Curiously, the Usagigen sniffed the weird flotsam. Was he still alive? How weird he looked. What was this strange colored hair? And this weird mask on it's hat. Was it alife? Should he poke it?
Slowly the Usagigen bend over the weird creatures face. Was that a human? No, it had weird legs and wings. Maybe it was a chicken? No a chickenman. Yes, deffinetly a chickenman.
Suddenly, Uchiwaka opened his eyes wide. For a moment, he had to blink, as to avoid confusion. When he noticed there really was a gigantic anthromorphic rabbit bend over his face, he couln'td help himself but to rise up too aprubtly, crashing his forehead against the weird rabbit-man.
"Ouch..."
The rabbit-man jumped away in suprise, hidding itself behind a batch of bamboo that was growing at the beach, but never letting an eye of him.
Meanwhile, Uchiwaka looked around to understand the situation. He was, appearantly, on a rocky beach. Thoughtfully, he ran his fingers over the pebbles.
"Hmm, I must have lost consciousness when this snake crashed my boat..."
Still a bit groggy, he raised unto his tired feed and shook the water hout of his hair, then dusted himself off. His limbs felt like he had been run over by a chariot while he was sleeping, must be a result of the rocky ground he had been sleeping on. Emptying water from his flute, he could see the rabbit-man was still staring at him. A rabbit as tall as a man, standing on two legs, wearing what appeared to be a smoking. It's bright red, pupil-less eyes were directly aimed at him, focusing on him like he was a big carrot. Silently Uchiwaka thanked his god that he was not born a vegetable.
"Well, here goes nothing", he silently said to himself. "Good morning. Can you tell me where I am?"
The rabbit stood still.
"I asked if you can tell me where I am."
The rabbit moved it's ears a bit.
Uchiwaka let out a deep sigh. Stranded on an island with a rabbit that is wearing a suit but that can not speak. Wonderful. A little frustrated, he let himself fall back into the pebbles and stared at the sky. Stranded again. There somehow was a re-occuring theme. He should ask Tomoshibi about it the next time they met.
Suddenly, the face of the rabbit appeaed right in front of him again.
"GAH!"
The rabbit jumped back a bit again.
"Don't...just...appear in front of me like this. You are creeping me out..."
The rabbit-man, unphased by Uchiwaka's statement, made beckoning gesture towards him. Seems like it was at least a bit able to understand him. Smiling to himself, Uchiwaka rose up again and followed the white rabbit. If he ever told this to anyone, no one would believe him. Well believe
him maybe, but if anyone else told such a story, he would be laughed at.
The rabbit-man hopped in front of him, over a narrow path through a very thick bamboo forest. Some of it was incredibly thick, a proof of the old age of this forest. Uchiwaka could not help himself but notice that the path was layed out with flint plates. There might be someone living here afterall. Hopefully not more rabbits...
The longer they walked through the bamboo, the thicker the logs became, until almost no light was able to pass through. A green twilight, a tunnel through an ocean of spears, and Uchiwaka's only guide was a white rabbit. He felt faintly reminded of an old fairytale, but dismissed the thought, as the rabbit did not seem to be in a hurry or anything.
After what appeared to be an eternity, they came to a clearing. In a perfectly round shape, the bamboo had been removed to make place for several small ricefields, and a few small houses. Several dozen of these rabbit-man could be seen working on the field, or pouding rice to a paste. Bewildered, Uchi wandered through this small village. This place had a certain air about it, calm and relaxing, and yet so unfamiliar. Everything, and literaly everything in this place was either made of bamboo or silk. The dozen of rabbit-men that were working on the field, all of them were wearing the same identical smoking, white fur, bright red eyes, following his every step. None of them stopped working, but none of them stopped staring at him either. A cold shiver went down his spine. What a place he had landed in...
The rabbit lead him to the biggest house in the village. Like everything, it was built of bamboo, but the worksmanship was much more deliberate on this one. A windchime was hanging over the porch, and a heavy smell of flower-oils and burned sage was hovering through the air. The rabbit knocked.
A deep, smokey voice, like a slowly running river answered from inside.
"Is that you Inaba*? Are you back from checking the beach for flotsom?"
With a creak, the door opened.
"So did you find any interes..."
The voice stopped midsentence as her eyes fell on the strange guest. In the door stood a tall woman, maybe around 30, likely a bit younger. Her skin was pale yes, almost white as snow, and perfectly smooth. Her absurdly long hair was black and straight, and almost reached to her knees. Her eyes were of a soft orange-brown, like amber, and her lips red and smooth. The small finger and the ringfinger of her slender hands had sheats of gold drapped around her fingernails, a sign of nobility, and that she did not follow any physical work. Her clothing was of a faint red, that gradually grew darker the deeper it went. It has hard to judge her figure under clothes that were this wide. Drapped around a strand of her hair was a small snake made of gold.
After a short silence, she started to speak again.
"Oh my, a rare guest. Good work Inaba, you can go and help the others on the field. And
you, please come in. I was just preparing some tea."
With a flowing movement, she hushed back into the house, her feet making no sound at all as the touched the ground. Uchiwaka was not sure wether he should follow or not, but soon caught himself and entered. She had afterall invited him.
The green bamboo walls inside were mixed with the flickering orange light of many oillamps, creating a spooky athmosphere. The house was a lot smaller than it seemed from the outside. The strange woman was standing next to a table, filling small cups with tea.
"My name is Kaguya Taketori Madake. I am the lady of this village, Eientei. I welcome you in my house."
Uchiwaka nodded and took a seat.
"I am called Uchiwaka. Pardon the intrusion, I had a little accident out on sea and landed here."
"Hahaha! Yeah, that is a way to describe it as well."
Kaguya's laugh was high pitched. It was suprising and unfit to her generaly deep and smokey voice.
"The "accident" you have run into is called Uranijii. Uranijii, the snake of Shiretoki, is an ancient spirit that haunts this sea. Some people refer to it as a guardian. I prefer to refer to it as a bane. As long as this serpernt is around, no one will be able to leave this sea, neither by ship, over the air, or through magical means. Please, have some tea."
Uchiwaka, who had forgotten about his cup took a short sip. He shuddered, but forced himself to swallow anyway. This tea was much, much to bitter. He prefered the sweet tea of tenrai minzoku by far.
"What do you mean no one can leave this sea? I would deffinetly appreciate your hospitality, but I can't stay here forever."
Kaguya smirked.
"Don't worry, maybe, if you wait long enough, Uranijii might die of old age and you can safely cross the ocean. But until then
you are here. And don't try the same as my last guests 117 years ago and just sail out to see if you can make it. Company on that island is rare, and it would be a shame if you died such a meaningless death."
Uchiwaka ignored the remark about the last guests staying here 117 years ago, and took another sip of the tea. He forgot that he didn't like it and shuddered again.
"Well, fine then, at least until I can figure something out, there is no harm in staying here. My muscles are all stiff anyway and a bed would be just the right thing now. Where can I sleep?"
Kaguya slowly rose up from her chair and began walking through the room, seemingly aimlessly.
"Oh, since it has been so long since the last time we had a guest, there is no bed prepared for you here...
Slowly, she came closer to him, and almost whispered into his ear.
"But of course, you could just stay in my bed."
Uchiwaka's face turned crimson. he had certainly not expected that. H..how was he suppoed to answer that?
"Hahahaha!" came the high pitched laugh again. "Look at you. I was just joking and you are going to die of a hearthattack already. INABA!"
From upstairs, another rabbit in a suit came down.
"We will be having a guest. Please prepare the futon in the guest room."
Obediently, the rabbit bowed and hurried upstairs again. Seeing an opportunity to change the topic, Uchiwaka spoke up.
"Wait, are they both called Inaba?"
"They are
all called Inaba. They are the Usagigen, servants that I created through magic. They all look the same, think the same and have no trace of personality. It is more convenient to just call them all Inaba, instead of trying to add names to faces that are impossible to recognize anyway."
"Huh"
Uchiwaka nodded to himself and took another sip of the tea. Again, he had forgotten how bitter it is and silently cursed to himself. An island with bitter tea, rabbit-men, this peculiar woman that was so hard to appraise, and lots and lots of bamboo. This was certainly going to be an interesting stay...
Author
Topic: Battle of the Gods IV (Read 70233 times)