There was the echoing thud of the Taiko drums, shortly followed by the piercing wail of flutes. Only a few days after her arrival, Souten sat in yet another kimono by her fiancée's side, her head aching. She had never been fond of music; it was all too loud for her, despite her Thunder demon blood. She was not the largest fan of the dancers in the center of the courtyard either. Though she liked dancing and their elegant movements, she did not enjoy the fact the dancers were all so beautiful. She pouted.
The pale water demon next to her glanced at her and smiled, causing Souten to blush. She smiled back and averted her gaze.
The Storm Lord chuckled loudly next to his son, and downed another bowl of sake. Silk rustled as the dancers all twirled about. Occasionally a dancer would throw a week towards the ruling family, eliciting a smile from the bulky lord.
The song came to a close and the dancers shied away. The Storm Lord stood and addressed the crowed which had been slowly forming in the courtyard over the past couple of hours. It was a diverse group of demons clearly hailing from all regions. Souten took a deep breath.
"Friends!" the Storm Lord bellowed. "Today marks the engagement ceremony of my eldest son Masao."
The crowd cheered.
"You are probably wondering why I called you all here for such grandeur," he continued. "Some of you know, my future daughter-in-law is the beautiful Lightning Princess Souten."
Some catcalls and hollers came from the crowd, answered by the Storm Lord's glare.
"There will be none of that," he scolded. "For although she is a beauty the princess's talents stretch much deeper than that. She is a skilled tactician on the battlefield as well as incomparable artist."
Silence. The entire crowd was staring intensely up at her. Souten bowed her head from embarrassment.
"Which is why I have called you here today," the Storm Lord announced with a smile. "We shall hold a contest of arts! And if any man can beat our lovely Souten I shall grant them whatever their heart desires."
A roar erupted in the courtyard. The Storm Lord sat, and one of his fishy vassals came forward carrying a scroll.
"We shall begin the contest now!" the fish demon gargled. "Contestant please come forward."
A few minutes later Souten sat in front a large sheet of paper in line with several other demon artists. Her hard pounded wildly. She knew that she was skilled, but there was no telling what these demons had in store.
She waved to Rouryuu, and he brought over an ornate box. The other artists seemed to have come well prepared as well. The wolf spirit next to her had brushes of all sizes laid out beside him. In fact, pretty much all of the other artists had all brushes. Souten smiled; they didn't have her secret weapon.
Then she noticed the demon at the end. She couldn't see his face, but she could see his curiously small package.
"The first competition shall be interpretation," the fishy vassal read from the scroll. "Each artist shall depict their vision of the poem."
Souten bowed her head opened her ornate box and withdrew a tray of several colorful blocks of wax. They were of Souten's own design. She had formulated them after her crayons started running out. It had taken a lot of time to get the colors just right, and, even though they weren't as vibrant as she would ideally liked, they offered much greater lasting power and control.
"Spring from your glass cage
River sprites full of vengeance.
The blood moon waxes."
They were off. With one fluid motion Souten plucked the black wax from her box and set to work. People watched intently as they all worked.
Once thirty minutes had passed the drums sounded that the time was up, and the artist back away from their papers.
Souten bowed as the fish servants picked up her work. All the papers were brought to the Storm Lord, Lord Masao, and three other judges from varying clans. They all flipped through them. After a few moments they all nodded to each other. The judge which looked to be some kind of bird demon stood and addressed the crowd.
"This test was to determine the artist ability to look beyond the concrete to find the deeper meanings in life. Only those who were able to depict this deeper meaning can be seen as skilled enough artists to move on the next round," he said in a raspy voice. "Those artists are: Lady Souten, the Frog Monk, Tetsou the imp, the Masked Fox…"
He rattled of a few other names and retook his seat. Souten smiled, she suddenly had no doubt in her abilities; however, that contestant with the small box, the Masked Fox, was still in this competition. She studied his face, but it was impossible to discern his features beneath the metal masked. His teal eyes pieced into hers. She shivered. Another sheet of paper was placed in front of her, and she looked away; she could not be bothered by the likes of him if she wished to win.
Another three rounds passed each testing their intuition and skill with their instruments. Pairs of artists were eliminated at a time, until only Souten and the Masked Fox remained.
As they sat before the crowd, Souten kept a straight face as she felt the beginning twinges of pain in her fingers. They had been drawing almost nonstop for several hours. She was amazed that the crowd was somehow still interested. There was something very strange going on. It seemed that the majority of the spectators near the Masked Fox were men, who for some odd were reason were grinning like children, plus, that demon had been looking her up and down the entire time. She didn't like it.
The masked artist winked at Souten, causing her to almost completely loose her composure. Was he making fun of her? She was right to be so concerned about him; this man might just give her a run for her money.
The announcer came forth once more, and the two artists were this time present with two large white boards. The boards were then propped upright using many rocks. Souten studied her slate. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Masked Fox rolling up his sleeves.
"For this last competition," the fish man called out to the crowd. "The artists will be judged by all of our honored guests who have gathered as well as our judges." He bowed to Souten.
"Artists."
They bowed back.
"Please grace us with the sight that you find most beautiful."
Souten was awestruck. Her mind was suddenly blank. Amid the flurry of the competition she had shut out that piece of her memory. What she thought was most beautiful? She had rarely set foot outside of palace. How could she create something beautiful enough to reach all hearts?
She was frozen. The crowd was beginning to murmur, and she could feel her future family's eyes on her. Her heart was beating furiously out of control.
No.
She shook herself from her daze. She would not lose to something so simple as speaking from her heart. She pulled back her sleeves and reached for her box. She remembered the sight she had seen when she first arrived at the beach Palace, and it all became to come to life.
The sapphire glisten from the stone shingles. Red and rose of the clouds which loomed above the tangerine sea. Then on the steps, her salvation, her lord fiancée and the Storm Lord, in booming glory. To show her affection she set them apart with lightning to reveal their strength. She wiped the sweat from her brow as the drums signaled the end.
The crowd gasped, as she backed away from the board. The fish servants quickly grabbed the boards and rushed them up to the judges. The judges' eyes first studied her piece. She could see the Storm Lord smile and stroke his chin. Then the Masked Foxes piece was set before them. Their eyes all grew wide and they intently studied the picture and whispered words to each other. All except the Storm Lord who had barely given the piece a glance. Souten smiled; it was good news for her.
The pieces were then turned around to face the entire crowd.
Souten suddenly felt all the color drain from her face. Next to her piece sat a picture of a black haired beauty in a sky blue kimono, much like her own, revealing her breasts to the world as waves and lightning crashed around her.
The bird judge who was quite red in the face came forward and coughed.
"Now if the artist will please explain their work," he rasped.
Souten began to stand, but before she could she heard the sudden burst of a young man's voice from behind her.
"I wished to capture the most beautiful woman in this land in her purest form! I was struck from the first moment I saw her," he roared. The Masked Fox was now standing, unmasked. His face was suddenly so familiar. Souten's breath caught. "And that is why for my piece of ultimate beauty I depicted the Lightning Princess Souten!"