Thread by @cake_human, When SL died again, he was immediately met with XXC before him, [...]

When SL died again, he was immediately met with XXC before him, smiling and whole.
"We need to go back." XXC said, to SLs confusion.

"What? Go back where?"

"Back in time." XXC grabbed SLs hand and began dragging him in the opposite direction, down a road he'd not noticed.

"Bac- time? Why?" SL was hoping to one day allow XXCs soul to mend, that maybe in another life they could be together. He wasn't expecting his first words to XXC to be, 'what?'

"To stop all the sadness, all the death. We're going to stop XY." XXC said resolutely, smiling bright.

SL yelled as he was pulled past a dead tree on the side of the road, only to look back and see it fully alive. In fact, the entire world seemed to be alive again, the sun was bright, birds were chirping.
"... What just happened..." SL breathed out, glancing around.

"I've been planning this for years!" XXC said, spinning around to look at SL. "Ever since my soul mended, I've been watching - waiting. We were given this chance because it's fate."

SL stared, blinking. Years? XXCs soul had been mended for years. "Wait... When did-"

XXC waved him off. "XYs second attempt worked at mending my soul but I didn't want him to know, so it appeared to be fractured to everyone else. That's not important!"

It kind of was.

"Let's go!" XXC pointed off down the road. "We're going to make sure no one dies this time!"

SL followed behind XXC in confusion. Was time travel actually real? Was this some sort of fierce corpse fever dream? Could they have those without pumping blood flow?
They arrived at the edge of a village, and down all alleyway, there was a young boy. He was surrounded by dogs.

"We should help him-" SL started to say before the boy lashed out, biting into the back of one of the dogs with a snarl. The dog yipped, and the pack ran away, leaving the boy sitting on the ground, blood and fur in his mouth.

"What on earth." SL said flatly, as the boy itched.

Was that a child, or a wild monster? A small feral human looking bear cub?
"XY!" XXC called out, hands on his hips, staring straight at the boy.
The boy, clearly recognized XXC was a threat, and turned to skitter up the brick wall of a old houses courtyard.

"SL, catch him!"

SL looked to XXC in befuddlement. "That's not XY, Xingchen. That was a child, quite possibly a badger that cultivated into a human. But, not XY."

"It was XY," XXC said, assuredly, quickly jumping over the wall to follow the boy.

SL groaned, before following him.

Why had his life gone like this? Joined the temple, decided to go off on his own, met the love of his life, then the person he'd loathe for life. He just wanted to tell XXC how he felt, not do t-

"Zichen! Think fast!" XXC called, tossing an entire human child into his arms.

A very angry, (rabid??? He couldn't rule it out) child. The supposedly XY boy hissed like a cat, and began kicking and digging at him.
"Watch out, Zichen! He's a biter! I learned that in Yi City!"

SL looked up quickly, gaping at XXC. "What does THAT mean?! OW."

He was biter.

"You little shit." SL hissed back, wrapping his arms around the kid, and using his horsetail whisk to help immobilize the small demon.

"Hey, hey..." XXC came up slowly, talking like he was trying not to spook an animal. "You like candy, don't you? I have some candy."

The boy went limp immediately, looking at XXC with wide eyes. XXC pulled out a wrapped candy from who knew where, they'd just been dead, and waved it in front of XYs face.
XY followed it like a cat.

"That's good... Okay, if you behave, you'll get a candy a day." XXC smiled.

SL looked down at the boy who's eyes hadn't left the sweet in XXCs hand. In fact, SL was increasingly worried the boy might bite at those fingers soon.

"Okay. Part one of my plan is complete. We've obtained XY before anything bad happens!" XXC said happily, hand on his hip.

" What's.... What's part two of the plan?" SL asked, already knowing he'd not like the answer.

XXC blinked at him like it was obvious. "Raise him until adulthood, keeping him on a just path until he dies a natural death."

SL dropped XY immediately, and the boy bit his shin.

A week later, and SL found XXC staring at the boy intently, tilting his head back and forth. The boy, supposedly XY, hissed in response, and SL could practically see hackles rising on him.

"Wait...This isn't XY..." XXC muttered, as the boy bit at his nose.

"Who is it?!"

"Me."

SL had spent the last hour trying to coax the feral child that was a young XXC out of a tree. This XXC liked 2 things and 2 things only - candy and warm buns.
SL had a deep level of respect for BSSR, who had to have taken in XXC not much older than he appeared to be now.

"I got him! The right one this time!" XXC, SLs XXC (he wished), came jogging back to their campsite holding a flailing hissing child.

"Oh no, not another one." SL said flatly, noticing how covered in bites and scrapes XXC was.

"I got XY for sure this time!" XXC said cheerfully.

SL looked down at the kid, who froze, and looked up at him. Their eyes met.
"Xingchen, that's clearly A-Qing."

XXC paused, looking down, and turning the child around. "How do you know?"
SL realized XXC had already been blind by the time he met AQ in the past.
Still.
"Her eyes."

XXC made a noise of realization, putting the girl down. "Oh, I see... You're right, XY had different colored eyes..."

At the same time, XXC up in a tree had noticed a new child. A new threat to his food and candy supply. He scrambled down the tree and ran at the girl.

AQ shrieked as the slightly older boy dashed towards her like a rabid dog, teeth barred. She scurried up SL like he was a tree, until she was on his shoulders like a cat. She stuck out her tongue at the boy circling like a shark below.

"Oh well!" XXC clapped his hands together.

"Time to search for XY elsewhere!" XXC said happily, unaware he was bleeding in multiple spots from teeth and claw marks.

"Out of curiosity... How do you go about finding XY anyway?" SL asked, stick out his leg to keep the small XXC from jumping up and harassing AQ.

"Oh, I just look for the meanest homeless child in the area. You know, the real feral ones. I'm sure XY was a menace." XXC said, just as a small boy was walking past their campsite.

"Excuse me, Daozhang...do you have any spare food?" The boy asked kindly, holding out his hands.

Small XXC (Xiao Xiao Xingchen) and AQ noticed the new threat and seemed to make brief ceasefire.
"Yes!" XXC called out, waving his hand over so the boy would come closer. "Have a full meal, okay? And, could you tell me if you know anyone matching this description?"

SL stared at the new child, who was looking up at XXC like he was a living god as XXC handed him a fresh steamed bun.
SL looked from the boy, to XXC.

"Xingchen. This is XY." SL said flatly. The boy was missing a finger, and looked just like him, only smaller.

XXC laughed it off, shaking his head. "No, of course not. He can't be XY, he's so well mannered! What a sweet kid!" XXC began to ruffle little XYs hair, and XY slowly began to inch closer and closer into XXCs side, eyes big.

"I'm XY." The boy confirmed, looking a bit confused.

"It's a common name!" XXC responded. Was it, SL wondered. How many boys with missing pinky fingers of the right age were named XY?
"He can come with us, of course! XXC and AQ need a new friend, but we still have to look for the real XY!"

Small XXC and AQ were staring daggers.

"Xingchen, we're going to end up running an entire school if we keep just taking in every child you mistake for XY - especially when he's literally sitting right next to you!"

SL sat at a table, looking the reborn WWX in the eyes tiredly. "And that's how we started our sect."

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