Mythaven
Recap:
Joey started swimming toward the bank. Seto was quick to follow him. Once safe on the mud, he looked around again, eyes landing on a shadow moving through the trees. He grabbed the brunet's sleeve quickly. "Kaiba, do ya see that?"
"What? …Oh God, what could go wrong now?"
The shadow moved closer, showing it to be about the size of a horse, maybe a little smaller. It had lots of hair and walked on four paws. Its eyes were a bright, glowing gold. As soon as it stepped into the light, both boys found in horror that it was a very, very large golden-red canine.
The dog blinked at them, first looking at the larger teen, then the blond, then back again a few times. Then it grinned and, in a distinctly female voice, stated, "You must be Joseph. Your grandmother talked about you a lot."
Chapter 1
"M-my grandma?" Joey asked softly, only slightly unable to believe that he was talking to a giant dog.
She smiled, baring all of her sharp teeth. "Yes. Miss Larissa Cross. She informed me that she would be handing Mythaven over to you and that I should expect you." Her grin faded into a frown. "But she said not to expect you to open the book for a few years."
The blond scowled and stood up angrily. "I didn't open the book! It opened itself and sucked me in! …And sucked my friends in, too!"
"…Ooooh, dear…" The dog brought a paw to her muzzle thoughtfully. "That's bad."
"Mutt! I swear if you got me stuck in here and we have to fight our way out, I'll kill you!" Seto snarled, grabbing the blond's shirt and yanking him around to face him. "And you better hope Mokuba didn't get sucked in, too!"
The dog scowled and batted a paw at them. "Boys, please. If you want to leave, you need to find your friends. Those that came in numbers high need the same number to say goodbye."
Joey frowned. "Meanin'… we can't leave 'til we've gotten all of the others?"
She nodded. "That, or you wait for Miss Larissa to come help you. …But that may take a while. She said it might take a few years."
"Then I guess we better start looking for the others," Seto stated icily. He turned a glare on the blond next to him. "This is your fault."
"No, it's not. He had nothing to do with being sucked in." The dog snorted and shook her fur out. "This means that Akuju has sensed the return of the Golden One and is attempting to claim the Light as his own."
"'Golden One?'" the blond asked, but the older teen cut in.
"Let's just go so we can leave and you can come back later by yourself!"
"Calm down, calm down," she sighed, waving a paw at him. "He'll be in even more danger if he doesn't understand why. …And you'll be in more danger as well as a companion of the Golden One."
Seto scowled. "And who the hell are you, anyway?"
"Oh." She bowed her head. "Forgive me. I'm Kankana. I'm the inugami your great-great-great-great—Well, let's just say it was a great number of greats. But your many-greats grandfather created me." She smiled innocently. "I was angry; I was loyal to him for years, and then he starved me to death for no reason.
"I didn't understand, and he hadn't offered me any food to placate me after death. I was confused. Then when I died, he asked that I consume him instead to pay for his sin and in return asked that I guard his family. I didn't eat him, but I did protect his family. You are part of that family; therefore, I will protect you."
She smiled and tapped the pendant of the necklace he was wearing with her nose. "My favorite food was dango. The wife of your many-greats grandfather fed me dango every night. Your many-greats grandfather was a silversmith. He made that necklace in my memory. Those who have inherited the duty of protecting Mythaven inherit the necklace so that I may recognize and expect them."
"…So… Ya knew I was here?" Joey asked, tilting his head.
Kankana smiled brightly. "Yep! And I'll always know where you are!"
"Can we go now?" Seto asked impatiently, scowling.
She frowned at him. "…You must have been a cat in a past life." Seeing the larger teen's eyebrow twitch, she sighed and turned to offer her back to them. "Get on. We'll make better time if I don't have to wait for you." She shot them both a glare. "The Golden One sits in front." Once both teens were settled on her back, Seto grudgingly sitting behind the blond, she wiggled her hips out of habit before setting off at a smart trot that, if the two had been walking, would never have been able to keep up with for long.
-x-x-x-
"What the hell is this?"
Kankana blinked and looked over her shoulder at the boys that had jumped off her back as soon as she slowed down to allow them to do so. "It's my den. Night falls soon, and it's not safe to be about, even with an inugami. We'll leave tomorrow at first light." She smiled. "And first light is quite early. We may only get six hours of sleep."
"Can ya explain to me this 'Akuju has sensed the return of the Golden Boy' thing that got us stuck here in the first place?" Joey asked, following her into the dark den. He hissed softly and took a step back. "How're we s'posed t' see?"
"What? Oh, sorry. Let me get a fairy or two lit in here—" Moments later, a few bursts of blue-violet-, magenta-, dandelion-, and lime-colored light began floating around, giving the cave an eerie glow.
"Wha…? But… I thought… aren't fairies s'posed t' be intelligent? Grandma always said they were, didn't she?" the blond asked, watching as one of the dandelion lights floated over to him. He touched the light and squeaked as it suddenly landed on his head and stayed there. "Ack!"
"Ah… You're talking about faeries, Joseph. Faeries are intelligent. These are just fairies. Hear the difference?" she asked, ears flying up.
"Sorta," he admitted, then looked back toward her. "So fairies are just for light?"
Kankana smiled again. "Decorative light that most can use; only the magical use light magic. I could, but I'm too lazy to perform the spell. Seto, come into the den. It's not safe outside."
"Whatever."
She made sure they were settled on various piles of fur before settling herself between and slightly in front of them. "Akuju is the head of the dark forces in this world. His only goal is to get the light under his power and claim it as his own. Joseph, you are the Golden One; the prophesied boy who can use the light to lock Akuju away forever." She closed her eyes, not moving an inch as various fairies settled in her fur and dulled until there was only a weak glow, making her seem almost ethereal. "Requires sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, large battle, blah, blah, blah, chance of death, blah, blah, blah—you know, the whole 'save the world' thing."
Joey scowled. "Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we just let the world go t' hell."
"Thousands of creatures depending on you to keep them safe will die."
"…Kankana, shut up."
"Fair enough."
Seto watched the blond across from him drift off to sleep, lying much like a puppy would across the bed of animal hides, all sprawled out with his head resting on his hands. The dandelion-colored fairy was still nestled contentedly in his hair, making it glow an appealing shade of yellow the same color of ripe wheat. The fairy also caused his skin to appear golden tan. He was… He didn't want to say handsome. His features weren't masculine enough for that, in his opinion; they were more on the feminine side. So Joey was very… pretty.
Kankana was quite pretty as well, as far as gigantic dogs went. Her long, coarse, thick fur wasn't purely gold, nor was it purely red, and it shimmered in the dim glow of the fairies' light. Her golden eyes were currently closed, but he'd seen them reflecting the lights, and they'd been so intense and wise from years and years of life. She must have been a very good dog for her many-greats-old owner to offer his life to her in exchange for her service. She didn't speak of him with contempt, either, meaning she must have forgiven him as well. To be that forgiving would take a saint.
That, or someone who thought with their stomach, because she'd said that she'd been fed dango every night for who knows how long; considering Joey, that may just in fact be a family trait inherited from said many-greats-old owner.
Grabbing one of the blue-violet lights, he found it quite willing to follow him around, so he released it again. He got to his feet silently, his eyes never once leaving the large canine for fear she'd wake up and snap at him to lay down and sleep. He approached the mouth of the cave that was her den and peered outside skeptically. She'd said it was dangerous, even for her, and inugami were not easily beat.
When he saw nothing threatening outside, he stepped out into the open and looked up at the sky, frowning. He couldn't spot any of the constellations he knew—wait, was that the Big Dip-? …No. No, it wasn't. He couldn't tell east from west. He'd need Kankana, at least, if he ever had any hope of navigating this place. …And Kankana wouldn't do anything unless it was at least nothing that would endanger Joey, if not benefit him.
He felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stand on end, and the fairy moved closer to him swiftly and grabbed his jacket, showing that his instincts were, indeed, correct about something very, very bad being much too close to him. He looked around anxiously, trying to spy what it was that had gotten too close for comfort.
He didn't have to look far. In fact, as he turned to his left, he found a large creature—at least eight feet tall—made completely of bones, floating at least a foot off the ground, its skull aflame. Its eyes were as black as coal, burning in its face. It held a large sword that could easily cleave him in two. He knew from myth that just the sight of these creatures can bring bad luck.
He couldn't help it as the word slipped past his lips. "Akuma [1]."
Though whispered, the demon heard it, and let out an earth-shaking roar before charging at him.
He didn't even have time to run or hide. That demon was going to kill and possibly eat him, and Mokuba wouldn't even know—
Letting out a deafening roar of his own, he instinctively threw his right hand forward. Sparks danced over and across his fingers only momentarily before lightning shot from his hand and nailed the demon right in the chest. It only seemed to wind it and make it retreat a few feet before charging again with an infuriated screech.
Seto narrowed his eyes and snarled, throwing his other hand out. Black fire sparked and spat loudly before a large, black flame shot from his arm to strike the beast as well. He noted with growing annoyance that it only seemed to piss the demon off even more.
The akuma charged a third time, and the brunet noted worriedly that it was getting closer. The white lightning did nothing; the black fire did nothing; what was he supposed to do now?
The fairy that had clinging to his jacket tried to speak to him, its voice like some bamboo wind chime in a breeze. He couldn't understand it. All he knew was that suddenly he felt weaker, and there was something forming in front of him. …It was about the size of a domestic rat.
"Is that… a Fairy Dragon?" he asked the fairy in disbelief, knowing full well that even if it answered him, he wouldn't understand it.
Indeed it was. The green dragon appeared worm-like in structure, but for the smooth-scaled head. It had two little ears and big purple eyes, and a little yellow nose. It wings flapped frantically to keep it in the air—nearly as fast as a hummingbird had to flap its own wings to stay afloat. It was very… cute. There was no other word for it.
"And that's supposed to help me how?!" he shouted at the blue-violet fairy still clinging to his coat.
The little dragon took one look at the akuma, squealed in fright, then began flapping its wings harder and harder, until the brunet could see the wind visibly holding the demon at bay. The demon circled around, trying to spot an opening, but the minute monster kept pace with him, always staying between Seto and the fairy and the giant demon.
Roaring in frustration that such a small, cute dragon was keeping it from its prey, the akuma charged forth with new determination. The Fairy Dragon squealed again before letting out a roar that appeared much too big for its tiny body. The roar made Seto cover his ears and wince, glad that it wasn't directed at him.
The akuma was not as lucky. The sound blast from the dragon's roar caused the bones to shatter apart, and its skull fell to the ground, its head extinguished. The skull rolled a few feet before coming to rest before the tiny dragon. The Fairy Dragon squealed in delight that it had won and began flying in celebratory circles.
Seto raised an eyebrow at it and placed his hands on his hips. "I'm surprised we're not dead."
"Why?" He jumped and turned back to the den quickly to find that Kankana was looking at him in such an unamused fashion that he felt as if he was a child that had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She raised a furry brow inquisitively. "Please, Seto, I'm interested to hear why you were outside in the first place."
"…I don't have to explain myself to you."
As her lips curled up to bear her teeth in an angry snarl, Joey leapt out and hugged the brunet tightly. "Jesus, Kaiba, don't scare us like that!"
"What the hell are you doing?! Get off of me!"
The blond shot him a glare and whispered, "I'm tryin' to save ya from bein' messily disemboweled by a pissed off inugami. Work with me!"
"…Tch…" The older teen rolled his eyes but patted him on the head nevertheless. "I'm fine, puppy. …Let go. I'm not a touchy feely person."
Kankana snorted in discontent, but if her 'master' cared about the upstart, who was she to hurt him? "You're lucky that fairy thought as quickly as she did. Now come inside before you draw something else's attention." And she turned and padded back into the den.
"…Doesn't lookin' at one of those things give ya bad luck?" Joey asked, pulling away from the brunet and looking up at him inquisitively.
The dog's voice called back to them, "Believe me, the bad luck an akuma can give is nothing compared to the bad luck a Dragon Master can cast on someone. …COME!"
The two teens tried not to appear frightened as they hurried after her, unwilling to test her patience with them when she was already unhappy.
The Fairy Dragon squeaked in alarm and flew in after them, making itself comfortable in the smaller teen's hair beside the dandelion-colored fairy that had yet to leave. "Hey! What the—"
Kankana snorted. "Consider it a compliment, Joseph. Fairy Dragons usually sleep only in the softest flowers. If it has deemed your head a pleasant substitute, it's an honor."
"Besides, you've got enough hair to spare some for a bed," Seto added, smirking.
Joey shot him a glare but lay back down on his bed of furs nonetheless. "I do not have enough hair to spare for a bed!"
-x-x-x-
"…She's not wakin' up," Joey stated after a few minutes, having poked, prodded, shaken, yanked, kicked, hit, and all around harassed the inugamithat had brought them to her den in the first place. "If it weren't for the fact that she's obviously breathin', I'd think she was dead."
"If only," the brunet sighed, then scowled and reached over to yank on her ear. "Hey! Wake up! You said we could leave when it was light out!"
Kankana snorted and rolled over so her back was facing them.
Sometime during the early morning the fairies and the dragon had taken their leave, as they were no longer needed with the dawning light. However, the fairies and dragon leaving had been the only change to the dark rock cave.
The blond bit his bottom lip anxiously and rested his fists on his knees as he sat back. "…I don't wanna leave without her… We have no idea where t' go…"
"So let's start walking. She'll catch up," Seto answered, growing impatient.
The smaller boy looked up at him and frowned. "And when she yells at us and we find out we've been goin' the wrong way the whole time…?"
"Oh for the love of—Grab one of her legs," the brunet ordered sharply, already grabbing one of the dog's back legs.
Joey tiled his head and grabbed her other hind leg. "What are we doin'?"
"Dragging her with us until she wakes up."
"That seems… degradin' for an inugami, doesn't it?"
"Well, if she woke up, she wouldn't have to be degraded, now, would she?"
"…I guess…" The blond tilted his head again before looking up at the larger teen in innocent curiosity. "Hey, last night, how'd ya do that with the fire and the lightnin'?"
Seto shrugged slightly. "Hell if I know. Kankana mentioned something about a Dragon Master."
"Maybe we should ask her about it when she wakes up."
"You think?"
Joey scowled at him before stopping. "Where are we goin'?"
The brunet groaned and rolled his eyes before looking down at him in annoyance. "I don't know. Away from the den. Does it matter where we're going? If we're going the wrong way, Kankana can just take us back."
The blond scowled and sat down where he stood. "I'm not goin' a step further 'til we know where we're goin'!"
"Why are you being so unreasonable?!" Seto snarled, glaring at him. "Your friends are lost our there somewhere—no telling where, or whether or not they're safe—and you're content to wait for a stupid mutt to wake up?!"
The smaller teen closed his eyes and stuck his nose up in the air. "Yes."
"You're impossible and irrational, mutt!"
"You are stupid and impatient, moneybags."
"Stupid-?!"
"Yes, stupid."
Kankana yawned widely and lifted her head, watching the two bicker silently, before getting to her feet with another yawn and shake of her fur. "Really, if I didn't know better, I'd say you two were an old married couple." At their twin looks of horror, she frowned. "I said 'if I didn't know better.'"
"Don't think like that!" Joey exclaimed angrily, a light blush crossing his cheeks. "Or I'll throw up on ya!"
She rolled her eyes before looking around with a frown. "How did I get out here? Oh, never mind, humans are all impatient." At the blond's indignant squawk, she snorted and shook her fur again. "Well, if we want to get to the Kirin's [2] by lunch, we'll have to leave now." She squinted up at the sun and frowned again. "Now, if we go west by northwest—"
Seto's eyebrow twitched in disbelief. "How can you tell the difference?!"
"I'm all knowing. Is that a problem?" the dog asked, raising a furry brow. "In case you haven't noticed, Mythaven isn't exactly like your world."
"What did I do to deserve this?!" the brunet shouted angrily, throwing his hands up in frustration and glaring up at the sky.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
[1] An akuma an evil Japanese spirit. Its head is on fire, its eyes are made of coal (or so I understand), and it's seen flying around and carrying a large sword. I haven't been able to find a picture or anything, so being a gigantic skeleton could be wrong. ^^ But it made for better imagery than 'a large demon with its head aflame and holding a large sword.' See? That doesn't sound as pretty. :D
[2] A Kirin is the Japanese name of the Chinese Qilin. It's a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings serenity, prosperity, good luck, and whatever other synonyms for it. Although it looks fearsome, it only punishes the wicked.
It can walk on grass without trampling the blades and can also walk on water. Being a peaceful creature, its diet does not include flesh. It takes great care when it walks never to tread on any living thing, and it is said to appear only in areas ruled by a wise and benevolent leader (some say even if this area is only a house). It is normally gentle but can become fierce if a pure person is threatened by a sinner, spouting flames from its mouth and exercising other fearsome powers that vary from story to story.
Japanese art tends to depict the Kirin as more deer-like than in Chinese art. Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. is named after the animal, and the word Kirin has also come to be used in modern Japanese for a giraffe. It's depicted as a dragon shaped like a European-style unicorn, only with a horse's tail instead of a lion's.
