First Steps Down the Warrior's Path

Believe it or not, even Lang Shu and Hirozuki Kitsune once enjoyed the early years of life where the line between dreams and reality was faint. Shu was once an optimistic and cheerful little pup with a dream to be the greatest warrior to ever bear the name Lang. Once upon a time, Zuki was an innocent and naïve young kit with a spirit as free and vigorous as the wind of winter. But life began to hit them with painful losses and shocking revelations, until they no longer were nor could ever again be those playful cubs. Changed by the harsh ways of reality, they manage to follow their dreams as well as the one they share to be reunited and share a life together.

I thought it would be interest to depict the cubhood years of Shu and Zuki and see their humble beginnings. I wanted people to see the innocence and joy of these two before the death of Shu’s father, before Zuki’s heritage was revealed to her, and before the separation of these two in the fateful battle between them and the cursed wolf feral Xun within in the catacombs of the Final Crossroad Cemetery in Aberystwyth, Wales. While Zuki is the only fox in this tribe of wolves, she is also born from the Langren’s most dangerous rivals, the Kitsune. She was taken in by the Langren at birth and has been the only female Shu has desired ever since.

All members of the Heavens Fangs Tribe are trained in the traditional Langren marital art of Tai Lang Quan "Wolf Fist Punishment" from the time they can walk upright. They train at the village dojo three days a week for 16 years. As a rite of passage, each student engages the master in a bout to determine if they have mastered the basics. If they have, they learn on their own thereafter. Shu, however, is next in line to be the alpha and so he trains one-on-one with his mother, the alpha female Lang Huang Yun. Shu’s village is located on the side of a high mountain in Luoyang, China. Shu spends his free time at the spring near the top of the mountain where he and Zuki spar, swim, play games, and eat cherries from the cherry trees.

I believe Shu would be 96 moons of age in this picture (Which is eight years of old. The Heavens Fangs Tribe calculates age by the complete cycles of the moon, AKA, months.) That means Zuki is 83 moons of age.