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Under the Shadow: Chapter 4 - Part 1: Village by the Mountainside

by Ayashi

Continuing on my journey, I reached a small village by the mountainside. I had decided I was in desperate need of a bath; so ignoring the small road that lead to the village, I began my way up the mountain. If there is a village nearby, I remembered shishou saying, there must be a spring nearby. Sure enough, a little more than halfway up the mountain, a more than welcoming sight of a hot mountain spring came in to view. Seeing that no one was around, I stripped off my dirty clothes and slipped into the hot water.

If there had been a word to describe that heavenly feeling as I immersed myself into that water, it would have to be the most remarkable word you can think of. Every tense muscle of my body instantly eased. It was as if God Himself was filling my empty soul with a new breath of life, healing my beaten spirit and recovering my strength with new energy.

The water was working its miracle, when the sound of splashing and laughter came from the other end of the spring. I looked to see a little girl, about the age of three or four, splattering the water with great effort. A boy, who looked no more than seven or eight, was battling to hold the young girl back.

"Chika-chan, mama would be very angry if you get your clothes all wet!"

Despite all his effort, the girl took no notice of him and continued to enjoy herself, laughing playfully when the water spattered all over the poor boy. Running out of patience, the boy tried to grab the younger child by her collar, but when he succeeded he struggled to keep hold of the wiggling child.

"Keep still!" he ordered, rather annoyed. The girl, though, had no intention of doing so. She tried to free herself, doing everything from kicking to screaming. Distracted by the confusion, neither of them seemed to realize they were getting dangerously close to the edge of the water. I quickly got dressed and hurried over to where the two youngsters were fighting. Just in time, too. For no sooner had I reached the other end, the young boy lost his grip and before she was able to stop squirming she took a step back which would have caused her to fall into the water. Lunging forward I caught the girl swiftly.

The girl looked up at me with these beautiful eyes of a deep shade of purple. After taking a moment to comprehend what had happened, she suddenly opened her mouth and cried. Having never encountered a crying child in my arms, I had no idea of what I should do. I’ve rescued a few kids during those years of the Bakufu war, but they had been so terrified of the situation that I had rescued them from, they rather only sobbed than crying out loud. So at that moment I stared at the crying child, panicking out of not knowing what to do. It was rather strange to tense up merely because of a crying child, when I had remained calm through numerous more horrifying situations during the war.

"Chika-chan."

To my relief, the boy came over to comfort her.

"Chika-chan," he repeated, "It’s all right."

He looked up at me and was halfway through nodding his head in gratitude, when he stopped and stared at me with widen eyes.

"Ni… onii-san…"

On hearing those words, the girl suddenly stopped crying, and stared up at me also. At once I found myself nervously trying to break away from the two pairs of deep purple eyes, which at the time seemed more piercing than any enemies I’ve encountered!

"Gomen," the boy quickly apologized, "I’m sorry, mister. I mistook you for someone else… Thank you for saving my little sister."

His sister, though, still stared at me with her huge eyes.

"Onii-chan…" she reached her small hand to touch the scar on my left cheek, "You’re hurt, onii-chan! You’re hurt!"

At the touch of her hand, I instinctually retreated more harshly than I intended to. The boy roughly took his sister’s hand to shake her out of her trance.

"Chika-chan! It’s getting late, we’re going home."

"No! Let go of Chika! Onii-chan… Onii-chan!" the little girl yelled and started crying again, while she tugged at my sleeve.

Not knowing how to respond to this sudden change, I held the girl in my arms.

"Mama is going to get angry at me for not taking you home on time!" the boy tried desperately to pull his sister away from me, "Come on, Chika-chan!"

To my horror, the young boy looked so frightened he looked as if he too was going to start crying at any moment. Terrified, I decided I would better do something before I have to deal with two wailing children. Nervously I tried to calm the young boy.

"There, there… I…" I had to raise my voice above the wailing child, "Here, don’t worry. I’ll come with you. Do you live at that village by the mountainside? I’ll come along, so please don’t cry, Chika-chan?"

It took a little less convincing than I thought I would need to do; I carried little Chika-chan in my arms because she would not let go, while the boy, whose name was Tooru, tagged along tugging at my hakama every now and then as we went along. Chika-chan even snuggly buried her face against my chest. I blushed, touched by her sense of security with me. It astonished yet consoled me to see the two children, having only met me a few minutes ago as a complete stranger, now putting complete trust in me. My nervousness vanished and a warm affection swept over me, and I smiled fondly.

By the time we reached the village, the sun was already setting. Tooru and Chika-chan’s mother was standing anxiously by the door, looking out for them. She ran over to us with a worried look on her face. She putted her arms around Tooru, sighing in relief.

"Mama, it’s ok," Tooru seemed a little embarrassed by his mother’s seemingly overreaction, "Onii-san here saved Chika-chan!"

The mother only looked up at me then, and I saw a questioning look on her pale face.

"You are…?"

"I’m a wandering rurouni, Okusan."

She stared at me, like the way the children had earlier by the spring.

"Shuuichi…"

Shuuichi?

"No, no, I’m sorry," the mother shook her head and gave a weak smile, "Thank you for bringing my children home safely. Do come in for something to eat, rurouni-san?"

I looked down and grinned to see little Chika-chan looking at me with these pleading eyes.

"If you don’t mind then, Okusan."

I spent that night, after a simple delicious meal, in the bedroom which the two children normally shared. Their mother apologized for the small room, but I was happy to just have a corner by the window to get some rest. The two youngsters shared a futon, and I couldn’t help but smile to see the two angelic faces sleeping soundly; taking note that this must have only been possible since the war ended. For a long time I had not thought about those short years as a young child, living with my family on a farm in some remote village; but that night, as the moonlight bathed the small room, I thought of those happier days of my life.

I was born in to a loving family, but the world I was born into was in chaos. Each day was a battle to save what little peaceful moments there were; each day our composed village lives faces the threat of attacks from outside. I glanced at the two sleeping children in the futon, and to some degree my heart was filled with envy. How lucky they were; to be growing up with a new era where there shall be peace and a promised future.

Seeing the reward of the serenity peace had bought about, it was the first time I truly felt the significance of the new era. It was the first time I truly felt ‘yes, all the terrible things I did was worth it.’