[November 11, 2009] [Juuni Kokki/Twelve Kingdoms] Downpour

[italicsinindigo.livejournal.com]

Title: Downpour
Theme: Soon a downpour will be coming
Series: Juuni Kokki/The Twelve Kingdoms
Characters: Taiki and Risai
Rating: G

A/N: Something of a postscript to The Shore in Twilight. I'm not brave enough to attempt a reunion fic!  ^_^;

 

He left Risai where she would be comfortable, asleep, in this mountaintop palace somewhere in En. She would never admit it, but the journey from Kei had left her so tired.

The passports Enki had made up from them let them through the gates smoothly, like snow into meltwater, but Taiki couldn't bring himself to sleep there any longer, in the pleasant rooms hung with silk paintings and flowers. Not with the ghosts of his former selves clustered around his feet, clamouring for his attention. He left with almost as much ease as he'd arrived, into the early morning.
 

Am I here in En, he wondered, descending the mountain deep in thought, in plain clothing, or am I here on Mount Roraima, where there is a labyrinth of rocks and a goddess lives on the peak above the clouds? To what purpose do worlds mix? Did any of my life in Hourai ever happen, or was that a dream too?

Whatever kind of reflection he'd wanted to indulge in, it was shattered almost sardonically by the rain. With a very small smile he thought he'd been vain enough to believe that the darkening skies had seemed to adjust themselves to his mood. You aren't that important, Taiho.

Despite the tangibility of his sadness, the air reached him, damp and a little chilly, just fine. In the noise he could hardly think about the reality of his situation. It was easier not to brood on what had been taken away from him, not to think desperately about fate and gods and other flimsy things.

He remembered what his lord looked like, though. In the colour of a passing woman's sash, he saw the colour of his lord's eyes, and there was a man with much the same skin tone, and that person across the road was haggling for a piece of material that looked like the exact shade of Master Gyousou's – Master Gyousou – hair. His hair...

He closed his eyes and drew in a breath with his entire upper body, his shoulders hunching, his lips parting slightly, altogether too much like a sob. A fat raindrop burst on the rim of his ear.

He ducked under an awning and watched a carriage trundle through the street, spraying water at a group of squealing young women who shouted after it. People ran past, covering their heads with their arms and laughing or scowling. Shutters closed in the windows. The scene didn't look so strange. No stranger than Tokyo skyscrapers. He thought of that skyline and marvelled to himself. He watched the world go by until a streamer of water started spattering down from the corner of the awning, cutting the scene in half.

“That doesn't look like it'll end any time soon,” the storekeeper said as he came out, standing companionable beside Taiki and squinting up at the sky. He flashed the young man a grin from beneath the grey scarf wrapped around his head. “I think I could give you a discount on an umbrella. I'm certainly going to sell enough of them if it carries on like this.”

Taiki began to decline, then asked “do you have any red ones?”

Pushing it open, he stood quietly for a moment. Perhaps it wasn't either Mount Roraima or Mount Hou, but there was a mountain above him, reaching above the clouds, and there were all number of strange things upon it.

As he walked down the street, children ran in front of him, spraying up droplets of water. Some of them caught on his eyelashes. Standing still and blinking, he waved away an apology from the children's glaring mother, her hands on her hips.

The water puddled in between the paving stones. Horse-drawn carts rattled past, splashing his shoes. Street vendors hawked hot dumplings. People chattered and bartered and shared gossip.

He span the red oilpaper umbrella somewhat absent-mindedly, splattering rainwater like a firework spewing out sparks. To his surprise, the droplets caught the sun and glowed gold for a moment. He peered upwards from beneath the edge of the umbrella. The sun was coming out, the rain abating. The sky seemed to shimmer apologetically.

The shopkeeper had lied shamelessly to him.

He found himself beginning to smile.

As he looked back through the street, he wondered how these people could be so cheerful. Didn't they know how easily everything could be taken away from them?

Or maybe it was just that his heart demanded that should all stop their lives and mourn with him. Don full white and lock themselves indoors. Failing that, they should tie white ribbons to their carts and their steeds, wear armbands and wail and pull out their hair with the force of their weeping. Huddle inside over a stick of incense and pray.

Life went on, though. Though he was confused, and scared, and he wanted Master Gyousou so badly he couldn't think about it without his chest hurting, the world kept turning. Well. He assumed this world turned. Something must keep the sun – never mind. That wasn't important. Very little else was.

His grip tightened on the umbrella. Now that it was finally him mounting the rescue expedition, the clueless, weak and very, very small rescue mission, he felt a sort of calmness. He only really had himself to rely on, besides Risai. It was this woman, and Master Gyousou, the only two people he had ever protected, and if it was them he was sure he could do it again, although he really wasn't very sure how...

He reached the end of the busy thoroughfare, and after a moment of thought, turned around. He had a promise to keep. Somewhere in the world, he had to believe that there was a tiger going hungry.

“Here,” Taiki said, handing the umbrella to a small girl hurrying past, her hands held up over her head. “You need this more than I do.”

Master Gyousou, he called inside his head as he ran breathlessly and artlessly, sending people jumping back and shouting angrily, the rain flying and catching watery sunlight, flashing, and his hems soaked and his ankles numb with the cold of it. Master Gyousou.

The pure animal exhilaration of running as fast as his body could take him spread throughout his body, leaving the burning of his lungs and the pain in his heart overtaken, like he could jump into the sky and ride the wind to wherever his master was waiting for him.

Not the transition between worlds. Not the doubt, or the fear, the timidity. The why?s, the memories, the hurt, the debts, the blood on his hands. They could be dealt with later. Not pushed away and ignored, but...bookmarked. Duly noticed but busy right now, sorry. Later. When it's time. When there's something there to deal with it properly.

Gyousou-sama would help him solve all of his worries. That had been a promise.

I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will.

More fantastical things had happened.