Time
Little Lan Hari was adored by everyone in the Cloud Recesses. Every morning when he wakes up he is greeted by his two loving parents who feed him the nutritious food the monastic sect makes and then he and his baba go out to the rabbit field. Baba is so gentle and kind, always watching and gently guiding.
A-niang joins them for lunch with a basket of food that always is just a little spicy, it makes little A-Ri's nose run but baba always wipes it away so it's okay. The afternoons are different though, sometimes he gets to go to the nursery and see other little ones, other times baba will take him along with him if he has to go to town. There was one special day when he got to stay in a-niang's study with baba but he was drawing and made a mess of the ink. No one got mad at him or anything, but he has to get a bit bigger before he can go back in there.
A-niang works a lot. Sometimes it's only lunch that the two of them get real bonding time. As a result Little Hari has become quite the Baba's boy. He cries when his baba is out of his sight something dreadful.
He has his godfathers too, Yang-shushu and Yue-shushu (Sun and Moon Uncle), who are still adjusting to their new surroundings and processing their grief. Not to mention his jie-jie, all of his packmates and martial brothers and sisters. Jie-jie gets tired a lot but her didi likes playing games on the floor by her feet, so she watches him when she can. Yue-shushu spends a lot of time with a-niang and when he is around, he's often quieter than baba, but he gives really good hugs. Sometimes, when a-niang can't make it to lunch, Yang-shushu will come play with him in his doggy form, always scarring the bunny brood and sending them fleeing into the woods. It's so funny!
Every night, as those green eyes grow drowsy, belly full and body warm and cozy in a little bed all his own, his baba carefully undoes his white ribbon and places it atop his beautiful stringed instrument and plays a soft song that always makes him feel lighter than air before gently drifting off to sleep.
It continued like this for many moons. The pack now have their system on lock and have reported feeling a closeness to the beast following a night of running uninhibited on a warded mountain, sinking their teeth into any resentful creature the Mounds can provide. It's definitely helping cleanse out quite a few of the trapped spirits.
Everyday that Remus went to Wuxian to assist with his inventing, he told the man, "this cannot be done." And everyday the response he received was, "it just has never been done before."
One day, when Hari was at his sister's house, Wangji approached Sirius with a proposal. "You wish to what? Cleanse me? What's on me? Am I infected with something?"
"Yes actually. I've noticed that your resentment flares when you lose control of your emotions. I saw this happen with Wei Ying, but by then I was too late. Your core is naturally Yang, much like many of my sect. I believe you would call it a proclivity for light magic."
Sirius started laughing and it quickly grew a tad maniacal before he drew quiet and whispered, "I guess they really did poison me."
Politely not commenting on that, Wangji simply said, "Will you let me cleanse you of the dark magic?"
"I don't know what will be left of me if you do." Sirius replied.
"I will train you." Sirius stared incredulously at such a seriously blunt man.
"Will I need to become a Lan disciple?" He hesitantly responded.
"Not if I take you as my direct disciple." Once more Sirius was stunned into silence. "We shall commence cleansing this evening, think on how you wish to move forward once you are free from it." And with a bow he was gone.
That night, when the two immortals were laying down to rest A-Ying turned to his husband a said, "Do you remember when Wen Ning regained his consciousness?" After getting a nod he continued, "Well, you know I really couldn't have done it without you Lan Zhan. It was a blessing of fate that brought you to me and that time was no exception. My talismans had anchored his spirit to his form, despite the mutations that happen when a fierce corpse is raised, inundated as they are with resentful energy. But there was too much resentment for his mind and soul to take, so he went berserk. Your music Lan Zhan, it was your music that was able to calm A-Ning when his system was so overwhelmed. Every night, I see you enchant our son's ribbon and I thought, if I embroider the necessary symbols to capture the power of the Lan's music into the ribbon along with variations of the talismans I used for Wen Ning, I can finally bring the human mind to at least exist in tandem with the wolf."
"Why the ribbon?" His husband rumbled while tracing gentle circles on his shoulder.
"Because it has to sit above their upper dantian. I'll have to figure out how to make it so it transforms along with the person instead of just tearing apart like regular clothes."
"I will speak with Lan Khanxi tomorrow, they must swear themselves as Lan disciples if they are to wear a ribbon. Now shhhhh Wei Ying, get some rest. I love you so very much, I'm glad that you're close to a solution. Hari and I miss you." And with that, he kissed his forehead and closed his eyes.
The next day when Remus came to Wuxian's study he said, "this cannot be done." There was no response, he looked around until he found Wuxian curled in a corner over a pile of white ribbons and spools of blue thread. The figure slowly uncurled, cracking his back before detangling himself from underneath the pile. He looked up at the Alpha wolf, holding up one ribbon in his palm for the other to see, and simply said, "it has been done."
Remus stood there, still as a statue, seemingly uncomprehending what was before him. Wuxian pressed the ribbon gently into his hand and continued speaking. "This ribbon has been stitched with so many symbols I swear it's more blue than white now. Each one of them works along side all the others like gears in a clock. It will keep your human mind clear and conscious alongside the wolf during the full moon. It is tandem control, so you must find a way to coexist or you will damage your own psyche or it would just be safer without. The youngest might have an easier time than the elder, I'll leave it up to your discretion when it comes to individuals in the pack. There is one caveat..."
Wet glistening eyes finally met his before he continued. "The pack must swear allegiance as outer disciples of the Gusu Lan Sect before donning their ribbon. No longer will you be refugees with asylum here, the Sect Leader has ordered housing to be built to welcome the pack home."
"Home?" Remus croaked out. He coughed to clear his throat. "Wuxian I... I will speak with the pack and... And relay the good news! The impossible... You truly did the impossible. To swear allegiance to our savior and creator of what... What I never dreamed possible..."
Wuxian interrupted with a screeching voice, "Your allegiance will be the Gusu Lan, not me!"
"And if I wanted to?"
"You are the pack Alpha. The others will follow where you lead..."
Now Remus interrupted, "The pack as a whole can swear allegiance to the Sect but I as their leader must pay honor where true honor is due. Sirius has told me of the cleansing of dark magic that your husband does for him every evening, he has also told me that he has been offered a direct discipleship once the cleansing is completed." He took a breath and a step back before bending into a respectful kowtow, much to Wei Ying's dismay. "Please Yin immortal Wei Wuxian, this one has lived as a dark creature since I was four years old. You have given me hope for a life of freedom, take me as your direct disciple."
"Aiya! Rise, rise! Yes I accept you oh dear disciple mine but really, as much I appreciate the sentiment to follow our cultural practices, really the social niceties has always given me the creeps!"
Remus chuckled, rumbling deep in his chest before giving to slight bow and saying, "Yes shifu." All before the exacerbated man fluttered very flustered back towards his pile of ribbons. Remus deftly tied the ribbon firmly in place and went to inform the others.