Voyage With The Pirate King

Grief is like the ocean, it comes in waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim - Vicki Harrison.

Rui Fei who had recently dealt with the possibility of losing Ji Yao not too long ago felt like his entire insides were being torn apart bereft by grief. A feeling of loneliness and anger tore at his gut as he was held down on the ground.

Struggling hard he tried to free himself but for the first time, he experienced the true difference in strength between a cub and a skilled Huishe adult.

Watching Ji Yao's body lying there all alone as sparks from the beam of light tearing through the sky rain down he felt aches and pains in his chest like it was being ripped to shreds. With a tear-stained face, his body was suddenly shrouded by a dark aura like that of his father with the whites of his eyes turning black.

The darkness in his aether spread to his aetherial veins as he struggled viciously. It was obvious he was slowly approaching a point of no return and the only person who could calm him down was lying motionless on the ground.

Afraid that his nephew would lose his mind Huishe Yue did the unthinkable. With his hand outstretched he sent forth his seraphic energy and pulled back the Nocru holding Rui Fei down. The unfortunate soul who was just following orders was flung ten feet up with his body crashing into the beaming light holding the portal open.

He could care less where that person landed as he dashed forward to grab Rui Fei and calm him down. Lucky for everyone present there was no need for that because Rui Fei's entire focus was on Ji Yao. With his trembling hands, he placed Ji Yao's head on his lap and began to frantically wipe his tears before searching for anything that could help.

"I will make them all pay for what they did but... first, first you have to wake up... please. I promise I will make them pay just, just please wake up," he said as he took out elixir after elixir looking for anything that could work miracles.

Seeing this Huishe Nan's brows furrowed with a perplexed look on his face. What was the meaning of this? He couldn't understand what was going on and when he saw his son he hadn't seen in decades plus this boy grieving like he had lost something precious his mind was in disarray.

He had heard from Qilin San while they fought that he saw a Huishe who had an unconventional relationship with his (Qilin San) grandson. Qilin San had also went on to say that their relationship was a forced one and that his grandson had fed that cub the lifeblood from his heart which meant that the Huishe cub was now a love slave to a Qilin.

At that moment he actually thought of his dearest son because Huishe Yue and Huishe Xiyue were the only Huishe that crossed over during the incident five decades ago. Thinking it was Huishe Yue he rushed over to save him afraid that his son would be killed right before he had a chance to see him again.

This explained his reaction when he saw a half-blood Qilin in close proximity to a Huishe. His order then was simple that is to kill the enemy. But who would have thought this person wasn't his son and his reaction to losing that Qilin was so extreme? As he towered over this cub he felt a wave of mixed emotions that he didn't even pay attention to Rui Fei's face.

"Fa-father....," said Huishe Yue with a lost expression, "He is your grandson. You... he... that's his lo-lover," stammered Huishe Yue not sure how to say it.

Huishe Nan's gaze shifted to Huishe Yue gazing at him with reddened eyes. He wasn't sure whether by grandson it meant that his son had found another female in the past five decades or that his little princess had fallen in love and found a nice man in this different world.

Now that he knew of the cub's identity he had to do something. It seemed the word lover had somehow skipped his ears because at this time it didn't even cross his mind. He stepped forward and said, "I can save him but I will want something in return."

It was then that Rui Fei was taken out of his trance. He wanted to tear this old man to bits but when he thought of what the man said he had to hold back his malicious thoughts. Huishe Nan could feel the malicious intent coming from the person kneeling on the ground but he ignored it.

He was the one at fault so he couldn't blame the child. His war with the Qilin and what they had done to his kids was embedded deep in his bones that he couldn't help but be impulsive.

"You did this to him so you must fix it or pay the price," replied Rui Fei with his head lowered as he rubbed Ji Yao's icy lips with his thumb.

His words were indeed true but there was no way Huishe Nan was going to agree. He wanted this grandchild of his to go home with him and if he had to resort to this method to get what he wanted then he wouldn't mind doing it.

"You are the one who doesn't want him to die so either agree to my terms or he will die here," said Huishe Nan in an authoritative tone like Rui Fei had only one option.

Huishe Yue who knew this wasn't the way to go about this softly called out, "Father...." He wanted to say we have already lost Xiyue and if he does this then they would lose her only offspring.

Huishe Nan raised his finger telling him to stay out of it thus Huishe Yue swallowed back his words. "You don't have much time. I only have a small window to save him and after that, I won't be able to... You decide what you want to do."

Rui Fei who had his head lowered this entire time finally raised his head and faced the older man with so much hatred in his eyes startling Huishe Nan. He was not only startled by the amount of hate in those eyes but the fact that his face was an exact replica of his daughter.

For a second his breath was caught in his chest as he stared at this cub his hands trembling so much that he had to clench his fist to hide his violent emotions. He wanted to ask where his little princess was but this wasn't the time to inquire yet. He wanted this cub to agree first then he would interrogate his son.

Rui Fei on the other hand retracted his gaze and looked down at Ji Yao unable to contain his feeling of despair. He brushed his thumb against Ji Yao's cheek as he closed his eyes. "I am sorry..... I am so sorry," he mumbled to himself.. He would rather Ji Yao lives even if it meant they would be forced to part ways.