Chapter IV: The City

Several days passed. Li spoke very little to Shinji in that time period; Shinji, concluding Li was highly disturbed by his actions in the mining town, kept his distance. One day, after the two had set up camp for the night, and after Shinji finished his dinner, he approached Li, who had been sitting at the edge of the camp. "Li…?" Shinji began hesitantly.

Without looking back, Li asked, "Shinji… do you think I'm a bad person?"

"Of course I don't Li." Shinji sat down next to Li. "You're one of the kindest people I've ever known."

"But, back at that town, when that guy insulted my mom… I just… lost it. I didn't feel like myself anymore. And I… I burned him."

"Li, look, sometimes… things like this happen. Nobody's perfect, you know- I know I'm not. And, you feel bad about what you did. If you didn't feel bad, or if you actually felt… good about doing that, that would make you a bad person."

"But… I attacked that guy. Ci Quan is avoiding fights, not starting them."

"Hey, that guy insulted your mom, remember? Defending you mom's honor seems like a good reason to fight to me. Anyway, there was something I wanted to tell you."

"What is it, Shinji?"

"Well, you see how there's a gap in those mountains over there?" Shinji pointed to the west, where a large gap between a range of mountains could be seen. "Take a look at the map." He pulled a map from his pocket- his normal one. "Look at how there's no mountains around Fujisawa." Li took a close look at the map- almost the entirety of Huan was rimmed by mountains… except for the very western tip, right where Fujisawa would be. Li looked down at the map for a few moments, then he looked up to where Shinji had been pointing. "It's right over there… we're almost there! We're almost at Fujisawa!"

"Hey, don't get too excited just yet. We're still a ways off from Fujisawa. It'll take us at least another four days to get there."

Shinji was wrong on that account- with Li's frantic pace, it only took two days for he and Shinji to reach the outskirts of Fujisawa. At sunset on the second day, the two came to a ridge overlooking the entire city. "Look at this place," Li said, looking out over Fujisawa. "It's a lot bigger than Misato. It's probably even bigger than Shanxi."

Shinji sat down at the edge of the ridge next to Li. "It's impressive, I'll give you that. But that's not why we're here. That's why we came here." He pointed out, past the city, to a small cluster of lights seemingly floating on the ocean. "That's Sage Island out there. We're one step away from it now… We're one step away from Saya."

Li looked over at Shinji. "You really missed her, didn't you?"

"This will be the first time I've seen Saya in six months. So yeah, I've missed her." He paused for a moment. "I'm a little nervous, though. Six months is a long time; I wonder how much she's changed. You think she still remembers us?"

"Well, she couldn't have changed that much. And I'm sure she'll be happy to see both of us again." Li began to walk away from the ridge. "We should probably set up camp. There's not much point in us going down there until morning."


The next morning came. Shinji had awoken first, and sat by the ridge overlooking the city. Even in this early hour, there was activity, as little flags began to rise all over the city. The first were green flags depicting a white lotus flower from the side- the flag of Huan. There were a few red flags of Shimoji, with orange and yellow lines spiraling around each other, but unlike in Misato, these were few and far between. Instead, another kind of flag dominated the skyline- one with a blue background, and a white, limbless sea serpent stretched across it. Shinji recognized the blue flag- the Water Sages that came to Misato had been carrying that same flag.

As he looked over the city, Shinji heard something stir behind him, followed by Li's voice asking, "Is everything okay?" Shinji nodded, but didn't look back at Li. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep."

"More weird dreams?"

"No, it wasn't anything like that. I'm just nervous."

Li began to roll up his sleeping bag. "About what?"

"Well… what if we can't convince Saya to come with us?"

"Are you kidding me? You and Saya always used to talk about going on adventures. This would be like a dream-come-true for her."

Shinji laughed nervously. "Yeah… I-I guess I'm just being silly. I'm sure she'll want to go with us after we tell her where we're going."

"Exactly. Now pack up your stuff- from the looks of it, it'll take all day to get across the city."

Twenty minutes later, Shinji and Li climbed down the winding path that led to the front gates of the city. They looked around in amazement- it wasn't even an hour since dawn, and the streets were already packed with people. "Wow. I don't think I've ever seen so many people all in the same place," Li said.

"Me neither," Shinji replied. "Li, it's really important that you and I try to stay together from here on out. Don't wander off."

"Okay." And with that, the two entered the crowds of Fujisawa. If the crowd looked bad before, having to force their way through it was even worse. No matter where they turned, every street was packed with people, and forcing their way through the crowds slowed the two to a snail's pace. Their progress certainly wasn't helped by the innumerable stalls that lined every street, where vendors tried to sell all sorts of goods.

"Good grief. The way we're going, it'll take us a week to reach the docks," Shinji said. "Don't you think so Li?" Li didn't answer. "Don't you think so Li?" Shinji asked again, over the noise of the crowd, but Li still didn't answer. Shinji looked over his shoulder. "Li?" Li was no longer following behind Shinji. With difficulty, he began to go back the way he came, pushing his way through the crowd, keeping his eyes open for his friend. Eventually, he found Li standing in a fairly sizable crowd. He tapped his shoulder and asked, "Li, what are you doing?"

"Shinji, you should see this guy. He's playing a saw like a musical instrument. Like, a carpenter's saw."

"Li, we don't have time for this. We have to get to Saya."

"Can't we just watch this guy for a few minutes?"

"Ugh… fine." Shinji and Li stood in the crowd, watching the man play his saw. It was… strange- as the man ran a strange stick over the back of the saw, notes began to sound over the crowd, almost perfectly mimicking a woman's voice. But it wasn't to last- seemingly as soon as the man begun his song, it was finished. Amid the short applause, Shinji leaned over and asked, "Okay, we saw this thing; can we go?" Li replied, "Yeah, let's go." They broke away from the crowd, and reentered the throngs of people making their way through the streets.

However, it wouldn't have made much difference if Shinji and Li had followed the crowd or not- with the slow pace, any progress they may have made was negligible at best. Gradually, the number of people on the streets began to dwindle… but only because the sky began to darken as the sun sank toward the horizon. "Great, the sun's setting," Shinji said.

"What do we do now?" Li asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's not like we can just pitch a tent in the middle of the street and wait for morning."

"Well, even if we could, I'm not sure we'd want to." It took a few moments before Shinji figured out what Li meant. Earlier, he had been so focused on trying to reach the far side of the city that he neglected to his surroundings- now that he stopped to look around, he saw that he and Li wound up in a rather unfriendly-looking neighborhood. "Yeah, this place doesn't look too good," Shinji replied. "We should go." They began to walk down one of the numerous roads, but then, a person called out from behind, "Wait! Don't go that way!" They turned, to see a hooded person in dark robes approaching them. "There's no need to be frightened. I'm a missionary for the Temple of the Water Dragon." The person pushed his hood back, revealing he was a young man with short black hair. "This part of the city wouldn't be safe for two young men to wander around in at night. I can take you to the local temple- ordinarily, we don't allow people to stay the night, but I'm sure the minister would understand this situation. Follow me." He turned and began to walk away from Shinji and Li. With few other options, the two followed.

The missionary eventually led Shinji and Li to a large building- its roof had a steep slope to keep off snow, like most building in Huan, and it was rather large, but other than that, it wasn't especially outstanding. However, what drew their attention was the large courtyard in front of the building- so far, no other building they had seen possessed any sort of front, let alone a courtyard of this size. In the very center stood a statue of some sort of sea serpent, its head crowned with horns and a ridge of spines running down the entire length of its body. Even in the low light, the statue seemed to shimmer like glass. The missionary proceeded past the statue and up the stairs to the main door. As they passed through the door, Shinji and Li saw it was flanked by two more sea serpent statues.

"I know the inside of the temple doesn't seem like much," the missionary began, "but you must see it during the day. It's quite magnificent." Inside, two rows of benches ran down the entire length of the temple, ending with a small podium in front of yet another statue of a sea serpent. The enormous glass statue shimmered in the light of numerous candles lining the walls of the temple. In addition, the walls of the temple were covered with various paintings of still more sea serpents- each painting depicted the serpent in a different setting, perhaps showing some sort of story.

Shinji and Li spotted somebody moving along one of the temple walls, stopping to blow out the candles. "Brother Shu," the missionary said, "I've returned."

"I see." Brother Shu turned to the three, taking note of Shinji and Li before saying, "I see you have brought company, Brother An."

"I found these two wandering in the outer district. You know that it's no place for children, especially at night. Of course, if it would be alright with you, Brother Shu, perhaps they could spend the night here."

"Well, I suppose no harm could come of it. You boys can stay here for the night."

At once, Li bowed to the missionary, and then to the other Water Sage, and said, "Thank you for your hospitality." After a moment, Shinji did so as well.

About an hour had passed. Li had fallen asleep, but Shinji laid in his sleeping bag, staring up at the ceiling of the temple. Eventually, he climbed out of his sleeping bag, and went to a door at the rear of the temple, behind the statue. He knocked- after a moment, the door creaked open, and one of the Water Sages- Shinji believed his name was Shu- peered out. "It's late," he said. "It isn't good for your health to be awake at this hour."

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was hoping there was something you could help me with."

"Certainly. What can I help you with?"

"My friend Li and I came here to find someone."

"Thousands of people live in this city. I don't think I can help you find whoever you're looking for."

"Actually, you can. My friend joined the Water Sages about six months ago. I was hoping you could help me get to Sage Island so Li and I could find her."

"Hmm…"

"So, can you help us?"

"Of course. Tomorrow morning, I will show you a way to reach Sage Island."

Shinji bowed. "Thank you."


The morning came. Shinji awoke, to see Li sitting in one of the benches, reading a scroll. As he climbed out of his sleeping bag, Shinji asked, "What's that Li?"

"I'm not sure," Li replied. "I found it under the bench."

Shinji glanced at the side of the scroll. "'The Book of the Water Dragon,'" he read. "I remember those Water Sages that came to Misato were handing out those scrolls."

"Really?" At this, the door at the back of the temple creaked open, and the Water Sage called Shu stepped out. "Ah, I see that you're awake," he said, stepping into the main area of the temple. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied.

Shu noticed Li's scroll and said, "I see that you're interested in the word of the Church."

"What? No, I was just- I found it under the bench…" Li began to roll up the scroll.

"You can keep the scroll, it's quite alright. Perhaps reading it will inspire you to change your opinion." He began to walk toward the glass sea serpent statue. "Please, come over here. I will show you the way to Sage Island." He disappeared behind the statue. After rolling up his sleeping bag, Shinji made his way behind the statue, Li following him. Behind the statue, Shu stood in front of a strange, round metal plate set into the floor. "This is how you will reach the Grand Temple." He bent down, and pulled the plate from the floor- underneath was a tunnel going straight into the ground, with a series of rungs stuck to the inside. "The Temple of the Water Dragon had a network of tunnels built under Fujisawa, so that the Water Sages could move easily between the docks and the various churches around the city. All you have to do is follow the tunnel at the bottom of this ladder to an intersection, take a left turn, and follow it all the way to the end. The ladder there should come up in an alley near the docks."

Shu stood up and looked at the two. "Now, before you two leave, you must bear in mind that although I can lead you to Sage Island, I cannot guarantee that your friend will be there when you arrive."

"Okay," Shinji replied, before bowing. "Thank you for doing this."

Shu bowed in return. "It's no trouble." He stood upright. "You should go. An and I need to open the temple soon.

Shu stepped aside allowing Li to climb down the ladder. After a few moments, Shinji climbed into the hole and down the ladder as well. As he climbed down, he heard the Water Sage say, "Good luck with finding your friend." Then, there was a sliding sound, and the tunnel plunged into darkness. With no light, Shinji began to very slowly climb down the ladder, until another light appeared at the bottom of the ladder. After a moment, Shinji joined his friend at the bottom of the ladder. Before the two, the tunnel stretched off into the darkness; it was the only way to go. So, wordlessly, the two began to walk down the tunnel. After a while, Shinji noticed Li was reading the scroll he had earlier. "You're still reading that thing?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," Li replied. "Maybe reading it will help me better understand the Water Sages."

"Li, we're just going to find Saya, not negotiate a treaty."

"Among my people, showing understanding for another person's culture is a sign of respect, Shinji."

"Okay then. Read anything interesting?"

"Well, the part I'm at right now is talking about how the Water Dragon created the world."

"Sounds interesting. Would it be alright if I borrowed that when I couldn't sleep?"

"Sure. Are we at the intersection yet?"

"I'm not sure. Can I get some more light?" Li held up his hand, igniting a large flame in his palm; in the light the tunnel split into three branches a few feet ahead. "We're almost there. We take a left turn, right?"

"That's what the Water Sage said, Shinji." The two rounded the corner, and continued down the tunnel.

Some time passed- however, without the sun, it was impossible to determine exactly how much. "Li, light?" Automatically, Li held up his hand, igniting a flame. The light revealed a ladder about ten feet from where they were standing. "Hey, we're here!" Shinji said excitedly.

Li looked up from his scroll. "Really? …Oh hey, we are!" He began to roll up the scroll. After pocketing it, he followed Shinji up the ladder. A few moments later, Shinji pushed aside the cover over the ladder and climbed back to ground level, with Li emerging seconds later. They were in a small alley, but beyond, they could see a sparkling blue expanse- the ocean. They stepped out of the alley- here, just as before, people hurried to and fro, but now, there weren't nearly as many people. In addition, alongside innumerable wooden piers were anchored countless ships from all corners of the Great Sea.

The docks. Both Shinji and Li were intimately familiar with the sight.

Shinji sniffed the air, enjoying the salty scent, even enjoying the way it stung the inside of his nose. "You know Li, I'm not ashamed to admit that I've missed that smell." Li sniffed the air as well, and replied, "Me too, Shinji." Shinji looked around, taking in the sight that felt so familiar to him, before he pointed slightly to his right and said, "Look over there." Between two ships, the two could see a large brown mass rising above the water some distance away. Even at its distance, the two could see a massive cluster of sand-colored buildings with navy blue roofs resting on the mass. "There it is, Li," Shinji said. "Sage Island. We're almost there."

"Well, there's no use standing around, then," Li replied. "Let's find a boat." And with that, the two disappeared into the crowd.

Shinji and Li wouldn't be searching for long. After only a few minutes, the two came across a ferry that could take them to the island; after paying a few gold pieces each, the two climbed aboard, and the boat was on its way. They weren't the only ones, though- they had joined a few dozen others on-board the ferry, presumably headed to Sage Island as well. Li, leaning against the railing at the edge of the boat, glanced back over his shoulder and said, "I wonder why all these people are going to Sage Island."

Shinji, leaning with his back to the railing, replied, "Well, when those Water Sages came to Misato, they said the Grand Temple on Sage Island was where the first temple honoring the Sacred Water Dragon was built. All these people are probably members of the Church- my guess is that all of Sage Island would be sacred to them."

"I'm surprised Shinji- you know more about the Water Sages than I thought."

"Well, let it never be said that I don't pay attention when people tell me stuff." Shinji turned, and looked out over the ocean. "What surprises me is that you didn't see it, Li. I remember you told me you had something like this in Shimoji- something about three boats."

"We do. My people built a shrine to honor the three ships that brought us to Shimoji: the Spirit of Fire, the Chung-Ling, and the Ainu. Everyone on Shimoji goes to see all the ships, and leave offerings on the ships their families came from. When I used to live in Shimoji, my parents and I would go see them all the time- my dad came from the Chung-Ling, and my mom came from the Spirit of Fire, so we'd leave our offerings on those ships."

"So, when you went to Shimoji six months ago-" Just then, they heard several people cry out. They looked back to the crowd, which had suddenly pulled back to the edges of the ship- through the crowd, they could see three individuals standing in the center of the circle of people, weapons drawn. The three were comprised of two men and a woman, and wore blue robes much like the other passengers, presumably to blend in better with the crowd.

"Alright, nobody move!" The woman shouted, waving her sword threateningly. The woman had short black hair, and towered over her two cronies- in spite of her fragile-looking features, here eyes seemed to burn with immeasurable hate. "We're taking everything you've got! And no funny business, either!"

Then, one of the men pulled a bag out from inside his robe, and said calmly, "Listen, we're not making this difficult. Just do as we say, and nobody will be hurt." This man long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and was considerably smaller than his leader. The other man, taller and more heavyset than his companion, remained silent.

"Those two sound familiar," Li mumbled. It took only a moment for Shinji to realize what Li had said- now that he thought about it, the three in the middle sounded just like the three thieves that tried to rob them a few weeks prior. "We need to do something," Li continued.

"I'm gonna need a few moments to bring up some rock from under the ocean. Do you think you can hold them off until then?"

"Certainly. Just don't take too long." Li began to force his way through the crowd, as Shinji remained behind, focusing all his energy into summoning the stone at the seafloor. Soon, Li made his way to the front of the circle- the three noticed him, and the short man said, "Oh look, we have a volunteer. Just empty your pockets kid, and- hey wait a minute…" His brow furrowed, as he were concentrating intensely. "I remember you! You're one of those kids that beat us up a couple weeks ago!" He sheathed the knife he'd been holding, and instead drew a sword from his belt. "I'd rather face the one who shot that rock spire at me, but you'll work just fine." The short man charged- when he was in range, he raised the sword over his head, and swung at Li.

Without any hesitation, Li took a step forward, his arm darting up over his head- his forearm met the man's wrists, stopping him mid-swing. Less than a second later, Li buried his knee in the short man's chest. The sword slipped out of the man's hands, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. "Yohsi!" the heavy man called, and he too charged at Li. He never got close to Li- only moments later, a large stone flew through the air and struck him directly in the side of the head. The heavy man was knocked off of his feet and thrown against the deck of the ship, where he laid motionless. Li then saw Shinji making his way toward him, his arms coated with stone. When he was closer, he asked, "Are you alright, Li?" Li replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." They then turned their attention to the woman. "Perfect, you're both here," she said. "I've looking forward to this for a long time. I'm finally going to make you pay for what you did to us."

The woman didn't even have a chance to charge the two- at that moment, an almost invisible blur streaked forward and snapped across the woman's hand with a loud crack. She dropped her sword at once, clutching her injured hand, when suddenly, a stream of water surrounded her hands before freezing solid. Then, seemingly as one last insult, a stream of water wrapped around the woman's ankle before pulling back, knocking the woman off her feet and onto her face. The woman made no attempt to rise.

"Are you boys alright?" Shinji and Li heard a voice ask from behind. They looked back; behind them stood an elderly, rather frail-looking bald man in the same dark blue robes as the other passengers. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"

"No, we're fine," Li replied.

"I regret that I could not have been here earlier to resolve this situation- it's shameful that the lives of the congregation fell to two children."

"Wait, you're a part of the Church?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, I am a ranking member of the Temple of the Water Dragon. You may call me Brother Shuji. Now, is there any way I could repay my tardiness to you?"

"Well, if this ship has a brig, would you mind helping us bring these three down there? We'll call it even if you do."

"This ship does indeed have a brig." Brother Shuji then passed between Shinji and Li, stopping to bend down and pick up the small man before placing him over his shoulder. "And I wouldn't mind helping you in the least."