Pilgrim 5, p.7
Pilgrim 5, page 7
Yet again, Danzen was reminded that there was so much more to Sunyatic power than what he had already proven he could do. He recalled struggling to catch fish with his new sword, Yato standing downstream to retrieve his weapon. Watching Nomin use her power so effortlessly told him yet again that it was time for Danzen to really embrace what he had been cultivating, that there would be a point where it became the dividing line between life and death, either for him or those he cared for.
“You look deep in thought,” Jelmay said as he approached Danzen, the bakeneko with the clay jar in his paws. He squinted up at the hermitage. “I think I’m going to hand this off to you so you can do your super-jump and deliver this to the hermit, rather than relying on me to scurry my way up there.”
Danzen took the jar from Jelmay, noticing it was warm. He looked up to the hermitage, where he now saw the three hovering heads looking down at them, Boldknot awaiting their arrival.
****
Dalan the hermit’s eyes grew wide with excitement once he saw the jar of sparkleaf. He opened it with reverence, his breath becoming shallow. “It has been ages since I’ve seen this plant, ages!
And you’ve preserved it so well.”
“Thank Jelmay,” Danzen said as he offered Boldknot a greeting in the form of a short nod.
“I’m so ready to get over this cold,” said the yokai, who sounded even more congested than he had earlier that day. He still had a disheveled look about him, his beards long and dirty, eyebrows drooping and bushy, nose like that of an alcoholic. Boldknot was certainly an ugly yokai, but he was quiet, he didn’t argue with the others, and he didn’t seem to have any interest in scamming Danzen and his companions.
“I’m sure you are,” said Usagi, who had just wiggled his way out of Danzen’s satchel.
Sansar, who had traveled up to the hermitage with Danzen, hopped forward. “All of the plants made it, yes?”
“They certainly did.” Dalan went for a few other herbs, humming excitedly as he also procured a pestle and mortar. He began working on a concoction as Jelmay and the others arrived, Nomin taking her post at the entrance to the hermitage, Yato doing the same after offering Dalan the fish that the blind assassin had caught.
After a long breath and a bite of dried meat, Jelmay began gathering his things, including his demon bear hide, the bakeneko finally in his cat form. Kudzu merely sat there watching as he did so, a hint of exhaustion in her eyes from the day’s travel and the dialogue she’d kept up through their journey.
“And Diyu? Any reports?” Dalan asked as he crushed the sparkleaf and the other herbs into a fine powder, which glowed red.
“Just an eyesore, as always.” Usagi took a glance at the sky, squinting as he did so. “We have a few hours of daylight left and more to do. Hurry, hermit, there is no time to ask senseless questions.”
“Behave yourself,” said Kudzu, baring her teeth. But her heart wasn’t in it, her lips never pressing back as far as they normally did when she threatened the jade rabbit.
“I’ll take over from here, fox.” Jelmay grabbed a broom made of a straw-like shrub and proceeded to swat at Usagi, who raced across
the interior of the cave, cursing.
“All of you, settle down,” Dalan said without looking up from his concoction.
Jelmay started laughing at the way Usagi glared at him.
“One day, cat, one day. You’re lucky… you’re lucky that I don’t go back to the forest now!”
“If you do, the bird will pick you off the ground and drop you from an incredible height, like he did that nozuchi.”
“You encountered nozuchi?” Dalan asked.
“Spitting ones,” Jelmay told him. “Nasty little buggers.”
“You should have procured a few of their teeth…”
Rather than say anything, Jelmay gestured at Kudzu. The kitsune rolled her eyes at him.
“It’s ready,” Dalan announced a few minutes later.
Boldknot spun once, the bottom head speaking: “Thank you again, hermit.”
“Glad to be of service.”
Dalan placed a leather glove on his hand. He pinched some of the powder and started sprinkling it in the air in front of the lower head. Boldknot inhaled the powder, and as he did his breath came alive in the form of a softly glowing flame. His body shifted, the next head doing the same and igniting. The yokai turned to Danzen’s companions.
“I’m ready,” he said, his voice a bit different now, deeper, as if there were an echo to it.
Danzen closed his eyes and saw the purple line connecting the bakeneko to Uchi in Suja Village’s First District.
“How do you want me to do this?” Jelmay asked as he stepped over to the strange yokai.
“Just lower your head,” Boldknot told him.
The bakeneko did so, and as Boldknot exhaled, the light-purple light connecting Jelmay to Uchi began to filter away. It snapped, and Jelmay took a step back.
“That… I could feel that.”
Boldknot coughed, one of his flames going out. Once Dalan helped him reignite it, the yokai continued, severing the ties that bound Yato and Kudzu to the fallen angel. His flames petered out after that, Boldknot lowering to some degree as if he were suddenly exhausted.
“Yes, you’ll need more rest before you’re truly well again, and you can do so here,” Dalan told the yokai. “I don’t mind looking after you.”
“Thank you, hermit, I believe I will do that,” said Boldknot, his voice with a hint of sickness to it again.
“As for the rest of you…” Dalan offered Danzen and his companions a toothy grin. “Where will you go next? Will you continue toward the northern passage, or do you have something else that you need to do?”
Kudzu was the first to look at Danzen, and the others followed suit.
Before he could answer, Usagi chimed in. “I don’t care what they do next, just as long as I end up in my hovel tonight. Let’s go already and fix those useless lion dogs. We’re wasting precious daylight.
Also, you’re welcome, Boldknot.” His whiskers twitched. “And before you ask, you still owe me.”
Part Two
.Chapter One.
The northern passage without the fog that had once obscured it caused nearly everyone in Danzen’s group to gasp. It truly had an otherworldly appeal to it, the passage cutting through an open canyon scattered with buttes cast in the color of rust twisted with flashes of white, the layers reminiscent of candy, the sky above a deep, contemplative blue that Danzen had come to associate with higher altitudes.
Yama the lion dog charged ahead, Jelmay mounted on his back, his demon bear hide thrown over his shoulders. It wasn’t long before Nama caught up with her mate, the two lion dogs racing for a moment and forcing Jelmay to hunker down.
“Hey!” the bakeneko shouted after he’d nearly fallen off. He smacked the lion dog on the head to no avail. Yama tore up a ledge and leaped two feet into the air, Jelmay holding on for dear life.
It was a funny visual, one that spawned a short smile on Danzen’s face as he walked alongside Nomin, who remained alert as always. They’d purposefully hung back to discuss how they would handle Uchi, a subject the blind assassin continued to discuss as Kudzu chased after Jelmay and the other yokai.
“I could do it,” Nomin said, now with a hint of desperation. This wasn’t the first time she’d made this suggestion. “It would be my pleasure to kill a demon like that.”
“Fallen angel.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
“Remember, anyone under his influence will kill themselves. We have to do it another way.”
Nomin considered what Danzen had said for a moment. “If the three of us move in quickly enough, I don’t think Uchi will be able to do much of anything. And we don’t know if the people under his influence will actually kill themselves or not.”
She was referring to Soko, not Yato, when speaking of the three of them attempting to assassinate Uchi. It was far too dangerous for Yato to come along, something that Danzen had yet to tell the young assassin, who walked ahead of them now, alongside the other yokai.
Their fight with Ginza had shown him just how quickly things could turn sour, not that he wasn’t already aware of this fact of his lifestyle.
In this way, it served as a reminder, one that Nomin had interpreted without them needing to discuss it.
As much as he didn’t want to admit this, it would be best for Nomin and Danzen to go alone in their pursuit of the Seven Evils.
Soko could join them, and if she did, they could operate as a trio.
Irregardless, Danzen knew there’d be some tough talks coming up, and that concessions would need to be made.
One glance up at the sky and he remembered the ultimate goal of all of this—to rebuild Sunyata, which was yet another reason he had decided to venture through the northern passage. It was time to locate more remnants and touch base with his companions at the nunnery. Now was also a good time for them to figure out how much further they should press into the Outer Regions, and when they should connect up with the Sundiyu Sect.
“By Sunyata!” Jelmay shouted as Yama reared up onto his back legs, Nama going on alert. Both of the stone lion dogs seemed to be focused on something in the distance, which instantly sent Sansar higher into the air, the three-legged raven soaring ahead.
“We’ve got company,” Kudzu called back to Danzen, her ears flitted back, white coat glimmering in the sun.
All three assassins prepared to draw their weapons. Yato stopped in her tracks to allow Danzen and Nomin to move toward the front. With the young assassin’s enhanced speed and strength, it
made sense for her to be the surprise that entered into the equation after Nomin and Danzen were already engaged.
A group of wolves trotted toward them, a few also taking to the air. Danzen recognized them as the hainu, the yokai wolves that Galzo oversaw. The last time he’d seen Galzo, the alpha wolf was heading toward the Asura Forest, to bring his pack to the northern passage to act as protection. He would have headed to the nunnery from there. Even if Danzen and his companions had Galzo’s blessing, he knew this didn’t necessarily translate to the others in the pack, some of which they’d come into conflict with in the past.
Two wolves took the lead, both with blonde accents around their ears, their coats brindle, tufts of white along their underbellies. They looked like brothers, and only the one on the left spoke.
“Welcome,” he said, instantly cutting the tension. “Galzo said you would come at some point.”
Another wolf landed, her wings folding onto her back and she joined the rest of the pack.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re here,” Jelmay said as he hopped off Yama.
He took a few waddling steps forward. “Now, point us in the directions of the most lootable treasure. And for the record, people usually greet guests with gifts and food, neither of which you seem to have at the moment. Next time, a little food wouldn’t hurt.”
“That’s not what we’re here for,” Kudzu reminded him.
“I mean point us to the remnants. Most lootable remnants.”
A few of the wolves grunted, their words indecipherable.
“We encountered a group of people living in the passage that you should likely meet first,” said the lead wolf. He nodded toward the east, in the direction of Diyu, which was obscured by a series of tors that rose into the clouds.
“People were living in the fog?” Kudzu asked the lead wolf.
“Above the fog. They are the Dukha people, an ancient tribe of various sects that rides reindeer. Sort of the way your cat here rides lion dogs.”
“Pfft! You’d ride one too if you could. And I’m nobody’s cat! Wait, can’t some of you morph? Didn’t you say Galzo morphed into the body of a kid?” Jelmay asked Kudzu.
“Yes, I did say that.”
“Some of us can, some of us can’t. There’s an issue.” Once again, the lead wolf pointed his chin toward the east. “We were able to slip around it, but a raijuu has started making trouble in that direction.”
“Raijuu?” Yato asked.
“A very specific kind of yokai,” Sansar told her, caution in his voice.
“And you want us to do something about this yokai, right?” asked the bakeneko. “Also, raijuu? Ever heard of that one, fox?”
Kudzu shook her head.
“I don’t care what you do, bakeneko,” the lead wolf growled. “I’m telling you that seeing to this yokai may be an easy way for you to learn more about the remnants in the area. We’ve been too busy to sniff out the stones of Sunyata, nor is that our job. The news that the northern passage has opened has brought others into the territory, ones that we may not want here. Not only that, there was a group of bandits we chased off.”
“What did they look like?” asked Danzen.
“Some of them had an eye insignia on their clothing. All were remnant abusers.”
“Penumbra,” Yato said, Danzen nodding in agreement.
“It doesn’t matter who they are. The bandits are gone now. Best to start with the Dukhas if you are looking to better understand the
northern passage. They have lived here since well before the fall of Sunyata, since the time of Jimmu.” The wolf motioned his chin toward Sansar, who hovered above the group. “Ask the raven about the Dukhas. He may know more. We must go for now. There is more patrolling to do.”
****
Jelmay was the first to speak after the pack of hainu left, some of the wolves taking to the air, others simply trotting along. “You’ve got some explaining to do, bird.”
“The Dukhas, the Dukhas…” The three-legged raven was now perched on a stone, mystery in his dark eyes as always. “I haven’t heard of them in centuries, to be quite honest. They are a very hidden group of people, one that keeps high in the mountains. They practice shamanism, and…”
“—If they operate in this region, they’ll know more about remnants.” Kudzu sat, her tail slapping against the ground.
“Perhaps. Yes, that is likely the case. They are the custodians of remnants. At least that was the case before the fall of Sunyata. But not common day remnants, ancient ones, like the remnant your sword was forged from,” the raven told Danzen.
“And the graves I looted before?” asked Jelmay. “They belong to the Dukhas, don’t they?”
“They very well could. They aren’t the only people that have lived in this area, but I wouldn’t know much about them. This is long before my time, you know. Or rather, I was living in Sunyata at that time.”
“What was Sunyata like?” Yato asked, a hint of longing tracing across her eyes. “You’ve never said much about it.”
“Ha! Don’t you just love her innocence? Never change, Lady Pilgrim.”
Sansar hesitated. “Well, I… I prefer to keep my hopes and dreams under wraps, especially with how tied they are to painful memories. Maybe this is something we can discuss later. There is much we will need to do before we speak of what Sunyata was like before it was so viciously destroyed. We should continue on to the Dukhas.”
“What about that yokai?” asked Yato.
“The raijuu? Yes…” Sansar looked from Jelmay to Kudzu. “Have either of you encountered one of those before?”
The kitsune shook her head. “I’ve only ever heard of them. I was under the impression that they no longer existed.”
As Jelmay tried to remember what the raijuu was—the bakeneko made a few guesses, all of which were shot down by Sansar—
Danzen located his field diary. Sure enough, the abbot who once lived in his now-demolished monastery had written about the yokai: A raijuu is what is known as a divine beast, a yokai from Sunyata.
The giant wolves are said to be the embodiment of lightning and thunder in animal form, able to attack with sound. They rode lightning bolts in Sunyata, and were instrumental in the defense of heaven until it fell. There is a famous folktale involving a man named Tachibana, who was able to absorb a lightning bolt from a rogue raijuu and return it to the creature. His namesake is now the name of a village south of Arsi.
“It’s a Sunyata yokai,” said Danzen. The former assassin was familiar with the village of Tachibana. He had visited multiple times in his two-year absence from the rest of the kingdom.
“A Sunyata yokai? I knew there was more to it!” Jelmay pointed a finger at Sansar. “Come clean, bird, or…” His whiskers twitched; the bakeneko was well aware of what the raven was capable of. Not only had Sansar brazenly attacked Tengir Gantulga, he’d also saved
Danzen and had helped fight against Ginza. He clearly had hidden powers.
“There were raijuu in Sunyata, that much is true, but during the battle that brought down heaven, most were killed. They…” Sansar rocked back and forth. “They didn’t live up to their own reputation.
They didn’t ultimately protect Sunyata.”
“So… you’re shunning them?”
“Shunning it? There is only one that I know of, and I just learned of it,” the raven told Jelmay. As always his voice remained steady, never one to show exasperation when dealing with the bakeneko.
“Is it like Uchi?” asked Nomin, who was standing away from the group now. Danzen had long stopped trying to get a read on her.
There really was no point in doing so; she excelled at being enigmatic.
“A fallen angel? No, nothing like that. Although…” Sansar rocked back and forth once again. “There are other fallen angels across the land, but they have made it very difficult for me to find them. I suppose that is, yet again, a conversation for another day. Regarding the raijuu, it is like me, a Sunyata yokai, not a fallen angel like Uchi.”
Jelmay shrugged. “In that case, maybe the raijuu isn’t as bad as the wolves thought they were. And another thing. It’s a wolf, right?
Maybe there was some doggie competition with the hainu that rubbed them the wrong way. I don’t know. I’m a cat, much smarter than any dog or wolf any of you will ever meet. Hell, even an idiot bakeneko like Bahjee is smarter than your average dog, and probably your average fox as well. I mean, if we’re being honest, I’d probably be nasty to a pack of flying wolves too.”
