Chapter Text
“Don’t take him! He’s my son!” Ayumi sobbed her baby boy was being taken by the elder. “Please just let me take care of my boy, I know it’s tradition of the village but I’m his mother!” she struggled as several men held her back.
“Ayumi love, stop!” her husband, Jubei wrapped his arms around her torso. “You can’t help Jae-ha now… You know the law. He was born that monster so the village must lock him away with Garou to keep them out of the public eye.”
“But he’s our son! Not some monster!” Ayumi cried out, struggling to reach for the Baby Ryokuryuu as he cried, almost as if calling for his mother.
“Jubei restrain your wife or she will have to be taken care of.” The elder growled as he turned towards Garou. “As for you….” His eyes narrowed as the Green Dragon was beaten down for having escaped just a few hours before, they were puzzled why he came back. “Lock him away, both of them. Make sure he can’t escape this time.” He handed off the baby to one of the men and they dragged Garou’s bloodied body to the house that would be their prison. “The secret of the Ryokuryuu’s power must be hidden to protect the village. At all costs we must hide the shame of the curse on this village.”
Jubei bit his lip as he kept an iron grip on his wife. “…. Forget about him, dearest. That is not our son, he’s the new Ryokuryuu. He’ll die when the next one is born anyway and we’ll never seen him again. Forget about that monster-“ he was slapped in the face as his wife broke free, looking at him horrified.
“That child is my son!” Ayumi cried. “The legends say the dragons served King Hiryuu so long ago, there’s no reason why any Ryokuryuu is treated this way!” she tried to rush for the hut her son was being held, but was easily stopped and knocked out.
Jubei sighed as he took his wife back to their home, the days continued on as Ayumi cried and cried over their child. He continued to try and get her to forget about the baby but even he knew that was a lie, he merely said it so the elder didn’t order her executed… When he was a young boy, he witnessed Garou’s mother executed because she refused to let go of her child. He knew though his wife wasn’t going to let this go, especially since she got caught the very next day trying to sneak in and get her child, she got shot in the arm with an arrow due to that.
“What am I going to do Raiden?” Jubei sighed, shaking his head as he spoke about it with his friend. “Ayumi is going to get herself killed, all because of this wretched curse on this village. Why did my son have to be born with that blasted dragon’s blood? I’m not even related to the current Ryokuryuu!”
“I’m afraid no one has the answer to that.” The jet-black haired man sighed and shook his head as he responded. “Even when they shoot one out of the sky shortly later a new one is born.”
“… I can’t watch her destroy herself like this, Raiden.” Jubei said with a dark look.
“Jubei?” Raiden blinked, worried what he meant by that.
“Just…. Look after her for me, if something happens….” Jubei said, before going back to his house to tend to his injured wife, leaving his friend questioning what he meant by that.
That night Jubei broke into Garou’s hut, frowning when he saw the teenager chained to the wall, a punishment for him escaping. But his target was his sleeping son, who was wrapping up in a blanket on the floor. Sneaking out, he sighed with relief no one saw him yet. His plan was to get his son as far away from the village as possible then come back for his wife, maybe they could start a new life somewhere else. He did have a few friends in the Wind Tribe after all… But his plans shattered an in instant, as while he made a run for the trees he was suddenly shot in the back by two arrows, making him collapse to the ground cradling Jae-ha who started crying from the abrupt landing.
“…. I warned you Jubei, I had hoped you had more sense than your wife…” the elder growled as he approached. “You should know what the punishment is for trying to help a Ryokuryuu escape.”
“…. He’s not the Ryokuryuu…. He’s my son.” Jubei breathed, struggling to get up before he was shot with an arrow through his neck. “…. Ayumi…. Jae-ha…. I’m sor-“ the last thing he heard was his crying son before everything went dark.
“…. Tell his wife he left the village in the middle of the night, perhaps thinking he abandoned her because of the curse will make her see reason.” The elder growled to the five men around him. “… And no one is to ever speak to anyone of this day.”