Chapter Text
In the depths of the wilderness where energy churned wildly, warning away any visitors, a small, silent figure stubbornly crept forward. Carefully hidden in the rocks to avoid predators, the small head popped out, tiny horns on top of its head wiggling inquisitively.
Even the dwellers of Dahuang agreed that it was not a safe place. The birthplace of many demons, great or small, was a massive land churning with malicious and pure energy. Some of it was soothed away with Baize and divine energy, but right now, with the absence of the Baize token, all of the divine energy was spent on stabilizing the realm, leaving the wilder energies left unchecked. This made the place much more dangerous than usual, let alone for a figure as small as this one.
Yet, the little one was not deterred. It had been searching for a safe place for what seemed an eternity to it, carefully hiding from everyone and crawling around with remarkable cautiousness and patience. And today, its persistence yielded, as it finally found a place that looked safe.
A cave lush with white flowers, with little to no malicious energy hanging around it. The presence of malicious energy always indicated that the place was home to some demon, most likely one that was not kind enough to share it with a weaker entity like him. But here, the air was so clear that it shimmered, standing apart from its surroundings.
Round eyes widened with clear relief, the small figure dashed forward, small claws almost hidden under its noodle-like body from the speed. It darted in, threw a cursory glance around to check whether someone was there or not. Upon finding no one, it relaxed, muscles uncoiling from the tension it had been feeling for a long time, yet still remaining cautious enough to stay at the edges of the cave. It petered around, steps silent as always, searching for a cozy place to curl in. Luck was shining upon it, as the small dragon found a small, almost hidden patch of soft earth on the edge of a shallow puddle of water shaded by those white flowers. The dragonling padded in, kneaded the earth beneath it once, twice, and thrice. Upon finding it to its satisfaction, it curled around its body tightly and closed its eyes, hiding its face with the tip of its small tail.
Xiao Yi had been running for a long time, and all he wanted was to sleep .
*pit pat pit pat*
It was a dark, rainy day. The clouds had gathered outside, covering the sky completely, breaking the monotonous routine of Dahuang. The thunder flashed occasionally, illuminating the dark skyline, streaking through the deep red clouds, painting a chilling picture.
The pagoda tree yao could care less about the ominous weather. It didn't matter to him if it rained or not, it wasn't like he was going to be affected by it.
*pit pit pat pat*
His thoughts wandered back to his old friend, now his betrayer and a traitor. Li Lun had not even imagined in his wildest imagination that Zhu Yan would betray him like this. To choose those pesky humans over demons, to choose others over him -
*pat pat pat*
Li Lun had nothing but his rage to focus on these days. Rage, and the quiet. He had nothing else to do but to brood over the cruel fate he was dealt by everyone. It made him angrier, the more he listened to the silence, occasionally broken with his useless strikes on that damned rattle. The silence was so loud, it rang in his birthplace.
Anything that broke that silence was equally loud.
*pit pat *rustle* pit pat*
His eyebrow twitched.
The constant rustling and slapping of something small on rocks grated on his ears. Most likely, it was some small spirit or demonic creature of no consequence that had stepped into his cave to take shelter from the horrendous weather. Such beings had great instincts, but desperation could drive anyone to commit idiocy. The pagoda tree demon was not going to be merciful, though; if the creature continued disturbing him, he would annihilate it if only to alleviate his boredom.
It wasn't his fault the creature was stupid enough to wander into his territory, one of the great demons of Dahuang. The 34,000 years he had lived were not wasted just for a vermin to take such liberties.
*pit pat pat pat pit*
“Oh, for the love of,” he growled. “Reveal yourself, you vermin! How dare you disturb me!”
The infernal rustling and pitter-patter ceased with a sound of something scraping against a rock. His head looked in the direction from which the sound had come, eyes locked eerily on a specific shrub. Two blue glowing discs looked back at him, startled.
For a moment, everything stood still, his eyes tracking the glowing eyes and shimmering scales from a distance.
And then , the mad dash started.
“Stay still!” He growled, eyes still locked on the rustling leaves. The creature was small, but fast . He could never hope to catch it in ordinary circumstances, but then again, he was no ordinary man, or even a man. Swiftly, he calculated the distance and threw a small spell, hoping to catch whatever it was before it could escape. It consumed a small amount of energy, which at any other time would have been like a child’s play, but was something that took effort with those accursed chains restricting him. But it was enough for now, at least.
To his disappointment, he succeeded only partially, the gleaming blue scales of the small creature emanating in the dark of the cave as it thrashed in the spell's hold. To his surprise, the small snake-like figure actually managed to break apart his spell as if it was nothing! It dashed away with a speed that confounded the yao.
Unfortunately for the creature, it only achieved this feat when the spell had brought him into the arm hold of a grumpy angry demon.
“No, you don’t,” he murmured menacingly, dropping down to his knees to catch it with his own hands, eyes tracking the shining scales acting as a beacon for the sprinting figure through white flowers.
If anyone had seen him, the great demon of Dahuang, Huai Gui Li Lun, kneeling on the floor of a cave, his backside waving in the air as he madly rummaged through the bushes around him, they would have fainted. Or to stay and laugh at him with his rotten luck.
But there was no one around to look at such a… unique scenery, so Li Lun’s secret would remain safe.
“Aha!” He yelled in triumph, having succeeded in grabbing the creature from its tail after a lot of minimal struggle. He dragged it towards himself, appearing unaffected by the struggle the small figure put up. He lifted his hand in the air, the snake-like figure dangling from his grip like a thrashing ribbon, albeit a fat one, refusing to give up. The ghost tree demon looked at it with a critical eye.
He was wrong. It, or he , resembled a snake only in his length. He had a long but round body, blue scales peeking out from small tufts of fur, with gold color streaking through the spine. He had round eyes, very, very, very round. His tiny claws waved in the air in vain, and at the top of his small head, two small horns wiggled, likely from frustration.
Li Lun was holding a baby dragon in his hands.
“Fufufu, what do we have here?” He chuckled balefully. “A baby dragon! What an honour to host such a being in my humble abode. Welcome, welcome, I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself while you are strolling around here!”
He ignored the stink eye he received in answer, conveyed very clearly despite his victim's impossibly round eyes.
Baby dragons were rare; everyone knew that. Ascension to a dragon was not an easy task. Many snakes and jiaos attempted, but only a rare few succeeded in passing through the heavenly tribulation and ascending to the mighty position of dragon. An adult dragon at that. And since most of the dragons were territorial, mating was out of the question, never mind giving birth to a baby. So, a dragon being born was rare, considered to be a myth even. For that to occur, two dragons had to not just tolerate each other’s presence but also…
Some things were never appropriate to think about in the company of babies, even if the aforementioned baby couldn’t read his thoughts. Which brought his attention back to the writhing figure in his palm.
“Should we eat you, or should we let you go? Decisions, decisions…” he was full-on smirking now.
Internally though, he frowned. A dragon baby that had parents patient enough to mate was far away from his home? Something must have gone wrong, and that was an understatement.
All his thoughts screeched to a halt as the small, round body looked him straight in the eye and fiercely bit him on his finger. As the hatchling was just a baby, its fangs were tiny but still very pointy, pointy enough to dig into his skin. He yelped, letting go of the small figure who was now dangling from his bitten finger instead, still stubbornly gnawing at him in clear affront. “You little-”
Outside, thunder cracked, illuminating the dark red clouds that could be seen through a small hole in the roof. The baby dragon froze. A pulse of scared not safe hide hide hide , which froze Li Lun too.
He looked again. The dragon was small, too small. He was not wrong to call it a baby, as there were still tufts of fur on it. But he was small . Tremors wracked through his body, likely shivering from fear. Another rumble of thunder rang out, causing the small dragon to tremble more violently if it was possible. Its scales, still gleaming blue, looked a bit dull on further inspection.
Cursing his bleeding heart, Li Lun sighed. Damn his soft heart that couldn’t stop caring even after being betrayed that wretched monkey for forcing him to care for useless creatures in the past.
“Is it the thunderstorm that chased you into the cave?” He asked, appearing bored, already aware that he wouldn’t receive an answer. The baby looked at him, eyes impossibly round, all the defiance and annoyance with Li Lun not exactly gone but now hidden under fear. He was still probably feeling disgruntled at his earlier comment about eating the intruder.
His eye twitched again. “Let go of my finger. Otherwise, I will fling you outside and won’t let you in, no matter how much you wail at me.”
The baby dragon promptly let go of his finger and scrambled up, climbing deftly towards his palm. Li Lun only stared. The figure was impossibly small, long but small, and weighed like a feather.
It looked so pathetic. The dragonling was long but curled up like this, he was able to settle down in his palm like a small coil. Pathetic and weak, scared out of its wits. Shivering from something as trivial as thunder.
So small and weak, you had no choice but to take the risk and brave the dahuang to find somewhere to hide, didn’t you?
He sighed again.
“Fine, you can stay here until the thunderstorm has settled. But not after that! Your parents might be looking for you.”
At the mention of his parents, the baby wilted. Li Lun ignored its visible sadness theatrics. It was plausible that they were not around anymore, thus the baby wandering far away from home, but still, even if dragons were territorial, none of them would turn away a baby, retaining some shred of fondness for the juveniles of their kind if only due to their rarity. Not his monkey, not his festival, or something like that.
“Do not wander around. Stay here, close to me. The thunderstorm will settle soon.”
At the reassurance, the blue figure curled up more tightly, hiding his round snout under his long tail. Unbeknownst to Li Lun, a small smile graced his lips, something that had not happened since his imprisonment.
The thunder crashed again, and the baby chirped, startled. He uncurled and dashed towards his chest, tightly curling up in between his pecs, chasing the warmth of his body. Li Lun didn’t stop him, only curled his right arm to ensure the baby wouldn’t drop down, and settled in.
They remained like this for the entire night, the pagoda tree yao leaning against a rock with a small figure curled up on his chest, breathing and meeping occasionally.
It was a long night, but with company, none of them felt alone after a long time. And if a purring sound echoed in the cave occasionally, none of the residents mentioned it.