"Are you certain young man?",
The elderly granny asked and slid open the door.
"Yes, granny", the boy answered as he stood up.
"My brothers and sisters would be worried".
Sky began rumbling and filled the place with it's thundering.
Gazing at the black clouds dwelling up above, she stepped out.
The darkness rushed down the sky like paint over a canvas.
Adjusting the letters inside, the boy lifted his bag.
He stepped out of the door and his eyes also caught the view of a gloomy sky.
Another wave of thundering clapped along with unstopping gusts of wind.
"The nature seem resentful today", the elderly granny pointed out.
"Yes...it seems so", the young mailman replied.
He held the strap on his shoulder tightly and took another step forward.
His eyes looked up at the unwelcoming sky and a raindrop fell upon his face.
"Young man, you are welcome to stay until the sky clears".
The granny proposed.
Another drop fell on the boy's face.
"Thanks for the offer, granny but—",
Another rumbling grudged across the sky.
Rain poured down in an instance, forcing both the boy and the old granny back inside the house.
The boy closed the door with a sigh.
It was clear just now,
he thought.
...
Standing at the corridor, he saw the old granny.
She stood there with her hands behind her.
Her wrinkly hands holding a letter behind her.
"Come in now , no need to make my old bones wait any longer ", the granny spoke with her feeble voice.
Slipping onto the wooden floor, the boy placed his shoes down.
Although, as he looked down, his feet had already covered the floor with water.
"Oh. There is nothing to worry about . Time has already taken its toll with this house, year after year. I doubt a few drops would be of any issue".
The granny swayed around and invited the boy inside.
Still the boy clicked his tongue, he was not well off with the water under his steps.
He followed the granny, trying to wipe the water with his every step.
Slowly walking behind the old granny, the boy began to see a work of colours around him.
The walls, the sliding doors, they all were painted down like a never-ending canvas.
Staring at them, he couldn't quite say what they were.
The old granny spoke,
"Young man, What is your name?".
She had her wrinkly hands behind her, holding the letter.
The boy took his eyes off his sides and replied,
"It's Ryu, Ryu Agamichi".
The old granny lightly nodded.
"Irresistible, aren't they?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, yes. They are...interesting..."
Then his steps halted in front of one specific painting.
"Are these some sort of stories...ma'am?", he asked.
The old granny chuckled.
"Ma'am? Oh my, hearing that truly takes me back to my youth. But then again, we should always keep our wits in the present."
She stepped beside Ryu.
"Ahem...Yes. This marvelous handiwork does tell a tale, a tale not many would listen to".
Hearing the words, Ryu stared deeper into the frame.
The granny took her step toward the painting.
"It's the tale of an Oni...a king you can say, and how he lost his life".
"It is believed that this tale often brings misfortune to those who know it".
With that, Ryu himself stepped closer.
"Though I believe youths, such as yourself, do not believe in those things".
At the beginning of the frame, he could see a foul creature with innumerable eyes and an enormous body.
"Though I believe it was unfair on how he was lost his life, outnumbered as the tale goes, the world is an unfair place—For humans and other creatures alike".
The old granny again lifted her hand from the edge of the frame.
She stepped away slowly.
Ryu saw the body of the delirious Oni—without it's head.
Another figure was there. An armored samurai with his blade, and beside the figure lay a head with innumerable eyes.
The granny again walked down the corridor.
Ryu followed her, but his thoughts still stood there.
A King?...
...Outnumbered?
The old granny finally slid open a door.
It was a bathroom.
"Here, do dry up as well, there are towels inside the cupboard".
Ryu slightly leaned and said,
"Thanks , granny".
The granny stepped aside and left.
"I'll be off making something for you to eat, find me at the last room from here, young Ryu".
"No it's alrig–",the old granny was gone.
Ryu stood there silently.
He placed down his bag and hooked his jacket.
Washing his arms and legs, he stood by the sink mirror.
Slightly cracked.
He raised his face and wiped it with a towel, and something crackled.
Blinking several times as he rubbed the towel on his face.
Still he stood there looking at the mirror.
It still showed his reflection—but red.
...Strange...but...
"the granny did say the house was old...",
Ryu hooked the towel and took his belongings, leaving the bathroom.
As the door slid closed he turned to his right.
His hand pulled open one of the door.
The room was empty. Only a lantern on the ceiling.
With a doubt bubbling in his mind, he closed it and begin walking down the corridor.
A corridor he felt was too long.
The house is seemed smaller...
His eyes fell on another art on the doors walls beside him.
One which had a figure in black robes, holding a strange looking axe-like thing.
It stood on a cliff with it's peculiar weapon and on his right were three other figure.
The three charging towards the lone one.
Ryu's eyes focused on one of the three figure on the right.
Are those Kami—
It held a blackish sword, yielded against the figure in black robes.
His muscular hand showing a strong grip on the blade.
"Young Ryu?".
The voice of the gold granny called out.
Ryu turned to his side to found the old granny standing.
"Ah sorry, it's just that these arts are really something. Really eye-catching ".
Ryu followed in and found himself in a room with a fireplace at the middle.
He saw servings of rice and soup beside the fire.
"Sit, young one. Make yourself comfortable".
The granny spoke and sat beside the fire.
Ryu walked in and sat at the opposite of the old granny.
"Thank you for the food!", Ryu called out and helped himself down the rice and soup.
In with a few bites, he spoke again,
"It's good, Granny"
Meanwhile, the old granny fed the fire more sticks.
Above the fireplace slowly whistled a kettle. Steam pushing out of it.
Under the gleaming light of the flames, the granny took a look at her letter. The envelope itself was a yellowish paper with a reddish seal. The seal having a subtle sign.
My friend, it seems the years weren't too kind on you...
The granny gave a silent chuckle and pulled off the seal.
A white paper slid out in her hands.
She held the paper in the light of the fire.
Her eyes narrowed to read the paper but she sighed and placed down the letter.
Ryu finished the rice and soup before him and looked at the old granny. She steadily took down the kettle over the fire and placed out 3 cups.
Her hands though wrinkly and pale, showed great stillness while pouring the tea.
Not letting a single drop straining from the cups.
"A third cup? why granny? is there someone else living with you?", Ryu asked.
The old granny passed a cup of tea to the young Ryu.
With a smile on her face, she spoke,
"No, not really. Though yes, I was expecting a friend".
Ryu took a sip for him tea.
His eyes glowed up in the light of the flames.
"hmm, it's some good tea, granny. What exactly is it?", he said.
The old granny nodded at Ryu while taking a sip herself.
"It's the kind that emperors of these lands preferred".
Mateo listened while sipping more.
"Although, these were gifts from an old friend of mine. He believes selling it will make it bitter".
A few minutes passed by as it was.
In the silence, Ryu could hear the crackling of the fire and if not that, his ears ringed with the hurdling of the storm outside.
Another sip from his tea.
Ryu looked down on the fire as the old granny brought him pillow and blankets from the other room.
"It's ok,granny. I'll take care of it, you rest out".
Ryu took the pillow and blankets from her hands and made himself a comfortable bed beside the fire place.
As the old granny sat down, she pulled out the white letter from her sleeves,
"Before you sleep, young Ryu, could you trouble yourself to read this for me?".
"Of course, granny".
Ryu nodded and eagerly took the letter from her.
He unfolded the paper and ran his eyes through the words, speaking simultaneously.
"My dearest comrade, it is with great fortune that I write this to you for what we dreamed of has finally begun it's course, I plan to have us meet soon, with best regards from...",Ryu stopped at the middle. He re-read the whole letter.
Flipped it over twice and spoke, "uhhh, granny? it doesn't says who it's from".
The old granny stopped pouring the tea in the third cup.
Ryu looked at her steady hands when darkness blew up around his eyes.
The lights went out.
The light of the flames lit the room warmly.
"The storm, must have taken a toll on the wires", she placed down the kettle on the fireplace.
"And no name you say? hmm, it is quite strange, no?".
Ryu returned the letter.
His eyes still watching the third cup, half filled.
A silence passed.
The storm could be heard outside, rumbling.
Yet inside the house, it sounded rather dull.
In a moment, the old granny opened her mouth.
"Tell me young Ryu, do you like stories? you sure seemed fascinated when you saw those paintings".
Ryu nodded.
"Yes, granny. I like stories, a lot-lot. Even at home, I also tell stories to my younger brother and sisters. They usually like the ones you have here, one with the kamis and yokais", Ryu made his way inside the blankets. "Though I don't know why they prefer to hear yokai stories more often, they get scared most of the time but they still insist".
The old granny fed the fire more sticks.
"I see, I see", she gave a faint smile visible under the orange light. "Then would you like to hear a story that this old lady fascinates? It has no Kami but it does have an Oni".
Ryu nodded.
"Sure, granny."
The old granny placed the kettle back on the fire and spoke, "Tell me Ryu, do you believe in fate?".
"No, not much but my elder brother on the other hand is much more reserved", Ryu replied.
"hmmm, perhaps your view may change after hearing this tale".
The old granny said and sat back at her place, Ryu nodded lightly.
"The tale begins when..."
∅————————————————∅
Wind glided over the newly grown crops, as green as ever. It could be seen shining even from miles away.
Among the green fields stood a figure.
A man having his hands touching the crops.
All day would he work at the fields and when sun begins to drown, he would forage the gifts of the forest and return home.
At home, the first one to greet him was none other than his life partner.
His wife came with a smile.
Then came running two small figures, one a small boy and another was a girl slightly taller.
They would pull the man with them to play until the dinner would be out hot.
Slumbering in the silence of the forest.
Away from everyone and everything.The only neighbours they had was the nature itself.
The father would say,
"Freedom at will is much more priceless than the life of a townsfolk who are bound to the laws set by the men".
He would tell the children countless stories, teaching them what freedom is to his children.
Then a word made it's way in the ears of the father of the family.
A war raging on among the clans in the name of power, control and order.
The father worried, not for himself but for his family and that's when his fear came to him as a reality.
Their field of crops begin to standout as the battlefield of the war.
Battle after Battle.
Blood was shed, lives were lost and peace overthrown.
The crops withered away and crushed down, leaving nothing but scraps.
The father knew of the future that was to arrive.
With the thought of his family, he embarked towards the town in search for work.
Days passed and they turned into weeks but no message from the father came.
The mother grew restless , collecting anything from the forest to keep the family fed—at some unfortunate days, at least the children.
One evening, the mother came home from foraging.
She saw an unfamiliar horse outside their house. With an unsure heart, she entered her home.
Inside she found a samurai sitting and eating rice balls with her children.
The samurai's katana beside him.
Before the mother can speak, the silent samurai handed over a letter to her.
To the mother, the writing seemed familiar.
It was from his husband.
She read the letter and found out the untold story of his husband.
My dearest, I'm terribly sorry i couldn't write anytime soon for I had matters in my hands that I had to attend but now is the time. I have found a stable work at the Tairo Clans's horse stable. I can now provide for us and hope we'll be moving to the town soon. It might come as a surprise but it seems they came a liking for my rough hands in the horse stable.
The mother was first reluctant with the decision of moving to the town for she knew her husband.
The husband who always gave off his worst expressions when it comes to talk about the shogun. Yet still, the mother hugged her children and that night , they feasted on the rice brought by the samurai.
With a full belly they went to sleep with under a peaceful state of mind.
When the moon raised it's glow, the little boy of the family woke up. His eyes searching for his mother and sister.
They were nowhere to be found.
The boy panicked and heard voices coming from the outside.
He saw a light coming through a hole on the door.
His hands reached for the door and pull it opened.
For a second, the bright light blinded him.
When his eyes adjusted, he saw his mother and sister.
Being held down by several men.
One of the men spotted him and walked towards him. The man's hand reached out to the boy.
"Leave him, he wasn't in our contract",
A voice echoed from behind.
The samurai walked out of the darkness and stood in front of the boy.
The man retracted his arm and left.
The boy's eyes fell on his mother crying, his legs began trembling but he still took a step towards her.
The mother struggled and pushed back the men with all her force.
But it was one against many.
The men holding her robes teared them apart and pulled her down from the hair.
The boy took another step forward but a katana came in front of him.
The samurai had his blade unsheathed.
The older sister looked at the scene and troubled to get free but the men pinned her down. She still struggled until he saw a the samurai pushing his brother back with his blade.
She bit off the hands pinning her down. She jumped to her brother and held his hand.
Turning around, she saw the watery eyes of her mother.
Her clothes all tattered.
Her eyes glimmered in the light of flames around them.
....Run....
The daughter turned around, dragging her brother along—she ran as fast as she could.
The samurai stood there silent like a statue.
One of the men came to him and spoke out,
"You are a fool and they knew that".
The samurai stood there expressionless.
He sheathed his katana and sat down on the spot.
The girl and boy made their way though the forest,
and the men followed with torches.
Moving swiftly among the forest where they used to play, the kids out ran the men and their torches.
They stood in front of a stream.
The sister looked in the darkness and saw a tree stumbled down over the stream. The moon shone brightly upon it.
She held the hand of her brother and rushed towards it.
She stepped on the tree.
Withered as it was, she saw holes in it too.
Before she can decide, she heard the voices of the men chasing them.
Her hands moved on their own and she lifted his brother on the tree bridge.
She stepped upon the tree but with a crackling sound, she stepped down.
The boy looked at his sister.
"Go", she said with a smile.
"I'm right behind".
The brother balanced himself and walked the steps. Upon reaching the middle of the tree, he heard voices.
He turned around.
His sister stepped on the tree and took a step forward when a man lunged from the darkness and pulled her back.
The boy tried to take a step when he heard another crackling.
He froze for a second but then jumped towards his sister.
The withered tree teared up in the middle and the boy fell in the stream.
With his drowning vision, he tried to swim back but it was futile.
Water filled his breath. His eyes went blurry and soon he lost himself. Being swept away by the stream.
The last thing he saw was the face of his sister being smacked down on the ground.
The stream flowed, not changing it's course.
The body of the boy flowed with it, no resistance, no movement.
The stream finally died and the boy was swept away by a shore.
His eyes covered in sand and water.
He tried to rub them off and his eyes met a blinding light.
Rather Ominous.
His eyes adjusted and saw a raging flame.
A flame bore town.
The whole town was up in flames, giving a scorching view across the plains.
The boy stood up.
His knees flinched slightly. He could still feel a sting around his knee, but still he made his way towards the town.
The boy stepped between the streets.
The streets lit up with flames and paved with ashes.
Among the ashes lay several bodies.
Corpses.
Big or small, fully burnt or half.
Adults or children.
The boy turned from the view and kept his speed towards the street.
His steps leaving behind a conspicuous red trail.
Hundreds of people he crossed,
None were breathing.
Hundreds of houses he walked by,
None still standing.
Finally the boy stood in front of a humongous tree.
Several threads with paper on them swirled around the tree and knitted down on the ground.
His eyes stood in the shadow of the tree.
What his eyes saw made his eyes frozen.
Things hanged on the tree.
Heads.
He looked as he saw one very familiar face.
...Father..
His steps moved away.
The wind whistled away and the heads turned.
Stepping back on the headless bodies, the little boy saw the hollow gazes.
It's as though they stared at him.
He looked away from the hanging remains of his father.
Something snapped.
His feet trembled.
The lovely face of his father rolled down on the ground.
It rolled right ahead of him, in the heap of headless bodies.
Lying on the floor of bodies, his eyes looked up to heads of many he didn't know. Hanging motionless—Yet it seemed every single one resembled his father.
He looked no different from the bodies.
Covered in red, a bleeding knee.
An empty face with tears of red.
Then he heard something apart from the crackling of the flames.
He still lay motionless.
...Mother...big sister...
Words ran through his heads when he heard a voice calling out,
"Little one".
The clouds panicked in the sky and hid the moon.
The flames around the town dimmed.
A cold breeze blew up.
Even startling the tree itself.
The voice called out again,
"Tired, are you? ".
The boy lay silent, not moving a muscle.
Motionless as he seemed, his breathing was still steady.
The wind blew up in a roar, shaking the flames.
Then the boy heard a soft voice,
"Little brother?".
The boy had his ears stood up.
His body straightened and he saw a figure among the smoke.
A strange figure holding a staff with lanterns stood there.
Though what the boy focused on was not that mysterious figure, it was a silhouette behind it.
The silhouette quite familiar.
....big sister???...
"What are you doing in there? Come here already, that place looks very nasty", the echoing voice of his older sister ringed sharply in his ear.
He stood on his legs.
The knee still wounded and slightly bleeding.
The silhouette of his sister called upon him with her hands.
The mysterious figure lifted it's head.
Light of the lanterns fell on the face.
It wore a half-Oni mask.
A Menpo.
The boy took a step forward.
Lanterns flickered lightly.
Another step.
The flickering fastened.
The boy finally stood right in front of the figure.
"Look at you, all muddy an–when did you get that??", the silhouette leaned down and wrapped a cloth around the boy's knee.
"We should find mother and get it cleaned".
The boy stood with disbelief when his sister rubbed off the blood on his face.
That's when the figure could be seen opening it's mouth,
"So say, little one. Do you have a wish for this?".
Drowning in his thoughts he heard another voice.
"My! Why are you like that? where have you been?".
"Don't be so dramatic, he's still standing alright you see? Our son is not one of the weak ones!".
The boy turned around.
He saw two more silhouettes.
His mother and father stood there.
The mother rushed to him and kneeled down, checking the wound on his knee.
...Mother...Father...
"Quick now, the time ticks on".
The silhouettes began to vanish when the Menpo-figure's words reached out.
He looked over his shoulder.
The Menpo-figure had it's hand reached out.
It's palm and fingers open.
The boy stood silently.
His eyes locked on the blackish hand.
Without a second thought, he forwarded his hand.
The lanterns lit up and a dark apparition flew out of it.
It encircled the boy like a smoke and whispering were heard.
Death.
Life.
Bound.
Rejuvenate.
Underneath the mask, it grinned.
With silent steps it turned around as he walked away.
The shadowy apparitions swirled up like a storm around the boy.
...Another chance...
...Another tale...
∅————————————————∅
"...And people that boy become an Oni later on who devoured many people until it mysteriously disappeared one day ", the granny finished and fed the fire more sticks.
Ryu lay there with wide eyes as he asked,
"It was nice to hear that story, granny, it was just like a fairy tale".
The old granny chuckled.
"Yes, yes, It seems you were listening after all. I had expected you would fall asleep hearing an old hag speaking such an old story".
Ryu looked up in the ceiling.
The dark ceiling with shadows created on them from the fire.
"Nonsense? No, it isn't, although it's unclear who that strange figure was and also what was really the motto of that samurai".
The old granny smiled.
"Really? I'm grateful to hear that. Yes, there is still some mystery to be discovered here but maybe it's the mystery that fuels this story, no?", she said.
"I'm most certain my siblings will like this, granny".
The old granny stood with a smile.
The old granny held her letter and started picking the cups.
"Now, young Ryu. You should sleep, you have to leave early tomorrow".
Ryu nodded and turned to the other side.
"Good night, granny".
She took the cups.
Until she stopped.
The third with only half the tea slightly shook.
It shook violently and the tea vanished.
The granny opened her letter without a second.
The paper was normal.
Though the letters weren't.
They vanished in the paper and new words begin to float up in the blank spaces.
"It seems your guest liked my story, Ibaraki"
The flames flickered as she read this.
Outside, the storm raged even more.
The flames extinguished and darkness engulfed the room.
The old granny smiled in the darkness.
Or she smiled at the darkness.