"We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze."
-From Robert Frost's "Going for Water"
In the forest just a little ways from the mountain that the village of Seiryuu dwelled, there was a lake. The lake was small and deep, so deep that the murky bottom remained a mystery to most of the children of the village. They dipped their toes into the cool water that lapped upon the muddy and rocky edge in the summer months, and wondered how many breaths it would take to get to what must've been the deepest point in the whole wide world. The lake's reeds were tall and often stirred by gentle summer breezes, they huddled around like a flock of brown sparrows upon the jagged edge of a cliff. Their roots were haphazardly twined in the loose wet earth beneath, easily torn asunder by an unwitting movement. Sometimes, dragonflies with iridescent wings that fluttered and flickered midday light skimmed across the surface, sending ripples lapping little toes, and begging to be caught by an admirer. Other times mud-plated snapping turtles made their way from the waters, tired and true, to try to bite the fingers of troublesome boys who poked at them with sticks. And sometimes parents would make their way to the water's edge in order to teach a child to catch a fish or two to fill the bellies of the hungry.
Perhaps it had been the lake that Shin-ah and the others had stopped to drink and bathe by that day which had tickled Shin-ah's memory, perhaps not. But many years previous to when he began on his adventures with those people who he came to think of as his precious friends and family, Shin-ah (who had been known as Seiryuu at that point) had made his way to that lake for a different reason then play. He had been tracking a rabbit, one whose meat he could use as dinner that night and whose plush downy fur he could use to line the inside of his boots with. Shin-ah had stumbled upon the deep lake as he did so in the process of hunting. He stopped his pursuit and stood there spellbound as he gazed upon the lake. He saw the thin ice filmed across its still waters, cracks like delicate brushes over its surface only rarely breaking the mirror like gloss. Shin-ah's curiosity burned through him as he squatted down and reached out from the shore to touch it, brushing it with his fingers and only applying butterfly-weight as he did so. The ice was so cold, and his already chilled and stiff fingertips ached with the contact.
And he looked curiously.
Shin-ah had never seen his image so wholly before. His shadow had always told him some things. It had told him he had shoulders and arms and legs and hands and feet and a head upon his neck. But he seemed to be much smaller than he had thought, his composition slightly surprising to him. As he looked less like a dragon and more like a boy then he had expected. Behind his mask, his looks were a mystery. But he knew what boys were supposed to look like, and considering he seemed to almost be one he figured that was as good a reference as any. After all, in the village, he had watched all the children so closely. They laughed, played, and were forever cheerful. They flushed, and smiled, and had color, and light. Children looked like their mothers and fathers, Shin-ah knew, maybe they had an uncle's ears or a Grandfather's nose. They were stitched together, formed and transformed by love in a way that Shin-ah could only dream. Devoid of his worries and pain, children played through the seasons and beyond. And that brought small glimmers of lightness to his life, because their happiness was his. But he wondered, as he fingered the edge of his mask with his free hand. He nervously looked around and saw that no one was around for miles and miles, and maybe, maybe it would be fine just to see. Just for a moment, just so he could know. He couldn't help it even as a cold sweat broke out and slicked the back of his neck and the fingers he pushed his mask to the side with were trembling and weak. Just for a moment, just for a moment—
His mask was pushed away from his face, and he looked.
The creature staring back at him was hideous.
He looked on in horror. Its cheeks looked as if flesh had been raked and rendered into eternally spilling rivulets of blood. It was so pale, lacking all warmth or color in its face and lips and instead taking on the hue of a drained corpse. Its hair was the blue of bruises or trembling lips in the cold. But it was those eyes, eyes that burned an unnatural shade right through him that turned his stomach. Those eyes could never belong to a human, eyes that tore people apart, eating them through to the core as maggots did. Disgusting horrifying monstrous eyes that he hated.
Suddenly he looked up.
He was sitting in the mud again, winter rain washing him and burning his skin with the cold-fire of a merciless storm. Amongst the broken lifeless corpses that littered the plain he sat with his nerves ablaze. He had killed those men, killed them with those eyes, and eaten their organs from their bodies. Shin-ah had killed all of those people. He had laughed as he had slowly dug his claws into their skin and muscles and bones, carefully so carefully flaying open their chests with his eyes until everything had been laid open for him to devour. He tore them apart bit by bit until they were begging him for the sweet release of death. Its claws were digging into his flesh now, its laughter in his ear sounding of cavewall scratches and thundercrack echoes, tearing everything away from him and leaving him so Shin-ah could never feel warmth again—Give me more, give me more! It's no use to run from me after all for I am you and are I! Everything that that is within my field of vision belongs to me, give it to me, give me more! To live is to devour others, to live we must devour others so everything belongs to me—
Shin-ah jerked up from his blankets and fur with a start, his heart pounding in his throat and his body soaked with sweat. As he hugged himself with trembling hands, Ao scurried over startled from her own sleep in order to squeak and rub against his leg. Shin-ah reached over with halting fingertips to gently rub beneath Ao's chin, feeling his own heart calm as he did so. His longtime companion looked up at him with no judgement. As much as Shin-ah wished he could spill his heart to her, Shin-ah knew that he had a hard time putting thought to word cadence at these sorts of moments, and just decided to leave his explanation at a sigh of discomfort.
How odd, Shin-ah couldn't help but think as he readjusted his mask so it was placed correctly on his face. It had been a long time since he had one of those familiar dreams. They had slowly evaporated out of his consciousness like morning dew upon fresh spring leaves, lingered only fleetingly on his mind before completely disappearing as if into the midday heat with each coming day. His companions, their company, and their playful chatter had erased those demons from his usual thoughts. His companions had filled the air around him and his mind instead with sounds and laughter that resounded through him like birds in a canopy overhead or brass bells, rather than echoing regrets bounced against cold stone walls. And warm bodies snuggled next to his upon the ground where they had made their camp erased the creeping illness of those dark-night thoughts from the forefront of his ailing mind. He couldn't help but think that maybe, perhaps, it was a warning. For what and the certain purpose behind the premonition Shin-ah could not know, for after all he had no talent of prophecy. All Shin-ah had was a feeling that creeped along the inside of his skin like skittering spiders and raised goosebumps along the ridge of his flesh. And Shin-ah knew from his life experiences that those feelings were best heeded— Seiryuu you must learn to lessons you are taught or—
"…else…you will be hit like the fox…" Shin-ah whispered, more breath then voice escaping his lips like pitched hisses, agreeing with that voice of conscience that echoed in the recesses of his mind when he most needed them. If he was having bad feelings, most likely it was due to something brewing in the horizon, something unable to be seen by even his eyes. But even so, it would do him better to be on guard as that familiar voice echoed on his mind, bubbling up in the darkness to remind him of that which was most important.
(Once upon a time, Seiryuu, there was a man who was tired and thirsty from traveling a long distance on foot. He stopped by a stream to quench his great thirst, dipping in his wooden bucket and drinking from it. However he found the water was sweeter than any water from any stream he had ever drank from before, and became consumed with a great greed. With reckless abandon he continued to drink until his stomach ached. After he had had enough, he raised his hands in front of the water and said, "I have had enough to drink. Stop flowing!"
The stream continued to flow, despite the traveler's request. Losing his temper, the traveler yelled, "I told you to stop! Why don't you listen?"
In order to stop himself from continuing to drink from that stream, the traveler stopped up the stream, and there for causing the land to dry. However, his thirst did not end, and when the traveler unleashed the stream to take another drink, it became a great tide and swallowed the traveler whole.
That is how desire is, Seiryuu. Once we give in to it, we have no sense of moderation, and we lose the ability to control ourselves. When we give into our instincts we risk destroying ourselves. Never use that cursed power you possess Seiryuu, no, not even once. Or else you risk being drowned in it.)
Suddenly feeling ill-at-ease, Shin-ah got up as he found his position next to his companions too cramped at that moment. With Ao following at his heels, he shuffled over until he found a tree at the edge of camp that he could peacefully lean against. He turned his attention to the forest gazing miles out in the directions before him to assure himself that no one was near that could be spawning such odd feelings within him. Well, to be specific, there was a village relatively nearby, but that certainly wouldn't be the cause of his feelings. Finding no one, Shin-ah instead slumped on the rough bark and turned his attention skyward through the boughs.
The sky was bright as it always was to Shin-ah's eyes, as to the eyes of the Seiryuu the world looks perpetually in a fond twilight. The moon was a silver crescent, its light hung in the air like fluttering moth wings by candlelight, floating effortlessly to illuminate all it softly landed upon. Stars and planets twinkled in vast incomprehensible numbers, their graceful dance timed by glimmers of unknown celestial objects that he only caught in the corner of his eyes. But that night his attention was caught upon the great ripple that streaked across the sky, like the hem of a royal dress skirt unfurling golds and purples and the darkest blue in a great arch. Shin-ah had often looked there, but even his eyes had to strain to peak within. Perhaps he thought, though his eyes could see everything in this world, that streak was the start to another heaven that even their Gods couldn't know.
Even then, the ceiling of their world held no fear to him where it might have only confined him before. Instead that ceiling had only filled him with a great sense of wonder. Shin-ah had learned through Yona and her brightness and smiles, that there were truly no walls that could confine him anymore. As long as he was at her side and with his friends perhaps everything could be possible. That's why, Shin-ah thought firmly, no matter what was to come he was certain he could get through it. But then again, just as suddenly, a new thought came to mind. One that Shin-ah didn't believe was entirely welcome. If Shin-ah had such unlimited freedom, just because he could look there, didn't mean he should. Perhaps anything was possible, but that certainly didn't mean that all of those outcomes were good. The freedom he had gained had a dark side. Now that he wasn't confined, now that he wasn't imprisoned within the earth, he had to be even more vigilant than before that he didn't choose wrong. And maybe, that was more terrifying then any confinement had ever been.
And so with those thoughts circling in his head like birds of prey, he closed his eyes but found no peace or sleep.
Welcome one and welcome all to the If The Sky Could Dream (It Would Dream of Dragons) Sequel! I mostly post my things over on AO3 now including most of my active projects, however, I realized that since I had begun the sequel, and had posted the first fic here, it only made sense to post the sequel here on fanfiction as well. I'm purposefully leaving it vague on when this is taking place, however do know that it is canon events within post-anime. Thank you to everyone who read the first fic, and this will only be a short, four chapter continuation, however I hope everyone enjoys! So please leave me a review, fav, or alert to let me know you care! And I hope you enjoy this little minisequel!
Just a little guide to the way the format works in these fics:
"Normal"- Regular narration
"Normal"- Dream sequences, thoughts, and memories
"Normal"- Blue Dragon influenced thoughts
Thank you!
~OMGitsgreen