his little blue bird

A while after his mother died, Miyan found an egg hidden in a pile of dirty rocks.  

It was a beautiful shade of blue and felt warm to the touch. Shimmering gently under the light, it looked as if it was a piece of the sky that had dropped down from the world beyond Heaven.

Like all lonely children presented with the chance of obtaining a new friend, Miyan fell in love immediately. He gently picked up the egg, wrapped it in his outer cloak, and then took it home.

“This is a phoenix egg,” his father said when he saw the egg, a note of surprise hidden in his voice. “And you just found it outside?”

Miyan obediently nodded before pleading, “Can I keep it?”

His father looked conflicted, but after a great deal of begging on his part, his father agreed to let him keep the egg. Completely ecstatic, Miyan made sure to take very good care of it. He hugged it to sleep, sang softly to it at night, and always made sure to keep the egg warm. And because the egg reminded Miyan of the sky, he decided to name his new friend Tianxiu.

Time passed slowly like this, and Miyan was just content waiting for the egg to hatch. Although his father warned him that sometimes, phoenix eggs would take centuries before hatching, he didn’t care. 

As long as he could meet his new friend one day, he would be happy. And perhaps it was a reward for his patience, but the little blue egg hatched soon after.

What came out of the egg was an energetic little bird. It would fly circles around Miyan’s head, or sit on his hair and chew on it. For the first month, Miyan’s hair was a literal bird’s nest.

But Miyan didn’t care at all, because he adored this little blue bird almost as much as he did his little sister. Everyday, he made sure to feed the blue bird, tidy its feathers, and shower it with love. He pampered the blue bird so much, he never once used the cage his father gave him and instead always let the blue bird fly free. 

Although, that did come with its own problems. Sometimes, while playing with the little blue bird, the little blue bird would fly ahead a bit too fast and leave Miyan behind. Everytime it did this, Miyan would feel something squeezing his chest as he wondered if this was it and if the little blue bird would finally leave.  

But the little blue bird would always come back for him. Whenever Miyan started crying, he would suddenly feel a reassuring weight drop onto his shoulder as something fluffy nuzzled his wet cheeks. The blue bird would chirp soothingly as it dried his face, and then it would remember to fly slow enough for Miyan to follow. 

Even if Miyan let the little blue bird go, it would always return.

Years passed, and Miyan slowly grew up. But strangely enough, the little blue bird did not grow. Miyan quietly fretted about this oddity until one night, the little blue bird nuzzling his cheek disappeared. Instead, what Miyan woke up to see was a child with the little blue bird’s aura. 

“Yan,” the little child murmured softly, before he buried his cute face into the crook of Miyan’s neck.

Although bewildered at how quickly his little blue bird’s cultivation was progressing, Miyan took this new development in stride. He still pampered the little child and showered him with love. 

In fact, the two of them did everything together. They ate together, they trained together, they even slept in the same bed. And with the God of the Moon watching over them peacefully, the two of them grew up together.

Unlike before, Tianxiu grew at an abnormal pace. It hadn’t taken long for the little child to grow taller than Miyan, and it took even less time for the boy to grow stronger than him as well. 

In addition, the child also matured rather rapidly. From the sticky bun that wouldn’t let Miyan out of his sight, to the fearsome warrior even the Martial Deity recognized...sometimes, Miyan would wonder if little Tianxiu had already left him behind. 

But although his friend grew up into a man that towered over him, his darling blue bird never changed. He was still as sweet as the little blue bird that dried his tears and cuddled with him at night. He would still wipe his tears with gentle hands, and he would still hug him close.

The only thing that did change, was that little Tianxiu was now someone Miyan could depend on. In fact, it felt as if little Tianxiu was someone who could hold up the sky above Miyan’s head. No matter how afraid Miyan was, as long as little Tianxiu was there, Miyan knew they would be able to get through it.

And even though little Tianxiu soon started to come and go, even though his blue bird got saddled with many duties he had to complete in Miyan’s name, little Tianxiu always managed to return.

Miyan could always count on little Tianxiu coming home.
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(Until little Tianxiu didn’t, and died.)