Just wanted to share a bit of writing I did a while ago for my Stone Kingdom book X33
Enjoy!
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“I’m sorry.” Corliss whipped around to see who was talking to her, and she felt like someone had punched her in the gut. Standing in front of her was Corin, the very person who had pretended to fall in love with her just to help his father invade her kingdom. “What do you want?” She tried to hold back the contempt from her voice, but apparently didn’t manage it very well because he winced at the words.“I wanted to talk, if you can forgive me.” He unsheathed his sword and held it out for her to take, a gesture of trust.“Why should I? You helped your people murder my parents.” Though she took his sword, she was still furious he had dared to show his face after what he’d done. “I was foolish. I believed that everything my father did was right, if he wasn’t the sun and the stars to me. During our time together before… well, I didn’t recognize what I was feeling. I know now, though.” he stepped closer hesitantly, “I love you Corliss, and don’t tell me you don’t feel the same, I know you.”She examined the sword with an attentive eye. It was a silver that glinted in the sunlight, and the black hilt was inlaid with three emeralds on each side. She had held the sword only once before, when she had first met Corin and he had offered it to her exactly as he just had. He had won her over quickly with his easy smile and eyes the colour of the precious stones on the sword she was now holding. But that was before he revealed himself as the vile traitor she now knew he was. In a blur of silver, the point of the sword was suddenly balanced against Corin’s chest, a look of bewilderment on his face. He looked from the sword to Corliss, registering the cold look on her face.“Don’t you know?” She tilted her head and stared at him with expressionless eyes, “There’s no such thing as love.” Corliss ran the sword through him without hesitation and walked away. She stopped after a few steps and turned her head back towards him. “And you don’t know me.”
In the backstage area in the Johnsonville theatre, there was a staircase that led down to the basement. The basement had been converted into a small home area, with a bedroom, a dining room, and even a kitchen with a fireplace and an enchanted icebox. Gloria and Carlos were sitting at the little table, and from the kichen came Goldust, carrying a small teacup.
“Here,” he said, setting it down in front of Gloria. Carlos had declined any tea. He hadn’t even wanted to come sit with them, having wanted Gloria to have some time with her father but Goldust had insisted.
“Thank you,” Gloria replied softly, unsure what to say. Goldust hadn’t said anything more after she’d told him what she had to say, only for her and Carlos to come with him.
“So, uh...” Goldust started, sitting down across from the two of them. “How is your mother?”
“I don’t know,” Gloria replied. “I ran away.”
“You - wait - what..?” asked Goldust, raising an eyebrow.
“My mother was awful,” Gloria said. “She abused me. She...” Gloria paused, and then she carefully let the cloak fall from around her shoulders to reveal her torn and tattered wings. Her father let out a sharp gasp, standing up when he saw them.
“Your wings,” he breathed. “She did this to you?”
“Yes,” Gloria said. “She tormented me. She wouldn’t let me leave, and she wouldn’t let me come looking for - for you. I had to run away.”
“Oh, Gloria,” Goldust breathed. “I - I’m so sorry. I didn’t even know that you existed. I would have come for you, I would have saved you - I can’t believe this... I don’t understand. She was always so good when I knew her.”
“Well, she had it in for me,” Gloria said. “I don’t blame you, though! I know you didn’t know about me - she told me so.”
“I don’t know why she wouldn’t tell me about you,” Goldust said, frowning. “It makes no sense.”
“I don’t know. All I’ve ever known was her years and years of abuse. She always told me how dangerous it was for fairies to be out in the world, always told me that people would be out to get me...”
“This makes no sense,” said Goldust again. “I should...I need to speak to her. I need to understand. Why wouldn’t she tell me about you?”
“I don’t know,” Gloria said again. “There’s so much I don’t understand.”
“I have to see her,” Goldust said. “Where is she?”
“Um...I grew up in a small village in the Wooded Kingdom,” Gloria replied. “Near the river just North of it-”
“I know the one,” Goldust said, frowning. “I can’t believe it. My daughter - you were there the whole time?”
“I - well - yes,” she replied softly.
“That’s where Brie and Daniel live. Do you know them?” Goldust asked.
“They helped me to escape,” Gloria replied. Goldust groaned slightly.
“They’ve known you this whole time, and nobody even knew that I had a long-lost daughter, let alone that you were she... if someone had known, I could have found you...”
“I’m sorry,” said Gloria softly. “I’m sure this is quite a shock...”
“I’m going to see her,” Goldust said. “You can stay here, if you want, or come with me-”
“I’d really rather not go with you,” Gloria said quickly. “I don’t want to see her ever again.”
“That’s fair,” Goldust said. “My home is yours while I’m gone. Make yourself comfortable. It’s a lovely city, really. Well, except for those recent murders. Be careful.”
“I will,” Gloria replied.
Goldust got up and headed to his room to pack a bag. Gloria awkardly sipped her tea while Carlos reached over and touched her arm gently.
“I think you should go with him,” he said.
“What? Why?” Gloria asked, her eyes widening. “I can’t stand the idea of having to face my mother.”
“He’ll protect you. She can’t hurt you again,” Carlos said. “I think you need closure. I think you need to face your demons and that means facing your mother.”
Gloria was quiet for a minute, letting her friend’s words float around in her brain. He had a point - her father wouldn’t let her mother bring her any harm, and maybe having him there would cause her mother to give her more answers than she had previously.
A minute later, Goldust emerged from the bedroom with a bag, and Gloria quickly rose to her feet. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “I want to come with you.”
“Are you sure?” Goldust asked, and Gloria nodded quickly.
“Yes,” she said. “I need to face my mother. I don’t want to, but I can’t move past what happened unless I get closure with her.”
“Very well,” her father replied with a nod. “Let’s go and see your mother.”
Will not leave my brain and will be relevant considering *glances at Sihua* someone is due to have a pair of twins at some point.
When a baby is born on mount Huaguo there’s a number of practices that they have to do for both a baby and mother
First: location. The mom has a few choices on where exactly she wants to give birth where there are magic circles carved into the place in sigils that move when looked at that prevent anyone not either pregnant, the queen, or one of the keepers of the locations from entering without permission from the previously named groups.
The safest and most traditional site is a cave about halfway up the mountain that’s been outfitted with a number of nests. Inside there’s a small fresh water spring and a rock enchanted with a nearly forgotten spell that keeps the place warm in winter and cool in summer called Weather Stone Cave. Other locations include an old nesting site somewhere just below the mountain peak that’s become a favored destination for those wanting a gods blessing since Sihua hatched from her stone egg there simply called Gods Sight Peek, another cave closer to the beach that gets an ocean breeze all day during the summer called Ocean Wind Cave, and the medical hall that was carved into middle left wall of the Water Curtain Cave by Sihua and a few others so that in case of another siege like the one done by the Demon King of Havoc. Though it’s less private and is also a place to hold medicine and heal the injured. It’s good for emergencies but not favored.
Once the Mother decides where she wants to give birth she’ll gather her choice of people to be present, a group that will help her and contribute to the next part of the rites. Some choose to invite a friend, their parents, the father of the child, siblings, some find the courage to ask the current Royal to be present (Haoyu did get asked a couple times but he declined politely), and the most important choice about who is present is if the mother wants a midwife or a doctor. The role of doctor was made really important once Sihua became one and brought more complete knowledge to the islands and having one present meant that there would be a lower chance of there being complications during the birth. But Midwives had that effect and were more spiritually connected to the mountain, able to ask it for help in case of an emergency, and they had the distinction of being more specialized. Midwives only helped with pregnancies and menstruation so they had less information in their head to get lost in or forget in the heat of the moment in comparison to a doctor, though that came with the drawback that midwives didn’t know how to identify other risks or conditions the mother may have or develop. That and the professional hatred shared between the two professions meant that you could only have one present if you wanted a relatively quiet delivery room. Doctors having the habit of dismissing midwives and midwives undermining doctors for relying so heavily on practices developed primarily by humans for humans.
Everything comes to a head when the baby decides it’s time to enter the world. Typically the mom would already be at their chosen birthing spot but if she’s not(let’s be real she won’t always be) then her chosen support group will take her there as quickly as possible and hurry to prepare the paint. Paint? Yes, paint. Paints in red, yellow, dark blue, and pink will be applied to the mothers face and upper chest in patterns that form a loose magic circle. The reason for the colors and the type of paint are unknown as they’re part of the process that was passed down exclusively through oral history and the reasons were lost by the time a Female King made the restricted royal archive sealed to all but the queen and two librarians sworn to complete secrecy who could retrieve a record for someone. This Female King would ironically never re-enter the library after it was sealed as she never became Queen.
The people gather and do what they can to ease the mothers pain until the baby is born and after the baby(or egg) has been born and the mother is taken care of so that she can rest easy, the birth party thins to just those who know the mothers True Name. They speak her name and a blessing for the mother, not a single one will acknowledge the child, and leave until it is only the mother and father of the child(or if either parent is unavailable for reasons another family member will remain). They will name the child and paint upon their face two small marks that will pass half the blessings placed on the mother to the baby. True names will be spoken as the parents name their familial relationship to the baby and give it its True Name which will be the only way the baby is spoken of for the next 100 days.
The egg shells are not left to be forgotten, they usually get put in a box or bag lined inside with something soft to be preserved and gifted to the child the day they are ready according to the parents. A way to signify the beginning of the child being independent and ready to start a family of their own.
During the first 100 days the baby and mother will be in isolation for a majority of the time so as to facilitate the exclusive use of True Names and allow them both rest. The father will partake in this isolation as much as possible, the parents' family ties within the troop will assist by providing for them and planning the 100 day ceremony that will tie the child to the mountain and mark the day they are given their first Common Name. The practices of such will be talked about in another entry.
An ally. The dragon from the river was an ally and I never should’ve needed to fight him. And now we are all sitting in a forest without a fire because this hatchling is upset with Tripitaka for making him work.
How Tripitaka didn’t know about getting disciples I have no idea but I can and will blame Quanyin for this. Especially since I’m now stuck babysitting two vulnerable children who aren’t even my own. Even if the dragon seems to hold “Sun Wukong” on a pedestal for all the things Heaven claims I’ve done(and what I have done).
The dragon, common name Bai Long Ma or Yu Long, the latter of which I believe I will use more, is the fourth son of the Dragon King of the West and maybe that is why he was not given a circlet such as mine despite his… bratty behaviors. Though I do think there might be something to his refusal to have anything to do with making flame. He is as far as I or Tripitaka can tell-
—-
“Your Majesty!”
The journal Sihua had been writing in was nearly torn from her hands by the ‘excitable’ dragon prince shoving it down. “Yes Yu Long.” Sihua pulled the poor book back to her chest.
The young prince scrunched his nose at the address, human face odd looking with the scales crawling along his cheeks and coral horns sprouting from his scalp, but stepped back and responded all the same. “Please explain to this monk that we will not be subject to sleeping in the dirt! It’s bad enough that I must lower myself to being his,” the whelp gagged, “steed, I will not also be made to sleep in the mud! WE are royalty and-”
Sihua restrained a sigh and tuned out the speech, Long had been complaining similarly since they had stopped to make camp.
‘Where is the meat?!’
‘What do you mean I have to light the fire??!’
‘Why won’t the monk Listen to me!’
It had long since become tiresome and it was going to be an even longer night than usual if Long wouldn’t shut up. He was still going despite her lack of reaction the past few minutes and the bark of the tree Sihua was sitting against was starting to dig into her shoulder blade where Erlang’s blade was still lodged.
“-if anything he should be serving us, especially since you’re the venerable Sun Wukong, perhaps we should—!”
Sihua slammed her journal shut to draw the whelp’s attention. “You are right, Long, we will not be subject to sleeping upon the ground.” The whelp's face split with the force of his smile even as Tripitaka appeared ready to break his vow of nonviolence behind him. “Instead, with all your energy, you will take the first watch and I will sleep in the trees.”
The speed at which Tripitaka and Long traded expressions was dizzying. “Wukong is right Lie,” the monk said as he laid out a thin sleeping mat, “with as much energy as you seem to have it would be prudent to put it to use instead of complaining.”
The ‘poor’ dragon whelp turned red in the face and turned at the utterance of his true name. He almost tried to dispute the decision before Sihua ended the conversation by climbing her tree, a large willow that had yet to weep, and putting the final touches to her small nest. Yu Long opened and closed his mouth no less than six times before he stomped his foot and acquiesced to the silence. Though he still refused outright to do most work, most vehemently when asked to light the fire, the rest of the night was blissfully free of what Brother Bull would have generously called ‘inane bitching’.
According to their map they would reach a village by evening the next day and would need to get more rations now that they had a larger group, hopefully there wouldn’t be any trouble like some kind of pig demon or something.
Sihua waited until she saw Long give in to sleep, staring strangely at the firelight, before she pressed a hand to her stomach and whispered “please children, don’t become like Yu Long, he isn’t a good role model.”
—
There was a laugh in the night as Sihua swung through the trees. Following the bright white fur of her best friend in the world. His six ears flashing lilac, blue, and teal as they celebrated the news. The gifted vase from the mountain spirit was wrapped protectively in her tail with its jade decorated in shining bronze designs of clouds and peach blossoms stoppered with a yellow diamond sun the size of a plum pit.
It was thrilling. Chasing Kai like this after having so long wandering the hardstone halls of the mountain's soul, reading the murals of the queens and female kings of old, their lives and their hardships, her walls hummed with the memories so fiercely Sihua's own bones still rang with the song.
She lost sight of his tail around a bend and stopped to catch her breath under the moonlight. The soft breeze dried the sweat beneath her fur until she shivered from the cold. He was close, the golden monkey couldn’t say how or why she knew, but she could feel that her dark counterpart was nearby. The faintest of giggles permeated the air and a flash of violet skittered behind a tree in the shadows just after her chest stopped heaving. The cheat was hiding among the shadows. Her smile was wide enough to show some of her teeth as she channeled her own ‘cheating’ magic into her sight.
The forest burst into a sea of bright colors, midnight darkness gave way to the clearness of a thousand lights, living things pulsed with the force of their being, and there was a trail of purple more vibrant than anything else in her view. It was already fading into the mountain's soil but she followed its path until she was staring at the canopy above her at the nearly pitch black shadow of her closest advisor. She blinked once, twice, before the colors faded back into the soft glow of moonlight. His eyes shone with starlight as they swirled with the powers of the nebula he’d been gifted in the mask of dark red he .
But it was too early in their lives for Haoyu to have such power.
Sihua’s dream swirled like a raging riptide until she was staring at her husband's face under the cave. His face was contorted in sorrow and hurt and he cried until the waters began to flood the cavern. There was stirring in her womb as her children made themselves known. They punched and kicked hard enough to crack the stone and allow the flood waters in to soak her fur as their father towered above. His eyes, so kind and loving, were now flat and static in their staring.
Even in her nightmares she couldn’t imagine him turning to her with malice.
The monkey’s stomach rebelled against her. She choked on whatever it was she was forced to expel even as every breath drew in water instead of air.
Spells sparked and died. Her hand bled and bled. Her lungs were too full of heavy water before turning too light, filled with smoke and soot.
The water froze and the fires burned.
Her head was splitting open. Her children were dying-
—
Sihua awoke with a start. Her claws tearing into the soft blankets she’d summoned from her fur to line the tiny nest. Her breath came in short gasps and her skin was clammy with sweat. It was early in the morning, the moon barely starting to set at the edge of the horizon, and the monkey fought hard against the noise of her panic. Nausea rolled up her spine for the first time in centuries and she rushed to a bush just out of sight of their little camp.
The watery bile of last night’s dinner burned as it left her mouth.
It sucked.
When she was finally able to pull back from the bush there was a noise from behind her. Long was trying to hide behind a tree, his hair and robes visible around the trunk, likely to hide that he’d seen her… let the whelp believe he was letting her save face. Sihua was exhausted and achy and her lungs weren’t expanding right. It was easier to let him believe he was doing her a service than to explain.
Well I say that but it actually sets some things up so please read it
Lie was passing out the cups of that night’s tea when Wujing spoke up. “Is this… allowed?”
A huff was heard from the small cave in the cliff they had sheltered near that night and Bajie laughed in his halting, snorting, way. “It's about as Buddhist as beating the crap out of demons.”
Sounds continued, as Bajie started complaining about the lengths the taoists had gone to try punishing them for eating their fruit and the hard going, but Lie had been taken by a thought. “If fighting is a sin then does that mean that you would be barred from nirvana or buddhahood for all the fighting you’re doing on this journey?”
“But we’re protecting a priest!” Bajie was quick to object. “Doesn’t it cancel out the sin? Like arithmetic?”
Wujing nearly choked on his tea. His coughing sounded wet and gravelly and he dropped his plant pot of a cup, which was the true crime because now it meant that Lie would now have to clean and fill it again. Curse it being his turn to do the dishes. “Now I’m pretty sure that’s blasphemous Bajie, surely not even one as inept as you could make such a disgraceful statement and mean it.”
“You underestimate our pig whelp.” Wukong climbed down from his newest nest and lightly slapped the still recovering Wujing on the back. “Besides, we’ve all heard of monks being called to dispel demons before, there are exceptions to the tenement of decrying violence.”
“Well said elder brother,” taking in a deep breath Wujing seemed to finally have control of his lungs again, “but what are those exceptions? Surely there are rules to be mindful of?”
Lie pressed a slightly warm cup into Wukong’s hands as the monkey smiled at him. His smile was gentler than before, soft eyes and closed lips, and it seemed more obvious by the day that this smile was reserved for Wujing and Lie alone. “Does this mean our topic tonight is what makes violence ok?”
“It certainly seems appropriate.”
“Well then, oh wise old man,” Bajie swung his arm in a wide sweeping gesture Lie recognized somewhat as a call to challenge, “what is the Buddhist stance on violence?”
Wukong took a sip of drink and made a face as though he wished it was of stronger stuff. “The Dhammapada says that ‘All are afraid of the stick, all hold their lives dear. Putting oneself in another’s place, one should not beat or kill others.’”
“I believe I’ve heard that quote before!” All attention suddenly shifted to Wujing. Under their collective gaze the giant of a man curled into himself. “In a different context… but it leads to the concept of Metta doesn’t it?”
The concept of “Metta?” It was Lie’s turn to wilt below the gazes of his companions, suddenly self conscious of his clear lack of understanding.
“The concept of loving kindness and a mindset of endless compassion for other living beings.” The four of them jumped in their seats at Xuanzang’s voice. The monk was supposed to have been asleep by now! But nonetheless he sat, different from the other times he had interrupted their discussions, and waited. For what the group could only guess but it was a tense while before Bajie gathered enough courage to break the silence.
“Even to people like those bandits a while back?” There was a saying that a prophet had used in Lie’s presence once that described the volley of debate that sprung forth from that simple line. One that sat at the back of the prince’s throat for a long while tasting of sand and sunbaked air. Ah yes, the straw that broke the camels back.
Xuanzang’s face scrunched when he decidedly said. “Of course.”
At the same time Wukong passively responded. “In a way.”
The two locked eyes at once, two minds of great intellect, one human taught on books his entire life, the other a king with centuries of life to have learned the way. It was almost as though one could slice through the growing tension with a knife. So much did that tension weigh upon the young dragon that he moved ever so carefully away from the direct line of fire just as an indignant cry spilled from the humans lips.
Wujing was kind enough to provide the prince a friend in watching the show devolve.
“-karma will find them eventually and it is not our job-”
“We are on a holy mission to travel to the Buddha, who is to say we are not the bringers of karmic retribution!”
“And they were the ones to try us first! Try shit get hit!”
“That is not-” “Good sentiment Bajie-”
“What do you mean-”
The debate had reached a fervor in moments. Tripitaka’s face had turned red all the way to the top of his bald head and Wukong’s teeth were barred. It almost seemed that there would be a battle between the two and privately Lie thought he wouldn’t be upset to see the monk fall if only he weren’t the key to avoiding the execution stage. Except suddenly the King closed his eyes and took an exaggerated breath.
When his eyes opened again they were devoid of the usual glamour, previously disguised red pools of blood sizzling when they touched the edge of deep bronze. A golden glow around the edges silence Xuanzang’s voice. “It is interesting that you argue against violence so passionately even while you have no qualms inflicting pain yourself.”
“I don’t-”
“The Band Tightening Spell.”
Lie watched the monk blanch until he was paler than milk. Though it was unclear why? “Wukong,” the monkey hummed and continued to stare at the hapless monk, “what is the band tightening spell?”
“It’s a punishment tool given to me by the Merciful Guanyin so that I can tame Wukong’s evil tendencies.”
A sharp laugh. “Yes, yes, very merciful to split my skull, make me bleed from my eyes, and seal away my magic core.” It was their turn now to blanch. Bajie of all people gasped and dropped his own massive tea cup, the spilled drink snuffed out the fire and left the only light that of the stars and the searing golden amber eyes of a far too calm Wukong. “Violence is a part of the natural world. It’s not as though a tiger can deny its need to eat meat and there is no other source than other beings.”
“But we are not as debased as simple animals-”
“We are more capable of thought but we are all still animals; human, dragon, pig, fish, and monkey. It is not that we must never do harm, it is that we must be conscious of when and how we do harm.” Wukong finally blinked and in the dark of the new moon night he spoke softly. “I know of many who held the same ideas of avoiding doing harm at all cost and did more than they intended. They wasted away from sickness caused by eating leaves instead of the meat their bodies needed.”
Wujing leaned in, as if this were the most riveting thing he’d ever heard and Lie could not bring himself to disagree.
“Those who need to eat need to kill, those who have the sense to kill the least must take care to be respectful to the dead.”
“But the Sutta Nipata says not to kill nor get someone else to kill!”
“And yet,” Bajie’s voice was strong and clear in the darkness, “we fight and kill to protect you. Are we damning ourselves for you?”
“I do not tell you to-”
“Wukong didn’t want to fight Bajie in the Cao village.” It felt strange to interrupt but strangely in the darkness the words spilled forth. Besides, Lie never was able to properly hold his tongue. “He wanted to just move on because he knew it was nothing more than a wedding practice. But you didn’t listen when we tried to tell you.”
Silence reigned for what felt like hours but must’ve only been moments.
“I… I believe I need to meditate now.”
And it was over. No joyful memories to be made that night as they had many other nights. Just a feeling of incompleteness.
We’re told in the book that there’s only ~1000 monkey demons left on FFM after the fires and the years of hunting so I imagine most of the deaths would have been illness or starvation caused in the first ~150 years or so, after that there are a few groups who want to attack the place for a few reasons.
In order of greatest to smallest threat:
Ao Guang is one of Wukong's neighbors and would have reason to steal from the islands because Wukong took that big stick that was in his treasury and the sets of robes he had to replace from the amount of pants shitting he did whenever Wukong was in his presence. He’s butthurt and because heaven has already essentially damned the islands of Aolai he sees no harm in attacking and making mines to recover some of the gold and gem deposits that have gone untouched because there hasn’t been an eco-friendly way of mining them. The people of Aolai are doing everything they can to fight back.
Humans will hunt anything bro you can’t convince me that a group wouldn’t try profiting by selling monkeys that can dance and sing. They aren’t that hard to drive away but they are a seasonal pest that keeps coming back.
Wukong made Aolai untouchable territory, they would want to take it over or get revenge for battles lost when they fought. They have mostly been pacified since they were promised some gold and gems for not attacking and providing some relief supplies. Even then they aren’t a helping hand really as the ones who are closest to the ruling family are on the ass end of the continent, or it feels like that at least, and can’t exactly reach them. DBK and PIF are especially apologetic that they can’t drop everything in their own territories to go help.
@cringeworthyonly helped me figure out the war stuff because hes a nerd
Who was going to tell me Sandy was 12.5 ft tall?! And who was going to tell me that that was on the LOW END
According to Xuanzang(the real guy)‘s biography from the seventh century our delightful guy is “several zhang tall” and a zhang is about 10.43 ft which would make Sandy
31.29 feet tall at LEAST
No wonder people were terrified of him!
Bajie is also like 11.81 ft tall if we pull data from the real world megalochoerus homungous pig data we kinda know from prehistoric times and maybe apply it but also just because we need someone even slightly close to Wujings height
Bro needs a friend in height based terror of the masses and Wukong needs his brothers to be big enough that he can climb them like trees
Btw Wukong is 4 foot nothing, child size, punting size, they deserve to feel tall
Tripitaka is like 5 foot 7 inches
And we’re not even getting into the difference between Ao Lie’s height vs length in humanish vs true form
