, follow me."
And just like that, he’s off.
"Are you trying to lose the kid?" Yingxing shouts over the noise as Dan Feng tugs at his wrist to deftly navigate through the crowd. The markets are incredibly busy at this time of day, to the point where people don’t look at who they bump into, squished together in a way that makes everyone hot and uncomfortable, biding their time until they can escape.
It is also a wonderful place to lose someone on your tail.
Dan Feng smiles over his shoulder. "And what if I were? If he can’t keep up now he certainly won’t in the chaos of battle. I heal warriors and civilians, not trainees too stupid to know where they're not wanted."
Yingxing clears his throat. "Well, I don’t think it’s working." He points up at the top of the buildings along the street.
Dan Feng frowns, trying to shield his eyes against the sun and there— damn it. There is Jing Yuan, cheerfully walking on top of the roof, waving of all things when he notices Dan Feng looking. The brat smiles and Dan Feng’s blood boils.
"He’ll regret that," he murmurs, all too aware he won’t be able to outrun Jing Yuan on the ground. Wrestling through the crowd was hard enough when he thought they had time — but they didn’t.
Jing Yuan had already been there. The clock had been ticking all along.
Dan Feng desperately tries not to feel hunted — but it is hard when it always feels like his time spent in freedom is running out.
When Jing Yuan joins them on the ground again, Baiheng’s latest starskiff is already in sight. It’s the same model as the last four she crashed — the builders have her favored design at the ready at all times by now. Jingliu is leaning against it, checking on her weapons one last time, and Baiheng is chattering away as she inspects the external starskiff systems.
When Jing Yuan sees them, he speeds up. Dan Feng stiffens, moving his hand to his spear. But before he can lift his weapon to stop the imminent attack (it is hard to aim a spear in close quarters; there are civilians around) Jing Yuan stops abruptly and moves into a bow, reminiscent of his introduction.
"This disciple greets his master!"
For a spy, he’s weirdly polite.
"…Wait, master?"
Nobody answers. Jingliu is too busy petting her apparent disciple’s head, and the whelp is just smiling and—
Dan Feng narrows his eyes, looks at that fluffy white hair and… Oh. "Of course. The gnat that used to follow Jingliu around, swinging his sword around willy-nilly. Should’ve known."
"How could you forget that hair!" Baiheng cackles as she checks the engine.
Yingxing cocks his head. "You knew him and still got so paranoid?"
Dan Feng sniffs. "While I do admit it lends him a little more credibility, that doesn’t mean he can’t be an infiltrator. In fact, it would make him the perfect candidate. And let’s be honest, Jingliu is not known for associating with the best people." He side-eyes them.
They start laughing again.
Baiheng slaps him on the shoulder, thoroughly undignified as always. "There, there, I’ll up your bet of getting rid of Jing Yuan within a day to a week."
No one understands the need for security around here.
The trip to the Xianzhou Yuque takes a couple of days, and quarters are small aboard the starskiff. They spent most of the time strategizing, Jingliu coming up with a plan of attack that is necessary but will nonetheless fall apart at first contact with the enemy. The Denizens of Abundance are unpredictable in their madness, so most of the planning consists of making them aware of what areas to protect. They don’t have a lot of intel, but what they do have is crucial.
They’re the heavy hitters. They’re being sent in for clean-up duty in the most brutal sense of the word.
Yingxing gets antsy during long flights. He takes small projects with him, but his fingers get restless and his mood is never much improved by it. He takes to polishing things excessively, and Dan Feng joins him in his corner in the main chamber of the ship just to keep an eye on Jing Yuan.
Being Jingliu’s disciple both makes him less and more likely to be a spy.
Dan Feng is waiting to see who Jing Yuan is loyal to. He makes mentions of different groups, just to see if he’ll twitch. Is it the Cloud Knights he is part of? What general does he follow? Is it the Six Commissions after all? Or, worst of all, is he in the pocket of the Preceptors?
Dan Feng watches but Jing Yuan watches back and that only makes the horror creeping up on Dan Feng grow, rising like a tidal wave.
He has bought himself relative freedom through years of careful maneuvering, creating bridges between the different peoples and ships of the Xianzhou. By swearing to protect the Xianzhou as a whole, he has escaped the yoke of the Preceptors, that narrow and lonely world he grew up in. This squad is made up of his friends.
Dan Feng has more to lose than ever before.
And by Long, does he fear losing it.
When they disembark onto the Yuque, Jingliu holds him back as the others file out, the Denizens of the Abundance already visible in the distance. The docks are crawling with them.
This is not the time for a conversation, but Jingliu’s piercing gaze halts him in his steps.
Her hand on his shoulder is freezing. "Not everyone is looking to stab you in the back, Dan Feng."
Dan Feng stiffens, his nails cutting half-moons into his palms. "You have it happen to you one too many times, and you’d be leery too."
He shoulders his way past her. Yingxing sends him a questioning look, but Dan Feng just gazes ahead, eyes on the threat.
Same as always.
Jingliu just sighs and falls into step with him.
Not even an hour has passed in the chaos of battle when Dan Feng hears Jingliu’s voice in his earpiece. "Shuhu is in the treasury. We cannot allow any artifacts to fall into his hands. I'm headed there, hold the line. Jing Yuan has command. Jingliu out."
And she’s gone. Dan Feng curses.
His hackles are up but the battle takes too much effort to go fight her decision now, they’re with their backs against the wall and where the fuck is Baiheng with air support and–
Jing Yuan’s voice in his ear. "Baiheng, air support, please. Thin them out at the back."
"Got it, boss!"
Dan Feng brings down his spear on another of the cobrakind, not waiting to watch them choke on their own blood before moving on to the next.
"Yingxing," Jing Yuan says, a sure, calm presence. Dan Feng swallows thickly, his heartbeat in his ears until it obscures whatever orders the brat is giving.
Jing Yuan’s orders make sense so far. Jingliu has trained him for this, that much is clear. But as waves and waves of the Denizens come to them, all Dan Feng can feel is dread, the walls closing in on him.
Jing Yuan knows he is a healer. He can almost hear him say it: fall back, let the others defend you. Away from his friends, back into the cage.
People have tried before. But Dan Feng knows himself, he has the combat capabilities. Even if he didn’t — people have chosen what they considered the "greater good" above him all his life. To Dan Feng, the greatest good he has ever known is his friends, and if he dies as a consequence of that, it's a better death than one in subservience, never seeing the sun; far from the fight, back into the prison made of propriety, back to the small, narrow world he grew up in. He won’t let them. He won’t let anyone.
He hacks into another enemy with a roar, sweeping their feet out from under them with his tail.
"Dan Feng."
His name, not his title. He stills, eyes on the enemy.
"Drive them towards the area Baiheng is targeting."
…What?
Something, somewhere inside of him, breaks. The tension, maybe. A little bit of the fear.
It feels like dawn breaking.
Maybe Jing Yuan isn’t out to betray him after all.
"Dan Feng?"
He smiles. "Yes, sir."
"Why are all four of you such complete idiots?!"
Not even two hours later, his smile has long disappeared as he cleans up after his stupid teammates. Jing Yuan is no different than Yingxing or Jingliu in this regard (or even Baiheng, who managed to cause an engine failure this time) — he got a nasty gash on his arm in a careless moment, and Dan Feng is sewing him up.
Jing Yuan smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I’m sorry?"
"Don’t ask me if you ought to be sorry! And fine," Dan Feng says, still high on the adrenaline from the battle. "Maybe you’re not a spy."
Jing Yuan’s eyes widen. "You thought I was what?!"
Dan Feng outright ignores his sputtering, tugging on the stitches to make sure they will hold.
The cage still looms on the horizon, an ever-present threat, a promise of what is to come. What Dan Feng knows it will always come down to in the end.
But he’ll fight it. And he may have found another person who will help him fight it off, for as long as he can.
Jing Yuan fits right in, that much is clear. Now they only need a name.
Would the High Cloud Quintet be too pretentious?