Work Text:
The night was just setting in, the last bright colors of the dusk sky were fading and the stars printed upon the inky night sky replaced the orange and red hues. The peacefulness was shattered by the loud yelling from inside the Water Curtain Cave.
“You never let me do anything fun!” Hexie bristled angrily, her tail curled tightly over her back in her displeasure, she was sixteen and she had been invited to a party on the mainland by her friends from one of the spirit monkey troops that lived over there.
“You know the rules, you aren’t allowed off the island without one of us with you” Her papa replied, his tail twitching in his own frustration with the continuing argument after he had told her she wasn’t allowed to go.
“Why not?” Hexie bared her teeth angrily “I’m practically and adult, I can take care of myself” She spat, crossing her arms over her chest and digging her claws into her golden fur “Chuntao and Qiang are going!”
“It’s their troop and they’re not celestial primates” Macaque replied “You know it’s dangerous” She could have rolled her eyes at the statement if she hadn’t been so angry. They always used the excuse that it was too dangerous but she had never seen it, plus she had a lot of powers so why were they so worried?
“Stop treating me like a cub!” She snarled “What’s the point of having powers if I can’t use them”
“You can’t control them yet!” Macaque reminded her sharply “When you can control your powers, AND, your temper then you can leave the island alone” She bristled even more
“This is so unfair!” She huffed
“You aren’t leaving this island tonight and that’s final!” Macaque’s voice was sharp and commanding, his dark fur bristling in his own anger
“I hate you!” She yelled, storming off to her room, slamming the door behind her.
“Don’t slam the door!” Macaque called after her, she stuck her tongue out at the closed door before throwing herself onto her bed to scream into her pillow.
“Hexie” The golden monkey glanced up at the whisper. Her brother appeared in her room, he had probably shrunk himself and snuck in before she had closed the door
“Go away” She hissed “Papa will hear you”
“He and Baba are busy talking, he’s not paying attention” Jiahao replied “Come on, I know a way out of here” Hexie brighted “Keep your glow down!” He hissed, shielding his eyes from the brightness, taking a deep breath the bright light faded from her fur
“What are you waiting for? Show me!” She jumped up, transforming herself into a fly just as Jiahao shrunk himself down again and flew up beside her.
“This way” Her brother ducked under the door, Hexie kept close knowing that even in her transformed state she still glowed. Jiahao put a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet as they quickly darted past the tv room where Macaque and Wukong were talking. Hexie quickly shot another glare at her papa, almost hoping he noticed it but also not wanting either of them to see her.
“What are we going to do? You know Baba put a spell on the cave so we can’t leave at night” Hexie said as they neared the entice, Jiahao grinned
“He only put the spell on the entice, not the entire mountain, follow me” He flew up above the cave entrance to a small crack in the rock, glancing back to make sure his sister saw him, he ducked into the darkness. Hexie glanced back at the lit up temple, feeling proud of herself as she followed Jiahao into the crack, she would show them! Moonlight greeted them as they made it through the small hole, the waterfall raged next to them, the water spray soaking them quickly. “Change back, I’ll carry you” Jiahao said, Hexie huffed
“I can fly over like this!” She said with a growl “I’m doing it myself”
“Do you know how long it would take you? Even if you flew as fast as you could it would be morning when you got there” Jiahao replied “and we both know you can’t stay transformed when you try to go fast” Hexie huffed, turning back to her normal appearance with an unhappy sigh, her brother caught her by the arms and easily lifted her above the trees.
“Maybe we would be able to go faster if you could control the wind direction so it wasn’t blowing in our face!” Hexie called
“Shut up! Papa will hear you!” Jiahao called back, his voice more of a whisper “Unless you want Baba coming after us” Hexie growled and glared at her brother. He always acted like he was better then her and she hated it. He had probably found that way to escape the cave a long time ago and never told her about it and when they were around their dads he always acted like the perfect child.
“Maybe I want Papa to hear us” Hexie replied “Then you’ll get in trouble for one too!”
“I’m just better at sneaking away from them then you are” Jiahao replied “and don’t you dare tell them about that secret way out or I’m never talking to you again”
“I can live with that” Hexie grumbled, happy to finally be on solid ground again. She smoothed out the wrinkles off her short bright blue dress and long dark pants so she didn’t look terrible when she met up with her friends “Why are you just standing there?” She snarled at her brother
“I’m going to the party too” Jiahao replied
“Ew, I don’t know you” She turned and walked off, hiding her extra pair of ears under glamor but just in case it didn’t hold she also fluffed her fur forwards to cover her ears entirely. Her friends were waiting at for her, smiling as they saw her walk up
“Hexie!” Chuntao hugged her “I can’t believe your stuck up parents let you come!”
“They didn’t” Hexie smirked “I left without them knowing”
“What if they come to find you?” Qiang asked, sounding a little worried
“Oh don’t worry, I didn’t tell them where it would be” Hexie laughed “It’ll be so loud Papa isn’t going to be able to hear me talk and Baba’s gold vision doesn’t work this far away”
“Let's get this party started!” Chuntao grabbed both Hexie’s and Qiang’s hands and pulled them along, leading them into the forest and towards the sound of music.
The party was loud, adolescent spirit monkeys from several troops were gathered, dancing and talking. Hexie grinned as she swung around to the music, she had never had this much fun before, she could feel the other monkeys watching her and loved the attention. Chuntao tried to keep up with her quick paced dance but Hexie was having too much fun to keep her speed in check.
“Lets go get something to drink” Chuntao finally suggested, sounding slightly out of breath
“Aw, come on, this is my favorite song!” Hexie protested
“You’ve been dancing for an hour” Chuntao pointed out “I’m getting a smoothie” She waved to the golden monkey before leaving for the hap-hazard drink stand that had been set up
“You really can move” a gibbon that Hexie had never met smiled at her “Can I dance with you” Hexie grinned
“If you can keep up” She replied, easily out dancing him in a matter of seconds
“Wow!” He panted, still trying to keep up with her though she was easily paced ahead of him “Where did you learn to dance that fast?”
“I’m a natural” She grinned, in a way she was, her parents showed her how to dance almost as soon as she could walk so she would have a less destructive way of releasing her energy. She would dance and sing on stage as her Papa told his stories and some nights she would dance with her Baba, standing on his feet as he showed her some of the old dances he knew from long before she was born.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before, what’s your name?” the gibbon asked, finally admitting defeat and halting his dancing, though Hexie stopped too, intrigued with the conversation/
“Sun Hexie” She replied with a smile “This is my first party, my parents are super over protective so they never let me leave the cave”
“Cave?” The gibbon tipped his head “You live in a cave?”
“Yeah, Water Curtain Cave on Flower Fruit Mountain” She could see his eyes grow wide and he started to back away
“It was nice to meet you, Sun Hexie, '' he said before disappearing into the crowd. Hexie watched him with a confused look not understanding what had scared him off.
“So who were you talking to?” Qiang asked as Hexie joined her friends on a fallen log
“I never got his name, he ran off as soon as I told him where I live” Hexie looked down at her mango smoothie “It was really strange”
“Maybe he was scared of you” Chuntao said “I mean you’re the Monkey King’s daughter. I think if he found out anyone was trying to flirt with you they would meet King Yama really fast” Hexie felt her face flush with embarrassment
“I hate him!” She groaned “Not even hear and he’s still ruining my life!”
“What is their problem anyway?” Qiang leaned back as she finished her banana and berry smoothie “Always keeping you on the island, it’s super weird”
“They say it’s dangerous out here” Hexie laughed “I think they just don’t want me to have any fun!”
“I mean you got magic, how dangerous could it be?” Chuntao laughed, Qiang hesitated for a moment before laughing along too
“Come on, let's go dance some more!” Hexie jumped up
“You go on, I want to see where that cute gibbon went to” Chuntao grinned
“Quang? You want to come?” Hexie asked, her shy friend shook her head
“No, but I’ll cheer you on!” She smiled. Hexie shrugged, two less monkeys to get in her way she figured heading back towards the music
“So you’re Sun Wukong’s little girl?” A large macaque asked, blocking her way. He had on a black, torn, jacket and jeans, studs shined from his ears, like most monkeys that didn’t live in the city he didn’t wear shoes.
“So what?” Hexie crossed her arms and glaring at the monkey
“I’m surprised he let you come” The macaque said
“I can take care of myself” Hexie huffed
“Prove it” The macaque taunted with a smirk, Hexie smirked back and using the light beams around them materialized several copies of herself in the color of the light the came from, in one flawless move they surrounded the macaque, he looked concerned
“Now, when I give the word these clones of mine will jump you and not only will their very touch feel like fire but they will be able to hold you down no matter how much you struggle” Hexie fibbed, she still couldn’t make solid light clones yet but it didn’t seem to matter
“Want to come with me and my friends?” The macaque asked, glancing at the clones
“Why should I waste my time?” Hexie asked
“We’re going to go up the mountain and paint that boring temple there” The macaque replied
“That belongs to my Baba” She said, shocked they would do that
“We know, that’s why it will be great!” The macaque replied, Hexie hesitated for a moment, it was wrong but she was still mad at her parents.
“Let's do it!” She grinned
“Great!” The macaque held out her hand which she took “I’m Li Fannao”
“Sun Hexie” She grinned, following him to several other monkeys dressed in similar edgy fashion.
“Who’s the newbie?” A snub-nosed monkey asked hoping down from the branch she had been sitting on
“Hexie, she’s going to help us” Fannao replied smiling
“Ooo your papa’s gonna be really mad” A gibbon laughed
“Serves him right” Hexie huffed “He doesn’t think I can handle myself out here” She smirked “But I obviously can”
“Whatever you say princess” The snub-nose rolled her eyes “Come on Fang, let’s get going” Hexie bristled, though she didn’t have time to respond as the others lept away into the trees, leaving her to follow.
“So why do you want to do this anyway?” Hexie asked Fannao
“Because we can” He replied “What’s he going to do about it anyway? He let our ancestors down so I’m calling this payback” Hexie gave him a confused look “Oh he didn’t tell you? That away on his journey he left my ancestors to fend for themselves against hunters and demons so they left”
“He told me, he said that he asked them if they wanted to return but no one did so he didn’t force them to abandon their new lives” Hexie replied
“That’s how everyone tells it but I don’t believe them” Fannao growled “Everyone thinks he’s just so great ‘The Beautiful Monkey King’ or whatever they call him. I bet he never asked and separated the mountain from the mainland so no one could come back”
“Why do you think that?” Hexie asked, landing next to him in front of the temple
“Because he’s a selfish fool” The snub-nose spat “He’s been Monkey King for too long”
“Baba retired, he’s training a successor” Hexie said
“A human” The gibbon growled “It should have been one of the monkeys from his old troop”
“I’m not surprised, didn’t you hear that he practically stole the title from the old king’s really successor” The snub-nose huffed, her hands on her hips
“No he didn’t” Hexie protested “Hóu yéyé chose Baba to be the next king fair and square, he didn’t steal anything!”
“So what do you call what he did with everything in heaven?” Fannao asked “Borrowing? What fool would think that?” Hexie snarled
“Fine! He stole from heaven but he didn’t steal anything from his troop!” She defended
“Oh? Really? Is that what he told you, princess?” The snub-nose smirked, knowing it got under Hexie’s skin “He’s not exactly the most honest monkey either so what’s to say he hasn’t been filling your head with lies?”
“Do you really think I’m that stupid?” Hexie growled, glaring at the snub-nosed monkey
“Are you?” She asked, still with a stupid smirk on her face. Hexie screamed and leaped at her, easily pinning the smaller monkey down while she repeatedly hit her face and shoulders. Hexie may not have been as strong as her brother but being made of stone meant that she still hit harder then normal. Fannao and the gibbon managed to drag her off the snub-nosed monkey
“Calm down Hexie, she’s just messing around” Fannao replied
“No!” Hexie pulled away from them “No, your heads are full of lies” She put herself between the temple and the three monkeys “and if you want to deface Baba’s temple you’re going to have to go through me.” She didn’t even see what hit her, something hard, she saw the three monkeys racing for the cover of the trees while someone picked her up from the ground before the world faded.
Wukong practically leapt off his somersault cloud. Macaque had finally been able to hear Hexie near his old mainland temple but now she was nowhere in sight, hopefully the shadow monkey was having better luck finding Jiahao then he was here. After they had talked, Wukong had gone to talk to his daughter but he found her gone. When they went to ask Jiahao if he knew where his twin went, he was also missing. Wukong could see two splatters of blood, he couldn’t tell if either of them were Hexie’s but it made the knot of anxiety in his stomach worse. Movement caught his eye and he lunged forwards, catching a teenage gibbon by the arm and dragging him from his hiding place
“Where is my daughter?” He asked the gibbon, his voice a threatening growl
“I-I don’t know” He whimpered “Something fell on her and then we saw a cloud and thought that you had come so we ran”
“We?” Wukong narrowed his eyes, two other young monkeys stepped out, a macaque and a snub-nosed monkey, they looked terrified and the snub-nosed monkey had welts and bruises on her face from an apparent fight though neither of the other two seemed to have been the one that fought her. He let the gibbon run back to his friends “Which way did you see that cloud go?”
“We don’t know, sir” The macaque replied
“Go home, all of you” He told them, the three seemed happy to flee back into the forest.
“Any leads?” Macaque asked from behind, Wukong almost jumped of out his fur at the sudden voice
“I think I know what happened, have you found Jiahao?” He asked, Macaque grimaced in response “Go get MK, Jiahao’s glamor is still weak enough he should be able to find him in the crowd” Wukong told him
“It’s late, are you sure the kid is going to want to be woken up?” Macaque asked
“Well you could just wait for me but I’m going to the celestial realm and I’m not going to be back until morning at a minimum” Wukong told him
“Wonderful” Macaque grumbled
“You’re so sour” Wukong gave him a small kiss on the cheek before jumping back on his cloud and shooting into the sky.
Hexie blinked awake, her head pounded and she could taste copper in the back of her mouth. She slowly stood up, she was inside a grand ivry white room, huge shiny tan pillars stood along the walls and banners hung from between them, everything seemed a bit familiar but she didn’t know why.
“Sun Hexie” She spun to face whoever had spoken, several humans watched her. She blinked a little, still trying to get her headache to fade. The one that had spoken was a tall man with a small Pagoda resting in his hand regarded her with some bitterness
“Hexie!” She heard her father before the man could speak again. The group looked up, seeming unfazed by the crash as Wukong tore into the room “Why did you take my daughter?” He practically growled, planting himself between the teenager and the men
“You obviously cannot control her” The man said
“She’s a teenager testing her limits, if there was a problem you should have told me instead of taking her!” Wukong drew his lips back in a snarl “You better not have hurt a single hair on her!”
“I assure you, Great Sage, she is unharmed” One of the other men said, he was older then the first and seemed less upset at Wukong
“Baba?” Hexie was confused and scared
“She attacked another monkey for no reason” The first man countered “On the grounds of your temple no less”
“They were talking badly about Baba!” Hexie tried to defend herself but Wukong stopped her
“Not right now” He hushed her before turning back to the group “I don’t care what she did, she is my daughter and you should have come to me first” He repeated, glaring at them “This better not happen again or I might not be so merciful” Wukong threatened before whipping around and grabbing Hexie’s arm, pulling her with him as he stormed out of the room.
“Baba, I'm sorry!” Hexie whined as she followed him out of what was apparently a palace “But they were saying that you were a lier and that you didn’t deserve to be king”
“You don’t get to hurt someone over that” Wukong told her, his tone still hard but not as aggressive as it had been before “there’s always a way to do something that doesn’t involve violence, I thought I had taught you that”
“You did but she was so mean!” Hexie’s shoulders dropped, she was in trouble and she knew it. Wukong summoned his somersault cloud and pulled Hexie onto it after him
“Did you try to talk to her?” Wukong asked, she nodded “Then you should have walked away”
“But they wanted to spray paint your temple!” She protested “because of the lies they believed!”
“You should have let them, it’s just stone that can be cleaned” He told her “and who’s to say they believed lies? There are always different sides to the same story” Hexie sighed
“So who were those guys?” She asked as they neared Flower Fruit Mountain, Wukong fell silent, landing just outside of the temple, Hexie jumped down first. Jiahao ran up to her
“Hexie!” He hugged her “You’re okay! Baba said you were missing and I was so scared that it was my fault!”
“Come with me, both of you,” Wukong said, his tone still serious. Following their father, the twins shared a nervous glance as he led them inside the stone temple and to their main living room, Macaque and MK were waiting there.
“Hexie!” MK started but Wukong silenced him
“Sit” He told the twins who obeyed without question “I was hoping this day would never come, that you would learn how to properly control your powers before going out into the world but it seems being a rebel runs in the family.” He cracked a small smile before continuing “Heaven fears you both and so have been watching out for you acting out in any way. Not only are you celestial primates but you are hybrids of two kinds of celestial primates, your magic is unique and because of that no one knows what you might be capable of. If that wasn’t enough to make the stuck up assholes up there nerves you are also my children and I’ve not always been on the best terms with them” Macaque snorted with laughter “To keep them happy I agreed to keep you under supervision at all times, that is why you were never allowed to leave the island without someone and that will still be the case as they will now be watching you more then ever”
“Why can’t you stop them?” Jiahao asked
“As long as there isn’t any immediate threat to your safety, they can fool around as much as they want” Wukong replied with a shrug “But Macaque and I had talked this over and we think that it’s not fair to you to keep you from being with friends so today I will talk to Sandy about setting up some way of ferrying any of your friends from the mainland here so you can hang out” Both twins brightened
“But for the foreseeable future, you both are grounded” Macaque added, earning sour glares from the twins