unfriendliest | fractura

[ did you want to leave? that sounds like a good idea. boy, it sure would be nice if you could just step right out of this dream, huh.

....is something burning? something is definitely burning. it's coming from the direction of the stairs. the moment kara looks up, a fucking giant bronze bell goes rolling straight down the hallway.

no running for you today ]

[ hELLO??

obviously he can't go into the hall with a fucking giant bell rolling his way, but the only place left for him to go is... back into that room? with the human ookurikara and xie lian? so. guess he's going back there! but he's deliberately going to avoid looking at the two of them.

it's just a dream, and not even his own dream. so why the hell can't he wake up?! ]

[ well, luckily for kara, the scene in the dream has changed when he turns around.

no more blood, no more gaudy trinkets and women armed with guns. instead, the room has cleared out to nearly nothing--much of it has been burnt, and a fine layer of ash is coating the floor underneath ookurikara's feet.

sitting in the center of the room is xie lian, the same young, recognizable one from before, who was holding ookurikara's body in his arms. he's dressed in the same pale white as the daozhang often is, though in the crisp lines of a suit instead of the traditional robes of a priest, and he sits with his knees drawn up and his forehead rest against them, his shoulders shaking gently.

there are a few newspapers spread out in front of him. some have visible headlines - mayor of montevallo--murder or accident? says one, another, "philanthropist patriarch and matriarch xie found dead in an alleyway; no suspects known". "bodies recovered from warehouse fire; women, children among victims" and a small, clipped one reading, "benefactor of yiling ridge orphanage forced to flee from montevallo, authorities in pursuit".

there's a lock at his feet, too, the edge of it open, torn from something with pliers, and perhaps more disturbingly, directly across from them lie several large, body shaped lumps in sheets, lined up in neat rows. the further down the room ookurikara looks, the more numbers there seem to be.

the door behind him is locked. only one way out of this dream, and it appears to lie with the young man in the center of the room. ]

[ ookurikara doesn't spare much time for the priest, focusing instead on the new room he's found himself in. while it's... a relief to be free of the specter of his dead human self, it's no less disturbing, trapped in a room covered in ash. his eyes linger for a moment, not on xie lian but the newspaper headlines, expression warping from a frown into a scowl as he looks up to find... bodies. countless bodies, laid out respectfully but - it's easy to guess what happened here. leave it to humans to leave a trail of destruction in their wake. it disgusts him, and so he tries, once more, to leave.

but of course, the door is locked. he gives a quiet, frustrated sound before finally turning back to speak directly to xie lian, voice curt. ]

Oi.

[ for a moment, xie lian doesn't respond. he stays where he's settled, face at his knees.

...but, eventually, he lifts his head. his eyes widen with recognition, that turns to to confusion, eyes sliding from his face up to his horns and back down. up close, he's the same young man from the pictures; younger than the priest on the mountain, still with baby fat in his cheeks, and there are bags under his eyes. ] ...Kara?

[ such a familiar way of speaking, the short nickname. ] ...I thought you were going to chase after him.

Don't call me that.

[ it comes out as a growl, familiar to kara and just as irritable as every other time he's said it. he has no idea what or who xie lian is talking about, and he doesn't care enough to ask. so he cuts right to the chase. ]

You're dreaming. Wake up.

[ you could probably break someone's brain by pointing out to them that they're dreaming like this you know???? have some sensitivity

the xie lian of the dream gives him a confused look, for a moment, and then turns his gaze away, towards the sheet covered bodies across the room. ] ...Wouldn't this be something more of a nightmare?

[ haha. yeah, actually. ] It would certainly be easier if it was. [ he sighs. ] Am I dead too?

[ bold of you to assume that this kara cares about breaking xie lian's brain. he ignores the first part, scowling at the semantics. ]

I wouldn't be here if you were dead.

[ he might have preferred that, unfortunately. he has better things to do than babysit xie lian in his nonsensical dreams. ]

So wake up already.

[ rip. poor guy.

xie lian's quiet, arms folded across his knees. ] ...I don't suppose you would be, no. [ kara wouldn't come protect him.... isn't that what he wanted? to stop being babied, to be able to do things on his own? ]

Can I ask you something? [ a beat. the dream xie lian won't wait for a reply or consent.... coincidentally, neither would the regular one, but that's neither here nor there. ]

Is it worse to help and cause someone to suffer unintentionally, or to step away, knowing perhaps you could have done something, and watch them suffer for afar?

[ after a roll of his eyes, kara crosses his arms over his chest. this priest... he's always like this. never waiting for an answer, always just going ahead with whatever he wants. how annoying.

he does, however, answer immediately, and honestly. ]

Not even trying to help someone when you have the power to do so will always be worse.

[ xie lian watches kara as he answers, brows knit together, a flicker of light in his dark eyes, before he nods. ]

...I think so too. [ that's for sure. it rings in his chest, a familiar sense of warmth, and he looks away again, back to the newspapers spread out in front of him. ] I want to help as many people as I can. I...

[ ...mn. ] ...It should have been me. I wish it was.

I'm not here to feed your guilt complex.

[ any kara would say the same, though perhaps this xie lian's kara would find a slightly gentler way of saying so. ]

If you're alive, then make yourself useful. There's no use in wasting time wishing things went differently when you can focus on something you can actually change.

[ in the end, kara came across the right thing to say. we're proud of him.

xie lian huffs, a wry, sort of laugh, mouth curling up a bit. ] ...I know that. I wanted -- I wanted to be able to make the mistakes on my own, instead of having them made for me. Everyone was trying so hard to protect me, and no one bothered to ask me if I wanted to be protected at all. I want to -- I'm going to make as much of this right as I can.

[ there's a sense of determination, there, as xie lian stands up, rather abruptly, looking up at this dragon who he only sees as his right hand. standing like this, the daozhang presents that same spark of fierce leadership that was in that portrait; there's something bright in his eyes, an untamed fire that's been lit, again. ] Kara. [ he says, tipping his head up -

and then, he bows. the gesture is exceedingly polite, formal, his hands clasped at his sides. ] I'm sorry for being so troublesome to you, all these years. I know guarding me has never been easy, and I don't think this will make it any easier, either. Nonetheless, it's been an honor, to have you as my right hand.

[ xie lian straightens, again, and offers him a small smile. ] If you would want to leave, I would understand. But if you'll stay, let's... let's make things right, for our family. For this whole town.

[ a bow...? an apology? ookurikara's brow furrows, betraying his confusion at both the gesture and the unfamiliar xie lian before him. what is he supposed to say to something like this?

after a moment of hesitation, he decides on: ]

I'm not the Ookurikara you should be saying this to. I don't know who or where he is, but I'm not your right hand, and I never will be.

[ and he'll leave it at that, to turn to try the door again. FREE HIM. ]

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