โAwuu?โ
Fierce winds raged. Sand and stones flew as darkness devoured the sky. Amid the ruins of this desolate land, a faint light flickered. In the midst of the rumbling came a soft, childlike voice.
A snow-white fluff ball, no larger than an adultโs palm, curled up tightly. Its soft fur quivered in the wind. After a while, a pair of round, dazed eyes suddenly opened and blinked. With its movement, the small golden haloโlike a tiny crownโabove its head swayed gently.
The faint glow just now had come from that very halo.
The little creature had just awakened. Its honey-colored eyes, bright as amber, shimmered with curiosity as it gazed around. After a moment, the little one looked toward the empty air ahead.
In its sight, a small pale-blue light sphere floated midair, blinking before its eyes. The white fluff ball tentatively stretched out its soft paw and tilted its head in confusion, murmuring softly, โAwuu?โ
What are you?
โHello, little Chu Zao baby. You may call me… System.โ
A gentle womanโs voice came from the light sphere, carrying a soothing and comforting tone.
โI heard your wish, so I brought you here to find your true parent.โ
The little white fluff made another soft sound.
He dug his paws into the ground, trembling slightly. Behind him, a tiny pair of angel-like wings unfolded and gave a little stretch, like after a yawn. Tilting his small head, he looked again at the glowing orb.
The little one didnโt know what a system was.
โAnd a parent? Zao Zaoโs parent?
Zao Zao didnโt have a parent.
Zao Zao had grown up alone. No one wanted Zao Zaoโฆ butโbut Zao Zao had been doing fine on his own.
To little Chu Zao, this was an unfamiliar place. He was five years oldโa little angel. But unlike the angels of his former world, he had jet-black curls and a small halo like a crown. Whenever he was injured or frightened, he would turn into this formโa small white fluff monster with a halo.
Because of that, he became an outcast. Other children shunned him, and some malicious angels bullied him. In the end, he had to live alone.
In his last memory, he had been watching a birthday celebration for another little angelโfireworks bursting across the sky. He watched that child make a wish. Having always depended on himself, the bullied little cub who didnโt even know his own birthday or have a single friend looked at the joyful scene from afar and felt lonely.
Why was he the only one different?
Why was he the only one without family?
He too made a wish to the fireworksโZao Zao didnโt want to be alone anymore. Zao Zao wanted to be a happy little angel.
And thenโ
The little oneโs pupils shrank. Fear made his tiny body tremble. He remembered what came afterโthe sky filled with disastrous magic, countless boulders raining down like a storm. For a cub his age, there was no escape. One stone hit him, and before he could even feel pain, he fainted.
Was the system talking about that wish?
The little fluff blinked, gathering his courage. Looking at himself, he found he couldnโt return to his angel form. His fur puffed up nervously, and he crouched even lower. Every time he had taken this form before, heโd been bulliedโso instinctively, he panicked.
The golden halo above his head flickered faintly.
It glowed, then dimmed. Crouched on the ground, he looked up at the little light orb.
โAwuu?โ
โCould it really grant his wish?
Could Zao Zao truly become a happy little angel?
The glowing orbโs voice was soft and smiling. โOf course. Zao Zao has a parent. Look up aheadโthere is your parent. He belongs to the most powerful spiritual race in the galaxy. But his spiritual energy is on the verge of collapse. He is falling into darkness. His emotions will soon consume himโand he will face destruction.โ
Little Chu Zao, since the start, had been clinging tightly to the ground with all four paws.
The world roared around him. Fierce winds blew so hard that they could have lifted the little one into the sky.
He tilted his head back and gave a short cry.
Not far away, there was another enormous creature.
It was simply too large, too closeโso much so that the little cub had mistaken it for part of the landscape.
The creature towered several stories high. Snow-white fur covered its body, dusted with ash. Vast wings stretched behind it, spanning far beyond sight.
Dark streams of energy surged around itโlike turbulent air currents or warped space itself. Then, with a thunderous shockwave, that energy burst outward, shattering a nearby mountain peak flat.
It let out a hoarse, enraged roar, like the legendary dragons of old.
Above its head, a massive black haloโlike the Sword of Damoclesโfloated, fractured and on the verge of shattering completely.
Little Chu Zao swallowed hard.
The fluffy white cub blinked his big eyes. His pink-tinted ears flattened against his head as he curled up tighter, looking like a tiny white seal.
โAwuuโฆโ
PโParent???
Something didnโt seem quite right.
Look at Zao Zaoโs furโwait, itโs kind of similar.
Look at Zao Zaoโs pawsโhuh, theyโre almost the same.
And Zao Zaoโs haloโ
The little cub stretched out his paw, pulled off his golden halo, lifted it high, and compared it with the broken black crown in the distance.
And, wellโif that black crown were whole, it really did look a lot like Zao Zaoโs halo!
The little cub, who had been frightened by his appearance, suddenly found his attention diverted.
Zao Zao was shocked.
He pointed a tiny paw at the gigantic creature. โAwuu?โ
Would Zao Zao also grow up to be that majestic?
The system, too, was stunned.
The gentle female voice even wavered.
โHow can you take off your halo???โ
Waitโwas that supposed to be possible???
Little Chu Zao put his halo back on, blinking innocently.
โAwuu.โ
Zao Zao was a little angelโof course, he could take it off.
Zao Zao practiced a lot.
When Chu Zao arrived, it seemed everything was already nearing its end.
After several roars, the massive creature quieted down. The spiritual crown above its head rose and fell, its edges gradually crumbling.
Little Chu Zao crawled forward.
The snow-white fluff ball pressed close to the ground, inching forward carefully.
Bit by bit, he finally reached the creatureโs massive foot.
The system floated beside him, adjusting its tone. The light sphere began to fade, its glow slowly pouring into the little cubโs body.
The cub, confused, instinctively reached out his paw to catch the lightโbut caught nothing.
Then came the systemโs final voice:
โZao Zao, stop his collapse and destruction. In return, you will become the happiest little angel. You can do it. Youโre not just an angelโyou are the last cub of the Crowned Race. He is your father, Amos Dwightโthe ruler of the Holy Cas Empire, the alpha of the Crowned Race. If you ever need help, call my name. I will appear when you need me most. And at all other times, I will stay with you always. Zao Zao, you are not alone.โ
The little cub widened his eyes. โAwuu awuu?โ
Where did you go?
What Holy Cas Empire? What Crowned Race?
Zao Zao didnโt understand.
The little one curled himself into a tiny ball.
Amos Dwightโs spiritual power riot had just ended. He was resting with his eyes closed. His snow-white fur was covered in dust and blood. Drops of crimson fell, pattering softly as the wind gradually died down.
He was steadying his chaotic spiritual energy when, amid the pattering sounds, he suddenly heard a strange, soft little โawuu.โ
It seemed like an illusion, a hallucination. His scarlet eyes snapped open. Ever since his spiritual crown had shattered, his pupils had turned into a wild, blood-red hue.
Meanwhile, the little cub pondered the word โfather.โ
He had seen, countless times, angels his age being held lovingly in their parentsโ arms, sweetly calling them baba and mama.
Little Chu Zao had never called anyone that.
From the moment he was born, he had no parentsโand he could even turn into a little white monster.
No angel had ever wanted to adopt him.
Perhaps the journey here had been too surreal, and seeing someone who looked like him for the first time stirred something inside him. Still just a child, uneducated and lonely, the little cub gathered all his courage. His amber eyes blinked as he carefully reached out a tiny paw and placed it atop the massive creatureโs claw.
Softly, timidlyโโAwuu.โ
โBaba?
Amos: !
The massive creature froze instantly. He realized that wasnโt an illusion.
His body was enormous now, towering and vast, allowing him to suppress his collapsing spiritual energy. But because his senses were dulled by the turmoil within, he hadnโt noticed what lay beneath his feet. Clumsily, he bent down.
Little Chu Zao stayed in a crouched position, his tiny paw resting on Amosโs claw. Noticing that someone was looking at him, he tilted his small head back. His sparkling amber eyes met the pair of crimson ones above. The size difference was so overwhelming that the little one instinctively shrank further into himself.
Amos couldnโt believe what he was seeing. He blinked, completely stunned.
He wasnโt sure if his eyes were deceiving him.
By his leg, there seemed to be a soft, white cubโnot even as large as his fingernailโa tiny, trembling bundle.
The cub had a pair of clear amber eyes. Its furry ears were pressed tight against its head. Small wings folded neatly on its back, its little tailโmore like a dragonโsโtucked between its legs. Above its head floated a sparkling golden crown-like halo that swayed gently with every movement.
Chu Zao swallowed hardโthe huge eyes staring back at him were rather intimidating.
The majestic beast, fierce as a dragon, leaned down carefully, peering through the cracks to look at him. For a long time, he said nothing.
The halo above Chu Zaoโs head flickered. He hesitated, then called again.
โAwuu?โ
Baba?
Baba?
Papa?
When Amos saw that golden crown clearly, he froze completely.
And when he realized he could actually understand the meaning of those โawuuโ sounds, he went stiff as stone.
โHe was of the Crowned Race, the mythical species of the galaxyโpossessing angelic wings and halo-like crowns of spiritual power, with the tails and majesty of dragons, and the appearance of fierce beasts.
Their kind was rare. They had founded the Holy Cas Empire with their own hands. Yet, when the cosmic pollution disaster struck, they lost their spiritual homelandโthe core of their powerโand began to fall into ruin and extinction.
He was the last generation of the Crowned Race. For hundreds of years, no cub had been born among them.
So long that Amos had forgotten what a cub even looked likeโwas thisย what one looked like? Why… why was there a cub here?
Amos stared for a long time.
Little Chu Zao was also confused.
After a momentโs thought, he suddenly spread his tiny wings, and softly said, โAwuu.โ
Baba!
Lookโwe look the same, donโt we?
Authorโs Note:
โ The story leans toward daily life and parenting, but includes adventure elements. The cub is soft outside but strong within, with many system-related mysteries to be revealed later. There is a CP, but romance only develops after adulthood.
โก All characters are imperfect; extreme readers, please avoid.
โข The cubโs original form can be imagined as a plush baby dragonโsoft, short fur, white and pink colouring, with angel-like wings and no horns, but with a glowing halo~
โฃ Wishing you a pleasant read!
Upcoming Works:
Do You Also Want to Raise a Little Evil Dragon?/ไฝ ไนๆณๅ ปๅฐๆถ้พๅ๏ผ
Do You Also Want to Hug a Little Panda?/ไฝ ไนๆณๆฑๆฑๅฐ็็ซๅ๏ผ
I, a Side Character in a Comic, Unknowingly Became the King!/ๆ๏ผๆผซ็ป่ทฏไบบ๏ผbkingไธ่ช็ฅ
Completed Works:
Not a Monster, But the Beloved Dragon Cub/ไธๆฏๅฐๆช็ฉ๏ผๆฏๅขๅฎ ้พๅดฝ
The Little Orca Just Wants to Cuddle Humans/ๅฐ่้ฒธๅชๆณ่ทไบบ็ฑป่ดด่ดด
After Mistaking the God, They Deeply Regretted It/่ฎค้็ฅๆๅไปไปฌ่ฟฝๆ่ซๅ
More upcoming โcub-raising and family-bondโ stories are on the wayโstay tuned!