Note: This is the first of two side-stories to my other fiction ´No Reason´… I wrote them in the process of trying to understand what could have cause the break between Sohryu and Kurikara, since Sohyru´s reaction to Kurikara´s words of doubt seemed overly exaggerated to me. In addition to that Kurikara also seems less angry and more attached to Sohryu during the chapters than otherwise round. This is my attempt of a possible explanation.
PS: beta-ed by tacofloor and posted in a better formatting on my account on LJ
A History of Spilt Wine
The alcohol made him sleepy.
Realizing that, Kurikara knew, was a good sign to stop drinking and start making his way to bed least he wanted to wake up with a hangover the next morning.
Usually Kurikara prided himself in being able to drink and not suffer any prolonged consequences afterwards. He'd even made a habit of drinking some wine every evening, as it ought to help the blood circulation if consumed in reasonable amount. Kurikara had never researched that matter personally, but the woman who'd told him about it had practised it herself and had turned over 103 (in human terms of understanding) before she hit the bottom of the dive. And she'd been completely clear and healthy too, albeit worn fragile by age.
So Kurikara considered her long-livelihood as a good sign and adapted the hobby of enjoying a cup of wine himself before going to bed.
Aside from that, the alcohol helped him against his insomniac tendencies.
Today, however, the two-fold deity, fiery Dragon King and guardian beast of the centre, felt that he was going to need more than just wine to be able to sleep.
The suggestion to take over human realm in order to rescue their own increasingly unstable one had struck an alarm chord deep down inside the Dragon King. Being himself a great favourer of the short-lived human race, Kurikara feared the worst for them. Recently the Emperor had refused to show himself and had always chosen the most simple way of action to take…
Kurikara dreaded the day when he was going to be called upon his duty as Gensoukai´s Warlord and to lead the army against unsuspecting and powerless humanity…
It´d be terrible.
A genocide in which a whole race would be wiped out by a mere, poorly-reasoned decision. A race they'd had so often sworn to aid and to protect… All inside of Kurikara, hurt upon the image of burnt and/or drowned women, children and old ones; of harmless peasants and townsfolk who'd never wanted anything more than to life their peaceful lives and who were running to the shrines of their local gods praying for help from them only to be viciously slain by them…
No.
Kurikara just couldn't do it.
He couldn't take responsibility for that. The alcohol-indulged haze inside his head made it so much easier for him to make decisions that followed his heart; mainly because his head was too drunk to interfere with any possible "if´s" and "what-about´s". Being detachedly drunk like this, Kurikara could be honest to himself.
Hell, he didn't WANT to slay humans or any other beings for the sake of his people. People, who in his humble opinion, had had this trouble coming at them for a long time and who had until now just plain failed to react to it. It was their own freaking fault!
You just didn't kill somebody else for the mistakes that you, and you alone, had made.
At least not if you were a warrior with any ounce of honour in your veins. This point was just what worried Kurikara. The Emperor had recently proven himself as a man of no honour left, as his most recent actions and decisions showed. Oh, he hadn't ever dirtied his hands in unjustly spilt blood, it had been Kurikara and his men who had been forced to hold the swords and do the kill.
´The will of the Emperor…´It all just didn't matter anymore.
He and most of his men had had enough of dirtying their hands in the name of a man whose words were law and who never considered it necessary to show himself outside the palace. If things continued like this, soon somebody would start to question the Emperor's true motives and his verity.
´If something like this starts it's going to be worse than Hell…´
Kurikara took another large gulp of his drink. It was the most alcoholic beverage the Capital had to offer and yet he found himself still wishing for something stronger.
If it could just knock him out and when he'd wake up it would have been nothing but a very bad dream…
It wasn't a dream, though.
Kurikara was painfully aware of that fact. Taking another sip, the Dragon King considered his next moves. He was going to oppose that decree as much as possible, that much was for sure. But if it was still put into action…Kurikara decided that he would go and talk to his good friend Sohryu. The only other celestial dragon was the representative of the Emperor and, aside of being Kurikara´s most valued friend since early childhood, also a very intelligent and reasonable man.
He'd hear out Kurikara´s worries about the Emperor's decision and acting lately. He would understand that they had the dangerous potential to split the people's opinion and quite possibly could lead further to a public war. He would talk to the Emperor and hopefully call him back to reason. Yes… That was a good way to go. Surely they would listen to him and agree to make some adjustments…
Kurikara frowned at the cup in his hand. He was still much too sober for his likening while he was trying to sort out this difficult topic.
´Simple, to the point and honest… That's the way the phrasing of my arguments should be.´
Downing the rest of the liquor with one single large gulp, the Dragon King set the cup aside and decided to go to bed. He'd have to think good and careful about what he was going to say and do these next days… Too less and he wouldn't be taken seriously. Too much and he risked being branded a traitor…
Closing his eyes, Kurikara let out a deep, exhausted sigh.
´Sohryu, my friend… Please be with me in this difficult situation. I'm going to need you there. Please let my words reach your ears..!!´
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Sohryu didn´t listen. Instead he became the first to call Kurikara a traitor and stroke down upon him with his sword, cutting his right eye, robbing it of its sight and marking his face forever.
Shortly after, the Shogun Kurikara RyuOh was called to the imperial chambers and in an undercover action a second scar was placed upon him, a cut going straight down the middle of his forehead that was imbued with a sealing function, disabling the Dragon King from ever using his adult warrior form ever again.
After this, the crippled Dragon King left the court and deflected from his services, taking many sympathisers with him.. The rest f the story is history and is later called the fourth great war.
…Kurikara never again expected anybody to listen to him or to be his friend.
END