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"Have you ever heard the rumor of the carp that jump over a waterfall and ascend into dragons?"
"Mhm."
"What do you think it'd be like? To be a dragon?"
Mu Tianchi was silent for a moment, as if giving the question genuine thought before answering, "...Cold. Lonely."
Li Yu blew a raspberry at the answer, "Really, Tianchi? I think it'd be pretty amazing! We'd be able to go anywhere in the world, not just forced to follow the river wherever it goes!"
"...No Li Yu."
Li Yu smiled and laughed, "What do you mean silly? Of course I'd always be with you! who'd want to ascend alone?"
Mu Tianchi nodded his head without agreeing to anything, "Mn. Come. Time for dinner."
Li Yu huffed and swam until he was directly in front of Mu Tianchi. Then he pointed his finger and declared, "Mark my words Mu Tianchi! One day, I'm going to jump over the waterfall and become a dragon! And when I do, you'll be right by my side!"
"...Mn." Mu Tianchi didn't have to words to express how much he actually wanted that to be true.
"Li Yu. This is madness. You'll only hurt yourself further." Mu Tianchi huffed as he wrapped yet another layer of bandages around Li Yu's severly bruised form.
Li Yu stuck his tongue out like they were still children, "Says you!" Then he smiled, as if his thoughts had completely distracted him from the initial annoyance, "You should have seen it Tianchi! I was so close!"
Mu Tianchi said nothing, but his silence conveyed a heavy dose of doubt.
Li Yu sighed and draped himself against the rock he'd been using as a chair, "I know you don't like it when I do this. And you know I hate it when you're mad at me. So how about this Tianchi, I'll try one more time, and if I fail I'll stop."
Mu Tianchi paused where he was, in all the years Li Yu had been attempting to jump over a waterfall, he'd never once entertained the idea of giving up, "Why now?" he finally asked.
Li Yu was looking at his seat when he answered, "I can see the worry in your eyes, and I hate it. So if giving up on this will make you worry less, then I'll give up."
Mu Tianchi didn't know what to say, part of him wanted to encourage Li Yu to keep trying, but the other knew just how insincere it would sound coming from someone who had only ever steered him away from it. Finally he landed on, "...Don't give up... because of me."
Li Yu's head shot up, "Don't say that! You are my best friend! If I decide that your peace of mind means more to me than a child's dream then I'm the one who gets to say so!"
Mu Tianchi bowed his head (desperately hoping the soft lighting in the cave would hide the redness in his cheeks) and nodded, "One more time then."
Li Yu smiled, satisfied, "One more time."
The day that Li Yu chose to make his final attempt was not an auspicious day. There were storm clouds rolling in, and even the waterfall itself seemed more violent than usual. Mu Tianchi couldn't keep his eyes off the rushing currents.
Li Yu seemed oblivious to all of it. He was swimming in tight circles around Mu Tianchi to warm up. Finally he paused in front of him and smiled, "Wish me luck Tianchi!" Then, before Mu Tianchi could react, Li Yu leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, then he was off.
Mu Tianchi was frozen for a moment, before he shot forward as well, trying to catch up with Li Yu.
But the currents were too strong and Mu Tianchi lost sight of Li Yu before long. He pressed his fingers gently to his lips and whispered, "Good luck Xiao-Yu." He swam to the surface, and anxiously searched the waterfall for signs of Li Yu. There was nothing.
An aching sensation in his bones told Mu Tianchi that he had to keep watching, no matter what. Then there was a break in the clouds and he caught a glimpse of orange scales amongst the rushing water.
It was Li Yu! He was actually doing it!
Despite himself, Mu Tianchi felt hope rise in his chest, his friend might actually make it.
Then there was a deafening crash and Mu Tianchi's vision went blank.
Lightning had struck.
When he could see again, the clouds had covered the sun, and no matter how much he looked, Mu Tianchi simply couldn't find another glimpse of orange.
With a shout, he launched himself out of the water, his tail grew longer, his scales grew upwards to cover more of his skin, his hands curved into claws, and his fins were replaced by a flowing mane. By the time he'd reached the zenith of his leap, Mu Tianchi had completely transformed into a dragon.
He searched the river and waterfall thoroughly, but there was no sign of Li Yu. Finally, he turned towards the clouds themselves. He was going to find Li Yu. No matter what it took.
Li Yu winced as he opened his eyes. His head was pounding like that time he'd tried to break a rock by headbutting it. The last thing he remembered, was reaching the top of the waterfall, then a bright light, and then... nothing.
He shook his head to try and chase away the fogginess, and looked around. His surroundings looked completely unfamiliar, with tall graceful arches and surface plants that never grew close enough to the water for him to try and eat, yet were always nice to look at. The only thing that kept him from panicking was the large body of water he was still mostly submerged in, that was clearly to large for any group of humans to have constructed easily.
A movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was a tail. But it wasn't his tail. Li Yu jerked away and to his panic the tail followed him. No matter how he twisted or turned, the tail followed him, and no matter where he looked, he couldn't find his own.
After minutes of panicked thrashing, Li Yu calmed down enough that he was able to accept that the tail following him was indeed his. No matter how incomprehensible it was to him, his fins had somehow become fur.
It was only then that he realized the rest of his body had changed as well.
Li Yu stared at everything he could see and tried to understand how it happened. Somehow he'd fully become a dragon!
Just then he heard footsteps coming towards him, and quickly dove underwater.
"-still hasn't woken up, I'm starting to get concerned for him. What if he doesn't?"
"He'll wake up. Prince Jing has all but insisted upon it."
Before the other could refute such a claim, both sets of footsteps abruptly halted, "H-he's gone."
"How?!"
"It hasn't even been a fully sichen since we last checked on him!"
"We're doomed."
"M-maybe he woke up and decided to test out his new form?"
"Without setting off any of the wards?"
"..."
"..."
After a prolonged pause, Li Yu realized they were talking about him. He debated revealing himself to the unknown pair, and potentially getting answers to his questions, but a little voice in the back of his head that sounded an awful lot like Mu Tianchi was warning him against it. Especially since he didn't know who this 'Prince Jing' person was.
Unfortunately, curiosity won out over caution and Li Yu gently propelled himself upwards.
The small tidal wave of water that crashed over his two apparent caretakers was mostly unintentional.
The look of absolute relief on their faces to see him almost made Li Yu feel bad about the impromptu bath he'd just given them. Almost.
"You're awake!"
"You're still here!"
Li Yu opened his mouth to ask them where exactly 'here' was but all that came out was a strange rumbling noise that he'd never made before.
At the sound the two figures bowed and backed away quickly, "Of course! Of course! You must still be exhausted after your transformation! You would absolutely want to be left alone! Should you require anything, please, do not hesitate to summon us!" They were out of the room before Li Yu could even try to rectify the misunderstanding.
With a sigh, he flopped back into the water, a move that was probably incredibly disgraceful for a dragon, for that did indeed seem to be what he was now, but one that was completely natural to Li Yu.
For a while he simply floated on the surface of the water, barely more dynamic than a piece of driftwood.
Then he heard footsteps again. Only these were different from the ones before. Where his two caretakers had been light-footed and quick to move from one spot to another, these were strong and self assured, as if everyone else should defer to to this person's authority without question or reservation. If Li Yu were the gambling kind, he would bet everything that this was the mysterious 'Prince Jing'.
Sure enough, when he entered the room itself, his entire demeanor practically screamed royalty. Despite that, the moment Li Yu saw who it was, all the tension in his body evaporated and he relaxed entirely into the water.
He may not understand what was going on or why he was being called a prince, but if there was one thing Li Yu knew for certain, it was that nothing would actually harm him as long as Mu Tianchi was around.