Work Text:
Yue Qi was a slave, his only options were to be sold or become a slaver himself.
He however chose a different path when he heard that a sect in the east recruits disciples every year, so one day he escaped to try his luck.
“Stand lower,” said his Shizun and the current Sect Leader.
Yue Qi, for some reason, became somewhat the Sect Leader’s favourite. He didn’t quite understand why, but he didn’t mind, each day growing stronger and stronger.
Their lesson was interrupted when the Peak Lord of the Beast Mountains showed up:
“Zhangmen-shixiong, apologies for interrupting but I urgently request to go down the mountain.”
“Of course, what is the matter?”
“It’s Shen Qingqiu, again. There’s a group of cultivators investigating a case in a town. However Shen Qingqiu has once again left his territory and I’m afraid these young cultivators may mistake him for a ghoul! Zhangmen-shixiong, you know he is a rare species, we can’t allow that to happen!”
“Very well, we’ll go with you,” the sect leader said while also motioning to Yue Qi. He was surprised to be let out to a mission so early, disciples usually waited up to a year to be allowed to go down to practice on any real case, nevertheless he followed.
-
The town was small and seemed to be lively however a general sense of fear was around since a demon seemed to be wreaking havoc for several nights.
“We have to find the cultivators that are currently helping with this case and assist them while also informing them about Shen Qingqiu,” the sect leader said, however a shadow soon passed over them and screaming followed:
“It’s him! It’s Shen Qingqiu!” The Peak Lord yelled and like that a group of cultivators appeared and ready to shoot arrows at the large bird flying over the town.
“No!”
Immediately the Sect Leader took action and with one swing of his arm he was able to throw off all arrows.
However the motion corrected a misplaced arrow and the disciple holding the bow let go.
The arrow flew through the air until they saw Shen Qingqiu’s silhouette plunging into the forest.
“Oh no! We must find him quickly in case he’s injured!” and the Peak Lord quickly took off.
“Yue Qi, help your Shishu, I’ll stay here to help these cultivators.”
Yue Qi didn’t wait and promptly went to where the figure plummeted to the ground.
Soon enough he saw a small clearing where a little ball of feathers seemed to be quivering.
“Don’t be scared, I’m here to help you”
The feathers movement went to a halt.
“Help?”
A heady voice suddenly surrounded the area before a fling of air enveloped the area and suddenly the little ball of feathers stood only to reveal a beautiful face.
“Why would I need help? You think I’m so weak that any lesser cultivator can harm me?”
The offended man said, but Yue Qi was still too dumbfounded by the beautiful man before him.
“Well?” The man impatiently said “Do you even speak?!”
“Ah!” Yue Qi finally snapped “Yes! I just thought you might need help since you were shot down”
“Hmph,” the man sneered, “All those buffoons did was break a hole into my precious coat.”
The man lifted his arm and soon his long feather coat revealed a hole the size of an arrow.
“I-, I can fix it!” Yue Qi suddenly stammered and the man lifted an eyebrow.
“I-, I used to live on the streets and a granny taught me how to fix my clothes and we do that too with our uniform”
Yue Qi quickly pulled out sewing equipment out of his Qiankun pouch.
The pretty man just stood there while Yue Qi assembled a few fallen feathers and began sewing the hole together, soon enough it was done.
“Hm,” the pretty man inspected the fix before staring intently at the other.
Yue Qi couldn’t help but to gulp.
In a second, the young man pushed Yue Qi away before leaping to the air, Yue Qi could only look up to the figure of a graceful crane soaring through the night sky.
He waited until the figure was out of sight before he finally made his way back to his shizun.
“Yue Qi!” His shizun quickly called to him when he saw him emerge from the forest.
“Did you see Shen Qingqiu? ― ” The Beast’s Peak Lord ran towards Yue Qi and inspected him ― “You are unharmed, then you mustn’t have found him.”
“But this disciple did!” Yue Qi objected.
“You did?” Both asked.
“Yes, one arrow shot through his coat so this disciple sewed it for him,” Yue Qi explained with little trouble.
“And you escaped unharmed?!” His shizun said exasperated while the Beast’s Peak Lord inspected him closer.
“Not a single kick, scratch or anything?”
“Uh, no, he only pushed this disciple away and flew away.”
Both Peak Lords exchanged a disbelieving look, while Yue Qi just stood there confused.
Then the Peak Lord spoke:
“Zhangmen-shixiong, you have to give me this disciple.”
“What?!”
Both master and disciple yelled.
“Zhangmen-shixiong!
You know how difficult it is to deal with Shen Qingqiu!
I haven’t been able to do a health check on him for a year already! And he is an endangered species on top of it!”
“This disciple of mine has potential, he belongs to Qiong Ding.”
“But Zhangmen-shixiong! This is a one in a kind opportunity!”
“It’s dangerous, didn’t he nearly kill two suitors already?”
“Yes but they were too pushy and I only need him to check on Shen Qingqiu, if he’s ever in danger then I’ll just give him back to you.”
The sect leader made a troubled face before he sighed.
“He will remain my disciple but if you ever need him, call for him.”
“Great! I’ll have to teach him how to properly check a creature like Shen Qingqiu so I need him for a few days, just enough so he knows what he is doing,”
“Very well, just let me know when.”
And just like that, Yue Qi was having classes in his peak and in another peak as well
-
It was around a month before Yue Qi was finally ready to go to his first mission, the beast’s peak lord was giving him instructions while his own shizun stood in the distance.
“Here are some pills and vegetables to ensure good nutrition as well as supplies if he’s ever injured. Just try to get a glimpse of him and when you see him, leave it all in the nearest clearing. I doubt he’ll let you take his pulse but it’s a start for now.
But if you see him coming towards you: drop everything. And run.”
Yue Qi gulped.
“Use your sword to fly away, don’t try to just run,” His shizun added and Yue Qi couldn’t help but gulp more.
He made his way towards the vast amount of forest that is Shen Qingqiu’s territory and after some time he finally saw the figure in the distance. Yue Qi did as instructed and searched for a clearing to drop off the supplies when he noticed it was unsettlingly quiet. He looked up at the sky but there was no crane spirit in sight, so he continued his work.
“You again,” A familiar voice spoke behind him.
Yue Qi yelped and fell down looking towards the tall figure that was Shen Qingqiu.
He did know what to do now, his instructions were only for when Shen Qingqiu flew towards him, not when standing near him.
“Y-yes, these are some supplies to keep you healthy,”
“Hmpf, is that oaf again, thinking I can’t take care of myself,”
“It’s not that! You look very good!” Yue Qi blurted out and immediately blushed when he saw Shen Qingqiu’s eyes go wide
“I mean! Healthy! It’s just a little help, it’s here if you want it!”
With that, Yue Qi scrambled to leave.
When he came back to Cang Qiong, he saw the peak lord and his shizun eagerly waiting for him.
“How was it? Are you injured?”
“Um, no, he did nothing to me,”
“Impressive, Zhangmen-shixiong, you must see I will need this disciple more often,” the sect leader could only sigh and reluctantly nod in agreement.
Yue Qi’s double peak situation was unique in Cang Qiong, he spent most of his time in Qiong Ding however he later had to go deliver special supplies to the finicky crane spirit.
Each time, Shen Qingqiu would silently observe Yue Qi drop off everything while curled up in his long feathered coat.
To be honest, Yue Qi found the sight of the small feathered ball with only Shen Qingqiu’s face peeking out to be quite adorable, and couldn’t help but chuckle when with each new visit, the little feathered ball would be closer to him, it was just too cute.
“You haven’t asked for it,” he said and Yue Qi was surprised by it.
Shen Qingqiu hadn’t spoken a word to him ever since the first delivery.
“Asked for what?” He calmly said and continued to unpack his latest delivery.
“My wrist, the other guy always insists he wants to check me.”
“It would definitely be helpful, that way we could better the supplies we give you,”
“… Would that mean you would have to come more frequently?”
Yue Qi sighed: “It depends, if my Shishu thinks you need it then yes, although he always says how he prefers to do monthly or weekly check ups,” and got ready to leave.
“Can you do it? Are you trained?”
“Yes, my shishu gave me enough classes,” Before he could even finish a wrist was suddenly in front of him
“Well, do it.”
Yue Qi was speechless, Shen Qingqiu was infamous for not allowing anyone near him, nor his territory, but now he was flinging his wrist at Yue Qi as if it was completely normal.
“Do it before I regret it!” He spat out and Yue Qi snapped out.
“Ah! Sure!” He pulled out a small delicate cloth and placed it over his exposed wrist before checking his pulse.
“Isn’t it better without the cloth?”
“I know you don’t like others to touch you so that’s why I did it.”
Shen Qingqiu just grumbled and cuddled further into his feathered coat.
When Yue Qi came back he gave his usual report to his shishu but when he mentioned he was able to check Shen Qingqiu
His shishu leaped.
“He did what?!”
Yue Qi didn’t understand why he was so stunned, he knew Shen Qingqiu was difficult to handle but they made it seem like it was plain impossible, he decided just to relay what he had written down and double check with his shishu, his shishu never stopped being stunned.
-
Yue Qi was out on a mission with his peers in a nearby town when he saw a stand filled with fans, he remembered the sight of Shen Qingqiu hiding behind his feathered coat and couldn’t help but chuckle. Without much thinking he ran to the stall.
-
“What is this?” Shen Qingqiu asked.
“It’s a fan!” Yue Qi said as they sat next to each other.
Over the past gatherings, Shen Qingqiu had closed the distance between them, now Yue Qi would even wait for the crane spirit to land before he began unpacking the goods.
He then showed him how to grab and use a fan before he stepped back.
“I thought it would suit you,” he smiled.
Shen Qingqiu simply hid behind his new fan.
“It really does!” Yue Qi chuckled.
He then began to groom Shen Qingqiu’s feathers. It had happened by chance, Yue Qi had mentioned how he could groom his feathers and surprisingly, Shen Qingqiu allowed him to. Now they spent a few minutes together before Yue Qi groomed Shen Qingqiu’s crane form.
The fan quickly became a favorite accessory of Shen Qingqiu ever since Yue Qi gifted it to him.
-
Yue Qi walked up to their agreed meet up point. Usually he arrived and Shen Qingqiu would quickly land near him before taking human form. However, this time Yue Qi could see him standing in a graceful stance.
Wondering what he was doing Yue Qi approached him.
Shen Qingqiu suddenly opened his eyes before he gave a graceful twirl and moved his arm, displaying his coat and beautiful robes Yue Qi hadn’t seen before.
He was mesmerized by the beautiful sight when Shen Qingqiu continued a series of jumps and twirls, displaying his flexibility and strength.
Yue Qi saw how Shen Qingqiu stared directly at him before frowning and leaping higher, Yue Qi felt embarrassed by what must’ve been his dumb face, he decided to shake it off and smile and excitedly clap at Shen Qingqiu’s dance.
This apparently just made Shen Qingqiu frown even more before adding more twirls in his dance. It was then , when his hand unfolded the fan given by Yue Qi , he realized the crane spirit had also added moves from human fan dances.
Yue Qi was amazed.
The dance became progressively more impressive while Yue Qi could only clap in awe.
In what looked like a grand finale, Shen Qingqiu twirled to the air, his power bringing forth leaves to follow along his motions before spreading his arms and letting them fall in a beautiful display.
Yue Qi just excitedly clapped even more, however for some reason Shen Qingqiu seemed to be gritting his teeth.
In a second, he charged towards Yue Qi before flattening him into the ground, sitting on top. He snarled right in front of his face:
“What more do you want?!”
Yue Qi was dumbfounded by that and didn’t understand what Shen Qingqiu meant. His face seemed to be clear enough because Shen Qingqiu just glared and left. Yue Qi could catch a glimpse of Shen Qingqiu’s eyes getting wet but he didn’t understand why, his dance was beautiful!
Nevertheless he was gone now and Yue Qi had no choice but to leave the usual supplies, realizing the crane spirit wouldn’t come back.
-
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t talking to him anymore, Yue Qi went to their meeting point yet he was not there, the supplies left were even untouched.
He didn’t understand what happened, so he had no choice but to relay everything to his shishu.
“Ah, probably got bored of you, it’s alright, you did well, you can stay with your shizun from now on.”
Yue Qi did just that but his mind always wandered off to Shen Qingqiu; he missed him.
He crashed with a disciple nearby; he got distracted again.
“Yue-shixiong! Not again!”
He was right, he had bumped with his Shidis a lot in the past few days and decided to just leave the training grounds. He had to find somewhere to train and clear his mind and a training ground filled with his Shidis wasn’t going to be it.
Yue Qi tried to remember where he felt more at peace but his mind could only come up with an image of Shen Qingqiu frowning at him from behind his fan.
Unfortunately that wasn’t an option anymore, however maybe he could train in Shen Qingqiu’s territory. There were many clearings from different sizes and even some small lakes.
He decided he should train his sword flying skills in a large pond where he had shared a meal with Shen Qingqiu once.
Yue Qi had seen some shixiongs sprint run only to jump flawlessly on their swords and take off so he tried going on and off the sword several times as he ran along the pond.
He did a good jump and tried to fly over the pond but lost his balance, landing in the water.
Too bad he couldn’t walk on it the way his shizun did, nevertheless, even soaked he continued the exercise until he was able to flawlessly glide on and off the sword.
When he took off again to fly in circles around it to test his speed and balance, he felt a rustle of the wind before leaves began to spin around him.
Suddenly the figure of Shen Qingqiu’s bird form appeared flying from the trees and seamlessly matched Yue Qi’s speed and motions.
Shen Qingqiu began to do more complex twists and sharp turns, things Yue Qi was able to match with his sword flying skills. After a few minutes, Shen Qingqiu suddenly furled into a ball in the air only to begin to fall directly to Yue Qi.
He scrambled to hold his arms out to catch the falling bird
―
only to catch a human bridal style instead.
Yue Qi was startled but his grip was steady as he continued flying on his sword around the large pond. Shen Qingqiu was staring at him intently, as if searching for something.
Yue Qi then decided to land with the precious crane spirit still in his arms. Seemingly coming to a conclusion the crane said:
“It’s still a little shabby but I will forgive you,” before pecking Yue Qi on the cheek.
“I accept your courtship, we are mates now.”
Yue Qi’s thoughts suddenly halted.
Mated
He wanted to say how he was just practicing his sword flying but then he saw Shen Qingqiu cuddled up against his shoulder with closed eyes and a peaceful but small smile.
In that moment he couldn’t deny the sight inspired feelings inside his heart, instead all he did was kiss Shen Qingqiu’s forehead and mumble:
“Thank you”