#im sure wukong left to go get some calming tea to share with everyone 😁

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Being in the situation Dove is in with Tripitaka, she tries to handle Red Boy a bit more delicately than she has with other demons. Mostly it's because he's a kid, and she doesn't have it in her to punt the boy as easily as the Monkey King. Instead, she breaks out of her holding cell (an easy feat when you can become a bird at will) and looks for a way out along with her confiscated weapons.

Unfortunately, the cave is pretty secure, with several guards posted along the way to the exit. It would be fine if it was just her, but with Tripitaka and no weapons, it'd be a challenge. So when she stumbles upon Red Boy consulting one of his demons on what to do next, she starts to think of another way to get the both of them to safety.

Dove Masterlist:

Negotiations

With little time to waste, you fly back into your cell with Tripitaka and turn back, testing the door a bit to make sure it’s still locked. Tripitaka frowns as you ensure the two of you are locked in. “What did you find?”

“A way out, but I couldn’t find my bow or dagger.” You turn back to him with an annoyed look. This whole situation wouldn’t have you feeling so vulnerable if you could at least have your dagger with you, but you might still be able to make this work without any weapons. “It’s alright, though, I have a plan.”

Before you’re able to elaborate, the two of you are alerted to footsteps quickly approaching. When you turn to face the new arrivals, you find Red Boy with another demon quickly following after him, this one also sharing some bull-like features.  The boy stands in front of your cell and you cross your arms, careful not to touch the burn on your arm. You know what he’s here for, he was going to come for it eventually, and you already know what to say.

He’s quiet at first, a stubborn frown fixed over his features as he stares at you. Tripitaka looks between the two of you in a bit of confusion, unsure of what’s happening and conflicted on whether or not he should be concerned over what may happen next. Finally, the boy huffs. “I would like to talk with you, Miss.”

You let out a ‘hmph,’ looking away to play up your disinterest a bit. “I do not feel like talking with you.”

“You’re my prisoner, you have to listen to me!” The boy huffs, and when you sneak a glance at him, you see a slight steam coming off his shoulders. Whatever that fire was from before, it seems to be heavily connected to his emotions. Or, rather, his anger.

Keeping up the bored facade, you tilt your head a bit and look back at him. “Hhm, no. I already know what you want, and I can’t.” You hold up your injured arm for him to see. “You burnt me, remember? My gift won’t work if I’m injured.”

Is it a bold-faced lie? Only slightly, but Red Boy doesn’t seem to pick up on that. Instead, he glares at you, and you return the look with a smirk. 

Finally, he gives in and turns to the other bull demon. “Go send for someone to look at her hand.” He orders, not bothering to wait for them to follow through before whipping back to watch you. “But don’t even think about running! I have my men everywh–”

Before he can finish, the entire cave begins to shake and everyone in the room loses their footing. You manage to catch yourself, Red Boy doing the same. He looks back towards where he came from, the both of you knowing the source of such a sudden quake.

You glance back at Tripitaka, half-amused. Before you left to scout out the cave, he mentioned that all the both of you had to do was wait for his disciples to rescue you. Sitting around to wait felt counter-productive to you, but it seems he was right to just wait after all.

The creaking of the cell door pulls you back into the moment, and you turn back in time for the bull demon to grab you by your good arm and pull you out. He closes the door behind you while Red Boy runs ahead to his other guards posted by the hall. “Get the carts outside and make sure neither of the humans leave! I have to take care of their friends.”

The boy runs out to prepare for your friends, and you manage to glance back at Tripitaka quickly before you’re pushed into the hall. You’re taken through twists and turns, and you do your best to remember the rooms you pass by, you still have to find where they took your weapons before leaving. You originally planned to handle Red Boy more delicately, but if the others have already found you, it would be better to find your things quickly so you won’t have to waste any more time here.

Eventually, you are taken into a furnished room where you’re sat down. The bull demon escorting you pulls aside another demon, speaking to them in a hushed voice before taking his leave. You watch him leave, half-wondering whether or not now was the time to fight your way out before dismissing the idea. Tripitaka seems confident that his disciples will get to the both of you just fine, and if your arm can be treated now, you’ll take it.

It doesn’t take long for the demon you’re left with to start cleaning your arm and putting your burn into a soaked wrap. It’s quiet in the room, but the same cannot be said for whatever chaos is unfolding outside. You can’t quite hear what’s being said, but you’re able to distinguish the voices from Wukong, Pigsy, and Red Boy, their words sounding colourful by the way they were yelling.

You expect your friends will already take care of the demons here by the time you’re done being tended to. It’d be even better if you run into Wukong while they’re on their way to get them, you could even save them the time looking and lead them back to Tripitaka yourself.

You’re not sure when it happens, but the voices outside quiet. It must be over, then. After your burn is done being dressed, you can leave and find them somewhere in the cave.

But that doesn’t happen. Instead, you’re surprised to find Red Boy walking into the room holding the side of his face. He seems a little bruised, he has a black eye and there’s a bit of blood running down the side of his mouth but, surprisingly, he seems fine.

“Are you alright, Great King?” The one wrapping your arm finishes with you before hurrying over to their leader.

If he’s still here, then what happened to your friends? “I am fine.” He grumbles, doing his best to stifle a yawn. He moves his hand down from his face, and you see more bruising around his cheek. “Just a little tired. Those disciples were barely worth the fight.” That’s not something you want to hear.

“Let me look at your face, we can get you fixed up in a moment.” The demon has him sit down next to you and the boy looks down at your arm.

He only looks for a second before turning away to continue the conversation, wiping the blood from his mouth. “Don’t bother! I’m barely even hurt.”

You can see a dribble of red coming from his nose now. “Did one of them hit you in the face?” You finally speak, the boy snapping his head to look over when you do.

He looks almost a little proud as he answers, holding his head up high. “No, I did.”

…That isn’t something to sound happy about. “It helps me control my power, the True Fire of Samadhi.” He explains, rather boastfully.

His apparent victory in his fight with the others seems to have him in a good mood. If they’re struggling to beat the kid, you may as well continue with your more ‘delicate’ plan. He did respond to you better when you still thought he was a human child. “I don’t believe I’ve heard of it.”

“What? Never?!” His voice cracks in surprise, it takes some strength not to giggle when it happens.

“Nope.”

“It’s like, the most powerful fire ever!”

“Hmm, I find that hard to believe.”

“But it’s the truth!”

You shrug in your ruse of disbelief. “I don’t know what to tell you. I am more of a, ‘see it to believe it’ kind of person.” His claim of this fire being so powerful feels like a stretch to you, but you cannot deny that it has to be something special if it helped him fight off your friends.

“I would show you, but I might kill you just from the smoke alone.” He giggles, a mischievous look crossing his features. “Even that smelly old monkey couldn’t handle it.”

“He is pretty smelly, isn’t he?” You grin, the boy nodding as he returns the expression. Though, you can’t help but feel a twinge of unease at his claim. Since when does Sun Wukong have trouble with fire?

Maybe he’s exaggerating. “So, to use this fire… you have to punch yourself?” You ask, the boy’s grin dropping at the question.

“It’s more complicated than that.” He looks away, his eyes darting to different corners of the room. “I, uh, I’m still figuring it out.”

You hum in response to his words, looking back at the demon who seems to be looking for something in their stash of supplies. “Your headache must be terrible, huh?”

“I’ve dealt with worse.” He frowns, and you let your gaze drift around the room.

“Still, I could help with that.” You speak casually, waiting for his response. It wouldn’t take too much out of you to heal some bruising and a black eye. It wouldn’t take the same amount of strain as healing eyes or a poisoned flesh wound. Besides, if you say the right things, this may go exactly how you want it to.

You can feel Red Boy’s eyes on you, suspicion laced in his voice. “Not until you get better, right?”

“I could try, I might just become a little tired.” You look back to meet his narrowed gaze.

“Why should I believe you?” He frowns. “You tried to stab me!”

“After you kidnapped my friend and I, then tell us how you planned to eat him.” You raise a brow at his reasons for distrust, crossing your arms. “I’m sorry you were so hurt by me threatening you, but how would you react if someone did the same to you?”

You’re not given a response to that. Not a verbal one, at least. His mouth opens to speak, likely in retaliation before it closes again and he looks away with a pout. You can see his mind working from where you sit, his eyes drifting from one place to the next in thought.

After giving him a moment to think, you offer a smile. “Listen, despite the kidnapping and burning, you do seem like you might be a good– albeit mischievous– kid.” He looks back to you as you continue. “I might be convinced to use my gift and give you what you want…”

Red Boy quickly brightens at that. “So you’ll do it?!”

“Not so fast.” You shake your head, and his face drops a bit in disappointment. “I have something you want, and you have something I want. I feel as though this means that negotiations are in order.”

His eyes narrow at the suggestion. “What do you want?” Good, he’s open to it. You half-expected he would shut you down after everything else he’s done so far.

You look down to your hands before answering his question. “It’s simple, for the last few years of my life, I’ve only had one goal. To help the Tang Monk however I can in retrieving the scriptures that wait for him in the Thunderclap Monastery. I can’t do that if he’s dead.” You deadpan.

Red Boy frowns, already knowing where you’re going with this. “So if you were to free us so that we may continue our journey, I’d happily use my gift for you.”

The boy pouts, his hands clutching his kilt. “You don’t understand how long I’ve waited for him! I could become immortal now, all I have to do is have him steamed and–”

“Let me ask you this, Red Boy.” You cut him off before he can describe any more and rest a hand on his. “Do you have anyone you deeply care for?”

His face scrunches up at that, a little confused maybe. “What?”

“Any family? Friends whom you would do anything for?” You press, the boy’s eyes fall to the floor in thought. You can see the thoughts running in his mind.

“All this time you’ve spent waiting for Tripitaka, I have spent on the road with him and our friends.” You smile, leaning down a bit to the boy as you continue. “I care very deeply for them. Hah, at this point, I’m starting to think of them as family. How would you react if someone told you they plan to cook one of your loved ones and then immediately ask you for a favour?” You ask, your voice becoming a bit more stern at the end.

He’s still silent, maybe contemplating your words, so with a sigh you throw in something to help your case a bit more. “At least Sun Wukong would have the manners to keep such upsetting plans to himself.”

“Hey, I have plenty more manners than that monkey!” He jumps up pretty quick, his eyes wide in what looks like offence. “He’s just some mangy ape, I was raised properly, as a prince!”

You have to look away to hide your grin, not expecting his reaction to be so intense. Wukong really fires this kid up, huh? “He is technically the Monkey King.” You shrug in his defence.

“His subjects probably eat the fleas off each other’s backs.” You can’t help but giggle at that one. Red Boy is definitely quick with his words, it’s pretty funny.

Still, you shake your head. “Are you and your subjects any more civilised if you eat humans?”

“Plenty of demons do!” He defends, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation.

You cross your arms with a proud smile. “Not my friends, not Wukong.”

You make sure to add a little emphasis to the Great Sage’s name. It seems like the two really get under each other’s skin, as though Wukong throwing the boy off the mountain wasn’t proof enough of that. It’s clear that it’s working by the way Red Boy huffs out a puff of smoke through his nose. It’s a little cute, if you’re being honest. 

Laying a hand on his shoulder, you continue to press on. “I imagine my friends will keep coming anyway, and we’ve yet to meet any demon that has stopped us for long.”

“You haven’t met any demons like me!” He huffs, crossing his arms as he sits back down.

A hum escapes as you consider his words. “Maybe, but unless your men can rival the power of the heavenly army, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.” His frown deepens at that, but you keep going. “All this fighting can be avoided, you just have to let Tripitaka and I go. I’ll use my gift to patch you up, heck, maybe I could explain a bit of how it works.”

That gets his face to brighten, his brows shooting up as he faces you with wide eyes. “Really?”

The reaction takes you a bit off-guard, but it’s difficult to not crack a smile at his child-like wonder. He is a child, after all. A very powerful child with no real restrictions or anyone to tell him what to do. No wonder he acts the way he does. You can just imagine the things you would have done at his age if you were given the same power and lack of restrictions. The world would be on fire.

“You strike me as the curious type. I wouldn’t mind telling you a bit about it, given that you let us walk free.” You offer, waiting for his answer.

The boy’s face scrunches up a bit as he looks away, seemingly in thought. He hums, his eyes flying from one place to the next while he contemplates your offer. You wait patiently for the boy, this may go smoother than you were expecting. Tripitaka and you might be back with the others before nightfall, you can already imagine the look on Sun Wukong’s face. The Great Sage seeing the two of you after he had to retreat from Red Boy’s fire, after he acted like you were someone he was in charge of protecting. That comment about your strength bugged you a little more than you wanted it to.

“Do you promise?” Red Boy brings you back into the moment, and you nod with a warm smile.

You place a hand over your heart. “I swear my life on it. I wouldn’t be that good of a person if I didn’t keep my word. Can I trust you to keep yours?”

“…Yes?”

Cute, but not good enough. “How about this, Red Boy? Release Tripitaka, and once I have confirmation that he is safe, I’ll use my gift for you. I don’t leave until I do what you want, and you don’t get what you want until I know my friend is safe. Does that sound fair?” You hold out a hand to him, the boy looking down at it and back to you.

He grumbles something under his breath in annoyance, but takes your hand. “Okay.”

With the deal made, you smile and Red Boy calls to the one who tended to your arm. “You, have the monk brought here now.”

“Yes, sir.” The demon nods before exiting the room. You find yourself a little relieved this worked, it isn’t often that talking with a man-eating demon works out as well as this seems to be going.

The demon quickly returns, followed by the same bull demon from before holding Tripitaka by his arm. Your friend spots you sitting next to the young demon, a look of confusion crossing his face when he does. “What do you want with him, sir?” The bull demon asks.

“I am going to let him go.” Tripitaka’s eyes go wide at that, his gaze flicking between you and the fiery-haired boy in a state of bafflement that you can only smirk at. The monk seemed so calm in the cell before, claiming that he’s become used to the routine of being taken and then saved. This must be an unusual development for him.

The bull demon seems just as confused as your friend. “You want me to what?”

“Do not make me repeat myself!” Red Boy huffs, some more smoke escaping his nose. “Take him to the stream outside the cave. He should be able to find his disciples if he follows the water downstream, I saw them fleeing in that direction after our fight.”

A little perplexed, the bull demon nods before turning with Tripitaka in hand. He begins to walk out with the monk, but stops as Tripitaka turns back. “Wha– Wait, I cannot go on my own, not without my friend!”

Red Boy frowns in irritation. “I still have business with her.”

“It’s alright, Tripitaka.” You call out to him as he’s pushed further out of the room. “Just go find the others, I’ll be with you all in a few hours!”

He isn’t given the chance to respond before he’s taken away. Once he’s gone, Red Boy stands up and looks at you with a somewhat disappointed sigh. “You want confirmation of his safe return, right?”

“Yes.” You nod, and he looks down before offering you his hand.

“Come with me, we can watch him and make sure he makes it back to your friends safely.” He mumbles, seemingly upset with having lost the Golden Cicada.

“Thank you, Red Boy.”  You give the boy a pat on the head, ruffling his hair a bit. “I’m glad you decided not to, um, eat my friend.”

Red Boy shrinks back at the gesture, fixing you with a puzzled look before a small smile cracks over his face. He clears his throat with a bit of a proud look before guiding you out of the room and towards the exit of the cave. By the time you get outside, you’re greeted by stone steps leading down to the bank of a wide stream, a large field scorched black on the other side of it. Trees line the field, some of them partially or completely burnt. The opening to the cave seems to be carved into a cliffside.

The boy is quick to lift his free hand into the air and summon a flaming cloud. The sudden heat and fire that spits from it surprises you and you jump back before you have another chance to get burnt. A cloud of fire… this must have been the ball of fire Sun Wukong saw. 

Red Boy looks back at you when you move away, then he looks back to his fire cloud with a frown. “Oh, right. Hmm…”

“It’s alright, just give me a moment.” You wave slightly in reassurance before changing into your dove form. You fly over to the boy and land on his head to protect yourself from the flames.

He giggles when you do, shaking a bit in amusement. It’s pretty cute, but he forces himself to stop and clears his throat. “Your bird feet feel weird on my head, sorry.” Aww, it’s almost funny to think this kid gave you and your friends any trouble.

Perched on his head, the two of you fly off on the cloud of fire. It takes no time to spot Tripitaka following the stream downhill, none the wiser to you and his previous captor spying on him. You continue to watch, making sure he avoids any wild animals or other demons until he eventually stumbles across Pigsy and Sandy with Ao Lie.

The reunion is sweet, the two demons running to crush their master with a hug. Despite the confirmation of his safe return, you want to frown. Where is Sun Wukong? Why isn’t he with his brothers? That’s… worrying. Why would he be separated from the others in the first place?

You’re not given much time to dwell on it when Red Boy huffs. “There, he’s safe now. Let’s go back.” He sharply turns and begins the flight back to his cave, leaving your friends to fulfil your end of the deal. As you fly back, you can’t help but wonder about your simian friend.

It worries you that he isn’t there, but not that he might be in trouble. You worry about the opposite. If he isn’t with Bajie and Wujing, what could he be doing right now?