She found the prettiest deep blue piece of something washed up on the sands of the beach. When she lifted it up, it twinkled and shined in the light of the sun. she oohed and ahhed for a moment. Sitting back on her haunches, she lifted her other paw and lightly touched an edge of it. “Ouch!” she muttered softly, it was sharp. It was also lovely. Beautiful and deadly, just like her big ‘ol dragon sister.

She dropped it back on the sand, trotted a little ways back to the tree line, and found some big hearty leaves. Grabbing them, she wrapped up the little piece of glass and tucked it in her maw. Then, head held high, she went trotting off in search of her sister.

"Speech"

The tiny pup walked carefully over the heavily traveled paths through the snow leading away from the palace. She didn’t want to get her fur too dirty, especially not the delicate white paws on her right side. The ivory fur stained so easily and it certainly wasn’t befitting a princess to have dirty toes. Kiyohime did well to remember what her dad told her, have poise and decorum outside the palace. Ikigai was the best, she was always so beautiful and graceful. Kitsune was a close second, she moved her paws like magic. Then there she was, her little frame was anything but graceful. If her mind wandered too far her paws would swiftly cross and tangle beneath her. Shuriken wondered if she spent more time on her face than her paws.

Her pace was slow as she went through the sad forest around the palace towards the beach. The tropical plants here were being killed by the extended winter. Not that the girl could tell or know that. All she knew was what she heard from the adults. They needed warmer weather for the plants to come back. As she tried to imagine a world without snow Kitsune’s fiery pelt caught her eye. She was carrying something in her mouth, but Ike wasn’t about to raise her voice. She tilted her head curiously and aimed to intersect her sister.

There she was! It seemed her sister had found her, rather than the other way around. Kit found the familiar form of Ike as she moved carefully through the forest, angling her path towards her. Kit wiggled a little, but not too much. She was constantly working on keeping her excitement on the inside, and not the outside.

Her tail waving lightly to her sister in greeting, she came to a stop before the duel-toned girl, and offered her sister a shy smile. Dropping the leaf wrapping at the other wolf's feet, and taking a step back. “I found it on the beach, and it reminded me of you. Careful, the edges are sharp” she warned.

"Speech"

She didn’t have to walk much further and Kitsune was quick to close the distance between them. Ike grinned in greeting, her silver and white marked tail wagged at her speckled hips. Both girls tried to subdue their excitement, they were told to act their part. Little princes and princesses to make the Empire proud. Kitsune was quick to make her move, laying a bundle of leaves on the snowy earth at her feet before stepping back.

Shuriken’s silver and washed lavender eye widened as she looked from her sister’s fire marked features to the leaves laid on the ground. Moving forward cautiously Ike very carefully pulled the browned leaves back to reveal the treasure inside. A deep blue object, more blue even than the ocean, caught Ike’s eye. It was brilliant, and Kit said she had thought of her when she found it. Kiyohime whined softly, her gratitude obvious in her sweet expression as she aimed to touch her nose to Kitsune’s in thanks.

”It’s so pretty, what do you think it is?” Parts of it were rounded out but Kit said it also had sharp bits. ”Where do you think we should put it?”

The deep midnight blue reminded her of some of the patches on her sister coat, it was where her mind had gone, the moment she had laid eyes on it. Kit was a pretty independent girl, using her own wit to clamper about the den first. Now, to explore the pack. Still she had often admired Ike, who's bright eyes had lingered on their most demure sibling. She had even seen the little dragon girl attempt (often with disastrous results) to copy Kits daring escape attempts.

She leaned over, looking at the glass that Ike had revealed. It lay there, nestled in the leaves, winking at them. "I don't know, I found it on the beach. Maybe it's an ancient treasure?" She suggested brightly. "You should keep it safe, maybe one day a knight will come to claim it and marry a princess instead" she wiggled her brows at her sister. She was often one of the more expressive of the lot. "We could make a little hide out for it? Or we could try and tie it with something and hang it above the beds? What would you like to do?"

The tiny child stared down at the deep blue treasure, its shining surface reflecting her colors back. She could see why her sister had so easily thought of her when she lay eyes on it. Shuriken was wary about touching it, already quite aware at how easily she mishandled her own paws. She would have to be extra careful to avoid slicing her skin on the beautiful gift. Silver and lavender eyes shifted from the blue jewel to Kitsune’s features as she spoke. She’d found it on the beach, with little idea to what it really was but Ike couldn’t help but like the story she described. Some lost treasure, perhaps owned by a handsome prince who would come to claim it and the owner as his princess.

Bright eyes grew wide in wonder as Kit shifted and offered up her own ideas on where to keep it. Somewhere displayed preferably. On some nook and cranny or maybe something her sister hadn’t thought of. ”Do you think Ikigai will help me make it something I can wear?” She questioned with a tilt of her head as her gaze returned to its glittering form.

Her sisters eyes seemed to brighten at the fancy tale Kit had spun from her discovery. She didn't know what it was, but surely it was valuable to someone? She felt her thoughts spiraling off in a tangent that involved daring escapes from pirates, and a captain or knight who owned the treasure, when her sisters words brought her back to the present again. She blinked, focusing on the other girl, and nodded her head enthusiastically "I bet she would! And then it'll always catch the light and shine around you. You'll glow, just like our brother" She suggested whimsically.

Eyes still shining she reached her paw down and carefully tapped the top of the glass. "And if the pirates come back for it before the knight does, I'll fight them off myself!" She bared her teeth and scratched a paw at the earth. Forgetting entirely that the latest story had played out in her mind and not outloud with words.

The girl went along with the first part of the story, quite convinced about the future prince that would eventually come in search of her little gem. Kitsune was swift to confirm her suspicions, Iki would likely be eager and then some to help her sister, especially with something like this. Ike would have a shining stone, much like Take’s brilliant features. Kiyohime did always enjoy watching her brother’s warm glow in his silent but comforting presence.

Ike got lost in her own thoughts of glowing blue when Kitsune mentioned the pirates and a knight. Instead of thinking her sister might have gotten ahead of herself without her Ike pretended she knew what her sister was talking about. Knight or Prince, Pirates, it was pretty much all the same right? ”Pirate knight prince!” She giggled enthusiastically as she copied her sister’s motions, baring her own sharp teeth behind her long whiskers as her talon like claws raked the earth.

Ike was on a very similar, but not exactly thr same, wavelength to her sister. She called the Knight-Prince a pirate, and Kit giggled. She playfully swipped at her sister knee, looking across at thr lovely pale eyes of the other girl. "No, silly." She corrected her sister. "The Knight is escaping the pirates, not joining them. When the pirates attacked him he lost his grip on his shiny blue thing and it plunged into the ocean. He travels the sea every day looking to find it again. It was a family heirloom you see? It belonged to his father thr King, and if he goes home without it he will be in disgrace" She looked mournfully out at the ocean. She imagined the handsome knight out there, adrift and lonely.

She sniffed slightly, confusing reality and fantasy. "But one day he will come here looking for it and find it around your neck. His precious family heirloom, and the Princess of his dreams" it was a beautiful story. How could any thing else be true now?

Kitsune corrected her, and swiped playfully at her knee. Ike lowered her snarl as Kit went on, explaining herself much more thoroughly the skipped part of the fantasy from earlier. The words she spoke were so lovely though, Ike didn’t want to believe anything else. Her dual toned eyes again looking down to the magical blue jewel. ”A King…” She repeated in wonder, lowering her shin to her paws so she could peer at the beautiful object that much closer. Their father was not a King, Venom ruled over all of them. Ike wondered what a King might be like, but would settle for the Prince that Kitsune assured her was searching for the gem, and would find her one day. ”Oh! Do you think he’s dreaming about me?” She giggled, thinking about their mom and dad. She was sure that they had a fairy tale love story and the little princess ate it up.

In fact, come to think of it, she was sure the pretty blue glowing thing was even more then it seemed. It was magic. It was the key to staving off destruction I'm the Knights kingdom. Even as the two sisters spoke, thay kingdom was being plunged into tragedy, and one day Ike would be their savior. Of course, Ike couldn't go and live live them because then she would be too far away from Kit. With a dreamy sigh Kit said "He will find you, and the two of you will go off to his kingdom and release the magic in the blue glowey thing and save his kingdom. Then, they'll be forever in your debt and you'll come back here to live happily ever after." Kit didn't want a prince charming, she wanted adventure after adventure for the rest of her life. A different tale to slip into each day.

Kit nodded sadly at her sisters wise question. She, too, thought of their parents. They were in love, two different worlds collided to live in happily ever after. "Of course. He's sitting on a desolate beach far from here right now. He's looking out over the waves, and the sun is sparkling on the ocean, and in those sparkles is a shape. It's of a dragon-girl with lovely little horns and lavender eyes. The pale tones of her shine in the dark water, and the black blues of her coat are mingling and spreading in the ocean like they are made of air."

The two young Princesses stared down at the vibrant stone, Kitsune’s words filling the air with her tale. As far as Kiyohime was concerned this was exactly what was happening right now. This little gem her sister found on the beach would alter the course of her life completely. The tiny child peered down at the blue black gem as Kit explained the magic and their adventure to save the kingdom. Knowing she was in for such an epic journey excited her and ivory and silver tail began wagging more excitedly at her rump.

She looked up to Kit as she nodded sadly, the poor man had lost his kingdom’s prosperity. Maybe instead of waiting on him, she was the one that would have to journey to find the poor prince and his pirate enemies. ”Oh no, Kitsune…” She stood straight up, worry eating at her delicate alabaster features. ”Should we try and find him? We need to return the gem!” The little girl began to fret and started pacing, and of course her paws would tangle beneath her and the tiny princess would kick the gemstone just right to send it flying into a snowbank across from them.

She started to shake her head sagely as through she possessed great wisdom. Before she had a chance to explain the magic of the gem to her sister - and how it was required to be found, and not given - the other woman tripped. Her agitated state had led her to pace rather haphazardly. As the girls watched the gem sailed overhead and landed in what to Kit almost seemed like in slow motion. Landing with a silent plop and a tiny flurry of snow into the white frosted bank. Woops.

Kit turned first to her upturned sister and nudged a paw under her muzzle where it had planted itself on the ground. With a grunt she gently pushed her sister upright. With the sort of no-nonsense movements of someone doing a familiar chore, she pushed her sisters paws back under her and waited until the clumsy girl was balanced. A tripping Ike, was, after all, just another part of life.

Then, and only then, did she turn to the snow bank. She scrunched her nose up and considered the problem. " let's slowly push all snow out onto the beach until it's flatter then that glowey blue this was, okay?"

Shuriken panicked at the same time the gem went flying and instead of catching the stone the tiny puppy went straight into a snow drift headfirst like a dive. A huge snow drift like this wasn’t considered swimming was it? She didn’t want to get in trouble for going where she shouldn’t because she tripped! Thankfully Kitsune swiftly righted her, but she didn’t seem like she had managed to catch the gem either. Not that Ike blamed her, she wouldn’t have wanted her sister to get cut.

Ike pouted, sorry for herself and the chaos she always seemed to cause. Kit was used to picking her up by now, but deep down did Ike really want her sibling having to constantly pick her up? Did that mean she was weak? The tiny princess tried to shove the thoughts down as she returned her attention to the bank where she lost the glorious gift her sister gave her. ”Okay.” She said solemnly, not even caring anymore that she was going to get wet and muddy. She just wanted to retrieve the deep blue jewel.

"I've heard," Kit said casually as she started to paw at the snow at send it flying behind her. "That there are baby dragons - Kits, if you will - with big paws that are as clumsy as can be well their bodies are all out of portions. That these kits grow up to be the most elegant and graceful of the whole Thunder" showing that, despite living in a fantasy world part of the time, she could be astute.

She just didn't like that the smile seemed to have gone out of her sister she looked concerned and a little miersable. Missing her enthusiasm as she set to work helping Kit with her plan to dig out the snow bank. Kicking away at it as best she could, she accidently formed a little ball of snow in her paws. Looking at the ball, looking at Ike, and then at the ball again. It was like a little light went on in the child. She curled the ball into her paw and hurled it at her sister as fast as she could manage.

In doing so, she lost her balance and fact planted into the snow. Raising her head instantly, she grinned as wet mushy snow began to drop from her face.

Shuriken sighed softly and dug at the snow, both searching for the gem and heaving at the cold wet snow. It was the old kind of snow that had thawed slightly and refroze. A little heavy, wet, and easy to compact into balls. As she dug she barely heard her sister speak, but her mismatched ears still swiveled to listen. She spoke of dragons, and as Ike was often reminded, she held a dragon’s spirit. A strong one, because its traits so easily showed through to her physical body. Eagle talons, carp whiskers, and she had tiny antler nubs. Maybe one day she would no longer be this clumsy terror.

Too caught up in her own thoughts Kiyohime didn’t even notice as Kit formed a snowball beneath her paws. Dig dig digging away when she felt the ball collide into her dark hip. The tiny child jumped in surprise as Kitsune nearly simultaneously ate the snow at her paws. Ike couldn’t help herself. At the same time she offered a paw to help her sister get up she was also falling to pieces laughing her little head off.

Ike would always be her little dusk dragon sister. Youngest of the litter, clumsy, but a wolf with her heart in the right place. A wolf Kit loved immensely, and with all of her heart. The story that had come to life around the stone had been borne of that love for her sister. She wanted nothing more than Ike to have the perfect fairy tale.

Throwing her snowball was an attempt to lighten the mood, but it was the clumsy aftermath that really did it. Spitting dirty snow from her mouth, the girl shook her head and started to crawl back to her paws. She stopped, looking across at the paw that appeared in her field of vision. It was shaking with the mirth of its owner, and she continued to move her head until she found Ike’s laughing face. She grinned back at her sister, and grabbed the paw. Using it to help pull herself to her paws.


"Speech"

The tiny girl looked up to all of her siblings, being the youngest of them she fit naturally into that role. She was a follower and a copier but one day the young girl would come into her own and embrace her differences. For now she wanted to be just like her siblings. Especially her sisters. Kiyohime would have stayed there and dug sulkily the rest of the day, or at least until she found the gem. Kitsune had other ideas and Ike was grateful she wasn’t the only clumsy one.

She very nearly did fall apart when she was helping Kit up, her giggles were making her belly and knees weak. Still, she laughed innocently and without hesitation as her sister kept her in stitches. Thankfully Kitsune managed, even if Ike was a giggle fit. ”Did you see the gem while your face was buried in snow?” She asked cheekily, trying not to descend back into feeling guilty about her clumsiness.

She staggered to her feet and looked with great happiness at Ike’s happy expression. Her little sister with her pale eyes and paler coat was a treasure. Even Kit, young as she was, knew that. Her sister was clumsy and sweet and wide eyed, and the fire-marked girl felt a flush of protective instincts.

She leaned forward, and kissed her sister's cheek, before flashing a cheeky grin, and grabbing Ike’s paw. Holding the others pad flat, she spat, and the little gem came shooting from her mouth to land on Ike’s hand. In truth, it was a wonder she didn’t cut the inside of her mouth. But, apparently, searching with your whole face in the snow was definitely the way to go!

"Speech"

Kitsune got herself to her feet quietly, recovering with a swiftness as Shuriken’s mind swiftly returned to the lost gem. Dual toned eyes looked up to her sister instead of focusing on the sand as her paw was suddenly grasped and turned over. Curiosity filled her features but she wasn’t left to struggle long as she almost freaked out at Kit spitting on her pad. Eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the gleaming treasure.

”Kit!” She squeaked excitedly, unable to even believe that her sister had fallen perfectly to collect the piece. She looked from her paw to her sister with wide dual toned eyes as they began to fill with tears. ”Kit.” She said again, sitting back on her haunches overwhelmed with relief and other emotions she couldn’t put a name to.