The Golden Sea (18+ StainedCrimson and Yukio Takamiya)

[StainedCrimson]

Many centuries ago...

 

Two dragons stand still as statues despite the ever raging sea behind them and the downpour before them. The larger would seem almost unconcerned and indifferent if not for the slightest wrinkling between its eyes and snout, but the smaller and clearly younger dragon watches with signs of concern and trepidation.

 

Finally the larger dragon speaks, his voice low and filled with power. "This is not what we intended. Remember well the sight before you my little Ryuu, for though we are dragons we are still able to make mistakes and those can have grave consequences." The younger dragon dips its head in a nod. "Yes, grandfather." While not as deep or weight-filled as the larger dragon, there are clear signs of the future strength the younger will come to hold with time. With a soft sigh the larger turns his head to look down at the small form next to him, his children already know what he intends and will eventually tell his other grandchildren, but only Ryuunosuke is the one he brought with him as witness.

 

"I must go now to fix what I and the other three have wrought. Remember well this last lesson I will impart upon you." With a light nudge to the now wide-eyed dragon, the larger takes off and soon disappears into the storm that has gone from a sustaining rain to an ongoing flood having killed an immeasurable number of creatures. Eventually there is a feeling, much like thunder but far more intense, that echoes out of the storm following a bright gleam of golden light. The light and sound dissipate he storm and soon a gleaming river rushes across the land that almost seems to glow with a faint golden light. This will later become known as the Yellow River. Though its origin are eventually forgotten by all but the dragon's descendants.

 

The young dragon never wavers his attention from the sight of his grandfather's sacrifice. After going to the bank of the river that is his grandfather, the young dragon bows his head for several long moments before turning to go back to his family in the Eastern Sea.

 

Several centuries later

 

"Quickly! We most hurry before it's too late!" An armored man yells directing forces preparing for what is clearly an attack. Standing near the leader of the large array of forces is a golden dragon who seems to ignore the frantic movements of the others around him, but instead keeps his gaze upon the sky and the now nine suns above them as the warrior beside him was successful in shooting one down.

 

The dragon, now older and larger, is the same that had stood witness to creation of the Yellow River. It is an older Ryuunosuke who stands in the frothing chaos now as he tries to assist that which has come from his grandfather's sacrifice.

 

After the storms had abated, the floods eventually pulled back and land became habitable again. This meant life began to return and thrive. For a time. Due to the ten suns intense heat, life eventually began to suffer again as there was not enough rain and other sources to make the amount of light and heat livable. As such humans and others banned together to shoot down the suns to decrease the heat so life can continue to exist.

 

This meant finding and killing the deities tied to each of the suns. The first was fairly easy due to the being not even considering that others would possibly consider attacking them. However, now that one has been killed they have to move swiftly to get as many of the others as possible before they have time to notice and retaliate. They are able to find and take down three more before the others notice.

 

Once they notice the sun deities retaliate in a rage, but soon they are down to just three suns. Ryuunosuke faces two of the deities with the warrior. "Leave now and no more need die." He calls out to the two across from him. Even though he is dragon the heat and light coming off the two suns is difficult to face, particularly with them together. One of the suns calls out in return. "You have killed seven of our brothers and sisters, we shall not let this go unpunished." Shaking his head and letting out a frustrated roar the dragon gives his final warning. "Life could not continue with all of you staying focused on the land. They would not leave and gave us no choice, but there is no need to continue senseless bloodshed."

 

The suns give their response by attacking and so two more fell. The last sun stayed hidden and did not pursue revenge, which meant that the others left it alone in turn. From then on nature and life began to truly thrive and flourish. However, there was a high cost and Ryuunosuke came away from the last battle heavily wounded but managed to hide the severity of it from all, even his family. Or so he thought.

 

Modern day

 

"Why are you doing this? I have told you I have no interest in the throne!" Ryuunosuke yells while backing warily turning and watching another dragon. This one is smaller than him, but not by overly much and is also a different shade of gold, appearing more of a bright yellow than the true old gold color of Ryuunosuke.

 

The other gives a demeaning laugh. "As if that matters brother! Despite your lack of presence with the court many would put their support for you and you know it. No, for me to even have a chance, you must die. Normally I wouldn't have a chance but thanks to wounds you received from aiding that warrior with the suns, you'll fall before me!" With a roar the other dragon lunges and continues his attack. Ryuunosuke tries to dodge his sister and pin her, but due the the surprise attack she had sprung on him after tricking him to get him alone, his healing wounds have been aggravated in addition to receiving new ones.

 

Knowing there is nothing to do but seriously hurt or kill his sister, he turns and flees. Even wounded he is able to leave her behind as he shoots through the water like a golden blur, but does leave a trail of dissipating blood in his wake. Eventually he reaches the shore near where the Yellow River is and drags himself ashore. He barely makes it halfway out before collapsing unconscious.

 

 

Dragon form:

Human form:

Noticeable features: (none of the head spikes around the ears, but instead the horns from the previous picture)

Name: Ryuunosuke Shimizu

Background: Ryuunosuke is one of the eldest grandchildren of the Yellow Dragons from the Eastern Sea. His grandfather was the head of the Yellow Dragons before sacrificing himself to become the Yellow River. He has several other siblings but only one who is older than himself. Like all dragons he collects treasure, but is also known in his family for his skills in battle and love of music and literature. Yet he also tends to keep to himself and does not overly involve himself in court affairs minus what is strictly necessary.

 

[Yukio Takamiya]

 

 

Name: Zhang Hai (张海) 海 technically means 'sea'.

 

Age: 23

 

Gender: Male

 

Description: Dark hair. Red eyes. Pale skin.

 

Likes: Knowledge, discovering new stuff, silence.

 

Dislikes: Crowds, children.

 

Personality: Cold and aloof, he doesn't like people coming too close to him nor does he sympathize much with others. He is also easily annoyed especially when it comes to children, he could never like them with all the noise they made.

 

Short bio: Hai as a child, was seen as a genius by most. He completed his studies at an early age and made his debut into society as a researcher when he was 21 years old. In 2 years, he accomplished what most couldn't, discovered new facts and made a name for himself in his field. His parents, especially his father were proud but that wasn't what kept him going. The achievements didn't matter, what he wanted or rather, what he was obsessed with was knowledge. He had a never-ending hunger for learning.

 

 

Opening post:

 

Hai had always been what people would call a realist, he similar to his father in that aspect and completely unlike his mother. At an early age, he learned that stories told to children weren't to be believed in, much less those myths his mother told him. He would listen because they were interesting, but that was it, he didn't believe in them like his mother did. The odd though, was why she believed in them when no one else did anymore, not even the older generation. When asked, her reply was the dreams she had. Even her psychologist couldn't help and his father had given up as well, the only thing Hai could do for her was to listen. Despite being mentally ill as people believed, his mother was a wise woman and loved him dearly, her words never failed to help him.

 

"I know you don't believe me, just like how everyone else never does," she said to him once after telling him the myth of the ten suns. Of how ten suns condemned the earth to a miserable fate before a great dragon defeated nine of them, which leave them with their one remaining sun now. She was right, he didn't believe her. He chose to believe that deities didn't exist, and that their current sun now, was just a large star in the solar system, not a sun with a deity as its guardian. "But it's fine, you will see soon, what I've been trying to tell everyone, that these forgotten myths are indeed true." She drifted off to sleep after that.

 

-----------------

 

Modern day, China...

 

This day, Hai sat in his office reviewing the notes he made earlier that day regarding a fusion of cells from two different species of snakes. The door opened and his assistant came in smiling, seeing this Hai sighed and pinched his nose, an evident frown in his brow. He knew what the other was here for. "Yan, I already told you no, I won't be accepting your proposal to go looking for dragons since they never existed to begin with."

 

Yan glared at being interrupted before he could speak. "And I've told you that scales too large for a fish have been discovered. You've seen for yourself how big that scale was, yet you're still denying the possibility of their existence?" The man walked up to Hai's computer and pulled up the image of the scale that was previously saved into the research facility's database, normal employees wouldn't have access to such information. "Look at it! It's the size of a freaking whale! Just one week Hai, we'll search the area where the scale was discovered for a week and give up if there isn't any results. Somehow I have a feeling that this will be a big find."

 

Letting out another sigh, the frown in Hai's brow deepened. He especially hated when people didn't leave him in peace and seeing how Yan was so persistent, he knew the man wouldn't leave him until he agreed. "Fine, you have my permission, but I won't to waste my time, you can go yourself. Now, get out of my office."

 

A few days later, Yan took the team out to sea - without Hai of course. The man couldn't be bothered to go and would rather stay in the lab to conduct his studies. He was convinced that mythical creatures like dragons didn't exist and that scale would most likely just belong to a new species of fish that they had yet to discover. Such a thing didn't warrant his attention, he had better things to do, new things to create.

 

Four days passed and the team found nothing. Yan was almost desperate, was this trip going to be a failure after all? Was it going to be just as Hai said, that dragons didn't exist? Perhaps a fossil would have been more convincing, a scale could belong to anything, they were searching on baseless evidence. Days passed but the search lights continued to scan the black waters even at night, Yan didn't give up. But alas, there was nothing even up to the last day. The crew was exhausted as they made their way back to a deserted shore to rest before heading back to the mainland, a depressed Yan followed them.

 

"There was practically almost no chance of it being a dragon Yan, it's best we give up and work on something else," a member of the team placed a hand on Yan's shoulder and said before getting off the large ship. Moments later, they heard shouts of surprise and rushed out of the ship.

 

"What is it?" Yan asked, his eyes darting around for what may be the cause of the ruckus. They didn't search for long, there on the ground was a naked man, unconscious. However, what surprised the crew wasn't the fact that there was a man unconscious on the shore, it was the scales that covered parts of his body, the lizard-like tail connected to his spine and the coral-like horns on his head. Looks like they found something after all. Yan felt like laughing, he was ecstatic, whatever would the stoic Hai say to this. Taking out his phone, he snapped a picture and sent it to his superior.

 

--------------------

 

Back on the mainland....

 

His phone pinged with a message. Hai picked it up and opened the message, his breathing momentarily froze. Then he closed the image and dialled his assistant's number.

 

It rang for a while then Yan on the other end answered. "Well that didn't take long, you called right away?" The smugness in Yan's tone was pissing him off. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm his excitement. Yes...excitement, Hai always loved a big find and he couldn't deny something that was close to being real. "That picture better be real Yan, otherwise you can forget about coming back."

 

"Calm down man, it's definitely real. Want me to take a selfie with the guy?" Yan replied cheerfully. Wasting no time, Hai gave his instructions. "Take him to the closest branch, I'm taking the next plane to your location."

 

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[StainedCrimson]

Ryuunosuke is unaware of being found despite the ruckus the humans are making. His body has completely shut down to try and heal itself, so he is in little more than a coma at the moment. As he lays unconscious, his mind takes him to the memories of when he was little and spending time with his grandfather, most likely due to being by the river his grandfather became. At first it is the enjoyable memories of having lessons with his grandfather, ranging from sparring to philosophical debates. Of all his siblings he was the only one that had ever truly enjoyed spending time with his grandfather and would seek him out constantly.

 

Unfortunately, as with all good things, his mind brings him back around to that day. He can almost feel the rain and wind of the storm, the waves angrily smashing against the cliff behind the two of them as his grandfather says those last words. There is just one difference as this time, before his grandfather leaves to go and sacrifice himself, he turns to Ryuunosuke. "Remember my little Ryuu. Remember and take care." Lightning flashes causing his grandfather to change into his sister who snarls and lunges at him, ending the dream.

 

He gives a small jolt, but when he can't move, immediately stills keeping his eyes closed. Inwardly his mind tries to make sense of what is going on. There are odd sounds and he is laying on something hard as well as unable to move. Where am I? He can barely feel his grandfather and the familiar scent and sound of the sea is nowhere to be found. Instead it's cold and the scent harsh.

 

Were he at full strength the dragon could easily free himself, but the recent fight with his sibling followed by his flight has greatly weakened him. In addition to that... I need to eat. Normally he could pull energy from the natural sources around him, but it seems as though very little of that is nearby. Consuming food, outside of enjoying the delicious taste of various items, is another way to at least assist with his healing.

 

The only way he can do that, as well as get back to an area filled with more energy however, is to figure out where he is and how he was found. That area has been uninhabited for near a millennia. At this point he does not doubt that it's humans who have him, the infestation of that race means that other than other beings like himself no other intelligent forms of life exist on the planet. Still, what brought humans to that remote region allowing them to find them.

 

I need to escape quickly. He manages to keep himself calm, centered, and appearing asleep as he settles on a plan. It's not as though he can expect any help from his family, not if his sister's actions are anything to go by. If any of his retainers notice his absence they might think to look for him, but it is most likely that he will have to save himself and that means trying to recover enough strength to do so. With that, grim determination settles within as he sets himself a timeline to get away. Should he fail, he will go the way of his grandfather so that the secrets of his kind will remain just that. A secret.

[Yukio Takamiya]

His trip to meet up with Yan took much longer than he would have liked. There was an hour delay for the plane's arrival and his porter was late, nothing was going right and this further soured his mood. He arrived at the lab with a frown in his brow and a glare in his eye, no one dared to come near him. With the exception of Yan of course, said man sauntered up to him in a lazy fashion, smugness evident in his voice.

 

"Gotta keep that temper in check my dear Hai. That aside, I remember someone saying that the search would be a waste of time. Who do we have here now, it's been...just three hours since I called," Yan said with a glance at his watch. Hai ignored him and walked pass him deeper into the research facility.

 

----------------

 

Hai walked into the lab in full gear, labcoat, mask, head wear and gloves. Yan was beside him. His gaze landed on the unconscious creature strapped to the cold metal bed. He was unlike anything Hai had ever seen, and it seemed even harder to believe that something like this was before his very eyes. Hai couldn't deny the fact that this man did indeed exist now that he wasn't just a picture taken by Yan. He walked closer, but stopped a slight distance away just looking. Hai didn't know what was stopping him from going closer, perhaps the fact that this was gonna be a great discovery, something unlike anything he had ever studied before. Hai wanted to unravel every inch of this creature, he wanted to find out everything he could about this creature. Dragon or lizard, it didn't matter, what mattered was science.

 

His legs finally moved as they brought him right to the subject's side. Hai could now clearly see every scale on the man's body, those coral-like horns and the sharp features of the creature's face. It looked so human unlike the rest of his body. Finally his eyes snapped away from the subject and he went into full doctor's mode snapping his orders left and right. "Standard procedure, start getting records of his real time brain activity, heart rate, get an x-ray of his bone structure as well. I want everything there is to know about his physical anatomy."

 

The researchers around him hesitated slightly before getting to work. They were professionals, it was their job to adapt quickly to what they weren't used to. In no time at all, the machines to measure brain activity and heart rate were set up. Hai took up a syringe of anesthetic preparing to administer the dose to the subject before he awoke and gave them a great deal of trouble. As he was distracted, the beeping of the machine monitoring the subject's brainwaves sped up then went back to inactive. Hai spun around in shock, staring at the statistics on the monitor. There, just for a split second, the wavelength were slightly closer than the constant wavelengths of the others. Hai was almost positive that the subject was probably awake but he couldn't be sure. Abnormalities do happen on occasion especially since the subject himself wasn't normal. He could be dreaming but brain activity usually lasts longer for that, perhaps a trauma that caused this abnormality while he was unconscious. Or the most improbable but possible conclusion, he was awake but could control his mind activity, that required an extremely strong mental stability, almost humanely impossible, then again, it could be possible since their subject wasn't human.

 

Hai slowly turned away, still cautious of the subject that was lying still behind him. He didn't know which conclusion was the right one, but he remained alert all the same. Should the subject truly be awake, it would be difficult for him to get up anyway. Despite how strong he could possibly be, the heavy loss of blood from the wound he received would have weakened him. Even though they had already treated it to prevent any danger to the subject's life, his weakened self most probably couldn't break the straps that strapped him from top to bottom. Muscle activity was restricted, so Hai was confident the subject wouldn't be able to break free if he were awake.

[StainedCrimson]

Ryuunosuke can smell and hear the human in the room. Clearly this one is going to be trouble as they were attentive enough to catch the brief moment he woke, or so he assumes due to the sudden movement he heard come from the other side of the room. Resigning himself to having to acknowledge his situation in full, his eyes slowly open revealing eyes the color of the sea where he was found on a clear day. They would seem almost human, except there are varying shades of blue that seem to shift much like water itself and instead of a black pupil, there is one of molten gold.

 

Expressionless and with no emotion, the dragon begins to take in the room... Prison. he corrects himself, that he is in. Disgust fills him at the sight of all the machines and metal. His gaze turns towards the human as it he, the dragon corrects himself upon catching a hint of scent, to watch and observe what it is they are doing. As he waits and watches, he does an internal check and notices signs of human tampering which only deepens his disgust. So like humans. They assume that everything works as they think it should and that their methods are be all, end all. In preventing his body from allowing to heal naturally, they have actually caused him more harm as internal pressure has started to build.

 

In no way does he think that excessive bleeding a good thing, but it would have been better to do light binding to stem the blood flow versus cutting it off completely. His annoyance increases since this means at some point he will have to 'lance' the build up to ease the pressure. Or perhaps these parasites will notice and actually be helpful for a change. He thinks to himself with no real expectation of that being the case.

 

With those thoughts he continues to watch the other until they turn around. Not once does his expressions or functions change in the slightest. So when the human turns around, he is faced with Ryuunosuke very much awake and somehow able to convey a sense of looking straight through the human to see his innermost secrets, and yet being completely disinterested or dismissive of what he finds without so much as a twitch or word being said.

[Yukio Takamiya]

Hai may have turned away, but the syringe was still in his hand, ready to be used. He hadn't disposed the thought that the subject could be awake and his eyes remained on the monitor. The brainwaves were still constant, no signs of abnormal activity. Hai waited a few seconds before he turned back to the subject. Amber eyes greeted him, eyes that seemed to stare straight into his very being, exposing his deepest and darkest secrets. As if the subject could see what he truly was with just a single look. Hai felt violated, he felt exposed, he didn't like the feeling this creature was giving him. Before he knew it, the syringe needle had plunged itself straight into the subject's arm and the anesthetic flowed smoothly into its veins. Hai broke out of his trance with a gasp, breathing heavily as Yan and the other researchers stared at him worriedly.

 

His hand came up to hold his head as he clenched his eyes tightly, desperate to get rid of the disgust that plagued him. The way he administered the anesthetic was reckless, but he wasn't thinking at that moment. All his instincts told him to do was to prevent himself from getting drawn into those eyes more than he already was. Hai opened his eyes and looked at the subject that was supposedly truly unconscious now. Brain activity had decreased to none but Hai didn't dare to take any chances.

 

"Keep a careful eye on the subject, it may not be truly unconscious," he warned the team as he took down some notes. "Keep him in an enclosure, do not by any means remove its restraints." After handing down the necessary instructions, Hai exited the room, stripping his gloves, surgical cap, mask and shoes, then headed towards the branch head's office after washing his hands.

 

"It's been a while," the branch head Hong greeted him when he entered the office. Hai plopped down on the couch with a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, an evident crease between his brows as if the earlier impact hadn't yet left him.

 

"I assume you've heard of the new subject brought into the branch earlier today?"

 

"Mhm," Hong hummed his reply, taking the seat opposite him and offering Hai a glass of wine. Hai rejected it. "How did the observation go? Something so humanoid must have been pretty interesting eh?"

 

"It gave me a sense of danger," Hai stated in deep contemplation. "The creature awoke... Just staring into its eyes almost made me lose myself." Hai crossed his arms and closed his eyes, heaving yet another deep sigh, fatigue seemed to have come crashing down on him all of a sudden. It was all that creature's fault. "We'll have to keep it under watch twenty-four seven, restrict it like you would an extremely dangerous criminal. I'll make arrangements to have it transferred to the main branch as soon as possible."

 

With that, Hai stood up and left the office. He met up with Yan halfway down the hallway, then took the next flight back to the mainland.

 

 

 

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sorry for the long wait but I finally managed to get a reply in. Btw, I wrote that YC had amber eyes cuz I followed the dragon reference you provided, the human reference was colorless soo...

[StainedCrimson]

Ryuunosuke merely watches the human lurch towards him and stab him with the item held. When the foreign substance enters his body, the dragon does break his flat affect slightly. A lip curls as his eyes fill with contempt, disgust, and a cold disregard. Not having the energy or really the care to resist the drug, he allows himself to slip into the induced slumber which causes his features to once more smooth out. Unknowing, and most likely not caring, that the one who was so callous to him has left and made even further plans that will be akin to a slow torturous decay.

 

The dragon pays little mind as he drifts in and out of awareness of the humans' actions as they set about moving him to a more secure room, set up a machine to feed him a steady supply of anesthesia as well as another IV for fluids. Yet another team begins communicating with the main laboratory to have the development started for holding and testing facilities for their precious find, and still another starts the necessary arrangements for transport. Needless to say they were unwilling to move the dragon until at least the holding room was finished, which meant that Ryuunosuke is not transported until the end of the second day after his capture.

 

By the time he arrives at his new 'home', the dragon has started to visible deteriorate. His hair has lost its shine, the horns fading to an almost dull plastic imitation color of their once vibrant golden appearance, and to say nothing of the rest of the dragon. The scales have begun to look chipped, his skin sallow and almost pasty as though sick. Due to having been kept under, no one has seen his eyes but had they been seen they would almost appear clouded as though in the early stages of going blind. The team that arrives with him are almost in a panic as the deterioration had started suddenly while in transit.

 

Even once in the new room in the holding area, where they are able to try and get nutrients and sustenance into Ryuunosuke, he remains unaffected and continues on the downward spiral. In fact, the attempts to 'help' almost seem to make things worse which only causes further discontent among those who had moved him, most noticeably being the worry over what their bosses will do when they find out and concern over whether they'll be held responsible.

 

By the time Hai, Yan and Hong make it to the dragon the vitals have begun to decrease compared to when he was first caught. Even though they weren't particularly strong then either, they had at least been steady. Now though it is clear that the prized find is slipping away from them and what will happen to the body should Ryuunosuke die is unknown.

[Yukio Takamiya]

On the way to the examination room in the main branch, Hai had been briefly informed of the specimen's current state. His mind was a whirlpool of emotions even having not yet seen for himself how bad the situation may be. He and Yan arrived at the room and Hai hurriedly put on his gear before approaching the table. There, he saw the subject, hooked up to IVs and every possible substance that was meant to keep it alive. Its appearance was absolutely horrifying in comparison to when Hai first saw it. There probably wasn't much time for it to live either.

 

In a fit of rage, he grabbed Hong by the collar, practically lifting the man up. "You were in charge of operations, what on earth happen?!" Hai was breathing heavily. He had no idea why he was panicking so. Yes, this one and only specimen was important for his research but by no means would he wish harm upon it seeing how rare it was. No sane researcher would dare to dissect such a rare species either, the most they would do was take blood samples and so on, going as far as only what was keeping the subject alive would allow. No, Hai wouldn't let this subject die.

 

"Tell me what he's been given during the time of my departure till now."

 

"We couldn't give him food during his wake hours, he wouldn't take anything. Injecting vitamins into him didn't work either as you can see. We kept him in an enclosure as you instructed, restrained with the highest security." Hong listed down whatever had been going on during the two days. "We monitored his vitals twenty-four seven. No matter what we gave him, his body just kept deteriorating, till as you can see now."

 

Hai released Hong's collar and walked towards the subject. No longer did this subject retain its majestic appearance. The shine from its hair, scales and horns was gone, its skin a sickly color, it simply didn't look alive anymore. "Hand me a torch." The moment the torch was given to him, Hai flicked it on and lifted the subject's eyelids, shining the light into them. This wasn't good, there wasn't reaction to the light at all. Those gold irises flecked with ocean blue had lost its color, a blue film covered it as it would a blind person. Hai flicked off the torch and closed his eyes, swallowing thickly as he processed the current information he had.

 

Nothing they gave it worked, which meant that the subject was completely different from humans no matter how humanoid it looked. Which also means the subject absorbed energy from something other than the minerals and nutrients they've been giving it. It wouldn't take food... that didn't mean anything though. Hai didn't know the inner workings of the creature's mind, not taking food may mean various things that he couldn't be bothered to list.

 

Hai slowly lifted his hand to take a few strands of the creature's coarse hair, an absolutely unreadable expression in his eyes. He stared at the creature for a few seconds before closing his eyes and turning away. It was truly such a pity...

 

"Release it back into the sea, it won't survive here..." he instructed quietly before leaving the room. 'You better not let me catch you again...' was his thought though, as he left. A grim silence encompassed the room as Hai left. Everyone knew how much Hai loved knowledge, but he had his own principles to abide by. Truly it was such a pity...

[StainedCrimson]

Ryuunosuke stirs hearing the commotion and, despite the film forming over his eyes, can still see what is going on. Hearing what the other orders, he gives a derisive snort which only pains his failing body. How foolish. Yes, release a creature obviously too weak to defend itself back into the wild. Humans truly are... "Pathetic." His breath whispers out in a low, rough, husk. Though whether anyone would recognize or hear the word is debatable as, other than how weak he is, the word is of a very old dialect. At this point the dragon is uncertain of his chances to hide well enough to be able to recover. Should any of his siblings find him in this state then he's as good as dead anyway.

 

Still, better in the open sea than a slow death like this. He thinks while allowing his eyes to once more fall shut. Had the humans bothered to learn anything about him, doing 'tests' as they like to do then they might have discovered keeping the dragon in fresh seawater would have kept him from deteriorating, and allowing him access to sky through a window or something along those lines would have kept him stable. Instead they had cut him off from everything, pumped his body full of drugs and whatever else they had, and starved him.

 

Almost as if having the same train of thought, one person tentatively speaks up to those in the room. "How will he be able to survive in the sea in this state?" The person is hesitant to speak, but looks at the withered form with a frown. "We wouldn't release other creatures in this state as they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. Are we to just leave him where we found him and hope it survives? We could always set up a temporary enclosure to keep him in until in better health." The voice stays subdued, but grows less tentative as they speak.

 

As the plan is decided, others make preparations to return the dragon to the sea in a discreet location. Once preparations are made, Ryuunosuke is once more prepared for transport. As they get closer to the sea, the dragon's vitals stabilize but don't seem to strengthen until he's set on the beach and touching the water. The team watches as his breathing eases, and some color returns to his skin. Satisfied, they turn to leave though one lingers and is the last to leave the dragon on the shoreline.

[Yukio Takamiya]

Hai didn't follow the team to release the dragon, instead, he sat in his office pouring over the data the team collected, as well as the notes he personally made on the subject. He took around an hour to analyze everything that had been provided, coming to his own conclusions and eventually figuring out that what the dragon needed was natural elements. Yan had made a report earlier that the dragon showed a positive reaction to the sea when they released him. Just that was enough to convince Hai, that by keeping him away from nature, they were slowly killing him. There wasn't anything he could do now though, they had released the dragon, it won't be easy to find him again.

 

Hai assembled the papers and stood up from his seat. He walked to the shelf and filed the folder into the section he used for studies he dropped. Just as he did, the phone on his desk conveniently rang. He picked it up. "Yes..."

 

"The Head is calling for you..." Yan's voice sounded from the other end. Hai hung up the phone and sighed. He pretty much knew why he had been called. Bracing himself, he left his office and headed for his Boss's office.

 

-----

 

When he reached the clean glass door of the office, Hai took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Come in," he heard the Head's voice and heaved another deep sigh. These sighs were slowly eating away at his lifespan... Hai opened the door and entered the room, walking towards the large desk where a middle aged man sat flipping through files of paperwork. The man didn't look up nor acknowledge Hai, and Hai continued to stare at him, waiting to be acknowledged.

 

Five minutes later, the man finally spoke. "I never liked the way those red eyes of yours looked, they don't react to anything, emotionless, dead." Hai kept quiet. "What I hate more, is your uncaring attitude towards everything around you. You're like a robot. Doing what you're told and nothing more, nothing less yet your work is always done to perfection."

 

"Is that not good?" Hai asked cutting him off. The Head, also known as Zhu Tian, looked up at Hai with a glare.

 

"You've committed a grave mistake this time though." Hai continued to look at him, not making another sound. Finally, Zhu Tian couldn't take it and stood up from his seat, slamming his palm on the desk and messing up the papers he painstakingly sorted. "What of the new specimen your team captured? What have you done to it?"

 

"I ordered for it to be released."

 

"Yes!" Zhu Tian cut him off. "You released him without the permission of the higher-ups."

 

"It was dying-"

 

"And it's your job to find a way to keep it alive," Zhu Tian cut him off again. Hai could slowly feel his temper rising, he never liked talking to this person and thus always did what he could to avoid confrontation with him. "The sponsors were notified of this new specimen," Zhu Tian continued. "Every single one of them were happy to pour funds into this study, and what did you do? You released it." Hai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his temper. Money, right, everything was about money now. Money was so important that even morals could be so easily thrown away. "What do you expect us to tell the sponsors?" Hai wanted so badly to tune it all out, but he knew he couldn't. "Here's what you're going to do. You, and your team, are going to find it, and bring it back. I don't care how long it takes, nor do I care how hard it is. You're going to find it, do you get me? Now leave."

 

"...Yes Sir," Hai replied in a whisper, barely holding himself back from burning holes into Zhu Tian's forehead with his gaze. He turned and left the office.

 

Yan was waiting for him outside when he came out. "I heard everything. Let's prepare to set out," Yan said quietly and they both walked down the hallway.

 

-----

 

The beach where Ryuunosuke was released...

 

 

"Was it here?" Hai asked Yan when the team arrived. It had been more than a day since the dragon was released. And honestly, there was no telling whether they would ever find him again. They didn't have a choice though. Hai split the team into half, one was to stay on land and take samples of the environment, everything that was needed for them to create an environment similar to it for the dragon's stay. And the other half was to follow him to look for the dragon. After he had handed down the necessary instructions, Hai and his group started moving towards the location where the dragon was released to get an idea on where to start looking.

[StainedCrimson]

Ryuunosuke had managed to recover enough by nighttime after his release to look around and see where he was "released". Letting out a weak snort, his eyes close as he takes a deep breath in of the clean air and sea. While not the area he spends most of his time, he does know this place. Though his knowledge is more of the deeper waters than the shoreline. After several long moments, the dragon turns to drink a few mouthfuls of the cool sea water, then begins to slowly drag himself around to find a more suitable place to recover than out in the open.

 

Eventually he makes it to the mouth of the river and, several long hours later due to having to stop and rest as well as not being able to move very far or swiftly, he finds a nice little shallow hole in the banks that's large enough to fit him in his smaller form. After moving some of the roots around that guard the entrance, the dragon climbs in and curls up. Once comfortable he reorganizes the roots to provide as much cover as possible then settles down to sleep. Surrounded by by all the elements Ryuunosuke lets out a soft sigh of relief while slowly relaxing. Finally, curled in a ball, the dragon falls into a deep restorative sleep as the natural energies around him begin to replenish and heal him.

 

----------

 

By the time the team arrived Ryuunosuke was no longer in the spot they had set him and the tides had washed away most, if not all trace of where he may have gone. The team member who had been with for the release and lingered, bites his lip while looking around. They're not allowed to go wondering off alone, just in case the dragon has recovered enough to be a danger, but slowly pairs separate off to try and cover more ground.

 

"Do you think he went back into the sea?" One asks while others murmur questions of their own, doubt begins to fill the air. Finally one person yells out having found a bit of scale that must have flaked off. Soon the others join in searching along the riverbed hoping to find more clues as to where the specimen has gone. One mutters under her breath "If we were just going to look for it again we should have tagged it or something." Others silently agree, but don't verbalize their thoughts.

 

Carefully combing the river banks, the one team member slips further ahead little by little. Ignoring anything too open and obvious, leaving the areas for the rest of the team, he comes across a bend in the river a little ways upstream that has the nearby forest at its edges. Biting his lip, the researcher pauses knee deep in the water and looks around. Slowly moving along the banks he finds several areas where the roots break free of the bank and after searching many, finally spots a glimmer of gold. Heart racing, he stumbles over the slippery mud then carefully pulls away the roots to reveal the curled up form of the dragon.

 

While still thin and pale, there is a noticeable improvement in both complexion of the skin and various areas that had previously been dull and lifeless. Only when he hears the team getting closer does he shudder as he returns to the present. Carefully replacing the roots and quietly stepping away, the researcher reluctantly goes to report that he has found the dragon.

 

Once everyone is shown where Ryuunosuke is, and Hai informed. The team begins the preparations of finding a suitable habitat that they can either create or modify to suit their needs. They are told to bring the dragon to a facility on a private island, and prepare to move their re-found subject. After tranquilizing the dragon to be on the safe side, they gather up the unconscious form and put him in transport to go to the island.

 

-------

 

After a few hours of travel, the island appears out of the vast body of water. Construction is happening to make the island suitable to hold the dragon and started as soon as the location had been decided. Soon the plan lands and everyone jumps up to get started.