Work Text:
One day, in the midst of war, there is a knock at their door.
One day, appearing like snow in summer, victory comes.
One day young man, almost a child, appears on their doorstep, with a naked sword and faceless tattered clothing. With plum-colored eyes and a ribbon of green, like the skin of snakes, in his hair. A young man who could easily have been their Plum Blossom Sword Saint if they had seen him in the crowd.
The young man is covered in blood, too much to be just his; he is wounded too badly to stand, let alone climb their steps; in his hands is the head of the Heavenly Demon.
The young man staggers but walks, he crosses the threshold, the blood left behind him, soaking into their lands; the young man, so insanely similar to their Cheong Myeong, looks around with an unseeing look; the young man smiles as their elders, the sect leader and their Plum Blossom Sword Saint come running in, stopping next to the dispersed crowd at the noise.
The young man exhales, quietly, hoarsely:
"I won, sahyung", there is a smile with the tenderness of spring before he falls.
This child comes to die.
They don't know who it is; they don't know why he came to them; they don't know how this boy could kill the Heavenly Demon. They don't know why he looks so much like their Cheong Myeong. But they pick him up, they help him, they try to save him.
Unfortunately, they are not all-powerful, and Dang Bo is not a deity to raise the undead.
The young man, short, thin, tired, never wakes up again, leaving in the silent night.
The elders are left to deal with the multitude of questions and problems that this child has brought; with the demon head that must somehow be brought to light and explained to the world; Jang Mun, as the sect leader, has left them worrying about the boy who has gone (and the sense of loss that this causes) and about Cheong Myeong, disturbingly silent ever since.
The young man dies, and the plums in their gardens bloom for the second time in a year.