Winter Moon | Xiao x Fem Reader

Ashes III

"Are you going to tell me your name?" You asked eagerly the boy walking beside you.

"No," was his curt reply every time.

You'd been journeying together for the past 3 days. Climbing over mountains with a mortal would've been too time-consuming and considering his wounds were still in bandages. you settled on walking around them. It would add a few days to your journey, but you didn't mind. As long as you took the boy safely to his new home.

"Hmph," you grumbled, crossing your arms. "How am I supposed to call you then? Boy?" You asked, hoping to persuade him into telling you his name.

"What you decide to refer to me as is no concern of mine," he replied nonchalantly, arms crossed across his chest and chin turned up.

You thought for a second and then smiled mischievously, "Hm, okay then. By the end of the day, I have to find you a suitable nickname."

The said boy stopped in his tracks and stuttered for a second, "W-why?" The red tips of his ears peaked through his waist-long hair.

"Because," you beamed a smile at him, "I can't refer to my friend as 'boy' for the rest of my life, now can I?"

He stumbled over his words for a long moment before he said, "A friend? When did we become friends? You can't go around calling random people your friends."

"Why not? We both went through something horrific together so why can't we be friends?" You skipped ahead happily.

He watched you run ahead, chasing after butterflies and stopping to smell some flowers he didn't recognise. You'd have looked far too carefree for someone who was mourning days ago if he couldn't see how your eyes were dull and cloudy. You were obviously trying to distract yourself with anything you could. Whether it's teasing him, or paying too much attention to pointless things in your surroundings, it was simply all so you weren't left alone with your own thoughts. He easily recognised the pattern just because he'd follow the same one every time the voices were too loud and the guilt overwhelmed him. And so he let you be. Might as well, before he finds the perfect opportunity to make his move.

He felt the power coming from you in overwhelming waves. You weren't just a measly god who could barely hold themselves against him like many others were. He wasn't a stranger to fighting gods, having assassinated any whom his own God decided to on a whim.

It was a mystery to him as to why she'd hold a grudge against you. He knew Celestial Gods didn't really meddle in matters present in the mortal realm. He guessed it was the masked man who'd asked for her assistance. But then again, he was surely stronger than her. The power and energy felt almost as strong as your own, his anger and menace mixing in. If he wanted to he would've surely tried his hand at you and he even had a chance at winning.

The yaksha didn't care though. What would caring achieve in his situation? A deity as powerful as him, imprisoned by the devilry that was the God he was forced to serve. The freedom of choice was long stolen from him. He had accepted his fate and the fact that said fate was to have his hands stained in foreign blood.

"Hey, we should build a camp here," you said as you sat down underneath the canopy of a tree to watch the sunset. How come everything was more beautiful from this low? On Celestia, the sunset never looked this pretty, with the shadows of the trees standing prettily against the dimming sunlight, or how it would reflect on the rippling water. It was truly a sight to behold.

The boy stood beside you, watching your smiling face. He'd never admit it but it amazed him how a Celestial God nonetheless would be so carefree and jovial when it comes to such simple things. The only god he'd known for longer than the time it took to murder them, has been his own God whose only joy was to see her enemies torn apart limb from limb. His eyebrows unknowingly furrowed as he watched the gentle smile from your face fall quickly.