(I love you Huli XD also this is somehow 4269 words, now I'm going to bed lol) 

Something isn't right. 

Xun had sleep extremely well for the past several days now. Every single day he slept late and deep, and whenever he came close to waking earlier, he'd somehow get lulled back to sleep before he could fully regain consciousness. 

This was the fourth night he had slept deeply, but this time, as he began to awaken, he could feel a barely-there weight beside him on the bed. 

Then it happened. 

Forcing himself to focus, Xun made his body relax, since whoever was causing his extended slumbers wasn't harming him. He wanted to know how it was doing it. 

Soon, he got his answer, though he had already figured that there was only one thing that could be doing it. 

His lips soon grew warm as he began to feel faint breaths against them. There was no skin-to-skin contact, but there was no need for it. Xun could feel his spiritual energy slowly responding to Huli's beckoning as it calmly swam through his system from his core, then up his throat and out of his mouth. 

It was barely a trickle. At the rate he was taking from him, it would take him at least three full days to cause any kind of real damage. 

What are you doing, Huli? You know that I'll feed you if you're hungry. 

Now curious and reasonably awake, Xun carefully blinked open his eyes just enough to look through his lashes without giving anything away. 

What he saw nearly had his breath catching in his throat. 

There was a soft, glowing light leaning over him in the shape of a human, but there wasn't nearly enough detail for him to identify anything specifically. All that was clear, was that it was a demon, struggling to take on its human form. 

So you do have one...

The thought to confront him crossed his mind, but as Huli continued to intermittently feed on his energy, Xun decided that there really was no need... yet. 

If Huli couldn't take his human form, even while feeding from him nearly every night, on top of the energy and food he was now being provided with, it was clear that something wasn't right. 

After considering the situation for a bit, Xun allows his eyes to close again, then refocuses his attention on something else. 

Soon, he was meditating, his mind clear and awake but his body resting. It would easily keep his energy up while still allowing him to maintain consciousness, just in case. 

As the morning went on and the afternoon came, it seemed like his worry had been for naught. Around one in the afternoon Huli stopped feeding from him and as Xun felt his energy settle again, he allowed himself to slowly come out of his meditation and pretend to wake up as if he had been asleep the whole time. 

As expected, fox Huli lay curled up on his chest, his head up and ears pointed at him as he gave a little yawn. 

Xun thought that the little brat shouldn't be yawning after taking so much energy from him overnight, but at the same moment, he realized something that suddenly made sense. 

He's been healing so quickly because he's been taking extra energy every night. 

Xun scowled at the fox contently settled on his chest. 

"Your highness, the archery contest will be starting in an hour..." 

Blinking, Xun looked towards the door and noticed Ling standing there. 

I didn't even hear him come in. 

He paused as he sat up, making Huli slowly roll down his chest until he was settled into the blanket now on his lap. 

Right, my brothers wanted to have an archery contest. 

He wasn't sure what they were planning, though it was more likely that they just wanted to show off, since trying something truly dangerous in front of their parents would be foolish. 

"I'll get ready now," he said as he moved Huli from his lap and stood up. 

The fox looked nearly healed by now. It's fur was a beautiful snow white and both of its tails had filled in quite well. You could barely tell that it had been at death's door nearly a week ago. 

Internally shaking his head, Xun calmly went about removing his sleeping clothing, then pulling on his light blue and silver robes. The moment he had everything situated Huli hopped up, taking his place against his undershirt in the lapel of his robe. 

He was about to begin tying his hair up when he heard a chirp from his shirt, earning an internal eyeroll before he looked down at the little face now staring at him much like a hungry little bird. 

Just to get his point across, Huli chirped again, then opened and closed his mouth a few times. 

Glutton. 

And yet, Xun found himself forming a little energy ball between his fingers and feeding it to the tiny heathen before starting on his hair. It was his least favorite thing to do, but he'd gotten used to tying it up while on the border, so managed it well enough. 

Except, when he finished tying it up into a topknot and inserted a golden hairpin, he heard a squeak that didn't sound all that pleased. 

Glancing down, he raised an eyebrow at the fox staring up at him. 

"What's your problem?" 

Huli flicked his ears and sneezed, making him furrow his brow at it. 

Brat. 

That did remind him of something, though. 

Reaching forward to the table in front of his mirror, he picked up Huli's little hairpin and slid it into the fur beside his left ear. 

"Better?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Huli seemed to consider his words for several moments before twitching his nose and disappearing back into his robe. 

Strange fox. 

They ate a quick breakfast of steamed buns that Ling brought before finally heading out into the crisp morning light. It was a bit chilly but the temperature had definitely lifted a good bit over the week. It was a beautiful day... though his furry friend didn't seem nearly as excited. 

Huli didn't even have his head out and had tucked himself quite contently into his clothing. Not even a tail was visible at the moment. 

Probably for the best. He's been a bit of a brat lately. 

He didn't need to wound his brothers' egos and then have his fox add to it. Which he had no doubt Huli would somehow do, like he had while they were at the restaurant a few days ago. 

The thought made him chuckle, though he quickly calmed himself as they approached the archery grounds. 

Both of his brothers were already standing on the first two platforms, leaving him to walk to the farthest one. He calmly stepped up onto it, then accepted his bow and quiver set from Ling. 

It was a bit windy without any buildings blocking their front, making it obvious that it was going to be quite a contest... if his brothers didn't cheat. 

One could easily direct an arrow with spiritual energy if practiced enough, but a competition, especially in front of their parents, who were now taking their seats beside a few officials who had been invited to watch, should be strictly dependent on your shooting skill, not spiritual skill. 

While it was obvious that a large group hadn't been invited, the venue still began to fill up... likely from word-of-mouth. Or, even more likely, his brothers had only asked their parents and some higher ups to come outwardly, but then started gossip everywhere so that they'd have a plenty large-enough crowd to inflate their egos with. 

"Good morning everyone," an official, who seemed to be the officiant, said as he stepped in front of the three of them. 

"I'd like to welcome you all to a friendly competition between brothers. Furthermore, Princes Song Sen and Song Sun would like to welcome their elder brother, Song Xun, back from the border and hope to see how much he has improved!" 

Improved, tch. 

He could have been working on his reports for his father instead of wasting time showing off, but since they wanted to make a big deal of it...

Xun felt the right edge of his lips tic up the slightest fraction. 

So be it. 

"How about we have a fun little wager, too?" Song Sun suddenly said, speaking loudly so that everyone in the vicinity could easily hear him. 

Xun wasn't one to really treasure most possessions, and the few that he did have weren't anything that his brothers had ever seemed to care about. 

What kind of wager are they even thinking about? 

They wouldn't dare try to take away his crown prince status, so there was really little left—"The fox," Song Sun said abruptly, actually surprising him enough to have it show on his face for the briefest of moments. 

"My brother seems to be possessed by a little fox demon recently. Sen and I would like to win that creature from him, for his own safety." 

The noise from the crowd was a mixture of gasps and murmurs as they turned their attention to Xun. He silently willed Huli to remain where he was, but of course the little vagrant did the exact opposite. 

The volume from the crowd had likely drawn him out of his doze and now there was a little white head poking out from the left side of his robe. 

The noise from the crowd grew exponentially, making Huli quickly duck back into his hiding place. 

"It even stays that close to him?" one voice said right before another met his ears. 

"That's such a small demon, could it really be causing his highness trouble?" 

Then another...

"I want to be that demon!" 

Xun inwardly groaned. He should have just stayed in bed today. 

The reminder of what had actually happened in his bed made him internally shake his head. His life was becoming a bother no matter where he was now. 

Let's just get this over with. 

"I accept. In return, if I win, I want the two twin slaves you have split between you both," Xun said, remembering the two little sisters that were pulled apart upon being sold into the palace and forced to live and work away from each other. 

Both of his brothers looked at each other, then scoffed out a laugh. 

"Sure."

"No problem," they answered together, clearly not caring about the slaves he was requesting. 

"This will be a standard archery contest. No spiritual energy may be used by any contestant!" the announcer yelled to the crowd. 

Sun, Sen, and Xun all nodded their agreement, then turned to face the targets before them. 

"There will be three rounds of shooting. Whoever hits the middle of the target the most times will claim victory."

Each round will end once the princes have shot six arrows each. 

"We thought we wouldn't put a time limit on you older brother, since you might not have had as much practice with a bow as we have," Sun said with a knowing smirk. 

Xun wasn't a big fan of bows and much preferred his spiritual whip or a simple sword. However...

Xun felt his heart swell in his chest as Huli bumped his nose against the fabric covering it, then pressed his paw to that same spot. 

You think you can take what is mine so easily? 

As soon as the announcer gave the signal, all three brothers lifted their bows and took aim at their individual targets. 

The wind was blowing harshly as the arrows began to fly, making all three of them miss the middle mark. Sun managed to hit the left side of the target while Sen hit the right. Xun's arrow, however, went completely astray into the straw behind his target. 

"Tough luck there, Xun-er. This younger brother is willing to teach you how to shoot in the wind if you'd like," Sen said tauntingly as he loosed his second arrow. 

"After the tournament, of course." 

Of course, Xun thought as he nocked another arrow, then narrowed his eyes on his target. He released the string a moment later, then watched as his arrow landed snuggly in the bottom left corner of the target. 

The wind really was quite terrible for so early in the morning. If only someone had spent two years at the raucous southern border and had learned how to shoot properly... 

Xun nonchalantly finished the first round with a single bulls-eye. His brothers, however, each had two to their name now. 

"Not bad, older brother," Sen said as he looked over at his target. 

Sun didn't seem quite as happy with him. 

"A lucky shot," he simply said as their arrows were removed and they were given the go-ahead to shoot their second round. 

Xun decided not to shoot right away this time, and instead simply stood on his platform and watched as his brothers landed several arrows. 

They noticed halfway through the round that he hadn't even lifted his weapon yet and both lowered theirs. 

"What are you doing, brother Xun?" Sen asked, his voice a little hard to hear over the strong winds. 

Sun watched him for a moment, but decided to continue shooting. 

"Just learning from my brothers," Xun said with a calm smile before he finally turned back to face his target, then lifted his weapon. 

His next three shots in a row struck the dead center of his target. 

"Wh-what?!" Sen shouted, his demeanor suddenly much less sure of the situation... especially considering that only one of his last three arrows had actually hit the center of his target!

Wasting my time.

Xun simply lifted his bow again, intent on finishing the round. He was actually just drawing his bowstring back again when he hesitated abruptly. 

Huli had jumped from his robe!

"Huli, what are you—" 

"Do focus, brother. You wouldn't want to lose your little demon because you let it distract you, hmm?" Sun said as he landed a fourth bullseye for the current round, putting him in the lead. 

Xun wasn't sure what to do as Huli nonchalantly hopped off of his platform and slowly wandered over towards his younger brother's. 

What are you doing? Don't you know it's not safe away from me? 

"Huli?" he called, trying to get the fox to come back. 

Instead of listening, of course, Huli simply hopped up onto Sen's platform and looked up at him, giving a quiet chirp as the man lowered his gaze. 

"It already knows that you're going to lose and has come to me on its own. Perhaps it's not as dumb as I thought," Sen said with a smirk... that quickly disappeared when Huli squatted right next to his right foot and proceeded to empty his bowels. 

Every single person in the entire area suddenly got incredibly quiet. Huli didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as he finished relieving himself, then flicked his two tails before taking a few steps away from the little pile and shaking out his coat. 

"Y-y-you!" Sen stuttered out in disbelief as he grasped his bow so hard his knuckles became white. 

Xun considered running over and scooping him up, but before he could decide what to do his youngest brother reached down and snagged Huli's scruff... only to utterly fail at lifting his tiny body at all. 

What the...?

Huli glanced over at him, tilting his head back a little and flicking his big ears, completely ignoring the hand still holding his scruff and attempting to yank him off the platform. 

"Why can't I lift this stupid demon?!" Sen growled as he added another hand, only to be made into an even bigger fool for his failure. 

Xun had to admit, this was entertaining, and even though they were trying not to, nearly everyone watching, including their parents, were chuckling behind their hands at the debacle. 

Biting back his own laughter, Xun set his bow aside and held out a hand towards the little fox. 

"Huli, come here. This is not a good time to play around." 

The fox twitched its nose and looked up at Sen, then back to Xun before chirping once. 

Ah right, he is still holding you. 

Giving a quiet sigh, Xun hopped off his platform and walked over to stand next to his brother's, putting Huli at chest-level. 

"Please pardon him, brother," he said as some servants hurried to clean up the feces, though the stain still remained. 

Hopefully it stained Sen's ego a little, too. 

"Pardon him?! He! He!" 

His brother was evidently struggling with his words. 

"I'll remove him from your sight. My apologies for his behavior," Xun said as he gently brushed his younger brother's hand away from Huli's scruff, then slid a hand beneath his belly and easily lifted his four-or-so pounds. 

Gasps were heard all around them, but Xun disregarded them, as well as his brother's shocked stuttering, and calmly made his way back over to his platform, then hopped up onto it. 

Huli, clearly done with his little adventure, slid back into his makeshift den in the left side of Xun's robe and got comfortable. 

"I suppose it makes sense that you'd need to relieve yourself now that you're eating solid food. Thank you for doing it in an appropriate place."

He whispered that last sentence with a grin before retrieving his bow and returning his attention to his target. 

I suppose I should stop messing with them now that Huli has already infuriated Sen. 

Without further hesitation, he nocked an arrow and shot it, striking the middle of the target even as a harsh gust of wind rustled his long hair free from its bindings. 

"Bullseye for his highness, Song Xun!" the announcer yelled, clearly trying to shake the crowd out of their previous shock from Huli's actions. 

Xun reloaded his bow, then shot again without waiting for the wind to die down. 

"A-another bullseye for his highness!" the man yelled, earning a cheer from the crowd as they began to refocus on the competition. 

Song Sun managed to hit two more during the end of the second round, but Xun was no longer holding back and easily landed all six of his arrows at the dead center of his target. He even split one in half once he ran out of room in the middle. 

By now both of his brothers had their eyes narrowed on him and, more importantly, where Huli was situated within his robe. 

As their servants collected their arrows and tallied their scores, Sun turned towards him and shouted over the wind. 

"Brother, perhaps it would be better if you didn't have a demon with strange abilities on your person while shooting. Some might find it unfair." 

Xun had figured he'd try something like that. Unfortunately, Huli had done something that clearly shouldn't have been doable, making his youngest brother unable to pick up his tiny frame, so there was no way that he could just argue that the fox was useless concerning the contest. 

For all he knew, Huli could control the wind itself. 

Glancing down at the little problem, Huli looked up at him, chirping quizzically and flicking the tips of his two tails. 

"Would you mind staying with Ling for a few minutes, little one?" 

Huli glanced towards his servant as Xun nodded for Ling to come to them. As soon as the man was close by Huli hopped down into his arms, much to Ling's delight!

"Hello there little master. Let's go over here and watch your prince take care of things, hmm?" he told it as he walked away. 

With that out of the way, Xun looked back up at his brothers and smiled. 

"Shall we continue, brothers?" 

Neither of them seemed happy about the situation, even though Sun had clearly requested that he remove Huli. 

Perhaps they thought that he really was helping me and that I'd fight to keep him with me?

While the area over his heart had cooled considerably without his fox curled up there, Xun simply tugged that part of his robe closed better and then returned his attention to his target. 

I don't like it. 

Narrowing his eyes, Xun loosed his first arrow and immediately hit the middle of the target. The next one soon followed as his mood went south. He wasn't sure why he was getting mad over something so simple, but before he knew it he had shot the last of his six arrows, ending the match with thirteen perfect shots. 

Instead of waiting for his brothers to finish shooting, he simply set his bow down and hopped off the platform, then walked over and retrieved his fox from his servant. 

Huli immediately hopped into his arms and chirped, earning himself a little ball of energy as a reward before he wiggled his way into Xun's robe, opening up the left side that had just-recently been closed. 

Xun smiled and gently pet the little fox for a few moments until the announcer began to yell again. 

"With thirteen perfect shots, the winner of this contest is your crown prince, Song Xun!" 

Xun could tell that both of his brothers, who were glaring daggers at him and Huli, had quite a bit they wanted to say, but their mouths were tied by the sheer amount of people they'd goaded to come. Thus, they bit back their words and simply gave him a respectful bow. 

"You have won, brother. I will practice more for our next competition," Sun said before getting down from his platform. 

Sen looked more frustrated, but he, too, bit back his negative words. 

"Thank you for teaching me today, big brother."

Xun nodded noncommittally, then headed for the exit area but slowed to a stop as his mother approached. He quickly bowed his head, but she didn't seem interested in such things at the moment. Instead, she reached forward and promptly took his Huli right out of his upper robe! 

"M-mother?" 

While he stood there, shocked, Huli simply snuggled into her bosom, chirping happily. 

"You did so well, my Xun. And you," she said as she pressed a kiss to Huli's fuzzy head, clearly no longer worried that he was any kind of threat. 

"You were a bit of a brat, but I can't say that it wasn't funny. Best be careful teasing them too much though, alright little one?" she said as she gently poked his nose. 

Huli licked her finger in return, then tilted his head when the empress reached into her sleeve and pulled out something to hand to Xun. 

"I made this over the past few days. It has some spiritual energy in it so it can grow as he gains more weight." 

Xun accepted the gift, examining it with a thoughtful smile. 

"It's very beautiful mother, thank you," he said as he undid the clasp, then leaned in to slip the sky blue and sapphire collar around Huli's neck. 

Once it was situated he leaned away, only for both him and his mother to chuckle. 

"I suppose he's gotten too fuzzy to see it, but that's alright. It has your name inscribed on it, so if he ever gets lost, whoever finds him will know where his home is."

His home...?

He had never intended to be Huli's home, but as he made his way back to his pavilion, he couldn't stop replaying those words in his head. 

"Ah, it seems I've worked up a bit of a sweat," he mumbled as he stepped into his back bedroom. 

It was pretty cold and he hadn't really exerted himself, though...

Maybe I'm just not feeling well? 

He surely hadn't been that uncomfortable about losing his demon. 

Right before he turned to step outside, he realized that his hair was an absolute mess from the wind and reached up to find the hairpin, only to realize that it must have fallen out on the archery grounds. 

It was alright. He had plenty. 

In fact, Xun noticed something that had him walking over to the desk below his mirror. 

I don't remember seeing this hairpin before... 

It was snow white with silver ornaments hanging from the slightly thicker side. Beautiful red jewels were fastened into those hanging portions, making it quite eye-catching. 

A chirp on the desk beside it brought his eyes to where Huli had been settled for the last minute or two. 

Xun was about to ask him if he wished to come bathe with him when he realized something that had him looking back down at the hairpin in his hand, then back to the fox. 

Weren't your eyes a golden brown previously?

As if to answer him, Huli closed his bright red eyes, the color exactly the same as the gems on the hairpin, and chirped again, then opened them. 

Golden brown again. 

They had changed just like that. 

Shaking his head, because what could he really do about the strange, but not-dangerous situation? 

Reaching up, Xun quickly but lazily spun his hair into a reasonable, yet messy bun, then slid the hairpin into it before walking to the back door. 

"I'm going to bathe, if you'd like, you may come along." 

Both of Huli's tails immediately flicked excitedly as he hopped off the desk and hurried over, then pawed at his leg. 

This spoiled thing...

Yet, still, Xun simply did as requested and picked his fox up, allowing it to settle into its favorite spot in his robe before stepping out into his back courtyard and heading for his bathing area.