Pilgrim 2, p.5
Pilgrim 2, page 5
“Are you insane?” Kudzu asked once they reached the top of the stone steps. “We’re not here to fight anyone, especially for you.”
“I just challenged everyone in the village. You know what kinds of things live in this place. Just in case. Pilgrim, be ready. Kudzu, you too.”
Jelmay drew his sword, panting for a moment as he waited for an inevitable attack. When no attack came, he turned his focus back toward the rock. “Usagi. I know you’re in there.” He pointed his blade at a particular hovel with a small shrub growing to the side of the entrance. “Come on out, let’s settle this once and for all.”
Danzen slowly reached for the grip of his sword as he sensed movement. A small gray rabbit hopped out of the hovel, his appearance causing the former assassin to lower his hand.
“You have some nerve showing up here,” the rabbit, who Danzen assumed was Usagi, said to the bakeneko, “some nerve.”
Kudzu came forward, the white fox trying to exude an air of calm. “What did Jelmay do to upset you?” she asked the jade rabbit.
Usagi narrowed his eyes on Jelmay. “He knows damn well what he did.”
“Look, everyone lost money on that deal. And it’s not like you didn’t get some kip eventually. Usagi, come on, it’s me, your old pal Jelmay. Let’s be honest with each other: we’re both yokai. Money is a human construct and it has no real value, yet people slave their entire lives for a taste of it. It doesn’t mean anything to us. We just dabble. Hell, if you want some, you can have the kip I’ve got stashed in my front pocket here. I’ve also got some meat if you feel like nibbling on something.”
“It’s not about the money. My brother died. You know that. And I don’t want your meat!”
Jelmay threw his arms up in the air. “And? No one liked your brother. You yourself said you didn’t like your brother. It wasn’t my fault that he died. An arrow hit him. Now you have to ask yourself, did I shoot the arrow? No. It was someone else who shot the arrow, a human to be exact. The same one who was watching over the kip we were trying to lift. Look, if you want money…”
“It’s not about the money, Jelmay.”
“So what is it about? Is this about the remnant? Because I told you, I don’t know where that remnant is. I saw it once, maybe I even had it for a short while, a couple years even, but I no longer have it and you know how those things go. People turn them into weapons, or snort them, or use them as a suppository. That’s none of my business.”
“I already told you this is about my brother!”
“Again with the sibling thing. Look, Usagi, your brother shouldn't have died, but it’s not my fault that he did,” Jelmay told him. “That arrow could have hit anyone. That’s real talk for you. We just had a crazed furuutsubo attack us; arrows are a fact of life.”
“What can we do to make this better?” Kudzu asked, brushing past Jelmay and causing him to turn.
“Hey…” he started to tell her.
“Let me handle this. Usagi,” she said, the white fox bowing her head some. “I know that our bakeneko companion can…” Kudzu glanced up at the sky for a moment, trying to find the right word. “I know he can be a vexation, but we need your help. We have two people whose souls were taken by an akaname, and according to Jelmay, you may know how to fix this.”
“An akaname, huh?” Usagi’s whiskers twitched. “Nasty ones, they are. Grimy too.”
“They should be clean considering they mostly live in bathhouses,” Jelmay commented.
Kudzu gave him a sharp look and he stopped speaking. “We went to the Tavern at the Edge of the World to retrieve their souls,” she explained, “and he used nozuchi teeth as vessels for their souls so we could bring them back to Suja Village.”
“You don’t say…” Usagi shook his head. “Why would you do something stupid like that, Jelmay? Now, they are just going to become nozuchi.”
“I didn’t know that at the time!”
“Yes, we are painfully aware of what has started happening to them,” Kudzu said. “And that’s why we have come to you for a cure.”
“So you needed to keep their souls in their bodies, but get the nozuchi teeth out, which their souls are bound to…” The jade rabbit’s tail twitched for a moment as he considered this. “I suppose that is a possibility.”
“Yes, that’s why we’re here,” Kudzu told him.
“Unfortunately, I refuse to work with the cat,” he said, nodding to Jelmay. “I’m sorry you made the journey for no good reason. Good luck.”
“Going after the kip was your idea to begin with,” Jelmay started to tell Usagi. “By the merry flagons of Sunyata, I’m not the one that—”
“Quiet,” Kudzu hissed. “You won’t be working with him, Usagi. You will be working with me, and this human. Think of it like that.”
“Yes, this human. I’ve heard about you, Pilgrim.”
Danzen nodded.
“Rumor has it that you are half-demon,” Usagi said as he peered up at Danzen with dark eyes. “Is this correct?”
Danzen nodded again, but this time ever-so-slightly.
“Bah, word sure spreads fast in this forest,” Jelmay said. “A bunch of gossips, if you ask me. I’m guessing you know that his father is the ruler of Diyu, but his mother is still alive, and his full demon-blooded half-brother—try saying that three times fast—is out there somewhere. I’m not saying that his father will pay Osul a visit and destroy the village if you don’t help us, Usagi, but I’m not saying he won’t.”
“Quiet,” Kudzu told Jelmay, gritting her teeth this time.
Usagi’s ears flattened as he glared at Jelmay. “Why have you let this rambunctious, if not incredibly foolish bakeneko, join you?”
“He’s a friend,” Danzen said, surprising even Kudzu, who tilted her head toward him, as if she needed to hear this statement again.
“See?” Jelmay asked. “I’ve got friends. A white fox and a former assassin. Speaking of which. That would be a great name for a future fable about the two of them once we save the world. I guess we should add me as well, considering I’m part of the group: a white fox, a former assassin, and a bakene—”
“I’ll tell you what,” Usagi said, cutting Jelmay off. “I will help you if you help me. I can’t tell you how bad of an idea it is to bring this one along with you, but if that is your choice, I won’t get in your way. If you want me to help you, I need for something to be handled in exchange.”
“Go on,” said Kudzu.
“There is a hihi living along the riverbank that separates the forest from the Panchen Mountains due east. This hihi has been terrorizing our village for a couple months now, showing up unannounced.”
“A hihi?” Danzen asked.
“What a terribly stupid name,” said Jelmay.
“I’m surprised Kikikaki didn’t mention this hihi to me,” Kudzu said.
“That’s right, you’re friends with her, right?”
“I am,” she told Usagi.
“She probably didn’t mention it because you had something else you needed to do the last time you came through here. Here’s the deal: bring me the hihi’s horns, and I will help you cure your friends.”
“You will come to the village with us?” Danzen asked.
“Sure. I’m not really worried about anyone seeing me in this form.”
“We have something else we would like to handle,” Danzen began, telling Usagi about the sugawara and how the electric yokai had attacked his monastery twice.
“You are in luck,” Usagi told him. “That particular demonic yokai happens to live near the area where the hihi usually roams. I believe that you would be able to accomplish the slaying of both in a day, but you would need to find shelter for the night unless you really hurried back here.”
“I believe that is possible,” Kudzu said.
“That damn sugawara is about as terrible as the hihi anyway,” Usagi lamented, “so no fur off my back if you take them both out.”
“Funny how easy it is for you to send us to do your dirty work…” Jelmay grumbled.
“To find the sugawara,” Usagi said, ignoring Jelmay’s remark, “head into the mountains until you come to a peak carved into a crescent shape. It lives there.”
“Thank you,” Danzen told him.
“I would say there’s time to visit with your friend, Kikikaki,” he told Kudzu, “but now that you’ve added an additional stop, you may want to be on your way.”
“Thank you,” she said, offering the jade rabbit another bow. “We will do that.”
“And as for you, Jelmay…” Usagi approached the bakeneko, his nostrils flaring wide. “Don’t for a minute think that I have forgiven you, or that our little feud is suddenly over.”
“I don’t want to kill you, Usagi, but if I have to, I will,” Jelmay growled. “You know that, right? Cats kill rabbits every day. It’s sort of what we do best. That and mice.”
“Just you wait, Jelmay,” Usagi said, an even deeper scowl forming on the rabbit’s face. “Just you wait.”
****
Danzen and his two yokai companions left Osul heading east, and as soon as they were away from the village, Kudzu began chiding Jelmay in hushed tones.
“You really could have made it easier back there.”
“I was trying to make it easy! I just showed up, and Usagi was angry about something that’s not even my fault. What am I supposed to do about that?”
“It’s no wonder you aren’t welcome in the village.”
“There are plenty of other places where I am welcome, or at least, where people don’t recognize me because I’ve taken the form of a human,” Jelmay said with a grin. “But we can deal with the rabbit later; let’s get this hihi’s horns and be done with it.”
Danzen reached into his satchel and retrieved his field diary. As they walked, he leafed through until he found the description of the hihi, handwritten by Abbot Mergen.
The hihi is a terrifying beast that lives along the eastern foothills of the Panchen Mountains. It is a monkey-like yokai that can be up to twice the size of an adult male with sharp claws, long black hair, and muscled arms and legs. The yokai is incredibly fast, and it gets its name from the sound of its laughter. While its laughter may sound comical, it is a violent creature capable of true slaughter, with blood that is bright red. Its blood is sought after by those who trade in yokai parts, and it is said to fuse those who drink it with demonic powers.
“Do you know about its blood?” Danzen asked Kudzu and Jelmay, who had finally stopped bickering, yet still spoke to each other in strained tones.
“Yeah, I’ve heard about it,” said Jelmay. “If you drink it, the blood gives you demonic power. At least that’s what people think.”
“Has anyone actually tried to do that?”
The bakeneko shrugged. “No one I know of. Kudzu?”
The white fox shook her head as well.
“You aren’t thinking of drinking it, are you?” he asked Danzen. “Because that would be insane. You already have demonic power.”
“Aware.”
The forest grew thick again, dark in a way that reminded Danzen of when he had engaged the mu-onna.
He still had his mirror mask, and as they came to an enormous tree with roots that pressed out of the ground, he wondered if he would ever meet one again. Likely not, but there was no telling what type of yokai he would encounter in the future.
They continued on, Danzen thinking about the trip they would make soon to the west, pondering if it was a good idea to bring Kudzu and Jelmay. Kudzu was easy to travel with, yet he didn’t want to put her in harm’s way, and Jelmay… Jelmay was Jelmay, and the trouble he brought with him could outweigh the benefits of having him along.
But it was nice to be with people, Danzen feeling the way he did on several of the joint missions he’d undertaken as an assassin, when he had been paired up with other members of the Brotherhood. This led him to thinking of Nomin, the blind female assassin who had bent her echo in a way that allowed her to see. Danzen had used this power when facing off against the mu-onna, and as they pressed deeper into the forest, he closed his eyes, calling on it again.
The former assassin nearly stumbled but caught his balance, Danzen now seeing hints of his surroundings on the inside of his eyelids, everything illuminated. What would it be like if he actually bent his echo? How much stronger would he be?
He still felt unworthy to implement this power into his repertoire. Even so, part of him knew that his fate was inevitable, that for Danzen to stop the things he knew would eventually come after him would require a change in what he was able to do.
Especially if his full-demon brother decided to pay him a visit.
The trees started to press away like someone had folded them backward with the swipe of their hand, the landscape giving way to stone, rocks, and smaller shrubs that were able to find places to take root. They’d reached the foothills of the Panchen Mountains, Diyu closer than Danzen would like it to be.
He hadn’t been in this area before, the sediment with a reddish tone to it, deep maroons with bright-crimson veins.
Kudzu stopped, the white fox lifting her snout as she sniffed the air.
“I smell it too,” Jelmay told her as he withdrew his blade.
Danzen went for his Blade of Darkness, the weapon much heavier than Astra, and able to summon shadows cast by some of the larger stones. The shadows started to trail toward the tip of his weapon, where they pooled, Danzen getting a sense of their weight.
The sound that reached his ears next was that of a bear and a lion mixed together, an enormous rock hurling in their direction.
Danzen cut through it with his Blade of Darkness, a beast coming over the ledge, easily twice his size with a horned head covered in hair and muscular arms, almost ape-like but completely bipedal, something human about the way it carried itself.
Kudzu skittered to the side just as it charged forward.
“Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!”
Danzen brought his Blade of Darkness to the ready and thrust it forward, a spiral of shadow shooting toward the hihi, the beast laughing madly as it dodged his attack, as it threw itself back into the fight by kicking a rock at Danzen.
“Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!”
Danzen blocked the rock with the pole of his glaive, glad that it didn’t catch his fingers.
“I’ll give you something to laugh about!” Jelmay swatted his blade at the towering yokai, even though he was only about thigh-high considering the creature’s enormous size.
The hihi backhanded Jelmay so hard that the bakeneko flew to the other side of the stream. Lying on his back now, on his shield, Jelmay looked over his stomach at the towering yokai and laid his head back down.
Done.
Fwwwit!
Astra slipped into the space beneath the creature’s shoulder, the hihi able to pull it out and toss it to the ground.
This allowed the boomerang sword to return to Danzen, which it did, the former assassin catching it as he spun his Blade of Darkness forward again, an arc of shadow cutting the beast’s hand off. Thrown into a frenzied rage, the hihi grabbed its own hand and chucked it at Danzen.
The former assassin stepped aside, some of its bright-red blood misting across his face, and momentarily blinding him.
“Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!”
In the time it took Danzen to wipe the blood out of his eyes, the hihi was able to clear the distance between the two of them, and it would have tackled Danzen to the ground had it not been for Kudzu.
The white fox came from the left and leaped into the air, burying her teeth into the hihi’s trapezius, clamping down as it roared in pain and tried to throw her off.
Back in action, Danzen’s Blade of Darkness pressed through the center of the yokai’s body, where he held it, shadows still pooling around its tip as he slowly withdrew the weapon, twisting, making the exit wound three times the size of the entry.
The move cracked the hihi’s sternum, the white of the creature’s bone visible for a moment before it was saturated with blood, parts of its lungs spilling out, its heart severed and gushing blood.
The hihi fell face first onto the ground, Danzen pausing with both his weapons drawn, ready to engage it again.
“Damn thing,” Jelmay said as he hobbled over to the beast of a yokai. He kicked the hihi in the head. “We need to get its horns. If I had a gourd or something, I would collect some of its blood too. You know, that seller of yours would probably be interested in its blood.”
“If it’s true, if it really does unleash demonic powers, maybe it’s best if we leave it here.”
“If you say so,” Jelmay told him as he tested the strength of the creature’s horns.
“Were you expecting to be able to pull them off?” Kudzu asked as she approached, her white face stained crimson.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to get it off. Pilgrim, I could use something sharp.”
While Kudzu washed her face in the stream, Danzen positioned himself next to the creature’s head. He waited for his Blade of Darkness to summon enough shadows to cut into the hihi’s skull at an angle, severing its forehead to its crown, some of the yokai’s brains spilling out.
“That will do,” Jelmay said as he took the horns down to the stream to wash the blood off them. “Whew! That went a lot smoother than I thought it would go. I was expecting it to put up much harder of a fight than that. It makes me think Usagi has gone soft. You know, fifty years ago, that rabbit would have been able to take this lumbering idiot down with a few quick nibbles.”
“The rabbit fights?” Kudzu asked. Danzen joined her by the river to wash the blood off his face and blades.
“Of course he fights, or at least he used to. I think he’s going soft in his old age. Happens to the best of them.” Jelmay showed the horns to Danzen. “Make some room in your bag for these bad boys. Also, I’m not going to say we should turn back now rather than go after the sugawara, but it would be much easier to turn back now.”
