[I cut the episode in half bc it was way too long and I didn't want to discourage you in any way (I know I'd feel discouraged just looking at how long it is)]
"Now here me out-"
Monkey quietly groaned and rolled his eyes. He really wanted to tell Wu-peng to shut up, but (Y/n) (along with half of the soldiers here) also seemed interested in these hypotheticals.
"You turn yourself into a bag, I put things in the bag then you turn back into you, what happens to the things?"
"Oh that's a good one!" she pointed at her childhood friend then pointed at him. "What happens to the things?"
"You know," Monkey ran a hand through his hair. "because learning the Tao was illegal, my good master in his great mercy, centuries ago, taught me this shapeshifting power so I could hide from the army of Heaven. And when I mastered it he made me promise to never come back and to never speak his name so that I could protect him and my fellow disciples. It was a really heart breaking moment in my long long life..." he slowly inhaled. "And you," he exhaled. "are asking me what would happen if I were to use this precious ability to be a backpack. Yeah okay great, this is the level we're at now." he turned away.
"S-Sun Wukong Sir, I'm sorry, I forgot!" Wu-peng bowed his head, feeling bad.
But (Y/n) wasn't buying it. The 'I had a long and tragic life, now I'm all serious' card was never going to work on her. Not anymore now that she came to know him.
"So you're telling me that when you were taught this ability, you didn't use it to mess around? Even back then?"
"Listen!" he suddenly looked at her. "Can't a monkey have a peaceful breakfast for once?!"
"Since when do you want a peaceful anything?"
He didn't respond. With all the soldiers chatting and having fun as they ate breakfast, he didn't want to join them by matching their enthusiasm.
"And for your question, the things get under my shirt." he said before taking a sip of his drink, looking away.
(Y/n) smiled.
"I knew it!" Wu-peng hit his knee with a smile. "That makes sense!" he nudged one of his comrades.
After a lively breakfast, she helped her friends dismantle the tents and pack up. She was a bit disappointed when she discovered they didn't have any horses (because you had to be of a certain rank to get one), but with the idea of going back home, everything else was pushed aside. Seeing her talk with her childhood friends about how excited she was, Monkey (for some unknown reasons) felt peeved by that.
'What's so special about this village anyway?' he clicked his tongue, his arm folded.
"Alright, just so everyone's up to speed:" Shen addressed his brigade before they left the camp. "We're going to the top of the mountain and we're gonna use the scale to call upon a dragon which will take us to the village." he looked at Monkey. "We hope you can be our spokesperson for this, since you've encountered a lot of dragons in your travels."
Monkey quickly glanced at (Y/n). He shrugged.
"Can't say for sure we'll be all buddy-buddy but yeah sure."
"Awesome! Onward boys, to adventure!"
It took only half-an-hour for Monkey to realize that these young men never went out on their own. To be fair, they had the basics down: like how they were formed in a way that made them able to notice a threat coming from every possible angle, how they'd inspect weird scratches on a tree trunk, or how they put (Y/n) in the middle of the group to protect her. He could tell they all studied hard on how to survive in the wild. But he could tell they never really left their training camp before. And it was getting on his nerves.
"Wait!"
The whole group suddenly stopped. Monkey loudly groaned. This was the eighth time they stopped now.
"What is it now?! Did you see a spider web?! The sunlight got in your eyes?!"
"There's rustling coming from up that tree!" the soldier pointed up.
Everybody looked up. Leaves were falling down from the branches. While the brigade got into a fighting stand, some of them aiming their arrows upwards, (Y/n) squinted her eyes to try and see what was up there.
"Oh my lord." Monkey grumbled in frustration, shaking his head as he stomped over to the tree.
With a sharp kick on the trunk, the tree and the earth shook. He then extended an arm and a round little ogre fell onto his hand, as big as a baby, holding a dead bird by the neck. The soldiers gasped in panic and (Y/n) stood on her tippy-toes to watch the scene.
"Seriously?" his eyebrows lowered in a deadpan expression at their reaction before talking to the little ogre. "How old are you?"
"S-six." the boy managed to say, his eyes filled with tears. "I was just hu-hungry."
"Sorry for the scare kid. These guys don't know what they're doing." he put him down and gently patted his head, smiling to try and reassure him. "Now go back to your mama, she must be worried."
The demon child nodded and quickly glanced at the brigade before running away.
The group watched the child run, bewildered. Monkey looked back at them and rolled his eyes.
"You guys really need to chill." he walked through the group and wrapped an arm around (Y/n)'s shoulders, pulling her with him. "You know (Y/n) was super paranoid too, but that lasted two seconds because she realized 'oh yeah, I am with *the* Sun Wukong'." once they were at the head of the line, and a few steps ahead, he looked back at them with a smirk and a hint of mockery. "So just follow us and try not to scare the children again."
(Y/n) frowned and shook his arm off.
"Please excuse him, he's a control freak." she bowed to the soldiers.
"Am not." he casually said with a hand on his hip. "I just hate it when the wrong guy's in charge."
Some men looked down in shame, other looked embarrassed, but Bao clenched his fists with a frown. Sensing some tension, Shen, big brother that he was, stepped ahead and faced his men.
"Guys, come on, it's our first time in the wild, obviously we're not experts. The rogues weren't gonna teach us anything but-"
"Oh, Monkey could teach you!" (Y/n) pointed at him.
He suddenly looked at her with big eyes, he was about to protest but Shen kept going.
"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Shen looked at her then back at them. "The Great Sage Sun Wukong here has traveled all of China for centuries, surely he's the master of masters when it comes to traveling in the wild. It's truly a blessing that he came to us."
Monkey tilted his head, scratching the underside of his nose, flattery could get you anywhere with him. But his look of pleasantness went away when the men got all up in his face. So close he had to lean back.
"Master Great Sage! Please teach us the ways!" they pleaded.
(Y/n) couldn't help but chuckle.
"What's so great about him?" Bao, who stayed in his corner, mumbled.
"Well, he is Sun Wukong." she smiled and shrugged.
Bao's frown deepened.
Monkey heard their little exchange and felt his heart make a light jump. He took a big step back and cleared his throat.
"Master Great Sage does roll off the tongue." he smiled to himself proudly as he said that. "Alright, I'll teach you."
The men cheered and were about to surround him before he pointed his staff at them, stopping them from taking another step.
"You know what's the best way of learning?" he asked, raising his index. "By observing. So do just that while I'm busy being a natural master. Just stay at a staff's distance."
They all nodded, (Y/n) smiled at how happy they looked. She started to walk back to Shen and a few other soldiers, with who she was having a conversation earlier. But Monkey didn't let her.
"Where are you going? Stay." he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her with him again as they marched on, the group following behind them.
"Why?" she asked, a bit confused, but then smile. "Are you feeling left out because I made new friends?"
"Me? Never." he frowned. "If anything, I'm doing you a favor by pulling you away from the losers club." he whispered, leaning closer to her.
'What's wrong with having some company? They got plenty back there.' was what he was really thinking, but he didn't even put that thought into words.
She took his wrist between the tip of her index and her thumb and gently removed his arm.
"Oh but I wouldn't want to bother the master while he's doing master things." she said with a playful tone.
"Come on now, don't sell yourself short." he smiled, matching her tone. "You've traveled with me for a long time now, so now you're technically the best student I have here. They could learn a thing or two from you." he nodded to the side.
Even though she believed he was at least half-joking, she felt a certain pride when he said that. She chuckled. Meanwhile, in the back, Bao was not looking too happy. He really wanted to say something but he didn't want to cause a scene. His two sworn brothers noticed the look on his face and they each put a hand on his shoulders.
"Calm down." Shen said. "It's not like you can just keep her to yourself."
"But that's exactly what *he*'s doing." he said between his teeth.
"Okay dude, chill." Wu-peng lightly shook his head. "That might be what he wants to do, but she's obviously staying with him of her own volition right now." he gestured towards her.
"If you say something now, it'll offend her."
Bao's eyebrows furrowed. Making (Y/n) anything other than happy was the last thing he wanted. He calmed down and his two friends sent each-other a look before facing forward.
After a little while, Monkey suddenly stopped, the men behind him stopped s well, some bumped into each-other. They all looked at him as he stared to the side.
"What is it?" (Y/n) asked, following his gaze.
"...wait."
Soon after, quick and heavy footsteps were heard. The men seemed agitated but Monkey was as calm as ever and (Y/n) trusted his judgement. In the distance, an adult mountain ogre was running towards them. The humans thought it was pretty close but at some point they realized that the ogre was indeed far away, it was just really really big, the size of Monkey's ape form.
"Um," now (Y/n) began to get nervous. "why is this one so gigantic?"
"It's a female." Monkey responded. "Alright," he was ready to transform but then he took a step to the side, wanting to see how his new students fight. "get ready boys."
The soldiers quickly and clumsily got into formation, and ran towards the demon, the archers staying back.
'Good form.' he noted.
Suddenly, his eyes widen when he noticed the little ogre from earlier on her back. Just then, the archers took aim.
"Shit." he whispered sharply to himself before waving his staff towards the archers. "Don't kill her! She's a mom, she's got the kid with her!" he yelled out as he ran into the battle.
"So what, do we reason with her?!" Bao asked, knowing she wasn't very cooperative at the moment.
"Obviously not! We just stop her!"
But even so, the mother wouldn't let anyone near her and when she hit, she hit hard. The will of protecting (or in this case, avenging) your child would make anyone stronger.
'I could just transform, but I don't wanna hurt the kid.' he thought, his lips pursued.
He got an idea and turned towards (Y/n), then gasped when the ogre mom targeted her. He watched as Bao almost blindly ran and stood between them, he didn't even think of shielding himself from whatever hit will land on him. He just stood there like a child protecting his friend from bullied. In a second, Monkey was in front of him and blocked her attack with his staff, he glanced back at him.
"What were you hoping to accomplish exactly?!"
Bao just looked at him with big eyes, as if he just realized what he did. (Y/n) was also curious, but Monkey didn't wait for a response.
"(Y/n), paper seal!" he exclaimed as the ogre mother moved on and started to attack the other soldiers who tried to hit her from behind.
She quickly looked around, her eyes landed on a nearby tree.
"Got it!" she ran towards it and started to climb it at an incredible speed.
Understanding what she was planning, Monkey called out for the ogre and tried to lead her towards the tree. Some of the soldiers followed his lead (Shen and Wu-peng included), other watched, rather confused (Bao included). Now crouching on a branch, (Y/n) took out her last paper seal and waited for an opening. When the demon was right beneath her, she prepared herself.
'Hopefully her skin isn't that tough.' she thought before jumping.
She landed right beside the ogre child and placed the seal on the mother's back. She immediately dropped down. (Y/n) let out a sigh of relief and just then noticed the kid, she smiled.
"Don't worry, she's alright." she said before looking down at her and upping her volume. "I'm very sorry, I'll get off your back now!"
Meanwhile, Monkey looked at Bao. Their eyes locked for a short moment. Monkey clicked his tongue with a look of disapproval and turned back to (Y/n), helping her down the demon's back.
"I apologize for kicking your son off the tree." Monkey bowed as the ogre mom watched him with a frown. "But you know, these idiots started it by threatening to shoot him down." he pointed at the soldiers beside him with his thumb before ordering them: "Apologize!"
"We're very sorry!" they all bowed down, (Y/n) did too.
After making sure she won't try and kill them all (she only responded with nods and groans) they removed the seal and her and the kid went on their way. (Y/n) waved goodbye, the kid waved back. The group decided to take a break after this exciting event. She looked around for Bao, wanting to talk about what happened with him, but she couldn't find him. She asked Shen and he said he wanted some alone time. Respecting that, she went back to Monkey.
"Why did you apologize?" he asked, nudging her. "You didn't do anything."
"I jumped on her back, that's rude."
"Yeah but you had to. *They*" he nodded towards the soldiers. "didn't have to be so fidgety. I swear, if I hadn't taken the lead, it would've taken us weeks to get to the top of this mountain."
"Oh come on, cut them some slack. It's their first time."
"They had, what, a month to train? You're telling me they didn't have any training on the field to get used to these situations?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Right, I see your point. But like you said, I was just like them at first." she lightly nudged him back. "So just give them time, I'm sure they'll get the hang of it."
He just silently sighed through his nose. Then he noticed the big smile on her face.
"What?" he couldn't help but smile too.
"Nothing I'm just..." she looked at him. "I'm just so excited to go back to the village."
His smiled faded slightly, his eye twitching. Again with that village.
"What's wrong?" (Y/n) noticed him zoning off.
"You do know you're about to see a *dragon* right?"
"R-Right!" she bashfully scratched her head. "I can't wait for that too but, you know, you'd be just as exited as me if you could go back to Flower Fruit Mountain!"
Obviously, he wasn't heartless, he understood what she was feeling. The difference was that this was Flower Fruit Mountain, and from what he heard, her village was tiny and in the middle of nowhere. In his mind, you just couldn't compare the two. But he didn't want to offend her so he just changed the subject. Meanwhile, Bao was sitting by himself, staring at nothing.
'What were you hoping to accomplish exactly?!' Monkey's words echoed in his mind, along with the look he gave him.
He frowned.
"You wouldn't get it." he whispered.
When they reached the mountain top, grey clouds were covering the sky, little drops of rain drizzled down and the wind started to pick up. (Y/n) took a moment to admire the landscape, beautiful despite the weather. Monkey called out for her and gestured her to come closer. She stood by his side and took out the scale from her pocket.
"Now what?"
"Blow on it."
"Uh, like a whistle?" she frowned, confused, looking at it from different angle and wondering how she could do that.
"Yeah, like this," he placed his hand perpendicular to his mouth. "like you'd blow on a blade of grass."
With a little 'oh~' she nodded and placed the scale accordingly.
"And not just a little phew." he added. "Use your whole lungs!"
She leaned back a little bit to take a deep breath, then blew on it. It made no audible sound but Monkey flinched, as if startled by something. She figured humans just couldn't hear it. It created a powerful gust of wind, pushing all the soldiers away and separating the clouds above them. (Y/n) and soldiers gasped. Three dragons were flying high above them, they looked down at them but that's about it, each were of different colors. The group of humans looked up in awe, for a moment, they just watched this spectacle they knew they'd only see once in a lifetime, wanting to bury this majestic sight into their mind forever. For a minute, no one said anything, but a sense of wonder was filling this silence.
"No green though." Monkey finally said.
"Did they also lose a scale?" (Y/n) asked.
"Nah, those three are working. One for the wind," he pointed at each of them. "one for the clouds and one for the rain. The one we're looking for will respond shortly."
He noticed she kept looking at the dragons, her eyes full of stars. He couldn't help but smile.
"Ayo is that my scale I heard?!"
The group looked over to see a green and white dragon fly fast towards them. Maybe a little too fast, Monkey instinctively protected (Y/n) in case they crashes into the mountain. Luckily, they stopped just in time. They looked very enthusiastic, oblivious to the horrible accident they almost caused.
"Oh sick! I've been looking everywhere for it!"
"For a scale?" Monkey raised an eyebrow. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Haha right?! I just hate owing people favors. But y'know, dragon code and all. If I don't follow it I die!" they laughed.
(Y/n) looked at Monkey with a look of horror.
"That's not true." he whispered, leaning towards her.
She sighed, relieved it was just a joke.
"So what now?" she asked, showing them the scale. "Do I give it back to you?"
"I mean~," their smile widen, leaning back in a more chill pose. "it'd be really cool if you did."
"Unfortunately, we're not *that* nice." Monkey placed a hand on her forearm, gently lowering it, then looked at her. "If we give it back now, they won't be obligated to give us a ride. We have to give it back once we got our two-way travel."
"I'm just saying." they shrugged before leaning towards them. "So where'd you wanna go?"
The four childhood friends were ready to give out very specific directions. Luckily, dragons flew a lot, so just a few landmarks were enough for them to identify exactly where the village was.
"Alright gang, hop on!" the dragon landed, waiting for their passengers, after altering their appearance to be larger so that all the "gang" would fit on their back.
"Thank you very much uh..." Bao bowed then looked up at them. "I'm sorry what's your name?"
"Yusheng."
"Thank you Yusheng." Bao and (Y/n) said at the same time.
They looked at each-other and chuckled. Monkey rolled his eyes, along with Wu-Shen and Shen, although they looked more amused than him. With one jump, he was sitting crossed legged on Yusheng's back, his chin rest on the palm of his hand, tapping his index on his cheek with a look of impatience. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow, does he not like traveling on dragons' backs?
'Maybe he's too used to his somersault cloud.' she thought.
Bao helped her up and she sat between him and Monkey.
"Alright~ everybody ready?" Yusheng asked.
"Just one thing..." Monkey stood up. "Hey! Hey!"
The three dragons looked at him.
"Could you clear the sky a bit?!" he worded this request as a order more than a question. "It's the humans' first flight and you're gonna make it all depressing?!"
'Oh, that must be why he's grumpy.' (Y/n) thought.
"Sun Wukong, Great Sage." one of the dragons said. "We understand, but we're just doing our job here. The rain is supposed to stop in just a bit though."
Monkey frowned, his eyes narrowed.
"We're really sorry."
"You don't have to lick his boots." his colleague whispered. "He doesn't have his powers."
"Hey assholes! I *can* hear you, and I *can* turn into a bird, fly up there, pick out your eyeballs then turn back into my handsome self to smash your skulls in! Do not mess with me!" he raised his fists into the air.
"Monkey, it's okay." (Y/n) tugged on his tunic, making him look at her, she smiled. "Flying is flying, it's going to be amazing no matter what."
"Exactly, flying's dope! Never gets old!" Yusheng added. "Also, I can just take you guy above the clouds no problem.
After a short moment of silence, he sighed and sat back down. She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, but she did snicker.
"What?" he asked.
"You reminded me of Shu-hui when he was being bullied by that crane." she said, trying not to laugh.
"Oh please." he rolled his eyes, smiling. "I'm the one who bullies, don't get it twisted."
"What are you talking about?" Bao asked, leaning over a bit.
"Oh it's a long story." they said at the same time.
"See?!" Monkey exclaimed (he said it only because he knew she would say it). "It's not that impressive!"
The two humans looked at him confused as he huffed and turned away, his arms crossed.
"Is he always this childish?" Bao whispered to her.
"Every time I think he's making progress, he pulls off something like this." she whispered back before upping her volume. "We're good to go!"
"Alrighty~ let's go~!" Yusheng started to gently float upwards. "Little warnings: don't move around too much, if you get sick and puke, don't. You are allowed to stand up but I strongly advice you hold onto something - or someone~ wink wink!"
Bao blushed and glanced at (Y/n). She was raising her head to see the mountain top slowly getting farther and farther away. And as she looked up she saw the grey clouds getting closer and closer. She straightened her back to gain a few centimeters and raised her hand to try and touch them as they went through them, going passed the three dragons. It felt cold and wet, and she couldn't grab onto it, which made her look down, her shoulders dropped. Monkey noticed the look on her face and nudged her, she looked up again and gasped.
"A little pause to let it sink in." Yusheng said, mostly to themselves, as they stopped.
It looked like they were on a sea of grey clouds, the three dragons would sometimes pop out and back down like whales. The blue sky looked endless. Any noise that were heard before were now muffled by the clouds.
"Woah." (Y/n) said under her breath.
"Right?" Monkey smiled.
"Alright! Off we go!"
As they picked up the pace, some 'woohoo~'s were shouted by the soldiers. Being above the clouds, they couldn't see the world beneath them, but it just made this experience even more other-worldly. It took a couple of hours to get their and some conversations sparked during that time, sometimes among themselves, sometimes with Yusheng. And of course the boys had more questions for Monkey.
"If your staff is really heavy in the first place, how come Yusheng here doesn't even feel its weight?" Shen asked.
"Oh I do!" they exclaimed. "But, I am a gods damn dragon. And we dragons never skip back day!"
(Y/n) and Monkey laughed.
Finally, Yusheng descended. As soon as they went passed the clouds again, (Y/n) and her childhood friends hurried to the edge of the dragon to look down. There it was, their little village, looking even tinier from above. She already felt a ball of feelings going up her throat.
"Oop, they're not used to this huh?" Yusheng said.
Indeed, as soon as they saw the dragon, the villagers started to run inside their respective houses to hide. Yusheng landed and the group got off their back and thanked them.
"No prob Bob!"
"Uh, I'm Bao."
"Seriously?!" they laughed. "I was close! Anyway, I'll be on my way, just call me when you're done. Wherever you are- Literally wherever - I'll come get you!" with that, they took off.
This entire interaction was ignored by (Y/n), as soon as her feet touched the ground, she looked around. The village looked empty. Her heart tightened, how long have they lived in fear like this?
"Everyone," Shen called out. "it's us!"
"Boys?!" one of the grandmas' popped her head out. "You're ba- (Y/n)...?"
At the mention of her name, the villagers popped out one by one. Seeing them, tears built up in her eyes, and when she noticed that half of them seemed to be missing, she started crying. Some rushed up to her and embraced her.
"I'm sorry." she said as she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I-I shouldn't have-"
"My dear sweet child." one of the grandmas' cupped her face in her hands and made her look at her. "Don't bring yourself down, you did your best. So stop crying would you?"
She sniffed.
"You're all crying too."
"Those are tears of joy." the florist said. "This should be a joyful reunion! Come on!"
With pats on the back, she smiled as the boys were also welcomed back into the village. This moment didn't last long however, they noticed Monkey and the villagers froze in a silent terror, some of the children whimpered.
"Everyone," (Y/n), along with Shen, quickly stood by his side before anyone could panic. "this is Sun Wukong, he's been traveling with me ever since I left."
"Yeah, and he helped us reach the village." Shen added.
"*The* Sun Wukong?!" the grandmas went crazy and next thing they knew they were surrounding Monkey.
'So they haven't gotten my letter yet.' she thought. 'We did come on dragon back.'
"My goodness how hairy you are!"
"My, you're tall!"
"And well built!"
"You must be very strong!"
"And intelligent, look at how his eyes sparkle with malice!"
And just like that, the lively atmosphere was restored. (Y/n) was trying her best not to laugh as she wiped away her tears. Monkey looked simply terrified and too afraid to do or say anything. After a happy reunion, the group went up the long stairs to the monastery where they'll reside. But before going to their old room, the four childhood friends (and Monkey) went to see the head monk to get more details on the situation.
"Almost every week," he explained. "a group of demons would come and select a few villagers to take with them."
"Where? Why?" (Y/n) asked.
"From what we heard, they need more manpower. I'm pretty sure they're turning the nearby mountain into an underground palace."
"The same mountain where the old Master died?!" Shen exclaimed as both (Y/n) and Bao clenched their fist in a silent rage. "Have they no shame?!"
"Whatever their plan is, I pray our friends are still alive."
"When was the last time they came?" Wu-peng asked.
"Just yesterday actually."
"So," he looked at his older sworn brother. "do we just wait or...?"
"If we go now we'd have the element of surprise." Bao stood up. "I say we go now."
"You have no idea what you're even going up against." Monkey, who was leaning on a wall this whole time, walked up to him. "How 'bout this: *I*'ll go to this mountain, kick the demons' asses, avenge the old Master and come right back with the rest of the village just in time for dinner."
"Move aside Great Sage, this isn't your fight." though he called him by his title, there was no respect in his voice.
"Well actually," he casually said, unfazed by the young man's animosity. "it became my fight as soon as I became her companion." he nodded towards (Y/n) with a big smug smile.
"C-companion?!" Bao's cheeks turned a shade redder in jealousy while his two friends and the head monk looked at her with big eyes.
"Traveling companion! *Traveling* companion!" she quickly exclaimed, blushing, before going back on the subject. "Are you sure Monkey? It's the guys' mission after all."
"We all know I got more chances of succeeding. Need to remind you I've raided more fortresses and palaces than I can count." he raised an eyebrow.
"...Alright." Shen nodded. "We'll leave this in your hands."
Monkey nodded and turned into a bird before flying out the window. Without a word, Bao walked out and his two friends followed him as (Y/n) sighed, looking out the window.
"So..." the head monk broke the silence. "companion?"
"Traveling!!!" she blushed again.
She walked into her bedroom. The shutters were closed so it was dark, yet as she made her way to her window, she didn't bump into anything, having done this so many times. She opened the shutters, illuminating the room with sunlight. She looked around, everything has been left unchanged. She put her bag down and opened it. She took out her old monkey doll and looked at it for a moment before turning towards her little shrine. She silently sighed through her nose, then placed the doll in the shrine.
"Hey." she said in a hushed voice with a faint smile.
Now obviously it was easy for Monkey to get into the mountain unnoticed. Although he couldn't find a way to open the secret doors, he just turned himself into a mole and dug his way in, then he turned into a fly and off to exploring he went. He started to look for the leader, he'll have plenty of time to look for the humans once he's done with the demons. While he was looking, he passed by a group of demons digging up a new corridor, with them were some of the kidnapped humans but they were used as servants more than anything.
'So that's what they're doing with them.' he thought.
Finally, he found the demon leader reclused in his chambers, not fully decorated yet. A small group of humans were weaving tapestries, other were serving him food. The leader fitted the description: horned demon with purple horns. Pleasantly surprised that this took way shorter than expected, Monkey readied himself to jump at him. But then stopped when he noticed the spear the demon held by his side. All fancy and golden, he recognized it right away.
'Ah shit.' he thought for a moment before turning around and flying away. 'Alright, change of plan.'
(Y/n) was sitting on the monastery's rooftop, watching the mountain when she noticed a bird flying towards the village.
"What the...?" she frowned and leaned over a bit, waving her arm in the air.
"What the...?" he frowned when he noticed her.
Once he was close enough, Monkey turned back to his original form and landed beside her.
"What are you doing up there?" he asked.
"It's a daily thing I do. But whatever that, why are you back so soon? Did something happen?"
"In a way, yeah." he scratched the back of his neck, looking away. "Something unexpected came up, come on." he gestured her to follow him before jumping down the roof and landing on his feet.
Still confused, and a bit worried. She climbed down and the two of them went back to the group of soldiers. They all sat around a table, with Monkey sitting at the end of it. He took a brush, ink and some paper and started to draw on it.
"So~ there's been a change of plan."
"Oh? What happened to your centuries of experience?" Bao asked.
"If you guys had gone there instead of me you'd all be dead within a minute." he quickly glared at him before going back to his drawing. "The horned demon has a celestial spear that was made in Heaven."
"Wait what?" (Y/n) blinked twice, lightly shaking her head as murmurs echoed through the room.
"Yeah, I recognized the patterns and color right away. And it's not your run-of-the-mill guard at the back gates, no this is some Heaven's Army's General stuff." he paused, thinking. "So he either stole it from someone up in Heaven, or he used to be a Celestial being himself." he looked at them. "Either way, really powerful stuff. Not only is it indestructible and amazingly sharp, but it can also thrown powerful light beams that, if given a specific target, can follow that target around."
"I'm pretty sure he stole it." Bao said, now more serious and calm. "It's been years but, I'm pretty sure he didn't know how to handle it when I first saw him."
"Years you say?"
"Almost eleven years yeah." (Y/n) said.
"Well," he went back to his drawing. "by that time, he must've gotten used to wielding it. So that's not good."
"I'm sorry but," Wu-peng spoke. "what are you drawing exactly?"
"When I figured this was going to be complicated, I mapped out the place." he showed them a half-drawn map before going back to it. "They are indeed digging in the mountain to make a palace, taking humans as servants."
"You mean...?" (Y/n) trailed off, a hand nervously on her chest.
He looked at her with a gentle gaze and nodded.
"They're all alive."
Her and her childhood friends all let out a huge sigh of relief.
"And in order to get them out of there." Monkey said as he placed the finished map in the center of the table. "We'll have to come up with a plan."
The three men all leaned over, their expression more grave.
"I manage to get into contact with one of the humans," he continued. "from what they heard, the mountain has been chosen as a new settlement. Supposed to be for strategy sake but that doesn't seem to be how they deal with it, more like a vacation."
"And from what I remember," (Y/n) said. "the horned demon was talking about you, he even wanted to take me back to his lord." they looked at each-other. "So there is a chance he's working for the guy who trapped you in that crystal."
"Oh gods." he held the bridge of his nose. "That complicates things even more." he leaned back and mumbled. "It would be so much easier if I had all of my powers."
She pursued her lips, her eyebrows furrowed. Then she blinked twice, realizing something.
"Wait, can't you just turn into his boss and trick him into handing over the villagers?"
"I could, but even if it works, it'd only be a matter of time before they find out that the humans safely went back to the village. Also there's a risk his boss' appearance changed since the last time I saw him."
"We could just steal the spear from him then."
"He always keeps it by his side, rumor has it he even sleeps with it. Getting it away from him would be near impossible."
"Then how about this," Wu-peng said. "as soon as you're out of there, we could seal up the whole cave-palace."
"Again, celestial spear. A couple of rocks isn't gonna stop it."
"But what if we put a very powerful seal on it?" he, along with other soldiers, looked at (Y/n).
"Um..." she nervously said. "I-I guess- I can try-."
"No no no no no." Monkey shook his head. "There's no 'trying' in this." he looked towards the soldiers. "Trying means taking chances, and we are not taking any chances when lives are at stake you hear?"
"Then what do we do?" he leaned back. "You said the spear's super powerful right? How are we suppose to stop him without confronting him?"
"That's the thing..." he leaned over, tapping the table with the tips of his fingers. "whether we do this all sneaky-like, or just kick down the front door, at one point or another, we will have to fight this guy."
A moment of silence. Everyone except Monkey looked weighted down by the tension in the air. He sighed.
"Chill everybody." he stood up. "The villagers are all fine, and as long as they don't try anything stupid, they will be fine. I'll go check on them every night." he started to walk out. "We have around a week to prepare right?" standing on the doorway, he looked back at the soldiers with a smile. "We'll think of something. In the meantime, our priority is to get you boys ready."
Wu-peng immediately stood up and walked up to him.
"You...You wanna train us?"
Monkey chuckled, the look on this guy's face seemed to say 'I am so pumped for this, but I don't know if you're serious or not'.
"Come on, time's ticking." with a nod, he gestured them to follow him before walking out.
Suddenly, the soldiers were very hyped.
After that, the brigade would train under Monkey all day long, doing various exercises, some of them very intense (he could be ruthless if he wanted to). Once the sun started to set, he'd go to the mountain again, then come back to discuss strategy with the trio. (Y/n) wanted to join, but she has spent the whole day with the villagers, just enjoying the feeling of being back home, and so was too tired to engage in another conversation. Well, she tried but...
"(Y/n) what do you think?" Shen looked at her. "...(Y/n)?"
The men looked over at her, sitting down at the table while they were standing. She's been dozing off for a while, this time she was completely asleep. Both Monkey and Bao walked up to her, and at the same time they placed a hand on each of her shoulders. They glared at each-other when they did.
"You don't know where her room even is." Bao spoke first.
"You first seemed so eager to figure out a strategy," he huffed a little 'heh'. "talk about priorities."
"What do *you* know of priorities?!" he let go of her and stood in front of him.
"Ohoho~! Taking the high ground huh?!" he smirked. "If only your bark could match your bite!"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"I mean that you can fight, but once things don't go your way you just give up!"
"No I don't!"
"Oh really?! 'Cause I seem to remember you turning yourself into a meat-shield! How do you expect to protect her if you can't even-!"
"Shut your mouth!" he grabbed him by the collar.
"Woh!" Wu-peng exclaimed.
"Oh are we doing this now?!" his smirk grew. "Because you are *welcomed* to do so, I have been waiting for this!"
Just as Bao raised his fist, the door loudly slammed open. The head monk stood there with a calm smile, and yet the boys looked at him, paralyzed like they were kids again, busted while they were going through the kitchen. They knew that kind of smile meant that the person was anything but calm.
"I understand your intentions are pure." he said, clearly trying not to shout. "But could you please keep it down. Not everyone here is as heavy a sleeper as (Y/n)."
"Sorry." they all said together as Bao let go of Monkey, each of them standing straight.
The monk noticed the sleeping young woman.
"Shen, could you take her to her room please?"
"Yes master."
"Fantastic." he said before loudly slamming the door shut again.
A moment of silence.
"Are you done?" Shen asked as he went to carry (Y/n) on his back. "You're both supposed to be the best out of all of us, yet here you are bickering like children."
He passed by Bao and Monkey, who had to separate themselves to let them pass. He opened the door and looked at them.
"Whatever issues you two have going on," he said with a grave expression. "I'd appreciate it if you don't bring her in any of it. The last thing anyone needs is some stupid love drama." he said before exiting the room.
Silence again, Wu-peng sighed and changed the subject, back to the strategy stuff. Outside of that, the two rivals haven't exchanged a word. When Shen came back, he just asked if he missed anything while he was gone.
A couple of days later, (Y/n) and Monkey were facing each-other as they stood at the top of the monastery's stairs up the little hill. He's just finished proposing something to her, something that she was against at first. But then, he presented some arguments that were hard to go against. She slowly inhaled.
"Fine." she exhaled.
He nodded, then the two of them started walking down.
"You do know that will only make me more worried right?" she asked. "Just having to wait for you made me stare at that mountain the whole time."
"Aww~." he placed a hand on his chest. "Well I'm flattered, but you know there's nothing to worry about."
"It's not you I'm worried about."
They looked at each-other. Monkey's smile faded.
"So you've noticed..." his gaze wandered before looking back at her. "Say, do you know what his deal is?"
"Honestly..." she sighed, shaking her head. "I really don't."
They reached the bottom of the stairs and the village.
"Ah! (Y/n)~ dear!"
They looked over to see one of the grandmas waving as she walked up to them.
"You must join us for tea, it's been so long~."
"True, it has been long." she smiled. "Of course I'll join you. There is a lot I have to tell."
"Wonderful, wonderful! Your friend the Great Sage is welcome to join us as well."
"Sorry lady, I was just about to go back to the training ground we set up." Monkey pointed behind him with his thumb. "The boys must have finished their warm up by now."
"Oh, I see...Aow~! Aowaowaow!" she placed a hand on her back and hunched over.
"Are you okay grandma?!" (Y/n) quickly stood by her side in case she falls.
"It's nothing dear, just this old back of mine bothering me yet again." she smiled. "Ow, and the tea party is on the other side of the village." she looked at Monkey. "Would you be a dear and carry a poor old lady please?"
"Uh, sure." he crouched down so he could give her a piggy back ride.
"Oh thank you dear, you're so kind."
The three of them walked across the village. Because he was carrying someone, Monkey walked slower than usual, it gave him an opportunity to get a good look at the village. It looked...normal, basic, unimpressive. And yet, when the villagers were welcoming them, there was something that made it stand out...
Finally, they've reached the house where the grandmas gathered for their tea party (the location changed every week).
"Girls! I brought him!" the grandma said as soon as Monkey put her down.
"Great job Wenling!" her friends cheered before coming up to both Monkey and (Y/n).
"Well now that you're here, why not join us?" the grandma of the house said. "I made the snacks myself, you must try them and tell me what you think or else I wouldn't know what to do. But no pressure."
"It'd also be a real shame if you didn't try the tea." one of her friends said. "It's delicious, and it calms the nerves."
"You surely need it too dear," they looked at (Y/n). "you're looking very tense. Come on now."
Indeed, our two protagonists were very tense. They were surrounded. Well, not really, but to them it felt like there was nowhere to run. As they were dragged in the dining room, they sent each-other a look of pure dread, but they each had their own reason for feeling like this.
The snacks were delicious. And the tea was as well.
"So~ Mr. Kong-"
"Wukong actually." he said under his breath.
"-tell us a bit about yourself~!" the grandma rested her chin on her intertwined fingers, smiling.
He hesitate for a moment, looking at all the old ladies looking back at him.
"Come on now," the one sitting beside him patted his arm. "don't be shy."
"...I slayed thousands upon thousands of demons." he shrugged.
"Oh please, leave the violence to the men."
(Y/n), sitting across from him, pursued her lips, she would've liked to know about the demon slaying. The old lady continued:
"I meant tell us about you, what do you like to do in your spare time?"
"Slaying demons."
'He's being surprisingly docile right now.' (Y/n) thought as the interrogation continued.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Red and gold."
"Oh my," another one chuckled. "I can see it, it matches you so well!"
"Well, I am a king." he glanced to the side, wondering why so many people seemed to forget that fact.
"What's your favorite food?"
"Peaches."
"What's your type of women?"
(Y/n) choked on her tea and coughed loudly. He wanted to help her out but the grandmas ignored her (they knew she'd be fine) and kept looking at him.
"Uh...what?"
"Are you married?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Guys please!" (Y/n) finally said her face red from coughing (no other reason). "You're making him uncomfortable."
"Yeah, why not?" they ignored her yet again. "You're so strong and handsome!"
"You must have a lot of pretenders who want you!"
"...Not gonna lie," he rubbed the underside of his nose, tilting his head and trying not to smile too much. "there has been quite a few."
"Oh my~! What about (Y/n)?"
Him and said girl froze, doing everything they can to not look at each-other. Which was a good thing or else they'd see the other's face becoming redder.
"You know she's been a fan of you for so long."
'Oh no, nonononononononono!' she thought, her fear becoming true.
"Oh?" Monkey raised an eyebrow, liking where this was going. "Really now?"
"H-he knows! He knows!"
"Really?" the old lady next to her asked. "So he knows about that one time you pretended that he was invisible and that you two had a secret affair?"
Monkey burst out laughing. (Y/n) covered her face, wanting to die.
"What?!" he exclaimed, a tear in the corner of his eye. "What?!"
"I was nine!!!" still hiding her face, she swung a fist but didn't reach him.
"Oh you were such a dramatist back then. You were all about love and drama. What happened?"
"I met him is what happened!"
Monkey cackled, he knew she didn't mean that. Truth was: she just grew up.
"Aww~ and then you truly fell in love with him for who he was!"
"No I-!" she rubbed her face and groaned, everything she'll say will be used against her at this point. "Monkey don't you have to go back to the training camp?"
"Nah~." he leaned back, now more comfortable and in his element (his element being annoying her to death). "They're big boys, they can train themselves. It'd be a good exercise."
Her cheeks turned redder. She wanted to leave this room, this earth, this realm, so damn much, but at the same time she didn't want to leave him alone with them. Then she had an idea.
"What about one of you guys?"
"Huh?" they all looked at her.
"You know, he is hundreds of years old. It'd make sense he'd want someone close to his age."
"What are you doing?" he asked under his breath, his eyes wide open.
A smirk formed on her face as she slowly leaned forward. The grandmas leaned too.
"This one time," she said. "we were in a town, and he told me he'd go out for a walk. Next thing I knew he was being chased by an old lady - much like you guys - and she was all~ over him. Now, I have no idea he did, but whatever it was, she must've loved it."
Monkey could feel his blood turn cold as the old ladies looked at him with a different kind of interest.
At this point, the whole tea party turned into a verbal fight where one would take their turn to unleash the old ladies' attention onto the other. To the horror of the other. Lots of really embarrassing stories of (Y/n)'s childhood, and a lot of awkward and personal questions to Monkey. It was when they asked if they ever wanted kids that they thought 'okay maybe we should stop'.
"G-guys seriously, dial down with the questions" (Y/n) said in an attempt to defuse the situation. "You've just met him."
"Oh but I have a feeling we'll get to meet him again." one of the grandmas smiled.
'What's that supposed to mean?!?!?!' the two of them thought, blushing.
In the end, the only winner was the group of grandmas, who said that this has been the funniest tea party they've ever had. When they asked them if they could do this again soon, they just walked away. They were so embarrassed and they so wanted to leave that they didn't noticed that they were both equally bashful by the questions they've been asked.
"Where were you two?!" the brigade asked when they came back.
"In hell." they both said at the same time, looking dead inside.
The three sworn brothers noticed their look of exhaustion and concluded that they went to the grandmas' tea party. And they sympathized with them, they figured what they talked about, two out of three at least, their blushing faces made Bao frown.