Chapter Text
Shihou crouched low, his eyes set on the silver Macaque. His tail twitched, unsettling the leaves. Then, he lunged.
Shihou's face was buried into the dirt to where Liu'er once were. He raised his head to stare up at her.
"How do you always know when I'm gonna pounce?!" He pouted.
"Your as loud as a buck!" Liu'er teased, she flicked her tail before standing over Shihou, "Loud-step" She snorted.
"Sneaky trickster!" Shihou retailed yet his face was flush with blush. He quickly got up, brushing dirt and leaves out of his fur.
Liu'er stuck her tongue out, side stepping Shihou as he tried to lunge at her again.
"Your too predictable" She retorted slyly. Her tail wrapped around Shihou's ankle, yanking it causing him to stumble.
Shihou squeaked and slipped bringing Liu'er down with him.
Liu'er let out a surprised yelp and chomped down on Shihou's arm.
"OW!" He screeched pushing her away as she laughed. "Your teeth hurt!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the nearly nonexistent wound.
"Didn't you say you were like the Monkey King? A simple bite isn't gonna kill you" Liu'er joked as she jumped up into a tree.
Shihou stuck his tongue out before joining her up in the tree.
The two monkeys spent most of the night eating fruit, trading stories, and simply talking.
Marshal Ma had noticed that Shihou had been sneaking off at night. She had started to notice how Shihou seemed more tired and how Tongbi had complained about Shihou hiding stuff from her.
Originally Marshal Ma had thought it off as Shihou simply growing. Yet then she caught that scent on him...that scent. Something about it had her on edge.
After awhile and a few times of Shihou falling asleep during lessons, she got fed up.
Tonight, Marshal Ma decided to follow him. She had a suspicion that it was the silver macaque that General Ba and Beng had spotted that time a few weeks ago, but she wanted her suspicions confirmed.
She was starting to think she had lost Shihou's trail until...she spotted them.
A silver macaque with six ears attached to her head was sitting across the familiar ginger monkey.
Marshal Ma approached cautiously, staying hidden, luckily her dark ebony fur make it easy to hide in the night.
Apparently she hadn't been quiet enough as the silver macaque turned to her direction, peering through the leaves.
"Liu'er? What's wrong?" Shihou asked curiously shifting to move next to her.
"Someone's watching us" She replied, her tone now weary and nervous.
Marshal Ma sighed before revealing herself. She decided to take amusement in Shihou's shocked expression.
"M-M-MARSHAL MA!" He squeaked pitifully, jumping up and trying to salvage the situation.
The macaque seemed less panicked, she seemed more...defensive. "Who are you?" She demanded
"Not a threat to you, dear." Marshal Ma tried to sound calm and kind, her body language showing she wasn't a threat, "I'm an elder in Shihou's troop, you can call me Marshal Ma. May I ask your name?"
The macaque looked at her wearily, her body tensed and ready to fight or run. That was one Marshal Ma noticed how small she was. Marshal Ma figured she was a few years younger then Shihou but her whole body seemed so malnourished.
"Liu'er Mihou" She said after a few minutes.
Shihou seemed to relax after a few, staying quiet before asking, "Your not mad?"
"Of course not" Marshal Ma said softly, she wanted to approached this situation with delicacy.
"I'm disappointed that you kept this from me but I'm not mad" She said, choosing her words carefully. "Where do you come from Liu'er?" She continued.
"Don't want to talk about it."
Strange, Marshal Ma noticed how her tone was a bit defensive, yet she wouldn't push, not everyone was happy to share their past, Ma was well aware of that.
"How did you come across Flower Fruit Mountain?" Marshal Ma asked next.
"Just randomly came across it while exploring, thought I could stay a bit. I understand if you want me to leave" She said quietly, almost nervously.
Shihou immediately turned to her, "I don't want you to leave." He said softly.
"I won't force you to leave Liu'er" Marshal Ma quickly said before adding, "We are a peaceful troop and you are welcome to stay and make your presence known"
Liu'er thought about it for a bit before answering, "I guess I'll stay..." Her voice was quiet, almost soft, yet there was still a wearily edge to it.
Shihou immediately brighten up, her tail wagging slightly. Marshal Ma took quick notice of that.
Marshal Ma thought about another question for the young macaque. Eventually she thought of one.
"How to you and Shihou meet?"
"I went searching for her as soon as I heard about her, when I did find I think I accidentally scared her" Shihou answered this question before getting smacked in the face by a silver fluffy tail.
"You didn't scare me you just startled me!" Liu'er promptly corrected.
Marshal Ma stifled her chuckled, she already liked this girl, she'd make a good member to the troop if she were to join.
This is when Marshal Ma decided to ask her more important question. "Do you wish to join our troop, Liu'er?" She asked
Liu'er stayed quiet for a bit, her body language betraying nothing about her thoughts.
"I don't do well with other monkeys" She said swiftly.
Marshal Ma noticed how she avoided actually answering the question. It seemed Shihou noticed to by the way he looked at her.
Before he could say anything Marshal Ma cut in.
"May I ask why you don't get along with other monkeys?"
Liu'er hesitated a bit before answering, "I wasn't really raised around other monkeys, I'm not what other others consider friendly and approachable"
Marshal Ma thought about how to respond before asking, "Would it be ok with you to slowly introduce you to the Troop, there are plenty of more stoic and quiet monkeys in the troop"
Ma noted the way Liu'er lightened up before quickly going back to her weary stance, "I guess...If that's ok with you." She said softly.
"That's perfect, I'll talk about it with some elders of my troop and we can work on it." Marshal Ma smiled warmly before turning away from the two monkeys, she did see out of the corner of her eye how they embraced each other.
She smirked
Cute...