Whenever Ivory was really tired, he would have the strangest dreams. In the realm of dreams, it is nearly impossible to capture any scene on paper. Many artists strove to recreate what their mind showed them to no avail. Currently, Ivory was swimming in sand. For some reason, he was laughing. Or perhaps he was watching himself swim? He kept a constant stream of laughter and giggles. 

Soon, the thunder split the sky and Ivory found himself floating. He was wearing his intricate gold and silver robes. Suddenly, he was face-to-face with a man with an impressive mane of hair the color of the night sky, and skin whiter than the moon. It was a god, Sozano, of the storm. Ivory knew of the gods of the east, but in his palace, worship of them was banned. The heir had, admittedly, wondered why, but he was taught never to question his father's orders. The emperor was never to be questioned, just obeyed. You must follow this rule, his father would tell him, if he was to succeed. The god's voice cracked and roared like thunder and shook him like lightning. 

"You shall never be emperor."

With that, Ivory fell into a deep abyss, screaming all the while. 

The human let out a groan and rolled in his sleep. His light hair was strewn messily as he did so. 

---

Meanwhile, in the forest, a youkai was observing an imprint. He had been following young master's steps for a while now, but had strict orders from the gods not to interfere. His job was to make sure he didn't die, but survived and suffered. The gods were cruel, and he had to admit he had no bad omen from Ivory. But Ivory had bad blood in him, and that was enough reason for him to be cursed. 

He was wearing a hooded cloak that covered him completely. It was silver. He was a spirit of the lantern, and had served the royal family along with his brothers for generations. Though there were the malicious youkai such as the tanuki and kitsune, the lantern spirits were helpful to humankind. They gave them advice, warmed them on cold Winter nights, and led lost travelers home. But they obeyed the gods' every command. Though he was Ivory's servant, he was first and foremost a servant of the gods. 

"I should make sure he does not die." He said after watching the inumimi pick him up and carry him away. 

---
Back at the trading post, Ivory finally blinked his eyes open. The human couldn't really think when he first woke up. It was one of his weaknesses. He didn't notice he was wearing patched rags, or that he was laying in a less than tidy bed, or even that there was an inumimi right by him. Whether he had woken up by himself, or if he had heard something was beyond him. Ivory yawned once, the black mist surrounding him increasing in depth.