Chapter Text
The first thing they notice is that the mountain is covered in herbs.
More than any old human cultivator could probably ever imagine, all in one place, sprinkled steadily along the slopes. It seems like in every nook and cranny grows a herb, and a potent one too, the kind that Miyeon spends hours rummaging around the woods for, sniffing along burbling brooks, nose to the ground, and it's all that they can do for the rest of the day after they land to mumble back and forth in awe.
"I've been looking for these everywhere!" Miyeon says giddily through a mouthful of ferns. She's been hard at work crafting a pill to boost their spiritual immunity, and finding so many of the ingredients she needs all in a single place has sent her spiralling into boundless joy. Yuqi wrinkles her nose and leans away.
"Eugh. It stinks. Get it away from me, please," she says.
Totally unbothered, Miyeon springs away back into the wilderness. "You'll come crawling back to me when you need it," she says cheerfully over her shoulder. "You can't act tough around me!"
While the imugi is gone, they wander up the mountain to see what else it offers. The snow covered peaks shimmer in the light of early morning, and Yuqi can't help but sigh with relief at the sight of them, like a beacon that their long journey has finally come to an end. She has high hopes that it has, staring up at the sun-lit canopy, resting her head against Soojin's soft red flank as they walk.
Minnie had flown them here and she's taking the chance to rest now, face-planted on Soojin's back, her long human limbs dangling limply over the sides. Though exasperated, the gumiho doesn't complain. She's sweet like that, putting up with all their antics. As thanks, Yuqi runs her hand along the back of her neck, scratching gently with her nails.
They pass out eventually in a clearing, right as the midday sun climbs to its peak. The leaves rustle back and forth in the mild breeze and the shadows waver, sun-dappled fingers brushing hesitantly against Soojin's tails. Minnie's been manoeuvred down so she's propped up against her side and once she'd tracked them down Miyeon was quick to sidle in next to her.
It's not quiet. There are critters scuttling about in the undergrowth and the calling of birds in the distance, and the snow is blinding under the sunlight, even from this distance, but despite all the noise, Yuqi finds herself relaxing. Soojin blinks at her. Peering searchingly into her eyes, she finds whatever she's looking for, settling her head in Yuqi's lap and leaning into her hand.
Yuqi sinks into the feeling and into the tree behind her. She closes her eyes to the watchful sun shining overhead, fingers idly petting Soojin's ears, and falls asleep.
ooo
They don't find out who else lives on the mountain for a while. It's way after they've made themselves at home—Minnie already has a miniature hoard that she keeps asking Yuqi to help her relocate, and Soojin's already experimenting with whatever kind of soups she can make with the resident herbs (they're thankfully all delicious)—so when they learn that the guardian of the snow-capped mountain is rumoured to be a qiulong, it does worry them a little, even when Miyeon seems to take it very little to heart.
"I like meeting other dragons," she says, nudging up under Soojin's arm and batting her eyes so she won't be pushed away. Soojin's a little sleepy after staying up all night weaving them a protective barrier, so she droops a little into Miyeon's side. "We get along well."
"Okay, but think about it," says Yuqi. "Even if we're not taking up that much space and have been considerate about how much we're taking from the local vegetation, we didn't really ask permission. What if the qiulong is one of those haughty, temperamental sorts? What if it kicks us out because we didn't follow protocol or something?"
"She has a point," Minnie says, pursing her lips. "We should go find the guardian and ask for its blessing to live here. At least if we're rejected now, we won't have gotten too attached yet."
She looks reluctant though.
"I don't think you guys should worry too much," Miyeon says. "Most dragons I know are very pleasant and understanding. I'm sure whichever one we've ended up living with will extend us their compassion."
Oh, unnie, Yuqi wants to say. You sweet, innocent fairy-like thing.
She's kind of jealous of how easily Miyeon says it. Maybe it's an imugi thing, that they're so positive and bright-natured, flowing with change as water does to the sea, because Yuqi, frankly, has met plenty of nasty, spiteful beasts, some of which were dragons or similar serpents, some of which were her own kind, black-eared hounds just like her, and she wouldn't be caught dead being so blithely trusting.
Tiangou are known for chasing suns and moons, after all, and when a bunch of them are chasing the same thing, there's always bound to be fights over who actually deserves the catch—and that was what happened last time Yuqi was in a hunt, she got a nasty bite on the shoulder for daring to try and swallow the sun she herself were hunting—so maybe it's just that she doesn't understand that sense of camaraderie.
She'd like to, though. She's still clinging to her high hopes. So that's how she ends up prowling around the base of the mountain, frowning in concentration at a boundary marked with foxtail grasses and wondering how an airheaded, noodle-shaped dragon hundreds of years older than her can look so guilt-trippingly cute. That must be another imugi thing.
"Did they upset you or something?" says an unfamiliar voice.
Interrupted from her muttering, Yuqi spins around.
"I hope you don't tear them up. I like them," says the voice. It's small and scratchy, and when Yuqi looks down, she finds that it's coming from a silver-furred snout, equally as tiny. The fox's ears swivel as she crawls out of her nest, flicking stray twigs from her paws and tail as she stares up at Yuqi, who stands stock-still.
"You won't, right?" she says. "I worked hard on those. I'll be upset if you touch them."
"What?" says Yuqi. "Huh? I mean, of course not."
She steps back a little, eyeing the stranger warily. Giving herself a full-body shake, the fox pads past her, flicking her tail against the grass. Still taken aback, Yuqi can't help but notice how they're taller than her.
"You're really…"
"Yeah?" says the fox.
She cocks her head, sitting back. For how small she is, her claws are surprisingly long. Yuqi kind of wants to ask how she manages not to trip over them, but she's also kind of busy wondering how long she was sitting there in that little twiggy nest watching Yuqi stomp around muttering conspiracy theories about Miyeon.
"You're just… you're really small," Yuqi blurts out. Silence immediately falls between them. The fox's jaw falls open, and her teeth are literally just as tiny and just as sharp.
"That's—"
"It was really nice to meet you, but I think—yeah, so I think I hear one of my unnies calling me, so I'm just gonna go. Soojin-ah, I'm coming!" says Yuqi rapidly, galloping away.
ooo
She doesn't tell anyone about it. Actually, when she barrels into the small cavern they've claimed as home panting with her tail lashing back and forth behind her, the only person inside is Soojin, who just blinks very slowly before sliding her bowl in Yuqi's direction, obviously concerned about what on earth made her sprint all the way back up the mountain. Yuqi just tells her that it's normal for cool and athletic tiangou like her to run up and down mountainsides every now and then.
That's also what she says when the fox tracks her down again a few days later, halfway down her third lap.
"So you're a tiangou, huh?" she says thoughtfully. "I see. So that's why you're like this."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
The fox pauses. "You're very loud," she says. Leaping up to a higher branch, she meets Yuqi at eye-level and holds out her paw. "And energetic. I'm Soyeon. I live here too."
"That's cool," says Yuqi, feeling somewhat uncool. It would've been all fine and dandy if the random little fox she'd accidentally insulted was just a passing visitor from a different territory, but knowing that she was a local just made it worse. She offers her own name in return, simultaneously hallucinating up scenarios where she stomped away to sulk in private after bickering with Minnie or Miyeon, only to look up in the middle of grumbling furiously to a pair of deep grey eyes.
Soyeon's tail sways. It's huge and bushy and somewhat distracting, almost as large as her torso, and tipped with snow-white at the end. "You're not too bad yourself," she says, just as Yuqi pulls herself from the daze of the pendulum-swing.
"You think so?" she says, perking up. "Really?"
"Well, when I was watching you run without losing your breath, I thought so. But now, I don't really know," says Soyeon. "Maybe you're too excitable. I'm thinking I should take it back." She laughs as Yuqi, despite herself, feels her shoulders fall in despair.
"Ah, don't be sad," says Soyeon, hopping down from her perch. Sleek as shadow and fur glinting bright under the sunlight, she butts her head gently against Yuqi's slack hand, standing a little to reach her fingers. "I was joking, I didn't mean it." Her teeth nip at Yuqi's claws, dulled since she's in her human form. "You get down really easily, don't you?"
"No, of course not," says Yuqi.
"Don't be sad," Soyeon appeals.
"I'm not, I promise," says Yuqi, smiling as she watches Soyeon tangle her tail with the ties of Yuqi's robes. "If you're not careful, you're gonna get stuck, and what's gonna happen to your tough act then? If your claws get caught, I'm not gonna help you, you know."
Soyeon wrinkles her nose at her, play-snarling. Yuqi sneezes back.
"What was that!"
"What was what?" Yuqi says, sneezing again. Whenever she played with her father and her brothers, this was always what they did to show they were playing. She contemplates the swaying grey-white flag before her before succumbing to the urge to bat at it. Her fingers sink into cloud-soft fibres, vanishing into the fluff for the briefest second before Soyeon pulls it away.
"That," she says, mimicking the sound, to Yuqi's delight. "What does it mean?"
Unable to resist, Yuqi shakes herself out into her tiangou form. Suddenly, she's towering even more over the smaller fox, paws the circumference of a human head. She sneezes again, wagging her tail so hard that it threatens to uproot the trunk she's beating it against, throwing up dustwinds behind her filled with stray twigs and leaves. Soyeon is still unfazed.
"It means we're playing," says Yuqi happily. She falls into the stance of a hunter, muzzle pointed meaningfully towards Soyeon whose eyes finally begin to widen. "Anyway, you interrupted my laps. I still had a bunch to get through, but since you're here, we can do something else."
"Unnie," Yuqi says, flicking her ears. "How fast can you run?"