Session 38. (22/1/10)

We rejoin the heroes, following their stories in slightly different time periods. In the "present" (late summer in the Year of the Rat), Kachamaru is in Kumaishi swapping notes with the kabuki actor there; Kokuma is half a mile up the coast building a squid-fishing boat hidden in the forests; Miyoshi and Yoshi are drugged and trapped in a cage in a cave in the high mountains; while in the "past" (though the others will not find out until some time in the "future"), Mineo is in the arms of Tamamo, a beautiful and obliging girl of Kumaishi. Mineo is briefly troubled by a nightmare in which he thinks he has a very hairy wife, but he pushes it aside, reasoning that his new-found wife, Tamamo, is very smooth. Whenever he contemplates going outside the house and into the town, Tamamo diverts him in her singular fashion. Mineo's joy is unbounded when Tamamo gives birth to their first son. He is momentarily sidetracked by a feeling of déjà vu, and he is confused by a feeling that he is very familiar with dealing with children even though this is his first, but the feelings soon pass. Life is good, the days pass very agreeably - and before long Tamamo is pregnant again. Nine months later she gives birth to a girl. Mineo's déjà vu is weaker this time.

Kachamaru discusses the possibility of swapping spells with the Kumaishi kabuki player. The kabuki man agrees to write down the Epic Saga spell if Kachamaru will teach him Stage Smoke. Kachamaru decides he had better write the spell down rather than teach the man directly so that he will have time to do some squid fishing. His kanji is very rusty, but the task that should have taken a day only takes two days. He returns to Kumaishi and swaps scrolls with the kabuki man, who, it turns out, had also needed two days to write down his spell. Then, after casually commenting that he will call in again next time he visits the boondocks, Kachamaru leaves Kumaishi on the southern (and only) road, waits for dark and sneaks back past the town and through the tunnel to Miyoshiville.

Meanwhile, Kokuma and a few of the villagers try out their new squid-fishing boat. Koshamain rigs some sails, and as soon as the crescent moon has set they push it across the shingle beach and into the sea. They sail and row a little way up the coast away from the Wajin lands then hang a large, shuttered lantern over the side furthest from Kumaishi. Kokuma applies his wits, dexterity and knowledge of animal habits to the task and has soon his quota of squid. He files the experience away and gains the Fishing skill at a good initial level.

Squid-Fishing Boat

Boat-Eating Squid

Arriving back in Miyoshiville, Kachamaru finds a feast in full swing, consisting mainly of squid. When he hears of Kokuma's exploits he is determined to get in on the action, so eschewing sleep, he heads back through the tunnel to join the night's fishing trip. Kokuma accompanies him. Kachamaru holds a lantern over the side and watches as the squid jet up to see it. Then Kokuma berates him for holding the lantern over the wrong side. Worried that it might have been seen by the Wajin at Kumaishi, he orders the boat back to the beach before anyone can investigate. Koshamain is annoyed when he hears the fishing trip has been cut short, and Kachamaru is contrite (-1 On). He blames it on feeling sick, either from the sea's motion or too many squid in wasabi sauce.

After another fishing trip in which Kachamaru fails to catch anything, Koshamain suggests that he and Kokuma go exploring the caves. This they do, deciding they might be better at fissuring than fishing. The only unexplored places are three crevices in the chamber between the two low passages. Kachamaru names them Tomu (plenty), Jiku (shaft) and Hari (needle) for obscure reasons of his own. "Tomu" turns out to be very short. Kachamaru squeezes in, but finds he can't feel around for another exit as his hands are occupied by his Light spell. He swaps places with Kokuma who puts his pine-branch torch on the floor before feeling around the walls. There are no other exits.

Next they try "Jiku". This is where they found the bear cub in the spring after killing its mother. It still smells strongly of bears. Kachamaru inches along the fissure, which is about 10 yards long. At the end he finds the remains of the bears' hibernation quarters, but fortunately no bears. He also finds a narrow crack in the cave wall, which he tries to squeeze into but fails. He takes off his armour, and with Kokuma lighting the crack with his torch, Kachamaru scrapes inside. However, the crack is short and there is nothing of interest in it.

Kachamaru gets dressed again before they tackle "Hari". It is on the other side of the passage so they have to cross the river to gain access to it. Kachamaru gives Kokuma a bunk up to climb into it from the river bed, then Kokuma reaches back and pulls Kachamaru up and into the fissure. Kokuma leads the way. It climbs steeply and goes on for some way, maybe 20 yards. It narrows at the end, but Kokuma can smell the sea - and pine needles. He pushes through and suddenly finds himself in the open air, except for being in the middle of a thorny bush. Kachamaru emerges to join him, and they work out that they are in the steeply-sloping forest above the beach, quite close to where they killed the she-bear. Satisfied with their expedition, and an alternative route through the caves, Kachamaru and Kokuma return to the village to report.

Yoshi slowly comes to in an iron-barred cage in a cave in the snowy mountains. He checks that the bars are as solid as they appear and is disappointed to find that they are. He looks around and sees Miyoshi's still-sleeping form next to the fire that had released the sleep-gas. It doesn't seem to be giving off anything but light wisps of ordinary smoke, but just to be sure, Yoshi tries to put it out by spreading the wood and ashes across the floor. Most of the fire goes out, but the core stubbornly continues to burn, fed by a large log. Just then he notices a large calico cat watching them from the mouth of the cave. It is grinning. Yoshi looks at it in puzzlement. Then the cat stands up - on its two back legs - and walks into the cave. Appearing at first to have two tails, it can be seen that in fact its tail is forked.

"Hello. Who are you?" asks Yoshi. The cat says nothing, but its grin gets wider. The noise causes Miyoshi to stir. He looks groggily round and sees Yoshi, the fire, the cage... and the cat.

"Shhh. Don't look now, but we're being watched," whispers Yoshi out of the corner of his mouth. The cat grins.

"Hello kitty," tries Miyoshi.

Yoshi politely addresses the cat. "Excuse me, Mr Cat sir, could you tell us what you want?" The cat looks interested for the first time. Yoshi's meagre knowledge of Japanese Classics include nothing about Bakeneko (Ghost Cats), though strictly speaking this cat is in fact a Nekomata (forked cat).

Meanwhile, Miyoshi looks further afield (or a-cave in this case) and sees that at the back of the cave is a shrine, and in front of it, a cherry tree, miraculously in bloom. The shrine is decorated with cherry blossom, both real and carved from cherry wood. Cherry-scented incense burns on the shrine and a hole in the cave roof above carries the smoke away - and also the smoke from the hearth inside the cage. Yoshi joins him to have a closer look and spots a solitary love bird hopping around the tree's branches. There are many inori (prayer strips) on the shrine. Every now and again the bird flits down from the tree, picks up a prayer strip and takes it back. Yoshi can't see what it does, but there are many unfolded strips of paper beneath the tree. "What kind of a strange set up is this?" asks Yoshi, semi-rhetorically.

"I told you we shouldn't have followed that dragonfly," snaps Miyoshi.

"No you didn't," rejoins Yoshi.

"Well, I was thinking it. It seemed mighty suspicious to me," harrumphs Miyoshi. "What do you think that bird is doing?"

"It seems to be collecting prayers from the tree and taking them to the altar."

"Then it unfolds them and... what - answers them?"

"You mean, like it's... a god?"

"Must be. I wonder if we can pray to be released."

"But how?"

"We need to get one of those prayer strips into the tree." Miyoshi tries to dig under the bars, but they go down through the earth floor to the bedrock.

Yoshi scouts around for something, anything that might help. On the floor of their prison is a large square of rice paper, which has been folded many times. There is also a poem written on it.

I Imagine

The King Dragonfly
Of a Card Nation, burning;
My tears won't put out.

Underneath the paper are two omikuji (oracle strips - a kind of fortune cookie message associated with Shinto shrines). One reads 小凶家族 (shōkyō kazoku), the other 大吉願事 (daikichi negaigoto).

The two bushi rack their brains to remember what the kanji mean. Typically they pick the hard ones and overlook the easier ones. "That's... negau...'want', 'desire'..." stumbles Yoshi, reading one of the omikuji. "And that's koto... 'thing'... so it's negaigoto, things one desires."

"That one is 'small', it probably reads shō, and that one... that one I'd recognise anywhere. It means 'bad luck'!" spits Miyoshi, reading the other. "'Evil', 'cursed'. That makes shōkyō, a small curse. Just my luck."

They swap their oracle strips, but have no luck deciphering them. "Gaaargh! I feel like I'm in Kachamaru's play, 'Waiting for Haku'!" snarls Yoshi.

Miyoshi looks up to see if the cat is watching. It is curled up in a corner of the cave. It looks asleep, but it is still grinning. Yoshi is looking at the poem. "I can't make head or tail of this. What can you make of this?"

"A hat. A brooch. A pterodactyl."

Yoshi snatches the paper back. "Don't be sill... wait a minute, maybe it is meant to be folded up. Let's see..." Yoshi studies the paper and decides where the first folds are, but he can't seem to make it work, always ending up with another, smaller, square."

"Give it here," says Miyoshi, and folds it into a large triangle in one complicated motion. "That's a basic origami move." But he's stuck for the next one. Yoshi takes over again, concentrating so hard he sticks his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. He folds the corners of the triangles up, then folds the corners of the resulting square into the middle. Now he gets stuck again. Miyoshi sees what to do, however, and folds four flaps over and tucks them in.

"I've seen this before, when I was young." He puts a corner of the folded paper to his mouth and blows. Miraculously it expands into a squared-off ball shape. "Water bomb!" he exclaims with satisfaction.

"But what use is that?" asks Yoshi. "We haven't got any water." Two thin strings are attached next to the hole, allowing it to be carried. "Maybe we put a light inside it, make it into a lantern."

"Or... we turn it over, fill it with hot air from the fire and make a balloon," suggests Miyoshi.

"Yes, and if we hung a prayer strip from the strings it could carry a prayer over to the altar!"

"Which strip do we send? I guess not the one with the curse."

"But those aren't prayers, they're fortunes. We should cut the fortune off and write our own prayer. What should we ask for? World peace?"

"Kill the cat?" The grin fades very slightly.

"How about just to be released? Let's have a look at them again."

They look at the fortunes. Yoshi recognises 'big' and thinks the next character is the opposite of 'curse'. "'Great blessing'? ...'Great blessing of what one desires'?"

Miyoshi finally twigs that the last kanji pair read kazoku or 'family'. "'Small curse on your family'. What could that mean?" Yoshi isn't listening. He has cut off the fortune with his tanto and is busy writing on the shortened strip with some charcoal from the fire. Miyoshi corrects his kanji. Yoshi attaches the strip to the balloon, holds it over the fire until it is full of hot air, then releases it into the draft blowing through the cave.

The balloon floats across the cave and becomes entangled in the branches of the cherry tree. The love bird hops among the branches, picks up the prayer strip in its bill and flies over to the shrine where it unfolds it. Then the bird flies over to the cage and pecks on a bar. The bar collapses to the ground, leaving a pile of blood-red playing cards, all inert. Miyoshi looks at the gap in the bars, somewhat suspicious. "Should we check out these cards?" he asks.

"Just go through," says Yoshi, impatiently. Miyoshi hesitates again, then pushes Yoshi through first. Then he squeezes through the gap. For the first time, the grin disappears from the cat's face.

"Get it!" shouts Yoshi. The cat bolts for the cave mouth, but Yoshi and Miyoshi are in the way. Yoshi tries to tackle it but it evades. Miyoshi grabs at it but it runs back to the rear of the cave. The cat tries to escape the other way round the cage, but Miyoshi and Yoshi run round and intercept it. Yoshi tackles it, but lets go when the cat scratches him for 10 damage. Miyoshi swings the butt-end of his spear and connects with the cat for 6 damage. It tries to bite Miyoshi, but connects only with his armour and is dazed. Yoshi pins it to the ground.

The nekomata pleads for mercy. "I'm so lonely. All I have is the fun I get from trapping passing humans - and there haven't been any for ages. But, if you can help me I can give you great rewards."

"What do you want?" asks Miyoshi, suspiciously.

"Why, to marry one of your daughters!"

Miyoshi and Yoshi are so shocked that they don't notice that the bars have disappeared, the fire has gone out and the blue stone is back in its place.

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