"How troublesome."
Kayo frowned sharply at his simple comment. "The bridge is out and all you can say is 'how troublesome?!'"
"It is troubling." The slightest of grins tugged at his features as he watched her fuss.
The mountain pass through the thick bamboo forests had proved troublesome so far with the rains threatening to pull the dirt from beneath their feet. Kayo had found herself confused at how he could walk through mud in a pair of geta and not even slip. She had already found the edges of her kimono caked in mud and twigs in her hair.
Now to make matters worse, after such a hike into the pass, the bridge crossing a great ravine was now out. It looked like it had snapped in half. That was their only means across unless they turned back and took the valley pass.
Why did they have to come this way anyway? Kayo frowned sharply. The medicine seller had just simply turned to go up the mountain pass, not saying a word as to a reason why. How typical, honestly. It left Kayo wondering if something had attracted him to this location or simply that it was the best way into the neighboring region. The western regions were covered with tall mountains and dangerous passes. Simply walking around the base of the mountains would take ages, but Kayo was wishing they had gone a different route.
"Can't you just, I don't know, create an ofuda bridge?" Kayo suggested. "You made those stairs at the onsen."
The medicine seller peered over the edge of the ravine. The steep cliff dropped nearly down to the valley. One wrong move and they would careen to their deaths. The mists and recent rains made for a very slippery journey as it were. Trying to form a bridge would be far too risky. "Not in this weather."
Kayo huffed.
"It is raining, Miss Kayo," he pointed out. "Ofuda are paper. And paper-"
"Yeah yeah, I can put two and two together," she folded her arms. At least there was a town full of farmers right here at the edge of the ravine and they wouldn't have to travel back down the mountain to stay for the night.
The town was small, filled mostly with small huts and farmland. Vegetables and ferns sprouted up from the ground, reaching out to soak up the mist and rains. Much of the town looked like it had seen better days, several of the huts and lands dislodged by a recent mudslide. There didn't appear to be an inn, but perhaps it was buried deep within the mud.
"The bridge is out. Broke recently in the storm," a farmer called out to them, leaning on the fence. "Might be a few days before we can get it fixed. You could stay the night here while my husband is away. Help me out a bit with some gathering, and we'll call it even."
"I hope he's okay," Kayo commiserated, peering back at the fallen bridge.
"I'm sure he is," the farmer nodded with certainty. "Tokubei travels to the neighboring town across the ravine to sell vegetables all the time. He's likely waiting for the bridge to be repaired. I'm Masa, by the way."
"I'm Kayo," she offered a bow. "And this is…." she huffed when she noticed he wasn't even paying attention to the conversation. "Hey! Heeeeey! Mr. Medicine Seller!"
Something supernatural pulled at his senses, much as it had been since they started this climb. Ravines could shelter a number of yokai, perhaps something even living in the bamboo forest nearby. Crossing over a ravine on a bridge was the simplest way to avoid larger mountain yokai, but that option was now laying broken before them. But with this new sensation scratching at the back of his mind, perhaps this little diversion would be worthwhile. "Your hospitality is appreciated," he offered a polite bow.
Kayo huffed again. He was definitely watching something, but he noticed all sorts of supernatural haunts she didn't necessarily want to think about. Perhaps it was just the bridge he was watching. That was what she hoped at least. He had told her several times that yokai existed throughout much of Japan. They were normal even if they never felt normal. But they were probably more normal for him. Kayo was still getting used to this.
After setting their travel things inside, Kayo emerged from the farm house in a simple farming kimono and a pair of pants. She'd never quite worn anything like it, usually sticking her yellow kimono wherever they went. She had to admit this clothing was much easier to move in than a full kimono, but she was also rather used to the limitations of a kimono. She huffed when she spotted the medicine seller in his usual outfit with the sleeves tied back. She should've expected it really.
Slinging a basket over her shoulders, she followed Masa and the medicine seller to the edge of the bamboo forest, looking for the bamboo shoots. Takenoko. She'd eaten takenoko before but she'd never actually went to find them before. As they traveled in the forest, she caught her sandal on something and nearly tripped over something.
"Well it seems you've found the first takenoko, Miss Kayo," Masa laughed.
She huffed, rubbing at her toes. The bamboo shoot was definitely a lot larger than she thought one would be. But what was she expecting? Those tiny things that show up on a plate? It was easily the size of her foot. "They're huge!"
As Kayo attempted to dislodge the thing from the ground with her hands, the medicine seller peered around the forest. The stalks were quite numerous, reaching high into the heavens and shedding their leaves on the recent mudslide. The mud itself had solidified, offering them a rather stable path as they traveled. But something seemed to be missing. "There do not seem to be many takenoko here, Miss Masa."
"The forest has been dwindling lately," Masa sighed. "Not even the fiddleheads are as numerous as they once were. Some say we've angered the mountain god after the mudslides we've had this month. The shrine got stuck under the mud."
"The kami probably isn't pleased by that," Kayo frowned, giving up on pulling the shoot from the ground.
"We just haven't been able to retrieve it yet," Masa shook her head. "We're still trying to help everyone unbury their homes. Perhaps we should unbury the shrine now that the bridge is out too." She pointed further up the mountainside. "It's stuck up that way somewhere. Hard to say exactly where with how much the landscape has changed with the mudslides lately."
"Suddenly recruiting outsiders to do your work, Masa?"
Masa glared at the man approaching them with a basket slung over his shoulders. "If you've come to hinder our work, Seijiro, please go away."
Kayo wrinkled her nose at the man who had approached. He was another farmer with a scar on his face and a basket full of fern fronds. His expression was so sharp and angry, it probably could cleanly cut through a stalk of bamboo.
"I'm starting to wonder about you, Masa," Seijiro eyed Kayo and the medicine seller suspiciously. "First, your farm is the only one that is still thriving. Now you're getting others to harvest the forest. Perhaps you're the one insighting the mountain god's wrath"
"Stop spreading rumors," Masa hissed. "Our farm wasn't affected because of the cliffside. Same with Chiyo's farm. You just want someone to blame for your troubles."
The medicine seller ignored their banter for a moment, peering upward as the birds flitted out of the bamboo in entire flocks suddenly. The birds fled first higher up on the mountainside, but soon the ones closer to them began to cry in a warning as they left. Something cracked in the distance as the ground began to rumble. The cracking grew closer and closer far too quickly for his tastes.
"Earthquake?!" Kayo yelped.
"Off the mountain!" the medicine seller shouted.
Kayo didn't question it, quickly following him as the ground began to shake. The bamboo wavered violently back and forth as cracking noise soon followed close behind. More birds fled from the mountainside, taking to the air with warning cries. Foxes fled, routing the group of people before continuing fleeing further down the mountain.
"It's a mudslide!" Masa followed them pretty close behind. "Quickly, this way!" She veered off to the side, ducking behind a rocky cliff and heading further down back into the town.
Mud sloshed down the hillside, pushing against the bamboo stalks until they snapped and taking the last of the takenoko with it. Seijiro barely leapt to safety before the mud flew past them. He huffed in anger as it began to solidify, caking the fallen bamboo sideways and all the valuable ferns in sticky mud.
"This is your fault somehow!" Seijiro accused.
"How can it be my fault?!" Masa hissed. "I don't cause mudslides, Seijiro. Don't be an idiot!"
"They seem to follow you!" Seijiro insisted. "And every time, you're always the one to emerge completely unscathed!"
"How dare you!" Masa slapped him. "Do you think I want mudslides to ruin our town? This is our home! I want to find out how to please the mountain god so we can go back to being a happy farm town like we were!"
"You're still going on about that!" Seijiro hissed.
"How else do you explain how the mudslides are only getting worse?!" Masa seethed. "There weren't earthquakes before last week!" She yelped as the ground began to shake again.
"Arguing isn't going to get anywhere!" Kayo fussed. "We should get somewhere safe!"
Masa stared up at the mud-caked mountainside as the rumbling continued. "You're right. We can find the shrine later." Honoring the mountain god would be the only way to stop this.
Traveling along the cliffside, the group reached the edge of Masa's farmland. The mudslide had fortunately not reached the village, only coating the bamboo forest in mud.
"Hopefully we'll be alright here," Masa sighed.
"For now," Seijiro retorted.
"Enough!" Masa hissed. "We need to do something about this before it's too late. We can find the shrine once the mud solidifies. Rebuild it, honor it. Hopefully this will all stop."
"And you think this will all stop because of a stupid shrine?" Seijiro seethed.
"It will not," the medicine seller interrupted as he peered up the mountainside. "It is not an angry mountain god, though he likely is upset about the shrine. The cause of these quakes is not a kami but a mononoke."
....
Author's notes
Bamboo shoots are actually really massive. I was expecting them to be smaller given the slices I get from a can for stir fry, but the raw ones put large potatoes to shame. The smallest one at the store was larger than my hand.
When I was researching mountain farms, I found a number of things will grow alongside bamboo! (the plant is usually quite invasive and kills most things with it). There were a number of greens and veggies, but the most recognizeable (at least for us in the US likely) were fiddleheads. You can eat them and they're delicious grilled! So this particular forest once was filled with fiddleheads and bamboo shoots, but it seems someone has created a mononoke and ruined it all. How counterproductive. They really shouldn't do that.