I always found it hilarious, in the very tense, very atmospheric scene of the night hunt where Wei Wuxian and friends are invited to participate...
And the actually frightful monster underwater is...
HAIR
A whooooole lot of loose hair!!! Swimming all by itself, tangling deadly on the poor fishermen and drowning the population...
Yes, yes, I know it's supposed to be algae or something like that. But can you blame me thinking it's hair when... Do you see everyone's heads in these series??
Someone is combing those lush locks, and getting a whole lot of loose hairs that need to be thrown out of the house, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of those end up in the lakes and rivers...
A/N: Just so people are aware , this isn't going to be a romantic fic. I may do like short blurbs of this reader if requested but other than that short message, enjoy :]
PROLOGUE
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CHAPTER ONE - YOUR CRUELTY
To be controlled by anger is a weakness. To harness rage is strength.
In the Demon Realm you were solitary. You’d fought and raged against anything that moved. Various demons tried and failed to bully you into compliance, into submission, but you’d simply cut them down and be on your way. You were a nomad who would spill blood without regret or guilt.
Streaks of blue shot across the sky like meteors and you could almost feel compelled enough to follow them. This wasn’t the time.
Through the grapevine you heard that Gwi-Ma was gaining strength and that the Honmoon was beginning to waiver. How that was being done you had no idea, but it was intriguing for one and an excellent opportunity for two.
There were demons of all shapes and sizes lying dead all around you. The biggest one had pissed you off the most, hence why the pig was torn apart, gutted, and skinned. It was painful. You made sure of that.
They had done what every demon in this realm did. They tried to control you. You’d be damned before letting that happen.
You looked down at the stone before you and kneeled, your claws running deep into the rock. The stone might as well have been water the way that your fingers sank down through it.
The humid breeze hit your fingers and you sank deeper and deeper into the ground below. The realm of Gwi-Ma was stagnant and neutral. You couldn’t enjoy the cold anymore than you could enjoy the heat from before. This feeling of overwhelming warmth was very welcome.
You wanted to laugh as the Honmoon split for you to emerge from that dreary place. You could finally feel your feet as your toes dug into soil. This place was…different. Warmer than before. There was more tension, but you decided to blame that on your demon physiology.
It’s been…A long time.
You let the pelts and furs fall from your shoulders and over your arms. They were clothes just as much as they were trophies. Taken from demons across the realm that had crossed you.
Laughter rose from your chest like a fire rising from ash. You were back in your realm…YOU WERE BACK!!
You shouted in victory with your teeth bare and your hands curled into fists above your head.
You were climbing up a tall hill before you knew it and you had no choice but to stop as you looked forward. There were lights. Brilliant cascades of blues, purples, and pinks. Buildings that were rectangular shot up towards the sky. They were different. Changed.
You found that your smile hadn’t gone away.
You knew it was probably a bad idea but you were traversing barefoot on the thick slabs of stone and catching stares. You licked your tusks and fangs with no regard for those around you. You were also pretty stinky. Nose blind to it now but the way people were flinching away from you made you immediately aware of that.
So…What was the goal here? You weren’t exactly under Gwi-ma’s control…You had no obligation to anyone but yourself…
Your brother…He was probably dead now. If these were the buildings of the future (you didn’t even know how much time had passed) then you were pretty sure that he was gone…
So was your Mother…
If he was gone then there was no question of your Mother…
Maybe you could find her…You wanted to see her grave…If she was given one. A part of you, something small and nostalgic, dared to hope that she was given a proper burial.
The city was…stuffy. It was too crowded and your hearing was way too sharp for you to just be walking casually. You got out of there and wandered for a long time.
Further and further until you felt what could’ve been nothing. It was like a pressure had just appeared on your wrist.
Whether it was foolish or not you didn’t care. Your feet were moving before you could stop them.
A tightness came for your throat and you could feel the tears. How long has it been since you cried? You and your wicked claws, your purple skin, and your patterns…Gods your patterns…
You came across a hulking Seonangdang and let your head whirl around. Despite your increasing anxiety over being in this place you just—You had to see it. You needed to see it. She wasn’t you, your Mother deserved a proper burial.
You looked at the names and read them. You kept reading and searching but you couldn’t…You couldn’t find her.
A brutal sob wracked through you as you spun on your heel. It was the same little burial spot that you had seen before. That’s where the pressure was coming from but your mother’s name wasn’t on there! It wasn’t there!
You approached the stones with a frustrated expression. Did they even bury her? Was that her punishment for begging for your forgiveness?
You trekked around the little site and stared at the back. A tiny, insignificant block of stone was right there. Covered in moss and uncleaned for…years…
The grass dug into your knees as you touched it. You tore your hand away as if you were burned. You didn’t deserve this… This was a disrespectful gesture. A gesture, but one that you found the insult in.
You didn’t even need to wonder why that pressure was coming from the main part of the burial site. She was underneath them.
They couldn’t even carve out her name. They buried your mother beneath themselves and gave her this tiny stone with no—You forced your fists to relax and you slowly picked away the moss. Your claws scraped away the green that was stuck to it and you picked away the grass that was concealing it.
You bowed deeply and felt overwhelming pangs of regret. You had already gone through the throws of anguish before but it felt worse now having seen how she was disrespected in death.
You gasped and shot up to your feet. There was somebody else here. One last glance was spared to your Mother’s heart-wrenching, small, headstone before you ran.
Anxiety shot up through your spine as you ran. There was some semblance of peace when you were approaching the city.
You stumbled down into the dirt and flipped yourself onto your back. You couldn’t—what?—This—It hurts. Your chest ached and you closed a fist over your sternum. One hand over your hammering heart and the other balling up the dirt.
You growled and curled in on yourself. Anger, frustration, and sadness whirled around your mind as you thought Why?
She was the one person who didn’t deserve to be treated like that. Your mother was the best out of all of your family.
Your brother had abandoned the both of you—You were this thing—and she had only begged for mercy…Your breathing became normal and you felt…weightless…
The same bite of anxiety you felt now was similar to how you felt when you were desperately clinging to your brother’s retreating fingers. His face, the look on his face as he left the both of you made your breathing tumble out of you…
Memories with your Mother…The fleeting moments with your brother and how you’d all suffer as a family played again. Then there were times that you sobbed into your Mother’s arms as you returned to your home. The dirt and the grime sticking to your skin as fat tears rolled over your skin.
Mother’s pinky running down your nose…That comforting memory combined with how mentally exhausted you were made you fall asleep in the dirt…
It wouldn’t be the first time…
Sunlight was foreign after years of not seeing it. There was no sun in the Demon Realm. There were only the whispers of false moonlight and the flames of Gwi-ma.
You woke up and immediately got to your feet. What could have been decades of darkness and paranoia hardwired your brain to be on the defensive. Even if you didn’t need to be.
Warmth came over your body in waves. The grass was suddenly beneath your palm as you kneeled in the dirt. It was…so soft…
It had been quite some time since you’d seen genuine nature. Back in the Demon Realm everything looked the same. It was bland and dreary, but here it was all soft and green. There weren’t plants that were super prickly, it was just gentle…And there.
There was time to kill. Hopefully.
You needed a bath desperately. It was beginning to weigh on you that the dirt and grime wouldn’t be appropriate if you wanted to blend in…Blend in.
That was another thing, “Blending in.” It would be a bit difficult, you thought, if you weren’t exactly well versed in the subject of modern Korean culture or even how the language further developed…It’d be a pain.
You could start with the city. Ask some questions, and find out how many years have passed since your damnation to Gwi-ma’s realm…Hoo boy.
There was a lot to unpack in regards to that. It would be a bit complicated but there are…things to talk to! Like rocks and of course trees and even the grass! It’d be…amazing to look like a crazy person…
You felt yourself grimace and your lips warp over your tusks.
Traversing the city of rock and glass was surprisingly easy. There were plenty of people who stood clear but there were also many who complimented your costume as it were. You ignored them and journeyed to the sign you understood. Jjimjilbang. There was a brand of some sort of but you didn’t care about that. You only cared to go inside and wash up.
As soon as you came inside you were greeted politely by a rather perplexed young woman. Her words were gentle as she pointed to the spot in front of her. There was a small piece of paper covered in a clear substance about how entry was ₩20,000…But…You didn’t have any money. At all. There wasn’t even a single Won to your name.
You looked up at her and she fidgeted as she stared back at you.
Before you knew it you were unclipping a demon’s gilded tusk from your belt and putting it down on the table. She looked down at it, sputtered, before grabbing the rather heavy thing and guiding you towards the back. The woman was muttering about how this had to have been some kind of joke and that there was no way that the tooth or the gold was real.
There were lines of compartments and the young woman nervously gestured to one. Naturally, you were perplexed and poked at it. “Is this…A chest of some kind?” When it opened you looked inside and then began to strip off your furs and pelts. The young woman, dressed in white, averted her eyes in respect and poked at the gilded tooth. She wondered immediately where this fang came from. It was so big for a tooth or a claw.
The furs you adorned were folded and set inside of the white chest. It felt odd to be without them, but you were in need of being cleaned. You could feel the humidity from outside clinging to your naked body, but it felt amazing. It was kind of suffocating, but in a strangely good way.
The woman seemed to quickly realize that you were naked so she scurried away and got you a rather large towel. You secured the garb at your waist and before you knew it you were in front of a…spout. It was a spout. You curiously poked and prodded at it before gently twisting the knob by its side. The woman seemed shocked at your reaction, which was a small flinch and immediately putting your hand under the stream of cool water.
You seemed in awe of this place…Every luxury you had been deprived of you suddenly had access to. The running water, infinite you thought, was simply pouring out from the shiny metal tube. You muttered out a soft, “Woah…”
She explains that here is where you can actually wash yourself and you begin before she can finish her explanation. Her face shifts into a gentle grin before she gestures behind you. “You may relax in the baths just back here.” She says. She earns a curt nod from you, a muttered thank you, before she retreats back to the front with the trophy that you had obtained some time ago.
A small brush was made useful almost immediately and you scrubbed away so many years of grime and ash. You could see your skin going a brighter purple as you vigorously scrubbed the dirt away.
The feeling of washing that realm from your skin was incredible…
Sinking down into the water was a miracle unto itself. It felt amazing. It was a comforting warmth that sank into your very bones. You’d passed by others who stared at you and your skin, but you hadn’t given it much thought. This was about you. You’d earned the right to be a bit selfish. It was just you now, no one else…
Hours seemed to pass and you snuggled deep down to your mouth in the liquid. The fact that there was this much water in one spot was already grand, but a warm tub full of the stuff? That was a thing of the royals…
Many of the people had left so you were alone, kneeling in the water that never cooled…
A frigid hand appeared at your waist and before they could even touch you, you had a hand wrapped squarely around their throat. You rose with an agitated snarl and glared daggers at the water demon in your grip.
“What is this!?” You snapped. The demon choked on the lack of air and clawed at your arm. It didn’t do anything more than piss you off and you squeezed harder. “You are incredibly bold for that, wretch.”
“Any souls in this place–any souls in this city, are MINE!” You looked around the cube of water and ceramic tiles before taking the water demon in your hands and squeezing.
“WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!! PLEASE, WAIT!!” You were compelled to stop as the little mongrel got some air. You paused, staring right at his eye with an untold amount of rage. “PLEASE! I HAVE–I HAVE INFORMATION!!” You shook him, “QUIET YOUR VOICE, WELP.”
He took a moment to breathe. “There–There are Hunters in the next city over, in SEOUL!” He began to beg for his life. You simply rolled your eyes and started to squeeze. It didn’t take too much effort for the demon to simply pop between your palms.
The little thing disappeared into a plume of smoke and you huffed in annoyance. Staying anywhere near humans would be difficult if you also had to worry about hunters in the next city over. It would be more difficult to have them come over here, but maybe…It was stupid, but you didn’t really have any sort of choice. If there was ever a place to gather information it would come from the heart of the nation…
Even if it was putting yourself into the fire, to know that Hunters were around after so long.
You snarled again at such an unwelcome intrusion before stomping out to gather your furs and pelts.
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A/N: I'm way too inspired by this movie holy hell. If I keep this going and you'd like to be put on a taglist for future chapters then please let me know ^^
WORD COUNT: 2,567
You know these guys? Sure you do. They're the eel and newt demons, obviously. But. I've been thinking. Cuz like.
You've heard the whole "dragons couldn't exist because a six limbed vertebrate doesn't exist" argument. Most people take the artistic liberty to give their dragons wings anyways because fuk biology or something. I'm a person that does this. Because. I liek traditional four legged, two winged dragos :3
But this brings me to my predicament here.
There's never existed an animal that can breathe air and underwater. You have marine mammals with either blowholes or sealing nostrils and the like. Or fish and other underwater creatures that have some form of gills. But never a crossover. The closest I can guess of a crossover is the occasional amphibian that can breathe through its skin.
So. Idea.
Eel demons have traditional gills along their ribcage. The way I understand gills is that fish swim with their mouths open to allow water to pass through their gills (which are connected to the mouth/throat kinda). Since I want the eel demons to also have lungs, I'm not gonna connect the gills to their mouth. We're gonna put two openings right around the collarbone area that feeds water into the gills :) the lungs will be connected to the nostrils (not the mouth, still gonna try figuring out how they speak without that) the nostrils are sealed constantly and need to be forced open consciously and kept open for them to breathe air. This way, water breathing is their usual method, breathing air is their "no choice" method.
Newt demons are different. They have axolotl gills and skin that can absorb oxygen passively. Something something maybe more energy efficient since they live in really deep ocean caves n stuff and there's an oxygen deficiency in that water. Maybe. Idk science. The gills works as both gills and kind of ears? Or antenna. They do like. Echolocation or something idk. But their skin. Has ridges. That can catch tiny air bubbles. And that's how they absorb the oxygen from the water. Outside of water, they still need to be moist in order for their skin to be able to absorb oxygen from the air. Luckily, they don't go out of the water often so it's not much of a problem.
Also, neither one can, like. Really suffocate. Since. The only way they can die is if you like. Destroy their heart. So. Idk what the point of this was, exceeeept- they are still affected by suffocation and will pass out until they can breathe again. So like. It's still. Relevant. Or something. I'm leaving.
