Quite Safe From Bakemono
- "I would sooner have rode instead of sitting in this carriage," Sarevok said, frowning and watching the outskirts of Dojyu they were leaving behind.
- "It would have been very rude to refuse an imperial carriage," Jelena smiled. "And I don't mind just sitting and watching the scenery for a while."
- "Sarevok is a man of action... just sitting and waiting makes him anxious, does it not?" Mei smiled, shooting an oblique glance at Sarevok, a mild smile on her enigmatic face.
Sarevok blushed a little.
- "You are right there, Mei..." he said as nonchalantly as he could muster.
- "Well, Sarevok-san is not the only one," Yukemori chuckled. "You should have seen miss Mei when you were off fighting the Kusatte Iru. Why, one could have thought that she was sitting on an anthill, seething from not being able to do something about the fight."
Mei frowned at her, but Sarevok looked grateful.
- "There are those who feel the need to take matters into their own hands, the less nice word for it being 'impatient'," Yukemori went on. "Kindred spirits those people are, the ones who strive to make a difference."
He said nothing more. Both Sarevok and Mei eyed each other, looked away again and seemed awkward.
- "See the Dai plains," Mei said, pointing. "They feed us."
People worked on the vast rice fields. The rice paddies were staggered onto the sloping hills where there was lack of level land.
- "It seems that it is very fortunate for me that I like rice and fish," Winski mused. "I find that the Kozakuran cuisine agrees with me better than many Western ones."
- "Yeah, me too," Peri said. "Though Edwin sure made mean Thayan chili."
Sarevok felt miserable. He was very tempted to sit closer to Mei, to talk about anything with her, even if it was something neutral and unthreatening such as asking about Kozakurans and their ways. But the idea made him remember her scent and the kiss, and his cheeks flushed. The guilt came crushing again. He was on his way to bury Tamoko, and was stirred by such emotions! Damned Winski, why did he have to interfere and impose this upon him!
Mei and Yukemori volunteered a lot of information, however, and in spite of himself Sarevok enjoyed Mei's melodious voice and softly accented common. The Imperial Post Road they were riding was the best kept road of Kozakura, and imperial troops were stationed there on regular intervals in order to keep it free from bandits. Once every 20 miles there was a post house that also served as a ryokan - an inn.
- "But as soon as you stray from the post road and travel higher to the mountains, there is a big chance of an ambush," Yukemori explained. "The bandits are holed up in the mountain caves and prey on everyone. That is why anyone with anything to take hires protection. And then there are the bakemono - real trouble near some villages along the Post Road."
- "What are they?" Imoen wanted to know.
- "Well, nothing your troup should have to worry about. Little stupid creatures with colourful skins and shrill voice, attacking as an unorganized mess, pillaging and looting."
- "Goblins," Peri said. "Yes, I'd say we are quite safe from them."
- "But if we ever travel to the highest mountains where there is always snow and cold, we would do well to beware yuki-on-na," Mei said. "They are beautiful women with evil cold hearts, and they hate all humans. They attack when there is a snowstorm and you don't see her coming as their skin is cold as ice, her white cape invisible in the storm. Her touch can make the victim totally lose their sense of direction, and she revels in making people die and get lost in the snow."
- "The first yuki-on-na was originally Lin-Tze, a concubine of one of the first emperors of Kozakura," Yukemori continued the tale. "She poisoned everyone else the emperor loved, his wife, his children... she was so jealous, you see, and didn't want to compete for his attention. The emperor petitioned the Celestial Bureaucracy for justice, and they transformed her into yuki-on-na and cursed her so that she can never leave the lands as cold as her evil heart."
- "This truly is a magnificent land, just as my Tamoko said," Sarevok said. Mei almost flinched at the 'my' but managed to conceal her reaction.
- "Next post house, we will stop for the night," Winski said. "It is dark already, and my immortal bones feel tired."
