Chapter 16: The Duelist and the Dragon

The journey back to Musashi’s cave was a simple one. Tatsu strolled with the human who claimed to be Miyamoto Musashi. To him, he didn’t know what the name indeed was or what it meant anyway. They both walked away from the wreckage of the dragon’s long fall to Earth. The goal was to reach back to the path that would lead them back to the cave where the older man lived.

“So I live in Japan ... this island filled with humans?” Tatsu asked.

“Yes and no,” Musashi replied. “You live on an island with human beings, but you live in a world that is filled with humans. This island is part of that world.”

“I saw or thought that I saw so much more as I fell from the heavens. I saw land to the west across this ... this large amount of water.”

“You saw the land known as China. Korea is north of here and the other islands that surround us.”

“I see,” Tatsu commented as they stepped over a branch. Their walk was getting them back to the walking path again.

“So good that I spotted you before the others did. Your presence would have spooked the monks.”

“Are they truly that afraid of me?”

“They wouldn’t be afraid necessarily. Dragons are both good and bad to us. They are a symbol of strength and power to us. They are protectors to us, but there are some stories of them going after us humans. I fear that other places around the world may not look at dragons with the same respect as we do.”

“Are you afraid of me?” asked Tatsu as he looked beside the old man.

“You do not appear as a threat. If anything, you seem more lost than anything else.”

“And you want to help me?”

“Treat guests with respect. Guests help avoid having to use the sword against them. Guests mean less bloodshed. I would rather have you as a friend than a foe.”

They reached the pathway as Musashi pointed the way to his cave and home with his cane. Tatsu nodded his head as he looked at the older man. He then looked at the dirt and stony path ahead of him.

“You want me to be your friend?” Tatsu asked.

“I don’t want you to be my enemy,” he replied back to him. “Let me say that you seem to be a person that I can call a friend in the future.”

There was a pause in Tatsu’s thinking. He eventually nodded to Musashi. “I thank you for letting me recover here. If only my memories will return.”

“Your memories will return. I only hope you still consider me as the type that is your friend after it eventually happens.”

“You seem harmless for a human,” Tatsu noted. “Besides, I will not forget your hospitality. I just wish I could remember more right now.”

They walked for a minute as they reached near the halfway point that led to the mouth of the cave entrance. They reached a torii gate. The large wooden gate was an archway that drew Tatsu’s attention as they almost walked underneath it. Musashi stopped and gestured Tatsu to do the same.

“What is it?” he asked the old man.

“This is a torii gate. I want you to do what I do,” as he stepped forward to the gate. Musashi put his hands together and made a slight bow as he walked underneath the gate.

Tatsu followed the route carefully, doing the same actions. He paused at the entrance and bowed his head and put his hands together. After completing the effort, he proceeded to walk through the gate.

“These gates are found everywhere in Japan,” Musashi commented. “They are the entrance of Japan itself and everything that is sacred.”

“Sacred? ... Religion...” Tatsu paused. “The humans of Japan worship their land?”

“Yes. It is more than that, though. Far more than that ... Japan is like heaven. In many ways, you falling here is very much like falling to a place of beauty and wonder. I am happy to call this place home. You are fortunate to be here, great dragon.”

There was some semblance in Tatsu’s eyes as he thought about Musashi’s words. This did seem to be a pretty environment. The natural green from the plants and trees seem to radiate to him. There was the sound of peace and relaxation. There was more sound here than the sound of nothing and darkness as he flew back to Earth from whatever that occurred to him.

“I will keep that in mind,” Tatsu said.

They reached the entrance to the cave as Musashi’s cane struck the stone path. “Welcome to my home Tatsu. You are free to live here as long as you leave me to rest. I am getting older each day ... it is near my time in life where I must pass on.”

“Your hospitality is wonderful. I wish there were some way to repay you for your kindness.”

Musashi waved his hand to him almost to gesture him to relax and not worry about it. He smacked his cane to the stone path as he stepped forward and walked to the steps that led to the cave entrance. Tatsu followed him close behind. As he reached the stairs and lifted his legs Tatsu could feel pain in his back and legs. He cringed in pain.

“Ah... , “ he breathed hard. Tatsu himself threw his hand to the injuries he had sustained from whatever had occurred to him.

“I understand your pain dragon,” Musashi commented without looking back at Tatsu. He could hear Tatsu cringing behind him. “My body seems to do nothing but hurt now. It is the price of aging and surviving.”

“I will be alright,” Tatsu said.

It seemed like a struggle for both as they reached the mouth of the cave. As they walked into the cave, Tatsu noticed as the light began to dim further and further as they continued. Their eyes readjusted as Tatsu looked at Musashi as he took a small burning candle and lit a few candles in the room to provide some illumination to the area.

The room was simple consisting of a single bed, a couple of cabinets for clothing, a makeshift stove, a table and desk-like structure by one of the cabinets, a small near-flat table by the bed, a series of statues and areas where wax candles could be strewn about. There was a prayer mat not far from the table. There were a series of scrolls on the desk, like furniture that Tatsu could not recognize. In one corner of the cave, there was a large rack of various looking ordinary and wooden mock-up swords. The cave itself was quite spacious. The floor was hard stone, but there were soft mats to walk on.

“You may relax here and tend to your wounds,” Musashi stated as he took his sandals off by the bed. Tatsu watched as he put his walking cane down by the bed and rested on his back on the makeshift resting place. “When you get as old as I am, it seems like anything is hard now.”

Tatsu, in his human form, walked to the desk as he took a look at the scrolls. He reached his hand out, but the pain from his body stopped him. He looked at the corner of the room where he could rest his body. He felt tired, still hurt from the events. To him, it did not matter. There was no bed to sleep on. He needed more rest, and that was what he was going to do regardless. He walked over as he took his sandals off as they disappeared in a puff of smoke. He then bent down and rested his back to the stone wall. His back still hurt severely as he cringed a little bit. The area where his wing was typically at still bore through even in his human form. Musashi was already asleep as Tatsu’s eyes began to close. Worn out and sore, his sleep overtook him.

“We are almost there!” yelled a random male character. “We have to stop Cataclysm, or it will consume Earth and all life!”

“All are gone that went to attack it!” yelled a familiar voice. “The Nordic Gods are gone, the Greeks ... half of the Egyptian and Hindu deities are lost ... the Mayan, Asiatic, and Aztec have almost all been consumed by the creature. We must stall so that the crystal can...”

Tatsu’s eyes opened up as the voices of a distant dream woke him from his sleep. The cold stone behind him still pressed to his back. He tried to get a hold of his bearings as he looked around him. He could see some form of activity as he could see Musashi eat from a small bowl from his near-flat table. He was sitting down on the mats on the floor as he ate. He was reticent with all the sounds of eating, avoiding making even the slightest of any noise.

“Ugh...” Tatsu cringed again as Musashi did not bother to look into his direction. “How long have I been?...”

“Asleep?...” Musashi paused. “You have been out for over a full day.”

“Is that a long time?” Tatsu asked.

“Yes, it is, but it seems that your body is trying to heal itself. I took a look at you while you were unconscious to make sure you were not dead. I noticed a series of bruises on your back right side that is fading quickly these last few several hours the last time I checked. It looks like your body is mending the wounds quickly.”

“I suppose humans take longer to heal?” Tatsu asked.

“Yes ... but then again, I don’t know what is going on to give you a perfect answer.”

“I wish I had some grasp of time. How long was I asleep?”

“Only time will answer that question,” Musashi stated as he put his bowl down on the table.

“I had a ... dream or vision while I was asleep. I heard voices ... one of them was my voice, or at least I think it was.”

“The past you were dreaming about,” Musashi turned to look at him from his table. He still sat cross-legged as he wiped some of the broth from his mustache. “It might be the beginning of you trying to put the pieces of your past before you landed by my doorstep.”

“I saw ... darkness ... stars ... I heard other people talking. I was voicing my opinion that we were going to lose a fight ... yet there was nothing we could do. If we stopped, then everyone would be dead.”

“You knew that you were going to fight a hopeless battle,” Musashi commented. “There is no such thing as a hopeless battle. There is always away.”

“Yet here I am,” Tatsu remarked as he looked down at the stone floor. “I fought and lost.”

“Hmmm ... no that is not the way to look at it,” Musashi calmly replied. “You are alive, and now you have the opportunity to analyze how you lost so you may win next time.”

“I will not regain my memories by sitting here,” Tatsu remarked. “I must do something.”

“Are you hungry?” Musashi asked lightly to him.

“Hungry? ... No I don’t feel hungry.”

Musashi scratched his chin. “Interesting ... You were gone for a day and didn’t need any food. No matter if you feel hungry, let me know.”

Tatsu stood up from the stone floor and observed everything that was in the room. Musashi went and resumed his eating as Tatsu stepped around him and walked up to the desk filled with scrolls. Musashi ignored Tatsu as he kept eating.

Tatsu’s eyes went to the desk as he put his hand to the scrolled paper. The moment his hand went and touched it, Musashi interrupted his thinking.

“Are you able to read it?” Musashi asked him.

Tatsu began to unroll the scroll as he began to read the handwriting. They depicted a series of stances and words on it. His eyes began to scan the writing thoroughly.

“The way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death,” Tatsu said as he read the paper. “I was thirteen when I struck down the strategist Tadashima Akiyama.”

“It looks like you can read after all,” Musashi remarked.

“Did you write this?” Tatsu asked him.

“Yes, I did. Not only that, but they are making many more copies of those writings as we speak. It is my last act before I pass away.”

Tatsu put the paper down on the desk without overthinking about the writings. Musashi watched as the man walked up to the rack, filled with various swords.

“These...” Tatsu remarked as he put his hand to the wooden blades. He felt a cringe on his body. “My skin ... agh...”

Musashi looked at Tatsu as the man put his hand to his skin. He looked like he was itching his skin hard.

“You might not be used to holding that form dragon,” Musashi commented. “You were doing that in your sleep at times. You were instinctively grabbing your skin and itching it.”

“It feels like I am wearing an additional ... whatever this is that I am wearing.”

“You started to exhibit those reactions about a day after you got here. It might be a limitation for you to hold that form. Nobody is here but myself. You may change back to your form, your original form, as I found you if you desire to.”

Without much hesitation from Tatsu, there was a small bright light that lit his form. Musashi closed his eyes as the cave lit up temporarily. When the light faded and he reopened his eyes, he was looking at the eight-foot dragon that he saw the day before. There was one big difference this time, however, and that was what Tatsu was wearing. He wore the same black kimono that his human form had. Was it just an appearance or something that was actually on him was anyone’s guess.

“I admit if that is going to be a regular thing, then I might ask you to leave,” Musashi commented. “However, at least you now know the sense of modesty.”

Tatsu looked at himself as he nodded at his appearance. He put his hands to his whiskers, feeling the long tendril go down his snout. He felt the scales with his hands. His tail whipped freely as his wings opened and closed.

He still felt some pain on his wing as he looked at it. The torn wing was mending nicely. The bleeding had stopped from the day before.

“I feel lighter now,” Tatsu remarked. “Maybe I can get better at this more and more as I keep using my human form.”

“Training is the key dragon,” Musashi remarked. “It is the key to everything.”

“Odd... , “ the dragon thought out loud. “I felt that I was in space for years like I was in and out of sleep. Only now have I been showing any signs of healing. I feel the pain of recovering.”

“I have no answers for that. Perhaps your body is finally ready to recover. Perhaps your spirit is ready to heal, perhaps you yourself want to get better, maybe it’s all the above.”

“Maybe you are right. I feel like my memories are starting to return slowly. I can’t remember all of it, but I have these ... feelings that come and go...”

Tatsu walked up to the rack as he put his scaly hands on the weapons. Musashi watched as the dragon picked up the curved wooden katana from the set of equipment.

“I remember...” Tatsu paused as he thought hard. “I ... remember something involving this.” He swung the wooden blade cutting the air with it.

Musashi watched him closely as the dragon began to do a series of slashing cuts in the air. He watched as the dragon tried to put both his hands on the grip. His hands being larger than humans, the blue scaly fingers barely had enough room to hold the entire grip. Once Tatsu succeeded, he began to do a series of swings with the wooden blade. He had enough room to do so.

Musashi was taking a cautious note on the swings the dragon was making. He watched as how he moved his leg muscles, the muscles on his arm, even how his tail would shift. The claws would carefully embed in the stone floor, trying to stop the sturdy weight of the towering dragon. Musashi watched it all. He started to shake his head as he felt disturbed, looking at Tatsu’s form.

“I do remember ... yes ... I remember having a blade that was like this,” Tatsu explained as he did a hard left swing with both hands on the grip. He heard the windbreak as the katana swung hard. “I fought with a sword-like this ... I could ... I could cut anything with it. I could fight like ten humans with this type of sword.”

“Hmmm ... I have a hard time believing that,” Musashi commented with a skeptical look. “You like to cut the air with that blade, but that is all you are doing is cutting the air with it. You are only reliving the event and not actually in combat.”

There was a sense of power that rushed through Tatsu’s mind as he kept swinging the sword. He started to feel invincible like he couldn’t be destroyed or killed. He felt unstoppable.

“Sloppy...” Musashi shook his head. “You are feeling nostalgia. I see the look in your eyes. That is what you are feeling is nostalgia.”

“I can’t lose, I never lose,” the dragon said as he swung downward as he lifted the sword up again. “I will never lose again. To whatever I fought! I won’t lose.”

Miyamoto Musashi shook his head. He put his bowl down and struggled to stand up. He grabbed the cane that was not far from him from his table. The dragon continued to swing the sword as if he was some proud samurai warrior.

Tatsu swung hard to the left and then to the right. There was a look of pure satisfaction from the dragon’s face. He was so concentrating on the sword that he was using that he virtually ignored the older man entirely.

Musashi took his cane as he quietly walked behind the dragon avoiding the tail that swung around behind Tatsu. He stepped to the side and moved to his left as Tatsu swung his sword to the left and saw Musashi at the last second. He jolted his body to a complete stop, narrowly hitting the individual square in the face by a mere centimeter. Musashi did not even move an inch as the dragon realized that he almost struck him by accident.