Beware Of Chicken

They were still mustering their strength, reaching out over it’s length and breadth to bring in more, when the enemy was cast down, and defeated. The feeling of violence faded, and their power relaxed once more.

They redoubled their efforts on healing the wound.

///////

And so their cycle continued. Breathe together. Sleep together. Work together. Bit by bit, the wound closed. Bit by bit, more and more old pieces gathered towards the healing wound.

Another began to offer his strength. It was base energy, with no healing light. This one knew not why he offered it, only that he was supposed to. Hesitantly, they accepted it.

But it did not trust it. It felt.. Like some of the others. The ones that hurt. It carefully examined the power, and consumed it.

The next cycle, the other offered again.

The energy was examined intently... and accepted.

And so the cycles continued. Day turned to night turned to day like it always had.

The time for slumber was coming upon them. They hoarded their harvest for the winter, like all the little ones did, hiding their seed, and some of their power.

For the first time since it could remember, they were actively preparing for the great sleep. Organising their energy. Directing threads of power. Looking at old, old pathways, nearly gone from the world.

The other reached his power out and--

It recoiled. It was vindicated in its distrust. The other dared to offer them tainted energy, the energy that hurt it! It fled from the other, and rejected it’s touch. It fled deep, and dispersed, ready for another bout of pain.

It was filthy, it was unclean! It would hurt it!

And sure enough, some tainted energy was driven into it, a packet of soul thought and fouled intent.

But even this did not hurt. It felt strange, but not painful.

How odd. How curious. The connected one was truly mysterious, to make it so even this did not hurt.

It surrounded the little ball of Qi, stopping most of its hungry growth. It was partially suppressed, and stored to be examined later.

The preparations for the sleep continued. The other continued to seek them out, and offer tainted energy. It ignored it while prodding at the trees that were supposed to produce sugar. They were supposed to be sweeter than this! the trees upon it were good and evident, so they listened, and prepared with it.

Yet cycle by cycle, the impurities lessened. It learned of his remorse.

It was sleepy. So sleepy.

The other offered his energy, one last time before it fell asleep. It was still a bit nasty, but...

It sighed, and took it.

It was a bitter medicine, the energy that they ate. Full of regret and remorse.

But it didn’t hurt.

Slowly, the blackness encroached upon it. The howling dark rising up to claim it’s mind.

///////////

It slumbered, under the blanket of cold. It slumbered in peace for the first time it could remember. The night terrors were kept at bay by the Chunky one, and the Connected One. No grasping hands, and consuming maws bothered its sleep.

It felt warm instead of tearing pain and killing cold. The energy did not leak from their wounds. Or, at least, not from this wound.

It dreamed. It dreamed of other places, of the two lives lived by the Connected One. The two parts bickered, but were so similar to each other it was amusing how little they got along.

It flinched once, during its slumber, when the connected one strengthened their bond further, and accidentally crushed the odd little packet of Qi.

Shattered, broken fragments pulled together. Forging themselves anew. A tiny spark. A bare portion of what it was. But it was here.

Cracked and broken. Torn and worn. Small, and nearly defenceless.

What was it? He? She?

“She” sounded right. The Connected one and Chunky seemed to think she was a she.

So that was what she was.

She slept, protected. The cold blanket melted, and still she slept.

She dreamed. Dreamed about who she was.

She was Big Little Sister, like Chunky said! Or... Tianlan Shan, like those other ones said? That one sounded right too... Or was she Fa Ram? Or was she “Mother Earth?”

She didn’t know, but that was okay!

She could feel the others. The joy. The laughter. The affection.The love.

Jin and Meiling held out their hands.

How could she refuse them?

Yin met Yang.

Two became three.

//////

She was still so tired. She was still hurting, in a thousand places. But right here, right now... She couldn’t help but be excited.

She was here. She was awake.

Tendrils reached out, brushing along her home, and the scabbed-over wound.

Oh? Oh? This place... this place!