Tiny Baby Wukong Fic Part 5: Ambush
Tripitaka woke to a stinging pain at the base of his skull.
He went to scream, but a cloth was shoved into his mouth before he could make a noise. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't move. He couldn't move. His body would not respond, no matter how much he tried to make it listen.
He could feel Wukong’s small body curled up fast asleep on his chest. The infant's body rose and fell with his peaceful breathing, completely unaware of Tripitaka's distress.
A figure knelt beside him, that giggled in delight as Tripitaka silently panicked. Though it was difficult to see in the dark, he could make out that she was a young girl, probably no more than ten.
She pulled an acupuncture needle out from the base of his neck with a smile full of sharp teeth. Tripitaka almost choked on his gag as he tried to yell.
The young demoness stifled another giggle.
“Stop panicking,” She told him, “I’m not here for you.”
She held up another needle and moved her attention to the sleeping Wukong. Tripitaka watched helplessly as she pulled back the blanket a little to expose the back of the infant monkey’s neck and stuck the needle right in.
It broke the moment it made contact with Wukong’s skin.
The young demoness made a frustrated hissing sound through her teeth.
Wukong’s eyes snapped open.
He jumped up, screeching in alarm.
On the other side of camp Wujing sat bolt upright and floundered in a sleepy panic for his staff. Bajie snorted and began to stir, slowly and groggily.
Tripitaka lay helplessly as Wukong skittered off his chest and backed away from the demoness, teeth bared. His fur puffed up as he tried to look menacing, but the fact was that he stood no chance.
The demoness reached out to grab him, and in a moment of desperation he tried to retrieve his staff. He screamed in pain and crumpled as the spell retaliated against his efforts.
The young demoness grabbed him around the middle. Wukong shrieked and flailed, but she had him tightly in her grasp.
She summoned a cloud and dodged sideways and up into the air just in time to avoid a blow from Wujing's staff. Wujing froze in a fighting stance, eyeing her as he calculated what to do.
“Master?” He glanced over at Tripitaka, who made a desperate noise through his gag. The demoness took the moment of distraction to flee into the night sky, with Wukong still screeching in her grasp.
Tripitaka screamed, or tried to. Wujing looked helplessly between the fleeing fiend and the prone monk.
“Bajie!” He yelled, “Something is wrong with Master! You look after him— I shall go rescue Elder Brother!”
With that he gave chase to the demoness, disappearing into the darkness.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Bajie ran over and knelt at Tripitaka's side, “Okay, Master, just hold still.”
Well Tripitaka did not really have a choice, did he?
Bajie pulled the wad of cloth out of Tripitaka's mouth and threw it to the side.
“Okay, you're good now, huh?” Bajie gripped his shoulder and shook him a little.
Tripitaka tried to reply that he was not good, but his jaw and tongue were slack and uncoordinated. All he could do was moan something inarticulate about not being able to move.
“Ahhh fuck,” Bajie definitely did not understand what Tripitaka had just said, but he was probably guessing it from context clues, “Okay, it's okay, don’t panic. I’ll protect you, okay? And Wukong’s gonna be fine. He’ll be fine. A big guy like Wujing’s gonna trounce that little girl, no competition. They’ll be fine.”
Tripitaka tried to calm down, but Bajie was clearly panicked, and that made the calming down difficult.
“Okay, okay,” Bajie said, wiping tears off Tripitaka's face, “We’ll figure this all out when the others get back, okay? Let's just wait. I can tell you a story if you’d—”
Tripitaka made a clear noise of protest. He loved Zhu Bajie dearly, but his stories were not to his taste. They could get… raunchy.
“—Okay, no stories, okay,” Bajie said, “Hey Master, I’m just gonna… scooch you over a bit… don't mind me, just gotta adjust your legs a bit, and… there we go.”
He rolled Tripitaka onto his side and patted him on the shoulder.
“This is what we used to do when me and my friends got really drunk,” He said, “You're not choking yourself on my watch, okay?”
Tripitaka wanted to grumble that he wasn't drunk and didn't need to be treated as such, but of course he couldn't.
Bajie hovered by him, clearly uncertain as to what to do next. He drew the blanket up to Tripitaka’s chin, then seemed to remember that was sure to make him overheat, and pulled it back down again. Otherwise he sort of just lingered anxiously.
After a few minutes, Tripitaka realised he could wiggle his toes. The rest of his body sluggishly followed, and he managed to roll himself onto his back again.
“Master!”
“Bajie,” Tripitaka reached out to his disciple, who wasted no time in scooping him up and hugging him tight, “Mmff, yes, hello. Alright, let go, you’re crushing me.”
“Right,” Bajie pulled back, looking a little embarrassed, “Sorry. Uh… so, what the hell was that?”
Tripitaka reached up to touch the back of his neck.
“That demoness pierced me with an acupuncture needle,” He said, “She must have hit a specific pressure point and… paralyzed me momentarily, I suppose.”
“Acupuncture doesn't do that,” Bajie frowned, “Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
“Hm,” Bajie made a thoughtful snuffling noise, “Well, you're fine now, so it's probably nothing to worry about. I'm gonna go and see if Wuko— I mean, Wujing needs any help.”
“Wait,” Tripitaka said, before he could fly off, “What about me? I might get attacked again if you go.”
Bajie paused, considering.
“Yeah, okay,” He said finally, “Yeah, they’ll be fine.”
