1 The Bridge

To begin with, she was going to be the best at this. It was quite literally her lifelong goal. She had to get a fine arts degree in ceramics, two years of training from her father, and three years of working on her own just to be a manager of the place. She hoped one day to be the successor to the ceramic shop, but however hard she worked, and though her pieces were sometimes appealing, they were still subpar to her father's gorgeous full length vases, china dinnerware, and even statues. She was more proficient in mosaics, mugs, bowls, flower pots, and drinking cups out of clay.

In recent years the statues were too expensive to make, the vases were too large for the smaller homes economy, rich customers had already purchased what they wanted from him and stopped coming, and the China had stopped selling as quickly causing a major down spiral in profit. His craft was slowly become both obsolete and too expensive to make in order to turn in profit. In fact her common ceramics were selling more than anything lately.

Her mind elsewhere with the dread for her father's situation, she walked with muscle memory and her eyes staring half at the concrete and half at nothing, grocery bags tucked in the crook of her arms and her hair coming loose from it's bun. She was debating whether to scour the wealthy estates for potential buyers when she was blocked on the stone bridge leading back to her prefecture and her eyes darted up in surprise.

He was an older looking man, bald headed, hanging earlobes, wearing robes and carrying a ring bangled staff. Was he a monk? Did monks always have bowls for offerings? He was sitting directly in her path and when she caught his eye as she tried to skirt around him he thrust his bowl out to her, very nearly knocking her in the knee.

"Are you not going to leave an offering for a blessing, young lady?" The way he stared her down made the pit of her stomach twist.

"Are you truly a Monk with the way you force it upon me, sir? I believe I do not need your blessings at this time."

His grin shifted into a fast scowl and he moved more swiftly than she would have expected of him, standing tall directly in her way. She met his eye out of habit, but as he seemed to be looming over her she immediately stared at her feet and tried to brush past him with an apology. She couldn't move.

Something wet soaked her shirt and her gaze went to the grocery bags, but as she looked to see if one of the milk cartons had burst she noticed the sharp pointed bamboo sticking out of her stomach. For the longest moment the pain didn't register until it was yanked back out from behind, and as she silently collapsed to her knees she saw one of her apples slowly rolling along the bridge, fall over the edge into the fast running water, and get carried away.

She touched her stomach in a daze before tipping over along with the fruit, catching a final glimpse of the man that had stabbed her, his neck longer than any human's could be, before the water enveloped her.

It was entirely strange in that moment that she thought of her bowls cooking away in the kiln. Would her father take them out for her? Would he wonder why she was so late? What was she thinking, of course he would on both accounts. She closed her eyes, the river taking her wherever it pleased.

As she bumped up on the shore several miles away, though she had no concept of time anymore, her eyes slowly drifted from the sky to a pair of zori shoes standing at the left of her head.

"You are trespassing." It was a man's voice, but the lack of emotion in his words was a bit odd.

"My apologies," she mumbled, unwilling to move her head to look at him. She took a ragged breath and coughed. Speaking had let the blood seep into her throat. He walked to the front of her vision and she was able to see his face. His skin was slightly blue, he had small black horns on either side of his jaw and two sets evenly spaced in his hair, and when he spoke next she saw the extra length to his teeth.

"You can stay for as long as you last, though I still wonder how it is that you have managed to cross the Veil on your own, and so close to the next path."

"Thank you," she managed in confusion and swallowed, not sure what else to say. She raised her hand from her stomach to see the color and let it fall back in annoyance, sucked in breath at the pain which made it hurt a lot more, and gave a shaking sigh.

He tilted his head to the side and bent forward towards her, his silver streaked black hair falling in silk strands over his shoulder to the middle of his chest.

"You have no fear?"

She did in fact, but not of her inevitable death, and not of him. She feared for her father's sake.

"No, not for myself at any rate."

He looked at her wound, stood thinking for a moment, and spoke more softly.

"You deserve far more than what fate has forced upon you with a will this strong."

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant but only a rough cough shook her. Her mouth filled with blood. Unable to speak anymore she just closed her eyes for a moment, took a shallow breath through her nose, and opened them again to stare directly into his with unwavering intensity. He smirked.

"Well then, do you wish for a second life? Perhaps a chance to change the course of your future?"

Not sure what he meant by that, she thought back to see if she needed to reflect. She may not have done much with what time she had lived but it had been a good life. She had helped her father, she had learned well, she had friends, and her time was never spent dwelling on the past. She slowly shook her head and smiled gently. In response he smiled back and lowered himself to his knees, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Think what you wish to say, I will hear you."

'What do you-oh', she blinked in surprise as her thoughts became audible without having to speak. He chuckled and removed his hand. She had to recollect her thoughts for a moment before letting the words out into the open.

'I am grateful for the offer, it is incredibly kind, but if fate has made this my last moments I accept it with as much grace as my mother did.'

It was odd, hearing her voice echo through the air, but at this point it took more effort to breathe than to wonder what was going on.

"I admire your bravery to face the unknown, but your lack of a desire to continue living concerns me. I will let you in on a little secret. The realm beyond life is simply rebirth, a recycling of the soul so to speak, such is the reason for many tales of emptiness or bright light after near-death experiences. You die, your memory is wiped clean, and you are placed with a new life. What I offer you does not vary from what you will receive, your soul will make it into a new healthy body; however, if you wish for it I can provide you the chance to retain all of your current memories in the next life."

She listened carefully. If this meant that she could remember her father and maybe even go back and show him that she was okay, she would relish the opportunity, but it all sounded too good to be true.

'What do you get in return?'

His smiled shifted into a subtle smirk of amusement.

"Ah yes, all things come at a price, is that what you are thinking? Worry not, I offer you this option not out of personal generosity or unwarranted kindness, but out of my own greed. In fact I am rather selfish, I wish to take back an opportunity life stole from me by using you, and if you wish for this it would be an equally shared blessing."

Her mouth fell open a little and the blood spilled a bit before she spat it out and winced. He was somber and earnest, his eyes were far away but sharp, and oddly enough she trusted this peculiar looking man. Perhaps it was because it wasn't quite her time, maybe it was that she really was scared to leave it all behind, maybe it was the pain. Her mouth lifted into a weak red smile.

'Will you pardon my greed in accepting your offer as well?'

She had held her hand up to his face, snapping his attention back to the present. She wanted to laugh at his expression, looking so caught off guard with a simple gesture of appreciation, but the best she could do was wheeze. He tilted his head, pecking his lips on her knuckles. She was as brave as his daughter used to be, she was cunning and kind. He decided to protect her.

She lasted for a little while longer, painful moments, but he sat by her side until the end. As the last of her slipped away he quickly cupped his hands on her stomach. A bright blue wisp of soul swam from her body and was intercepted by his grasp. From the moment he had a hold of it he carefully enclosed it within a special glass jar, holding it tenderly. This precious girl deserved the best shell, hopefully as soon as possible to allow her to fulfill the wish he had seen as he watched her memories. Her father was somewhere in the realm of humans, but it wouldn't be too long before his light moved on as well.

He sat for a long while, thinking of many things, and stepped quickly once he did stand with a bright new goal driving him on. He had much to do.