The Story of Ryujin

"Agreed," the male stranger reacted.

With that, a bright light emitted from both the strangers. Ryujin and Haru averted their eyes as they waited for the light to fade. It was evident that the strangers were not human, after all.

The male stranger stood as he did before and wore the same clothing, but now he had some sort of golden headdress that he wore on his forehead. His bodily appearance, however, was that of a monkey. His facial features protruded a little bit from his face as he had more hair on his body. He had a prehensile tail that swung freely. He stood taller than he usually was at 7 feet in height. He had two right arms and two left arms. He still had the same peaceful look on his face. Ryujin and Haru were so focused on the man they didn't look at the female stranger.

The female stranger was no human at all but a dragon. She looked similar in appearance to Ryujin having the same height and even the same tendril whiskers that he had. One noticeable difference was that she had breasts that identified her as female. Another large difference was that she had black hair on top of her forehead, unlike Ryujin. She still wore the purple kimono as before. She was as tall as he was. Her wings seemed a tad smaller than he was, but they were still well defined.

"My name is Hanuman," the male stranger identified himself. He unclasped his hands a little bit and pointed one of his palms to him before putting his hands back together. "I am a deity that comes west of here and widely worshiped by many. I am the god of strength and wisdom. I see that you have many questions. It is good that I am here. I will be able to help you with your lost memories."

The female dragon didn't say anything as Ryujin once again looked at her. She simply smiled at her. There was some amazement in Haru's eyes as she looked at the trio of characters in front of her.

"My name is Toyotama-hime," The female dragon told him. "I am....your daughter. Father, I am so happy that you are alive."

Ryujin, even if he had no memory of her, felt a sense of ease and happiness. He stepped forward as they hugged each other. His arms wrapped around her wings as he held her close.

"I don't remember.....but the more I am with you, the more I feel that I know you. I didn't know.....gods. I am truly not alone. I have a daughter."

"Hmmm," Hanuman explained as he put his hairy hand to his chin. "From what I can feel from your aura, you suffered shock after the destruction of a powerful creature named Cataclysm. You were the last wave of deities to go and attack the creature."

"Most of our people returned after the creature was destroyed, but you didn't," Toyotama said. "We thought you were dead."

"How long?" Ryujin asked.

"About fifty years. You were floating out in space for that long," Hanuman said. "We are part of the last survivors of people like myself that are part of a unified collection of gods as we search for others like you."

"Are you a part of this, daughter?" he asked the female dragon.

"I am not a part of the Coalition of Deities. Maybe not for a while. Hanuman contacted me, though, and brought me to the village after we started to pick up the magic being used. When he found out that he was picking up my father though......I had to come. I needed to see if you were alive."

"This is amazing," Haru said as they looked at her. "To find out that my husband has a daughter like you. If anything, to see my husband be able to recover his memory thanks to you kind people. Ryujin has been wonderful to me and protected me from evil."

"Yes, I killed somebody that wasn't human just now. He was the one that tried to summon you. I killed him in self-defense."

"It's true," Haru explained. "He tried to kidnap me and challenged him to a duel. Instead, Ryujin was victorious."

"Can you describe who he is?" Hanuman asked.

"Akitsushima. I suppose you know him better than I do," Ryujin responded.

"Hmmm....yes the tengu. He was part of the last wave. His brother served with you in the final raid to go after Cataclysm. After his brother failed to return, Akitsushima vowed to find him. We helped as much as we could, but he began to go mad with anger....such as a few of our members. I remember telling him myself that he was dead but instead blamed it on everyone else for the cause. I would not be surprised if he held hatred towards you even if it was not your fault or if you were already dead. I would not worry any further on this though Ryujin. It is good to see that you are alive. Seeing you alive brings hope to the Coalition of Deities that there may be still others that are still out there waiting to be found again."

"It truly is father, I missed you so much," Toyotama told him. A small tear ran down her eyes and by the side of her snout. "I love you."

"I am alive, and a part of my spirit can rest now knowing what I am," Ryujin explained. "Is there anything else you can do to restore my memory besides you telling me everything?"

Hanuman lifted his pawed hand and pointed it at him. He concentrated hard, but he shook his head as he clasped his hands together. "The damage to your brain was significant. I can try to restore your memories, but it will take months to do so. We can take you back with us if you wish, and we can get started."

The dragon turned his head as he looked at Haru. "What about my wife?"

"I would not advise her to come with us. She already knows a lot about us. I would like to avoid exposing her to anything more about us if possible."

Ryujin sighed. "I am afraid then that I cannot go anywhere. I will not abandon my wife. She needs my care, and I do not wish to leave her side."

Toyotama walked up as she knelt down to be with Haru. "I suppose I should call you my mother now. I am happy to see you two together. It takes a special human to melt my father's heart like that."

Haru smiled. "Thank you, Toyotama. Do you feel comfortable with me being human?"

The female dragon smiled. "My father married a human woman long ago. That was how I was born. I myself married a human by the name Yamasachi, but that is a story for another time. If you promise never to leave his side, I see no issue in it."

"Thank you again."

"My former wife.....your mother.......what happened to her?" Ryujin asked.

Toyotama looked down and shook her head. "I, unfortunately, don't know much about my real mother. She passed away when I was very young. I remember you being so heartbroken that you barely wanted to talk about her much. I am afraid that is something you may never know again. You.....vowed never to marry again after that but, I want to see you happy father. If this woman makes you happy, then please be with her."

Ryujin looked at Haru as he nodded his head. "I will not leave her. I made that vow to her. For the rest of her life, I will not abandon her. I love her."

"We can always return at a much later time," Hanuman told him. The monkey god held his palm open as a swirl of smoke developed in his hand. After the smoke cleared, there was a small crystal that appeared on his hand. "The tengu used this crystal to summon us. I give you this crystal so that if you ever need our help with anything or you're ready to come back with us again, all you have to do is activate it."

"Thank you," Ryujin said as he received the crystal.

Toyotama hugged Haru. "It is good to see you. I promise to come by and check up on you regularly."

"I will always be at this village north of here. We have a nice home together."

"I will come by, I promise," Toyotama said as she stood up and stood by the monkey god.

"We will go and leave you be," Hanuman told him. "Summon us when you are ready to rejoin us. Human mortal....." he looked at her. "Do not tell anyone about what has happened here or about us. We are sworn to protect others about our identity. It can have dramatic consequences on human society. Please respect our wishes."

Haru nodded. "I promise not to tell. I don't think many would believe me anyway."

"Take care, father," the female dragon said as she waved at Ryujin.

"You too, daughter, I look forward to seeing you again soon."

With that, Hanuman held out two of his hands as a white light appeared from them. Like dropping a ball, he opened his hand as the white light fell to the ground. Slowly the white light glowed as both Hanuman, and Toyotama disappeared in a flash.

The forest fell silent once again. It was getting darker and darker as time progressed. There was nothing else that needed to be done there as they heard the waves that washed ashore in the distance.

"Incredible...." Haru reacted. "Husband.....you saved me. I ended up gaining a family, as well. I choose well marrying you. Take me home so we can spend some quality time together."

Ryujin looked at his crystal as he thought about it. He put away the crystal in his kimono as he went up to her. He bent down to his knees and went and picked her up from the ground.

She felt the warmth of his scaly arms as she felt at ease. She wrapped her arms around him, feeling safe and secure. Her one leg dangled in the air.

"I look forward to going home and resting," Ryujin told her. "Much has happened today. I look forward to being with somebody warm like you."

"Me too," she replied with a small grin on her face. She felt tired and worn out, as he kept heading up north, she slowly started to fall asleep in his arms.

"Ryujin...." She whispered to him, fighting sleep. "You had a daughter with a human in the past. I think I want to have a child-like her. She seems so sweet and gentle. Do you think you can do that for me?"

The dragon looked at her and nodded. "We will see."

As they continued walking further and further away, the ocean continued to swell, sending waves that splashed onto the beach itself. The great odachi blade formerly used by the dragon god of Japan and his rival sat embedded into the dirt. The sword reflected off the starlight waiting for a new person to find it.......

• The End (For Now)

..........Miyamoto Musashi was remembered as one of the greatest swordsmen that ever lived. He was supposedly in over 60 duels and never lost. Numerous schools are open to pass along his teachings, philosophy, and the ways of combat with the two swords. His writings "The Book of the Five Rings" along with other readings are readily available for others to freely read today. He died peacefully in his cave in 1645.........

..........The Norimitsu Odachi is an actual sword. It is one of the longest swords ever found and currently on display at the Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama Prefecture. It measures at 3.7 meters long or over 12 ft in length and weighs at over 30 pounds. To this day, no one knows who made it or who used it. Some believed that a giant used it, but it is possibly believed to be made at least somewhere in the 15^th century.......