Ryuhiko -12

“Oh, excuse me!” said a very embarrassed Catherine. Each day after Shinmasa left she would go into his room and gather the inevitable dirty dishes and laundry. This morning she had assumed that he had left early because he was always gone by 8 am so she had done her usual perfunctory tap on the door and walked in. Unaccustomed as she was to human modesty, Moru just sat up in surprise while Shinmasa grabbed for a nearby corner of sheet. “I am so very, very sorry!” Catherine backed out of the room.

Moru and Shinmasa looked at each other. Then one of them began to snicker. That was all it took. They found themselves embracing as they laughed hysterically.

As Moru and Shinmasa's laughing and giggling turned into foreplay, a dark figure sat on the summit of Mt George a few miles away looking toward the lair. Bafu Nama had witnessed the defeat of Mmolai Botle and had followed Ryuhiko back to his lair. As he sat and watched Ryuhiko's lair he made a very deadly mistake. He decided that he wouldn't tell his master, Lefu Sefefo, about the lair but would forever be in his master's good graces because he would kill the akai ryu. Now he was sitting there thinking about how he was going to accomplish such a feat.

That evening, as Shinmasa was practicing his jo skills on the ledge, Bafu Nama decides to make his move. He felt that he had the advantage. After all, Ryuhiko was in his human form and standing totally open to attack. He flew as fast as he could toward the solitary figure.

Shinmasa was caught off guard. As Bafu rapidly approached Shinmasa caught a sniff of putrescine and cadaverine. Shinmasa knew that smell but before he could react Bafu hit him, knocking him down but not off the ledge. Moru had been watching Shinmasa practice from just inside the lair. She too had smelled the foul odor of putrescine and cadaverine and looked up to see Shinmasa fall just as he was struck by Bafu. She jumped up and started to run to his aid but before she could arrive he had transformed into Ryuhiko. All of the practice had paid off. He was standing on the ledge watching Bafu. He appeared completely relaxed which belied the taut, well-trained muscles waiting for his adversary's attack. Still grasped in his left claw was his jo. But it no longer looked like the four foot jo with which Shinmasa had practiced so much. It was as tall as Ryuhiko and shown a brilliant white like the white of the hottest flame. Ryuhiko looked at the jo and held it up for Moru to see. It was his Father's jo through which he would learn to focus the power.

Bafu paused for a moment as he turn around for another pass. Ryuhiko had never seen Bafu Nama and was repulsed by the creature who was heading toward him. Putrescine and cadaverine were actually quite descriptive of what he saw. Bafu appeared to be nothing more than an extremely large blob of rotting flesh. Ryuhiko could not make out a face, appendages or weapon. How was this creature planning to kill him?

“Watch out,” cried Moru. “He can spit a caustic acid.”

“Oh, that's nice,” Ryuhiko replied sarcastically. “Anything else you'd like to share?”

“He is very toxic,” responded Moru. “He's not really very good at direct combat. His forte is smothering you in your sleep.”

“Nice guy,” said Ryuhiko as he watched the approaching creature.

Bafu's idea was to knock Shinmasa off the ledge and then smother him as he lay broken at the bottom of the cliff. It wasn't going nearly as well as Bafu had imagined it. Now he was face to face with a dragon. He decided that his only chance of success was to fly right into the dragon's face and attempt to smother him as he stood there. As he drew near he saw the jo. It was too late to pull up and run.

As he approached, Bafu opened up his body to make the largest area possible to engulf Ryuhiko's head. When Bafu was just feet away Ryuhiko rose up and backhanded the creature with a mighty claw. Bafu was stunned, spinning and bouncing across the ledge and finally falling into the valley below.

Ryuhiko rose in the air, bent at the waist and went head first into the valley after Bafu. Bafu was far from intelligent but he knew when to give up and run. He tried desperately to pull himself together and headed down the valley away from the lair. If he could only survive he would tell his master. Lefu would know what to do with this dragon.

Vance Mountain was one of the higher mountains in the area. It had been created by three glaciers. One created the valley on it's west side with two cirques on the northeast and southeast. From above it presented as an upside down Y with knife edged ridges. Bafu was lifting up over the western ridge when he was hit by Ryuhiko and fell to the ground near the mountain's summit.

Bafu Nama stood up. He was dazed and confused. He looked around and saw Ryuhiko setting down a few yards away. Bafu knew that he was defeated. He couldn't out run or out fight this dragon.

“Go tell your master that I'm coming for him,” said Ryuhiko.

Bafu Nama knew that his master would be extremely angry and may, in his anger, destroy Bafu. He believed that he had no other choice than to attempt to finish what he had come to accomplish. Bafu threw himself at Ryuhiko.

Ryuhiko thrust with his jo. When the jo entered Bafu Nama's body Bafu immediately began to turn a bright white until, being totally a brillant white, he exploded.

Ryuhiko stood for a moment and said quietly, “or don't.”

Moru was standing on the ledge waiting for Ryuhiko. She had seen the explosion and believed that he had prevailed against Bafu, but she still stood anxiously waiting. This, she thought, is how humans feel so often. She was frightened. Frightened like a human. It was more than mere worry. It was painful. It was a pain she couldn't describe coming from her very core. When Ryuhiko could be seen approaching the sense of relief, joy, love was like a wave of comforting balm. 'How do animals function with all of these emotions?' She thought.

Ryuhiko transformed into Shinmasa immediately upon landing on the ledge and the two embraced. Shinmasa explained what had happened.

“It's the jo!” Shinmasa concluded his account.

“The jo?”

“Yes, this is my father's jo,” Shinmasa explained. “It carries the power. I've had it with me all along.”

Moru felt skeptical, but smiled as Shinmasa spoke. She had seen his father fight many times and, while he did carry the jo, it didn't seem to be the source of his great power.

“And I know how Lefu is going to try to destroy North America.”

“You do?” Moru was excited. She forgot about the jo.

“Yes,” Shinmasa was exuberant. “He's going to try to poison the Triple Divide.”

As Bafu Nama made his ill fated attack Lefu was half way around the world watching the carnage of war in the Middle East and drawing strength from the anger and hatred. He was enjoying himself. He had flamed the fires of distrust and religious difference into anger and hatred and was gleefully cheering both sides as two groups of Muslims were butchering each other in the name of the same god. Lefu could feel the power surge through his body as the battle became more violent and more gruesome.

Lefu's pleasure was interrupted by a strong sense of sudden loss. 'Bafu!' Lefu thought. 'That idiot has done something stupid. He's dead.' Ryuhiko was getting stronger faster than Lefu had anticipated. Then, Lefu thought, there was the possibility that the dragon prince had figured out his plan. That didn't matter as much as the timing. Actually he wanted Ryuhiko to figure it out in time to be there when Lefu brought about the beginning of the end of life in North America. He wanted to torture the young prince and make him suffer. That would give him great strength and it would torture his family, especially his sister, Moru. He wouldn't have to physically defeat the young dragon. The pain, the sorrow, the failure would destroy him. It made Lefu smile.

Lefu decided that he must act quickly. He sat looking at the gore and a smile came to his face. He needed distractions to keep Ryuhiko busy until he was ready for him. He looked around the world. There was so much angry and hatred. There was so much distrust, blame, self-centeredness. Lefu was so happy with his handiwork. It gave him many options.

There. Lefu saw a police officer approaching a young black man in Birmingham, Alabama. Lefu had been feeding off this type of situation for years so it took little to instigate a confrontation that left the young black man lying dead. Soon a riot ensued.

Oh, yes, thought Lefu. There are refugees trying to get their families to someplace safe. 'Sorry,' Lefu said out loud. 'Not today.' He grinned as he stirred hatred, suspicion and anger among some locals. The police and military are losing their tempers because they are trying to keep the refugees out while not allowing the locals to hurt the refugees and they're getting totally disgusted with the entire situation.

Lefu was having great fun and he was only starting. He would be having the heir to the dragon king's throne so busy trying to bring calm that he wouldn't notice what Lefu was doing until it was too late. That's when Lefu wanted Ryuhiko to show up . . . when it was too late.

In the lair Shinmasa suddenly sat up in bed with a gasp.

“What is it?” Moru said rolling over and looking up at Shinmasa.

“It's starting,” Shinmasa said looking around as thought he expected to see something or find something.

“Lefu?”

“Yes. He's starting trouble,” said Shinmasa.

“You know he always does that,” said Moru sitting up and putting her hand on Shinmasa's shoulder.

“No this is different,” Shinmasa shook his head. “He's ready.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I can feel it. These situations aren't for his entertainment or to gain power. They are to draw me away so that he can make his attack.”

Moru knew that as Ryuhiko grew in power, he was more and more attuned to what Lefu was doing. He seemed to always know where Lefu was at any time. He would feel . . . he could sense Lefru. It was as though Ryuhiko being Lefu's opposite created a common link. The two of them had almost become like yin and yang. This worried Moru. Could Ryuhiko survive destroying Lefu? Even worse, could it be that the destruction of Ryuhiko was what was necessary to bring about the destruction of Lefu? Moru didn't want to consider such possibilities but they haunted her.

“These are distractions,” Shinmasa said turning to Moru. “I'll bet anything if I head toward one of these trouble spots there will be a unbelievably severe store go across the Triple Divide.” Shinmasa paused and looked away in thought. “He wants me to realize what he's doing but be so far away that the deed is done by the time I arrive.”

“Metsia!” Moru suddenly exclaimed.

“Who?” Shinmasa asked.

“My sister, Metsia, is the spirit of the ocean,” Moru smiled broadly while Shinmasa looked totally lost. “To force Lefu to make his move while you're still close enough to stop him, we have to make him think his distractions worked. You can start toward Birmingham. You both seem to be able to sense the other. We'll have Metsia send a heavy tropical storm in from the Gulf to dampen things in Birmingham. Hopefully Lefu will think that you have been distracted and start his attack. You will actually close enough to be there when he arrives at the Triple Divide.”

Shinmasa pondered the idea for a few moments. It could work. He certainly didn't have any ideas. Moru left immediately to contact her sister while Shinmasa went out on the ledge to meditate before his great battle with Lefu Sefefo, the greatest evil the world had ever known. As he moved deeper and deeper into his meditative trance his body began to glow until he was a brilliant white.

Ryuhiko stood on the Triple Divide Peak looking down the long valley of Hudson Bay Creek toward Red Eagle lake. He was well above the tree-line. The trees created a cushion of green far below him. A palette of greens and browns topped by the stark vertical linear lines of massive Mount James and Norris Mountain on each side of him. At the end of the valley was Red Eagle Mountain standing like a giant fortress with a rainbow crossing it like a sash. In the distance he could see the approaching storm. It was time. He looked down at his hand. It was just a jo decorated with runes. How had he come to this? Sunyata. In Sunyata he had seen the oneness. He now understood.

Ryuhiko looked at the approaching storm. Lefu Sefefo was manifest in the storm. Ryuhiko had seen this face before. It was many times worse than the one he had experienced with Moru when he first learned that he was Ryuhiko. That seemed like so long ago. It was a terrifying storm but now 'Ryuhiko was strong and prepared.

“I know who you really are and how you plan to kill North America,” Ryuhiko called to the storm. “You plan to poison the Triple Divide. That will poison the water in all of North America. It won't be fast but eventually the land and all living things will die.”

Lefu laughed. It was a hideous laugh. It was a laugh that defined hatred and evil. Time and again what appears as lightening flashes toward Ryuhiko but each time he reflects it with his jo. In a rage Lefu sent multiple attacks at one time hitting and striking Ryuhiko. Time and again Ryuhiko is pushed from the top of the Triple Divide into the deep valley south of the peak. Each time he returns the storm is closer and each time he is greeted by Lefu's terrifying laugh.

“You are no match for me, little prince,” Lefu taunted. “You will stand there pathetically fighting my storm as I destroy your precious earth.”

Ryuhiko paid no attention to Lefu's taunt but it did make him realize that standing right on the Triple Divide wasn't good strategy. He must fight from someplace where Lefu must get past him. Ryuhiko moved to the peak of Split Mountain. Now Lefu must literally get past Ryuhiko.

Ryuhiko's jo was brighter than he'd ever seen and the glow was moving through Ryuhiko's claws into his body. Ryuhiko's body was the light. Not the jo.

“I know now,” said Ryuhiko, “the source of the light. Lefu's face grew dark. “Yes, you know it too and you were hoping that I'd not figure it out. The brilliant light is the manifestation of the total of all hope, love, compassion and goodness in existence. Like the law of conservation of energy, these elements go from reality to potential. The potential for them is always there. This is the oneness which you have attempted to pervert. I'm the yang to your yin. I'm the dragon standing on a mountain filled with light and life. But you want the duality to continue. If people were to understand the oneness of the universe you would cease to control them.”

As Ryuhiko spoke Lefu's face grew darker until it was almost featureless. “You are but a collection of negative energy gleaned from the fears, angers, and hatred of people. But we are all connected. We are all one. So technically, I must accept these negative emotions. But what if I have made friends with my emotions – positive and negative? What if I can give that hope to a handful of others who pass it along, and so forth? Would this little spot here turn clear and beautiful?”

As he spoke Ryuhiko pointed his hand at the edge of Lefu's terrible storm and a small area turned white. Lefu's rage grew but made no difference to Ryuhiko. “Would that not grow expotentially? How long until your storm of hate and fear became like a gentle summer shower or a fresh winter's snowfall?” Ryuhiko pointed and the white area began to grow.

“This can't be happening,” shouted Lefu.

“Of course it can,” replied Ryuhiko. “Is this your reality or mine?”

Ryuhiko spreads his wings and flew directly into the heart of the storm as Lefu Sefefo screamed “no” and attempted to back away. But the storm could not move fast enough. All goes black.

Shinmasa awakened to see his Father sitting next to him. He was on top of the mountain but, looking down, he could see Ryuhiko lying at the foot of Split Mountain.

“Am I dead?” he asked his father.

“You could be,” his father answered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have a choice. You can be dead and be free from the endless battle with Lefu or you can accept the Bodhisattva way. You know that humans are not strong enough to deal with him on their own. You stopped him today but, if you accept death, they will die tomorrow.”

Shinmasa thought of the Buddhist Bodhisattva prayer he had recited so many times.

May I be a guard for those who need protection
A guide for those on the path
A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood
May I be a lamp in the darkness
A resting place for the weary
A healing medicine for all who are sick
A vase of plenty, a tree of miracles
And for the boundless multitudes of living beings
May I bring sustenance and awakening
Enduring like the earth and sky
Until all beings are freed from sorrow
And all are awakened

Shinmasa realized that he was on the bodhisattva way. He and his father stood facing each other.

“I am proud of you, my son.” said the dragon king. “You have won a great victory and learn a greater lesson. But you know you have not stopped Lefu but for a moment. He will continue to spread his cloud of anger and hatred, bigotry and discrimination, and all things foul and demeaning to humanity. He will continue until humanity understands the oneness of all things.”

The two men embraced. As Ryutada faded from view, Shinmasa looked down at Ryuhiko lying at the bottom of the mountain. There was a figure kneeling next to the dragon. It was Moru. She was weeping. 'There was another good reason to return,' thought Shinmasa. He closed his eyes. When he opened them he was Ryuhiko lying on the ground. Moru cried and hugged and kissed him. He hurt all over. He didn't want to get up. But he did. He had chosen the bodhisattva way and he had the Spirit of the Forest to walk it with him. 

Ryuhiko looked up at the majestic barren mountain that was the Triple Divide. As the sun was setting the mountain was awash in a scarlet sky.  Then he turned to Moru. "the mountain is safe and we survived."  Moru hugged and kissed him again.  Holding tightly to each other they kiss as they rose into the clouds above the mountains.