Ch 9 Wind God

Yoshimitsu said, "The River is the border between the existence you know and the worlds beyond which you recollect only in dreams. Those who cross it may be living or dead, but none can return the way that they came."

Talim asked, "Then how did you go back? And are you alive or dead?"

"I may travel back and forth as the Ferryman. As Yoshimitsu I will return only if I defeat you in mortal combat. This is the mystery of the second gate, which all who seek to pass must obey."

Talim said, "I don't understand how you can be the Ferryman here, and an outlaw leader in our world. Who is it that you really are?

"I have always been, and always will be the Ferryman, even if you should kill me. In the same way you will remain the Maiden. The essence of our being will not change."

Talim said, "I don't know if I want to stay a – Maiden, whatever that is. And I don't want either of us to kill the other."

Yoshimitsu said, "In some things you have no choice. Nevertheless do not fear if one of us should perish here. The blood of heroes continues throughout the ages. Our spirits will live on."

Talim said, "What do you mean?"

"Your spirit is that of nature, of youth, of instinct; the demon hunter's is of reason: the force that creates and destroys; mine is of the irrational, the alien, the bizarre. These forces now stand opposed, and the clash will resound across the universe. Death may be the result, but it will not last forever. As long as the human soul shelters these desires, we will be there. For each of us is only part of a greater whole."

Talim had a strange feeling. With her intellect, she could not comprehend the ninja's words, yet something deeper in her understood. She recalled the memory of the star filled cosmos, of two dances interweaving, of a passionate embrace.

She said slowly, "I thought I knew who I was, and … now I'm not sure."

The human face of the mask turned towards her, as if in sympathy. "In this respect you share the lot of mortal kind. Yet you can never be other than that you were born to be. This battle was always your destiny." He held out his hand in a peculiarly rigid fashion. "And I will accept your payment."

Talim heard the voice of Seung Mina saying. "Yoshimitsu speaks the truth. You, and you alone must defeat him to achieve your goal. I am not permitted to help, and I must leave you here."

Talim said, "Please, do you have to go? Will I see you again?"

"If you triumph, we may meet again soon. Otherwise – there are many worlds, and many times."

Talim let fall the lock of hair into Yoshimitsu's palm, sensing the fading of Mina's presence. "Believe in yourself, and the Wind will always be with you." Her voice gradually diminished and was gone, and Talim felt more alone than she had ever done.

In the hands of the Ferryman, the dark strands became a great tunnel of blackness, through which he, and Talim, and the raft were all travelling. At times the priestess thought she saw the cold stars, the moving constellations, blurring at enormous, exhilarating speed.

Yoshimitsu raised an exultant cry, "Behold, the Ship Between the Worlds!"

Gradually the sense of vast distances being crossed in brief moments of time diminished. The raft seemed to float again on something resembling water, although the actual substance of the River of Souls was a matter on which Talim preferred not to dwell too closely. The surroundings however had changed. They were riding the river swells a chain's distance from a huge underground wharf, lit by the yellow glow of torchlight. Colourful wall paintings depicted a succession of men, animals, gods and monsters. Talim thought she could recall many of them from her dream, although the pictograms were in a style unlike anything she had seen before. Dominating all were two immense statues of enthroned deities: on the left a sinister jackal-headed god, worked in black marble, on the right a figure with the fierce features of a hawk carved in white malachite. Between them hieroglyphs outlined the shape of a great stone arch, yet the wall behind it showed not the least crack of a door.

The human skull stared backwards at Talim with the sadness of fate. Yoshimitsu walked away from her towards the centre of the raft. Turning on his heel, he shrugged aside the black cloth of the Ferryman's robe to show underneath the silver saya holding his katana.

He said, "So it begins here, in the place from where the gods descended."

Talim took up a fighting stance with Syi Salika and Loka Luha. She said, "If there's no other way …?"

"None." As though with reluctance, Yoshimitsu slowly drew forth his blade, gripping it high along the hilt. "In this existence no one has defeated me in single combat. Yet I sense in you a strength of ki unlike that I have ever encountered."

Talim said, "It is the strength of the Wind."

"Then I will match my ki against the Wind. Only the strongest will prevail."

Talim said, "In that case, I won't hold back."

"Namu!"

Talim was already springing forward in a graceful Wind Sault, the precise direction not consciously decided but unerring. In her mind she could see the attack connecting, and knew by instinct where to turn to avoid the counter.

It seemed then as though the fabric of reality warped. Yoshimitsu was not in the expected position. Talim's feet missed him by a good six inches, and she was aware that he was turning to execute a vicious horizontal slash. Abandoning the guidance of the wind, Talim made a desperate twist in mid-air, turning herself sideways so that the stroke, intended to decapitate her, passed just above her body.

Rolling away as far as the confined space of the raft would allow, Talim rapidly reassessed the situation. She could still feel the presence of the wind, but something was interfering with the flow of her movement, as though a sly breeze was insolently buffeting her from her chosen path.

Yoshimitsu dipped his sword in acknowledgement. "That was worthy of praise. To know when to end reliance on a crutch prevents a fall. Overconfidence is the greatest enemy."

Understanding dawned on Talim. In some way Yoshimitsu had been able to predict where the wind would take her. Moreover he was manipulating it himself to lead her into a misstep. The dilemma seemed hopeless. Reliance on the wind could be deceptive, yet without it, how could she hope to defeat a master swordsman?

Yoshimitsu was attacking, diving forward like a land fish and rolling to kick upwards. Frantically Talim leapt in a random direction. To her dismay, Yoshimitsu followed the move, grabbing her to send her high into the air, keeping hold like a hovering kestrel with its prey. Talim wailed as he suddenly released her to plummet towards the River of Souls. At the last moment, she back flipped to land on the very edge of the raft.

I will match my ki against the Wind. Only the strongest will prevail.

Talim thought of the strength of the wind, the force that forms the hurricane, the destructive power of the typhoon.

Your spirit is that of nature …

Talim imagined that through her the wind had become an unstoppable force, sweeping aside all diversions and illusions. Behind her Yoshimitsu was descending, sword raised to deliver a deadly vertical strike. But Talim was already turning, sidestepping the attack and launching into a furious combination of fast slashes that swept through the ninja's defence, tearing into his sword arm, mauling it like a tiger with its prey.

Yoshimitsu made another of his enormous leaps that seemed to allow him to fly backwards out of danger. He held out his arm and emitted a weird laugh.

There was no blood.

"Most impressive! But I will not lose my arm a second time! Izo, izo, izo!"

Yoshimitsu charged, rotating his blade around him like an insane reaper. Talim parried every stroke, backing deliberately towards a corner of the raft. Yoshimitsu jumped high like a flea, stabbing downwards with his sword. Talim felt the surge of his spirit moving towards her, and rolling sideways, kicked out to divert the outlaw ninja from his intended path. The second mad hop took him too close to the edge, and with a final shriek of "Namu!" he leapt off the raft. The dark waters closed rapidly over his head.

Talim knelt down, gasping, hardly able to believe the battle might be over; that Yoshimitsu had gone. Even now a sense of his lingering presence remained. Panting, the priestess turned to find the Ferryman's boat, and her heart bounded within her.

A hooded figure hunched in the stern.

Trying to still the furious beating of her heart, Talim approached the craft, weapons at the ready. But the Ferryman did not rise or speak. He pointed in clear invitation.

Talim cautiously sat down in the prow, and the boat began to move towards the pier. The Ferryman still did not speak or give any other sign, and Talim felt intuitively that he now could not do so. The face beneath the hood was as invisible as before. The boat touched the wharf, beneath a short iron ladder. Talim scrambled up it, and when she looked back down, boat and Ferryman had vanished.

"Gtes gai getsu?"

Talim spun and almost died with fright. Standing right behind her was a gigantic green humanoid. Its skin was scaly like a lizard man's and although its form was closer to a human's, it appeared altogether more terrifying. Below the bald, ridged scalp were two glowing red eyes, spikes projected from its shoulders, and while it seemed unarmed, its powerful, clawed fists looked formidable enough. Most peculiar of all, on its chest it bore a transparent device the size of a small, circular shield, containing a pulsing, fiery substance. The function of this object was completely beyond Talim's understanding.

The creature made no hostile move, and stood scratching its head in an oddly human gesture of incomprehension.

"Geh molah?"

Filled with trepidation, but hoping it might appreciate a friendly response, Talim raised a hand in what she trusted was a universal sign of friendship.

Instantly the monster's stance and tone became more belligerent.

"Goheh hema bogogah!"

Hastily the Wind Priestess lowered her arm. Pointing to her own chest, she said in as reassuring a tone as she could manage, "I'm Talim." After a moment she added, "I mean you no harm."

"Geh molah?" Bemusement seemed to have replaced suspicion again.

Talim wondered whether the creature intended to help or harm her. She said, "I'm looking for a sword called Soul Calibur." Carefully she sketched with her hands the length of the weapon.

"Hayaa! Zeszo Umazons!" Talim's demonstration seemed to have triggered a positive response. The creature turned and shambled towards the statues. At the base of each was a stone plinth on which an eye was painted: the one below the jackal god was red; that under the hawk god, blue. Pausing before the latter, the creature touched the device on its chest, then extended its arm palm facing outwards. A ray of blue light passed from its hand and struck the eye, which began to glow the same colour.

The green monstrosity exclaimed rapturously, "Hayooseg!" It pointed to the arch framed by hieroglyphs. Where stone had been was a scintillant doorway of blue-white light. The luminescence seemed to pulse and extend off into the far distance in coruscating glory, a cold fire shining at its very heart.

The Daughter of the Wind walked through the radiant portal as though in a dream. The crystalline rays burned like glacier ice in her soul.


Talim awoke with the sun on her face to the sound of running water. Blinking in the strong light, she looked to see from where the noise was coming. Water gushed from a lion's mouth into a cracked, marble basin, cherry blossom carpeting the surface like the strewings of a bridal train. The fountain was set in a flagged courtyard, and the courtyard was surrounded by the high, grey walls, and towers, and buttresses of a fortress, and the fortress nestled on the shoulder of a snow capped mountain. Cherry trees grew wherever the castle stone permitted.

The Wind Priestess got to her feet, bemused; her last memory was of an intense white light. She looked down at Syi Salika and Loka Luha. The elbow blades shone with a blue-white fire purer than the glittering of diamonds and sapphires, brighter than the light of the full moon, cold and harsh as winter frost.

Staring at them in fascinated awe, Talim only gradually became aware of someone sitting, cloaked and hooded, on the opposite side of the marble rim surrounding the fountain. The person was idly throwing stones into the water.

Talim cautiously took a small step across the stone flags, and at the sound, the open part of the hood turned in her direction. It was Taki. The kunoichi looked a little weary but unharmed.

Joyfully Talim ran forward, arms outstretched. Immediately the ninja leapt to her feet, skirting round the basin, so it was between her and the Wind Priestess. She gave a loud shout.

"Keep away from me!"

Talim halted, hurt and disbelief in her eyes. "What's wrong? I've missed you so much. I thought I might never see you again." She started forward again. "Please, I want to hold you, I want us to be together again."

"Don't come any closer!" screamed Taki. With a curse, she made an abrupt gesture, and a shockwave of force sent Talim tumbling backwards. She staggered to her feet with the stunned look of a child who has been unexpectedly smacked.

In a voice of forced calm, Taki said, "I'm sorry I had to do that. You don't realise yet what you've done, do you?"

Talim said tearfully, "Please, tell me what's wrong? Why must I keep away?"

"What's wrong?!" Taki's voice rose hysterically. Again she brought herself under control with difficulty. "What's wrong is that you ignored my counsel, and took Soul Calibur for yourself, when it should have been mine!"

"B-but … Yoshimitsu told you that might be impossible, and in any case how could I have taken possession of an evil sword?"

"That's why, foolish child, I told you to wait for me outside the gate. Even if I had failed, Mekki-maru would perhaps have been lost somewhere between the worlds. But by claiming Soul Calibur, you have left me with little choice."

"M-Mina told me you wouldn't – I mean – that you might not take Soul Edge, so I …"

"Mina, how was she here? Hah, it matters not – the damage is done."

Talim said pleading, "Please, don't take it! I'm sure it's not necessary. There must be some other way …"

"Don't you understand, it's already too late. Don't you see? Don't you feel?"

Talim observing Taki more closely, saw that ever and anon her hands strayed towards her sword hilts.

"What is it? Why do you keep doing that?" And Talim catching the flash of Taki's dark eyes, saw there a malign red flare.

She began to back away. "No, no, it can't be …"

Taki bowed her head, her voice tired. "It is so. By passing through the second gate my weapons, even Rekki-maru, have been charged with the power of Soul Edge, even as yours are with Soul Calibur. Though it is not yet complete, Soul Edge still seeks to possess my soul. It is not quite strong enough to do so. But I feel it growing stronger all the time. Its force joined to Mekki-maru's is already so potent that not even Soul Calibur can defeat it."

Talim asked desperately, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Yes, although it will involve great danger and risk. To begin with, you must get as far away from me as possible. Then you must fully purify Soul Calibur by entering the third gate. Yunsung awaits you at the Imperial Palace. Go there with all haste. If Soul Calibur is made complete, the evil may be undone."

"But why can't we travel there together?"

"Do you still not understand? Do you not feel it? Soul Calibur and Soul Edge are like the opposing poles of a magnet. The existence of the one is anathema to the other, representing everything it hates. Each sword is drawn towards its opposite, desiring above all to destroy it and the one who carries it. For now, I hold Soul Edge back, but only with much difficulty." Talim could hear the strain in Taki's voice. "As Soul Calibur grows stronger, you too will feel its desire. And the closer we are together, the greater the swords' blood lust will become."

Talim gasped in horror. "You mean I'll want to kill you? No, never!"

"You will not be able to help yourself. That is why you must go. There may not be much time. At all costs, the two swords must not meet here in this place of ghosts, or a terrible evil will be born to the world."

"The ways of this castle are unknown to me. I may wander far until you find and kill me, or a ghost devours my soul."

"I know all of its approaches intimately, even the secret ones, yet I cannot guide you myself. I can only tell you that, as it is built on a mountainside, the way downwards will most likely lead you out. You must trust in your instinct and use your native judgement. As for the ghosts, they are a small peril compared to that already unleashed."

Tears hung in Talim's eyes. "I will do as you say. But I almost cannot bear it and my heart bleeds within me. Is there no hope that we can defeat this evil and again be together?"

Taki said very gently. "There is always hope. My heart desires above all for it to be so. You have become my shining star. Go now, and fortune follow you."

Talim was too overcome with sorrow to speak. She had to wrench at her feet to get them to walk away. She met Taki's eyes for the last time, then turned away with a cry of grief, running desperately, uncaring of the direction as long as it was down, down, down.

The castle was a nightmarish labyrinth of courtyards, gardens, staircases, walkways, halls and chambers, and Talim soon became hopelessly lost. She did her best to follow Taki's advice, but it seemed that whenever she tried to take a passage down, it would in some way be blocked or turn unexpectedly, so that instead she found herself going upwards. Talim began to suspect that a hostile force, whether it was the ghosts, or Soul Edge, or even Soul Calibur, was deliberately leading her astray. The guidance of the wind seemed muted. Instead she felt more and more the cold presence of the sword lying like steel in her heart. She felt its hunger to become complete, and its rage at being denied the chance to strike at its foe.

Talim came at last to a high courtyard, thickly covered with the pink blossom that fell from the many cherry trees. The ancient ramparts overlooked a valley, through which the silver thread of a river wound far below. Examining the area, Talim could find no other way out. The edge of the parapet gave onto a sheer cliff face.

As she hesitated, wondering what to do, a vision flicked through her consciousness. In her mind's eye she saw Taki lying in a great pool of blood, marked by many wounds. Next to her were laid the shattered and broken shards of Soul Edge. Shuddering Talim ran to the doorway by which she had entered.

And stopped appalled. In the tower below, a spiral staircase wound around a central void. Half way up, she could see Taki slowly climbing it, moving reluctantly, as though tugged by invisible forces. Rekki-maru and Mekki-maru were drawn and ready, burning with flames so fierce that from top to bottom the stonework of the building was reddened by the twin infernos at its heart.

There's no way out! Help me, Wind!

Something stirred in a corner of Talim's soul. Her feet were drawn back through the doorway, across the courtyard, to the parapet above the valley. The Wind Priestess stood looking downwards through streamers of cloud and mist. In her head was the low whispering, rushing sound that she always heard when she asked the wind for advice; a mouthless sighing which never formed words, but which she somehow understood.

There – is - only - one – way.

"Down there? But I can't fly! I've never been able to fly!"

You – are – my – child. I – will – bear – you – up.

"I'll fall! I'll be killed!

You – will - not – die - my – daughter.

"I will! Maybe Taki was right, and I've been imagining I'm someone that I'm not."

Trust – and – believe.

"What you're asking is impossible!

Believe – Daughter – of – the – Wind.

Her legs dragging unwillingly all the way, Taki staggered into the courtyard. She saw Talim standing with her feet resting on the paving stones at the very edge of the sheer drop, swaying slightly, her eyes closed.

"No!" Taki shouted, in horror. "Talim, no!" With a mighty effort of will, she thrust the two swords back into their sheaths.

Talim opened her eyes. She turned her head towards Taki, and smiled, a rapturous, innocent smile. The sudden smile a small child gives a friend who has come to play.

Raising her hands, she spoke in a clear voice, as though reciting a lesson learned long ago.

"I am one with the Wind."

"Talim?" The kunoichi extended her arms towards her. "Talim, come to me!"

Still smiling, Talim stepped off the edge and was gone.

"Nooooo!" Taki screamed. She ran forward to the precipice, craning her neck to look over in hopeless hope. At first she could see nothing but clear air straight to the ravening stream hundreds of feet below. Then she caught sight of a fluttering of white and green garments, falling, falling … until they became one with the foaming torrent.

Above where they had disappeared, a small, brown shape spiralled down and down before it too was lost in a blur of tears.