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Wukong invited him to take a bath at the river again.
… Not that it was something special, really. Just washing ourselves on the river stream, letting their fur clean with the fresh water then just staying by the riverside. Munching on fruit while waiting for their body to slowly dry up.
The issue was never on that part, nothing really, if anything Macaque honestly missed the time where he could just ignore the blatant stare and snooping. Directed at a certain golden monkey beside him that couldn't care less what others might see and think inside their dirty little brains once they see the Monkey King.
Most demons going to the mountain, well, beside the monkeys, didn’t even know that Wukong is The Monkey King to begin with.
Not that Wukong realized that.
He didn’t even notice how everyone that tried to get a jump on him never really referred to his title at all.
For example, now.
There was a random wolf demon launching itself from the nearby bush. Clearly didn’t know that both Macaque and Wukong had noticed him from miles away. Wukong, on his part, was unusually patient today. If it were not for him being a little more patient than usual, this idiot wolf would already be impaled by the staff immediately upon the golden monkey noticing him.
The wolf immediately locked his gaze to the golden monkey, a sight that seemed smug, his claw had already touched the fur and he was about to pinned Wukong down in a split second.
Macaque hated that look. The way they all would just seize the small stature of the golden monkey and immediately switch their brain off, and activate whatever instinct they have to seize the treasure right in front of their eyes.
This one treasure, however, has quite the fight. Unfortunately for them.
The wolf had only half of a second to pat himself on the back for almost pinning down the strongest being in this entire mountain. Before Wukong punched him straight in the head, bursting his skull with ease- that Wukong didn’t even need to get his staff out to deal with the small fry.
He didn’t even pause as he got back to his feet. “... I was hoping he could stand at least a couple of punches.” Wukong said, did very little to hide his disappointment. His tail swayed left and right in a rather rigid motion, a little irritated from the very short intermezzo that had his hand covered in dirty blood.
Macaque was quick to reach the bloodied hand, wiping it clean with a piece of cloth with a practiced ease. “You know very well it wasn’t really strong to begin with.”
Now then, Macaque could have just advised him that he could just handicap himself- use less power, limit his own ability. All the effort to make the fighting get a little more challenging. But he didn’t. Why would he?
That would only give the lowly demon more time to bask in the king’s presence.
The king in question, however, just pouted while letting Macaque clean up his hand. Macaque chuckled lightly, pulling on the king’s hand just a little. Leading him back to the path where they were going in the first place.
“Come now, aren’t we going to the river?”
That brightened the king fast, always such an easily distracted monkey, he is, really.
Golden eyes stared at him with a gleam of happiness, shining oh so brilliantly.
“Oh, so you will join me after all? That’s gonna be fun!”
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…
The same golden eyes looked at him judgingly, the frown was clear while Wukong probably held himself from pouting yet again. He had always had a rather stubborn attempt to curb the little brat attitude out of him just so people could see him as a more… ‘Kingly’ figure. It never really does anything, much for his pointless struggle.
But that's beside the point.
“You won't join? Why!”
Wukong asked him, clearly frustrated since Macaque kept rejecting his offer for quite some time now.
“Don’t worry about it, Bud! I will be close by. Just wash up by the river and I will get there later,” Macaque pushed him lightly to the river covered in the bushes. Wukong resisted just slightly, something that wasn’t all that surprising. He was probably about to argue some more.
So Macaque had to use his secret technique.
“I will bring you peaches later, how about that?”
It works like a charm, at least now Wukong looks a little less disappointed. “Two baskets of peaches, it will keep increasing next time!!” Wukong looked at him, challenged, Macaque just raised his eyebrows.
“Well, sure. Wait for your peaches.”
There were giggles that didn’t hide his excitement. Wukong quickly discards his garments, not really caring whether Macaque was technically still nearby and can see everything. They’re monkeys, after all.
Not that this was the big issue.
Wukong spared him one last look, his golden eyes gleaming as the little spec of sunlight caught it behind the lushes of tree leaves, making him look like a glistening gem that could not quite hide its charm. Wukong gave him a grin.
Or maybe Macaque was exaggerating.
He would admit he had always been rather dramatic.
Then without any more words, Wukong looked away and waved his hand, clearly having been too distracted to spare any more talk after he saw the fresh water running down the river.
Well then, it is time for Macaque to get on with the work.
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The weak had always been the loudest to scream.
Macaque quickly learns how to cut off those insufferable sounds from his sensitive ears. Binding his own keen sense to lessen the radius of the sound detected, making the wind cuts through less intense when they passed through him.
“Please, no more... I will leave him be. I didn’t know he was your mate-” The plea was the most aggravating.
Though, he supposed he did end up cutting the pathetic demon’s life short could be counted as mercy.
Little did these idiots know that the man they are gawking on, bask in the golden light and cheerful smile, is the Monkey King himself. They should have considered it lucky that it wasn’t Wukong himself that blew their head off the second they entered his vicinity. At least it spared them some dignity if they did believe Wukong is but a pretty looking thing.
“-!” Macaque looked behind him, noticing the grass moves slightly, the sound of hitched breath that panicked beyond belief.
There were more of them, it appeared to be. Macaque silently blends in the shadow, completely catching the enemies off guard by his disappearance. Multiple dark spots provided by the tree’s helps him to mapped out just how many of the left. There were only three of them, looking quite fit, but not too much magic to cover even the basis of hiding their presence properly.
Not even enough to detect him when Macaque launches his staff, that he had already duplicated to match the number of opponents.
They were impaled in no time at all. So much for trying to sneak on him, they are not even worthy of announcing their presence to the king.
Macaque quickly gathered their bodies and began moving. He had peaches to pick after all.
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…
He dumped the bodies in a rather shallow hole that he just dug. Not exactly fancy, not even any tombstone to remember. If anything, he didn’t even want Wukong to notice it to begin with.
But then, the sound of footsteps came nearby. Not too close yet, but enough that gives him time to tell who it belongs to. Whether it’s a foe or not, it was easy to distinguish by how they presented themselves as they walked. To be quiet and discreet, to be loud and boasting, to be steady and calculating.
This particular pair of feet tell him it belongs to a monkey. Familiar. Someone he should not harm.
”Well, well, you work a lot for someone that is supposed to be the king’s guest, Six Eared Macaque.”
General Liu's words were practiced and polite, his ever smiling face and easy demeanor gave the image of someone carefree and totally did not work on his shift. Yet Macaque put the last bit of dirt to cover his newest victim yet, then looked at the monkey general with a neutral expression.
That same calculating gaze, Macaque couldn’t really blame the monkey, really, he would do the same.
But two can play the game, if they really want to feign a cheerful demeanor, Macaque could also act according to their script.
”Thought you guys need a little pointer, given these bastards just being left roaming around freely.” Macaque looked at nearby trees, where there was another silhouette nearby, ever vigilant.
There was a twitch in those smiles worn by the general, Macaque didn’t even hide the way he went fully grinning. Being a guest is the best when it comes to this. Now he could have just walked toward a nearby orchard, the peaches wouldn’t just picked themselves now would they-
“The king could handle his affairs, he had made it clear to us.” General Liu finally replied back, now more earnest than before. He walked toward Macaque with less flattery and sighed. “Come out now, Beng, he surely already noticed us from miles away.”
General Liu vaguely pointed at his own ears, then a grumbled sound of protest coming out of the exact tree where Macaque noticed him anyway.
”Honestly, what do you actually plan to do, Six Eared Macaque?” This one was louder and bold, confident seeping into his step and his voice was steady and cut to the case. He didn’t even bother to hide the irks coming out of him. “I mean, great that my workload has been lifted by more than a half by how you wiped the floor with these tresspasser, but no one works for free. So what do you want exactly from doing all of this?”
Ah, so they were wary.
Someone strong and close to the king is someone that could harm the throne.
His intent, that they were seeking.
Then they shouldn’t be worried.
His ears move ever slightly, he looks around and notices the rest of the general had now gathered all around him.
Well, isn’t the situation suddenly becoming more dire.
“Perhaps we should entertain my idea from the start,” General Ma moved closer, her eyes were steady and her composure was firm. She looked at him. “Pray tell, Six Eared Macaque, you are aware that these individuals seek more than our king’s throne for themselves, right?”
”More like, they didn’t even realize he owned a throne to begin with.” Ba beside her sighed.
Before he could entertain them further with their questioning, there was a loud sound resonating all around the area. Something big had made an impact nearby, potentially endangering the mountain.
”Wukong-!”
Macaque moves quickly without sparing a second glance toward the generals.
One of them, he belatedly heard, murmuring something that stuck in his mind.
”Hah… it would be much easier if he would just outright stake a claim on the king himself.”
“Huh! General Ma, you want him to take our king as his-?“
He heard them rushing away to evacuate nearby villager monkeys, so Macaque instead focused his mind to find the very familiar sound of a stone heart beating just slightly faster than everyone else.
He knew very well that almost nothing around here could really harm Sun Wukong even if they tried, but he quickly found out nothing ever made sense in his mind when it came to Wukong. And so the moment he located the exact location Wukong was in, he dipped into the shadow and portalled himself right there.
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Wukong had the massive demon by the chokehold. Looking pretty much alright despite the lack of proper clothing. Just the red tunic pants hanging around his waist and covered down to his ankle. Wukong noticed him right away, grinning with one hand waving casually while the other tightly gripped the neck of a slowly dying demon.
“What takes you so long? Are you lost in your thoughts while taking a stroll?” One quick glance at Macaque’s hands, noticing the absence of his favorite fruit that was promised to him, Wukong just smiles it away. If anything, looking slightly more mischievous for no reason, Macaque raised one of his eyebrows.
Wukong throws the now completely limp big guy up to the air, preparing to deliver his final punch.
He destroys the guy’s head to torso until it's completely unrecognisable.
“Oops, I was trying to send him flying out of the mountain.”
Well, in that case, the guy will die either way. Though Macaque did not mention that.
“So….” Wukong said, eyes glinting in glee, he wiped his hand clean with the leaves, still didn’t bother to wear his clothes, golden fur shines along with the sunlight. Warm and soft, the owner of it looked at Macaque like he had won something, “My peaches?” His hand extended, demanding, despite knowing full well Macaque didn't have any with him.
”I- uh…” He could teleport some right away, Wukong knew this, but then he could not really pick the ripest peaches from the tree. He could sense them, thought it would take too much time by then he might as well teleport there himself-
“Hey, hey, relax. I know you haven’t picked any. So let’s go there now!” There was a tap on his shoulder, light and teasing. Wukong let out an easy laugh and a wave of hand, the wind followed along the trails of his joy, everything inside this mountain does. Macaque reaches out and stops Wukong from walking past him to get to the orchard.
”Put on clothes first, Your Majesty.” He can’t afford those lingering eyes of the demon trailing along as well when Wukong walked by. Looking like this.
Wukong probably did not catch the slight sourness in his tone, just giggling at the light jab on his status and walking back, taking his clothes and putting them on in no time.
”Alright, there, happy?”
Macaque just smiled at him. Giving a mocking bow that was quickly shoved to the side by a giggling Wukong.
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…
Their walk toward Wukong’s favorite peach garden was a surprisingly calm one.
Instead of chatting about all sorts of things, the newest gossip among the monkeys (that Macaque probably also somewhat had already heard but did not care enough to understand, it’s much more fun to listen to Wukong’s enthusiastic retelling of the story, if you don’t mind the potential misinformation along the way), about new adventure ideas, about whatever new celebration they should prepare, new treasure to take, new power to attain.
Wukong just hummed along the wind, walking in his leisure way with hand both supporting his head as he gazed at the trees and leaves, watching it fall to the ground.
He was thinking.
Macaque could guess, somewhat, things that Wukong was thinking about.
“I just killed some outsiders, you were still at the river so I didn’t want to bother you.” Macaque said, Wukong didn’t quite ask him anything, but the clues where all over the places, it’s not that difficult to piece together that Wukong probably was just wondering what he was trying to hide.
… Not that it was easy for him to be more open with information to begin with, it had already become quite the habit for him to stay vigilant, talk less, listen more, hide everything that he deemed weak.
“Hmph, but it would be much more fun to beat them up together…” It came off like a whine, with Wukong’s tail visibly swaying and lowering itself. It was fluffy out of the bath, just had finished fully dried up. Macaque chuckles, Wukong really just gonna complain about the smallest stuff.
But also, very easily distracted by just a small bit of something.
Wukong catches the sight of peaches from afar. “First one to get there-“
Macaque smirked and dove to his shadow without warning.
”Hey!!” Macaque could hear the sound of cold forming and dashing fast. He increased his speed to match.
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They ended up arriving almost at the same time, Macaque was sure he had been the first to arrive, considering he did in fact cheat just a tad bit by teleporting first before Wukong completely finishes with his countdown.
Not that Macaque mentioned that, he loves the banter, as silly as it was, just going back and forth giving reasons as to why they’re faster, on how the others cheat. How Macaque did in fact go off before the countdown fully finished, or how Wukong secretly asked the trees and winds to support him, make him faster, clearing his pathway to victory. It was but another day to their long lives, it was something much more mundane, nothing like how Macaque had lived his life before.
It used to be a complete silence, isolation from the world as he deemed them unworthy of his presence.
He used to just stay for years on end inside of his own shadow, perfectly covered from the world that was just full of endless repetitive actions. Demons would keep on taking and fighting, humans keep on praying and dying, the celestials would keep on demanding and expecting.
Quite frankly, he finds it ridiculous that after all of those years in isolation, the things that get him out of his own hiding are simple offers of peace and a life of absolute chaos. Things that Sun Wukong brings to people, really.
“Macaque! Bud?” Wukong was now above the trees, already having peaches on one hand. He tore one hair to transform them into a basket and put all of the peaches he deem ripe enough in there.
“Catch this!” He throws a couple of the peaches, Macaque easily catches them with his hands and tail, inspecting them, he was never really a big fan of how sweet the peaches are.
Wukong on the other hand had already helped himself to one big peach, letting the juices fall to his chin down to his neck, just humming happily as he tasted the freshly sweetness of its flesh.
Above the ground, up in the trees, basking in the little dusk of the light munching on his favorite fruit, Macaque thought Wukong looks… divine.
It was supposed to be a mundane thing, just the two of them eating peaches and enjoying each other’s company. He didn’t really understand when exactly this became something precious, something he didn’t mind happened for the rest of his life.
Staying like this, as long as he was with Wukong, it sounds like a dream.
”Hah… it would be much easier if he would just outright stake a claim on the king himself.”
“Huh! General Ma, you want him to take our king as his-?“
Their voices suddenly came to his mind yet again. Macaque let it sink in, giving it more thoughts as the usual calculating part of his brain began to tell him what could happen, what could go wrong, and if it could be possible.
He didn’t even know why he was considering their words.
He was a demon without a territory, for a starter. Not that he cannot earn a territory for himself, but Wukong is already a king in his own right. Macaque might have the power, but to become a royalty isn’t something that happened overnight. Well, unless you’re Sun Wukong, that is.
Not to mention the most important part would be whether Wukong would even entertain the idea.
It seems like his quiet has gathered enough attention from the king, Wukong had already jumped down the tree he was hanging on while Macaque was still debating in his mind.
“Hey, quit staring at the fruit, I picked the best one for you!” Wukong didn’t wait to pull him by the hand and lead him below the trees, the ginger quite literally pushed him to sit and just shove a basket of his very own favorite fruit to Macaque’s lap, then proceed to sit beside him. Picking one random peach out of the basket and began munching on it.
Macaque followed his suit, biting onto the one that had already on his hand, tasting the sweetness bursting from the skin. Wukong just grinned beside him, looking super smug for a guy that had a mouthful of peach he was still munching in his mouth.
“Super tasty, right?”
He said, cheerful and easy, like he had nothing in the world that could wear him down. Shining ever so brightly that the sunlight tries to catch his very being, mistakenly taking him for the sun itself.
Macaque, as a shadow magic user, had always been drawn to the light. Never to reach, just to bask in its light and feel the warmth. Or else, he might be burned.
He might already be about to be, now that he was sitting ever so close.
Macaque looked at the sky, it was clear blue and vast, with the clouds just hanging lazily on the side. A perfect sunny day.
For a moment, there was only quietness filled the air. Macaque could feel his shoulder weighing a little, Wukong had already fallen asleep, the rest of the peaches were falling beside him. Macaque put the basket down, hand slowly working itself to the side of Wukong’s shoulder, hugging him closer. He rested his head on top of the yellow bonnet. Starting to doze off himself.
Maybe this is all he will ever have.
Maybe that’s all that mattered.
He closes his eyes.