Pilgrim 6, p.21
Pilgrim 6, page 21
“You don’t have to sell a good meal to me, not right now,” said Kudzu. “We have been on this beach for hours.”
“We have. Get dressed, Fox. We can’t bring critters into the city.”
As if to illustrate his point, Jelmay morphed into the same nondescript form he had taken earlier. He flexed his muscles and looked down at his hands. “Paws are so much better.”
After Kudzu had taken her human form and dressed, the group headed in the direction of Tachibana, Sansar providing surveillance as always. A misty rain started up, yet the crackle of lightning and booming thunder told Danzen that things were going to get worse.
Not only that, he could see the way that the ocean was starting to swell, the waves increasing in size before they reached the beach, white froth lapping against the shoreline.
“So aside from seeing the Butterflies soon, as in real soon, we’re just going to go around and collect Fatebricks?” Jelmay asked just to break the silence.
“Why do I feel that is a loaded question?”
“Because it is, Fox. I’m thinking that we need to store these things somewhere safe, like the nunnery.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Danzen said.
“The nunnery? Do you know how far away that is?”
“Um, we have a bird,” Jelmay reminded Kudzu. “Sansar could fly them there.”
“If you bring them to the nunnery, then more people will know about the Fatebricks,” Nomin reminded the two yokai. “How secret do we want to keep the existence of these items? We need to discuss that before we decide on stashing them somewhere in the Kingdom. If they are at the nunnery, they will be there along with all the other remnants we have collected. Imagine what would happen if there was a raid, something like that. Abbot Monpo is powerful, but that raid could come from anyone.”
“Nomin is right,” said Danzen. “If I’m not already a target for collecting these items, I will be soon.”
“So what you’re asking for is a good hidey-hole, huh? In that case, I know a place in the Valley,” Jelmay told the group. “If we go there, we can continue onward toward the Northern Passage and check on Lady Pilgrim before we ultimately head back to Arsi. If we hustle, we’ll make it there and back with plenty of time.”
“Check on Yato? You do remember that we are in Tachibana, the desert, right?” Kudzu asked them.
“I know where we are. There has to be a way to connect over to Genshin Valley, there has to be. Right, Pilgrim?”
Danzen nodded his chin toward the mountains. “East of here. I believe if we go that way, we will connect with the Panchen Mountains.”
“See?” Jelmay told Kudzu. “And we have to see how Lady Pilgrim is doing. You heard me say that, right? Personally, I’m excited. By now, she might be a Rainbow Trout, or whatever the next ranking is.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she surpassed all of us, including you, Pilgrim the Dissolver. Kidding, I don’t like that nickname. Speaking of which, you have to show me what that looks like later. Tomorrow morning, maybe we will have the staff put up some collapsible walls in one of the gardens there so we can bend our echo together, a proper session. I’ve got to keep my skill up. There’s no telling when I’m going to need to crush a skull or three.”
Kudzu laughed. “The only skull you’re going to crush is the skull of whatever we’re eating tonight.”
“Not a great joke, but it was a valiant attempt, and I appreciate the effort. Truly, I do. Blind Pilgrim does too, right?”
Nomin shrugged. “Enough chatter for now. Let’s focus on getting back to Tachibana before the sky opens up.”
.Chapter Two.
Jelmay’s request to put up some partition walls in the courtyard was readily handled by the hotel staff the next morning that seemed keen to please the bakeneko, who they assumed was a rich merchant from Sainshand. Danzen and his companions had survived the storm, and while it had rained most of the night, he was surprised to find the ground relatively dry, the water all running into channels that the city had built over the years. It was a clever system, one that allowed for potable water to be stored for the dryer season.
As Danzen began to bend his echo that next morning, his form hidden by the partitions, which likely provided an interesting shadow for any onlooker, he recalled the time he had spent in this region. He remembered that drier season, one that took place in late spring through summer, the desert parched, the sparkling sea nearby almost an insult. Yet people made it work, the citizens of Tachibana a hardened bunch, the will to persevere a core of who they were. They were survivors, as all humans seemed to be.
His sword drawn, Danzen slowly stirred up the power within him as he remembered his arrival, how he had found work with the tavern owner named Oflen. The bearded man had been an early riser, and he had never asked Danzen questions as to why he had suddenly appeared in Tachibana. There had been no mention of the Diyu Brotherhood, Danzen’s past, or anything that could have led the man to know more of his origins. Oflen didn’t question the scars that covered his body, nor Danzen’s muscled form, how he always moved like a panther ready to strike. Danzen appreciated this.
“I’m ready, I’m ready,” Jelmay said as he appeared behind the former assassin, the bakeneko in his cat form, sleep still in his eyes.
He drew his flail and looked down at it, a deep yawn lifting his whiskers. The end of his weapon ignited and he shrugged. “Getting better, right?”
For the next thirty minutes Danzen instructed Jelmay on using the weapon and keeping the flame lit while he did so. The bakeneko made plenty of jokes, yet he focused well enough, to the point that he grew tired. Fanning himself with his free paw, Jelmay plopped down to the ground, the flames on his flail petering out. “Whew!
Enough practice for me. I’m not trying to be an assassin just yet, not
with two or three trained ones around me at all times. But enough about your favorite bakeneko. I want to see you dissolve something.”
Danzen raised an eyebrow at Jelmay.
“That’s how you solved the challenge back at the last sanctuary, right? That’s what you said. I want to see what it looks like. I know what the other three things look like, floating, shattering, repairing. I do like watching you repair things, I should say. I find that interesting.
But I haven’t seen you dissolve something yet.” Jelmay found a stone and tossed it to Danzen, who easily caught it. “That should do.
Dissolve the little guy.”
Danzen examined the stone for a moment. “I don’t know if I can,”
he finally told the bakeneko, not telling him the part where he’d been forced to cut himself to make it happen.
“Sure you can. You did yesterday. If anyone believes in you, it’s me, Pilgrim. I might be garrulous and nonsensical, but I’m a good friend, and an even greater bakeneko. Admit that.”
Danzen didn’t go into detail about the strain he had felt in the challenge that the three goryo had presented him. “If I attempt it, will you give me some kip?”
“Wait, what?” Jelmay nearly fell over laughing. “You? Bartering?
Since when did you start performing parlor tricks for money? And if I didn’t tell you before, I’ll tell you now: when you are ready, or after we rebuild heaven, you and I are going out on the road. We will make so much money. We could probably use a bard as well. Maybe that will be the bard that writes the songs that people will sing about us in the future. We can just hire the bard and you can rewire their brain. Easy. Fine. We’ll table that discussion for now because it has nothing to do with what we’re talking about. Now, why do you need money exactly?”
“After we’re finished here I want to visit someone.”
“Are you buying a gift for Kudzu? Because if you are, you don’t even have to ask. I certainly support the way you two love each other. Kidding, don’t look at me like that. I know, I know, assassins don’t have hearts, and kitsunes are wily and troublesome. Aside from that, she’ll outlive you by decades, and no one likes to watch their spouse die. I’ll stop.”
Danzen lowered his hand, and in doing so he left the stone floating in the air before him. “In the two years I spent in this region,
there was a man who helped me out quite a bit. I worked for him, but I wanted to give him something, a gift.”
“Will he remember who you are?”
“I have ways to handle that,” Danzen reminded the bakeneko.
“In that case, sure, I’ll give you some money. But try to dissolve something first. I want to see what that looks like.”
Danzen returned his gaze to the stone hovering before him. He tried to dissolve it over the next several minutes, yet he never found enough power or focus to be able to do it. In the end, the stone fell to the ground. Danzen slowly shook his head.
“I guess not this time then. Maybe you are still exhausted from yesterday’s trial.” Jelmay reached into the front pocket of his vest.
He fished around and came back with nothing. “Kidding. The kip is in the hotel room. Wait here, and I’ll bring it to you. No sense in waking up the others; you know how the fox gets when you go out. Unless you want her to come with you.”
“I’ll go alone.”
“Have it your way, Pilgrim. But don’t take too long. The earlier we leave, the sooner we can arrive in the Valley and beyond. I don’t
know how long it’s going to take, but I want to make sure we have plenty of time for a midday meal, and that we can find a good place to rest in the mountains tonight.” Jelmay returned a few minutes later and gave Danzen quite a bit of kip. Danzen had never really needed to know the cost of labor, but he assumed that the amount Jelmay had given him would have funded a couple servants for a few months.
It would do quite well as a gift.
****
Leaving the hotel with just the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds, his Astra kunai, and one of his gauntleted blades, Danzen took the same path he had grown so familiar with in his time in the city. He passed by the butcher and a man who made carpets used for padding on camels, his looms spinning. He then circled through a small market that specialized in pottery, where buyers from Arsi were already gathering. Danzen finally arrived at a simple tavern with walls made of mud and stone.
The door was open; Danzen stepped inside to find Oflen the tavernkeep making himself breakfast behind the bar. Oflen was a broad-shouldered man with a sharp beard that had been twisted off with a red thread. He had a rough look about him, but he was genuinely kind.
He glanced up at Danzen, his hand still gripping the knife he’d been using to cut a cactus fruit. “We aren’t open just yet—”
“I need you to remember who I am until I leave. After that,
you will forget again.”
“It’s you.” Oflen’s eyes twitched as Danzen’s Demon Speak rewired his brain.
“I brought you something.” Danzen was just reaching into his robes when Oflen stopped him.
“Are you hungry? Let’s have a meal together.”
“Yes, I would like that.”
His hood still over his head, Danzen took a seat at the bar, and was soon given a small plate of skilleted root vegetables, grilled cactus fruit, and thin slices of goat belly, which were sprinkled with a brittle red spice. As they had done so many times before, the two
men ate silently. Afterwards, Oflen started up the conversation: “So you are doing well?”
“I am.”
The large man grunted. “That’s good to hear.”
“And you?”
“Honestly? It’s hard to find good help around here, but I’ll survive.”
“Anything I can do now?”
“Now?” Oflen took a quick look around. “I was planning on moving all the tables out and sweeping and mopping, but you don’t have to help me.”
“I don’t mind.”
Over the next hour, Danzen helped Oflen clean up the place. This simple act reminded him of the time he’d spent at his monastery, when he was first getting it back into working shape. It had been a while since he had done humbling manual labor and Danzen actually enjoyed it. It made him feel human, the stakes much lower.
Once he was done, Danzen retrieved the money that Jelmay had given him. He placed it on the bar.
“Absolutely not,” Oflen said, the big man crossing his arms over his chest.
“I want you to take it.”
“Your money is no good here.”
“I want you to take it,” Danzen told him with his power yet again. “After I step out that door, you will take the money and
forget that I ever visited. You will assume the kip came from a
very successful evening a few nights ago, a wedding party that
was held. You will tell no one of the money, yet you will use it
however you see fit. Thank you for your hospitality.”
“I hope to see you around again,” Oflen said as he placed his hand on the money, but by that point, Danzen was gone.
****
On his way back to the hotel in Tachibana, Danzen remembered the early mornings when he had gone out with fishermen to pull in their nets and check their traps, some of the caravans he had escorted across the desert on camelback, nights camping in the
mountains alone, unaware that there were yokai all around him. So many experiences, yet it all seemed condensed now to a single memory, one of a peaceful escape. While Danzen had been on the run at the time, well aware that the Brotherhood was likely looking for him, there was a sense of serenity that he had felt in the remote desert city that he would likely never experience again. At least not fully.
Upon reaching the hotel, Danzen found Kudzu pacing outside wearing her robe with golden accents, the black in her hair starting to fade. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t waiting for you,” she told him. “Jelmay was just annoying me. Sometimes I just need a break from the bakeneko. You know how it goes.”
“Is everyone prepared to leave?”
“I believe so.”
“Good. We will head east toward the Panchen Mountains.”
Danzen passed under the veranda and reached the room that he had stayed in last night. He gathered his weapons, and his bags, and as he did so his field diary slipped out. He recalled the yokai they had encountered in the forest beyond the desert, Tolmo, the
one Jelmay had called an ijuu. He located the passage about the strange creature in his field diary and quickly read it.
Ijuu are hairy beasts larger than humans that resemble monkeys, with long claws and hideous faces. Despite their size, many are shy, and they prefer living away from people. Couriers and traveling merchants occasionally encounter them but ijuu generally don’t attack people. There have been reports of them begging for food, and helping travelers who have become lost, but they are generally harmless.
There is a famous story about an ijuu living in the woods of Bahlingar. One summer, a man named Takesuke learned that there were bandits on the road. After packing up his items and arranging them on his back, he decided to find a route through the forest to avoid the bandits. The merchant kept to a northerly path, yet a great mist added confusion and apprehension to his journey. He encountered an ijuu and naturally dropped his items out of fright. The merchant was just starting to run away when the ijuu lifted the merchant’s pack and motioned for him to follow. At first, the merchant was reluctant, but the ijuu made no indication that he was going to harm the man, and soon, the ijuu had safely led the merchant to the outskirts of Bahlingar. There used to be a statue of
the merchant and the ijuu in Bahlingar, but it was later removed because it scared children, the tale mostly forgotten.
“Perfect time to read,” Jelmay said as he stepped through the doorway, the bakeneko once again in his human form. “Perfect time.”
“I was just coming,” Danzen said as he snapped the field diary shut.
As he had done in Arsi, Jelmay arranged a carriage to take them as far east as it would go, which happened to be about five miles outside of Tachibana. It was a relatively short ride, the day already heating up by the time they reached the start of the eastern mountains. Looking to the sky, Danzen knew that he wouldn’t see the red of Diyu, but he could still sense it, his father’s home calling to him in a way that he knew he would ultimately reject.
“I’m going to miss you,” Jelmay said once the camel-driven carriage had turned and was heading back in the other direction. The bakeneko pretended to wipe a tear from his face, which elicited a laugh from Kudzu. “I hate traveling on foot.”
“You are too much.”
“Some say I’m just enough, isn’t that right, Blind Pilgrim?”
Rather than respond, Nomin turned to a natural pass that would lead them deeper into the mountains. She started up, Sansar circling overhead. Eventually, the three-legged raven later landed on Danzen’s shoulder. And as they had done numerous times by now, the group found a comfortable pace over the next several hours.
They reached a summit that provided a sweeping view of the mountains, Kudzu taking a deep breath in through her nostrils as she gazed out at the horizon. “I think I should change back now.”
Once Kudzu had taken her kitsune form again—and Jelmay had teased her about the way her coat was now splotchy with black-and-white—they continued on. Danzen sensed the change in altitude, the air growing slightly colder and thinner. Many of the mountains in this region were coated with forests, making them even harder to navigate. Sansar became crucial for their journey, the raven taking to the sky and guiding them. They paused for a meal near a small stream of water that was ultimately running in the direction of the sea. The slope of the land made it easy to find a rock to lean against.
Soon, Danzen and his companions shared a loaf of flat bread and dried meats.
They continued on, and they had just reached the mouth of an even denser pocket of woods when Danzen sensed movement.
Nomin and Danzen both drew their swords at the same time as a group of yokai slipped out of the forests, Danzen recognizing one at the back. But something was off about the ijuu named Tolmo, the yokai they had encountered far outside of Tachibana.
