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Lan Qiren felt honestly surprised he’d even heard the mewl.
He’d just been coming back from the market, where he’d purchased some toys for his nephews and a snack for himself. Traveling always made him peckish and indulging in a single sweet bun now and then was not against the rules. He’d been walking by an alleyway when he’d heard the mewl. Despite the bustle of people on the street, he’d somehow heard it.
Lan Qiren was honestly impressed. The kitten was very small, with eyes barely beginning to open. It was huddled inside an old half-broken box, mewling quietly. Lan Qiren looked around, but could not see any other cat. The kitten must have a parent, it was far too young to survive on its own. Perhaps the mother had left it to go hunt down something to eat.
The kitten mewled again and shivered, pressing closer to the back of the box.
Lan Qiren pursed his lips and reached into his sleeve. He withdrew one of the talismans he used to keep himself warm during early flights and activated it, then knelt down. The kitten hissed when Lan Qiren picked it up, clawing at his hand and trying to arch its back. It had strong survival instincts, that was good.
Lan Qiren placed the talisman down inside the flimsy box, then placed the kitten down atop it. It hissed again to show its displeasure, but then settled down against the warmth of the talisman.
“There. That will last until the end of the day. I’m sure your mother will return by then,” Lan Qiren told the kitten. “Be a good child now and await her return.”
It blinked at him with its half-open eyes and gave a small mew. Lan Qiren nodded and stood up, heading towards the inn he was staying at.
*~*
A few shichen later, his business in the town was concluded. He decided to return to Gusu that same day. The sky was only now starting to darken, and Cloud Recesses were not far, barely an incense-stick by sword. Unless he absolutely had to, Lan Qiren never took overnight trips. Lan Zhan functioned best when they adhered to a strict routine, and while Lan Huan was an excellent older brother, he was only three years older himself. He should not have to be responsible for his younger brother at his age.
Lan Qiren didn’t have much to pack, mostly the few items he’d gotten at the market. As he was leaving the inn, he decided to stop by that alley and check on the kitten. The mother should’ve returned by now, so he would not bother them.
The kitten mewed at him when he knelt by the box. It was still curled up on the talisman, just as Lan Qiren had left it. Once more, there was no other cat in sight.
Lan Qiren pursed his lips, brow furrowed in disapproval.
The kitten mewed again and made its way out of the box and towards him.
“No,” Lan Qiren said, lifting it up by the scruff and placing it back in the box. He recharged the talisman, putting enough spiritual energy into it so it would keep warm well through the night. “You must wait for your mother,” he told the kitten, giving it a single pat on the back.
He then stood up and went on his way. Or at least he tried to. The moment Lan Qiren stepped away from the box, the kitten started mewing at him, surprisingly loudly. The mewing kept up even when Lan Qiren did not stop. Or rather the mewing kept up for the ten steps Lan Qiren made before stopping.
He huffed at himself and turned around. Sure enough, the kitten had exited the alley and was making its way towards him. Its little legs were wobbly, so much so that it wasn’t as much walking as dragging its belly across the ground. The kitten’s barely open eyes were staring right at him and it continued mewing, calling out to Lan Qiren.
Well. This was a pickle. However, the Lan Sect had many rules pertaining situations such as this. One in particular stood out in Lan Qiren’s mind.
Do not turn your back on those in need.
Lan Qiren scooped the kitten up carefully and tucked it in inside his robe, close to his chest for warmth. “Very well. But only until you are able to care for yourself. Is that understood?”
The kitten let out a mew. Its eyes were closed, head resting against Lan Qiren’s chest. Its body was curled up comfortably, trustingly.
Lan Qiren made his way out of town, then hopped onto his sword and headed home.
-`-`-
Lan Huan and Lan Zhan both stared into the basket, Lan Zhan standing up on his toes to be able to see. In the basket, the now clean kitten lay sleeping, curled up and purring with a belly full of warm milk.
“Shushu, aren’t pets not allowed?” Lan Huan asked, looking up at Qiren with a confused look.
“This is not a pet, A-Huan.” Lan Qiren placed a kindly hand on his nephew’s head. “This is a creature in need. It had been orphaned and left on the street. It will die without our help.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do not turn your back on those in need.” Little Lan Zhan quoted, already so good at remembering his rules.
“That’s right, A-Zhan.” Lan Qiren patted his little nephew on the head. He was such a good obedient boy.
-`-`-`-
As it turned out, Lan Zhan took to this lesson quite well. Some would argue too well, but Lan Qiren decided that nurturing Lan Zhan’s kind nature was more important.
“Shushu!” Lan Zhan walking up to him, holding a little white rabbit against his chest. “Shushu, this is a creature in need. It had been orphaned and left on the street. It will die without our help.” He lifted the little rabbit up higher, presenting it to his uncle.
Lan Qiren was confused a bit by the ‘streets’, as there were no streets in Cloud Recesses. But then the kitten meowed from its basket on Lan Qiren’s desk (it was the only way to stop it from walking all over his documents and scrolls), he realized why Lan Zhan had used that phrase. He was quoting Lan Qiren from when he had brought the cat into their care.
“A-Zhan.” He knelt down and took the rabbit, looking it over. “Where did you find it?” The rabbit looked fine enough. It didn’t seem scared, which could mean it was one of the rabbit that live on the mountain and are used to people.
“In the forest. It was all alone, Shushu.”
“I see.” Lan Qiren smiled at his nephew then stood up, the rabbit cradled against his chest. “Come along.” He grasped Lan Zhan’s hand, then turned to the basket. “You stay there, please. I will be back shortly.” He knew logically the cat didn’t understand him, but it was always good to model proper politeness for his nephews.
The cat blinked at him, then lay down in its basket, no doubt for another nap, the lazy thing.
Lan Qiren led Lan Zhan into the field behind the seclusion houses. There were always plenty of rabbits there, which should mean that the warren was also there.
But when Lan Qiren bent down to put the rabbit down, Lan Zhan grabbed his sleeve with both hands. “It will die without our help!”
Lan Qiren blinked in surprise, then lifted the rabbit back against his chest. “And we are helping it. We are helping it find a good home.” He knelt down and guided Lan Zhan closer, so he could see and pet the rabbit if he wished. “This is a rabbit. It needs other rabbits to teach it how to be a good rabbit.” The corners of Lan Zhan’s mouth pinched downwards, so Lan Qiren patted his head gently, remembering that his nephew didn’t always welcome physical contact. “You can still visit our little rabbit friend, but it will be happiest among its own kind.”
Lan Zhan’s mouth pinched even more, but then relaxed. “Yes, Shushu.”
He made no more protests when Lan Qiren placed the rabbit down onto the grass. It sniffed at it for a moment, then hopped over to the other rabbits. Some came over to greet it, sniffing at it curiously.
Lan Qiren nodded in satisfaction. “See? It is already making friends.” His nephew possibly did not agree. He sat down in the grass, staring intently at the rabbits. Lan Qiren watched him for a moment, then sighed inwardly. It seemed he had no choice. “Why don’t we go visit the kitchen to see if they have any leftover vegetables? We could leave them here for the rabbits to eat.”
Lan Zhan jumped to his feet, staring at Lan Qiren with bright expectant eyes.
-`-`-
After the rabbit, more came. Not often, thankfully, the Gusu mountains were peaceful, with few natural predators roaming around. Accidents happened, however, and Lan Zhan seemed to have a knack for happening upon such incidents. Each time he brought the animal to Lan Qiren and quoted that same line to convince Lan Qiren to let them stay. “This is a creature in need. It had been orphaned and left on the street. It will die without our help.” It was impossible to say no to such an impassioned plea.
There was that chick that fell out of its nest. It had been quite young, the feathers only starting to come in. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find the nest to return the chick to, which only meant they had to take it in. Just until it matured and learned to fly. Lan Qiren had been worried about the cat trying to eat the chick, but it had thankfully elected to ignore it. Which was good, Lan Zhan was too young to be introduced to the concept of predator and prey in stark detail.
Then there was the rabbit that had gotten wedged between two rocks, and sprained one of its legs. It, too, had stayed with them until its leg healed and it was able to move without limping once more. The cat had behaved as if it was stalking the limping rabbit for a bit, but thankfully it was more playful than predatory. Both Lan Huan and Lan Zhan had taken it upon themselves to teach the cat proper manners towards their ‘guest’. Lan Qiren was both amused and bemused by their efforts, as he assumed the cat was.
Then a tiny baby mouse, still pink and bald. That had been tricky to feed, its mouth had been so very small. Lan Qiren had worried a lot about it, so sure it would die despite their efforts. But survive it did, and Lan Qiren had been quite proud when he and Lan Zhan had released it back into the forest.
And after that… well.
-`-`-`-
Lan Qiren nearly cursed when he realized that Lan Zhan had wandered off. He did that sometimes, just went off to inspect whatever caught his attention at that moment. That was fine when they were within the Cloud Recesses, but in a completely different town? Lan Qiren should’ve remembered about this trait of his nephew’s, should have explained the need to remain close better. Now, Lan Qiren was left standing in the middle of a busy intersection, looking left and right and trying to spot a blot of white-blue that would be his nephew.
“Shushu,” Lan Zhan said from behind him, and Lan Qiren gave a relieved sigh. He didn’t jump like he had in the past, more than used to this as well.
“Lan Zhan, you-” Whatever Lan Qiren was going to say died off on his tongue. Because Lan Zhan had not returned alone. He was holding a dirty, scruffy street urchin by the hand. And the dirty, scruffy street urchin was holding Lan Zhan's new toy, a little drum Lan Qiren had bought for him earlier that day.
Had the urchin taken it from Lan Zhan? Is that it?
Then Lan Zhan continued, voice his usual monotone, but eyes bright. “Shushu, this is a creature in need. It had been orphaned and left on the street. It will die without our help.”
Lan Qiren gaped at him. “Wha-”
“Do not turn your back on those in need,” Lan Zhan added, the angle of his shoulders one of determination. The little street urchin behind him was glancing from him to Lan Qiren, head lowered and chewing on his lower lip. Which was as dirty as the rest of him.
Lan Qiren inwardly sighed. Then he knelt down and took out a wipe he had talismaned to stay moist. It made cleaning sticky fingers easier. It also worked quite well on dirty street urchins’ faces.
He tugged the boy forward and started gently cleaning his face with the wipe, starting with his mouth in case he wanted to continue chewing on his lip. He will need to be broken off that habit as it was unseemly, but that could wait until the boy was settled in Cloud Recesses.
“Hello, little one.” Lan Qiren tried for a kind smile, which the boy reciprocated. “What is your name?”
“A-Ying,” he answered, and Lan Zhan gave an insistent pull on Lan Qiren’s sleeve.
Well. At least it wasn’t another rabbit this time.