Giyuu trekked up the freezing mountain, the snow and sleet pounding against him as he made his way up.
Faster...
Giyuu took a deep breath, pushing himself as he barreled up the mountain, closer to the place where demons were reported.
Be useful...
Giyuu saw the demon, flinging apart its last meal as it ate.
1st Form Water Surface Slash
The head came off the demon before it even saw him. Disintegrating as it looked towards him with fearful and hateful eyes.
Giyuu looked around, the remains of the last travelers to fall to the demon scattered about.
I was too late...
Giyuu looked down in shame, knowing that if he had been faster, if he had been better, if he had been stronger then maybe they would still be alive.
Sabito could have saved them...
Giyuu fiddled with the left side of his haori as he buried the remains.
After giving the traveler a silent apology, his crow gave out a caw as it landed on his shoulder.
"Caw! Report to Ubayishiki for the Pillar Meeting! Caw! Report to Ubayishiki for the Pillar Meeting! Caw!"
Giyuu stroked Kanzaburo's feathers as he nodded, making his way to Ubayishiki Estate.
The meeting...
He dreaded the meetings between him and the pillars.
They reminded him of Sabito, what he could have been if Giyuu hadn't gotten in the way of it. If Giyuu hadn't messed it up and cost them an actual pillar instead of a fake one.
Hopefully, they don't try to talk to me... Rengoku and Kocho still try to... they should save their breath for someone that deserves it...
As he made his way down the mount he realized that there was a letter attached to Kanzaburo's foot.
Odd. Kanzaburo never brings any letters.
He untied the letter from Kanzaburo's foot, paling as he saw the beautiful calligraphy that adorned the top of it.
Shisho...
Giyuu stilled his shaking hands, trying not to rip the paper as he unfurled it.
He hated the letters his old master sent him.
They were always filled with the kindness he didn't deserve. The concern he didn't earn. Caring that should've been meant for Sabito, but instead was passed on to him because he survived.
He didn't die like he was supposed to and now Urokodaki was stuck with a failure to care about instead of someone that deserved it.
Sabito would have been a worthy pillar. He would have been able to make sensei proud. He would have been able to save those people back there...
Giyuu calmed his thoughts as he read the letter, refusing to get sidetracked as he made his way back to Ubayishiki estate.
He read the note, freezing dead in his tracks as the first words burned into his consciousness.
Dear Giyuu,
I am dying.
..........
Urokodaki had lived a long life.
He had seen so many things, lived through so many encounters as the water pillar, and passed those experiences on to his children.
YOU ARE READING
Reflection
FanfictionWhen Urokadaki succumbs to an illness, it is up to Giyuu to continue on his legacy as the Water Pillar. He was left alone, lost in grief and guilt as he searched for someone to take his place. He thought he would never succeed... Until he met Tanjir...
