The morning air was still, almost eerie, around the old temple. It almost seemed as if the very trees themselves were holding there breath.
A young girl, no older then four, hopped and skipped up the long stairway. Sunlight filtered through the still trees, lighting patterns along the path. The girl giggled as she paused halfway up the six-mile trek to pick up a pretty violet stone. The stone matched the girl's eyes, the same eyes as her mother.
She smoothed a piece of scarlet red hair behind her ear, out of her face. With a newly brightened smile she tucked the stone into her pocket and continued on her way. The stone bounced about loosely in the girl's peacoat pocket. The black coat was much to big for her, but it was one of the few her grandmother had sent to her from America.
A sudden chill of cold air rushed past the child, knocking her back on her bum. A sharp pain spiked up the child's back and continued down again. Unbeknownst to her, she had landed rather harshly on her tailbone. After a few seconds she managed to blink back the tears and continue up the steps. She was over halfway there now.
With a sniffle and a wipe of the eyes, the girl paused to take a brake on a nearby stone bench. She checked to make sure the stone was still in her pocket, and it was. That fact brought a small smile back onto the little girl's face. With renewed hope she hopped off the bench and raced the rest of the way up the steps.
Huffing, the scarlet haired little girl attempted to regain her breath as she leaned on the entryway to the temple. Her light blue kimono had specks of dirt on the cloud designs, and she quickly brushed them away. Her feet ached from wearing her new school shoes, but her mother told her she had to break them in. She sighed and stood up again, proud she had made it.
She stumbled up to the old temple and was amazed. It was unlike anything she could've imagined! The place seemed as if it had once been an ancient monastery, but she didn't know that. All the buildings were painted white with red trimming and boarders. The paint was fresh and the girl recalled her father mentioning having someone come by to repair and clean the place. He said it was to honor the great guardian who rests inside the walls of the main temple.
The little girl felt a wide smile crack its way onto her face as she sprinted towards the middle of the grounds, heading towards the guardian's resting place. Quietly, for she felt the need to be quiet, she slowly opened the outer door towards the worshipping room. The whole temple itself looked like a combination of Japanese tradition and some odd American twist, not that she minded.
At the head of the room was a raised platform, and on it was the statue of a boy. The boy was completely stone in color, but she could still distinguish where he began and his clothes ended. He seemed to be wearing something similar to a priestess's outfit, only for males. Around his neck was a strange charmed necklace; only the center, seemingly a pearl, remained unpetrified.
The girl knelt and bowed as she was taught, but somehow the action felt wrong. Ignoring one's instincts is not something a child normally does. She stood and walked closer to the boy. On top of his head were two dog ears. The girl's eyes violet orbs brightened as her fingers traced the petrified flesh. She now knew why her father called him the Guardian Dog. He was an Inu.
"Hello Mister Inu! My name is Doragon Asahi. My daddy takes care of your home here! He sends people to clean it up for you! Mommy says you're a 'Hanyou'. She also says you can hear me. Can you? I have to start school this spring. I really don't want to because I think the other kids will be mean to me. I don't have any friends. Will you be my friend Mr. Inu Hanyou?" Asahi smiled up at the statue. She knew he couldn't answer her, but it didn't matter. She was going to be friends with the pretty boy statue anyway.
"I have a present for you! It's rock! It's the same color as my eyes! I found it here, before the wind knocked me down! You can have it!" Asahi approached the statue and placed the stone in the boy's lap. The boy seemed older than what she originally thought. He could've been a teenager like her cousin, or maybe the dog part of him kept him young forever.
A blush crept up on Asahi's cheeks. She had fallen in love with the frozen remains of a boy from another time. As a child she couldn't recognize these feelings, so she simply hugged the boy's arm before heading towards the door.
"I'll see you later, Mr. Inu Hanyou." She called behind her.