After the dramatic rescue of the Princess and the fuss and ceremony that surrounded Akihito afterwards, the desire for Adventure was tempered somewhat, the Koi Fish had a new life and this was adventure enough. All thoughts of Dragon Gate disappeared from the minds of the Koi as their new Imperial friend became a curiosity, that is until one day when the friends were together in the Imperial lakes.

Princess Yazuri was only a very young girl when she encountered the Koi in the lake, the reason that she had ventured into the lakes was due to her being bored with her very short and young imperial life, at the age of six she should have known better than to have put her self in danger, there was a presence of mischief about her which was probably at the root of her finding such trouble that fateful day.

It was by pure misfortune that the Koi had met Princess Yazuri and pure fortune that the incident had turned everybodies life around for the better, the Koi were protected by imperial law and in return the Princess was now protected by the nine Koi fish.

‘I am so lucky to have you all’ said Yazuri in an outburst of happiness, splashing her arms against the surface of the lake ‘what would I do without you, I ask myself? Life would be so dull, the Palace is dull, Imperial life is dull…’ her words came as a great shock to the Koi.

‘but surely…highness, it is an honour to be bestowed with such responsibility for your people and your land…to have so many look to you for guidance, is this not your ambition in life, to be dutiful to your empire?’ said Juri, the oldest of the Koi circle,

‘an honour yes!’ replied Yazuri ‘But I am too young for ceremony, I would like to enjoy life a little before things become too serious. I want to explore the lands surrounding the Empire and beyond, I have only seen what there is within the palace grounds…you Koi must have enjoyed many adventures in your lives with so much more to look forward to, it is so funny isn’t it? I want to get out and you want to come in, I guess that this is life?’

The Princess was surely very mature in her thoughts for only a little girl, her mind was full of wanting for adventure…
‘adventure is so dangerous’ exclaimed Naruhito ‘ we would all like to think that life holds so much more in store for us but typically that is not always the case, what is important is that the empire is in safe hands and that you are always safe and protected from danger’

‘that is boring Naruhito!’ snapped Yazuri ‘you cannot tell me that you have no desire in life to achieve more than just floating around a big Imperial pond! What kind of fulfilment is that? You must have had the urge for adventure at some point in your life…no?’

At this point Naruhito remembered the day of the rescue and realised the flame of passion that he had for the tale of Dragon Gate that Juri and Akihito were discussing prior to finding the Princess in distress.

‘Yes…you are right! Cried Naruhito ‘Dragon Gate, this is my destiny, this is where my ambition in life lies…we were supposed to be going to the elders ponds that day, to ask them about the Yellow River and the adventures through the rapids and falls…Yazuri, you are a genius and you must come with us!’

‘I am forbidden to travel outside of the Imperial grounds my dear Koi friends, but if you have a desire then you must follow your instinct until the flame of your passion either rises or falls…chase the Dragon Gate Naruhito’

‘We will all go with you Naruhito, we are one, so we make the journey to the elders ponds together.’
The nine warrior Koi fish left the Princess behind the following day to seek out the elders in the ponds on the border of the Imperial grounds.

Koi Fish Tattoo - The Elders Ponds - (Chapter 7)

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