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sasukimimochi · 2 years ago

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.✦ Blackened Wings. (Pt 1) - Happy Halloween!! 🦇

WC - 1080 ( .MDZS Bat flock AU✦. )

Summary: The siege of burial mounds was set, but upon arrival none were found- all belongings left behind besides the clothes on their backs and Wei Wuxian's scripts. When there is nothing else left behind and no traces to find, what more is there to do than move on?

Timeline: Post first siege on the timeline. Wens/WWX did not die in the seige, and are completely off the map.

Prompt 26, for my Writing/Drawing Challenge- Animal.

.✦

Lan Wangji had been spending a great amount of time with the bats that had chosen to roost under his roof- he knew it wasn’t good practice to be in close contact with them, but he felt especially attached to them since they showed up not too long after Wei Wuxian’s and the Wens disappearance.

He was, of course, distraught. Absolutely devastated and worried- but he was very much wounded, so what could he do in such a state? When he went there to see, there really had been nothing left of them. All of their belongings were still there besides the clothes that were likely still on their backs, and Wei Wuxian’s inventions.

The assumption was, despite months of searching, that they had all died, ran away, or the most nausea inducing, been secretly done away with or decided to die together on their own terms. There was just no evidence, nothing- it was like they were spirited away.

Like they never existed.

Lan Wangji had drank that night. So much so that he thought he might disappear too- his brother had brought him home safely though, somehow.

He’d spent the next few nights trying to sneak out, being brought home and at one point even restrained- his family didn’t want him to go on a search for someone they considered evil, but especially when injured and having no leads- he didn’t care. However all he was allowed was time sitting on his deck, the night sky all he had to keep himself from going completely out of touch.

He could remember stories that Wei Wuxian told him as he looked at the stars- how he hoped his parents were two of those very ancient lights watching over him- on a long past anniversary of his mother’s passing.

And then…they came from that sky.

A somewhat large, black and red bat with a group of small white bats- he hadn’t ever seen the small white kind before, but the larger one looked kind of like a flying fox. It was large, but it wasn’t as big as some he’d seen- which made him think it was a different breed than those he’d seen in the past. Its wingspan was impressive, but its body was smaller than a cat’s. The small ones could fit in his palm if they allowed him to hold them, with sunburst orange details and dark gray wings, accented by that same golden color mixed with a light, delicate red on the outer fold of their wings. The smallest of them had an especially brilliant hue and a lovely fluffy white coat, and was the friendliest of the bunch. A baby, he presumed.

He’d focused on them, watching them hang from the beams and all huddle up inside the larger’s wings in what he assumed to be to stay warm. It was still chilly at night, and the white bats were quite small- and as they were white primarily they likely didn’t get a lot of heat retention. The larger bat though was the one who shivered. The smaller ones would huddle close, and eventually the larger one would fall asleep for a short time.

So he watched them, and stopped trying to run away. For some reason the bats stuck around, and one of the smaller ones especially loved to fly over to him and hang off his robes, sit on his shoulder or on his head. The larger one would quickly follow as if worried, but would stay as well when treated to pets and figs. It turned out even the smaller ones ate fruit as well, which he found unusual. He’d never met such small bats that didn’t eat insects and rather ate fruit.

It became his reason to keep going day to day, the only reason he didn’t rush off with his injured body looking for the one he loved. He had to stay here as long as he was injured, but he felt the time was easier now, spending time with his bats.

“A-Ying,” Lan Wangji whispered to the large bat, watching as its head turned to him expectantly. These bats were so smart, and the little things this one did reminded him of all the cute characteristics Wei Wuxian had. Rubbing its nose with its wing, tilting its head when told something curious. He still remembered the angry flapping accompanying a quite squeaky, chittery shriek the bat had made when his uncle had gotten too close to the little white bat. Those two seemed bonded, despite the little one appearing to have some sort of family amongst the other white bats left.

“Is it alright if I name your little one too?” Lan Wangji asked softly, watching as it leaned forward to give him a little lick on the nose with its soft little tongue. He exhaled quietly like an attempt of a laugh despite the exhaustion, listening to the soft mewling and chirps that sounded like real laughter to him.

“What about ‘Sizhui’?”

The bat moved its head back as if it truly understood the words, mouth slightly ajar with its head tilting ever so slightly and eyes wide- as if he was looking into his heart with those dark eyes.

“It is from a poem…do you want to hear?”

The bat chittered quietly in response.

“Yearning for but cannot chase after you, longing for someday when you will return.” He looked outside briefly, where the bats usually were roosting. The bats however were roosting in the corner of his room where it was warm, except for the littlest one currently hooked into his lapels. “It loosely means ‘chasing memories’, or another: ‘to yearn for’.” He gently scratched under the large bat’s jaw, watching its ears vibrate with happiness to the affection, but still stare at him so closely. It was unusual to see the bat this focused.

“Do you like it?”

The bat gently booped their noses together and wiggled its ears again, the soft little clicks bringing the corner of his mouth up, however tired it was. “Little Sizhui then.”

He paused, remembering the boy that followed at Wei Wuxian’s heels. He called the boy little radish, didn’t he? He missed them so much…

He hadn’t realized he had started to drift to sleep until he felt something soft gently wiping away the tears he hadn’t known he shed. His eyes cracked open just slightly, and he could have sworn he saw pale anthracite blue looking back at him.

✦.

Hope you guys enjoy Halloween! I took time to finish most of chapter 28 instead of working on the second part for this, but just so you know its basically a second perspective with perhaps a bit more addition. It'll be for prompt 18 "Love."! I will hopefully have another part to show you guys before long, but for now i hope you enjoy this ! 🦇 💖

I did a very quick sketch with it, but I apologize cuz it doesn't look too great hahaha I'm just trying to get ahead so I can't spend time on side stuff too much. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! eat lots of candy and enjoy some halloween movies etcetc!!

.✦.👻🦇💀🎃🍬🍭🍫🌙✨✦. *

Read More MDZS stuff I've written or look at more MDZS stuff I've drawn in my masterpost! ❤

Random Information about this au:

WWX turned himself and the Wens into bats together to “disappear”. The bats start roosting under the edge of the Jingshi roof in the corner and LWJ watches them during his recovery days. He thinks it's in his head that two of them remind him of wwx & wy but doesn't care - he protects them now, and even a bit of the vice versa.

WWX is a fruit bat (I felt like a flying fox would be too big), and the wens are Honduran white bats. They are seen as a flock, despite WWX presenting as a different breed. They CAN change at will, except for Wen Yuan which WWX keeps tight control of because he’s a kid and accidents can happen. They don’t though, so the Lans assume they are all just regular bats that have taken a liking to the Jingshi roofing.

(Extra: convo excerpts when developing, it won't be completely cohesive):

Sasu: Someone is mean to LWJ (forcing him to accept liquor, etc etc) bat wwx pops out and starts squeaking at them from inside his lapels. It scares em off (works almost everytime).

A-Yuan is still little so he stays on LWJs shoulder half the time (tucked under wwx wing the rest of the time).

Yuyu: “Pristine cultivator Hanguang-Jun” chilling in front of his uncle who’s seething. Cause there’s two bats on his nephew; One is chewing his ribbon.

Yuyu: Would be funny if only wwx was the big bat and all the wens and a-yuan were just-

A tiny mob of fluffs under his wing

Sasu: jfhshfjfj beautiful, I like the idea. Maybe not a flying fox size cuz that's huuuuuuge but fruit bat. still big enough!

Yuyu: Everyone in Gusu just sighs as they now not only got “totally not pets” bunnies but bats too. Wangji privilege smh

I like to imagine Qiren is like….slightly afraid of the larger bat

Sasu: all the Lans start to like the small bat flock tho cuz the big one brings bugs and fruits to the small ones

they also don't poop there which is a plus xD

I'm sure they wouldn't like guano on Gusu paths

Yuyu: Omg.

Maybe one of the smaller bats got stuck in Qiren’s closets or something

And well….

Qiren might explode

Sasu: jfhsgdjfb LMAO LWJ is just like “why did you close them in there” and just babies the bat and feeds it a berry or smth

Yuyu: The lost bat was a-yuan ಥ_ಥ Hence wwx was just panicking flying everywhere

Sasu: I think wwx woulda led them to the closet and just sqUEAK

Qiren: "no u cant get in there!" but then heard the other squeaks gjhsgxjf

LWJ just following them around like what's wrong and that's how he ends up on the scene jfjshdhf much bat cuddles after that

Yuyu: wlskjheiocewin one day LWJ just full on cuddles bat wwx like a plushy and wwx bat is just (a bunch of flustered emojis) And all the other bats are just looking at him from the other side of the room like e u e

Sasu: HAHAHAHA they know they for sure know- god I'm dying a little imagining LWJ petting wwx slowly while he's going to sleep like he's a cat (and falls asleep with his hand on him)

Yuyu: God imagine if that’s how he poofs back into a human- /jk

Sasu: ignshdjfn fruits basket style. imagine he wakes up and sees the bat replaced with wwx nods

Yuyu: Wwx has not dared to move all night

Sasu: wwx panic shifts back into a bat and LWJ wonders if he was seeing things

Yuyu: Just eyes his water next to his bed all suspiciously……"did i accidentally drink"

Sasu: hfhsbdjd - he starts calling the bat a-ying (cuz wei ying would be too on point) and the bat seems a little flighty so he's like ‘did i catch smth’ nfhshdjjf he's sus but also doubtful haha ‘maybe i offended him’

aw but imagine he like recognizes mannerisms in bat wwx that human wwx would do, like rubbing his wing over his nose a lot, having human like expression and these squeaks that seem like laughter (and he of course gets scary or protective depending on who he's with) so he act like air puppy sometimes or shows his teeth at other times and he likes to wrap his wings over LWJs shoulders to have a full body rest

Yuyu: A living blanket

Sasu: mn, living blanket with claws

Yuyu: Lwj has learned not to voice this opinion out loud or the bat gets upset (A puppy! Of all things)

Sasu: kfhsgzcjfj hahaha- that’s just the term for fruit bats they’re nicknamed air puppies. I don't think LWJ would call him that, maybe some juniors tho haha

Yuyu: Jingyi

Sasu: pft haha Jingyi bonds with bat a-yuan nods the bat LWJ personally named Sizhui because he is small and reminds him of the little boy wwx once cared for owo

so a-yuan is a shoulder bat for Jingyi a lot when he's in his kid years

Jingyi says he's his best friend and has to be convinced to leave the bat at home when training dnhdgshsj

Yuyu: Mo Xuanyu lives in this? I can imagine him being absolutely infatuated with the bats, also hilarious if he looks at wwx bat for like 1 min and is just ... leans in whispering, Yiling Patriarch!?

Sasu: wwx, internally: that's my name don't wear it out

wwx, outside: angry bat flutters

how would he recognize tho

vkjdhdj hahaha

Yuyu: Haah love bats, wonderful stuff

Sasu: Bats are the best (❁´◡`❁) ❤

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sasukimimochi · 2 years ago

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Prompt for day 20 - Feathers (see other prompts here)

.✦The Thing With Feathers.

Subnautica Below Zero / MDZS crossover ✦. Word Count - 1001

Wei Wuxian climbed into his sea truck and sighed, immediately falling into his sleeper cabin with music quiet and low. He’d been chased across the purple vents biome by a Chelicerate just so he could gather up a few more lithium for his equipment and base, only to have to get out of his sea truck to squeeze under that gigantic vent garden where another one was hanging above because Lan-Zhan sent him another set of coordinates to check out.

The artifact he’d found hadn't even been anything too useful- and he didn’t have a reinforced suit so when he got too close, he got a free lobster broil- except he was the lobster. At least they were one step closer to getting Lan-Zhan his own body, but why did all of these artifacts have to be smack dab in every annoying or dangerous location on this oceanic planet?! He didn't like the sea enough for this.

Well…he didn’t hate it. In fact he rather enjoyed its beautiful side. But it didn’t like him back, and he just was running low on reserves with little progress made in the investigation on Yanli and Jiang Cheng’s whereabouts.

He just wanted a break, then a clue. It'd been too long since the last one he’d found. He wanted anything- anything at all that would give him a clue to say his siblings were okay. That it was a ruse led on by that damn corporation, that they were both okay and just hiding somewhere and not-

Ring— Ring–

He sighed softly. “Lan-Zhan…”

Another call... It could be important- if it was another artifact he should at least get the signal before he got some rest. Well, if what this was could be considered rest. Bundled up in a wet suit was not the ideal way; he missed wearing more casual clothing.

He answered the call, trying his best to mask how tired he was. “What’s up, Lan-Zhan? Got another coordinate?” He rolled over and sat up in his cot so he could properly listen, pushing his damp hair to the side over his shoulder. He still couldn’t quite get used to hearing the alien’s voice inside his head, but it was a somewhat welcome distraction right now.

“Our searches have been… useful, but… I have no evidence as to the fate of my people. The network I hoped to rejoin may no longer exist. I cannot feel it.”

Wei Wuxian sobered up somewhat as he listened to him speak. Lan-Zhan had many moments like this- he wasn’t even sure if the other knew this was from a place of insecurity, as he seemed to have lost touch with a lot of human behaviors after living the way he had for so long.

“There could be a million reasons for that. Like…what if the network had a system update? They’re on version 2001.4 and you’re still on version 14.2.”

“That would make me incompatible. How would I even begin to plan my upgrades?”

Wei Wuxian chuckled quietly, leaning over to rest on the side of his sea truck. “Okay, that’s not what I meant. Bad example. You still know how to get home?”

“Mn.”

“So don’t give up. Go there. See for yourself what happened!”

“You are expressing optimism but it is not supported by probability.”

Wei Wuxian sighed and smiled soon after, “Hope isn’t based on statistics. It’s born from a drive for something better. There’s a poem Yanli loved– Hope is human. Hope is…uhh…oh right– ‘Hope is the thing with feathers!’”

“This does not match any fauna I can find in your PDA.”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “It’s a line from a 19th century Earth author. Emily something.

‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -

I promise we’ll get answers one way or another, Lan-Zhan.”

There was a stretch of silence for a moment, before he heard his companion add one last thing:

“Adding ‘Hope’ to your database.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyebrows rose as a small notification did indeed pop up on his PDA after the call ended.

Hope is an animal of unknown origin. According to Wei Ying and a poet named Emily Dickinson, it is described as having feathers. My database found the poem Wei Ying was referring to:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I've heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never -in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

The presence of Hope seems to inspire humans to persevere in the face of adversity. Perhaps humans keep a Hope with them at all times.

From this notation, Hope appears to be a hardy avian creature. It is capable of surviving at sea and in cold climates. Having "kept so many warm," Hope might be observed to produce exothermic chemical reactions.

Assessment: find and maintain Hope.

Wei Wuxian’s expression softened and he gently thumbed the edge of his PDA. Classic Lan-Zhan… he laughed quietly as he laid down in his cot, staring at those last words. Find and maintain hope, huh? His heart was in the right place.

He would miss him…

His smile faded somewhat as he thought of their eventual separation. Of course he wanted his own body back, but…what would he do after it all? Where would he go? It's not like he had a ship to leave on, and who knows if he could go back to normal life after this.

He sighed quietly and put away his PDA. He would cross that bridge when he got to it. They were together now, for who knows how long.

He had plenty of time to think about it after he got some rest.

See my other MDZS projects here, or check out the links at the beginning for the other prompts.

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