Chapter Text
On a cold and snowy day on the isle of Yunmeng, a smallish boy with a smallish name stood up to his ankles in sludge. Wei Ying, a young twelve-year-old boy, stood next to his shidi, Jiang Cheng, the even younger Hope and Heir of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. Wei Ying had been practically vibrating since he woke up that morning. Jiang Cheng was, too; today was an especially important day.
Ten boys, including Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng, were hoping to become fully-fledged disciples of their Sect by passing the Dragon Initiation Program. They were huddled on a muddy and wet beach at the muddiest and wettest spot on the whole muddy island. Although it rarely got cold enough for snow to fall on Yunmeng, today was a day of exceptions - heavy snow fell around them, swirling in eddies and blowing harshly against their faces.
"Pay attention!" Screamed out their head disciple over the wind, who was in charge of teaching Initiation. "This will be your first ever mission, and Jiang Cheng will be commanding the team."
"Oh come on, not Jiang-gongzi," groaned one of the older boys. "Please don't put him in charge, Da-Shixiong, he is so much younger than the rest of us!"
"A baby," agreed another boy.
It was true. Jiang Cheng, at eleven, was a good few years younger than every other boy in the group. By all rights, Wei Ying should have been the youngest Initiate this year. He would have been, if not for the special circumstances: Jiang Cheng wanted to be initiated at the same time as his siblings. Wei Ying wasn't too sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, it was good to have his shidi be initiated with him instead of waiting another few years for the next group. On the other hand, he knew that most of his focus would be on the younger boy and that Jiang Cheng would inevitably compare himself to Wei Ying. It had been like that for years, but Wei Ying had selfishly hoped he would be able to do this Initiation task on his own.
"Anybody would be better than Jiang-Gongzi," muttered another boy. "Even Wei Ying! At least he is supposed to be here." There was a smattering of agreement around them.
"Silence!" roared Da-Shixiong. "The next boy to talk like that is eating limpets for lunch for the next three weeks!"
There was absolute silence immediately. Limpets are a bit like worms and a bit like snot and a lot less tasty than either.
Da-Shixiong crossed his giant arms. "Jiang Cheng will be in charge, and that is that," He told them. He was a seven-foot giant with a mad glint in his one working eye and a beard like exploding fireworks. He was holding a flaming torch in one gigantic fist, and the flame was being blown dangerously close to his face by the wind as he kept his arms crossed. He didn't seem to notice.
"Jiang Cheng will be leading you, although he is, admittedly, way too young to do this. This is because Jiang Cheng is the son of the Sect Leader, and that's just the way things go in Sects. You are attempting to be initiated into the Jiang Sect, and so, if all goes well, you will be led by Jiangs on missions your whole lives, regardless of how you feel about it! Anyway, that is the least of your problems today. You are here to prove yourself as worthy of being part of our sect. And it is an ancient tradition of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect that you should — "
He paused to suck in a huge breath to yell —
"FIRST, CATCH YOUR DRAGON!"
Finally! Wei Ying thought.
"Our dragons are what set us apart!" Bellowed Da-Shixiong. "Lesser humans train birds to hunt for them, or horses to carry them. It is only us -" another deep breath, "DRAGON CULTIVATORS who dare to tame the wildest, most dangerous creatures on earth!"
One boy started to applaud, then abruptly stopped when no one else joined.
Da-Shixiong spat in the snow. "There are three parts to the Dragon Initiation Test. The first and most dangerous part is a test of your courage and skill at stealth. If you wish to enter the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, you must first catch your dragon. And that is WHY," continued Da-Shixiong at full volume, "I have brought you to this scenic spot. Take a look at Wild Dragon Cliff itself."
The ten boys tipped their heads backward. The cliff loomed dizzyingly high above them, black and sinister. In summer, you could barely even see the cliff as dragons of all shapes and sizes swarmed over it, snapping and biting and sending up a cacophony of noise that could be heard all over Yunmeng.
In winter, though, the dragons were all hibernating, and the cliff was silent. Silent, that is, except for the ominous, low rumble of their snores. From where he stood far below, Wei Ying could see four cave openings about halfway up the cliff, grouped loosely together in a shape reminiscent of a skull. Even so far away, he could feel the vibrations of the dragon's snores through the soles of his boots.
Da-Shixiong pointed at them. "The top right cave is the Dragon Nursery, where there are, at this very moment, about three thousand young dragons having their last few weeks of winter sleep."
A few of the boys murmured excitedly, staring up at the cliffs with wide eyes. Wei Ying swallowed hard; he was excited, too, but he felt fear pool in his belly despite himself. He happened to know considerably more about dragons than the rest of the boys in the group. Not as much as his Shijie knew, of course, but still much more than what was considered socially acceptable. Ever since he was a small boy, newly taken into Jiang-Shushu's household, he had spent hours upon hours sneaking away with Shijie to dragon watch in secret. It wasn't something he could talk about or share with anyone, since that kind of interest was frowned upon. It was something he had come to love regardless, largely because it reminded him of his Shijie. Even in recent years, with Shijie spending less and less time in Yunmeng, the comfort of those memories pulled him to continue the hobby on his own.
All this is to say, after years of studying the creatures, Wei Ying was completely, wholly certain that walking into a cave filled with three thousand dragons was an act of absolute madness.
No one else seemed too concerned, however.
"In a few minutes, I want you to take one of these baskets and start climbing the cliff," commanded Da-Shixiong. "Once you are at the cave entrance, you are on your own. I am too large to squeeze my way into the tunnels that lead to the Dragon Nursery. You will enter the cave quietly — and that means you too, Wei Ying, unless you want to become the first spring meal for three thousand hungry dragons." He laughed at his own joke and bared his teeth at Wei Ying, who made himself grin back.
Wei Ying knew he had a bit of a reputation for being a chatterbox, but the fact that Da-Shixiong made a joke of him being the reason thousands of dragons chewed them all into pieces like swarming piranhas was…a bit much.
"So!" Da-Shixiong continued, "You will walk quietly through the cave, and each boy will steal one sleeping dragon. Lift the dragon gently — gently — from the rock and place it in your basket. Any questions so far?"
Nobody had any questions.
"In the unlikely event that you DO wake the dragons — and you would have to be idiotically stupid to do so — your job is to run like hell to the entrance of the cave. Dragons do not like cold weather, and the heavy snow will probably stop them in their tracks."
Wei Ying made a mental note of the probably and didn't feel very assured.
"I suggest that you spend a little time choosing your dragon. It is important to get one that is the correct size. This will be the dragon that hunts fish and pheasants for you, and pulls down deer for you. You are not catching a riding dragon that will carry you into battle; that comes later on, when you are older and more capable. Today, you are catching a hunting dragon; all the native dragons here are suitable species for this purpose. You still want an impressive animal, though, so a rough guide would be, choose the biggest dragon that fits in your basket."
Wei Ying glanced over at Jiang Cheng and saw him murmer biggest dragon to himself.
"I need not tell you," Da-Shixiong continued, "although I will, so you have the stakes fresh in your mind. If you go up and are going to return here without a dragon, it is hardly worth coming back at all. Anyone who fails this first task — anyone —" he looks Jiang Cheng's way, "—will not be accepted as a disciple and will be put in immediate exile. The Yunmeng Jiang Sect has never made an exception to this and never will; this is an absolute tradition. You all know our motto: Attempt the Impossible." He quoted. "Only those strong enough to do so can belong."
"Attempt the Impossible," They all quoted back at him.
Wei Ying let his eyes drift to the horizon. There was nothing but snow and sea for as far as the eye could see. There were many other islands and Sects in the archipelago, but few were available to those with their reputation already blemished by exile. In truth, Wei Ying knew this initiation was less about earning a place in Yunmeng Jiang and more about weeding out the hopefuls who were not brave — or stupid — enough to take the kind of risks living with and around dragons necessitated. After talking with Shijie about it, both she and Wei Ying had concluded that facing exile in the wider world was not necessarily a safer option than walking into the nest of thousands of hungry fire-breathing reptiles. So here he was: about to risk his life to scale a cliff and steal a baby dragon.
"Right," Da-Shixiong told them. "Each of you take a basket, and we will get going."
The group of older boys rushed ahead to get their baskets, chattering with excitement. Wei Ying turned to throw an arm around Jiang Cheng's shoulder, grinning encouragingly. "What kind of dragon are you going to try and get, A-Cheng?"
Jiang Cheng shrugged his arm off but grinned back. "One of the Monstrous Nightmare ones, of course, with the extra-extendable claws, just like A-Die's dragons!" He puffed up his chest. "They are the fiercest, you know. You should get one too."
One of the older boys scoffed. "You may get to have a Monstrous Nightmare, but don't tease Wei Ying. Only the ruling family gets to have that species, Jiang-Gongzi." It was true; tradition dictated that the Jiang heirs usually had Monstrous Nightmares as their hunting dragons. Over the years, this eventually became an exclusive right of the direct Jiang clan. Jiang Cheng could choose to have one, but Wei Ying was not Jiang-Shushu's blood, and was not allowed.
Jiang Cheng's cheeks turned blotchy at the correction. He had known this theoretically, but hadn't bothered to give much thought to what his and Wei Ying's differences actually meant in real life.
Wei Ying laughed it off. "Aiyah, A-Cheng, who needs extra-extendable claws anyway?"
Da-Shixiong was tired of their chattering. "Shut your traps and get into line!"
The boys all lined up, baskets on their backs, and stood to attention. Da-Shixiong walked along the line, lighting the torch that each boy held with his own lit flame. "This will be a quick mission! In half a quarter sichen's time, you will be a full-fledged Yunmeng Jiang disciple, with your faithful serpent at your side. Attempt The Impossible!" He called out.
"Attempt the Impossible!" They all repeated.
Da-Shixiong brought his horn to his lips and breathed in.
This will be the craziest thing I have done in my life so far, thought Wei Ying to himself as he waited for the blast of the horn. But it will be worth it.