Chapter Fourteen: The Eagle's Penance
The mountain air didn't just bite; it chewed. Back in her world, Lin Wan would have been reaching for a puffer jacket and a latte, but here on this jagged stone ledge, she only had a thin hide and her own stubbornness.
She sat cross-legged, watching the man who had quite literally dropped from the heavens.
Weiwei, is he really going to make it? Lin Wan thought, her eyes tracking the shallow rise and fall of the stranger's chest. He looks like a bronze statue that someone tried to break with a hammer.
[Analysis: Host, the target Wei Xiang is currently at 15% HP. However, the Moon-shadow Lily paste you applied is neutralizing the toxin at a rate of 2% per hour. He is a High Guardian of the Eagle Tribe; his vitality is significantly higher than a standard leopard beastman. Also, may I remind you that your own stamina is low? Perhaps you should eat that granola bar you've been hoarding in your bra?]
Shut up, Weiwei. That granola bar is for emergencies, Lin Wan mused, her fingers drifting up to her neck. She traced the small, intricate leopard print rosettes. They felt slightly raised, a permanent brand of Wang's possessive nature. I wonder if Wang is losing his mind right now. He finally gets a mate and she gets snatched by a giant bird within twenty-four hours.
My life is a soap opera.
Suddenly, the "statue" moved.
Wei Xiang's eyes snapped open, golden, piercing, and filled with a momentary, wild confusion. He sat up with a suddenness that made Lin Wan yelp and scramble back, nearly tumbling off the ledge. He let out a choked grunt of agony, his hand slamming against the stone as his side flared with pain.
"You..." his voice was a sandpaper scrape. He stared at her, his gaze dropping to the leopard print on her neck. His expression shifted from pain to a bitter, dark shame.
"Little female. Why are you still here? Why didn't you run while I was unconscious?"
Lin Wan straightened her makeshift tunic, regaining her composure. "And go where, exactly? Down the cliff where the scorpions are waiting to turn me into a snack? Besides, you saved me from that ravine. I don't leave people to rot just because I can."
Wei Xiang looked at his trembling hands, then at the bandages Lin Wan had fashioned from leaves. "A female of your rank... marked by a three-stripe warrior... you have no business touching a dying rogue. You are precious. I am a failure. I snatched you to save you, and instead, I brought you to a graveyard."
"It's not a graveyard yet," Lin Wan snapped, her modern spark showing. "Stop being so dramatic. You're alive, aren't you? That means I did a good job."
Wei Xiang flinched at her bluntness. To him, her voice was like a bell, clear, strange, and full of a confidence he hadn't seen in the females of the Beast Continent. He felt a deep, crushing sense of unworthiness. He looked at her delicate features, her strange, shredded 'denim' clothes, and the fierce intelligence in her eyes.
I don't have the right to be with her, he thought darkly.
A wingless bird is no protector for a female like this. I cannot even ask for her name, let alone her favor.
"I must provide for you," he muttered, more to himself than her.
"You must stay still," Lin Wan countered. "That wound isn't fully closed."
"I am a male," Wei Xiang said, his jaw setting. "I will not let you starve while I still have breath in me."
He dragged himself to the edge. He didn't shift. . He couldn't risk the muscle expansion, but he moved with a terrifying, grounded grace, leaping across gaps that made Lin Wan's heart stop.
Weiwei, tell me he's not going to fall.
[Probability of falling: 12%. Probability of him being a stubborn idiot: 100%. Host, I suggest you look for more herbs while he's gone. Your 'Basic Herbalism' skill is currently at Level 1. If you want to unlock 'Intermediate Apothecary,' you need more practice!]
I'm not a pharmacist, Weiwei! Lin Wan grumbled, but she started scanning the rocks anyway.
When Wei Xiang returned hours later, his face was beaded with sweat and his bandage was soaked with fresh blood, but he held a large leaf bundle. Inside weren't bloody chunks of meat, but Star-mist Grapes and Sweet-core Roots.
"Eat," he said, dropping them at her feet and moving to the furthest corner of the ledge.
"You didn't hunt?" Lin Wan asked, surprised, weren't eagles supposed to eat meat, or something, ah! That's why it's good to listen diligently in class, so you don't end up embarrassing yourself in the midst of Beastmen.
"I will not risk a fight I cannot win while you are alone on this cliff," he said, his golden eyes fixed on the horizon. "And I know your kind... you prefer the sweetness of the earth over the blood of the kill."
Lin Wan looked at the fruit, then at the bruised, stoic man.