The Story of Ryujin

He sighed as he looked at his home. He needed to see Haru, though, as he shook his head and continued to walk into the center of the village. Tatsu saw the home of Noritaka. He came up and took his sandals off as he knocked on the door.

The door slid open to reveal the father as he smiled at Tatsu. Tatsu still wore his black kimono with the two swords connected to his front. It was a tradition to see him walking around the village. Even Kiyoshi seemed to welcome another armed figure in the area as if Tatsu himself was another protector of the village. The village's small size made it a speck of dust compared to other communities around the island. It was developing but only so slowly. There wasn't even a name for the place yet. It was merely just a tiny fishing village. Even Kumamato didn't seem to really bother with the place. It provided the rice and fish to the city, and that was all it needed or at least for the time being.

"Tatsu, I trust your trip east was fruitful as ever?" Noritaka addressed him.

"It was.......How are you?" he asked him.

"I am well. A little bit in pain from the digging yesterday, but my body is doing well."

"May I see your daughter?" Tatsu asked.

"I am here!.....," yelled a female voice from a distance inside the home.

Noritaka motioned Tatsu to enter. There was a smile on his face that was directed at the tall man in front of him.

As Tatsu entered the home, he could hear the sounds of someone getting up from the floor. He could hear the noise of a wooden pole slapping wood. The cane was making contact with the floor.

Tatsu was used to this by now. It was a struggle for her every day, but she was used to it by now. He swore to be with her as much as possible now through this new part of life.

She finally reached the open door entrance to her room. Dressed in her white kimono leaning on her cane, she slowly peaked through to see Tatsu watch her. There was a smile on her face.

"Father, it is alright," Haru told Noritaka. "You know what he will be by tomorrow. There is no shame having him here now."

Noritaka smiled and nodded. "Of course," he said as he left home to give them privacy.

"My father is worried that you being here will make an unhappy marriage for tomorrow," Haru told Tatsu as she shifted the cane and leaned on it hard.

The cane was holding her weight correctly. While it was still slippery on the wooden flooring, Haru was used to it by now. As long as she avoided jolting her weight and used it to help balance on her remaining leg, then that was all that mattered. She could stand relatively safely but do little else inside the house.

"This new cane you made me is better than the last one," she commented. "It holds my weight so much easier, and it fits around my armpit much more comfortably."

With her free hand, she gestured him to come to him. "Help me walk outside. I can walk outside so much easier now. I get tired of being inside this home all the time."

Tatsu walked up to her, and he bent his knees a little bit as she wrapped her arm to lean on him. With his hand, he wrapped it around her waist and lightly carried her as she hopped on one leg towards the door that led to outside.

"I think marrying you is the best decision on my part," Haru said as they reached the door. "I know that I want to have you before I am supposed to marry any other man."

"Even though I was the one that took your leg?" Tatsu asked.

They opened up the door as they stepped outside.

"I was doomed to die in that forest if no one found me," she replied. "The cost of a leg was worth it. Especially to the man who saved me. I know that it wasn't easy for you either."

"It wasn't, but if it meant you were living longer, then I would do it."

They stood outside as Haru let go of Tatsu and began to walk freely on her cane. Her body was fully situated on the cane, ideally as she began to take small steps. Her clothing covered up her missing leg well, but it was apparent that walking was difficult for her. She hobbled away from the home as they walked together down the path that led to the beach.

"Anything new when it comes to dreams?" she asked him.

Tatsu shook his head. "Still just fragmented memories. I sometimes get nightmares of a dark creature. It was massive......so massive that it could eat everything. I just don't know what it was."

She thought about it some more. "What about......family? Do you see anything dealing with family that you had?"

"You are worried again that I am previously married. I told you before if there was another woman that I was with, then I would have remembered her by now. That being said, though......"

There was a look of fear in her eyes as she staggered a little bit in her steps. The grassy path led to the beach sand as they walked to the nearby beach. The sound of the crashing waves was all but evident as he kept his thoughts out loud for her to hear.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I do see faint images of a woman though in my dreams. She looks nothing like you, but....she wasn't.....she wasn't my wife."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like.....the few children I see in the village....like she is someone close to me, but again she isn't a wife. It's when I keep seeing children playing in this village I get faint, blurry images of a child I am with. I just....."

"I know.....," she replied back. "I am just worried we will get married, and then suddenly, the real woman that you meant will come walking to this village. Then.....I will lose you."

"I assure you, I sense no previous wife. Nothing in my gut tells me that what we are doing is wrong."

Haru seemed to calm down a little bit as her cane supported her weight. The sand, however, was making things difficult to traverse.

"I can't walk on this beach sand," she complained. "How much I miss having my leg...."

She was unable to finish her sentence when the cane drove deep into the sand, and she lost her footing. Tatsu was quick as he caught her before she fell to the dirt.

"I got you.....I got you," he told her.

"Dah.....thank you, my....." she recomposed herself. Tatsu helped guide her to the grass away from the beach. "You almost had me calling you husband....that isn't till tomorrow," she said with a smile.

Tatsu himself smiled as he thought about it. "I am ready...."

"I know you are. I see it in your eyes."

Tatsu started to display some regret in his eyes as she turned her head to look at him as he let her walk again on her cane.

"I still feel pain down there.....my leg," she commented. "Even if it's gone, it's like it's still there. I even feel the urge to itch sometimes."

Tatsu sighed as he listened to her speak. She put her free hand to his face.

"I have you to thank for......you got me this cane and made new ones to fit me better. I can't appreciate what you did for me. You have spent so much time trying to take care and help me though. That I cannot forget."

Tatsu stayed quiet as he listened to her talk. He would nod his head as he kept walking.

"You know...." She continued. "I would walk down the beach as far as I could walk. Sometimes I would just pick a direction and just go. I walked for hours south along the beach. It was so nice. I would feel the sand beneath my toes. I worried my father sick I felt so bad.....it just felt so wonderful to be so close to the ocean, though."

"I felt the draw to the ocean as well," Tatsu replied, watching her walk and hobble with her cane. "I had the option to go east or west when I lost my memory. It felt like I should have headed west. That was what ultimately drove me to meet you in the first place."

"It would have been a horrible death if you had not found me. That path that you take, the villagers prefer the northeastern path. It is easier and quicker to Kumamoto than that path."

"Why didn't you take the other paths if you were trying to run away?"

"Because there would have been a less likely chance for pursuit in that direction.... Of course," Haru shrugged with her free arm. "It also meant that there was a less likely chance anyone would ever found me when I got hurt. Again thank you."

Haru would look at Tatsu and see his face look away as if something was troubling him. It was bothering her, and finally, it bugged her enough that she had to ask him.

"You have had that face as the day of our marriage nears...." She told him as she displayed worry. "Please don't tell me you are having second thoughts."

Tatsu stopped Haru by putting her hand to her shoulder. He breathed hard, and he started to display actual fear for the first time. "Haru....it isn't that. I want this marriage to go through; I truly do. It's just.....it's just."

"What is it?"

"I have had a little bit of time to study about.....mythology or beliefs of......Haru what if I told you that the myths were real?"

"What you mean?" she asked with confusion on her face.

"What if I told you that the deities exist?"

"I.....I have my beliefs Tatsu. I pray to Buddha....are you concerned about my beliefs?"

"Yes," Tatsu replied. "Because......," he swallowed hard.

"It's alright," as she put her free hand to his shoulder. "I lost a leg, but it won't scare me if you believe in something that I don't."

He put his hand to her shoulder as she rebalanced herself on her cane. He held it gently with her hand. "It isn't that, Haru. I am just worried I will lose you if I told you the truth."

She shook her head. "You should not worry. I owe you everything. I can't run away from you. I mean, look at me. Does it look like I want to have any other man?"

Tatsu smiled a little bit. He nodded as he decided it was time. "Haru.....I am not human."

Haru displayed more of a puzzled look on her face. "I don't understand."

"I am not human.....this is not really me that you are looking at. I never was human, to begin with."

"I....I still don't understand."

"Haru...." Tatsu tried to tell her. "Let us sit by the trees as we look at the ocean from the beach. Maybe it is better that way."

"Alright.....," she listened as they got back to walking. They started to travel to a nearby tree. The village was a fair distance from their vision. They could see one of the boats operated by one of the fishermen as he hunted the nearby fish by the village shore.

"Tatsu," she continued as they neared the tree. "You are trying to tell me that you are not human. Are you trying to tell that you are some spirit? If so, how....."

"No...no," he interrupted her as they got by the tree, and he helped her sit down on the soft grass. "I am not a spirit. I do know this.....I came falling down onto Kyushi high up in the sky. It was a long fall. That is my memories. I remember being up there far above the heavens as I came crashing down."

"That is......" there was skepticism in her voice. "I am having a hard time believing this."

Tatsu looked away as if he was not sure what to do. "The fact is....I never was human. I fell down to Earth, and I did not know what I was. I had no memory or knew what I was. What I did know is that I did not look like the others. I was not human. I had wings and a tail that you humans never had. Scales.....claws....whiskers....horns....there was nothing normal about me."

"Your name....," she thought. "It is an old name for dragon......are you trying to tell me that you are a dragon?"

He paused. "Yes...."

She seemed unconvinced in her voice. "I.....I don't know what to say about this....you have great strength, yes, but is there any way that you can prove to me that you are a dragon?"

"Yes, I can," he paused as he looked at the village. There was enough distance between him and the village that it would be safe enough to do it. "I apologize.....I am making sure that it is safe to transform back to my original form. Promise me that you will not.....lose your.....interest towards me because of all this."

She looked down and looked back at him. "You are serious about this? I have never heard you lie to me before. I believe you in what you say.....it's just, I grow up my whole life about hearing dragons or mythical creatures or spirits. I had to see them for myself to actually believe it. I.....need to see this Tatsu. I need to see what your true form is."

It was a risk. There was enough coverage from the foliage, and it was midday, so the brightness of his transformation would be way less noticeable. The fisherman was busy looking at the fish below, and even if he looked his way, it would be hard to decipher what he would be seeing. He had to do it.

"Alright...." He paused as he looked at her eyes. She sat by the tree as a bright light emitted from his body. Haru contorted her gaze away for a moment as she recoiled a little bit in shock.

In seconds the light faded as his body was no longer human but the scaled blue dragon that he was. He sat comfortably on the grass. His swords were still sheathed to his kimono as they rested comfortably to his chest. His dragon eyes looked at the woman he knew.

She was naturally surprised at first. She was at a loss of words and didn't say anything as she looked at him. He put his hand his tendril whiskers as he felt them in front of her.

"It......it's......amazing," she reacted. "I......give me a little bit of.....Tatsu....."

He would give her all the time for her to observe everything about him.

"I was worried that I would lose you.....," he told her. "I was scared of losing you if you knew the truth. I don't know how the Japanese would react to seeing such different creatures that we."

"Can you fly?" she asked him.

"Yes.....I should be able to. When I crashed onto the ground, I was badly injured. I couldn't fly if I wanted to. I don't want to alert the others in the village. Are you convinced enough that I can change back?"

"Of course....wait.....can I touch your hand before you do?"

He extended his hand to her as she reached out and touched his true form. Her soft hands touched the smooth scales that ran across the palm of his hand.

"There are no words to describe what I feel," she said as she released his hand. "Alright, change back."

She closed her eyes as the light emitted from his body. Within a second, the light faded as he was back to his human form.

"Does it hurt?.....when you change?" She asked.

"No, but I can't maintain the form forever. After a day, it begins to become painful being human. I have to change back, or I start to feel really sick."

"That makes sense on why you leave during the day and travel around. You get a chance to revert back. I wished that you told me this sooner."

"You are not afraid of who I am?"

"Why would I be afraid of you?" she asked with a smile. "If you wanted to hurt me, you would have done it long ago. You went and brought me back to the village and stopped a marriage that I didn't want," she began to chuckle a little bit. "Plus.....if you wanted to hurt me now, I can't exactly get up and run away now, would I? I would have to ask the dragon that made these wonderful canes for me to carry me back to safety."

There was almost a chuckle that came from Tatsu's voice that she noticed. There was a sense of relief that came from his voice.

"That weighed heavily on your mind, didn't it?" she asked. "You have been keeping that a secret from me this whole time......it was bothering you, wasn't it?"

He nodded his head.

"It is still a lot for me to bear I won't lie to you. We.....heard the legends of the dragons and what they do. You have little to be afraid of. I understand with the memory loss you have, but understand we don't necessarily look at you dragons as monsters. You are bringers of life and protectors to most of us. If anything......it only makes you more.....appealing."

"Appealing?" his eyebrow lifted.

"You poor dragon......to most of us, dragons are a symbol of strength and power. In certain times of the year, such as the year of the dragon, it is....looked highly to have children during that year."

"I haven't even considered children," he realized.

"Neither have I. We are getting into this marriage so fast even I haven't thought of it. What......do you think about it?"

"I......don't know....I know that I......or at least I feel that I had a child, so maybe we can have a child someday. Then again, I don't know if I can have a child with you or not since we are not exactly the same."

She looked at his body. "What about your human form? We would be more compatible."

"Yes, but I don't know if you can have a child or not even under those circumstances."

"Well.....," she shifted her head. "We will just have to figure that out for ourselves, won't we?"

"I guess so."

"Give me your hand...."

He extended his hand towards her as she took her hand and wrapped around his. She looked around the environment as she listened to the ocean waves from a distance.

"I know it is a rush for us to get married. I am thankful my father agreed to our marriage. He seemed to be agitated quickly when Kiyoshi lost the fight, and the marriage was ended. Once I told him that I would rather be with you, he warmed up to you even faster."

"Do you think we are rushing into this marriage too quickly? I don't have much to go off of in memories."

She shook her head. "It is fast....but it is a good decision. Again I don't want my father to try to find someone else for me that I won't like. What about you?"

"Something tells me this is the right thing. I have this feeling that......you humans only live so long. I was out there in the heavens for a long time. The more and more I think about it. I could have been out there for years, maybe a hundred years. If that were the case, then I would agree with this marriage happening."

He gripped her hand harder.

"You know," she paused. "Tomorrow, I will lose my virginity to you. In some ways, it will be the same for you."

"It is true now that you mention it. Without my memories, even that would be new."

"At least you have two forms.....just in case."

There was a small tiny chuckle from Tatsu as he thought about it. "Actually......that might not be true."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a dream where I went to that ocean there, and I shifted forms. The form that I had was not what you saw just now. I was bigger. Maybe it was just a dream, but it's possible I have many forms and have yet to discover it."

"Your attraction to the water again......you made the correct decision to be here." She scooted herself closer to him as she tried to rest by his lap. Her only leg curled up to her body as her stump rested on the grass. "I look forward to tomorrow. I look forward to becoming your wife."

"And I look forward to our marriage."

"Do you want to live in this village for as long as we live?"

"It is close to the ocean as it can. I have nowhere else to live but here."

They kept their hands held close as they looked at the ocean and thought about the future.

"I would like to see him....." Tatsu said. "The human man that found me over a month ago. I would like to see him tomorrow before I get married."

"The marriage is not until late tomorrow afternoon. Make sure you leave early tomorrow morning."

"That is what I will do."

"The man you are talking about. He was the one that gave you the two swords?"

"Yes," Tatsu nodded. "He is a great teacher. I have been working with him since he found me. I want to learn as much as he can teach me when it comes to his two sword fighting. It was how I defeated Kiyoshi so easily."

"A dragon that learns from us humans," Haru noted. "Another reason why I choose well in marrying you. You are not prideful; you are very open to your environment."

"Thank you," he said as he looked at the ocean.

Haru put her cane aside her as she rested her head on Tatsu's lap. His hand naturally went to her head as she lay comfortably.