Shin-Ah looked up at the other dragon, his mask cast aside due to the previous skirmish, allowing Kija to see the beautiful, golden irises. Paralysis had taken over his body, rendering him immobile. He had landed on his back while his chest faced upwards, revealing a rather deep, fatal gash. It was as if his chest was ripped open by a dragon’s claw.

In fact, it was.

Shin-Ah had lost control of his abilities once more, prompting Kija to act before either he or the princess were killed by the seiryuu’s powers. This resulted in the now mortally wounded Shin-Ah that was looking up to the elder of the two.

“Don’t…” he said, his voice strained due to the pain. He didn’t like the current expression on Kija’s face; it was the same look he had when Ao had passed. Kija was losing a brother, one slain by his own hand. That, along with his guilt brought sadness to the seiryuu.

“You…had to…” He was now struggling to focus as his body began to relax and give out on him. “Protect…Yona…Not…your fault.” It was his for being foolish enough to remove his mask, knowing full well what the end result would be. Kija was simply doing his duty as one of the four dragon warriors, which was to protect the princess.

Even if it meant killing a fellow brother.

“Don’t…blame yourself. It’s…my fault.” His voice was beginning to fade as darkness started to encroach his vision. Was this what Ao experienced before he died? Was he…going blind?

The red markings began to fade, and it wasn’t long before his vision began to shrink. He knew his time was over, and that another seiryuu would be born. But he had to finish his message to Kija.

“Protect…Yona. I’m…not mad. Find…Seiryuu.” Find the next one and rescue him from the village before he too would be drowning in the darkness.

shixsei

Despite the peaceful appearance of the empire itself, there was an even worse sense of corruption and unrest within it. That much was certain. From the people bought as slaves from Aya, to people plotting to overthrow the Emperor of Kai, there was no end to the amount of troubles... So for him to be this far out in a place he really didn’t like at all, it was a rarity.

Still, he had to figure out something, or, rather, it was more like he was chased out for the most part due to the battle that had been happening, and the swift arrival of the troops... he didn’t wish to have it be like this. Ah, but the rumours of the dancer with fiery hair uplifted his spirits considerably, as he knew exactly who that was, and was glad that they both were still okay.

Still, arriving at the next town over, he couldn’t help but hear the uproar at a certain event. Two women were gossiping about the strange phenomenon. A man with... a weird arm? And speaking complete nonsense?

“Excuse me, but... do you know where I can find that person?”

One of the women pointed off towards the outskirts of town, and he quickly thanked them before heading off in that direction. What he saw there practically lit up his eyes like candles. A weird arm, indeed! It’s almost exactly like one of the dragon warriors’s arms that he had read about over and over and over again as a child.

Instantly, he started to go over, but then noticed the specks of red. That put a damper on his wonder, and instead of going over to ask about everything he could, he took it a different way. A Deal to save a life. It was all of a few seconds before he knelt down to the other, and tried his best to bandage the wound without even asking, though it was obvious from the get-go what he was doing.

“I apologise. It must be really hard to be this far away from Kouka. The people here see those from Kouka as barbarians... except those from the territories given. Even then, those territories are still shunned, and will probably always be shunned. It’s just how they are.”

His words were light as he finished with the bandages, and held out what food and water he had.

“Rarely, travellers come this far inland, though... ah-”

He paused for a second, and debated on whether to give the name he went by in Kai, or the name he went by in Kouka. It was an easy decision.

♋ What drew you to this muse?

already answered: here ! sorry about that!

☮ Is there anything you don’t like about playing this muse?

     "Are you a priest?"