Mother's Memento

Hansuke had found accommodations that included food in exchange for blessings on a pregnancy within the village along with minor divinations. The monk also took some time to regale the peasants with stories of the Pure Land and some of the basics to the Buddhist teaching he learned while on Mt. Hiei.

Yet, he didn't see that shrine maiden during the evening, but learned a bit from the gossiping of the villagers. Such as the fact that her father had left a little more than half a decade ago, then never returned.

He believed, much like the villagers did, that the old Shinto priest had probably ran into some misfortune that claimed his life. For what Hansuke knew, the whole of Japan was embroiled in conflict during that time when the old man had left. It was just, the battles then were more concentrated around the imperial capital of Kyoto.

Though the Genpei War had focused around Kyoto, that did not mean the countryside had escaped unscathed. For the Tiara clan and Minamoto clan had a lot of influence that spread far and wide within Japan, so naturally, minor branches fought each other in the other providences along with supporters for each side.

However, this village was just too isolated, and it was due to this that they had barely been affected by the civil war. Hansuke thought it was rather lucky of these peasants but questioned how long their fortune would last.

It was also in these guarded discussions that the villagers shared more information about that fox spirit that Hansuke had met. From the way they spoke, it seemed that the villagers were split in their views about him.

Some of the villagers had accepted the claims of the old priest that he was a zenko, a messenger of the god, Inari. While others were cautious, maybe even a little fearful, but one thing that was apparent was that the village as a whole was merely tolerating the fox's presence in the village.

Hansuke noted that the fox was cunning in that he didn't harm the villagers directly, so he never crossed their bottom line, but he also didn't do anything noticeable to benefit them either.

'So, why has he stayed for so long?' Hansuke pondered over this. 'That fox is close to the shrine maiden. Everyone I have talked to in this village can attest to that. Is she his target? Those fox demons have a history of charming mortals and dragging them into despair.'

Late at night, as the monk continued to guess, his thoughts were interrupted by the soft twangs of a koto that permeated the night.

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The delicate sound of the string instrument accompanied the night and silenced the families in the village with its beautiful dance of notes. Even though they had heard the koto being played in their village before, it never failed to draw them into a peaceful lull.

The melody seemed to rise to the heavens and be wrapped in the calm autumn moonlight of the night. Sweetly serenading them as it painted a picture in their minds of a world far removed from the turmoil and let them glimpse of what may lay beyond their mortal life.

Fairies seemed to circle about in the skies of that place and extravagant castles and temples to unknown deities were raised upon the all peaks of immortal mountains. As the symphony grew in its crescendo, they could see captivating sword dances being performed by practitioners of that distant land.

Blades twirled and swept through the skies in ways that could only be described in tales of the gods and heroes of old. Yet this choreography still followed this rhapsody of the koto, only fading as the whole piece entered its diminuendo and faded to nothing.

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In her cottage, Ryuka's hands stilled as they came to rest upon the strings of the old koto in a gentle caress. It was the only real memento that was left of her mother, whom she knew little about.

Although her father had would her stories about her mother while she was growing up, he had never gone into too much detail about her past. All that Ryuka knew was derived from the words and descriptions of her father.

According to him, her mother had been a type of lady in waiting for one of the large clans in the imperial city. As to what family or origins her mother had, he never told her. But he described her as someone who despite her low ranking amongst the court, had a grace and bearing that transcended many of the other noble ladies.

Her mother's koto playing was amongst the top of the talents at the court and was one of the main reasons why she had any position there. She had garnered the attention of the great clans and was brought into one of them to serve their young mistress.

Ryuka guessed that her mother was coveted by at least one, if not a few of the young masters, or else, her parents wouldn't have to elope, right?

She also believed that much of her present beauty was inherited from her mother. Not to mention the powers she had awakened, Ryuka believed they originated from her mother's bloodline too.

Ryuka's father didn't know how to play the koto and her mother hadn't taught her, as she had died during the birth of her and her brother, but it was something that she learned through her dreams. The same dreams that began to appear with the magical abilities such as her control over air.

Those dreams provided instruction for Ryuka, in both magic as well as playing this instrument. So, she believed they were gifts passed down from her ancestors and that through them, she would come to understand her mother's origin.

Some of her earliest dreams, she had dreamed herself to be a girl, no, a dragon in human form, that was living in a place she could not identify. This dragon girl was being schooled by a relative, her cousin as she would later understand, in the ways of their race and "managing the elements", as he would call it.

While she inhabited that form in her dreams, this cousin would teach Ryuka about how to connect to the "origin of the world", as he referred to it, to draw on the power and manifest various magical feats. Such as summoning winds and rain, calling down thunder and forming swords of ice.

This dreamed training seemed to be something Ryuka could adapt to the real world, which is why she was able to utilize air magic and lightning. So, when the girl in her dreams was learning to dance and play music, Ryuka learned these too.

As instructional as the dreams had been, they had started to delve into the darkness of a brewing civil war between that dragon race. Then they seemed to cease and be replaced by dreams of other worlds that escaped her comprehension, such as the one she had that earlier night that was responsible for her coughing up blood.

Though the later dreams made little sense to her, the former had brought Ryuka some benefits, and she believed them to be linked to her mother's heritage. As mystical as they were, and as mysterious as her mother's figure was, she didn't think it was too far to think that she may have been the descendant of dragons in the heavens.

She sighed at the thought of what burdens her mother may have been shouldering, yet it made her wonder why she would even run off with a lowly priest like her father. What could bring down an existence as revered and powerful as dragons?

Taking care, Ryuks gently placed the koto back in its spot within her cottage and noticed that Naito had disappeared at some point while she was playing. 'He probably wanted to give me some space to think,' she thought.

Since he had left, Ryuka took this opportunity to prepare herself for bed and scatter the embers of the fire before crawling under the blanket.

[[NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: In previous chapters, I mentioned that Ryuka had a twin, Ryuu. The twin's names are written with the kanji for dragon. Ryuu being simply that character, while Ryuka is a combination with the meaning of "blooming dragon". I don't know if I'll ever get around to mentioning that in the novel proper.]]