Chapter Text
There was a trail of blood inside his woods.
Well, they weren’t his woods per say, more so his claimed territory. Which he wished to protect as his home. For many years, he had found a home where nobody wanted to build one. The burial mounds.
The man didn’t exactly see the red substance either. His nose was extremely sensitive and caught the scent it in a heartbeat. It was excellent in finding food, trails and stung from his own sweat in times he couldn’t find enough safety to wash up.
His silver eyes opened, shining with curiosity and intelligence and he almost thought that he could see the red trail in front of him. A red energy that was barely there, a smell which would lead him to the creature it was coming from. The slits in his eyes dilated as he caught onto it and his feet already made way towards the poor creature.
To his luck, the burial mounds were a large area of woods, protected by trees with thick leaves. Although it meant enough protection from the harsh sun, it meant that he air was almost scorching and made him sweat profusely beneath the fur of his tails.
However, the scorching sun wasn’t the only thing making life harder for the creatures living there. Heavy rainstorms terrorised the region, leaving it with constant temperature changes and humid air.
He, however, was long used to such hostile environmental. His bare feet crushed the dark green grass beneath him, but left no further trail. From all the years he remained hidden from other predators, knew how to not make a sound, how to hunt his prey and vanish in the next second. An ability he didn’t just learn from wandered around; lost, hurt and insecure.
Again, his nose caught the red trail over the humid temperature, a combination that made him sneeze. He didn’t run; it wouldn’t do him well to get caught in whatever caused the creature to bleed in the first place. This strong scent let him have a good idea what happened, especially considering the burial mounds by themselves, and there was a lot of the red substance. A lot of blood belonging to a huge creature, possibly wounded by an even larger creature.
Within one second his humanoid form vanished like the last shrouds of clouds in the sky. Where he had stood before was now a rather large fox with black fur and eight tales.
As one of the peak predators in the burial mounds, he could pride himself at how well he maintained himself. That didn’t mean that he stood at the peak however. The dark wolves loitering around stood above him in the food chain and he didn’t have the intention to change or confront that (even though he could physically overpower them).
Instead, he was proud of his achievements in cultivation. His tails showed his hard work over the many years and his success at keeping himself alive.
Chasing something, repaying, cleansing.
Only one tail cut him off from an immortal life, something he intended to change. This would be the last and hardest tail to obtain. Maybe a hundred years, if he cultivated eagerly and with patience, with hard work and focus. All which meant that he would need a hundred more, considering how well he did in his teenage years.
The only glimmer of hope was his overwhelmingdetermination. The thought of why he needed the ninth tail, his immortality and power, was always present in the back of his mind.
But even without his full potential and the recently gained eighth tail of his, his body stood tall, strong and flexible next to the tree trunks. The sharp ears on top of his head moved steadily and reached almost to the crown of the trees, would he not move low to the ground.
With his ninth tail he would gain the ability to switch his size and that was something he looked forward to. Very much so.
He wouldn’t need to bite the fallen leaves out of his fur as often or lick the wounds of sharp branches after a chase. Nor would he need to make sure he was absolutely silent and hidden when he pounced onto the rabbits, his favorite prey.
Even now he wished for the small fox form he had before, back when he reached his second tail and his shijie – how his shijie praised him! But he didn’t linger on that thought for another second. The last thing he needed right now was to be seen and as a large creature even he couldn’t hide easily between the trees.
The smell of blood got stronger and stronger the more he carried on anreconsidering the layout of the woods, he knew where the large creature could be. A beast that could drop so much blood and one that descended out of the sky, judging from the distance and placement of the drops, must have looked for a save place to land from above.
He knew that he was on the right track, when his ears picked up on the sound of wheezing, of breathing attempts. The sounds of an ending life.
The fox reached the clearing between the trees, the exact spot he awoke after his first night in this forest. His nose and lungs felt like they were drowning in the smell of blood. When he was starving, this wouldn’t have bothered him that much. He would have looked forward to a satisfying and easy meal.
But noticing the pristine creature he saw once his head pushed through the bushes, lying in its own pool of blood, all he could do was gag.
Huge, white scales covered the body of what appeared to be a huge snake. The fox couldn’t see anything else, but the curled up body and the red liquid, which bled from fresh and too many wounds, didn’t leave him with much space to theorise.
Cautious of the huge creature – it was bigger than him he was sure – his paws took him even closer. The overwhelming scent of blood curled in his nostrils and made his stomach rumble.
Trying to blend into the shadows, silver eyes watched every trembling rise of the body in front of him.
When he rounded the unmoving creature once, keeping a safe distance all the way, he felt a bit safer and decided to approach further. He knew what a last battle looked like and this seemed to be a full fleshed war – why, he didn’t know. Wouldn’t it be easier to just give in? A single snap and everything would be over, like the prey he sought out.
A sudden movement snapped him out of his thoughts and his instincts registered the prompt uncurling of the snake beast, just in time to dodge the sharp claws and vanish into the shadows in a heartbeat.
Having dodged such a sudden attempt on his life, his own blood thundered in his ears; his eyes dilated in panic as he registered what had happened.
Then he saw them – brown glowing eyes within an impressive skull; sharp teeth and a growl that vibrated within the whole forest. Such majestic antlers that curled around in thick and thin branches. The fox shrunk in awe, his head inclining to bow to the powerful creature – no – the powerful dragon in front of him.
He never could have guessed to see one for himself, especially near death.
These lizards had always been more than careful to let nobody glimpse at the true forms they could take.
Another growl shook him to the core. Although death was waiting near it was clear that the dragon had reached immortality. Such beings, having reached their final stages, were much more powerful than a poor soul like him. His eight tails wete close, but not that close.
So, he did the only thing he could do and stayed in the shadows, fearing but not running.
It didn’t sit well with him to simply slip away from this dying creature, its might and elegance blemished by a red coat.
Much to the dismay of this sudden visitor.
The dragon seemed to be cautious of him, still growling from deep within his throat. A warning without words, but he could understand well enough. It told him to leave, but he wouldn’t.
The fox lowered his body to the ground in a careful movement and layered his head onto his front paws. He didn’t stop watching this huge creature and then, when he listened to another growl, he decided to close them.
Maybe making him look like he was as non threatening as possible would relax the situation.
Eight tails curled up around his slim body, until the moist warmth made him uncomfortable and they were shoved onto the earth, away from him.
Whatever he did, brown, dangerous eyes watched him, even when his eyes closed and he lingered in his meditation. And when he awoke a few hours later, the growls had stopped and such eyes were half shut. Weary and cautious on him, without leaving, but clearly not as fixated as they were a few hours back.
When he stretched his limps, slow and one by one, the mysterious dragon snapped out of its drowsy state. Like a predator watching another enemy, its pupils turned into slits. And right on cue, there was that growl again, deep and dangerous. The fox curled into himself as an answer. His ears laid back and in the next second he was truly gone, vanishing into the shadows of the woods.
The dragon followed him with its eyes and in the thought that it finally chased this sly hunter away, it could relax its limbs in exhaustion. Even with the sting of its wounds and the dropping strength of its muscles, it curled more into itself. The little thing hidden with its body out of sight.
Although this pest of a fox was finally gone, the dragon needed to face reality sooner or later. Dying, shallow breaths left it and it didn’t know how much time passed, until its scales picked up the heat of another animal.
Knowing that its life was at stake here, its eyes snapped opened again. Rage at such a desperate situation build up within and its head picked up, claws ready to pounce in defence.
The shadows were moving again, a dark silhouette between the tree trunks. A worrying smell of fresh prey got caught in its nostrils and even without feasting on flesh in millennia, the dragon spirits mouth watered.
The fox lowered his head then, two rabbits within his mouth as he watched the dragon with intent. He lowered the dead bodies to the ground, freshly caught, and stepped back. Two rabbits wouldn’t do much to stop the vanishing strength, but he would be grieving if he didn’t help him fight the desperate war.
Within the shadows the slim figure changed into a beautiful man, eight tails fluffed and moved within the light breeze behind him. The dragon lowered its wearily, watching him cautiously and moving its gaze from the rabbits to the silver eyes.
Dark, long hair framed a handsome face that watched him with a complicated look. The dark black robe around his body seemed to be old and worn, but although in such an unsightly place, seemed to do its job perfectly. Safe to say, the dragon was surprised to find such a youth in this place, although it was obvious who this was.
“I’ve caught them. For you.”
His voice was hoarse from not speaking for such a long time. From not expecting to be used so much longer.
At least his words reached the poor creature. In a safe distance he remained, the flowing brown hair playing around his ankles and moving in the light breeze.
The fox lowered his head, making himself smaller to appear less threatening and waited for a growl or anything to symbol him to leave. There was nothing, but simple eyes not leaving his form.
“I don’t know how you got into this – this situation, but a Lan shouldn’t fight a desperate fight without replenishing his strength. Or, her strength.”
That mouth of his stopped again as another growl shook the earth around him, just as he mentioned the name of such a well-known sect. The dragon wouldn’t be able to grab or bite him in this state. The fox lowered himself onto his legs slowly, seeking a comforting position.
“Sorry. Yes, I know of you. Not your whole name though, of course not, how could that even be? Even when I’ve got my suspicions. Anyway, I shouldn’t speculate that without telling my name. You may have heard it already.”
After years without uttering a single word, finally speaking to someone who could understand him was a phenomenal feeling. His mouth moved faster than his brain, a flustered blush covering his cheeks. It didn’t matter that he talked to a huge dragon, able to snap him in two.
The said dragon continued to watch him, without any noise. The constant rumbling succeeded to relax the situation however.
“My name is Wei Ying” he began, lifting his gaze to meet the brown eyes, which turned into dark slits at his name, “but I won’t hurt you, I assure you. I can imagine what you’ve heard of me, but eating a whole immortal dragon would make my stomach explode!”
Leaning back onto his arms he let a laugh slip, something he had done often many years before.
“Or eating any dragon in particular, or a phoenix, or anything else beside rabbits. I like rabbits, tasty little buggers and always fun to catch. And I especially won’t eat tiny babies, they are too cute to do that” he rambled on, hands curling around the unmoving prey in front of him, “Anyway, I thought I heard your sect was vegetarian, is that true or false? I’ve studied in cloud recess long ago, but my memory… Aiyah, not as good as it once was. This is a forest, but even I couldn’t find many edible vegetables to eat and I’m still not sure how these rabbits seem to find them. Fine by me, but.”
His mouth moved away, questions asked towards the white beast in front of him, none answered. Not that he expected them to be. Wei Ying was glad that the dragon seemed tolet his guard down further. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t hear a growl in the last hour.
The fox ate the rabbits alone that day and seemed to be right about the vegetarian theory, but filled the silence with stories about living alone for so long. The celestial being watched him eat and listened to him talk, not that he had another choice. It was fine for Wei Ying.
Trust needed to be earned.
And with that he caught rabbits for the next weeks, sometimes following them to maybe get a glimpse where they got their tasty food. On day eight he finally found the surprise he had been looking for, right between sharp bushes, with more rabbits than he saw in his entire life.
A clearing between the trees, full of luscious greenery. The biggest surprise was how peaceful this air seemed to be, lacking the Yin energy hurting his lungs.
Safe to say, the little pets didn’t seem so happy that a fox discovered their little safe heaven. Within one heartbeat chaos was ensured, the fluff balls scattering into every direction. Wei Ying caught one of them, his eyes too unfocused between the fastmoving white balls for more. Within a few hours he grabbed all vegetables he could get a hold on and brought them to the dragon, wrapped inside the robes he wore in his human form.
“Look, look what I found! Look!”
His happy voice echoed around the area. The Lan dragon opened one eye slightly, breaths already shallow, weak. Wei Ying stopped the frown on his lips, forcing a bright smile. Brown eyes saw through it.
It was honestly surprising that no other predator had approached this beast, but Wei Ying reckoned that the sheer size and power of this dragon was enough to scare them off.
“You can’t imagine how many bunnies I saw today, right around these perfect looking carrots, potatoes and radishes! They were fat and happy, look at this one I’ve caught. And more, I’ve got more!”
In one second to the next he let his robes loose, vegetables tumbling down towards the earth. The dragon seemed to be surprised, watching such countless greenery hit the ground below. Such sight seemed befitting, regarding from its tongue wetting its snout. Wei Ying chuckled at that obvious look of hunger.
“I knew you would like them. They’re all for you. I’m more of a meat person myself.”
He proudly grabbed the vegetables with quick fingers and moved slowly into the direction of the huge beast. Although the dragon seemed much calmer than at his arrival, Wei Ying knew to be cautious all the same. His steps were calculated, always watching out for a warning or anything else that told him to rather stay away and leave.
When he got no such thing and stopped right in front of the huge snout, sharp teeth showing beneath the flesh, he questioned his own decision. Maybe this was all a trick, and, in a few seconds, he would be swallowed or bitten into tiny pieces of meat? Without any time to scream, without anyone hearing him? Nobody caring about him? Nobody asking?
Such fear seemed to be plastered around his trembling hand and when his silver eyes met brown ones, a new surge of bravery took hold of him. With it, he reached into his own robes to look for a radish he acquired after such a long search. At first, he had a little trouble closing his trembling hands around it and bid them to stop their shaking, before he served it to the large creature.
Wei Ying didn’t know what he expected, but the thrill that went through him when the dragon opened its mouth surprised him. Within one swing the vegetable landed on the rough tongue, getting eaten and swallowed before he had time to reach for another one.
The twinkling in those brown eyes spoke that finally, some hunger was stilled, and it was worth everything he did in the last few days. Especially knowing that indeed, he fed the ethereal being with a huge smile on his face. It was already a habit to talk to it about any- and everything he could think of. The dragon listened, even when the short meal was finished and its hunger whispered still. At least the feeling wasn’t roaring as before, especially considering the sum of vegetables he devoured. For now, it calmly watched the fox take his fill of the rabbits himself.
Six more days went and left like that, with Wei Ying discovering more little clearings after following the scent of his prey. This time he was hunting two rabbits for himself and harvesting as many vegetables for his new friend as possible. Eating in a comfortable one-sided silence, with him talking through every of his own bites.
Distantly, he remembered a rule which forbid talking while you ate your meals, but it was a faint whisper. Not one to care about. And the Lan dragon didn’t seem to mind either.
Something worried Wei Ying every time he remained with the injured dragon. Every time the dragon slept, he slept longer while his waking time vanished. The more days passed, the slower the breaths of the dragon became, the more he saw the vanishing strength in those muscles.
It was the seventh day he holstered a makeshift backpack onto the back of his fox form, a makeshift made out of his outer black robe, that he was determined to harvest even more of the healthy food. This time he hunted not for himself, not carrying any rabbit in his snout, but as many healthy vegetables as he could find.
His eight tales wagged happily behind him, satisfied with the food he managed to get and already imagining the grateful twinkle in those dragon eyes, when his fur ruffled. His instincts knew that something was happening, a powerful force drawing closer and closer.
With one look into the sky, his pupils dilated as he caught the form of a huge snake – no, another dragon in the sky. The smell drafting through the air reeked of death and evil, resentful energy he knew so well dropping down into the forest that swallowed it greedily. The yin energy left by the tail of the dark grey creature slowly plummeted.
At first – he was thrilled. Another dragon, even without a pure white as its scales, another dragon! In the burial mounds! It must be looking for his friend, the immortal soul.
But the way his fur ruffled, the way how it lacked the graceful movements one would expect from a Lan, the way there was a cold shiver running along his spine… Wei Ying couldn’t ignore that. He survived this long in this forest that was filled to the brim with resentful energy, because he listened to his whole body. To the feelings and signals it communicated.
Right now, he was terrified.
The resentful creature was powerful, although not as powerful as him. Since his days as a child, Wei Ying learned how to estimate the strength of his surroundings and this dragon was still relatively young.
Especially considering how much it oozed of resentful energy, a power the Lan despised to their bones. As such, it would be an advantage for him. He himself had learned to cultivate with resentful energy and his affinity as a fox spirit definitely helped him. With eight tales, one keeping him from eternal life, he would be able to defeat it relatively easily.
But it was powerful enough to kill a dying dragon. An immortal dying dragon.
Wei Ying’s heart sped up, his ears raised in stress, his muscles pulling as he burst into the sprint fearing for the life of his friend. Some of the potatoes and radishes spilled over his little bag as the clothing couldn’t contain it with his speed, but he didn’t care.
Adrenalin shot through him, carrying him towards the clearing he came to know so well. When his eyes caught the form of the pure white dragon, his body came to a sudden stop. His friend already had its head raised towards the sky, eyeing it with a stressed look. Prepared. Waiting.
When the fox began to run towards it again, Wei Ying almost crashed into the ethereal being. Quickly catching himself, he shouted:
“A dragon! I saw a dragon, Lan!”
The sharp eyes didn’t stray from the sky, but he thought he could see the tail peeking out of the curled form, blue pelt swaying anxiously. The sharp claws of the dragon were buried into the dry earth underneath, as if it was ready to push itself up and fly. A more than horrible thought at how the blood hadn’t dried still.
“Is it searching for you, Lan? I saw it fly into this direction, covered in resentful energy. Is it looking for you?”
Wei Ying couldn’t keep his mouth shut, already rambling again. He was only stopped by the brown eyes, finally looking at him with a glint in them he didn’t quite understand yet.
It was anxious but fond, fearful but accepting, mourning but hopeful. And warm. They looked warm.
His breath caught in his throat.
The last person that looked at him that way was his shijie, before she died. With respect. And trust.
His friend trusted him, did he?
“Is this why you have been injured? Do I need to beat it up?”
Wei Ying was more than ready to step in. His friend was already preparing for the end and the fox would be damned to let him get killed furiously here.
The dragon seemed to stop for a moment, regarding him with a deep look. Wei Ying’s feet were restless, so they took him closer, almost running in a circle now with how nervous he was.
That’s when he felt it again, the shiver. The dark energy reaching out to him, only distinguishable because of the meddling qi within it. Both clashing energies fought with each other, neither being stronger than the other. That is when their gazes met again, and the fox was determined to do something. The dragon didn’t let him.
The pure creature heaved for breaths before straining its limbs, making a decision. To Wei Ying’s worry, its legs failed to stand for a few seconds before catching themselves. The white body uncurled slowly, blood slipping into the grass.
“You can’t!”, the fox shouted as he realized what his companion wanted to do, “You are barely living! How can you fight in such a situation?”
There was a hint of desperation in his voice. Wei Ying grew fond of the time they spend together, of the happy glint in those eyes whenever he brought some food or spoke about the beauty of his home. He would consider the Lan a friend, which if you had told him millennia’s back, he would have laughed at it.
The burial mounds were a lonely place. The last weeks, he wasn’t so lonely anymore. He didn’t want to continue like before.
There was no recognition within the dragon’s posture, only the strained limbs that were already shuddering beneath the weight. It didn’t look at Wei Ying again. Not even when there was a loud roar cutting through the air.
“I can fight that thing, you know? I cultivated with resentful energy for years now, I must be stronger. You don’t need to die!”
This was selfish. Because he knew.
Death was inevitable. Immortal or not. Either could be killed, if done right. And it was, in this case.
The dragon looked at him then. And the dragon bowed.
Wei Ying didn’t have the time to react in his shock, because a second later it pushed itself into the sky. The force of such a huge body pushed Wei Ying back against the tree trunks. Pure white scales glittered in the heated sun, shining with an iridescent hue and then there was a roar, much louder than the first.
Wei Ying’s eyes followed the white form, almost jumping into his fox form to follow it. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t fly, as the Yiling Partriarch he would find a way. The clash of white and dark grey could be seen from miles away. Although Wei Ying expected it, he found it horrifying.
Swallowing the silent dry tears, the fox pressed his lips together. Alone again.
He stood there, watching the sky, even when the sun fell down. Even when two pale forms fought, one fell, blood rained and night arrived.
It was not until he felt the raging loneliness gnawing at his bones, that he turned his head towards the now empty spot.
His eyes widened at which greeted him.
Before, he didn’t know what the dragon thought of him. If he forgave him, enough to maybe trust him a little bit. To accept him. Now, he knew. His dragon friend left him something much more precious than what he could have imagined.
Within a circle, the only earth that looked bright and healthy in the area, within blossoming grass, flowers and swirling qi…
A glowing, pure white egg.