Fragile Dreams, Chapter 5



written by Christine

Chapter 5

Isabo’s face immediately darkened with demon marks and her teeth grew into fangs, just as the rest of her children burst out of the forest followed by the clan’s mage. There were eight of them with three tagalongs. They all exclaimed, at the same time but in different ways, their shock and disappointment to find that their youngest sister had arrived before them. They knew she started out with them but several of them saw her split off shortly after they started the hunt. Michi, Chika, and Fujita claimed it was InuHaru that held them up. Ronan just yelled that his little sister cheated which made Akina start to cry. Akira did the big sister thing. She walked up to Ronan and popped him on the side of his head. “Baka!” she said to him. “Hey!” Ronan exclaimed at his oldest sister. She ignored him and knelt in front of her little sister, wiping away her tears. “Pay no attention to him, he’s just jealous.” Akira looked at the flowers in Akina’s hair. “Your hair is very pretty. Did Momma put the flowers in it?” Akina nodded and sniffed. “I picked them on the way.” Akira laughed and looked up at Ryo standing nearby. “Now I’m jealous,” she said rubbing her sister’s head. Akina reached up and batted her sister’s hands away, afraid the flowers would come loose. Her tears were forgotten and she ran off to pick more flowers for her big sister. Ryo helped her up and embraced her.

	“How do you do that?” That question came from Ayame. Akira looked in her direction and saw her wrapped in the arms of Hoshi. “Akina is happy by nature.” Akira said. “She doesn’t cling to anger or sadness like some.” “Sound’s a lot like her big sister,” Hoshi said as he turned his love around and kissed her. Ryo whispered to Akira, “I think they are going to have a hard time keeping that promise they made. Sure glad I don’t have to wait so long.” “Oh they’ll do it. They had every opportunity to their promise last night but all they did was hug, kiss, and gaze into each other’s eyes,” “Are you spying on them?” Ryo asked.

She turned around to face him and held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Akira. Chaperone service extraordinaire.” Ryo laughed. “You’re not on chaperone duty now are you? “Nope, I think Momma can handle it for a while. Have something in mind?”

	Ryo gave a sly smile and lead her by hand over the next hill. Before them lay a field loaded with the flowers. They were of the same type as Akina had picked. He lay down among them and reached for Akira to join him. The field swallowed them up so no one could see them. They lay there kissing, hugging and petting each other.

“I’m glad our Lord is returning tonight,’ he said in a husky voice. I don’t think I can hold out much longer.” Akira smiled and nodded in agreement. “I love you, Ryo,” she said. Back on the hillside Isabo greeted her surprise visitor “Hello InuHaru.” InuHaru took Isabo’s hand and kissed it. “My Lady, I apologize for the intrusion.” “InuHaru, you’re family, you don’t need to address me so formally.” “I’m here on official business as your mage.” Isabo understood. He wanted to talk to her. She looked at the children still around her. “Your uncle wants to talk to me,” she addressed them. “Why don’t you go down to the field there and play for awhile.”

	Botan needed no encouragement when Mai was with him. He loved nothing more than spending time with her. He quickly moved off. His love giggled as she let him tow her with him. Isabo thought of the beautiful portrait he made of Mai and himself. She loved it so much that Isabo encouraged him to paint another for Akira and Ryo. After she saw how lovely that one was, she insisted that he draw Ayame and Hoshi too. That last portrait turned out the best of all three. Botan was a true artist. Returning to reality, Isabo looked at the rest of her children as they grumbled that they were too old to “play” in any field. She sighed and then did something she rarely did. She pushed their minds into obedience. They suddenly trotted off as instructed. InuHaru watched them go. “I wish I knew how to do that.”

Isabo blushed as if she was caught doing something wrong. InuHaru sat in the grass beside her and pat her hand. He was old, the oldest of the dog demons. There was 500 years difference in age between the two brothers. InuHaru was the first-born and their father was long gone to the next world from old age. InuHaru had already surpassed his father’s age, and now his body was showing it. He was unarguably the oldest Dog Demon alive. He looked at looked at Isabo, demanding her attention. “You know, you don’t have to pretend with me, Unicorn Isabo,” he stated calmly. She opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but then shut it again. She blushed and turned her head, staring at the ground. She could not lie to him. She relaxed her demon form and returned to her normal humanoid shape. “You’re not going to tell Inutaishou are you?” she asked. “He doesn’t know?” he said. She shook her head. “Interesting,” he smiled. “Well, it’s your affair, dear, but he is bound to find out eventually.” He shifted, and put his hand on her shoulder until she looked at him. She looked into his golden eyes, which were so much like her mate’s. She could easily see their relationship. InuHaru was indeed Inutaishou’s brother. InuHaru’s forehead also bore the crescent moon marking since he was first born. He was no longer beautiful. Age had weathered him to a shadow of his original beauty. He had let his beard grow, against all tradition, so he now looked like the old wizards in Human World’s storybooks. InuHaru would have normally been the Lord of the dog clan, but he stepped down in favor of his little brother. His gifts were his mage powers. His strongest power was that of foresight and other powers always seem to appear when necessary. He was not attracted to females, thus he would never sire an heir. Thus, once Inutaishou was born, InuHaru trained as a mage and the leadership of the dog clan fell to his much younger brother, who shocked everyone when he was born with yet another crescent moon mark, a very rare event.

	Despite not becoming the lord, InuHaru’s skills were still treasured and the whole clan, especially Inutaishou, trusted him. The mage’s counsel was always requested and his company enjoyed. Today, though, his company was not so comfortable to Isabo. His normally jolly eyes were very serious. Somehow, Isabo felt this conversation wasn’t going to be something she was going to enjoy.

“Isabo, that’s not why I’m here. First, I would like your permission to take your youngest daughter as my apprentice. I have already discussed this with Inutaishou and he wants you to make the decision. Isabo, I have never seen a more qualified child in all my years. I’m sure it has something to do with your unicorn blood.” He looked out at the children in the field before them. “They’re all amazingly strong and intelligent. It’s not the first time Unicorns have crossed with our dog blood. My father carried the original Unicorn blood that allowed the separation of our dog clan from the wolfs.” He paused, looking for a reaction. Since it was something that Isabo already suspected, she was unmoved by the news. When InuHaru saw no reaction, he knew that Isabo had already realized the dog clan’s Unicorn relationship. “Do you know any names?” she asked. “I might have known them once.” “No.” He looked at her. She must be very old, he thought. She nodded. “I have not seen another of my kind in countless centuries.” She returned to watching the children. “Inutaishou is not the first mate I’ve had outside of my species, but he is the first I’ve cared so much about in a very long time. Each child he has given me, I treasure dearly.” Isabo smiled as she saw Ronan land on his rump after his sister, Michi successfully thwarted his attack. “Many of the children I’ve had in the past I know must be dead, for they were mortal. Some were even killed before their time. The rest I’ve lost track of. These children here are my best hope. It’s a fact that if I weren’t born immortal, my bloodlines would have vanished from this world. I think I’m the last of the Protector Unicorns. If there are any other descendants of my family lines, I’m unaware of them. I was hoping that maybe I have some ties through this clan. But I guess it’s knowledge I was not meant to have.” InuHaru contemplated her words. Protector Unicorns? Did that mean there was more than one type of Unicorn? He would have to research the idea. Fascinating as the current conversation was, he decided they had digressed enough and got back to the subject. He looked at the children practicing their fighting moves in the field. “The rest of the children are adapting well to the powers their mixed blood grants them,” he continued, “but Akina is different. Like me, she has been blessed with too much. She will quickly develop beyond a Miko’s power. I am positive she will become a Mage too. She could possibly develop into the strongest mage the worlds since the worlds were separated. Still, with great power will come great responsibility. She needs to be trained so she will learn how to handle her feelings and not let her power turn her evil like so many before her.” “But she is so young!” she said “That’s the best time to get started,” he said back. Normally Isabo wanted to discuss such decisions with Inutaishou, but she knew how he would feel. He would consider it an honor. She closed her eyes. The thought of giving up the family’s favorite, her favorite next to Sesshie, hurt too much. She couldn’t do it. Just as she was about to say so, Isabo felt a touch on her shoulder. She knew who it was even before looking up at her daughter. There she stood, her beautiful Akina, with her pale yellow hair, sky blue eyes, and the faint star mark on her forehead. Unlike the rest of her siblings, she had no other demon markings. That made her even more different. Isabo thought about her heritage. Could she actually be mostly unicorn? Could the genes have mixed exactly right? Earlier Akina had approached without a sound, at a speed unknown to the other children. More surprisingly, she approached without Isabo noticing, something a unicorn could do, but not a dog demon. “Momma, I want to go with Master InuHaru.” Akina said. “It’s meant to be, I feel it.” Isabo gathered her daughter in her arms and drew her into her lap. InuHaru sat quietly and watched them. He knew that, with the help of Akina, he had won this round. It was close. InuHaru was sure that Isabo was about to say no. With one goal successfully achieved it will be easier to approach the next subject, the one he was dreading. Still he wondered why the hair on the back of his neck was rising as he watched the mother and daughter. Now that he saw the two of them side by side and Isabo without her demon disguise, he realized how much the two looked alike. Maybe too much alike? Something was about to happen, he could feel it to his bones. “Akina, I want to ask you something.” The little girl looked up at her mother. “Today when you found me first,” Isabo continued, “how did you do it?” Akina squirmed. “Sesshomaru told me to keep it secret.” Isabo smiled. “You won’t get in trouble. You didn’t do anything wrong. The game is supposed to test your abilities. If you and Sesshomaru learned a new ability because of the game, it’s a good thing.” Akina scrunched her face into a scowl as she contemplated what her mother said. The look was so unlike her it almost made Isabo laugh. “I could sense where you were so I took a short cut,” she said, hoping that was enough of an answer for her mother. Isabo hugged her daughter and kissed her on the top of her head. She then said into her hair, “it’s more than that isn’t it?” Isabo was mentally pushing her little daughter gently for the whole truth. She felt her daughter tense, resisting the power being used on her, and then she sighed, giving in to her mother.

	“Sesshie showed me how he could change into a dog and run so much faster and be so much stronger. I wanted to do it too so he told me how, but when I tried, I became a Unicorn. I kept trying to turn into a dog but I always turned into a Unicorn. Sesshie said it was okay because you are a Unicorn too, Momma, but he said that it was a secret. He told me to never tell anyone and to never change any other time. Sesshie and I played like that a lot. I learned I could hide and sneak up on him. I could run as fast as he could! He can jump higher, real high, so it looks like he’s flying!” Akina was getting flushed with excitement and the words were coming out in rush. “Sesshie said I would be faster than him when I grew up! I can’t produce acid breath nor can I scratch or bite with poison. I think Sesshie would be better in a fight than I would.”


Isabo looked at her daughter with a proud grin. She wanted to see her daughter’s unicorn form. Why not? She was so tired of pretences. Her children should know their heritage. She said to her daughter, “Would you like to race me?” The girl immediately leaped to her feet and changed into a beautiful young Unicorn. She did it so easily that it was apparently second nature to her. Isabo looked at her daughter with tears welling up in her eyes. She’s perfect, she thought. Akina stomped her feet in impatience. Suddenly Isabo noticed the lack of sound. The rest of the children had stopped their activities and were staring at their sister in shock. Their shock turned to outright astonishment when their mother rose and changed herself. Isabo shook her whole body, waved her head and reared up with a proud whinny. It had been so long since she was in her true form. Her youngest daughter, barely larger than a foal, did her best to mimic her mother.

	Isabo nuzzled her daughter and then took off across the field at a dead run. Akina was quickly at her heels. They ran a long circuit around the field, diving briefly into the woods and across the shallow lake. She stopped at the lake’s edge. Her little daughter had kept pace with her and now stood there breathing hard. She was so beautiful. Using her neck and head, she hugged her daughter to her. Akina snuggled to her mother, accepting the embrace. Most of her flowers had fallen out of what was now her mane but she didn’t care. “Akina, do you think you can teach your brothers and sisters how to do this?”

Akina looked up at her beautiful Unicorn mother. “Sure,” she said without the slightest hesitation. “Good. I want you to do that,” Isabo said. They walked back to the hillside where the rest of the family had gathered around the mage. Isabo transformed back to her humanoid form while Akina stayed the way she was. Isabo looked at her other children and the three that were not yet part of their family. She felt confusion and even betrayal radiating from them. Isabo suddenly felt a bit guilty at her spontaneity. She had shocked the children even more than Akina did and then left it to the mage to explain it all. Apparently, he hadn’t explained anything, being in shock himself. It’s one thing to have believed in a theory but quite another to see it validated before his eyes. He didn’t say a word when he was confronted with eight confused half Unicorn children and three Dog Demons. “A Unicorn?” Akira said to her mother, taking charge. “I knew you were different, but a Unicorn?” “Yes, I’m a Unicorn,” Isabo confessed. “And Father doesn’t know, does he?” “No.” “And I suppose you want all of us to keep this secret of yours?” Akira said, quick witted as always. Isabo paused and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She felt InuHaru’s hand on her shoulder. “Yes, she does. It’s in the best interest of all at this time,” InuHaru said. “Would you not be more interested in finding out how your sister was able to change her form?” They grouped together, talking in low tones. Isabo looked at the kind dog demon and then mentally asked her young unicorn daughter standing beside her, “Do you still want to be his apprentice?” The Unicorn child nodded and the mentally sent “yes” was clearly heard. “Very well,” Isabo said, capturing her daughter in a gentle hug around her long neck. She turned to the mage and informed him that he may take her as an apprentice on one condition. “What is that?” he asked. She looked at her Unicorn daughter, who was now surrounded by her siblings. Isabo knew she was trying to teach her brothers and sisters how to shape change. “That on Akina’s thirteenth birthday, she be returned to me for a time,” she said, still watching her children. The first one, her eldest daughter Akira, changed into a white dog and then managed turning into a Unicorn for a brief moment before returning to dog form. The younger sisters, Ayame, Chika and Michi, all were able to change into dog shape but they couldn’t manage any other form. The boys, on the other hand, were struggling with the feat of just changing. They hated being shown up by their sisters. Botan finally managed to change into a dog form. Ringo surprised her by changing into a Unicorn first, then, he changed into a dog form and then changed back into a Unicorn. Apparently he was comfortable in either form. Fujita managed to change to a dog form, but no other. Ronan, her youngest son, could not manage any change at all. Being the hot head of the bunch, he probably didn’t have the discipline to make a form change. Even Ryo, Mai, and Hoshi gave it a try and both Ryo and Hoshi found they both could change into dogs. Mai found that she could not change but Botan quickly consoled her. InuHaru watched the performance as intensely as Isabo. He almost missed Isabo’s demand. “Agreed,” he said. What else could he say? The ability of the girl, her whole family for that matter, exceeded his wildest expectations. InuHaru was surprised that Isabo was still letting Akina come with him. It was now very obvious to him that her mother would know better than he, how to train her. Still he wanted to pass his knowledge on to the child. He was ready to agree to any conditions to achieve that goal. Now that issue now settled, it was time to address the next. “There’s something else we need to discuss,” InuHaru said to Isabo.