Work Text:
Wei Wuxian wakes up cold.
He wakes up cold and alone - lying on a rock in a cave.
He wakes up cold and alone, lying on a rock in a cave… and his core is gone.
He screams.
******
Wen Qing hears the screams and runs. Wei Wuxian had passed out as the core transferral was complete and she and A-Ning had been watching over him the last three days he'd slept.
And now he was screaming.
"Wei Wuxian what on earth are you doing?!" She snaps. "What's wrong with you?"
She watches as the boy - for he is a boy, maybe younger than A-Ning - backs away from him.
"Who are you? What did you do to me?"
A pit grows in her stomach and she takes a cautious step forward, as though approaching a wounded animal.
"A…" Friend? Were they friends? Hardly. But they trusted each other. "A doctor. You came to me for my help. You are a friend of my didi. A-Ning. You helped him with his archery"
She lets him put the pieces together himself, or if not, it would help her find out how far back he was missing.
"A-Ning? Wen Ning?"
His reply is hesitant but to her relief he allows her to approach.
"Yes. I am Wen Qing, a doctor. What's the last thing you remember?" She takes his wrist and focuses on her qi to check his vitals, avoiding the empty space where his core once sat.
"Indoctrination" He shifts uncomfortably. "Wen Chao… dog…"
An element of panic enters his voice and she hums.
He has blanked out one trauma with another. Interesting. She should make a note of it later…
Then she frowns. He doesn't know his sect is destroyed.
"Well you're missing quite a bit - none of it good."
It's not up to her to sugar coat anything.
********
The girl talks but the words don't make any sense.
She's no older than shijie but she reminds him more of Madam Yu.
But she says Madam Yu is dead. As well as Uncle Jiang and all his Shidi and Shimie's.
That his home was burned.
That… that Jiang Cheng had lost his core and he had sacrificed his own to ensure his stupid Shidi could lead their sect.
He stumbles to his feet. "I have… I have to go…"
"Don't be an idiot!" Wen Qing snaps at him but he ignores her, running for the exit, almost knocking over Wen Ning.
He has to find Jiang Cheng.
*****
He never makes it.