Chapter Text
The forest was filled with noise, the wind blowing, rustling the leaves gently. Kazuya adjusted his grip as he laid aim on the massive stag in front of him, arrow drawn, the bowstring stretched taut against the carved wood.
The release of the projectile was interrupted by a loud roar, a sound impossible to be made by any creature on land.
Unless, of course, the creature wasn’t from the land.
Excitement filled him to his bones despite his attempt to squash it down. Although the stag having escaped, Kazuya was not disappointed. Rather, he rushed to the clearing with the rushing river, eagerly waiting as he watched a long, scaled figure descend from the heavens, shimmering blue scales flashing from the sunlight.
He watched beside the trees as Eijun shifted to his human — or as the dragon preferred to call it, landling — form, the blue scales that shined with brilliance only marks that lined all over the man’s skin, a long tattoo of a blue scaled dragon twisting from his arms to his shoulders and back before curling up and perching the fierce head at Eijun’s chest.
He slowed his run to a walk as he approached the now brown haired, golden eyed man, “Hey, Eijun!”
The ascended being turned to the source of the voice, “Kazuya!” His eyes were bright with glee and Kazuya felt some kind of warmth fill his chest, much like when he drinks chicken stew, “It’s been awhile, how’ve you been?”
In truth, it had only been two weeks since his last visit, but Kazuya didn’t comment on it as he felt the same.
“Same as always, how’s the sky been?”
Eijun let out a sigh, his eyes turn a bit weary as he recalled the current situation in heaven. “The same as well, relation with the Eastern Skies are tense, but they likely won’t attempt a full on assault for another few years. Mei and the members of my mansion can handle taking care of the West while I’m here.”
The heavy atmosphere only lasted for a second before Eijun perked up, no doubt smelling the contents in Kazuya’s bear skin pouch.
“Is that food?”
Kazuya laughed at the dragon’s short attention span. “Well, we would’ve had more if you hadn’t scared away the stag I was hunting with your noise.”
Eijun looked slightly flustered, “I-It’s not like I meant too! Just share some food, I’ll help you hunt a thousand stags later if you want!”
“Alright, alright, Seiryuu-sama,” Kazuya smirked as he led Eijun into the forest, “Don’t expect to eat for free though, help me collect some dry branches — we need to cook the meat.”
“I don’t get why you need to cook the food, why don’t you just eat it raw?” Eijun grumbled, lips jutting out in a pout.
Heh, cute. Kazuya quickly buried that thought as he replied, “Cause we’ll die of food poisoning, idiot.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault for not having weak bodies,” the sky being protested, “I don’t get how you landlings can live like this, having to wait for your food to cook.”
“Yes, yes, great sky being, this lowly landling doesn’t have the Seiryuu’s incredibly strong stomach,” Kazuya began, mockingly waving his hands around in a poor imitation of praying, “unfortunately, the food also belongs to the landling, so unless you want to starve, go collect some sticks.”
Eijun grumbled a bit more before he caught up to Kazuya, collecting the dried sticks that had been scattered along the floor, blending in with the leaves.
The proceed wasn’t exactly slow, at least Kazuya didn’t think so, it might’ve been partly because of the large presence next to him, but they were able to collect the tinder rather easily and the fire ignited effortlessly with a quick spat of dragon-flames from Eijun.
They sat there, idly chatting as they waited for the meat to cook. Kazuya found out that the old legend of how the Great Seiryuu was the master of the sea, while true, didn’t explain all of the ascended one’s power.
Powers like being able to light a campfire without flint or wood.
Listening to Eijun brag about how he managed to finally make his friends call him “Kaijin-sama” after winning a bet, Kazuya smiled softly as the flicker of embers allowed Eijun’s eyes to glow even brighter. He had never been more grateful that, despite hating the ascended beings, he hadn’t killed Eijun that day, three years ago.
Because he couldn’t imagine a day going by without the feeling of a greater — yet equal — being watching over him, always near him, despite how far away he may actually be.
—
Eijun stayed until after the sun sank below the horizon.
The night was filled with stars as Eijun changed his form, his lean build and average height slowly stretched as his tan, marked skin tinted blue before smooth scales start protruding from the flesh and the brown hair lightened in color to a lightness that mirrors the sun and spanned across his back.
With a roar of satisfaction, the landling that was before him turned into the great Seiryuu, the Lord of Water.
Despite his now mighty form, Eijun still somehow grinned with boyish charm, his teeth flashing, golden eyes staying the same. “See ya, Kazuya!” His now-deep voice bellowed before his figure ascended into the clouds, visible in the faint lights from the stars.
Kazuya waved, he kept waving, despite the fact that Eijun couldn’t see it, he waved until the last trace of brilliant blue was gone from the dark sky.
How he wished to follow Eijun, to see the view above the clouds that Eijun described with vivid details, the world in heaven that seemed every bit like paradise — because Eijun was there. But it wasn’t possible for a being on land such as him, so he settled for the next best thing, he waved and replied, his voice a whisper compared to Eijun’s dazzling cry.
“See ya.”
—
When he turned around, Kazuya froze.
There, in the darkness of the forest, was the grinning Village Chief.
—
It wasn’t until a week later did Eijun return to the Earth. To Kazuya.
The week was slow, as it always was, Kazuya wished his days with Eijun were that slow as well.
“Kazuya!” The now-human-form dragon smiled at him, sunny and bright, tugging Kazuya in a hug with his marked, toned arms as a greeting.
Inwardly, Kazuya told his heart to calm, that Eijun was simply greeting him, that he probably does the same with his subordinates. He tells himself that Eijun’s arm tightening on him was just his imagination, an ascended being like Eijun would never feel for a landling like Kazuya like how Kazuya felt for him.
“The Dragon is merely toying with you—”
“I missed you, Kazuya!”
“—a sky dweller like him will never look at you like you do him—“
“How’ve been? This great Seiryuu will hell you hunt if you ask nicely, wahahaha!”
“—if you manage to hunt him however, the village will gain great glory!—“
“Oh yeah, I did promise you a thousand stage last time, right? Well, the Kaijin never goes back on his words!”
“—hunt down the dragon, Kazuya, bring back his sapphire scales and golden horn, then you will be helping you own kind!”
“I’ll hunt down a five thousand by the end of— hey, Kazuya? Are you okay? Why’re you crying?!”
Oh. He was? He never noticed.
“Kazuya? What’s wrong? Did someone make you cry? Did I do something wrong?” Eijun’s concerned eyes shouldn’t be aimed at someone like him, someone who had thought about killing him for...
For what?
Honor? Glory? Fame? To who? For the village he never visits? The village where he only stayed out of necessity?
“It’s nothing, Eijun,” Kazuya resolved, swiping off the salty water on his face, “I’m fine.”
They continued the day, Eijun constantly watching Kazuya with worry as they hunted. Kazuya never mentioned anything but they were both distracted, Eijun barely hunted deer in time, they only brought down two stags altogether.
As the day ended, Kazuya stopped Eijun just before he left.
“Hey, Eijun... from now on, don’t return here.”
Eijun’s eyes were wide with shock, and hurt? Why was he hurt?
“Why not, Kazuya?”
“Just... don’t.” Kazuya couldn’t tell him, that if Kazuya returns to the village without Eijun’s body, he would be sentenced to death, that he would leave the village, that the village chief will likely lay an ambush for Eijun.
“No.”
Kazuya looked up, taken aback, “Why not?!”
“I don’t want to,” Eijun replied blankly, “I want to see Kazuya again, why would I never return?”
Ah. Screw it. “Because I won’t be here! Because I’ll be sentenced to death, because I’ll leave the village, because I don’t want to kill you like the Chief told me to!”
Eijun’s eyes were dark, “They’re going to kill you? The village?”
Why... Why was Eijun angry about that? Eijun should be outraged that some mere landlings tried to take his life! Like Taiyo was, when the Suzaku had slaughtered his parents!
“Don’t be ridiculous, you should get away from here before the Chief comes!”
“Oh? He’s coming here?” For once, Eijun looked like a god, his golden eyes were dark to the point of touching bronze, his aura was dark, teeth grit, holding back a barely contained snarl, “Good.”
“I’ll be waiting for him.”
—
The chief came.
He never went back.
—
Eijun was barely fazed as he took the chief’s life, he spoke as if the chief were nothing, “Why would I care if I squash a bug? That creature is no landling I acknowledge.”
He turned to Kazuya, in all his brilliant, brilliant, large form and offered Kazuya a hand, “Well? It’s not like I can let you return now that you witnessed me kill someone, I’ve been meaning to ask you for awhile now, Kazuya, come with me, join my mansion and become a servant of the West, become my heart.”
A chance to see the beautiful world above clouds with this cheerful, moronic, sweet idiot? Was that even a question?
Kazuya took the claw.