Disclaimer: I do not own Rioichi Cooper but I own the other characters as well as the plot.
Tales of Rioichi.
The rain pounded heavily against the overgrown nature during a stormy night in Feudal Japan during the year of 1585, one of the worst thunder storms Japan was experiencing.
But our story begins in the ancient bamboo forests where we see a panda whom was dressed in a vest with golden material and matching shorts to fit around his large waist, carrying a big crate full of fish. He also wore flat a straw hat that tilted forwards upon his brow.
The panda named Zuko King walked alone in the ancient forest of bamboo while he carried some of the fish, his fishing rod hung over his shoulder, he had caught back to the village he had called a home but the rain lashed down against his bulky body, doing little to numb his body as he waded through the horrid rain that pelted against the tree's heavily abundant leaves from weather. Zuko loved this kind of weather as it always provided him with the perfect night for fishing.
"Hmmm..." Zuko muttered to himself as his eyes wandered around the sacred lush bamboo jungles of Japan "Fishing has been a delight this night." He could not help but admire the sheer beauty of his evening surroundings. The panda fisherman loved his job as a fisher man but he always desired to start a family of his own. He had a brother whom had a little girl but that made him jealous.
Zuko sighs as he placed the crate of fish he was carrying in his strong arms inside the back of a Pulled rickshaw but he began to reflect upon his life so far. It was pretty bland as a normal life goes. He and his brother were brought up by a kind mother and a noble father whom both had crucial parts in the village as the elder and baker. His parents eventually left the comforts of China to start a new life in Japan so they could stay with Zuko and keep an eye on his brother, Millan.
In this night air, there was nobody around who could even be aware that there was someone else in the forest who hid amongst a small crowd of cardboard boxes. Suddenly, a loud rumble of thunder made a child cry out in fear over the loud thunder and it was those cries that brought Zuko's attention as he ran into the bushes towards the original sound of those cries but when he made it, he found nothing.
The jungle clearings were overgrown and not very protected from the rain as the cardboard boxes were soaking wet and were just minutes away from splitting into a damp coldness. The adult panda was confused as his mind was reeling with questions. Was his self isolation taking a big toll on him as to make him hear things? Was Zuko even going mad? If not then what had he just heard? The panda listened out for the noise again after a good long while but he heard nothing and turned around to leave when he heard another rumble of the thunder above and this was followed by...sobbing?
Zuko cautiously approached one of the cardboard boxes to make a discovery that would surely change his life forever. Inside a box was a young red panda whom wore a blue outfit with baggy jeans and white sleeves but his huge rusty brown eyes were huge and very teary with fright as his bottom lip trembled with fear as his body shivered with coldness accompanied by fright of the thunder storm currently transpiring. The panda was overcome with shock at how poorly this child looked. He appeared to be 2 years of age judging by his size and incapability to talk.
He looked emaciated to the point where you could could every rib cage and count them with little effort, his fur was damp from the heavy rainfall and filthy as there were so many patches of dirt that you could barely notice what color his fur really was. The outfit he wore was baggy because of how skinny he was now and tears escaped his eyes as he clutched a huge book to his chest with what little strength he had.
The young red panda sniffed as he stayed silent while examining the creature before him in interest. This panda had this look of gentle kindness in his eyes as the young kit eyed him wearily with his nose scrunched up in distrust of the giant man who stood before him although he was admittedly afraid of the Panda. Zuko looked at the fishing rod that the kit was eyeing with hostility and instantly tossed it to the side so he could stop the glare he was receiving.
The little Red panda's eyes softened a bit as he relaxed his muscles upon knowing that this creature was not here to bring him any form of harsh punishment. Despite his insecurities melting away; the child continued to hold the huge book inside his thin, frail arms.
Zuko did not know what to do at first. It would be just plain heartless to leave the child to die out here but he couldn't leave the coon kit alone with just any stranger either as he had enough going on right now as the rain drummed against Zuko's body and while it barely effected him, the young kit closed his eyes and shivered as he curled around his body like a cat to sleep, his tail taped down to prevent him from leaving.
Zuko shook his head. It was cruel to leave such a young child alone with only a large book as comfort but it was downright evil to make sure a child could not leave his confinement.
He removed the vest he wore above and over his enlarged stomach and carefully wrapped it around the young raccoon as to not arouse him as the sleeping dirty raccoon only stirred a tiny bit before falling back to sleep, clearly exhausted from the fact that he barely had enough energy reserves to keep himself going. Zuko carried both the young child and the big book he cared for that had the interesting title of "Theivieus Raccoonus" in his arms and then shifted his tiny form and the book into one arm while the other paw grabbed the left pole designed to enable him to pull the method of transport behind him as he kept an eye on the child who held his book close.
He could not believe was he was thinking as he took the child home. It was like one of his wishes came true! He kind of hoped that the child's parents wouldn't return to reclaim him because he had kind of grown attached to the small Red panda. It was like fate had granted him one of his desires of having a child to raise his own!
It did not take very long but Zuko had made it back to the village where he found the entrance to his candle shop that was pretty much his humble abode as he swiped at the leaves covering the entry point and walked into the cavern where a desk for his business stood on the far side of the middle cavern and there were candles sat upon some shelves that hung on the walls and there was even a room beyond that one provided the perfect place to raise the child. With the fish he caught, it should be more than enough to feed two.
After making it towards his den, Zuko lit one of the japanese style lanterns hung by the door to dimly light the room in a orange glow but he placed the kit down upon the futon (which would normally where the panda slept) and watched as the kit shifted around in his sleep to get comfortable but eventually returned to his peaceful slumber as he subconsciously put a thumb into his mouth, being very young and all made him do that as he imagined being held by his mother.
The red panda gradually awoke to the smell of raw fish as he sat up with what little strength he could muster while rubbing at his tired eyes as he tried to figure out where he was. Driven by curiosity alone, the kit jumped lightly off the bed. The small child, however, was not very sturdy on his feet as he wobbled clumsily and swayed from side to side while trying to regain his balance as his feet wobbled against the floorboards. This failed.
The impact that the kit made to the floor had alerted his savior to the scene as he rushed into the room with his cleaver in his grasp and just so coincidently, more lightening flashed from the outside window to make the scene more scary as the kit instantly dived up upon the futon in desperation and buried himself under the blankets with huge frightened eyes.
Zuko sighed and threw the cleaver away to get rid of the ridiculous motion of the child believing that his rescuer was an assassin and gently approached the small red panda kit. Slowly, the fright inside the child's huge bulging eyes making it visible that his fear was unsettling.
He sniffed as he squeezed his eyes shut and broke down sobbing as Zuko instantly took the child from the futon before walking over to a recliner, sitting down upon it softly, and cradled him lovingly against his body while assuring the child that he would never be alone while he was around. Slowly but surely, the small red panda cub calmed down as he stared up at the panda bear with curious yet tearful eyes that made Zuko's kind heart sink in pity.
Now that the child was calm, Zuko thought that it was time for answers as he asked the child "What is your name, child?"
The cub leapt off the adult bear's lap and went to retrieve his book that sat upon the futon as he basically dropped underneath its weight.
Zuko could not help but chuckle as he got off the chair, picked the book off the young red panda off him before he placed it on the arm of the recliner of the chair and then went to retrieve the cub whom was having trouble getting up on his own as he scooped him up and tenderly placed him on his lap and watched as the tiny kit opened the book and after speed reading through many pages, he found the page he searched for titled 'Isamu Cooper' and pointed to her last entry at one particular paragraph.
"This is my last entry of the Thevious Raccoonus for awhile. Today I have been blessed with the sweetest child whom I have christened Rioichi. While I fear for what our family enemy would do once he finds out, I also have fear of what my mate will do. He threatened to harm our baby if he ever broke out of jail. I only hope that the day when Tai breaks out of prison will be one Rioichi escapes unharmed."
Zuko had to admit that Isamu, the child's mother, had very neat hand writing and he saw as the red panda kit pointed to the one word 'Rioichi' as if silently telling him his name. The child was actually very bright for the age of 2. Zuko tickled Rioichi's chin playfully as he asked "Your name is 'Rioichi' correct?"
The young red panda smiled and giggled to confirm this as he tried to move away from his ticklish spot but he got tired quickly as Zuko decided to get Rioichi fed and bathed before he fell asleep. The cub needed to be clean and not be starved before he slept otherwise he would feel bad if he didn't.
It wasn't hard to get Rioichi a place to sit as he got a high stool and put the cushion underneath him so the young child wouldn't get sore from sitting uncomfortably upon a chair for a long 10 minutes and Zuko grabbed a lower foot stool for himself as he sat down upon it and used a pair of chopsticks to plop some meaty cube chunk from the fish into the child's mouth. It was not too small so he could choke on it but it wasn't so big either as to get stuck in his throat.
The dirty yet soaking wet cub chewed it for a moment to savour the flavour and once he swallowed the fish, Rioichi made a noise of enjoyment as he opened his mouth for more which Zuko gladly obliged. The adult panda then realised that this was the first time the kit had anything to enjoy for awhile.
Even though he was clearly starving, he was still so calm and collected! He was really patient with both him and food and that's what really made the fisher man panda proud of the cub but knew that judging by the sleepy look he was getting, Zuko knew it was time for a bath as he once again picked up the red panda kit and carried him towards the bathroom where Rioichi curiously looked at his surroundings with his bushy tail whipping about in hyperactivity but his chin rested upon Zuko's shoulder as he was put down to sit on the floor and watched as Zuko turned the top of the bath to put some hot water in the round shape the inside made.
Very soon the bowl was filled with perfect heated water as he tested it by dipping a finger inside the clear waters. Once Rioichi had his clothing removed that made him look like a fur ball more than anything and as he was lowered into the waters, young Rioichi flinched in fear of the soaking substance that was water as he desperately squirmed and kicked to get away but Zuko had a tight grasp on him although not to tight to cause him any harm.
Zuko removed his straw hat to show that he was getting serious and quickly lowered Rioichi into the water and within that one movement, Rioichi calmed down all together as his fear was replaced with endless curiosity as he noticed that he was surrounded by a nice foam-like substance that further intrigued him and he curiously touched a small finger to one of the many bubbles that originated from the foam but it burst at his touch and this made the kit gasp in shock as his ears lowered in disappointment at the bubble popping.
It was then that Rioichi felt something digging at his head and it felt...rather nice. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he closed his eyes in relaxation and he let out affectionate purrs as he embraced in the gentle yet rough head message he was receiving. After completing the task of removing the tape wrapped around the kit's tail, Zuko began scrubbing most of the dirt embedded in Rioichi's scalp as it was unneeded to harm the young one's skin health and after the child was rinsed from the foam covering every inch of his body he looked like a whole new child. His russet fur was gleaming brightly as the light from the lantern touched it just so as to make Rioichi remind Zuko of a gift-wrapped present complete with bow.
After Zuko had finished drying the fur ball off with a towel, Rioichi's fur stuck out so much that he resembled a furry pom-pom with a grumpy face. Rioichi shook off his body rapidly to get the remaining water off his slick coat and to get his fur to stop making him look like a fuzzy pom pom. Once it was back to normal, Zuko wrapped the red panda kit up in a flannel towel and took him back into the bedroom, put him down on the futon and re-dressed him in his clothing as he had no pajamas yet. Rioichi rubbed at his eyes sleepily as he let out a large yawn and even fell fast asleep within 4 seconds.
The panda fisherman smiled at the red panda cub and retrieved his cleaver so he could return it to the kitchen where it belongs. The adult panda thought of how this special night had changed him. Before this he was someone whom had kept himself isolated from the world without much peace except for fishing. Now, because of this sweet little child, his perspective on life had changed dramatically as he finally returned the cleaver inside the drawer that contained his food-related tools. The adult panda yawned as he returned to the bedroom and found Rioichi curled up but he seemed to have budged over, kindly giving him access to climb in with him.
The panda blew out the flame that lit the room in an amber glow before he went to join Rioichi.
Zuko's heart melted at the sight of the kit made innocent squeaks of delight in his sleep, as if the was wanting the panda by his side and he happily obliged as he removed his straw hat while placing it on top of the wardrobe so he could get it in the morning as he climbed on to the futon and allowing the small red panda toddler to snuggle with him and it felt great.
As the panda's mind finally carried him off into a fine sleep, he swore to look after the child with his life.
A/N: Thats the end of prologue to the origin story of Rioichi Cooper. Why did his parents abandon him? Why did his mother leave him? What will happen to Rioichi next?
And before you ask, Yes: I have named Rioichi's adopted father after Prince Zuko from Avatar the last airbender.
Where did I get this idea? Well, I discovered a statue of a panda outside Rioichi's sushi shop. You may or may not have noticed it but I did and decided to take that. I am also working on a Slythunkhamen the first origin story.
Tomorrow it is also my Birthday! I am very excited about it. During the weekend, I had my birthday party! Anyways, again, don't expect any reviews but I will try and update asap.
Please review and let me know what you think of this, please. I would also like you to guess whom Zuko is related to. It should be quite obvious. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this!
-Chloemcg