Flying to the Moon

“You look amazing!” Meng exclaimed as Youshin adjusted the harness the blacksmith had made for him.

“I must say, this is more comfortable than I expected.” Youshin admittedly as he walked around the field.

“An’ fer you Meng.” The blacksmith grunted, handing Meng a pair of large goggles.

“Aw… Thank you so much.” Meng said, sniffing slightly before quickly hugging the blacksmith who accepted it without much reaction.

“Aye aye, now you two better get me somethin’ good from the moon.” The blacksmith requested with his usual blunt tone..

“Of course.” Youshin said with a chuckle as Meng ran over, hopping onto his back.

“Alright! Let’s go!” Meng declared, grabbing the harness tightly, pointing up to the starry night sky where the half moon shone brightly. Youshin took a deep breath and used his draconic magic to cast a spell that would keep the pair of them safe for what he was about to do.

The ground lit up around them as Youshin summoned the magical energy to accelerate his flying to make the journey through space as quick as possible.

The blacksmith let out a grunt as the dragon magic lit up his face and began to shake the earth itself.

“Bye bye! I’ll tell your wife you say hi if I see her!” Meng shouted before Youshin launched into the sky. The blacksmith shook his head.

“She wouldn’t be waiting still.” The blacksmith sighed as he returned to his shop while Youshin and Meng flew off like shooting stars.

The rush of wind was intense for a minute, before they broke through the atmosphere. Meng looked back and saw the blue ball of the planet as she held on for dear life as Youshin bolted through the stars. Looking forwards Meng saw the shadow of something in the sky before Youshin crashed right into it, bucking Meng off to float in space.

Luckily she was still under Youshin’s protective magic, so she only felt a slight bit of cold as she gently floated away from where Youshin had crashed. The strange unidentified flying object zipped and zapped before crashing down to earth. Meng could only let out a laugh as she looked around at the stars, despite being so far from earth, the moon still looked just as far away.

“Meng! I apologise I didn’t see that strange piece of metal!” Youshin apologised profusely as he flew back to Meng.

Meng just let out a hysterical laugh as she put her arms out.

“This is amazing! This is… so amazing…” Meng sniffed as she turned back to grasp at the moon. Youshin let out a sigh as he placed Meng back on his back, turning back to see that the ship had disappeared.

Unbeknownst to either of our protagonists, the craft landed in the middle of a field where a 6 armed Oni found it and quickly claimed it for himself.

“Come on, let's goooo! We’re nearly there!” Meng whined as she twisted Youshin’s head back to the moon.

“Yes yes, I’m just somewhat concerned about-”

“Let’s gooo!”

Youshin rolled his eyes as he continued, towards the moon, taking his time just to make sure he didn’t crash into anything else again. Eventually, after much travelling through the void of space, they arrived at the moon, heading directly towards the eye of the rabbit.

The moon was a pale white, but as the pair approached they saw what could only be described as a city made from these pale white bricks, filled with pale green and transparent figures slowly floating through the streets.

“There! There!” Meng shouted as she pointed towards the city.

“I never thought there would be anything up here.” Youshin remarked, genuinely surprised to find what could only be described as a city of the dead all the way up on the moon.

Youshin found a large clearing in the middle of the moon city where the spiritual inhabitants gathered, and stared at the dragon landing in their city. They were very tall, about 3 meters from their toes to their head, with another meter for a pair of long rabbit-like ears they had sticking out of the coats they wore that covered their faces.

Meng jumped off of Youshin and quickly bowed to the ghosts.

“Hello moon people! We’re looking for my parents! Their names are Taiyang and Xiaolong. Have you met them before?!” Meng asked quickly as she ran up to the ghosts.

They stared at the young girl silently before shaking their heads solemnly.

“We have not heard of these people before. Are they spirits?”

“Uh… I… don’t know.”

“This is a city of the dead child, for the ancestors that have been forgotten. It sounds as if your parents are still well remembered.”

“B-But… they said if we ever got lost we’d meet right here!”

The spirits shook their heads as Youshin finally stepped into the conversation.

“Forigve for disturbing you, but the young lady has spent quite a bit of time searching for this place.” Youshin explained. The spirits said nothing and simply stepped aside, creating a pathway for Youshin and Meng that led out of the city.

“We do not wish to stop you, please search as much as you’d like.” The ghosts said in unison. Meng let out a frustrated groan before quickly slapping her face.

“Alright! C’mon Youshin I’m sure they’re just around here somewhere!” Meng exclaimed as she ran through the pathway created by the ghosts, Youshin following behind her.

All the while, a gigantic firework had been launched, with one man riding on it with a sword in his withered hand.

“Youshin! I’m not letting you escape again!” Emperor Taoyan shouted as he burst through the atmosphere riding on his barely controllable rocket.