Chapter Text
Closing his eyes, Wei Wuxian smiled and inhaled the relaxing scents of fruits, steamed buns, and the smoothness of Emperor's Smile.
It was rare that he was able to visit the town. Caiyi town was the closest to Cloud Recesses, and even then, it was still a staggering twenty li away. Not that twenty li was much, considering how far Yunmeng was, but still. In the time it took to travel twenty li, he might be snatched and dragged back to the ever so stuffy halls of Cloud Recesses.
Wei Wuxian pouted. Lan Zhan never let him do anything fun.
With a small pouch of money, the former Yiling Patriarch walked around town. He wasn't particularly in the mood to buy anything- well, maybe some wine because it was never a bad time to drink- but it was nice to stretch his legs among other people.
"Hey!" A shopkeep called out to him with an eager smile. "You look like you just arrived in town, sir! Wanna buy some loquats?"
”Maybe later!” Wei Wuxian answered amiably without pausing in his steps.
It wasn’t hard to step around the various people that dotted the crowded marketplace, and with a few charming smiles, he was even able to acquire several free buns from the older bakers.
”Nothing beats a sweet bun,” Wei Wuxian hummed happily around the freshly baked confection in his mouth. “Uncle Peng’s are always the best...”
He continued to munch on his freely given goods while exploring, making sure to take in all the sights.
Caiyi was a port town that was built around a river, which meant all kinds of goods wound up here. He wouldn’t be surprised if he still hadn’t been able to discover all there was that the town could offer.
Deviating from the main river that ran through the heart of town, eating the second to last bun, his ears suddenly picked up the most horrific sound imaginable and he felt his entire body freeze.
"Arf! Arf!"
The sound echoed again, originating from an alleyway, and Wei Wuxian instinctively flinched, even taking a few steps back in fear. "Oh no..." he whimpered, his hands tightening around his last bun. "No no no no no..."
It was a dog's bark.
From the sounds of it, there was more than one dog, too.
"Nope, not doing that today," he announced to himself, and promptly turned on his heel to go the opposite way-
"M-Mew..."
He paused at the unexpected call, and hesitantly glanced back. "Was that...a cat?" he murmured. It sounded so weak, too. Was it being tormented by those demonic beasts?
Several more barks followed after, followed by growls and the wet sound of saliva. Nails scratched against dirt and stone, and suddenly he heard a small object hit against a wall with a high squeak.
Wei Wuxian wanted nothing more than to run away, because dogs were horrible and he didn't want to be anywhere near one, let alone a pack of them. However, they weren't targeting him this time. They were targeting a cat, and winning too from the sounds of it. Sooner or later, that cat would be dead from their fangs.
It was an all too painful reminder of what he himself had gone through, once upon a time.
At least he had Uncle Jiang save him from his horrible fate, but no one was here to save this cat.
His hand slowly wandered to his flute.
Except him.
With a groan, Wei Wuxian reluctantly turned back and headed closer to the alley. "I can't believe I'm doing this..." he muttered.
Looking around the buildings, he quickly found a perch and jumped up onto the rooftops. Using the barks as a guide, he scaled the roofs until he found himself looking down at a dead end.
Just as he thought, there were three rather large dogs. Their furs were matted and their ribs protruded from their sides, showing that these were strays. Their snouts were wrinkled in vicious snarls, and one of them was even foaming at the mouth.
All of them surrounded a small kitten, forcing it to take shelter against the wall and an old basket. It was a small thing, barely old enough to be away from its mother. Its shaking form was also marked with several red streaks, showing just how much harm the canines had done to it.
"Mew..." it whimpered, probably thinking it was going to die.
Wei Wuxian frowned, trying to fight back tears. It was so tiny and hadn't even had a chance to grow yet.
His hands shook- rather, his whole body trembled at being so close to a dog again- but he thought about how scared he was when he was barely four, surrounded by snapping teeth. No one had helped him except Uncle Jiang.
"All right, get it together," he whispered to himself, even slapping his cheeks for good measure, before standing up to his full height. "Hey!" he shouted down into the alley.
Immediately, the dogs snapped their gaze up at him and barked. The sound was like thunder, seizing his heart in a tight grip.
Teeth chattering, Wei Wuxian did the only thing he thought to do: he started throwing rooftop tiles. "G-Get away from it, you-you stupid dogs!" he screamed, unable to keep his voice from trembling. "Go away! Shoo! SHOO!"
The tiles hit the ground with a loud clack and shattered, sending the dogs scampering back. Two of them whimpered and turned to leave, but the one that was foaming at the mouth tried to lunge up at him, even trying to jump up against the wall using its hind legs. Its nails scratched the walls in a frenzy, uncaring that it was leaving bloody trails on the bricks.
"Eek!" The sight almost sent him fleeing for his life, but another pitiful meow from the kitten had him planting his feet firmly on the roof. "Don't run, don't run, don't run..." he chanted to himself, hoping that if he chanted it enough, it might become a spell of courage. Gods help him, what was he thinking.
Plucking another tile off from the rooftop he was on, Wei Wuxian aimed it straight at the rabid dog. His aim was true, and the tile knocked painfully against the animal, sending it sprawling on the ground, unconscious.
Wei Wuxian let out a huge breath. "Whew..." He could barely believe he had actually done that. He had never stood up to a dog, and yet here he was, scaring two of them away and knocking one out. If Jiang Cheng was here, he'd say he was finally growing up. Then again, if Jiang Cheng was here, so would Jin Ling, and he'd bring his own stupid dog, one that he couldn't throw stuff at to make it go away.
"I did it..." Wei Wuxian cried tears of relief, feeling his legs give out under him. His rear hit the hard roof with a thump. "I hate dogs..."
"M-Mew..."
Oh right! He almost forgot the whole reason why he had faced his lifelong fear.
Peeking down into the alley, he made sure the rabid dog truly was unconscious before jumping down in a flurry of fabrics. His robe settled around him gracefully- as they should- and he made sure to keep his distance from the canine while slowly turning to face the kitten.
Two golden orbs stared back at him pitifully from a puffy ball of grey fur and blood, and its tiny mouth open again to mewl.
Wei Wuxian frowned worriedly and reached out with the intent to pet it. "You look like you've seen better days, little guy..."
The kitten flinched and curled into itself, looking more like a shaking ball of soot than a cat.
Wei Wuxian retreated and held his hands up. "Sorry, sorry! Um..." He looked around, trying to find anything, when he remember he was still holding a bun. "Oh, here!" He tore off a small piece and lightly threw it. It landed in front of the kitten. "You must be hungry, right?"
One golden eye peered out from the forest of grey, honing in on the offering.
"You know you wanna~" Wei Wuxian coaxed playfully, wiggling his fingertips as an invitation.
It took a few seconds, but the kitten's appetite won over its fear, and it slowly uncurled itself to sniff curiously at the bun. When it began nibbling, Wei Wuxian was elated.
"Yes!" he cheered with a grin. "You know, you're the first animal to accept me? I'm scared of dogs, and the rabbits at Cloud Recesses like Lan Zhan more because I keep threatening to eat them." He crossed his arms and pouted. "Honestly, it's so unfair. Then again..." He softened and smiled to himself. "No one can hate Lan Zhan. He's quite sweet when you get to know him." He chuckled. "Not like you'll meet him, but I'm just saying."
Looking up from his one-sided conversation, Wei Wuxian paused when he noticed the kitten was watching him attentively, its ears flicking as if it was actually listening to him. The bun was no where in sight, meaning the kitten had already cleaned up the little bit it had been offered.
"Huh..." Wei Wuxian hummed thoughtfully. "You're quite intelligent, aren't you?" He smiled. "You'd have to be to survive for so long. Where's your mother?"
The kitten mewled. Its eyes were sad.
"No mother, huh? Same here..." Wei Wuxian held out a hand again, though this time he was a lot more careful. "There, there..."
The kitten made no move to retaliate, and soon, his fingertips touched against its fur. For a stray kitten that hadn't seen a bath in who knew how long, its fur was quite soft and luxurious to the touch, almost like trying to touch a cloud.
Wei Wuxian grinned fondly and rubbed its ears, his grin widening when it purred in response. "Aww, you're quite cute- ouch!"
All of a sudden, it sunk its little fangs into the skin between his thumb and pointer finger. He could even see two beads of blood welling up through the bite.
"Hey, is this how you treat your savior?" he scolded. He was about to pull his hand back when it licked the blood away, almost endearingly. "Huh...Is this normal cat behavior?" he murmured. "Well, in any case, let's do something about those wounds." He gestured to the various claw marks on the kitten's body that were still trickling blood. "I don't have any supplies, but..."
Taking the hem of his sleeve, he tore off a few strips. Slowly reaching out to the kitten, Wei Wuxian let out a small breath when it let him carry it, and placed it in his lap. He tied the strips of cloth around its legs and its waist, making sure it was tight but not too tight so that the wounds could breathe.
A question popped up in his mind. "I wonder..." he hummed mischievously. Picking up the kitten, he held it up in front of his face. "Ah," he nodded sagely. "A girl. Got it."
The kitten yelped and hissed at him for manhandling her so roughly, and even tried to scratch him with an outstretched paw.
Snickering at her reaction, he placed her back down on the ground. "Sorry, sorry! Here, as an apology, my lady." He offered the rest of the bun, which was about twice the size of the kitten itself.
She tackled the offered food eagerly this time, nibbling away like a happy baby being given milk.
Satisfied with his job well done, Wei Wuxian stood up and dusted off his robes. "Well, you better stay clear of those dogs, okay?" He glanced back at the dog that was still lying unconscious a few meters away, watching it nervously in case it suddenly woke up. "I can't really do much else for you, but I hope you'll have a long and happy life."
The kitten paused in her meal and meowed up at him imploringly, almost asking him where he was going. At least, that's what he was assuming.
"I have to get back to Cloud Recesses." Wei Wuxian glanced up at the sky and winced when he saw it streaked with the oranges of the setting sun. "Yeah, Lan Zhan's gonna kill me. I've been gone for most of the afternoon already. He might even be looking for me..."
"Meow..." She cried out sadly. Abandoning the bun, she ran up to him and batted at the hem of his robes.
It was almost like she was pleading him to take her with him, Wei Wuxian thought with a guilty pang. "Hey, I really can't take you to Cloud Recesses. You're still a baby, so you should find a cat mother to take care of you. How about this?" He clapped his hands together. "I'll come down every week to town to visit you, yeah? I can't do every day or else old man Qiren would ban me from going out. Then again, I'd do it anyway..."
She meowed again, and much to his surprise, she began using her claws to find footholds in his robes to climb up his leg.
"Whoa, whoa! Okay..." He quickly held her up in his hands. She purred in his grip. "Man, you're really persistent, aren't you?"
Then again...what was the harm of bringing her home with him? Sure, there was the odd hundred rule that said no animals allowed, but Lan Zhan kept the rabbits he gave him. Surely a cat wasn't much more, right? And she was just a baby who didn't have a mother to take care of her. Plus, Lan Zhan wasn't allergic as far as he knew...
Wei Wuxian stared eye-to-eye with the kitten.
Her eyes were gold, almost the same shade as Lan Zhan's...
"...Okay," Wei Wuxian decided firmly. "You're coming home with me."
She purred loudly and rubbed her cheek against his hand.
He grinned fondly and shuffled her into his arms. "You're pretty cute, aren't you? I need to make up a name for you. Maybe I should ask Lan Zhan to name you? Then again, he never named any of the rabbits..."
As he walked away, humming happily about his new pet, he never noticed the kitten's eyes glowing.