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Nie Huaisang was standing there in his room, fan tucked away for once as he stared out his window with a look on his face entirely unlike him. He was solemn, his figure slumped as he stared morosely out the window with his head leaning against the frame.
No one hadn’t seen or heard of Wei Wuxian since the attack on Lotus Pier, it’d been months and the Jiang siblings had joined the War effort along with the newly christened disciples of Yunmeng Jiang - yet he was still missing.
He’d begged his older brother to search for his friend, if only to send a disciple or two if he couldn’t. His brother wouldn’t spare anyone and that had left him desperate, worried for the other.
Until a tap on his window brought him back into the hear and now, shaking himself from his thoughts, he glanced down and saw a small figure perched just outside the window. His eyes widened in surprise, he’d never seen anything quite like it - but the bird was stunning.
Opening the window slowly to not scare the bird, he held a hand out for the berry colored bird, whites, blacks, and brown spots decorating it. The bird hopped up on his hand like it was use to humans and it had him growing even more curious.
“Hello.” He said softly, lifting his hand closer to his face to admire the avian.
The bird chirped, almost as if saying it back before it tapped a foot against his palm and tilted its head.
Nie Huaisang furrowed his brows slightly before tilting his head back at the bird. “Can you understand me?” He asked curiously, moving to sit down in the seat by the now open window.
The bird chirped again, hopping on his palm before jumping off of his hand and landing on the table with a flutter of the wings. Watching as the bird walked over to his inks, he arched a brow.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked, watching in surprise as the bird tapped on the unmixed ink before looking up at him. “Do you… want me to mix it?”
The bird nodded, startling him into silence for a moment. This was the oddest interaction he thinks he’s ever had with a bird, but what was the harm in going along with it for now?
Grinding the ink, he watched as the bird hopped along the table almost as if it was restless; which was odd. How could a bird be so restless? He put the ink down, before pulling some paper out and laying it flat. As soon as he did, the bird went to work and dipped its foot into the now smooth ink before hopping onto the paper.
Watching in shock as the bird got to work, he stared stunned at how dexterous this little figure was before realizing what it was writing.
"Nie-Xiong, you’re not usually this morose, what’s going on?" was written on the sheets, surprising him.
“Wei-Xiong…?” He asked breathlessly, eyes wide as they shot over to the bird who chirped, looking rather smug.
The bird moved with a grace most couldn’t pull off nearly that well as it wrote out, "Who else would show up like this?"
Choking on a laugh, tears slid down Nie Huaisang's face before smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. “Of course you figured out how to turn into a bird… are you… okay?” He asked, his voice shaking slightly with worry.
The bird - Wei Wuxian - tilted his head to the side before his small avian frame slumped. "You can’t tell Jiang Cheng, Nie-Xiong, or Shijie." He wrote before continuing, "Turns out yin energy has a different effect on me, Wen Chao threw me into the Burial Mounds but… my core’s never been normal. When Wen Zhuliu tried to crush it, it rebounded."
Nie Huaisang stares stunned at that, shocked at hearing the infamous core crusher of the Jianghu was unable to crush his best friend's core. He was relieved it hadn’t happened, but just what had?
“What happened?” He asked anxiously, fidgeting as he waited.
"I took out more than half their group but was finally cornered and captured. They threw me into the mounds and the mounds… recognized me? Turns out living on the streets of Yiling when I was little worked out in my favor." Wei Wuxian wrote out.
Nie Huaisang leans back in the seat, a hand raising to his chin in thought. “So living on the streets there made it possible for you core to accept resentment better, but it also had some side effects?”
Wei Wuxian shook his head, drawing out his response. "My core protected me and absorbed the pure yin energy and… unlocked something that’d been dormant in me for years. I remember things too from when I was little, apparently being able to shift my shape is passed down through generations. My mother wasn’t just Baoshan Sanren’s disciple, she was her daughter.’"
“You have the blood of an immortal running through you, Wei-Xiong?” He gasped, stunned yet again. It reality it wasn’t really that shocking, but he wasn’t sure how others would think of it.
“Wait; Wei-Xiong, why don’t you want Jiang-Xiong and Jiang Guniang to know?” He asked, brows furrowing.
Wei Wuxian looked away, his current form looking wary. ‘Jiang Cheng tried to kill me after Lotus Pier fell, and he thinks he did."
Nie Huaisang’s jaw dropped, before rage clouded his gaze - face eerily Lan-like in its blankness. “I see.”
Anyone with half a brain could tell that War had been inevitable, and Wei Wuxian had saved all their lives in that cave at the Indoctrination. The fact that Jiang Cheng had blamed him for everything that happened was rather telling of the type of thoughts he had towards his Shi-Xiong. Wei Wuxian would not go through that again.
“I won’t tell them, Wei-Xiong.” He swore, leaning down to get on eye level with the bird.
Wei Wuxian tilted his head, the bird figure softening before he hopped over and nudged his head gently against Nie Huaisang’s head, making the other pet him gently on the head.
“What should we do now? The war is… not going well, and Da-Ge is losing more of himself in the efforts. The Jin haven’t joined and probably won’t, the Jiang’s disciples are all new and they might be rained but not like yours were. The Lan and Nie are really the only ones steady but…” He trailed off, frowning.
Before anything else could be said, a swirl of crimson energy enveloped the beautiful bird and moments later, there sat Wei Wuxian, looking exhausted and pale but with a small smile on his face.
“That Finch isn’t the only thing I can turn into, Nie-Xiong. You’re about to get your very own spiritual beast that can fight in a war. Do you think you can convince your brother?” He asked, tilting his head as his silver eyes glittered dangerously.
Nie Huaisang paused, his eyes wide as he glanced up at his best friend. “How will I explain to him I randomly found a spiritual beast like that?”
“Come now Nie-Xiong, you and I both know you’re smarter than you like to pretend. You’ll come up with a brilliant idea.” Wei Wuxian grinned, leaning towards him slightly and leaving the other flustered at the compliment… was it a compliment?
“Wei-Xiong…” He whined, pouting up at the other.
“It’s either that or I join and possibly get hunted or someone tries to tame me, and we both know how that would go.” He murmurs, sitting shamelessly on the table as his legs swing lightly.
Nie Huaisang crosses his arms over his chest, a frown on his face. He knew exactly what the other meant, especially at a time like this. If news got out that Wei Wuxian could shift shapes, he’d either be fought over, killed, or worse; Nie Huaisang wouldn’t let that happen.
“It’s going to be fine, Wei-Xiong.” Nie Huaisang stood up before offering his best friend the most serious look he could give. “Ah but, what will you be? As pretty as the bird form of yours was, it won’t do much for the war…” He trailed off awkwardly.
Wei Wuxian laughed softly, silver eyes flicking like embers in a fire with a soft crimson before sputtering out. “Oh you know, everything.” He grinned cheekily, before turning into the largest Tiger that Nie Huaisang had ever seen. The table tipped over, everything falling to the ground with a crash and making them both wince.
It had rushing footsteps coming towards them, making Wei Wuxian stiffen up and Nie Huaisang panic as he looked around for a distraction - or a place to hide his friend. Nie Mingjue, back on a trip home for a few days to discuss some things and gather some supplies, slammed the door open.
The silence was deafening as Nie Huaisang threw himself over the massive Tiger’s back, his body attempting to shield him from his brother and their disciples.
“Da-Ge! He’s my spiritual animal! I found him when I… ran off the other day.” He winces, not able to look at his brother who frowns even more at that. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t entirely a truth either; he’d wanted to get away because he’d been worried for his friend - who was now a giant tiger letting him slump on his back.
Nie Mingjue looks at him with such a look of disbelief it’d be funny if it didn’t also feel slightly insulting. The larger man glances at the Tiger whose eyes are narrowed at them like they’re the ones in the wrong place.
“You’d better explain Huaisang.” Nie Mingjue said darkly, only to get a growl in response from the massive beast that looked poised to attack at any moment. Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian both knew he wouldn’t do it, but the others didn’t have to know that when it looked like he was protecting the other.
“I will Da-Ge, I promise! But… only you.” Nie Huaisang said, one hand going into the thick fur of Wei Wuxian’s coat and sitting up a bit while the other one brushed his hair back out of his from his lunge to protect the other.
“Fine.” Nie Mingjue frowned, before glancing warily at the large feline before looking at the disciples and nodding once to them.
It was going to be a long night.