A Child Most Precious.

In the days before Doragon Aso ever knew himself to be called such, the boy had once belonged to a village. It only made sense that he would have come from one as he looked like a man would, and that was the curious state that led him toddling through the forest; not more than three years of age, and certainly not apt to be wandering such terrains. It was an evening one mid-fall and the orange hue of the trees as golden streaks of sunlight slipped between them produced an eerie glow. Entrancing as it was, the toddling boy was drawn further into the thicket of the forest. Not more than a couple of feet in height, Aso had dark, sooty brown hair, with charcoal eyes and his skin was a bit darker, such that the light caused a dark bronze sheen to hit his skin.

Striding for some time, the boy had distanced so far from earshot that when his mother began calling for him, her cries fell short of reaching him. And, Aso, being so young did not know any name for her other than mother; that which was one of few words the young boy could enunciate at his tender age. In fact, the handful of words the boy knew was only mother and Aso. And so, the fateful day that Aso was lost, became the day his world truly changed. As the night drew closer, the boy found himself crawling over the roots of a massive Japanese cedar, slipping suddenly in his motion, a sudden scuffling brought him to tumble down to the ground with a sudden trembling. Leaves flew out all around him, and the scared youth began to whimper from the stinging pain of the scrape now weeping blood from his knee. Calling out for his mother, Aso, reached for the tree to pull himself up but knew she was far gone. The fear of knowing darkness loomed brought the boy to suddenly dart from the tree, running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, and never knowing each pace only brought him further from his village and into a place only kitsunes, and Kodama were rumored to live. But the boy, he knew nothing of this. Nothing of the hidden danger that lurked just around the corner as his wailing tone disrupted the slumbering bliss of a being so ancient and knowing, that its golden eye parted to gaze through the forest even as the shuddering steps of the running boy’s feet hastened across the jungle floor,

“Stop your whining…” A bellowing voice cracked through the forest, and Aso found his eyes widening as the tears within them fell away to replace fear deep within his eyes. Shifting all around in a spin, Aso’s eyes peered all throughout the darkening trees, but not once did he find the sight of the voice, “That’s right. Quiet, nuisance.”

A whirlwind picked up then, leaves drifting in a dancing motion as they overtook the toddler, and he was suddenly lifted into the air upon a breath of air so strong, the boy was simply rendered tossed about as he suddenly began traveling on the wind; blurring leaves and branches speeding by until he was brought to a sudden stop; right before that giant, a gleaming speck of an eye that twinkled with curiosity as it peered back at him,

“Ahh,” Also began to scream, almost instinctively, and the creature’s tail began to slip upward; clamping down across his lips as to silence him in haste,

“I said hush, boy. Have you no respect for the Dragon?”