2.6

Ashes swirled among the weary feet of a young girl. She raised her satin-clad elbow, delivering a hoarse cough into her arms. She moved her arm away as blood continued to drip down from a scar on her left ring finger.

Pulling up the skirts of her gown, she pulled herself up onto a concrete platform, breathing heavily for a moment. She glanced to the side to see the bus slow down at the makeshift station.

The doors creaked open, and the bus driver gave the girl an expecting look.

"Swipe your card, my lady," Amelia says, gesturing to the platform. The girl steps onto the bus and presses her card into the slot, before she turns to the bus seats.

She started walking to the back, sitting in between two people. Her satin blue gown puffed up around her, but she paid it no mind.

"You were almost late, peaches," the woman next to her says, staring straight forward.

"I know, mom," the girl responds.

"If you were late, we wouldn't make it to Uncle Bobby's house on time," the man next to her says, gazing straight forward. The girl laughs lightly at this. "He wouldn't care. He's always late himself."

The two people next to the girl stalely laugh in unison at this, before suddenly stopping. The girl looks up from her dress and straight out in front. Out the windshield, she could see that the bus driver was driving straight towards a raging fire in a village.

"Stop the bus," she shouts. The bus driver ignored her, continuing to drive forward.

"Stop the bus!" the girl screeches, lunging out of her seat to get to the bus driver. Yet, it seems as if she couldn't reach the bus driver.

A hand clamps down on the girl's shoulder, oozing blood onto the satin. The girl whips around, but only sees a void of black around her. The world around her rattled, and a sharp pain spiked through her eyes, and-

Shi Zixin jolts awake, heart beating a mile a minute. She lifts a shaking hand to her chest, attempting to slow her breathing.

This is the 15th time in the past three weeks I've had that dream...and the rest of them were just as bad.

'Would you like to purchase something from the virtual store to soothe your nerves and help you sleep?'

Shi Zixin shakes her head, swinging her legs off the cot. 'No, if I do that, then that'll eventually become the only way I can sleep.'

I have to beat these demons on my own, even if it's my own creation.

Shi Zixin stands up and cracks her back lightly, before putting on her cloak and shoes and going outside. Sighing, a puff of cold air escapes her lips. Drawing the cloak closer to herself, her boots crunch through the snow as she heads for the edge of the camp. Nestling down, she looks up at the skyline and attempts to clear her mind.

"Who's there?!"

Shi Zixin turns around, seeing a figure in the dark and recognizing their voice.

"Your commander, Fu Junjie. What are you doing out so late?"

The figure stills, before drawing closer. The pale face of the girl looks down at Shi Zixin with pure curiosity.

"I trained a bit more. The archery stuff is kind of tricky," she says with a sheepish laugh. Shi Zixin laughs lightly.

"I understand," Shi Zixin says. Fu Junjie remains standing.

"What are you doing out, Commander Shi, if I may ask."

"It seems as if I've become an insomniac lately," the commander responds, feeling a yawn bubble in her chest. "Maybe the weight of my sins has begun to take its toll."

"I don't understand how someone like you could be sinful at all," Fu Junjie says. "You're so smart and clever, and you've done so much for Jinzhou. We're sure to win the war with you on our side!"

"But what is the cost of winning the war? Surely, being a smart or clever person won't prevent me from not feeling the guilt," Shi Zixin responds.

Even if it's all just for the goal, I still feel horrible...

"Well..." Fu Junjie trails off. "I don't know. I'll suppose we'll find out soon."

Shi Zixin gives a short nod. "We will."

=

The dreary terrors continued to ransack Shi Zixin's mind for the next week. In this time, she sat inside her tent, making plans for her troops.

Maybe insomnia isn't too bad...?

"Oi! Commander Shi! You look like shit!"

Shi Zixin turns her head to see Gang Xiabo looking up at her, concern in his beady eyes. Shi Zixin merely sighs. After their little duel, Gang Xiabo has been acting like the two are good friends. It's too hard to push him off because he acts like a freaking puppy.

"Gang..." Shi Zixin trails off, but he merely arches a caterpillar brow.

"Are you hungover? If so-"

"No, no," Shi Zixin waves him off. "I'm just tired. I haven't gotten much sleep lately, but I'm still ready to roll."

Gang Xiabo gives her another look. "You don't look so ready to roll. Do you-"

"Stop."

Gang Xiabo pauses at Shi Zixin's snappiness. She merely sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I'm merely staying up later and planning for what is to come. It's alright since I'm not at the forefront of battle," Shi Zixin says. "I'm merely doing my job."

"Alright," Gang Xiabo holds his hands up in surrender, beginning to walk away. "But don't let this consume you."

Shi Zixin merely gives him a look before walking away. To her left, the new recruits were beginning to train under Fu Junjie's watchful eye. To her right, the hustle-and-bustle of the medic tent was ongoing.

Shi Zixin poked her head inside, looking at men suffering. Each of them was on their own death bed since their cots were taken to be used for them. That way, they can't contaminate one another and the army can save on space when traveling.

"Commander Shi!" the women in the tent perk up at the sight of the commander, quickly dipping into an awkward bow.

"At ease, ladies," Shi Zixin waves them off. "Do any of you need anything?"

Four of the women remained quiet until one finally stood forward. Her silky black hair was pulled away from her face in a tight bun, a thin silver pin keeping it all together. Her face was long and handsome, with black eyes twinkling in intelligence.

"Actually, we do," she says. Her voice is deep and strong, but as smooth as a river.

"Oh? Are you new? I don't recall seeing your face here before," Shi Zixin says. The woman gives him a coy smile.

"I came here to help my brother. He sent me a letter saying how the medic tent was understaffed and that I should come over to help."

"Who's your brother?" Shi Zixin feels her brows crease. "And why did I not meet you upon you arriving?"

The other women quickly sensed how the conversation was going, so they walked away, tending to the soldiers once more.

"Because I arrived during the midst of your battle, and have been dealing with the carnage for three days," the woman responds, placing her hands on her hips. "And we have much work to do, still, so if you don't mind."

"Of course..." Shi Zixin trails off, and the woman gives him an icy look.

"Gang Meili," the woman says. Shi Zixin nods.

"Pleasure to meet you, Nurse-"

"Doctor, actually," Gang Meili says with a smile. Shi Zixin coughs.

"Well, Doctor Gang, what do you require?"

"We need more thread, it should be-"

"Do you need it right away?"

"Yes, but-"

Gang Meili stops talking as she watches Shi Zixin reach into their cloak pocket, pulling out two spools of thread.

"Will this be good enough?" Shi Zixin asks as she tosses the spools to the doctor. Gang Meili looks up in confusion.

"How..."

"I always have extra tools on me, in case of emergency," Shi Zixin informs with a wink. "I'll get those extra supplies for you, still."

Gang Meili still looked confused, but she quickly closed her jaw and gave a light cough.

"Well, thank you for this."

"It's no problem. Now, if you'll excuse me." Shi Zixin lightly bows to her before turning, walking away. Doctor Gang Meili clutched her accelerating heart, hoping he'd come back soon.

==

"Uncle Bobby, where are you?"

"Hello?"

"Uncle Bobby..."

Hands wandered down, suddenly landing on a shaking body. The moment the hands touched the body, it felt as if it were consumed in flames, and-

Shi Zixin eyes snap open, looking up to see the canvas ceiling of her tent. Releasing a shaky breath, Shi Zixin sits up once more.

The dreams about the town burning would be normal, but with everything resurfacing from the past once more...

Shi Zixin looks at her desk, mentally noting that all of her plans had been completed for this week. With a sigh, she slips on her boots and her cloak, heading outside once more.

She wandered to the edge, passing by Fu Junjie.

"Commander!" Fu Junjie greets. "Can you still not sleep?"

Shi Zixin chuckles slightly. "I suppose not."

Fu Junjie nods. "I see. I am an expert tea brewer, how about I make you some chamomile?"

Shi Zixin hesitates before sighing. "I don't have any reason to refuse."

Fu Junjie leads her commander to her tent, before throwing open the flaps. It was quite a bit smaller than Shi's, but still had room for a small table beside the cot. Shi Zixin sits down at the table while Fu Junjie does preparations.

She pulls down a small wooden box and opens up two little doors, revealing a porcelain teapot. Fu Junjie pulls out two small cups and pours the boiling hot liquid, tea already inside, into each cup.

Shi Zixin watched with cool eyes. She had seen those boxes all over, from Wang Jianjun's house to other generals' tents. It didn't seem to make any sense how they worked, but everything was a little off in each universe...

"Thank you," Shi Zixin says, taking a small sip of the chamomile tea. It was...

"Delicious, isn't it?" Fu Junjie asks cockily, sipping on her own. "I told you I was good."

Shi Zixin smiles softly. "You are."

"So, what visages have been haunting you lately?" Fu Junjie asks, setting down her cup. Shi Zixin's face falls.

"I can't quite explain it to you," Shi Zixin lies. "I don't think you'd understand. The images I see are...strange, not of this world... like all dreams are."

"I understand," Fu Junjie says. "In fact, I've been going through a similar thing."

"Oh?"

"That's why I've been training so often, to get my mind off my dreams," Fu Junjie continues, rubbing her thumb against the side of the cup. "In my dreams, I see strange faces. They start off with beautiful smiles, radiating soft and silver, like the moon. But as the dream continues...things change. Their faces become long and distorted and leering, and I seem to shrink. And...and then I..."

Fu Junjie pauses, putting her trembling hand up to her head. "And then I wake up."

She glances at Shi Zixin, giving an awkward smile. "I hope you don't discharge me for lunacy, now that you've heard my part."

Shi Zixin shakes her head. "No. Dreams are just falsehoods, created by the mind to distract us from the present. Those who believe in them are going to wind up dead."

A knowing look appears on Fu Junjie's face. "Who is affecting you so?"

The commander hesitates for a moment, before putting a hand on her chest. "My own conscious."

==

A/n:           AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

That's me screaming... OUT OF JOY!

After posting my chapter last Tuesday, I logged out of my account and went about my daily business. When I logged back on, I saw that I had met all the criteria for entering the watty's!

While I'm pretty unsure I'll win, I'm so so so grateful for this opportunity. This wouldn't be possible without all of your support. So thank you for everything!

With all of your support, I've been inspired to write more, and I've been working on new stuff as well, which may post soon ; )

If you liked this chapter, please vote, add to your library, and comment. Thank you!