Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a far off fiefdom…
The lord of the land had only one child, and so everyone referred to him as the next Mobei-jun. Since the father barely appears in this story, forgive me for skipping the words "the next" for the rest of the story.
You might imagine the child would be the most cherished and protected of his father's treasures. But after his wife’s death, he lost what little interest he had in childrearing and let his brother have free reign over child keeping, only occasionally remembering to inquire after him. The brother didn’t care much for his nephew either and made the bare minimum effort to have him properly educated.
All this is to say that Mobei-jun, left free to do whatever he wanted with his time, often spent the entire day outside his home - in the town, or in the wilderness.
The young master could be notoriously violent at times, so the children in the town were warned by their terrified parents never to pick a fight or offend the little lord in any way.
Naturally, the children came to resent him and started avoiding him on sight. And so, naturally, Mobei-jun decided that it was his own decision not to associate with them.
The only kid in town that he “decided” was worth his time was Shang Qinghua, whose parents also didn't pay much attention to what he did with his time.
Shang Qinghua was a year older and two thumbs shorter than Mobei-jun. He was often running after Mobei-Jun, having sensed that this young master knew how to make the best use out of parental neglect. Mobei-jun claimed him as his underling and they spent their childhood years terrorizing the neighborhood.
Shang Qinghua wasn’t disliked around the town. When Mobei-jun wasn’t around, he played with other kids like nothing was out of ordinary. In fact, the other kids perceived him as taking one for the team, especially since it took Mobei-jun many years to grow out of the habit of pounding on the people he played with. Shang Qinghua recognized this, so when he and Mobei-jun were around other people, he put double emphasis on the pitiful attitude. Mobei-jun recognized this , and so more often than not they played by themselves, out in the wild.
Occasionally some responsible adult tried to persuade them away from each other, which made them feel all cool and rebellious and contributed significantly to Shang Qinghua's surprisingly strong sense of self-esteem.
A typical day in their childhood:
One day Mobei-jun decided that they should explore a small cave that they had found recently. Shang Qinghua thought this was a stupid idea, but he couldn't deny that it sounded just as cool as it was stupid.
At Shang Qinghua's insistence they carried a rope that had its one end tied around a tree near the entrance.
It was a scary, exciting journey even though all they did was walk inside the dark. But when they heard a mysterious sound coming from inside, Shang Qinghua screamed, immediately did a U-turn and ran all the way out. Mobei-jun had to follow him, because Shang Qinghua was the one carrying the rope.
Terrifyingly, the sound followed them out.
"Bats?" said Mobei-jun, disappointed. Bats were as common as grasshoppers in the area. He wordlessly took the end of the rope from Shang Qinghua's hands and nudged at him to go back.
"...Er, young master, let's go home?" said Shang Qinghua. He was a little embarrassed but he knew his own limits.
Mobei-jun scowled.
"There could be something else in there," argued Shang Qinghua. "Or the rope might break! What if the rope breaks!"
They both glanced at the rope, which was almost as thick as Shang Qinghua's arms.
"...It could get caught on a sharp rock or something! Or, wait, what if the tree falls down -"
Mobei-jun scoffed. “Coward.”
“I know!” shouted Shang Qinghua, frustration suddenly bubbling over the edge. He had been holding it down in a child-sized cup with great effort. “I said I didn’t want to go, from the beginning! I said it was scary!”
Mobei-jun was taken aback. He didn't know how to handle it, so he punched Shang Qinghua.
Shang Qinghua yelled. He shoved Mobei-jun to the ground. Then he became terrified, so he collapsed down to the ground and began crying in earnest.
The next day, of course, they met up again and went to a different place. That was just how they were.
This abysmal state of affairs continued for years, until the lord's brother had the idea to send the boy away for education.
The two boys shared tearful goodbyes - Shang Qinghua did, anyway. Mobei-jun refused to admit any such type of feeling on his side. He kept cool during the exchange and felt a little smug about it.
He wasn't feeling so smug after a few days in the city.
At home, he was the young lord. Now he was among many others of his stature, and he was finding that he could barely relate to any of them. It was like they had the same sets of vocabulary but different dictionaries. He didn’t share any common interests with them other than purely physical skills, and even then, he didn’t like swordfighting. (Why use sticks when you have fists?)
More than anything, Mobei-jun missed Shang Qinghua.
He missed him terribly.
Until now he hadn’t realized what a ubiquitous presence Shang Qinghua had been in his life - he had taken Shang Qinghua with him wherever he pleased to go, and nobody had cared enough to stop him unless a guest was over, so Shang Qinghua would always be next to him, constantly chattering or grumbling or whining about something or other. He had been always able to count on Shang Qinghua to have some sort of reaction to the world around them.
Now, he’d witness some dramatic scene, spot an amusing irony in the situation, and just - think about it, inside his head, or say something to thin air and feel like an idiot. He’d see a guy that he thought Shang Qinghua might dislike, and despite his efforts, an image of Shang Qinghua discreetly making a rude gesture behind the guy’s back would pop up in his head. He’d see that guy slip on icy ground, and try not to imagine the crinkle on Shang Qinghua’s nose as he’d try in vain to hold back laughter.
Mobei-jun regretted not having Shang Qinghua learn how to read and write. At least then they could have exchanged letters.
On a weak moment he commissioned a portrait, but it was difficult to convey each little particularity of Shang Qinghua’s facial expressions in words. The artist wasn’t so good at his job, either, because he’d ended up with a profile of some pouting young woman. He meant to throw it away, but the other boys all seemed to like it a lot, so he gave it to one of them and felt annoyed whenever he saw it.
By the time Mobei-jun managed to find a suitable moment to return home, he was at the point where he was missing the way Shang Qinghua would sneeze loudly inside dusty rooms.
Mobei-jun had no doubt that Shang Qinghua would have been making himself busy in town, as he always did when he wasn’t around. So it was something of a shock to see him at the Mobei manor, chattering to his uncle.
Of all people it was his uncle, the one who had sent him away. Shang Qinghua wasn’t just being a courteous servant boy either, he was energetically saying something that his uncle seemed to find amusing. Then Shang Qinghua smiled bashfully, and his uncle laughed .
They were laughing .
Upon seeing his face, Shang Qinghua froze, then gasped dramatically.
“Young master! You came back!”
“What, did you think I wouldn’t?” said Mobei-jun, his tone frosty. He grabbed Shang Qinghua by the wrist and dragged him away, ignoring his uncle’s amused taunts.
“Ow, ow, not by the wrist!” cried Shang Qinghua. He tried to undo the grip with his other hand, then when it didn’t work, started pinching the back of Mobei-jun’s hand.
Mobei-jun let go. Before he could do anything else Shang Qinghua quickly grabbed him by his hand.
“Of course I knew you’d be back!” said Shang Qinghua, indignant. He grabbed Mobei-jun’s hand with both hands. “What would happen to this place if you didn’t come back? You are the heir to his lordship!”
This was obvious. What Mobei-jun really wanted to ask was ‘How dare you come here without me? How dare you have a good time with my uncle while I’m gone?’
Mobei-jun coldly said, “Who said you could enter this house whenever you want?”
Shang Qinghua’s eyes widened - but then he pouted, instantly going back to his normal whiny self. “But, young master, you said I could go ask the kitchen for food any time! Then the kitchen girl said I could come in, and - ”
“It was not a standing invitation to come inside ,” insisted Mobei-jun. Inside he was bristling. Kitchen girl? What was she, Shang Qinghua’s friend?
He did not get to see Shang Qinghua’s smile that day.
Shang Qinghua was deeply annoyed.
Mobei-jun leaving for the city for months, that was whatever, the young master had his duties. Besides, he had his duties too, now that he was more grown up, his parents wanted him to work at the farm all the time. So that was that.
But he had been looking forward to Mobei-jun coming back.
Who knew that when the young master returned, he'd be in such a bad mood all the time?
At first, he kept making barbed remarks about what Shang Qinghua had been doing around the town while he was gone. Shang Qinghua sensed that he was annoyed about him being around the lord's manor by himself, so he started to avoid the house - but this wasn't the answer either. Because for some reason, Mobei-jun seemed determined to keep his eyes on him at all times.
No, really, at all times .
He'd be working alone, get a creepy feeling on his back, and casually turn around while panicking on the inside - and it'd be no other than Mobei-jun standing in the shadows, leisurely leaning against the wall or something.
What are you doing, watching me from the shadows like some unsavoury character? What, do you need to feel better about your life by comparison?
If you're going to watch, at least watch from up front! Give me something nice to look at!
And then there was lunch - when the young master would sit nearby and literally eat from his lunch. Talk about double taxation!
Then while Shang Qinghua was working, he'd come looking for him, occasionally making dry comments, or worse, telling him city stories. He kept telling him about the other rich young nobles at the city, most of whom sounded horrible anyway. Then he’d stare at him, clearly judging his reaction to the story. What, want to rub it in my face that I was here in my little corner plowing the dirt while you were meeting lords and ladies?
The worst part was, Shang Qinghua always started out with a fake smile, determined to listen with one ear and let everything flow away, but kept actually getting interested. He kept actually gasping or actually laughing or whatever, and Mobei-jun always looked smug.
In short, Shang Qinghua was getting real tired of Mobei-jun’s attitude, as evidenced by the constant twitchy smile he was wearing. At this rate he was going to sneak inside Mobei-jun’s carriage when he went back to the city just so he could take a look at those o-so-great city nobles himself.
The weather turned cold. It was winter.
“Why do you still have to work? The harvest is over,” said Mobei-jun in annoyance. He wanted Shang Qinghua to pay attention to him, not the haystacks.
“Even in winter, there are things to be done, young master,” said Shang Qinghua with a sigh. It wasn't like he wanted to work instead of play!
When Mobei-jun got tired of loitering around and declared he was going to ride his sled - alone - at the frozen lake, Shang Qinghua wasn't even mad. He almost felt relieved to be free of Mobei-jun and his sour mood. He worked by himself for hours until he got hungry. Mobei-jun sometimes snuck out cookies from his home, so Shang Qinghua went to the lake to beg him for some cookies. But Mobei-jun wasn't at the lake.
Now Shang Qinghua was feeling mad. Going home by himself without even saying goodbye? This was too much! What was he supposed to do, wait around forever?
He slumped down at the edge of the lake, feeling sad.
Nearby, a group of people were gossiping. Apparently a strikingly powerful ice magician of sorts had appeared at the lake. After showing off all sorts of ghastly tricks, he had glamorized one of the children into following him to the land of snow - the son of the local lord.
"What?" shouted Shang Qinghua, jumping into the middle of the group and startling them. "He went with them?"
"Child, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" said the old woman who was telling the story, petting down her chest. "Yes, the little lord was chosen by the Ice Spirit. I only wonder who's going to tell his lordship."
Forget about his lordship, what about me?
Shang Qinghua was hurt. Mobei-jun going to the city by himself was one thing, but flying into the eternally frozen land of snow and ice by himself? Why not at least ask him if he wants to go too! If Mobei-jun had gone to tour beautiful ice castles or whatever, he wanted to be there, too!
"He wasn't acting on his own volition, you ignorant child!" said the old woman. "It was the Ice Spirit! He was glamorized!"
"Ice Spirit! I've never heard anything so unbelievable in my life," said a guy next to her. "Look, it was the Snow Queen, alright? The most beautiful creature in the world! Any young man would follow her to the depths of the eternal void."
"Snow Queen, don't make me laugh -"
"When do you think he's going to come back?" interrupted Shang Qinghua sourly.
Both adults looked down at Shang Qinghua, their eyes full of pity.
"Come back? Child, this isn't a fun sleigh ride," said the old woman. "He's gone to the Land of Eternal Snow and Ice. The Ice Spirit will have him stay there until his heart freezes still."
Shang Qinghua was stunned. He looked at the other guy, who uncomfortably said, "That's just how it is, kid."
"What! Even the Snow Queen?"
"The Snow Queen likes her treasures frozen."
Shang Qinghua stared at them with wide eyes, unnerved by their easy resignation. What's more, everyone else in the group was nodding.
"He's just going to die? They're not going to look for him?"
But even as he said this, he realized - who was "they"?
When Mobei-jun as a little kid had 'left home' with Shang Qinghua to adventure in the woods for days, certainly nobody had come searching for him, not his father, not even his nice uncle.
Mobei-jun's fate was sealed.
"That's just how it is," repeated the man. "He's got nothing to do with us now. Kid, I'm sorry, but you have to forget about him."
Shang Qinghua looked around at the uncaring faces around him.
He started crying.
Little Shang Qinghua's wailing was so loud that the adults gave him apples and rice balls to make him stop. Shang Qinghua kept them in his pocket when he came home.
After dinner, he waited until his parents went to their beds, before quietly sneaking out of the house.
The ice river Luo near his hometown was called that because it carried the icy cold water from all the way up in the ice deserts - in the Land of Eternal Snow and Ice. Shang Qinghua didn't know much about finding his way in the wild, but he figured he could follow the river upstream and get to the Land of Eternal Snow and Ice, easily.
Then he'd find Mobei-jun, and they'd come back!
He tightened his bag, and started walking.