Chapter 1: Legendary Child
It is said that sometime after King Hiryuu's death that the four legendary warriors, who were gifted with special abilities by the dragon Kami, left the palace to create their own lines. One went to the north, one to the south and a third was often seen flying through the skies of the west. Nobody truly knew where these men of legend went, nor what happened to any children they heired.
Ouryuu was said to have become the first priest at the palace, thus stayed longer; but even he left and was never seen or heard from again. His body was rumored to have been the strongest of the four to the point that he aged differently than the rest. It was also thought to have been turned to steel because of the dragon blood that flowed through his body.
Seiryuu was said to be able to see great distances, kill within a heartbeat and make his enemies tremble with so much fear that they died where they stood. His eyes were as beautiful as they were dangerous.
Ryokuryuu had the green scaled right leg that could kick and cause such damage to both man and land that it had become legend that it was him who had caused the man lakes and ponds that were scattered throughout Kouka. He could fly through the sky like a bird, yet his leg was strong enough to defeat any enemy.
Hakuryuu had the white scales that were rumored to be in his right arm. He had the strength of ten strong men, could tear a man limb from limb and yet was considered one of two gentle warriors, Ouryuu being the other. Like the others his hair had been turned to the color of his scales, pure white.
The search for the legendary warriors would go on for years until they were considered nothing but myth. Some hunters still search for the warriors in an attempt to bring glory to themselves. Each attempt was usually thrawted by one thing or another. As the centuries turned into a millennia hunters for these warriors became rare, until none existed in the present time.
The darkness on this night was so deep and thick that no light within any village could pierce it. With no light from the moon, coupled with a thick fog, most thieves found tonight to be a blessing; but for guardians it was about to become a nightmare.
In the village of the Hakuryuu soldiers stood watch in high towers, deep in the wood the watchers kept an eye on the forest floor. Without the aids of lanterns or torches, it was hard to see anything that moved along the forest floor. Many were tempted to just lean back against the very trees they were perched upon and sleep. Unbeknownst to them a single thief was sneaking under their very noses. As they could not see him, but he could see some of them. Moving slowly under them, the thief made it passed the guards with no trouble at all.
Once within the village the thief began to look for the richest looking home. Finding it was no problem, for it was the largest building in the entire village. Thinking that he'd struck it rich, the thief quickly rushed forward towards the home. Finding it unlocked, the thief nearly laughed with glee. Making his way into the home, he found the first level had an old woman sleeping in one of the rooms. Not finding anything of use in her room, he made his way to the next room. Stuffing his bag with silvery trinkets and gold covered dishes, the thief left this room and quietly went upstairs.
In the upstairs of the home, the thief found a room that looked to be a shrine. Here he found a box filled with gold coins. Closing the latch of the box, the thief placed it into his bag. Thinking he may have enough he began to retrace his steps until he came across the second room of the upstairs. Not believing he had looked inside, he quietly made his way into the room. He found a very large bed with a tiny child, about six years old, inside the room. The child was curled up in the middle of the bed. Lifting his lantern, the thief looked about the room, when he heard movement from the child. Turning light his way, the thief's eyes widened at what he saw in the light. Claws attached to the child's arms along with white silvery scales and long white hair that came to the child's chin.
The Hakuryuu heir.
The thief suddenly realized that no gold or treasure was any greater than what he had right in front of him. Smiling a devious smile, the thief quietly took everything out of his bag. Looking around he found something to tie and gag the child with. Quickly, he snatched the child from the bed, waking the little one up in an instant. Stuffing something in the boy's (yes boy) mouth, he tied him up. Putting the bag over the boy, he then threw the now heavy bag over his shoulder and ran for it.
Grinning like a mad man, the thief ran out of the home with no one the wiser of him being there. Running through the dark, his feet splashed through some water. Stilling, he listened but heard no one. Smile coming back in place, the thief, now turned kidnapper, ran into the forest. Not forgetting about the guards, he began making his way down the mountain path. Once again the dark night being his friend in not allowing the moon to shine through the thick black clouds that hung overhead.
The boy's muffled cries could be heard as the kidnapper ran down the mountain at record speed. He'd been lucky to even come across the mountain village. Luckier than he had thought. All he had to do was make his way to Awa Port to seek this boy to Lord Kum-ji. He laughed madly at the thought of how much gold he was going to get from the lord there. Unless...
I could sell him and his village out to Lord Yu-hon. he suddenly grinned maniacally. Shaking his head to get rid of that thought. "General Yu-hon would sooner kill them all, plus myself." Again he shook his head again. "No, I'll stick to my plan." Suddenly lightning cracked the sky open, the thief sword he saw a white dragon within the clouds. Dismissing it as nothing, the thief took off towards the road that would take him to Awa Port.
Rain began falling soon after midnight. Lightning crackling the sky with resounding booms causing the earth to quake beneath his feet. The thief, turned kidnapper gasped in surprise as he was certain he saw the head of a white dragon at the end of the rocky canyon. This time it did not vanish with the lightning, it stayed there hissing in anger. Taking a shaky step backwards, the thief/kidnapper tripped on a large rock in the road, at that moment the dragon sped forward to attack angrily at the human.
"Ah!" the man screamed before dropping his package.
The dragon turned and twisted in the air, screeching its anger for all to hear. Looking down upon the lowly human who would dare take what was not his to have. Snarling, the dragon dove straight down towards the human, it's mouth opened wide as it flew and tore the man from the earth with its maw. In a single bite the white dragon tore the man's body in half. He bled out within moments.
During the dragon Kami's fight the boy inside the sack was trying to kick open the knotted opening, the child began to roll the bag towards the edge of the cliff unknowingly. The sound of screams and rush of water was all the boy of six years could hear. Why hadn't the guards stopped this man from entering the village? Was he really that much strong than the soldiers protecting his village? Tears were falling down his cheeks. He was so scared! He wanted his father. Why hasn't father come? He is still Hakuryuu, he can defeat anybody! His chest tightened as he tried to regain his breath and calm himself.
I can't. I can't do this! he thought tearfully even as he wiggled, kicked and tried to get the rope off of his arms when suddenly he felt the material give way. Pulling his arms free, the young boy swung his dragon claw, tearing the bag open when suddenly the ground beneath him gave way and he plummeted down into the raging river below.
A splash was heard as he entered the raging waters. Kicking hard, the boy go t his head above water and gasped for air. Grasping at boulders, the side of the cliff, anything to stop him from being swept away. His young life seemed to be about to end. He could feel fear building in him. In his mind he suddenly felt that blinding yellow light rushing towards him at an astounding speed. Ouryuu? he wondered as his hand shot out of the water, tearing its way down the canyon as the rushing waves pulled him away from the edges. Suddenly he found himself pulled under as his night pants were caught by a heavy branch that was in the water. Tearing his leg away, he gave a pained gasp as the branch tore his skin.
Breaking the surface, he coughed as he tried to regain his breath only to have water splash into his face. Breath coming in quick pants as his eyes went wide when he suddenly saw something that stilled his heart. The water was coming to an end; which meant a waterfall. He felt panic hit him more than ever before as a whimper filled with fear escaped his lips and tears fell from his eyes as his small body went over the falls to his certain doom.
Morning birds sang their early songs as a one eyed older soldier rode his horse through the early morning hours along the bank of the wind tribe, near the fire tribe boarder. The river had swelled the night before and that usually meant that there would be treasures to find in the morning, though nothing had been found just yet. The soldier wasn't any person but the General and chief of the wind tribe, Son Mundok. He was really hoping to find something interesting to show his newly adopted grandson, Hak; but it would seem there was nothing of interesting this morning.
His horse suddenly came to a stop causing Mundok to notice something large on the banks of the river. Getting off of the beasts back, Mundok walked over to the mud covered lump. Pressing his foot against the lump, he heard a groan coming from it. His one good eye widened. Kneeling over the lump, he began pulling large clumps of dirt off of it until he found the face of a child who gave a gasp at having its airways cleared. Taking his water flask from his side, Mundok cleared the child's eyes and nose even more.
A single blue eye opened as a whine of pain escaped the young child's lips. Seeing that the kid was alive, Mundok took off his own cloak, covered the little one, picked him up and went to the horse. Upon getting onto the beasts back, Mundok kicked its sides and rushed back towards Fuuga.
Upon his arrival at the wind chiefs home, Mundok quickly began ordering people around. From servants getting clean clothes and warm water to clean the child with to a healer being called to tend to any wounds. Something fled strange with this child's right arm and he needed to get this child to wake up again. The only signs he had of the kid being alive was his breathing and that eye opening that one time. An older woman took the unconscious child from Mundok before disappearing into the room where the others began to convene in order to take care of the child.
With all of the commotion, Hak came waddling into the room. The almost three year old boy, rubbed his eyes of sleep before looking up at his impromptu grandfather. Not asking what was going on, Hak knew he'd be told eventually. So he stood next to the older man for a little while when suddenly the old woman, Naomi, came out with an odd look on her face.
"You need to see this." she told Mundok who looked down at Hak before nodding at him to follow. Grinning Hak joined the adults in the room before coming to a stop at what he was seeing in front of him. His eyes widening as he looked at the white haired boy with a deadly taloned white scaled right arm. The boy didn't look too much older than himself and that was shocking if he was the warrior of legends and myths.
"Hakuryuu." Mundok mumbled, his own eyes wide from shock of what he'd actually found. This discovery was more important than anything that the wind had found in the past. It was also a very dangerous discovery that could very well spark a war if the wrong people learned of this child's existence.
Outside the city, a blond haired youth stood watch hidden within the high trees surrounding Fuuga, as he waited for the right time to save his little brother
M-Angel: Thought I'd surprise everybody with the first chapter to my Kija/Yona gem story. I hope everybody liked the heart-pounding first chapter. ^_^ I will not put a chapter limit on this story because I have found that when I do, I usually go over. So this will be a surprise story! ^0^