Hiryuu's Shield

(Inspired by this post)

『My... My King?』 

It was the young miss’ voice, and her face, but Zeno knew. He knew better than anyone would, that manner of speaking. Why... no, How? He’d never experienced anything like this before, and it was mind boggling. All the Ouryuu could do was freeze up for a moment, processing what was happening, and the words that seemed not to match the beautiful, feminine voice that were speaking them. 

『I...』

He couldn’t even speak. He wasn’t sure what was going on, how it was happening, or even what he should say. This was his first time talking to his king in over two thousand years, and it was so sudden -- let alone the fact that he was technically looking at the young girl he was supposed to be serving as Hiryuu-sama’s reincarnation. 

What, exactly, was he supposed to do or say in this situation? How had this situation even come around? So many thoughts, questions, things he wanted to say popped into his head. Now was not the time for that, though. Not for any of it. 

『I would never resent you... Or my brothers, I’ve even lost any resentment I might have held toward Ouryuu over the years...』

Honestly, it had never been in his nature to hold resentment towards anyone. Still... He couldn’t say he’d expected his king’s reasoning for not telling about his powers. Protection, sheltering, he’d thought of all kinds of reasons. The two of them had been close, he’d come around to think it was only natural Hiryuu-sama would want to protect him from such a cruel truth. 

Upon hearing the reasoning though, his face moved into a rather calm smile. He was afraid. Honestly, that reasoning was something he’d heard before. A dry laugh came from the Ouryuu’s chosen warrior as his golden hair swayed with the shaking motions of his head. 

❝ So… what you’re saying is that you’re one of the dragon warriors that fought along King Hiryuu during the founding of Kouka? ❞ 

He had to admit, the concept of immortality was hard to grasp… if anything, it hurt him to just imagine such a thing. Still, there were so many questions he wanted to ask; the simple matter of not being able to die didn’t seem nearly as important as all others that crossed his thoughts. It wasn’t exactly as if one question were more important than others rather than he had so many he couldn’t find a way to organize his thoughts properly.

❝ Forgive me if I’m taking too much time to think over this; I hope you don’t take my silence as an offense. I have no ill will towards you or your mere existence; I wouldn’t wish your fate upon anyone. ❞ 

Honestly, he was more than a little scared about what would happen from there. The time he’d spent with the young king up until then... Well, it had technically been more as a prisoner than anything, but it wasn’t unpleasant. The thought of being judged because of his powers scared him... but he couldn’t lie in this situation, either. That would only make matters worse. 

『Yes, you’re correct. I’m... One of the dragon warriors who began the legend and fought alongside King Hiryuu.』

Honestly, the silence as the king thought was excruciating for Zeno. He understood how confused Soo-won must be, and didn’t want to take the silence to mean anything negative. However, past experience with his powers had led him to be naturally concerned. 

So, when the other had reassured him that the silence wasn’t a sign of offense, he was able to relax a little more. The thing that had concerned him most was the other’s distaste for being affected by gods and theology. It was one of the only areas the two of them disagreed on, and what made him most concerned about the situation. 

『It’s quite alright. Zeno understands this is a lot to take in. He also hopes you understand that he doesn’t intend to force you to accept such things as godly powers, either. He finds your self-sufficiency admirable.』

  小さい Suspicious. It wasn’t like people to travel through their village, let alone stop and hand things out willingly. This man didn’t seem to be from the capital - he wasn’t sent to provision them, so why was he doing it? By general appearance he didn’t appear to be that old…couldn’t he have been eating that food himself? Gnnngrrrbglr

  The howling in the small lad’s stomach pushed the logical reasoning from his mind in place of desire to eat. It had been at least three days since his last meal, which was little more than dead roots, and if this free food was poisoned he’d rather die that way than starve to death. So he moved from his strategic position that had been the corned of a nearby hut towards the man that was dressed in such bright colors.

  As he approached he couldn’t help but to wonder why he’d thought this man would do them harm? He almost radiated a warmth that Yoon hadn’t known in a long time. There was something familiar about it, something kind and giving and if the poor boy hadn’t been so hungry it might have moved him to tears.

So, when he noticed there was one that didn’t come up to him, he found himself thinking. Perhaps, was he just shy? No, that wasn’t the case, Zeno could tell. He was being cautious. This boy was nervous of taking food from someone he didn’t know. 

In other words.... He was an incredibly clever lad, wasn’t he?

With that revelation, Zeno couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved when the other came up to him. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was being trusted, or just because the other was so hungry he didn’t care, but it didn’t matter much. Either way, it only meant he could help one more child get through another day, so he was happy. 

『Ah, yes.~  Zeno’s got just a bit more here. Feel free to take it.』

He brought out a small pouch of food, setting it before the young lad. Honestly, he wished there was more that he could do than just pass out small amounts of food and water. He didn’t know much about medicine and healing the sick, though... so this was all he could do. 

❝ I promise, really. ❞ His voice was still weak, and his cheeks hurt as if his own body tried to prove how big a lie that was; but it’d have to do. 

He couldn’t tell him the truth, he couldn’t have him worry like that when he knew far too well he’d rather cry himself to sleep than seek for counseling. He was stronger than that and in time this wound would heal just like any other. If he was able to get past the death of his father, then he could get past losing them. He could live by on his own, it wouldn’t be the first time he had no one to come to and it certainly wouldn’t be the last either. 

after all, they were the same in that regard. 

『In that case... Zeno can’t really say anything but ‘it’s a promise’.』

He knew it was a lie. Still, at the same time, Zeno also knew that there were just some times people needed to be left alone, to an extent. It was just... He also knew just how suffocating that solitude could be if someone had too much of it. Taking time to right your thoughts on your own was all well and good, but there were some things you need others for.

At this point, he was done being a father. If that wouldn’t work on this one... He’d be a peer. His face took on a rather melancholy smile, resigning what he was trying to do to being a fool’s errand. Well, they hadn’t known each other too long at this point, so perhaps he had been asking a bit much in trying to discuss the topic with Soo-won. 

『Zeno understands the need for solitude, so he doesn’t want to push you too far. It’s just that... he also knows how it feels to drown in that solitude.』

Unexpectedly, those sincere words had come from him. He hadn’t really meant to bring it up, and he was sure he seemed far from a solitary person to most others. Still... That ocean of loneliness was always pushing him deeper, so he knew how hard it was to progress when you pushed others away -- 

he wanted to be a small island the king could use for escape from that ocean when he needed it, perhaps? It was hard to tell, so he just went back to his usual, smile and waved the topic off.