The wind whispered through the grass, carrying the cool scent of fresh dew. Above them, two moons, one a vibrant gold and the other a molten bronze, hung heavy in the sky. Their light poured over two bodies lying in the middle of an endless purple grassland.
Li Fong jolted upright with a sharp gasp. Her breaths came fast and uneven. Her eyes darted across the alien expanse. Two moons. Too many stars. Violet grass shifting like waves in the wind.
Then she saw him.
A'shae lay beside her, his dark skin glowing softly in the bronze moonlight. Relief washed through her. She moved to him quickly and cupped his face with cold, trembling hands as she checked every familiar detail. His soft lips. His strong jaw. The shoulder length dread locs spread across the grass. His warm brown eyes blinking up at her.
"You are awake," she said, her voice clipped but softer than usual.
A'shae gave her a small, bashful smile. "Yeah. I kinda woke up when you started playing with my lips."
Her cheeks warmed despite herself. She felt the tenderness between them threatening to surface, but this world was strange and unknown. She pulled her hands away and stood, forcing her emotions back into place.
"On your feet. We need to understand where we are."
A'shae pushed himself up and brushed purple blades from his clothes. His eyes widened as he took in the sky. "Whoa. We really got isekaied."
"Is what?" Li Fong asked without looking at him, her gaze sweeping the horizon.
"Oh. It's like a troupe in anime." A'shae said. His voice carried a hint of excitement. "You die and end up in another world. Except we...didn't die, so maybe this is transmigration?"
Li Fong frowned. She had watched anime with him before, but it was not something she cared for. "Do they ever explain how to get back home?"
A'shae turned in a slow circle, distracted by the glowing blue plants chiming softly in the wind. "Not that I remember."
Li Fong exhaled. He was drifting again. Normally his enthusiasm was endearing, but they needed to focus. They had no food, no water, and no shelter. The beauty around them could just as easily be their grave.
"Come on. We need to find a stream." She chose a direction using the position of the stars. It might not work here, but it was all she had.
A'shae followed behind her, humming lightly. "I wonder if the shop is okay." he murmured.
"Not now, A'shae." Li Fong said, her tone firm.
"But I had just finished setting up that surprise for your birthday, and since we got married-"
"Engaged." she corrected sharply. "Focus."
A'shae went quiet. Hurt flickered across his face before he lowered his eyes. "Oh. Okay."
Li Fong's steps slowed. Guilt tugged at her chest. She looked back at him, at the way he hung his head and her cold composure cracked.
She stopped and turned toward him, lifting his face gently between her palms. "Im sorry. Im just....shaken. One moment we're living our lives, and the next we're falling into a void. I want us safe before we talk about the smaller things."
A'shae's expression tightened. Something in her wording definitely didn't go across right. His voice was quiet, but edged in a way unusual for him. "You're right. I should focus. Our life before and our marriage- engagement... it is trivial."
He stepped away from her touch and walked ahead. "We can talk later. I think there's a stream up ahead."
"A'shae, I didn't mean-"
He didn't turn around.
Li Fong swallowed the ache in her chest and followed him. The faint sound of running water reached her moments later, proving him right.
They reached the edge of a shallow hill. The sound of running water grew louder, a gentle rushing hidden beneath the whisper of the wind. When they crested the rise, they saw it, a narrow stream glowing faintly with a soft lavender light. The water flowed smoothly between smooth dark stones that shimmered with veins of blue. Tiny specks of floating light drifted above the surface like fireflies, but they did not flicker. They pulsed gently, as if breathing.
A'shae stopped and stared. "Whoa...it looks like it's glowing from the inside."
Li Fong approached cautiously. She knelt and dipped her fingers into the water. It was cool, refreshing, almost soothing. But the glow made her uneasy. "Be careful. Water should not glow like this."
A'shae crouched beside her, his curiosity overcoming the quiet stiffness between them. "Maybe it's like bioluminescence. Like those beaches you wanted to visit." He reached his hand forward but hesitated, glancing at her first.
She noticed. And couldn't stop the frown from forming on her face.
"You can touch it." she said, softer this time.
He did. The water parted around his fingers, leaving trails of pale light across his skin as if marking him. A'shae exhaled in awe. "It feels... normal. Just cold."
Li Fong stood and scanned the grasslands again. The sky stretched endlessly. The stars were too bright, too sharp, arranged in patterns she did not recognize. The breeze hummed with a low note beneath its rustling, almost melodic, as if something far away was vibrating the air.
This world was alive. In a way their home was not.
She crossed her arms tightly, grounding herself. "We need to stay alert. Unknown water. Unknown terrain. Unknown everything."
A'shae nodded, but his eyes stayed on the glowing current. "Yeah... I know."
Silence settled again. Heavy. Tense.
Li Fong looked at him, really looked. His shoulders were still slightly hunched, his usually bright eyes dimmed. He tried to hide it, but the hurt from earlier lingered around him like a shadow.
Guilt twisted inside her.
"A'shae," she said quietly.
He didn't look up. "We should fill something with water while we have light." He stood and began checking his pockets, avoiding her eyes. "I think I still have that metal bottle somewhere..."
"A'shae," she repeated, deciding not to comment on how his pockets weren't nearly big enough to contain his old water bottle.
He paused but didn't turn. "We have more important things to worry about."
"That is exactly why I need you at your full strength," she said. "Not... holding things in."
He let out a breath faintly. "I'm not holding anything in."
"A'shae."
This time he faced her. The glowing stream reflected in his eyes, making them look deep as the storming sea.
"I just don't want to fight," he admitted. "Not here. Not now. I don't want to make anything worse."
Her heart tightened. Despite the situation even she as stern and grounded as she was could not ignore the distance between them, he was her partner in all things, believed in and loved her when she didn't for herself, it was only natural she couldn't leave things as they were.
Li Fong stepped closer. "I did not mean what I said. Not in that way."
He swallowed. "I know. But... you called everything trivial. Our life. The shop. Us.."
The word us hung in the air like something fragile.
"Sure this place is cool but I'm freaked out too..I just thought talking about before could help..make this easier.."
Li Fong's stomach twisted. "I only meant that survival is the priority. Not that we are unimportant." She hesitated, the next words harder for her than any physical challenge. "You are not trivial to me. Nothing about you is."
A'shae's expression softened slightly, but the tension did not fully leave his shoulders.
Before either of them could say more, a sound rose from the grasslands. A low, distant call. Not an animal cry, not a howl. Almost like a horn. The ground beneath their feet vibrated with the faintest tremor.
A'shae turned toward the noise. "What was that?"
Li Fong tensed. "Something large."
The moons shifted above them as if reacting to the sound, their light sharpening against the horizon.
And far across the grasslands, something answered with a second call, deeper this time. The purple grass rippled as though pushed by an unseen force.
Li Fong reached for A'shae's hand. For once, she did not hide the urgency. "We need to move. Now."
Without hesitation he grasped her hand and pulled her along his steps quick and rough.
The lights above the stream flickered as if warning them. The grass parted around their legs while the distant rumbling grew louder, closer.
And the world they had just awakened into seemed ready to reveal its first danger.