White Dragon Stories

Smiles and tears

On their way to the picnic place Hakuryuu at first stayed at his mother's side and even helped her with carrying their stuff. Of course, he only had something small and light to carry. Soon, however, he decided that it was boring to stay by Gyokuen's side and he didn't want to carry anything around anymore. And why haven't they reached their destination yet?
So the first thing he did, before letting go of whatever he was supposed to carry, was to ask how long it would take them until they reached the picnic place and complaining that he was bored. Gyokuen answered his question with a smile and offered to carry him, in case he was already tired. Hakuryuu wasn't tried, he was bored!
Fortunately Hakuren was there as well and knew what a child like his younger brother needed right now. Children loved playing games and hence a game of tag was the best choice to entertain Hakuryuu. Also Hakuren therewith had an excuse to behave more childish – deep inside he was nothing but a child himself, however in this cruel world a man his age had to behave like an adult. Having little siblings could be such a blessing!
Hakutoku and Gyokuen said nothing when Hakuren and Hakuryuu started their game of tag, only Hakuyuu reminded his brothers to be careful and not to run too far ahead. Hakuei just watched silently as well. Although she wasn't tired and old enough to walk on her own, her father carried her. Talking with each other was easier that way. And like this the royal Ren family walked to their picnic place. Luckily, the weather was nice – not too windy or cold, but not too warm either.

When they reached their destination Hakuryuu wanted to decide where they would sit down. No one objected and so Hakuryuu search a little bit for the perfect place and found it near a bush with red berries – Hakuryuu did not know what kind of berries they were, but his mother told him not to eat them and so he did not even touch them. Once he hadn't listen to her and ate something he shouldn't have and got sick afterwards. Ever since then he listened to her, at least when it was about food which he could not identify.
Together with Hakuei he spread out the picnic blanket, so his family could finally sit down. Soon it was lunch time and everyone was hungry, thus Gyokuen put out the food she had made in the morning. Meanwhile, Hakuyuu was busy telling Hakuren not to be so rough and be more careful with Hakuei and Hakuryuu, especially around the lack. All Ren siblings had learned how to swim, but it was clear that Hakuryuu was not as good as his older brothers. The lack was not that big and Yuu and Ren as well as their parents were nearby so the chances of Hakuryuu drowning were quite small, yet the chances weren't zero and therefore Hakuyuu thought it was the best to remind Hakuren to be on the lookout with their younger brother.
"Stop worrying so much, Yuu. The water is not that deep here. Hakuryuu can stand in the water without problem and if he drowns knee-deep water, then..."
"Then what?", Hakuyuu asked and crossed his arms.
"I don't know", Hakuren answered, "But I doubt that anything bad will happen. Hakuryuu never went far into the water. Why should that suddenly change? And I will definitely not throw him into the water. So relax, mother and father do not complain anyway."
Hakuren knew that his brother only meant well, but it was so annoying sometimes. He was not a small and stupid child, so why was he treated like one? It was not their first time here and nothing bad had happened, of course this didn't mean that something bad would never happen. However the chances were small at least regarding Hakuryuu drowning. They did not even have taken anything with them for swimming.
Hakuryuu did not pay attention to his brothers and their conversation, although he knew it was about him. He was a big boy now, thus he could take care of himself. So he took off his shoes and rolled up his trouser legs, so they would not get wet.
The water was pleasantly cold, when he made his first steps. Of course Hakuryuu stayed close to the bank and in sight of his family. He was not brave enough to walk away. What if he got lost? Only thinking about it scared him.
His anxiety and his curiosity often got in each other's way. Whenever he gave in to his curiosity his fear got stronger, which ensured that he more and more often let himself be led by his fear instead of his curiosity. Hakuei was totally different from him. She was already inspecting the surrounding area. A lot of green grass, bushes, colorful flowers, trees and insects were all she found. However her little stroll was interrupted by her mother, because it was now time for lunch. It was quite impressive how powerful such simple words as "it's time for lunch" were. Hakuyuu and Hakuren stopped their useless discussion and Hakuryuu got out of the water. Although this wasn't much of a surprise. He was hungry and he was very well behaved. Most of the time he listened to his parents and older siblings. Things had been harder with Hakuren and even Hakuyuu, when they still were kids.