Beautiful River - A Ryu Story

>Part of me has always wondered... why did the rain always make me so sad?
>My life had not been the best. Born the child of a human prostitute and a foreigner who was in the land to hunt mamono.
>My mother wasn't the best at taking care of me, but then I got in the way of her being able to keep herself fed. No one wanted to rent a prostitute who had a child at home.
>I was abandoned soon after. I never knew my father, and he probably never knew I was ever born. So it was the orphanage for me.
>I lived in one of the larger Zipangu townships, on the edge of the Sacred Lands where the Ryu and her Shirohebi handmaids guarded the land and kept the fields safe and prosperous. They brought the rain. They treated the sick. They gave generous donations to the poor.
>Despite this, the Feudal Lord of the region who owed allegiance to the Emperor was a greedy, cruel man. He mandated civil works that kept even the children working in the fields to produce the fine white rice our fields are famous for.
>My only real joy growing up came from a man the youths of the village called 'Old Uncle'.
>He was a kind, gentle man who had one singular pass-time: Fishing.
>He was supposedly a legendary fisherman in his time. Having fought a massive Karp to shore in a great storm, and providing food for the village he grew up in in a time of hardship.
>He enjoyed telling these fish stories to the youths, and we ate it up with happiness and joy.
>Of them all though, I was the most adept.
>The only peace I found in the village was on the river.
>Shunned for my lighter skin color and reddish hair, a gift from my foreign born father, I was shunned by most of the village. Purity of race was a one of the greatest virtues in Zipangu. So I, the tall, handsome, pale boy with the hair that shone like fire on sunny mornings was quickly singled out as the target of childhood aggression.
>Yet, Old Uncle never looked down on me, never treated me unkindly, and always was glad to sit for hours as we watched our lines bob in the water. He was the closest thing to a father I ever had.

>The main source of my torment came at the hands of a youth named Li. Son of the Feudal Lord, he was cruel, capricious, and small. Haughty and arrogant, he looked down on everyone.
>Naturally as the tallest, most different child, I became the subject of his frequent torments.
>I survived, mostly because I wasn't afraid to fight back. The Feudal Lord could not punish me if I blacked his son's eye because they were hitting me with sticks. Not anymore then I already was, living as the outcast. I had no family to call to account and no one to blame for my actions.
>Still, I was brought before the Feudal Lord on one memorable occasion when the boy and his cohorts had tried to steal my new fishing rod that Old Uncle had given me, saying it was too good for me.
>I used it instead to beat those who try and take it from me back into the village, then hid by the river.
>The guards found me soon enough, and brought me before the Lord to explain myself.
>With courage I guessed came from my real father, I told him the truth. About how his sun beat me and tormented me and all the other children. And that how the boy had tried to take my precious new fishing rod away and when I had refused, had thrown stones at my back.
>I received a cuff to my face by his Majordomo for speaking out of place, yet the Lord did not grow in ire as I expected. I thought to be thrown in jail or banished from the village.
>Instead he shook his head and motioned. Before my eyes, my precious fishing rod was snapped by the Guard Captain. And the Lord explained that, while he respected my courage, he could not have a foreigner born boy seen beating his son.
>He stripped me of all benefits I had worked for in his programs where hours spent working allowed for more access to better food and drink, and ordered me to work for the next five years in the rice patties.
>His son, kneeling behind him, smiled cruelly at this punishment. Though I noticed that he had a blackened eye that I had not given him. Perhaps his father had hated that his son had caused him to lose face.

>I knew quickly enough that my only hope was to serve my sentence until I was grown, and then using the skills Old Uncle taught me... I would become a legendary fisherman.
>Thanks to Old Uncle I knew the waters of the Great River and its tributaries better then anyone but him. And my fishing was masterfully trained.
>Unfortunately, shortly after I turned 9, there occurred a great and terrible storm. A vast typhoon blowing in from the ocean that roared up without warning.
>It was the Shirohebi who warned us first. They came among the villagers and rang the great alarm bell. The village erupted in panic. Quickly they gathered for the storm shelters.
>The Ryu, our River Goddess, was magnificent and powerful. Yet she could not stop the storms blown in from the vast sea where her power did not go. Still, they said she tried. It was only by her power and the love of her husband that the storm wasn't far worse. The worse in living memory. Even in the memories of the Mamono.
>Gathering with the rest of the village, I learned that some younger children had gone missing. Playing down by the river. Old Uncle was said to be out looking for them.
>Fear grew in my heart, and despite what little a boy of my age could do... I ran into the storm to find the man who was like a father to me, and try and save the missing children.
>The river, normally calm and serene, if wide and deep, was in chaos with the approach of the storm as I ran along its banks. Screaming out cries for Old Uncle, and the names of the children. I pushed through the storm, battered by windswept debris.
>It wasn't until I reached the Peasant's Bridge that I saw them. Old Uncle was sheltering in the lee of the bridge on the far side, clutching the young children close and trying to comfort their screaming cries.
>The power of the storm threatened to sweep anything that tried to cross that bridge away, and no child or old man could cross in safety.
>Inhaling once, I knew what to do.
>Getting Uncle's attention in my cries over the wind was difficult, but when he saw me I saw him wave. I pointed upriver. There was no crossing upriver, but the sacred lands of the Gods who protected our village lay in that direction. The Goddess' Bridge that connected her sanctum with the township was vast and far stronger. I knew if I could just get them there, they would be safe.
>Gathering sodden rope from the nearby docks, I did the most foolish thing I ever did in my life. But it would also turn out to be the cause of my greatest joy... I crossed the rickety Peasant's Bridge.
>It took all of my young strength to get across, and using the rope every step of the way to secure me to the bridge itself. I didn't know until later I was being watched by more then an amazed Old Uncle.
>When I reached him, he chastised me for my foolishness, even as I quickly used the very same sailor's knots he taught me to tie him and the children together.
>Grinning back at him, I called out that I wasn't afraid. The River would never hurt me, because I loved it so much.
>He laughed, and we began to set out across the shoreline toward the Sacred Lands and the Goddess' Bridge, covered as it was, which could be used to get Old Uncle across and into the safety of the village and out of the storm.

>I knew what I was doing was Taboo for anyone but the Husbands of the Goddess and her Handmaidens. But they had to be saved. We crossed into the protected lands, to find them as wind torn and swept up as well. The thick veil of bamboo swayed and groaned and cracked in places, yet with my young strength I was able to help them on.
>Once we got to the shelter of the Goddess' Bridge, we huddled there in the relative safety.
>Old Uncle smiled, and told me I would be almost as big a hero as he was for this.
>Yet, a disturbance crossed his face as he looked out over the river we both loved. "LOOK! THERE!"
>Snapping around I could only stare in horror at what I thought was a girl being swept away by the river.
>I wouldn't know until much later that she had been struck by a branch of a great tree that had fallen and swept her away. Yet despite the need of my Old Uncle, I called back to him, "I'm going after her!"
>He nodded, and huddled with the children in the covered section of the Goddess' Bridge. It was a vast stone construction that should withstand even the storm, its wooden adornments and covering providing enough shelter for them to wait until they received help. It was only a matter of time before a Shirohebi noticed them, here on the edge of the Sacred Lands.
>I rushed downriver, moving with the wind at my back. Bounding without fear or care for my own life. If I dove into the waters, I knew even with my powerful swimming I would be lost.
>I still had a little of the rope, and I thought I could catch her at the Peasant's Bridge if I ran fast enough. She was moving rather slowly despite the speed of the river.
>Rushing ahead, I reached the Peasant's Bridge faster then she did. And tying myself to it I readied myself... and hurled myself into the water.
>I swam for my life, for her life. Trusting the rope and my knot... not knowing it had frayed behind me. I quickly reached her, yet to my surprise and shock... she was something far different then what I thought she was.
>Her hair, plastered to her, didn't disguise how beautiful she was. She had to be about my age, and what I thought was wood sticking up from her hair... horns? Was she a Mamono?
>I caught her up and to me and reached back to grip hold of the rope... only to have it pull taut as the weight of our bodies was caught.
>I groaned. The pain around my body and in my hands and arms was agony, yet I held on. It was nothing compared to the torments that Li and his cronies had put me through.
>"Come on! Wake up! I can't do this unless you help!"
>The storm blew hard as I yelled into the girl's ear. She was so heavy in the water. She had a massive drag... and I thought she must be wearing a large Kimono that had soaked up the water. My hand was on silk... but my numb legs weren't able to reveal to me that what was brushing against my legs was scales, not her dress.
>I tried, I tried so hard to pull us to shore. The river's current helped by tautening the rope and swinging us closer to the shore as it pulled us along. But the closer we got to shore the harder it was to move.
>"Come on! Wake up! Please!"
>Her eyes blinked open at the same time the rope snapped.
>The river claimed us both in an instant.

>Catching me up far faster then her, I was drawn away be battered through the water. I lost sight of her in the first few moments, and my cry of desperate fear. And then the river, the river that had been my life, my joy. The river I'd loved... took me under.
>I barely remember what happened after that. I felt river water enter my lungs. The pain was agony.
>And then in my bleariness... I saw her.
>She was beautiful. As beautiful as the river at sunset.
>Her arms spread wide and she was smiling. I saw a great moving... something... behind her. Did she have a tail? ...oh... her hands when she enfolded me had claws. I could feel them as she gathered me in. Her smile was so gentle, so sweet.
>I thought it was a nice last thing to see... and closed my eyes.
>Her mouth on mine was the last thing I felt as the world went away.

>I awoke. Something that was surprising. There were many tales of what might happen after death, yet... from the aching pains in my body, I felt alive.
>When you died, you aren't supposed to feel pain anymore. So I had to be alive.
>I blinked, and moaned softly. Sure I had to be in a dream.
>I reached up, smoothing back my reddish hair away from my face, and saw the sun peeking out of the clouds. The typhoon had passed. And there was the most beautiful rainbows shining across the sky.
>I smiled, joy sufficing me for an instant. Before confusion and fear snapped me up. I regretted it immediately, falling back down... but not before I realized I was alone.
>Alone on the banks of the river. My body ached everywhere, but in the distance I could see the remains of the Peasant's Bridge. The Lord would have to spend good money to see it rebuilt, else access to the far side of the river would be exceedingly limited. I almost smiled at that.
>Still, I shivered. I worried over who had died. Yet what I didn't see... was the mamono girl. I looked around me once I could see... and I saw the mud and grass of the riverbank was disturbed. Something vast had moved across it in a sweeping movement. She was clearly a Mamono. But of a kind I had never seen, or heard of. I didn't know what the Ryu who watched over us looked like... or else I would have had my suspicions.
>As it was, I began to wonder if what happened was even real.
>Weakly I began to trudge back to the village.



>It was Old Uncle who found me, and gently embraced me as I collapsed in his arms. Overjoyed to see him alive. "My boy my boy! You're alive!" He exclaimed with great joy. The children who I had rescued it turned out were all safe. A Shirohebi had arrived, sensing the alien presences in the Sacred Lands, and while she was cold, she was also kind. She helped Old Uncle get the children back across the Goddess Bridge and assured that he and the children would not be punished for stepping on holy ground.
>When Old Uncle returned, he was treated like the hero he was. He quickly corrected them, telling them it was I, braving the storm, who crossed the Peasant's Bridge before it was washed out and rescued him and the children. If they had still been there when the bridge fell, they would likely have been caught in the river and swept away.
>For the first time in my life, I was treated with more respect then disdain.
>Even the Lord was forced by pressure of the parents of the children I had rescued to grant me clemency in my sentence. I was allowed to become Old Uncle's apprentice. To one day take his role as master of the fishing docks.
>Li, who had hid in the shelter and cried like a child when lightning struck the bell tower, was disgraced. He had seen me run into the storm and saw that I, the foreigner born son of a prostitute, had courage to go out and help while he cowered in fear.
>Still, my new position as hero and role as Old Uncle's apprentice kept us apart. Li was put into extensive schooling by his father, and trained for his future position. So my troubles were seemingly over... at least for now.
>The years that followed passed like the river. Swift and beautifully.
>I trained under Old Uncle, and while my heritage was still a barrier, I quickly gained respect for my skill on the river. I plied its waters with all the love I had. I never feared it, even after that event. In fact, I felt closer to the river then ever.
>About that time I noticed on days when it rained... I felt sad. A deep sadness. A pain of... some loss. Memories flashed to the beautiful mamono girl in the river repeatedly. I wondered, quite often, if I would ever see her again.
>By the time I turned 16, Old Uncle had retired, leaving me as Master of the Fishing Docks. I plied my trade and ensured fresh supplies of fish to both the township and for export. During Old Uncle's management, we were well known for our fresh fish as well as our rice, both blessed by the lover of the River Goddess who lived so near. I grew into a tall, strong young man. The water was a second home to me. The fish I caught both put food on the table for others, and brought me joy at doing good works.
>It was a good life.
>The only thing that never really came to me... was female companionship.
>Purity of the race was still a high traditional value. And while certainly I had gained a number of female friends, none ever looked at me romantically. I watched my childhood friends grow up and get married. Having children. I felt soft pangs of jealousy sometimes, but I continued to pole the river. It was my wife, and like Old Uncle, all the wife I would ever need.


>Then came the day when the Shirohebi Handmaiden came to the square. Raising an elegant scroll, she spoke to the assembled townspeople.
>"By degree of the River God, all young men of marrying age are to assemble before the Goddess's Bridge at sunrise two days hence. The Mistress' daughter, Xiu-Jiang, has come of age. She will be presented to the young men of the city and at time choose who will be her husband forevermore."
>The announcement set the whole town aflutter with rumor. Who would be the lucky Groom? Ryu were said to fall in love at first sight. When the current Water God came forward, she chose the then son of the previous Feudal Lord. A handsome and noble youth, and while he had rarely been seen among the people, he had been instrumental in a lot of the good works that had been done for the village. His father had died of old age over five decades ago, and that was when the current Feudal Lord's father was assigned by the Emperor to manage this province. Yet still the Groom is said to be not a day over the age he was when he crossed the Goddess' Bridge with his bride.
>So many people were drawn out. It was a spectacle that hadn't been see in the lifetime of some of the people of the Blessed City. All young men, single and of marrying age, were present. I, standing head and shoulders over some, stood ahead as befit my station as the Fishmaster. Li stood as well, anticipation and surety on his face. He expected himself to be picked. He had grown into a handsome man, and was said to have a number of girlfriends in the city. The confident look on his face was disgusting, and I shook my head. I hoped the daughter would not pick him. If he became the husband of the future protector of our prefecture, we'd be in dire straights almost immediately.
>The protocol was that when the daughter came of age, and chose her husband, that they would ascend together into the Sacred Lands and a beautiful pagoda kept there. There they would kneel before one another and swear their vows to serve and defend the land, the river, and its people.
>The youth of the village were dressed fitting the moment. Me, I was dressed simply. Like Old Uncle. A simple robe that still smelled of fish and the river. I carried with me my tools I so often carried. Knife, line, hooks, weaving thread to repair nets and the tools for that purpose. My barging pole was held gently at my side, and I leaned on it casually. I didn't expect anything special. I looked like any normal fisherman, despite my station. It earned more then a few looks of distaste. But then, I'd earned those since I was a child. At least there were enough nods of respect from some whose lives had depended on my skill on the river. They knew. I may be the misbegotten son of a whore and a foreigner, but the River was mine. I could save lives, navigate its waters, and keep travelers, fishermen, and gatherers safe and alive. I knew its temperament. I knew its current. I had never stopped loving it.


>The great gong announced opening of the vast doors to the walled compound to the deeper sections of the Sacred Lands. I could see the view in the distance. The temple spires and pagoda rooftop that marked where the Ryu, her Shirohebi, and their husbands lived. I smiled. It was a beautiful place. It was so rare that you got the chance to see them, so high were the walls and so thick the bamboo.
>The procession came forward. The Shirohebi sliding forward on great tails, their heads veiled by white lace and silk. A large palanquin was carried between them, and was sealed away by veils.
>To my surprise, a handsome young man walked ahead of them. It was the father, the husband of the current Water God. He didn't look a day over 16, and while he was exceedingly noble looking, he carried a reserve and pride that was clear on his face.
>The procession halted at the apex of the Goddess' Bridge, and slowly the Lord Husband approached. Unrolling a scroll, he raised it high.
>By this time, I had felt a little bored with the proceedings. The Shirohebi were beautiful, and it was a marvel to see the Husband of the Ryu who protected us... but there were nets to bring in, traps to bring up. I had just begun to turn... as he spoke.
>"Young Men of the Blessed City, I stand before you as my predecessor stood before me. On that day I stood without pride, without hope, but only surprise as the most beautiful vision in the world came forward and took my hand. Together we brought the rains, prevented drought, and saw too it our city was fed, sheltered, and protected. While we could not save every life, we did what we could to make your lives better. It was my honor to serve you, and now it is my honor to present you... my daughter..."
>"...Her Royal Princess, Beloved of the River... Xiu-Jiang!"
>I paused, mid-turn... and witnessed with my eyes the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

>I stood affixed as the veils fell and the girl, the beautiful young woman, rose from the palanquin. Her hair flowed blue... like the river. The sunrise caught her form and highlighted her in elegant white. The kimono she wore did not reveal her body, but it made desire rise just seeing its silken perfection. Her head was bowed in submissiveness, and from her temples... the rise of two horns like deer antlers rose. From the sides of her face, glittering emerald scales and expanded fins to either side of her vision of a face. Her hands were elegant claws, clasped gently under a line of bust that was healthy and full.
>And her sinuous tail propelled her upward, raising her as eyes... the same color as they were in the river... the gold of the sunset, looked out upon the assembled men. Vast her tail, it writhed and uncoiled behind her, propelling her into the sky. She floated like a lily on the river, and came down with respectful stillness beside her young father... who looked no older then she.
>He turned to her, giving her the most loving and proud of smiles. She looked demurely up at him, and gave him a sweet smile in turn.
>"Go find your husband, my daughter."

>In those moments of stunned silence... I knew. The girl who I tried so hard to save from the river. The girl who in the end saved me.
>She was the Ryu, Xiu-Jiang.
>I could not help but stand in awe. So many emotions swirling through my mind. And like a dream she turned her eyes from her father... and sent them across the crowd.
>To me.
>The smile that was on her face was the same smile I saw coming towards me as I was drowning and about to die in my beloved river.
>Li, at that point, chose to step forward and bow, speaking boldly, "Lady Xiu-Jiang... I am Li, son of Lord Liu-Zan. I would be honored to be your chosen one, and serve both you and the people with all my life."
>Xiu-Jiang looked at him as if a bug had stepped into her path. She waved a hand, and pushed him back moved forward. Her eyes, her expression... everything that was her was focused only on one thing: Me.
>Dropping my pole, I stepped forward slowly, and her speed picked up.
>The cry of the crowd was shocked, as we fell into one another's arms.
>Her kiss was like fire, and life itself. It poured energy and love and joy into me as my arms tightened around her. Her great tail came around and wrapped around us both. Once. Twice.
>There was no hesitation. There was no doubt in her.
>She had chosen me. The orphan son of a prostitute.
>She leaned back slowly, and murmured my name in a voice I had never heard before, but thought I could listen to forever.
>"My love... I have missed you for so long..."
>"...Xiu-Jiang. I... always thought about you. Every time I was on the river. Every moment. Every drop of the rain upon its surface whispered your name in my heart... though I hadn't known it until a few days ago..." Where was this poetry coming from? Surely it wasn't me. Her clawed hands cupped my cheeks, and she smiled so happily.
>"I watched you. I snuck out during the storm and tried to use my powers to calm the river... my mother told me I should not. Told me it was too dangerous. That without a husband I could do nothing. And when I saw you pull yourself across that bridge and guide that wonderful old man and those children to safety... I knew. I knew you were the one."
>In awe I listened to her... so much emotion in my heart it hurt.
>"I saw you floating down the river... I had to rescue you... but in the end you saved me."
>"You did. You did save me. A tree branch struck my head, and I collapsed. But when I woke up with your arms around me... it was I who thought I was in a dream. It was only in the moments after that I realized how much danger we were in. I found you and... oh my love..."
>"...Xiu-Jiang. ...I am yours. Forever."

>Smiling, she kissed me again, and then taking my hand and leading me passed her bemused father, the incredulous crowd, and the enraged Li... we crossed the Goddess' Bridge together.

>I did not know what awaited me in the future... but I knew she would be by my side. Forever.

>My Beautiful River.