Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or its characters.
Author's Notes: Here's chapter 1! It was Originally written for Kurogane Week over on tumblr, which is why the first chapter's so short. The story actually originated simply because I wanted to write a Pirate/Sailing AU focusing on Kurogane and Fai. There's not really any pairings in this except for slight SyaoSaku and TouYuki.
River Dragon ~ Chapter 1
Kurogane walked down the paved road leading to his house in Kitakaze Port City, scowling as the cold wind stung his face despite his warm attire. It had been eight years since he had fled to Kitakaze, having lost his homeland of Suwa to a mysterious flood when he was ten years old. He wasn't overly fond of the place, it was much noisier and more crowded than Suwa had been, but it did have the advantage of not being a floating ruin, which certainly made getting a job and finding a place to stay easier.
It had taken Kurogane a while to adjust to the advanced technology of the city- 'automobiles' and 'telephones' seemed to be everywhere- but he found it a worthwhile effort, even if he still refused to drive anywhere he could realistically walk to. If nothing else, he had grown relatively fond of the radio- it made following the news much easier, and the 'radio shows' it played could be surprisingly entertaining.
The only other thing Kurogane could say he liked about the bitterly cold and damp, boisterous city was his neighbors. To the right of his house was the Kinomoto family, where he got along relatively well twelve-year old Sakura and her brother. Across the street was the eccentric Li family, whose only sane member seemed to be the young, occasionally moody Syaoran. And a few blocks down was where Yukito Tsukishiro lived, running a small cafe. Kurogane would occasionally wonder how someone his age was able to run a company by himself, and seemed to lack any sort of family connections, but never asked about it.
Sitting now in his living room, Kurogane got up and went about angrily making some coffee. He hadn't had a great day at work, and he still had to repay that overly energetic sea merchant Naga for helping him last week. He had been repairing various small boats and ships as usual when his last spare rudder snapped clean in two. He had to have the ship he was working on finished within the hour, and because of Kitakaze's poor economy he hadn't the money to buy another one. Naga, being the kindhearted, pushy salesmen that he was, agreed to give him a new free of charge if Kurogane repaid the debt within the same month. Not having the time to find an ulterior solution, Kurogane had agreed.
Kurogane now had the means to repay the annoying merchant, and intended to keep his word, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. He bitterly drank his bitter coffee, irritated that he would have to go back out into the cold after already having a tiring, annoying day. He was just about to finally get up and get it over with when there was a knock on his door. Looking through the eye-hole on the door, he saw it was none other than Tomoyo Daidouji, whose family had taken him in during his third week in Kitakaze.
"What do you want?" Kurogane asked, opening the door. Tomoyo smiled up at him.
"I was wondering if you would go shopping with me! Sakura-chan is going to be in a school play soon, and I simply must make her costume for her! And who better to be my shopping assistant than you, Kurogane?" she said happily, a slightly mischievous look in her eyes. Kurogane sighed. Tomoyo always loved dragging him around and making him do things with he'd would never do otherwise, and she was even harder to say no to when she was talking about her crush, Sakura. That, and her parents only allowed her to travel without swarms of deadly bodyguards following her if Kurogane was with her (in which case only a few body guards were needed).
"I don't have time for that today, I have to go hunt down a sea merchant, and then I am coming home and staying home." he said grumpily, annoyed not at Tomoyo but the cold air coming in from the open door. Tomoyo didn't seem phased at all by his refusal- she never was.
"Well then I'll accompany you! I know how much you hate the cold, and strangers, so we'll go together and then shop for Sakura-chan!" she said just as brightly. Kurogane could already see there was no winning this argument.
"Do what you like." he said, walking past her and in the direction of the sea-port. Tomoyo knew this to mean she had won, and followed after him.
The port was as busy as ever, people trying to rent boats, shopping at various booths, taking in the sights, and who knows what else. The sun shone dimly in the west, hazed over by the fog that always seemed to permeate around the shore. Kurogane wondered how Tomoyo could look so chipper in such a loud, gloomy place. Eventually, they found the young merchant they were looking for.
"Oy, remember me?" Kurogane asked, approaching the brown-haired youth with the outrageously huge sword (which sadly was not for sale, despite looking too big for the kid to even use). The merchant looked up him.
"Sure do! You were the cranky fellow in need of a rudder. Good to see you haven't changed much. Who's your friend?" he said, as aggravatingly energetic as Kurogane remembered.
"My name is Tomoyo Daidouji, pleased to meet you! I do hope my friend didn't give you too much trouble." she said politely, though there was a definite hint of a smirk on her face as well.
"Nope! Pleasure to meet you to, the name's Naga. You here to pay back the debt, or are you out of stuff again? Cause I'm not gonna keep giving you free stuff if you never pay back." Naga said, turning back to Kurogane, who just scowled.
"Here's your money. Is that enough?" he said. Naga looked at the money and grinned.
"That should do it! Come again some time, and that goes for your friend too!" he said happily. Tomoyo laughed and Kurogane scowled some more, but said nothing. That problem was now dealt with. Now to go home and hide from Tomoyo, who still had that shopper's glint in her eye. He was about to say something as they walked away back towards the city when Tomoyo interrupted him.
"Oh, I just remembered! Mother asked me to buy some fish while I was out for the maids to cook with, would you mind waiting just a moment? I'll be back quickly." she said.
"Sure. Whatever." he replied, despite not actually wanting to stay out there any longer than necessary. He watched Tomoyo run off with her bodyguards close behind before turning to view the near shore. There were some pretty big ships docked at the pier today, one he recognized as the M.S. Jaatikko, a ship ran by the infamously eccentric Captain Fai Fluorite. Kurogane had never met the man in person, but such an odd mixture of rumors about the captain made him wonder if maybe he should.
The shoreline seemed the same as ever, so Kurogane was about to go look for Tomoyo himself when something odd caught his eye. The water only a few yards away from dry land seemed to bubble somewhat before something- no, someone, that was definitely a human head- emerged out of the water. Kurogane stared in shock as boy who appeared to be only slightly older than Syaoran walked calmly out of the water, not gasping for air at all; the kid didn't even look slightly perturbed by being underwater so long (it had to have been a while, Kurogane hadn't seen him enter the water and he had been waiting for Tomoyo a good couple of minutes now).
But what was even stranger about the boy than his inexplicable state of calm was his physical appearance. Even from a slight distance, Kurogane could tell the boy had skin that was a light shade of silver, a long, unkempt mane of golden hair, and most importantly, deep red eyes - a trait almost exclusive to people native to Suwa. The boy stood a few moments on the sand, looking almost confused, before looking directly at Kurogane and smiling. He wore a simple short sleeved black shirt and shorts, and grey boots with golden marking on them- it was a wonder he wasn't frozen over in this weather wearing such light clothes.
Kurogane approached the stranger in a state of stunned wonder. No one else approached the strange looking kid, or even seemed to be able to see him. Kurogane didn't think he was hallucinating, he had no reason not to trust his senses, but that didn't the feeling he had that no else even could see the boy- there were people who could make themselves invisible, after all, even though Kurogane had never heard anyone make themselves selectively invisible.
"What were you doing in the water?" was what Kurogane asked once he was standing directly in front of the silver-skinned boy.
"Under the water? Well, I was…I was swimming, wasn't I?" the boy said. He spoke calmly, his voice neither very high nor very low pitched, in a way that conveyed less confusion than his words.
"How long were you under there?" Kurogane demanded. The boy smiled sweetly.
"I think a long time. But I'm on land now. Can I ask your name?" he said.
"It's Kurogane. Who are you, and what do you know about a place called Suwa?" Kurogane asked. As far as he knew, he was the last survivor of Suwa. And though this boy had red eyes, no one else in Suwa had had silver skin or blond hair.
"Suwa? It was an island, and a good place, but it's not around anymore. My name is Ginryuu. Are you busy today?" Ginryuu asked. Kurogane stared extra hard after hearing his name- it was the same as the guardian spirit that was said to protect Suwa before it fell.
"Are you from Suwa? And why am I the only one who seems to see you?" he said, ignoring the boy's last question.
"You're the only one who can see me? You shouldn't stay here anymore. You should come with me. It's not safe anymore, will you come with me?" Ginryuu said, suddenly very serious. His eyes seemed now to belong to someone older than a mere fifteen years of age. Kurogane knew he should probably leave the crazy stranger alone, but something about him seemed familiar- other than his name, that is.
"Look, where are your parents? And what do you mean it's not safe anymore here?" Kurogane said, sick of having to ask so many questions but equally tired of not knowing anything about what could be a link to his past.
"My meaning should be clear, Kurogane. If a place is not safe, you and your friends could get hurt by being there. Thus, I would be happy if you came with me." he said, looking up at him sadly and extending his hand. Kurogane was just pissed off.
"Listen here, you cheeky little brat, either you give me some straight answers, or I'll-" he started, before being cut off by someone.
"Kurogane, who are you yelling at? I've been looking everywhere for you, you must be freezing over here by the water! We can go back now, and warm up, alright? Why did you come over here?" Tomoyo asked, looking slightly concerned. It was only then Kurogane realized that not only was he absolutely freezing, but the ocean had sprayed a bunch of mist on him so he was wet too. He glared angrily at Ginryuu.
"You and your friend should really leave." the silver-skinned boy said sadly before turning and walking away. Kurogane turned to Tomoyo.
"I'll explain when we get back to my place. You're going to get wet too if we just stand here." he said. Tomoyo agreed, and they were soon on their way back to Kurogane's house. The whole trip back, they were silent, Tomoyo not sure what was bothering Kurogane, and Kurogane trying both to process everything that had just happened and how he was going to explain it to Tomoyo. As they approached his house once more, Kurogane couldn't help but sigh. It was going to be a long night.
Author's Notes: That's it! The pacings a little off, but hopefully you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought!