Chapter Text
-Wukong's perspective-
Wukong lied on the grass of a flower field, his eyes closed as he relaxed and enjoyed the cool breeze that passed upon him. He felt happy at that moment, being far from all the trouble he once caused was less tiring than he had expected it to be when he decided to come live among the humans. He used to think that they were pathetic, weak little ceatures, unable to fight for their own. He had to admit that he was wrong on that point. They may seemed pathetic as he saw them when he was younger,but now, he wishes to protect them. He doesn't know how it came to this, how he became their "mountain protector". Maybe it was the decision of living with them that made him weak hearted, protecting the same village for many generations. He did have favorites among them... He still remember how he, a young villager of his, used to smile up to him everyday. How it felt to train with him and feel his warmth. It felt nothing like he had experienced before, almost fatherly...
...
Wukong opened his eyes and sat up, chasing those thoughts away. He was alone now. He shouldn't be dwelling on the past like this, this was not what his previous master taught him. If his master was still alive, he would've lectured him at these simple thoughts. This brought a small smile to his lips as he dazed at the field up ahead of him. He sighed, getting up and patting his butt to get rid of the grass and dirt that stuck to his worn out shorts. He looked up to the sky where the sun shone. As brightly and beautiful as it looked, it was always destined to be alone, burning anyone and anything who'd get near. He observed it for a few seconds, squinting his eyes at it and calculating in his head what time it was. 3PM. He looked back down to the grass field one last time before walking his way home.
Near the border of the forest, his house lied. The worn out wood of his house pleading to be replaced as it was getting old and loosing color. He was always surprised at it's steadiness, never once in the last 2 generations falling apart on him. If it hadnt been for the human villagers helping him build himself a home, he would've still be homeless by now. Wukong laughed at that thought. He walked up the small staircase that led to his wooden balcony, opening the door to the house and walking in. He wanted to go nap some more, envelopping himself in his covers and sleep forever, lulled to sleep by the smooth breeze of mother nature. Just the thought of it made him feel even more sleepy... He did have some reluctance though, having these weird dreams about himself ever so often. Or rather about his ''other'' self. Wukong still felt confused about them, not knowing what they even meant to begin with. They were often about the same people. He often dreamed of his pupil, having conversations with him that he never even had in the past to begin with. It tired him just thinking about it. As he slumped into bed, letting his tired body fall on the soft cushions of the bedding, he lets out a satisfied chirp, comfort clinging both to his mind and body. Just as he was about to close his eyes though, he remembered a task he needed to do before finally resting. He sighed, just now remembering what he had to do. He cursed at himself for even promising to help the villagers gather wood. Him and his big mouth...
He lazily pulled his body up and off the soft and warm covers, longing it's comfort as he stood. He tried waking himself up a little, slapping his hands on his cheeks and mumbling words of encouragement.
''Just gotta knock some trees out for them and I'll be back before dark.''
He tried reassuring himself, sighing even more as he dragged his tired body out the room and into the kitchen. He knew these small words didn't work on him but, habits die hard. It's only when he passed the the mirror that was placed by the fireplace that he finally noticed how drenched it was. He brought the piece of clothes close to his nose, smelling the t-shirt and squinting his face in disgust at the awful smell it provided. He took it off in a quick swift movement and decided to go to the village shirtless. He guessed no one would care much as other man of the village would often do so while working in the fields all day.
So, Sun Wukong, the once ''great sage equal to heaven'', made his way out of the house with his axe in hand. He walked through the woods and hummed to himself axe leaped over his shoulder. His thoughts kept going back to the past, to what his life would've looked like if he had instead returned to Flower Fruit Mountain like he had promised his subjects... He still felt bad about it, sometimes thinking that life could've been like it used to. Sleeping till noon all the while partying all night long with his subjects, not having a worry in the world. These thoughts haunt him often, making him doubt his decisions in the first place... Wukong sighs again, pulling his head up and looking at the trees swarth with the suns shine.
...
Arrived at the village, Wukong is greated by warm smiles of the villagers. From oldto young, as soon as they see him, they greet him. He greets them back with a smile, not wanting to make conversation and get this over with.
''Hey, mountain protector!'' a voice yelled from afar as a group of men jugs towards him. Wukong turns around at the nickname, smiling at them as they come closer to greet him.
''how have you been?'' the seemingly oldest of the gang asks, noticing how tiredand reserved Wukong looked. It had been a while since he came down to the village. Being the two-faced bastard that he was, he put on his mask and acted like it was nothing. Wukong doubted that it still worked on them though.
''Bahh, you know how tiring working in the fields are when you're old.'' he joked, a nonchalant expression wore his face as he shrugged. The old men laughed, sympathizing with Wukong in this circumstances.
Old. Wukong was quite old when he thought about it. They chatted like this for a few minutes, throwing dad jokes around at each other and laughing at the roast they threw around. Maybe that was what weaked down Wukongs walls. This familiar feeling as he talked with the old ones, laughing and joking like this. This is what he liked most about them... They were all treated equally just as he was. There was no rank, just pals laughing and eating together. Wukong was only the "mountain protector" to them. Nothing more, nothing less.
———
Wukong and the others walked through the forest. He leaded the way in, looking for a couple of trees big enough that he’d only need to knock one out. He finally spots one from afar. He grabs his axe with two hands, positioning himself in front of the tree. He placed the tip of the axe by the bottom of the tree and swung it against it, knocking it down with one hit. Clapping and whistles could be heard from behind the simian, the old men shouting words of encouragement and laughing at how strong he was. He passed a hand through his short hair, pretending to be tired at that "hard" swing. They were always amazed at his force and speed, knocking down and protecting the village in that way. It was easy task for Wukong, actually. He just didn’t like staying near people too much. He liked his quiet life, away from judgment and discrimination.
He helped the old men from the village drag the tall and thick tree for preparations. When they arrived, Wukong immediately tried walking away from the village and quietly go home without creating a disturbance. His attempt to flee was unsucessful, as he was already swarmed by a group of younglings, begging him to stay just till the end of todays feast.
''knock it off you guys, the mountain protector probably has other thing to do.''
A young human woman quibbled at them from afar, bringing almost everyones eyes to Wukong. The simian in question, having mistakingly taken the attention to himself once again, laughed nervously before bringing his axe on his shoulder again(without hitting one of the kids).
''It's okay...''
He answered with a shy tone. He did not wanna be here anymore. Buddy just wanted his sleep (and maybe to never wake up again...) He patted the kids on the head, giving them all a warm smile.
''I'm sorry kiddos, I've got important things to takecare of today.''
''But you said that the other time too!!'' another little kid answered in a whine, taking grasp of Wukongs worn out shorts and pulling on it. The young woman finally walk over to the small group of kids in front of Wukong and take the little kid's hand. She crouches down to their level and try to talk the out of it.
''It's almost time for diner and I'm sure the mountain protector is tired from all the hard work he did today. Whhy don't we give him a break?''
The little kids all look at each other, almost as if they were communicatig with each other through minds. The little kid that was previously pulling on Wkongs shorts finally stopped and took his hand away. Looks like they had decided something because they all agreed as they looked to one another. The little kid in front of me looked up to me once again, but now with eyes filled with determination.
''I'll forgive you if you make a pinky promise with me.'' the little kid stated, taking my pinky finger into theirs and clutching it.
''promise that the next time you come to the village, you'll stay for diner.'' Wukong looked down at all of them, complenting his answer. Before he could even say anything though, the little kid took their pinky away and turned around to the others.
''He promised!!!'' They yelled as they all ran away together, laughing as they bumped into each other. Wukong laughed at the sight, some old memories of Flower Fruit Mountain and his little monkey friends swarming into his mind. Where the nights were cold, the night sky covered in beautiful lights.
------
Wukong is finally able to leave the village when the sun starts setting itself. The sky is covered in beautiful blues and orange as he walked through the forest. He was always amazed by it, the colours bringing some satisfaction to his broken mind. He walked and walked,lost in thoughts before he heard a sound. He stops in his tracks, lsitens to the world around him. Another sound. This one sounded more like a voice, Wukong thought. Wukongs ears twitched as another sound resonated in his ears. This was clear, he wasn't just halluciating the sounds now. He turned around, trying to find the source of it before another one resonated. Louder and close. Wukong incstinctively started walking in that direction with his axe in hand. Was it a demon? They were comon around here, it wouldn't be surprising if it was the case. As Wukong got closer to the potential demon that was creating all these noises, he could almost see it. A black figure from afar, lying by a tree. Was it injured? Now that Wukong thought about it, the sounds it was making did sound pained.
As he got closer to it, he only grew more confused. What kinda demon is all black with angel wings? Even now, that couldn't be an angel. Wukong went to the celestial realm, and their wings were not in fact black. The figure seemed to have heard him as it had stopped moving, almost trying to make himself invisible to Wukongs vision. But it was too late for that. Wukong puffed out his chest a little and clenched the axe he had in his hand, now standing a few meters away from that thing. As soon as Wukong saw it's face though, he froze. His mouth, opening slightly as the words clogged in his throat. 'He is just like me' Wukong thought to himself as they both stared at each other. One seemingly confused about the situation and the other very weary about the simian standing in front of him. Wukong decides to make the first move despite his wearyness, getting himself out of it.
''Don't come any closer.'' a sore and raspy voice shot to Wukong, who immediately stopped in his tracks at the sound.
''... Who are you?'' Wukong asked the intruder. His eyes analized the demon, trying to understand how another simians as himself was doing here... The demon seemed confused about it too.
''And you, who are you?'' The demon asked Wukong. His eyes never left Wukongs the moment they started talking. He couldn't lie when he said that it was pretty destabilizing...
''I am the mountain protector. Now answer my question, who are you and what is your purpose here?'' Wukong asked again but in a more demanding tone, leaving no place for arguments or talking back. The demon frowned at Wukongs choice of tone.
''I am...'' he cut himself off, taking in a sharp breath before continuing ''I am of who we call the Six-Eared-Macaque...''
''And what is your purpose here, Six-Eared-Macaque?'' Wukong asked again for the second time already. He needed to make sure that this proclaimed Six-Eared-Macaque wasn't a threat to the village before deciding on what to do about him.
''I was cast of heaven.'' The demon- no, the Six-Eared-Macaque looked away from Wukong at that confession, probably embarrassed at the idea. It was a long silence later before Wukong made the first move again.
''... do you need help.?''
At that moment, the eyes of the Six-Eared-Macaque widened. He seemed shocked at the question and somewhat insulted. He made it seem like Wukong had just insulted his great family tree (not that he hadn't done that before hehe). The Six-Eared-Macaque looked back at wukong and glared up at him. Wukong was even more confused now. Was it that bad that he wanted to help someone in distress? Did he stink or something?? These thoughts got cut off as the Six-Eared-Macaque spoke again.
''I don't need your help.'' He stated in a small voice, his voice sore from his injuries. But Wukong obviously didn't believe it. And he wasn't just going to accept it. With a firm and dertermined pace, he closed in the few meters that seperated the two. The Six-Eared-Macaque flinched at his unexpected and sudden movement, moving away as Wukong crouched down next to him, axe on the floor behind him.
''Let me help you.'' Wukong said, not waiting for anything the other angel might have to say and grabbed his arm. The angel seemed very much agains't it.
''What do you think you are doing??'' The Six-Eared-Macaque asked more loudly, making himself cough at the act. The simian ignored him and continued creeping closer. He tried desperately to get away from Wukong, which only insulted him more than anything because no Wukong wasn't nasty(he is). The Six-Eared-Macaque continued, or at least tried to fight his way out of this. It was too late though because Wukong had already placed his hand on his waist and had grabbed the angels arm to place it around his neck. At this point, Wukong was ignoring the angels insults and only focusing on his goal: help this poor person get better!
The Six-Eared-Macaque, now standing next to Wukong, leaned almost fully agaisnt Wukong. The poor and injured angel was too weak to fight against him and abandonned his fleeting little fights, deciding to go along with him. As they walked through the forest, the panting of the angel got faster with the pace. Wukong couldn't help but wonder why he suddenly did what he did. It was almost as if it was by instinct. And this angel that he is helping right now, it almost feels like he could trust him... It's a weird feeling indeed, weirder when Wukong had been having ''dreams'' about this... Angel. Maybe it was why he helped him without hesitation, Wukong tried to convince himself. He also felt like he had seen this angel somehwhere... But he couldn't remember where or when so he quickly forgot about it.
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Arriving at the front field where his house lied by the forest, Wukong hurriedly quickened the pace. The angel didn't seem to follow by how he was now practically in Wukongs arms now. Wukong walked to his house through the flower field and scurried his way up the balcony stairs. He brought him inside his house and closed the door, dragging him to his bedroom and lying him flat on the bed. When Wukong thought that he was gonna awake and start shooting insults at him, he didn't. The poor angel got knocked out out of tiredness...
''woops....''