#trick question

So when he died, he didn't panic upon realizing he was in a place that most definitely was not his crusty, food-covered desk. In fact, this new place was rather comfy, with soft materials on all sides of him and a lovely warmth. This is a safe place, he's sure- one of the worlds that would allow him a nice, easy existence.

And so of course he nearly falls out of the tree when he opens his eyes and sees that he's in a nest. The ones birds live in.

Only after he passes out again when an entire fucking crane starts jabbing at his feathers(?) does he realize that the path to getting his easy life wouldn't be as linear as he thought.

So, Shen Yuan was a bird now. A full on nine-kilogram red-crowned crane who apparently is vibing with his brother (even though he thought cranes didn't stick with family past maturity?), and is very much, no doubt, without a second thought, demonic.

The revelation came in between transmigrating and his brother realizing that Shen Yuan had forgotten how to function, and around the same time that Shen Yuan saw his brother fully unhinge his jaw like a snake and pierce through a carp about three times his size with a sword-like tongue. That may or may not have been the cause of another full-on panic attack, but Shen Yuan would prefer to keep his silence.

Though life as an entire different species wasn't exactly Shen Yuan's brand of fun, he would be lying if he said it wasn't fascinating. He was able to answer age-old questions such as if animals talk to each other (they do, but he's only been able to make a-Jiu do it once), if pets love their owners (debatable- Shen Yuan isn't sure if the raccoon dog downstairs in their willow misses her human family or free meals, but she's certainly heartbroken about one of them), and if animals can feel emotions (his multiple breakdowns can speak to that). It was honestly insanely fun to learn how to fly, even if it caused a great deal of concern to a-Jiu that his yearling sibling had the air-sense of a hatchling, and being in a body that isn't actively decomposing was a sweet change.

Wintertime is beyond anything he's seen or read about, especially with the magical intrigue. The moon illuminates packs snowy dove-winged foxes as they dive through the snow, blue-tinted owls turn the sky into their own personal stage, and the fish. They come in every single color and size and shape, with schools of jewel-toned minnows and actual goldfish sharing the same stream as massive, shark-like salmon. Shen Yuan and a-Jiu's shared nest is perched perfectly over the crystalline rapids, and provide the perfect training ground for him to learn how to hunt. (Though, with every new species he comes across, the more they seem familiar.)

But then spring comes, and the snow melts, flooding the marshland. A tree bigger than some skyscrapers Shen Yuan's seen is knocked loose by a mudslide and comes down over their river. No fish can swim past, and Shen Yuan and a-Jiu are forced to leave.

There are a few possible locations that they could move to in the area, but Shen Yuan drags his brother to the one near a human village despite excessive complaints from his counterpart. Though his reservations about his current body have been more or less dispelled, Shen Yuan still has the mind of a human, and he hadn't read a book in four months. Even if it's just a shitty magazine, or hell, even a flyer for a grocery store, he'll consume it like it's the delicious wolf-eared sturgeon that a-Jiu once took down.

But it's not a zine he finds. Not a flyer, nor a license plate, nor a t-shirt logo, nor a tattoo, nor even a spoken word.

It's a sign for some crappy equipment store, and yet it seems to be the highest-quality building in the entire village, save for some randomly gaudy, old-fashioned mansion.

...It's written in traditional script.

Now that Shen Yuan takes a look around the shabby village again, some things click into place, and each one feels like a blow to his head. The vendors he thought were in touristy peasant get-up seem to be genuinely wearing work-appropriate clothing. The architecture isn't just some tourist trap, the homes and stores were too lived-in to be fake. And the mansion he had taken to be a refurbished hotel, or a museum? Bona-fide servants shuffled in and out, each with their head bowed. And to top it off, there was some dude in pastel robes actually stomping on someone into the frost-covered mud.

That last bit is what really snapped Shen Yuan- so what if he might be in an entire different era? His impending panic could wait- whenever this was, even if keeping people as slaves was still seen as acceptable, he would not stand to see people abuse their power! So, despite a-Jiu's alarmed squawks, Shen Yuan dives for the pastel jerk beak-first. After he suitably harasses the dipshit with his freaky tongue (which he only now really appreciates) and drives the asshole back into his sparkling walls does he look upon the rando he just helped.

Said rando has an actual halo around him. His bouncy, almost-black curls frame his doll-like, glassy eyes, his skin is nearly white from how pale he is, and his red, bitten (but not injured) lips quiver with what appears to be fear. He's clearly a young child, maybe seven or eight years of age, and even though the kid looks like he's been pulled by his hair across asphalt, he still remains impossibly cute. Like a little bun.

The child blinks up at him with a tentative curiosity, and asks shakily, "Why did the Great Youkai save me?"

Holy shit, thinks Shen Yuan. I just saved Luo-fucking-Binghe.

And then, with no small amount of hissing and cursing that shitty author's name, Shen Yuan takes off into the early-spring sunrise, unbeknownst to his wide-eyed admirer.

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I hope tumblr likes boothill bush