Eitsu's Nine Lives (永津の九生) [yuri/GL yokai reincarnation story]

45 - Dzue

A/N: And here's the promised second chapter!

Only one more chapter and an epilogue left. Thank you for reading up until now!

***

The old man smiled. He had the same smile as his disciple Yuan Yi Feng. "Yes," he said simply. "It's time to go. There's someone I've been wanting to see again."

He gestured westwards. "You're welcome to come with me, if you wish?"

Without waiting for her answer, he paced slowly away under the faintly moonlit path, away from the temple, in the direction of a river that lay to the west of the temple. Eitsu stretched, then trotted casually after him.

They walked in silence, unhurried, between thickets of fresh green bamboo, until they reached the river bank. There, Yuan Mu clicked his fingers, and a series of stones rose out of the water, allowing him to cross without issue. Eitsu stood for a moment on the bank, then sat and watched.

On the other side of the river was a clearing amongst the bamboo. In the centre of this clearing, the old man seated himself in lotus position, and closed his eyes.

The world held its breath.

At first, there was little more than a whisper, a light breeze that tickled Eitsu's whiskers. But as sh continued watching, there was no mistaking it -

A full-blown gale howled into the clearing, buffering the seated Yuan Mu. Eitsu dived into the protection of the bamboo as, robes flapping, the old man was lifted bodily into the air. Glowing orbs began to form at his forehead, sternum and stomach. The watching Eitsu didn't know how this was happening, but instinctively she knew that she was watching the creation of a new divine being.

A thin trickle of blood ran from Yuan Mu's nose, and from his clenched fists. He gritted his teeth against the force of the wind, bit his lip until blood flowed from there too.

Eitsu didn't know how long she sat there, watching from the safety of the bamboo, but slowly, slowly, she saw the years stripping away from the old man's face and body, until a handsome young man with long dark hair stood in the clearing where Yuan Mu had been. He wiped sweat from his face with his sleeves, panting, blood staining his robes, and when he glanced across the river towards Eitsu, she could see his eyes glowed as golden as hers.

The moment had barely passed when she became aware that the clearing was brighter than it should be on a night with a thin crescent moon. A silvery light had appeared above the young man, growing larger and larger as they watched. The kaibyou suddenly found herself remembering a time, long ago, when a princess of the moon kingdom left behind a life in a bamboo grove to return to the heavens. She had been a very sweet girl.

There was no princess this time, as out of the light stepped another young man.

He was slightly built, with half-lidded eyes and two swords at either side, hilted with jade. There was a flash of silver when his gaze met Yuan Mu's.

They paused for an uncertain moment.

Yuan Mu held out his arms.

The silver-eyed young man slid into them, and they stood together in the light, holding each other.

When they at last broke apart, Yuan Mu turned to face across the river. He bowed deeply, took the other man's hand, and they walked into the light, which shrank and shrank back into the sky until all that was left were stars.

Eitsu stood again. She could have walked into that light too, she knew, gone with them to the Celestial Plains where others of their kind, divine beings, immortal spirits, kami, gods, would welcome her.