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~Come down from the tree… You can stay with me
Hmm, But what will your name be?~
A figure in a long black cloak with red accents readjusted his hood before looking down to a much smaller figure dressed in the same garb. “Alright bud, you ready?” A deep voice asked from under the hood.
“Yup!” The excited voice of a young child answered back as the small figure gave a thumbs up.
With a nod the two stepped out from behind the curtain onto a stage of a theater. The audience quieted as the lights dimmed.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our show.” The man greets as the two cloaked figures bow. “I do hope you all are ready to immerse yourselves in a tale of adventure, hardships, and victory.”
The tall figure pulls out a lantern from under his cloak holding it up as it gives an unearthly violet glow. Shadows begin to twist as they form into shapes on the lit up screen.
The smaller figure quietly made his way to the side of the stage where numerous instruments were placed. The child took a seat as he picked up an Erhu. As he played the string instrument, an almost unnoticeable tail slipped out from under his cloak and began giving light steady thumps against a drum.
“The Hero and the Warrior were like the Sun and the Moon…” The man began narrating the story as the shadows danced across the screen. The child continued to accompany the tale with the music he played, creating a perfect atmosphere.
Hours later after the show had concluded the two cloaked figures were finishing up cleaning up the theater.
“I’m tired,” The child flopped back onto one of the benches as he dropped the broom he was originally using to sweep with. The hood of his cloak fell down revealing a bright eyed monkey child with four large ears, chocolate brown locks and round peach colored markings on his face.
“Come on MK we’re almost done,” the older figure came over while lowering his own hood. Six ears unfurled from the sides of his head. He had long dark hair framed around his face and pulled into a low ponytail. The red feathery shaped face markings crinkled as the older monkey furrowed his frown at the younger’s behavior.
With a flick of his tail Macaque let the broom fall into a shadow before dropping onto MK’s torso.
“Ugh…” The kid groaned, more so in annoyance than pain, before sitting up as he held the broom in his hands. “But sweeping is so boring.” MK pouted, puffing his cheeks up, as he whined loudly.
Macaque sighed before looking at the kid with a grin. “Tell you what, once we finish we’ll go get some noodles before going home. Deal?”
“You mean Pigsy’s? Yes!” The boy jumped up in excitement before going back to sweeping, this time with much more enthusiasm.
The six eared monkey chuckled before going back to putting the equipment away.
It’s been almost ten years since the little monkey demon first appeared in Macaque’s life. The six eared monkey can still remember it like it was yesterday.
Macaque had been resurrected by the Lady Bone Demon for a few years. His goal after coming back to life was to get revenge on Sun Wukong (his ex best friend/lover). But first the shadow monkey had to recover his strength and get used to this new world.
The six eared demon was currently residing in a city known as Megalopolis. The city was large and extremely populated, which also meant it was also very loud. Luckily the monkey had managed to find a decent resident, an old dojo, in a quiet area of the city. So it wasn’t the best neighborhood, but the property was cheap and it was still better than being in the underworld.
It happened one night while Macaque was meditating, his Magic Lantern placed in front of him glowing with purple energy. He suddenly heard loud barking coming from somewhere outside. Now usually the monkey could ignore noise like that but this barking was particularly incessant. He was about to use a spell to mute his hearing when a strange yet familiar noise reached his ears… a chirp.
Macaque hooked his lantern to his waist before dropping into his shadows to portal to where the dog was. When he reemerged, his eyes immediately zeroed in on where the barking was coming from. A stray dog had its front paws braced against a tree, aggressively barking, as it tried to jump up and reach whatever had climbed up it.
Silently the shadow monkey made his way over and let out a warning snarl. Instinctively the dog whimpered and turned tail, sensing that Macaque could easily do harm to it if he wanted. After giving a smirk at the retreating canine the monkey turned his head up to look into the tree. Small almost unnoticeable chirps came from within the foliage of the branches. It didn’t take Macaque long to locate the source of the sound.
Clinging to one of the branches was a small monkey. Not just any normal monkey, but a baby demon monkey. The sight was shocking to the shadow demon. How was this possible? Why was this cub here?
Macaque reached up to grab the infant, only for the tiny monkey to climb farther up the tree as he let out a hiss. Now Macaque could just forcibly grab the little furball, but the aggression, fear, and confusion that radiated off of the small creature tugged at his heartstrings.
“Come on, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Macaque chirped in a calm quiet voice, trying to coax the little cub down. Unfortunately that did nothing to soothe the fearful infant. With a sigh the six eared monkey moved back a bit figuring he’d just have to get the kid down himself.
A chirp of curious surprise came from the little monkey as he seemed to be staring intensely at something.. Macaque followed the cub’s gaze which landed on his waist, specifically the glowing lantern hanging off it.
“Oh you like this?” Macaque hummed as he leaned back against the tree, as he unhooked the lantern. He carefully lifted the artifact higher as he activated the magic in it. As it glowed shadows danced around them twisting and shifting into fantastical scenes. The little monkey chirped and cooed, completely entranced by the impromptu shadow play.
“If you come down you’ll be able to see it better,” the six eared monkey tempted as he lowered his body so he now sat on the ground, the illuminated lantern in his lap. Macaque was unsure if the cub had actually understood his words but the little being did climb down the tree. Timidly the little monkey crawled onto the other’s shoulder before sliding into Macaque's lap so he could examine the lantern more closely.
The eyes of the cub sparkled with mirth as he chirped, captivated by the magic of the artifact. Macaque chuckled at the adorable behavior of the infant and used this opportunity to properly look him over.
Soft, albeit matted, dark hair covered his small body, from the top of his head to the long tail that was wagging excitedly. The hair on his head spiked up messily in the back while bangs framed around his cute chubby face. Speaking of, the little monkey’s face had orangish peach markings that went around his eyes and to the tip of his nose, splotching a bit on his cheeks giving the appearance of freckles. Sticking out from the sides of his head were two soft ears, curved petals almost like his own six ears. The cub’s eyes shone gold, indicating the celestial power that was contained within the tiny body.
“A new celestial primate, huh?” Macaque hummed in contemplation. So much of this kid was reminiscent of him . A small chirp caught the shadow monkey’s attention dispelling any negative thoughts that had begun to surface. “Right, what should I call you?”
The little monkey looked from the lantern then to Macaque’s face, his face showed curious excitement.
“Xiaotian,” the six eared monkey smiled gently as the name came to him. “From now on you’ll be Qi Xiaotian.”
Back in the present Macaque and MK (a nickname the kid started to go by as he got older) sat in a noodle restaurant called Pigsy’s, run by a pig demon of the same name. The two monkeys now wore glamors that disguised them as humans as they ate. (Being a demon in this day and age wasn’t really a problem. But being a monkey demon, did often bring too much attention and questions that Macaque wanted to avoid.)
“Another bowl please,” MK asked as he called out to the chef and owner of the establishment.
“Ask your dad first kid,” Pigsy grunted from behind the counter, despite already preparing a second helping.
“Please Baba, can I get another bowl?” the child looked over at Macaque with puppy dog eyes.
“It’s ‘may I’ bud,” the father corrected before adding with a smile. “And yes, you may.”
“Score!” MK grinned as Pigsy brought over two more bowls to place in front of them.
“I don’t wanna waste time having to come over here again,” the pig demon spoke gruffly to the unasked question.
“Thanks,” Macaque nodded in appreciation.
“Thanks Pigsy!”
“No problem,” the chef headed back to the kitchen with an almost unnoticeable smile on his face.
“How come you don’t bring me noodles before I ask?” A human man with glasses asked from his seat at the counter.
“Cause they’re customers, and you're a freeloader, Tang!” Pigsy said angrily as the other only huffed indignantly.
Macaque shook his head with a chuckle at the scene that has become another normal occurrence for him. His gaze turned to his son sitting in front of him, fully content as he ate the warm noodles. The six eared monkey didn’t plan for this lifestyle when he was first revived, but with this new happiness, he wouldn’t ask for anything more.
~You and I, we are one of a Kind~