Hokinsha- disease carrier

Shinto-rice god- servants of Inari (rice deity)are usually foxes hence the fox sculptures

Guuji-chief priests

Banzan- indestructible mountains

Kanshin- open heart and mind

Hokinsha Hikari let himself be carried through the doors of the Shinto shrine, each of his arms held firmly in place by two of the villages' best guuji, as the polished white fox carvings eyed him impassively. "I can assure you that this is quite unnecessary." The priest on the right shook his head, "It absolutely is necessary. All of your symptoms match– insomnia, constantly cold hands, and no appetite…and of course the incident with your father confirms it." The blue-haired man hung his head and sighed, ignoring the reflection of the temple in the lake around them before the wood gates closed behind them.

It wasn't his fault his father had been so cruel to the White Wings, and as revenge the curse had waited until he manifested in Hokinsha before killing the boys father.

He'd hated the man too, so in a way Krad was simply doing what his master didn't have the strength to- and through that death, a bond formed between them.

The youngest heir to the Hikari clan had been terrified when he learned what was in his genes- but had still been more scared of his father, so when the curse had murdered him, he'd actually felt relieved. He could feel Krad's tentative warmth inside assessing the situation, formulating a plan to escape if these priests did somehow get him to manifest. At least the temple was beautiful- it was made of hardy wood and white paint, and the gutters curved upwards at the ends as if the building had horns. He placed a hand on his chest, over the fine silk shirt, and thought to his other self reassuringly, ~These men will not harm us- they are priests.~ and Krad replied moodily, Correction- I will not let these men harm us. If they had any inkling of what than man inflicted upon us they would leave us- His magic flared up and Hokinsha felt his blue eyes stain with bright gold, like cold water seeping across his corneas. He glanced away from the priests and to the ground, ~Krad!~ and the White Wings let his magic drain away. My apologies. Thinking about him…upsets me. His Tamer sent him calming thoughts and felt the entity within him relax. The blunette liked it best when his other half was relaxed, a soft little reflection of himself within his chest. It used to freak him out even when Krad was asleep, the knowledge that there was a completely separate person in him, but now it barely registered. He then looked at the many levels of workers within the temple with a touch of envy. They were all so…whole, at balance with themselves, at peace, and assured that their lives would simply go on as they always had, forever…

" This way." One or the other of them said to the Hikari gently, and he was led over well-swept porches until they reached a very secluded room near the back of the temple. It was plain, with white walls a wood floor and a simple silk-stuffed futon and pillows in one section. "Please lie down." Something sharp hit his nose and he noticed that in both corners of the room fine wraps of sage were being burned, to create a cleansed atmosphere. Krad stirred inside him nervously- he'd always hated that smell, although it was probably because he'd been struck by lightning once while flying through an incredible desert storm, and for weeks he couldn't smell anything but sage and the burned scent of his own feathers. Hokinsha did and the Buddhist began wrapping his wrists and ankles together with thick white fabric decorated with curling Buddhist scriptures. "We apologize for this inconvenience, but from what we can gather about this spirit, he is aggressive and unpredictable."

I prefer outspoken and spontaneous. Krad murmured, assessing the magic within the strips of cloth. It was strong but he could probably break through it if worse came to worse. The two priests gathered around him and introduced themselves as Banzan on the left and Kanshin on the right. "Now then, how often do you think this spirit takes control of your form?" Kanshin asked, his young eyes shining with interest.

"I'm not possessed." Hokinsha tried to explain again.

"It is a 'curse' dealt to the first sons in my family. It has been this way for generations. Please let us continue to handle it as best we can." They both shook their heads. "Your father has created some of the most profitable and memorable artworks in this land. For such a 'curse' to take such action against a Hikari himself…

It must be very angry." Kanshin picked up a small clay bottle Hokinsha hadn't noticed before and poured a small portion of the contents into a shallow bowl, then handed the warm cup to Krad's tamer gently. "Drink this. It aids in clearing the mind." The blunette took a small sip and, finding it quite hot and good, drank deeper.

It burned down his throat and esophagus like sake and suddenly he felt the change coursing through him with that heat, making him drop the cup and automatically grip his shoulders. "Wait- you don't-" Banzan caught the glaze of yellow in his eyes and as Hokinsha unwillingly transformed from the drug he'd ingested the priest wrapped a much thicker restraint around his reshaping chest and thighs, tying them underneath the bed. They watched as his short locks grew and trailed down his back in long golden strands- as his body matured from that of a slim fifteen year old to that of a man's, his chest widening and his biceps maturing like knotted ropes under ivory skin. He considered bringing out his wings, but he truly liked this tamer and decided against it, merely letting them rest against the skin of his back instead if he needed them. The sutras irritated him- they conflicted with his own magic and blocked him from summoning a large amount of magic at one time- he'd have to siphon them out in manageable pieces instead. He stared up at the two priests impassively, his eyes like beaten copper, and they both stared right back at the White Wings, the curse of the Hikari family. "Is this your true form, spirit?" Banzan asked, his voice low and gravely with age.

He was concerned- he'd never seen a spirit manifest in this way before and for it to actually change Hokinsha's body it had to be powerful.

"It is not."Krad answered smoothly as he began to work on the sutras, his magic eating away at the black writing and making the cloth smoke.

"My true form harms my Tamers greatly. In fact I've only manifested it once and it almost killed the Hikari." As soon as the writing began to disappear the cloth tightened around his body and the drink inside his stomach suddenly sickened him, making him want to vomit but residing resolutely in his gut like tar. He called his magic back and immediately the adverse effects stopped. "What is it that you have given my Master, exactly?" Banzan brushed question off with,

"A drink that helps keep the balances of your body in sync." and added, "Now, why did you kill Hokinsha's father? If you are truly a curse carried through the generations you would be grateful that he produced an heir for you to reside in." Krad's eyes switched from calm amber-brown to a fetid yellow and he snarled viciously. "The only thing I am grateful to that man for is the fact he died by our hands!" He began to struggle and press against the bonds in his frenzy,

"Let me be! That man gave us more scars than years you have walked the earth!" and Banzan dipped a gnarled hand into Hokinsha's half- full cup and then lay it against Krad's sleek collarbones, pushing him back onto the mat in the process. "Ssh- I'm sorry, We did not mean to pry, merely to understand." The blonde bared his teeth, "Im-" then let them slacken as the liquid sank into his perfect skin. It tingled and almost stung and then he felt his body and mind suddenly relaxing. In a few seconds his spine was flat against the mat once more and his magic had dimmed to a mere thrum in his chest.

As his magic died down he became aware of another odd sensation- his anger had disappeared with it. Usually he liked to let it fester. Kanshin watched him nervously and hung back until the low growl in the back of Krad's throat subsided and his eyes changed to a muddled yellowish-grey. "What is that you've given him?" He asked his superior and Banzan replied softly, "Blessed water with a touch of lavender. In evil spirits it drives them out, but I sincerely doubt …he is an entity we've ever encountered before." The elder priest waited until that intelligent flicker came back to his eyes and asked tentatively, "Why are you so-dissatisfied and restless if you are merely a curse as you say, spirit?" Krad snorted and slowly tried to rub off some of the water, but his limbs felt like lead and it had already done its work.

"My 'title' is Krad, and contrary to belief I have the same wants and desires of the soul as you humans." Krad closed his eyes for just a moment to rest them, then snapped them open again and eyed them both warily. Banzan touched his hands to his lips thoughtfully. "You desire something that you cannot have?" A single strand of woven gold trickled across his shoulder as his head moved to say, "No. I merely wish to have what I was entitled to at my creation. A body and my freedom." It was clear that he was a little out of it- as he spoke his eyes seemed to glaze further, although it may just have been from the intensity of his desire. He didn't know why he was telling these lowly humans this but suspected it had something to do with the purified water. To stop himself he closed his mouth and swallowed lightly. He needed to get out of here. These people couldn't help him and were fools for even presuming they could-he lifted his lip in a snarl and began attacking the paper sutras again. "Stop, stop, stop…"

Banzan muttered and dipped his palm into the water again, somehow managed to slap his palm across Krad's eyes and force him down just as his magic disintegrated one of the paper restraints. Krad hissed and thrashed, "How dare you-" and his wings bulged underneath his thin shirt. A long catlike hiss emanated from his throat and his canines suddenly became more prominent, but Banzan held firm even as a layer of fine white scales appeared on Krad's hands. White Wings hands grabbed his singular arm and was about to wrench the old bone from its socket when the liquid sank into the thin skin of his eyes. His grip slackened, faded and finally ceased altogether and the scaling on his hands and longer canines also disappeared. He let out a confused noise that trailed off. His magic was fading, fading…and along with it that desire to escape…Krad's finely-shaped lips closed and his hands curled in relaxation as the strange water took effect. Quite frankly, he was scared now.

His magic had basically been completely negated by this- this water and in addition, it was affecting his mood drastically. Despite its calming effect his heart beat loudly in his chest as Kanshin asked despite himself, "Are you in any way connected to that phantom thief…?" The blonde laughed and it echoed in the room like the tinkling of a low bell and with reluctance Banzan removed his hands. The entity's eyes were now a very pale grey. "'Connected?' Why yes, you could say that we are. We were…"

His eyes unfocused again and as he spoke he seemed to be hearing himself from far away, "…should have been…closer than 'brothers' or the other feeble names humans give for it- were merely the raw material of what was to be a perfect being and then that ridiculous Niwa came and…" he smiled but it didn't register any happiness whatsoever.

"…As we awoke and I took on that Hikari's body, would you like to know the first activity I did?" Without receiving an answer he continued in that same blank tone.
"I realized that body wasn't mine, turned around to face the back canvas that should have been filled, and cried like a child." His wings reacted to his strong emotions and begged to be set free but he restrained them. Of course he neglected to mention what happened once Dark woke up.

He'd hauled Krad to his feet by the collar and snarled, "Stop bein' such a pussy. A life's a life, ain't it?" Then of course the blonde had punched him, and they had rolled on the floor wrestling until the phantom broke free. He then smirked at Krad with blood on the corner of his lip. "Now that's more like it."

They got along pretty well after that. For a while.

"Can you…I suppose you could not understand the feeling- to be born, and then to realize everything- your hopes and dreams- have been taken. Your very life has been twisted into something barely worth the trouble of its time. I can have no family, no body with which to do as I please- I must obey another's command at all times, never to have a free silent moment to myself, and the only being in the world who shares this predicament…Does not acknowledge me simply because I have told him that loving your species is useless."

He snorted softly and almost closed his eyes but spoke in a whisper. "In this world there is only us. He and I, light and shadow. Humans are like- dogs or cats in my mind…occasionally touching or significant but compared to our time? They all die and within years it seems, to us. We exist, and no one else." His eyebrows drew together. "If only I could make him understand…If only I could make him see that they are not worth the time- that I…" He finished the sentence with a simple

I… am so tired of the fighting. So goddamn lonely… His thoughts trailed off and magic seeped back into his eyes, turning them the familiar wolf-yellow.

"Do you believe in angels, Banzan." The Buddist shook his head. "In the Christian and Catholic sense, no. I believe in messengers-" Krad built up his wings underneath Hokinsha's skin slowly, apologizing deeply and promising once they were in the air, he would give him full control. He let the human body encase them in a thin clear fluid- it helped ease them passing through the skin, and then Kanshin noticed the two bulges. "What-" But before he could finish White Wings released and spread them in the tiny wooden room, filling the space with virgin white feathers, still wet.

"Perhaps you should." He them let his power build, overflow the remaining sutra and launched himself into the air, busting a hole straight out of the shrine and escaping in a few, simple strokes of his wings. Shards off wood and feathers rained down on the priests as they sought shelter and the winged being escaped into the dark mistress that was the night. You didn't kill them… Hokinsha said softly, his voice still hoarse from the pain of the new wings and Krad murmured, You did not wish it. and even though they stayed in his form, Hokinsha was suddenly set in the forefront of this new body. He gasped and startled, nearly falling out of the sky before his other half snorted and forced his wings out straight.

Nice. Hokinsha flushed, took in a deep breath of the cold night air and took in the landscape spread like a map underneath him.

He could see his own reflection in the water-drowned rice fields and nearly fell out of the sky all over again. His wings were in a word—enormous. They stood out as two siren-loud splashes of white in the black sky. The roots of them still stung, of course, but with a view like this he hardly even felt the pain. This is…

His other half smirked and a minimal part of Krad enjoyed the feeling of pleasing his tamer. It certainly didn't happen often. Once they landed the stinging tenderness of the skin on his back set in and he retracted the appendages sadly. Do not worry, master. We will be using them again soon enough. The angel's voice was raspy and strained in Hokinsha's mind and as he slid into bed he asked, Are you okay? There was a grating laugh. Krad then tucked his gold-embroidered robes around himself and folded his wings over his body within the white space of Hokinsha's psyche. I'm not going to pretend that the …potion they made us drink hasn't affected me. You will probably not hear from me again for a few days.

His wing master pulled the sheets up to his head and put a hand against his chest.

"Just so you know…To me, you aren't a 'curse'." Privately, he added, You remind me of…an older brother that never existed. Just as he'd reached the border between sleeping and waking, he heard Krad's voice, so faint he may have just imagined it.

Thank you.

Around midnight, just as his power was beginning to return, he projected his form on the side of the little Hikari's bed. His legs were clad in white and folded to one side and his wheaten hair hung loosely around his neck. For the first time he could remember he wanted to give affection to a Hikari, but… Instead he put his palm on the boy's blue locks and let his hand rest there. If he pretended, the boy could feel the weight and warmth of his hand, and Krad could feel the texture of his hair. He could pretend that they really were brothers, and that a pair of wings didn't rest between his shoulder blades, and that the color of his eyes wasn't comparable to a feral animal.

He could pretend, just for this moment, that he was human.

And their came to be a legend that out of his entire Tamer's, Krad gave one human, just one, the ability to his wings whenever they wished, and they would fly through the sky together as equals. But of course this soon became a myth, and then merely wishful thinking, and somewhere through the long record of Hikari history, was lost altogether.