Dragon Tears and Raven Curses - Chapter Eight

Seiji was walking to his home when he spotted a small girl crying beside the gateway of his family's dojo yard. He knelt beside her as she stopped crying and looked up at him. "Is something the matter?" he inquired.
The small girl looked at Seiji, her mouth opening and closing, and the starburst-like scar on her cheek jerked once before she turned and ran away from him, seemingly in terror. Yayoi descended out of the house immediately afterwards and down upon Seiji.
"What did you do?" she demanded as she grabbed him by an ear and twisted it.
"Nothing!" Seiji gritted his teeth against the pain. Yayoi released him and looked worriedly down the street after the disappearing child. Seiji rubbed his eye in a sore manner with a glare at his older sister's back. She turned back to him and the glare disappeared promptly. "What are you doing back from the hospital so soon?" he asked.
"I was offered a beautiful job and I accepted it. No more working in dingy hospitals for me!" She cheerfully pranced on the spot.
"What kind of job offer was it?" Seiji asked, hoping it was in Germany or somewhere as far away.
"A nice doctor asked me into a joint clinical with him."
"Oh?"
"Yes, and the clinic is only two blocks from here!"
"Oh." The word sounded more like damn. Seiji watched her walk back into the house, disappointed. As he turned to follow after her, a raven flew over him, and a little girl's sobs drifted over his sharp hearing.


Ryo groaned as he felt a rough tongue lap at his forehead. "Ugh." He opened his eyes to peer into Byakuen's brown eyes. "No. Go away!" he mumbled as he closed his eyes. Byakuen nudged him and Ryo stiffened as the movement sent jolts of pain through his bruised body.
"I feel like I fell of a cliff!" he groaned, trying to push his tiger away. Byakuen nudged him again and Ryo opened his eyes to see twinkling stars staring down at him. He sat up and felt the soft ground beneath his armored hand squish. "I did fall off a cliff," he remembered. "Damn! That hurts!" He began to stand up, felt a wave of dizziness sweep through his mind, and then collapsed on the ground. His armor clinked against a few jutting rocks. "I don't want to move!" he whimpered, dropping his head to rest against one knee. Byakuen nudged him and looked upward.
"I'm going back to the cabin!" Ryo groaned as he tried to stand up again. He succeeded. He tittered back and forth on his feet for a few moments and was glad he had been wearing his armor when he was pushed off the cliff. Byakuen nudged him again and looked upward. "No, I am not climbing that cliff!"
Ryo gingerly began to make his way down the side of the mountain. Byakuen growled and grabbed Ryo's leg with his teeth. They scraped against the metal. "Hey! Let go! Byakuen!" The tiger growled again and tugged Ryo towards the cliff. "No! Stop! I'm sore, I'm tired, and there is no way I am going to try and climb that cliff during the night!"
Byakuen released Ryo and sat down, regarding his human closely. Ryo bent close to shake a finger at him. "Look, I'm tired, I hurt all over, it's dark, and I am not going to climb up that cliff face!" Byakuen growled again. Ryo sighed after a long moment of staring. "Okay, I'll do it. This time, I'll be sure to bring some sticks along to make torches with. But I'm warning you: If I get pushed off that damn cliff again, I'm not going to climb it after that. You understand?"
Byakuen growled and nodded.
"Good. At least we can do this."


Ryo wheezed and puffed heavily as he finally made it to the cave. He pulled himself over the ledge as his armor clanked loudly from striking against the rocks. He spit the string out of his mouth. He had tried to tie one end of one shoestring with his wrist, but the heat that radiated from his armor had caused it to catch on fire. He was forced to carry the shoelace in his mouth; at least the wood he had chosen wasn't heavy. Ryo gasped for breath for a few moments, and then stood up. He picked the torch up and held it tightly.
The heat from his grip ignited the stick. Ryo transferred it to the other hand. There, he was left with the dilemma of how he was going to be able to hold it without it lighting up in his other hand. "Double damn it!"


Seiji stared out his bedroom window at the crescent moon. It seemed very plain, even with the small sprinkles of the few stars that could be seen, lined up as they were over the city with its bright neon lights. Something was going to happen; he could feel it. It was just waiting for a chance to go boom. He sighed and climbed into bed. Oh well, Ryo had to be faring better than him . . . Right?


Ryo finished transforming out of his armor and picked up the burning torch from where he had gently laid it across the ground. He began to make his way quickly through the cave, wishing to be done with the problem before the light went out. He listened carefully for any sounds of approach. He followed the winding and twisting tunnel until he came to a spot where white scrape marks covered the wall and floor in a couple of places.
"This was where the attack came," Ryo reasoned. He froze for a moment; the only sound he could hear was the crackling flames. He waited for a few moments and wondered if Hisoka was going to show up again and then decided he wasn't. Still wary though, Ryo trudged through the tunnel. Several minutes later, the tunnel stopped at the foot of stairs.
"Who'd of thought?" Ryo wondered as he looked at them. The stairs curved downwards into the dark. They were well worn and appeared very old, being carved directly out of the mountain's stone belly. Ryo nervously peered around and finally set his foot down upon the first step, as if expecting it to crumble to dust beneath his weight.
Nothing happened. The light from his torch glinted dully off of walls as he shrugged and continued to make his way down the steps. Ryo ran his hand wonderingly over the smooth walls at his side as he descended deeper into the mountain.
He paused at the foot of the stairs, and then hopped off. The tunnel widened into an expansive cavern, the very roof of it disappearing into the darkness the torch's light could not penetrate. The sound of dripping water echoed repeatedly through the stagnant air. But one sound hung above the noise of crackling flames and dripping water.
It was the sound of something snoring.
Ryo held his light up higher in the air and moved around to notice a large lump in the middle of the room nestled in a pile of old musty furs. He took cautious steps forward until he stood beside the lump. It moved up and down in time with the snoring. As Ryo began to circle around towards what he hoped to be the front, the lump shifted, and a great ebony-colored head emerged from the pile of furs.
The head-as easily as large as half of Ryo-twisted around to face Ryo. Great green orb-like eyes rolled from him to look at the blazing torch. The dragon's cheeks bulged for a moment, and then it let out a puff of foul-smelling air. The torch's flame disappeared and the cavern plunged into darkness.
Ryo blinked in the darkness.
"Umm . . ." he began with uncertainty; his mind just now beginning to function beyond the point it was currently frozen at. "Are you the black dragon queen?"
"Shhh," a soft and cultured female's voice replied suddenly. Ryo jumped at the sound. "I have been trying to sleep ever since that racket from earlier awoke me."
Ryo shuffled guiltily in the dark. He realized that he and Hisoka must have been noisy in their fight. "I really need your help," he said after a few more moments of silence. He could hear movement as the dragon shifted in the dark. Light suddenly flared from oil lamps hung from spikes in the wall. The dim light glinted from the dragon's ebony scales as she sat upward. The robes slid from her scaled body into a pile on the cavern floor. Her long tail curled around her haunches as she regarded the Trooper closely.
She was a strong and beautiful creature, matching the description of western dragons instead of that of a dragon of the orients. Her body, long and sleek, was covered with ebony-dark scales the size of Ryo's hand, and her head was long and pointed at the snout the large and wide green-colored eyes peered down the length of it at Ryo.
"Why have you come far into the earth to ask for my help?" she asked solemnly, gazing at him with an expression that he could only pinpoint to a mother trying to humor her frightened child.
"Because you are the only per-er, creature who can help me with my problem."
She leaned close to him and sniffed, almost knocking Ryo off his feet with the strong intake of air. "You smell of fire," she said finally, "and cats." There was a long pause as she took another sniff. "And I daresay of ancient magic and fighting. Say what you will, Samurai, if you are that though I smell swords and blood on you. I shall judge whether you worthy of my help after you finished."
"Okay." Ryo took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts together, before he allowed his words to run randomly. "See, my cabin is currently being haunted by this one ghost who refuses to pass on until her husband and daughter have returned. However, her husband died in World War Two (do you even know what World War Two was? Not familiar with it? Supposedly it was the war to end all wars and we can leave it at that for the moment) and her daughter disappeared many years ago. The ghost insists though that they still live and they mean to bring her back to life. When asked how she knew this, she said the ring told her. Apparently, the main jewel of this ring is one of your dragon tears. This whole mess wouldn't have been so bad if all these ravens and this guy who I think is a raven kept popping up and trying to discourage my search." Ryo took a deep breath and waited for the dragon to say something, as she had only nodded her head thoughtfully during the entire time he spoke.
Her head twisted thoughtfully and she peered at him with both green eyes. Ryo could see his reflection within them, strained and white with a large purple bruise on one cheek, a fresh cut on the other, and red lines around his throat. "This woman-this ghost-who haunts your cabin, why else would you so desire to help her, boy?"
Ryo shrugged, feeling slightly annoyed with being called a boy. That was what Hisoka had called him too. "I guess it's because I think the whole problem needs to be straightened out."
"Elaborate if you would."
Ryo sighed and made a helpless motion with his hands. His sore muscles protested and then the rest of the body joined in with complaints. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked as his shoulders slumped forward wearily. "I've had a really rough day."
"Oh! Of course!" The dragon suddenly became flustered as she quickly glanced around the large cavern. "My home is not too suitable for guests though . . ."
"That's all right. I can sit on the floor."
"Do not be silly! That shan't do at all!" The tip of the dragon's tail shot forward just as Ryo lowered his body to the floor and it curled around him, boosting his body from the harsh ground and contouring itself around his lanky form. "I must apologize for the manner of my home for I never expected to be visited. And do pardon my manners; many years have passed since last I spoke with a human. I would also offer you food and drink, but I do not usually keep such substances around as I need them not."
"Oh, that's okay." Ryo felt his body relax and wondered if the dragon was up to something. Would she eat him? He didn't want to be eaten; it didn't sound like a pleasant death. But didn't she just say she didn't need the substance of food or drink? "I understand the whole matter."
"Thank you. Now, please continue."
"Well, I wanted to find out more about this ghost; I mean, they don't linger around unless they have some sort of unfinished business, right?" The dragon shrugged.
"Not usually," she said. "You must remember that there always have been and always shall be exceptions to everything you find."
"Anyway, I did some research." Ryo felt the same old surge of anger he always felt when he thought about the woman's fate.
"Calm yourself," the dragon said as she rubbed Ryo's back with the very tip of her tail. "I feel your emotions blazing out of control." Ryo took several breaths. He knitted his fingers together to stop the trembling in his hands.
"After her husband was killed in the war, she refused to see anyone or visit anywhere, because she was waiting for her husband to return. The daughter went regularly to the village for the mail and supplies. After the daughter didn't show up after while, the villagers went up to the cabin to see what happened. They found the body of the woman-she had been brutally raped and killed." Ryo paused to calm himself again as his anger began to flare out of control again. The gentle look on the dragon's face did not change, nor did she pause in her rubbing. "The daughter was missing; no one knew where she went. According to what else I've found out, they never found the people who did it, and the daughter was never seen again. The ghost told my friend that her daughter had run off with the ring to find her father, and she said that neither were dead."
"Tell me about these ravens."
"This one guy keeps popping up everywhere, always accompanied by a raven. He's got feathers on his shoulders and around his waist. He wears a black cloak and has got this silver pin thingy holding the cloak ends that glow. His name is Hisoka, and he said he can't let me find out anything or reach you because he dares not to."
"How odd." The dragon, her tail shifting slightly but not enough to move Ryo, slid easily from her sitting-up position. Her body curled around and she rested her head beside Ryo. "Were you and this man fighting earlier in my tunnel?" she asked softly as her eyes closed.
Ryo blushed. "Sorry about that," he muttered.
"All is forgiven," the dragon replied graciously without opening her eyes. "Do you realize the significance of raven symbolism?" she asked suddenly.
"Um . . . No?"
"I believed as much. Ravens may carry the souls of the dead if dead are far from their home or need to move in order to complete a mission. They are attracted to the dead, after all." She opened her eyes then. The one Ryo could see rolled and looked at him.
"So Hisoka is dead?"
"Was he affected by your blows? Assuming you managed to hit him during your squabble, that is." The gentle look on the dragon's face did not show she was only patronizing him and was making an insult towards his fighting skills.
"Yes. On both accounts." The dragon held her head up high and appeared thoughtful.
"Then perhaps the matters go deeper than just a soul carried by a raven. Odd how this ghost of yours swears by my Tear."
"So can you help me?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Oh." Ryo's face fell.
"I would prefer very much not to leave my cave for the outside world, though there are other factors that are involved." She sighed. "However, I cannot overlook the fact that you came directly to me for help; granted that it must not have been an easy task."
Ryo winced as he remembered falling off the cliff. "Yeah," he agreed.
"For that you have earned something. Take this." Something rolled across the floor from the depths of the shadows and thumped against Ryo's shoe. He looked down at it. It was a simple jewel sparkling in the light, black in color but shining with a forest-green hue. He bent and picked it up. "This is the sister Tear to the one of the woman's ring. It shall guide you to where ever the other is."
Ryo was about to ask the dragon how did she know if it were the sister Tear, but decided against it. This dragon was as old as time if the legends were true (and why not? Everything else was!); she probably did not appreciate young men like he who knew absolutely nothing to question her judgment. "Thanks," he said solemnly.
"Take special care to disallow the jewel from falling into the wrong hands."
Ryo looked up at her, not wanting to stand up. His body was happy to stay where it was. "Why do you trust me if it is so special?"
"I trust my sense of smell," the dragon replied airily. "You carry upon yourself the smell of virtue and good deeds. Sleep now, for you are safe with me."
"But I have to be going!" Ryo did not move from his comfortable "seat".
"The ravens can only carry souls during the day and in the twilight. They dare not move at night, for creatures that move abroad during the dark hours feast upon stray souls. None shall harm you. Sleep now."
With those words, Ryo slumped back against the tail and was swept away into a sublime darkness.


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