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googleitlol · 14 days

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Whoooooooo's ready for depression???

Hehe, double upload to make up for not getting this out sooner. Anyway, here's some more grief and angst for you guys!

Dove Masterlist:

Banished

Once everyone finishes, your trek through the mountains continues. You find yourself looking between Wukong and Tripitaka on occasion, the tension from the fight still thick in the air between them. You still find yourself unable to comprehend the truth behind the dead girl, though the more you think about it, the less sense you’re able to find in the story.

Yes, Monkey King shouldn’t have killed a human, but you find yourself confused on what a young woman would be doing alone in the middle of nowhere with a bowl of rice in the first place. You flew over the mountain in search for the peach orchard, but didn’t see any signs of a settlement nearby. The entire situation is just odd to you.

You notice the twitch of Monkey’s ear, his body stiffening as his eyes narrow. “Someone is approaching down the path.” The others look ahead, you and Tripitaka squinting to see an elderly figure growing closer to your group.

“It looks like an old woman.” Pigsy grunts. “I only hope she isn’t looking for a young daughter, seeing as we all know what she would find.” “Shush, Idiot.” You hiss, though the possibility of the old woman knowing the girl Wukong murdered plants a seed of worry in your stomach. It is strange, though. You understand that you might have missed one traveller on your earlier flight, but did you miss this woman as well? Usually, you’re better at scoping out the land ahead of you.

Your confusion hardly matters, because in the blink of an eye, Sun Wukong is already at the old woman’s side. Your eyes widen as you watch the demon swing his staff down on the elderly lady in the flash of a moment, her body crumpling to the ground before Tripitaka can call out a warning to his disciple.

There’s hardly a moment for you to blink before Wukong’s body joins the limp woman’s on the ground, hands clenched around his circlet when you and the others manage to reach him. Tripitaka continues the spell for some time, your weight shifts from one foot to the next as you watch him scream out in agony. What can you say this time? His attack was unprovoked. She hadn’t even spoken a word to any of you before the King took her life. How could he have known she was a threat? She hardly looked able enough to be trekking through the mountain.

Even after the monk finishes reciting his spell, he gives Wukong little time to breathe. “Are you mad?! I scold you for killing that woman and you murder the next one you see?!”

“That was no woman, it was a monster!” The disciple shouts between heavy breaths. “The same as before.”

“The very same one you killed?” Tripitaka challenges, his demon disciple frowning at the question.

He looks down, his eyes flicking left and right as though he might find the answer there. “I, I don’t know how she survived my first strike.”

“Did that young woman not say she lived nearby with her family?” Pigsy intertwines himself in the conflict again, though his question makes you frown. “What if this elder was that girl’s mother?”

You snap at the demon. “Be quiet, Pig! I saw no homes when I flew over the mountain.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that Wukong has killed two innocents in less than a day.” He bites back with a smug grin, his arms crossed.

“Enough.” Tripitaka makes himself heard once more, his disciples looking back to see him pinching his nose. “Sun Wukong, I cannot keep looking the other way for you.”

He looks back down at the sage as he gets back onto his feet, his expression tired. “If you cannot help but give into your unruly nature, there is no place for you here.” The sage’s eyes widen at that, an uncertain frown overtaking his features at his master’s words.

The look is quickly masked by anger, and you take a step towards the monk as the demon marches up to the man. “Fine, if that’s how you feel, I’ll leave. But if I have no reason to be here, at least do me the courtesy of freeing me from this cursed leash!”

The monk opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out. His brows furrow while Wukong waits for a reply that doesn’t come. The monk turns to you, and though you understand his silent question, the answer eludes you as well. The monkey follows his master’s gaze to you, his voice expecting. “Well?”

“…I was only given the circlet and the tightening spell. I wasn’t told how to take it off.” You confess, the demon’s impatient expression giving way to anger.

“Neither of you know how to get this blasted thing off my head?!” He seethes, looking between the two of you as you each refuse to make eye contact.

Guilt bubbles at the sight of his vexation, seeing how much it hurt him and knowing none of you can free him of it. “I was never told how.”

“Gah!” He starts to pull at the circlet that refuses to budge, pivoting away to carry the sounds of his frustration into the sky.

You turn to Tripitaka, nodding in gesture to the chained disciple. His shoulders slump slightly, unable to hide how tired he felt. It’s clear how exhausted he is, how put up he is with the day, but he has to know as well as you he can’t just send him away with the false crown you tricked him into wearing.

The monk nods in reluctant agreement, letting out a sigh before addressing the sage. “I suppose it would be unfair to make you leave without cutting all ties properly… I’ll give you one more chance.” Wukong looks back at the monk as he speaks, his eyes narrowing in resentment. “But I mean it when I say this is the last time!” Sun Wukong lets out a huff of air at his words. Saying nothing, he gets up to stalk ahead, the others following with unease behind.

As you continue, you can’t help but ponder on the women murdered by your travelling companion. Wukong had called them the same person. Not just that, a monster. But how does he know? When Tripitaka asked how they were the same person, it seemed as though the monkey himself could not answer the question.

But how is it that you’ve encountered two people on the road when you saw none overhead? The entire situation feels off to you, it doesn’t add up. Not to mention that as impulsive as the Monkey King is, there’s always a sort of rhyme or reason for his actions. To attack without reason is too out of character for the dem0n.

Too caught up in your own head, you’re brought back to reality at the sound of Pigsy’s snort. “Another traveller up ahead?” A chill runs down your spine and your head snaps up to see a short man on the road opposite of your group. Another one? “Tell us, Monkey, are you going to insist this elderly fellow is a demon as well?”

Wukong perks up at the sight of the old man in the distance. “Yes! The same one!” You frown at that, unease growing in your stomach. How could it be the same person if he’s already killed them twice? Even then, something isn’t right. Whoever this traveller is, you don’t trust their sudden appearance.

“Wukong…” Tripitaka looks to his disciple, warning in his tone.

“Fine, look, it’s away.” The monkey obliges, rolling his eyes as his staff shrinks before tucking it away in his ear.

Something still doesn’t sit right with you. “I can go ahead to see whether or not this stranger is what they seem.” You offer, Tripitaka looking to you in surprise when you do.

“I’m sure that will be unnecessary.” He replies, but you shake your head.

“Call it a precaution. We shouldn’t take what Sun Wukong is saying lightly.” You step forward glancing over to the demon in question for only a moment.

You feel that this stranger should be investigated, just to be sure of any ill-intent, but The monkey frowns, standing a bit taller than before. “Let me go along too, then.”

“No.” You snap back, making him frown as you continue. “You can stay out of the way.” With how the day has been, you don’t want to risk giving the monk any more reason to be upset with his oldest disciple. Playing mediator between your friend and someone as hard to get along with as Sun Wukong has been tiring, and you’d rather not have to continue with the effort.

Tripitaka looks down, exhausted. “Very well, if it will put you at ease.”

With a final nod, you transform to fly ahead. It is a very short flight, but you take the moment to soar up ahead and gain another view of the mountain. Finding that there seems to be no other buildings or encampment nearby, you fly back down and waste no time in shifting back to your human state, startling the old man as you do. “Hello, there.” Your greeting is friendly enough. Though, in all honesty, you rather this be a quicker interaction. With how the day has gone, you want to get to the bottom of this as swiftly as you can.

“Oh! You startled me, young lady.” The elderly man gasps, laughing a bit as he regains his bearings. He seems harmless enough, even quite frail. He seems to be nothing but skin and bones, with hardly any muscle. It makes you wonder why he might be out here in the wilderness of the mountain on his own.

He also does not seem to be as fazed by your sudden transformation as much as any normal mortal would be. “I apologise for the scare. I am only scouting ahead of my companion, we’ve been on the road for several months now.”

“Really?” He smiles, seemingly enthused. “I can only imagine how exhausted you all must be. I myself can barely move too far from my home. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter have been gone for some time. I was growing worried they may become food for some wild beast on the path.” His concerns fall on deaf ears as you put on a look of disquiet.

He is obviously alluding to the two women Wukong killed, but he clearly isn’t telling the truth. “Oh? Do you happen to live in these mountains, then?”

He confirms your suspicions and Wukong’s claims with a nod. “Yes, our home resides not far from here.”

“How lovely.” You offer him a polite smile, careful to watch his every move as an idea begins to shape in your mind. “Say, I don’t suppose you could allow my companions and I to rest in your home for the night?”

“I beg your pardon?” The offer seems to crack a chip in the stranger’s mask, and you hold in your smirk.

With how far the others are, attacking who they think is an elderly man ‘unprompted’ will make you look as insane as the Monkey King. However, they’re close enough to be watching, even if they cannot hear what is being said. So if whoever this demon is tries to attack you, it would immediately incriminate itself in their eyes.“We’re used to moving across rougher terrain than what we have seen on this mountain, so we can help look for your daughter and wife. That way, you won’t need to push yourself by searching on your own.”

The demon laughs, almost nervously, and shakes his head. “Oh, that will not be necessary. I can search for my family on my own without inconveniencing you.” He replies, and you rest a hand on your hip, just over the sheathe where you keep your dagger-axe.

“Nonsense, I’ll go to enlist my companions to help you. If you could show my friend to your home, his disciples will gladly help you” You insist, turning as if to leave while watching the man from the corner of your eye, grip tightening on the hilt of your dagger. A smirk sprouts once the bait is taken.

As expected, the demon can’t resist the seemingly easy pickings. You hear a grunt and pivot to block an incoming attack, unsheathing your weapon but the assault never comes. Instead, wind howls past your ears followed by a heavy thud. Bones knock against one another as they fall to the ground, the only remaining trace of the man that was once standing on the path with Sun Wukong standing over them.

Your eyes go wide with panic as you see the sight before you. “What are you doing?! Do you want Tripitaka to skin you alive?!” You shout at the monkey, his face contorting in irritated confusion, looking at you as though you had grown a second head.

“What am I doing?! That demon was lunging for you! What, do you expect me to just stand back and let it grab you?” He frowns as you groan in frustration. It all happened too fast! Did the monk even have a chance to see the attack?

“I know what the demon was planning, I am no idiot!” You hold up your dagger to the impulsive sage, using it to point towards the pile of bones that now litter the ground before gesturing to yourself and sheathing the weapon.

The others, who ran the minute Wukong left their side, quickly arrive. The look on Tripitaka’s face is enough to answer whether or not they saw the demon try to attack. “Sun Wukong, have I not warned you enough?!”

“He was about to attack her!” The monkey defends himself. “I was only doing my duty to protect you mortals. Just look at the remains!”

“It’s true.” You step between master and disciple, gesturing down to the bones littering the path. “Look, there is no flesh on these bones. No human could decompose so instantaneously, Sun Wukong was right about the demon.”

Tripitaka’s brows furrow, the words sinking in as he looks upon the evidence himself. Unfortunately, before he’s given the chance to digest our words, Bajie interjects once more. “How do we know this isn’t some trick? Wukong could be deceiving all of us with another illusion.”

“Another?!” You whip your head to the pig demon, marching up to him and pushing your finger into his chest. “How imbecilic can you be? What, are you upset you couldn’t have the demon when it was a beautiful woman? Did you not learn your lesson with that house of women last month?”

Pigsy’s face goes red at the recollection, and he glares down at you. “We agreed not to bring that up–”

“Stop! I’m done” Tripitaka shouts, and you step away from the hog. The monk rubs his temples before looking to his eldest disciple. “I’ve given you far too many warnings, Sun Wukong.”

“But Master–” The sage goes to defend himself, but he’s not given the chance to.

“I cannot travel with one as impulsive as you.” He cuts the demon off, Wukong flinching as he does. “We’re in the wilderness now, but what will happen if you kill a human you assume to be a demon in a crowded city? How would you justify your murderous actions then? Would the civilians that watch you kill their own believe your words?”

Wukong frowns as his master speaks, irritation giving way to spite as he steps into the monk’s space. “How ungrateful! How many times have I saved your life? From robbers, demons– I brought you the oaf that’s been mumbling into your ear all day!” He throws an arm out in gesture to the pig demon. “After all I have done to serve you–”

“I don’t need you to serve me anymore!”

Everyone goes silent, holding their breath. The two stare each other down, Tripitaka frowning while Wukong looks at him in disbelief. After what feels like an eternity, the sage laughs. “Are you serious?”

“Leave, Monkey.” Tripitaka dismisses him, finally looking away as he turns his back on the demon.

Wukong lets out an exasperated breath. “Ha, why? So you can call me back with this thing on my head the second you run into trouble?” He laughs.

Tripitaka looks back over his shoulder with a scoff. “Never will I call on you ever again, I would never rely on the wicked for my troubles.”

“Oh, yeah? I’d like to see that in writing.” Wukong crosses his arms with a toothy grin.

Tripitaka refuses to back down from the challenge. “It would be my pleasure.”

He marches over to one of the bags carried by Ao Lie, digging for paper while you and Sandy share a panicked look. “Enough, both of you. This is ridiculous.” You look between the two, Wukong walking past you to watch the monk as he writes with passion that’s rare to ever see from him.

“Stay out of this, Dove. Tripitaka can speak for himself.” He snaps before stepping back once Tripitaka shoves his messily-drafted banishment into his chest.

He huffs, like the monk is out of breath. “Now it can be official.” Wukong looks down at the paper now in his hands, his eyes glancing over it before snapping back up to Tripitaka. There’s something in his eyes, something you can’t recognise, and it’s gone before you can identify it.

The Monkey King stands tall, grinning with an almost-sarcastic smile while his eyes remain indifferent. “Good to know.” And just like that, the Great Sage leaps into the air, taking off on his somersault cloud.

You look to Tripitaka with an incredulous look. “Where is your mind?!”

The man’s face scrunches into a defensive look. “You saw what he did–”

“Yes, I did!” You step forward. “But I can’t believe you would doubt him like that.”

“You’ve told me yourself how abrasive he is, how little he cares for others.” He counters, and you almost step back at the reply. “How long could we have gone before more of his actions got us into more trouble? How many times did he put us in danger because of his cockiness?”

“And how many times has he saved us?” You counter, finding the entire situation ridiculous. How bad has it become that you have to be the one defending Sun Wukong?

The monk goes to speak but you continue. “He was chosen as your disciple, Tripitaka. Banishing him won’t lead to anything good.”

“Besides assuring the safety of any other humans we come across.” Pigsy coughs into his sleeve, grabbing your attention as you glare daggers into him from the corner of your eye.

“You don’t have any room to speak, not when you want to sleep with every other woman we come across.” You point accusingly at the pig. “You’re the one who instigated this entire debacle!”

Pigsy frowns at that. “Me?! I’m not the one who killed an entire family within an afternoon.”

Before you can verbally assault the demon, Sandy steps in between the two of you. “Fighting over something that has already happened won’t solve anything.” He looks to the both of you pointedly, and it takes you a moment to breathe before stepping away with a scoff.

You can’t let everything fall apart like this. “I’ll be back.”

With no further elaboration, you take off into the sky, transformed and flying as fast as your wings can take you. Tripitaka calls after you, but his voice falls on deaf ears. You can’t let Sun Wukong leave without at least trying to stop him. Yes, things have gotten heated, but you can still try to get him to come back.

You go in the direction you saw him fly off in, but without knowing how fast he was going, he might already be long gone. He can jump from one horizon to the next in moments if he really wanted to, how quickly did he leave? How did everything dissolve so quickly?

You can’t help but feel the knot in your stomach twist. Yes, you may dislike the ape but he serves a purpose like all of you do on this pilgrimage. Petty feelings aside, there’s no denying his importance. Not to mention that he was starting to become more bearable to be around, aside from his occasional prying that became more frequent only as of late.

Gravity takes an unexpected hold on you as you’re tackled out of the sky, successfully pulling your mind back into the moment as you feel yourself hurdling to the ground. Transforming back mid-air, your assailant keeps hold of you and you both go soaring into a tree, tumbling through the leaves and branches before landing on the ground with a thud. It takes you a moment to regain your breath as you land on your back, the Monkey King hovering over you with a cold glare you’ve never seen on him before.

“What do you want?” His voice is seething with resentment, an anger that feels foreign coming from the sage. You’ve seen him upset, angry, but never this furious.

Determined not to let his ire deter you, you snap back. “What do you think? Get off me!” You push back, and he obliges, albeit in silence. He watches as you get back to your feet, surveying wearily like you might lash out at the drop of a hat. Despite the hostility, you tell yourself not to give into it yourself and take in a deep breath. You’re not here to fight, you have to convince him to come back.

After giving yourself a moment to breathe, you face the Great Sage. He has his arms crossed as you take a step towards him. “Listen, Wukong, I just think Tripitaka needs some time to collect his thoughts.” You reach out to rest a hand on his arm in an attempt to soothe him, and he quickly swats it away.

He looks almost offended. “Don’t try your tricks on me.”

“Excuse me for trying to help you!” You frown, dropping your hands to your side and stepping back. His brows shoot up at that, the demon leaning forward slightly before letting out a dry laugh.

He steps closer, his eyes narrowing as he does. “I’m sorry, maybe I wasn’t clear enough before, but I don’t need your help.” He moves even closer, forcing you to take a step back. “I’m the Monkey King, I don’t need some pompous human who thinks she’s above me to offer her sympathies.”

Your glare sharpens at that. “Above you? You’re one to talk, do you even hear yourself?”

“Not over your yelling, I can’t.” He growls, and before you go for a retort, you take another step back. Getting angry as well won’t make anything better, you have to remind yourself of that.

Closing your eyes, you take another breath before looking back to face the demon. “Look, this is a pointless argument. Just… please, come back with me. Maybe you and Tripitaka can try settling this like the adults you are, without yelling.”

“Why?” He challenges, moving into your space to look down on you. “Why should you care? As far as I am concerned, everyone is getting what they want out of this arrangement.”

He holds out the monk’s paper. “I can go back home for the first time in centuries, Tripitaka won’t have a ‘murderous disciple' on his conscience, and you get to be right.” You go to speak but freeze at that last bit, your confusion only lasting a brief second before you recall that night by the river. Your words then, you wanted them to irk him, to cause doubt in the demon that ruined everything in the palace.

Seeing him now, the hurt in his eyes as he laughs, creates this distressing blanket of dread over your person as you’re proven right. “You knew I wouldn’t last long on this pilgrimage.” His voice is quiet, his lips pull up to a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I hope you enjoyed it.”

He watches you as you go to speak, but nothing comes out. You don’t know what to say, his expression leaving you in a shocked silence. Wukong waits, expecting a rebuttal that you cannot form. For just a moment, his face drops, almost in disappointment before he looks away. With a shake of his head, he turns and jumps into the sky even faster than before. Just like that, he’s gone.

Even with him no longer in front of you, the image of his face burns into your memory. You’ve seen many expressions from the sage, prideful and cocky, but never has he looked quite like that before. With his invincibility, his multiple immortalities, you thought he was incapable of looking that way.

You’ve never seen him look hurt.

#the girls are fighting #fr tho sorry guys this aint a happy one #there's nowhere to go but up now right?#…right?#little dove #jttw sun wukong #jttw tripitaka #sun wukong x reader

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googleitlol · 14 days

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Posting a shorter bit since this is taking longer than I planned. This next week is gonna be pretty busy, so I wanted to try and put out something before I can't, heh

Anywho, hope you all enjoy!

Dove masterlist:

Warnings

The wind howls, a thunderous cry that bellows by your ears as you soar over treetops scattered along a mountain range. The sun shines bright overhead, only partially covered by the clouds spread sparsely across the sky. It seems as though there are no signs of civilization on this terrain, with how densely the trees pack together along the side of the mountain, aside from the narrow path you left the pilgrims on. With the beauty of the day, you find yourself thankful for the time apart from your companions.

Everyone seems to be on edge these days, the long hours trekking through wilderness taking its toll on everyone in the group. The others were getting to be more grumpy, snappy, overall just tired. You decided as a group you would rest at the next settlement on the way to the west, but there were still several days to go before you’d reach it. With such a long way to go, you offered to go scan the mountain side for something quick to snack on, hoping you could find something that would put everyone in a better mood. After all, empty stomach’s have never been known to help improve a person’s mood. It also served to give you some time to breathe.

You land once you find an orchard of peaches, the fruit ripe and ready for the picking. Walking through the trees, you find a trunk to climb, its branches full with an ample amount of the stone fruit. You start to pick the fruit, careful of the ones too young to be tugged off. Resting on a thicker, lower branch, you reach up to grab at one dangling above your head. Just as you pull it down, you notice a hand reach for your bag of peaches from behind. Rolling your eyes, you use your free hand to slap it away, the monkey it belongs to shouting when you do. “Hey!”

Just when you thought you might get a chance to have some peace and quiet. “You’ve had enough stone fruit in your life, don’t you think?”

“Hah, you know me so well.�� Wukong laughs, hanging off another branch just by his tail before twisting to land on his feet next to you. Despite the collective sour mood of your party, the tension between you and Sun Wukong has, for the lack of a better word, shifted. You couldn’t say whether it was a positive one or not, though things had definitely felt different since the ginseng incident. The demon still very much loves the sound of his own voice, but that voice was now less… antagonistic than before. Perhaps you could say he was a little more bearable, just barely. You had found yourself feeling almost awkward because of his behaviour. You didn’t exactly get along, but you weren’t outright annoying one another like before.

However, you can still find yourself feeling irritated if he ever pushes too much. You just can’t help but find his behaviour suspicious at times. “Then again, of course you do. You got to witness me taking on the heavenly army first-hand back then, huh?”

You look back at him after stuffing the peach back into your bag, a little put-off by his reminiscing. “…Yes. I did.” What, is he feeling nostalgic?

“When was it that your stay in the jade palace started again?” He asks, following you as you jump down from the tree and begin to climb another. “It had to be after I was incarcerated in that furnace, right? I’m sure we would have met if it was before. I met quite a few beings in my time there, made many friends and acquaintances.” That’s one way to put it.

You offer an awkward laugh to his rambling. “Yeah, it sounded like you were the life of the party back then.” You can’t help but roll your eyes a little before finding another stone fruit ripe enough for harvest, oblivious to the way the demon’s face lifts at your words.

“So you only heard about my time before the furnace.” He thinks aloud, making you pause. “Then, you were on Guan Yin’s mountain before?”

What is he getting at? “Yes.”

“I can only imagine some of the wild events that happened back then.” He sighs, and you hear shuffling from behind. You look back to face him only to find the monkey gone, and when you turn back for the fruit, you see him hanging by his tail, eating the peach himself. “It’s funny.”

Yeah, this is starting to get annoying. “What is?”

“That my brothers and I know so much about one another, but aside from your power and being Guan Yin’s little birdie, there’s not much we know about you.” You can’t help but roll your eyes, since when was he so interested in your old life?

It’s become a bit of a trend lately, his insistent buzzing around you, asking all sorts of bizarre questions. His sudden piqued interest just feels so random and out of character from what you’ve seen of him. Before you can ask him why he’s become so interested in your past as of late, you catch his hand going for your bag again. Wasn’t he just eating another peach?!

“Stop that, already.” You scold, pulling the bag away from his grasp, his other peach already gone. How fast can he eat those things?!

Wukong, still upside-down, crosses his arms “Master won’t eat all of these, why don’t you take one yourself? Maybe it’ll make you less uptight. I wanna see the Dove your master was talking about in the Abbey.”

A puff of air escapes through your nose in a pathetic laugh before you turn to pick one last stone fruit, inspecting it a bit before pulling it down. “I don’t eat peaches.” You admit while counting your haul. This should be plenty for now, and you’ll have some left over for the others to snack on in the evening.

A sudden burst of laughter disrupts your thoughts, the Monkey King clutches his stomach as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. You crouch on the branch, straight-faced as you wait for him to calm down. He only registers your expression after wiping away a stray tear, his brows furrowing slightly as his laughter slows to a stop. “Wait, was that not a joke?”

Instead of answering, you hop down from the tree and begin your walk back to the group. Footsteps from behind quickly overtake you, the monkey turning to face you, walking backwards as you continue towards where you left the rest of the party. “What do you have against peaches?” He asks, his expression one of outright disbelief.

You stop walking, your irritation growing from the question. “…Why are you here, Sun Wukong?” “Master was worried, he wanted someone to check on you and Pigsy volunteered me.” He shrugs. Of course he did.

You roll your eyes before walking past the demon. “How thoughtful of him.”

Wukong pauses for a moment before following your path, annoyance beginning to prick in his voice. “We’ve been travelling together for some time now, Dove, and honestly? I don’t care much for why you despise me so much. But I must ask, why not peaches?”

Why is this the most important thing to him right now? You look back at him, uncertain as Tripitaka’s words ring in your mind from the night you told him of your grievances. For so long, you believed Sun Wukong would find more amusement in what happened than anything, but after recent events, you feel unsure. You’ve seen now that he does in fact carry the capacity to care for others, his defence of his master in front of Zhenyuan showed that.

But it felt all too sudden a change to trust. What if it was just a fleeting moment of compassion? After all, he’s known to be a trickster, a being who only acts to benefit himself, and this newfound curiosity in your history puts your mind at no ease. Sure, you don’t exactly ‘despise’ him as he puts it, but it doesn’t mean you’re willing to let him suddenly get to know you. All his pestering, it hardly even comes off as friendly. It feels like he wants something more than anything.

After a moment’s silence, you turn back to continue walking. “Why don’t you fly ahead and tell Tripitaka I’m on my way? Then he can stop worrying about me and you can leave me alone.”

The monkey takes a moment to respond, and you hear a scoff from behind. “You know, with a gift as tranquil as yours, one would think you’d turn out to be less miserable.” His words jab into your side, and you can’t help but laugh.

“Take the credit where you earn it, ape. I may have dealt with my share of misery through my years, but it was made all the worse the day you entered my life.” You look over your shoulder, just catching the demon’s eyes as they widen.

His look of surprise lasts only for a second before it's replaced with a more placid expression. He says nothing before leaping off into the skies, atop his cloud and towards his master and fellow disciples. You start to chew at the inside of your cheek, watching from where you saw his figure in the sky just moments prior. That wasn’t too harsh, was it? You expected some sort of witty comeback, not a silent departure.

You continue with your walk back to the others, taking your time to calm down and enjoy the quiet you don’t usually find in your current company. Though, the longer you’re left alone with your thoughts, the more you begin to question your words. Should you feel bad? …He’ll be fine. A few mean words have never stopped him before, with how much time you’ve spent with him, you know that better than anyone.

Your thoughts are immediately silenced as a scream pierces through the sky.

Now alert, your leisurely pace raises to a sprint to return to your allies. The path quickly becomes visible, and you follow it until your party appears. Wujing holds the reins of Ao Lie, behind the others with Bajie at his side, blocking your view. The demon winces before turning his face away, and it clicks in your mind who the screams are coming from. More specifically, why.

You push past the two demons to find Tripitaka muttering beneath his breath, with Sun Wukong writhing on the ground in front of him clutching his head. “Stop! What are you doing?!” You grab the monk by his arm and pull him back, the monkey demon slumping to his side once the spell stops.

The monk is quick to pull his arm back, anger inscribed over his features in a way you’ve never seen before. “I cannot do it anymore! The fire, the ginseng tree, and now this?! I can’t go any longer with this demon!”

“What happened…” You feel your words trail off as your eyes catch the limp body of a young woman some ways ahead of the path. You look between the Monkey King, the corpse, and the bloodied staff that he had dropped between them. Sun Wukong, what did you do?

Tripitaka is quick to answer your question. “He killed that poor girl! She was only offering us food when he hit her with his staff.” He explains, the offender moving to push himself up after catching his breath.

“Are you blind?! I was only trying to save you!” He huffs, still recovering from the pain of his crown. “Look at what she was serving you!” He moves to grab the rice bowl that lays by the woman’s hands, throwing down at his master’s feet. Maggots spill out, worming overtop one another as you and the monk step back in disgust.

You see the monk frown, his anger giving way to confusion. “What? But I was sure she offered us rice…”

“Oh, please.” Pigsy butts in, rolling his eyes. “How do we know this isn’t just one of Brother Pilgrim’s illusions? So he could justify killing that human girl.”

“Are you a moron?!” Wukong gets back up, he might as well have been glaring daggers into the pig, the emotion in his voice so palpable you can practically feel it.

“Enough!” The two stop once their master speaks, the monk letting out a sigh carrying the weight of his stress over the last few nights. “I can’t continue with a murderer as my disciple.” Wukong’s eyes widen at his words, and you find yourself mirroring his expression. “How long have we been on the road and still you have learnt nothing? If you cannot learn from your errors, there will be no room for you on our journey.”

You’re quick to step in before he can continue. “Tripitaka, I understand he upset you with his actions, but you should not rush a decision like this.” In all honesty, you aren’t sure if you believe Pigsy entirely, but you still feel conflicted on who to believe. Yes, Wukong can be impulsive, but never before has he outright killed a person for no prominent reason. No matter what the truth is, you can’t let Tripitaka send away his most powerful disciple, not when there is so much road left ahead of you.

Resting a hand on the monk’s shoulder, you use your gift to soothe him. He can’t make such decisions with his emotions out of sorts, not rationally. “Whether you like it or not, Sun Wukong was chosen to serve you on this journey. As troublesome as he can be, we would not be this far along the journey without him.”

You look back at the sage while you speak, his eyes not meeting your own before Tripitaka takes a deep breath. He still seems agitated, but now in a more reasonable headspace. “Very well. I will forgive you, this time.” He looks down at his disciple, you’ve never quite seen this shade of anger on the monk before. Wukong glares back up at him, his own irritation of his master’s reaction clear in his eyes.

The two of them remain there, unmoving, until Sandy clears his throat. “Alright, then! Little Soother, how about we have some of those peaches you’ve brought back? We can find a place to sit a little further ahead and eat before continuing the path.” He pats you on the back and you nod.

At Wujing’s suggestion, you all go on through the mountains before finding a spot to eat. Tripitaka turns away to eat while you pass out the collected fruit to the others, offering a peach to Monkey King. He scoffs when you do, shouldering you as he walks past. “I don’t need you defending me to my master.”

“And I don’t need you getting on the Tang monk’s last nerve.” You glance at the monkey from the side of your eye, putting down the bag of peaches to rest by Ao Lie. “I’m not stupid, Tripitaka needs you to get to the west. I’m looking out for his best interest.” You explain before transforming to rest in a nearby tree while the others eat. Wukong follows you with his gaze for a moment before turning his back.

You watch your companions from your vantage point. When the journey had only started, everyone would take a moment like this to talk and share stories with one another. There’d be laughter and playful jesting, but the weight of travel has taken its toll on everyone. All of you are tired, it’s clear enough to anyone who might stumble upon your party. You just hope everyone will be able to get through the rest of the day without any more incidents.

#when you're on the world's longest road trip everyone's gonna get irritable #sorry wukong ur gonna suffer for a bit #jttw sun wukong #jttw tripitaka #little dove #sun wukong x reader

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