Enter SHUN of the TWELVE KINGDOMS


Hana's job was, pure and simple, to take care of one thing: the Hakuchi.

Of course, there were other things that she had to do, and they were not as important as the one task that was given to her. But no matter how important it was labeled, she still thought it the most boring job in the entire existence of all the kingdoms of her world. All she really had to do was watch over a bird, take care of its needs and what not, but still just watch it.

For one hundred and fifty years she'd been watching it, faithfully, everyday.

Everyday…she thought irritably.

Nothing changed, all it ever did was eat, sleep, and essentially sit there, which, when all was said and done, was a good thing, a great thing. But that made the job all the more boring.

As Hana took a flowered vase from the Hakuchi's chamber, she clucked her tongue at the bird. For a moment it stopped grooming itself to give her a sparing glance.

"How are you doing today, Hakushun?" she asked sweetly to the beautiful creature. Every bird was called a Hakuchi, but each Hakuchi had a different name which represented their kingdom. The chi was dropped and the bird was given the surname of their kingdom. In this case this Hakuchi belonged to the kingdom of Shun, a rather stable kingdom famous for medicinal water.

Hana was only mildly curious about the state of Shun. It wasn't her job to know any specifics.

The bird stared at her a moment before going back to tending his snowy green feathers edged in gold. Hana rolled her eyes before walking out of the sun-bathed room that any other bird would have envied. It was a great room with a vaulted ceiling, which was riddled with windows that allowed light to cascade down and light all corners. Ivy and various flowering vines wove and criss-crossed the stone walls and hung gracefully from the ceiling. A natural spring flowed within the room and allowed soothing water to transverse the space. It was a beautiful gilded cage, but still a cage none-the-less.

The Hakuchi didn't seem to mind its captivity. In fact it seemed to quite enjoy it since it readily showed its appreciation by harassing its keeper. It was its only joy, one nyosen had told her when she had complained.

One joy indeed.

She gave it a scathing glance before sticking her tongue out at it then left, the vase in hand. She arrived at the water room and settled down on her knees, removing the near wilting flowers.

"Hana!" exclaimed a vibrant feminine voice.

Hana glanced up at her name, never stopping her task of arranging the new flowers for the vase. The fleeting thought of why a bird needed fresh flowers in its room whirled in her mind. Again. How many times had she changed out flowers anyway? Too many in her life time to care to remember.

"Ruka," Hana smiled, "What brings you here?"

"Oh," she began enthusiastically, "The Mistress wanted a new arrangement so I volunteered for the task. I see you've got the same assignment." She giggled.

"Yes, these were wilting so I took it upon myself to change them before I was scolded for not noticing sooner." Hana smiled, her face hurting from smiling so broadly. If you were not smiling in front of Ruka she would assume that something disastrous was amiss. She would never stop bothering you if she thought in any way you were unhappy. You could not talk seriously with her either. She was about as fluttery as the wind, or a schizophrenic butterfly, but she always meant well.

"I'll say, it's rather strange to see you away from the Hakuchi, is it well?" Ruka bubbled.

"Yes, Hakushun is well, still the same arrogant bird he always is." Hana laughed a bit, to relax her face muscles. Did Ruka notice that her lips were twitching? She hid her face a bit while arranging the flowers, which was convenient.

As a sen-nin, Hana thought that interesting things would happen in her life, things that she would never forget, not this droll rolling of days that was her current life. At dawn each day she awoke and dressed, ate a humble breakfast with her fellow sisters and returned to her room to make sure it was in order. Then she would return to Hakushun where she would clean his cage and remedy anything that went askew during the night. After that she would tend to the bird itself, make sure it ate its breakfast, clipped his talons, lathered and oiled his exposed legs to make sure they didn't dry out or flake. That in and of itself was quite a job since the obstinate creature often lashed out at her when she least expected it. After all her minuscule chores for the bird were done she would break for lunch and continue to watch and clean up after the bird. The entire job was tediously slow when it came to time, as in it crawled by as if it were on its hands and knees with a ball and chain attached, going up hill of course.

Hana's hands quickly arranged a full bouquet of fresh flowers. Before putting them in she dumped the old dirty water out and refilled the vase.

"So did you hear the news?" Ruka began her gushing, she loved to talk, and nothing could stop her from gossiping. She talked animatedly and Hana chimed in at the appropriate times with the correct responses. Let her indulge herself, Hana thought, most of the time Ruka couldn't contain her nature.

Once the flowers were ready and set Hana got to her knees and lifted the now heavier vase.

"I've got to go for now Ruka, but later, can we talk? I would like to catch up with you more. Maybe at dinner." Hana chirped and made her way out of the water chamber.

Ruka pouted a bit at her leaving but loved the invitation, she smiled ecstatically, "Alright Hana, dinner would be perfect, I'll tell you the rest then."

Hana walked briskly back to the Hakuchi's chamber with an inner sigh of relief echoing in her mind. There was only so much she could take of Ruka, and she would have to meet with her at dinner. But if she talked with her now then she could be scarce from her for a while before having to talk with her again.

She entered the room with a light smile, "Hello Hakushun, did you miss me?" she asked a bit sarcastically.

The bird shook its head at her and stared for a moment, but a slight breeze was spilling out from a near by window and it leapt at the chance to feel the wind and its caretaker was soon forgotten.

"Hello to you too," Hana wrinkled her nose a bit then smiled. It was the most arrogant bird she had ever met; it was true what she told Ruka. When she was first placed under its care the creature never even gave her a chance, chasing her out of its room squawking and screeching, flapping its wings in her face. There were feathers everywhere! Not to mention she got a few choice pecks from it too. Then it would never have anything to do with her once it knew she was going to keep coming back. Now it just calmly ignoring her very presence. The bird was positively anti-social. But then the smile froze on her face.

The Hakuchi suddenly stilled, its downy feathers ruffling and puffing. Its large luminous eyes open wide, pupils dilating.

"Hakushun?" Hana called, her voice trembling and uncertain. She had never in her entire life seen the bird act in such a way. Not even when it was angry with her did it arch its neck at such an obtuse angle that it would seem to break it.

The Hakuchi shrieked aloud, its cry shrill to the ears, then, in a voice that was clear as day, it bellowed in a deep but frightening tenor, "Dethroned!"

Hana watched as the bird fell dead to the stone floor with a sharp thud.

The Hakuchi, a bird that only cries out in a human voice only twice in a lifetime. The first cry was to signal the enthronement of a ruler. The second was to tell of their downfall.

Hana's fingers slipped and the priceless antique that she held so securely before, was allowed to fall uncaringly to the floor.

"Dead!" she wailed, staring at the horrific sight, running back the way she had come. "The Hakuchi is dead!" she screamed.

The vase shattered to the floor, water bursting from its confines and mingled with the blood that choked the Hakuchi's final cry. The swirling concoction ran the length of the cage before pooling near the spring, seeping over, and finally carried away downstream.


There is a tree hidden in the Koukai within a cave. Its roots ran deep within the earth, gnarled and strong. Its branches were bare of foliage; such a tree hidden from the sun only glimpsed the occasional lamplight. Such a source was not sufficient. The tree required no such things, not even water, the precious liquid of life. Its twisted branches curled and spread through the cave and acted like a pillar. Nothing, it would seem, could grow on such a tree, but it still bared a single fruit that was loved and protected by the gods. The tree was called the Yabouku.

The nyosen, the caretakers and keepers of Mount Houzan, tended the cave. An elderly nyosen watched the tree intently, waiting for the fruit, the ranka, upon the tree to blossom. It was her job to watch the tree for signs of life.

The ranka was a very special thing; from it all kinds of life came. With her own life, the elderly nyosen would protect the creature that grew within. She adjusted her flickering lamp and the light strengthened. Her ropey leather hard hands set the lamp back on the floor, her cracked lips pulled upward in a smile. The ranka had begun to move, to crack, to bloom. A wet dripping hand reached out from within.

"At last," her words echoed softly.

A wailing cry resounded through the bleakness. The ranka shattered and its contents spilled forth and a creature dropped to the floor, hitting with a soft thud. The creature was slicked from the protective fluid that had surrounded her.

"Interesting." The woman whispered. "The legs of a wolf, the scales of a serpent and the wings of a raven. A grand nyokai." The woman rasped.

The nyokai on the floor heaved in great gulps of air, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her humanoid body was drying on the floor. She looked as fragile as a new born babe, all soft and plush. Her eyes opened to the world and she saw only darkness. Her head turned towards the light and saw an old woman walking near.

"From the moment you are born, your destiny was set. You cannot escape it." The woman rasped. She reached out a trembling hand and touched the nyokai's face. It was deathly pale yet so full of life.

The nyokai leaned into her touch, seeking the warmth. For the longest time the nyokai lay there, unmoving, just breathing, gaining strength. Everything in her body began to awaken and come to life, leaving her mind blurred around the edges. She could not recall what she was, or even if she could actually lift her body from the soft yet firm earth beneath her.

"I shall call you Hiryun, you are the guardian of the Shun ranka," began the nyosen, bending down further to take the nyokai's clawed hands, it was covered in scales just like that of a snake's.

Hiryun glanced sharply up at the nyosen's words, pushing herself up jerkily to her feet. Something was pulling her outside, something bigger, bigger than the life that was perched before her now. Outside of this place something wondrous was waiting. It tugged at her soul, and this human that was in front of her was blocking her path.

With a sudden surge of energy she leapt away from the nyosen and unfurled her wings. Hiryun raced out of the cave and caught the first sunshine in her life, breathed fresh air for the first time; saw the world for the first time. But these experiences were over shadowed at the sight she saw before her. She beat her wings rapidly and vaulted into the air.

"Such is the fate of the nyokai," The woman sighed, smiling gently as her charge escaped her without so much as a sense of gratitude. "To serve the Shunka." But that was to be expected.

Hiryun reached the top of the highest peak where she fluttered gracefully to a landing. Her flight brought her to a tree that resembled the tree that she was born from, but this tree was infinitely more precious than her own and any other tree in the world, for there was only one like it. The Shoshinbouku bore the fruit of the rarest creature of all.

"Oh Shunki, I'm here now. There is nothing to fear, you are not alone." She whispered.

The kirin of Shun was growing inside, a sacred creature that came directly from the gods themselves.

"Shunki, I will never leave you, I will protect you always."

So Hiryun sat under the tree and stared at the yellow fruit, which held the future lord of Mount Houzan. Unbeknownst to her, Hiryun was being watched by the Mistress of the Koukai. Lady Gokuyou looked out the open windows and smiled at the waiting nyokai.

Lady Gokuyou clasped her gold encrusted hands together and said, "What a joy it is to see the nyokai of Shun so diligently watching over the Shunka. At last, the people of Shun will hear good news."

The other nyosen agreed.

Today was a good day, and hopefully many more were to come.


Alright here is the edited version of this chapter. Its a bit different from the original in the fact that there is a bit more explanation and I've changed what Hiryun looks like just a bit.

A picture of Hiryun will be posted on my profile, an updated version. And There will also be a chapter picture posted as well under my Twelve Kingdoms art section. There will be an illustration for each chapter.

Please read and review and I hope you enjoy!