Title: Blue Bird
Part: 3
Author: ShyroFox
Rating: PG-13/T
Pairings: KuroganexFai (TSU), Hinted DoumekixWatanuki (XXX), SyaoranxSakura (CCS),
Warnings: Dragon AU, Evil Ashura,
Disclaimer: Copyright CLAMP
Summary: AU, After being forced on a vacation by the ever-loving princess Tomoyo, Kurogane is caught up in a maelstrom of misfortune and misunderstanding as he ventures into a cold town and meets an even colder dragon.
---
Fai had led Kurogane around the mass, but after a while it became obvious that without preventative measures, the human was likely to be crushed. And it would be most unpleasant if that happened.
Thus Fai had taken to having the man ride on his back again. It may have caused a few stares, but Fai was undaunted, so Kurogane felt that he should remain that way as well.
"Who are you looking for?" Asked Kurogane as they waded the dragon sea. It was strange how well that described it, too. It moved just like the ocean and certainly had a nasty bite if you didn't know what you were doing.
Although Kurogane had only been on a fishing ship once when he was twelve. So maybe his opinion wasn't the best that could be used.
Fai's ear swung back but his face didn't turn, so Kurogane figured this was a motion for him to repeat himself. "Who are you looking for?"
"Oh, someone that you should most certainly meet. In fact, it's essential before we settle down for the more exciting part of the night."
The dragon-rider looked confused, but Fai turned back to search, neglecting to explain further.
After some small amount more of wandering around the lounging rings of serpentine creatures, Fai apparently spotted what he was looking for and rushed forward sending Kurogane sprawling onto his back and clutching somewhat desperately to the gentle, feathered appendages. Kurogane was quickly able to right himself, and if the feathers he had pulled from Fai's wings in the act had hurt the dragon he gave no sign of it.
Coming to a slowed gait, the dragon came to a stop. Kurogane craned his head around, gripping the dragon's neck gently, to look around and see what Fai saw.
Before them was a most magnificent dragon. Its scales shimmered a dark and mysterious purple, the likes of which one could only view at sunset. The shadows made the scales appear black while the light from a nearby fire made the resilient wine color glow brilliantly. He ears draped elegantly from her head, tiny rings and bands hanging off them, looking so much like they belonged as if they were tiny silver pieces of her ears. A band of black silk with glowing butterflies adorned its neck, and in the firelight Kurogane could have sworn that they were occasionally beating their wings.
It looked as though the dragon's intricate being had taken hours to look just so, but Kurogane felt that the it probably looked like this every day.
Fai interrupted his musing, to bow to it. "Yuuko-san." He addressed and Kurogane sputtered as the image of the woman who had kidnapped him leapt into his mind. This was that her?
She looked not at Fai's bowing head, but over his bent neck at Kurogane's look of mild shock. The guard felt that it may have very well been inappropriate to be this shocked, for she matched her human figure completely.
"Good evening Fai-san. Kurogane-san." She said, bowing with a slight tip of her head. Her red eyes looking at them with a frightening amount of depth. "I see you have decided to hold onto the human?" She asked, giving Fai a humored smile.
"Yes." He replied, and to Kurogane's surprised, Fai looked dead serious. The human got the feeling that this meeting was probably more weighty and important that any other he would have tonight.
The she-dragon stood, tiny clinking of bells and rings sounding as she did so. Fai turned, fully exposing Kurogane to her and she walked up to the human, examining him as if her were a bug she was debating whether or not to flick off of herself. He attempting not to gulp, and was proud of himself when he succeeded.
Her head tilted slightly, and she swiftly nabbed him off the other dragon and gently placed him on the ground. The quick movement made Kurogane yelp indignantly.
She laughed and Kurogane felt a wave of semi-terror as Fai backed away the dragoness circled him. "So, Kurogane-san…" She said wandering the length of the small circle, becoming visible, as she passed his line of view, then invisible as she walked behind him. He was certain that this was not the time for the suspicious following of her with his eyes. "You want to join dragons and have passed the test of the group leader?" She asked.
He had no idea what test she was talking about and wondered if this was the time to mention that he would be going home in a two months. Deciding it not to be, he said what sounded surprisingly to his own ears to be a resolute, "Yes."
Her lithe body continued to circle him, and Kurogane briefly wondered if any dragons were stout and fat like he had seen in picture books as a child. Decided to file this curiosity away for now--he could investigate it further if he lived through this, of course--he brought his attention back to the somewhat dangerous creature with lots of teeth that continued to orbit him.
She stopped abruptly in front of him, turning to face him, and it was then that Kurogane noticed with no small amount of dread that the ground was covered with a white circle and various markings contained within it. He had no idea where they had come from, for he had never seen her draw them…
"Well, human." She said, not threatening but not gently either, eyes seeming to glow. "We'll see if that will be your fate."
The outline of the circle lit up. Then, as though flowing like water, the patterns within it began to as well. Soon they reached the center, a triangle. Kurogane was unsure of whether or not he like being the item standing in the tri-pointed shape.
He had expected the river-rush movement of the glow to stop, but instead it began to fill up the triangle as if he were in an encasement that was being filled with water. The white magic bobbed and waved like just like water as the steam continued to pour more in from the bottom. It filled to his feet. Then he ankles. It climbed higher and higher and Kurogane wondered where exactly it would stop as he thanked his training for not allowing himself to show just how much this unfamiliar ritual alarmed him.
Yuuko looked at him, unmoving from her space in front of him. He suspected that Fai was just as immobile and intent from behind him, but for all he knew the dragon could have very well left! But he was sure that Fai would… probably, not do that. Kurogane grimaced when he realized that he could see quite a few curious spectators scattered off to the sides. He hated being the center of attention…
He was interrupted from this as the water-like magic continued to rise and swiftly engulfed his neck and head. It stopped a few inches from the tips of his spiky hair.
At this point Kurogane had suspected that he would very well drown, but the magic, although very water-like, was not water, and he had no trouble continuing to breathe air aside from the surreal feeling of his mind telling him that he shouldn't be able to.
For the first time, Kurogane realized that the sparkling light gave off a warm buzz of energy and security. It was like being held in his mother's arms again or having his hair ruffled lovingly by his father. Such feelings he hadn't been able to enjoy for a long while now. It felt natural and wonderful and Kurogane felt himself drift at ease, as though he had no worries. He idly wondered if this was what love felt like before promptly shaking that thought away, blaming the magic for making him feel drugged.
Suddenly, the triangle burst as if the three edges were three glass plates suddenly taken away. The magic flowed out in points, hitting a circular barrier like three great waves, before resting and melting away into nothingness.
Kurogane blinked stupidly, the trance he was in having been lost with the magic.
Yuuko walked up to him, a hooded-eye grin on her face. "You did very well." She told him as if he were a child. He currently felt like one with how confused he was about what had just happened.
From somewhere behind him he heard Fai cheer, "Yay! Kuro-rin passed!" Along with the murmurs of some of the spectator dragons that had paused to watch the event.
"So…" He said, looking at the dark dragon. "What was that?"
She tilted her head, a brighter grin dawning on her face as if she enjoyed it immensely when she held information that others did not. "That was a purity test. It measures how dirty in spirit you are, how malevolent your thoughts are, and how much understanding you have of the world around you."
He frowned. "So couldn't you have done this to me when I first came instead of interrogating me?" He asked.
She laughed, and he heard a few small snickers from beyond the light where the other dragons were still watching. He wanted to kick all of them. "This is only done as an introduction into dragon clans." She explained. "Besides, if I wasted that much magic on every hoodlum we captured just to check their soul purity it would drain my reservoir entirely!" She complained.
"Ah…" He still was unsure of many things, but the need to ask all of this now seemed unnecessary and childish.
Yuuko glanced at the star-lit sky for a moment before looking down at him again. Her thin tail shot out and grabbed his wrist and he yelped. "Don't be like that!" She chided. "Look here."
She turned his wrist so that he was looking at the back of his hand. On it was a glowing symbol of a dragon with a blade-like tail. He looked at it before turning his other hand and noticing the same symbol turned flipped, so that the dragons were facing each other.
"Ahhh…" She called, and he looked up at her. "You are a fighting dragon type. Although, you are still a human, the ritual labels you as such so that you are both verified to be an honorary member and considered with respect by fellow dragons."
Her tail released his wrist and he flexed his hands, watching the symbols stay intact, not stretching with his skin like a tattoo or scar would.
"You can only see that symbol in the light of the moon when you are amongst other dragons. This is both good and bad, so be very careful with who you allow to view them." She warned him. And Kurogane felt the weight of the ominous warning and frowned.
---
Fai led him out of the ring of voyeurs, who were chatting in quite a gossipy way, some even cheering him with congratulations. Fai smiled at the human walking next to him. "Don't worry about them." He told him, flapping his wings once as if it were an equivalent motion as a human hand waving away an imaginary problem. "Dragons have the utmost respect for humans that pass a magic-dragon's initiation, since the numbers are slim. And your's went so well! I'm sure anything they say about you will be good."
Kurogane glare at him. "You never warned me about this." He accused, feeling a bit off himself for all the attention, positive or not.
The dragon wriggled his body playfully. "But I'm not supposed to!" He laughed, looking at Kurogane gleefully. "You may very well have tried to purify your thoughts and intentions and that may have resulted in the mucking up of your test!"
The human stared at the dragon. Fai was beginning to act the same way he had when the two had first met, and although it had appeared strange at the time it seemed downright wrong now.
"Don't." He spat, and Fai stopped, looking at him with mild confusion.
"…don't what?" Asked the dragon, eyes hooded in a way that reminded him of how Yuuko had looked at him, although he couldn't pinpoint why.
"Act like an idiot. It doesn't suit you." Growled the guard, grabbing the dragons foreleg as emphasis that he was serious. He realized this may have been a silly move, since he couldn't even wrap his hand around half of it, but if Fai thought it was he didn't show it.
The dragon starred at him, a very torn emotion lingering in his eyes that Kurogane was sure he wasn't supposed to see, before Fai turned to stare in the opposite direction.
Kurogane was going to force him to respond somehow, but Fai did so without any prompting. "It's funny that you say that." He said, and his voice sounded both emotional and cold, like the dragon was trying to control it and failing.
"I don't think this matter is funny at all." Kurogane said, gripping the scales beneath his fingers as if his letting go would cause Fai to slip away. "I treat you with respect and I don't hide who I am from you." Kurogane paused, wondering if he wanted to continue giving away so much of what he was thinking, but plowed on despite himself, hoping the dragon would understand his words. "I'm unsure of what our relationship is, friends, acquaintances, so on, but I can't see it lasting if you continued to go into some type of shell whenever you… you feel something that you don't want others to know about."
He hoped he had read the dragon right about this, otherwise he may have just caused a rift between them by misunderstanding. He had always done this when he spoke his mind so casually, thus why doing so now caused him a good amount of dread.
He was both relieved and startled when Fai said, "You're right." The dragon, still unable to look at him, whispered, "I don't know what you expect of me, but you should know that you are right."
"What are you going to do about it?" The human immediately said, not giving himself time to wonder whether this was the best thing he could've asked right now. The lure of getting something more than the normal guarded attitude of the dragon tugged his words forward.
Kurogane noticed Fai's ear twitch and stared fervently at their position pressed back against his head, so that he could remember it and recognize it later.
The dragon inhaled and said. "I'll try."
Kurogane looked at the back of the dragon's head and hoped it meant what he thought it did.
---
After some time of wandering through the crowds Kurogane had been pushed back into the position as dragon-rider, merely for the convenience of it.
Fai had been quite for quite some time, but as the festivities drew on he began to warm into a lulling happiness of which Kurogane hoped was real.
"So…" Kurogane said, as they had been looking at entertainer dragons and merchant dragons for the past half-hour or so. They now seemed to be heading away from the main area of such marvels and into the vast groupings of dragons settled down with neighbors and chatting or eating over the warmth of firelight. They had walked clean through the center of the massive field. "Are we heading anywhere in particular?"
A grin was alit on Fai's face as he turned to Kurogane. "I'm trying to find the group that Syaoran is in." He said. "We shall probably find a lot of friends of mine amongst them. You remember Syaoran, don't you Kuro-pii?"
"How could I forget." Replied the human, temporarily calling a mental truce against the nicknames, although he would rather die than tell the dragon that now and have him abuse it with voracious glee. The boy had nearly scared him to death when he had woken up. If you snuck up on a trained warrior, it was good to do it when he was properly boozed.
"Well, I have no idea how good your memory is." Chirped the dragon, slinking between a cat-eyed black dragon and a dark green dragon that was most obviously very drunk. Ah, no matter what species, parties always contained alcohol of some sort.
Fai's ears perked. "I've spotted them." He said, with childish glee. His speed increased as he now had a definite location goal in mind. Kurogane looked over the top of his ears, balancing on the muscled back with no small amount of difficulty.
He wondered what that fire-eyed boy would look like in his dragon form.
---
Kurogane wanted to groan. Why? Why did he have to make that association? The kid was an actual fire dragon, and the irony was not lost on his overloaded human mind.
The group Fai had been looking for was near the center edge of the clearing. Apparently dragons felt it necessary to always have a fire be at the center of their groups, so Syaoran, the dragon in question, was keeping the wood lit with steamy puffs of hot air and wisps of fire. It made sense in a way. If dragons were as much like snakes and lizards as he thought, then they practically ran off the heat that currently could only be provided by burning wood. It was moving into the cold season after all.
Kurogane had not, however, expected the girl he saved at the tavern to be sitting next to the small fire lizard, her legs bent under her while she sipped from a large steaming cup. She was wearing a silk outfit that mocked that of the dragons, although, had much more to it then a neck band, of course, and he could only guess that she had been here before. He stared at her with the muted shock of someone unable to know how to respond. After a few moments, she must have felt his gaze for she locked gazes with him and gasped.
Rising to he feet she ran over to him and before he knew she was bowing deeply. "Thank you for helping me!" She said, apparently ashamed she had not formally said this early.
Kurogane scratched the back of his head. "Er… It was fine. It wasn't a problem." He said awkwardly. He knew the proper etiquette from his job, but that didn't mean he indulged in it.
Syaoran looked at Sakura with a small frown. "You didn't need to do that." He huffed. "I thanked to him just fine a couple days ago."
The girl looked at him. "Mou! I'm supposed to be the one to thank him! It's me that he saved." She said stubbornly.
The fire dragon huffed again, a small curl of flame on his breath. She glanced at Kurogane, bowed shortly, then hurried back to the dragon's side, attempting to ease his wounded pride.
It was only without the girl in front of him that Kurogane realized he had a flock of curious dragons looking at him and Fai with questions in their eyes.
One of the dragons, a red-brown one wearing a crimson silk band with some black pattern on it spoke up. "I met you!" He proclaimed, turning the curious lizards' attention to him instantaneously.
"As did I!" Said the she-dragon at his side. She was a soft black color with hints of purple alit on her scales. Smooth spikes lay across her neck and he felt that she was probably more formidable a fighter than she was personality-wise.
Fai laughed, pushing the guard forward with his snout. "Well, talk to your friends!" He said.
Kurogane pushed the dragon away with annoyance, but Fai merely laughed again. Talk to what friends he wanted to ask. He then looked up at the semi-towering figures of the dragons in front of him. "So… you've met me?" He asked, wondering who they could be or where he could've met them at. "How long ago?" He asked. It couldn't have been too long could it?
"Oh not too long ago!" The girl replied, laughing in a somewhat sardonic manner. Kurogane flinched, as he tended to do when his thoughts matched someone's words.
The boy rolled his eyes at here and turned his gaze to Kurogane. "My name is Ryuuoh and she's just stupid."
With that she mockingly attempted to claw at him with a slender arm. "No, I'm not!" Turned politely to the human she properly introduced herself. "I'm Nekoi." She said. "I'd shake your hand, but I doubt you'd like it in this form."
Rolling the names over in his head, he realized where he had met them. "At the tavern." He stated, which confused some of the dragons.
Nekoi nodded. "Indeed." She said. "So..." She paused, eyeing the group, "How did that men's brothel thing work out for you?"
Ryuuoh sputtered. "Oh, yeah! It was that guy." He said, eyes wide as if reflecting on some horror long past. Kurogane bit his tongue to keep from giving a biting remark. It was a simple mistake. A horrifying one, but still simple. Besides, he did not want to pick a fight here.
"What guy?" Inquired one of the metal colored dragons. Presumably, this was an act of humor, since all the dragons in the circle knew "what guy" for he was standing in front of them.
Ryuuoh glared at the dragon, but Nekoi waved them off.
Kurogane twitched. "I did not got to a men's brothel!" He proclaimed, as if it should have been obvious. "I was staying at the inn above the tavern."
The girl piqued an eyebrow. "So... you lied to us?"
A warrior and killer Kurogane may have been, a liar he was not. "No! I just didn't want to accept help from strangers for a simple act of kindness."
"What was the help the offered?" Asked a fellow dragon curiously. Sakura looked curiously over as well, Syaoran still slightly huffy, but no worse for wear.
"A place to stay." She stated simply. Now that he thought about it, he wondered what could have happened had he accepted. Would he have been guided that easily into a group of dragons? Thinking back on it, even if that was true, it was most certainly not worth it. Their group didn't have…
Fai looked down at the human in front of him. "So," he mused, "you've ended up with dragons whether you wanted to or not, I supposed."
Kurogane looked up. And up. And up. And finally, leaning backwards dangerously he could see Fai's grin in the firelight. "You could say that, couldn't you." He told him.
---
Of the dragons in the group, not many of them stuck around as the night wore on. Only a few seemed to be comfortable enjoying the company of a limited few. This included the stubborn Syaoran, Sakura, Fai, Nekoi, and a cool-headed dragon named Doumeki.
Ryuuoh and many of the others had wandered off. Fai did, too, at one point, much to Kurogane's distaste. He had tried to follow after, but Fai had shooed him away with his tail, saying that he would be back in just a little while. Kurogane didn't particularly like how that felt, and wished that Fai would go back into human form so that he could have argued the situation a bit more.
However the blue dragon had returned after an hour or so with a delicate platter of meat, cheese, bread, and wine, and somehow all was forgiven.
Fai gently nabbed a slice of bread with his teeth and tossed it into the air, catching it in his mouth. Sakura clapped and Fai bowed his head like a praised performer. He then rested his neck on the ground, head laying a foot away from Kurogane.
Kurogane nibbled idly on a piece of bread, wondering how this town and those inhabiting it and the areas around it always wanted to make him be drunk. He never would have partake in such a mind-killing event when he was back in his home country. He was a proud warrior and he needed to be on guard.
Maybe this was what Tomoyo had meant by "vacation"…
His first urge was to just blame Fai. Somehow it was his fault. And that was all that mattered to his slightly tipsy brain. He decided it might be wise to hold off on the alcohol for the rest of the night.
He absentmindedly begin to stroke the feathery fur plumes on Fai's head, the dragon made a sort of guttural purr and it took Kurogane a moment to realize that, no, Fai was not the family pet Otoori, and he jerked his hand back in surprise. He had the habit of petting the large wolf-hound when he was near, and was disturbed that he had actually done it to something else.
Fai turned his head to look at him, a soft look in his eyes that didn't survive past one blink of the dragon's eyelids. "Awww…" He whined, like a child. "That felt good!"
Kurogane didn't really want to think about those words from the dragon's mouth out of context, and looked away uncomfortably. This failed, however, when Fai butted his head against the human's side. And again. And once more. He relinquished his gaze ever so slightly and humored the dragon with a look from the corner of his eye.
A small animalistic whine came from his throat, as if it would convince Kurogane that he was indeed a family pet that needed to be stroked and hugged.
Sakura laughed from beside Syaoran, who seemed to be engrossed in his discussion with Doumeki over what weapons (in human form) were most useful to hunt with. Currently they were stuck at a debate over hands and feet vs. bow and arrow. Doumeki was a powerful arguer for someone who only spoke a few words at a time, lingering on long comments had he something to say.
Kurogane's attention was soon gained by a new dragon that wandered up, looking irritated and disheveled. Doumeki turned a grunted a short hello, before turning back to Syaoran.
This didn't seem to be the reaction the new dragon, a serpentine body that was even slimmer than Fai's small frame. He had dark scales and small white circles on his snout in front of his eyes that reminded Kurogane of his grandfather's spectacles. His ears were long and pressed back against his head like an angry cat. "Doumeki!" He barked indignantly.
The larger dragon looked at him with what seemed to be disinterest, but Kurogane swore that there was more light in his eyes then when he had been talking to anyone else.
Or, Kurogane was going crazy, of course. That seemed quite possible.
"Where's Himawari-chan!?" Yelped the dragon, a kind of fierce desperate air about him. He reminded him of a man back in his home town who had his wife stolen away by "demons" as he had called them. They had turned out to merely be her parents, his parents-in-law. It was one of the more humorous missions Kurogane had been on as a royal guard in training.
Fai's head raised to Kurogane's sitting level. The guard whispered to Fai, "Is that his mate?"
The dragon laughed shortly and shook his head conspiratorially. "I'm afraid not, no. And it doesn't look like that will be happening at all in Watanuki's future."
"Watanuki?"
"That's his name."
"Oh…"
The dragon didn't seem to hear them, dark shining wings laying across his back like ruffled draping cloths hung up to dry.
Doumeki seemed unfazed by the smaller dragon's anger. "She's not here." He said coolly, his voice deep like the bottom of a riverbed.
The smaller dragon's body shook like a damp cloth, and Kurogane wondered idly if perhaps he was neatly constructed of such a thing. "Where is she?!" He wailed. "I can see very well that she isn't with you!"
Doumeki didn't seem to care about the convulsive nature the other was directing at him. "She is visiting relatives in the north. She said to keep her registered with the group she's currently in."
This seemed to brake Watanuki. "Why?! Himawari-chan should be in our group!" His body rippled like swimming fish and Kurogane internally grinned to himself. This was a wind dragon, there was no doubt in his mind about it.
Sakura seemed drawn to ask, "What group are you going to choose to be in, Watanuki-kun?"
The crestfallen dragon looked up at her from his position on the ground where he was attempting to beat his head in. His attempts looked to be failing and all it gained him was having to crane his neck around Doumeki in order to see the girl and address her question. "I don't know…" He almost sniffled, but didn't. "Himawari-chan's group is already full."
Kurogane looked over at Fai questioningly, and as if the dragon had predicted that, he whispered, "A dragon horde can only contain a maximum of fifteen dragons. Any more becomes far too complicated. Although, they can partner with other groups, I believe…" Kurogane nodded, wondering who exactly kept track of all this if it was so very structured.
Sakura looked wistfully into her tea, then back at Watanuki. "Why don't you join our group!" She asked, a light smile on her face.
Syaoran, who seemed to have taken up the role as her dragon guardian, or so it appeared to Kurogane, looked at her skeptically. "You live with your family in the town, are you sure you're allowed to invite others into our clan?" He asked.
The girl shrugged. "I don't know why I wouldn't be, it can't do us any harm since we never have more then ten."
The fire dragon huffed, directing his irritation to furthering the growth of the center fire.
Watanuki had been watching this display curiously. "Well…" He began, somewhat at a loss. "I suppose I will join unless something happens and I find another group."
Fai laughed and Kurogane looked at him questioningly. The dragon saw this and became quite apologetic, "They way he said that sounded funny. Like he would do with them if he couldn't find better." He whispered.
The dragon in question's ear twitched and looked over with a mild scowl. "I didn't mean that…" He rebutted.
Doumeki paused from watching the exchange to look at Sakura. "May I join your group as well?" He asked, politely.
She clapped her hands together and Syaoran grinned ever so slightly, hiding it before the girl next to him caught him in his excitement. "Of course!" She said.
Nekoi, who had stayed quite silent during this, a calm sleepiness overtaking her, rose and stretched before shaking some stray bits of grass off. "I'm going to go look for the group I plan on joining." She told them. "I hope everything goes well for you Watanuki-kun!" She chirped. Fai and the others bid her a goodnight and even Kurogane gave a small wave. Then she disappeared, slinking into the sea of inky darkness and dragons illuminated only by firelight.
Watanuki, abashedly laying stomach up from his earlier fit, rolled over and shook the plant life from his head. A leaf caught between his ear and a spike and he shook his head madly to get it off, reminding Kurogane of a puppy that hadn't figured out how to scratch be its ear yet.
Doumeki skillfully nabbed the leaf off of him and discarded it on the ground.
"I could have done that myself!" The slim dragon barked, looked outraged.
"Okay." Said Doumeki, not exactly revealing whether or not he thought this was true as his tone was rather flat. Although, Watanuki's flailing lead Kurogane to believe that the dragon must have interpreted it as a clear action of doubt.
Behind him, Kurogane heard Fai shuffled, and soon the dragon had sidled up beside him allowing more than just his head to be in the circle due to the increase of room from the departure of others. "So…" Fai began, waiting to gain the others' attentions. This worked for all except Watanuki, who seemed to be in his own world at the moment. Fai continued anyway. "We have a new human in our group!" He announced, as if Kurogane had only just appeared. "Coming all the way from the glorious majesties of the Winden Country, dutifully kidnapped from the towns, and not only set free, but allowed to be claimed worthy as to the joining of the dragons, is Kuro-nyah!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" The human in question yelped, ready to very well pounce the dragon and beat him over the head. He was pretty sure he couldn't win this scrap so he bitterly accepted venting he anger on the tiny blades of grass in front of him instead.
The others clapped and wooed to various extents, and Kurogane noticed that this seemed to be unsurprising to them. He grimly wondered what was about to happen that would illicit that response.
Fai dramatically swooped his head around, resting it back in a curve, head aligned with the beginning of his body. "So, we shall henceforth play One Hundred and One Sentient Questions!" Sakura cheered, Syaoran nodded in favor, Watanuki looked somewhat charmed by the idea, and Doumeki grunted in agreement.
Kurogane noticed some other dragons nearby who had overheard the announcement shift a little closer, and he wondered exactly how popular this game was that it would even gain eavesdroppers.
"So, what is this game and what does it have to do with me?" Grunted Kurogane, not liking being the center of attention, especially when it was in jest.
The group seemed to take on a sinister look and the human wouldn't have been entirely surprised is the whole circle began grinning at him laughing with a soft "Ku, ku, ku…"
"Well…" Began Watanuki, sliding his tail underneath his chin and leaning on it. "It's a game that is usually played with the addition of humans to the festival."
"Our group two years ago played it with Sakura." Added Syaoran with a small semblance of pride at having participated before.
Fai circled his head around to face Kurogane and it reminded the human quite distinctly of a snake. Well, except for the ears. "It is a way to lead new members of the human variety away from their false believing of dragons by answering any and every question the human can come up and expounding the truths or falsehoods of the answer."
Kurogane mused this. It didn't seem like a bad idea at all, despite his reluctance to be in such a game. If he could learn more about the dragons he could also possibly figure out which group Fai belonged to. If not then he could ask more of the curious, and potentially awkward questions that had been nibbling away at his mind.
"So!" Said Fai. "The rules are as follows!"
The others waited intently, ready to greedily absorb them.
"Rule number one, no one is allowed to tell Kurogane what type of dragon I am. We're having a guessing game and he has to figure it out all on his lonesome." Fai told them. Sakura giggled and Syaoran stared at Fai questioningly. Doumeki nodded casually while Watanuki nodded fiercely, as if he were taking in battle information on an enemy in a life or death situation. Kurogane wondered what it was like to have such dramatic emotions.
"Rule number two," continued Fai, "we are required to answer his questions to the best of our abilities." Kurogane wondered if that meant they were able to avoid answering questions by means of laughing too hard or being too uncomfortable with the answer. Those things would infringe on their ability if the logic was used that way. It probably did mean that, knowing Fai…
"Rule number three," with this Fai looked pointedly at Kurogane, "you are not to ask extremely personal questions. Your curiosities will only be valid as applying to dragons or dragon breeds as a whole." Kurogane refused to show it, but this addition disappointed him a little. He might have been able to get some really good information out of Fai without it.
"Final rule!" Crowed Fai, capturing the circle's rapt interest. "If Kurogane can manage to ask one hundred and one questions by the end of the night, he wins." Kurogane doubted he could ask that many, but remained silent. He won with every piece of information he gained or so he figured.
The dragons cheered in their own unique ways; Sakura laughing and clapping her hands, Syaoran agreeing with accidental tiny excited puffs of flame and smoke, Doumeki nodded and grunting in affirmation, and Watanuki grinning like an idiot for no reason other than getting to partake in such a rare game.
"Alright. Game start!" Announced Fai.
Kurogane was taken aback when all the dragons--and Sakura--turned to face him eagerly, awaiting any and every question that could spill forth from his lips.
He decided to start with something basic that he had been wondering about for a while. He held out his right hand, showing the moonlit marking. "What does this mean and what, exactly, is a fighting dragon?" He asked.
The other dragons looked at the symbol with a small amount of awe. Doumeki turned to Fai. "You took him to see a registered initiator already?" He asked.
Fai nodded. "Indeed. He saw Yuuko-san just this afternoon."
Syaoran nudged Sakura with his snout. "Do you want to show him you're marking?"
The girl looked confused for a second, before what he was saying dawned on him and she nodded. "Okay."
Kurogane watched her walk around the camp fire and took off a one of her white gloves. He hadn't noticed her wearing them for the distance she was previously at, and he wondered idly if she was wearing them to cover the markings from unwanted viewers and if he would end up doing to same…
Her design was a pale white-pink, less fierce in glow than his. It was of a gently curved dragon around a flower. "I was labeled best as a nature dragon." She said, blushing from the intensity of which Kurogane studied the marking.
It fit her, he decided.
"Thank you for showing it to me." He said, acknowledging that he may have been honored somehow by being able to see it.
She nodded and wandered back over to the fire-breather. It looked as if she was sitting closer to him now than before and Kurogane speculated on whether it was intentional or not.
"I work with Yuuko-san." Said Watanuki, taking up the temporary role of speaker. "Those markings come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The brightness level usually shows your emotional strength, although sometimes it can apply to purity of spirit and mind. It is different for everyone and no two are the same. Although, it always seems to make sense and just fit well when you know the person to a certain level and see their marking. There isn't really and reason for it."
Doumeki took over, seeing Watanuki had finished. "As far as dragon species go there are many types of fighting." Ignoring the Watanuki's grumbling about being overshadowed by the larger dragon, Doumeki studied the symbol on Kurogane's outstretched hand. "Your's appears to be some kind of guardian dragon. The shape of the tail blade is a protectorate symbol. The ferocity of the dragon means that it does it well."
"Hyuu!" Cooed Fai. "Kurogane has worked as a royal guard for a princess in his country." Said Fai.
Kurogane shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose…" He said, staring at the symbol. Hell, it made more then sense, it was who he was!
A silence fell over the group. The fire seemed to dwindle and Syaoran quickly grabbed a log with his tail from a pile somewhere behind him and threw it into the flames. He blew on it to work it higher, before leaning back when satisfied with its size.
"Next question?" Asked Fai, looking at Kurogane curiously.
"Can all dragons fly? And if not, which can?" He said. He knew that some dragons didn't have wings, like Fai and Watanuki did, but in some of the legends from the east that hadn't been necessary to that ability.
"No." Said Fai. "Not all dragons can fly."
Watanuki brandished his lengthy silk-like wings. "Nearly all dragons require wings to fly. However, some of the more snake like ones use a type of scale formation to capture wind, which creates enough floatation to be able to… snake through wind currents. They are often not able to do sharp turns or some of the more complex flight dynamics of wing-carriers, though." He rested his wing, grinning smugly to himself for being so knowledgeable.
Doumeki snorted. "If you grin like that, your jaw will be paralyzed like that."
"What do you know!" Veered the slim dragon. "Is it from experience? Did your face stick the way it is now? I bet it did." He stuck out his forked tongue childishly. Doumeki seemed entirely uninterested in it all.
"Calm down, Wata-kun." Fai said. The dragon instantly righted himself into a more professional stance and if he was bothered by the abbreviation of his name he didn't show it.
Sakura put her cup on the ground, emptied by time and thirst. "What is your next question?" She asked Kurogane, head tilted cutely. The fellow human wasn't sure, but he thought he might have seen Syaoran swoon, if only for a fraction of a second.
…So the dragon was most certainly in love with the girl. There was no room for question in his mind about that particular pair.
"Uh…" Kurogane said, feeling instantaneously stupid for not having something better to say. "What type of dragon are you Watanuki…-san."
The dragon looked at him curiously, then pointed the same expression at Fai. The blue dragon nodded. "You can answer questions about your species, it is only mine that is off limits."
The silky dragon nodded understandingly. "I," he began proudly, "am a northern wind dragon!" He puffed his wings gently and small gusts of cold air breezed from them.
"Hey!" Syaoran snapped, guarding the withering fire with his tail and replenishing it with his breath.
The dark dragon stopped, looking sheepish. "Ah… sorry." He turned back to Kurogane, head craned back. "Why do you ask?"
Kurogane shrugged. "I had guessed you were of that type. I felt that it was worth it to use a question to see if I was right."
The verified wind dragon looked at him, ego stroked. "It was that obvious?" He asked, excitedly.
"You are very blustery." Said Doumeki.
Watanuki's ego popped like a lonely, little bubble. "Hey! I never asked you-!"
Fai looked between the two, as if ready to split then up, then decided against it. "You can't use any of your questions to ask me that without using any of your two remaining." He told Kurogane warningly.
"I hadn't thought I would be able to…" Combated the human. Then he paused, wanting not to be prompted into question-asking. "How long do dragons live?" He asked.
The circle grew quiet, each thoughtfully constructing how they would answer. Syaoran, this time, was the first to answer. "Well…" He began. "It differs a bit between species." He said, sounding quite embarrassed at the circle's attentiveness. "Most dragons could live to be a thousand years old. However, many die after about five-hundred years… either from dark-heart of human hunters."
"Dark-heart?" Kurogane asked. He felt that this may have been the wrong path to take, for the dragons seemed rather grim.
"Well… it's kind of a disease that becomes more powerful with age. Deceit and anger and treachery wrap themselves around a dragon's heart. Eventually… if the dragon is weak enough to it… they turn completely wild and rampage fellow dragons and humans alike."
"It's what many human tales about dragons are made up of." Supplied Doumeki.
Fai smiled dourly. "It's a shame to a family name and a fear to many dragons to have that happen to themselves. Thus it has been of recent years that if dragons begin to feel like they are gaining such symptoms and are verified to have them by a magic-user, they often kill themselves." Fai frowned. "It is the main reason why dragon attacks on humans has lessened so much so that they've thankfully forgotten us. But it doesn't make it any less hard."
The quiet of the group made Kurogane realize something. Every one of these dragons had gone through this with someone they knew. Probably even relatives. "I'm… I apologize for asking such a thing." He said, bowing his head.
Fai hit him lightly in the back of his head with his tail. "We're here to answer your questions." He said, smiling reassuringly.
---
The human stared at the lingering night sky. It was the longest night of the year, and even longer with the dragons. The moon and the magic of the more skilled dragons cast a spell over the field, slowing time down without slowing the ones within it. So the night was much longer than he had expected, stretching more than twice as long as normal. The game had gone on for hours before he had noticed the moon wasn't even halfway in the sky.
The dragons had laughed when he had asked about it--well, mostly Fai, but the thought remained. It seemed to them so natural and normal that it was forgotten that others didn't know of such things.
Kurogane felt indeed a wiser man after asking every and any question he could think of and being politely answered--and sometimes laughed at--by the dragon circle, even though he didn't exactly have enough questions to win. For instance, he had found out that when having gatherings such as this, this circle of dragons is actually called a ring and anything less than a full circle is called a string as long as it is two dragons or more long.
When scrambling for questions he had found out that Syaoran was officially called a Golden Ember dragon, Doumeki was a Silver Blade dragon and one of the types of fighting dragons which explained his apparent knowledge of them, and Watanuki was a White Wind dragon. And in asking about such names Sakura had laughed, claiming that she had asked why the name was in a color-element format as well. The dragons had merely said that it just was, and only if they had lived thousands of years would they know as to why that was.
He had learned that dragons choose mates and solidify the pairing by marking each other with the longest left tooth and three of the nearby smaller ones, creating a dabbled crescent. He had learned that dragon eggs were only the size of his two fists and baby dragons grew at a rate that would be alarming to any human, however stopped at stages and lingered there for months to years before a new growth period.
The information flew from their mouths like doves and Kurogane was the keeper of every single one. He felt a small welling of pride at beholding such marvelous thoughts, secrets, rituals, and facts.
He wondered if perhaps it was the food that made him feel giddy or the overwhelming presence of magic in the air. He was certain that come morning he would be back to sniping at the foolish actions of Fai. And whatever group they were to form in the later half of the night he was sure would probably grate on his nerves. Probably. He hoped desperately that Mokona found some other group to trade into. He wondered on Kyle and Souma, and while they weren't exactly friends, he had known them and made that relationship.
It was now entering the second half and all were curled up for a quick nap before the official registration. And when it was described as all, it was not merely limited to their group. Rings and strings and flurries of other dragons rested their heads and hearts for a couple hours, feeling out how comfortable they felt with the others they had presumably chosen to pack with for the next year.
Sakura was fast asleep, leaning against Syaoran although Kurogane was sure she didn't mean to. Watanuki had fallen asleep as well, despite his resounding pledge to never, ever, ever fall asleep before Doumeki. Ten minutes later that pledge had been seen to failure, and Kurogane swore he had seen Doumeki smirk, if ever in the slightest, before relinquishing part of his consciousness to the yearly ritual.
Fai was staring into the fire, blue eyes flickering orange because of it. The air of the night was heavy and Kurogane heavily suspected that the reason falling asleep was so easy was because of some type of magic. Even he was feeling the drowsy effects of it.
He fought to keep his eyes open, refusing just as futilely as Watanuki had against Doumeki, to not fall asleep before Fai had.
It didn't work, however, and the last thing he saw before the world faded away into an inky darkness was an amused glace from Fai.
Later he swore that even in sleep he had cursed himself for doing that.
---