Swordsman's Tale - Kenshimonogatari

Episode III: The Night Journey

By the time Fleabag knew it, it was already night time. How odd was it for him, that the weather was suspiciously calm. Wasn't it a raging snow storm just one day ago? But while he was asking himself, even more questions started piling up. Who was that old man? Why did he have a living skeleton under his house? The dark blue sky was dotted with stars and there were no clouds to be seen. On that fated night, the moon was full and shining as bright as the sun.

"Where the hell am I going?" he asked himself.

He stopped for a moment to look around him. This place was terribly odd. There were no mountains, no forests, and nothing to cover the horizon. It was nothing but grassy plains for as far as he could toss his sight. From afar, the green plains melted into the thick nocturnal veil of the skies. It wasn't very cold. Fleabag's jacket was keeping him warm. It was only a small rag of leather, but for some reason he felt incredibly safe inside it.

The wind huffed and the grass slightly titled to the back. His whiskers danced in the air.

"At least it's better than going nowhere." he added.

He looked around him and thought that it was well past his usual sleeping time. He didn't feel very sleepy, but he had to follow the old man's orders if he wanted to find the treasure. People often told him that he was very naive, but perhaps it was just the typical insult.

He laid down on the cool grass and rested his head. He closed his eyes and abandoned himself to a deep snooze.

Who knows how much time passed? Moments? Hours? Even a full day? Fleabag was very tired from his journey and could have slept the entire day away!

But suddenly, he heard a noise that woke him straight from his slumber. He quickly looked left and right, and then pointed his ears upright. It was the noise of four hooves dragging across the dirt, and the low snorting of a horse. He also heard the flapping of wings and an angelic choir.

He looked behind him, and was amazed by what he saw:

It was a pure, white stallion as large as an arabian racing horse. It was a towering two meters high, and had a pair of white, majestic pigeon-like wings on its back. The stallion's thighs were very muscular and its back was very strong. Its mane was colored in shiny, beautiful gold, and its eyes were like two precious black pearls. A dazzling golden light emanated from the horse's body. It was like staring at the sun, except it didn't hurt Fleabag's eyes. He felt calmed and soothed by its presence.

The back of the white pegasus seemed awkwardly inviting despite having no saddle. Fleabag slowly approached the horse, and it was pretty easy to ride. He swiftly jumped on its back and looked around. It was so high from up here!

But then, the stallion turned around and faced the moon. It spread its wings and covered a few meters on every side, before blasting at full speed towards the skies.

The journey was incredibly wild. Fleabag almost fainted as the white pegasus tore apart the skies with its incredible speed. It was like riding inside a rocket. The poor catboy felt his face being stretched to the back as he desperately latched onto the stallion's neck. Once they made it out of the horizon, a silvery bubble protected both of them from the lack of pressure and oxygen.

The trip slowed down. Fleabag could finally enjoy the view, and it was breath-taking. The universe was dark, much darker than the night sky. There were millions and millions of stars of all colors, shapes and sizes. He could see planets from afar and colorful clouds of gas twirling about the newborn stars.

He looked behind him and saw the earth. It was round, despite what everyone said.

He looked forward and saw the moon. Why was the pegasus headed that way?