Stone Kingdom AU Story post pt #6: Lessons
OUT OF DATE go look at @stone-kingdom-official-blog for up to date
Zhu Ganglie watched the formidable monkey king freeze at his words. Red eyes blown wide in shock as they shined at the edges with golden light before the raspy voice exclaimed something softly. Bajie could barely make out a set of curses that made him blush before the monkey in front of him twirled the jade rake so the handle was proffered. “Come on then pilgrim brother, let’s meet your new master.”
—-
It was hard leaving his wife. She had held her composure well but Ganglie Bajie could see the way it hurt her too. He couldn’t stop thinking about it even now as he and his new pilgrim brothers made camp.
The fire roared to life in seconds when Lie spat flame to the dry timber, heat rushing upwards to nearly scorch Bajies snout. They didn’t have much diversity of ingredients but thanks to Wukong there were at least some fresh herbs to work with. Bajie had settled into the rhythm of cooking when he heard the argument start.
“Of course you should give me your sleeping mat!” It was Lie pulling a sleeping mat away from Xuanzang. “I’m a prince and even if I gave in the other night I refuse to sleep in the dirt again!”
The monk grunted with the exertion it took to keep hold of the thin cloth. “We bought- agh- we bought you a new one in town!”
“It’s thin I need something thicker!”
“Fold it in half then!” It was strange to hear the monk raise his voice so quickly into such a petty argument. “Or ask Wukong what to do!”
Said monkey had raced up a nearby tree the minute they settled on a campsite and was making some kind of nest out of leaves and bigger branches. “What to do about what?”
“Your Majesty,” Lie let go of the mat so Xuanzang dropped heavily to the ground, “please help this peasant understand that as a dragon prince of the Western oceans I am entitled to take his mat for my comfort.”
Bajie prepared himself for sleeping on the hard earth when the king inevitably decided that Ao Lie was right. Royals pamper royals and all that.
“If anything Tripitaka is entitled to take your sleeping mat for being so rude.”
…What?
The campsite went quiet for all but the crackling of the flames and shuffling of whatever bedding was in Wukongs nest. Bajie prepared himself for the prince spewing some kind of tantrum that would put his sister’s piglets to shame. But it never came. Instead the dragon was silent the rest of dinner even as Tripitaka spoke endlessly about how to be a good Buddhist.
—-
Bajie had taken first watch over the camp so he’d have peace and quiet to mourn his marriage. He did not take first watch to listen to a moping dragon toss and turn for over an hour. He would rather not get involved, if there were more infighting then maybe he’d be able to return to her… but then again… “Alright kid, what’s keeping you up?”
The kid raised himself upright to stare at Bajie, eyes wide and uncertain. “I- well I- like I said before,” he got hold of himself and straightened his back, “I cannot be content as a royal to sleep upon the bare ground.”
It seemed an obvious problem now that it was said again, but there was nothing Bajie could do about it. “Alright then, have fun on watch.” He could hear Lie sputter behind him as he lay down. That kid was either going to get used to life on the road or be major trouble and yet another reason to try and end this damned journey sooner rather than later.
—-
Bajie woke to a sudden cut off screech as rose from his bed roll in time to see the haughty prince fall from the tree Wukong was sleeping in. The boar found it hard to restrain his laughter even as the monkey hopped down to check on him their fellow disciple.
…Was Wukong a disciple?
On one hand the ruddy gold monkey took orders from the monk, on the other it felt like both Xuanzang and Lie differed to his decisions. Bajie knew in theory that the monk was the golden cicadas reincarnation and had powers because of it but Wukong felt like a king, like a God, bathed in golden light and aura control refined enough that even his clones held a power that raised hackles.
“Why are you up right now?” The question was louder than the pair were before and it broke Bajie out of his thoughts. Looking over he saw that Lie was blushing a bit, head bent, like a piglet caught stealing sweets from the store room. A moment passed where no one spoke and Bajie didn’t want to watch the tension rise, even if it did seem awfully calm now.
“The brat can’t sleep, something about being royalty.”
“I am not a brat!” Could’ve fooled Bajie. “I just can’t get comfortable on a surface so hard especially when I’ve a raging headache-“ the kid cut himself off like that would take the words back.
Wukong looked Lie up and down, eyes glowing gold that covered the red they usually were, pausing slightly at the kids hair and chest. “Sit in front of the fire. Face the flames.” The tone wasn’t stern but it was clear and to the point. Then those glowing eyes turned to Bajie and his breath was stolen. It was like the monkey- the King could see everything there was of Bajie. Every shame, every pride, every scrap of power stripped to lay the boar demon bare. It was only when that golden glow faded that sound had meaning again. “Please put water to boil for tea.” Clumsy hands hurried to meet the request, stoking the small flame to blaze and putting on it their only pot filled halfway with water.
“Your majesty what will this-“ Lie couldn’t finish his sentence before Wukong had taken his hair out of the elaborate braids and bun that he’d worn since before Bajie met him… how long were those tight braids left in?
“Relax little dragon pup and let me work.” The claws on Wukongs hands became smaller and, Bajie had to assume, blunter as he started working the princes head. It looked a lot like a massage the boar demon remembered his father giving his mother at some point. Just like that memory of his mother, Lie started to melt into Wukongs side.
“Great Sage, why would you lower yourself to do this with your own hands?” Here the damn prince goes again being a brat. “Why not wake the monk and make him perform this task?”
“What is a kings duty?” Well that was out of the fuckin blue.
“Don’t you royals make laws and be grown up brats usually?”
Lie scowled from where he sat. “We are chosen by heavenly decree for our superior blood and countenance to show peasants of lower status and spirit how to be moral people.” It sounded like a rehearsed answer, something memorized. Damn prince probably heard from some pompous tutor or something.
“You’re both wrong, even if those are common ideas.” Wukong made a clone that put the peel of an orange, ginger root, and clove into the boiling water Bajie had forgotten on the fire. “A royal is a person given power by the people to bring prosperity and peace, these things can be done by making laws and by being become of morality, but first and foremost the royal family must submit to making sacrifices.”
Lie was quiet, staring at the clone carefully watching over the tea, his scales shining in the firelight like the gems Bajie imagined lay in piles hidden away in palace vaults. “What kind of sacrifices would we have to make for peace when it is the peasantry that fight in the streets?”
“Well, when war is on the horizon a royal family would be wise to give up buying all excess luxuries and use that money for funding the military.” Wukongs hands moved deftly to start braiding the young princes hair. “Or prevent the war by entering a marriage negotiation even if there’s no love between those getting married.” The clone filled three cups of tea and passed them around, disappearing only after the pot was taken off the fire in a puff of yellow-bronze light. “If there’s a famine then the royal family should help their people have more by taking less, live like monks one simple gruel so their people would eat fruit and meat, and find ways to lessen the burden of future famines however they can.” A shining golden hair transformer in Wukongs finger tips to become a green braided cord that was swiftly used to tie Lies braid in place. “It is only when Royalty recognizes and respects their people that they earn the luxury we think of when imagining them.”
Bajie tried to think of a family in power that would do all that the monkey king said royals were supposed to do. Tried even to imagine one that would lower themselves to serve their people on purpose and came up empty handed. Humans and demons were too proud to and still those bastards in heaven were too obsessed with position and power plays to raise their ranks to care about the needs of people like the bimawen. “What kind of sense does that make!” Lie startled straight at Bajies words. “If Royal families and people in power are supposed to be so sacrificing then how do they live in palaces with more wealth than they could use in a lifetime?!”
“While that could have been phrased better, I do have the same question yo- Wukong, how is it that royal families acquire land and wealth when all they ‘should’ do is give it up?”
“The most obvious answer would be taxes, the ruler needs funds to pay their staff and make repairs or improvements to the kingdom and they get that money by charging taxes.” Wukong sipped his cup slowly before continuing, looking straight up to the stary sky like he was remembering something from long ago. “But the less obvious answer is that if you are good enough then people will want to return the favor. That’s how I ended up king of Aolai.”
“You, the impulse monkey that stole the whole stash of heavenly wine and ate a whole jar of immortality granting pills as a hangover cure, became king of Aolai by thinking through what being royal meant and acting altruistically. Really”
Said impulsive monkey narrowed his eyes at Bajie and froze him in place. Fear gripping limbs and lungs tight under that molten gaze until the sage heaved a sigh. “However unbelievable to you may think it, yes. My…close advisor was someone I debated with on the subject for years before my reign began. He said that if we were right then maybe all the kings and emperors would need to get a slave mark so they’d have a reminder that their job was to serve instead of being served.”
“That seems a bit excessive.” Bajie startled just as bad as Lie had earlier at the sound of Xuanzangs voice behind him. Wasn’t he asleep?! How did he walk so damn quietly?!? “But that advisor of yours and this ideal of what a royal should be is sound Wukong. You’ve done a wonderful job sharing,” for some reason the monk sounded patronizing when they spoke to the sage, either unaware or uncaring that the monkeys mood soured, “perhaps we could connect this to the tenements of Buddhism-“
“I’m far too tired, good night.”
“My headache is gone so I believe I’ll try sleeping now. Good night.”
“Same, night.”
Screw having to listen to another long winded lecture on scriptures. Maybe Bajie was right, Wukong wasn’t a disciple, he was their real teacher and maybe, just maybe, this journey would be worth it to learn more from him. Especially learning how to brew that tea.
