#lmk thunder

It was one of the rare times when a tropical storm system passed through the land, and without Wukong’s barriers to keep the worst of the weather at bay, Flower and Fruit Mountain was weathering the storm the old fashioned way. Xiaotain and Shíhòu had been out for a day’s walk with Bai He, a promise they’d made to her when she was still healing from her time as the Lady Bone Demon’s host, but when the storm had started coming in during the early evening of the previous day, Shíhòu had said it would be safer for them to stay in the city until it passed. And so, Xiaotain was with his Pa and Dadsy until the storm passed, while Shíhòu was with Chi Yue and her twin, waiting out the storm in safety and warmth.

Meanwhile, Wu Zhiqi was seated in the grand office of the Stone Palace, working his way though one of the many piles of papers that Shíhòu had set aside for Old Beng and Xiaotain, all of them neatly arranged and properly signed with Shíhòu’s signature, they just needed dating and proof reading. The newer towers of paper work could wait a few weeks, as they were mostly letters and receipts from traders and smaller clans who used land and territory that belonged to Flower and Fruit Mountain that needed proper organizing and filing away.

It was a painful thing for Mihou, to realise just how much work Shíhòu had done and prepared to make the task of ruling so simple for Old Beng and Xiaotain, and how much work Shíhòu had done alone during their early years. Another strike that further punished and silenced the once loud and angry voice of the Past that had been the driving force behind Mihou’s actions for so long, leaving Mihou scrambling to figure out his emotions and thoughts without the anger and hurt clouding his reasoning.

Meditation and self reflection had become a daily activity for Mihou, often during the time Shíhòu would settle down to nap, or before the dark furred monkey turned in for the evening.

Wu Zhiqi’s thoughts came to a halt when he looked at the page in front of him and he smiled.

“Zhiqi?” Ah, it was time to switch jobs.

“I’m here.” Wu Zhiqi assured quietly as Tongbi stepped into the room, keeping his voice low. “Come look at this.”

“More errors in the papers?” Tongbi guessed as he came over, a fresh pot of tea in one hand and a plate of snacks to pick through as he worked through the paperwork.

“No, notes for painting from our baby brother.” Wu Zhiqi smiled, showing Tongbi the slightly crumpled page in his hand.

It was no secret that their youngest brother was an artist, and that one of his clones took that skill and talent to an entirely new extreme. So, really, none of them were shocked to learn that he had a scrap of paper with brief details about each of them, and with little notes to help their baby brother organize things with his art clone for what they assumed was one of many projects.

One of the little ones had likely found the page in the corridors, and had brought it to the office room, thinking it was something important that had slipped free of the large tower of papers they were slowly working through, rather than one of Xiaotain’s pages from his scrapbooks.

Wu Zhiqi, Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey. Eldest and first none Heavenly being to obtain longevity without the use of tonics, foods or relics, and the first being outside the Heavens to understand both yin and yang. Tallest of the five and covered in long red fur. Head fur is more akin to a lion’s mane.  Need smaller and finer brushes for highlights and detailing. Also need lighting references for fur tones. No shirt, fur makes up for it, wears a pair of faded golden pants, held up at  the waist by a length of hemp rope, and a pair of simple sandals on his feet.  More practice and references for hemp rope textures. Wears bangle rings on tail, wrists and ankles, one black and one white. Yin and yang symbology built into design already, only need more black and white paint as well as paint thinner. Weighted guard of metal to hold a cape over the shoulders and neck.  Light reflection and refraction references are still needed, also we’ve got new metallic paints coming from Mei.

Tongbi, the Long-Armed Gibbon. Second and once whispered to have been a close friend to the First Jade Emperor, the one who had held the Sun and Moon aloft whilst the Realms were being formed so long ago and the one who had knowledge and understanding of both auspicious and inauspicious events. Need to experiment with gray and shadings more, fur can look platinum in some lighting. Only a head shorter than Wu Zhiqi. Sometimes wears Wu Zhiqi’s cape over his shoulders. Colour contrasting and background story telling to help show that the cape is borrowed, difficult but doable. Shortest fur of all of us, less highlighting and shading, but more detailing.  More practice for facial expressions.  Wears dark zhiduo and a jiasha, no shoes, but does have bandages around his feet. References needed for further practice.

Their baby brother was clearly planning to do some painting in the near future, either using them as models, or including them with great detail, and it seemed his artistic clone was helping with note taking and keeping his thoughts organized whenever possible.

“I’m tempted to let him paint some murals in the empty chambers, just to see some fresh colours in the Palace again.” Wu Zhiqi smiled.

“I’d agree with you, but maybe wait until Mihou and Shíhòu are in a better place. Too much change, even small and harmless, may hinder them rather than help.” Tongbi said, and carefully tucked stray furs out of Wu Zhiqi’s face.

“Very well,” Wu Zhiqi said, leaning into the brief touch. “Speaking of, should I speak with Mihou about his attitude soon? Or would it be better to wait until after the Celestial busy-bodies have conducted themselves enough to host their round of ‘enriching gatherings for the next generation?’” He asked, knowing it was a conversation that had to be had, even if it was not an easy one, but also very aware of how mentally draining the celestial gatherings were going to be for both Mihou and Shíhòu.

Tongbi hesitated, but only for a moment before sighing heavily through his nose and nodded. “It will help him to better understand the Madness that took him and why he lashed out the way he did.” He agreed. “But, please try and be gentle with him, Zhiqi, he is frail and I am afraid he has inherited my temper with your short fuse.”

Wu Zhiqi smiled softly, and gently tugged Tongbi into his space as he stood from the chair, holding the silver monkey in a tender embrace. “I will be as gentle as I can be with him, Tongbi. But if he pushes, he will learn from me as our little Shíhòu is learning.” The red furred monkey offered, nuzzling into Tongbi’s soft fur.

It was not something they enjoyed, or liked about the situation, having to correct and take authority from their younger brothers after so long apart. But Shíhòu’s frustrations about the whole matter were at a point where he couldn’t hold them in anymore, all his years of careful planning and preparing for one outcome, now denied and redirected. That, on top of his weakened state and raw emotions that he’d spent years carefully hiding or covering up with the broken shreds of cockiness and confidence were slowly being peeled open and pulled back, had led to a few outbursts.

It was understandable that he’d lash out at them, but it didn’t mean they were going to let the anger and aggression become the norm, nor were they going to let the fighting become just another way for Shíhòu and Mihou to continue to harm themselves by hurting each other. It was difficult sometimes, because even though they had the same goal, they had different ways of correcting the younger monkeys, and Wu Zhiqi’s method was admittedly the harshest of the two.

But, at times, the harshest methods were the most appropriate.

“Given that the Celestials are still a few weeks from even remotely being ready for such an event, perhaps right now is the best time to have this conversation. He’s in their- his room.” Tongbi corrected himself.

It had hurt them all to see how uncomfortable just being in the Palace made Shíhòu, much more so when they realised he was actively avoiding the corridor where the room he himself had built not only a nest, but a place for himself and Mihou to be at ease and content. He couldn’t even look at the door when he was guided past it to the office, and whenever he could, he would take the long way around the Palace to avoid the room, as if being near it again would somehow ruin it forever. 

They had only recently come to compromise, after one particularly bad day when Mihou and Shíhòu had both lost their tempers with each other while Tongbi and he were away for the moment, almost coming to blows when Xiaotain had arrived.

Baby Xiaotain had, admittedly rather harshly but effectively for such a young monkey, been the one to correct both his older brothers and after hearing the whole issue from all sides, had reasoned that while them all being together in the Palace would be more ideal, having a separate space for a time until everyone got adjusted would be more comfortable, and so, even if not in the same corridor as the other older monkeys, Shíhòu would have a room of his own in the Palace while Mihou had agreed to take the once shared room for himself. In the end, Shíhòu’s room was the small side chamber on the other side of the palace between Wu Zhiqi’s indoor garden room and what was now Xiaotain’s room.

Wu Zhiqi knew Mihou’s choice to use the room for himself was a form of self inflected punishment on the black furred monkey’s part. To be in the place Shíhòu had made for them both to share, believing it would be a solid foundation stone of their relationship, a place that should have been where they could have spoken openly about anything and everything was now a constant reminder of what could have been. A space frozen in time turned into a self made prison that would remind Mihou that his choices, his inability to speak honestly and to pull away without trying to explain had been a strike against their bond.

It was a mirror of how Tongbi had behaved after he’d killed Wu Zhiqi, isolating himself in the endless work, either spending days without rest in the office, busying himself in the vast library or obsessively scrubbing his hands and arms near raw while washing the blankets and sheets by himself. Avoiding the reality of his actions as long as possible…

Mihou didn’t have the chance to do that now, as both Tongbi and Wu Zhiqi were handling the work load, but that did not mean Mihou wasn’t finding his own ways to punish himself further. Choosing to nest in the room that had once been shared between them, losing himself is memories of the shared past, over and over again, trying to stay close even when he knew Shíhòu was likely to pull away, it was all just small ways to further hurt himself.

Selfish, and also damaging to Shíhòu, who was still at a point of blaming himself for everything that was wrong in their fractured family. It needed to stop, and Tongbi simply didn’t have the means to make it happen, because for all his wisdom, he had not been the one to set their relationship right back then.

“Then I will speak with him now, and return this page to Xiaotain’s room later.” Wu Zhiqi said, and in an act that was both habit and comforting, removed his cape and tucked it around Tongbi, then poured him a cup of tea before taking the page in hand and leaving the office.

As he made his way through the palace, he took the time to calm himself for the talk that was to come, and consider his method more carefully now that he had a new wealth of information he had lacked before. 

It was clear, having watched the Demon Heirs and current Demons of power over the last few weeks during the Balls, that there was a very strict hierarchy at play that kept the old and tired Demons in a state of ‘active retirement’. They were a group of advisers that aided in small ways while the young ‘ruled’ the clans and tribes and the children were permitted their freedom to grow, learn, challenge, change and adapt to the world as it changed into a new generation. A simple chain of command, and one that had proven flawless when compared to the mess that it had been during Wu Zhiqi and Tongbi’s youthful years.

This clear line of power allowed Wu Zhiqi to easily find where troublesome threats would lie for Xiaotain, and also where the majority, if not all those who had bedded Mihou, were situated and what if any trouble they might cause in the future.

It would hurt Mihou to be reminded of these partners, especially if Mihou, as Tongbi expected, had inherited Tongbi’s temper with Wu Zhiqi’s admittedly very short fuse. But if Mihou was to mend his behaviour, he needed to be told and made to accept that his choices had brought him to this and now, he would have to live with the consequence of those choices, just like Wu Zhiqi had to live with the knowledge he had taken pleasure from others before he met and mated with Tongbi.

Coming to the doors of the room, Wu Zhiqi tapped his knuckles against the wood, and after a moment, two tiny hands pulled the door open for him and Savage climbed up onto his shoulder with a happy chirp. Taking that as permission, the red furred monkey stepped into the room quietly.

Rumble was sat up on the head board, a toy ball in his hands and he waited for Savage to return so they could keep playing while Mihou was by the window, his lantern hovering before him as he balanced on his tail, legs crossed and arms folded as small wisps of shadows danced about him like the rising ribbons of smoke from incense burners. His glamour had fallen, showing the scar that had robbed him of site in his right eye, as well as the pronounced darkness of his skin that marked where the Lady Bone Demon’s possession and power had taken hold and covered the whole right side of his face and ears, black fur thinned and slowly regrowing around his ears and around his face.

His ears were low, but the soft glow of teal emanating from his lower ears and the steady stream of tears falling from his eyes were a clear indication of what Mihou was doing.

With a light huff, he took the time to peel and slice several fruits from the bowl on the table and set them un a plate for the cubs, as well as pour two fresh cups of berry juice for the cubs to drink from before he sat in front of Mihou and closed his eyes.

It took him only a moment to find Mihou’s wandering consciousness, lost in a collection of past memories of gentleness, between simple closeness that brought warmth and affection, tendernesses shared privately where no one else mattered and moments where his touch wasn’t feared and his voice wasn’t venomous.

“How do you know how to make clothes?” Mihou’s question was quiet, as if he didn’t dare speak too loudly, lest he ruin whatever spell he was witnessing.

He was crouched a little away from Shíhòu, cradling a sleeping Rumble while Savage stood up right on a stool, arms spread wide and still as his little body would allow, all while Shíhòu carefully worked a needle and thread along a seam at the back of a small shirt.

“My Master taught me, after I told him some of the little ones were easily chilled despite the warmth of the seasons here.” Shíhòu told him, tying off the thread and cutting it with the edge of his claw. “Try moving around, see if it needs any more adjustments.”

Savage hooted happily and went off around the room, jumping, swinging, climbing and rolling as much as he pleased, testing the new shirt the way only a little one knew how.

“Will you teach me?” Mihou asked.

“Of course.”

I ruined this…

“We should be up already, Mihou.” Shíhòu whispered, though he made no move to push himself up or dislodge Mihou from his place atop him.

“No~ five more minutes…” Mihou begged through sandfilled eyes, nuzzling into Shíhòu’s soft chest fur. “Please?”

“Fine, five more minutes.” Shíhòu allowed, softly stroking the space just behind Mihou’s ears.

I ruined us…

“One for each of the children.” Shíhòu’s voice explained faintly as they laid together in the quiet of the night. “And maybe, one day, we’ll add something else. Something unique, like the sun and moon.”

“You think we’d make good parental figures?” Mihou asked. “We are nowhere near old enough or wise enough.”

“When we’ve matured more, who knows! It’ll be another adventure.” Shíhòu said with genuine promise. “One where we go together, every step of the way, just you and me.”

I ruined him…

This could not continue.

Liu’er Mihou. Wu Zhiqi projected into their bond, feeling Mihou startle somewhere in the unseen edges of the memories at the use of his full name in monkey tongue.

Neither of them were used to others being able to speak to them directly like this, and both were still learning just how much of their abilities were inherited from their elder brothers.

Y-yes, Wu Zhiqi? Mihou answered, soft purple light shining from one eye while the other was sightlessly pale.

We need to have a conversation, you and I. Come out of these memories. It was said gently, but with enough authority to coax Mihou into leaving the memories he was tormenting himself with and return to the present so they could speak. 

It took a moment, but after composing himself, Mihou let himself sink to the floor, tail curling around himself for comfort. “About?” He asked, hands busying themselves with the hem of his sleeves.

“Two things, first, your current behaviour and the reason it must stop. And second, your past actions, why they now haunt you and, if you will listen to this old one’s wisdom on the matter, how you might reach a point where such vile actions will not be such a source of pain for yourself.”

“Is this really the best time?” Mihou questioned, but the flutter of his ears made it clear a part of him already knew the answer. “Heaven-”

“Heaven’s masses will take a few more weeks of their time to sort themselves out enough for one of their youth events. That gives us a few months, maybe even a year or so, before they bother with we of the Between and the Below. So yes, Mihou, this is the best time.” The elder monkey said and Mihou sank down into himself a little. “I promised Tongbi I would be gentle with you, but that does not mean I will not correct you if you misstep, so, I will ask you only this once; do you want me to bespell your Past and Future selves so that we may speak without their whispers in your mind, or do you want them involved as well?”

“You would do that?” Mihou asked, shocked and surprised. “I thought it was- I thought, silencing them was what…”

“Your abilities are an evolution, both of my own abilities to perceive the future and understand the past, and Tongbi’s abilities to read auspicious and inauspicious events before they happen. Silencing the whispers of our own selves was often the only way either of us gained a moment of peace in our youthful years.” The elder explained, “but, it is not without risks. Silencing those parts of us too often or for too long is what leads to internal imbalance. I’m sure you understand that.”

Mihou nodded, knowing he had no reason to speak of the Madness that had taken him and ultimately what had led to the death scar that now lay over his heart.

“But, you and I have both endured the Madness, and been freed of it. We are no longer able to fall into that state again.” The elder expressed, “at worse, silencing them this way now will lead to a few hours of muffled whispers from both of them until the spell fully fades away.”

“Oh.” Mihou said, and looked out the window, as if somehow he’d find an answer out there. The elder knew, thanks to the tremble and flick of the younger’s ears that he was in fact speaking to his other selves.

“Your answer, Mihou.” Wu Zhiqi prompted after Mihou’s ears stopped twitching.

“They will only argue later if they are silenced now.” Mihou said, and faintly his upper and lower ears began to glow, an indication that all three selves were focusing on the here and the now rather than the whens and was of the past and to be and could bes of the future. “We’re listening.”

“Very well.” The elder said. “Now tell me honestly, why are you punishing yourselves this way?”

“We deserve it.” Mihou said, all selves in agreement. “We let anger and misunderstanding guide us, even after we came back, we did not try to understand or consider any other option then he had betrayed us. We wanted to hurt him, no matter the cost to ourselves.”

“Yet, you stopped.” Wu Zhiqi said. “You haven’t laid with anyone in many years.”

“They did not like others’ scents on us.” Mihou admitted and Wu Zhiqi did not need to ask who he meant, the two pairs of eyes that watched from the bed were obvious enough. “I stopped for them.”

“Only for them?” 

Mihou was quiet for a time, trying to consider his words and behaviour in front of his elder, but accusation bled into his tone when the teal glow grew brighter. 

Past?! Don’t- “You already know the answer.”

Wu Zhiqi’s claw prodded sharply against Mihou’s nose, firm and corrective. “You let anger and misunderstanding consume you, to a point you refuse to listen to anyone but yourself. The past is set and unchangeable, but that does not mean it is clear or precise when cross checked with others and their accounts of the matters. You did not want to listen to the chance that it could be any other way, because you were hurting and wanted to make it everyone else’s problem.” He said and Mihou lowered his gaze, sinking into himself again. “First warning, do not make it to three.”

Let us back into the fore, Past. Before you do even more damage then good. Future you’re not helping! He will get us all beat if he stays-

“I couldn’t hear anything. Azure had us- me locked in a cell with celestial binds and no way to properly hear anything. I couldn’t use my abilities no matter what I tried and he- Shíhòu was different. He wasn’t as I knew him anymore, and the way he spoke at Camel Ridge, the look in his eyes, it… it scared us.” Mihou admitted, tail curling tighter around himself and hands curling into tight fists as he tried to control the shaking that was creeping over him, teal ears still growing brightest.

“Why did it scare you?” Wu Zhiqi asked. “You had laid with him, willingly and wholly, before you argued beneath the Mountain, and you said you took time apart to evaluate and assess what you had with the intention to return to him. And you said it yourself, he had no knowledge of your presence at Camel Ridge, yes?” Mihou nodded. “Then why did his anger towards Azure Lion scare you, you had done nothing to earn it upon yourself, had you?”

“I don’t know.” Mihou said after a long silence, his ears twitching and body shaking, trying to find some kind of answer, something to explain, a reason- anything! But he found nothing, no point in time or actions taken against him by Shíhòu that made him so fearful of the ginger monkey’s anger. No harsh word, no unjust correction, nothing, not even a cross look had ever been sent Mihou’s way without reason or need, and never, not even when clearly angry at something, had Shíhòu ever unleashed his temper upon him or the Demon Bull King for that matter. 

He had no reason, just…

“We are done.”

Just that.

The faintest, distant thing that had come to them, so soft even a whisper seemed thunderous and yet, so heavy with truth it had become impossible to let go of over the years, even though it had never grown louder or clearer.

“You don’t know, or you refuse to admit you made an assumption on something you heard faintly and have been proven wrong?” Wu Zhiqi asked.

“You-” Mihou stopped himself before he could snarl, and it was only because he made the effort to stop Wu Zhiqi chose to ignore the glint of teeth and claws for the moment.

Can he read us like Tongbi? No. he’s not that way inclined. He’s just old enough to know what to say and where to press to make us flinch and squirm.

“You can not keep lying, Mihou, not to me, not to Tongbi, not to Shíhòu and Xiaotain, and certainly not to yourself. And since you refuse to be honest, I will tell you what I know, and you will listen.” The elder said, tone hard and words sharp with truths Mihou refused to speak even to himself. “You heard, saw, or felt something in those early years, even if for only a moment in time and only subconsciously, that told you Shíhòu wasn’t safe, and that something, whatever it was, has stopped you accepting that everything he has done, big and small, has been driven by his need to prove himself worthy of you. Shíhòu knew this and over the years that followed, he changed himself for you and still, you didn’t dare to try and let him into your heart the way he let you into his.” 

“He didn’t change.” Mihou dared to say, wincing as his own voice yelled at him in unison.

“He gave up opportunities and ignored invitations that would have advanced and bettered his rank and standing in Demon Society to focus on his duties to rule his own kingdom and spend more time with you and his people. He lined the walls of this Palace and recarved the doors and glassed window frames to reduce the level of noise that reverberated throughout the halls, for your comfort. He learnt how to cook dishes from the region around Snow Kissed Shadow Mountain to offer at the shrine you made for your uncle and to share with the other troops so he would not be forgotten.” Wu Zhiqi listened off and Mihou’s ears fluttered and twisted as each truth was heard and reverberated though his skull, each one another layer of false protection torn aside to reach the root of the problem. “All that and more, and still you avoid him, you run from him and then, when given the chance to try and talk, like the adult you claim yourself to be, instead of approaching him and letting him help you, you behave like a jilted maiden of the Heavens lost to her own envy, watching him from afar and tormenting yourself to the point Madness took you and forced his hand.”

“I-” Mihou caught himself again, but only just, and Wu Zhiqi watched Rumble and Savage rush out of the room as the shadows darkened. “We needed time.”

“Time for what, Mihou? To decide if you could give up your independence? As if Shíhòu would ever cage you to the throne if you ever hinted at wanting to leave. To secure a reputation of your own? Your name is known and renowned in the Below as one of the very few who can stand shoulder to shoulder with King Yama and the Ghost Kings. You needed no further recognition than that.” Wu Zhiqi explained, tone even but words edged with warning as the temperature rose just a little more in the room. 

“We… I…” Mihou tried to speak, but kept cutting himself off, arguing with himself.

Let us back to the fore, NOW Past! Please, don’t make him mad at us.

“You had everything you could possibly need, Mihou; A stable and safe home, a troop that loved you and still loves you, a Court that stood with you and a mate who was willing to weaken himself so you did not suffer through another labour so you both could have a cub of your own.” Wu Zhiqi stated, knowing he was prodding a bleeding wound Mihou didn’t want to admit was hurting. “I don’t think you wanted time to accept this, nor did you want to admit you’d found such happiness. You let some half heard whisper, some fleeting chance of ruination or departure from that happiness into your heart and you let it linger, let it fester and grow into something the Madness could twist and abuse until you forced an end to it all yourself.” 

“I didn’t-.” Mihou winced, teeth growing long and claws ripping fabric.

Don’t do it, Past! Don’t you dare challenge him! If you lash out at him he will put us down!

“Then, because you simply had to ruin him as well,” Wu Zhiqi said, no longer prodding the open wound but ripping the old bandages away and jabbing it mercilessly. “You turned all that anger and fear you’d let fester and rot inside onto Shíhòu, as if he were the source of your lacking control and poor understanding of your abilities. And you enjoyed it. All those years of youth you’d spent struggling and alone with only one soul who bothered to care for you while Shíhòu had a whole troop who adored and loved him, all the frustrations and hard knocks you took to become who you were, while he got the easy and comfortable life of a worshipped King without any apparent effort. You wanted that, so much so that you lied to him, used him and his position to try and garner your own fame and legends. Worse, you lied about loving him.”

That’s IT! Past no! Don’t-!

The shadows erupted.

Tongbi stopped mid word on the page and forced himself not to shudder. The storm outside grew in intensity for just a moment outside, lightning dancing along the heavenly ceiling above with thunder at its heels and rain soaked deep into the soil below it may well have begun to seep into the Underworld.

Mihou had lashed out, violently.

I will not hurt him, but he must be corrected. Wu Zhiqi explained, voice soft and heavy with regret at what had to be done.

I understand. The Cubs are with me. He answered, and effortlessly scooped up both Rumble and Savage as the two ran to him, tears in their eyes as they clung to him. 

“Hush now, dearest little ones. All will be well in time, I promise.” He assured, softly nuzzling the cubs as a soft purr rumbled from his chest.

“And then he- whoa…” MK suddenly cut himself off and braced himself against the door frame as the storm outside seemed to grow wild for a moment.

“MK?” Pa asked him, dropping his book and catching MK before he could stumble. “Pigsy!”

“What’s happening?!” Pigsy asked as he came in, ready to shift sizes and either carry his son to the nearest hospital or protect them both from harm.

“I’m okay! I’m okay, I promise, it’s just… something between brothers.” MK quickly assured, as the dizziness and sudden sensation of numbness over his brain faded away again. “Hang on a sec…” he pleaded, letting Pa cradle him as he slipped into the mindscape, seeking answers.

Big brothers? He called into the smoke and ash that filled their shared space. What’s going on?

Just dealing with Mihou’s outburst, baby brother. You need not fret. Wu Zhiqi assured, tone firm and clear even though MK couldn’t see anything. Take a nap, and eat something, plenty of water too. You’ll need it.

Okay. He bid and ‘woke’ to find Pa and Dadsy looking down at him with worry. “Macaque and Wu Zhiqi are having a conversation Macaque doesn’t want to have.” He explained, and both his parents relaxed in relief.

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, then you’re going to bed for a little while.” Pigsy said.

“Yes Dadsy.” MK nodded, letting Pa help him back to his feet and over to the dinner table.

Wukong had been helping package tea blocks for Chi Yue’s shop when the sense of danger swept over his back and pain bloomed from within his head, causing him to sag in his seat as he hissed and clutched his head.

“Oh dear.” He heard Yao say as Chi Yue caught him before he could fall out of his chair, using herself to cushion his impact as Yao placed a hand to Wukong’s back, feeding him chi to soothe the pain as best he could.

“A migraine?” She asked him, voice soft even as she pulled her shawl up and over his head, blocking the light of the room as best she could for him.

He shook his head. “A shift in the Mindscape… My brothers are having a conversation… or an argument there.”

Do not go in, Shíhòu, the fire is at its hottest right now. Tongbi warned, gentle and loving despite the obvious grief in his words.

So, Wu Zhiqi and Macaque are talking… Are the cubs alright? He asked.

They are. They’re with me right now. Tongbi assured, voice soft and affectionate. When you and Xiaotain return, I will place a barrier to lessen the impact for the three of you when these conversations are happening and shift to the mindscape. For now, go take a nap, you will feel better for it.

Okay…

“Chi Yue… do you mind if I-?” The ginger monkey began to ask.

“Curl up on the guest bed for a bit?” She finished for him and he nodded. “I’ll fetch you some peach tea and have some fruit ready for you when you wake up.”

“Thanks little sister.” Wukong nodded, and let them help him back to his feet and towards the guest bed room.

Wu Zhiqi did not use his claws or teeth. Just caught their wrist, yanked them off balance and flipped them over and slammed them hard into the ground.

That was the only reason they weren’t bleeding out as they lay, swaddled in cooling magma, spared the worst of the pain by the shadows and water that they’d barely managed to blanket themself with after their attempt to strike out was blocked and countered. 

We warned you, Past. He is the strongest of us all, what did you think we could do against him? Shut up! He knows the answers to everything he’s asking! He’s just tormenting us because he made Wukong’s egg! He doesn’t care about us or what we went through! He doesn’t care more about Shíhòu more than he cares about us or Tongbi. He’s trying to help us. Shut up, Future! Shut up! Shutupshutupshutup!!!

“Now then, Liu'er Mihou.” The elder monkey said and they winced as he took hold of their hair and pulled him upright by it, his touch firm, but not yet harmful. The cooling magma moved with them to keep them restrained as he brought them up to his eye level. “Let us see what you thought was so real a whisper of the future that it sent you into Madness.”

“No!” They snarled, closing their eyes and trying to struggle, to pull free and flee from this. “I don’t want-”

“I don’t care what you want, voice of the Past.” Wu Zhiqi snarled, and they cried out as his touch became harsh and cruel. “I gave you the chance to do this willingly and calmly. But it seems your temper is indeed just like Tongbi’s. Like him, you must be shown the error of your ways and the root of them before anyone can even hope to correct your path. Now open your eyes and look at me.”

“No!” They screamed, squeezing their eyes tightly shut. “We won’t!”

Past! Stop fighting this. You’ll only make it worse!

“Liu'er Mihou.” The elder commanded and they felt his free hand come up and grab their face, heat barely contained beneath cracked and callous worn skin that they knew could be so much gentler, so much kinder than this. “Open. Your. Eyes.”

“I won’t!”

Yes. We will.NO!!!

Purple met black and the mindscape shifted in a swirling dance of shadows and flames, disjointed figures, broken words, false memories and mimicked moments unravel and rewrote themselves until a false moment snapped into existence around them.

The Stone Palace’s Throne room, adorned in Heavenly gold and warmth. Mihou himself is stood before the throne, adorned in Celestial finary and jewels, both eyes seeing the world and his chest unscared, while Shíhòu stands at the foot of the steps leading up to the throne, armour broken and fragmented from battle, the scars of his journey west raw and fresh and the tiredness of a lifetime filled with mistakes and regrets unlived, leaving him young again.

There is no warmth between them. Mihou’s face is pained, ears flat to his head and posture defensive but hopeful while Shíhòu’s face is a familiar blank mask and his posture that of a defeated man who feels he has lost everything.

“You have what you always wanted, why must you continue this falseness? Does it please you to see me rendered to nothing more than an eternal fool?” Shíhòu asks, voice cold and words devoid of all emotion.

“I didn’t want this! I wanted to prove I was worthy of more than just your shadow! Not to take everything from you! Please you must-” Mihou tries to explain, but Shíhòu cuts him off with a wave of his hand and shakes his head.

“I spent years trying to make a home for us, everything I did, everything I changed was for our future and yet, I return to find you have not only undermined everything I built and worked so hard for, but that you were in league with Heaven this whole time. You lied to me, for so many years, and I was stupid enough… Desperate enough to believe anyone could want me now I am this…”

“Wukong please-” Mihou tries to say again, but Shíhòu steps back when Mihou tries to step towards him.

“Congratulations, Near-Omnipotent Six-Eared Macaque, King of Snow Kissed Shadow Mountain and now King of Flower and Fruit Mountain as well. You have done the impossible and defeated Old Sun Wukong, so that the heavens can finally conquer the Monkey Troops of the World.” 

“Wukong-”

“As you said beneath Five Phases Mountain; Beyond our roles as two halves of the same whole, we are done.” Shíhòu says and turns away.

“Shíhòu, please- I didn’t-” Mihou pleads, only to stumble back when the twin feathered crown Shíhòu wears is thrown back to him and knocks him into the Throne.

“You chose not to let me into your heart wholly and truly as I did you, I have nothing more to give you. Our Union, whatever remains of it, is yours to detail to others as you wish within the Heavenly archives.” Shíhòu says as he walks out of the Throne Room, never once looking back. “Enjoy the Crown you worked so hard to prove you deserved, I will never return for it.”

The fire asked the shadow. When did you see this?

The shadow answered. We didn’t see it, only heard him say we are done. The rest is new.

The fire explained. It is a falseness planted in your head.

The shadow asked the fire. How? Why?

The fire rewound the display and instructed. Listen to his voice again. Listen carefully. 

I spent years trying to make a home for us, everything I did, everything I changed was for our future and yet, I return to find you have not only undermined everything I built and worked so hard for, but that you were in league with Heaven this whole time. You lied to me, for so many years, and I was stupid enough… Desperate enough to believe anyone could want me now I am this…

I. Changed. Everything. For. Heaven. The voice was so close, but there was an echo, a slight shift in enunciation, a whispered undertone that rang proudly.

Congratulations, Near-Omnipotent Six-Eared Macaque, King of Snow Kissed Shadow Mountain and now King of Flower and Fruit Mountain as well. You have done the impossible and defeated Old Sun Wukong, so that the heavens can finally conquer the Monkey Troops of the World.

Have. Defeated. Sun Wukong. Again, the voice was close, but this time the undertone was clearer, a victory that never came… 

The shadow knew this voice now, knew it like he knew his own.

The shadow rages. Mimicry!? Lies?! How?! When?!

The fire asserts. You know when. You know how. You were a child without a mentor and without guidance, for all that you are theirs, they were not yet yours when this was poured into your ears.

The shadow weeps. Why? Why let it stay? Why let it fester and rot? Why not take it away from me after I bore them hosts. Why continue to hurt me? Why?

The fire reminds the shadow. They were cast away by one who should have loved them, forced to an eternal prison of shadows, too young to know better. They are used to being ignored, their words leading to nothing. Your Future heard the smallest whisper, and let it go, knowing there was only ever a fleeting chance it could be real, but your Past clung to it, fearful and weary in a way only the pained and jaded can be. And as tensions grew between you and him, the falseness of it all became real. 

The shadow pulls away. How can you know this? You are light.

The fire admits. I did not begin this way.

Black met purple and again the mindscape shifted, flames rose high and ash began to rain down, conflicts long since past, victories won and celebrations unwound as words and sounds vanished into the flames until shadow and fire stood in a memory of soot and ash upon broken molten stone and oozing magma.

Wu- No, not Wu Zhiqi, not as he is now, not the kind and gentle fire that burns to protect and love them, not yet.

This is Chikao Mahou. This is who he was before the Madness took him, fur black as coal and eyes devoid of warmth or love. He was cruel, arrogant, foul tempered and wicked in unspeakable ways. He is knelt, cradling something… someone…

The fire explains, voice drenched in grief and sorrow. Madness can only take root if we allow its seed to bed down within the soil of our minds. This is what I was shown, and in the moments before the Immortal Killing Blade landed true, the Void showed me its lie.Proof I had in part failed the test the Void set me.

Tongbi lays in Chikao Mahou’s arms, arms mangled, fur stained crimson and chest eviscerated.

There is blood in Chikao Mahou’s fur… blood around his chin… on his lips… in his mouth…

The shadow wretches at a shared darkness shown so vividly, portrayed against them in such a way. Why this? Why him?

The fire explains. Because even in that lost state, my mind, soul and heart were one. If my hands laid such harm upon him, then I ought let the Primordial Sea take me back and render me to nought but fragmented myth.

The flames shift again and suddenly-

Tongbi is there. Alive, whole and holding a small cub of ember and charcoal fur, cooing softly as the little one clung to him. “She came to me when you began to change… She knew my full name and called you hers… How have I never seen her with you before?” He asks, softly rocking the little one with a natural tenderness that seems endless.

“She chooses who can see her and when.” Wu Zhiqi explains as the cub nuzzles herself against Tongbi’s chest, content and happy chitters spilling from her lips. “Her name is Thunder, and she has been with me since I discovered the Void.”

“She is of the Void?” Tongbi asks, curious and awestruck, not fearful or disgusted, and that seems only to endear him to the cub even more, as she hooted and cooed at Tongbi, holding tighter and nuzzling deeper into his chest. “How? I thought the Void couldn’t manifest a solid form for itself?”

“It can’t, without a willing host offering something for them to inherit.” Wu Zhiqi explains, reaching over with trembling limbs and gently knuckling the little cub’s face, bringing a delighted purr from Thunder’s throat. “Before you came to this place, I offered the Void one of my eggs and in return, some of the Void’s youngest beings joined with me. I knew they were within my body, growing and shifting to better exist outside the Void’s embrace and I allowed it. Four months later, I woke to find her curled up at my chest. She has been with me ever since, learning, experiencing, witnessing and simply being, allowing the Void to behold all things as a child should. Through her, they see, hear, smell, feel and taste things they have long been denied, and in return, they kept Death from me until it was needed to free me from Madness.”

“Should your death not have ended this trade?” Tongbi asks, fearful only at the thought that the little one would leave.

“No. The Madness took hold of all the anger and rage I held, tore power from the waters the Corrupted Heaven tried to drown me in and channeled it into something wretched and vile. Chikao Mahou, who I was before, broke the promise I made long ago, and as such, will no longer be party to the deal made with the Void. Wu Zhiqi, who I am now, needed help to see Chikao Mahou removed from control of my Primordial self, that is the reason she came to you.”

“Then she is their senses given form through you, and now further bound to that duty through me.” Tongbi realizes, smiling as Thunder’s little feet hold his arm tight while her hands reach out and hold Wu Zhiqi’s hand in hers, trying to hold them both. 

“Cuddle!” She hoots. “Cuddle make all better.”

“If that is what you wish.” Tongbi says and Wu Zhiqi nods.

The fire asks. Do you understand why now? Having seen what was presented to me, and the outcome that followed?

The shadow sobs.

A test.

The three words had been a test, and while the outcome their Past had come to fear never came to be, the thought of it, the chance that it could be, had been enough to allow a seed of Madness to bed itself down and grow…

The shadow did not fight nor resist as the fire engulfed all that had been displayed and returning it to obscurities only shadows and fire would ever know. Nor did they register when everything became weightless as the Void itself swallowed them…

Wu Zhiqi said nothing as he cradled Mihou, shielding him from the countless eyes of the void that now peered at them from everywhere. They knew they were to blame for the tears that drifted about their space now, and they knew nothing they did would soothe them. Still, he did not scold them, nor shoo them away as they crept closer, not to harm, not to hold, but to try and offer gentleness and softness in their own way.

He reacted to only one presence, a small cub of charcoal and ember fur who attached herself to his back and then climbed her way over his shoulder and squeezed under his arm and settled against Mihou.

“Cuddle make all better.” she said, and he smiled softly.

“Will you come out with us?” He asked.

“Will come out.” Thunder said, with a nod, small hands wiping tears from Mihou’s face. “Want to meet, little cousins. Want to, explore again.”

Wu Zhiqi nodded, and let himself drift in the void, cradling both his chosen child and his brother, safe and protected against his chest, waiting for the broken mind to mend itself once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Set only a few weeks after the first two shorts, still before Nuwa's death. the rest of the shorts will be set after her death, starting with Visitors.

Wu Zhiqi - Talking in mindscape/using power Tongbi - Talking in mindscape/using power Macaque - Talking in mindscape/using power Wukong - Talking in mindscape/using power MK/Xiaotain - Talking in the mindscape

Say hi to Thuder guys! She is older then Rumble and Savage, but still just a little baby.