Disclaimer: Well, ah do disclaim.
A/N: Though she probably doesn't know it, this is all avi17's fault. It was through looking at her gallery on DevArt that I fell in love with the idea of Dashi et al being the original four Dragons, and so this ficlet came into being. Hopefully she doesn't mind me taking her name in vain like that. All these are drabbles (100-words) apart from the last one, which just refused to conform.
Feedback: Yes please!
Firsts
© Scribbler, December 2006.
0.
There was a time when monsters were common and wandered freely, and humans were just one of many races who lived off the land.
There was a time when magic was fresh, when the most powerful spells waited to be made.
There was a time when things were clear, before myth and story clouded what was real with what was not.
There was a time when the first Light and the first Darkness carried on their surreptitious wars, and their representatives were the most powerful there ever were, simply by virtue of being the first.
There was a time before friendship, before love, before hate and before betrayal. There was a time before Xiaolin and Heylin.
This was that time.
1. Wuya
They found her curled in her den; a catacomb filled with the bleached bones of old warriors. She hissed and spat and clawed them as they extracted her, scoring deep gashes down their arms. One of the men called her 'little wildcat' and the name stuck, since she had none of her own.
She stared balefully at them around the fire, tending their wounds and discussing her. She had no words, but listened to their voices rise and fall.
Eventually all but one slept. Only he screamed when she collapsed the overhang, burying them, and ran off into the night.
2. Dashi
"He will be a great man," the soothsayer declared when Dashi was still wet and bawling. "He will be a fighter, a legend among legends. His house will continue for eons, and be a standard for others to match."
"He's a strong boy," his father said when Dashi abandoned his lessons to play outside. "He will produce a strong line."
"He's a demon!" cried the villagers, when Dashi fell over the cliff and floated to safety. "He will bring bad luck! We must turn him out!"
"I will be a great man," Dashi declared, striking out into the hills alone.
3. Guan
Guan was a strapping boy. Everybody said so. "That Guan," they said, "he's a strong lad. A little slow, but strong."
Guan couldn't help it if he was clumsier than other children. He couldn't help it if his thoughts showed in his face, bumping together like vegetables in a stew. He knew people weren't trying to be hurtful, so he bore their comments the same way he bore the toil of the fields – silently, and with good grace. By the time he was ten he could lift as much as his father, and had no time for play anymore.
4. Chase
Though he came from a lowly family, Chase always studied. As a boy he listened attentively to his elders. When he knew all their stories he befriended noble children, and hid in their lessons to learn reading and writing. They were eager for him to complete their work while they played.
He gobbled knowledge, learned of life beyond his little hamlet, and spent hours on the very fringes, staring out to where monsters apparently roamed. Out there, wisdom was paramount – more important than class. Out there nobody could oppress you, nor make you hungry if your knowledge was greater.
5. Dragon of Earth
One day pale-skinned hunters caught her. They ran her to ground, wounded her with their poison-tipped spears and ululated triumphant warcries at catching the little demon that'd killed their kinsmen.
She snarled as they tormented her, cutting her face and laughing at her strange ears and eyes. She howled, but her cries were weak. Not even the earth listened.
Then the stranger appeared. He wasn't as pale as the hunters, but fought with a wild abandon that galvanised her. When they were gone he knelt by her side and used words and a gentle tone she didn't understand, but liked.
6. Dragon of Wind
She called herself 'Wu' meaning 'little' and 'Ya' meaning 'wildcat' in the tongue of the people who scarred her. It took ages to establish that much, but Dashi was persistent.
He was never so attentive with studying as with the strange, feral girl he rescued in The Valley at World's Edge. He ground poison-cure-leaves, tended her until she recovered, and followed her despite her snarls. Something about her made him persevere; some sense that she was special and they'd been destined to meet.
So he waited, and pestered; and when she didn't drive him away he smiled and taught her his name.
7. Dragon of Fire
The boy was thin and unkempt. Anyone else might have overreacted and chased him off, but Guan just returned the beleaguered stare with his own placid one.
"Please," was all the boy said before collapsing.
"Harvest is coming," Guan reasoned. "We could use the extra hands."
"If he doesn't die first." His father was apprehensive at sharing their food – and home – with a stranger, especially one so weak, but Guan was a good boy and a good judge of character.
When the boy woke in their hut Guan fed him broth and made their offer: shelter for labour. He agreed immediately.
8. Dragon of Water
Chase grew stronger over the weeks that followed. He was grateful to the family who had taken him in, in particular to the son who'd spoken on his behalf. The boy was strong as an ox and wide as a mountain, but good-hearted and not as slow as people thought.
"Why did you leave home, Chase?" he asked one sunset, as they trekked back to the village.
"I swore I'd never again be punished for wanting to learn."
Guan frowned. "Nobody would ever strike a friend of mine. You should stay here."
They were the sweetest words Chase had ever heard.
9. Xiaolin Showdown
The night Wuya and Dashi had the same dream they both decided it was time to leave the Valley. In the dream someone was calling them, a plea so intense that not even Wuya looked back when they emerged from the catacomb.
Life with Dashi had softened her a little, though she showed nobody but him. He'd gifted her with words she hadn't had to steal, a glimpse of life beyond mere survival, and didn't curse her demon heritage. She was older now. She was changing. He didn't seem aware of her feelings, but where he went, she gladly followed.
10. Gong Yi Tanpai
The little hollow with its pulsing oval stone was identical to the dream that had drawn them so far out from the village. So was the dying dragon.
"What should we do?" Guan asked.
Chase tensed. Two other figures had appeared from the undergrowth on the opposite side of the hollow. They regarded the two boys warily, echoing the dream even in the girl's grotesquely beautiful scars. The air seemed to sing, and the ground tremble at their presence.
"Friend Chase," Guan said in that oddly formal manner of his, but in a tone laced with unease.
They'd already broken the rules by leaving the safety of the village and travelling out into monster territory. Even the fields were flanked by sentries, whose sworn job was to protect the labourers from Ku'ang-Shi, basilisks and chimeras. Guan's father would be furious once he found out – provided they survived long enough to tell him.
The dragon was far bigger than even he, with all his learning, could have imagined. It raised its head and regarded them.
Chase could feel Guan glowing and all the river water chanting his name. The powers he'd kept hidden all his life suddenly roared to be free. He tried to tamp them down, but they buffeted against his iron control like never before.
"Little gifted ones," the dragon whispered, revealing herself as the voice from the dream, "you've come."
"Who are you?" asked the new boy, around whom leaves swirled. He batted them away but they came back again and again.
The dragon … smiled. Chase was sure it was a smile. "My true name was lost long ago, and there is little time for stories. I am the Guardian Dragon, and have been known as such for millennia, but you may know me as Ki-Lin."
"The Eastern Custodian of Light?" Chase breathed, remembering his stolen lessons.
It couldn't be true. He recalled legends of when the world began, and the first animals were chosen to guard parts of it. They had become sacred, and the tales of their clashes with the Custodians of Darkness were as much a part of people's heritage as the land they walked on.
And now he stood opposite one, a being so huge and powerful she could destroy him with barely a thought. Yet … he remembered something else about those tales. "The last pure-bred dragon from when the world was new."
She smiled. "Ah, so you do know me, little waterbaby with your head full of learning. Alas, I am old, and my time grows short. I am not long for this world, and I must choose a successor to guard against the forces of Darkness in my place."
"But you're Ki-Lin!" Chase cried. "You can't die!"
Another toothy smile. "I can, little waterbaby, and soon I shall."
"But all the dragons are dead," said Guan. "Apart from you. Everybody knows that. How can you choose a successor if you're the last dragon?"
"No, they are not, but they are not such a powerful race as they once were. The bloodline has thinned, as magic drains from the world. The dragons of today no longer possess the powers that were once their birthright. Custodians can choose their successors how they wish. I had hoped my son would hatch before I died, so his powers might be tested for the role of Custodian, but it isn't to be so. And so I also charge you with his welfare."
"What?" the scarred girl exploded. She had a guttural accent Chase couldn't place.
"You can't be serious," said the bald boy.
"I am. Dashi, Wuya, Guan and Chase Young; you four who have been born with special gifts and represent the elements in my care. I have called you and you have come to me, so I now bestow upon you the mantle of Custodian. The rights and responsibilities shall be divided equally between you. It will grant you longevity far beyond your species, and increase your powers tenfold." She snorted. "It is done."
"No, wait!" the girl cried. "You can't just - " Her eyes widened, and the bald boy looked at her.
"Wuya? You're … talking!"
"It is done," the dragon said again. "From this day forth, you four are bonded by the mantle of Custodian. You will understand and be understood wherever you go, as will your successors when you come to choose them." She laid her head on her claws. "I have waited millennia to rest, my children. You will make fine guardians, given time."
"But - " said the girl.
"You will make fine guardians, given time." With that the dragon known as Ki-Lin breathed her last, crumbled to dust and blew away on the breeze.
Chase regarded the three other teenagers with a mixture of shocked amazement and delight. He felt like he was on the cusp of something great, something so wondrous there weren't words for it – something that should have been far beyond the grasp of a peasant with ideas above his station. This was the stuff of legends. This was a defining moment in their lives, and potentially of the world.
As if on cue the oval stone split, and a tiny wet snout took in its first breath.
Beginning.
Ki-Lin -The Ki-Lin is a very important creature in Chinese Legend, perhaps the most powerful after the dragons. The Ki-Lin is the Chinese unicorn. It moves through the forests, and where it steps the forest flurishes and grows thick and lush. Their job is also to protect the forests so that no one may ever completely destroy them. It is a heinous crime to kill a Ki-Lin. Anyone who kills one will bring great suffering upon himself and all the people who live near that forest. - http/ student .santarosa. edu /aferris/ motw/ china. Shtml
Ku'ang-Shi - Sometimes called Chinese Ghosts or Chinese Vampires. The Ku'ang-Shi are departed souls who still have work to do on the planet. After death, their skin becomes whitish or bluish, depending on how they died, and their bodies become stiff. They need to hop around instead of walking, but in some legends they can fly. - - http/ student .santarosa. edu /aferris/ motw/ china. Shtml