Chapter 1
¡°Wow!¡± a little girl squealed. She was looking at a tall boy with pale wind blown hair, a playful grin, and a flowing bluish purple scarf. He was skillfully swaying his yo-yo with his toes.
¡°If you like that, Hannah, watch this!¡± He let go the yo-yo from between his toes. The bright green yo-yo with a big black mark sailed over little Hanna¡¯s head. The boy lurched forward and ran toward the falling yo-yo. He jumped and caught it in mid air. He landed with his yo-yo spinning in circles in his fingers above his head. Hannah squealed and jumped with delight.
¡°Ikol! How did you do it!¡±
Ikol Fracswolf grinned back at her. ¡°I¡¯v got skills.¡±
After Ikol played with his little sister Hanna, he walked through the streets. Blood red and orange lights began to color the blue sky.
¡®I have to hurry up.¡¯ Ikol thought.
He started to walk in a faster pace. His yo-yo jiggled nervously in his pocket-a present from his dad. He walked into the shadows of a deserted street. The brick walls were sprayed with green and red. Help Ghost live here ha ha losers it wrote. Ikol brought out his yo-yo and began to sway it. He jumped up and the yo-yo fell. It burrowed into the ground like it was a two ton elephant. Ikol tumbled into the dark underground.
As he fell Ikol¡¯s hair grew two little horns. No, not horns. Pointy ears. Out of his hair grew two pale brown cat ears. His teeth grew into fangs. His hands and bare foot felt stuffier and heavier. Pale brown fur covered his hands and foot and morph into paws. A furry yet beautiful brown tail sprouted from his back side. When Ikol landed on the ground unharmed, he was half cat.
¡°Meow,¡±He said.
Echo rang threw the slimy tunnel. Above Ikol's head, the hole his yo-yo made began to fill up again. Ikol began to walk through the tunnel. He walked these tunnels a thousand times since last year August. He found his dad here. As he walked he began to think again about that day.
That day Ikol was at his comfortable house. It wasn¡¯t much. Just a yellow brick house with a red roof. It was missing a few tiles or two from last summer¡¯s storm. But still, Ikol had lived there with his mom and little sister his whole life.
¡°Ikol, can you buy some groceries from the store please?¡± His mom called. Ikol couldn¡¯t here her because he was half asleep.
¡°Ikol? Honey?¡± His mom poked her head out from the kitchen. She had a warm feature that always made Ikol think about hot chocolate. She had dark brown long hair with melting chocolate eyes. Her lips were curled up in an amusing smile as if she was thinking My little kitten, what are you thinking about?
¡°Ikol?¡± she asked again.
¡°What? What? I¡¯m awake.¡± Ikol stammered.
¡°Groceries please?¡± His mom said. ¡°I need a mackerel, some milk, eggs, a loaf of bread, and you can buy a thing or two for you and Hannah.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Ikol began to sit up. ¡°Ok.¡±
He got a plastic bag and began to go out the door.
¡°Be careful honey.¡± She hugged him tightly.
¡°Mom,¡± Ikol whined. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Seriously, what could be bad?¡±
He never thought that his words were wrong. As he walked out his mother looked at him sadly as if she knew that it was the last time they would ever see each other.
Ikol wasn¡¯t the best rode finder you could rely on. He kept turning the wrong way, finding dead ends and bumping into them. Eventually he got lost and tried to find his way back home. He looked up at the noon sky which was now turning to a shade of purple.
¡°Ah man! Lost again!¡±He whined.
He turned to a corner that kind of looked familiar but it was another dead end. Ikol scowled and slumped on the wall. Then he saw a glint at the corner of his eye. He got on his fours and crawled to the edge of the wall which was piled with dumps of garbage. And between two black bags of garbage, he saw a bright green yo-yo.
It was the size of his palm with a big black cat¡¯s eye in the middle. It looked almost very new.
¡°What¡¯s a brand new yo-yo doing in a dump?¡± he asked himself. But he felt a slight of urge to try the string on his finger. He picked up the toy and pulled the string out. And he was shocked to see that it was made out of silver. The real deal.
¡°No way. This has got to be the most expensive yo-yo in the world!¡± He exclaimed. He slipped the circular loop to his finger. It fit perfectly well that it almost felt comfortable. He stared at the yo-yo in awe.
¡°This can¡¯t be a normal yo-yo.¡±he said softly. The yo-yo felt tingly in his palm.
¡°What is this thing?¡±He murmured. Then he heard it. A howl that rang through the skies. Then everything happened so fast.
Black shadows rippled and lashed out of the opening. Some just passed the dead end Ikol was standing. But other shadows turned the corner and sprang toward Ikol. The shadows rippled and suddenly in its place were three creatures. They looked like foxes. Only they were larger. The size of a small lions. They had murderous looks on there scarlet eyes. Their teeth were bared and from the looks of it, the teeth looked like they were just sharpened from a super high tech pencil sharpener. Or in this case, a tooth sharpener. And they had nine tails. twenty seven big orange fluffs of fur ruffled around like they had minds of there own. They looked like gigantic pillows used in pillow fights. But these guy didn¡¯t look like they were looking for a fight. They were looking for flesh and blood.
One suddenly lunged at Ikol. Its lips were curled back to a snarl and its teeth wanted blood. Ikol felt dizzy. What could he do? Attack it? He was powerless! He had nothing but a yo-yo that someone threw away and a plastic bag. Ikol felt pain and he slipped into darkness.
When he woke up he was at a realm of darkness. He sat up straight. ¡°Ow!¡± Ikol rubbed his arm. It had a real nasty burn. But someone must have took care of it because there was a thin layer of gel covering the wound.
Ikol had been lying down on a cold stone floor. In front of him was a black throne and a man sitting on it. Strangely he felt very compelled to the man. ¡°Who are you?¡±Ikol demanded. ¡°Where am I?¡±
The man made tsk tsk sounds and him.
¡°I thought every cats had there senses. I must have been wrong.¡±
Ikol suddenly realized that he was different. His hands and feet were paws! His ears weren¡¯t where they were supposed to be. They were on top of his head! Pointy cat ears stuck out of his messy hair. And his butt! What in the world was sprouting out of his butt?
¡°You are half cat,¡± The man said. ¡°As for what happened to you, my cats defeated the last of the nine tails-¡±
¡°What? Those were nine tails? Those fox monsters in Korean myth? The ones that eat human liver?¡± I thought those were only stories!¡±
¡°Myth,¡± the man purred. ¡°If the nine tails were myths would they be around to get a taste of your bloody liver?¡±
Ikol stared at him with disbelief. He studied the man¡¯s amusing complexion. Then his brain began to match the pieces. The man tapped his head in the way that Ikol always did when he was nervous or he thought his brain had a few missing marbles. He didn¡¯t want to but he said it.
¡°Are you-¡±
¡°Yes,¡± His father said. ¡°As you might say, I am your father.¡±
A million emotion sprang through Ikol¡¯s brain in a matter of milliseconds.
¡°Dad?¡± He asked in disbelief. ¡°Your my dad? Your my dad?¡±
¡°How many times to you have to say it boy? Yes. I am your father.¡± His dad said motionlessly.
¡°But, but mom said........¡±
¡°Yes, Chae Han Fracswolf thinks I am dead,¡± He looked pained to speak Ikol¡¯s mom¡¯s name.
¡°But I had to leave her. It isn¡¯t the nature of a leader to abandon his realm for his love. I was sorry for you and your mother.¡±
¡°What about Hannah?¡± Ikol demanded.
¡°Yes,¡± His father gave him a sour smile. ¡°Hannah. But she has her mother¡¯s blood. Not the blood of an immortal.¡±
¡°Then lets go back together. We can tell mom you¡¯re alive. We can tell her you are the king of-¡±
¡°Cats.¡±
¡°Excuse me?¡± Ikol asked.
¡°Cats,¡± His father said. ¡°I rule the realm of the cats. The forgotten animal of the zodiac.¡±
¡°Ok.,¡± Ikol knit his eyebrows. ¡°You can see her again.¡±
The look in his dad¡¯s eyes were a look of pain and sorrow.
¡°I can¡¯t¡± he said miserably. ¡°We all can¡¯t. Because........ today, she dies.¡±
Ikol couldn¡¯t believe his big cat ears. His mom will dies? Today?
¡°Why?¡± Ikol demanded. ¡°And how could you know?¡± His dad shut his eyes and slumped his head miserably. Ikol was furious. His dad, who had never showed up before today is telling him that his mother would die today?
¡°You¡¯re a god! Can¡¯t you do something?¡±
¡°I¡¯m just merely immortal. I can¡¯t interfere with the gods¡¯ works¡± Ikol¡¯s father looked up and Ikol saw in his eyes pure pain.
¡°They will send monsters to destroy her.¡± His dad said.
¡°Why? Whom?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t tell you. Just that since you¡¯ve figured out that you are my son you¡¯ve triggered a balance. To match the balance again they sent monsters for your mother. I¡¯m sorry son. I can¡¯t do anything.¡±
¡°Then why did you tell me you are my dad!¡± Ikol screamed at him. He was mad. At whom he didn¡¯t know. But he couldn¡¯t bear the thought of living with out his beloved mom. His dad looked up and suddenly there was amber fire flickering in this eyes.
¡°If you do not want any of this to happen ever again, use my present I sent you. It was meant for you when you were born.¡±
¡°What?¡± Ikol said as he blinked back his tears.
¡°The weapon!¡± His father said furiously.
¡°The yo-yo?¡±
¡°Yes, the yo-yo.¡±
Ikol pulled out the weapon.
¡°It¡¯s a powerful tool. You can use four elements, fire, water, earth and air as your partner weapon when fighting. But beware. Those powers also shorten your life force.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ikol shouted.
¡°We shall meet again soon,¡± his father said. ¡°Please forgive me about your mother.¡±
Ikol¡¯s body began to dissolve and soon he was back at the dead end where he was attacked. He started to walk back home and this time it was easy to go back. As his dad had predicted his mom was gone with his house shattered to pieces of shards. The police said that there was an explosion that took his mom. They took his little sister Hannah-who had survived-to an orphanage near by. Ikol rufused the orphanage and ran away occasionally seeing his little sister and his dad. He figured out that the yo-yo was the key to the entrance. And he figured how to use it as a weapon. And at last his dad made this horrible demand and Ikol had foolishly accepted it.
Ikol had arrived at the entrance of his dad¡¯s realm. At the end of the tunnel was a small door. The door was wooden and color with midnight black. It was decorated with cats carved into the wood. And the door nobs looked like cats eyes. One was amber and orange, flaming like the sun. The other was silvery white, cold as the moon. Two black cats stood guard.
¡°Hi,¡± Ikol said. He wasn¡¯t really happy to see his father. Bad enough that he knew at that day mom was going to die but didn¡¯t stop it, he abandoned his mom, Hannah, and Ikol when they were so helpless, and Ikol felt bad about hiding the secret about there dad to Hannah who was at the orphanage.
The two black cats studied Ikol and when they saw the yo-yo, they let him inside.
The house of cats. The house of cats echoed with the soft meows of cats. Occasionally cats from brown to black to olive to orange cats darted in and out of the dark caverns. At the end of the house was a throne covered with bones. Rats, birds, vole, shrew bones littered the floor. This place was the nightmare of rats, birds, voles, and shrews.
At the throne sat a man with cat ears, paws, tails. His eyes were darting and changing from emerald green to ice cold blue to amber orange. His stiff fur looked unnaturally beautiful. The man had midnight black hair and wore tattered brown coat. He wore a black cloak that was decorated with brown fur.
¡°Hey, dad.¡± Ikol said glumly.
¡°Son,¡± His dad said. His voice was quiet and in between feline and man.
¡°Did you say good bye to your sister?¡± His dad asked him.
¡°Yes,¡±Ikol said. ¡°You promise you will watch over her? She¡¯s only seven. She¡¯s at the mercy of social service. It¡¯s bad enough I won¡¯t be near her.¡±
¡°I, I promise.¡± His dad said forcefully.
Ikol looked at him darkly. The first time he met his dad he¡¯d been so happy. His dad wasn¡¯t dead like his mother thought. He could go back with not only groceries, but his dad. But then his dad said that he couldn¡¯t come home. He was forbidden. And he said that Ikol had to go to a place to do his dirty work. Soon, Ikol hated his dad. He hated him because he made his family miserable. He hated him because he let his mother die. He hated him because he was using him like a pawn.
Ikol walked to a part of the house. The floor was shaped like a cat¡¯s eye. It was a portal.
¡°I¡¯ve already made preparations for you at school. Even though I¡¯m not a god, since........¡±
¡°Since what?¡±Ikol was suddenly curious. His dad wanted him to go to a special school for kids like him-the children and also the successor of the gods. The GS Elementry school-God Successor. But his dad didn¡¯t tell him why.
¡°Nothing,¡±His dad seemed like he had a mixture of emotions. Sadness? Anger? Hope?
¡°Just step into the portal,¡±His dad continued. ¡°When the spell is done, it will take you to the celestial sphere.¡±
Ikol took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± He announced.
¡°Then we shall begin.¡± He rose from his throne. As he walked through the pile of cat prey bones, the crunch and the cracks echoed through the air. He looked down at his son and put one paw on his wind blown pale brown hair.
He started to chant but stopped himself.
¡°Good luck. Ikol.¡± Ikol hated his dad but when his dad said his name he sobbed back a tear. His dad never said his name. Just son. When his dad said his name he felt a warm lump spreading from his throat.
His dad began to chant. As he chanted cats began to gather. There glinting eyes settled over Ikol. There mews seemed to say 'danger lies ahead danger lies ahead good luck little prince'.
Ikol looked down at himself. As he stared down at himself he started to fade. 'Mom' Ikol thought. And he disappeared completely. |
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