Chapter 2: Baby Raiju

Crying. That was the first sound that the future Raiju did as he came into the world as a human baby boy. He was cold as his body was as washed of the afterbirth. Afterwards his mouth was filled with warmth as he suckled his mother's teet. Once his belly was full, he was cleaned and dressed, he was laid in a basket and was looked over by a man with with dark hair and a woman with tired brown eyes.

When his eyes opened once again the baby saw a blue cat looking down upon him with pride as it's eyes seemed to glow like lightning. The child's hands reach up towards the beast, but with little to no coordination it looked more like the flailing of limbs. The beast smiled upon him before vanishing into a whisp of nothingness.

Hak.

That was the name these people had given him. They always dressed him warmly and held him tightly against his mother's chest as they moved around. Blue eyes looked around at the world around him as they passed by tall buildings or trees. Shiny things caught his eyes all the time. Mostly his mother's earrings that dangled from her ears. They were most fascinating to him, but he couldn't grasp them because his arms were just too short.

The blue cat beast would sleep next to him at night and though he didn't understand much, he did understand that like his mother, he took great comfort in having the creature near him.

Two years after his birth Hak had learned two things; how to walk and how to talk. Even though talking seemed like a hassle on most days, he liked seeing his mother smile broadly whenever he would call for her or how his father gained a look of pride when he'd call for him. Walking had been by far the hardest trick to overcome. He'd sat watching his parents do it all the time and they made it look easy! Crawling was easy. Scooting his bottom on the floorboards was easy. Walking was downright hard! After several months of failing though, he had it down to perfection. He'd pull himself up by grasping something tall, a table or doorway post; then once his legs stopped wobbling, he would take one step and then another. The first time either of his parents had seen him do this Hak had gotten many praises. Now at two, he no longer needed assistance in standing. He was on to his next adventure. Running.

The one night he woke up to hissing from the cat beast that slept next to his bed. Outside his room he heard screaming and yells from his parents. They were scaring him. Fear filled his tiny body, causing him to shake and quiver under his blankets. A sudden weight on top of him caused the boy to look up at the beast as it laid its body across Hak's. His fear disappeared. Suddenly everything went quiet outside his door. Hak waited for somebody to come into his room, but nobody did. After a few moments he was about to fall asleep again when the cat beast began snarling. Upon opening his eyes, Hak saw nothing; but he smelt it, smoke. Getting out of bed, he opened the door. The entire room was in flames. Both his parents laid on the floor with red all over them. They weren't moving. The cat pressed its face against his back pushing him away and out of the home. Once outside Hak sat watching his home burn and by morning there was nothing but ash.

Hak found himself glaring at the one eyed man who was claiming him as his grandson. What was a grandson any way? He wanted his mothers warm arms again. His father's harsh tongue would've burned this man. After he had been found in front of his home, he had been brought to a village with tall walls called Fuuga. This was how the one eyes man had found him.

Mundok was the man's name. He was supposedly some big hero of their tribe. Hak didn't know much about that because the only hero he had ever known was his own father. Narrowing his eyes he continued to give the man his best glare, but the only thing he was accomplishing was giving Mundok an awe factor.

Once the adoption was completed a headband with feathers and beads was placed upon Hak's head. Mundok had grasped his hand and picked the boy up. Hak wasn't having any of that. He wiggled and struggled against the older man's tight grasp. He even took the headband off and began hitting the man with it. Finally Mundok seemed to have enough of the abuse and put the boy down. Hak thought he was going to be free and was about to do his favorite thing; run. However, Mundok wasn't born yesterday and he took out something and hit Hak's bottom before picking the boy up once again. Now instead of a struggling boy, he had a crying child in his arms.

The first night in his new home Hak refused to leave his room. The cat beast snarled at his door and would hiss whenever somebody came near it. Hak wanted nothing to do with these people. He wanted his parents. He wanted his mother. That night he cried.

Two years after being adopted by the old man, as he's begun to call Mundok, Hak was brought to a really big city with a very large castle, Hiryuu Castle was what it was called. Here was where he met Her. Princess Yona. She had been hiding behind her father's robes when they had been introduced. She was two years old, had bright violet eyes and had the reddest hair he had ever seen in his life. Her cheeks were pink as she peered around her father's robes. In an instant the blue cat began to purr against him before rushing over to the girl where a big red dragon was hiding. The dragon and cat vanished into whisps as Hak felt two tiny hands wrap around his body and heard one word that would forever seal him to his fate.

"Mine."

As Hak grew he trained with the warriors of his tribe. He was fast as lightning, earning him the nickname Raiju. As he changed from child to man, his body grew with him. Old feelings morphed in stronger ones; most he repressed. He no longer could see the cat beast nor could he remember it. His strength grew and with that came respect from others.

Princess Yona was still his friend, but so was her cousin Su-won. Eventually those two would marry and he would become their protector. It was a role he happily fell into; but something seemed off on the day of her sixteenth celebration. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something had been bothering him all evening. Then he realized what it was. The guards were being lax. The usually full courtyard was most empty and Yona's lights were still on.

Something stirred in him when he saw Yona laying on the wet ground with a noose around her next. Like a beast he snarled as he attacked the guards that had been holding her captive. Then like an arrow to the heart, the painful truth came forward. King Il was dead. Su-won had killed him and Princess Yona had witnessed it all. One thought came forward as he was trying to escape with Yona.

Get her to Fuuga.

Not everything goes according to plan though. Hak had to give back his leadership to Mundok. He would no longer be Son Hak. He would no longer be General Hak or Lord Hak. He would live in the wilderness as a vagabond if it meant She would be safe in Fuuga, but even that didn't go according to plan. As she grasped him by his clothes she proclaimed to him and any passerby that happened to hear her words, "I want you!"

He should've felt honored, but all he felt was fear. Fear he couldn't protect her well enough on the outside; which was proven when the fire tribe brat, Kan Tae-jun, had attacked them and sent them both plummeting down into a canyon. Grasping tree limbs on their way down had been the only thing that had saved their lives; well that, and a certain pretty boy.

Priests, gods and dragon warriors. Talk about complications. Hak never thought things could get so complicated; but if it meant keeping Her safe, he'd do it and do it he did. They traveled everywhere and every which way to find and gather the dragons. The white one was fun to tease. The blue one was...interesting at best. The green one...annoying. He made Hak's inner self want to rip him apart on the best of days, but Hak could see himself becoming friends with the green warrior as long as that one stayed away from Her.

When they came across the yellow one by accident he was left with the impression of the seventeen year old being more than he actually was, but without proof there was nothing he could do but watch him. It was here that the white one called him a dark and evil dragon and for some reason he really, really liked that name.

Ankokuryuu.

It made his inner self practically purr at being called that name and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Truthfully he didn't care what the others called him, as long as She was happy and safe, then he was happy as well. The future was unknown to them and whatever was coming towards them, Hak knew now that they'd be able to keep Her safe from harm. He no longer was fearful and this meant he could focus on other things, more important things. Namely her, but that would only happen once he'd willingly admit that he loved her and that wouldn't happen for a long time.

In the heavens above, Ouryuu, Ryokuryuu, Seiryuu and Hakuryuu welcomed their newest brother. The Ankokuryuu. The dark dragon's sleek black scaled body and ash colored scaled chest caused him to look even more dangerous, but his red eyes made him look downright deadly. His kind and protective nature made the others know that what the Hakuryuu representative on earth had said was not true. Ankokuryuu was not evil. He was a protector with great strength and lightning fast reflexes. He was as deadly as he was beautiful.

"Welcome home brother." Ouryuu told the dark dragon who merely nodded before looking back at the dark hair boy called Hak and his companions to ensure they knew what they were doing.

M-Angel: I hope everybody enjoyed this chapter. Baby Hak is too cute! I want to hug him. ^_^ I've noticed that I don't have any reviews yet. That makes me sad. The follows and favorites make me happier though! ^_^ Next chapter will either be Yun or Su-won. I haven't decided yet.