Chapter Twelve: The First Lesson
Chihiro and Hikari glanced nervously at the large number of spirits gathered. They were still too shocked from the pair of black dragons to speak. Exchanging hopeful glances they melted into the crowd, next to their friends. Zeniba looked at the king and gulped, he and his wife were still too frightened to talk. Sora swiftly walked towards Hikari and Chihiro saying, "What you just did was very brave, though also very dangerous. Please don't do that again, I think my parents are worried about what could have happened to you two. I'll let them explain just how dangerous these dragons are."
Hikari sighed, "I know a little bit about the dragons, I was very close to becoming one. I'll tell Chihiro what I know, though my knowledge of these dragons is still incomplete." Sora nodded and walked towards her parents, who seemed to be discussing something.
"So what are these dragons and their dangers?" Chihiro asked her friend.
Hikari sighed, "I don't know enough about them to be afraid, though I know enough to be wary of them. They are dragons, or other spirits for phoenixes have become like this too, who have killed or tasted the essence of another spirit. If that spirit happens to be transformed, an example would be a dragon; they will also taste blood which only makes it worse for some reason. Once a spirit has tasted blood and or essence they will thirst for it, and they will kill to satisfy their own desire. The more spirits they kill, the stronger they grow, though I still don't know why. It is said that it is possible for these dark spirits to kill an army of dragons or perhaps a legion of phoenixes. They can overwhelm even the strongest spirit, and leave their powers weakened or gone. That's all I know about these spirits, or dark spirits as they are called. Dragons that have become like this are known as dark dragons and so on."
"Wow sounds horrible, so how do they kill you?"
"Like a normal spirit, as in by teeth or claws, magic and there are a few ways that deal with how many they have killed."
"Oh I sure don't want to meet one." Chihiro shuddered at the thought.
"I know, but fortunately there aren't many of them. You may only see one or less in your lifetime. They can be weakened by especially strong magic, or fought like we just did. They aren't immortal, so it is possible to be rid of them." Chihiro nodded and watched as the crowd parted around them. Zeniba and Rin looked nervously at the Dragon King and they too left Hikari and Chihiro. Sora walked to the two friends and stood by them, her light emerald eyes looked worried and wary. A single spirit walked towards the Dragon King and bowed.
"He's an extremely old spirit," Sora quickly explained, "he trained father, grandpa, great-grandpa, and great-great-grandpa and he was going to train Kohaku. Father wanted him to train you Chihiro; he thought that he would be the best choice. Though I don't trust him, be careful when your around him Chihiro, you too Hikari. I think father wanted to have you train alongside your friend, said something about her being a good role model for you." She smirked as Hikari frowned, Chihiro smiled weakly as the spirit approached her. His eyes were a delicate shade of amber, and his smile was contagious.
"Hello young dragon," he addressed her, Chihiro shuddered inwardly, "I am pleased to meet you. Your lessons shall start soon so you should get ready." Chihiro bowed and left, to his approval.
His eyes found that of Hikari's, "Your father told me about your strange situation, and asked me to train you alongside the Dragon of Nature. So you should get ready for your lessons as well." Hikari nodded and bowed and left. Sora hesitated for a moment and followed Chihiro and Hikari. The elderly spirit considered her for a moment and shook his head.
Sora glanced behind her to make sure that the spirit wasn't following them and sighed. Hikari looked quite angry and Chihiro looked very scared. Hikari noticed this and wondered why, "Chihiro, why are you so scared."
Chihiro gulped and answered, "Well he called me young dragon and the Evil One called me that."
Hikari laughed, "Chihiro I am sure he doesn't mean you any harm. Haku and Yoshiro called me the same thing when I was younger. They still do sometimes."
"Did they really?"
"Sometimes, like when they were angry at me or worried about me. Sometimes they just called me young dragon for no reason. It's a nickname for dragons that are younger than you or are just very young, not older than 50 or 100 years."
"Oh I see, then why does the Evil One use it."
"Perhaps it's because he wanted to point out your inexperience. He likes to do that, use your weaknesses against you." Chihiro nodded and sighed when Hikari walked into her room. Chihiro grimaced and walked into her own, unsure of what to do for preparation.
"You could start by changing into a kimono. I am pretty sure he expects all of his female students to attend class wearing one." Sora answered as if reading her thoughts. Chihiro glanced nervously at her friend as she walked inside her room.
"Oh yah thanks." She answered.
"Don't worry I won't hurt you, I just thought I'd stop by. Hikari is as annoying as ever refusing to talk to me and such, so I decided to come here and chat with you."
"Um sure, I guess uh I should really change into that kimono. By the tone of his voice I think he meant that lessons would start really soon."
Sora sighed, "Fine I'll leave." She walked out of her room and headed into her own. Sighing she followed Sora's advice and changed into a kimono. There were several in a closet and she choose a dark jade one. Its color reminded her of Haku in his dragon form. Chihiro sighed and willed herself not to think of him or cry. Unhappily she walked out of her room to find Hikari waiting for her; she was wearing a beautiful sapphire one.
"Let's go and the sooner I am out of this stupid kimono the better." Hikari grumbled. Chihiro nodded and together, using the instructions Sora had told Hikari, they walked into a large room. A spirit was sitting on a mat mediating, there seemed to be a few other spirits, all male, in a circle around him. Nervously, Chihiro and Hikari looked around unsure if they were in the right place. Hikari gulped and turned to walk away.
"Ah I see my other students are here, where are you going Hikari I am pretty sure that your father doesn't want you to quit your classes." Hikari yelped at the sound of her name and nearly fainted. Grimacing, she and Chihiro reluctantly walked into the room.
"I know I am going to regret this. I wish there were other girls in this class besides us." Hikari muttered to herself. Chihiro faintly nodded and sat next to Hikari. A boy giggled, but was silenced by the teacher's stare. Hikari feeling embarrassed wanted to leave the room, Chihiro did too. Well at least they are family, just hope I don't make a fool of myself. She thought to herself when she noticed the emerald eyes that were a characteristics that all of the boys shared.
"So, which one of you humans is the girl that Kohaku chose?" A boy from the circle sneered. "Is it you green-eyed one? Or is it your friend?" The other boys started to laugh, but their teacher did nothing to stop them. Before Chihiro could stop her, Hikari summoned a large amount of water and splashed it over the boy. The teacher looked at her, quite amused.
The boy, now dripping wet shouted, "Just because Kohaku likes you don't give you the right to attack me human!"
"He has a point Hikari," Chihiro muttered, "Haku would have probably solved this problem another way." She winked at Hikari and she smiled.
"Human? Who said that I was a human?" Hikari snarled. "I am in fact a blood relative to both him and you. In case you haven't noticed, my eyes are a shade of emerald similar to yours. They're in fact inherited from my mother and father."
The boy frowned, "So where is this leading to?"
"That I am Kohaku's, as well as Yoshiro's, youngest sister."
"Really, I don't remember having a sister named Hikari."
"Well I am glad that my parents disowned me, so I am not related to you in a sense."
"Your parents disowned you, how?" the boy snorts. "I am pretty sure that my parents wouldn't disown any of their children."
Tears begin to fall out of Hikari's eyes, "They abandoned me okay? Left me in the reeds of a river that I came to control, that's my story and if you don't believe fine! I really don't care." Chihiro looked at her friend sympathetically; Haku had told her what happened.
"Abandoned? You must be crazy my parents wouldn't abandon any of their children, no matter how worthless."
Thoughts raced around in Hikari's mind. Wouldn't abandon their children no matter how worthless? Then why was I abandoned? She sat silently as the teacher began to speak, "I suppose that is enough, Toji I suppose you should change into dryer clothes. We will wait until you return."
"Yes sensei." The boy bowed and left the room.
The teacher faced Hikari, "So you were abandoned by your parents Hikari, they mentioned something like it."
"Yes sensei." She replied.
The teacher looked at her obviously pleased, "I am glad that you learned something from Toji. I suppose it was Kohaku and Yoshiro who found you correct? I never heard of the full details of your story so perhaps you should share it with us." Hikari stared around her nervously all of the boys seemed interested. Her emerald eyes glistened angrily, it was clear that she didn't want to tell her story to a bunch of strangers even if they were her brothers.
Hikari replied, "I was abandoned by my parents in my river, in the years to come I became the spirit of that river. One day I heard rumors that I might have brothers living close to the rivers of Yoshiro and Kohaku. They found me one day playing near Yoshiro's river, okay. The next day Kohaku found me playing near the riverbanks of his river and asked me why I was there. I told him about the rumors and he and his brother came to believe that they were the brothers mentioned. After a while they went to talk to someone, I think it was their parents, if they had a sister named Hikari. When they returned they said that I really was their youngest sister. That's my story."
"You left out all the good parts." A student complained. Toji walked back into the classroom and sat next to Hikari. Their teacher looked at Hikari curiously; his amber eyes seemed to ask for more. It was soon clear that he wanted to know the exact details of her story, from where her river was located and what the condition of it was now. Hikari was reluctant to part with such information and so did not answer any of the teacher's questions.
"Sora is right, I don't trust this guy." Hikari whispered to Chihiro, who nodded. In the time that had come to past she despised the teacher for asking her friend such personal questions. A student sitting to the right of Chihiro frowned.
Finally he said, "Sensei, I don't think you should ask her any more questions, she seems a bit uneasy."
"I suppose you're right." The teacher frowned. "It's like girls to be secretive, though you must learn to share what you have. That includes stories, memories, and other such things." Hikari looked at him in shock; Chihiro frowned and shook her head. Both disapproved of the things their teacher had said, there were things meant to be kept a secret. Like for example the Emerald of Dragons, it was to ensure safety upon certain parties and items.
"Well let us begin our first magic lesson of the day." The teacher suddenly said. "Repeat after me…" the lesson continued as the day began to lengthen and the sun slowly sank to the western horizon. Finally the class was finished and they left. Hikari quickly retreated into her room to remove her hated Kimono, Chihiro did the same. Though both put them back on after a messenger came saying that they were to be dining with the Dragon King tonight and he had insisted that they wear kimonos.
"This just gets better and better. Haku, Yoshiro why didn't you warn me?" She muttered unhappily to herself. As she emerged from the room in a bright emerald kimono and Chihiro walked out of her room in a rosy red one. Sora happened to walk past their rooms at that time.
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, "you two actually look pretty good in a kimono."
"Thanks for the complement." Hikari said sarcastically. "Though I am curious is the Dragon King really this traditional?"
"Yes, though I can't help to notice you didn't address him as father."
"You were right, they did disown me. I don't want to have anything to do with them anyway, can't see how Haku and Yoshiro could have stood it."
"They didn't, that's why they didn't spend much time here and instead preferred to be back at their rivers."
"Oh, I see." Hikari replied and chuckled. It was pretty hard for her to imagine her brothers to be the son of the Dragon King anyway, Chihiro smiled and watched as Sora left. Zeniba and Rin emerged from their rooms in kimonos, like Hikari Rin grumbled about how stupid she looked. Together they headed off to the dining hall, occasionally laughing and telling each other about how stupid they looked on the way.