Taming a fox

The fox's new beginning

Week went by in an instant and Luo An was back on his feet without any difficulties. Qin Yaozu was struggling the whole time, not with having to take care of the wounded man, but rather figuring out how the injury was healing.
     With anyone else, it would've been easy because they'd be able to tell if it still hurt or no but Luo An's only answers to being asked if he felt anything off were: "I don't know," and wordless shrugs. The only way Qin Yaozu could find out if Luo An was still injured was by making him stand up and observe his walk, praying that it won't make it worse.
     Luckily, Luo An was now able to move around the same way he could before, letting a huge boulder drop from Qin Yaozu's chest. He finally didn't have to take care of this criminal the whole day, bringing him food and carrying him around everywhere. Even though it was necessary, Qin Yaozu wasn't a big fan of it. 
     After having to deal with, so called rabid fox that turned out to be more like a little fox cub, Qin Yaozu finally had the chance to return to his original plan and have a duel he so eagerly wanted. 


Qin Yaozu sat by the bed which Luo An was sleeping on, eating breakfast after being able to peel Luo An off of him. It became a bad habit for the fox to always ask him to sleep with him in the same bed instead of sleeping on the floor and Qin Yaozu couldn't reject it as Luo An wouldn't shut up until he did as asked. 
     The morning was the only time he could enjoy his peace and quiet, not having to deal with constant whining, teasing and clinging. Along with that, he also had some time to think about why Luo An was like that. Even though he told him that he felt no emotions, he still acted very energetic. On the other hand, he could switch all the way around to a wounded pup when Qin Yaozu tried to ignore him or refused to comply with his 'needs'. It was all so strange and suspicious. Was this all an act to get him off guard? He would never let that happen! 
     As he fought with an invisible enemy in his own thoughts, he noticed Luo An slowly stirring awake. The fox flickered his eyelashes before opening his eyes and looking right at Qin Yaozu, immediately putting on a smile that didn't yet reach his tired eyes. 
     "Morning, gege. Slept well?" he asked slyly, already sounding like a tease which resulted in QIn Yaozu letting out a sigh before nodding. Luo An was pleased with the answer and sat up, getting out of bed and stretching.
     "Did you bring me breakfast too?" 
     "You can walk, get it yourself."
Luo An blinked a few times before bursting into laughter. "Right, right!" he said between laughing. "It would be a shame to waste your time on a lowly person like me!" His tone turned rather sarcastic, almost making Qin Yaozu punch him. From the very start of the day, he just had to start with these teases! 
     After he stopped laughing, Luo An quickly got some food and ate almost all of it on his way back, finishing it shortly after returning. Qin Yaozu was already long done with his meal by then, getting properly dressed. Luo An observed him as he picked up his sword and turned towards him. "You promised me a duel when you recover," he said coolly. "You still want to fight? Aiya, you really won't let it go..." Luo An whined as he made his way towards his opponent. "Let's take it somewhere else, shall we? We wouldn't want to hurt innocent civilians, would we?" Qin Yaozu growled at the requested, replying through gritted teeth: "Since when do you care about the innocent?" Luo An raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "You must be misunderstanding my actions. Never have I ever hurt anyone who was innocent. Did you think otherwise?" 
     Qin Yaozu ignored the question and dragged Luo An outside, getting far from so called 'innocent civilians' as the fox called them. Upon reaching a place where they were alone, Qin Yaozu struck. Luo An avoided the attack with easy and let him throw a few more strikes before attacking back. His movements were fast and hard to dodge but Qin Yaozu ended up managing not being harmed by the time the attacks were over.
     Luo An fought with nothing but his bare fists, mainly using Qin Yaozu against himself by striking his hands and making the blade of his sword tilt towards its owner. 
     "You're holding up pretty well! Let's see how much longer this will continue," Luo An chuckled as he dodged all the strikes of Qin Yaozu's sword, enraging his opponent. After many strikes that failed to hit the target, Qin Yaozu became frustrated. "What kind of a freak are you?!" he yelled out. Surprisingly, Luo An froze and the blade pierced his shoulder and pushed him to the ground where he was nailed. 


Young boy, barely in his teens, climbed over a wall of the palace, avoiding the guards as he made his way towards the room of the emperor. Lucky enough, he was able to slip in through a window that was most likely accidentally left open. Upon entering the room, the boy's eyes quickly fell onto the many precious items the emperor owned. 
     Without much time to spare, he quickly grabbed anything he could, stuffing it into his ragged bag. His moves were quick and quiet, grabbing many precious gems at once. The bag he has was small so it was soon full which forced him to begin to stuff the things into his robes that weren't in a much better condition.
     In a moment of carelessness, a gem slipped out of his hand and hit the floor with a clank. His eyes widened as he stared at it in shock. The door soon flew open and guards rushed in, easily overpowering the boy and dragging him off.
     The guards brought him to a huge room with a throne which the emperor sat upon. He was thrown before him along with the things he attempted to steal on the pile right next to him. His small eyes slowly looked up and made the piercing gaze of the man before him. The emperor dismissed the guards and was soon left alone with the little thief. He got up from the throne and walked towards him with his arms clasped behind his back as he looked him over.
     "So you attempted to steal from us? Pretty daring, don't you think?" 
The boy lowered his head and stayed silent, making the emperor raise an eyebrow. He made the boy look up and asked another question:
     "What's your name?" 
     "Yi."
     "Surname?"
He didn't answer this question. Doesn't have a surname? Interesting...
     Instead of a punishment, the emperor ordered his servants to give the boy a proper bath, dress him and put him in a spare room in the palace. The servants hesitated but they couldn't disobey the emperor. 
     Soon after they brought the boy to the room, the emperor paid him a visit. "Do you know why we didn't punish you?" he asked him. Yi shook his head which caused the emperor to chuckle, his expression and tone softening. "You see, I've been looking for a male concubine for a while. You're like a gift from the heavens. Such a beautiful young boy such as yourself is hard to find." The emperor sat with him on the bed and gently stroke his thigh, smiling. "This is a new beginning for you. You can start anew in comfort. How about it?" Yi didn't answer and hung his head low. Since he made no signs of protest, the emperor took it as an approval. "You're not much of a talker, are you? That's alright. At least you won't backtalk me in the future, is that right?" No answer. The emperor sighed and stood up. "You'll be brought a meal shortly. If there's anything else you need, ask the servants. As for your punishment for trying to steal from me..." he thought for a moment. "You'll find out soon enough." 
     The emperor made his way towards the door but turned around just as he was about to leave. "One last thing. From now on, you'll go by the name 'Luo An'."