#soojae

Anyway, when Soowon’s body temperature is back to normal, they talk. Jeaha says he has not been stealing sheep or burning crops. The reason the villagers says that is because they’ve been starving and really cannot afford to pay tax, so they use the dragon as a scapegoat. 

When he spoke to Soowon along the way there, they had agreed that there’s something fundamentally wrong with the country. This was the reason Jeaha kept Soowon alive, because somehow he got the feeling that Soowon could do something about it. (But also… because Soowon tried to protect Jeaha from a falling tree before getting caught in the current and that was… nice of him.) Soowon says he has intended to push for change once his younger cousin inherits the throne, but it may be too late by then. How many would starve to death in that time? 

Anyway Soowon stays with Jaeha until he’s well enough to move around again. (Around 2-3 months? Good thing they get along…) 

He tells Jeaha that he’ll report the state of the border villages to the King, and asked Jaeha to come back up his claim if need be. 

Jeaha has complicated feelings about this. Because on one hand… the villagers hate him enough to try to get rid of him. On the other hands… when he interacts with them as a human, the ones that didn’t recognize him… they were kind. He understood that they were desperate people with no choice. But also… he didn’t know how he felt about being a pawn in Soowon’s political scheme in the long run. 

On his leg… well… he saved this human, he doesn’t want this human to die again. Plus he would like to visit the capital. 

So he flies Soowon back to Kuuto and apparently, a revolt happened while Soowon was gone… (The prince is presumed dead, the princess is young, the king is weak, perfect timing for coup.) They meet up with Princess Yona, who has met up with several other civilly concerned dragons.

And… well… the rest is your fic. 

But Won didn’t. Neither did he ask the crew. Later, Jaeha told Won about his cursed leg.

“It’s an incredible curse,” Won said. He didn’t understand the burden of it, didn’t need to. It wasn’t something worth explaining.

“It lead me here.”

“And a useful one at that,” Won acknowledged with a smile, steady and reassuring. He didn’t question Jaeha’s choice of word, didn’t call it a blessing, and Jaeha was grateful for that.

Garou had once told him that no one would ever accept them with legs like that. Jaeha wished Garou could be here now, hear the awe and wonder in Won’s voice.

But Won was also full of secrets, and commanded people like he was born for it. Judging from his mannerism, he was likely a nobel. What he was doing in Awa, helping a bunch of pirates take down the governor, was beyond Jaeha.

Jaeha was there the moment Won cut down Yang Kumji. Under the firelight, the golden locks shone like the glint of his sword. He caught the man’s eyes then, absolute with an edge of brutality, and found himself unable to look away.

“Where do you want to go from here?” Jaeha asked, and for a brief, passing glimpse, Won looked lost.

“I plan to travel for a bit,” Won answered, “there are things I need to see.” There was steel in those words, certain, like the blade that sliced through Kumji’s neck.

“I’ll come with you.” Jaeha offered. He didn’t know whether Won was dangerous, but he knew the man shouldn’t be left on his own. “Now that Yang Kumji is gone, I’d like to see the world as well. Until I find a new place to settle, we can travel together.”

Fly away.

Won’s expression went from excitement to hesitance. “I’d like that,” he said, there was a hint of sadness in his smile.

And in that moment, Jaeha wanted to reach for Won’s hands and hold them in his own, to brush the hair from the young man’s face.

The moment passed.

“Companions, then.” He said.

Won’s smile was dazzling.

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So they travelled, and in the span of a few weeks Jaeha had seen Won on his hands and knees more time than he could count, caring for the sick and the elderly.

He’d seen Won, standing between angry soldiers and frightened villagers with an easy smile. He’s seen Won shield a villager with his body when he could have easily fought back, and somehow it worked. He’d seen the world bend to Soowon’s will over and over, and the times it didn’t. He’d seen Won as he held a dying child in his arm, whispering “it’s alright, you’ll be okay, you’re safe” as the light faded from her eyes, heard Won’s quiet oath “we have to do better, I have to do better.”

Won was a man on a mission, and it was a mission Jaeha has came to share.

Somewhere along the journey, they found the Blue Dragon. Jaeha didn’t mind it as much as he thought he would.

Somewhere along the journey, he held Won’s hand in his own.

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The White Dragon’s proclamation was like a slap in the face.

“King Hiryuu,” the young man, Kija, had knelt before Won, head bowed to the ground in reverence.

It all made sense, Won’s magnetic powers, his ability to bend the world to his will, his obvious status of nobility. Jaeha was too blind to see it.

“So, are you Hiryuu now?” Jaeha asked later, away from the village, away from his newfound “brothers”.

“I’m not.”  

“How can you be sure?”

“As flattering as it is to be compared to our country’s founder,” Won huffed lightly, twirling a piece of grass in his hand, "I don’t intend to be someone I hardly know.”

“The curse in my left leg… There’s a prophecy, you know. Once King Hiryuu is reborn, the dragons will serve the King once more. I didn’t want to serve some king I never even met, so I made a promise to myself. If I ever meet Hiryuu, I’ll run the other direction and never look back.”

Won studied him, and grew quiet.

“Are you leaving, then?” Won asked. He didn’t ask Jaeha to stay. His hand twitched and curled in on itself.

“That depends.” Jaeha wanted to reach forward, to hold the hands in his own, but it wasn’t the right time.

Won smiled, formal, open, inviting, “Come, I’ll tell you guys who I am. It’s a bit overdue.”

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Prince Soowon, son of King Yuhon, who had murdered his own brother for the throne nine years ago. It was only fitting for King Yuhon to be killed by his brother’s daughter.

“Do you want revenge?” Jaeha asked.

Kija looked uneasy.

“What this country need right now is stability, not another coup,” Soowon said, not answering the question.

His avoidance was telling enough.

“I won’t help you kill the empress,” Jaeha stated.

Kija looked like he wanted to protest, but didn’t say anything. Perhaps even he was uncomfortable with helping the son of an usurper usurp again.

“Then I won’t ask that of you,” Soowon answered. “Extended war, over-taxation to feed the expansion of territories, broken trade relations with our neighbours, those are the wounds to Kouka left by my father, and I intend to fix them."

"I had once intended to take the throne myself, but what is done is done. My cousin no doubt has her visions, but she is young and inexperienced, and I cannot be there to guide her. But I will do whatever I can to learn and guide this nation. So I will ask all of you to lend me your strengths. Not as Hiryuu, not as dragons, but as citizens of Kouka.”

Soowon’s eyes shone with the glint of steel, and in that moment Jaeha was back to the Port of Awa, back on Yang Kumji’s ship, and Soowon shone under the firelight, dizzying, dazzling. 'We have to do better.’ A man on a mission.

Jaeha remembered girls with hands tied behind their backs, of the fire tribe village, of the children that smiled at him for the meagre provision of food. Was the mission not his own?

“I won’t participate in plots I don’t understand,” he said. It would be the same for his newfound “brothers”, even Seiryuu should not be used by his attachment to Won.

“Then I’ll explain them to you,” Soowon said, leaning forward, hand to his heart, voice clear and powerful, “You’re my companions. I have not… will not use your powers for anything you disapprove of.”

His instinct was right. Won was dangerous.

So, even though it was cruel, even though he didn’t have to, Jaeha asked again, as gently as he could.  

“Won, do you want revenge?”

Because he knew there’d be a day where he wouldn’t be able to say no.

“I want…” there was helpless panic in Soowon’s eyes, before it all faded to blankness. He stared at Jaeha with wide eyes, still as a statue.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever.

“They were my friends, I loved them,” Won finally answered, voice barely above a whisper, eyes to the ground.

Oh.

It was Seiryuu who acted first, taking off his mask and handing it to Soowon. It made Soowon smile. Won’s smile was nice.

“You are my King, I swore to follow you wherever you go, that won't change.” Kija knelt, saying something pure, simple, and expected, “but I also want to learn about this kingdom, and do my duty as a dragon to protect and improve it. Please use me as you will.”

Won was looking at him now, eyes beckoning, almost pleading.

“I’m not here to follow any king, Soowon dear, but as your most beautiful travelling companion and a concerned citizen of Kouka, I’ll lend you an arm, well, leg.” Please stop looking so sad.

“Prince Soowon is the most beautiful one here,” said Kija seriously, which made Soowon laugh, a peal of light, airy laughter that made him double over with effort and sent relief to Jaeha’s bones.

“That may be true, my dear brother, but I am still the most beautiful companion,” he settled beside them, leaning closer.

“You are most beautiful, thank you, Jaeha,” Soowon said, relief in his voice. He leaned forward. Briefly, their forehead touched. Soowon’s hand felt warm against the side of his head.

“Zeno thinks the Young Mister has a nice goal too,” said the blond man by the fire.

“Who are you and where did you come from?"

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Thanks for @greymantleish and @fallenwithstyle for beta. Fallen, your soojae fic made me pick this back up.

I have not finished writing. So this may be heavily edited later, but I saw the art by @a-kouka-rat and this is such a good time for Soojae. So here is a part 1 for you guys.

I have quite a few things for this AU and rewrote the first draft 3 times. There are so many things I left out, but writing Soojae gives it more focus. I will write other scenes later, since I got a good scene between Soowon and Yona that Jaeha wasn't there for.