Once upon a time,

there was a small fish who lived in a small pond. Her scales were smooth and black as obsidian.
Amongst her darkness, spots of red shown along her back and her fins. Her name was Yeong.

Everyday she would swim about her small pond and wonder about the things that lay
beyond. She would reminisce about the stories of the elder fish, about the legend of the dragon.

Legend has it that the koi that swam upstream to the waterfall would become a dragon.
That the fish’s perseverance would be rewarded by the gods and it would be anointed with new
golden brazen scales and breathe the powerful fire of a worthy dragon.

As a young fish, she told her family and her friends, “One day, I will swim up the
grand Yellow River and I will fight my way up the waterfall, and I will become a golden
dragon.”
To this, her mother would always laugh, tickle her gills, and say, “With strength and
perserverance, you can be anything, my little koi.”

Many years went past and it was time for her to leave the pond and move downstream
to the next bay. She said goodbye to her mother and brothers and went out along the stream. But
something stopped her. She remembered that the grand Yellow River joined their pond through a
small stream. It would be out in the opposite direction, but she knew it was only a few days
journey away. She decided to journey to the grand Yellow River.

“I will make my family proud. I will do the impossible on my own. I will swim up the
waterfall without the help of any other fish or force. People will remember Yeong as the koi with
no limitations,” she said this to herself as she began her detoured journey.

She began to swim through the first small stream that would connect her to the river.
She knew she’d have to move fast if she wanted to be able to ride the current downstream to the
new bay.

Swimming briskly by, she hardly noticed the thin koi, whose spots were dulled and
body tinted with gray. “Please, young one, help me. I have not eaten and I need help finding a
spot to rest,” the sick fish pleaded with Yeong.

Yeong hesitated. Her window for time was ever depleting. However, something inside
her told her to stop.
“Sure. I just past an algae cluster not too far back, I can take you there.”
“Oh that sounds wonderful dear. Let’s go get that algae. May I ask, why were you
traveling upstream? Wherever you’re going can’t possibly be worth the strain,” the sick fish
questioned.

Yeong took the fish’s hand and began to lead her back downstream to the algae field.
“Well, I’m on a journey. I’m trying to go to get to the grand Yellow River so that I can
travel up the waterfall—“
 “To become a golden dragon! Oh young one, please, please let me come along. I may
be sick and ailing, but in all my years I’ve only heard of the stories. Not many fish from around
here have the chance to attempt such a feat.”

They had reached the algae field and began to feed. Yeong noticed the sick fish’s
golden orange spots as her scales began to lighten.
“Well, I’m going to be swimming upstream…are you sure you can handle that?”
“Oh sweet child, I can handle anything. It may take some time, but I will make it.”
Yeong thought for a moment. Her head told her to spare the fish the struggle, but her
heart told her to bring her along. “Alright, well I suppose you can come along. We can turn
around and head back up. We can stop a little further up and rest for the night. And ma’am, what
is your name?”

“Bless you, child. Thank you so much for your service. I am Kyung. And what is
yours?”
“I am Yeong. It is great to meet you.”
Yeong worried a bit about the time. But she knew it’d be wrong to rush Kyung. They
continued on upstream. They stopped about two hours later to rest.

The next day they woke, ate and began to continue upstream. They were close to the
river crossing.
Yeong and Kyung had just gotten to the Yellow River when they came along a small
blue koi. He was swimming all alone and frantically turning about. “Are you okay, child? Where
is your family?”
“I…I…I don’t know. I don’t have one. I don’t know where I belong.” The baby koi
said with fear in his voice.
Yeong took the small fish and spent the day looking for his family. But they were
nowhere to be found. Yeong began to worry about the fish, and the time.

She took the small fish and decided to bring him along on her journey with the hopes
they’d come across some family. “What is your name little one?” she asked.
“I do not have a name.”
“Then you shall be Gun, because your strength is radiant.”
Kyung took little Gun’s fin and they swam together against the strong current.

That night the three fish found a cove to stay. Gun nestled himself among some
seaweed and soon began to cry. Yeong saw this as she was gathering her own seaweed.
“What’s wrong, Gun? Don’t be sad!” She said.
“I just wish I wasn’t me. Hardly anyone in my bay has my blue scales. I don’t have a
family. Who would want to be a name-less, family-less, blue guy like me?”
Yeong felt an immense sadness when she heard this. She knew her next few words
would be incredibly important.
 “Oh Gun, you do have a name. And here you find your family. But don’t worry young
fish. It are these parts of you that make you strong and worthy. As long as you believe in
yourself, you don’t have to worry about anybody else,” Yeong assured the young fish.

Kyung heard their conversation as she made her seaweed bed. “Well here we are, just
three fish. Gun, you are a blue fish. Yeong, you are a black fish. And I, well I am an white fish.
Some of us have colored spots. But we are all koi. Each of us has our own strengths, and that is
quite alright. It is important to remember that not one color fish or one’s ability makes them
above or better than any other. Unique, perhaps, but never superior.”
Yeong and Gun looked to one another and smiled.
“If you all don’t mind, I’d like to try to swim up the waterfall too. I don’t care much
about being a dragon or anything like that, but I’d like to see if I can,” Gun said this after some
thought.
To which Yeong said, “Of course, Gun. We will all be able to try to swim up the
waterfall. But we must rest.”
And with that, the three fish sunk into a sleep and dreamt about brave golden dragons
and rushing currents.

Morning came and the fish set out on the last part of their journey. The waterfall wasn’t
too far ahead and everyone was beginning to get anxious.
“When I become a dragon, I’m going to fly high and soar!” exclaimed Gun.
“When I become a dragon, I am going to run and breathe fire to keep us warm.
“What are you going to do Yeong? Why do you even want to go?” asked Kyung.
Yeong thought for a moment and said, “Well, I want to be able to show my family and
the young fish in my bay that hard work can produce wonders. I want to be a role model, and so I
figure if I can lead myself to greatness, others can find greatness too. When I become a dragon, I
want to breathe strength into everyone I see and show them how they too can find success.”

And with that, they found themselves at the foot of the crashing waterfall. Fins already
tired from their long upstream journey. All three looked up at the looming cliff.
“It’s bigger than I thought…” worried Yeong.
“I…I…I don’t know if I’m big enough for this…” muttered Gun.
“Well, we came all this way so we might as well try!” exclaimed Kyung who swam
backwards a few strokes and then with all her strength swam full speed against the crashing
waters. But she could not pull herself to the top.

Kyung returned to the other fish tired and defeated.

Gun then decided to try. He swam backwards a few strokes and then with all his
strength swam full speed against the crashing waters. He made it halfway up the waterfall and
them came crashing down. Gun returned to the other fish tired and defeated.

Yeong then decided to try. She swam backwards a few strokes and she thought about
what would happen next. She would make it to the top. It didn’t matter how long it would take.
Time was not longer an element. She took a deep breath and then with all her strength swam full
speed against the crashing waters.
 She made it three quarters of the way up then came crashing down. She returned to the
other fish tired and deep in thought.

“Well at least we tried!” exclaimed Kyung.

“I went further than I thought!” yelled Gun.
Yeong was puzzled. She knew that many fish from the legend had been turned away by
the strength of the mighty waterfall. But she wasn’t ready to give up. She looked to the other two
fish and said, “We must work together to reach the top! Kyung, you are the most skilled in
navigation, you will go upfront and be our eyes. Gun, you have the strongest tail fin, you will go
in the back and propel us all forward. I will be in the middle using my pectoral fins to pull us up.
Remember, we don’t need to go at top speed, we just need strength and resilience. We will make
it up that waterfall.”

Kyung and Gun became filled with excitement. They all exchanged looks of
determination and filed into line. With Kyung at front, Yeong grabbed her back fin, and Gun
grabbed Yeong’s back fin. And they swam, together like one big fish they propelled themselves
up the waterfall and breached the top in a splash.

The minute they got to the top, the water was calmer. They unhooked from one another
and swam to safety, breathing heavily.
Their breathes became hot and labored, the calm waters began to churn. The fish
looked at one other, grabbed each other’s fins and held on as a whirlpool formed. Then in an
instant, their scales became longer, they fins became stronger, their bodies grew feet and they
became dragons.

In their new state they looked to their reflection in the water, and they saw their new
dragon bodies. But the legend had been wrong. They were not all golden. Instead…

There was one blue dragon…

One white dragon with orange spots…

And one black dragon with red spots

The sky became bright and the dragons looked up to the clouds which were beginning
to speak, “Yeong, Gun, Kyung, you three have mastered the meanings of service, strength,
resilience, and inclusion. You are all leaders in your own right. You are all worthy of being the
dragon protectors of heaven and Earth.”
And in a flash the voice was gone and the clouds returned to normal.

The dragons smiled to one another, nodded, and went in their own directions.

One was said to have flown throughout the skies, looking out for trouble below. All the
while, this dragon searched to bring families back together.
 Another was rumored to breathe warm fire into the bays of every cold corner of the
Earth, bringing hope to all the sick and old.

And one, was said to soar among the stars and into the dreams of young koi, igniting
their determination and molding them into leaders.