Work Text:
Ingo awoke to small sobs coming from across the abandoned train car he called his home in Hisui. The car fell with him when he fell from the rift a week ago, Ingo knew it was his. Ingo looked over at the source, it was the small passenger from Pearl Clan who decided to follow him home the day prior. The small 3 year old with brown hair and matching brown eyes that were watering with tears. Ingo allowed the small child to stay as long as he wanted, not wishing for the small child to try and head back to camp during the dangers of the Hisuian night. Ingo walked over to the old subway train seats where the boy sat and sat next to him. Now Ingo recalled his name, Lian, that was the boy who followed him here.
"Hello, little passenger, something seems to be the matter."
Lian looked up at Ingo with tears rolling down his face. He looked like he was trying to process the strange words Ingo had said and the words he himself wanted to say. The child finally found his words and spoke through warbled words.
"I-I had a bad dream. I-I just… I'm scared."
Ingo's eyes grew to a look of concern for the little boy. Ingo put his hand on Lian's back, trying to soothe the child. Lian hugged Ingo close sobbing into his ragged coat. Ingo didn't know where Lian's parents were. Or if the boy even had any for that matter. Lian was always following Ingo around when he visited Pearl Clan as requested by its leader, Irida. Not once had Ingo ever seen someone who looked like Lian in the camp. Ingo shouldn't have been as surprised when the smaller toddler followed him to the Highlands from the camp.
"Shhh shh… It is alright, young Lian. As long as you are here on my subway you will be safe."
Lian looked back at the man in a look of puzzlement at his words but just accepted what Ingo said as the truth. That still didn't help the tears however. Ingo wasn't sure quite what to do to help. Ingo tried to recall his own experiences as a child, but his amnesia made most of that section of his life a blur. One thing stood out though, a story, a story a man told Ingo when he was about Lian's age. Ingo couldn't remember much about the man other than he tamed dragons and was familiar to him, but Ingo remembered the story the man told in clear definition.
"Would you like to hear a story, Lian? Maybe get your mind off your dream?"
"... Sure. What's the story about?"
"Two brothers and a dragon, a story about truth and ideals."
Lian looked at Ingo, quieting down to listen to the story Ingo felt like he knew from heart.
"Once upon a time, there were two brothers, heroes dubbed by the region for the mighty dragon they had as their partner. The older brother sought truth for the world, the younger sought ideals."
Ingo felt himself smile, he still remembered a little hit. Just a story. Yet that enough still proved to him that he wasn't all gone. Not yet.
"Due to their differences, the twin heroes began to fight and bicker and argue over which was more 'right' in their views on how the world should be."
"Did they have to fight?"
"No, of course they didn't, but sometimes people get so mad at others they don't feel like they have any other option, Lian."
Lian nodded at that explanation, wiping the remaining few tears that fell from his eyes.
"Please continue with your story Mr. Ingo."
"Well then, the dragon the two twin heroes controlled just couldn't pick a side in the fight. The dragon itself felt so divided in the matter that it split into two. One dragon who's fire would scorch the truth into the world and the other dragon who's electricity would shock ideals into the world. By the time the heroes had made up and put their differences aside, it was too late, and the dragons rampaged and destroyed the region the heroes worked so hard for."
"Will that happen to the clans if they don't get along?"
Ingo looked a bit surprised at the small child's question. Ingo knew that Pearl Clan and Diamond Clan had feuds and fought on occasion but it didn't register in Ingo's mind that the effects of the arguments had reached even the youngest members of Pearl Clan.
"What do you mean by that, little passenger?"
"If our leaders keep fighting like this, will Almighty Sinnoh destroy Hisui? Like the dragons in your story?"
"..."
This was a question Ingo knew damn well he had to tread carefully with his answer. No matter the answer it could cause Lian to spread it among other kids in the Pearl Clan as children are prone to do, if Lian did parrot his words he didn't want to come off as regarding their faith in poor favor. Not after all they've done for him since he got here.
"Ingo?"
"Yes, sorry, I was just thinking. I'm not too sure on how to answer your question Lian."
"That's alright, Mr. Ingo, I think now I just want to hear how the story ends."
Ingo gave a small sigh of relief at that. Right, the story. Where was he? Oh yeah the destruction of the region.
"The dragons fought and fought, destruction and horror spread through the citizens of the region. The dragons couldn't one up their counterpart, evenly matched, because truth and ideals were as equally important. Distraught and horrified by the damage they had done, the twin heroes sealed the two dragons away in stones and began to rebuild what they had destroyed. That's the end of the story, I'm afraid."
"I don't really like that ending. It wasn't the dragons' fault."
"I don't really like the ending either, but unfortunately that's how the story ends."
"Do you think the dragons will ever put aside their fight like the heroes did?"
"Maybe. Hopefully one day."
Lian snuggled a bit closer into Ingo's tattered black coat made of a strange fabric he had never seen before, trying to make himself more comfortable on the strange seat in the strange thing Ingo called his home. The small 3 year old yawned and began to doze off. Ingo sat as still as his breathing allowed to not disturb Lian. He looked around a bit before grabbing a strange white hat and putting it on Lian's head, the big hat sloped over on his head to stay on. Ingo had only known this child shortly but had already found himself getting attached to him like a concerned parent would. Ingo would indeed return Lian to Pearl Clan in the morning to let them all know he was safe of course. But for tonight Ingo would house the small 3 year old.