The Roses Prelude to the Fire (Ano Bara Jokyoku no sono Hi)
Chapter 1
It was summer in Makai and the scent of demon blood was thick in the air, Lady Kizuna was out on the archery field practicing for her competition next week. She picked up another mahogany arrow and strung it onto her silver long bow. It was a beautiful bow, a gift from her brother Lord Kurama, it had emerald leaves engraved with gold outlining along with ruby studded roses, her name engraved with jade inlay on the inside. She shot the arrow straight into the middle of the target; when she looked down at her quiver discovering it was empty, she walked across the field to retrieve her arrows, her hair catching the black rays of the Makai sun and shimmering red for a brief moment before returning to her normal amber brown, her dress snagging on a blackspawne bush.
"This was my favorite dress, too." Kizuna exclaimed as she tried to get the dress off the nasty snag without ripping it and failed miserably tearing the dress. "Damnit." She said angrily and for a good reason, it was one her best dresses, it was lavender silk with opal and aquamarine stones lining the sleeves, collar, and bottom of the dress. The dress was backless with silver ribbons in the back to keep it laced together; with an irregular cut in the front exposing her beautiful creamy white shoulders. The dress nicely complimented her figure and her skin tone.
Lady Kizuna was a beautiful maiden in her human form. She had curly flowing amber brown hair that came mid-back, with flecks of red in it that only appeared when hit by sunlight at the right angle, her eyes were jade green with tinges of yellow or brown depending on her mood. Her dainty red fire lips, that would make any man go mad just thinking about kissing them, light colored freckles decorated her cheeks and nose, which complimented her very pale complexion and stood at a height of 5'8", weighing about 130 pounds. She was only 16 years of age and very sweet and kind, with a very kindred spirit, but who could expect any less from the sister of Lord Kurama.
She put the retrieved arrows back in the quiver, picked up her equipment and headed back to the castle. When she got to the castle gates she found her brother there with a boy who seemed strangely familiar. Kizuna studied the boy as she walked closer. He was tall about 6'0" with long blonde hair about shoulder length with a slight curl to it. His eyes were crystal blue and his complexion was pale like that of alabaster. He was wearing a royal blue tunic with a gold lining, which set off the color of his eyes perfectly. Kizuna's eyes wandered down slightly to see his black leather pants that showed his delicious curves, she licked her lips subconsciously at the thought of what beautiful things lied underneath the man's shirt.
"Hello, brother." Kizuna said as she walked by Kurama, into the castle.
"Kizuna…" Kurama called out but she had already gone inside the castle.
As she walked in Djibril and Ibris were there to greet her, the latter of the two twins took Kizuna's equipment and left the room to go put it away. Kizuna turned her attention toward the raven-haired man as Ibris left the room.
"Who's the dragon demon?" Kizuna asked as she looked into Djibril's blue almost black eyes.
"You mean Ryu?" Djibril questioned, as he watched Kizuna bend over and start fussing over her dress.
"Yes, Ryu." Kizuna said smugly looking at the nasty tear the blackspawne had left, "Damn bush." She mumbled angrily.
"Kurama and Azrael bought him from a slave owner, rescued him really, it's a shame though." Djibril said solemnly.
"What is?" Kizuna questioned as she stopped fussing with her dress and gave her full attention to Djibril.
"His wings… they've been clipped." Djibril answered.
Kizuna gasped a little at that, the clipping of a dragon's wings is a sign that he has caused great dishonor in the dragon tribe.
"What was his crime?" Kizuna asked timidly not wanting to know the reason why, but was curious nonetheless.
"It really is a sad story, but I don't think we should tell you." Ibris answered as he re-entered the room and sat down in one of the red velvet lounging chairs nearby.
Kizuna sat down as well, while Djibril moved behind the chair his brother was sitting in and stood with an arm on Ibris' shoulder.
"Please tell me." Kizuna pleaded.
"Do you remember that dragon colony we traveled through a while back?" Djibril asked.
"Yes, sort of." Kizuna answered.
"Well then you know that inbreeding in that particular tribe of dragons is a crime." Ibris explained softly almost gently.
Kizuna picked up on Ibris' delicate nature in this situation and became alert to the fact that they weren't telling her something.
"What are you not telling me?" Kizuna asked suspiciously.
"Remember that dragon that you became infatuated with, you know the one with the tri-colored wings?" Djibril asked.
"Yes…why?" Kizuna thought back and then it dawned on her. "Don't tell me!" she exclaimed.
"He was a little bit more than infatuated with you, and told the council he was going to leave to pursue your heart, I think you can figure out the rest without us telling you." Ibris said somberly bowing his head.
"They clipped his wings and sold him to a slave trader…" Kizuna said sadly. "And it's entirely my fault." Kizuna added before running up the stairs to her room and slamming the door behind her.
"That went well." Djibril smiled.
"Brother!" Ibris exclaimed slapping Djibril's arm playfully. "That went horribly." Ibris said, saddened at the fact that he had indirectly made Kizuna upset.
"What went horribly?" Kurama questioned.
"Nothing." Djibril and Ibris lied in unison.
"You told her didn't you?" Kurama asked. Ibris and Djibril stayed silent. "Damnit, you two!" Kurama exclaimed angrily. "Azrael didn't want her to know for a reason, she's extremely unstable right now she is about to gain another tail and we have to make sure it isn't infused with dark reiki. This rebirth of energy could lead to her rise or her fall." Kurama explained calming down.
"We didn't know we swear." Ibris defended. "Right Djibril?"
"Actually…" Djibril trailed off, Ibris looked at Djibril disappointment evident in his beautiful transparent eyes.
"You two should know better than anyone else not to mess with one of Azrael's Chosen." Hiei said as he walked into the room with Azrael.
"What about Kizuna?" Azrael asked as Lorcán followed Azrael into the room and hugged him from behind.
"Djibril and Ibris told her about Ryu." Hiei stated.
"You did what? Where is she?" Azrael questioned worried and angry. "I would expect this from you Djibril, but you Ibris?!" Azrael started to panic a little. "And in the state she's in."
"She went up to her room brother." Ibris stated. With that Azrael was gone in a flash.
"Nice one idiots." Lorcán stated. "Now you have my little Azrael in a panic. I should hurt you both." Soon as that statement came out of his mouth he regretted it when he saw the look on Ibris' face. "Ibris I don't blame you, it wasn't your fault as much as it was Djibril's" Lorcán said trying to comfort the saddened twin. "Hey, by the way, has anyone seen Atemu or that Ryu kid?" Lorcán asked brushing a lonely piece of his golden hair out of his face.
"That's a good question, I haven't seen Atemu all morning and Ryu was here a moment ago, but it seems he too has disappeared." Kurama answered.
Just then Azrael came rushing down the stairs frantic. "She's not in her room, she's not even in the castle, I can't sense her aura anywhere." He said in a panic. Lorcán moved towards Azrael and pulled him into his arms.
"Everything is alright, we'll find her." Lorcán said reassuringly.
"We have to find her she is extremely weak and vulnerable." Kurama said.
"How is that different from any other day?" Djibril laughed.
"Brother!" Ibris exclaimed, giving Djibril a glare that could knock the smirk off a clown's face.
"When Kurama gained his two extra tails his spirit energy flared out of control and then weakened completely to nothing." Hiei stated.
"When Konosuke gained his tails the same happened to him, but the difference between Kurama, Konosuke, and Kizuna is..." Azrael cut-off burrowing himself in Lorcán's comforting embrace.
"Kizuna isn't stable in any sense of the word." Ibris continued for Azrael.
"Exactly." Lorcán replied snuggling Azrael like some cute stuffed animal.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Hiei asked. "If her spirit energy has already dropped we won't be able to sense her and vice versa."
"He has a point." Kurama agreed. "This could prove to be very difficult."
"Ah yes but you forget we have Puppy Azrael and he is a great tracker he can just sniff her out." Lorcán suggested.
"We shall wait for Atemu to return and then we'll all set out to look for her before she ends up in the wrong hands." Azrael stated lazily falling asleep in Lorcán's warm embrace.
"I agree with Azrael." Kurama stated.
"So now all we can do is wait." Lorcán said scooping the sleepy Azrael into his arms.
"We may not have to wait that long, you forget Atemu is my other half." Azrael said with a smile.
Meanwhile in the Black Forest……