Work Text:
The first thing that he wished for were the stars.
Growing up inside a dungeon since birth, Dan Heng had never once been allowed to go outside at all. The only possessions he had aside from his clothes were the books given to him by someone named Jing Yuan. He read all of them with great interest until one day, he saw it. The picture of a sea of stars glimmering beautifully, weaving constellations upon constellations in the dark galaxy. Ever since then, he sought to see them with his very own eyes.
Every night he reached out his chained arms to the small circular hole above him, the only source of light in this prison. Even so, not a single tiny dot nor anything resembling a star could be seen above. Dan Heng read about it, that the sky of the Xianzhou Luofu ship was merely a projection from the real sky, and seemed like they didn't bother to add stars on it.
The young Vidyadhara sighed defeatedly and slumped his arm back to the ground. Even If it was fake, he still wished to see them. At the very least, it could satisfy his curiosity and desire as...
He looked at the chains binding both of his arms, his body, his legs, even his tail, then the giant seal drawn on the ground to suppress his power, and lastly the big locked door which only ever opened everytime food was given to him and that was only once a month. He had no way out of this place and whoever was imprisoning him here made sure he couldn't make any attempt to break free either.
The emotions he had bottled all this time finally broke and tears started streaming from his teal eyes. It started small, until he started sobbing quietly and curled into a ball while hugging the book with the picture of stars close to his heart.
Creak! Graak! Graak!
Dan Heng’s head immediately shot up the moment he heard the sound of a door opening. Didn’t the guards just give him food last week? It was too early for them to come back, not to mention it was also nighttime. It could also have been those crazy people who kept preaching their Aeon of Abundance, but last time he got a letter from Jing Yuan saying he had taken care of them. Anyway... wiping off his tears, he quickly put aside his book and stood up cautiously. He bared his fangs, trying his best to make a terrifying expression.
The door opened slowly.... and a short figure whom he saw pushing the door with difficulty emerged. The Vidyadhara's boy could only stare in complete confusion. The figure was small though he seemed to be a bit shorter than him, still that was a child right? What was a child doing in here? No, how could a child even get in here? He couldn't be just a normal child-
"There we go. Honestly, who makes such a heavy door anyway?" the figure spoke while sounding annoyed. A boy's voice which sounded very young and a bit squeaky. Compared to the harsh and loud voice the guards had, his voice sounded harmless. However, no child should be able to open the door which required at least two big guards to push it open.
The unknown boy turned to look in his direction. Unfortunately, due to the lack of light, his face couldn't be seen clearly. Dan Heng's worry grew as he got even more defensive.
"Who are you?!" he shouted aggressively while growling.
"Ah- umm.. my apologies!" The boy ran quickly to where the young Vidyadhara was standing. The closer he was, the better he could see his face until-
Golden hues.
They were shining brightly under the bath of the moonlight, as If their tiny light alone could illuminate every single corner in the dark prison. Even so, their light felt warm and welcoming, unlike the light the guards usually brought which hurt his eyes. Those eyes they looked almost like…
Stars.
“Huh, Stars? Who? Me?” the boy, which Dan Heng also noticed had short grey haired, asked in confusion while pointing at himself.
Crap, he must have accidentally said his thoughts out loud! He even unknowingly lowered his guard that he didn’t notice how close the unknown boy was now in front of him.
"That’s cool, you guess my name! My name is Caelus and Caelus means star!” the boy, Caelus, declared with a beaming smile.
Dan Heng was taken aback by the boy's, Caelus, reply. Such coincidence- there was no way it could happen! This might be a trap to catch him off guard. However, before he could form a reply, Caelus already beat him into speaking.
“Ah! I apologize for my lack of manners. I have been sent here by Lieutenant Jing Yuan to take care of you." Caelus said as he put both of his palms together while bowing down his head. Did just he mention Jing Yuan's name now? And not accompanied by insults nor a disrespect tone like how he usually heard from the guards and the crazy people. Now that Dan Heng also looked closely, the grey haired had a few cuts on his arms and his clothes were ripped a bit with so much dirt on it.
"Uhh.. this order is a secret even to the guards of the Shackling Prison and I.. uh lack the skill of being stealthy so I had to resort onto something else." Caelus continued a bit nervously as he looked to his side upon noticing Dan Heng’s gaze to his clothes.
So.. he assumed this child had beat up the guards till they were unconscious then. Seeing as how the big door was still left open and no sound could be heard outside, it seemed like this grey haired child was telling the truth. Even when those crazy people came a few times in the past, he could still heard the guards snickering from outside. Well, serve them right then! Those guards were awful, always babbling about the sin of his past life and never once they called his name right! The only thing Dan Heng could do was scare them away despite him wanting to punch their face at least once. He wished he could see it himself, must be really satisfying to see them getting beat up.
"You don't have to bow your head, it's weird. So, did you beat up all of the guards in the Shackling Prison then?" the Vidyadhara boy asked curiously, completely forgetting both his worries and what the boy said earlier.
"Ok? Well not all of them... I just beat up the one leading up to this place.” Caelus lifted up his face again. “Ah, they were still alive though! And I make sure I hit them right in the point thingy mister taught me so they’ll get light amnesia. So, everything is okey dokey!” the grey haired boy answered with a cheeky grin while giving a thumbs up.
"Wow…" The Vidyadhara boy was surprised by the boy's story, but most importantly he wanted to hear more about how he beat up the guards. "Can you tell me more about your fight with the guards?"
"Eh? Well, it's a bit annoying I should say. They're rather strong plus they had weapons while I have… well I have my bat, but mister ordered me not to use it cause I might leave a trace." Caelus made a pouting face while lowering his head that Dan Heng couldn't help but felt a bit worried. However, not a second later he shot up his face back showing a wide and proud grin startling Dan Heng a bit. "Buuuuut~ of course that isn't gonna stop me! I'm very fast and they lack accuracy! So I just ran and dodged their attack like wuushh wuusshh wuushhh! Then punched their guts kapoooww!" Caelus started jumping around while throwing up punch to the air excitedly, imitating the fight he faced. "Then when I was surrounded, two guards were at my side, I jumped so hiiiigh so both of them ended up crashing each other, then I kicked both of their face! Then! Then! One of them almost got me cornered, but seems like he thought he had got me and lowered his guard. So, I just quickly kicked him in the nuts." Caelus made a smug expression, satisfied by his own doing while Dan Heng whispered an 'ouch'.
Caelus then continued telling his story excitedly, while Dan Heng listened to it with great interest. Before long, the story slowly turned into the boy's adventures on another planet with this mister, who was also the one who raised him, and his twin sister and how he beat up monsters, something called legions, and many more. There were also planets whose people all had animal faces, a planet covered in thick snow, and one which had a giant amusement park. So many new words he heard and Caelus had absolutely no problem explaining them one by one.
Then he heard a laugh. A joyful laugh so loud and free that it echoed inside the prison.
Ah, that laughter... it belongs to him wasn't it? Dan Heng slowly touched his face, and felt how his lips had turned upward and how wide his mouth opened that both of his cheeks and jaw were slightly sore. That voice also, it was definitely his. Right, it was his laughter. Dan Heng had never thought that he could laugh or smile at all. This was the first time that... he felt genuinely happy.
"There's also this cool wing glider thingy- Aaahh! I lost track of time!" The boy exclaimed, remembering his purpose here. That was too bad, Dan Heng pouted. He wanted to hear more of those stories. His stories were all more entertaining than the books he had been reading.
"As I said before. My name is Caelus and I was sent here by Lieutenant Jing Yuan to take care of you. Due to the secrecy of this order, please don't mention it to anyone. So let's get along well… What's your name?" Caelus asked with the same friendly smile he had been giving while holding out his hand.
Dan Heng stared at the hand offered to him, looking a bit confused before remembering this was supposed to be what they called a handshake, a friendly greeting between two people.
“Oh, I’m... Dan Heng.” Dan Heng answered while clutching his chest. There was a strange tight feeling on his chest which kinda made him feel a bit ticklish, but it was also warm and felt nice. It was hard to describe for him. “It’s nice to meet you… Caelus.” He slowly took the other's hand in a handshake.
"Oh right, by the way I can only come in here once in a while since I have other things-" Before Caelus could finished his words, the Vidyadhara already gripped his hand tightly with both of his hands as If he was afraid of losing something.
"Then you- you won't stay here?- Ah... no, it's better If you don't stay here." Dan Heng looked down to see the chains binding his body and just how small his surrounding was. Caelus, who's a free soul, shouldn't stay here with him. "But... you will definitely come back here right? Telling me more stories?" Dan Heng asked though it came more like a plea.
"Don't worry, I will! I'll also bring you souvenirs next time. Pinky promise!" Caelus's hand then guided Dan Heng's so both of their pinky fingers intertwined together.
Pinky promise? What was that? Dan Heng was left confused but it should be a good thing, seeing Caelus who was grinning as he shook both of their hands up and down quickly in excitement. His golden eyes now looked glimmering even more, that Dan Heng felt like he stopped breathing for a moment, only stared in awe. The warm and ticklish feeling on his chest now felt like it was spreading to his whole body, but strangely he didn’t mind it.
The first thing that he wished for were the stars.
Even If the one he saw in front of him weren’t the real one, Dan Heng felt as If he had found the prettiest stars of all of them.