[April 13] [Yitian Dulong Ji] Mapping Out the Enemy Territory

[lilacfield.livejournal.com]

Title: Mapping Out the Enemy Territory
Day/Theme: April 13 - Across the bridge
Series: Yitian Dulong Ji
Characters: Zhang Wuji, Song Qingshu
Rating: G
Yitian Dulong Ji © Jin Yong, et al.


"Turtle, turtle, you're nothing but a turtle," Song Qingshu chanted. He waved expansively toward the black, glinting water. "Go on, I dare you. All the way to the other side."

Zhang Wuji put one foot on the tottering wooden planks. For a moment he could almost feel Song Qingshu's palm pressing against his back, the single, decisive shove that would send him reeling into the river. When the sensation had passed, he said quietly, "Will you go get the uncles if I should fall in?"

"Depend on it."

Knowing his cousin would not call the adults neither immediately nor in time, Zhang Wuji swung the other foot. The age-corroded planks creaked warningly. "Can they detect and rescue a person drowning in the dark, do you suppose?"

Song Qingshu's voice shifted from jeering to impatience. "If they can't, Grandfather can. That's a fact. Now hurry up."

Zhang Wuji bent his body a little forward. The creak became muffled, ominously constant. The river gurgled beneath him, a reminder that a plunge would ensure that there would be no more senseless adventures in middle of the night.

A person such as Song Qingshu was not to be driven away with mere words, not if they were from another eleven-year-old. There was no guarantee for Zhang Wuji that going along with his cousin's whims and taunts would result in him being left in peace. And yet, if he could safely reach the other side, he would be exempt from the greater part of the blame, whatever happened afterward.

He gripped the wooden railings firmly with both hands, ready to transfer his weight into his arms in the blink of an eye. This afternoon those railings had seemed newer than the planks, and he prayed soberly that they were.