The Wandering God

34 In Truth As Well As Name 4/4

名副其實
Míng fù qí shí
The name matches the reality.
Be something in truth as well as in name; be worthy of the name.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day the frost was thicker than ever on the ground.

"How much further do we have to travel?" I asked, eyeing the silver patches uneasily. I did not want to be caught out on the plains when the first snow fell.

"Changsha Fortress is just a day's ride north, maybe less," answered Kageyama as he checked the girth of Makabe's saddle.

"That close?" I said, suddenly dismayed, though I was not sure why. Then I realized what it would mean. "A warm bed. And a hot bath!"

Zakhar chuckled. "Your eyes are shining."

Sanli laughed as well. "The comforts are not quite that of the Valley, but they beat a tent."

"A warm meal, as well," I pondered. "Not that the game you've shot hasn't been delicious," I quickly added to Zakhar.

"That I've cooked," said Kageyama. I ignored him.

Eager to reach our destination, I was the first saddled and ready to go. Beneath me, In'yii paced, sensing my eagerness. Her restless hooves crunched her namesake into the ground.

We set off. The wind was bitterly cold, and smelled of frozen earth. The sky seemed especially overcast that day, and the clouds low and heavy, as though they would drop their bellies at any moment.

That moment finally came around midday, just as we reached the ridge of a cliff. Below us, the plains stretched off to the north, carved into low cliffs and jutting hills by winding rivers that had crawled this land from long before gods had been named, or empires founded. Before even the idea of such things even existed.

Clouds cast a patchwork of shadows across the landscape before us. In one place, the rain had begun to fall, and from this distance it looked like the cloud itself had started to melt to the earth, blurring the landscape behind it.

"An impressive sight," said Kageyama, reigning up Makabe beside me.

Sanli stopped Little Light on his other side. "After you've lived so long Sho Sensei, surely sights like this start to lose their wonder."

"It is the simple things that make life worth living, no matter how long that life is," said Kageyama sagely. I hid a laugh in my gloved hand.

"Aye, the simple things. Like a warm bed after hard travel," offered Zakhar, stopping Dunya on my other side.

"And a good meal," I added.

"And fine wine!" we both said together. Zakhar and I laughed at our own simple mindedness.

Kageyama turned Makabe to follow the path along the ridge, as though seeking to rid himself of us.

The rest of us followed. Zakhar steered Dunya beside In'yii and I. "Ao, don't get angry but... may I ask a question?"

"Usually questions that start such are sure to anger, but go ahead," I said.