Fantasy vs. Reality
Yana awoke to the sound of fire crackling low and peacefully in the fireplace. The sun was rising over the horizon to greet the world once again. She rolled over on her side and saw a man sleeping next to the fireplace. His features where odd, yet beautiful. She had never seen such beauty in a man before. His hair was as white as snow, and eyebrows as dark as the night sky. The top of his hair was in a wild mass, while the rest was braided back into a long braid that trailed across his chest. The braid whipped back and forth across his chest as if it had a mind of its own. He wore a komodo that looked like it was made of white scales with red flower petals all over the sleeves.
He breathed soundly and looked exhausted. Yana laid there listening to his every breath. Her eyes widened and then softened when she realized whom she was looking at. She had seen him twice before. Both times very brief. The first time was near the fall when she had come to after experiencing what she had thought to be her doom. The second time was here in the cottage when she again woke for a brief moment.
Yana caught herself fantasizing about him and blushed.
'What am I thinking, I don't even know the guy and here I am fantasizing about him. Besides, that's Aki's thing… Aki…'
Yana felt her eyes tearing up, and she rolled over to face the window. Yana was filled with guilt. Here she was thinking about guys; and Aki, her parents, and Obāchan were at home not knowing where she was, or if she was even okay.
"You are awake?" a deep yet soft voice said.
She recognized the voice from when she had first awakened for a brief second in the strange cottage. Yana looked over to the fireplace to find the man sitting up, poking at the fire.
'When did he get up!?' she thought
He turned from the fire and offered her a small smile. She practically melted in her skin. He no longer looked tired; in fact, he looked as if he had rested for days.
"My name is Kashikoi, you must be Fukushima."
Yana nodded. 'Ryuu must have told him about me.'
"Are you hungry Fukushima?" He asked.
"No, thank you."
"Hnn..."
Kashikoi looked Yana over and said "Your clothing is folded on the table. I will step out for a moment so that you may dress. Please dress quickly" He said, "We have much to discuss."
When Kashikoi stepped out of the room, Yana stood and walked over to the table. She looked at her neatly folded clothing. They reminded her of her home so much. She still had no clue where she was. She didn't even have a plan on how she was going to get back home. As she dressed, she ran the past events through her mind. When she remembered the creature she encountered in the woods, her heart skipped a beat.
'Was that creature real?' She wondered. 'Was it just a bad dream?'
Yana shook her head, finally deciding that no matter how crazy it sounded, it couldn't have been a dream. Her cuts and bruises she received by running from that creature were all too real. If it was then she must have still been dreaming at this very moment. Yana paused at the thought, she reached up and pinched her left arm.
"Ouch! Well, that answers that." She murmured
"That is a very strange thing to do…"
Yana spun around to come face to face with Kashikoi. Her heart fluttered at how close he was to her. She held his gaze, peering into those pale blue eyes of his. The sudden sound of his voice startled Yana.
"Are you ready Fukushima?"
Yana nodded and followed Kashikoi out of the cottage and walked towards an open field of green grass. Kashikoi led Yana up a hill of grass and through a field of large flowers that resembled tulips.
"Umm, excuse me, but where am I?" she asked
"You are in the Eastern lands" Kashikoi replied.
"How far is that from Nagano Japan?" she asked
"hnn?..."
"umm never mind."
"so…where are we headed?" Yana asked
"On an outing. I assumed you could do with some air."
Yana followed him taking in everything she laid eyes on. Everything was so green, so alive, and so…beautiful. Kashikoi watched as Yana gobbled over every little thing she passed.
"Have you never seen nature such as this?" he asked.
Yana took a deep breath and looked towards the sky.
"Not as vast as this."
Kashikoi shook his head and said "That is such a shame. You must live in a very sad place."
"It is not as bad as it sounds. It's still beautiful, just not as beautiful as this."
Kashikoi stood looking out at the precious land. Sakura petals fluttered past him brushing across his face as if it was Mother Nature herself was giving him a soft peck on the cheek. He grabbed one of the pink petals from out of the air and rubbed it between his fingers. He heard Yana sigh from behind him.
"When you are done studying me, Fukushima, you may join me."
Yana blushed as she cleared her throat and walked up the rest of the hill to stand by Kashikoi's side. When she looked out towards the land she gapped in awe.
"Wow!" she said.
In the far distance was a large white castle that made no mistake in showing off its beauty. It lay back into a mountain hill that had water running from different parts all over it. The most stunning part was the field of colors that lay before the traveling pair. Reds, greens, blues, purples, yellows, you name it. Every color was there. Yana stepped forward.
"The grass is so colorful," she whispered.
Kashikoi chuckled and continued to walk towards the colorful field.
"Look closer Fukushima; it is not grass that you see."
Yana saw something pink flutter in the distance and chirped "Butterflies!"
"Guess again." The teacher said.
One of the colorful creatures fluttered over to Kashikoi and Yana. It zoomed around Kashikoi and settle in front of Yana's face.
"Meep"
"DRAGONS!" shouted Yana as she clapped her hands together.
The noise of her clap caused the whole clan to swoop into the air creating a big colorful cloud. Some zoomed down and around their new visitor. Yana laughed as two played in her hair. When she settled down Kashikoi pressed on across the grassy plain. The small dragons landed back on their resting spots and continued their business, all except for one. It fluttered after Yana and Kashikoi and perched on Yana's head.
It was a chubby little thing with a long neck. Its body was yellow with scales that had a silver outline to them when hit at certain angels in the sun. Its purple wings where a grand mass that were attached to skinny front appendages. The eyes were like giant blue glass marbles. It fluttered in front of Yana meeping away in conversation. Yana couldn't understand it but thought it was cute. Yana laughed as the little dragon flew around her and climbed in and out of her shirt tangling itself multiple times in her hair. It was trying to figure out her scent but couldn't quite place it.
"I think he likes me." She said smiling
The little dragon flew over to Kashikoi and landed on his right shoulder. Kashikoi whispered something to the dragon in something that seemed like a whole new different language to Yana. The little dragon meeped and took off back to its clan.
"I didn't know dragons could be so small!" she said excitingly.
"Fae Dragons." He explained
"Is that what they are called?" asked Yana
"Hnn…Tell me, Fukushima, what is it that you know about dragons?"
"Well…to be honest not much really…up until now, I thought they were just a myth. I had no idea that they actually existed.
"As you can see Fukushima, we are very real. You see, humans have come up with many… assumptions about the different creatures in the world. Some true, and some far from the truth. Dragons are a proud race of scholars, kings, queens, wise elders, innocents, and even unpleasant souls."
Yana listened intensely as Kashikoi continued.
"For instance, humans categorize dragons all into one species; but in fact, there are thirty-four species of dragon. You will only find nine of them here. You have your Fae dragons, whom some you have just met. Small, but very cunning creatures. You wouldn't want to be on the bad side of them."
"Do they even have a bad side? They are so cute!" Chirped Yana
"Sometimes the cutest of things can be very deadly Fukushima. It would be wise to remember that."
Yana nodded "what other types of dragons are there?", she asked
"You have the drakes. Four-legged dragons with no wings. Powerful dragons of course; known for their extremely powerful land legs. Some dragons, though rare, the skin is tougher than armor. That is on the outside. The inside is as soft and vulnerable as a Sakura petal."
Kashikoi then continued on about Hydra's, Ouroboros, Amphisbaena's, Wyverns, and many more. Yana's head was filled with more information than she thought she could handle. When Kashikoi had finally finished explaining the difference of every dragon, including the lands they were from, her head was spinning. Yana had no idea that there were dragons in all parts of the world. Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East, you name it they lived there.
Back at the cottage, Kashikoi and Yana sat across from each other drinking an herbal tea that Kashikoi explained would help heal the cuts she had received the other day. He studied her as she carefully poured more tea into her cup. Her scent was hard to ignore. It was powerful. Not unpleasant but it tugged at his mind to release purposely forgotten memories.
Yana tried to ignore the fact that this strange man was burning into her soul with his eyes. He was staring at her and didn't seem to care that it made her uncomfortable. She looked around the cottage trying to pretend that it did not bother her.
"So…what kind are you and Ryuu?" Yana said interrupting his thoughts.
Kashikoi looked at the girl as if confused by the question.
"I mean, what kind of dragon are you and Ryuu. I presume you two aren't humans. although you look it…how is that so?"
Kashikoi thought for a moment. He wondered what the best way to describe this to Yana.
"Lord Ryuu is what you call a gold dragon. He of course is but a very young wyrmling but as he ages he will grow in power, intelligence and strength. Gold dragons are known to be the most formidable and most impressive of all dragons. Usually one cannot shape shift as lord Ryuu does until they have reached the young adult age of 101-200 years of age but Lord Ryuu is proving everyday that he will indeed be a great and powerful leader.
Yana gulped at her tea and placed her cup down. Did he say 200 years old is considered a young adult?
"Kashikoi…how old is Ryuu?"
"The young lord is going on 14 years of age this year."
"But he looks only 9!" stuttered Yana
"Try not to think of it as human years Fukushima. Lord Ryuu may be young physically but he has surpassed some of his brethren who are 26-50 years of age. It is a fact of the golden race after all."
Yana frowned into her silver and gold teacup. Ryuu was such a nice boy. She hoped that he stayed that way. He has his heart set on conquering his enemies, but she could not imagine that such a sweet thing would have any. Kashikoi had verified Ryuu's comment from the previous night. She was indeed the only human around for miles. She just couldn't understand it. It didn't make sense. Not that much of anything made sense anymore. She appeared to be in a whole different world.
Kashikoi stood and bowed his head towards Yana. "I am sorry to leave in such a manor, but Lord Ryuu acquires my attention."
"But wait, you never told me what kind of dragon you are Kashikoi."
Yana followed him to the door and watched as he gathered some scrolls off of the floor nearby. "That will be a lesson for another time Fukushima." He said
"What should I do while you are gone?" she asked.
"It is best that you stay here. There isn't a human for miles and some demons may not be a custom to seeing one. There is a shelf of books. Build your knowledge of the world around you."
Yana turned towards the shelf. It was stuffed with books that looked older than the stories held within them. She turned back to Kashikoi and nodded. Kashikoi opened the door and stepped onto the porch. Before parting, he turned to Yana.
"It would be wise of you not to go exploring. As mentioned before, dragons and demons alike may not be a custom to seeing a human on their own grounds."
And with that, he turned and started towards the castle.
