Taken || Lego Monkei Kid

Come with me

Although prohibited from venturing beyond the Mountain and even restricted from leaving the waterfall for a time, Xiaotian found solace in frequent meditation. It was the only way to ease the tension of his mind, and not bombard his poor other half with his current state.

His other half was clearly living a good life and was happy, and Xiaotian hated bringing them down with his own worries. So he focused on meditation.

He chose to spend less time outside, secluding himself in his room. The mere thought of running into his parents was enough to make him feel like he was losing his mind. It often sparked heated arguments that left him feeling drained and defeated.

He was just so tired. He wanted things to be normal again, but how could they be when he knew that normal was being stuck here?

Luckily, his parents had finally shed their helicopter tendencies. No longer were they hovering, and even ordered the monkeys to stop tailing him. Taru had been punished, but thankfully nothing extreme. He simply had to watch over the little ones for a while- which he truly didn't mind.

Now that his grounding was over Xiaotian had the freedom to explore anywhere within the Mountain boundaries, completely unsupervised.

How generous.

Perhaps his parents felt bad for keeping him enclosed, but regardless of their reasons, he wasn't exactly grateful. He had no reason to go beyond his room.

After month one his parents had let up on their punishment. It didn't alter Xiaotian's mood. Two months had passed since his little escapeed out into the world. He literally just went 2 miles away from home, but the seals around the border had been increased ten fold. Didn't exactly prevent anyone from flying in and out, but Xiaotian couldn't exactly form a cloud like his Dad. So no one was worried.

Now things were just... Quiet.

Xiaotian felt like a stranger in his own body. Disconnected, cynical and cold. Nothing seemed to break him out of this dull state he had been in since his last outing. Not even the waterfall could calm his nerves.

It only served as a reminder that he was somehow cut off from the rest of the world; locked away in this mountain top prison that his parents had created for him.

"Xiaoxiao?" One day, his Dad stumbled upon him, hunched over with his head buried against the thundering cascade of the waterfall. Soaking to the bone, his eyes lost in a faraway gaze, Xiaotian slowly stood up and ran a hand through his drenched fur. "Bud, what are you doing?"

Xiaotian didn't answer, simply turning and heading back inside to return to his room. Wukong had called for him, but it fell on deaf ears.

He didn't join his parents for dinner, accepting the offerings of food they left outside his door before closing it behind him. They attempted to draw him out with an assortment of different things.

He never budged.

In time, they resorted to softer tactics. They provided more books and stories for him to read, inviting him out on walks around the Mountain path, even saying that he didn't need to speak with them- they just wanted his presence. But Xiaotian stayed shut down. As if his spirit had been broken in some way.

One day, a knock came to his door. Xiaotian was content to ignore and continue his very focused staring session with his roof.

However, instead of his Baba or Dad's voice calling to him, a gruffer and older tone resonated beyond the door. "Xiaotian, my boy." Xiaotian's ears perked. A spark of vigor returned. It wasn't exactly something new, but it was someone he felt he hadn't seen in a long time.