Two Kings

Chapter Eighty-Two: Pilgrims

Warning: N/A

Ming meets the Pilgrims

She was alone.

That was the first thing that Ming figured out upon waking up. The second being, that she didn't recognize the area she was in, neither from her parent's stories of their adventures of the journey west, or from the maps her family showed her.

Then again, she'd never really gone beyond the mountain before MK showed up, and Lantern City was the farthest away she'd ever gone so....

Voices had the little monkey turning, to where she peeked out from the bushes, seeing a familiar group walking close by. Perhaps they could help? Nervously shuffling from out of the bushes, Ming approached from behind one of them, and tugged gently on his robes, garnering the other's attention as well.

"Oh! Well hello there little one!" The monk--Tripitaka--was obviously much later in his journey, as he was now with the other pilgrims, and his greeting was much kinder towards her, as he knelt down to be eye level with the little monkey. "How may I help--?"

"Stay back master!" Jumping in between the two, the past Wukong glared down at Ming, who blinked back at him. "This could be some sort of demon trick...there may be more nearby."

"Wukong, I don't think--ahhhh! What are you doing?!" The monk and other pilgrims all cried out in horror, as Monkey King picked the little cub up by her ankle and held her upside down, with the younger giggling happily as her skirt fell down--luckily she wore shorts underneath. "That's not how you hold a child!"

Quickly rushing forwards, Zhu Bajie yanked the monkey girl from his 'brother's' arms and handed her off to an eager Ao Lie, who cooed happily at her, rubbing their cheeks together, "Oh aren't you the cutest?!~"

"What the hell man?!" The pig demon snapped at his fellow traveler, as Sha Wujing walked over to greet the little one, smiling when she showed no semblance of fear towards him like most kids did, using his powers to make her squeal in delight, as their master checked her over for injury or brain damage. "You could've killed her!"

"Oh please, she's a demon, she'll be fine," Huffing and rolling his eyes, the older monkey motioned towards the happy cub, who was babbling on and on about her siblings and friends to the others, who were happily listening. "See? Completely fine~"

"Demon or not," It was Tripitaka's turn to speak up, frowning in his disciple's direction. "She's still fragile Wukong, you can't simply hold her like that."

A tug on the monk's robes, had him looking down at a worried monkey cub, "You're not...you're not gonna' hurt him...are you?"

"A-ah....well..." Not wanting to scar the child, the golden cicada reincarnation opted to not use the fillet, sending Monkey King a warning glare. "No, I won't hurt him little one."

"You never did tell us your name, mine is Sha Wujing," The water spirit greeted, holding out his hand for the princess to shake, smiling as she did so with a giggle, and motioning to each of his friends in turn. "That's Zhu Bajie, Ao Lie, Sun Wukong and our master The Tang Monk Tripitaka."

"My name's Ming!~" She cheerfully greeted, flashing her fangs happily, tail wagging. "And I'm five years old!~"

"Such a big girl already!~" Ao Lie cooed, patting her on the head, barely containing his excitement. "And why are you all the way out here, all alone?"

"I got seperated from my family," Frowning, the little monkey's ears drooped as she remembered the incident that took her away from the others. 

"Maybe we could help you find them," The monk offered with a smile, as Wukong groaned in the background, pulling at his fur. "What do they look like? Are they monkeys like you?"

"My big brother MK is!" Ming chirped with a smile. "He's tall and has dark brown fur! My big sister Mei is a dragon!"

"A dragon??" The pilgrims echo in confusion, blinking dumbly.

"Yeah! Then there's uncle Pigsy, Uncle Tang, Uncle Sandy, and my brother's partner Red!" Counting each off on her finger, the young demon told her newfound friends about each in turn. "They're all amazing, and I love them very much!~"

"What about your parents?" Zhu Bajie asked, raising a brow. "Where are they?"

"Um, well, Gēge and the others are trying to find them," Ming's ears stayed down, as a pang of sadness ran through her, upon remembering why she was in the scroll in the first place. "Papa and Bàba got taken by this big ink monster, so we're searching to find them!"

"That's very brave of your family," Patting the child on the head, Tripitaka smiled softly, yet sadly. "I'm sure you'll find your fathers."

"I know we will!~" Eyes sparkling, the girl's tail began wagging in excitement. "My family is suuuppperrr strong! So I know we can do it!~"

Opening his mouth to speak, Ao Lie was interrupted as a female voice called out, "Mmmiinnngggg!!" 

Rushing out from the forest, Mei ran straight towards her ancestor who was holding the little monkey, and scooped her out of his arms, tail wagging happily, "Oh thank the gods you're okay!~"

"Jiĕjie!~" The cub cried out in joy, wrapping her arms around the dragon girl, tearing up in joy.

"Ah, so this is your sister?" The monk's voice broke up their reunion, the duo looking over at the adult, as the younger female nodded happily. 

"Yup!~"

"Then I'm glad to have reunited you two," Patting the monkey on the head, Tripitaka turned to Mei. "Make sure to keep an eye on this one, alright?"

"Oh, we've tried, not even tying her up to one us works," Laughing, she ignored the confused and worried looks of the other pilgrims, as they began trekking back off towards the forest. "Thanks for looking out for my sister! See ya!~"

Turning to look at Wukong, Ming sent the confused demon a smile, as she waved to him, "Bye-bye papa!~"

Not even having a chance to ask why she called him that, the two females disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving a group of shocked and confused pilgrims behind.

To be Continued.................................