Fei Xiang walked through the streets of a port town in eastern China. He had been looking for the new incarnation of Azure Dragon. He was following the feeling of his mana and looking through the streets at the young kids around him. Most were with their parents walking or helping them with work or just shopping but none of them felt like Azure Dragon.

He could clearly feel the mana in the area but he couldn’t see a child around the right age who exuded that kind of energy anywhere. He was beginning to worry that maybe the aura was coming from a house and that he wouldn’t even get to meet Azure dragon.

He was going to try going around to see if he was just on the wrong street but there was a tugging on his clothes. He turned around and saw a small boy in tattered clothes with messy hair holding his clothes.

“Oh, it is you after all...You sure kept me waiting.” The boy said and raised his head. His eyes made Fei Xiang pause.

“You’re…”

“I saw it. You came here and you told me who I was and why I have these eyes.” The boy’s eyes could just barely be seen through his messy hair. They were a bright blue-green color with slitted pupils.

Fei Xiang felt like his heart was being squeezed as he looked at him. He couldn't help but feel bitter, but he also couldn't bring himself to hate the tiny boy looking up at him.

"That's right..." Fei Xiang murmured and helped the boy stand up.

"I know it's right! My eyes are never wrong," The smile the boy showed him was a little sad, but he hid it quickly.

"I cannot tell you here. It is not something people must know about." Fei Xiang mumbled.

Fei Xiang held the boy's hand and begun walking through the town. As proactive as the boy seemed, he didn't speak until spoken to. He stayed silent as they walked.

"What is your name?" Fei Xiang asked, trying to make the situation less awkward.

"My name is Yue." The boy responded, he seemed curious about Fei Xiang as well but he didn't ask him his name.

"I am Fei Xiang. I am an immortal." Fei Xiang said through telepathy to Yue. Yue looked confused as he heard Fei Xiang's voice in his head. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he turned to Fei Xiang.

"How did you--"

"I'll teach you. I'll teach you anything you want to know." Fei Xiang said and hid his smile with his sleeve.

Fei Xiang was going to bring Yue to an Inn in the port town but he diverted from the path as he saw a small store that sold clothes. He bought children's clothes despite Yue telling him that he didn't need any and then dragged Yue along to the inn.

Yue covered his eyes with his hair a bit more as they entered the Inn. He kept his head down as Fei Xiang booked a one night stay at the inn, he didn't want the innkeeper to look at him or see his eyes. The innkeeper did end up seeing him though, she looked a bit disgusted as she saw Yue's dirty clothes and hair. Fei Xiang just went up to the room he had booked with Yue, ignoring her expression.

He helped Yue wash up, ignoring how Yue said that he could do it himself. He was definitely not convinced that Yue could do it himself, He also wanted to see the true state of Yue's body. He didn't know for how long Yue had been on the streets but he looked unhealthy even with clothes on. The severity was much more obvious when his clothes were off. It was hard to believe this was a 5-year-old boy, he was so malnourished and small.

"Yue? How long were you living in the streets?" Fei Xiang asked as he tried to detangle Yue's hair as gently as possible.

"Two years," Yue said after counting 24 months on his tiny fingers.

Fei Xiang stayed silent after hearing that. He should've immediately gone to look for him. If he had Yue wouldn't be in this state.

"I'll tell you who you are." Fei Xiang murmured.

Yue turned around to face him, clearly excited to find out.

"You're the Azure Dragon of the East. One of 4 auspicious beasts. You're not human, you’re w dragon in human form." Fei Xiang explained and looked down at Yue's hair as he continued to untangle it. He glanced up at Yue and noticed the sad look on his face.

"Wh-"

"That's right. That feels like the truth." Yue mumbled.

Seeing Yue's expression Fei Xiang couldn't help but feel frustrated. Yue's response was cryptic like it wasn't the answer he had hoped for and that only served to confuse Fei Xiang more.

"Do you Remem-" Fei Xiang cut himself off, he knew he was wrong anyway. He stared at Yue's eyes and just sighed.

"Why were you looking for me?" Yue asked, turning back around.

'I wish I knew why too.'

---

"Father! Father! W-Why Are you doing this?!" A much younger looking Fei Xiang exclaimed, rushing into a large room while holding a letter in his hands.

In the middle of the room there stood a man who looked around the same age as him. He wore a loose blue-green hanfu and had a sheepish smile on his face.

"...I knew you wouldn't understand...but I can't anymore." The man mumbled.

"B-But you're--! You can't just--" Fei Xiang exclaimed, he couldn't even finish his words.

"A-Xiang... I'm not the right incarnation. If I were to stay immortal, I would ruin this world's balance." The man said and turned to Fei Xiang.

"R-right incarnation? What does that even mean?!"

" I am not the right one. I shouldn't be here, I can't stay here...That's something I've always felt, since the moment I was born into this world, into this body. Doubts have clouded my head for so long, but I held on...Because of your mother...But she's gone now." The man said and walked over to Fei Xiang. His feet were covered in blue-green scales, they were like the feet of a Dragon.

"That's not..." Fei Xiang could feel himself starting to cry. It had been such a long time since he last cried. The painting of his mother on the wall didn't help, It just served to bring him more pain and sadness. For so long he had thought that he and his father would be fine even without her because they still had each other but all he could think of as he heard his father was her wrinkled face as she passed in his father's arms.

"I am not like Elena Volkov. Elena Volkov has lived her whole life without a single doubt about who she is. She is the true incarnation of Black Tortoise and she never questioned it. But I have. I have questioned myself for every waking moment of my life."

Fei Xiang wished he did have to hear this. He wished all of the happy memories he had of his childhood didn’t resurface as he heard this. 

"I was not made for immortality A-Xiang, I am but a stepping stone for the true incarnation. I will never be happy if I stay here pretending to be someone I'm not."

He wished it had been obvious from the very beginning that he felt this way so that the person he called his father wouldn't be destroyed like this.

"I'm begging you A-Xiang, let me go." The man said and let tears fall from his eyes.

Fei Yuanjun was too cruel. Fei Xiang was a grown man who had lived through a long long life but he felt like a child as he stared at his father. He was just too cruel. Asking him to let him end his life like this was just too much.

--

Fei Xiang almost wished he could hate Yue. But it wasn't like he knew if Yue was the right incarnation. And either way, he felt like shouldn't hate him, he should hate fate. The fate that made it impossible for their family to stay together.

"Yue. You can call me Fei Xiang or Master or Shizun or whatever you want really…” Fei Xiang said and helped Yue put on his Hanfu. He hadn't answered Yue's question properly. He had just mentioned that he had felt a strong presence and was curious and that he was a believer of the 4 beasts, specifically Azure Dragon. Yue had believed him and let the question go.

Yue sat quietly, letting Fei Xiang tie his hair up.

"I’ll get you some food after this." Fei Xiang said as he worked on Yue's har, he had never done someone else's hair before so it had turned out a bit wonky at his first attempt.

"Okay...Mast—”

Yue immediately stopped talking and shut his eyes as the door to the room suddenly opened.

“Master! There was a huge ghoul under our boat while we were fishing!” 

Two teens walked in, one was a boy dressed in white and gold Daoist robes while the other was a girl dressed in a pink hanfu. They were both holding fishing rods and had swords on their sides but neither had any fish on them.

“I totally thought it was just seaweed or something but then I saw it’s face and it nearly gave me a heart attack. It wasn’t even a water ghoul either, it was like a full-blown dead person.” The boy said, ranting without even noticing Yue. 

The girl on the other hand had stopped immediately and was very confused.

“Why did you send us to go fish— There's a child...on your lap…” The boy paused after realizing that Yue was there and tilted his head before a look of realization settled on his face.

“You have a secret family after all!” The boy exclaimed.

“...You sure love to romanticize.” Fei Xiang murmured and continued doing Yue’s hair.

“You can open your eyes, Yue. These are my disciples, Lian Bai and Xia Guiren.” Fei Xiang said and pointed to the girl and then to the boy when Yue opened his eyes.

“Woah. Your eyes are wei—”

“Aww they’re so pretty, like jades or Apatites!” Lian Bai gushed, cutting Xia Guiren off. She got closer to Yue to look at his eyes more closely.

“What’s an Apatite?” Xia Guiren mumbled with a raised eyebrow.

“A mineral.” Fei Xiang answered. He then looked at Yue’s hair and decided he was done since he had achieved a good result.

“Well, let’s go.” Fei Xiang said and took Yue’s hand.

“...Where are you taking me?” Yue asked with a confused look.

“Right now? To get food. And then afterward we’re leaving this town. We have to get to the location for a night hunt before midnight.” Fei Xiang responded.

“Oh…” Yue looked a bit sad as he heard that they were going to a night hunt.

“...Why are you so sad? You’re obviously coming with us, you’re my third disciple now.” Fei Xiang chuckled.

“Master can lau—?!” 

“Don’t ruin the mood.” Lian Bai said and covered Xia Guiren’s mouth with her hand. She smiled as she watched Yue’s lips form a smile.

—

“He’s so thin!” Lian Bai exclaimed and held Yue in her arms with a shocked expression. She had lifted Yue up to help him get onto a chair at their table at a restaurant.

“When was the last time you ate?” Lian Bai asked and only grew more distressed as Yue started counting on his fingers.

Xia Guiren was shocked, he had once gone without eating for a day because he spent the day cultivating and he wanted to die of hunger afterward. He couldn’t imagine starving for as long as Yue had.

“Waiter! Can you just bring us everythin—”

“No.”

“No."

“Why? Shouldn’t we fill him up?” Xia Guiren asked as Lian Bai and Fei Xiang both stopped him from ordering.

“He’ll get an upset stomach if he eats too much after not eating at all for so long.” Fei Xiang said and looked through the menu.

“Just eat until you feel full, don’t try and eat everything if you can’t stomach it.” Lian Bai said and stroked Yue’s cheek.

Yue nodded and blushed making Lian Bai gush over him some more.

Yue felt awkward as he ate with them. He wasn’t sure if it was because his stomach had been empty for so long or because he had never eaten at the table with other people but it all felt weird and new. He didn’t think he disliked it though. 

Perhaps this was what having a family felt like? 

—-