ANGST ROUND TWO FOR ZENOOBSESSED. Jae-ha and Zeno discussing how Jae-ha's powers are beginning to fade and transfer to his daughter. This one's tied into my AU series where Jae-ha is married to Yona and she gave birth to the new Ryokuryuu.
"Crap…. I usually never miss a jump like that…." Jae-ha was growling to himself, having gotten caught in a tree and attempting to untangle himself. "… And that pain in my right leg won't stop… But not now, damn it all she's only 6 years old…" he was busy mumbling to himself he didn't realize the Ouryuu was suddenly down below him and calling up.
"Ryokuryuu! Need some help?" Zeno asked as he attempted to climb up the tree.
"Ah how kind of you, Zeno-kun." Jae-ha smiled as the Yellow Dragon attempted to help free him. "That's unlike you, last time I found myself like this you chose to just watch my discomfort at first."
"Zeno sensed you were in some… Trouble." Zeno chose his words carefully until they were back down on the ground. "Little Ryokuryuu thought she felt something wrong but couldn't place it."
Jae-ha froze when his daughter was mentioned. "… Lina's ok though, right…?" there was a pause in his voice.
"She is fine, no stronger than usual it seems but…" Zeno looked at him worried as they stood up. "… Your powers are weakening, aren't they?" he finally just got to the point.
"…. Ah it figures I can't hide this from you, can I?" Jae-ha merely sighed, taking a seat on the grass and rubbing at his right leg. "… Or have you seen it before… When the other dragons…?"
Zeno took a few moments to reply, looking to the side. "… Zeno wasn't there when his brothers passed away, but he felt it…. As they grew weaker. Zeno has gotten so he knows the feeling when another dragon is near passing."
All the blood drained from Jae-ha's face as he feared the worst. "… And that's how I feel right now?"
The Ouryuu shook his head. "… Not yet. But you're in the first stages of it."
That made the Green Dragon take in a sharp breath. Slightly relieved his end wasn't near but it just further brought on the ticking time bomb, and that he might not have too many years left with Yona and their darling little daughter Lina. "… How long usually until…?"
"It varies from dragon to dragon." Zeno admitted, sitting next to the Ryokuryuu. "… The Ryokuryuu before you lasted a long time, longer than most even though he grew weaker every year."
"Yeah, I wanted to beat the bastard's record." Jae-ha scoffed, shaking his head. "Guess I'm not going to after all."
"Zeno thought Ryokuryuu said he wasn't going to give in easily?" the Yellow Dragon asked, tilting his head.
"Oh don't get me wrong Zeno, I'm not." Jae-ha smiled at him. "… But I've faced the fact a long time ago this day would come… And I promised myself I'd try to stay strong for Lina and Yona… Poor girls are going to blame themselves you know over this, and I'd rather they not see my impending doom as a reason to cry over me for days and days. Yona dear cried so hard the day Lina was born and I told her what was going to happen…" he frowned just thinking about it, recalling how his wife cried herself to sleep and began crying anew once they awoke the next day. It broke his heart seeing her so upset over him, and now to see his little girl upset over him… He didn't think his heart could take it.
"Zeno was a wreck you know after his brothers passed, wandering all over and wishing he could join them in heaven." Zeno said, looking up at the clear blue sky. "He wanted to die so much, but had he gotten his wish he never would have met Kaya…. She brought light into his life and everything went dark again the day she left him when…" he fell silent towards the end.
Jae-ha studied his expression and decided not to press on it. "That's what I'm worried Yona-chan is going to be like when I'm gone… But I'm hoping everyone else can help her move on from that, I don't want her to remain sad forever over me. I just hope we can cherish the times we had together and she can look back on that when she's lonely. And there's just so much I still want to teach Lina-chan that I…." Before he knew it, his eyes were filling with tears that he quickly tried to hide by brushing them away with his fingers. "I promised to live my life to the fullest and I still will. But with so little time left and so much to do, how do you choose?"
"… Treat each moment like it is the very last, and pray for one more day?" Zeno offered with a sad smile. "… Kaya was very sick, each day could have been her last. Zeno once begged the gods to give him just another day with her, and each day he prayed for another… Zeno thinks he got greedy after a while." He chuckled weakly. "But Zeno thinks back on those days with Kaya as some of the happiest of his life, and why Zeno can always keep a smile just by thinking of those good times. Little Ryokuryuu and the missy can do the same thinking back to all their time with you."
"Yeah, you're right." Jae-ha slowly stood up, grunting as he felt the pain in his right leg again. "So there's no time like the present. Might as well head back and see my lovely girls as much as I can before the end. Let's go then, Zeno-kun." He smiled and then walked ahead.
Zeno stood there for a moment, clutching at his heart and looking up to the sky sadly as the sun was beginning to set. "… Please don't take him away from the miss and little Ryokuryuu just yet Dragon Gods… We still need big brother just a little longer…"