Chapter 39 : Yori

Jack barely had time to avoid the bloody tusks as he dived for cover.

The wild boar thundered towards him, its head down to attack. The

tusks slashed upwards, missing Jack's left leg by a hair's breadth. The

animal careered past before disappearing into the undergrowth.

Jack lay there in the bushes, panting for breath. He listened to the

hellish squeal recede until eventually it was drowned out by the storm. In

his desperation to evade the wild boar, Jack had dropped his lantern and it

now lay crushed and useless in the mud, its flame extinguished.

What was he to do now? It was the middle of the night and the dense

forest meant he could barely see more than a few feet in front of him. He

would surely get lost on the mountainside if he tried to find his way down

in the darkness. And, he reminded himself, he was deep in ninja territory.

His chances of finishing the challenge, let alone getting off the mountain

alive, were minimal.

Having been the last to start, there was also little point in waiting to be

discovered. If he stayed put, there was a danger of dying from the extreme

cold.

His predicament couldn't be much worse. Too tired to cry, he got

angry instead. Getting to his feet, Jack stumbled onwards down the path.

He would not be defeated by this mountain.

He would survive.

He walked straight into a tree.

Jack cursed, but kept going. He remembered the lesson the Daruma

Doll had taught him the previous year in Taryu-Jiai. Seven times down,

eight times up.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Jack realized he should be using the

techniques Sensei Kano had taught him in sensitivity training. With hands

outstretched, he cautiously felt and listened his way through the forest.

For the first time ever, Jack began to appreciate what Sensei Kano

faced on a daily basis, and his admiration for the blind teacher grew ten

thousandfold. For the bō master, life was a constant struggle through a

pitch-black forest, yet he took it all in his stride.

Having got his own troubles into perspective, Jack battled on.

Rounding a corner and heading down the trail, he noticed a flickering

light in the darkness. As he got closer, Jack could hear a low moaning. He

quickened his pace. He saw a figure lying in the mud and recognized Yori.

'What happened? Are you all right?' asked Jack, stumbling up to him.

'A boar attacked me,' Yori groaned, his face pale with shock in the

glow of his paper lantern.

Jack redirected the light and inspected his friend for injuries. He

discovered Yori had a large gash on his right thigh. It was bleeding badly

and Jack knew he would have to get his friend off the mountain as soon as

possible, if he was to have any chance of surviving. Jack ripped off the

sleeve of his robe and tied it tightly round Yori's leg to stem the bleeding.

'Do you think you can stand?'

'I've tried… It's no use,' gasped Yori, his eyes screwed up in agony.

'Go and get help.'

'I can't leave you here. You're already shivering. We have to get you

off the mountain now.'

'But I can't walk…'

'Yes, you can,' said Jack, slipping an arm round Yori's waist. 'Put your

arm over my shoulder.'

With great effort, Jack got Yori back to his feet.

'But I'll slow you down,' protested Yori, 'and you won't complete the

challenge.'

'I can't see where I'm going anyway. I lost my lantern to that stupid

boar. So we need each other. Don't you see, together we have a chance of

finishing,' persuaded Jack, smiling his encouragement. 'Look, I'll support

you, if you hold the lantern to light our way.'

They took a few faltering steps and stumbled. Yori cried out in pain as

they fell against a tree.

'This is stupid,' wheezed Yori. 'We'll never make it at this rate.'

'We'll make it. We just need to find our rhythm.'

Jack looked away before Yori could see the doubt in his eyes.

The lame leading the blind, thought Jack. What hope did they honestly

have?

Jack and Yori were lost.

Having agreed that the safest and quickest way down was to follow the

route that had been given to them, they'd been making good progress and

had been encouraged by the fact that they'd found the next four shrines with

little problem. But the twentieth shrine was proving elusive.

'The book definitely says turn right at the stone lantern to reach the

stream,' said Jack.

Exhausted and frustrated, he was tempted to throw the guide away.

They had reached a junction of four paths in the forest. Yet there was no

mention of a crossroads in the directions they had been given.

'So where's the stone lantern?'

'Perhaps we missed it?' offered Yori weakly.

'Wait here,' instructed Jack, lowering Yori on to a nearby rock. 'I'll

have another look. There were some smaller paths further back.'

Jack retraced their steps and eventually found the stone lantern

concealed behind a pile of foliage. The branches were freshly broken so

Jack knew it wasn't an accident of nature that had hidden the marker.

'Kazuki!' he spat in disgust. Just the sort of dishonest tactic his rival

would play to ensure his own success and Jack's failure.

Fuelled by anger, Jack ran back to collect Yori.

* * *

By the time they reached the stream where the twentieth shrine stood,

Jack's last pair of straw sandals were mush around his feet. With every step

he now suffered from a sharp pain in his left foot, but tried to hide the

discomfort from Yori.

'Take mine,' said Yori, slipping off his own sandals.

'What about you?'

'I can't go on any more, Jack.'

Yori's face was now a pallid sheen of sweat and Jack could see his

friend had lost a lot of blood.

'Yes, you can,' replied Jack, shouldering more of Yori's weight despite

his own overwhelming exhaustion. 'Sensei Yamada once told me "there's

no failure except in no longer trying". We must keep trying.'

'But it's nearly dawn.'

Jack looked at the sky. The rain had petered out and the horizon was

beginning to lighten. In the valley below, the grey-white silhouette of the

Castle of the White Phoenix was now visible.

'But I can see the castle. We've visited all the shrines and just need to

get to the temple. We can make it. It's not that far.'

Jack felt Yori collapse in his arms, limp as a rag doll.

'There's no point in us both failing,' wheezed Yori, his breathing rapid

and shallow. 'You go on. Complete the Circle.'

In his exhaustion, Jack was almost persuaded by his friend's fevered

logic. The Circle was his path to the Two Heavens. The Circle was the key.

He had strived for it the whole year, worked too hard to let it slip through

his fingers now. On his own, he could still make it.

Jack studied the pale face of his friend and smiled sadly. With the last

of his remaining strength, he lifted Yori on to his shoulders.

'The Circle can wait.'