Wuji: A Promise Kept

63

It was later in the evening and the group had found a nice little meadow within the woods they walked through. They found it was a good place to set up came for the night. The disciples worked together to gather wood for a fire and set up food for them to eat. Wuxian sat down with Iroh, Wangji and Haishi near the fire to rest. Sizhui suddenly became a bit mischievous and sat beside Wuxian.

"Baba, want one?" Sizhui asked as he held out a radish in front of him.

"Radishes?" Wuxian asked, "not only is it cannibalism for you, but I'd hate to eat more of your siblings."

Sizhui wasn't expecting Wuxian to counter him so quickly but then again, it was Wei Wuxian and he was a master of tricks and mischievous behaviors, "hmm, suit yourself," Sizhui said, "and it isn't cannibalism."

"A'Yuan, you are my little radish and always will be. Therefore, eating radishes should be bad, I don't want to eat your brothers and sisters," Wuxian said, "right Lan Zhan?"

"Mnn," Wangji hummed.

"Radishes taste weird," Haishi said.

"Maybe it is because you don't like the spice it gives off," Wuxian said, "but it's okay. I'm sure you have other vegetables that you like."

"Mnn," Haishi nodded, "but Baba, how is Gege a Radish?"

"I planted him in a radish patch when he was around your age. So he just became a radish," Wuxian answered.

"If he is a radish, then what am I?" Haishi asked.

"Hmm, little bunny," Wuxian replied.

"I like bunnies," Haishi said.

"Your A'Die has a lot of bunnies back home. Perhaps he can show you sometime," Wuxian suggested.

"Can you A'Die?" Haishi asked Wangji.

"Of course," Wangji answered.

"But, how are there bunnies? Animals aren't allowed at Cloud Recesses?" Haishi asked.

"I was gifted two bunnies and I took them care of them. I have a lot more now, and each bunny is considered family. Plus, your uncle is okay with it too," Wangji explained.

"Who gave you the bunnies?" Haishi asked.

Wangji smiled, "your Baba," he answered.

"Really?" Haishi asked.

"Yes, and recently, we were both gifted with the best little bunny of all," Wuxian said hugging Haishi.

Haishi giggled as she hugged him back and then snuggled between Wuxian and Wangji. The two already were sitting very close together so Haishi was basically sitting on both their laps. The others found it adorable as they finished gathering supplies. Soon everyone huddled around the fire and got comfortable. Wuxian however, got up and started to place talismans around them all. He then activated them and it created a protective barrier around them to keep them safe for the night.

"How is everyone else doing?" Wuxian asked as he returned to his seat.

"We are all doing fine," Sizhui answered.

"Baba, do you know any stories?" Haishi asked.

"I know plenty," Wuxian replied, "my...shijie would tell me so many stories when I was young and I never forget them."

"Can you tell one?" Haishi asked.

"What would you like to hear?" Wuxian asked.

"Since we talked about bunnies, do you know any about bunnies?" Haishi asked.

"I do," Wuxian said and cleared his throat:

"Cute, fluffy and white, The Jade Rabbit is no ordinary bunny. Calling the moon its home, the Jade Rabbit is a mystical and enchanting Eastern legend. When the bunny isn't busy making immortality elixirs, it keeps the beautiful goddess Chang'e company in the Moon Palace.

The Jade Emperor disguised himself into a poor, starving old man and begged for food from monkey, otter, jackal, and rabbit. Monkey gathered fruit from the trees, and otter gathered fish from the river. Jackal stole a lizard and a pot of milk curds. Rabbit though, could only gather grass. Knowing well enough that grass can't be offered as food to humans, rabbit decided to offer its own body, sacrificing itself in the fire the man had started. Somehow, though, rabbit wasn't burned. The old man suddenly revealed himself to be the great Jade Emperor! Touched deeply by rabbit's selfless sacrifice, he sent it to the moon to become the immortal Jade Rabbit.

After some time passes, a big, bad toad wants to devour a Monk. But the Monkey King comes to the rescue, toad flies off to hide in the Moon Palace. There, it finds the Jade Rabbit busy at work—pounding herbal medicine into magical elixir with its mortar and pestle.

When the Moon Goddess Chang'e appears and summons bunny away, the toad, which had been lurking the entire time, shape shifts into the likeness of the Jade Rabbit. It then swipes some elixir to heal its injured leg and runs off with bunny's pestle as a weapon. With a malicious, armed meta-toad on the loose things get pretty hectic. Luckily, Monkey King's golden gaze sees through every demonic guise. He thwarts the toad and saves the day, returns the magic pestle to the Jade Rabbit, and all ends well.

It is said that if you look up at the moon, you can see an outline of the Jade Rabbit pounding with a pestle. More than just cute, fluffy, and white, the Jade Rabbit is a sign of selflessness, piety, and sacrifice. Maybe that's why the Jade Rabbit is on the moon—so that no matter where we are on Earth, we always have the ethics of righteousness and self-sacrifice to look up to."

"Wow, so sometimes sacrifice is good?" Haishi asked.

"It can be, but there are always consequences with every choice. It's hard to say what the outcome will be," Wuxian said, "but right now, you do not have to worry."

"Have you ever made any sacrifices?" Haishi asked.

"I have, and it was not easy. I sacrificed my cultivation for my brother and I could no longer cultivate like everyone else. In the end, I learned a new way to protect myself and fight. Many did not like my ways of fighting and were against it. I did not care. Later, there was a small group of people who were in trouble and I sacrificed my life to them. I gave up the place I grew up in order to protect them. I could no longer see certain people but as long as those people who I was protecting were safe, I was okay with it," Wuxian explained.

"What happened to those people?" Haishi asked.

Wuxian looked at Sizhui and Wen Ning, "only two of them survived. One of them is your Gege Sizhui and the other is your uncle Ning."

Haishi looked at Sizhui and got up from her seat. She then went over to them and hugged them, "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's alright Haishi," Sizhui said, "our people may be gone but I am still here and I have a new family. They are very kind and I am glad I have them. Uncle Ning is also still here so I am very happy about that too."

"Why did others want to hurt your people?" Haishi asked.

"They were part of a sect that is no longer around. That sect caused a war and any people from that sect was to be killed," Wuxian said explained.

"Why? Did everyone from that sect take part in that war? If not, the innocent shouldn't have been killed," Haishi said.

Wuxian and Wangji smiled, "we know but people were scared of another war to break out so they acted on impulse. That is why you need to know both sides before you start making decisions," Wuxian said.

"I will not make those mistakes," Haishi said.

"We know, and we are here to help you," Wangji said.

"Well, it's getting late, we should probably get some sleep if we want to set out early tomorrow," Wuxian said.

"Okay," the others agreed.