Prologue - Washed up
A black-tailed gull glided over Toyama Bay. One eye scanned for the shadows of fish beneath the waves. The other remained on the dark shape bobbing up and down near the shore. It had been there since the afternoon. Finally, an hour after dusk, rocks snagged the thing and held it. When the water receded and exposed it completely, the gull saw that it was a human.
Humans didn't usually frequent the beach at night, and never on this side of the rocks, but the gull knew that where humans were, there was food. Perhaps this one would feed him, he thought. He landed next to it and prodded it with his bill. There was no response. Maybe it was dead. He hopped onto the human's belly to get a closer look. One of its hands was wrapped around something in a fist. Food? He pecked at the fingers to try to loosen its grip, and was sprayed with seawater as his perch spasmed. He beat his wings, startled. The human turned over, clutching the algae-covered rocks, and threw up. Anything that smelled like that was definitely not food. The seagull squawked and turned tail, disgusted.
The human, a young man with long black hair and pale skin, rolled onto his back and lay still between coughing fits, relieved just to be breathing. His hair and clothes were plastered to his body, and he was bleeding where the rocks had scratched him. The salt stung. He brought his fist up to his face to examine the object he held. It was a pearlescent orb the size of a large marble. It was hard to believe that something this small was the source of the Dragon King's authority and power.
Keep it safe, his father had said.
You have too much faith in me. Haku replied silently. He could imagine Shika's voice in his head. Your first day as a human and you almost drown… and to think you were a water spirit in a past life. He groaned.
A/N You asked for it, and you got it. This will update as it's written. I have no idea what the schedule will be like. Thanks for all of your encouragement, and I hope to hear your thoughts and criticisms in the reviews so that even though this will be a first draft, hopefully it'll be decent haha :)