username;; Kaon
name;; Min Qiao (
pronunciation)
gender;; nonbinary (he/him)
personality;; aloof, sarcastic, sentimental, contemplative, tolerant, patient
human form;; beep boopWhat are they the guardian of?;; Short Answer:The area outside the front of a train station in China.
Long Answer:Every day, Min Qiao sits outside a bustling train station. Some days, he waits at the restaurants nearby and watches from the windows. Other days, he waits inside and watches the crowds move to and fro. Most often, he sits beneath a weathered old plum tree, and softly hums a soft, sweet, song. He's been here longer than most visitors remember, a constant presence outside. Most assume him to be living nearby, or perhaps working at the taco house across the street.
They don't know the truth. No one does, not anymore. Only he knows the secret.
He remembers it like it was yesterday.
He remembers being alone, in a crowd of people. He
doesn't remember how he got there, but sure enough, that's where he found himself. Many were busy, rushing forward with their heads down, scrambling to board a train to some other place. Some stopped and stared for a moment, or whispered to another, but most payed him no mind. Having neither a clue as to where he came from, nor any idea where he was meant to go, Min Qiao sat on the ground beneath a tree, and waited.
It was on the fourth day that someone finally spoke to him. A human, a youngish adult, of the broad-shouldered and well-muscled type. "I've seen you here for the last few days," the human began speaking, his voice strange and alien to the iquena's ears. "Are you advertising something? Are you a performer?"
Min Qiao looked up, head tilted and eyes narrowed. "I am an Iquena," he stated simply.
"Oh. An Iquena. I see." The human was uncomfortable. "I don't know what that is. Is it a kind of dancer?"
Min Qiao did not answer, and the human left.
And then, the next day, he returned. Min Qiao blinked in surprise as the human pulled a red fruit from the pack on his back, and offered it. Slowly, suspicious of tricks, Min Qiao took it. The human smiled, waved, and boarded the train. Min Qiao was left with the fruit, confused, and possibly just a little bit charmed.
And so the days passed. The human, who Min Qiao would come to know as Jian Tao, became a constant presence in the iquena's life. Every day, Jian Tao would visit, bearing gifts or songs or stories about his daily life. Although Min Qiao was clearly not human, Jian Tao somehow never seemed to notice. The iquena never questioned it, and instead just treasured the time they were able to share, however short it was before Jian Tao left to board the train. Months came and went this way, spring changing into summer, and summer changing into fall.
The first snow fell.
The first snowflakes of winter, the first that Min Qiao had ever seen, drifted down. Jian Tao was late. First by minutes, then by hours. Hours became days, days became weeks, and weeks stretched into vast, empty months. Jian Tao never returned, no matter how long Min Qiao waited, fighting to stay awake, just to see if perhaps his friend would finally return, perhaps riding the final train of the evening.
It's been years, now. He knows that his friend isn't coming back. Still, he guards the train station and its bustling crowds, its weathered old plum tree in the grass patch out front, the low-quality taco restaurant across the street. He watches over them all, and in doing so, watches over the memories of his friend. He will not let Jian Tao be forgotten.