The Story of Ryujin

Tatsu felt some remorse looking at him. "I am sorry that you feel that your life....."

Musashi waved his hand to make stop talking. "I told you before. I am ready. I have lived a rich, full life. I might have never married, but I adopted children during my time and passed my knowledge to them. I even had a chance to pass a little bit of knowledge to a dragon. It is an honor."

"Thank you, Kensei," Tatsu replied.

"Would you like to read some of it?" Musashi asked him as he rolled up the paper and gestured Tatsu to take it.

"Yes, I would," Tatsu replied as he took the paper, unrolled it, and began to read it. "Do not regret what you have done....."

"That is important, especially for you," the old man commented. "As your memories return, you will face things that you have done already. Do not feel anger or hatred towards your past actions. It is now that is important."

Tatsu read another random passage. "Accept everything just the way it is....."

"I have always had to do that, even to now," he added. "Your lost memories and your search to find them might not ever return. You must calm your spirit and find who you are deep down. Let the journey take you to where you need to be."

Tatsu read another passage, and this made his eyebrow lift in response. "Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love....."

Musashi smiled a little bit. "I remember hearing you rescue a woman from before. Keep these things in mind. Emotions can be your downfall if you are not careful."

"In time, that might be a hard one to follow," Tatsu added.

"These are simply the words of an old man. What you choose to follow with my instructions is your choice in the end. It is simply my advice on life."

"I understand....."

Musashi looked at his belt. "Another thing....since I am talking about the end of my existence and passing things down to others. I have a lot of things that are going to be given to others. There are some things that I can give you as well to help you. I already see an issue with your kimono and the two bokkens you have. Go to the rack where my swords are at."

Tatsu turned to look at the rack and walked towards it. On it were a series of swords and small blades.

"To the right of that rack hanging by it......those are scabbards that can be tied to your belt and kimono. Take it."

Tatsu did as he was instructed as he took the bokken off and began to tie the straps to his belt. The scabbards were perfect sizes. He had it nice and snug to them.

"I really should have given them to you, to begin with, but I had no idea if I would ever see you again. I have learned my lesson, dragon," Musashi stated.

"Thank you," Tatsu said as he turned to look at the old man. He took the two bokkens and placed them in the scabbards.

"Reminds me of me," Musashi commented. "The way you look....I used that belt and straps for a long time," the old man snapped out of his nostalgia. "Remember this.....Do not collect weapons or practice weapons that are not useful. It is another passage from my will. Use those bokkens well. They will be very useful for your practicing. I have much that is being passed to everyone. So much family, friends, and students.....they will remember me as a legend in time, but they won't know the real me."

"Do you have regrets of living a life of isolation?"

"No.....not necessarily. I chose this life. Sometimes....I wish it were different for me. You get so good at the duels; it's in the end what everyone will know you for.....they won't think of anything else but that and not what I was trying to teach. When you fell to the Earth, I believe that you accepted your fate long ago. You were going to fight, knowing that you were going to die. You went in with the acceptance of death. In the end, you survive, and now you get to learn more in turn. I have to teach that to so many of my students but with you.....I am only reminding it to you."

Musashi resituated his cane as Tatsu went back to stand in front of him. "I am ready to learn more sensei...."

"Good! You will learn as much as I can teach you. You will be my final student for as long as I live."

*******

Later that night, while sleeping in the cave of Musashi, Tatsu slept with his back to the wall. He began to feel the echo of a distant dream hit him again. It was the first dream he had since a few days ago.

Darkness.....

Stars and space fill the environment. There is no up, no down, no left, or right......

Tatsu was in space as he saw to his left what looked like another dragon just like him. He could not recognize him or her. It had yellow and green scales and was as large as several homes put together. He could see other various creatures at least dozens, mythical and magical, but he could not tell what they were.

"They almost finished it!" The dragon said to Tatsu as they floated in space. "They will be coming to reinforce us."

"We must do this," he said. "We must buy them more time. We are all getting wiped out. Cat........"

There was a change as if everything went black again. Tatsu turned to see what it was. It was a creature of pure darkness. It was as if it consumed all light. He was going to it. He had a massive weapon in his hand, and his armor shined from the distant reflection of the light.

"They will never see what it is that we see Ry......."

There was another change in the dream as everything went black again. The maw of the spinning darkness was massive. He felt closer to the thing.

"We have no chance against this," said the dragon beside him. "Almost all the Nordic gods went against it. None of them returned. All of them were.....consumed by that thing. It's massive. Even the Titans could not defeat it. It simply just....."

Tatsu looked at his crystal as it spoke to him. He could see the jackal god from Egypt talk to him. It was a faint image distorted and disrupted from the broad expanse of space between them.

The voice was buried as the crystal echoed in Tatsu's mind. "We are now down to the hundreds. All our reinforcements are gone, consumed by the creature. Return back. The creature will simply devour you as it closes in on Earth."

"I can't turn back!" Tatsu told him. "Everyone is gone! I must avenge their deaths!"

"I order you to return! All that has gone to confront it are destroyed. You will be destroyed by it as well. The lintarsha crystal is minutes from firing!"

"I Ry......."

Everything flashed and went black once again. Tatsu was staring at the massive creature. He could see in the far distance what looked like an enormous planet with a giant ring around it. Far to the left of it, he could see the creature much closer. It seemed to be moving fast, really fast. The beast of darkness missed the ringed planet. Tatsu felt fear in his heart for the first time. It was suicide, but nothing was stopping this thing.

"We are nothing but food to the creature......" Tatsu said out loud to himself. "It is heading to Earth.....the humans will never see it coming. There is no defense against it. The deities, the fairy tale characters, the mythical creatures all united can't stop it. He could see it get closer and closer to him. He turned to his left to see the other mythical creatures around him had turned to flee back to Earth. He debated and debated.

"It is a true terror.....a nightmare that cannot be stopped. The creature known as........"

He shook awake from his sleep. It felt like a nightmare. He was on the far wall as he could see the faint outlines of Musashi sleeping on his bed. He did not want to think about what it was that he saw. He felt his heartbeat hard as he thought about his nightmare.

"There are others that survived.....there must be.....Tomorrow morning I will return to the village....." he whispered to himself before he closed his eyes. The darkness of sleep overtook him as he fell asleep, waiting for the next day to come.

Chapter 5: May 6th, 1645

"I must return to the village Kensei," Tatsu told Musashi as he straightened his kimono.

It was dawn when Tatsu felt the urge to return back to the village. He felt drawn to the place, and he needed a chance to recollect his memories, revert back to his form, and make sense of what happened that night. He also felt drawn to do something, and that was to see Haru again. Why he felt that way was something he wanted to figure out for himself.

"Hmmm," Musashi thought. "I am not here to stop you. Do what you want. However.....I do sense that there are many reasons that you want to go there.....perhaps it is because of that woman?"

Tatsu shook it off. "I do not know. I just feel that my answers are becoming clearer as time progresses. I did not get a chance to ask all the people there yet. I also need to revert back to my form away from people, and the paths are barely used from what I have seen."

"It is your choice what you want to do. The more time you are here, the more you are learning. You are doing well so far, but even my best students have had years of training compared to you. You would be in tough matches against them."

"Then I will make an effort to come back regularly, almost daily, to continue to train with you. I promise you on that. I enjoy the long walks back and forth anyway. It allows me to consider and think about things along the way."

"You can do what you wish. I have already said everything that needs to be said."

Tatsu got up as he situated his bokken and scabbards on his belt. He turned to look at him and bowed to him.

"I promise to return, Kensei. Thank you for your kind gift."

Musashi nodded his head. He kept a neutral face as he watched the dragon leave his home. As Tatsu left, the older man scanned his will carefully. He looked at the tall human leave as he took out his pen and began to make some modifications to it. He tapped his finger on the table as if satisfied with his decision.

As Tatsu walked down the steps of the cave, a thought had occurred to him. "Haru wanted a flower...."

He began to scan the area thoroughly. There were a couple of flowers that were growing here and there, but he finally found it as it led to the path towards the distant monastery. It was a purple-colored flower that grew from a tree known as Japanese Wisteria. He walked towards the tree as he reached the bottom of the steps.

"Hmmm...she did not say what type of flower that she wanted," he said to himself. "I will take one of these flowers."

He plucked one of the endless streams of the hanging flowers as he put it on his kimono. He looked at the path again. It was going to be a long walk again back to the village.

*******

Tatsu was about ten minutes from the village. He could see the very edge of the entrance of the remote area from the forest path.

"I like these new scabbards. I can walk so freely now without the fear of my swords falling off," he commented out loud as he patted them with his hand.

He stopped as he thought about his surroundings and was looking forward to seeing Haru again.

"Haru.....Hmm.....Why am I thinking about her more and more when I come to this village?" he asked himself. "I even got a flower for her. Why does she want a flower? She needs something better than this. She needs something that will help her in the state she is in."

He turned to look at the various trees, and an idea hit him. It was an idea that even made him smile. Again there was no one around him. The forest of trees still blocked out any line of sight to him as well. He stepped to the largest cluster of trees and closed his eyes as the light emitted from his body. His body returned back to the 8-foot tall walking dragon that he was. He looked at a single tree and focused his attention on the branch. The branch was as thick as his arm and stretched out with its leaves to twice his height.

"Yes, this will do," he said as he began to look at his claws from his fingers. The claws were razor sharp. He could lacerate anything that got in his way. They extended bigger than any human fingernail. His reptilian like eyes marveled at his frame. "So amazing these humans and how powerful we are compared to them."

He stopped looking at his hands and got close to the branch. He lifted his arm high, and with a powerful downward swing, he swiped at it hard. The razor-sharp claws drove through the branch like a sharp knife through butter. Several large cuts appeared on the branch as it waved in the air a little bit. He cut deep into it. One more swipe would do it.

He again lifted his clawed hand as he swiped again. The razor-sharp claws cut clean through the branch as it fell to the ground with a thud. Leaves and dirt were thrown about as Tatsu then picked up the cut wood. He went and sat down by the tree. His wings and back pressed against the tree as his tail rested comfortably in the dirt and grass.

Tatsu began to take the large branch and carefully, with one claw, began to peel the outer bark of it. Slowly with each cut, the bark began to come off like peeling an onion. Wood chips began to pile on the ground as he would carve the wood slowly piece by piece. The branch began to shrink as it was being formed into a new shape. He thought about Haru more and more as he was reforming the bark. He began to think about her leg. Then he began to think about her thighs. Then he began to think about her waist. Then.....

He stopped as he looked at what he was doing. "What am I doing?" he asked himself out loud. "I just met her, and here I am doing this for her. She is a human being.....I am....not human."

Tatsu stared at the branch as he then felt drawn to continue carving it. He could still see no activity on the road as he used his pointer finger claw to chip away the branch. Slowly but surely, the branch was turning into a cane. He even carved a resting section for her armpit to be able to rest on.

"I can always cut it down to make sure her small frame can use this...."

All the bark was stripped from the branch as he looked at it. He ran his finger on the rough cut surface. His scales were able to handle the numerous splinters as it flaked off.

"I don't think that smooth skin of hers would be able to handle these wood splinters. I must keep carving."

His claws were the perfect tools as he continued to shape the wood. His kimono was covered in wooden shavings. His mind was focused on one thing, and that was making the perfect tool for her.

"She probably will never use this....she may never be able to walk again, and all I am doing is just wasting time, but then......why I am driven to finish this?"

The cane was turning into a light brown color as it appeared straighter and straighter as his finger was nonstop shredding it to a good shape. He remembered Musashi's cane, but this time he felt the modifications to what he saw would fit better for Haru.

He would spend at least an hour as his dragon eyes scanned every detail from the cane. It was beautiful. It was long and straight. She could rest her body to the cane itself completely without it threatening to topple her over, or at least that was what he hoped. There was no way to know unless she used it.

"Haru.....Haru....," he said as the Japanese characters appeared in his mind. "Yes....I will add that to the cane."

He then began to stab the cane's center and slowly etched out a name that would appear on the front.

"She will really like this," he said.

*******

Tatsu spent another couple of hours carving out the cane before he resumed his human form and finished his walk to the village. He felt a form of relief, finally reaching the quiet remote town. There seemed to be the same amount of activity as before. He could see the fisherman hunt for fish while the farmers tilled the soil. All in all, it was a peaceful day.

The people of the village didn't seem to notice Tatsu as he walked in. He carried the flower and the cane with him as he walked. Without Haru in his arms, the people didn't seem to care too much if he was there or not. It was not like that was a bad thing to him, though. There was no hatred in the people's eyes or any signs of fear towards him.

As he reached the boundaries of the houses, there was one person that did notice him, and that was one of the older women of the village. She walked forward to Tatsu, and they bowed to each other with respect.

"Thank you for helping Haru out these last couple of days," she said.

"I was doing what I could do," Tatsu replied. "I came back to the village to check up on her and everyone here."

"She is home and still recovering," the woman said.

Tatsu noticed her back was arched up as she walked. Age was not kind to her as she was slow, but she was also kind and respectful nonetheless.

"How is the village?" Tatsu asked.

"It has been a normal day," the woman replied. "The only excitement we had here was Haru being brought in. They are talking about you and the stranger that saved one of our own."

"That is wonderful to hear."

The older woman quietly bowed again as he bowed back in response. She walked away as his attention went to the home where Haru and her father Noritaka were at. As he approached the home, his heart began to beat faster.

He still had the cane and flower clutched at his hand.

"Odd.....," he said quietly to himself. "Why do I feel this way?" He quickly shook it off as he used his free hand to tap the doors with his knuckles.

From the largest home in the village, Kiyoshi peacefully saw the tall man that he recognized immediately as Tatsu as he arrived at the door of Haru. At first, he was on alert, but later on, he got back on his knees as he tried to meditate peacefully. He was at peace, but he soon saw something in his hands that made him discouraged. The samurai watched as Noritaka opened the door and welcomed Tatsu to enter.

Kiyoshi's eyes went from peaceful to anger as he saw the flower in the tall man's hands. He then got even angrier as he saw the cane that was in his hands as he saw Tatsu hand the cane to Noritaka. It caused him to stir from his meditation as he stood up and watched Tatsu enter Noritaka's household.......

Inside the home of Noritaka, Tatsu stepped inside with the flower in his hand. Noritaka seemed happy to see Tatsu that handed the cane to him, but the flower had him nervous.

"It is good to see you again, Tatsu," Noritaka explained to him. "Why did you bring this to my home?"

"It is to be given to Haru...." He replied as he stood in the massive living room.

"Ehmm....." Noritaka seemed to be confused a little bit. "You wish to see her?"

"Yes, I do."

"I am here," came a voice inside the other side of the household that resonated inside the home. It sounded feminine and had to be from her.

Tatsu's manners were not exactly the best as he beckoned Noritaka to give the cane to him so he could give it back to him. Noritaka was once again displaying a look of confusion as he gave the cane back to him.

"Thank you.....this is for her," Tatsu told her father. Noritaka was not in the position to argue back.

Somewhat frustrated, he watched as Tatsu went to the bedroom where Haru was at. He left the living room and went outside.

Inside the bedroom where Haru was at, Tatsu stood outside the room entrance as he looked inside. He had both the flower and the cane in his hand as he kept his composure looking at the woman he rescued not long ago.

He had barely been in this room to give Haru the privacy she needed. However, she had basically beckoned him to come to her room. It was simple living quarters as expected. She had a bed that she was resting on. She could not sit cross-legged as her broken leg prevented it from happening. Instead, she simply knitted with one leg cross-legged to herself while the other damaged leg splinted was stretched out. It was awkward for her, but there was nothing to do for her on her situation. Tatsu was used to seeing her like this the night that he spent in the home before he departed to see Musashi again.