Ai of the Mountain (A Fairy Retelling #2)

by Dorian Tsukioka

  “Tis no matter, my dear. My ears are not as sharp as they once were. I did not even hear your approach. I was too distracted by trying to gather enough firewood before my misses wonders if I’ve wandered my way off the mountain for good this time. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve found myself lost up here.”

  “Are you lost now, Ojiisan? Can I help you?”

  “Oh, no. I don’t think I’m lost. But, if you don’t mind me saying, it seems like you might be.”

  I point down to the faint path my father and I have made from our treks to and from the castle. “No, sir, I’m not lost. This path leads back to my home. I know where I’m going.”

  “Do you? From the look of you, it seems like you’re very lost, indeed.”

  He is not talking about my path on the mountain.

  The old man continues, “You look distraught, my dear. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  I wipe away the remaining remnants of tears from my face. “Thank you, but no. I’m not sure what anyone can do to help me. I think perhaps I will need to figure out a way to help myself.”

  The old man smiles, and for a moment I wonder if I’m imagining things. His canine teeth are too long, too sharp. The sight of them makes me shiver, but then when I look into the old man’s face, I feel no fear. I’m certain he is kind, and good-hearted. I have nothing to fear from him.

  “Can I help you gather your firewood, Ojiisan? It will help you get back home sooner.”

  “Ah, but then you’ll be arriving home later. Are you sure you want to spend your time helping an old man? You seemed to be in quite a hurry to get home.”

  “I’m certain I’d like to help you. As for me getting home in a hurry, what will be, will be. There’s no need to rush home to face problems that I can’t change.”

  “Hmmm…perhaps there is more that you can do than you think. I’m sure a solution will present itself to you at the right time.”

  “Thank you.” The old man seems to understand more about me than I would expect. How could he glean so much from our short conversation? I’ve never seen this man before in my life, and I’m curious to know where he has come from. But before I can ask, he is already bending down to gather more branches from the ground. I put my question aside, and get busy with helping him.

  I place all the fallen branches we have gathered together in the middle of a large furoshiki, and wrap them up into a bundle. The old man gathers it with one hand, and rests the heavy sack on his back.

  “Thank you for your help, Ai-chan,” he says with a short bow.

  I bow deeply before him to show how honored I am to have met him. The old man places his empty hand on my shoulder, and says, “I leave you with a blessing, mountain girl. Hold on to hope. You are destined for more than you know. Have faith in that.”

  He releases his hand, and I smile at him. Thankful for his blessing, I have no other words to say than ‘thank you.’

  “Arigatou gozaimashita.” I say and turn to head back down the mountain. After a few steps, I realize the old man knew my name. How could he? I’m certain I have never met him before. I turn back to ask him how he knows me. But he is gone.

  However, I am not alone.

  Standing before me is a red fox, his ears pointed high to the heavens. His head tilts to the side as he studies me for a second, and then bounds away a moment later into the forest.

  I stare after the fox, and hold the old man’s blessing in my heart.

  The old man’s words have already worked a small miracle in cheering me by the time I arrive home. Perhaps all will be well and I will be able to do something to change what seems like a dire situation. Perhaps just changing my outlook will help – maybe my situation is not nearly as dire as it seems.

  I enter the house and thank the doctor for caring for my mother while I was gone. She is recovering bit-by-bit. After he leaves, I help her to work on the exercises he instructed her to do and am encouraged to see even more improvement in her coordination. The exercises wear her out quickly though, and I help her back to her futon for a rest.

  The house is quiet as Mother naps. It will be hours yet before Father arrives home. It is the perfect time to talk to Grandfather Koi. I wonder what he thinks I should do. I quietly close the door to the house and walk with a new-found spring in my step towards the river. I am holding on to hope, just as the old man said.

  It is his boots I see first as I make my way around the maple tree. And it is his sword that I see next. I stop suddenly. The afternoon light reflects from the surface of the river, bouncing off the jagged-edge metal of the blade. I have never seen a sword like this. The edge is serrated, the end, barbed and menacing. I know it is an inanimate thing; there is no life in it. Yet, I can almost see waves of evil exuding from it.

  “Konnichiwa, Ai-chan,” Lord Nakaguchi says with a bow, holding the sword in his hand.

  Chapter 7

  “Hello,” I say, trying to keep my eyes on Lord Nakaguchi’s face, but my gaze slips to the wicked-looking sword in his hand. “What are you doing here, my lord?”

  “Your lord, is it? I think we can both agree that I am not, nor will I ever be, your lord.” I swallow hard and try not to show the fear bubbling up inside of me. “But, don’t worry,” he says. “I can’t fault you for that. You know what you want. And you don’t want me. I don’t understand why, but I can respect your decision.” His words seem reasonable enough, and I would be inclined to believe him, if it weren’t for the blade in his hand.

  “I appreciate that,” I say.

  He smiles. “I hoped you would. By the way, this,” he motions to the sword, “has nothing to do with you.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that.” The words, ‘my lord’ almost escape my lips, but I choke them back just in time. The daimyo seems rational enough for now, and I have no wish to agitate him. “I am honored that you would come to visit. Is there something I can do for you?”

  The daimyo’s tight-lipped smile stretches even further across his face. He pulls out the four, golden, rose-shaped coins and holds them in his hands for me to see. “I hoped we might have a conversation about these.”

  I say nothing. It might be more prudent to follow the daimyo’s lead, rather than try to steer the conversation. Hopefully, I will be able to placate his curiosity, if that is all this is, without further damaging my family’s relationship to him. If that’s even possible.

  “Here is what I think,” Lord Nakaguchi begins. “I think it is very strange that a young, seemingly penniless girl from the mountains, could suddenly find herself lucky enough to be in the possession of four, valuable coins such as these. It is so strange, in fact, that I think it’s impossible that you simply found them, or mysteriously came to be in their possession. I thought over and over again about the strangeness of these coins.

  “When you left so hastily from my castle today, I decided to send a guard to retrieve you. With all the frenzy surrounding the construction of the castle, it should have been easy to find a guard, but I searched the interior of the castle through, and there was no one to be found. Finally, I went outside, and found my whole company of guards standing outside the edge of the forest, mesmerized by a throng of red foxes, scampering just outside the gate. I have never seen anything like it myself, and for a moment I was annoyed that the commotion made it necessary for me to search so far for a guard.

  “Just as I was about to call one over to bring you back to the castle, I noticed the coins in my hand. A pool of sunlight shimmered on them, and when I examined them closely, I could see fine, delicate ridges all throughout them. They reminded me of something, but I couldn’t quite grasp what. I kept turning the coins back and forth, and for a second, it seemed like they weren’t golden coins at all. Instead, they looked just like giant fish scales.

  “It lasted for just a brief moment. A whisper of time. But, I believed what I saw. I know they changed, at least for that instant. Of course, the only fish large enough to have scales the size of these coins, is
the very one I saw swimming in the river next to your house.

  “What a strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say? I immediately felt grateful for the troubling pack of foxes. If they hadn’t caused such a commotion, I might never have come outside with the coins in my hands. I probably never would have made the connection. Perhaps the kitsune spirits were helping to open my eyes to an enchanting possibility. Whether or not, I took it as a blessing to see your giant koi again for myself.”

  With the sword in his hand, it looks like the daimyo has more in mind than simply looking at Grandfather Koi.

  “This is a good thing, Ai-chan,” he continues. “You can help your people. Just a few more coins, and there will be no need for any more taxes across the entire region. Think of how much the people of the village will love you, how grateful they will be to your family for saving them from the burden of extra taxes. You can’t keep something like this all to yourself. Surely, you are not as selfish as that.”

  My thoughts spin in my head like a minnow darting back and forth beneath the water. The daimyo’s words make sense, but I don’t trust him. I’m not sure if he is telling me the truth. I would like to believe that he only needs a few more coins, and that I could do something to help the people of my village. But, this is not a decision I can make. Grandfather’s Koi’s coins are not mine to give away. He is not mine. He is my friend, and I cannot forget that.

  “Do you promise to take only a few more coins? Do you promise not to hurt him?”

  “Yes. I promise.”

  “Will you leave me alone after that and promise no further repercussions against my family?”

  “Ai-chan, I promise.”

  Just a few more coins. Grandfather Koi’s magical scales must be worth far more than I thought if the daimyo needs only a few more to take care of the taxes requested by the emperor. I can save my family and the entire village from the excessive whims of the daimyo.

  I walk to the edge of the river, bend down, and let the slow current trail around my fingers as they graze the surface of the water. A moment later, a glint of orange and gold scales appear from the dark and Grandfather Koi’s fin brushes against my fingers. As he swims and turns, I see the bare spot on his flesh where he allowed me to cut his scales away. He rises completely to the surface, where he can see both me and Lord Nakaguchi.

  I turn to the daimyo and look into his eyes. I want him to know that I understand the price of what I’m doing and I’m willing to pay it in full.

  “Grandfather Koi,” I say, “this is Lord Nakaguchi, the daimyo of our region. I gave your four gold coins to him. He has come back for more. He has promised me that he only wants a few.”

  Lord Nakaguchi nods, encouraging me to go on. I see him inch forward towards the river.

  “Grandfather Koi, it’s important that you know that when I look into Lord Nakaguchi’s eyes to ascertain the truth…I see nothing there but lies. He won’t stop until he has stripped you of every last scale. You must leave. Now!”

  The daimyo is quicker than I expected, and thrusts the point of his sword into the river just as Grandfather Koi dives down. The tip of the sword just catches through the base of the giant koi where his body meets his tail. The sword glides through his body, and the barbed tip catches against Grandfather Koi as he tries to swim away.

  I throw my body at the daimyo, attempting to dislodge the sword from his hand, but I’m nothing more than a distracting butterfly futilely beating against his strength. The daimyo raises his free hand, and throws me back against the ground. I land hard and hit my head against the maple tree.

  For a moment, I see nothing but white, the pain in my head is so intense. When my eyes adjust, I see the daimyo bent over the river, attempting to pull the giant, thrashing fish onto the bank. I cannot let him have Grandfather Koi. I knew it the moment I looked into Lord Nakaguchi’s eyes and saw the look of possession in them. He only knows how to take. I knew he could never be satisfied with only a few meager coins when he could take all of them for himself.

  I rush at the daimyo again, but this time, instead of trying to beat the sword out of his hand, I use my momentum to ram into him. He teeters on the edge of the bank for a split second before I push him in. The force of my momentum pulls me into the river as well, and I find myself tumbling through the murky blackness. The mountain water is frigid, and I gasp in surprise when I rise to the surface.

  I cling to the bank for a moment, and see Lord Nakaguchi’s hand emerge from the water and grab onto the side of the bank as well. He rises from the water, still holding onto his sword. I can see by his struggle that Grandfather Koi is still attached to the other end. I need something to help me. My size is no advantage against the daimyo. I need a weapon.

  I remember the sword at the bottom of the river, and immediately dive back in the murky drink. I have no idea where the sword might be, or if I can even find it down here in the inky blackness, but I have no other choice. I must try, even if it means that I perish down here myself. I say a quick prayer in my head as I propel myself deeper into the water. Perhaps the spirits of the forest are watching. Maybe they can still help us.

  Sunlight filters dimly through the water, but in front of me, I see a glimmer of something. I swim towards it, my lungs beginning to ache for air. I put out my hands and feel the muddy bottom of the river floor. My fingers search, and touch against something hard and metal. The sword. I’ve found it! I grab it, and feel the blade slice my hand. Instinct takes over and I drop it. I reach out again and feel carefully for the hilt. My lungs are burning for air by this time, and I kick up from the bottom. The water clears and I begin to see sunlight gleaming through the water.

  But I cannot surface.

  My leg is stuck, entangled in river weed. I pull against it, and it slips down my leg, but knots itself around my ankle. It holds me just below the surface of the water. I thrash against it, but, I cannot break free. I’m trapped. My lungs can take no more. The sunlight fades in my eyes, and blackness dims them. I see nothing. Nothing. But, I still feel. I feel the searing burn of river water as it rushes into my mouth.

  Chapter 8

  When I open my eyes, Kaito is holding me tightly in his embrace. His arms are wrapped around me and I feel more safe here than I have ever felt anywhere in my life. I never want to leave.

  “I’m so tired,” I say, and feel the pull of my eyelids falling down against my will. I force them to open and look up into Kaito’s face. His eyes are shining brightly, and there is sweat on his brow. By the grimace on his face, I can see he’s in pain. Again, I have to push my eyes open so I can focus on his face. He is not the only thing I notice. The maple tree is completely bare. No, not just bare. It’s dead. Or it will be soon. The life is almost completely gone from it.

  “Kaito, what is happening to us?” I say, so tired I think I would collapse completely to the ground if Kaito wasn’t holding me up.

  “Ai-chan, please,” he says, and my gaze travels back to his face. Such pain I see there. Why? I don’t understand any of this. “You must save yourself.”

  Save myself? From what? Here in his arms is the safest place I could possibly be.

  “Take this,” he says, pulling his sword free from the sheath resting against his back. He places the sword in my hand and wraps his own hands protectively around mine. “Save yourself.”

  My vision clears and he is gone. I am alone in the river. Save yourself. His words echo in my ears. The sword is still in my hands. I grasp it with both hands and lash out against the riverweed entwined around my ankle. The sword slides through it and breaks me free in an instant. I struggle not to drop it as I pump my legs, pushing my body to the surface.

  Great gulps of air rush in as water expels from my lungs. I hug the bank of the river. The current has pulled me downstream and I see the daimyo in the distance, pulling Grandfather Koi onto the bank of the river.

  I throw the sword onto the grass and pull myself out. My lungs burn. My body aches. My heart aches. Kaito’s face f
lashes before me. He was in so much pain. I do not know how to save him. But, I can still try to save Grandfather Koi. Save yourself, Kaito said. I will. But, I will save Grandfather Koi as well. If I can.

  I lift the sword from the ground, and run as fast as my body will allow me, back to the maple tree. Lord Nakaguchi has pulled the giant koi completely out of the river and onto the ground. He kneels next to Grandfather Koi, and wrenches the sword out of his tail. I am close enough to see Grandfather Koi’s flanks lift and fall in rhythm with his quick breaths. I do not know how long he can survive out of the water. I do know he will not survive at all if Lord Nakaguchi has his way.

  I rush from behind the tree and come at the daimyo with my sword raised, and a bellowing cry that sounds my hurt and anger. He sees me a second before my sword crashes down on him, and the metallic ring of his sword hitting mine rings throughout the mountainside.

  “Stupid girl! You think you can stop me?” He pushes up and against the sword in my hands, and I fall back, but the force of his momentum is too great. As he takes a step back, his foot slips on the wet grass of the bank. He wobbles on the edge for a moment and then falls into the river once again, dropping his sword on the ground just before the black water swallows him whole.

  I reach for his sword and put my hand around it just as Lord Nakaguchi’s arm breaks the surface of the river. He clutches the bank and he begins to pull himself out. I drag the wicked-looking sword out of his reach for now, but I know that will not save me for long. There is nothing but rage and hatred in his eyes. The moment he is free from the river, he will kill me. I am certain of it.

  Something catches my eye from across the river. I look and see a red fox sitting underneath a tree on the opposite bank, its head cocked to one side, watching us. I think it is smiling at me.

  Lord Nakaguchi has pulled most of his torso out of the river. He reaches for me, and his fingers brush against my foot for a brief moment. The daimyo almost has me. He knows this, too. I see it in his eyes. He pulls the rest of his body out of the river, and stands. Riverweed is wrapped all around his legs. He takes a step forward, but the riverweed pulls tight against him. He lunges for his sword, and I push it back farther behind me. The daimyo sprawls out on the bank of the river spewing curses at me, and pulling against the entangling river weed. Every time he pulls against it, it only knots around him more strongly. Each time he struggles, the weeds actually pull him further off the bank and towards the river. If he does not stop struggling, the weeds will pull him into the water again.