Shang’s eyes opened in a field of carcasses. The rotting bodies of red hounds were littered around him. He tried to sit up, but he could not move. His body would not obey. In a panic, he tried to wiggle his toes. With much effort, his toes shifted. His body felt wrong like it did not belong to him. The feeling was oddly nostalgic, like his body before Rue and before the blood gem when his meridians were crushed and his body infirmed.

He gingerly scanned his meridians. To his relief, they were still intact. A faint stinging in his lungs reminded him of his previous conversation with Koyo and Bataa. There was no way to cycle in Penumbra. After Rue’s insistence on ambient cycling, he found it hard to give up the habit of cycling with each breath and struggled to separate one from the other.

Shang was just glad he remembered how to breathe without cycling because it would be impossible to do both here. Suffocation seemed a terrible way to die. His many years as a non-cultivator were finally helping him. A rustle in his robes alerted him to the beast-boy. He was unused to moving his new body without any infused qi, but after a tremendous effort, he managed to push to a sitting position. The bundle he was holding whimpered slightly and grasped on tighter to his inner robes.

Shang gingerly lifted the beast-boy so he could study him. Shang had seen a few beast-men in his life. The ones near FuJia had much the same coloring as the locals, but with some beast characteristics. This boy was an exception. Shang had never seen eyes so clear and blue and hair so silver that it almost glittered in the dim light.

He self-consciously fingered one of his loose white hairs. They were similar in color, but Shang felt the color suited the boy much better. His skin was a dark olive shade, contrasting starkly with his light hair. At his examination, one fluffy white ear twitched. Shang unconsciously reached for his ears. They were plush, warm, and very soft. They reminded him of Rue in his sable form. Self-consciously, Shang pulled away.

As he held the boy for examination, the boy looked back at Shang with wide crystalline eyes. Shang tried to school a happy expression onto this face. He did not want to scare him. What if he cried? That would surely draw predators. The boy looked like a young toddler, but he knew little about childcare, even less about the development of beast-men. He guessed this one was too young to talk or walk on his own.

Any suggestions on how to keep this guy alive Rue? Or us for that matter?

He waited for a reply but was met with silence.

Rue?

Silence.

This isn’t funny Rue. I could really use your help.

He checked for nearby creatures. hound corpses littered the ground around him, but there was no movement. He dared to retreat briefly into his soul space. The cavernous space was vast and hauntingly empty. Rue was not there. He retreated from the space and did a further scan of his body own body. His meridians were still there and whole.

He studied his physical body for more injuries. Besides the broken ankle, he found nothing wrong other than a strange mark on his wrist. The mark was dark and inky, almost wrapping around his whole wrist. It depicted a black lotus blossom joining with a red lotus as though they were fighting for dominance. Shang rubbed at the mark, but it would not smudge. He looked around at his blighted surroundings. The mystery of the mark would have to wait. He needed to set his whole mind on survival. There was no one to ask. He had forgotten what that had felt like. For the first time in a long time, he was truly alone.

Shang finally gathered enough strength to walk but each step was torture. His ankle threatened to buckle at any moment, and each step felt like he was wrestling to control dead limbs. He pondered Rue’s disappearance as he walked. He doubted he was gone. He simply could not imagine Rue dying or disappearing, especially if Shang was alive. He was alive, wasn’t he? Shang shook his head, deciding it was fruitless to guess at his own existence. His foot hurt and he was hungry, so he was alive in all the ways that mattered. As he walked, he could see signs of the passage of a gigantic twelve-legged beast. He prayed he would never encounter the monster that left those marks.

Shang wondered at the never-ending field of dead hounds. He stopped to remove the cores and gems from the largest of them. Even in death, fire wreathed their paws. Who killed them? The big monster with many legs? Then why was he still alive? Too many questions, all of which are irrelevant to his main worry.

How in the Heavens was he going to get out of here?

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After what felt like days of walking, Shang settled down next to a great black overhang. Unlike the tall black trees, this stone did not emit any heat. He was able to set his back to it and use it as a shelter against the imposing sky. While there was no sun, the sky radiated a sweltering energy. Every so often, it would blaze white from a particularly strong lightning bolt. Shang guessed that the lightning was the source of the heat.

He glared at his meager possessions as though he could force them to multiply. Thankfully, his expanse bag functioned in Penumbra. He laid out its contents with care. Food was in one section, water in another, miscellaneous supplies like bandages and flint, reference materials, and cultivation and artificing supplies in the last. Strapped to his body was his father’s sword and the long knife he’d borrowed from Nio. Both would be ineffectual in killing or even maiming even a Nascent Realm beast.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He was grateful that he had stored away some water before taking apart the water-bearing artifact. Not like the water-bearing artifact would do any good in this aura. Shang knew dehydration was his biggest threat. There was no indication that water even existed in this domain. The trees here were so hot that he could not step within ten paces of them. He highly doubted they subsisted on water. With their current supply, the two of them could live for a week, maybe two. He wasn’t sure how much the little one drank.

Shang’s fingers lingered on the two vials of blood. He felt queasy thinking about it, but if he had been given the choice again, he would still steal their blood. He only hoped they were all still alive. He couldn’t imagine their fate was worse than his own.

He left out the bandages, a small packet of dried scorpion meat, and the water jug. His stomach was twisting with hunger, but he had to ration the food. He didn’t know how long it would take to find another domain rift. The gorge was not huge, but he wasn’t sure if distance worked the same between domains.

After arranging the excess provisions in his storage space, he pulled the beast-boy from his chest and seated him on the ground. The boy’s grip was surprisingly strong, and his expression was serene. He had yet to make any indication of pain or discomfort. After giving his body a check for bruises and abrasions, and finding none, he handed the babe a chunk of dried meat.

He diverted his attention to his broken and extremely swollen ankle. He could do nothing but bind it tight with the medicinal bandages. The numbing effect of the bandages offered some relief, but he needed rest. When he looked back up, the boy was still holding the jerky but paid it no mind. His gaze never left Shang.

“You need to eat. I don’t know exactly what you usually eat, but there’s not much choice,” Shang admitted. The boy only blinked in response. “How about some water.”

Shang helped lift the water jug to the boy’s face. It was nearly the same size as the boy and far too large for him to carry. To his surprise, the boy reached up with his other hand and lifted the jug to his lips. He sniffed briefly and took a small drink before holding the drink toward Shang. Shang moved to take the jug, but the boy pulled back. He gestured again with the water jug at Shang’s face, and Shang leaned forward. To his amusement, the child then stood from his sitting position and held the water jug to Shang’s lips. Shang drank deeply and gave the boy a wide smile. He was surprised by the boy’s strength, but maybe all beast-children were so strong.

“Thank you,” Shang said. He reached over to give the boy a pat on the head.

“Thank you.” The boy’s voice was just a whisper, but his words were clear.

“Oh, you can talk! That’s great. What is your name little one?”

The boy only stared back with an empty expression.

“Hmmm… how about I give you a name. Just a nickname, so we can call to one another. I will call you ChunChun for your pretty hair. And you can call me MingMing. Can you say my name?” Shang spoke slowly and clearly, hoping the child could understand him.

“Ming-Ming,” Chun’s voice was as clear as a glass flute.

“Good boy, little Chun. You are very smart.” Shang kept his tone light and rubbed his head in encouragement. Is this how you treat babies? It was becoming readily apparent that he was in way over his head and in more ways than one.

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ChunChun walked with big brother. Chun had offered to walk when he realized the bigger boy was struggling to carry him. He had started to think of him as an older brother. He did not have the same features as his elder brothers, and he was much kinder, but he reminded Chun of them. For one, he seemed to know a lot more about the world and had many interesting toys. ChunChun did not reach for them because he did not want to break them, but he liked looking all the same.

Chun was also learning so much from big brother. He knew now that the strange sounds he made were his way of speaking. He spoke like those terrible creatures, but big brother was not terrible. He was kind, and he gave good head rubs.

Speaking with sound seemed strange and all too inefficient, but Chun did it because big brother liked it, and Chun was always a fast learner. Chun walked closely behind big brother, but in truth, he preferred being carried. He liked to press his ears against big brother’s heart and listen to the thumps as he walked. The sound was so pretty, and it reminded him of home. Chun didn’t want to be carried now though because he could see that big brother was hurt. He walked with a limp and had to rest often. Chun gave big brother the water jug when they rested because big brother would give him a big smile after he did and say he was a good boy!

Chun loved getting compliments and big brother was great at giving them. When the gray skies above them dimmed to pure black, they stopped to rest for the night. Chun munched on the food big brother gave him. He did not know it was food at first, but when he saw big brother eat it, he did too. He didn’t really like it, but if it was what big brother liked, he would eat it too.

“ChunChun, do you feel tired, do you want to go to sleep?” big brother asked miming sleep.

Chun tilted his head curiously. In truth, he was not tired, and he hoped big brother would keep talking to him like he did all day. It was a nice sound. “Do you want to sleep, MingMing?”

Big brother gave a small smile. “I am very tired, but I think I will stay awake. You should get some rest Chun-bo. It will be a long walk tomorrow.”

Chun held out his arms and big brother reached down to carry him. His other siblings never carried him before, and he never thought they should. Chun could walk very well on his own. Even so, the feeling was nice. Chun wondered if big brother would also like to be carried. Maybe Chun would carry big brother when he grew big himself. Chun closed his eyes and focused on the strong thumping of big brother’s heart. He followed the sound until his mind drifted off into sleep.