The Moon Pool

Winter was here. Songshu Peaks, a mountain range in one of Burrowgatory’s upper caverns, was blanketed in a thick cover of pines year-round, with snow capping its multitude of mountaintops. It wasn’t quite cold enough for snow to reach most of the inhabitants that called these mountains home, save for the coldest months of the year, where snow fell freely even in the towns situated at the base of the expansive range. In this weather, the common folk living on the range were loath to travel far; death from frostbite and pneumonia were not uncommon with the younger succubuns who thought themselves invincible to the silent cruelties of winter, and those of smarter stock knew to make their trips short if needed or stay in towns altogether until the weather became milder.

The Meihua Sect was situated on a plateau nestled between the tallest mountains within Songshu Peaks, dually named the Mountains of Divine Reach. As their shared namesake suggested, they towered high and mighty amongst their peers, their peaks piercing through the haze of the cavern’s enclosed sky as if they were trying to grab the heavens itself. It was not a name bestowed by the succubuns, who would have readily paid homage to their demonic masters instead; rather, it was named by the Meihua Sect’s creator, a forlorn demon by the name of Baihe who saw the heavens wherever she looked. Laying claim to Songshu Peaks as her territory, many locales within her domain were given names holy in origin, while others were molded in the likeness of heavenly palaces—it was clear to the other demons where Baihe’s heart truly laid, although the succubuns were none the wiser to her fervent desire to be reinstated back into the ranks of the angels.

Baihe took special care in carving out spaces on the plateau and mesas inhabited by the Meihua Sect, her children; winding paths and roads led to all sorts of secret caves and extravagant buildings built right into the mountains themselves. Despite this, one of her favorite locations was no secret at all: the Moon Pool. 

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and in Baihe’s case this was especially true. Deprived of a true sky for an untold amount of years, the demon developed a deep love for the sun, the moon, and the stars, and her most cherished places contained depictions of those celestial bodies in excess. The Moon Pool was one such location: despite its name, it was an impressive lake situated atop one of the larger mesas, hewn out by Baihe herself. Within the pool was a special aquatic cultivar of fungi grown by Baihe not long after she laid her claim on the mountains; this nameless cultivar varied in size and glowed a soft, pale yellow when its surroundings were dark enough. In the center of the lake was the largest of the fungi, its cap luminous and round, and surrounding it were a multitude of smaller fungi that glowed just as brilliantly. It’s said that the appearance of these fungi beneath the lake’s surface were like the reflection of a true night sky, hence its name Moon Pool. It was a quiet place of meditation for the Meihua Sect, where disciples and masters alike went to calm their hearts and minds.

Usually.

It was the middle of the night, and a lone succubun was making his way towards the Moon Pool.

During the winter months, visits to the Moon Pool were few and far between for members of the Meihua Sect. Most of the pool’s allure lay in its stunning appearance, and when the lake froze over, many saw no point in visiting the site. Xu Mingyue was different—he had an attachment to the lake due to his time spent there as a child, and as such would often come here when he needed time alone or to cool his head off.

Xu Mingyue clambered the winding path leading to the Moon Pool, his hoofsteps shaky and unsure. He was drunk, and it was snowing; a thin layer of snow was beginning to blanket everything around him, even himself as he slowly made his way up the frosted path. He sniffled as he climbed, shaking powdery snow off his fur with a sigh.

“If I had known it would start snowing as soon as I got back…” Xu Mingyue grumbled, but didn’t bother finishing. No matter the weather, nothing would stop him from going to the Moon Pool when he wanted to, and he was well aware of this. It was his favorite place, after all.

The snowfall got heavier as he continued. By the time Xu Mingyue got to the top of the slope, he looked back the way he’d come and his little hoofprints were already all but gone, his late-night visit made all the more intimate by the secrecy of it. After a pause, he continued towards the lake, and was delighted to see that it had not yet frozen over.

The mellow glow of the fungi beneath the water’s surface gave the lake a misleading appearance of warmth, and in his drunken haze Xu Mingyue idly entertained the idea of taking a quick dip to warm himself up. He was shivering a little from the cold, most likely due to his earlier imbibing; normally, his thick, fluffy fur was more than enough to keep himself insulated. Ultimately thinking against it, the succubun instead chose to lay down by the water’s edge, watching as snow fell all around him.

He had no idea why he even came here to begin with. Had his head been clear, surely he would’ve gone straight to his room after returning to the sect…yet his addled mind craved a familiar comfort, and here he was. Looking at the pool again, Xu Mingyue cracked a smile. With fat snowflakes falling onto the lake, it almost looked like someone was pouring salt into a sad-looking bowl of wonton soup.

“What kind of bowl just has one wonton in it, though?” Xu Mingyue stared at the fungi below. If the big one was a wonton, the smaller ones definitely had to be scallions, right? “What a waste,” he mumbled, his eyelids growing heavy. If he slept here, he would regret it in the morning when he inevitably got sick—but idle daydreams came to him unbidden, about visiting the Moon Pool with a certain someone and eating steaming hot bowls of wonton soup together… Xu Mingyue was loath for those daydreams to go away. So he curled in on himself, the glow of the fungi below becoming naught but a warm blur to his tired eyes.

He dreamed of a boundless starry sky and a full moon.