7th Moon

Hidariude awoke in a state of confusion. He found himself in a very unfamiliar room, with no idea how he got there. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants, and when he looked at his arm, he saw that his skin had peeled off and the metal was showing. He vaguely remembered just before he passed out on the jet, the console burst into flames and burned his arm. By lucky coincidence, he must have hit the water and extinguished the flames before it damaged his actual flesh. He tried to move his hand and found it was still working just fine. He tested the blades, those were fine too. “Note to lab,” Hidariude said to himself, “Mechanical arm: waterproof, durable, virtually indestructible. Synthetic skin covering, not so much.”

Suddenly there was a loud sound followed by rapid footsteps. Hidariude ran out of the room and was surprised to see Kichiku and Douji in the main room and someone running out the front door. “Kichiku,” Hidariude exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

“Today, saving you and a cat girl from drowning.”

“You mean Keisei? She’s here?”

“Was, she just ran out the door.”

“Why didn’t you stop her?”

“I had no idea she could move that fast. She just woke up, freaked out, and ran like mad.”

Hidariude slipped on some sandals by the door and started after Keisei with Kichiku and Douji following along. They saw Keisei running toward the fields and chased her. Hidariude tried to call after her, but she wasn’t paying attention, she was just running on adrenaline. She had never been outside before and had no idea what was going on, so she was panicking and excited at the same time. With her feline grace, she was able to skip across the rice paddies without any difficulty. Kichiku however, began to sink in the mud, while Douji tired and was left behind while they were still in the daikon field. Hidariude almost caught up to her, but then he got his foot caught on a rice plant and tripped. Keisei got all the way to the cherry trees, and then when she leaped up into the tree she stopped to look around. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and as she watched the petals flowed through the air, she tried to grab a petal from midair. She felt a strange calm come over her.

Ryu was also there admiring the cherry blossoms, seemingly not noticing Keisei and talking to himself. “Isn’t this cherry tree beautiful? Indeed, nothing compares to a cherry blossom. However its beauty is fragile and fleeting, only a slight breeze is required to cast the petals to the wind and it is no more. Following the flower is the fruit, similarly sweet in its own way, yet not so celebrated in itself. From this tiny berry comes the seed from which will grow a new tree. And so despite its meek appearance, it is mightier than the blossom, yet both come from the same place. ”

Beautiful cherry,

Are you a flower or fruit?

Lovely Sakura.

Ryu then turned with his eyes closed and walked back slowly. As he walked through the rice paddies, he saw Hidariude. “Hidariude, it has been a long time. I know Kichiku has missed you. I see you brought a friend too. Let’s all go back and get caught up. And when you change your clothes, try to keep from getting the next set dirty so quickly.”

Ryu simply kept walking, gathering up Kichiku and Douji. Though he never addressed Keisei, he knew she was following as well. Once they reached the shrine grounds, he shared the story of the shrine with the newcomers. “This is the Shrine of the Golden Dragon. A long time ago a samurai named Kyutsume, a monk named Nyudo, and a ninja named Bakeneko came upon this place at the same time and witnessed the glorious appearance of the Golden Dragon Shinryuu. The dragon told these three that it was not mere chance that their paths crossed here, he had chosen them to be his sacred guardians. The three had each come from different places and different backgrounds, but from this point on they would share a purpose, to build the shrine to the dragon and give him a divine home on earth so that he might take them to heaven at the end of their lives. One hundred and eight evil spirits tried to destroy the shrine, and each one fell at the hands of these mighty warriors. Priests, monks, and mikos came to carry on the legacy of the champions of the golden dragon. For eight hundred years, we have kept this shrine with the Yoshiro of the kami and the subordinate shrines of the champions so that they might not be forgotten. The last time we had a full three attendants was twenty years ago when my wife was miko and with a monk and I we sealed the shrine in hopes that we would return to unseal it. However the seal may only be broken when all three are present, so unless I can train a monk, a swordsman, and a miko to take up the legacy, the shrine will remain sealed and the great Yoshiro will be trapped within forever.”

Ryu had been looking at the shrine this whole time, but finally turned to face the others. “Kichiku has already begun training as a monk of Nyudo. Hidariude, I offer to you to become a kensei, the sword priest of Kyutsume. Do you accept?”

Hidariude was shocked. “I don’t know what to say Master Ryu. I haven’t even wrapped my head around being here, seeing you and Kichiku and Douji. I need some time to think about this.”

“You’re quite right. I just wanted to give you some answers to some questions I’m sure you wanted to ask before you asked them and I got a little carried away offering to train you as a priest. I should offer you some tea, let your mind settle.” Ryu did as he said and lead everyone inside the house for tea and rice. “Mind you, Hidariude, I won’t let you get off so easily. Until you make up your mind about whether to train with me, you will help Kichiku with his chores in the field, and we are behind today.”

Hidariude drank his tea with mixed feelings. On one hand he was comforted knowing he had found a home with familiar faces, but at the same time he was unsure of learning to fight again. He had a lot he wanted to talk about, but felt awkward talking about any of it with Douji.

Ryu broke the silence. “So it seems most of us know each other, but we have one newcomer who has yet to receive a proper introduction. Who is it that you brought with you Hidariude?”

“Her name is Keisei.” Hidariude answered, “I do not know much about her except that she seems to need change as much as I do.”

Ryu contemplated these words as he sipped his tea. “I see. Keisei, would you care to elaborate?”

Keisei almost spit out her tea. “I would really rather not talk about it right now.”

“Of course, forgive me. You and Hidariude have clearly been through quite a bit. I just don’t know you as well as I know the others. You see, I trained Hidariude and Kichiku on Seventh Moon when they were younger and when I left them I began to help raise Douji. This sort of leaves you the odd man out and I feel that puts you in an unfair position, and being the only girl, I wanted you to feel more welcome. But take your time, like the cherry blossom, you will open when you are ready.”

When everyone was done with tea, Ryu offered to clean up with Douji while Hidariude and Kichiku went to work in the fields. Kichiku gave Hidariude buckets to collect the water for the daikon and showed him how to handle the chores. They began watering the fields as Kichiku had learned and Kichiku decided to have some alone time to catch up with his brother.

“I know this seems like a huge change, but it’s actually a great life we have here. The food is a bit monotonous, although Douji tells me that soon we’ll be in season for mocci and with you and Keisei here we may be able to get caught up on the crops and have enough time to gather some ingredients to make some good ramen. There are also shrine duties and prayers, but sometimes prayers come true. You should be honored that he has offered you to be kensei, after all, that is his role. He has chosen you to be his direct successor.”

“He has chosen me to be a swordsman, so I can wield another blade. I am already enough of a weapon, why should I train under him when I could just tend crops with you?”

Kichiku set down his buckets. “Strike me with your cyber blade.”

Hidariude dropped his buckets in surprise, “Why do you want me to do that?”

“Just do it.” Kichiku pointed to his forehead. “Right here.”

Hidariude did as his friend requested, extending his blade, raising his arm and bringing it down on Kichiku’s head. To his surprise, the blade stopped just as it touched Kichiku’s head but before it cut his skin and drew blood. The blade stopped because Kichiku held it between his hands.

“I could bend your blade by simply turning my hands. A little more force in another direction and I can snap it in two. But I will do neither, because all I have to do is hold the blade where it is to keep it from cutting me. This is what Master Ryu can teach you, restraint. I know this because it is what he taught me. I was also hesitant to train with him. Like you, I remember the raid and feel very guilty about what we did. But Ryu has more to teach than what he was allowed to on the Seventh Moon. Martial arts are not just about fighting, it’s about knowing when to fight and why, and when it is better to hold your strength back. It is not all about destruction, it is about mastery of one self. If you wish to escape the control of Seventh Moon, you must learn to control the power they gave you and claim it for yourself.” With this, Kichiku let go of the blade and picked up the buckets to return to his chores.

Hidariude contemplated what Kichiku had said while they worked the fields. Once they were done, Hidariude gave his answer to Ryu. “Master Ryu, I have decided I will train with you. I will become the sword priest of Kyutsume.”

“Good,” Ryu replied, “We will start tomorrow.”

The next day after morning prayers, Ryu dismissed the others to their daily chores, and took Hidariude aside at the shrine of Kyutsume. “This is the most unique of the three subordinate shrines. The main shrine is Shinto for the Golden Dragon kami, the other two are solely dedicated as Buddhist memorials to the founders, but this is the only one that serves equally for Buddhism and Shinto. You see, Okazaki Kyutsume lost his arm in battle, actually when he was about your age. While his remains are interred here as his soul awaits rebirth in this world, he also left his gauntlet and a collection of blades as Yoshiro, holding the belief that the spirit of his severed arm, as well as those of the swordsmen he’d slain in battle, would come here and that the kami would reunite with the bodhisattva and become whole once again.”

“I’m confused,” Hidariude replied, “Is Kyutsume bodhisattva or kami?”

“Perhaps both,” Ryu answered, “In those days, the beliefs mixed freely, Buddha was Kami, and Kami was Buddha. It was part of why the founders got along so well. Nyudo was a Buddhist monk, but when Bakeneko became a miko, she proved to be more Shinto, and Kyutsume hadn’t been spiritual at all until he witnessed Shinryuu. And yet, as with so many other things, the three found common ground and were able to build a shrine that represented how each of them felt about their shared experience spiritually without contradicting or offending one another.”

Hidariude was still confused, but now about something else. As he looked closer at the shrine, he noticed it was empty, but there were traces that something had been there. “What happened to the Yoshiro that you said was here, the gauntlet and the blades?”

“They were taken many years ago, between when I left and when I returned.” Ryu paused in thought. Hidariude had only seen him take pause like this twice, the first time he’d met him when he was a child, and the last time he had seen him on Seventh Moon on his fifteenth birthday. Ryu seemed to have something to say and yet not know how to say it or if he even should.

The moment passed and Ryu took Hidariude back to the house, where he had kept two wooden swords. “These are training swords. The only metal sword we have is sealed in the shrine, so until we can unseal the shrine, these are the best we can do. These swords may be lighter than metal but they have been carved of sturdy cherry wood and shaped to have the same aerodynamics as the Masamune. For now it will have to do and it will.”

“Why do I need a sword at all?” Hidariude asked “I already have blades.”

Ryu simply countered, “Show them to me.” Hidariude extended his blades. “Impressive. Now how about the other arm?”

“I only have them on one side.”

Ryu took his sword and slapped the flat of it on Hidariude’s right arm. “Seems like room for improvement to me. The point of kenjutsu is learning to make your sword a part of you. Yes, your cyber blades are literally a part of your body, but are they are part of your soul? If they were, you would have parried my strike with them. One thing I hated about Seventh Moon was no spirituality, just technique. You have learned to use a weapon, but not how to make it yours. Your name comes from what the lab called your arm; the part they worked on. You grew used to it because you knew no different, but you never took to identifying with your arm, letting it be a part of you. You are incomplete, I knew this the whole time I trained you. You have a unique situation that I cannot relate to as it is, but if you practice the art of the sword we can find common ground. Learn to make a sword a part of yourself as I once did, then I can teach you what you really need to know. Now, first we will start with form and stance. Follow my lead.”

They spent the day working on the basics of swordsmanship. Hidariude felt strange about the whole situation. He had spent his entire life perfecting his fighting with his cyber blades, a unique fighting style that made him elite among elite. Now suddenly, he was starting over with a brand new style and a brand new weapon, but the same teacher, it felt like he was a child the first day of training with Ryu at Seventh Moon. It felt degrading, yet at the same time, strangely comforting, for a life where training with Ryu and Kichiku was the closest he’d ever known to family time, this was oddly nostalgic.

After a few days of basic stance and basic sword swings, Ryu determined that he was ready for sparring. It was somewhat slow going, Hidariude did not appear to be comfortable with dueling with Ryu. Ryu showed patience in spite of this, allowing Hidariude to get more comfortable with his sword. Once Hidariude picked up his form, and got his handiwork under control, Ryu decided to raise the bar by moving their sparring to a log bridge across a stream on the trail up the mountain to the shrine. It was more difficult because now he would have to watch his footing not to slip off the log. Hidariude was not so good about this, and it took days for him to improve his footing so that he could go all day without falling off the log. At this point, Ryu changed training to plum flower posts, small stakes in the ground that were just tall enough and spaced just close together enough that one had to stand with each foot on a different post, balancing on the ball or heel. This practice of balance was very trying and left Hidariude with sore feet for many nights, though the pain still came second to the fact that Ryu seemed to experience no pain at all. Every night Hidariude had to have his feet soaked and wrapped with an herbal poultice, though Ryu measured progress by how much less he needed every day.

Eventually, Hidariude started to get better balance and didn’t need to heal his feet at all. Now that he had perfected his footwork and balance, he could focus on how he moved his hands and sword without having to worry about falling down or throwing himself off. The more his form improved, the more Ryu tested him. He began to feint to open Hidariude to strike him from behind. As Hidariude adapted to these attacks, Ryu began spinning to strike at Hidariude’s opposite side when he focused his defenses on one side to prepare for the feint and the real attack. Finally Hidariude realized he didn’t have the speed to block Ryu’s spinning strike and the next time Ryu feinted on his right, he extended his cyber blade to parry the spinning attack.

Ryu smiled, “Now you understand, all reflex, reaction and instinct. You are finally learning to use both blades as a part of you. Now we can begin training in Gishudo, the way of the artificial arm.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I need a second sword to keep up with you.” Ryu went to get the sword and came back showing off a few practice swings. “Two swords is the style of Miyamoto Musashi. This may be a little awkward for training though, you have a different angle on your cyber blade, and it comes straight out instead of being held perpendicular to your hand. Oh well, there’s not much we can do about it, you can’t bend your blade and I don’t have any weapons with a comparable angle. We’ll just have to accept the challenge and rise to it.”

“Like the plum flower posts?”

“Exactly.” With that Ryu began with a double strike at Hidariude.

Two blades was indeed a difficult challenge, Hidariude needed to not only move two hands in two different directions at the same time, but he also needed to maintain his focus in two different directions. Ryu was much more used to this style, his old sparring partner used two weapons, one in each hand, and he had learned to use peripheral vision to watch for attacks from opposite sides of his field of vision. Hidariude was much more used to looking in one direction and focusing only on his one hand, so Ryu had to keep away from his center to force his student to learn the same.

After days of practice Hidariude was still not getting the point. He would strike towards the center and leave himself open on the edge. He became frustrated. “What is the point of all of this? When will I be good enough? We’ve been at this for months, what are you trying to prepare me for?”

“To be as good as Kyutsume, only then can you act as his priest.”

“Maybe I don’t want to. I’ve put forth my best effort, but if it means I have to keep getting knocked on my ass, I just want to go back to tending crops and quit this kenshi or kensei thing, or whatever.”

“You don’t have a choice you bear the Yoshiro, you have been chosen, and it is my duty to either make you worthy or take the Yoshiro from you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your arm.” Ryu answered Hidariude. “You asked me about what happened to the Yoshiro of Kyutsume when I first showed you his shrine, and I told you they were taken. The Seventh Moon took them and made them into your arm.”

It finally hit Hidariude, he had been so excited by reuniting with his old friends that he had completely forgotten that he originally came here to find out about the record of his arm including materials that had been acquired here. It had never occurred to him that his arm would actually be made of sacred artifacts. Then his thoughts turned in a different direction. “Is this why you’re pressuring me to be the priest of Kyutsume? Just because I happen to have the Yoshiro attached to me?”

“Yes and no.” Ryu replied cryptically. “Remember what I said, Kyutsume’s soul was split between a kami connected to a Yoshiro and a bodhisattva subject to reincarnation. I do not believe that you ‘just happen’ to have the Yoshiro attached to you, I also believe that you are the reincarnation of Kyutsume himself. This is not coincidence, this is fate, you have been chosen to serve Shinryuu, and you are not the only one. Kyutsume would not return alone, the cycle would also bring back the monk and the kunoichi.”

Hidariude was taken aback by this. He sat on the ground while he took it all in. Ryu gave him time, he had more than three years to wrap his mind around this, Hidariude deserved at least a few minutes. When Hidariude put it together, he checked with Ryu, “So… you’re training Kichiku to be Nyudo?” Ryu nodded. “And does that mean Keisei is Bakeneko?”

“Yes. I was trying to let each of you come in your own time, but as I have already said, you have a unique situation. I couldn’t take the chance that something would happen to you before I could prepare you, so I had to show my hand early. Since your spirit is divided, there was a chance the kami would inhabit the Yoshiro and possess your arm before the bodhisattva was reawakened and ready to accept it, so you needed to be trained. Keisei does not have the background of training as a fighter with me, so we must be patient and wait for her to come around in her own time, but when she does, we’ll be able to open the shrine and hopefully the Golden Dragon will make everything clear then.”

Hidariude dropped his sword. “I think I’m done for today.”

Ryu understood. He said nothing, but just let Hidariude walk away.

That evening, Hidariude was very quiet during dinner, so quiet that it seemed to swallow everyone else’s conversation. He went to bed still lost in thought. As he slept that night he had a dream. He was standing alone on flat barren ground. A bolt of lightning struck the ground. The electricity crackled and came towards him, taking the form of a beast. As it got closer, it appeared to be the size of his arm. It had nine tails, each the length of one of his blades. It seemed pretty obvious what the creature was, as he looked at his arm he realized it wasn’t there. He also noticed as he looked at himself that he was dressed differently, in some sort of armor he didn’t recognize. He found himself coming out of his body, watching everything from the outside. He watched himself as he started swinging a sword with his one hand, an ornate metallic sword much fancier than the wooden training swords he had been using to practice with Ryu. As his momentum increased, the beast began to move in synch, as if it were dancing with him. As he reached the climax of his kata, the beast attached itself to him and became his missing arm, grasping the sword, still crackling with electricity, and in one fluid movement, it spiraled around the blade and extended the strike beyond the length of the blade. It was the most impressive attack he had ever seen.

The next day he was much more upbeat, and he seemed very enthusiastic for training. After morning prayer at the shrine of Kyutsume, he asked Ryu, “I thought of a new technique, but I will need a target to train with. I’m afraid it might be too dangerous to test on you.”

Ryu could sense something about Hidariude today, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but somehow, he knew he had to trust his student. He found an old training dummy and set it up just outside the shrine. Hidariude held his sword with both hands, holding focus as if his arms and the sword were a single limb, trying to focus his energy from the elbows out. He took a few practice swings to make sure his form was proper. When he was confident he had the right movement, he held his sword high, leaned the blade towards the right, and sliced down to the left as he had seen himself do it in the dream. As he anticipated, a lightning bolt flowed from his arm, along the blade and struck the training dummy from a short distance away.

Ryu was very surprised at first, but then he smiled with understanding. “Yes, you have come into your own and surpassed me. You have a natural ability to produce electricity, but by training to unite body and soul, you have unlocked spiritual power to surpass your limits.”

Hidariude’s heart was beating fast, he was excited to see what he was capable of.

“However,” Ryu continued, “You will need to train on your own some more. You have a new power, but you must learn to control it. This dummy appears to have taken some rough damage, with focus I’m sure you can make a much cleaner cut. You were right, I can’t help you much with this, but I will expect you to practice this technique until you can trust yourself not to hurt anyone with it. Just don’t overdo it today, I can tell that although your spirit may amplify and direct the lightning, your body is producing it from the same muscles that operate your arm. If you overdo it, you may lose use of your arm. You have come far, my boy, now the lesson you must learn is restraint.”