v3c4: The Story and the Heron

Gou Ren rubbed at his arm, as he squinted at his brother. Waking up tied to the ceiling was a bit disorienting, but they hadn't left him up there for long. When he found out who it was his vengeance would be swift. He took a bite of his lunch, tuning out everybody else around him. The table was packed with people, more hungry now than they had been at breakfast.

He thought that it had been his brother’s prank, when he had come back, looking so amused. But it was lunch now, and his brother was still acting… just a bit off.

And then he had a whispered conversation with Meimei, and now she seemed to be amused about something too. She kept throwing him calculating looks when she thought his back was turned.

Alarm gongs were ringing in his head. He could feel them breathing deep behind his back like two growing shadows, waiting for something. The two predators were stalking their prey. But he was a hunter, damn it, and he was not going down easily!

He caught his elder brother’s eye. There was a battle of wills in the air between them. Yun looked him in the eye and held his gaze.

And then the bastard smirked.

Gou Ren felt a cold sweat go down his back. Their intent filled the air, as Gou Ren prepared for battle. The table went quiet as they all watched the silent battle.

Jin, who had been deep in thought, swirling his fish soup around in his bowl broke the tension.

“You know, we should do something for the Mid-Autumn Festival.” He said, glancing up at the silent table.

Everybody’s attention turned from them to Jin.

The intent faded, and he could see his brother’s thoughts crash at the same time as his.

Do something for the festival? That's right, there hadn’t really been any preparations on their part this year. Normally the village was a hive of activity and work, but here they were far from all that, drinking and lazing, with only the bare minimum of chores.

“What kind of something? Meiling asked. “Normally, people just bring food if they’re coming from out of town.”

“I dunno, something fun! Like the General that Commands the Winter or the sleigh I did for the Solstice. Something the kids will like, at least.”

Gou Ren raised an eyebrow. The snow golem as big as a house and a sleigh loaded down with gifts for everybody? Jin certainly didn’t do half measures when he decided to have fun. Gou Ren liked the commitment, but sometimes Jin went a bit overboard.

Although the more Gou Ren thought about it...well it didn’t sound like too bad an idea really. It would be nice to bring something for everyone. It would be kind of fun. What was the point of being so strong if he couldn’t do silly things with it once in a while?

“Are there any important stories about the festival? Something we could use for inspiration?” Jin asked.

Meimei cocked her head to the side. “Well, we could do something about Chang’e. The Immortal of the moon is the origin of the festival.”

Bi De seemed to jolt at the words while Jin just looked intrigued.

“Chang’e? That definitely sounds familiar, but I don’t think I've heard the full story. Something about her getting separated from her lover?” He asked.

“‘Far away as Chang’e.’ This Bi De knows the saying, but I do not know why it is said.” The rooster stated, stroking his wattles.

‘Lady on the moon. Bunny too!’ Chun Ke grunted.

‘Oh? If they live up there then they must have many recipes for the moon cheese! This Wa Shi shall accept their tribute, when he claims his morsel.’ The fish stroked his whiskers sagely from his bucket.

“...None of you have heard the story?” Meiling asked. “Jin, you must have. I told it last year to the children when—” she paused, thinking. “When you were talking to my father.”

“Yeah, had to explain to Pops why I hadn't asked him for your hand yet.” the man said and scratched at his cheek in embarrassment.

Meiling nodded and took a breath. “Well! Gather around then and I’ll tell you the story!” Meiling declared.

Jin seemed excited, along with Tigu. They quickly cleared away the plates, with even Wa Shi being faster than normal with the leftovers, interested in the “Queen of Cheese.” Gou Ren had no idea why the fish thought the moon was made of cheese. Why cheese of all things? Who would even put a giant ball of cheese in the sky anyway? With the table cleared, Meiling sat down, and patted her lap.

Tigu and Chun Ke both started forwards, intent on claiming the coveted position. They paused, and looked at each other. Chun Ke looked hopefully at Tigu. The young woman smiled at the boar, accepting defeat graciously. Chun Ke trundled over to rest his chin on Meimei’s knee, chuffing happily. Jin and the rest of the animals sat down in front of Meiling, looking for all the world like an eager bunch of kids sitting down to hear a nightly story.

Meiling chuckled and scratched the boar’s black mane. She cleared her throat and started. Meimei knew this story by heart. She was the village chief’s daughter, after all, and was generally in charge of this one in particular.

Gou Ren knew the way she was setting in, she was probably going to tell the full thing.

“Now, harken to the story of these times long since past, of beautiful and kind Chang’e and her husband, the peerless warrior Houyi. Listen to their tale, of the lady of the moon; of the festival where we give in honour of Houyi’s boons…”

Gou Ren sat down to listen to the old, old tale. His brother lazed where he was, kicking his feet up and closing his eyes. Xiulan sat down beside Pi Pa as Bowu shoved some pillows behind him and got out a brush, only listening with half an ear.

“Full of arrogant power, Ten wicked Suns did rise, Their wrath scorched the land and brought suffering; From their burning gaze none could hide.”

It was a rather nice way to spend some time. Meimei told the whole thing, the traditional style—instead of the often abridged version the kids got.

Houyi shooting down the suns that were ravaging the earth was awesome. The love stuff? Well, Gou Ren remembered it being more boring than it actually was. Maybe he was just getting old, but he kind of liked it now.

He could understand Houyi. His thoughts drifted to a willowy woman smirking at him under the moonlight. Houyi was a true man, willing to give up immortality to stay with his wife. Too bad the bastard Fengmeng had to ruin it all, coming in to try to force Chang’e to give him the elixir. In the scuffle, Chang’e was mortally wounded, and in a last desperate act, she drank it. The wicked man was denied his prize, but Chang’e victory was bitter. She had to leave the earth, and ascend—but she chose the moon, as it was the closest place to her husband. Every year, Chang’e was gifted offerings by her husband, thus starting the Mid-Autumn Festival.

By the end of it, Jin was smiling.

“I think I've got an idea.” he said with a grin and then pointed at Gou Ren. “And you’re gonna be in charge!” He said cheerfully.

Gou Ren pointed to himself, a bit confused.

“Hey, you said you liked architecture. So, let's build something!”

Gou Ren felt a bead of sweat trail down his temple and smiled nervously at being put on the spot, but… he nodded his head, intrigued at what Jin had in mind.

An hour later, Gou Ren excitedly started drawing.

==================================

The next day, he stood in front of everybody. He had been up all night, but as he had drawn more and more designs, it..had started to fit.

He had something. Something that would be worthy of Chang’e’s story.

Hopefully.

He took a breath.

“Tigu, I have some rough designs, and need your help carving them out.” Tigu perked up at the first to be addressed.

“Yes, Junior Brother!” She said, saluting.

Gou Ren nodded, handing her a page. She immediately began studying it intently. “Yun, Miantiao, could you work on the colours?” he asked. His brother nodded, and the snake bowed his head, his eyes sparking, as he began to mutter formulas under his breath.

Well, this was easier than he thought it would be…

“Jin?” he asked, turning to the man.

“Yeah, boss?” Jin asked eagerly.

“This part is yours.” he said, as commandingly as he could. He handed over another paper with instructions. Jin looked it over and nodded.

As he went along handing out tasks, some of the nervousness faded. Bi De and Yin were given their assignments. Wa Shi and Mei had been happy to help once he explained what he needed them to do. Finally, he got to Xiulan.

She perked up, eager when he approached her.

“Lanlan, you're kind of useless, so you do whatever.” he said.

She slumped, her whole face falling. “Is this because I tied you to the ceiling?” she asked.

“No I’m just joking, you can—wait, that was you?!”

They were delayed by most of an hour. When they finally got to work, Xiulan had a muddy footprint on her backside.

====================================

Gou Ren finished checking the strap around Chun Ke’s midsection.

“It's on, not comin’ off.” he declared, and stepped back.

“This one is good, Gou,” Jin declared from beside Pi Pa. The entire farm was gathered, ready to leave.

Chun Ke chuffed happily under his burden. He had a red cap on his head and a small building on his back. It had been designed by Gou Ren. It looked mostly like a shrine, a square building with four faces—The front one had an image of Houyi carved into it while the other sides were open, exposing a cylinder carved with images from the story. A cylinder that spun, making the carvings on it seem to move once it got fast enough. That part was courtesy of Bowu. It was decorated by his brother’s illusions and pieces of coloured glass from Miantiao forming a large, coloured piece.

It was covered with the stuff they were bringing to the festival; sheafs of wheat and rice, potatoes, and mounds of carrots and onions.

And the booze, couldn’t forget the booze. None of the… special mead, but the rest of the stuff was coming along.

Pi Pa stood beside Chun Ke, her head held high and amusement dancing on her features. She carried a smaller burden, though one no less important. This one housed the image of Chang’e separated from her husband, but reaching out to him. When put beside each other, they would form one carving, the hands touching.

Meimei had gushed over that addition. The lovers finally reunited.

Tigu nodded from beside Gou Ren. “Your eye for detail is quite good, Brother Gou!” she decreed. “We must collaborate again!”

Gou Ren flushed and scratched the back of his head, still a little embarrassed with how much praise had been given to him when they saw the finished pieces. Sure he had designed them, but only after Jin had given him an idea with his kind of…simple drawings. It had been kind of difficult to make sure everything fit together seamlessly but Jin could have probably made it if he put his mind to it.

Probably. But Jin’s way was always a bit strange. Like he had the general gist of things, but no idea how to actually accomplish them.

But it was nice to have somebody who had faith in his architecture skills, half-baked as they were.

It had been a pretty hectic three days, if he was honest, but it had been fun with everybody in the courtyard working on it. The sounds of sanding and hammering, people asking for tools, and helping each other. Even Hou Ten the monkey had ceased his vigil over the crystal and aided Tigu in some of the carving. His hands were surprisingly deft.

Playing foreman had been pretty fun, and as his brother nodded and clapped him on the back… Gou Ren let out the breath he had been holding.

His brother thought he had done a good job. Yun Ren was never one to bullshit him. If he thought it was bad, he would say it. Instead, all he saw was approval.

“Everybody ready to go?” came Meimei’s embarrassed voice.

Xiulan was smirking at Meiling as they turned from the image of Chang’e. Meimei had a flush on her cheeks. Meiling had said Tigu should use Xiulan as a model, to better capture Chang’e peerless beauty. Instead, the woman looked quite a bit like Meiling and had a bit more muscle than any other depiction of Chang’e Gou Ren had seen.

Washy was the last to arrive, popping into his bucket. It was how the fish normally traveled, with his head poking out, Gou Ren privately believed the fish was just being lazy. Although a fish in a jar was an oddity it was less odd than a dragon.

And so they set off. Tigu skipped in front with Jin. Bi De sat atop the wooden piece carrying Chang’e, like he was guarding the woman. Bowu was in a handcart attached to Chun Ke, together with Miantiao, Yin and Hou Ten. Xiulan, Ri Zu and Meiling were in the middle, chatting away. Even Bei Be was coming along, the ox traveling sedately behind them.

The farm was going to be empty for the day, but Jin would be running back the morning of the festival to check on things, just in case. The animals had enough food and water, so it should be fine.

It was a leisurely pace along the smooth road. They stopped to make detours off the path. They had lunch under the shade of an enormous tree. They reminisced about the time they had spent building this very road, bare months ago, laughing and joking about the work.

They continued along the path, in the midday sun. The colours were beginning to change, the reds and oranges of the trees coming out.

His brother started smirking again when they were halfway there, but Gou Ren just ignored him. It couldn’t be anything bad.

And really, what's the worst prank Yun could do anyway?

====================================

Then, Hong Yaowu was in sight. The gentle green hills, and the trees. The smell of the cooking fires, and all the little buildings nestled against their fields. The big headman’s house, and its medicine storage. The old shrine at the top of the hill. He could see people moving and working, going about their lives, and setting up for the festival. Already the buildings were bedecked in red, and he could see the village Chief, Hong Xian, working alongside them. His home village brought a sense of nostalgia, even though he could visit whenever he wanted.

It just seemed so… small now.

He had been out into the world, seen Pale Moon Lake City and fought cultivators at the Dueling Peaks. All the fields, all the nooks and crannies he thought were so big not too long ago, were suddenly tiny. Almost quaint.

Yet… It was still home.

They were noticed quickly, as they came up the road. The kids had obviously been on the lookout for them.

“Hey! They’re here!” A young voice yelled out. The children, who had been kicking a ball back and forth, paused their game at Hong Xian’s shout.

Then the kids took off running.

Jin laughed and stepped forwards as a small avalanche slammed into him. Gou Ren stepped forwards too as the kids ignored Yun Ren, who had been back more recently.

Soon enough, they were both covered in kids.

“Welcome back, Gou!”

“It's good to see you again!” a kid said from his shoulders, weighing nothing at all.

“You have any stories for us?” a girl, Zi Qi asked eagerly.

Gou Ren grinned. A hero’s welcome, really. It was nice having the kids happy to see him!

“Howya been, big monkey?”

Never mind, these children were demons.

“Oi!” Gou Ren interjected, but the little shit, Shu, sprung off his shoulder and dashed away from him, laughing all the way. Gou Ren dashed after the kid, staying just behind him, and Shu’s running and yelling went from amused to panicked as Gou Ren swiped him up by the ankle. The rest of the kids hanging from his back cheered as Gou caught him.

“I die with honour,” Shu declared, as Gou Ren looked at the unrepentant little demon.

“Yet you perish all the same,” Gou Ren shot back and dropped him head first into the still muddy rice field.

Shu landed with a splat and made lots of groaning noises, acting like he had just been mortally wounded.

Gou Ren rolled his eyes and looked back.

Jin had three kids hanging off his bicep as he lifted them all into the air, while Tigu had an arm slung around a freckly, bony girl called Ty An. Xiulan accepted a crown made of woven rice stalks from a small, quiet girl, Li.

Finally, Bowu had gotten out of the cart and looked to be bracing himself. Hong Xian the younger was standing opposite him.

Bowu nodded. Xian took off running and jumped.

Bowu caught Xian, managing to stay on his feet with a bit of effort, and grinning down at the kid.

“You stayed on your feet this time, Big Bro!” Xian said cheerfully.

Bowu preened. “Of course, this Young Master can handle such a slight weight.” Bowu said pompously before ruffling Xian’s hair. Xian choked out a laugh, and muttered something that sounded like “sounds just like her.”

“You make anything cool?” Xian asked eagerly. He had been quite enamoured with the puffing smoke when Bowu had come last.

“Yeah, Master Jin lets me use the hammer whenever I want—Hey, Uncle Che! Look! I’m getting better!”

Yao Che the blacksmith stomped forwards, having come to see what the commotion was about. His grin was wide and his bushy beard wild. He picked up the piece of metal that was presented to him, examining the hollow cylinder.

“You’re getting good fast, you little brat!” the enormous man decreed, ruffling Bowu’s hair. “How the hells did you do these boreholes— they’re so smooth!”

Bowu, if possible, got even brighter, leaning into the touch. His smile was wide over his face.

Honestly, Gou Ren hadn’t thought the kid would be able to fit in that well, but he did.

“Yeah, me and Big Bro rigged up the drop hammer! Instead of a hammer going up and down, Master Jin said we could make it like a drill—and Tigu helped.” the boy babbled, showing the clean drill marks in the cylinder.

Gou Ren left him to it and caught his brother’s eye.

His brother, who still looked, if possible, even more amused.

It was then Gou Ren noticed that most of the villagers were staring at him. Staring at him and some were even giggling.

He swallowed thickly, his eyes shooting around the village. He saw his parents, also approaching. Both of them were smiling brightly as well, and there was a woman from Ma’s tribe—

Gou Ren did a double take at the woman wearing his mother’s more traditional clothes, the ones from their maternal tribe. Her hair was done up with feathers and she was wearing a dress with geometric designs on it. She was staring with warmth at Bowu, a tender expression on her face.

His jaw dropped. His brain staggered to a halt as the world went slightly hazy and pink. His heart skipped a beat as he remembered his time at the Dueling Peaks, and the wonderful, wonderful woman he met there.

“Xianghua!?”

The willowy woman’s face changed. She transformed before his eyes, her hands planting themselves on her hips. A cocky smirk formed on her face.

“Indeed! It is I, Liu Xianghua, the Young Mistress of the Misty Lake Sect! Rejoice, for I have come to your little village!” She boomed, and Bowu froze, his eyes widening.

“Big Sis!” Bowu shouted happily, dashing as best as he could to her. There was a bit of a wobble, but he was moving at a decent clip.

Xianghua’s grin got wide as she stared at her brother’s stride, Yao Che walking just slightly behind in case the boy fell. She nodded to the blacksmith and turned to Gou Ren as she walked past. “Close your mouth, Xong Gou Ren! I know that I am utterly peerless in beauty, but do not stare so uncouthly!”

Gou Ren’s mouth snapped shut. She nodded at him and continued past. Gou Ren just stood there, unsure of what to do. Xianghua caught her brother and hugged him.

“Not even a month and you’re already looking so well,” she murmured, as Bowu buried his face in her neck.

“We’ll catch up later?” Bowu asked, and Xianghua nodded before turning back to Gou Ren.

“Xong Gou Ren! You’ve taken good care of my brother, allow this Xianghua to thank you!”

She reached forwards and grabbed the front of Gou Ren’s shirt and pulled.

Gou Ren’s lips met something very soft.

Several people whooped.

Xianghua smelled very nice. The smell of furs and home mixed with the smell of pure water—

Xianghua pulled back and nodded her head as he stared dumbly at her.

Then she turned on her heel.

“Blade of Grass, only a week and I surely shall have utterly surpassed you in all fields! I have learned much from Honoured Mother Huli and Honoured Father Ten Ren, and I challenge you to a duel!” She thundered as she continued down the slope.

“What about me, Damp Pond?!” Tigu demanded.

“I shall defeat you after I defeat Xiualn! You are shorter, you come later!”

She fist bumped Yun Ren as she passed him, his brother’s crystal chiming as he took a recording of Gou Ren’s face.

Then she turned to Meiling, who had a very raised eyebrow.

Xianghua dropped to a knee. “Lady Meiling, Master Jin, this Liu Xianghua greets you.” She said with the utmost respect.

“She's been here a week,” Gou Ren’s father, Ten Ren, stated simply, as he approached his still unmoving son.

“A week?” he asked dumbly.

“Yes. My son, how did you find a woman as fine as this?” Xong Ten Ren asked. “I mean, she's strange, but.. In a good way?”

“I mean… She kinda… Found me?” Gou Ren asked, still off balance. “But a week?!”

“She marched into the center of the village last week and shouted that she was here to ask us for your hand.”

Gou Ren felt his heart still.

“...in front of everybody?” he asked, nearly whining.

“Yup. She kowtowed before us and asked for our permission to court you. She's been living in your and Yun’s room.”

Gou Ren swayed.

“She also asked us to teach her our ways,” Ten Ren sighed before shrugging in a ‘what could you do’ manner, “So I took her hunting.”

The statement took a second to fully percolate.

“Wait, why has she been hunting then? Shouldn’t Ma be teaching her how to sew?” Gou Ren asked, still off balance.

His father smiled. He smiled in a way that said that Yun Ren’s mischievous streak was not all from their fox-like mother.

“She asked to court you,” his father said cheerfully, clapping him on the shoulder. “Your mother told her that to earn our approval she has to perform the proper courting tradition.”

All colour drained from Gou Ren’s face.

“But—but the guy is supposed to do that!”

His mother shrugged.

===================

That night, a shadow entered the village. He had a rope in his hand, and was full of resolve.

He nearly ran into another shadow, heading towards the building he had come from.

Gou Ren stared at Xianghua.

Xianghua stared at Gou Ren.

He glanced down at the rope in her hand. She glanced at the rope in his.

There was a brief scuffle, and then they were off into the forest.

They never exactly agreed on who kidnapped who.