I hope this message finds you well. My name is Aziz, and I’m reaching out with a heartfelt plea to help my family find safety and reunite with our mother. 😞
The ongoing war in Gaza has torn my family apart. My mother and newborn sister are stranded in Egypt, while I, along with the rest of my sex family members, am trapped in the midst of the genocide in Gaza. We have not only been separated but have also lost our home and are enduring unimaginable hardships. 💔
Your support can make a difference. Whether by reading our story, donating, or sharing our campaign with others, you can help us reunite, find safety, and start anew. 🙏🕊
Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for your kindness, compassion, and solidarity during this difficult time. ❤🍉
Things are complicated, but the most simple of things to understand was that Xiaotian was going to live with Sanzang and Bajie for a while. Sanzang's nervous, but still finds himself reaching out to an even more nervous Wukong...
The first court date had absolutely no business looming over their heads like it did.
It was unfair, it was overbearing, and honestly? Sanzang was probably getting on Bajie’s nerves.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!”
“Honey, it’s just a plate, don’t worry. The food hadn’t even gotten onto it yet.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad about breaking it!” Sanzang protested as he grabbed a broom, “Is it something we’d need to replace? Or is-”
“It’s perfectly fine. Honestly, you become a whole different person when you worry about your loved ones!”
…
“I’m not worried for no reason… Wait, have I done this before?”
“Do you remember when Wukong had gotten sick while on our journey? He had bought a bag of peaches, but one of them had accidentally gotten infected with an illness - the farmer didn’t know, and it wasn’t a mortal illness.
“Oh, it was BAD. Back then, when he wasn’t feeling well he was a brat, but he was so unwell he couldn’t even do that. I remember trying to coax him into being bratty so I could judge how ill he was, and he just lay there like a dead fish with the nastiest fever I had ever seen. And you? Oh, you were fretting all over him. Conspiring with Wujing to make the perfect herbal remedy, tenderly wiping his forehead with every bead of sweat you spotted, hands shaking so you kept dropping things… you finally breathed normally once we managed to nab that remedy from his old master. Sifu Puti, remember him?”
“Oh, I do remember him. He had very specifically requested that we not tell Wukong that we had seen him… but was very sad about it. I still want to know what had happened between them, but I have a feeling that even mentioning him would cause Wukong to drop something like I just did.”
“For the longest time I thought Sifu Puti was his father and Wukong was a rebellious child. Like his biological father,” Bajie commented, taking the broom and dustpan from Sanzangs still shaking hands, “Go stir the broth, would you? Anyways, I dismissed that thought once I learned he literally hatched out of a rock, but maybe I wasn’t so wrong.”
“I actually looked him up one day, out of curiosity,” Sanzang said, giving the broth a light stir, “Not that I found anything about him and Wukong, and it wasn’t even about that - I had seen his name on a Celestial record about something I was researching, and I wanted to know more.”
“Tell me about him while I cook the noodles.”
Sanzang nodded as he grabbed a fresh plate from the cabinet and set it onto the table, making now three tablespaces - one for him, one for Bajie, and one for Xiaotian as he was going to be staying with them for a while.
After some legal back and forth pre-trial, it was determined that Xiaotian needed to stay within the boundaries of the City until a verdict was reached. That had frankly upset Wukong, and he had almost snapped out of his human disguise and screamed at the judge, but Sanzang had managed to calm him down by assuring him that he’d be safe with him and Bajie.
He still had to shoo him off the roof last night and make sure he went to bed, but that’s just life with a monkey.
Even immortal, highly intelligent, god monkeys.
“So, Sifu Puti runs a school!” Sanzang started, “It’s evolved since the old days into a very wonderful private school, but the whole… gimmick, I guess, is that you can spend all the time you want learning and growing there and then come back and no time will have passed in the normal world. And he’s very well learned, as most immortals like him are but he’s particularly so. While he knows just about everything regarding sciences, arts, and social skills, he specializes in Taoist teachings.
“He’s a very kind man, as you know from when we met him, and seems to just… love everyone. Many accounts from his students and contemporaries describe him as having absolutely zero ill will towards any of his students, often regarding them as his own children. I just… it makes me wonder even more what had happened between him and Wukong.”
“Well, you remember what he was like when he was just fresh out from under the mountain,” Bajie rumbled, delicately dividing the food into equal portions into bowls then adding additional ingredients and garnishes on top, “Impulsive, violent, a touch power-hungry… and that was after being tempered under the pressure for so long. Other shit happened, as you know, but Buddha had the right concept in letting him just sit and think. A good Sifu, especially one as experienced as Puti, knows when to be stern and when to nip the problem in the bud.”
“You’re saying Wukong was essentially expelled?”
“Well, yeah, but with more… emotion, I guess. There’s probably more to it than we could ever hypothesize, but yeah.”
“Hang on, did you properly pronounce ‘hypothesize’?!” Sanzang grinned.
“I did? Oh, I did!” Bajie grinned as well, “That is such a pathetically hard word to pronounce for something so useful. All these years later, and I’m finally getting it!”
“I don’t want to act like you’re a child or anything, but I’m so happy for you! Such a small victory, but I remember when you stumbled so badly over larger words I could hardly understand what you were saying!”
“Aw, thanks love! I’m glad I have someone willing to celebrate the little victories with me.”
“Ewww…” Xiaotian’s voice called out from the doorway, “This is what I walk into?! You two being GROSS?!”
He was grinning from ear to ear, that mischievous sparkle in his eye that Sanzang so adored. Wukong and Macaque were behind him, carrying a couple small suitcases full of his clothes and other things. Wukong was still grumpy looking, and Macaque looked unnervingly serene - he must be coping with this in his own way.
“Relax, Wukong,” Sanzang tried, walking up to him and gently brushing the hair out of his face, “Just think of it as we have joint custody, and we’re just watching him for a while.”
“Actually, we just got back from talking with Ao Lie,” Macaque said, “And we’re literally going to do that.”
“Huh?”
“With all our kids,” Wukong continued, “Gets them registered with the city so they have citizenship, and if something happens to either of us they still have someone to watch over them. Also, you guys live down here - the judge seemed a lot happier when Xiaotian would be associated with an actual street address.”
“Something about being able to really use the legal system to our advantage,” Xiaotian added, “I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t really know how it works. But it’ll be easier to argue our case in court and keep me out of… their hands.”
“We… probably should’ve asked you first-” Wukong said hesitantly, but Sanzang held a hand up.
“Nope, you didn’t need to ask. Of course we will, no hesitation. You’re all family. With or without joint custody, we’d do this anyway.”
“Oh, shit, does that mean we need to speed up the wedding?” Bajie asked, pulling out his phone and starting to shuffle things around.
“You’re both considered civil partners already. So no, you don’t need to do it unless you’re wanting to.”
“However,” Bajie noted, “It’ll look better to a court case.”
“I hate the legal system,” Wukong mumbled, “I hate all of this. Back when I ran my mountain when we were at our peak, none of this was an issue…”
“Huh?” Xiaotian asked, turning to look at him.
“You must’ve seen the ruins by now,” Wukong sighed, “We had a civilization before Heaven burned it down. Happy monkeys everywhere. Hell, we even had a small army.”
“So being called the Monkey King isn’t just a fun title?! You were and are literally the Monkey KING?!” Xiaotian burst out, the realization hitting him all at once.
Sanzang and Bajie already knew this. Wukong wouldn’t shut up about how he ran his mountain during his journey, before Erlang Shen burned it down. But apparently this was news to Xiaotian.
“Well, I’m not much of a King anymore,” Wukong sighed, “I don’t even know where the survivors went, and things have been so long…”
“Well, once this court case is over, we should go find them!”
“Wh-what? Bud, they’re probably dead-!”
“Or maybe they’re not! Or maybe they did die, but only after having kids! Or mayb-”
“Cool your jets there, kid,” Macaque gently interrupted, “We have bigger fish to fry, and you have food that’s about to start getting cold. Let’s move your things into your little apartment and move on, okay?”
“B-! Okay…”
“So just to review what we discussed,” Sanzang said gently, “Xiaotian is going to live with us. Part of that is we’re, as in me and Bajie, are going to get joint custody over all of your kids. That only applies to Xiaotian because of the arguments Jinqian Fuheng is making in court right now.
“Me and Bajie will reach out to Mei and see if she can help us pull the wedding together faster, because even if it’s not required for this, if something else comes up it’s better we’re prepared.
“Lastly, Xiaotian wants to go on a Monkey Hunt once this is over. But that’s on a far away back burner. A couple things: Has AO Lie found a local lawyer yet?”
“Yes,” Macaque answered, “A local attorney - he normally runs a flower shop, but his credentials are incredible. His last client said he was a force of nature in court. His name is Gang Jie.”
“Excellent. When are we going to meet with him?”
“He wants to meet with us on Thursday. We don’t know when or where…”
“Bring him here. Anytime between eleven and four.”
“Sounds good, I’ll message Ao Lie.”
“And next off, Wukong… can I talk with you?”
He gave him a half glare, the kind that warned him against berating him right now, then nodded and let him lead him into the other room.
This was Sanzang’s personal space, including a library, a couple warm couches, and a slightly rumpled daybed; with a small porch leading out into a small expanse of tenderly cared for wilderness. On that porch, a small oval mat had been rolled out and lightly pressed into the wooden slats that made up the porch.
“What is it?”
Sanzang led him over to the oval mat, gently sitting him down on one side while he sat on the other. They were facing each other, their knees almost touching.
“Can I ask you to be as honest with me as possible?”
“Alright.”
“Do you know why you’re so tense about this? I know that dealing with legal systems is always stress inducing, but this is… particularly bad.”
“I’m…” Wukong rubbed the back of his neck, “It’s complicated, but not unexplainable. First off, I just… remember when he had gotten those burns in an accident and had that breakdown? Yeah… I had seen his memories of what it was like under that family’s thumb. I’m scared that him being forced back into it is a real possibility, even if I technically can defy the law and just take him somewhere else. I don’t even want this to be a stress on his life, that he can’t go where he wants to go because of those awful, awful people. You know how much I value freedom.”
“I know you do. It’s why you were so protective of me back at my weakest time,” Sanzang nodded, then braced himself for a potentially negative reaction as he asked, “...Do you think that your really strong reaction is partially because of what happened to your people?”
Wukong froze.
But… he slowly started, “...Yeah. Yeah… I’ve never really had a chance to get past it. Even when it seemed like I had all the time in the world, I was taking on a whole different beast of severe depression. I’ve been going to therapy, Ao Lie nipping at my heels to keep me going, and something that Ruizhen said was that these things have layers, right? Even if it’s an older issue, it could be- could be buried under lots of upper layers of newer issues.”
“A bit like a lotus flower that hasn’t bloomed yet,” Sanzang noted, “Or an onion - whatever analogy makes you happier.”
“Well, some are lotus flowers and some are onions,” Wukong laughed, “This is definitely… an onion… peeling back the layers is gonna make me cry… But, well, I guess that I’ve been struggling with feelings of having things taken from me for a while, yeah?”
“Yeah, that sounds right. I’m not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I am a Bodhisattva of Merit, and I usually have a solid knack on figuring out the truth of people’s emotions. Did… did this help?”
“Talking about it? Yeah. It did,” Wukong half-smiled, “Anything else that you, in your wisdom, think we should talk about while we’re here?”
“I…” Sanzang shuffled.
This could go sour very quickly, even though he knew that Wukong had relaxed into telling him things.
But well, if not now then when?”
“I learned something about you a while ago…”
“Hm?”
“It’s not something you’ve ever discussed, and so I determined that it wasn’t something to just spring on you. And you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to or can’t!”
“...This is about Sifu Puti, isn’t it?”
…
“Yeah, you had made the right choice not to ask about that before,” Wukong sighed.
Sanzang couldn’t tell if his voice was bitter, cross, or sad. He immediately started formulating ways to deescalate the situation, things he could say or do to prevent something from happening…
“I wasn’t allowed to talk about it,” Wukong said bluntly, “And even though I could technically talk about it now I don’t want to. But I’ll suffice to say that it had been one hundred percent my fault, no matter what version of the story you might come up with or hear about. I don’t know how Sifu feels about me, and I’m definitely not going to even try to break out of that Iron Maiden of guilt to find out.”
“...Alright. I won’t make you. But… if you ever need me-”
“I know you’re here for me. I do,” He was trying to keep the sharpness out of his voice, Sanzang could hear it, “But don’t ask me about that again.”
With the whole court case going on, one of the few ways Xiaotian and Red Son get to go on a date is with another couple. In this case? Wukong and Macaque have kindly volunteered to go with them! As awkward as that may sound, they found a way to make it incredibly enjoyable for the whole group. But while they were out, they happen to run into yet another one of Xiaotian's old family members...
Jinqian Fuheng was a bitch before, is a bitch now, and will always be a bitch.
Nothing of what she’s done surprised Xiaotian. She’s always been after him, either to drag him down or to try and mold him into what she thought he should be, and his “parents” had always encouraged it. Something, something ‘you have to break the clay down before you can mold it’, ‘learning how to respect your elders’ excuses, excuses, blah blah blah.
He still heard each of the individual pencils snap as she crushed their colorful wood under her fingers, the sweet loving messages about him being a ‘SuperStar’ and an ‘A+ student’ and a ‘Wonderful Friend’ being burned away in the fire. It had been one of the rare times his ‘mother’ had stood up for him, and had allowed him to keep the black pencil that read ‘Intellectual’ in silver letters. But all the other ones were gone forever, crushing his seven year old soul who had worked hard in getting the top reading score to earn those.
The bar was really against the dirt for being an acceptable grandmother to Xiaotian, and there she was - limbo dancing with the devil.
Of course she would try and claim that he needed to be taken into police custody due to an unstable mind. Of course she would try and berate the officers for not taking action, saying it was ‘for his own good’. Of COURSE Ao Lie had to counter-bribe the court into dropping it… not that he actually paid them; he just exposed them for accepting bribes in the first place, had it hit national news, and all the strange unethical demands just disappeared.
Better safe than sorry, though - Xiaotian wasn’t allowed in public alone anymore, and not without a court-approved escort. You see, the Court may have stopped their bullshit, but the cops haven’t. They’d happily arrest him on the excuse of a ‘roaming schizophrenic’ even with another adult to watch out for him… even though he wasn’t schizophrenic.
“So I just have to wear this while I’m out with you?” Red Son asked, eyeing the brightly colored wristband with slight distaste. Xiaotian understood why - it had the words ‘COURT ESCORT: DO NOT ARREST COMPANION(s)’ written in bolded letters against a neon pink background, which was not an attractive fashion statement.
“I mean, it can’t be worse than mine,” He said, holding up his own. His was the same neon pink, but much thicker and instead read: ‘PROTECTED PERSON: DO NOT ARREST’ along with some legal warnings about what would happen to a police officer if they did try to arrest him (which were not pretty and entirely non-negotiable).
“Fair enough,” Red Son nodded, “Geez, this bitch is really trying to destroy your life, isn’t she?”
“She’s always tried to destroy my life,” He sighed, “This is unwanted, but not surprising.”
“And of course,” Wukong sighed, holding up his own, “We all have one. But if I’m going to be completely honest, even if this wasn’t legally mandated, I’d be insisting that Xiaotian doesn’t go out without some heavy observation from two or more people. The Jinqian family has happily broken serious human rights laws in the past, and they’ll happily do it again.”
“...So this isn’t going to be a normal date, isn’t it?” Red sighed.
“Nope!” Macaque said brightly, “You’re going on a double date with us!”
“Wait what?! W-we’re not children! We don’t need to be escorted!”
“You’re right, you don’t need to be escorted while dating,” He answered just as brightly, “Or we’d have insisted on being a part of this long ago. It’s Xiaotian that needs to be escorted everywhere, and if shit hits the fan we don’t want you and him being alone to fight it off. Yes, even as a powerful pyrokinetic fighter you are.”
“Bu-but I can’t jus- I can’t just like, be romantic with him while a-around y-you…” He blushed furiously, “You’re his PARENTS…”
“That’s why I’m making this a game,” Wukong smirked.
“You’re what.”
“Whoever can embarrass their significant other more with flirting, ear-whispering, and-or cheesy pick-up lines wins! And said winner doesn’t have to pay for any part of the meal at the end of it. Second place pays for dessert, third pays for appetizers, and fourth pays for the actual dishes.”
“Oh, so it’s married love versus young love, is it?” Xiaotian smirked back, “You think a couple of oldies like you can go toe-to-toe with the youth of the day?”
“You say that like you little kids know anything about really getting under your partner’s skin and making them blush,” Macaque challenged him, “I mean, with the way your boyfriend’s acting I have a feeling he’s aiming for fourth place.”
“Exc-excuse me!?” Red Son burst out, “You two haven’t been married as long as my parents have been, and I’ve picked up a thing or two by observing their relationship! I’ll show you ‘embarrassing romance’!”
“Then do it, punk,” Macaque winked.
“Alright, alright,” Wukong interrupted, “I know I started this, but the game doesn’t start until we get out into public. So start marinating in it, and make sure that it’s actually romantic so it’s not just embarrassing. If any of you genuinely make me regret leaving the house with you, you’re all dead to me.”
“Yes, Baba.” “I’m wonderful to be around, so that will not be an issue.” “Yes Daddy~...”
Everyone stared at Macaque, who was giving Wukong a massive shit-eating grin. Wukong was blushing so furiously he was the same color as the phoenix feathers on his iconic cap.
“That. Doesn’t. Count,” Wukong squeaked out through gritted teeth, “Because we aren’t in public yet.”
“I know, I just wanted to see you squirm,” Macaque gave him a winning grin.
Oh. THIS was going to be funny…
<><><><><>
The waiter found their request for the three-way bill to be strange, but had rolled with it.
It was clear they didn’t regret it, however, because they were just as entertained as they were at their antics.
Wukong kept track of the scores on a napkin, ranking each moment of embarrassment on a scale of one through ten, and whoever ended up with the highest number (regardless of their other numbers) was going to win.
So far? Macaque was in the lead with a solid 7.5, with Red just behind him at a 7, Wukong frustratingly hovering at a 6, and Xiaotian only at a 3.
And they were already on dessert.
The others were distracted with talking about the latest drama in the Dragon King’s family, leaving only Xiaotian to mull over what his next move was going to be.
“And get this - the big person protesting it? Is Ao Guang!”
“AO GUANG?!” Macaque nearly shouted, dropping his voice to a whisper at the last second.
“You heard me, Ao Guang himself!” Wukong confirmed, “He’s actually protesting the restraining order because he’s legitimately scared of Nezha!”
“Ohhh, that’s so incriminating! Ao Guang’s been hitting the ‘I’m now a good guy’ PR angle for the past few centuries, convincing all of Heaven that he’s put his ~violent ways~ behind him, trying to do shit like have his son make up with Nezha as a peace offering. And now, all of the sudden our lotus boy gets a chance to get away from that coward, Li Jing, he’s PROTESTING it?!”
“It’s not just that,” Red Son continued, “I was THERE when Nezha and Ao Bing were reconciling their issues! They had invited me and several other youth to participate - y’know, not literally teenagers but children enough - to ‘expand Nezha’s friend group’ because Li Jing still wanted to control his life, and Ao Guang openly admitted during the meeting that he thought Li Jing should back off.”
“Insane. In-fucking-sane,” Macaque shook his head, “Anyways, what are our theories as to what Ao Guang is hiding this time? I mean, at first it was child sacrifices, then it was kidnapping water spirit dragons to try and take over the whole ocean, so what now?”
“Maybe he’s the asshole behind the Muslim concentration camps,” Red Son tried, “Mother always said he was a racist little bitch, not in those exact words, and that sounds like something he would do.”
“No, we’ve already confirmed it was ~another disgusting family~ that was doing that,” Wukong shook his head, “My money is on having stolen Heavenly artifacts and not wanting to have Nezha sniff him out. The kid’s got a nose for whatever trouble Ao Guang tries to cause, and I think that Heaven is going to recruit him as a dragon buster for that very cause.”
“Maybe you should take the staff back for a little while,” Xiaotian pitched his two cents in, “And go hit him over the head with it. Remind him that with Nezha on his case or not that he’s got other enemies that’ll happily tear him up.”
“Or maybe you should keep it and do it for me,” he suggested, “After all, you’re the one that’s going to connect it square across his skull if push comes to shove, not me.”
“I’m personally a big fan of your staff~” Red Son mumbled in his ear, still loud enough that the others could hear it, “Maybe you should hit me with it sometime… repeatedly… from a particular angle…”
Oh God DAMMIT-
Xiaotian felt himself turn bright red, and felt himself cringe in embarrassment as both (both!) of his parents burst out laughing.
“Finally, a good fucking boyfriend for my son,” Macaque snickered, “Only the highest quality boys ask to get pegged, y’know? He’s a keeper.”
“And that’s an 8 for Red,” Wukong updated them, “I just got bumped down to paying for dessert, huh? Unless someone can do better…”
Unless someone can do better…
“Y’know, honey,” Xiaotian started slowly, leaning over to whisper in Red’s ear so only he could hear, “That’s sweet of you to offer to bend over for me, but I’d be a bigger fan if you’d take my cock down your throat when I tell you to. Just like a good boy, hm~?”
It was definitely the most scandalous thing said at the table, which is why he made it just between them as much as possible. But one twitch from Macaque’s ear and he knew that he had caught everything.
I mean, the water being spat out of his mouth was enough evidence, too.
“Excuse me?!” He gasped, “WHAT was that?!”
“Whatever it was, that’s definitely a 10/10,” Wukong said, his eyes wide.
Red Son’s face was a darker red than his hair, his eyes were wide and his hands covered his mouth, and his leg had started bouncing like crazy.
“Did you- did you not catch what he said?!” Macaque stammered, and Wukong shook his head.
Much to Xiaotian’s looming regret, his Fuqin leaned over to his Baba and whispered what he had said in his ear.
And Wukong promptly died of laughter.
“Xiaotian wins, Xiaotian wins!” He gasped, crying with laughter, “No more, no more! I can’t take it after that! Oh my gosh, that’s the funniest shit I’ve ever seen… ahahahahaha-!”
Red Son embarrassed, Fuqin scandalized, Baba laughing his ass off... Xiaotian could only think of one thing to say.
“So, I guess I can say that I left my debit card home, now?”
<><><><><>
No wonder Xiaotian and Red Son often wandered throughout the city park. It was much nicer than he thought it would be. It was no Flowerfruit Mountain, but it made most other city park’s pale in comparison.
Wukong was curled up on a park bench next to Macaque, letting him gently massage his hip as he held him close. They were watching Xiaotian and Red go on a walk, swinging their hands as they talked, giggling and laughing the night away.
They were going to have to go soon, but quite frankly?
Once the court case started going, they wouldn’t have time for things like this. Sure, they might be able to take an hour or two to grab some food or watch a movie, but there was no way they’d be able to take literal hours like this and just… wander.
It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair at all.
That pathetic excuse for a grandmother, Fuheng, knew this wasn’t fair. But the Jinqian family never cared about fairness. They cared about getting what they wanted. And what they wanted was to discredit Xiaotian, abuse him until he’s a vegetable and can’t stand up for himself, and let the world burn under their feet.
He wasn’t going to let that happen.
“Wukong…” Macaque gently nudged him, and guided his eyes to a figure, a man, hovering next to a street lamp. He explained, “He’s been staring at our boy the whole time…”
“Xiaotian, Red,” Wukong called out without thinking, “Come here, would you?”
“Comin’,” He answered, and they hurried their way over, “What’s up?”
“We ought to get going-”
“Hold on,” Another voice said, and the man suddenly hurried up to them.
Wukong stood up instantly and placed himself between the man and Xiaotian.
“H-hang on,” He stammered, backing away slightly, “I’m not- I’m not trying to hurt you or anything! I just wasn’t sure if I recognized the shorter one…” He pointed at Xiaotian.
Xiaotian squinted at him, and everyone stared with baited breath.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“W-well, it’s Kai Taijun currently, b-but if you’re who I think you are, you’d call me by my other name… which is Jinqian Jiahao.”
“Uncle Jiahao?!” Xiaotian burst out, “It’s you?! I haven’t seen you since I was twelve when you were disowned!”
“Oh, thank God,” The man smiled, “It really is you! You go by Xiaotian these days, right kiddo?”
“Y-yes, and you mentioned you’re going by Taijun, right?”
“That’s the name, don’t wear it out!” Taijun smiled, relaxing a bit and taking a step forward.
Wukong didn’t move.
“Baba, it’s okay,” Xiaotian said, “Besides, you’re right here. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
Wukong didn’t want to move.
But Macaque gently laid a hand on his shoulder and guided him away.
“How are you, kiddo?!” Taijun asked jovially, ruffling Xiaotian’s hair, “It’s been so darn long, hasn’t it?”
“It sure has, huh? I’m alright, I found myself a new family and they love me very much,” He waved his arm back at Wukong and Macaque. Macaque lightly waved and Wukong took this opportunity to give him a ‘hurt Xiaotian and you’re as good as dead’ look. Xiaotian continued, “And this is my boyfriend, Red Son.”
“Hello,” Red said politely, but he was also side-eyeing Taijun pretty hard.
“Nice to meet you! Glad you’ve found yourself some new people! It gets pretty lonely out here y’know?”
“I believe it. So, what’ve you been up to?”
“It’s been rough, not gonna lie,” He said with half a pout on his face, “Been trying to find a way to define myself. For a while it was car repairing, then it was being a delivery guy, tried out being a trucker for a year and learned it wasn’t for me… I’m not doing much right now, really, I just have a dumpy fast food job while I work on souping up a race car I won. Gonna try and get into the race next year, y’know? Even if I don’t get that trophy, I should still get some sweet prize money for ranking high enough.”
“Oh yeah, the prize money’s pretty good as long as you aren’t past sixth place. Be careful, though, now that more demons are crawling out of the woodwork who knows what next year’s race is going to be like.”
“That’s right, you’ve got some experience!” Taijun lightly nudged Xiaotian with his elbow, “Maybe you should swing by my place sometime and give me some pointers?”
It took a LOT to not jump in between them when that happened.
Something was wrong, something was very wrong, but he didn’t know what. His golden eyes of truth weren’t revealing anything, this dude was just some mortal and not even a mortal with anything dangerous on them. He had been disowned by the Jinqian family so there wasn’t any convincing evidence that he was genuinely one of them still. And he was just a bit of a deadbeat that was hopping jobs because some dudes are just like that.
So WHAT was sounding all the alarm bells?!
He felt Xiaotian mentally glance down their psychic connection, and then he gently said, “That sounds great and all, but I’m gonna have to turn you down. I’m gonna be really, really busy these next few weeks, y’know? It just be like that sometimes. Sorry, man.”
Taijun’s face creased downwards. Wukong couldn’t tell if it was anger, sadness, irritation, or something else.
And that was disturbing.
However, his voice was perfectly even as he said, “Nah man, that’s fine. I totally get being busy. D’ya wanna exchange contact information so we can talk about meeting up later? I’ve missed you after all these years, kiddo.”
“Oh, well, you can reach out to me on Tumblr,” Xiaotian said evenly, “Here’s my ‘at’, just message me and we can talk, okay?”
“Wait, you’re not giving me your phone number?”
Red flag.
Red flag, red flag, red flag…
“Oh, this isn’t actually a phone,” Xiaotian lied confidently, “It’s just a glorified MP3 player. I don’t actually have a phone number, y’know? Not that it bothers me too much, the Wifi around the city works well and if I really need to use a traditional phone there’s booths everywhere.”
“Ah, okay,” Taijun said, and his face creased downward again in that unrecognizable expression, “I’ll go ahead and message you on there, then. Do you wanna do something tonight while we’re out here, then?”
“I know you didn’t know this, but I’m actually on a date…” Xiaotian started, half-lying, “So we’re gonna go and finish that up…”
“Oh, right right right, sorry,” Taijun smiled and politely bowed away.
Wukong watched him disappear and disappear properly before relaxing.
“Baba,” Xiaotian whispered through their psychic bond, “D’ya really think somethings up? I mean, I can tell that he’s not in the healthiest mindset and was planning on keeping my distance anyways, so I’m not saying that you’re entirely wrong. But…?”
“Honestly bud,” Wukong whispered back, “I couldn’t tell ya. Something’s just off. Don’t agree to meet him somewhere, don’t tell him where you live or work, don’t give him your phone number, and keep him at arm’s reach. I’ll do my best to see what’s up with him, and if everythings fine we’ll just move on.”
“I agree. Even if there isn’t anything wrong, he’s just always been the uncle that you keep some distance with.”
“Alright then,” Macaque said aloud, “Let’s head home, shall we? Red, you wanna spend the night with us?”
“Wait, what? Do I want t-” He started… Then he turned bright red.
“Is that a yes?” Xiaotian gently asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Red Son nodded.
“That’s settled then,” Macaque smirked, “Wukong? You good?”
Wukong glanced down the way he had seen Taijun go down. He almost swore he could see a new figure, not unlike the one he had first seen before Taijun had introduced himself, standing on the street corner.
A revamp of an old short story I wrote in high school for a creative writing class. It was one of my favorites - simply enough, this is what happens when a woman, a bag of carrots, and a very hungry rabbit are in the same kitchen.
Read for FREE on my Patreon
" Henry sighed as she plunked the cage down on the counter, jostling the contents inside.
After a moment of shuffling in the cage bedding, a perfectly black rabbit turned its head and gave her a steely glare. However, this black rabbit had quite deserved the jostling, as she had just pulled it away from determinedly and knowingly chewing a hole in one of Henry’s good sweaters.
Dizzy Darlin' will be published as sets of short stories following the main character throughout one week at a time. These will be available as PDFs to Patrons of all tiers, which starts at $4 a month.
A Longer Preview of my WIP is Currently Available for all VIP and Club 19 Patrons on my Patreon
~Macaque’s Adoptive Parents and Himself as a Baby~
From Left to Right:
Zhang Xinghou: This is the Long-Armed Ape Monkey, one of the four original Celestial monkeys. He’s a very gruff, somewhat serious individual who sounds like he has very little patience, however the reality is he puts up with almost anything (with some complaining). He’s part Macaque monkey and Orangutan ape, and as such is is much taller than the average monkey demon. His parents ascended to nirvana a long time ago, however he finds his existence as it’s best by living and protecting others.
Zhang Liu’Er: The Six-Eared Macaque as a baby. His birth parents were killed by poachers seeking their valuable pure white fur, however he managed to survive due to his incredibly small size - they didn’t spot him through the wreckage. As such, he was adopted by the two men and was raised until sixteen. Afterwards, a terrible tragedy separated them, and he did not see them again until he was an aged immortal. As a baby, he had snow-white fur that was incredibly soft, which led most to describe him as looking like a living cotton ball.
Zhang Tuqiang: An old immortal warrior who achieved immortality through unconventional means. He was murdered by his parents as a young man, but when he ended in the realm of the dead it was learned that a malicious spirit had caused his death to prevent him from protecting his village (and consequently all of China). He was granted the privilege of striking out his name in Yama’s records, and should he choose to die he can add it back in at any time. He defeated the malicious spirit and brought his parents to justice and proceeded to spend his immortal life protecting others who had been preyed on. **His design was inspired by @fre-dream and her incredible heart warming and heart wrenching Old Warrior AU, which kidnapped my entire heart upon seeing**
It's been an intense day for Macaque, and he finds himself sleepless at midnight. Everyone around him was wondering the same thing: how distraught was he really, and how scared should they be of him doing something reckless?
Macaque must've fallen asleep.
He was back in the tent, the patterns so much more familiar as he remembered helping paint them on himself, lying on a sleeping mat in between his two parents. They were holding him as they slept, subconsciously shifting to hold him closer when he rolled over onto his back.
It was night time again. He managed to spot a small wooden clock hanging from a rope and hook over one of the tent beams, one that was still wound up with clockwork components, and saw that it was twelve thirty am.
...How long had he been sleeping?
Not wanting to accidentally trigger their fight or flight, Macaque did his best to slip out from his parents' arms. He wasn't going to run off, he'll stay in the tent, he wasn't going anywhere...
"You're awake," Zane whispered from where he was kneeling, and Macaque jumped.
"Don't scare me like that!" He whispered back, "Are you seriously still awake?!"
"I recharged during the day, I'm still fully operational. However, you do not seem to be. I can sense your heart is still racing, and your anxiety levels have only diminished somewhat."
"No shit. I don't know if you were told, but I just had to relive horrific things while getting rid of my amnesia," He snapped, trying to cover up how scared he felt, "I'm not exactly in top-notch condition."
"I was informed. Please relax as best as you're able. Do you need something to eat?"
Macaque's stomach burbled with nausea at the very mention of food.
"No. No I do not."
"I should also inform you that I was instructed to prevent you from leaving the tent, should you attempt to."
"I won't, unless I have to pee. I'm not doing that in here."
"Fair enough. I'll alter my instructions to make sure you don't leave the camp then, with heavy emphasis on staying in the tent."
He wanted to protest that he wasn't a child, however he never felt smaller right now. Maybe he could use a little babysitting...
He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but he wanted to find it.
That wasn't it, that wasn't it, and that... oh shit-!!
He nearly dropped the heavy box, which would've caused a huge ruckus, and he glanced back at his parents.
Still sound asleep.
This wasn't it, neither was this...
Here.
It was a gilded stained wooden chest, a metal plaque with Zhang Tuqiang's name stamped on it. The lid had one of his carvings on it, something that Macaque distinctly remembered watching him do. It had two abstract adults holding the hands of an equally abstract child, two of them with curled tails representing that they were monkeys. The child had three little triangles representing his own ears on each side of his head.
As serious as he was, his Baba was sentimental, and long before photography was invented had found ways to preserve memories of his family.
He swung the heavy lid open as quietly as possible, thankful that the hinges were oiled so it didn't squeak, and found all of his Baba's embroidery from thousands of years ago. They were rolled into scrolls for easy storage, especially as their lifestyle was to move with the migration of the animals around them. They were meticulously arranged in chronological order with great care, and he could smell the scent of his Baba's wood oil on literally everything.
The first one he had made was a little one, a rectangle no bigger than a page in a book, with himself as a baby stitched onto it. He somehow captured how much of a cotton ball he was as an infant with the thread, and had little daisies and baby's breath flowers surrounding him. His 'maiden' name, Zhang Liu'Er, was stitched beneath it along with his age and estimated birthday (Which, curiously, was April 24th). The fabric was very soft, showing signs of having been unrolled frequently to be looked at.
The next was the wedding embroidery, their wedding outfits lovingly recreated inside of a border made of gold thread, white lilies, and crowned with a tiny picture of a small white baby monkey. It was obviously him, but only because he had context. They both had the same pronunciation to their last names, so they just kept them as is. He didn't remember much about the event, but he managed to dig up memories of being pressed against a warm red silken coat while someone was humming a lullaby.
The next few were family portraits charting the passage of time. One of him as a baby, the next when he was five, then ten, and finally fifteen. He now remembered sitting still while a one of Tuqiang's friends, a nomadic artist, created the sketch that laid the groundwork of the embroideries.
He had always complained of wearing much stiffer, much nicer clothing that would just be left in Mahou's storage back in PingHua village during those times... but he was moved to tears seeing them now, and thanked his past self for putting up with such formalities.
There were others as well, little pieces of art showing small domestic moments from all throughout his childhood. Snacking together, baby's first archery lessons, his parents dancing together, and so much more. Each of them put a glowing smile on his face, knowing that those memories had been so important to his Baba that he had to find a way to keep them as permanent as possible.
And then they stopped.
There were sketches of pieces never finished in a leather folder at the end. Carefully putting the tapestries back, he opened the folder and nearly started sobbing again.
He had tried drawing more family portraits, estimating how he would've looked had he still been with them before the page was too soaked with tears to continue. Others had sketches of his face as he had last seen him, with black fur and blind eyes. One in particular had the brainstorming session of how he would phrase a missing person announcement, each phrase being crossed off more and more violently until the last one had been completely scribbled out in despair.
Other sketches were small moments between him and Xinghou, attached to unfinished pieces, things that he seemed much happier creating but didn't have the heart to keep going.
There was a hole in Tuqiang's heart ever since Macaque - Liu'Er - had gone missing, and nothing he seemed to fill it.
He carefully put everything back, staring at the inside of the open chest.
Before now, all he had remembered was being disliked. Being hated. Never having enough as a teenager as he wandered the land alone, being shunned and scorned under assumption he was just another common thief. And he had always assumed his life had been like that.
But he had been missed.
He had been loved.
His absence had always meant something.
The memories of what Hei Wangzi had done to him stung. They hurt, and they weren't going to stop hurting. He had been just a child, forced into a predatory, pedophilic marriage and had his body destroyed. The scars on his mind and heart would never fade, and he knew that he'd have to face the monster down again.
But in the end, what happened there was only a blink of an eye. He'd recover, he'd heal, and he was more prepared to handle him again.
His memories of his parents, his loving family, were worth having to pay the price of remembering.
He heard a gasp behind him and frantic shuffling. He turned to find that his parents had woken up, and had a moment of searching for him before they spotted him next to the chest.
"Hi," He whispered, "I, um... was just looking at... well, I guess our version of the family album."
"You're crying," Tuqiang said softly.
"It's been... it's been a long day. And a long time."
"Come back, lay back down," Xinghou said, "Your eyes are still swollen from sleeplessness, sweet child."
He nodded and obediently crawled back into their arms.
They held him again, each pressing a soft kiss onto his head before drifting back to sleep.
The horrifying truth about where Macaque comes from is brought to light. His memories have been restored. But now they're here, does he still want them?
Content/Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault (character has flashbacks to previous abuse), Abuse
The others had surrounded him, trying to get his attention, but they sounded far away.
Macaque tried to get himself to calm down, increasing the pressure his hands were putting on his head to ground himself.
He threw himself out of the circle, pushing them out of the way and ran out of the tent.
His name was shouted, but he ignored them and kept going.
He wasn't sure where his legs wanted to take him, but after several moments of staggering through the trees he tripped and found himself at the bank of a still river, being shocked out of his blind state of fear with his hands plunging into the cold water. It's calm presence was the complete opposite of Macaque's which meant he could see his reflection perfectly.
The characters for 'eye' and 'gold' going down inbetween his eyes weren't just in his dream.
His tears disturbed the water as he watched them softly glow like a firefly, a glamour over his ears softly lifting. He had always assumed that people referring to him as the 'Six-Eared Macaque' was just a moniker with how he tried to steal Wukong's identity long before now, but he actually had six pointed demonic ears. Three on each side. His fingers confirmed they were there, the foreign yet familiar feel of the tips running across his moving hand.
Then he saw the gold color of his eyes flicker in and out... along with his vision.
When he caught a glimpse underneath, he could see milky white irises and pupils.
They were once a brilliant purpled blue, but now only traces could be seen under the cloudy fog.
And it hit him.
He was actually completely and utterly blind.
And the spell sealed within the characters was the only thing allowing him sight.
His nerves felt the sharp heat of fire burning them, and despite him knowing they were just ghost pains and trying to comfort himself, he found himself shaking and crying.
He frantically splashed water on his face, hope that would be enough to snap him out of it, but he was left with a soaked collar and tears soaking his face even more.
"...Liu'Er?"
He knew Tuqiang was trying to call out to him, but he didn't want to respond.
"Mango blossom?"
...
"Little diamond?"
"Stop..." He mumbled, "Pl-please..."
"What is it? What's going on?"
"I don't know! I can't remember!! I can't!!"
"Can I help you?"
...
"Please?"
"And how would- how would you do that?"
"I... if you trust me, I can show you."
He heard Tuqiang kneel next to him, patiently waiting for his answer. Xinghou knelt on the other side, hesitantly but gently placing a hand on his back.
"I'll stand guard," Zane said quietly, "Take the time you need."
And then Macaque had a choice.
He weighed his options.
He was scared of what he was going to find in the fog.
He was scared of what he had forgotten.
But he could find out alone and tormented...
Or he can see if his Baba can help him.
...
"I'll trust you."
Tuqiang reached over and gripped his hand, and he experienced the sensation of being drawn into a psychic bond.
It prickled his nerves, the the pathways having been unused for thousands of years, but he allowed himself to dive in...
<><><><><>
"Can you hear me? Did it work?"
"Y-yes... yes I can."
He looked up and saw Tuqiang's mental avatar smile down at him, a cozy warmth radiating off of him. Without thinking, he dove into his arms, rubbing his face against his soft shirt.
"Oh, you haven't been this cuddly in years..." He commented, hugging him back and lifting him off his feet, "You officially stopped when you were fifteen, and then... well, everything happened."
"Wh-what was the everything?"
Tuqiang pulled back, gently lifting his chin and turning his head to look at the black fog. It had receded somewhat, and he could see some of his earliest memories peeking out.
"I should've realized this," He whispered, "But as important as it is to remember what's back there yourself, you'll need some help. Because I know what happened, I should be able to support you. But you need to take my hand and step forward first."
Macaque had already made up his mind, so he grabbed his hand and practically dragged him into the fog, and they disappeared into the first memory.
...
This one was heavily supported by Tuqiang, but it was one of his none the less.
Tuqian and Xinghou were standing back-to-back, having just defeated a small army of poachers and slavers. Their bodies were strewn around a clearing, and the captured slaves had already whispered their hushed thank-yous before disappearing into the foliage. Very normal - no one ever hung around after being rescued in case their rescuer was just going to harm them again.
"You're not with them..." Xinghou growled, "But how do I know you're not going to betray me?"
"My word," Tuqian stepped back from Xinghou, sheathing his weapon and going back to gripping the small lump in his sash, "I can't offer anything else, I'm afraid."
"I think you might... what's in the sash?"
Tuqian took another step back, shaking his head, "You... you have to promise not to tell ANYONE I have him."
"Him? That's a child?! Human young isn't that small."
"It's not a human..." He said cautiously, "Drop your weapon, and I'll come closer."
"Drop yours, too. All the way."
After a moment of silence, Tuqian unsheathed his weapon and dropped it onto the ground and kicked it away. Xinghou did the same.
He approached, still looking at Xinghou warily, then pulled the sash away.
Nested against his chest, wrapped in a colorful baby blanket, was a tiny puffball of a baby monkey. His white unruly fur made him look like a dandelion before it's seeds were blown away, with six little points of ears sticking out from the mess. His eyes were wide, and he shoved his fingers in his mouth as he stared at Xinghou.
"Oh. My. God."
"This is... this is Liu'Er. He's the last survivor of his village. His parents are gone, so I'm..." Tuqian hesitated a little, letting the baby grip his finger and coo, "I'm caring for him. He's too small to be left alone, and I'm terrified of the prospect of leaving him in someone else's hands."
"I've never seen a creature like this one before..." Xinghou whispered reverently, "I thought all the white-furred demonic monkeys were dead. Hunted for their valuable fur. But here's one. Alive!"
"I know, I know. I can't let such a little thing get hurt."
"Let me help you."
"Wh-what?"
"Even if you never let me touch the child, let me help keep him safe. It's a back-breaking toil doing that alone, especially as you're going to need to raise him up properly, and I cannot imagine something better to spend my time doing."
"...And how am I supposed to trust YOU?"
"I give my word, and my blade against your enemies."
"If you fucking betray me, I'll turn you into a throw rug."
"I accept those terms."
"Alright. What's your name?"
"Zhang Xinghou, the character for Zhang being 'Long'."
"Zhang as in 'Archer', and my name is Tuqiang."
"I suppose there's only one question now."
"That is?"
"What are people going to assume? That we're brothers, cousins, or lovers?"
Tuqiang blinked, then laughed. The baby joined him, kicking and giggling.
...
"Liu'Er, don't go into the river!"
"But I want to go swim!"
The baby puffball was now much bigger, about five years old, and was wearing black pants, leather boots, and a little wrapped shirt with cats embroidered into it. He was in the middle of taking it off clumsily and toddling over to the river when he was caught by Xinghou.
They had set up their tent in a warm forest clearing, and Tuqiang had just finished cleaning off and sharpening their weapons and was taking time to work on his embroidery. A sketch of him and Xinghou in plain yet elegant wedding finery was his reference image, and he was nearly done with the main piece before moving onto the details.
"But the river is too fast for swimming," Xinghou explained, "You'll disappear like poof!"
"But won't you just catch me?!"
"Sometimes rivers are selfish, and they take things they aren't supposed to. This is a selfish river, and it's best that you stay on dry ground."
"Tell it to not be selfish!"
"I wish I could, Mango blossom," Xinghou sighed, "But rivers are beyond my control."
"But I saw you make yourself twice yesterday! Is that not the same thing?"
"No, it's not the same. Transforming a piece of my hair isn't being able to control water."
"What if I could control water?"
"What if you could? But what-ifs aren't going to make the river slow down. Come now, it's lunch time."
"Okay."
Liu'Er was set back down and he toddled back to camp, knowledgeably steering clear of the fire and sitting down on a little short log. He gripped the bowl of food with one hand, Xinghou staying nearby to catch it if he dropped it, and used his other hand to shove rice and chicken curry into his mouth with a wooden spoon as fast as possible.
"Don't forget to eat as well," Tuqiang gently reminded Xinghou, "I know you skipped breakfast while our little diamond didn't."
"You did as well," Xinghou shot back. They had made sure Liu'Er had gotten fed that morning with the last of their supplies before reaching a village and selling the hides of wild animals to purchase more supplies. He continued, "So I'll eat when you eat."
"I'm not hungry," Tuqiang tried.
"Still not going to."
"I'll spoon-feed you like an infant."
"I'll do the same."
After a moment of silent defiance against each other, they realized what they were saying. It was the oldest couples trope to feed each other. They laughed, then layed Liu'Er down for a nap before eating lunch together, shoving spoonfuls of food into each others mouths when they were least expecting it.
...
"Congratulations on your union. From how it sounded before, you weren't interested in any romantic ventures, so this is odd."
"It's not romantic, but we're not married for any power or status reasons," Xinghou shook his head, "It's... it's..."
"You two don't want to kiss other people, so you've decided to hug each other and steal the occasional kiss when you feel like it?"
"Precisely. No romance, no 'mushy' stuff, just calming intimacy."
"A rare concept, but you two seem incredibly happy," The older monkey said, his long face with a somewhat serious expression. His name was Hong Mahou, and he was the eldest Celestial Monkey. These days, he was nearly ten thousand years old. In the memory, however, he was a spry seven-eight thousand year old while Xinghou was only just under a thousand.
"So what brings you here?" Mahou asked, "You'd better not be running from trouble that might threaten my village."
"We aren't," Tuqiang said, "It's that... well..."
"There's four of us now," Xinghou said plainly.
"What."
"The stone monkey wasn't the last one."
"What."
"This is Zhang Liu'Er, our adopted son. He's starting to develop powers. But he's unique - they're beyond my knowledge on how to teach him."
"WHAT."
"We were wondering if you could help him navigate them, like you helped me before."
Mahou's brown fur bristled as he stared at the child. Now eight years old, Liu'Er was now looking less like a puffball. His fur was smoothing out, and his proportions were starting to balance out as he grew.
"Damn," A woman walked up behind Mahou, her long black hair tied back into a loose warrior's bun. Her name was Hong ZhuLi, and according to the memory she was Mahou's immortal wife. She continued, "Just when you thought you were done with weird experiences. I'm just glad the stone monkey hasn't sought you out yet - rumor mill says that his old sifu had such a hard time teaching him the monkey's not allowed to talk about it anymore."
"Does he... does he at least know the basics?" Mahou asked, crouching down to look into the child's eyes. Liu'Er smiled warmly, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"He's mastered them. Transformations, basic martial arts, base concepts of Taoism... he's incredibly sharp."
"Six ears..." ZhuLi mumbled, "He must be able to hear things from far away."
"I can," Liu'Er grinned, "I heard a hunter approach our campground when he was a mile away, and Baba and LaoBa were able to chase him away!"
Tuqiang mouthed 'we killed him and buried the body' and Mahou nodded.
"Say I take him as a student - that means you have to set up your camp next to the village, and I have to figure out how to teach this one from scratch. What kind of new powers is he showing?"
"Well..." Xinghou motioned towards Liu'Er, "Show him."
Liu'Er melted into the shadows, his form projected as a 2D object against the wall and floor. He moved freely across surfaces like a ghost, then reappeared where he was standing before just as he was.
Mahou stared.
The look in his eyes said he didn't really want to, but he was so incredibly curious.
"...Alright. Alright! I'll teach him. I'll see if I can help him master himself, find out what the rules of his abilities are."
"Great, here's your payment."
"Wait, what-?! Oh... is this top-quality leather? And jack-a-lope fur... I'll take it, I'll take it..."
"You're paying him?" ZhuLi blinked, "You really must want the little one to figure his shit out..."
"Trust me - if you knew half the things that had been happening at home, you would too."
...
"And that's a good reason to beat him up?"
"He was mocking me!" Liu'Er (now thirteen) protested to his stern parents as they knelt before him, a bruise forming on his cheek, "If he hadn't been ~so smug~ about being picked to see the puppet play before me, this wouldn't be a problem!"
"Was he mocking you," Tuqiang asked calmly, "Or was he just happy that he got chosen?"
"Well-! I-!"
Liu'Er looked down at the floor, hands gripping his knees as he knelt there.
"I don't... know for sure. It sure looked like he was mocking me..."
"You jumped to conclusions," Xinghou explained, "And you did something cruel because of it."
"How was I supposed to know?!"
"Did you really think swinging before asking was going to fix things?"
Liu'Er shuffled awkwardly.
He didn't want to think he had done something wrong, especially as so many of the adults from the village acted like he wasn't allowed to do anything right. They had heard rumors from the kids that spied on his training with Mahou that he was some sort of shadow demon sent to curse the village, and they acted accordingly. He still remembered how his LaoBa had lost his absolute shit when two older teenagers and their father had kidnapped him and tried to cut off his extra ears all too well, and how they had been killed after escaping town prison and nearly going on a murder spree. His worries about being abused weren't unfounded.
But these weren't the stupid or cruel adults. These were his level-headed parents, and they knew much more than him on how to react to different scenarios.
And that boy had never spoken ill of him before...
"I made a mistake, didn't I?" He mumbled, "I-I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize to us," Tuqiang replied, "You ought to seek the boy out and apologize to him."
"Yeah... I was mean. I-I shouldn't have. Bu-but what should I do next time I feel like someone is making fun of me?"
"You come tell us, and we'll see to it that you're treated fairly without causing a fuss."
"I'm getting a punishment, aren't I? Because what I did was violent?"
"Yes, that kind of behavior requires more than just verbal reparation for justice. What do you think it's suitable?"
"Please don't make me do scullery. I don't want to scrub the pots out again every night for a week!"
"Only if you can come up with something suitable instead, or compromise between two punishments."
Liu'Er thought it through, and determined that he didn't want to do any chores or manual tasks, nor did he want to cramp his hand up by inking out lines of the family records each night.
"Can you just spank me and get this over with?"
"You sure? Last time you accepted that punishment you got so grumpy you didn't leave your tent for three days."
"I know, I know, but I really don't want this to take forever..."
"Alright then," Tuqiang said, "Fifteen swats."
"WHAT?!"
"You beat the other kid up pretty badly," Xinghou said, "You aren't getting by on a skimpy little punishment with no weight."
"Ten swats on my bare bottom instead?!" Liu'Er tried to compromise, not wanting to sit through fifteen bottom burning strokes. He could deal with ten that stung a little more instead, right?!
"I accept. You know what to do."
He took a deep breath, pulled his pants down so his little bottom was exposed, bent himself over Tuqiang's knee and held his own tail back by grabbing the tip and crossing his hands behind his head.
He thought he could just bite his lip through it when he felt the hand on his back holding him to his knees, but then the first swat came and he automatically cried out "OW!"
"You asked for this. I won't stop you crying out about it, but it's too late now."
He muttered 'ouch-ouch-ouch' on repeat through the remaining nine swats, wondering if he should've just taken the fifteen.
"And that should do it. Take a moment to cool your bottom down before going about the rest of your day."
"Do we have any ice left? I think I need to sit on some for a while."
"Just do it with a towel - trust me, you don't want that directly on your skin no matter how much it stings."
As Liu'Er walked away, rubbing his bottom while in search of the ice cooler, he heard the two adults having a mumbled conversation:
"...I still don't think they're necessary."
"Which is why I never force one! He keeps picking them himself, and quite frankly if he'd rather have a stinging bottom than do dishes that's on him!"
"That's true. Let's hope the kid learns that before he reaches the real world. Your smacks are quite gentle compared to what others will do to him."
Liu'Er made a mental note of what they said.
But still, at least he didn't have to do the dishes.
...
Liu'Er had been making miles upon miles progress.
Sure, none of the other kids liked him, but he was beyond that now. After all, he was sixteen. That was practically an adult, and adults didn't act like children.
It was summer now, and Mahou had encouraged his parents to take him for the summer and allow him to practice his skills in the real world. Not only was he now successfully killing off poachers and hunters, taking down the ones that claimed to work for the alleged 'Midnight King' with extreme prejudice, but his family had more food than ever with how he hunted down rabbit and deer to eat. He also kept up a solid stash of edible mushrooms, frying them in butter and herbs and snacking on them as they went.
He was preparing for tonight's hunt when his parents knocked on the post of his tent.
"What is it? Come in."
"Hi Mango Blossom," Tuqiang said as he stepped in, running his fingers through his silken pure white fur and planting a kiss on his brow. Xinghou did the same, but blew a raspberry on his cheek as well.
"We need to talk about something as a family," Xinghou started, drawing up two seats for them across from Liu'Er, "Hear us out, okay?"
"Alright..."
"The thing is..." Tuqiang glanced at Xinghou, "You might not like this, but it's important. Okay?"
"Okay..."
"The forest is getting more dangerous. As you know, the tyrant who calls himself the Midnight King is expanding his territory, taking over more and more demon villages. We don't want to get involved, especially not you. At least for now, we're asking... I'm asking for you to stay in your tent after dark. No more hunting unless you're with us."
"WHAT?!" Liu'Er stood up, "What do you mean?!"
Surely they must be joking. He took solace in the woods, at one with nature when he was participating in the circle of life. And when the sun was down, his shadowy powers were in their element and he could complete tasks with excellency and proficiency. They must know that, right?!
"We mean that we need to be more careful. We'll be doing the same!"
"Yeah, right!" He felt his face heat up, and he stomped a foot on the ground, "You say that, but then while I'm trapped in my tent you'll be outside and taking your time! That's not fair! I'm grown up enough I can handle it!"
"Liu'Er, we wouldn't be asking this of you if we didn't have a serious reason-!" Xinghou started, but Liu'Er pushed past him and grabbed his bow.
"Well, we can talk about it tomorrow. I'm going to go hunting!"
His parents reached out to grab him, but he slipped into the shadows and fled out to the area of the woods he had been eyeing earlier that day.
He was preparing an arrow, watching a deer nearby and deciding how he was going to kill it to make it easy as possible to clean the animal, when something clicked under his foot.
A trap sprang out of the ground, vines wrapping around him and pinning his arms and legs in their vice grip. It wrapped around his throat as well, keeping him from breathing right so he could try and slip back into the shadows. They had fat thorns poking out of them, and they dug into his body like knives. He tried to cry out, shout for his parents, but he couldn't get a word to slip through.
Four monkey demons, bearing the crest of the Midnight King on their armor, dropped out of the trees around him.
"Finally. We've been stalking you out for a while, little snowball. His Majesty is eager for a new showpiece..."
...
If the Midnight King hadn't wanted to die, he wouldn't have done this.
He wouldn't have kidnapped him and torn him away from his family.
He wouldn't have attached him to a chain, told him to be a good little accessory, then try to use him.
And he wouldn't have tried to beat him into pieces when he resisted.
But he did all those things.
And he did so because of his fur. He hadn't realized how rare of a color it was, how people cherished it - sexualized it - to the point where he was considered an integral part of peoples deepest, darkest fantasies. The unique six ears only made his 'value' as a slave go up, and he unfortunately learned that he was worth millions on the black market.
Something this foolish asshole thought would befit him as a King.
Something that lead to his death.
He was still in the painfully skimpy outfit he had been forced into, his exposed chest, legs, and arms covered in wounds. The silken fabric around his waist with two slits in the side was covered in blood, a mixture of his own and of the now dying King. Liu'Er's hand was still pressing down on the pommel of the sword as the King twitched, and soon his eyes rolled into his head and he finally died.
He tried not to shake, he tried not to throw up at the sight of the blood, he tried to make it seem like he was just hunting again.
But it was horrifying.
He had never taken a life like this before.
He had never had to kill something that had already harmed him.
"You did well, little one..."
Liu'Er jumped, and saw the King's son approach.
He summoned his strength, pulled the sword back out, and held it towards the Prince.
The Black Prince, Hei Wangzi.
"I was going to assassinate my no-good, lascivious father myself..." Wangzi said as he kicked the corpse, "But it seems like you did it yourself. And that I have you to thank for..."
He raised the sword even higher.
The Prince snapped his fingers and the blade shattered in his hands, forcing him to drop the fragments.
"Hush-hush-hush... I'm not going to hurt you... hold still, let me take a good look at you."
"Don't touch me!" He hissed, backing away.
He kept going, and soon found himself pressed against the wall with Wangzi looming over him. Too tired to try anything to get away, the power inhibitor cuffs still around his ankles, he could only hold as still as possible as Wangzi used a finger to lift his chin up towards his face.
"You're perfect."
Loaded words, the words he now knew meant he was ideal to keep captive.
"Yes... yes you are... you defeated my father. Who had, despite his brilliance, started running the kingdom he was building into the ground with his selfish desires to pleasure himself with slaves. You know what that makes you?"
He waited, expecting an answer...
"I... I don't know..."
"The king. You're the new king of this forest. And you, oh beautiful little thing, will make a perfect bride for me."
"I don't want to get married. I don't even know you!"
"Oh, but you will know me soon. And our union will soon be the most beautiful thing in your whole life."
Liu'Er could hear the hidden message at the end of his words...
'Or else'
...
They wasted no time crowning him 'King', which he learned was less of a royal title and more of the role he played as a puppet. Hei Wangzi was really in charge, and he orchestrated everything. Signed things, gave decrees, pretended to promise benefits...
And he arranged the wedding in his name.
It was awful. He was shaking the whole time. He only recited the vows that had been pounded into his head under threat of another whipping... and the gross experience afterwards where Wangzi would clean out his wounds intimately as if he was already having sex with him. He always protested that he was upright, and would never do such a thing until they were married, but how he did it never changed.
Now they were married.
The luxurious bedroom loomed over his small frame, the red veil that had been thrown over his head already discarded so he was left in his red wedding gown. The heavy make-up on his face had made him look much older than he was, but the Prince had stopped to wipe every inch of it off before taking him into the bedroom. He, supposedly, wanted to see his face as it was supposed to be when not in front of the commoners.
"Wasn't that lovely?" Wangzi sighed, taking his outer coat off and draping it over a chair.
When Liu'Er didn't respond, he shot a sharp glare at him, warning him of further maiming.
"It w-was lovely..." He mumbled, trying to press himself against the door as much as possible.
"Why so glum? This place is beautiful, and has only become more radiant with your presence."
He decided to be honest, "It's a gilded cage. You're trapping me here. You know I don't want this. But just because you cage a bird it doesn't mean it's yours."
"Oh? Is that a challenge?"
And then he realized he had taken all of his clothes off.
Two servants appeared from the shadows, held him down as they stripped him nude, then threw him on the bed and exposed him to the Prince.
"I told you I wouldn't do such naughty things to you until we were wedded. But, wouldn't you look at that... we're husbands now. Shall we begin?"
"No! P-please, I'm only sixteen... I can't do this... I'm literally not big enough... no, please! PLEASE!!"
...
He had gone bow-legged after months upon months of abuse.
And he had enough.
His hands had shook as he held the blade over his husband's heart, and tried to swing it down as silently as possible.
When Wangzi's larger hand shot out and grabbed his wrists, he knew he had made a mistake.
And that was all he needed to see.
"Traitor!!" He yelled as he threw him into the courtyard, still in his nightclothes.
His bones cracked underneath him as he landed against the stone, and he cried out in pain.
"This boy has been given the throne under my blessing, and I have been being a mere lowly prince," Wangzi snarled, lying through his teeth, "Where I gave him every good thing I had to offer! And then he has the audacity to attempt to murder me in my own bed!"
The mob he had summoned cried out appropriately, screaming about how much of a monster he was. They bought into every last one of Wangzi's lies.
"When we took the throne as supposedly loving husbands, we enacted an important law. What was that law, my dearest loyal subjects?"
"NO MURDER!!"
"Or?!"
"OR BE BURNED AT THE STAKE!!"
"So should he suffer that very fate?!"
The crowd roared their approval.
He kicked and screamed, doing everything he could to break away and run off before he was tied to a thick polished tree trunk as dry wood was piled around his feet.
He was already fearing the worst, knowing that his body was going to be burnt until he was nothing but a painful monkey-shaped lump of charred flesh... then he saw the torch held aloft with a different kind of fire.
His Baba and LaoBa had taught him to recognize that as early as six. They knew it was incredibly dangerous for his kind, one of the only things truly capable of killing them...
Samadhi fire.
How they had summoned such a flame, he didn't know.
But it took to the dried wood like a moth to flame, and the excruciating pain spread across his body.
His throat had gone dry from the heat and from screaming, and has he compulsively kept going he could feel his throat tearing up.
Then the ropes holding him down burned, and with an intense burst of adrenaline he ran off of the pyre.
He heard shouting, the clamor of armor as soldiers chased after him, but he kept running.
He dove into a river, barely extinguishing the flames, and was crawling out when he felt a strong hand slap him across the face.
"Naughty little boy can't even take his punishments..." Hei Wangzi growled, approaching him with a small torch of Samadhi fire.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He shouted in a voice he didn't even recognize as his own.
"You aren't going anywhere," He hissed, and grabbed him by the throat, "And I'm going to make sure that you can never try to get away from me again."
The last thing he saw was the torch being lowered to each of his eyes, and his vision went black as the scalding pain ripped through his skull.
...
"You ruined it," A judgmental voice said scathingly, "It was a perfect little thing, and now look at what you've done! It's value is gone, and you're left with nothing but an old chew toy to play with..."
"I know, that precious white fur had been burnt away in the fires. Now it's blacker than charcoal, and almost entirely identical to every other black monkey. I can't have this as a proper spouse, but finding a new spouse would require a divorce, and I already made that illegal. And I can't kill it either, the people already ruled that as murder after it survived the flames."
"So you're just going to use him as a dumpster? Maybe see if you can get some children by forcing it to use it's transformations and see if any of them have the white fur?"
"Possibly. For now, I'll leave it here to rot. I'm still angry at it. It can eat when I decide to forgive it."
"Or maybe when it can count how many fingers you're holding up!"
They laughed, and he heard the heavy door shut and lock with an unpleasant click.
And he lay there, quivering.
He tried to hum himself a lullaby, but his throat was still too destroyed. He instead coughed out blood, and started crying.
He cried until he passed out, not realized another set of hands had found him and taken him away.
...
"This world was already so, so dangerous for him! He'll die without them! He'll die!! Do you hear me?! I'm not losing him over this!!"
His memories somewhat shifted from his own, the searing pain of having to relive them easing.
These were mostly Tuqiang's memories, but his were filled with their own anguish.
He was lying on the couch in Mahou's living room, looking more like he did today. Heavy bandages were around his eyes, and he huddled under a blanket.
"I know, Tuqiang, I know," Mahou said, his eyes brimming with tears as he gently embraced the other man, "With how things are, it's a death sentence to be blind. I won't let you lose him over this, I won't, but we'll need more time to find a solution. Please, please don't lose hope."
"I might have found something," said Xinghou, his voice unnervingly quiet as he stepped into the room holding a book, "We'll need a very strange set of ingredients, but there's a really good chance this will work."
"How good?"
"Well, it's how that Monkey King avoided getting his eyes cooked out of his head, and according to the records his sight only got better. There's a theory with strong evidence that if a Celestial being like us received the same treatment, our sight would be repaired if not improved. If it worked for him, it should work for our Liu'Er."
"Fine. What do we need?"
...
The scratching of characters for 'Gold Eyes' done to his outer skin was still stinging, the coals of a fire burned in the Celestial furnace upon being rubbed in only easing the pain slightly. The coals were also put on his eyelids, and he lay there obediently as they finished preparations. His twisted and broken mind was just grateful the pain was minimal.
It was already forgetting his parents.
Two pairs of hands lay across his forehead, and he heard the whispering of Taoist prayers...
He blinked his eyes open, and saw the light starting to filter through the trees again.
He tried to sit up, look at the people around him, try to update his memories so he wouldn't forget them because he knew he was forgetting.
He knew he was, and he didn't want to, he desperately didn't want to. He kept looking intently at his LaoBa and Baba as an enchantment was placed on his ears, one that hid away their true form so Hei Wangzi wouldn't be able to recognize him.
They whispered how much they still loved him, how they found him valuable, how they wouldn't ever leave his side...
Then the explosions and yelling started.
"Run, Liu'Er! Run!!"
He was lifted up and sent off in another direction, and he roboticly obeyed and kept running.
He didn't stop, he didn't falter...
Not when he heard their screams of pain, the ones of dying men.
...
And then he forgot what he was doing.
He slowed down, looking around him.
Where was he?
Who was he?
How did he get here?
He looked at his reflection in a pond, and saw a black monkey with normal round ears and gold eyes looking back.
He recognized himself as a Macaque, and his mind latched onto the words 'Six Ears', meaning one who heard things that were supposed
That must be who he was.
The Six Eared Macaque.
And he started looking for something to eat.
<><><><><>
And Macaque was back in the real world.
He stared into Tuqiang's eyes as they were filled with tears, and felt Xinghou wrap his arms around him tightly.
And he started sobbing.
That's why he forgot.
Because the memories had been too painful to bear when his body needed peace.
But now they were here.
And he couldn't decide if he was happier knowing, or if ignorance had been bliss.
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