Wolf and Keeper

Chapter 5: The Nature of Demons

When Sen awoke the following morning, he found Hashi already gone and his two Buddhist companions still fast asleep. The sun had barely begun to color the sky as he stretched and relished in the popping of his stiff joints. He pushed himself to his feet and began to dress, careful to make as little noise as possible before he slipped quietly out of the inn. As he made his way to the entryway, he relished in the silence as none of the patrons stirred and the workers remained fast asleep. It was far before the time when most normal people would begin waking up anyway. He managed to slip outside and stretched as he did, catching the eye of an old woman who had also woken up. She gestured down to the river, and when he followed her finger, he saw Hashi sitting happily in the river bathing himself. Sen nodded a thank you and made his way down to his friend.

The morning air was cool but not cold, and there was a steady, subtle heat that he knew was going to build as the day wore on. He heard birds singing in the distance and realized that he had been away from Ebume the longest he had ever been. He still wasn't completely used to that yet, but he had to admit that there was a steadily growing feeling of complete freedom the longer he was gone. Accompanied by Hashi, he felt like he had the entire world at his back.

He made it to where his friend was bathing and sat down beside him with a sigh, "Nice morning."

Hashi grunted with a nod and looked up at Sen with a gesture to the river.

"How's the water?"

Hashi made a small rubbing motion on one arm before he shook his head. Not cold.

Sen shrugged and stripped down to nothing but his fundoshi before sliding into the water beside Hashi. His friend was right in that respect. The water was oddly mild all things considered. He knew that at about midday it would be a gift from the kami, however. He could already feel the heat creeping through the cool morning air as the sun painted the horizon a lovely yellow as it rose. Sen dipped under the water and looked around, eager to see what he could pull up from the riverbed dropped by unsuspecting travelers. Kawataro had taught him that trick, and around Ebume he had found all sorts of trinkets and odds and ends that he had managed to give out to passing merchants for a decent amount of coin to keep Hashi-ji in a state of mild repair. Now, in a place with more foot traffic, he hoped he could find something even more interesting. His eyes eventually found something nestled between two rocks. He plucked up a leather pouch and resurfaced, pushing his hair aside from his eyes to hold up the pouch for Hashi to see. The broken cords of the old coin purse told an unfortunate tale, and he set it up on the bank.

"Hopefully the person is still here. That's a hefty sack of coins," Sen spoke as he began to scrub himself down. It felt good to be able to finally bathe after so long on the road. Finding safe places with good water for bathing was hard enough. "What do you think?" Sen asked as he smoothed his long hair back away from his face with both hands.

He asked just as Hashi submerged himself entirely underwater. He waited for a moment before he sat back up with a snort and a snuffle as he shook himself like a dog, prompting a laugh from Sen who feebly held up a hand to keep the water from his face. Hashi was... built differently. His neck was long and covered down his back with a mane of black hair. Two horns protruded from his forehead above either eye, his ears were pointed and small, his eyes large and yellow despite the twinkle of humanity inside of them, and his human-shaped mouth had four long fangs which sat outside of it. His skin was pallid, his limbs long and gangly almost like he was meant to walk on all fours rather than on two legs, and when he walked his neck craned forward. Most of the oddities were hidden under old hand-sewn robes and a zukin that made his neck seem less odd and his limbs normally proportioned. Sen never minded the appearance too much, but when passersby caught glimpses of him out of his clothes, it tended to send them scampering away. For some unknown reason, his strange shape was only exacerbated by his newfound wetness, Sen realized as he watched him shake his mane from his face and turn to him with an affirmative nod to his question.