Genbu no Miko: The Winter's Tale
Chapter 3 – Priestess of Genbu
"Priestess… of Genbu? Me?" Takiko asked, interjecting her flow of words with a nervous chuckle.
Nodding slightly, the old woman replied patiently, "You said you are from Japan, did you not? I've never heard of such a place in my entire life. And from the expression on your face when I had spoken earlier, I can tell that you've never known the existence of all these before… You are the girl from another world…"
Interrupting, Takiko rambled on hastily, "I don't understand… How could I have entered this world from another world? I… I cannot be some priestess or something… I have no powers whatsoever… I'm only a schoolgirl… I… I can't…"
Rising slowly from her seat, the old lady walked over to Takiko and patted her gently across the back. "It is late Takiko… You should go to bed now… When the time comes, you will understand everything…"
On the outside, the tall youth who had brought Takiko into the hut suddenly straightened from his position by the door.
And as Takiko fell into a deep uneasy sleep, faraway in the Eastern palace, an old lady watched…
Her hands extended out with her fingered stretched wide, like long gnarled claws that moved in circular motions about the crystal orb before her. All the while, muttering under her breath, as if reciting some kind of a chant. The wisps and tendrils of mist that fogged the interior of the orb slowly dissipated, leaving a clear image of the sleeping girl in the glass. The image didn't remain there for long, as tendrils and wisps of mist returned, swirling around within, as if churning some kind of information out for the person who commanded it. Images formed…
One of the past…
One of the present…
And one of the future…
What had she seen?
A maniacal glint lit up her otherwise dead and dull eyes as the seer rose from her seat albeit unsteadily. Standing at the same spot for a minute or so, as if she was trying to regain her balance, the old woman with the magical gift of the Sight, suddenly walked out of the room, muttering to herself about seeing the Emperor.
Behind and alone in the room, the crystal orb remained…
The white wisps of mist still clouding it…
Her eyes fluttered open, only to be welcome with the sight of a ceiling put together with pieces of rotting wooden planks and some rusty nails. A chilly breeze entered from the nearby window as light spilled in, bathing the room in its meager warmth. Groggily, Takiko sat up, pressing a finger to her temple as she looked around her once more, taking in the four walls that stood around her.
Where was she?
There was a dull pounding going on in her head, which she tried to ignore. Hesitantly, she took a cautious step out of bed, as she continued warily, venturing towards the door. Even the door was strange… it had no knob… Just a bolt to hold it in place… Releasing it, she swung the door opened.
A kind smile greeted her. "Good morning Takiko," the old woman spoke gently.
Memories came flooding back as if the floodgates had suddenly been released and the dull droning that went on in the back of her head grew in volume before suddenly vanishing. It all seemed so clear suddenly…
She had walked into her father's room… Took a peep into the book he had written for her deceased mother, opened it, flipped the page, and found herself in an entire pace all together… A strange youth had brought her into a village where an old woman who stood before her now, smiling gently, had spoken to her the night before…
Her words… she had said something… She said something about… the Priestess of Genbu?
"Because… you, my child, you are the priestess of Genbu…"
Priestess of Genbu…
Was none of this a dream?
Blinking hard, Takiko managed a smile back in return. "Good morning…"
Back in Japan, in the cramped compounds, which were undoubtedly spacious in comparison to the current hut Takiko was in, Einosuke flipped through his research papers that he had compiled during his time in China. The nights, he had spent awake during the months in China, followed by the shock of Takiko's abrupt disappearance had taken its toll on him as the dark eye rings that encircled his eyes grew prominent in the lights of the rising sun that attempted to soothe his heart and mind…
He couldn't rest…
There was a nagging though that ate at him from the back of his mind…
There was something very important about the legends he had come across… something about the Priestess of Genbu…
When the silent breakfast was over, Takiko, who was helping with the dishes, suddenly asked, voicing out the question, which bothered her, the most, "What makes you so certain that I am the priestess you speak of?"
A voice came from behind even before the old lady could speak.
"Because, half of the villagers, including me, witnessed you, in that strange garb, falling from out of the sky, shrouded by a ball of green light… Tell me, what normal person, if not a priestess, would be able to do this?"
Turning around, Takiko found herself startled by the sharp intense gaze of Tomite's.
"Grandma, I'll be taking Takiko with me to the capital… The kingdom is in urgent need of a priestess… We'll be leaving at noon…"
Nodding, the old lady said nothing else…
Far in the East, the gleam from the tall polished columns that supported the majestic structure of the Grand Hall of the palace of Kutou, where the morning assemblies were held, an old woman had bowed before the Emperor, who was seated high upon a glinting throne of gold.
Her eyes, still gleamed with a maniacal feel, as she spoke to the Emperor, the sights she had seen in her trusted orb. She had to only mention the words in her crackly voice, "Priestess of Genbu" before whispers erupted in the usual silence of the court.
Eventually, the courtiers and officials who stood in neat lines, settled down with the ebbing of the whispers. Silence reigned for a moment, before the Emperor gave his verdict.
"The Priestess of Genbu must be stopped in her task to gather the seven seishi!"
Daring the old woman was, for she questioned the emperor's words, "And how is it that Your Majesty, proposed we stop her?"
Frowning, as he pondered over that, the ruler of Kutou decided, "I'll leave the matter of the Priestess of Genbu in your hands, Chika… Alive or dead… I don't care what matter it is that you use… Just make sure, that she never gets her task fulfilled!"
With a flourish of his royal robes, the Emperor rose, as officials and nobles filed out, signaling the dismissal of that morning's court assembly.
The sun, a distant ball of dazzling gold, now hung high above the land as noon arrived. It was time for them to leave for the capital. Tomite had instructed Takiko to pack light for the journey would take not more than three days. Irritated by how he was making decisions without telling her what was going on, she had rebutted, "As if I've anything to pack", a gentle reminder to him that she was all alone in a strange foreign world, before stomping off to the kitchen to find the old lady whom she discovered was his grandmother and the village elder.
With a deep frown, she continued, "I don't see why he wouldn't tell me what's going on! If he needs my help in whatever that's going to happen, don't I have a right to know? Why does he just keep ordering me around as if…"
"I've gotten a set of local clothes for you. Change into it before leaving. As for the packing, I've already done it." With that, Tomite turned and left.
Smiling kindly with a motherly light in her eyes, the old lady said, "He's just the way he is. I would have explained all these to you, but he wanted to explain it to you himself."
Still not satisfied with her words, as could be seen from the frown that remained on Takiko's face, the old lady patted her gently before giving her a light push towards her room. "He'll explain it to you in his own time. Go get ready now…"
She had never ridden a horse before and only managed to get up awkwardly with Tomite's help. His grandmother who stood at the front of the small group of villagers who had come to see them off, hugged them tightly, with unshed tears in her eyes.
"Take care… and be careful…"
With farewells and well wishes said, and perhaps much more left unsaid, Tomite hoisted himself up, behind Takiko, tugged the reins, and left. Deeper into the frozen land they went, as they slowly vanished from sight. The old lady closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. Opening them once more, the tears within were no longer present. Instead, an unspoken worry and fear that had been hidden earlier by the tears remained in those dark green eyes.
And as the rest of the villagers returned to their own huts, the old lady remained there still for a few moments more, leaving a softest of the whispers behind, her heart heavy with apprehension and sadness for the two who were sealed to their destiny at such a young age.
"May Genbu be with you…"
They had ridden on for about four hours or so… Takiko, who was rather unused to this mode of transport, was trying her best to imagine it were a usual ride on her bicycle, or otherwise, to ignore the sore state and stiff of her body. Tomite had remained silent throughout the entire journey and it wasn't that his silence bothered her. In fact, she had grown quite used to it during that one day that she had gotten to know him, but if he were to speak more…
Her train of thoughts stopped short as the stallion suddenly came to a halt, as it neighed repeatedly, sounding as if it was nervous. Despite Tomite's urging, it refused to advance forward. Pausing too, Tomite got off the horse and turned around to scan his surroundings before turning to Takiko, "Stay here. Keep yourself safe."
With that, he took small, yet light steps forward, reaching into his quiver, strung across his back, to draw out four arrows. Two he held between his teeth and another two, he strung into his bow. He knelt at the front of the road, a few feet away from where he had left Takiko. For a while, he did nothing else, but to wait as he kept his bow in position, aiming at some target which Takiko had no idea was.
Hard pounding of hooves eventually came into hearing range, as a small contingent of soldiers appeared within sight. A quick count revealed about twenty of them. All wore victorious grins upon their faces and their eyes lit up with a savage glint when they spotted Tomite and Takiko.
Springing into action, Tomite released his arrows as soon as the army came within shooting range. Two went down as their horses went wild without the sure guidance of their masters, causing panic in the group, which became more dispersed on the road. Some riders fell off their horses and picked their weapons, choosing to fight on their feet instead horseback. Tomite picked off many more, as he reached into his quiver and strung his bow mechanically. Not once, did he miss.
Two had escaped Tomite's notice as they advanced towards Takiko with sadistic smirks upon their hard faces. Without any weapons, Takiko's mind raced as she eyed the distance that lay between her and Tomite. He was locked in a battle against three soldiers who were too close for him to attack with his bow. He had switched to his dagger, which seemed useless as compared to the long swords his opponents used. Then spotting a spear, which belonged to one of the fallen soldiers a few feet ahead, Takiko made up her mind. Eyeing the two soldiers warily, Takiko sprang off the horse suddenly as she ran to pick up the spear.
Seeing the spunk in the young girl they were about to finish off, the two soldiers ran forward, feeling sadistic pleasure that their victim would actually attempt to put up a fight. She proved them worthy, as her basic training in her combat classes kicked in, and she defended herself well against them two.
Tomite, who spotted Takiko's situation from the corner of his eye, suddenly felt a rush of power within him as thin arrows of ice, that grew in diameter shot out from his hands, spinning at great speed, before driving themselves right into their targets. Simultaneously, the three men fell to the snowy ground, their crimson blood tainting the pristine white snow…
Without any regard for them, Tomite quickly strung his bow once more and took Takiko's opponents down. Breathing heavily, Takiko sank to the ground, with a vague murmur of thanks to Tomite.
"What were you doing!" Tomite yelled at Takiko, shooting her an incredulous look.
Irritated by his tone once again, Takiko said and not yell, for she had not the breath to do so, "Fighting… them off…"
"I know… why didn't you kill them! I saw you! You've got some skill in using this spear!"
"They are human beings for goodness sake!"
"They could have killed you!" Tomite continued.
Saying nothing, Takiko merely stood up.
Glaring at her, he could barely contain the panic that had threatened to muddle his senses earlier on. Tomite hoisted himself up the stallion and helped Takiko up.
"I'll show you something," Tomite said levelly.
They didn't have to ride far before they reach a village where smoke rose in columns high into the sky. At that juncture, Tomite got off and brought Takiko along with him as they walked into the ruins of the buildings that were once a village. Corpses that were horribly mutilated, with blood spilled all over them as stab marks were seen over the entire body, were strewn all over the place, as if it was some kind of a morbid decoration. The elderly… the men… the women… even the children… no one was spared…
Silence reigned as it mourned for the dead. And as Takiko and Tomite worked together to dig graves for these innocents with their makeshift spades fashions from broken pieces of metal and wood, Tomite spoke quietly.
"All this is the work of Kutou soldiers whom we have met on the way just now. Kutou and Hokkan are on bad terms these days… for although Hokkan has not much riches, beneath our lands, are much precious minerals… Kutou is eyeing our underlying riches… Often, they spring attacks on villages that lie around the border… I believe the Kutou emperor is merely waiting for us to declare war, so that their troops can enter and take us down, and legally claim our land as theirs…"
His eyes dark and his voice low, Tomite continued, "When the country falls into dire straits, the priestess from another world appears… She will gather the seven seishi and summon the god before being granted three wishes…"
Turning to face Takiko now, his voice seemed almost to take on a pleading tone, "Takiko… You are Hokkan's only hope now… Our military defense is not strong… You are the girl from the other world… you can summon Genbu and save us all… Please say you will be the priestess… Too many lives have been lost…"
Startled, Takiko found herself struck dumb by the power of the emotions in his words and the intensity of his eyes that seemed so piercing even in the receding lights of dusk.
"I…"
Meanwhile, Einosuke Okuda who had been frantically flipping stacks of papers all this while found at long last, what he had been searching for. His eyes ran across the lines quickly as all memories of his research work in China came flooding back.
A gentle breeze stole the paper from his loose grip as it gently slid to the floor.
The priestess, will be devoured by the god she summons, as a sacrifice in return for the three boons granted…
"Takiko… Takiko! You must not be the priestess!"
Takiko's voice sounded across the silent graveyard, the determination in her eyes, a promise to her words.
"I will be the priestess of Genbu."
A/N: Greetings! Thank you for your reviews! Sigh… feeling really stressed cos I've been procrastinating a lot lately when mid years are just a week plus away… Help! . I'm going nuts with college life over here… heh.. that aside, hope you readers enjoyed this chapter too… Please leave a review! Thank you!
To karayuquex: Thanks! I hope the alternating didn't seem confusing… Yep, the old lady felt sad for them because the journey that lies before them is going to be tough and they, being so young, have to go through all these… She pities Takiko, for having to take on the burden as the priestess, but not for having appeared… Hope you like this chapter too…
To kurichan: Heh… keep reading to find out the pairing… but in the previous version, it was a Tomite/Takiko pairing… hehe… hmm… I'm not sure if his eyes are green or blue.. I remember reading somewhere that it's green but from the pictures it looks blue… I'll change it next time… Thanks!
To aznchibi: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed reading this too!