Raijinken: The Past - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Skies of China, a few thousand years before the present

A dragon arched through the air, its long, multicolored body gleaming with the light from the sun’s rays. It stopped suddenly, looking around as it could sense something, no…someone, of great power coming towards him.
What…?
Zeus appeared in front of the dragon, making him, recoil slightly.
Zeus smiled slightly, “Ah, Lei Gong. Good to see you again, Duke of Thunder.”
The dragon narrowed its eyes. Its voice was deep and resounding as it spoke. “Zeus? Well, to what do I owe this visit to my domain?”
Zeus paused for a moment. He then asked, with a pleading tone to his voice, “I have favor to ask of you.”
The dragon’s head reared back in surprise. “Oh? And what might this favor be?”
Zeus gestured to the black bundle in his arms. “I need you to take care of my son for a while.”
“And why can’t you keep him with you in Greece?”
Zeus looked down at the cat and stroked his fur, the cat started purring. “My wife would never let the child live for too long. I have to hide him for an indefinite time somewhere else in the world until I can find someway to keep him safe from her.” He looked away sadly. “I fear that someone may have already informed her of him. As it is, it would helped a great deal if you could keep him for me, or at least watch over him.”
The dragon was silent before it nodded its head slowly. “I see. Well, I’m sure my wife and I can keep him for you, at least for a few hundred years or so. You know, however, that we shall not always be able to keep a watch on him all of the time. We do have our own people to look over, you understand.”
Zeus nodded. “I do. I’ll be back to see you at least twice a mortal year.”
“Have you granted him his powers yet?”
Zeus looked down at the sleeping kitten. “No, but I think I know which powers of mine he shall have. This is really why I brought him to you, as I will need you to train him. Your wife will be especially important in this.”
Zeus, set him down on a cloud, which, probably because of his powers, the cat did not fall through.
Zeus’ eyes shone with an inner light as he wove his hand over the cat’s body. His voice was deep and resonating as he said, “I bestow upon you the power of lightning and wind. With it, may you accomplish great feats, the likes of which the world has never seen. I will see you again soon, my son. Raijinken” With a bright flash, he was gone.
As the light died down, in the kitten’s place was a child, with mocha skin, but as it opened it’s eyes they were bright purple, something rarely seen even in the gods world.
Lei-Gong uncovered his face with his claw as the light died down. He looked down at the child.
His red eyebrows shot up in surprise. “So this is what you look like in your human form, eh?” He lowered his body rest beside the child on the cloud next to him.
Looking down at the child, he decided what his next course of action should be. “Well, I believe it’s time you got acquainted with your new home, is it not little Raijinken?”
He moved his tail under the child through the cloud, and raised him up onto his back. The child did not stir once.
The Thunder God smiled, and proceeded to fly back to his palace in the clouds.
He landed in the courtyard, and gestured to one of his servants who came out to greet him.
“Yi-Zing?”
“Yes master? How may I be of service?”
“Could you please go fetch my wife and son for me? I have something to show and tell them.”
The servant nodded and walked off, eager to please his master. He came back a few moments later, with a beautiful woman with long flowing hair that went to the middle of her back, and a small boy that trailed behind her, his hand clutched in her flowing robe. The dragon bent down to nuzzle his wife on her cheek. She laughed gently and pushed him away.
“Yi-Zing said that you have something to show us?”
“Ah, yes but before I do,” He looked to his son. “How was your day, little one?”
The boy, dressed in a green robe with a dragon flying up its side , smiled brightly, showing off his white teeth. “I had a very good time today father. I mostly played in the clouds, and mother took me down to land to look over some of the humans, and she also helped me in my writing and martial arts lessons.” The boy looked so proud of himself.
The dragon nodded and turned to his wife. “And how was your day, love?” He squirmed a little bit as the child on his back started to stir.
Tian-Mu looked at him quizzically before answering. “My day was fine. I didn’t do much, just went down to earth to visit a temple of mine like Lei-Zhenzi said. Oh, by the way, Fei-Lian sent a message saying that he would be here later on today.”
Lei-Gong was surprised, as the Wind God never really made any visits to his palace. “He is? Well, it will be good to see him again.” Raijinken stirred on his back again and he heard a small whimper come from him.
“Well, as to the reason why I had you both brought out here is this.” He raised his tail again, and grabbed the slowly waking child. “It seems that we will be having an addition to our family for awhile.” He showed the baby to his wife and son.
“Ah!” Tian-Mu exclaimed and rushed to the child. She grabbed him and held him in her arms, lightly stroking his hair. “Where did you some upon this child?”
Lei-Gong cocked his head to the side. “That is the other thing. Zeus gave him to me to keep him safe from his wife.”
“What has he done now?”
“Well…this is his newest son.”
She slipped one hand from under the child and slapped her forehead. “Well, this is interesting.” She shook her head. “Will that man’s libido ever cease?” She shook with silent laughter. “What are his powers, if he has any.”
“From what Zeus said before he left, wind and lightning, I believe this is why he brought Raijinken to us in the first place. He believed that we could be most helpful in the mastering of his powers.”
“I see, well I can see it will be mostly up to me to teach him when he gets old enough. Perhaps we could get Fei-Lian to agree to help him with the other half of his powers.” She nodded to no one in particular. “I think that the best thing to do is get some rest until Fei-Lian gets here. I will deal with the child.”
Lei-Gong nodded, and in a bright flash, he stood there in his human form. Long robes and sharp, strong features replaced scales and the dragons face.
He looked to his son. “Come now, little one, leave your mother to tend to the child.” Lei-Zhenzi went to stand by his father and they walked away, the boy looking back at his mother and the baby the whole time he was walking away.
Tian-Mu smiled at them as they walked away, and looked back down at the squirming child in her arms, seeing that he was awake. She started, seeing that the child had bright purple irises, and pupils…like a cat’s?
She thought Well, this shall be most interesting.

Mt. Olympus, Hera’s Chamber

Hermes flew into her room, he feet never once touching the floor.
He spoke, with disdain clear in his voice. “Apollo said that you wanted me?”
“Yes Hermes, I did. I need you to do something for me.”
“If this has anything to do with spying on Zeus, I refuse.”
The kindness that was in her voice evaporated into anger. “How dare you? I am the queen of all the Gods! You have to do my bidding.”
A smile graced his lips. “I only have to do your bidding when I am delivering something to someone, hence my title.” The blond haired man waved his hand over his head. “The Messenger of the Gods. Not The Spy of the Gods.”
He ducked as she threw a goblet at his head. Her voice could have scared Hades himself as she said, “Get out! GET OUT!”
He quickly left, happy to be away from the witch.