Molten Iresis (FurnaceRedAU)

1- How It All Happens To Begin

"Lead the way, master."

--

They were ambushed, and the black and gray blobs claimed to be thieves.

Wukong squinted his eyes, nudging the monk and whispering, "Are they actually dangerous..?" The man beside him nodded, and Wukong could hear his headpiece's fabric tails move, "I see. Okay, you run, and I'll hit them with my staff."

Before Tripitaka could say anything, Wukong had already dove forward, hitting any men he could with his powerful weapon. Red fell around him, and he honestly couldn't tell if it was due to injury or death.

Once the thieves were no longer fighting-- either they fled, or-- Wukong turned around to face the monk's blurred figure, "...Are they gone..?" Sue him for asking. He hadn't exactly been able to get used to his new...circumstances.

The monk swallowed thickly, "You killed some of the thieves! Monkey, as my disciple you cannot take a life so savagely!" Wukong blinked owlishly, and the monk took note of how his line of sight went past him. "I'm sorry master, but I couldn't tell I was hurting them so badly."

Wukong knew by now that Heaven was aware of his eyes, Guanyin had said so herself! She had even introduced herself to Wukong, allowing him to observe her soul and everything! Surely they'd told the monk before strapping Wukong to him!

"...I see. Well, please be more aware next time."

Wukong nodded, trying to ignore the way his charred clothes rubbed against his sore skin and fur. The duo continued to walk, Wukong simply following the holy man.

--

They had new companions.

Wukong simply had to announce who they were and each member made themselves present! ...Well, except Pigsy. Wukong had to track him down via Gold Vision and drag him kicking and screaming into the journey.

The pig demon huffed loudly, "Pass me that, will ya?" Wukong stared at the pink and blue blur-- Swine's arm..?-- And eyed the colors on the white cloth.

"...Hand you what?" The pig groaned loudly, "I'm literally pointing at the apple, stupid monkey! Were you born an idiot or something?" Wujing gasped, "Baiji! Do not call him an idiot!"

See, the river demon and Tripitaka had come up with theories together. Along with Ao Lie, using his intel from spending time with Wukong, to explain his odd behaviors.

Like how the monkey sniffed things before actually facing them. Or how he only reacted to living beings whenever he made his eyes glow with the use of Gold Vision, which he claimed allowed him to see a person's soul. He couldn't seem to focus his eyes on anything specific. And he constantly asked questions that seemed fairly obvious.

Recently he'd become better at managing his strange habits. But there were still issues, such as the fruit mixup that happened just now. And this was just another example added to the list of reasons why something was up with their monkey companion.

Wukong clumsily grabbed the apple, throwing it at the pig. Baiji yelped when the fruit hit him in the chest, and he glared at the king, "You didn't have to throw it, jerk!" The monkey grinned, "Sorry. I couldn't tell where to throw it."

Tripitaka suddenly lit up, "Ah! Wukong, I actually got you something when we stopped by the village!" He held up a neatly folded stack of fresh clothes. The others winced, once again reminded of the monkey's sorry state of clothing. They were basically worn-down charred rags hanging off his dirtied body.

Wukong stared past the clothes, wrinkling his nose in confusion, "...What is it..?"

Tripitaka sighed, "All right, that's enough. Wukong, we've tried waiting for you to say something, but clearly, we can't beat around the bush anymore." Wukong blinked, "...Beat around a bush..? Why are you beating a bush..?" Wujing chuckled softly as Ao Lie shifted into his more casual form, "Wukong, what he means to say is that we know there's something going on with you but all we've been doing is speculate."