shugenja once more. "Have I been rude to you? I don't remember being rude to you. But you're certainly being rude to me."
"I told you, mujina, I'm busy." He quickened his pace and walked past the creature.
"I told you, rude human, my name is Ob. You haven't told me your name yet. Pretty rude, considering I saved your life."
Tadaka paused and looked back. The mujina sat in the crook of a blasted tree. It had its hands propped on its knees and
looked very annoyed. Tadaka peered at it, trying to discern any magical deception. He saw none. The mujina was simply what it
was.
"Well?" the mujina said. "Are you going to tell me your name, or must I call you 'rude human' during our travels together?"
"For one thing," Tadaka said, "we are not traveling together. For another, I have no intention of giving my name to any creature I encounter in this forsaken place."
"If that's the way you want to be ... " Ob flitted into the air and hovered above Tadaka's head. "Should I call you 'lord high rude human-sama,' or just 'rude-sama?'"
Tadaka turned and strode away. He hoped that if he ignored it, the mujina would get bored and go away.
"So, Rude-sama, tell me about yourself," Ob said.
Tadaka didn't answer.
"Where do you come from? Do you have family?"
Tadaka kept walking.
"I'm only asking so that I can notify your next of kin once you get yourself killed."
A small rise loomed in front of the Master of Earth, and he mounted it in three quick steps. Spells to rid himself of the bothersome imp flashed through his mind, but he discarded them. No need to waste magic on this annoying creature. He crested the rise and descended toward a flat plain.
The fog blew away, a curtain parted by invisible hands.
Bones littered the cracked and brittle ground before him. To his left rose the skeleton of a tree. A shadow moved in the fog on the other side of the clearing.
"Uh-oh!" Ob said. He vanished.
Tadaka put his hand to the hilt of his katana.
Out of the mist stepped a tall, lean woman dressed in a white kimono. She carried a long, double-pointed spear, and wore a green, demon-faced mask. Her black hair hung down past her hips and fluttered about her as she walked. She moved like a phantom, gliding quickly over the ground.
She spotted Tadaka and lowered her weapon for combat.
THE WAY OF WATER
Isawa Tomo knew he could put it off no longer. All morning he had avoided his duty, but now, the hour was growing late. Probably his brethren had completed their tasks already.
It was not like Tomo to shirk his duties— but this errand gave him no pleasure.
At daybreak he had sat by a river and told stories to a group of children he had never met before. He spoke of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, and her husband, Onnotangu, the Lord Moon. He told tales of Shinsei and the Serene Prophet Uikku. What the children liked best, though, was to hear the exploits of Shiba Ujimitsu, the Phoenix Champion.
Tomo didn't know Ujimitsu as well as his brother Tadaka did, but he still knew many thrilling tales of the champion. For his part, Tomo was glad to keep his young charges entertained. When the children had been called off to help their parents in the fields, Tomo busied himself elsewhere.
He found an old woman carrying clothes to the riverbank and helped her do her wash. Like the children, she never suspected Tomo's true identity. She was happy just for the help and companionship.
After that, he sat by the shore of Umi Amaterasu, the Sea of the Sun Goddess, and built sandcastles. The children who flocked to see his work were delighted. First he built Kyuden Isawa, then Shiro Shiba, and finally great Otosan Uchi itself. The children gathered fiddler crabs and sand hoppers to populate the castles and minnows and hermit crabs to guard the moats.
Building sandcastles only reminded Tomo of the castle he was avoiding. Finally, his heart heavy, he walked to a deserted quay and paid for a small skiff. The boat's owner wanted to go with Tomo, to row the Master
"I told you, mujina, I'm busy." He quickened his pace and walked past the creature.
"I told you, rude human, my name is Ob. You haven't told me your name yet. Pretty rude, considering I saved your life."
Tadaka paused and looked back. The mujina sat in the crook of a blasted tree. It had its hands propped on its knees and
looked very annoyed. Tadaka peered at it, trying to discern any magical deception. He saw none. The mujina was simply what it
was.
"Well?" the mujina said. "Are you going to tell me your name, or must I call you 'rude human' during our travels together?"
"For one thing," Tadaka said, "we are not traveling together. For another, I have no intention of giving my name to any creature I encounter in this forsaken place."
"If that's the way you want to be ... " Ob flitted into the air and hovered above Tadaka's head. "Should I call you 'lord high rude human-sama,' or just 'rude-sama?'"
Tadaka turned and strode away. He hoped that if he ignored it, the mujina would get bored and go away.
"So, Rude-sama, tell me about yourself," Ob said.
Tadaka didn't answer.
"Where do you come from? Do you have family?"
Tadaka kept walking.
"I'm only asking so that I can notify your next of kin once you get yourself killed."
A small rise loomed in front of the Master of Earth, and he mounted it in three quick steps. Spells to rid himself of the bothersome imp flashed through his mind, but he discarded them. No need to waste magic on this annoying creature. He crested the rise and descended toward a flat plain.
The fog blew away, a curtain parted by invisible hands.
Bones littered the cracked and brittle ground before him. To his left rose the skeleton of a tree. A shadow moved in the fog on the other side of the clearing.
"Uh-oh!" Ob said. He vanished.
Tadaka put his hand to the hilt of his katana.
Out of the mist stepped a tall, lean woman dressed in a white kimono. She carried a long, double-pointed spear, and wore a green, demon-faced mask. Her black hair hung down past her hips and fluttered about her as she walked. She moved like a phantom, gliding quickly over the ground.
She spotted Tadaka and lowered her weapon for combat.
THE WAY OF WATER
Isawa Tomo knew he could put it off no longer. All morning he had avoided his duty, but now, the hour was growing late. Probably his brethren had completed their tasks already.
It was not like Tomo to shirk his duties— but this errand gave him no pleasure.
At daybreak he had sat by a river and told stories to a group of children he had never met before. He spoke of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, and her husband, Onnotangu, the Lord Moon. He told tales of Shinsei and the Serene Prophet Uikku. What the children liked best, though, was to hear the exploits of Shiba Ujimitsu, the Phoenix Champion.
Tomo didn't know Ujimitsu as well as his brother Tadaka did, but he still knew many thrilling tales of the champion. For his part, Tomo was glad to keep his young charges entertained. When the children had been called off to help their parents in the fields, Tomo busied himself elsewhere.
He found an old woman carrying clothes to the riverbank and helped her do her wash. Like the children, she never suspected Tomo's true identity. She was happy just for the help and companionship.
After that, he sat by the shore of Umi Amaterasu, the Sea of the Sun Goddess, and built sandcastles. The children who flocked to see his work were delighted. First he built Kyuden Isawa, then Shiro Shiba, and finally great Otosan Uchi itself. The children gathered fiddler crabs and sand hoppers to populate the castles and minnows and hermit crabs to guard the moats.
Building sandcastles only reminded Tomo of the castle he was avoiding. Finally, his heart heavy, he walked to a deserted quay and paid for a small skiff. The boat's owner wanted to go with Tomo, to row the Master
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