Fun fact, Zi is based on the Chinese golden pheasant which is a real bird, also known as the rainbow pheasant. It also means that Zi has gold feathers on places other than his wings too.
Enjoy.
xxxxXxxxx
"This is it, guys. The demon's cave." Said Taro anxiously as he stood in front of a cave's entrance with his friends before taking a deep breath. "Whatever happens in there, I wanna saw that I'm glad I'm friends with you guys. Not a lot of people would fight a demon for someone."
Zao narrowed his eyes as Zuzu gave a thumbs up while Zi let out a hearty chuckle. "Of course! Someone as noble and beautiful as i would never let a friend down." Zi said cheerfully, earning weird looks from Zao and Zuzu.
Taro smiled at the sentiment before turning to the cave with shaking knees and gulping. He was terrified. He had a seemingly magic sword and three friends, but was that enough? It was time to find out.
The four stepped forwards into the cave and were met face to face with a large figure with horns. The demon.
"What is this?" Asked the demon with a grin. "A little boy and his little friends playing hero?"
"Hear us, you vile demon!" Exclaimed Zi dramatically. "We are a group of great heroes here to bring you down! I, Zihao the great, beautiful and handsome golden crest pheasant with my majestic golden wings will handsomely see that it happens!"
The demon went silent. But it wasn't out of fear or anger. "Why's there a chicken crowing at me?" He said utterly confused as he could only heard bird noises from Zi. "Whatever, I'll just-"
Without letting the demon finish his sentence, Zao charged in and headbutted the demon in the stomach launching the vile creature into a wall with a rabid growl. Taro, Zi and Zuzu saw this and went silent in shock.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Asked Zi in shock at Zao's maniacal behavior. "We were supposed to have an epic and noble battle and everything!"
Zi turned to Taro to see what he felt about this situation only to find him missing. He looked around only to find Taro already attacking the demon with his sword as Zao helped him beat the demon down.
"B-b-but our epic battle that was to be recorded in history as one of the most climactic and beautiful!" Muttered Zi sorrowfully as he stared at his golden wings.
"Eh maybe next time, Zi." Shrugged Zuzu before he started pelting the demon with stones moving at almost the speeds of bullets. "Save me his teeth!"
Seeing all his friends already fighting the demon, Zi sighed before dragging his body into the fight grumpily. He slapped the demon around with his golden wings.
Eventually, the demon simply couldn't take it anymore. "I surrender! I surrender!" He yelled in a panic as he pinned his head the ground. "Please have mercy!"
Taro paused upon seeing this and so did his friends as they waited for his reaction. "Don't stop! He deserves it!" He exclaimed in a serious tone which caused the demon to scream in fear. The demon quickly got up and ran away as fast as possible far far away from the village silently swearing never to return.
Taro and co stared at the back of the demon in shock as it shrunk in the distance. They hadn't expected things to be so anticlimactic.
"That was easy." Said Zuzu with a happy smile as he climbed onto Taro's shoulder. "I kinda expected there to be more."
"Don't say that; it's bad luck." Replied Taro with a frown. "But I guess it is nice that none of us got hurt."
Zao huffed at those words, glad he did a good job as Zi sighed in disappointment at the lack of a climactic battle while Zuzu was smiling happily. "We should celebrate!" The monkey said cheerfully as Taro and the rest of the gang approached the entrance of the cave. "Maybe have a feast too!"
"A feast is a bit much, but I can spare some peaches if you guys want." Replied Taro with a smile as he reached the entrance before he felt a familiar energy and quickly stopped in his tracks.
Taro looked around in a panic, which caused his friends to do the same before they all heard a stern voice. "Found you!" Taro and his friends turned to the source of the voice and saw Nezha floating in the air with an angry expression.
Taro's heart sank. He nervously took a step back as he racked his brain for a way out. This was a celestial, a deity. He was definitely incomparably more powerful than the demon they just faced. Taro's friend tried to snap the boy out of it, but to no avail. He was completely frozen.
Zao was the first to act like usual and without hesitation he lunged at Nezha before the third lotus prince dodged and used his spear to flick the dog away into a tree with ease. It was at that moment that Zi and Zuzu recognized the danger of the situation at hand.
Zuzu attempted to pelt Nezha with rocks moving at hight speeds, but Nezha spun his spear in a circle rapidly and used it to deflect the rocks with ease and even launch one towards Zuzu, knocking the monkey out before he dashed towards Taro for an attack.
"Not on my watch!" Exclaimed Zi before jumping between Taro and Nezha and spreading his golden wings in front of his body like a shield.
Nezha was momentarily surprised by his attack getting blocked by a bird, but he quickly recovered and wrapped Zi in his red sash before sending Zi crashing into a tree without breaking a sweat.
Taro quickly turned to his fallen friends and began to panic even more. His eyes began to flash pink as Nezha glared at him. "I don't know how you did, but give me the stolen tree now or face the consequences." Declared the third lotus prince firmly.
Taro's heartbeat quickened as tears began to well up in his eyes. He was scared as he was still a kid in the end. But in this state of fear, he felt an odd energy course through him. He didn't know what it would do, but what choice did he have? His eyes glowed pink as he got ready to unleash whatever energy was inside him.
Nezha sensed this and immediately went on guard. He dashed towards Taro for an attack quickly. Taro closed his eyes hoping the energy would do something. Then...
clang*
Taro opened his eyes upon hearing the sound of metal clashing and his eyes widened in shock. Standing in front of him protectively was a warrior resembling a lion with azure skin and orange blonde hair blocking Nezha's spear with his sword.
"You!" Exclaimed Nezha in shock before the warrior knocked him off balance with his sword.
"I'm disappointed the celestial realm would stoop so low as to attack a child." Said the warrior calmly before unleashing several magical arches of energy towards Nezha.
The attack exploded, sending the third lotus prince far from Taro. The lion warrior turned to the peach boy with a soft expression. "Let's grab your friends, boy." He said calmly. "We're leaving before he returns."
It took a few seconds for Taro to recover from the shock and he quickly nodded before he grabbed Zuzu while the warrior carried Zi, Zao and Taro himself at the same time.
"Hold on tight, I know some place safe." Said the warrior before he dashed away from where Nezha was and towards safety.
The warrior wasn't going too fast, probably for his sake, Taro noted. The lion was clearly used to this. Although, the speed was nothing to Taro who was not human.
"Uhh, sir? I hope I'm not being rude, but who are you?" Taro asked politely, prompting the lion warrior to let out a hearty chuckle.
"I'm known by many names, but you can call me Azure Lion." Said Azure cheerfully as he carried Taro and his friends to safety.
"That...fits." Muttered Taro calmly. "Have you always been a lion?"
Azure smiled. "I have." He replied cheerfully.
"...uhh did you ever eat someone?" Asked Taro worriedly. "I don't wanna seem ungrateful, but you're a lion and lions...hehe."
Azure burst into laughter. "Worry not, child. I do not plan to eat you nor have I eaten anyone before." He replied cheerfully. "If I was, I'd probably be eating you by now."
"That makes sense." Replied Taro calmly before he noticed the scenery changing into what looked like a wasteland.
"Yes, me and my brother live just up ahead." Said Azure cheerfully before the scene of majestic giant buildings stood across the horizon. "Over there, at Camel ridge."
It was nothing short of majestic. Camel ridge was indeed awe inspiring. Taro's jaw fell at the sight of such a structure. But he also had questions.
Why was a place so beautiful in this wasteland? Not a part of it looked abandoned, so it couldn't have been built before the wastelands surrounding it.
Why would anyone build something like this here?
xxxxXxxxx
At Camel Ridge.
Azure stood in front of his two brothers, The Golden Winged Peng and Yellow Tusk Elephant with a proud look on his face.
"So you found a young boy getting attacked by the lotus prince?" Asked Peng with a smile and their arms crossed. "Now that's a first."
"What could he have done to get that reaction?" Asked Yellow Tusk curiously.
"Well...I don't know. But! I brought him here!" Exclaimed Azure cheerfully as he revealed the child and three animals behind him. "Say hello to... say, I've never actually gotten you and your friends' names."
Taro smiled nervously in front of the lion, the eagle and the elephant warriors. "I'm Taro. The dog is Zao, the pheasant is Zi and the monkey here is Zuzu." He said cheerfully before he turned to his confused companions. "They saved us, be polite."
Zao ignored Taro's request and growled aggressively while Zuzu waved to them and even shook their hands. They seemed tense around Zuzu, but Taro thought little of it. Zi's reaction was the most... focused.
"Why is the pheasant pecking my foot?" Asked Peng raising a brow as Zi pecked their foot with great vigor.
Taro and Zuzu sweat dropped under the question. They both turned to Zi with nervous smiles.
"I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS BLATANT PLAGIARISM! I'M THE BIRD WITH GOLDEN WINGS HERE YOU THIEF! IF THEY HAD A BOOK OF DISHONOR YOU'D BE NUMBER ONE, YOU FOWL! YOU CHICKEN! I WILL CURSE YOU FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY! I WILL SPEND EVERY WAKING MOMENT OF MY EXISTENCE MAKING SURE ONLY THE FOULEST OF WORMS AND MOST ROTTEN OF SEEDS MAKE IT INTO YOUR FILTHY GULLET!"
"Uhh, he just... isn't used to not being the only person with magic gold wings." Explained Taro with a nervous smile.
Peng paused before bursting into laughter. They picked Zi up with a smile. "Someone's a little jealous?" He asked which caused Zi to try harder to injure them to no avail. Peng let out another chuckle before throwing Zi to Taro. "Here's your little chicken."
The moment Zi made it into Taro's arms, the peach boy had to physically restrain him so he wouldn't attack Peng again.
"LET ME AT 'EM! LET ME AT 'EM!" Yelled Zi at the top of his lungs. Taro was thankful that no one other than him, Zao and Zuzu understood what he was saying. "I WILL CAVE HIS BEAK IN!"
Ignoring Zi's actions, Yellow Tusk approached Taro calmly and asked. "So, why was the celestial realm after someone like you?"
Taro didn't look comfortable with the question and Azure noticed this before he stood next to Taro. "I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent explanation for this, but it's been a long day and children like Taro here need lots of rest." He said cheerfully. "I'll guide him to a room so he and his companions can rest for the night."
Without waiting for Taro to agree, Azure picked the toddler up and took him to a nice room before leaving the boy to ponder the situation.
xxxXxxx
Later that night.
"Hey, Taro. You awake?" Asked Zuzu calmly in a whisper.
Taro, who was in a bed, turned to Zuzu and whispered. "Yeah, I can't sleep with Zi grumbling. What's up?"
"You think those guys don't like monkeys? They seemed real uncomfortable around me." The monkey asked curiously.
"Who knows, maybe a monkey attacked one of them or something." Replied Taro with a shrug as he sat on the bed, causing Zuzu to hum curiously.
"Something is wrong, I don't trust them." Zao cut into the conversation in a serious tone.
"Maybe, but what can we really do? They're our only hope of escaping that celestial guy." Replied Taro dejectedly, feeling helpless. He stared at his hands with an expression desperate for anything inside him to fix this situation.
His companions saw this and they all leaped onto his bed, giving him much needed warmth for the soul. Taro turned to his three friends, petting them for a short while with a smile before he had an idea. He grabbed his sword from beside his bed and cut off four locks of his hair that all turned into peaches.
"I know it's not a feast, but I think you guys deserve a treat for... everything." Said Taro with a soft smile.
"You kiddin'? Tasty magic peaches that grant magic powers? Feast doesn't cut it!" Exclaimed Zuzu cheerfully as he took his peach.
"Yes, a feast that filthy chicken won't EVER enjoy." Muttered Zi loudly as he took his peach.
Zao didn't say anything and instead snuggled with Taro before taking his peach. Now that everyone had their peaches, Taro spoke with a smile.
"To us!" He exclaimed.
"""To us!""" Cheered the three companions happily before they all dug into their delicious peaches.
xxxxXxxxx
Zi is best golden winged birb, fight me in the comments!
Toodles.
