Chapter Text
Qin Su is trying to organize her room for the third time since she woke from her nightmare, when the knock comes.
She's had a horrible nightmare that she'd rather not think about, so when she woke up in sweat and tears, she had to do something other than clutching her robes and crying like a child.
So, she started ordering her room in different ways. So far, she's tried three different decorations that just didn't sit right with her.
But when the knock comes, she sets down her new set of robes– she didn't notice them appearing in her room between yesterday and today– and stares at the doors.
"Who is it?" She asks.
"It's me, Qin Su."
Qin Su freezes.
Only one person here calls her Qin Su.
She stares at the doors, trying to breathe calmly.
She closes her eyes, hands shaking. Instead of crimson irises, she tries to imagine crimson lanterns. She imagines the man Wei Daiyu babbles endlessly about. The one who makes inventive lighting for fun.
She opens her eyes. "Come in."
The doors open.
And then, Qin Su is too busy trying to mask her utter shock at the sight that greets her to be afraid much. She stares, possibly gaping, at the image of the man standing in the doorway.
Because the man standing in the doorway is the Yiling Patriarch. Of course he is. It's his voice, and his face.
It's just... the way he's dressed.
Because Wei Wuxian is dressed in soft, white and gray silk robes, covered with a thick, dark overrobe and cloaked with one of white fur. His black hair looks soft, as if freshly washed, and braided over one shoulder. A single, white ribbon is interwoven in his braid, and upon closer inspection, Qin Su recognizes that as the Gusu Lan forehead ribbon. On his other shoulder sits a crow, as black as night, silently blinking red eyes at Qin Su.
"Qin Su?" Wei Wuxian asks, once Qin Su has been silent for probably too long. "Are you okay?"
No. Qin Su is not okay.
Qin Su has the distressing realization that Wei Wuxian is well and truly beautiful.
It sounds ridiculous, because everyone knows that he's beautiful. It's a very common knowledge. But so far, Qin Su has only been distantly aware of that fact. Now that she can clearly see it, she feels silly for not having noticed before. She feels unprepared for the scope of it.
"I'm fine, Sect Leader Wei." Qin Su lies. Then she remembers that while she's sitting in her room, Wei Wuxian has been standing outside her doors. She immediately scrambles to her feet, bowing at the waist. "Please forgive me, Yiling Patriarch. I didn't mean to be rude, I just–"
"Oh no," Wei Wuxian laughs softly. "I'm the one being rude. I just knocked on your doors at early dawn. If nothing else, I should apologize."
Qin Su hesitantly straightens, looking up at Wei Wuxian. "Please come inside, Sect Leader Wei."
Wei Wuxian's smile widens, and he steps inside her room on socked feet.
"It's changed since I've last been here." Wei Wuxian observes. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"
Qin Su takes in the chaos of her room, and pales. "No! N-No, I was just–"
She pauses. She was just... what? Trying to outrun her own nightmare? Trying to clean? Trying to change the atmosphere?
"I have to admit, I was afraid that you'd be asleep." Wei Wuxian looks around some more, a finger rubbing the side of his nose. "Do you have warm robes? It's very cold outside, especially late at night and early in the morning."
"I– Yes," She just put those robes inside a chest, after all. "Yes, ones lined with fur."
"Great!" Wei Wuxian beams. "Take one. We're going on a walk."
...What?
Qin Su hurries to obey, of course, but her mind is in a state of absolute shock.
They're going on a walk? Walk to where? Surely not a leisurely one in the gardens– Although that's not so far-fetched, what with her experience yesterday. She even wonders if there'll be rabbits this time, too– but then immediately dismisses that thought.
She quickly puts on the robe, tying the sash and straightening the sleeves. She turns to the doors, hands shaking with nerves.
Is she expected to do something? What is the purpose of this walk? Whenever she had gone on walks before, they've been either very formal, or with Jin Guangyao. In both cases, they were meant for idle, yet nice conversations. But this walk can't possibly be of that nature, so what is it that she's meant to be doing?
Wei Wuxian offers an arm, tilting his head slightly in a silent question. Qin Su steps forward, and takes it carefully, sliding her own hand in his loosely open palm.
She doesn't know what she expected his hand to feel like. It's slightly cold at the fingertips, from the early morning's chill outside. But his palm is warm and dry.
But she knows what she didn't expect it to feel like, and that is everything that his hand is.
Because it's normal. It doesn't feel like a hand possessed by a monster, or a demon, or any creature of such kind.
It feels like any other man's hand.
They step out of the room, and Wei Wuxian startles her slightly by closing the doors with a flick of his wrist. At the motion, the doors slide shut, as if moved by sn invisible hand.
He softly squeezes her hand in his when she jumps in place.
"I'm sorry," He says, somewhat sheepishly. "I forget that you're not used to it."
Of course not. Qin Su suspects other people hardly ward their sect grounds and buildings so heavily that every door moves at their slightest command. She hadn't even felt the wards all around her. If she hadn't seen him control them with barely a thought just now, she wouldn't have known they're there in the first place.
The hallways Wei Wuxian leads them through have windows to the outside, sometimes. Qin Su wonders if those are so heavily warded, too. Would they close themselves shut and locked, if Wei Wuxian breathed the command? Would anyone be able to break past them, whether to come inside or go outside, if he wished it otherwise?
Qin Su imagines her own rooms, her own doors and windows, not opening when she pushes them to sides. She has had little doubt that she's still kept in a prison, despite being inside a very nicely furnished room, but she didn't know to what extent.
Now she knows. Now she knows that the day she panicked and threw something at Lady Wen's head, instead of the Yiling Patriarch coming to interfere and politely apologize, to comfort her through her rage and grief, he could've treated her like any other prisoner. He could've hardly bothered with her, only spending a short moment to lock her in.
Instead, he'd done as he did. He'd bothered himself with her, perhaps putting aside important sect business to ensure her comfort, when it shouldn't have mattered to him at all. She is twice over of the clan who tried to kill him in multiple occasions. It would've been perfectly within his rights to treat her as one would an enemy.
He hadn't. He doesn't, as he leads them through hallway after hallway, his hold loose on her hand in his, as if she can run away anytime she wants.
Qin Su steals looks at his contemplative, quiet expression, and finds that, foolishly, she feels... safe, somehow. Perhaps something broke in her, that night, when her husband– brother by blood– paralyzed her from neck down and left her in a torture chamber. Perhaps this is the result of the terror she experienced; Now, she finds safety beside the most dangerous man she knows.
Perhaps because the Yiling Patriarch isn't the most dangerous man she knows. The most dangerous man she knows is Jin Guangyao, and Wei Wuxian is, well and truly, nothing like him.
He takes them through a series of stairs downwards, before stepping outside to a garden.
Oh.
Qin Su looks around, awed.
This garden is...
Qin Su has seen the most beautiful gardens in the Cultivation world, in Koi Tower. Has walked in them everyday. Alone, with guests, or with a group of her ladies-in-waiting.
But the garden before her is well and truly magnificent.
Because everything is in full bloom.
It's nearing winter, and many of these trees don't bloom at the same time anyway. But right now, on every branch, amidst the fresh greens, are blossoms of every color, gently swaying with the breeze under early morning sun.
Beneath the trees, by the sides of the stone path, lie bushes of different flowers, in many colors, petals decorated with morning dew. The air smells fragrant, soft with cold humidity. It's an unimaginable combination, only ever found in the earliest days of spring.
"I'm sure this garden fades in comparison to those in Koi Tower," Wei Wuxian says softly, so softly that it doesn't disturb the air around them. "Both in size and grandeur. But we didn't make them to be grand or big, just a place of respite for the residents of Lycoris Palace."
"No, Sect Leader Wei, these gardens..." Qin Su trails off. "I assure you, nothing like this exists in Koi Tower."
She doesn't know why, but here, her worries seem so small. It's a wondrous place, and it takes her a while to realize that the air itself feels touched with spiritual energy. She walks inside with Wei Wuxian, and breathes in the scents. She can hear the distant sound of water, somewhere. The birds seem to chirp from every tree, singing beautiful songs.
It's so peaceful that she wants to weep.
"I've brought you here to have a rather unpleasant conversation." Wei Wuxian speaks, and Qin Su takes her gaze from the world of beauty around her to look up at him. "I'm sure you've already heard about the unexpected guests we're having?"
Qin Su nods slowly. "Yes. One of your... disciples, she mentioned it."
She remembers Wei Daiyu, abruptly. The lanterns, and the rabbits. She has half the mind to ask, but she bites her tongue.
"Sect Leader Qin is insistent on seeing you himself." The Yiling Patriarch reveals, eyes sympathetic. "They have agreed upon it, with the rest of the leaders. But the choice to see anyone is yours to make."
Agreed upon it?
Qin Su frowns up at Wei Wuxian. "What did they agree upon?"
Her companion – the man holding her life in his hands, the Yiling Patriarch, the nightmare of the Cultivation world – slows his steps, lips pressing together.
"They agreed that, should Sect Leader Qin not see you," The Yiling Patriarch slowly says, as if tasting every word carefully. "Their entire agreement would be null."
Qin Su halts to a stop atop a wooden bridge across a lake of lotuses.
Wei Wuxian stops with her, eyes carefully kept blank.
"...What?" Qin Su asks numbly.
"They've agreed that if you're not in full health, their agreement with Yiling Wei for seeking sanctuary would be nullified." Wei Wuxian explains. "They would go, regroup, and come back as an army, or they'd remain and fight from within in their currently weakened state."
Had it not been for Wei Wuxian's hold on her arm, she would've collapsed.
"This is madness." She gasps out. "This is– Who in their right mind had–"
"Your father." Wei Wuxian looks her in the eyes steadily. "Your father, Sect Leader Qin, placed this condition. Lanling Jin firmly supported him."
"I'm not– I'm not his daughter." Qin Su's voice shakes. "He's not my–"
"No." Wei Wuxian cuts in, tone sharp. "No. He is your father. Jin Guangshan is the man who isn't your father. Blood doesn't matter, Qin Su, not when Sect Leader Qin has raised you as his own."
"He didn't know!" Qin Su cries. "He didn't know I'm not his, he–"
"He raised you." Wei Wuxian presses. "He raised you, he loved you, he fed you. He held you in his arms and he played with you as a child. You are his daughter, Qin Su, and he is your father."
Qin Su trembles, shakes apart with every word. But Wei Wuxian holds her on her feet, hands bracing her elbows, and she looks at him, holding on.
His grey eyes are calm. They don't belong on his young face; They look aged beyond the reach of time. She knows they can't be more than scant years apart in age, but she also knows, somewhere deep and primal in her soul, that Wei Wuxian has seen and done things that she would never see and do.
And she's so much luckier for it.
The air around her is soothing. She calms down remarkably quickly; No wonder Wei Wuxian brought her here to have this conversation.
"W-What now?" She asks helplessly, trying to breathe.
"Now, you decide whether you wish to see Sect Leader Qin or not." Wei Wuxian shrugs.
"Why would they do this?" She asks. A part of her – the part married to the Chief Cultivator for a decade – knows this to be a political miscalculation. No one in their right mind would gamble the fate of the world for something like this– And yet.
"Because they care about you." Wei Wuxian says, calmly and softly. It stabs her in the chest. "Jin Ling cares, and Jin Zixuan cares. Your father cares, and I'm sure so does Shijie. So do her twins, probably."
Qin Su watches sadness cast a shadow over Wei Wuxian's eyes, one that fades with a blink. She suddenly remembers that Wei Wuxian considers Jiang Yanli as much a sister as Jiang Yanli considers him a brother. Despite this, Wei Wuxian has never had the chance to meet Jiang Yanli's little twins.
But Wei Wuxian isn't– He isn't wrong. Qin Su knows that Jiang Yanli cares. She also knows that so does A-Ling, trying to awkwardly make her feel better whenever she's upset. So does A-Wei, mischievously trying to show off his meager sword skills, and A-Ying, silently offering her books she'd like. And Jin Zixuan had always been kind to her, even sometimes sharing a joke or two with her. And Father– Sect Leader Qin– her father–
"If I was dead," She whispers. "None of this would've happened."
"But you're not dead." Wei Wuxian counters. "You're alive, and we need to make it out of this alive. Are you listening to me, Qin Su?"
Qin Su blinks, looking up at him.
"The nature of your birth," Wei Wuxian steps closer, whispering. "Shouldn't be revealed. Especially not now. Even if you agree to meet your father, you mustn't tell him of this."
Qin Su shakes her head. "But– No. No, I can't– I can't lie t-to him anymore, I'd–"
"Qin Su." Wei Wuxian squeezes her elbows. "Do you understand what that information would do with your life?"
Qin Su feels tears pool in her eyes. "I can't live a lie, I–"
"You're not living a lie." Wei Wuxian vehemently assures her. A part of her madly screams at her for taking comfort from the most dangerous man in the Cultivation world. Another part of her darkly reminds her that she slept with her eyes closed beside the most dangerous man in the Cultivation world, and got bitten for it. "You won't live a lie. I know who you are, and how both you and your mother had been wronged. Lan Zhan knows. Wen Qing and Wen Ning do. Most importantly, Xuanyu knows, and I've raised that kid, Qin Su. He doesn't know how to put down a grudge."
Qin Su huffs out a hysterical laugh at that. Of course Mo Xuanyu doesn't know how to put down a grudge. Look at them all, children of Jin Guangshan. None of them know how to put down a grudge.
(And Qin Su knows this, because somewhere, deeply hidden under her grief in her blood, runs a rage that wishes to see Jin Guangyao suffer. She won't rest. She won't rest now that she has the chance to avenge herself, her mother, her child.)
"And eventually, after the dust settles," Wei Wuxian goes on. "We can tell your father. Not many other people, merely those you trust to not tell anyone else. Because if everyone else finds out about your true parentage, none of them will grant you any mercy. They won't kill you, but they won't let you have a life either. No one but those you trust most should know."
At that, Qin Su grows cold.
Oh no. Oh no no no.
"Qin Su?" Wei Wuxian says, brows furrowed.
"Someone knows." Qin Su grabs at Wei Wuxian's arms in panic. "Someone knows already, they–"
"Who." Wei Wuxian asks, with such underlying viciousness that momentarily scares Qin Su.
"I don't know their name." Qin Su shakes her head. Her knees threaten to buckle under her weight. "T-They never mentioned it in the letter. They k-know. They'll try to use this against Jin Guangyao, that was their original plan."
She was never the informant's target. She was only a tool, maybe some sort of warning. But Jin Guangyao was the target, is the target, and her informant would still reveal the information regarding her parentage if they truly want to. They're anonymous. No one knows who they are. They can do anything they want.
"Jin Guangyao?" Wei Wuxian's frown deepens. "Someone is doing this to ruin Jin Guangyao?"
Qin Su nods frantically. "The letter– It wasn't s-signed. I didn't know who the person that have written it was."
Wei Wuxian stares at a distant for a while, gaze moving minutely with thought. Then, he abruptly stills.
Qin Su watches as the quizzical look in his eyes vanishes, replaced by a blank one. "Ah."
Qin Su stares up at him, white sleeves of his robes still clenched in her fists. "S-Sect Leader Wei?"
The crow on Wei Wuxian's shoulder suddenly stirs, as if awakening. It shakes its feathers before cawing a few times and flying off.
Wei Wuxian doesn't watch it fly away. Instead, his gaze turns to Qin Su. "Don't worry, Qin Su. I'll take care of your informant."
"What...?" Qin Su gasps. "You– Sect Leader Wei, do you know who it is?"
Wei Wuxian tilts his head, still looking tense and lost in thought. "I have a hunch. Let's just say... hm. You could call it a troublemaker's instinct."
Qin Su shakes her head, entirely lost. "You'll– You'll kill them?"
That snaps Wei Wuxian out of his reverie; He looks startled for a moment before he tilts his head back and laughs.
His laughter doesn't sound like the laughter of a demonic madman. It doesn't sound unnerving or frightening, or even menacing. No, it sounds...
It sounds quite young, like the laughter of a boy. He sounds genuinely amused, like Qin Su has told a particularly funny joke.
"Kill them?" Wei Wuxian chuckles, shaking his head. His grey eyes dance with mirth. "No! I'd be out of my mind. Not that I can't, of course, but really, it'd be such a waste! Besides, that little flighty bird will come back past death and haunt me just to see me suffer. No. I only plan to bribe them."
Bribe them? With what? Also, what 'flighty bird'? The characters written on that letter weren't the ones written by the hands of a flighty bird. Perhaps a kite, of sorts, or any other bird of prey, if they really wish to call them a 'bird'.
But then again, this is the Yiling Patriarch. Qin Su isn't fooled much by the soft hair falling around his face and braided down a shoulder, giving this man somewhat of a gentle look. This is merely steel blade wrapped with silk.
"But I assure you," Wei Wuxian turns solemn once more. "Your secret will be yours to reveal. I won't let the actions of a swine like Jin Guangshan to ruin your life further than this."
Qin Su knows that Wei Wuxian is the last man she should find comfort in his words, much less put her trust in. But maybe it's the magnificent garden around them, one that cannot be created by a demon. Maybe, it's the memory of red lanterns under her palms. Maybe, it's the mismatched pathways of Yiling Wei, beautiful and comfortable. Maybe it's the flowers all across this place, blooming this close to winter, in a place named after one.
Maybe it's the gall it takes to call Jin Guangshan a 'swine' out loud, stealing the words right out of her mouth.
So Qin Su nods, still shaking deep in her bones. She nods at the Yiling Patriarch, and he nods back.
"Let's finish our walk." Wei Wuxian says breezily, like he didn't just threaten to probably kill some people in order to keep her nasty secret safe. "Your father is a pleasant enough man, but since Jin Zixuan would also like to see you, I think it's better if you take a nice walk around before meeting that peacock."
Qin Su thinks of Jin Zixuan as a peacock and, upon seeing the resemblance, snorts.
Not a moment later does she realize that she just snorted at her brother– brother-in-law, in front of the Yiling Patriarch, who just made fun of him.
She immediately covers her mouth with her hand in horror.
But Wei Wuxian has no such qualms; He laughs heartily at Qin Su's reaction.
"So he's stayed a peacock?" He asks, sounding quite scandalized. "All these years! Well, then no wonder Jin Ling is like that! Taking after Jin Zixuan in manners and Jiang Cheng in temper. What about all of Shijie's virtues? Why couldn't he inherit some of her gentleness and compassion?"
Qin Su doesn't know if it's wise, but she takes a deep breath and decides to defend her nephew. "Sect Leader Wei, A-Ling is... both gentle and compassionate. Not always, but to those he holds dear, he certainly is kind, albeit clumsy with it."
Wei Wuxian hums. "I see. Well, he needs to be less clumsy with it. Shijie was younger than him when she–"
Abruptly, he cuts himself off.
Qin Su looks at him, and finds him pressing his lips together, staring at the trees.
"S-Sect Leader Wei?" She hesitantly asks.
Wei Wuxian blinks a few times, shaking his head. His hand twitches under Qin Su's own. Then, he turns and smiles at her.
"Have you ever heard about how I joined the Yunmeng Jiang sect from Shijie?"
Qin Su blinks in confusion. "I've been told that past Sect Leader Jiang found you in Yiling and took you in."
"Yes, he did." Wei Wuxian chuckles. His eyes seem to shine, when he laughs. "But when he brought me to the sect, he had no idea I was terrified of dogs, and Jiang Cheng had three puppies."
Wei Wuxian is... scared of puppies?
Qin Su is deeply confused. First, with Hanguang-Jun liking rabbits. And now, with the Yiling Patriarch afraid of puppies.
"I was terrified, so I ran around Lotus Pier, screaming." Wei Wuxian shakes his head. "Jiang-shushu sent the dogs away that very day. Jiang Cheng was so upset that he threw all of my stuff out of the room we were meant to share and left me in the cold."
Then, he snorts. "I didn't want to be a bother, and he told me to get lost, so I got lost. I walked to the forest, far outside of Yunmeng, trying to go back to Yiling."
The irony isn't lost to Qin Su. Wei Wuxian did find his way back to Yiling, many years later, after a bloody duel with Sect Leader Jiang.
"But I was very scared, and it was very dark." Wei Wuxian smiles. "So I climbed up a tree and hid there."
Qin Su tries to imagine a small Wei Wuxian climbing a tree out of fear. It seems impossible. She knows that, logically, he was a child before an adult. But the idea is entirely too foreign to her.
"As I was hiding up there, I wondered about a lot of things." Wei Wuxian stops walking, turning to fully face her. "About my parents. Jiang-shushu said he knew them, but I've never heard of Jiang-shushu. Or maybe I had and couldn't remember. What kind of filial child doesn't remember his parents' friend, after all? I was very ashamed of myself, you see. Little did I know, that give it a few years and I wouldn't even remember their faces."
Wei Wuxian's tone is light, his smile present, but his eyes tell a different tale. His eyes are sad, when speaking of the parents he hardly knew and can't remember.
"But Shijie took a lantern from Lotus Pier and ran all the way to the forest, searching for me all night long until she found me up the tree." Wei Wuxian laughs. "She caught me when I couldn't climb down and fell. I've hurt my leg, so she carried me on her back. Then we found Jiang Cheng sitting somewhere in the middle of the way, crying about being lost. He'd come after me to apologize! I don't think he's ever apologized for anything since then."
Then, he sighs, smile still in place. "They wanted me there. I really would've ran away a thousand more times if I had to, even if Jiang-shushu had found me every time. Madame Yu certainly didn't want me there. But I stayed for Jiang Cheng and Shijie. And I left for Jiang Cheng and Shijie. It's really that simple."
It's not simple. Qin Su – now knowing she's not a true child of Qin clan – can't imagine leaving her family and calling it 'simple'. The nightmare of having to face that pain chases her every night. She can't imagine leaving her brothers and father behind, forever. She doesn't know what to do without them.
They say that the Yiling Patriarch punched Jin Zixuan in the face at least twice to defend his sect sister's honor. Jiang Yanli certainly never stops talking about all the virtues her martial brother possesses that the world is blind to. Qin Su hardly knows anything about Sect Leader Jiang's relationship with her martial brother, but she imagines that, if it's anything even remotely similar to Jiang Yanli's relationship with the Yiling Patriarch, then the three of them are well and truly a family.
And the man walking beside her just admitted to having 'left the Jiang sect for Shijie and Jiang Cheng'.
"So you see, Qin Su?" Wei Wuxian grins. "Jin Ling better take after Shijie faster. Life is too short, and everything can take a turn for worse so suddenly. Sometimes, it becomes too late to help those you love."
Qin Su looks away in thought, at the gleaming droplets of early morning dew resting on the green leaves of trees. Beneath her feet, under the bridge, lotus flowers are opening to greet the rising sun.
Wei Wuxian seems to be speaking from experience. And while it's hard for Qin Su to imagine that the Yiling Patriarch loves those around him, she's heard about it from Jiang Yanli often enough.
And the affection towards the Jiang sect is condensed in every word the Yiling Patriarch utters about either of its scions.
And Qin Su hears whispers and muffled laughter around the Lycoris Palace as well, whenever she goes around, or when disciples pass by her doors. The children are ever-so-excited to talk about the relationship between the Yiling Patriarch and Hanguang-Jun, giving each other the most fresh gossip on just how their leaders are in love. Qin Su has heard tall tales about the escape from Koi Tower, and how Hanguang-Jun had declared his love for the Yiling Patriarch in the open, revealing how Wei Wuxian had been willing to put all the blame on himself to spare his beloved.
Qin Su – for the first time since waking up at Yiling – contemplates asking Mo Xuanyu about it all. He had been present, so he must know what's happened. She is curious, that much she'll admit.
There's a lull in their conversation that Qin Su has no desire to break. It's not so much that she's afraid to speak up, and more that she sees no reason to. The garden around them is beautiful, and Qin Su is happy to be listening to the sound of nature.
Speaking of gardens, Qin Su abruptly recalls the rabbits.
"Is Hanguang-Jun's favorite animal truly rabbits?" She asks, before realizing that it's probably a very ridiculous question.
"So you've seen the rabbits?" Wei Wuxian laughs. "Yes, they're his favorite."
"And yours?" Qin Su says before she can stop herself.
"Hm..." Wei Wuxian contemplates. "Animals usually don't like me, so I can't say for sure. Crows, probably."
Crows.
Now that's a more befitting answer for a man such as the Yiling Patriarch.
"Mine were cats." Qin Su shares, if only because she feels as though she needs to repay the Yiling Patriarch for answering her question.
Wei Wuxian turns to look at her, smiling. His eyes are those of an intelligent man, but different than Jin Guangyao's own. Qin Su only now realizes that Jin Guangyao hid the brutality of his intelligence behind a veil of kindness. But Wei Wuxian's eyes don't bother with the pretense. No, they're violently sharp, and Qin Su fights to keep his gaze. She feels as if staring any longer will cut her flesh, somehow.
"That's good," Wei Wuxian says, a laughter hidden behind his words. "Because Nie Huaisang's favorite animals are birds."