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Part 4: Story
When Tasuki woke up the first thing he saw was a set of sharp white teeth about three inches away from his face. "%$^*!" He yowled, jumping to his feet. Luckily all the noise didn’t wake the giant white bear, who was still curled up by the fire like a cat. The Suzaku Seishi blinked a couple of times, trying to remember just what he was doing here. Then it all came back to him.
"Where the $*^$ is Rumiya?" He grumbled, "and what is this $%^*ing bear doing here?" He didn’t dare kick the animal or whack it with his tessen, so he just stood and glared at it. He was startled when the door opened and Rumiya came in.
"I hope you had a pleasant nap," Rumiya was all enthusiastic sincerity, "I thought maybe you might be hungry, so I made some breakfast." Tasuki was tired of Rumiya showing up unexpectedly, but the thought of food made his mouth water. When was the last time I had anything decent to eat? Before we left Konan?
A few minutes later and he was chowing down on some kind of spicy stew and some warm, brown bread. After stuffing his face for a while, I hadn’t realized I was so hungry, he noticed that Rumiya hadn’t touched a bite. Tasuki glanced down at his plate, then at Rumiya, "Ya’ want some?"
Rumiya sweat-dropped, "Iie, Genrou, that’s all right. I’ve already eaten." Tasuki shrugged and went back to his meal. But while he was eating his mind was whirling. What’s with this guy? He’s just plain weird. And he’s hiding something too, it’s so obvious.
Rumiya, meanwhile was passing something back and forth in his hands. After a bit of intense scrutiny, Tasuki realized it was a sculptured animal, made out of glass or something. The back and forth movement of the tiny animal was almost hypnotizing, and Tasuki felt himself becoming drowsy. Rumiya didn’t seem to notice.
Is he doing this on purpose? Tasuki was suspicious. He managed to tear his gaze away from the sculpture, and fix it his bowl instead. "Ne Rumiya, it’s not very exciting here is it?" Rumiya looked up but did not stop moving the animal from hand to hand. Whattsa matter with him?
Finally he spoke, "Iie, it’s not very exciting here. At least it isn’t now. A long time ago that was a very different story..." Rumiya’s eyes were distant. Tasuki was curious, What does he mean by that? He looks like he’s gonna tell a story or something...
"200 years ago Genbu no Miko was preparing to summon Genbu when Kutou attacked. There was a great battle fought not far from here..." He sighed, "There’s a memorial to all the people that died in that battle, somewhere on this mountain. They say it was built over the ruins of the temple where they summoned Genbu."
Tasuki leaned forward, Genbu no Miko? Could these ruins have anything to do with the Shinzaho? "Where are these ruins?"
Rumiya gave him an icy glare, "How should I know?" Tasuki grumbled under his breath. This seemed to anger Rumiya who stared at Tasuki coldly until everything was absolutely silent. Then he looked away, "Genrou," Rumiya sounded distant, "I know a story you might like to hear." He didn’t wait for Tasuki to reply, "It concerns that battle you’re so interested in."
He sighed. "Once there was a young man, he lived a peaceful life in a village in the mountains. One day he went out into the mountains to hunt. He was far away from his village when a snowstorm struck. There was no place to go, no caves or cabins or anything. He wandered around blindly until his feet broke through a crack in the ice. Below it was a cavern with steep walls and no way to get out. The young man was sure he was going to freeze to death. He was exhausted and lost consciousness.
"While he was unconscious he had a strange dream. In it a voice was speaking to him. When he woke up he was still in the cavern, but there was a crack in the wall that had not been there before. He went through it and found himself outside. The snow had stopped and he turned to look behind him for the crack and it was not there anymore.
"He staggered back to the village, and they were amazed that he had survived. When he told them about his dream they said he must have been ‘favored by Genbu’. He was treated like a hero, though he had done nothing." Rumiya paused and looked down at the tiny sculpture in his hands. "A couple of months later the Hokkan empire began to build an army to defend Genbu no Miko, because they feared Kutou would attack.
"When they heard about the young man they were enthusiastic. They made him a general in their army, even though he was only a boy. They believed that, because he was ‘favored by the god’, he would bring luck to them. Then Kutou attacked. There was a fierce battle and the young man fought hard. He was injured by an enemy soldier and the Kutou army was beating the Hokkan army into the ground. The young man prayed to Genbu for strength..."
Rumiya sighed. Tasuki was intrigued, "What happened them?" Rumiya looked up, startled. He looked as if he’d only just noticed Tasuki. Seeing Rumiya’s puzzlement, Tasuki clarified, "What happened to the young man?"
"Hmm..." Rumiya seemed upset, "The young man died."
Tasuki blinked, he hadn’t expected that ending. He frowned and tapped his tessen against the table, "What was that story supposed to mean?"
"It means even gods can screw up sometimes." Rumiya crushed the tiny sculpture in his fist, and blood ran down his hand. He stood up, dropped the broken animal sculpture on the table, and walked off. Tasuki glanced at the table puzzledly and realized the tiny animal had been made out of ice. He watched as it melted into a puddle and started to drip onto the floor.
What the &*(% is going on here?