"You know I can't comfort you, right? I feel exactly the same"
Sun Wukong looks at his clone and twists his face painfully.
"I don't need help." The words slide out of his lips with effort. Still, it is easier to lie than letting the echo slam the truth into the walls of the Water Curtain Cave. "I just... need to talk a bit."
The clone lifts his brow, throwing at him the sight of disbelief.
"Oh, you know what?!" Wukong snaps at him, stepping to him firmly. "You're right. You don't have to be here."
"No, no, no, wait!" The clone shows his open hands in a peace-offering gesture before Wukong takes a swing at him. "I'll talk! I like talking! I'll be talking!"
He giggles nervously, smiling apologetically at Monkey King. Wukong stops with his fist lifted high, ready to punch the clone right in his stupid, ignorant face, but then he melts a bit. He drops his arm and heaves a sigh.
His eyes come back to the painting on the moss-grown wall. He constantly cleans this one spot with the drawing of five characters, but he's a bit too lazy to clean the whole wall regularly. So the moss around forms into a sick-looking, thick, heavy frame, drying and dropping here and there. Wildflowers bloom in some spots with more sunshine. Monkeys haven't picked them from here; they barely visit this part of the cave. This place just smells musty grief.
Monkey King tilts his head back, staring pitifully at the painting. His tired red eyes view lines slowly as if they haven't already memorized every single one of them by heart. The most prominent character is a frail monk in the golden robe sitting on a deft white horse. He smiles gently, looking at the sky, where he is supposed to see Buddha waiting for him high above everyone's heads, where no one can reach him, where no one can see him again... His right hand is lifted, greeting people of the world, blessing them in the name of Buddha. On his left, the pig demon in messy clothes smirks archly from the wall, and the big blue sea demon flexes his muscles above the monk's head.
On the right, the monkey in an unimpressive size, but with a very confident and arrogant stance, smiles widely and so genuinely, keeping guard at his master's side with pride and loyalty beaming from his cheerful eyes. He looks so happy. So excited. So vivid as if he wants to jump from the picture.
"You're right..." Wukong sighs, detaching his sight of the painting. He sits down and leans against the wall. "That's just pathetic."
The clone looks at him with understanding, but it is hard to say something comforting if you feel equally miserable. He sits next to him and glances down at his own feet.
"Maybe we should leave Flower Fruit Mountain?" The clone whispers unsurely into the void. The echo keeps his words in the air for a while and then throws them away from the cave like unwanted dried leaves.
"And where would we go?" Wukong breathes out, not putting even an effort to look at who he is talking to.
"I don't know, we can explore the world" The clone rubs his neck shyly. "Again..."
"Nonsense." Monkey King mumbles, hiding his whole head in his arms, curling up into a ball. "I saw the whole world twice, or probably even more... There's nothing to see..."
"There is always someone to fight" The clone suggests hopelessly.
The monkey lifts his head and treats his clone with a blank look.
"Fight for what?" He splits with contempt.
"Just for fun. We're dying of boredom here."
YOU ARE READING
Six Segments Of A Peach
Fanfiction"You're smaller and weaker than I expected" Monkey King mumbles, not being able to hide the hint of disappointment in his voice. "And you look more like a macaque than a monkey..." The little unnamed demon keeps blinking, trying to view the world ar...
