The Dragons of Gensoukai
YnM Fanfiction Written by Yen

Introduction

I am called Tsuchi. I am the earth dragon. I am one of those who support Gensoukai. Let me introduce you to my kind, that of the dragon family.

In this imaginary world born from the minds of men, there are as many dragon species as there are cultures who believe in us, dragons.

In the land of the setting sun, dragons are slow, ponderous creatures who cannot fly, who stay often in their caves, guarding their hoards of treasure. They had emerged from the minds of humans who feared our kind and our strength.

In the land of the rising sun, my kind enjoy a better life. They, including I, were born from the minds of humans who revered us and desired that which we represent, every strength a human could have and the unimaginable power of natural forces.

I am of the YoosoRyu, the dragon clan whose power is derived from nature. I am Tsuchi, the Rememberer of YoosoRyu. Pray listen to my story.

In the year before the ascent of the Golden Emperor, a crisis befell the YoosoRyu. Two corners of the Pyramid had crumbled, Hi and Mizu had dissented from the clan to join the crusade led by Kootetsu.

***

Kaji was boiling mad. Mizuumi watched him warily, while Soyokaze seemed a little bored. All three stood outside the Pyramid, inside of which alone stood Tsuchi. The Pyramid was an energy container of incredible capacity. Its base was a cubit in all dimensions; width, length and height. Lightning continually flashed within it. Thunder crashing every second making speech almost impossible.

They were waiting for Tsuchi to emerge from the Pyramid. Several tense moments passed. Steadily, the lightning ceased, and the thunder roared less until all was quiet. The three held their breaths unconsciously as Tsuchi opened his eyes and walked slowly to the clear barrier forming the sides of the Pyramid. As he passed through, they hurried towards him. Soyokaze caught him before he fell to the ground.

"Where is Kaze?!" Kaji exploded, looking wildly around them. In a few minutes, the Pyramid would begin charging again, and the energy would be wasted if a Seijun was not present inside it. Below the ground underneath the Pyramid was an immense energy cell. From it flowed the energy powering Shizen, the floating sky city of the YoosoRyu.

Soyokaze snorted, impatient with Kaji, as he made sure Tsuchi was all right. "Kaze will be here, and we have enough energy to last us a century." He wasn't going to let Kaji bully his former student.

Kaji whirled towards him, eyes flaring red with anger. "A century's worth of float energy isn't going to last us a day in this war!"

"We are not at war," retorted Soyokaze, "We are not involved in that mess Kootetsu started, and we're not going to be."

"He kidnapped Hi and Mizu, and you still say we're not involved?!" Shouted Kaji incredulously. "You idiot! When are you going to see that he plans to rule over all of us?!"

"You know very well that Hi and Mizu left on their own accord," yelled Soyokaze back. "Before you start blaming Kaze, you should figure out why your own student left!"

"Will you two be silent?" Mizuumi said softly though her gentle request was ignored by both of them. She quickly took Tsuchi from Soyokaze and laid him to rest on the floor while the other two dragons continued their argument, which was quickly escalating into something unadultlike.

Mizuumi sighed, covering her face with one hand as Kaji and Soyokaze grappled with eachother. These two... they're children. A strong hand suddenly tightened around her wrist, and she looked down to see Tsuchi smile reassuringly up at her. Her heart suddenly clenched painfully as she looked into his warm gold-flecked brown eyes.

He squeezed her wrist gently before releasing her. "It will be all right, Mizuumi-chan," he murmured softly, his eyes blinked once then turned from her face to Kaji and Soyokaze choking each other. He smiled, amused by their lack of conduct, and Mizuumi envied them, wishing he was smiling at her.

After a hesitant moment, she reached out and touched his shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. "You've been working too hard, Tsuchi-dono," she murmured, suddenly unable to look into his eyes, filled with a question.

He blinked again, his expression set in patience. "Please don't be concern for me," he said with quiet firmness, "this is my duty."

"But," she protested, unable to be anything but concerned for him, "you've taken Mizu's place. Doing the work of two Seijun is dangerous."

Tsuchi waved her concern away. "It's not so dangerous, tiring, but not dangerous." He glanced at the Pyramid, for the time being, empty of charging energy. "It," he said, referring to the Pyramid, "will expel me from within it should I lose consciousness within it. I will be unharmed."

On her lap, her hands tightened in anxiety, "But Soyo is right," she said stubbornly, "The energy cell has enough power to last us for a long time. You do not have to work so hard." She grew desperate when Tsuchi looked unmoved by her plea.

Tsuchi was one of the Seijun, caretakers of the Pyramid. There could only be four at the any given time. Tsuchi was a pure earth dragon, untainted by other elements. The Pyramid would only accept dragons which they deemed pure and loyal to the element they had chosen to represent. Within the Pyramid, energy gathered on its own accord, but in order to store it, a Seijun acted as a link, allowing raw energy to pass through his body, refining it and guiding it to be stored in the energy cell powering Shizen. It was a cycle which had existed as long as the members of YoosoRyu could remember.

"He's late!" Kaji and Soyokaze were still fighting. Mizuumi glared in their direction, utterly tempted to summon a tsunami to drown them. Then, regret filled her. Her practice of water-wind arts was one the reasons why she failed the test to be a Seijun. Though her bloodline was of the water, she had been attracted by the arts of the wind dragons. Once, she had pursued her interest, it ended all hope that the Pyramid would accept her as a Seijun.

The Pyramid chooses the mind and the heart, not merely the blood, thought Mizuumi, looking back to Tsuchi half dozing on the floor. It is too strict... A tinge of bitterness touched her. Tsuchi would never consider taking a mate. The Pyramid would immediately reject him should he take one.

"TADAIMA!!!" She looked up to see Kaze walking briskly towards them. He was tall slender man with long silver hair kept perpetually in a ponytail.

"You!" Kaji approached him so suddenly that Kaze almost ran into him. "You're late," yelled Kaji, spitting saliva into Kaze's face. Behind him, Soyokaze looked ready to tackle him into the ground.

"Gomen. Gomen," apologized Kaze sincerely, tugging at Kaji's sleeve with a sorrowful expression on his face. "I didn't mean to worry you, Kaji-dono."

A giggle escaped from Mizuumi when Kaze suddenly embraced Kaji, rubbing his face into Kaji's shoulder. "I'm so sorry," he weeped in a convincing fashion, "I promise I won't do it ever again." He began sobbing, "I'm so sorry I disappointed you, Kaji-dono."

Kaji was stunned literally. He was ill-equipped to deal with Kaze's mode of confrontation. "... I-it's okay..." He said gingerely, patting Kaze's shoulder. The wind dragon continued clinging to him. "R-really?" Blubbered Kaze, his eyes shimmering hopefully at Kaji.

Kaji swallowed. "Y-yes." He was shocked further when Kaze shouted happily and hugged him tighter. "Wai!!! Kaji-dono is so nice!!!" Then, he spotted Soyokaze over Kaji's shoulder. "Wai!!! Soyo-sensei!!!" He let go Kaji and latched on to his former teacher. "It's good to see you again!" Unlike the frozen Kaji, Soyokaze returned Kaze's embrace with equal enthusiasm. "Good to see you as well, Kaze," Soyo said warmly, ruffling his former student's hair affectionately.

At their side, Kaji was looking at them with strange expression in his face. Mizuumi had an idea of what was racing through his mind. Of course, that was impossible. Kaze was a pure wind dragon, untainted, just as Tsuchi is.

"Eh..." Kaze noticed her and Tsuchi. He smiled at her as he knelt on Tsuchi's other side. The earth dragon had fallen asleep and was still sleeping. Kaze gingerly placed his hand on Tsuchi's face, his pale eyes narrowing. Then he lowered his hand, saying, "He's been working too hard. I told him to stop doing Mizu's place, but he just won't listen."

"Yes," murmured Mizuumi, "He's very stubborn."

"He should relax more," commented Kaze, nodding. Then he rubbed his hands briskly, saying to her, "Take care of him, Mizuumi. Hit him on the head if you have to to keep him asleep. I'll take over for now."

"You're going to take his place..." Kaji said warily.

"No way," said Kaze immediately, then he smiled brightly at Kaji, "But I'll increase the flow of energy passing through me during my place."

Soyokaze protested, "That's dangerous, Kaji. There is a limit to how much energy can pass through your body without hurting you."

"No problem!" Declared Kaze, standing up to go to the Pyramid. Inside it, faint lines of energy were beginning to form. Standing before the barrier, he glanced back at the three of them. "Of all the elements, wind has always been the most malleable," he said to them before stepping inside the Pyramid.

End Introduction