༻❁༺
Yue was not a swimmer. Instead, she usually waded – in bathtubs, in the palace pools – but swimming was never a task that had crossed her radar. She knew how to do it, of course, but such distant knowledge was little help in the chaos that resulted.
Two creatures, whirling and searching amongst themselves, searching in the waters. Yue held her eyes wide to see but could not for all the bubbles and the thrashing; her long limbs reached out, becoming more frantic in their motions by the moment, until they found purchase upon a slimy surface and she flung herself onto the mud with the force of a dying thing that did not want to die just yet.
The two just lay there, she panting fiercely and he hacking up a lung. The Orchid lay her head against the earth, unable to recall exactly what it was that made her leap into the water in the first place. It had been stupid, but to remain indisposed around someone in the midst of psychosis was stupider.
He was already upon his feet, so Yue clamored onto hers, shivering and blinking and ready to take control of the situation – until she saw it. The rune, the glowing stone! Very quickly, the Empress remembered all that she had just seen. The breath was taken from her once more.
“Careful now,” she hedged, her voice serious. She made no moves to get closer, though she felt incredibly possessive over this object. It felt like it was a necessity that she bring it home, to bring good fortune upon Tianlong, but at the moment she could not. Not without an army behind her.
But the rune, it sat on a ledge. It could fall in the water once more if either of them made the slightest step. So, she would not incite his own movement by quelling any movement of her own.
The lilac irises of her eyes slipped behind her lids as she uttered a small prayer in Mandarin.
Oh great heavenly Dragon, steady and guide me,she wished aloud, hoping to be imbued with the courage of one who created worlds.
This was a time to forge.
Her eyes peeled open, and looked at the Rune, then at him. “What is it?” she asked, as he was the only other possible source of information she could find about this, at the moment. If she were going to protect her dynasty from Mythris’s internal war, then the crazy guy would have to do.
༻❁༺
