Prompt 4 | A | 3 for true_writers
Prompt: One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love. - Sophocles
Words: 641
Fandom: The Forbidden Kingdom / Journey to the West / Xena: Warrior Princess
Notes: AU and RP inspired.
A long time ago there was magic and monsters, and that is where he met her. It was not so long to either of them in the strange place they both ended up, but in the grand scheme of things it was a long time indeed. It was in an age between ages, and a place between places with a little bit of everything. There was forest and there was town, there was ocean and there was mountain and there were deep, deep caves that reminded the Monkey King of his home in the Waterfall Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.
The woman was strong and courageous, and she had the sturdy personality of the ox without it's shortcomings; or so he thought, though surely some would argue. She was brave and she was skilled and she was infamous. Her soul was balanced with loyalty and defiance, and that made her great. He could excuse her skimpy clothing and the fact that she was of foreign birth because she had a strong spirit. When he met her, she had walked a dark path, but he could always see that light inside of her even if she did not believe it was there. He could see it and he knew.
It was that light he was thinking of as he sat perched high in a tall forest tree, spying on the woman that he often complained was far too tall. Those long legs that were the source of his playful chiding always showed the right amount of thigh when they shifted under her leather kilt, and his extraordinarily keen dark eyes didn't miss a millimeter of smooth thigh revealed by her agile movement and successfully distracted him from his pondering over her better nature.
A tilt of his head that made his gold topknot sway, and he regarded his former pupil as she practiced with her chakram. She had a soulmate; a woman that she was set to accompany through the ages. One day what he taught her would be lost to her soul, and she would turn to a life of peace. She would grow closer to enlightenment.
It should have been something that the great Monkey King would have been proud of. Instead, it made his chest ache, and he clung to his Wishing Staff. One day, she would go away. One day, she would move on to greater things in heaven, never to be reborn, and he would never see her again but for this place.
Bushy brows twitched and he shifted to his feet on the branch, barely jostling the leaves at all with his movement and impeccable balance. Between the gaps in the leaves he caught the sway of brunette hair and the glint of gold on leather. He listened to the faint sound of heavy boots against dead foliage and the ping of her weapon as it ricocheted off trees.
Such things about her shouldn't make him sad. He would have to meditate; weed those ill thoughts from his mind. They pushed him further from his goal. He couldn't indulge in them. Thoughts and feelings that were painful and harmful to the self were not the way of the Buddha. While there were certain points he didn't agree with the statute of heaven on, this one he could. To keep from those thoughts, he would have to push her away from his heart eventually.
He saw her smile.
His hair prickled and stood on end, and he hugged that staff more tightly. It wasn't her smirk or a defiant grin. It was a genuine smile, full of that light he knew was there and kindness she struggled for and didn't realize she had.
That feeling made it right.
Crouching first, he sprang off the tree and over the treetops, leaving her to her practice.
Words: 641
Fandom: The Forbidden Kingdom / Journey to the West / Xena: Warrior Princess
Notes: AU and RP inspired.
A long time ago there was magic and monsters, and that is where he met her. It was not so long to either of them in the strange place they both ended up, but in the grand scheme of things it was a long time indeed. It was in an age between ages, and a place between places with a little bit of everything. There was forest and there was town, there was ocean and there was mountain and there were deep, deep caves that reminded the Monkey King of his home in the Waterfall Cave on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit.
The woman was strong and courageous, and she had the sturdy personality of the ox without it's shortcomings; or so he thought, though surely some would argue. She was brave and she was skilled and she was infamous. Her soul was balanced with loyalty and defiance, and that made her great. He could excuse her skimpy clothing and the fact that she was of foreign birth because she had a strong spirit. When he met her, she had walked a dark path, but he could always see that light inside of her even if she did not believe it was there. He could see it and he knew.
It was that light he was thinking of as he sat perched high in a tall forest tree, spying on the woman that he often complained was far too tall. Those long legs that were the source of his playful chiding always showed the right amount of thigh when they shifted under her leather kilt, and his extraordinarily keen dark eyes didn't miss a millimeter of smooth thigh revealed by her agile movement and successfully distracted him from his pondering over her better nature.
A tilt of his head that made his gold topknot sway, and he regarded his former pupil as she practiced with her chakram. She had a soulmate; a woman that she was set to accompany through the ages. One day what he taught her would be lost to her soul, and she would turn to a life of peace. She would grow closer to enlightenment.
It should have been something that the great Monkey King would have been proud of. Instead, it made his chest ache, and he clung to his Wishing Staff. One day, she would go away. One day, she would move on to greater things in heaven, never to be reborn, and he would never see her again but for this place.
Bushy brows twitched and he shifted to his feet on the branch, barely jostling the leaves at all with his movement and impeccable balance. Between the gaps in the leaves he caught the sway of brunette hair and the glint of gold on leather. He listened to the faint sound of heavy boots against dead foliage and the ping of her weapon as it ricocheted off trees.
Such things about her shouldn't make him sad. He would have to meditate; weed those ill thoughts from his mind. They pushed him further from his goal. He couldn't indulge in them. Thoughts and feelings that were painful and harmful to the self were not the way of the Buddha. While there were certain points he didn't agree with the statute of heaven on, this one he could. To keep from those thoughts, he would have to push her away from his heart eventually.
He saw her smile.
His hair prickled and stood on end, and he hugged that staff more tightly. It wasn't her smirk or a defiant grin. It was a genuine smile, full of that light he knew was there and kindness she struggled for and didn't realize she had.
That feeling made it right.
Crouching first, he sprang off the tree and over the treetops, leaving her to her practice.