KAGUYA'S JOURNEY
CHAPTER ONE- MOONLIGHT
As the giant metallic bamboo-shoot soared into the sky, tears glistened on Kaguya's pale cheeks whilst she watched Earth shrink below her. With her face pressed to the glass, circular window of the rocket, she took in her last glimpse of Nippon, the land she had lived in for so long: the thick bamboo grove of Sasa Sanctuary; her beloved grandfather, Mr Bamboo, leaning on his cane gazing up as her craft tore across the sky; and her good friend Amaterasu, the magnificent white she-wolf that had rescued her from imprisonment in the Emperor's Palace. She could even make out the bouncing green form of the tiny Issun balanced atop Amaterasu's head.
"Oh, Grandfather," whispered Kaguya softly. "Farewell."
Back on Earth amid the huge shoots of bamboo, her grandfather sighed and wiped away tears from his eyes. "My prayers are with you, dearest Kaguya." Amaterasu turned to the old man, her ears flattened down in sorrow, a small whine escaping her muzzle. With one last glance at the sky, the wolf goddess turned and sprinted to the city to deal with some unfinished business regarding Queen Himiko.
Soon, Kaguya was so high up that the trees looked like clovers and the mountains were pebbles. Brushing away miserable thoughts, she turned her attention to where she was going.
With fascination, her eyes widened as she passed through wispy clouds and saw the brilliance of the night unfold before her. A myriad of stars glittered before her like fish scales in the inky gloom, the moon as golden as her hair, shining bright.
She blinked in alarm as suddenly memories flashed into her mind.
Pale dusty rock…. A permanently dark sky pierced by starlight… and (most exciting of all) a fabulous city with tall spires and domed roofs.
The memories faded, and Kaguya stared back to the moon.
"Home" she murmured.
Without exactly knowing how, she steered the rocket towards the celestial body. As she neared her destination, anticipation and yearning grew in the bamboo-girl's heart. For years, she had dreamt of returning to the land she was born in. Perhaps here, she would find the answers to her many questions.
Who were her real family? Why had they sent her to Nippon? And most importantly, who was she?
Eventually, the surface of the moon was in sight, and the rocket began to slow down and gently land, the ground shuddering at impact, smoke from the engines crawling across the moonscape.
The door of the bamboo-shoot opened with a soft hiss, and tentatively but with excitement, she stepped down onto her homeland.
The air was a little cold, and there was not the slightest sensation of wind to ruffle her kimono. She felt surprisingly light, almost weightless, but other than that the atmosphere felt fine. She looked down and saw chalky white rock that almost seemed to glow, the surface of the land pitted with the occasional crater. Kaguya's joy was replaced by confusion. Where was the city she had seen in her memories?
Kaguya wandered over the moonscape, lost as a lamb that has strayed too far from the flock, searching for any sign of life or habitation. Hours seemed to pass, and the bamboo-girl was overwhelmed by disappointment. She was about to turn back when something caught her eye. A speck on the horizon.
Hope flared in Kaguya, and picking up the long cloth of her kimono the young maiden ran as fast as she could to whatever it was that lay on beyond.
Her heartbeat quickened as she realised it was the city from her memories. It sprung from the moonrock and was made of the fabric of the moon itself, beautiful as it shone in a ghostly fashion. Even from this distance, she could see that the buildings had carvings on them, deep channels that formed strange, almost entirely straight-lined patterns: spirals, suns, flowers, stars and scenes of the Earth it watched over. Kaguya faintly remembered that these engraving were once filled with bright, pale-blue light, but they now lay dead, the almost comforting glow weakened.
Surrounding the majestic city was a deep gorge filled with pearly water, the reflections throwing ever-changing, dappled light upon her face. She wondered how she was meant to get across to the other side, and she spotted a bridge not too far away. She walked across it cautiously as the stream below her gurgled merrily and sparkled like the River of the Heavens.
Kaguya gasped as she reached the other side. It was not a gasp of joy, delight or even surprised. It was one of horror, for when she entered the city of the Moon Tribe, she found it had been poisoned.