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♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦Ichidou♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
I ran long into the night, not heeding the need for sleep that pulled at me. As long as I was getting closer to my Hachi. I ran across the barren wilderness in Saudi Arabia. I had crossed Asia in a day. That usually wasn’t normal, but my will power allowed me to run on into the night. As long as I could get to Hachi without anything happening to her. Dawn was close to breaking into the night sky. I continued to run, bolting through a city and into Africa. I was so close. When I entered the Sahara desert, I allowed my ears and tail to unfold from my body, as to help with the unbearable heat. Which was somewhat ironic, my mother was the sun personified. I ran at a steady pace until my body collapsed into the exhaustion I had been putting off for the whole day. I folded my ears and tail into my body in case of a human coming upon me. As it was, I was glad that I had hidden them. A young boy came upon my body in the sands and moved me to his shelter. I felt cool water on my lips. I opened my eyes to see a young woman tipping water into my mouth from a clay bowl. The young boy was behind her, studying me in amazement.
“How did you survive that long in the desert?” he blurted and the woman moved the bowl away from my lips and set it into my hand. I smiled at him kindly.
“I was lucky that you were there to help me. Besides that, I had to get to a certain place to help a friend of mine.” The woman looked at me curiously.
“Where do you need to be?” she asked softly.
“Ngorongoro, my sister is there alone, and I need to help her.” Her expression changed.
“There is a woman in my village, my sister, in fact, and she helped a couple and their dog when they were off to Ngorongoro. But I wouldn’t seek help from her, she lost her mind. All she talks about is an angel who came to her and kept her away from the man she loved. Then again, she has been known to love many men, so I don’t know if she really meant it.” The woman searched my face as I stifled a laugh. “What is it?” she asked.
“I know the woman. In fact, it was my sister who she thought was an angel. I don’t blame her, Kisa is a sight to behold, and the design on her cloak is very similar to angel wings, many have mistaken her for one before.” I laughed gently. “Thank you for your help, I will make sure that you are rewarded.” I stood shakily. “What is your wish? It can be anything.” She studied me.
“I doubt that you could help us with the harvest.” She smiled sadly.
“And it is done.” I told her. “Although you might not want to tell anyone who you helped, for then people would think of you as crazier than your sister.” I smiled and she lifted an eyebrow. “My name is Ichidou, the golden child of the sun goddess, Amateasuo. And my mother thanks you for saving me, too.” She gasped sharply. Her son, I guessed he was, stared at me wide-eyed. I heard a soft voice enter my mind. Cousin Ichi, I admire her and her son. May I use your body as a vessel for me to use so that I can bless her son? I wondered who is was.
Yes, though will you tell me your name? I can’t tell from your voice. I heard a giggling in my head.
I am your cousin, Inari. Inari said happily and I allowed her to enter my body and use it to bless the child.
“My cousin thinks highly of you and wishes to bestow a gift upon your son.” Inari said, using my voice. The woman nodded, breathless, and took the child’s hand and put it into mine. “There is a land where all people have kindred souls that are animals called doushis. Contrary to what Ichidou said, Kisa was blessed with a falcon soul.” I mentally poked her. “As you may know, Inari is also the goddess of foxes, and I wish to give you the soul of a fox, little one. What is your name?” the mother was awestruck, and the child was trembling with anticipation.
“Sable.” He breathed. A glowing white fox appeared in my hands.
“Sable, what will her name be?”
“Inari.” He said and I felt Inari’s heart flutter happily.
“Inari it is.” Inari said and gave the white fox to Sable. “Be careful. Now your souls are combined and if one of you dies, so does the other. And remember to keep your bond secret.” Sable’s eyes glowed with pure happiness. So did the little foxes, and her white pelt stopped glowing. Good-bye, cousin. I will tell Amat about what the family has done, so that she can reward them.
Thank you, Inari. I said. Good-bye. Then, out loud, “Good-bye, and thank you.” I bowed swiftly and walked into the desert sand outside. Hachi, I’m coming for you! Stay safe! And I started to run again, towards my kindred soul.
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I got to my feet and left the deserted building. There were more like it, then, I came to a jail. It looked abandoned, but I could smell the people in there. And one was Kisa! I bolted for it and through a couple of bars in a window. I scampered around, sniffing furiously for Kisa. I found her asleep on the floor of a cell, sleeping soundly. Another angel sat, slumped against a wall, gazing at Kisa. I slid through the bars and ran up to Kisa, licking her furiously. “Kisa, wake up!” I yipped softly in her ear.
“Hachi?” she whispered and opened her eyes slowly. I rubbed my head against her face and she got up slowly and grasped my body, lifting me to her heart. “Hachi! Oh, how I’ve missed you!”
“I’ve missed you too, Kisa, but I have something to tell you. My true name is Ichidou, and I’m the child of the sun goddess.”
“Hachi, what are you talking about?” she asked softly.
“There is so much that we have to learn about, but there is another world, a world inside of our world, where there are others like you and Yuki! It’s called the Takitanima, and that’s where everyone is right now. Everyone there has a doushi, which is an animal soul, and mine is the son of the Sun goddess! Kisa, I’m Ichidou, the golden child, the one that the haienas prophesized about!” she looked dumbfounded.
“But there is no way to get there, when I’m locked in here. Besides that, I have to save Kiru, too. Hachi, Kiru, Yuki, and I are sisters, children of the late Queen Tsubasa, but she was killed.”
“By her husband, the emperor of Japan, I know now. We have to get you guys there!” I finished for her. She looked at me in amazement.
“But we can’t leave, Kiru is tied to Akkiyaan, who wants to kill us all, and she can’t leave him! And I can’t leave without her!” I gazed at her sadly.
“Okay, then what should I do?” I asked.
“You know where I am! Tell the others, maybe we have a chance of destroying him!” I looked at her in sadness.
“Okay, good bye, Kisa.” I said, sorrow in my heart for having to leave her so soon, knowing that if I could tell the others where she was, then we had a chance of saving them. She hugged me , and I could tell that this was a final goodbye. I licked her cheek and tasted salty tears.
“Bye, Hachi.” She whispered, choking on sobs. I walked towards the bars. “Promise that you’ll come back?” she said softly, it was barely audible.
“I promise.” I assured her. And I was gone, slipping through the bars of the cell, and into the dim light of the cloud-shrouded sun. I ran as fast as I could to the home of Aijou and her mother, but I was stopped suddenly and picked up.
“Hachi!” I heard a familiar, loving voice.
“Ichidou!” I gasped in pure love. “I thought that you had forgotten about me!” I breathed.
“Never.” He said softly. “How is our Kisa?”
“She is alive…” I said softly.
“But she won’t leave?” he asked, though we both knew the answer.
“She won’t leave her sister. And she can’t leave without us killing the vampire.” I said softly. He nodded hazily. “There is a place we should stop.” I told him, and I led the way to Aijou's home.
Aijou ran up to us and greeted us. She bowed swiftly when she saw Ichidou. “Will you follow me to my mother’s home?” I nodded, and so Ichidou did the same. The woman stood, awaiting us.
“Ah, Ichidou. Welcome to Yuusuzumi’s humble abode. Though I can tell that you aren’t here for shelter. You are here for transport to Takitanima, aren’t you.” Ichidou looked taken aback, but nodded. “Aijou can show you the way there, but she must come straight back.” She looked at Aijou, and Aijou nodded.
“Yes, Mama.” She replied. And turned to us. “The portal is up here.” And she led us to a small spring. “Base of the Takitanima.” She said hastily and clearly. Then, she jumped into the spring and we followed. When we got out of the cold waters, I stared up at the rocky slope.
“This is the entrance to the Takitanima?” I asked Ichidou and he nodded. Aijou looked at us sadly, and waved.
“I have to go back, but please go on ahead. Bye, Hachi, bye, Ichidou.” She waded into the spring and said, “Yuusuzumi's hut.” Then, she disappeared into the clear water.
“Well, I wish that I had thought of that earlier.” Ichidou said softly. There was a angel turned the other way, her long black hair waving over white wings. She turned at the sound of Ichidou’s voice.
“Welcome to the Takitanima.” She said, her voice and appearance reminding me of Yuki.
“We are here to go to Sakura, Princess Lira.” She smiled softly at his words.
“I am not princess, lord Ichidou, you know that as well as I that my cousins are here. Soon, Yuki will take over my mother’s place, and Lavi and I will be happy of it.” She smiled faintly.
“Where is Yuki?” I asked her.
“Oh, she is in Yuri, but soon she will come to Ayame, and all will be well. Mother will be happy to be relieved of all that stress, she hasn’t been able to deal with Aunt Tsubasa's death.” She turned away and started humming a soft tune. Ichidou thanked her, and we were on our way.
“Lira is brilliant, but she is just a little bit crazy.” He whispered to me. We walked to the camp, taking little time, a lot less time than I had expected. I watched two figures running towards us. I jumped out of Ichidou's arms and met them.
“Dannen!” I called happily.
“Hachi!” I heard him bark enthusiastically. I leapt to him and bowled him over, then I showered him with affectionate licks, until he pushed me off. “Missed you too, but at least I can hide it!” he teased. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Ichidou embrace the female Dannen warmly. I felt butterflies in my stomach when I witnessed the couple.
“Dannen, where’s Shishou? I know where Kisa is!” I told him. He looked alarmed.
“Shishou went with Koneko and Koharu to drop Koneko off at her house.” He said. Ichidou looked at us.
“Hachi, let’s go.” I nodded at him.
“Dani, I’ll go with them, to keep them safe.” Dannen sputtered and his counterpart nodded.
“Run like the wind with hope in your paws.” She said softly. The words seemed to have a giant affect on Dannen.
“Yes. I shall.” He nodded. “Mama once said those words.” He whispered. She nodded.
And so we ran. Though I can’t truthfully say that we ran with hope in our paws. Ichidou stopped abruptly at a ash-wood house and knocked on the oak door. There were two entwining irises carved into the door. One was a vibrant red, the other was a dark blue, almost black.
"The doors unlocked, come in.” I heard a male’s voice call. Ichidou cracked open the door.
“We’re here for the boy.” He said hauntingly and I bounded into the room and into Shishou's arms, almost pushing him over.
“Hachi?” Ichidou grinned and walked in with Dannen. “Other Hachi? Dannen?”
“You can call me Ichidou, Shishou.” Ichidou winked. I looked around the room and found the glazed eyes of a dark haired girl. She gazed back at me, unblinking.
“You are Koharu?” I asked her. She nodded blankly. “Aijou is gathering flowers for you for when you return.” I told her. Her expression changed, now it was unreadable. “She really cares.” She looked away. I turned to Shishou. "I know where Kisa is, we have to save her. But not alone.” Our eyes locked, my dusty gold with his cloudy grey.
“Kisa, she’s alive?” he asked softly. I nodded.
"But she has been captured by a vampire, and spends her days in a jail cell with her sister.” I held his gaze. He looked relieved.
"I think I know why the vampire is after all of us.” I heard Ichidou’s soft voice. "It’s because he is under my sister’s control, and if the haienas are right, then she will stop at nothing to hurt us.” Dannen gawked at Ichidou with worshipping eyes. It was weird for me to be there, with Dannen looking at Ichidou in that way. Because, in a round a bout way, he was gawking at me. But deep down, I wished that he would. I wished that he felt something for me. But we weren’t meant together, I was a goddess, it would never work out. I looked away from his eyes, but the blonde girl in the corner saw. I felt her bright grey eyes scorching over me. She held a lion cub in her arms. She must be Koneko. I thought to myself. Then her eyes moved to Shishou, looking at him with eyes that worshipped in a different way. Did she love him? If so, then she would soon be disappointed. I thought dryly.
“Oh, I guess that you guys don’t know anyone,” Shishou started clumsily. “Hachi, Dannen, Ichidou, meet my family. This is my dad, Raion and his doushi, Rai, and my sister, Koneko with Neko. And vice versa. Oh, and Koharu is the girl sulking in the corner.” Well I guess that made sense, I thought, embarrassed by my previous thoughts.
“Wait, what about your doushi, Shishou?” I asked delicately. He smiled gently.
"Do I look like any animals? No, I don’t have one, my mother was human.” he said the words awkwardly, like he, himself didn’t believe them.
“Now, we wait for Yuki.” I said gravely.