Connecting the dots

(Chi)

Some hours had passed before the fifth towns person sent me, finally, to the right place.

The hut was small and built of dried mud and clay. Talismans hung from each corner of the roof and upon the wooden door to ward off evil spirits. I knocked rather abruptly but found no way to qualm my frantic and panic driven behavior. A short woman, with wrinkles set on top of deeper wrinkles, opened the creaking door a fraction to peek out. She took one short look at me and made to close the door. My hand shot out to stop it.

"I practice no magic here! Whatever it is you need I cannot help you!"

"Okai has sent me to find you."

The mentioning of the kings' informal name drew her to open the door slowly and narrow her eyes at me in suspicion. Whatever battle had been raging on in her mind must have ended because she quickly pulled me inside, shutting the door behind us.

I retold the aged Shaman everything I knew. From my most recent experience and my dreams of guilt that never ceased, to Misaki's nightmare, and then then bead I had no explanation for finding. The longer I sat here the more perplexed I became.

After listening to me the Shaman turned away and hobbled over to a wall with diamond shaped boxes that held too man scrolls for me to count on hand. She seemed to know the one she was searching for right away and pulled the long scroll down from between the cluster of them.

She turned the scroll, untying the red thread from around it. Placing two fingers from each hand in the sides she rolled the long scroll out and across the floor. It fell open perfectly before me. The bamboo parchment was ancient and dated, stained brown from the years. Small holes dotted the parchment where termites had invaded at one point or another but all in all it was in pristine condition. The Shaman took a seat across from me and placed her hands on her knees.

"The truth is here Samurai." Her voice had grown hoarse over the years.

"But you must listen to all before asking any questions of me." I nodded my consent and quieted even my labored breathing.

"This is the story of Amaterasu and the moons, stars, and sea."

"Our beloved goddess was born from Izanami and Izanagi. Izanagi removed his left eye long ago to bring her essence into this world.

Many believed this to be metaphorical, but it turned out to be meant quite literally.

Her brother, Tsukuyomi, was born from the removal of the right eye, and finally, Susanoo, with the removal of the nose. Amaterasu became the goddess of the heavens and sun along with her brother whom she had married for a time. Tsukuyomi was the ruler of the night sky and moon. The two's marriage did not last long as Tsukuyomi greatly offended Amaterasu when in anger he killed the god of food, Uke Mochi. In his actions he left the world in a long famine, in which thousands died. She then refused her brother entrance into the heavens, casting him out and away from her forever.

Susanoo and Amaterasu were constantly at odds with one another, always challenging each other. Izanagi grew tired of the bickering and dismissed Susanoo from heaven, in hopes of pleasing his daughter and gave high favor. As he was leaving, he went to bid his sister goodbye. Amaterasu was constantly suspicious of Susanoo was aware of that suspicion and acted upon it, enacting a final challenge to his beloved sister.

Each of them took an object of the other, and from those two objects they birthed deities. Our goddess birthed three beautiful women, and Susanoo birthed five brooding men.

Amaterasu was not fond of losing to her brother but knew that his men were worth much more than her women. So, she proposed that the gods were hers and that the goddesses she had birthed were Susanoo's, so technically she had won.

For a time, Susanoo accepted this. But as he watched the sun rise in glory every morning, and people praising his sister over centuries, he grew angry and full of rage. In his rage, he destroyed her crops and her rice fields. He wreaked havoc and the people suffered because of it. With all that Susanoo had done, Amaterasu was grief stricken and found solace in the cave of heavens. There she stayed for a long while. The sun did not shine for years until the other gods and goddesses banded together to pull her from her solitude. Once Susanoo was banished from heaven, Amaterasu emerged again. She returned to her place in heaven and has resided since. Her brothers were never seen again."

My head spun as the tale she had woven came to an end. "But what does all of this have to do with Misaki?"

She shook her head, getting to her feet and moving toward the doors. She slid them back to reveal the night sky. I'd been here all day! I jolted to my feet.

"I am only to tell you the gods story. You must seek out the goddess for the remaining true answers."

I grew frustrated again. I'd wasted so much time listening to her. Why had the king sent me here? Understanding and any answers I needed were still clouded.

"You must find the goddess child. You do not have much time

left."

"How do I speak to a god?!" I shouted at her.

"Foolish warrior!" she struck the back of my head hard. "How else do any of us speak to the gods?"

A shrine. A prayer.

I would need to find Amaterasu's shrine. But what then? Just pray that answers would somehow fall from the sky?

Gazing into the Shaman's eyes I saw the seriousness residing deep within them. I had come all this way because my attuned senses told me that something…something inhuman had happened to the princess. In my training from Otosan he'd made me meditate every early morning until finally, my senses heightened. No one else would have been able to move about the palace undetected and steal the kings only child without one person or guard noticing. To my dismay, I had no proof besides this absurd jewel, a twisting ball in the pit of my stomach, and Misaki's cryptic journal leading me forward.

"How do you know for sure that the gods have a hand in this?" I asked her quickly as I moved weightily toward the steps.

"Do you know what Susanoo used to birth those gods from his

sister?"

I shook my head.

"A jade necklace."

The door shut abruptly closed with her words and I had no choice but to return to Okami. I took one last stifled look at the narrow house before digging my heels into Okami's sides, taking off in search of the shrine.