Pilgrim 2, p.26
Pilgrim 2, page 26
“So I should stay right here?”
Danzen nodded. “I believe that would be best. You can see Kudzu swim out to the island, and then swim back with the shears. I will provide a distraction here, on this beach,” he said, gesturing toward his left.
“If you say so…”
“I say so.” Danzen went for his Blade of Darkness, which he held at his side as he made his way down to the beach. He watched as the white fox took off in the opposite direction, Kudzu keeping much further away from the shore as not to draw any attention.
Once she was across from him, Danzen looked to the tip of his blade, noticing that it had started to tug some of the shadows in the area toward it. The sun was partially covered by a gray cloud now, yet it was still bright enough to reduce the reach of the shadows. Even so, there was enough to pool at the tip of his weapon, Danzen gliding his glaive toward the tops of the waves.
The water swished left and right; Danzen wondering for a moment if it was going to be enough to draw attention.
He saw something near the island, a head and neck lift out of the water.
This was joined by several more heads, until there were eight in total, the serpent turning in his direction.
Danzen was seconds away from going for his boomerang sword when he noticed something else next to the serpent. It was a smaller form, also with eight long necks with little heads on top.
The serpent had a child, and he assumed it was a mother.
“Kill them both!” Monobake called over to him, Danzen hesitating for a moment, transfixed both by the sheer size of the serpent, her sharp fangs and sixteen beady red eyes, as well as his realization that she had a child with her.
He had no intention of killing the gargantuan yokai, but the speed at which she was coming at him, and the damage she was clearly capable of doing, had the former assassin trying to come up with a solution on the fly.
As she grew closer to him, Danzen could see the trees that grew out of her back, moss as well. It was only then that he realized that the orochi had been near the island in the center of the lake, disguised by the growths.
The two orochi reached him, frothy waves slapping against the shoreline. What he assumed was the mother slammed one of her necks down onto the beach, Danzen avoiding it just in time. He still held his glaive, the former assassin figuring the polearm would make it easier for him to bat away the serpent’s advances.
Using her long tails, the orochi sent a tidal wave toward the beach, the water splashing down on Danzen before he could make it to safety.
The creature screeched; Danzen noticed that there were several fish now on the beach flopping, their scales golden just as Monobake and Kudzu had spoken about.
“Distract it!” Monobake shouted. He came out from his hiding place to grab one of the fish.
One of the orochi’s heads noticed him and made a terrible sound, Monobake frightened enough to abandon his chase.
The orochi snorted, her focus returning to Danzen, the snake-like yokai pulling herself onto the beach. She made the giants he had faced off against at Dalan’s request look small, the orochi towering in stature, her shadow looming over him, her eight heads all hooked forward as the creature stared Danzen down.
He felt his Blade of Darkness vibrate; the former assassin glanced to its tip to see shadows pooling once again, summoning forth some of the shadows that she herself was creating.
Danzen knew if he swung it with enough force that he would be able to kill the creature, perhaps even cut through all of its heads. While the orochi’s scaly dark-blue skin looked thick, it didn’t seem strong enough to stop his blade.
He could end it now, but Danzen once again caught a glimpse of the creature’s child again, still exceedingly large, yet clearly young, its skin a bright blue, its heads not fully developed, the child lacking the ferocity of the adult.
“Why have you come here?” one of the orochi’s heads asked, the voice feminine and deep.
“She’s coming back!” Monobake called to Danzen. Two of the heads looked to the hasamidachi and bared their teeth.
“You’ve come for my fish?” she asked.
“I don’t want your fish,” Danzen told her.
“Then what?”
“What’s your name?”
“I haven’t seen a mortal at this lake in well over a hundred years, and your first question is in regards to my name?”
The former assassin nodded.
“Why would you care?”
“Because I…” He saw a flash of white on the other side of the shore, which he assumed to be Kudzu moving into the brush.
Danzen wasn’t generally one to lie, but considering the eight angry heads glaring down at him, he decided in that moment to channel his inner Jelmay. “Because I wanted to see you for myself. The villagers of Osul said that you were quite majestic; I wanted to see if this was indeed the case.”
“You lie, human.”
“Why would I lie about something like that?” Danzen asked.
“You’ve come for my fish or one of my heads,” she said, lashing several of her tails against the water.
Danzen heard Monobake whistle, which he assumed meant that Kudzu had reached the meeting place alongside the river that fed into the lake. He returned his focus to the serpent yokai.
“Unfortunately, I have to go,” he told her gently, Danzen slowly starting to back away. “It is too bad I never got your name. My name is Danzen Ravja.”
“Danzen Ravja,” she hissed.
“Goodbye for now.”
Danzen swiveled and sent his power into his legs. He sprung forward, his superhuman strength launching him into the brush, where he hit the ground running, a white flash of fur quickly joining him.
He could now hear the orochi crying out in anger, lashing her body against the water, but she wasn’t able to catch up with them. Eventually, Kudzu and Danzen stopped, waiting for Monobake, the white fox with his old shears in her mouth.
“You carry them,” Kudzu told Danzen. She dropped them on the ground, and he picked them up, surprised just how large and heavy the shears were.
“That’s them,” Monobake said as he caught up, breathing heavily now. “And you should have killed that thing. She’s going to be angry for weeks.”
****
Rather than journey back to Monobake’s cave, the three headed straight toward the yokai village of Osul, Danzen carrying the hasamidachi’s head shears.
They were heavier than he would have expected them to be, sharp as well, Danzen holding them by their base. While the shears currently growing from a joint on Monobake’s forehead were dark, the ones he had shed had a dark-gray color to them, their tips yellow and almost brittle. Danzen had no idea what the jade rabbit could possibly want with the things, but there was certainly something rare about them, something unique.
Not much was said as they traveled back to the village, Kudzu leading the way, Monobake keeping up with Danzen, the hasamidachi occasionally complaining that they didn’t grab any golden fish when they could have.
The weather took a turn for the better, the sun spreading its light to the far corners of the Genshin Valley. The trees looked especially lush after the rain, full in a way that told Danzen that they had been nourished. The ground was still a bit wet, but if the sun kept at it, the mud and clay would be hardened by late afternoon.
Danzen still wore the dark-purple robes that Jelmay had purchased for him, and he was glad that they were light, the former assassin wishing he had sewn a hood onto the back of the robes.
Perhaps he would do that when he got back to his monastery.
Since the Floating Lantern Festival was held about three weeks before the end of monsoon season, Danzen would have to leave for the west relatively soon. He didn’t want Kudzu to join him, but he also realized that she wasn’t going to budge on this, and it was true that they probably needed to check in on Jelmay, especially if he was still in the outpost of Tudan.
Even though he knew it wasn’t going to work, Danzen would try one last time to ask Soko to cease her hunt, to go her own way so he could do what he needed to do as well.
He was wasting his time in asking her, but he owed it to his former lover to try.
As they neared the village, he placed his hand on the hilt of Nomin’s blade, recalling their fight, one that he would never forget. This made him think of his mother, Danzen once again wondering how she had formed a connection between abandoning her infant son to the Brotherhood and eventually slaying his own father.
Perhaps he would have to visit her again one day.
The three came to the wooded section of the village, the houses once again locked up tight just about as soon as the yokai noticed Danzen’s presence, blue flower petals matted to the forest floor. From there it was to the rockier entrance of the village, up the pathway that led to Usagi’s hobble.
“Usagi, we have your shears,” Kudzu called up.
Danzen looked down at the hole as he heard some rummaging inside. The jade rabbit eventually hopped out, a smile on his face until he saw Monobake.
“Why did you bring him?”
“You wanted my shears; I thought you would want to see me as well,” Monobake said, but something about his voice told Danzen that this wasn’t the case.
“What do you want?” Usagi asked, barely paying any attention to the shears that Danzen had placed on the ground in front of him.
“I can’t come visit an old friend or two?” asked Monobake.
“I never said that, but you should be a yokai of your word; I shouldn’t have to send a human and a fox after you.”
“Careful,” Kudzu said, her black lips starting to curl.
“You have no idea the pressure and the stress I’ve been under because of the orochi that stole the shears from me! Luckily, your two foot soldiers here were able to get them back.”
“Careful…” Kudzu said again, her words meant for Monobake this time.
“You had to get them from the orochi?” Usagi asked, his eyes bulging.
“I sure did, and it wasn’t easy. I mean, they did most of the work. I was just a lookout. But you have what you want now, so we’re even.”
Usagi slowly lowered his head toward the shears and observed them for a moment. Eventually, he grabbed them by the base with his teeth and dragged the shears into his hovel, the keratin blades barely fitting into the hole.
“I suppose a deal is a deal,” he said, looking up to Danzen’s satchel. “Do you mind if I take a ride again? Let me rephrase that: I’m not walking.”
“You’re just going to leave like that?” Monobake asked.
“I’ll be back here before nightfall, you old fool, so if you’d like to catch up then, stick around.” Usagi made a noise in his throat, which Danzen interpreted to mean that he should open his satchel for the jade rabbit. He did so and crouched.
Usagi hopped in and placed his head over the leather edge so he could peer out.
“I’ll lead the way,” Kudzu said. “Try to keep up.”
Kudzu started moving at her top speed, Danzen quickly matching her pace. He shot to the air, when he reached the canopy of the Asura Forest and moved that way for a moment, Usagi shouting from his satchel.
“Slow down, you madman!”
Rather than heed the rabbit’s advice, Danzen dropped back down to the forest and once again picked up his pace, where he spotted Kudzu zipping through the brush.
Usagi continued to cry out in anger; Danzen tuned the rabbit out as he stretched his muscles, enjoying the chase. There was something about the chase, something about keeping his eyes on the white fox and running at his top speed that made him halfway appreciate the demon blood coursing through his veins. Without this, he would be a forty-year-old assassin, and that was if he had actually lived that long. Danzen had had some close blows with death during his career; there was no telling what would have happened had he not been able to heal his wounds.
“Slow down, dammit!” Usagi yelled.
By this point, Danzen had totally sunk into a different shade of his persona, one of a predator, watching the white fox’s tail as she charged ahead, Danzen never getting close enough to catch her, only looking for the challenge, a chance.
They burst out of the forest and came to the hill in front of the monastery, Danzen taking several feet to actually slow his pace.
“Absolutely ridiculous,” Usagi said from Danzen’s leather satchel. “There is no sense in traveling like that. You two just turned a nice forest walk into a stupid competition. Curse you both!”
“We got here, didn’t we?” Kudzu asked, panting now.
“Where is the…?” Usagi sniffed the air, his whiskers flickering. “Humans are around.”
“Likely Khamdo and Temur,” said Danzen. “Carpenters fixing my roof.”
“Well, I have no problem being seen by humans. What about you, fox?”
“The name is Kudzu, and I believe I will step away for a moment. I prefer not to be seen by them if I can help it, at least in this form.”
Kudzu slowly retreated to the forest. Once she was gone, Danzen made his way up the hill. He found the front door of his monastery open, Khamdo and Temur inside, hammering away.
He announced himself, Khamdo the first to turn to him.
“I’ve come to fix the statue,” said Danzen.
Temur grumbled something but then returned to what he was doing.
“The head is still in your kitchen,” Khamdo said, wiping his hands, which were covered in a fine white dust.
“Right.”
Usagi still in his satchel, Danzen made his way to the kitchen, noticing a square of light coming in from the bedroom. He turned to it, and saw that Khamdo and Temur had made space for a window, which was currently covered by a sheet of canvas.
“We’ll have to get the glass custom-made, but the canvas should do for now, at least until it rains hard again. We can get some glass from the First District next time you come to town.”
“Right,” said Danzen, realizing he was going to have to get some kip in some way or another before they headed to the Floating Lantern Festival in Arsi. “I truly appreciate it.”
“Where’s this blasted head?” Usagi asked, startling Khamdo. The carpenter glanced at the rabbit. “Is that the same guy that I fixed in the village?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder you wanted him healed up, he’s actually handy. I should bring them by my place and have them knock out a little of the wall so I can get a window as well,” Usagi said in a mocking tone. “I’m joking. Get the head and let’s be done with this.”
“Thank you,” Khamdo said, bowing his head to Usagi, who simply responded with a grunt.
Danzen grabbed the lion dog head and made his way to the front of his monastery. Yama got down from his pedestal, the stone lion dog curious once he saw that Danzen held his mate’s head.
Yama approached, and as he did Usagi scolded the yokai.
“Be gone with you, you lazy mutt! You’re just going to get in the way.”
Yama stepped back.
“There, that’s better. Now, Pilgrim, or whatever your real name is, do you remember how I helped your friend in there?”
Danzen nodded.
“I want you to put the head in place, and hold it there. And I will do the rest.”
Danzen did as he was instructed, and found the grooves for the lion dog’s severed head.
After he made sure it was flush with the statue, he held the head in place, allowing Usagi to scurry up onto his shoulder. Careful as ever, the jade rabbit made his way down Danzen’s arm, where he was finally able to place his forehead against the stone lion dog’s body.
Danzen felt movement, the statue trembling as her brow started to move, her head fused back onto her body.
And with that, and with Yama excitedly circling around the statue’s pedestal, the second lion dog came to life.
Part Six
.Chapter One.
Deciding on a name for the new lion dog came naturally to the former assassin.
Danzen wanted something that was easy for him to say and something that gave a nod to Nomin, the blind assassin increasingly on his mind. He wished he had spent more time with her before their fight; if only she would have agreed to his cease-fire so both of them could go on cultivating in their own ways.
Perhaps Nomin would have found refuge in Genshin Valley. The two could have had tea from time to time, or take up the seemingly random quests that Danzen occasionally found himself a part of.
But this was wishful thinking.
Danzen knew Nomin would have never agreed to a cease-fire, and as much as he would like to think otherwise, he knew Soko wasn’t going to either.
It was night now, and both Yama and Nama were resting outside on the grass, Kudzu seated near Danzen, the four of them watching the stars twinkle in the sky. It had been two days since they had returned from the Asura Forest, and in that time, Khamdo and Temur had fixed the monastery's rooftop and dealt with the flooring. They had even procured a window and a weapon rack, Danzen now in the awkward position of owing Khamdo money for the pieces.
He had some kip that he had managed to scrounge up from the pockets of his various robes, leftovers from some of the money that he’d personally had and what Jelmay had given him. But he still owed the carpenter a fair amount.
As usual, Khamdo had put no pressure on the former assassin in terms of paying him back, but Danzen wasn’t going to have any of this. He had one thing of value that was worth something and that he could actually sell.
Tomorrow, he would do just that, Danzen planning to leave his sugawara helmet at Selden’s place, treating the emporium as if it were a pawnshop. Hopefully, he could get the money in the west and return to get the helmet back; otherwise, the money belonged to Khamdo. Danzen planned to leave it there and tell the carpenter to pick it up in two weeks if he hadn’t returned.
Danzen knew better than to be overconfident. Soko was a tricky assassin, one who would employ anything at her disposal if it came down to it. This was yet another reason why he didn’t want Kudzu to come with him; if she could, Soko would certainly use the woman as a pawn.
