The ears atop his head twitched.
He wasn’t going to stop in town long, or at least he hoped he wouldn’t. He had to keep moving. Well, no, he supposed he didn’t have to, it was just his preference. Staying in one place wasn’t his style, he enjoyed moving around, seeing what this world had to offer him and helping people along the way.
He started to walk again, looking around at the various shops. They seemed interesting, and he made note to take a look in one or two at some point during his visit. Unfortunately, he actually had a reason to be here, otherwise he’d have been in the local bakery tasting all their pastries and other sweet treats.
He heard a squeal, and he turned his head in time to see a small child bounding up to him.
“Bunny!” She cheerfully exclaimed, and as she reached him she clung to his leg. “Bunny man!”
Kuai couldn’t help but smile. Human children really were the cutest things. They didn’t see him as something unusual, but as a huge adorable bunny rabbit. He reached down to pat the girl's head, as a very exasperated woman ran over.
“Mayumi,” the woman cried out, scooping the little girl into her arms, much to Mayumi’s disappointment. The woman looked up at Kuai with an apologetic look. “I am so sorry.”
“Don’t be, it is very sweet,” he assured her, looking to where Mayumi squirmed in her arms, hands grabbing out for Kuai Liang. He bent down ever so slightly, letting his ears flop down in front of his face. A silent invite for her to pet them.
Mayumi jumped at the chance, gently taking the ears in her hands. She gasped, and whispered “so fluffy~”
The lady chuckled, “well, you’ve just made her entire week I think.”
Then her face suddenly dropped and she pulled Mayumi away. When Kuai straightened out to ask what was wrong, he realised there was someone standing next to him now. Whoever he was, he was tall, far more so than Kuai Liang, with long hair tied into a bun. He appeared to be human, for all that was worth.
“Quan Chi is waiting for you, Rabbit,” the man said in a growl, and Kuai’s ears lowered. His eyes flicked over to the lady and Mayumi. While the poor little girl just looked scared, the woman looked like she wanted to do or say something. Given the supposed grip upon this town Quan Chi had, it was likely she wanted to protect Kuai Liang from him.
But Kuai was here specifically to see Quan Chi, so he didn’t exactly have much choice.
“It was nice to meet you, may Chang’e bless you.” Kuai directed towards them, bowing as he offered as reassuring a smile to Mayumi as he could. Before he turned to the man instead. “Very well. Take me to him then.”
The man narrowed his eyes, but turned around to lead the way. Kuai gave one final wave to Mayumi before jogging to reach the man’s side.
“I assume you are one of his minions then?” Kuai Liang questioned, glancing towards this mystery man.
He snorted in response and growled “my name is Hanzo Hasashi, Quan Chi’s second in command.”
“I see.” He got the distinct impression Hanzo didn’t exactly like being referred to as a minion. “Am I allowed to ask what exactly I’ve been summoned here for?”
Hanzo glared at him, but said nothing to answer the question. They came to a doorway, with beads hanging down to offer some form of privacy. Hanzo lifted the beads, standing to one side, and letting Kuai duck under and go inside.
“Ah, Song Kuai Liang,” a voice called to him. When he observed the room, it looked about what he expected the den of a crime lord to look like. Sat on one side, was a rather large oni, pale with red tattoos marking his skin. Kuai naturally assumed this was Quan Chi. “I’m pleased that you accepted my invitation.”
“Yes, well. I could have done without the attempted abduction.” The first he’d heard the name Quan Chi was when a pair of lesser oni had attempted to take him from the street of another town. He’d managed to fight them off, and they’d explained they’d been asked to take him to Quan Chi. Kuai had sent them away with a message that he’d be there in another couple of days, but if there was another attempt to take him against his will, he would not be coming at all. “But admittedly the desperation of your methods had me curious.”
“I do apologise for that Bunny.” Kuai had to stop himself from scoffing. Being called a bunny by an excited child was cute. Being called it by an adult oni was much more condescending. Even so, Quan Chi gestured to the seat opposite him, and Kuai stepped forward to sit in it. “You don’t exactly have an address to send a written invitation though.”
“No. I will grant you that.” Kuai smoothed his outfit down slightly, before leaning back in the seat and letting his ears lower. “I would appreciate it if we could get to the point. You’ve gone out of your way to summon me here, I’d like to know why.”
Quan Chi smirked slightly before saying “your reputation as a healer proceeds you. I suppose not unexpected from a Moon Rabbit, but even amongst your kind your abilities are said to be exemplary.”
“You need me to heal someone?” Kuai asked, that being the only way he could assume this was going. Really he supposed he should have guessed that would have been the reason.
Quan Chi didn’t reply, just adjusted himself slightly, before pulling apart his clothes. Kuai immediately saw the problem. There was a large dark spot in the middle of his chest. Initially he believed it was a bruise but the more he looked at it, he realised it absolutely wasn’t. He slipped out of his seat, and got closer.
The skin was purple, but more interesting were the black tendrils that snaked out from a central spot. He pressed a hand against it, causing Quan Chi to hiss. As he pressed down, the tendrils almost moved out the way of his finger, returning to their previous spot once the pressure was removed. He knew what it was, had read about it in books, but had never actually seen it in person before.
“A violet burn,” Kuai stated, unsure if Quan Chi knew what it was. “This isn’t exactly the most common affliction.”
Quan Chi grumbled, “an annoyingly righteous mage hit me the other day.” He waved his hand. “I dealt with him, but after a day or so, I still had pain. Then the skin went purple which is when I called for you.”
Kuai breathed out. Magic was a strange beast sometimes. Violet burns were rare, it took a very particular and very strong magic to cause them. The vast majority of mages never reached the levels needed to cause one. If left untreated, it could cause further complications. Thankfully, it was a slow acting injury, meaning he had time to heal it. Which he would need, as the process was not exactly known to be simple.
“Can you do anything?” Quan Chi questioned in an impatient manner.
“It’s curable.” He pulled away, slipping back into his seat and frowning, remembering everything he’d read about the condition. “It’s not an easy process, and I do not have all the herbs I would require.” Quan Chi didn’t look pleased by that, and Kuai felt the need to defend himself. “You must understand, this is a rare condition, most mages never reach the required skill to leave an injury such as this. I can cure it, but I will need to gather more resources.” His eyes flicked to the injury again. “It is usually slow to spread, so you have months until you’re in any real danger.”
Quan Chi gave a frustrated sigh, but backed down. “I suppose that cannot be helped then.” His eyes landed somewhere behind Kuai, and a quick glance told him Hanzo was standing and leaning against the wall. “What exactly do you need?”
Kuai reached for his belt, pulling off his satchel and placing it on his lap. He had a quick check of his stock, taking note of the ingredients he already had.
“Well I have acadier roots, night clove and dried nevleet leaves.” He put everything back into place, before securing his satchel back around his waist. “I will need to get some shadow wild rose petals and frost mint.” He tried to think about his current location, and where the closest places he could forage those items was. “I believe there is a young lady who specialises in growing shadow wild roses a couple of towns over. As for the frost mint…” he bit his lip. “The closest is probably the Ying mountain range.”
“Is that really the closest?” Quan Chi questioned with a snarl, baring his teeth. Kuai supposed he understood. The mountain range would take a week or two to get to, let alone get back.
“As the name suggests, the plant only grows in cold temperatures, so it is not easy to grow outside of those environments.” He took a deep breath. “I can check in on a few apothecaries on the way to the rose lady, but if they don’t have any, the mountain is my best bet.”
Quan Chi was silent, as if he was considering what Kuai Liang had told him. Eventually he seemed to settle in his seat and growled out “very well.” He reached into his pocket, and threw a small coin case towards Kuai. “There is 200 gold. I will give you more when you have cured me.”
Kuai opened the little case, quickly scanning the gold. It indeed looked like roughly 200 gold was in there. He was curious how much would be waiting for him upon his return. Asking felt rude however. Generally he didn’t heal for money, he did it out of the desire to help others. Even if those others were crime bosses who ruled part of the criminal underworld.
“And Hanzo will be accompanying you,” Quan Chi suddenly added in an unusually casual tone.
“Pardon?” Kuai questioned, glancing behind him at Hanzo. He did not look happy about that particular announcement either. “I do not require a chaperone. I am capable of looking after myself.”
Quan Chi snorted, “it’s not a matter of you requiring one, it is a matter that I would feel more assured you are coming back with him beside you.”
Kuai narrowed his eyes. He didn’t exactly like it, but he didn’t really have a leg to stand on. So he just nodded in defeat and pushed himself to stand.
“Let’s go,” he directed at Hanzo, who rolled his eyes but pushed himself off the wall and followed after Kuai Liang.
Once back out in the town, Kuai reached into his pocket for a map, trying to work out the best way to the town where he could get the roses. He took a pen out of his pocket, circling his destination, before circling every town on the way he knew had an apothecary. He circled the Ying mountain range, and then finally circled a few more towns on the way that also had apothecaries. He might as well check them all and save himself a trip up the mountain.
“We should get some water and food before we leave,” Kuai announced, glancing up at Hanzo, who was staring at the man with his mouth tight and arms crossed. “I do have some supplies, but only really enough for myself.”
“Fine.” Hanzo turned and walked away, and Kuai realised he was heading to one of the shops.
Kuai shook his head, putting the map and pen away and scrambling to catch up to Hanzo.
This was going to be a long trip, and he couldn’t wait for it to be over.
⊰ Last Fic ≛ AU-Gust 2024 ≛ Next Fic ⊱
⏎Return To AU-Gust 2024 Masterlist⏎