Short story: Ungentlemanly Warfare
I live! Well for the moment anyway. A combo of being overtired and dealing with some persistent headache made it hard to want to write anything for a bit. In any case this shor was inspired from a scene from the movie ungentlemanly warfare. Very fun movie might I add. Oh and I used the Chinese names for macaque and DBK!
The stench of death rolled over the war torn land marking the end of the brotherhood's first battle together. It had been brutal in a way that the former celestial warriors had not seen before. Fighting alongside their new sworn brothers had not been like fighting for the celestial army. A force honed with disciplined, uniformed and mechanical precision. Sun Wukong, Lui Er Mihou and Niú Mówáng did not fight in any way remotely similar. They fought with a chaos that was as wild and as unforgiving as the lands they called home.
The scars in the land had been primarily from Wukong and Niú as if they were competing on who could cause the most damage. Mihou on the other hand had slipped through the shadows with a grace and precision that could rival the most talented dancers of the celestial court, painting the ground red with each kill.
Both Azure and Yellow Tusk had seen Peng's envy taking rook as the celestial bird watched the shadow user at work. They said nothing.
The fight between the demon clan chief and Sun Wukong had been short and brutal. One moment the monkey king was bouncing around the demon like a petulant child, the next he had his fist buried deep into the demon's chest, then with no effort he ripped the beast’s heart from its chest. Asure could only stare at the king in awe as a potent cocktail of fear, excitement and ambitious greed set his nerves alight.
Now as the sun began to set the cluster of warriors lounge around the battlefield campfire, making merry and bragging about individual accomplishments of the day.
“Whooo! That was fun! Hey Asure! How's the shoulder bud?” the golden simian spoke playfully as he lounged on the ground. A care free image that was disrupted by the blood and gore that matted his fur, his right hand in particular was still painted red. Molten gold eyes focused on the feline celestial warrior.
The lion gave his sworn brother a smile, grateful for the concern. “It's fine, it barely penetrated my armor, my friend.” the warrior gestured to the barely pierced armor to emphasize his point. The hassle of the repairs was going to be far greater than the miniscule cut on his flesh.
“Ha! The lucky shot didn't amount to much. It's gonna be a pain in the ass to fix.” Wukong's laughter rang loud, slapping his clean hand into the diet in merriment.
“Indeed, it was almost worth it to watch the heart snatcher at work.” The lion spoke with relaxed grace, feline eyes carefully watching the golden simian as he casually dropped the ambiguous nickname. Wukong simply roared with laughter.
“I'm better known as a lover not a fighter.” the sage said with faux audacity. Macaque rolled his eyes at his golden counterpart’s antics. Wukong had gotten that nickname from the way he would end one on one fights when he got impatient, but loved spinning it to seem like he was a massive flirt instead and always got pouty when the shadow gave him shit about. So macaque said nothing.
“By the stars, if that is how you fight, I'd hate to see how you love sun wukong.” The golden winged Peng spoke with a sneer, nearly grimacing at the thought. He was thankful to be seated between his long time brothers. the golden monkey made him nervous, not that he would ever admit it out loud.
“You don't have to worry about that, Peng. You're too pretty for me. Macaque on the other hand…” Wukong gave the celestial bird a toothy grin before his eyes fixed on his shadow, tail beginning to lash with excitement. Macaque's eyes narrowed with suspicion, not liking the attention he was receiving from his king.
“You'd have to catch me first.” The shadow's voice was calm, but his tail spoke volumes with its agitated twitching.
“Well I do love to hunt.” the king teased, a fake stretch allowed him to roll to his stomach as his attention was solely on his warrior now, much to macaque's displeasure.
“You'd be lucky to catch me.” the dark furred simian shot back as he carefully gathered magic into his shadow. He knew his king well and his king was not in the mood to let this go.
“I am really getting quite hot, care to help me cool down bud?” The syrupy tone in the sage's voice was all the warning the shadow needed.
“Anyway! We-” Asure's attempt to redirect the king failed before he had a chance. Sun Wukong lunged for the warrior, who was swallowed by the shadows quick enough to foil the king's surprise attack. The three celestial warriors were stunned into silence from Wukong's predatory snarl at being out maneuvered by his prey. Paying the others no mind, the riled up monkey quickly surveyed the camp's surroundings with laser force. His head snapped in the direction of yellow Tusk, which was the only warning the celestial warrior got before the sage barreled passed the elephant and taking off into the night.
Niú Mówáng burst into a roaring laugh at the shocked expressions of the three celestials.
“You have a lot to learn about demons my brothers.”
