Legendary Adventurers, Futuristic Saviors
Chapter 6: Eyes of a Fox-Squirrel; Priest of a Thousand Faces
Later On
Outside the Forest
For what felt like hours, Alex had walked along the side of a country road in complete and total silence. But even though he was quiet, his thoughts remained engrossed and greatly disturbed. What disturbed him was what had occurred, or rather had he had done back at the village. "Now I understand what the Oracle had told me about the curse," he said to himself, with a grimaced look on his face, "… and why they wanted me out of the village as well."
"She and the Elders probably thought I was gonna lose it if I went into a mood swing." he stopped and sat himself on the edge of the road. "Just what happened back there?" he then looked at the golden binding wrist chain on his right wrist with a fearful expression.
He had remembered what had happened when he suddenly got angry. The metal just morphed and stretched out, encompassing his arm and hand in a vein-like armor that suppressed the black ooze that formed up. He figured that it must have been part of the curse; the ooze would try and encompass him while the metal bonded to his body shielding him from the curse itself… or maybe the curse and the metal had formed together to create some kind of cursed symbiotic armor, like in the comic books.
"I guess I really am becoming a half-demon," he said, resting his arms on his knees, "I never should have stepped near that tree. I should have just left it alone." but this wasn't the time to mope; he had something to start and finish. With another defeated sigh, he stood up and proceeded once again down the road. "As if getting thrown in the most brutal time of Japan's history, I've become hose of a symbiotic demon parasite, that's giving me destructive powers… which I have no control over." he sighed as he groaned, "I can't see how things can get any worse."
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed through the skies, followed by the rumble of thunder. The next thing Alex knew, rain was pouring down from the clouds above by the gallons.
"You know…" he said sardonically, "… I've got at stop saying that."
He then looked up at the sky, wiping away the rain drops from his face, "I could be home right now, playing video games with Kari, skateboarding on the streets and the park. Heck, I'd take helping Dad in the clinic, sewing up gashes and split lips at this point. But now, I'm on a effortless quest to not only save my life and soul, but also to find a way back home." slipping the bag strap to ensure it didn't fall, Alex shook his head, causing water droplets to fall around him, as he started walking again, "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"
But before he could move onward, he heard the sound of an approaching cart. When he looked through the rain, he saw a small wheeled cart being pulled by a single black ox. When the cart rolled up alongside Alex, the driver who wore a straw cloak that completely shrouded him, looked down to him and smiled. "You need a ride to the next village, Boy?" the man asked with a deep but friendly voice, "I've got plenty of room if you do."
Alex raised an eyebrow at this sudden offer of aid. So far, he had been traveling for more than what felt like a week or more, and not once did anybody he had met along the way, show even the least bit of kindness, concern, or regard towards him. All Alex could do was smile simply to him as he honestly replied, "To tell you the truth, I don't really know where I'm going."
"You mean you don't have a destination?"
"Not really," Alex simply answered as he shrugged, "Wherever my destination may be, all I know is that I'm supposed to head west to reach it."
The driver looked at him confused, but then finally laughed, "Those are pretty vague directions, boy," he said, then looked up at the raining clouds. "And today's definitely not the day to be traveling across Japan with vague directions."
"Well, I'm afraid I really don't have much of a choice," Alex replied, "I've got to get where I'm going as soon as possible."
"You have a place to stay for the night?"
Alex merely shook his head to answer, and the driver patted the place next to him and smiled, "Then please let me offer you shelter at my house for the night. I'm sure that my wife wouldn't mind preparing an extra meal for you."
Alex looked up at the clouds as he had done so just moments earlier, then looked at the man himself. Ah, why not. With that, he pulled himself onto the cart and sat next to the driver, "I really appreciate this, Mr., uh…"
"The name's, Fujita, the driver replied, whipping the ox with the reins. The animal cried out from the sudden pain, and began to make its way forward. Fujita made a few more whips with the reins and then looked back at Alex, "And what would your name be?"
"It's Alex. Alex Killian."
Fujita chuckled, "Ahh, then you are an outlander. But I could tell that just by looking at you, lad."
Alex gave an aggravated sigh, as he sarcastically replied half heartedly, "Really? What gave me away?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just several things about ya," the cloaked man answered, "But it was mostly your clothing, and your tanned skin. We don't see many people like you around these parts."
Kugi-tai Village
Along the way to the village which was like hours for the two, along the ride Alex and Fujita had been talking pleasantly. As they continued onward, the rain had stopped and the skies began to clear. Most of it was where Alex was going and why he was going to there. He had told the cloaked man this whole story; what with the curse and all. "So what you're telling me," Fujita said, scratching his bristled chin, "is that unless you find a way to lift the curse, or at least control it, you'll eventually become a full demon yourself?"
"Yeah, or something along that line," Alex replied as he looked at the forest/countryside.
Fujita shook his had and sighed, "You've got yourself some very bad luck there, my friend. Must be pretty lonely traveling out there by yourself. In an unknown country away from all your people. Breaks your very heart."
Alex nodded, though he avoided telling him that he was from the Future. Trying to convince the driver that his Demon God encounter as being true was hard enough. Telling them that he was from the future would have pushed them to believe that he was completely out of his mind. "I do the best that I can," he said. "And to tell you the truth, I'm used to being alone."
"Oh come, now, young man," the middle-aged man replied slapping him gently on the back. "No one likes to be alone in this world."
"Well the fact that my family's always on the move back home explanation on its own. Because of that, I didn't have a lot of time to make any long-term friendships," The dark haired youth shrugged. I guess you just get used to it after awhile.
"Well that may be how it is, where you come from," Fujita said, "I still can't believe that a God would attack a small village like that. Demon or not, everyone knows that the ancient Gods have always preferred to distance themselves from the mortal world." Though the cartman let a sad smile show on his face, "They're probably angry at us humans."
Alex had a look of confusion; silently asking the man what he meant by that. Almost sensing or thinking on what was, he sighed, "With the way humans treat the land the ancient spirits had labored to create, why shouldn't the Gods be angry?" he then chuckled a bit as he finished, "But we do what we do to survive. The Gods should at least respect that."
It was while the conversation went quiet as they entered near the village, he reached into his jean pockets and pulled out the ball of iron the Oracle had given him before he left the Amishi village. "What can you tell me about this? He dropped the ball into the large palm of the cartman.
Fujita looked at the little ball of iron carefully, studying it centimeter by centimeter. He then brought it to his nose and sniffed at it, which to Alex was an awkward scene to play out of. "Well," he began, "It's definitely made from iron, fairly pure iron too." He looked up at Alex, "Where did you get this?"
"It was found in the remains of the Demon God after it revealed itself as a gigantic boar," Alex explained, "I'm pretty sure that this iron ball was what turned him into the monster that cursed me."
"Hmmm," the man replied looking at the iron ball one more time before returning it to Alex. "I'm afraid that apart from what I've told you, there's nothing else I can say about this ball."
"Do you have any idea where it came from?" Alex deposited the ball inside his pocket, "Any idea at all where it was made?"
Fujita shook his head, "I'm afraid that I don't." Alex sighed in hopelessness at yet another dead end on his journey. it was quiet as the they came into town as the cart stopped. But before Alex could hop off, Fujita then spoke up again, "However…"
Alex immediately lit up by that as he raised his eyebrows, "However?"
"Most of the iron around these parts comes from Lady Eboshi's Iron Town."
"Lady Eboshi's Iron Town?" Nathan asked as he hopped off the cart, "Who's Lady Eboshi?"
"She's supposedly the daughter of one this province's Governors. One way or another she was able to get her hands on a large plot of land that's rich with iron. It's said that the grounds are so full of the stuff you just need to reach your hand in and pull out a chunk.
"I don't suppose you know where this 'Iron Town' is by any chance, would you? The dark haired youth asked with a hopeful look.
"I'm afraid that I don't, friend," Fujita answered, "But if it's directions you want, you might want to try asking around here in Kurenai," He then hopped off the cart as he made his delivery of furs and cloaks, "This is one of the places Lady Eboshi does trade with. But to tell you the truth, I wouldn't go there if I were you."
"And why's that?" Alex asked, slightly worried on that last part.
"This province is constantly being raided by armies of samurai." Fujita stated as he went for the second load, "They appear by the hundreds without warning; slaughtering anyone who strays into their sight. It makes traveling around these parts rather dangerous. I'm pretty sure you saw them attack somewhere near by, am I right?"
"Yeah, I was in one of those villages. Luckily I survived it with a few others," Alex stated, leaving out the fact that he had chopped the arms and crushed the head of one of the bandits, as well as created a huge crater in the ground, "Who's samurai are they?"
Fujita shrugged, "In times like these, they could belong to anyone who has enough money to afford them. But rumor has it that they hold their allegiance to Lord Osano, the Daimyo of the lands north of here. But rumors that his daughter, Yashahime, was the one who is in control of the armies; the one who hired them."
"Yashahime?" Alex asked.
"Aye, the Devil Princess, as they call her," Fujita stated as he took a break and a swig of some sake, "They say that she was cursed by some sort of Dark Demon on the day her mother was killed by the Former Wolf God, Hyakushiki. It was only until she was older, did she hire rogue samurai to hunt and kill the god."
Alex grimaced as he gulped nervously, and replied sarcastically, "That just sounds beautiful."
He crossed his arms and gave Alex a stern look. "You run into those people and you'll be as good as dead."
"I'll take my chances," Alex replied, "I have to find a way to lift this curse before I do more damage than I already have."
"I suppose you're talking about that bandit you tore apart around back in that village, Fujita said and glance at the youth's shocked expression, "Don't look so surprised, you did it in front of an entire village, a village I do business in." With a lopsided grin, he patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, those men were no friends of mine."
Alex shook his head slowly, and looked at the busy market square that he'd go through to get supplies with a saddened look, "I almost killed the whole bandit army, and destroyed the village and villagers while I was at it. The power was like water pouring out of a geyser, I couldn't stop or control it, just let it run its course until it died down or until I calmed down." He looked up at Fujita who was just looking at him quietly, "I sound crazy, don't I?"
"No," the blacksmith answered, "Just scared."
"Afraid?"
As the two continued to talk, they had not noticed a royal carriage moving past them. It stopped suddenly only fifteen feet away from them, but anyone had bothered to pay much attention, they would have noticed it was no ordinary carriage. Instead of being pulled by a flock of horses, it was being pulled by what appeared to be a steam-powered vehicle that ran on two wheels and that was shaped like a rhino. And on top of the carriage were what appeared to be triangle
The carriage had blinds on them preventing anyone from looking in. Whoever it was, they were people of great importance, and felt the need to shield themselves of those of low class. That or they just didn't like to be gawked at. However, one of the blinds were pulled apart, allowing a pair of emerald eyes to peer out from the side… and they were looking right at Alex.
"Oh," a sultry female voice came from within the carriage, "He's a fine one, isn't he?"
The voice belonged to a girl, Asian decent, pale skin, a slim and slender figure, and very beautiful. But the odd thing about her was her hair; it was long and clipped into a ponytail on the left side and with bangs going down her shoulders, with a White Lotus flower. But that wasn't the odd thing about it; the odd thing was that her hair was the unnatural color of ivory white. Her kimono was also white as well, and dangled off her shoulders, exposing what appeared to be a nylon shoulder less under shirt. In truth, she was the most breathtaking beauty there ever was… and she also had with the appearance of that of a ghost.
There was also another in the cart, and was a man. He appeared to be of foreign origins, as his skin was dark tanned, his hair was short and blonde, almost military cut. He was dressed in what appeared to be in red and brown military robes, with a sword on his hilt, and what appeared to be a crude gun of sorts. He had a scowl on his face and a stick pipe in his mouth.
He grumbled as he looked out and saw Alex as well, and merely stated, "He is an outlander, Princess," he then looked to the princess as he reminded, "The only rarity is that such an outlander is seen in your lands."
"That may be true," and then turned to her companion's direction, "But he is a diamond in the rough; a little rough around the edges. He will shine brightly, when properly polished."
"Princess Yashahime, the army is making its way to Iron Town," the man stated, "We must hurry if we are to rendezvous with Jigo and Takemaru."
The Princess pouted and turned her gaze to Alex once more, "But I want him."
"You can have him later, Princess."
Pouting in defeat, she sat back down, "Fine. Let's go," and with that, the carriage moved on, everyone, including Alex and Fujita ignoring it, as the two went on with their conversation.
"Yes," he continued. "Afraid of you're own new gifts and abilities. Listen my friend, that kind of power can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on how you use it. I know nothing about magic and sorcery, but I do understand the power of a particularly dangerous element. He then gave the lad a lop-sided grin, "Do you know what that element is?"
Alex just shook his head, "Fire." Alex looked at him slightly confused until Fujita continued, "It's probably the most dangerous element humans will ever try to harness. If you handle the fire correctly, it will act in your favor. But the moment you become careless with it, the fire becomes an uncontrollable monster."
Alex listened to the cartman's words attentively, taking in everything he said. Alex nodded as he strapped the bag back on his shoulder, "Thanks for the ride."
He was about to be on his way, until Fujita called out, "Wait, lad," Alex stopped as he turned around. Suddenly, Fujita threw something at him, and Alex caught it. Alex got a good look at it, and saw it was a brown cloak with the top made of wolf fur, and a hood to go with it. "You might not be lucky next time in the rain. So this'll help," Fujita smirked, "That, and it's made of Wolf's fur to throw off the scent of animals; you don't want to smell human if you're somewhere near such beasts."
"Thanks, but how much to I owe?" Alex asked, as he reached for the bag on his belt.
Fujita shook his head, "Consider it a gift." and then went back on to his work, allowing the boy to slip it on.
As Alex walked away, he smirked, "Guess I won't have to worry about smelling like a human," he then took a sniff and nearly gagged, "Though I wish I couldn't smell anything at this time."
In Town
Alex had made his way into town with no problems, and no stares were on him at this time. It was because of his new addition to his wardrobe, he now avoided being spotted. However, he didn't go unnoticed as a pair of green eyes spotted him not from far.
The eyes then spotted the band on Alex's wrist as the band was shown; the red gem gleaming in the sunlight. "If I'm not mistaken… that's a Half-Breed's Lock Band," a voice could be heard from where the eyes were, "Haven't seen a couple of those in a while, ever since I left the Toxic Jungle." but then as the cloak brushed open a little, the eyes spotted the figures clothing, "What weird clothing," but then the eyes widened with surprise, "Could he be the one?"
Alex walked by what appeared to be a pet store of sorts. But as he did, someone shouted, "Hey, fellah! Stop right there; and I'll make ya a deal!" Alex kept walking onward, that is until the voice shouted, "Hey, you! The kid with the bad sense of fashion!"
This caused him to turn around and storm towards where he heard the voice: the Pet Store. He stopped in front of the owner, a frail and nervous-looking fellow, who would pee his own pants if easily scared. "Alright, what do you want with me?" Alex asked, feeling slightly annoyed.
The man gulped as he nearly shivered, "I… It wasn't me, my lord."
"Don't call me 'Lord'," Alex growled, feeling annoyed at this point, "And I heard a voice coming from over here. So if it wasn't you, then who was it?"
"Over here, Doofus," the voice called out again, this time to the right of him.
Alex turned to see where the voice was heard from, only to find a cage. And within it, something Alex had never seen before in his life. Inside the cage, was a strange little creature that looked like a kitten but it wasn't. it had the skeletal structure of a fox, but the size and characteristics of a squirrel. Its fur was golden yellow with brown stripes on his body and down the front forehead, brown tips on its big pointy ears, and a light crème colored collar puff around the neck, as well as light green eyes.
The little squirrel/fox hybrid, sensing the human's presence, opened it's grayish eyes and sprung to it's feet. It then turned towards Alex and looked at him. The animals eyes focused on the young human as it tilted its head to one side. Alex thought that the way the animal was looking at his face was almost as if it were studying him.
Alex looked at the little creature with intrigue, and asked himself, "What is this? Some kind of cat?"
"Cat? I'm no cat, I'm a Fox-Squirrel," the little creature responded while moving his mouth.
Alex immediately jumped back, completely freaked out by this as he shouted and pointed, "AH! It talked!"
The little Fox-Squirrel chuckled, "Eheheheh. Ya got that right, fellah," and then hopped up as he placed his front paws on the cage to hold himself up, "The name's Isaac, kiddo. And it's your lucky day for a purchase." seeing the human's confusion, he closed his eyes, giving a salesman smile, "I'm on sale for the low price of 200 yen." he then opened his eyes, but then looked confused as he saw the boy was gone. He looked around, and saw the boy walking away, still in a half-daze about what had just transpired.
Isaac frantically jumped around the cage, causing it to jump around with him, shouting to the boy, "HEY, COME ON! DON'T WALK AWAY FROM A GOOD PRICE! I'M A RARE COMMODITY HERE!" he jumped around so much, that he caused the cage to fall straight to the ground, opening it up. Isaac zoomed out of the cage in a little furry flash, like a squirrel would, right after Alex. He then hopped on by his cloak, and using his claws, climbed up onto the boy.
With his hood down, he spotted the little Fox-Squirrel on his shoulder. He freaked as he jumped, trying to get the little critter out, "Hey, get off me!" but the little fellow kept disappearing around him; it didn't help at all knowing this critter was probably part squirrel, making it easy for him to crawl and climb on his body. "Seriously, I have enough problems as it is," and then finally, grabbed Isaac as he brought him up to his face as he growled, "The last thing I need now is another curse or just a cursed creature following after me."
"I ain't cursed, kid," Isaac explained, allowing Alex to ease his grip on him, "I'm a Forest Spirit."
Alex let him go, as Isaac ran up on his arm and perched himself on his shoulder. Alex's frown stayed on his face as he answered, "I've seen a Forest Spirit, and you're not a Forest Spirit."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," Alex answered, "The first one I saw was a giant boar that nearly tried to kill me."
Isaac shook his head, "Nah, that's a Forest God; I'm a Forest Spirit. There's a difference between the two." he smirked, "A Forest God is both gifted in Strength and Immortality, unable to die as easily as you think. While a Forest Spirit, on par with the Gods, are servants gifted in powers deemed in order to serve the Gods in anyway," he then sat on Alex's shoulder proudly as he announced, "And I serve one of the Great Forest Gods, next in par with Shisha Gami."
"That's nice," Alex stated, which caused Isaac to nearly flat out stare at the boy in shock.
"Oh, come on!" Isaac frowned as he went hysterical, "How can you not find that impressive to purchase me?"
"Because I don't buy strange talking animals," Alex responded, deciding to go with this latest piece of insanity that was thrown in his face, "… and aside from the fact that a bizarre creature, whom I've never seen in any zoology book, or on Animal Planet episode, is speaking to me in plain English… what exactly can you do that would make me what to keep you."
"I can help you with your curse," Isaac answered, earning a surprised look on Alex's face. He then looked to Alex with a smile as he continued, "I can lead you to where you need to go, as well as help you point out what and who can help you within the forest, including the Tribes that reside within them."
Alex thought about it for a moment, and in truth, he really didn't know jack squat what he would expect to find. So far, he had been lucky to take only the forests where there wasn't any Gods or Demons in them. The last thing he needed to do was get in trouble and get cursed twice. So far, he really didn't want to get in any more trouble than he already was.
Sighing in defeat, he crossed his arms and looked to the little fuzz ball, "It's your funeral."
Isaac smirked as he looked to Alex face-to-face, "Alright then," and then pointed to the pet market owner, "Then pay up the man." all this earned was a confused look on his face. This caused Isaac to blurt out in an frustrated tone, "Hurry it up! The sooner you pay for me, the faster I can get on with you as your familiar!"
He suddenly zoomed around all over Alex, trying to find something to pay the shopkeeper. Alex twirled and twisted around, trying to grab Isaac as he blurted and screamed out, "Hey, come on! Stop that! Hold still!"
Finally, Isaac hopped off and scurried over to the shop keep. He hopped on the table, and spat out one of the gold nuggets that Alex had in the small bag given to him by the Amishi. Isaac smirked as he proudly presented him, "There you are, Kashiro. Pay in full with one gold nugget. This should get the store up and going."
The shop keep was stunned by this, but then he started to cry comically as he blubbered, "But… but, Boss! How am I gonna manage the store without your business skills?"
"Hey, come on," Isaac said as he walked over and padded Kashiro on his hand, "You'll run the store fine without me. We both knew this day was gonna come along. Just know that fate will probably have us cross paths again."
"Oh, thank you, Isaaku," Kashiro blubbered happily, trying to wipe away his tears.
"Don't call me that, please?" Isaac pouted, "I changed my name to Isaac, remember?"
Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion at this whole thing, and sweat dropped as his shoulders slumped at this scene, "So the animal was the store owner? Wonder if anyone else knew about this? And if they did, what would they do about it?"
Elsewhere in the Village
Near a miso soup stand, someone was sitting at it, looking rather distasteful at his bowl of miso. He was a very ugly lump of a man walking towards him on what looked like a pair of short stilts that stuck out from the bottom of his wooden sandals. A large parasol and basket were slung over his shoulders. The man was very short and had a pudgy face with a large, red wart that bulged out between his eyebrow and his equally red nose. From the look of the dirty white tunic that covered his round belly, the red cap and cloak, and the set of ceremonial beads dangling from his hand it was a good bet that this man was a member of some religious order. He was known to some as Jigo, a holy monk of sorts from what people had heard about him.
Jigo grimaced after taking his first sip of the miso soup that had just been poured into his bowl. This day had not gone well for him, not at all. It was bad enough that he had to make that trip to the Imperial Capital on such short notice to report to the damn Emperor.
Now he was stuck in backwater Kugi-tai, after just narrowly escaping yet another raid from Osano's samurai, eating lukewarm soup, 'At this rate it'll be another two weeks before I finally reach iron town.' He licked his upper lip and grunted, "This place selling soup or donkey piss," he said as he squatted idly on the wooden stilts of his sandals.
The soup vendor shot him an irritated look from behind the cloth wrapped around her face. Jigo just ignored her and let his sharp ears wander about the street until they came upon one conversation that pricked his interest. He tilted his head to his left and looked at a group of men across the street.
"...and the moment I looked up, there he was. His demonic right hand raised up in the air as he nearly split the earth around him. It sent the samurai bandits flying back, almost as if they were hit by a tornado."
"Any idea where he comes from?"
"Haven't the faintest."
"They say he's actually a half-demon from lands beyond."
"Humph!" Jigo said as he continued to drink the bitter tasting soup, "The only demons those people will ever see are the ones they have to share their beds with." He too had seen the young outlander pass through the battle, as well as witnessed the extraordinary powers he had used on that samurai as well as the fighting skills he used to fight off a whole gang of bandits. The first moment he had laid eyes on the tanned-skinned youth, he immediately recognized something valuable in his abilities. Something very valuable, indeed. And as soon as he got the chance he was going to find a way to exploit that value.
"Well look at what the wolves dragged in," a man sitting next to him said.
Jigo glanced in the same direction the man was looking and grinned. Standing in front of a rice merchant was none other than the young outlander himself dressed in a wolf-skinned cloak, and what appeared to be a Fox-Squirrel on his right shoulder. Tossing a rusty coin into the soup vendor's lap, he stood and brought his bowl to his wide mouth.
"I suppose the Gods must really like me today," he said as he slurped up the last of his soup.
Alex stood quietly as the young woman sitting across from him poured a large amount of rice into a bag and handed it to him. "This should cover the cost," he said, placing a small gold nugget in her hand.
The rice merchant looked at the yellowish lump as if it were a piece of animal droppings. Obviously she had no idea what it was that she was actually holding, "Just what the hell are you trying to pull?" she snapped, shoving her open palm at Alex. If you're not going to pay with real money, then give me back my rice, you little thief!
"Who are you calling a thief," Alex asked as he raised an eyebrow, "That is real money…"
"Excuse me," someone cut him off, "But might I inspect that.
Alex looked to where the voice had come from, and saw a very ugly lump of a man walking towards him on what looked like a pair of short stilts that stuck out from the bottom of his wooden sandals. A large parasol and basket were slung over his shoulders. The man was very short and had a pudgy face with a large, red wart that bulged out between his eyebrow and his equally red nose. From the look of the dirty white tunic that covered his round belly, the red cap and cloak, and the set of ceremonial beads dangling from his hand it was a good bet that this man was a member of some religious order.
The rice merchant shrugged then dropped the yellow clump into the priest's dirty hand.
"My Gods," the man exclaimed after looking at the small object for a moment, then looked back at the rice merchant with wide eyes. "You silly woman, don't you realize that this is a piece of pure gold?" He gave her a crooked grin, "But if it's money you really want, what do say I pay for this lad's rice and take this nugget off your hands." Raising his hand above his head and showing off the gold, he addressed the crowd of people that had been building up. "My good villager's, is there a jeweler amongst you who can tell me how much this is worth?"
As the scene unfolded, Alex could only look at the ugly little man in total bewilderment. "Is this guy a priest or a merchant?" he asked his fuzzy companion, Isaac silently, "Because he seems to act like the latter."
"Yeah, something seems fishy about him," Isaac mumbled on it, but shook his furry head. "Oh well, as long as he's keeping them occupied…" Isaac stated the obvious.
"Yeah, let's get outta here," He turned around and began walking away with his rice bags in tow.
"No?" the man continued before an actual answer could be given. "Well, I guess I'll just have to do it myself. Now I'm just a monk, but I'd say that this gold nugget is probably worth at least three full bags of rice." The crowd gasped and broke into a buzzing murmur. "That's right, maybe even more!" He looked over his shoulder and saw that Alex was now halfway out of the village. "Hey, where' you going?" he called out, but before he could take a single step, the rice merchant grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?" she asked viciously, and yanked the gold from the monk's hand, "Give me my gold!"
Outside the Village
"Jeez!" Alex exclaimed as he looked to his newest travel companion, Isaac, "Is there anyone in this century that's not some crazy wacko?"
The fox-squirrel yipped in response. "Nah, probably not," he then looked towards the road path, "It'd be pretty rare if there weren't people as crazy as that."
"Okay, then let me ask this question," Alex quizzed on, "Is there anything or anyone in this time that won't try to kill me?"
Isaac thought about it long, he pondered about it, but then finally answered, "Hmmm, probably not."
The two had barely gotten a few yards away from the village when they heard a familiar voice calling out to him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the priest running after him. How he was able to do such at thing with that heavy looking basket strapped on his back and those stilted sandals was a complete mystery to Alex.
"Hey, there! What's the rush?" the monk called out, "You can't leave now, we've only just met." He moved to a place alongside Alex and smiled, "You're a man of few words, I can tell that just by looking at you, so I'll introduce myself first. He cleared his throat and continued. My name is Jigo. I'm a traveling humble monk of the Southern temple. And you are?"
Nathan glanced at Jigo and frowned slightly. There was something about this stubby little man that just didn't seem right. Alex," he finally answered, 'A man of few words', this guy definitely scores a low in observational skills.'
"Well, Alex," Jigo continued. "We've got your rice and you are all set. Now don't you even think of thanking me." He then looked down at Isaac, who was giving him a confused and investigative look, then back at Alex, "Actually, in all truth, it should be me doing the thanking to you, really."
"Why do you say that?" The dark haired youth asked, gazing off at the setting sun, "This actually the first time we've met."
"I was trapped in that battle back there, and you distracted the samurai long enough for me and a few others to get away," Jigo paused for a moment, then added, "I saw what you did to that samurai and when you made that crater as well, not to mention those fancy foreign fighting moves you had going there. You fight like you've got a demon in you, boy.
A troubled look crossed Alex's face, and he smiled bitterly, "In a few weeks I will be a half-demon."
"What was that?" Jigo asked.
"Nothing, forget it." it was then that Isaac tickled his face with his tail, getting Alex's attention, "Hey, come on, Isaac. Knock it off; what's the big deal?" He then looked over his shoulder and spotted a small group of men following them from at a distance.
Jigo sniggered as he took notice of the boy's attention, without even having to look himself, "I see you've noticed that we're being followed," he said, glancing back at the group. "They'll wait until we're asleep, slit our throats, and steal our money. I guess that's the price we pay for waving that gold around."
"What does he mean 'we'? He's the guy who was waving it around," Isaac whispered to Alex.
"Don't worry about it, Isaac," Alex reassured the little critter, "What's past is past, right now we need to at least either fight or flee as fast as we can."
"Those are some pretty good ideas, friend," said Jigo, "But they're probably too stupid to give up even if we beat them up. What do you say we show them how fast the three of us can run?" With that, the priest took off on his stilted feet, along with Alex and Isaac who followed just a few feet behind, leaving the three would be robbers behind in a cloud of dust.
Later that Night
The sounds of night echoed through the air, while the wind blew through the branches of ancient trees. In what appeared to be the remains of an abandoned river village, the three travelers sat around a crackling fire. Alex told his story, save for the time traveling part, while Hash listened quietly, hunched over a bubbling iron pot. Though there was something about Jigo's personality that Alex was not terribly fond of, he felt thankful that the ugly little priest could cook.
"So, the Demon God turned out to be a giant boar," said Jigo, stirring a wooden ladle through the thick soup he had made from a few handfuls of Alex's rice and various spices he had been carrying around, "And in the end, you wound up with a curse that an Oracle had changed into a parasitic curse, causing you to become a half-demon whenever the power surges up."
"That pretty much sums it up, Jigo," Alex replied, tossing another piece of smoked meat in front of Isaac who chewed on it contently, "After I recovered from the fight, the village Oracle told me that the boar had once been a God that had journeyed from lands to the west. I tried following it's trail but when I got to where it crossed a lake…"
"But you lost it," Jigo finished, "Well, that's just the way this world works. When you think you have a good hold on something, in the end you realize you never had squat to begin with, and that's just life." He looked up and pointed to the crumbled remains of a house. "Take this village for example. When I visited this place a few years ago, it was thriving with life and was beautiful. Now there's nothing left of it but a few rotting pieces of wood and crumbled rocks."
Nathan said absolutely nothing, even Isaac remained silent as soon as he stopped nibbling on the piece of smoked meat.
"I have no idea what happened to this place. A fire could've broken out, a flood, or perhaps it was even destroyed by a wandering band of brigands. The only thing that's certain is that everyone who lived here is dead now." Jigo reached into his rectangular basket and produced a small bundle of paper with a string tied around it. After he undid the string, he poured some of the powdery contents into the iron pot. "They say that angry spirits are all around us these days, killed by plague, war, hunger and nobody cares. And in the chaos, powerful Demons are born of different origins, as are powerful half-demons such as yourself," he replied as he looked to Alex, who seemed to fidget with his Curse Wrist Chian, "So you say you're cursed, Boy? Well so what, so's the whole damn world." Dipping his ladle into the bubbling rice, the priest scooped up a small serving and tasted it. His mouth widened with a large grin of satisfaction, "Ahhh, that's good. I think it's about ready now."
Alex glanced at Isaac who just glanced back, but then went back to nibbling on the piece of meat. "You know," he said, "For a holy man, you have a pretty pessimistic outlook on life."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," the stumpy man retorted and chuckled, "But why shouldn't I? Just look at the world around us. Pain, hatred, chaos and suffering rule everything. People talk about loosing innocence, I say humans were never innocent to begin with," He shot Alex a quick grin, "Take you for example."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. If it hadn't have been for your curse, that one samurai would probably still be alive, and you would have been one of his many kills."
"I know, that," Alex replied as he unconsciously gripped the wrist chain, silently cursing it, "And every time I think about what I did to him and the rest of those men, I feel like I've become one of the things I hate."
"Ahh, they were just a couple of samurai thugs. You win some and you lose some."
"That still doesn't make it right," Alex defended as he sighed heavily, "I know in this country killing is like a daily routine for some people, but where I come from, it's not something that my people approve of."
Jigo held out his hand towards Alex, "Here, hand me your bowl." When the youth handed him the red bowl the Amishi had given him, Jigo proceeded to fill it with the hot rice. "The point I'm trying to make, Alex, is that bad things happen in life and people die. Everyone dies, from brothel girl to Emperor." When he finished filling Alex's bowl, he handed it back to him and began to fill his own. "There's a rumor going around that the Emperor's even promising an entire hill of gold to whoever can find a way to make him live forever. Even Asano's offering more than that if they can find a way to lift the curse his daughter has."
"An entire hill, huh?" Alex asked suppressing a small chuckle and gulped his first mouth full of Jigo's soup. For something that had been cooked by a man who probably hasn't bathed for a whole year, it was actually pretty good. "That'll buy a lot of bags of rice."
Jigo laughed at the remark and slurped his first serving down in a matter of seconds, "You could probably buy every rice paddy in Japan with all that gold," he said giving himself another helping.
"You do a lot of traveling around here, right?" Alex set his bowl in his lap and pulled out the iron ball, "Tell me, have you ever seen anything like this before?"
When the priest's eyes came to rest on the jagged, black sphere they narrowed causing his reddish nose to wrinkle. He reached out with his chopsticks and plucked the iron ball from Alex's hand like a piece of su-shi. "Never have," he said after examining it for a minute, "Why do you ask?"
"After the Demon God changed back into a boar, the villagers said they found that iron ball within his remains. They believe that's what caused him to become the Demon God in the first place." Alex scratched the back of his head as he explained, "Though I wasn't so willing to at first, I'm starting to believe it as well. I'm starting to believe a whole lot of things," he finished as he looked at Isaac, who remained quiet.
The priest returned the iron ball to Alex's hand, and continued to eat in silence, there was a slight frown on his roundish face; at least it looked like a frown.
'Okay, this guy's obviously not talking,' Alex thought to himself, 'Oh well, might as well shoot for the rebound. "You ever heard of a place called Iron Town?"
"I may have heard its name mentioned here and there," Jigo answered not looking at the young outlander, "Why so interested?"
Alex shook his head, "There's a good chance that this iron ball came from there. And if I'm going to find a way to lift my curse, the first place I should start looking is at the source of its cause."
The two continued to eat in silence, until Jigo finally spoke again. "You know," he said as his smile returned to his face, "If it's a way to lift the curse your looking for, you might want to try asking Shisha-Gami to lift it for you."
Alex's eyes widened, as Isaac's ears perked up, almost alerted to that name, "Did you just say Shisha-Gami?" He recognized the name from the legend Aunt Jun had told him the night before he was thrown into this century, "As in Shisha-Gami, the spirit of forests?
"More specifically, the King of the Forest Spirits," Jigo corrected but nodded, "Legend has it that Shisha-Gami will perform miracles to those he deems worthy. You never know, he may take pity on you and lift the curse from your head."
"Miracles," Alex echoed giving Isaac another chunk of meat, "Seeing as how strong the curse actually is or getting, it's going to take a miracle to help me get rid of it," He then looked up at Jigo with a raised eyebrow, "There's a catch to this, isn't there?"
"A very big catch," the priest answered. "He can only be found in the forests far to the West of here. It's said to be guarded by ancient Gods which makes it forbidden to all humans; you know, giant beasts that have been that way since the Dawn of Time itself. No one who's ever entered that place has made it out alive. But if it's answers you're looking for, you should try looking there."
Alex was silent after hearing all that. If Jigo was speaking the truth, and there really was a being who had the power to lift the curse, then maybe, just maybe Shisha-Gami also had the power to return him to his own time. Alex brought the red bowl to his mouth and finished the last of his dinner. This journey of his was becoming stranger by the minute, and it was starting to bother him.
The Next Morning
When morning finally came, Alex and Isaac bid their farewells to Jigo, and started off towards the west once again.
As Jigo watched the youth and the small fox-squirrel shrink into the distance, he smirked, "That boy's got quite the journey ahead of him. And a lot of trouble following in everywhere he's going." He really thought the boy would have been useful in the future. But the moment Alex had shown him that iron ball, the priest knew that he was probably going to be more trouble than he was worth.
"No point in taking any chances," Jigo said to himself as he proceeded to pack his belongings into the large basket. When he placed the last of his things inside the basket he slung it over his shoulders. He had worked too hard to just let a little outlander like Alex destroy everything. But now, there was no use in worrying about it anymore. As he started to walk, he asked himself, "Hmmm, should I have warned him about Moro and her Wolf Princess?" he scratched the back of his head on thought, but then shrugged as he continued, "Nah, he'll be alright. He's got a demon's power in him. He'll either make it to the town, or he'll be wolf excrement."
Next Chapter: The Lady in White; Tales of the Wolf Princess
I was thinking about it really hard on this, so I did it. I gave the OCs voice actors of their own. Here are those that I've already gotten figured out so far.
Alex Killian - Will Friedle
Kari Killian - Dakota Fanning
Mr./Dr. Killian - Nathon Fillon
Anju - Lindsay Lohan
Takemaru - Jonathan Holmes
Isaac/Isako - Martin Short
