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Jin Ling chomped down aggressively on an unfortunate apple, watching the sun set behind the green hills surrounding Lotus Pier. By his side, Fairy watched as well with his head between his paws. He whined with a slight tail wag, catching his young masters attention,
"Don't worry, Fairy. They'll come." Jin Ling said reassuringly, more to himself than his partner in crime. He patted the dogs fluffy head and finished off his fruit,
"It would be rather rude if they didn't."
He got to his feet and turned on his heel away from the sun set, back towards the main part of the pier. Fairy scrambled to his paws and followed suit, barking cheerfully as he trotted by his master's side. Stalking around the pier, Jin Ling made his way to the main hall and inside, interrupting his uncle from a series of scrolls. Jiang Cheng looked over the top of the paper with his sharp eyes,
"And what have I told you about barging into rooms without announcement?"
"Leave me alone, old man. Wei Wuxian said you'd stomp about like an arrogant prince when you were my age." Jin Ling scoffed, rolling his eyes to the heavens. Jiang Cheng's fists stiffened around the paper,
"You-!" He was cut off as Fairy came bounding over to him, throwing his fluffy body onto Jiang Cheng without hesitation. Jin Ling giggled, watching his uncle struggle with the dog and papers.
"Jin Ling! Get your pet!" he roared, having trouble on keeping Fairy from licking his face. Jin Ling whistled sharply and Fairy came running back, looking rather proud of himself at the wreckage he left behind. Jiang Cheng recovered quickly, his face darkened,
"Don't you have a night hunt to attend, boy?" he said between his teeth. Jin Ling's mood was instantly dampened and he shrugged, turning his back on his uncle,
"Yeah. So?" he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. Fairy whined again and nudged his leg, sensing his master's mood swing. Jiang Cheng sighed through his nose rather loudly,
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for it then?" he shot back, shuffling the papers about his desk. Jin Ling tossed his hair over his shoulder,
"I'm already ready."
"Did you pack enough provision's?"
"It's a night hunt, uncle. Not a journey."
"Did you restock your talismans?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Did you check your bowstring and arrows?"
"For goodness sake, uncle!" Jin Ling threw his hands up in the air and stomped out of the hall in a huff. Jiang Cheng watched him slam the door, not even batting an eyelash, before he returned to his reading,
"Now... About that transforming relic...."
______////__________
"Jin Ling!"
Jin Ling snapped his head up, getting to his feet at the mention of his voice. On a boat, a couple of yards away, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and Lan Sizhui all waved at the young teen on the pier. Jin Ling put his hands on his hips and huffed,
"About time! I was about to go on this night hunt by myself!" he shouted across the water.
"But you didn't!" Lan Jingyi sneered back. Jin Ling stiffened, already knowing how the night was going to play out. He grabbed his bow and hoisted his quiver onto his back,
"Because I didn't want you to miss out on my glorious shots I'm going to make tonight!" he said haughtily.
"As if! My little sister can shoot better than you!"
"My grandma can make better comebacks than you!"
"Good to see you again, Jin Ling. I'm sorry we're so late." Lan Sizhui said, holding Lan Jingyi in a headlock as the boat docked. Ouyang Zizhen nodded along with Lan Sizhui,
"We almost got stuck in the reeds back there! Master Wei Wuxian said he knew how to navigate these waters." he said sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Jin Ling felt his headache grow worse,
"Master Wei...."
"There's my favorite nephew!" Wei Wuxian's voice came from the back of the boat. Jin Ling visibly wilted,
"I'm your only nephew." he muttered under his breath before he was enveloped in a huge hug. Wei Wuxian spun around with his nephew, laughing heartily,
"It's so nice to be back! Look at you! Almost a man." he chuckled, putting down Jin Ling. The youth staggered back a couple steps, trying to regain his dignity,
"I am a man!" he snapped, straightening out his hair and tunic,
"Why are you here?!"
"Sorry Jin Ling, my dad's had some business to attend to with your uncle, Jiang Cheng." Lan Sizhui said, looking back as Lan Wangji stepped out from his hiding place. Jin Ling looked between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, arching an eyebrow,
"What the hell could my uncle have to do with you? He hates you!" he pointed a finger at Wei Wuxian. His uncle pursed his lips,
"Now now. He doesn't hate me as much as he used to. Like, he doesn't hate me enough to want to kill me anymore." Wei Wuxian laughed lightly. Lan Wangji stepped off the boat and towered over Jin Ling,
"Enjoy your hunt. Stay safe." he said bluntly. Jin Ling bowed respectfully,
"Y-yes, Master Lan Wangji..." he stammered. Wei Wuxian patted him lightly on the back,
"We'll see you around, eh? Lan Sizhui!" he yelled right by Jin Ling. Lan Sizhui straightened up,
"Yes?"
"You be safe too! Don't let these chicken brains do anything stupid!" Wei Wuxian clapped Jin Ling heartily on the back again, nearly knocking him over. Jin Ling quickly recovered and scampered onto the boat, nursing his smarting back sourly,
"Good grief, were not kids." he grouched. Ouyang Zizhen prepped to push off from the dock and then stopped,
"Hey, are you bringing your dog tonight?" he said, turning to Jin Ling. The yellow clad youth whirled around,
"What?! Hey! Fairy!!!!" he yelled out across the pier. He whistled sharply and scanned the environment for the dog. Wei Wuxian seemed to deflate and he jumped into Lan Wangji's arms,
"F-Fairy?! Where is he?!" he wailed, clamping onto Lan Wangji's shoulders. The Lan clan member was unfazed,
"You're safe." he said. A moment later, Fairy came zooming around the corner, barking loudly. Wei Wuxian sobbed and buried his face into Lan Wangji,
"Get it away! Get it away!"
As if to spite him, Fairy stopped for a second to sniff at Lan Wangji's robes, causing another cry to rise up from Wei Wuxian,
"Fairy! Here boy!" Jin Ling commanded. Fairy's ears perked up at the sound of his master's voice and he barked joyfully, bounding over and onto the boat with ease. Wei Wuxian breathed a massive sigh of relief and slid out of Lan Wangji's grasp,
"Be... Be safe...!" he wheezed, waving weakly. The boys on the boat all waved back,
"We will!!!" they all chorused. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian watched the boat disappear into the twilight before turning to each other.
"Now, what was Jiang Cheng so worried about again?" Wei Wuxian asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
"Transforming relic found in the woods. Never collected. Potential to cause harm." Lan Wangji replied. Wei Wuxian snapped his fingers,
"Right! Now that you mention it, it doesn't seem to be that much of threat. Oh well, let's go see what he has to say anyway."
______/////_______
"My dad's were saying the woods have been especially restless these past few days. Perfect hunting ground for us!" Lan Sizhui said excitedly. Lan Jingyi nodded around his piece of chicken,
"Awesome! Finally something exciting! The Cloud Recess has been so boring lately." he whined.
"Where did you get that from?!" Jin Ling said disgustedly, watching Lan Jingyi practically inhale the meat.
"He's had it since I met up with them at the Cloud Recess." Ouyang Zizhen answered his question. Lan Jingyi giggled around his snack,
"It's still good though! Here, Fairy! You look like you want some." he said, tossing a leg to the dog. Fairy caught it eagerly and chowed down on the gift with delight. Jin Ling grimaced,
"You'll get him sick! If he throws up it's your fault!"
"He's you're dumb dog! Why don't you take care of him then?"
"If this is how we're going to spend the night together I will throw you both out of the boat here and now." Lan Sizhui said cooly, despite the pulsating vein in the side of his head. Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling shot one more venomous glare at each other before settling down. Ouyang Zizhen cleared his throat awkwardly,
"So.... Are you familiar with these woods, Jin Ling?" he asked slowly. Jin Ling let out a bark of laughter,
"Are you serious? I know there woods like the back of my hand!" he said proudly. He stood at the edge of the boat and scanned the darkened forest,
"I'll show you guys the best places to camp and all the good hunting spots!"
"You'll scare everything off at this rate! Shut up!" Lan Jingyi hissed. Jin Ling spun around,
"Did you grow up around here? No." he spat. Lan Jingyi opened his mouth to shoot back another retort but was stopped by Lan Sizhui,
"Shh! Did you see that?!" he whispered, his eyes locked on the shoreline. All the boys grew silent and huddled at the edge of the boat, their eyes growing wide as they looked,
"I don't see anything..." Ouyang Zizhen said softly.
"Yeah. Stop messing around, Lan Sizhui." Jin Ling sighed irritably.
"Wait! What's that!" Lan Jingyi pointed across the water. They all looked to where Lan Jingyi was pointing and gasped.
"A fierce corpse! Wait, three of them!" Ouyang Zizhen breathed. Lan Jingyi jumped up and down slightly,
"It's our lucky day! One for each of us! This is going to be so great!" he said gleefully.
"Can't you count, chicken head! There's only three!" Jin Ling scoffed.
"Sorry, you don't count."
Before Jin Ling could attack Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui scooted back and grabbed a paddle,
"Would you two stop! Now help me before they get away!" he said, trying to steer the boat towards the shore. With some help, the gang eventually made it to land and all jumped out. They quickly huddled and drew out a plan of attack,
"Ok, my uncle has hundreds of nets set up around the forest! Stop looking at me like that Lan Jingyi, it's not cheating. So, if we're lucky, one of them will get caught and the other two will kind of hang around if they're pack corpse's." Jin Ling said, scratching it out into the dirt. Ouyang Zizhen grimaced slightly,
"What if they don't wait?" he asked. Jin Ling rolled his eyes,
"Then we hunt then down, idiot. Seriously, have you ever been on a night hunt before?" he sighed. Lan Sizhui closed his eyes and prayed a prayer for forgiveness in case he beat the crap out of Jin Ling,
"Let's focus on the hunt, guys. My dad's and your uncle will be pissed if anything happens to us." he said sternly. Jin Ling laughed,
"Nothing's going to happen to us! We can take care of ourselves! Besides, I have Fairy to protect me." he said, patting the dogs head. Fairy licked his cheek in response, earning a disgusted grunt from Lan Jingyi.
"Now let's go hunting!"
After that, the boys all fanned out, each within a shouting distance of each other in case anything went south. Forming a perimeter around the spot where they last saw the corpse's, they began to close the ring, hopefully with their target's inside. Jin Ling swallowed thickly, the anxiety and tension in the air nearly stifling. He drew his bow and prepped an arrow, his fingers itching as his eyes darted from shadow to shadow. Besides him, Fairy sniffed the air and ground, on the hunt for any kind of helpful scent that might draw them nearer to success. As if on queue, Fairy straightened up and bolted into the darkness, his playful barks turning into a nasty aggressive one.
"Good boy Fairy!" Jin Ling praised, running through the brush after him. Soon Fairy's barks were mixed with horrendous snarling as the dog engaged with one of the corpse's. All around Jin Ling,he heard the cries if his fellow hunters as they closed in on the now corraled corpse's. Jin Ling was first upon the scene and eagerly drew back his bowstring, aiming for the first one. As he had hoped, one of the corpse's had gotten stick in a trap, it's body swinging slightly in the breeze while the other two shuffled about below it. Fairy had his jaws locked around the arm of the one closest to the tree and was giving it a pretty good thrashing. The other free corpse growled and went to help it's friend. Before it could, it staggered back as Jin Ling let loose and arrow straight into it's left eye. As it staggered back, Lan Sizhui leaped out of the underbrush and loped it's head off with one clean strike before slapping a seal onto it's still falling body. He landed gracefully and saluted Jin Ling.
"That one was mine!" Jin Ling said. Lan Sizhui rolled his eyes,
"Should of been faster." he scoffed and went to engage the other two. Jin Ling drew his own sword and dishes after him, focusing on the corpse fighting Fairy. A couple more cries came from behind him and Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen jumped into the fray. Quickly, the boys all engaged with the corpse that was trying to deal with Fairy, adding more to it's already existant problem. With a couple clean cuts, the corpse fell to the ground useless and suppressed by the seals. As quickly as the fight started, it was over and the group all looked proudly upon their handy work.
"Nice move back there, Ouyang Zizhen! You'll have to teach it to me someday!" Lan Jingyi said, sheathing his sword. Ouyang Zizhen blushed visibly,
"Oh, it was nothing. But if you'd like I could show you." he said quietly. Jin Ling scoffed, cleaning his father's blade carefully,
"Well that was boring." he sighed.
"Yeah because you're stupid nets you put up made it too easy!" Lan Jingyi snapped.
"First of all, my uncle put those up. Second, it still helped in our catch." Jin Ling shot back, jerking a thumb up at the writhing net. Lan Sizhui pulled out a seal and threw it onto the net, the corpse inside going still,
"Either way, thus hunt was a success. Good job, everyone." he said proudly, looking at each of the squad members. Jin Ling nodded once in agreement and then knelt down besides Fairy,
"You too! Good... Boy?" his praise turned into a question as Fairy held up something in his mouth. The boys all crowds around the dog, regarding him curiously,
"What's he got in his mouth? It's not an arm, is it?" Ouyang Zizhen squirmed.
"No... Can you drop it boy?" Lan Sizhui asked, holding his hand out. Fairy sniffed and turned away to trot a few places away, his tail wagging slightly. Jin Ling sighed,
"Eeh, he's probably got a stick or something. He does that when he wants to play. Ignore him, we have some cleaning up to do."
______/////________
The group pulled back into Lotus Pier and off-loaded quickly. As soon as they dropped off their catch, exhaustion hit like a wave and they all shuffled about the pier in a zombie like manner.
"My uncle says it's too late to travel and said you guy's can stay in one of the guest rooms tonight." Jin Ling said, being barely able to suppress a yawn.
"Yay! Sleep over!" Lan Jingyi threw his arms around Lan Sizhui's and Ouyang Zizhen's shoulders. After stumbling about for a little bit, they made their way into the guest room and crashed onto the beds. Slowly, they changed out of their usual clothes and into the soft silk of the sleepwear Jiang Cheng had graciously provided them.
"Aah...." Lan Sizhui sighed, snuggling under the covers. Ouyang Zizhen grunted in response, already asleep next to him. Jin Ling shuffled in and flopped onto the bed next to them,
"Jin Ling, don't you have your own room?"
"Too far. Too tired." Jin Ling's muffled voice rose up from under the sheets.
"I can agree to that, for once." Lan Jingyi yawned, settling down next to Jin Ling. The youth sat up blearily,
"No. Get out. Go sleep with Lan Sizhui." he whined, kicking Lan Jingyi in the side gently. Lan Jingyi grabbed his foot, sticking his tongue out at him,
"Ouyang Zizhen is already asleep in that one." he huffed and turned his back on Jin Ling.
"You better not move a whole lot in your sleep." Jin Ling grumbled, pulling the blankets tighter around himself. Soon, all the squad members had fallen into a deep, undisturbed sleep. A couple minutes later, Fairy trotted in and curled up at Jin Ling's feet, still holding his treasure from the night hunt in his mouth.
And it wasn't a stick.
______//////________
Jin Ling woke to the gentle rays of the morning sun, his eyes fluttering open. Sitting up, he stretched his arms over his head while he looked around the room. His fellow night hunt members were still fast asleep, their faces washed in the golden light. He chuckled and turned to Lan Jingyi.Except he wasn't in the bed anymore. Lan Jingyi was face down on the side of the bed, appearing to have been kicked out during the night. Jin Ling quickly suppressed a laugh, chortling around his hand at the rather comical sight. He went to get up out of bed when he stopped, his eyes locking onto the other odd sight at his feet.
Curled up into a tight ball, was an incredibly handsome nude man, looking about his age, asleep at his feet.
Jin Ling didn't know whether to scream or not and just sat, staring wide eyed at the thing as he tried to figure out if it was real or not.
"Lan... Lan Jingyi..." he whispered out of the side of his mouth. The youth grunted and shifted from his star fish position on the ground,
"Mmh?"
"Wake up."
"Already am, asshole. Thanks for kicking me out of the bed." Lan Jingyi raised his head, glaring daggers at Jin Ling, his eyes bleary with sleep. Jin Ling pointed at the base of the bed, never once taking his eyes off of the boy,
"Do you see that or is it just me." he whispered. Lan Jingyi followed his finger and blinked once then twice,
"Huh."
The two both turned their heads to look at each other, not believing at all what they were seeing.
"Let's not scream just yet. I'll wake up the others." Lan Jingyi said quietly. He rose to his feet stiffly and tiptoed around the bed and the body over to Lan Sizhui and Ouyang Zizhen. He shook them gently out of their sleep, the two waking up slowly,
"Hmh. What...?" Lan Sizhui blinked awake, Ouyang Zizhen moaning and pulling the blankets over his head. Lan Jingyi pointed over to Jin Ling's bed,
"Dearest gege, do you see that man on the bed?" he asked nonchalantly. Lan Sizhui looked at the bed, his eyes growing wide as saucers,
"Yes. Yes I do. Ouyang Zizhen, do see that?" Lan Sizhui pulled the blankets off of his sleeping partner. Ouyang Zizhen glanced at Jin Ling's bed,
"Oh." and went back under the sheets.
Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui both padded over to Jin Ling, letting Ouyang Zizhen continue to snooze. With great caution and little interest, they all collectively gazed upon the pale lump of skin that had magically appeared on Jin Ling's bed.
"What should we do?" Lan Jingyi whispered, worriedly wringing his hands. Jin Ling glared at him indignantly,
"Get him off my damn bed, that's what! Who the hell is this guy?!" he hissed. As if he heard him, the man suddenly stretched and rolled onto his back, sighing contently. The boys quickly all averted their gaze and turned away, their faces turning bright red.
"I don't want to know who he is. How did he get in here!" Lan Sizhui said around his hands that were now covering his face.
"He's huge. Like, did you guys see how b-"
"Lan Jingyi literally why. Can you not." Jin Ling dragged a hand over his eyes, pulling his lids wearily. There was a rustle and, to their horror, the man sat up, looked around, and then turned to them. The minute he saw them, his eyes lit up with excitement,
"Master!" he said cheerfully and threw himself upon Jin Ling. The two Lan youth's cleared the area in a blink of an eye, leaving Jin Ling to wrestle with the nakedness.
"WHAT THE HELL GET OFF ME AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The man giggled and leaned in, licking Jin Ling's cheek affectionately,
"Good morning, master! It's so good to see you!" he said, completely oblivious to Jin Ling's apparent discomfort. Jin Ling grunted, trying to keep this strange thing off of him when a familiar twinkling reached his ears. Jin Ling froze for a second and then shoved back the man by his shoulders,
"What a second!" he snapped, looking at the man's neck. Just as he had suspected (and feared), there was a red ribbon around his neck like a choker. Tied in the middle in a neat little bow, was a golden bell. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head,
"Fairy?!"
'Fairy' nodded his head earnestly, bouncing on the bed, "Yes, master! That's my name!" he chirped. Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui shared a very concerned glance,
"Aha, hold on now. You're saying that this," pointing a finger at the man, "Is Fairy?!" Lan Jingyi screeched. Fairy turned his head to Lan Jingyi,
"Chicken!" he cried excitedly and jumped at Lan Jingyi.
"WAH NO GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Lan Jingyi screeched and ran around the room with Fairy hot on his heels while scrabbling on all fours. Lan Sizhui lowered his hands slightly, then quickly covered them again,
"Fairy, sit!" he commanded. Obediently, Fairy stopped in his tracks and plopped down on his behind, looking at Lan Sizhui expectantly. Jin Ling slowly rose from his seated position, wiping his face,
"This can't be happening....!" he breathed. Lan Jingyi panted heavily, cowering in the corner of the room while his legs shook,
"But it is!" he wailed. Fairy's head snapped over to his direction, causing him to cry again,
"Chicken!" he chirped. Jin Ling walked over to his now human dog, his mind doing summersaults as he tried to come up with some form of an explanation as to how this happened. Lan Sizhui came up alongside him, his face still covered,
"Can we at least get him dressed, please?! Ouyang Zizhen is going to qi deviate if he sees this!" he wheezed. Jin Ling closed his eyes and took a long deep breath. It seemed Fairy himself still thought he was a dog, based on his actions. It wasn't going to be easy explaining the situation to him.
"Fairy...." he said slowly. The man looked over, beaming with overwhelming excitement as he awaited orders,
"Yes master?" he asked, reaching up with his foot and scratching his head. Jin Ling grit his teeth, praying his ex dog wouldn't over react like Lan Jingyi,
"Give me your paw, boy." he said, forcing a smile upon his face. Fairy trotted over and proudly slapped his hand onto Jin Ling's. The contact of skin upon skin seemed to surprise Fairy and he slowly moved his gaze from Jin Ling's face to his own hand, the dopey smile on his face melting away into a very disgruntled frown. Jin Ling wrapped his fingers around Fairy's hand and knelt down in front of his dog,
"Fairy, don't freak-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Fairy leaped back from Jin Ling, backpedaling unsteadily on his feet. He crashed into the back wall, staring open mouthed at his own hand, slowly moving each digit individually as his dog brain tried to take in and process what the hell had happened to his once fluffy body. Jin Ling held out his hands reassuringly,
"Fairy.... Come here, boy. You're ok..." he said soothingly. Lan Sizhui nodded along with Jin Ling,
"Yeah, you're ok.... Jin Ling, are we even sure we're ok...?" he leaned down and whispered into Jin Ling's ear. Fairy looked shakily between himself and Jin Ling, shaking like a leaf. For a couple tense seconds, Jin Ling was worried he was going to bolt out of the room and flash the poor morning folk but after a bit, Fairy finally crawled over to Jin Ling and snuggled up against his master's chest. Jin Ling patted his back reassuringly,
"Good boy... Good boy..." he said softly. He turned to Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, "Can you go find something to cover him up with?!"
With a quick nod, both Lan boys darted out of the room and to the outside on a whirl of silk and ribbon. Jin Ling shut the door behind them and continued to comfort his frightened dog, patting his head awkwardly.
'His hair is still kinda of fluffy...." he thought with a shrug.
_______/////__________
The four boys all stood about, contemplating on how they we're going to get Fairy dressed. Ouyang Zizhen had woken up and passed out at least six times when he first saw Fairy's new form. After a couple douses of water, he was back on his feet and helping the others with the odd predicament. When they had first attempted to slip the robes around Fairy's body, he freaked out and ran circles around the room with the boys chasing him. Now that they had gotten him to calm down (with some chicken and other snacks), they had regrouped and were trying to figure out another way.
"We could always try and knock him out...." Lan Jingyi said slyly, folding his hands in front of his face and pointing them at Fairy.
"Touch him and I will break your fingers." Jin Ling growled darkly. The boys all looked back at Fairy, hoping he hadn't heard Lan Jingyi's idea. The human dog wasn't paying them attention and was busy cleaning himself in a rather inappropriate manner, making all the boys physically cringe.
"We could always try distracting him again... If we have any food left." Lan Sizhui said quietly, giving Lan Jingyi a sideways glance. Lan Jingyi shook out his robes and shook his head,
"Sorry, fresh out of food." he said dejectedly. The boys grew quiet again, all pondering what kind of solution they could use to get Fairy decent. If Jiang Cheng or any of the seniors walked in, it would be game over for Fairy and probably some really hard explaining to do from the boys. Ouyang Zizhen pursed his lips and shifted his gaze to Jin Ling,
"What if we used you as bait?" he asked. Jin Ling arched an eyebrow skyhigh,
"Excuse me?" he snapped. Ouyang Zizhen waved his hands rapidly, backing up so he was out of arms reach,
"Hear me out! What if you distract Fairy while the rest of us tackle him and get him into some clothes. He trusts you the most since you're his master." he said, withering up under Jin Ling's acidic glare. Lan Sizhui nodded in agreement,
"He does have a point. And seeing as how none of us have come up with anything else...." he dwindled off when Jin Ling swung his gaze around to pin him to the spot. He huffed and folded his arms crossly,
"I don't like that idea either." he said, pointing his nose into the air. Lan Jingyi rolled his eyes,
"You don't like anything unless it's your idea." he spat. Jin Ling took a deep breath, restraining himself from bashing in Lan Jingyi's face with his fists. The more he turned over Ouyang Zizhen's idea in his head, the more it seemed to be their only option. With a defeated sigh, he dropped his arms back down to his sides,
"Alright, fine. But, please be really careful with him. He's not used to clothes of any of this." he said and pushed his way out of the ring. Fairy straightened up as his master approached, his eyes sparkling as he padded over still on all fours,
"What are we going to do today, master?" he asked. Jin Ling bit his lip nervously. The innocence in his eyes and the fact he had already forgiven him about earlier made this whole thing so difficult. He had to trick his very best friend and betray his trust. Jin Ling shook his head and straightened up; this was for his own good after all.
"Well, Fairy. We're going to... To...." he wracked his brain for some made up activity. Behind Fairy, he could see Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui, and Ouyang Zizhen approaching with a robe outstretched, ready to pounce. Jin Ling swallowed, hoping Fairy wouldn't notice his nervous glances,
"Uhhh, we're going to... Going to do the usual stuff." he said with a triumphant nod. Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui, and Ouyang Zizhen all made a face, obviously figuring out Jin Ling wasn't very good at this. Jin Ling shrugged in an apology and returned his attention back to Fairy. The dog human bounced up and down excitedly,
"Yay! Usual stuff!" he said, doing a little spin. Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui, and Ouyang Zizhen all scrambled back to avoid being hit by him. Quickly Jin Ling grabbed him by the shoulders,
"Yes! Yes! Hooray for usual stuff....!" he said, cringing at himself. It was like talking to a three year old in a eighteen years old body, making it so awkward for everyone in the room. Jin Ling patted his shoulders,
"But before we do, we need to get ready first, ok?" he said sweetly. Fairy cocked his head,
"Get ready? I'm already ready!" he chirped. Jin Ling opened his mouth to reply.
"NOW!!!"
"WHA!!!" Jin Ling fell back onto his butt as all three boys tackled Fairy, trapping him under the robe like a net. Fairy, obviously realizing he had been tricked, snarled viciously under the robes.
"Maybe we should of thought this all out first!" Lan Sizhui cried, struggling as Fairy writhed under him. A leg kicked out from under the silk and clocked him under the chin, stunning the Lan disciple temporarily. Seizing his chance, Fairy wiggled out from under the robe, his black hair now messy and tangled all in front of his face. Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen fell forward with an 'oof!', failing to keep Fairy contained. Jin Ling face palmed himself, watching the plan collapse instantly. Fairy glared down at his attackers, his lips pulled back into a snarl,
"Oh, not good...." Ouyang Zizhen said weakly, slowly backing up. With a roar, Fairy lunged at the boys, sending them into a panicked scramble. Lan Jingyi screamed and threw the discarded robe into Fairy's face as he fled. Fairy snarled and tore off the robe, still giving chase.
"Bad dog! Bad dog! Heel! Heel! He-AAAAAAAAHH!!!" Ouyang Zizhen ran circles as Fairy snapped at his legs angrily. Lan Jingyi jumped out of the way and spider crawled his way up into the top corner of the room, panting heavily as he looked down upon the chaos. Lan Sizhui sat up slowly, nursing his smarting chin,
"What just hit me...?" he asked, dazed. Ouyang can running around the room again and kicked Lan Sizhui back over again, knocking him out once more. Jin Ling finally stood up, fed up with how his friends were making fools out of themselves,
"FAIRY!" he barked. Fairy came skidding to a halt and turned to his master guiltily. Based in his tone, he knew he was in trouble with Jin Ling. The youth pointed at his foot sharply and Fairy slunk over, cringing before his feet. Ouyang Zizhen and Lan Jingyi all breathed a sigh of relief,
"Ow, he bit me." Ouyang Zizhen said in disbelief, looking at the human teeth imprint on his leg. Jin Ling put his hands on his hips and looked down upon his dog. Fairy avoided his gaze, feeling the heat from his master's glare.
"Fairy, put on the damn clothes." Jin Ling managed past his grit teeth. Fairy looked up slowly, his eyes glittering with the classic puppy look,
"But they're so itchy...." he whined.
"You're not covered in fur anymore! It won't be scratchy, I promise." Jin Ling sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Fairy glanced between the lump of fabric and Jin Ling,
"Do I have to?" he asked. The glare from Jin Ling got the point across and Fairy sulked over to the robes. With great uncertainty, he slowly started pulling on the garments, glancing back every once and a while at Jin Ling. Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen all slowly turned their eyes to Jin Ling,
"You're telling me you could of just COMMANDED him this whole time?!" Lan Jingyi nearly blew his top. Jin Ling shrugged,
"I wasn't sure if it would work. But seeing as how he made a mess of things, guilt tripping seems to have worked the best." he said. Lan Jingyi gripped his forehead ribbon in frustration and groaned. Ouyang Zizhen turned to Lan Sizhui and helped him up, his eyes spinning wildly,
"Now what hit me?" he asked, squinting at Ouyang Zizhen. The boy clapped his friends shoulder,
"I'll tell you later..." he said, avoiding his gaze. Jin Ling stood stiffly a couple feet away, making sure his friends were ok before turning his attention back to Fairy. The dog ducked his head and quickly got back to trying to dress himself. Jin Ling watched him struggle before rolling his eyes,
"No no no. Ugh, you're doing it all wrong." he sighed and knelt down bedsides him. He hastily undid the robes and quickly fixed them, having Fairy fully dressed in no time. Fairy looked down at himself sporting the Lotus Pier purple and silver and grinned,
"Hehe! Fun!" he giggled, spinning around and watching the robes flow with him. He got dizzy and fell to the ground with an ungraceful thud. Lan Sizhui grimaced,
"Ok, so he's dressed. That's one thing off our list. How about getting him to walk like a normal person." he said, watching Fairy crawl about on all fours. Jin Ling was about to answer when there was a furious pounding at the door. All four boys jumped ten feet in the air then regrouped to hold each other in a huddle,
"Jin Ling! Jin Ling, are you all right?!" Jiang Cheng's furious and concerned voice came from behind the door.
"Aw great!" Jin Ling squeezed himself out of the huddle and over to Fairy. He quickly scooped him up into a ball and rolled him across the floor in a giggling heap. He yanked open the closet and stuffed him inside, holding a finger up to his lips,
"Be quiet!" he snapped, then jumped to his feet as his uncle practically kicked the door open. Jiang Cheng stormed into the room with a mini entourage, his eyes raking over each boy before he found Jin Ling,
"Heaven officials blessing, boy! What was all that screaming about?!" he barked sharply. Jin Ling shuffled nervously under his uncle's penetrating glare,
"Nothing...." he muttered. Off to the side, Lan Jingyi, Lan Sizhui, and Ouyang Zizhen all facepalmed so hard there was a bright red handprint left on their faces. Jiang Cheng obviously didn't buy his blatant lie and stalked over to his nephew, towering over him aggressively,
"What's in the closet?" he said. Jin Ling paled visibly and wringed his hands,
"W-what makes you think there's something in the closet?" he stammered, avoiding his uncle's gaze. Jiang Cheng roughly pushed him aside and yanked the closet wide open, instantly spotting Fairy at his feet,
"What the f**k?!" he said, watching Fairy roll out. The dog looked up at Jiang Cheng and grinned,
"Angry grape man!" he said cheerfully. Jiang Cheng's face flushed several different colors and Jin Ling threw himself upon Fairy,
"Uncle I can explain!" he cried. Jiang Cheng clenched and unclenched his fists,
"Then get to explaining, boy..." he said darkly. Jin Ling licked his lips nervously, trying to come up with some explanation that actually made sense.
"We found him during the night hunt last night, sir." Lan Jingyi suddenly spoke up, shriveling up as Jiang Cheng swing his gaze around to him. Jiang Cheng looked back down at Fairy,
"Really?" he said coldly. Fairy stuck his tongue out with a 'blep', oblivious to the potential danger he was in.
"He's...! Uh, not... Ok..." Lan Sizhui added slowly, "He got his soul partially taken by a vengeful spirit, sir." He bowed respectfully to Jiang Cheng, flashing a reassuringly glance at Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng still didn't seem convinced but dropped the subject,
"Will he be staying at Lotus Pier?" he asked. Ouyang Zizhen shook his head rapidly,
"No sir. We we're going to take him to Senior Lan Xichen to see if he can help him." he said. Jiang Cheng glanced back down at Fairy and stepped over and away from him,
"Good to know. What's his name?" he said, giving Jin Ling major side eye. All the juniors fell silent, having not thought this far through they searched their minds feverishly for some kind of name.
"Jingfei!**" Lan Jingyi blurted out suddenly. Jin Ling's face turned a different shade and Jiang Cheng arched an eyebrow to the heavens,
"Who names their child that?" he said scornfully.
"It was the name he told us. Maybe he doesn't remember his original name due to the soul snatching." Lan Sizhui said, "Right, Jingfei?" He asked Fairy, his face hopeful in that Fairy would catch on. Unfortunately, Fairy still had the brain of a dog and the instincts of an animal and the whole thing flew right over his head. He sat up, looking very confused,
"My-" he was cut off as Jin Ling slapped his hand over Fairy's mouth, grinning sheepishly up at his uncle,
"Aha, he says some pretty inappropriate things, uncle. He's just confused, that's all." he said. Jiang Cheng, obviously losing patience with the whole situation waved a hand dismissively,
"Whatever. Whatever. Just, get him to the Cloud Recess before he starts any trouble here." he said stiffly. He nodded to his mini war party and cleared the room. He paused in the doorway and glanced back at Jin Ling,
"Let me know when you're leaving, ok?" And closed the door behind him. The juniors all breathed a massive sigh of relief, collapsing to the floor besides Fairy, who was still very lost in what was going on. Jin Ling snapped his head up and grabbed Lan Jingyi by the lapels,
"JINGFEI IS THAT THE BEST YOU GOT, DUMB F**K?!" he howled in his face. Lan Jingyi swatted him away, readjusting his robes hastily,
"It was the first thing that came to mind! Let's see you do better next time!" he snapped. He ducked at Jin Ling swung a punch at his face and scurried to hide behind Lan Sizhui.
"Come on guys. Can you not fight for three seconds." Lan Sizhui sighed. Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling looked at each other and shook their heads, knowing peace would never be an option between them. Ouyang Zizhen scratched the back of his head tiredly,
"Well, guess we're going to the Cloud Recess now...?" he asked. The boys all grew quiet, the only sound coming from Fairy, who was scratching his back by wiggling around on the floor. Jin Ling grabbed his dogs hand,
"Guess so. Maybe Master Lan Xichen can actually help us with this." he said, pulling Fairy up into a seated position. Fairy grinned widely at his master,
"Adventure?" he questioned. Jin Ling reached down and hauled him to his feet, an annoyed expression written on his face,
"Yes. Adventure. Yay." he said, rather unenthusiastically. He glanced back at the other boys,
"Uh, you guys can go home-"
"We're going with you. There's no doubting that." Lan Sizhui interrupted him, hoisting his already packed belongings onto his back. Besides him, Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen nodded in agreement, holding up their bags as well. Jin Ling sighed,
"You guys really don't have to get involved." he said.
"He bit my leg, kicked Lan Sizhui in the face, and chased us around the room TWICE. I think we're pretty involved." Ouyang Zizhen out his hands on his hips. Jin Ling pouted for a second, wracking his brain for any excuse to not let them go with him. However, he found no reason and straightened up,
"Ok. Fine. But if anything else weird happens, do not blame me."
_______/////_______
Lan Sizhui loaded the rest of his belongings onto the boat and glanced back at the others,
"Well that's everything. All we need now is Fairy himself." he said. Lan Jingyi scoffed,
"Well see. Jin Ling's still trying to get him to walk normally. Speak of the devil...." he said, turning his head at the sound of footsteps approaching them. Jin Ling stalked across the pier, Fairy in tow like a shadow. He was walking up on two legs but he was clinging tightly to Jin Ling as if he was a life raft, his steps clumsy and ungraceful. Ouyang Zizhen grimaced,
"Well, he's kind of walking..." he said with a shrug. Jin Ling made it over to the boat and looked between each face looking back at him,
"Well stop staring at him! You're making this whole thing worse!" he snapped. He pushed past them and hopped into the boat, dragging Fairy along with him.