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Description
"The Birth of the Elements"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Part One: "The Birth of Light and Darkness"

   The Starbound Galaxy…long had it lay quiet, until Kalak, the Grandmaster of Pure Light, and Mukot the Cruel, Master of Ultimate Darkness, came to her stars.  Too long did the Light and Darkness fight to control her, Kalak wanting to bless and protect it, and Mukot to turn it into an evil kingdom suited for his nasty intentions.  Yet in the end, Light prevailed of Darkness, and Mukot sent back to Blackfire, a galaxy already long corrupt by his malice, filled with his demons, the very cosmos filthy with evil, a place where surely Light alone would perish before long.

   So Kalak the Mighty built his home in the stars, Radiant Castle, where he would dwell while preparing life on the first three planets, namely Eries, which he bequeathed to his son, Arandor of Light, born from the very light he loved, and treated with such respect.  Father and son loved each other dearly, and after some years Arandor made friends with the soul created to be his enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog.  Yet they were both still children, still immortal, but while young he retained his good heart, not yet corrupted by Mukot’s influence.  So Shadow was taken in by Kalak, who loved him as a son, but gave a large part of his love to Arandor, who would someday become the Pure Light when Kalak stepped down, that is, as long as he retained his perfect, pure heart.

   Shadow, for instance, was born to be Pure Darkness, but since he was saved from this, his heart remained imperfect, that is, Imperfect Darkness, and thus he became the Dark Elemental.  This meant his dark powers could be used to protect the Light, while he had an understanding of the troubles of mortal souls, as he had an imperfect heart such as one they possessed.  For a time Arandor was Perfect Light, and thus didn’t understand the suffering of his friend, things only the mortal suffered.

   However, this would soon change.  Coming into their adolescent years, Arandor and Shadow, now sharing a brother-like relationship, decided they wanted to travel to Eries and see what was down there, despite Kalak forbidding them to do so.  They were curious as to what he was hiding from them, and having lived in the stars for so long, they practiced and honed their skills, learning that by combining the Light and Darkness, they could form a bridge from the heavens to Eries, and so they did.

   Walking on Eries, they became separated, and Arandor, walking alone desperate to find his friend, beheld the beauty of another living creature he had never seen before.  She was an echidna maiden named Dearou, but he named her Mitsukai, which in his language, the Light Language, meant “Angel”.  From that moment on, Arandor was trapped in a course that would ultimately lead to trouble.

   Determined to speak to the echidna maiden, find out about her and her people, and live among them became Arandor’s obsession, and Kalak’s dread.  While he was not fully sure of his son’s intentions, he forgave the two for disobeying him, but again forbade them to ever go down their again.  Arandor pleaded with Shadow for help; that he might learn how to take on the shape of an echidna and live among them, as he was growing to love them more and more through his father’s stories of them.

   Shadow cared deeply for his friend, and despite Kalak’s warnings and Shadow’s deep respect of him for his mercy on him, he began to work on a spell that would allow Arandor to change shape freely between and echidna and his native form, hedgehog.  The trick was that he needed to transform between them often enough or he would be stuck as an echidna forever.  Not taking this seriously, Arandor traveled back to the echidnas, and began courting his beloved Mitsukai, the daughter of the village leader of echidnas where he took up abode.

   His life was perfect; he married Mitsukai, and loved so greatly by her father he, under the name Kashoku, became the heir to the leadership of the echidna village.  He was so happy he did not notice his bright, golden-yellow fur slowly becoming rusty red, and his creamy khaki stripes fading into a rich yellow.  Nor did he realize that he could no longer become a hedgehog, but so in love was he with Mitsukai, the echidnas, and his new life, he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions.  With his first child almost ready to be born, Kalak sent Shadow to bring Kashoku back to him, as Shadow remained living in Radiant Emerald, the home Kalak built for him and Arandor.

   When Shadow came back with Kashoku, the first real sign of trouble came when Kashoku argued with his father, yelling at him and rebuking him, swearing off his ties to the Light forever.  It was as Kalak gravely feared and Shadow understood all too well.  His friend was slowly losing his perfect heart, and his immortality as well.  Pretty soon, Kashoku would become mortal, and be lost to the Light forever, but there was nothing Shadow, or even Kalak could do at this point; it was all in Kashoku’s hands.

   Kashoku thought horrible thoughts of his once best friend Shadow, and his father Kalak, feeling slight regret, still loving them deeply.  But with the birth of his son, and the death of Mitsukai’s father, Kashoku put them out of his mind once more, and became the leader of the echidna tribe.  He decided to make a gift for Mitsukai, and with his Light Power forged the Master Emerald, Master Jewel, and the Seven Chaos Emeralds and Seven Spirit Jewels, all becoming heirlooms of his family.  Yet in doing this, he felt for the first time the bitter taste of mortality, feeling a large part of his power slipping away from him, and he knew now something was terribly wrong.

   With his second child on the way, Kashoku wandered blindly into the uncertain woods, sickened by this shot of mortal blood he finally felt course through his veins.  Tired and sick, he fell to his knees by a stream, and beheld the beauty of a hedgehog maiden, named Hakumei, who lived with the neighboring hedgehog village.  She would later be important, but for now, her beauty and the light radiating from her soul, perhaps the purest of any mortal, healed Kashoku’s ailing heart, and so he went home to the echidnas, and after the birth of his daughter, he felt happy again.  Unfortunately, this happiness would be short lived and end tragically.

   Only a few months after the birth of his daughter, the first attack on this peaceful race came.  It was directed by a group of large, mutant type creatures with magical powers and fierce war techniques.  Many of the clan died, and a great number were wounded, but the greatest loss came when Queen Mitsukai was mortally wounded.  Kashoku stood over her, protecting her body from the attackers, and once the attacks subsided, he held his beloved in his arms, and as he watched her die, so did the last of his immortal blood begin to slip away.  He felt pain unlike ever before, and not just physical; losing the love of his life, was too much for his heart to bear alone.  Before she died, he was willing to become mortal and die with her, but now, he just couldn’t bear the thought of living another day, even for his children; the mortality stung at his heart too terribly for him to consider living as an echidna any longer.

   Before his immortal blood was lost, he confessed to Mitsukai his true lineage as Arandor of Light, and apologized to her for deceiving her.  However, with her last words, she told him not to mourn this, for she loved who he was, not what he was, and thus she told him he could be at peace with this, and she would always love him, for he was always going to be Kashoku the Brave, her one true love.

   Once she died, Kashoku cried to the heavens for his father to spare him.  He wept, crying for Kalak to spare him a bit longer, just to say goodbye, and this wish was granted.  He buried Queen Mitsukai, placing the Seven Spirit Jewels around her in her cairn, the Seven Chaos Emeralds meant to be buried with him.  Yet in the last month Kalak granted him on earth, Kashoku left many instructions, ones that would be very important in the coming years.  The Master Emerald he designated as the heirloom of his son’s family line, and the Master Jewel the heirloom of his daughter’s family line.  The Chaos Emeralds, he explained, would remain in the guardianship of all echidnas, with his son, (and his following descendents), being the guardian of the Master Emerald, and the same for the Master Jewel and his daughter, (and her line).  He also made one final plea; he prayed that if anyone of honest heart and intentions came to them for help, for the echidnas to help them as best he could.

   His tribe could not understand this, but Kashoku openly wept, crying about how Mitsukai was killed.  He rationalized that had they had allies to help them, perhaps there would be fewer dead, maybe even Queen Mitsukai would still be alive.  He persuaded them to the importance of having allies, and thus the last of his requests was finally laid down.

   On the night that Kashoku was to die, Arandor wondered how exactly Kalak meant to save him.  He knew he had greatly wronged his father, hurting and disrespecting him to a great degree, and felt such shame and remorse, yet he could not hate himself for his actions, for he loved Mitsukai, and were he able to go back he would never give up the love he shared with her, no matter how short, for Arandor had seen the greatness of the kingdom of life fashioned by the power of the Light, and cradled by Kalak’s loving care.

   With the sun almost set, Kashoku bent down next to Mitsukai’s grave, tearfully confessing his love to her once more, and his shame that he could do nothing to save her.  He apologized for abandoning their children, their son only a toddler and their daughter still a baby and he knew she understood, yet he could not shake this pain.  He never wept in the years before he became Kashoku, nor had he ever felt pain like this, and the realization was starting to come to him.  He knew that Shadow cried, he knew that Shadow’s heart would hurt, and Arandor just now understood how his friend felt all these years.  He also understood, however, that he was no longer the Pure Light…and would probably never be again.

   He said goodbye to Mitsukai once more, before he saw this father’s stars, the Elderstars, coming down from the heavens to bring him home.  Unsure of what would happen, Arandor felt his soul being pulled away from his body, and looking down he could see Kashoku fall silent on Mitsukai’s grave.  Arandor felt light headed as the Elderstars flew him home, but he could recall the silhouette of Shadow flying next to him, whispering that everything would be okay…and he was forgiven.

   Arandor’s soul was rescued by Kalak’s Elderstars, and he was taken to the castle chapel in Radiant Castle, locked in a restoration capsule for some years, about four.  During this time the echidnas buried Kashoku and moved on, following his commands and mourning the loss of the first great King and Queen of the echidnas, the like of which would never be seen again, for with the passing of Kashoku and Mitsukai, the echidnas began a slow tumble to the end of their Golden Years, while Arandor and Shadow’s native race, the hedgehogs, would become increasingly instrumental, and Arandor and Shadow had to find a way to make things right, for with Arandor’s actions, the fate of the world was now on a long and fragile course, resting in the hands of his son and daughter’s lines.

   However, as Arandor lost his immortal blood, so did he lose his Light magic, and thus only the pure strength within Arandor was passed to his children, and in order for the strength of his descendents to be any good, they’d need on more thing, and that was Arandor’s Light Magic, which he would have to pass on to one more child, and that is when the second part of his story began.

Description
"The Birth of the Elements"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl
Part One: "The Birth of Light and Darkness"

   The Starbound Galaxy…long had it lay quiet, until Kalak, the Grandmaster of Pure Light, and Mukot the Cruel, Master of Ultimate Darkness, came to her stars.  Too long did the Light and Darkness fight to control her, Kalak wanting to bless and protect it, and Mukot to turn it into an evil kingdom suited for his nasty intentions.  Yet in the end, Light prevailed of Darkness, and Mukot sent back to Blackfire, a galaxy already long corrupt by his malice, filled with his demons, the very cosmos filthy with evil, a place where surely Light alone would perish before long.

   So Kalak the Mighty built his home in the stars, Radiant Castle, where he would dwell while preparing life on the first three planets, namely Eries, which he bequeathed to his son, Arandor of Light, born from the very light he loved, and treated with such respect.  Father and son loved each other dearly, and after some years Arandor made friends with the soul created to be his enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog.  Yet they were both still children, still immortal, but while young he retained his good heart, not yet corrupted by Mukot’s influence.  So Shadow was taken in by Kalak, who loved him as a son, but gave a large part of his love to Arandor, who would someday become the Pure Light when Kalak stepped down, that is, as long as he retained his perfect, pure heart.

   Shadow, for instance, was born to be Pure Darkness, but since he was saved from this, his heart remained imperfect, that is, Imperfect Darkness, and thus he became the Dark Elemental.  This meant his dark powers could be used to protect the Light, while he had an understanding of the troubles of mortal souls, as he had an imperfect heart such as one they possessed.  For a time Arandor was Perfect Light, and thus didn’t understand the suffering of his friend, things only the mortal suffered.

   However, this would soon change.  Coming into their adolescent years, Arandor and Shadow, now sharing a brother-like relationship, decided they wanted to travel to Eries and see what was down there, despite Kalak forbidding them to do so.  They were curious as to what he was hiding from them, and having lived in the stars for so long, they practiced and honed their skills, learning that by combining the Light and Darkness, they could form a bridge from the heavens to Eries, and so they did.

   Walking on Eries, they became separated, and Arandor, walking alone desperate to find his friend, beheld the beauty of another living creature he had never seen before.  She was an echidna maiden named Dearou, but he named her Mitsukai, which in his language, the Light Language, meant “Angel”.  From that moment on, Arandor was trapped in a course that would ultimately lead to trouble.

   Determined to speak to the echidna maiden, find out about her and her people, and live among them became Arandor’s obsession, and Kalak’s dread.  While he was not fully sure of his son’s intentions, he forgave the two for disobeying him, but again forbade them to ever go down their again.  Arandor pleaded with Shadow for help; that he might learn how to take on the shape of an echidna and live among them, as he was growing to love them more and more through his father’s stories of them.

   Shadow cared deeply for his friend, and despite Kalak’s warnings and Shadow’s deep respect of him for his mercy on him, he began to work on a spell that would allow Arandor to change shape freely between and echidna and his native form, hedgehog.  The trick was that he needed to transform between them often enough or he would be stuck as an echidna forever.  Not taking this seriously, Arandor traveled back to the echidnas, and began courting his beloved Mitsukai, the daughter of the village leader of echidnas where he took up abode.

   His life was perfect; he married Mitsukai, and loved so greatly by her father he, under the name Kashoku, became the heir to the leadership of the echidna village.  He was so happy he did not notice his bright, golden-yellow fur slowly becoming rusty red, and his creamy khaki stripes fading into a rich yellow.  Nor did he realize that he could no longer become a hedgehog, but so in love was he with Mitsukai, the echidnas, and his new life, he didn’t think about the consequences of his actions.  With his first child almost ready to be born, Kalak sent Shadow to bring Kashoku back to him, as Shadow remained living in Radiant Emerald, the home Kalak built for him and Arandor.

   When Shadow came back with Kashoku, the first real sign of trouble came when Kashoku argued with his father, yelling at him and rebuking him, swearing off his ties to the Light forever.  It was as Kalak gravely feared and Shadow understood all too well.  His friend was slowly losing his perfect heart, and his immortality as well.  Pretty soon, Kashoku would become mortal, and be lost to the Light forever, but there was nothing Shadow, or even Kalak could do at this point; it was all in Kashoku’s hands.

   Kashoku thought horrible thoughts of his once best friend Shadow, and his father Kalak, feeling slight regret, still loving them deeply.  But with the birth of his son, and the death of Mitsukai’s father, Kashoku put them out of his mind once more, and became the leader of the echidna tribe.  He decided to make a gift for Mitsukai, and with his Light Power forged the Master Emerald, Master Jewel, and the Seven Chaos Emeralds and Seven Spirit Jewels, all becoming heirlooms of his family.  Yet in doing this, he felt for the first time the bitter taste of mortality, feeling a large part of his power slipping away from him, and he knew now something was terribly wrong.

   With his second child on the way, Kashoku wandered blindly into the uncertain woods, sickened by this shot of mortal blood he finally felt course through his veins.  Tired and sick, he fell to his knees by a stream, and beheld the beauty of a hedgehog maiden, named Hakumei, who lived with the neighboring hedgehog village.  She would later be important, but for now, her beauty and the light radiating from her soul, perhaps the purest of any mortal, healed Kashoku’s ailing heart, and so he went home to the echidnas, and after the birth of his daughter, he felt happy again.  Unfortunately, this happiness would be short lived and end tragically.

   Only a few months after the birth of his daughter, the first attack on this peaceful race came.  It was directed by a group of large, mutant type creatures with magical powers and fierce war techniques.  Many of the clan died, and a great number were wounded, but the greatest loss came when Queen Mitsukai was mortally wounded.  Kashoku stood over her, protecting her body from the attackers, and once the attacks subsided, he held his beloved in his arms, and as he watched her die, so did the last of his immortal blood begin to slip away.  He felt pain unlike ever before, and not just physical; losing the love of his life, was too much for his heart to bear alone.  Before she died, he was willing to become mortal and die with her, but now, he just couldn’t bear the thought of living another day, even for his children; the mortality stung at his heart too terribly for him to consider living as an echidna any longer.

   Before his immortal blood was lost, he confessed to Mitsukai his true lineage as Arandor of Light, and apologized to her for deceiving her.  However, with her last words, she told him not to mourn this, for she loved who he was, not what he was, and thus she told him he could be at peace with this, and she would always love him, for he was always going to be Kashoku the Brave, her one true love.

   Once she died, Kashoku cried to the heavens for his father to spare him.  He wept, crying for Kalak to spare him a bit longer, just to say goodbye, and this wish was granted.  He buried Queen Mitsukai, placing the Seven Spirit Jewels around her in her cairn, the Seven Chaos Emeralds meant to be buried with him.  Yet in the last month Kalak granted him on earth, Kashoku left many instructions, ones that would be very important in the coming years.  The Master Emerald he designated as the heirloom of his son’s family line, and the Master Jewel the heirloom of his daughter’s family line.  The Chaos Emeralds, he explained, would remain in the guardianship of all echidnas, with his son, (and his following descendents), being the guardian of the Master Emerald, and the same for the Master Jewel and his daughter, (and her line).  He also made one final plea; he prayed that if anyone of honest heart and intentions came to them for help, for the echidnas to help them as best he could.

   His tribe could not understand this, but Kashoku openly wept, crying about how Mitsukai was killed.  He rationalized that had they had allies to help them, perhaps there would be fewer dead, maybe even Queen Mitsukai would still be alive.  He persuaded them to the importance of having allies, and thus the last of his requests was finally laid down.

   On the night that Kashoku was to die, Arandor wondered how exactly Kalak meant to save him.  He knew he had greatly wronged his father, hurting and disrespecting him to a great degree, and felt such shame and remorse, yet he could not hate himself for his actions, for he loved Mitsukai, and were he able to go back he would never give up the love he shared with her, no matter how short, for Arandor had seen the greatness of the kingdom of life fashioned by the power of the Light, and cradled by Kalak’s loving care.

   With the sun almost set, Kashoku bent down next to Mitsukai’s grave, tearfully confessing his love to her once more, and his shame that he could do nothing to save her.  He apologized for abandoning their children, their son only a toddler and their daughter still a baby and he knew she understood, yet he could not shake this pain.  He never wept in the years before he became Kashoku, nor had he ever felt pain like this, and the realization was starting to come to him.  He knew that Shadow cried, he knew that Shadow’s heart would hurt, and Arandor just now understood how his friend felt all these years.  He also understood, however, that he was no longer the Pure Light…and would probably never be again.

   He said goodbye to Mitsukai once more, before he saw this father’s stars, the Elderstars, coming down from the heavens to bring him home.  Unsure of what would happen, Arandor felt his soul being pulled away from his body, and looking down he could see Kashoku fall silent on Mitsukai’s grave.  Arandor felt light headed as the Elderstars flew him home, but he could recall the silhouette of Shadow flying next to him, whispering that everything would be okay…and he was forgiven.

   Arandor’s soul was rescued by Kalak’s Elderstars, and he was taken to the castle chapel in Radiant Castle, locked in a restoration capsule for some years, about four.  During this time the echidnas buried Kashoku and moved on, following his commands and mourning the loss of the first great King and Queen of the echidnas, the like of which would never be seen again, for with the passing of Kashoku and Mitsukai, the echidnas began a slow tumble to the end of their Golden Years, while Arandor and Shadow’s native race, the hedgehogs, would become increasingly instrumental, and Arandor and Shadow had to find a way to make things right, for with Arandor’s actions, the fate of the world was now on a long and fragile course, resting in the hands of his son and daughter’s lines.

   However, as Arandor lost his immortal blood, so did he lose his Light magic, and thus only the pure strength within Arandor was passed to his children, and in order for the strength of his descendents to be any good, they’d need on more thing, and that was Arandor’s Light Magic, which he would have to pass on to one more child, and that is when the second part of his story began.