Ryuhiko - 11

After returning from dealing with Mmolai Botle, Shinmasa worked even harder at preparing for his inevitable conflict with Lefu Sefefo. But as he practiced and prepared he kept thinking about the white light which came from his father when he destroyed one of the evil creatures. He had asked Moru. She knew only that it seemed to be unique to Ryutada. Shinmasa had noticed that, when Ryuhiko touched Mmolai, Mmolai received what seemed like an electrical shock and when he struck the evil spirit hard there was the release of tremendous force, but no white light and definitely not lethal. His father had told him that it would be there when he needed and that he would learn how to focus it. His father had specifically said “you will learn how to focus it through ….” but never finished his sentence.

Shinmasa continued to meditate late into the night often visiting the space between the frames of time where he was so close to sunyata. Most meditators go there to find sunyata. Shinmasa went there in the hopes that he again would encounter his father. He still had many questions. The problem was that as soon as he brought his mind to focus on the questions he wanted to ask his father he interrupted his meditation.

Shinmasa and Moru spent many evenings sitting on the ledge talking about their dreams and hopes as they admired the vista before them. Shin had been thinking a lot about Moru, and not in a fellow colleague or spirit of nature way. Many times he had caught himself thinking 'what if I were just to . . . ?' and then would scrap the thought. He worried that she would get angry. Even though he knew that she cared deeply about him as the akai ryu, she had given him no indicators of any other interest apart from scientific enquiry. What did she think of him as a human? What did she think of Shinmasa? He worried about rejection. He had only ever had one serious girl friend. She got tired of the trips to the mountains and left him. He hadn't taken rejection well. This time, however, there was no such thinking. Shin just turned without warning, took Moru in his arms and kissed her full upon the lips.

As he held her tight with his lips pressed against hers there was a terrifying moment of rigidity. She didn't move. It was as though she was instantly frozen. She didn't push him away nor did she return the kiss. He didn't dare pull away to see what was happening. Finally Moru put her arms around his neck and returned his kiss. For an untold glorious time the two embraced and kissed passionately. Shinmasa's brain was on overload. All he could think about was expressing his pent-up compassion in this one kiss.

Suddenly Moru pulled away. “I can't,” she cried.

Shinmasa staggered backwards. His mouth gaped open. He had almost expected to be rejected but that didn't help the shock and devastation. “What?” he stammered. “Why?” He stood there trying to find words as Moru turned away and cried. Shinmasa stepped up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort and understand but she only cried harder at his touch.

“I purposely found you at the White Valley Mountain camp,” Moru blubbered. She took a few moments attempting to compose herself and continue her story. “I purposely found you and I took on this form so that it would be pleasing to you.” She hung her head as she softly said, “I guess I seduced you.”

“Seduced me?” The idea was foreign to Shinmasa. Beautiful women didn't seduce him. “Didn't you feel anything?”

“Of course I did! I was very moved by your dedication to the mountains and your work,” Moru tried to smile. “I wanted so much to tell you who I was when you started talking about the mountains being alive.” A timid smile appeared. “And I did think you were awfully cute.”

“I didn't fall for your looks,” insisted Shinmasa. “Yes, you're beautiful but I'm so accustomed to beautiful women looking right past me that I never thought of being with you until you spoke. I fell in love with the beautiful woman who was so passionate about nature and had such a pure and loving heart. Did you fake that?”

“Of course not!” Moru started to cry again and Shinmasa apologized in the hopes it would stop the crying. “That is who I really am. And I loved being with you and watching you. And I loved kissing you just now.” There was a pause. “Did you know that in millions of years I've never been kissed like that?” Another pause. “Did you know that I sneaked into your tent every night and sat next to you?”

Shinmasa looked surprised.

“I was supposed to protect you and find out if you knew that you are Ryuhiko. I didn't have to sit in your tent to protect you, but I did. I did because I liked being near you. I hated forcing you to know that you are a dragon by jumping off that mountain but I had to after you found evidence that Bafu Nama was hanging around.”

“Was there ever anything more than business?”

“YES!” Moru almost screamed through her tears. “Why the hell do you think I'm crying? Why the hell do you think I always leave your lair at night? I've been around as long as there have been flowers and trees. I knew love but I never knew personal love. There was never any one person who made me feel like this. You made me love you and I don't know what to do!”

“What's wrong with that? I love you too. Doesn't that make it okay?”

“If we were two humans it would.” Moru paused in another attempt to regain her composure. “I'm a spirit and you're a kawizati dragon. How can I do what I'm supposed to do if all I can think about is you? Would my Mother approve? Would our union cause some inconceivable disaster? I just don't know.”

“I don't love my work and the nature I'm determined to protect any less because I love you,” Shinmasa said quietly. “My parents had five children. They loved all five of us with the same intensiveness and never loved each other any less. They always said that there is always enough love to go around.”

Moru turned and hugged Shinmasa tightly. “Please forgive me,” she whispered. “I'm frightened and confused. I'm not accustomed to either of those. I have to go think about this.”

Once Moru had left Shinmasa went back into the lair. It seemed so cavernous and lonely. He poured himself a couple of fingers of whiskey and walked into his bedroom. Without even taking a sip he put it on the table and crawled into bed.

Moru found herself sitting on Conical Rock, a promontory along the Oregon coast, crying for her sister, Metsia. Metsia was Moru's older sister and the spirit of water. Whenever she had a problem, Moru always knew that Metsia would help her. She could not think straight as she watched the ocean for any sign of her sister.

After a short while a water spout began to develop. It was Metsia. The two sisters embraced and, between the sobs and crying, Moru poured out her heart. She told Metsia how she had fallen in love with a kawizati dragon “in a human way.”

“Oh, my,” said the older sister squeezing Moru a little tighter. “I don't know much about things like that.” After pondering what she had just heard, “you mean you want to engage in . . .”

“yes,” interrupted Moru as though the word 'sex' was unspeakable. “Is this really bad? Is Mother going to be furious with me?”

“Mother might not be happy, but she's really quite forgiving,” Metsia smiled. “I don't know that it's really all that bad.”

“Then you do think that it's bad.”

“There seem to be two issues here,” Metsia was deep in thought as she spoke. “We have 'conservation of energy' but I've never heard of 'conservation of love'. There's no reason to think that you can't have a special love for Shinmasa without loving your forest any less.”

“That's basically what Shinmasa said,” Moru thought back to earlier that evening.

“Wise man,” Metsia smiled. “But there is something else that comes to my mind.” She paused to find the words she wanted. “Are you afraid for Shinmasa or for yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“How old are you? As long as there are trees and flowers you are not going to die. On the other hand, Ryuhiko will eventually grow old and die. Even if Ryuhiko lives ten thousand years – about the longest any dragon has been known to live – that is a drop in the eternal bucket. Are you afraid that you won't be able to handle that?”

“I'm not sure I thought of that, but I guess that could be a part of my fear of a spirit-kawizati union. Or I might be using our differences so that I don't have to confront that reality.” Moru was now calm and sat pondering what her sister had said. Then she looked up. “I'm afraid. I've never really been hurt. I've been made very sad and angry with the way many humans treat my forest, but I've grown accustomed to that ever since they started building their concrete jungles. But I've never been directly hurt. To be rejected or to lose him would be a new experience for me that I'm really afraid of.”

“You think about that,” Metsia concluded. “and ask yourself if he is worth the pain you know you will someday suffer. It's just not in your nature to give anything less than 100% to your forest. Besides, that literally IS your life. So I'm not worried about that. I'll run interference with Mother if that becomes necessary but I think she'll just smile and shake her head. You know the reason that she asked you to try to find Ryuhiko is because you have such a way with humans.” They both laughed.

Metsia and Moru sat together for a long time. Being the oldest they had seen so much happen in their lives. Metsia was pushing five billion years. She had been around a long time before Moru who was a mere 700 million years old. They had watched the development of the animal genus homo become the homo sapiens idaltu and the homo sapiens sapiens which left their native Africa and headed to all points on the planet. Me Talhaho had been concerned about that. As long as they were an insignificant species minding their own business in Africa everything was okay. The only reason that they hadn't become extinct from predators is that they learned to cooperate in large groups. That was also a problem. At least it was a problem for the rest of the world. The homo genus quickly started crediting good and bad fortune to deities and in less than 190,000 years from leaving Africa the homo sapiens started coming up with gods who liked one group better than another and humans being gods or the offspring of gods. This was a bad turn of events. As they separated themselves from the rest of nature – moving away from being hunter/gatherers and farmers – they began to more and more attempt to subjugate each other and everything else in the world. Now they were destroying more of the earth in a year than previous homo sapiens had done in a millennium or more. That's when Metsia, Moru and their sisters' jobs really turned tough. Now it was a fight for survival.

“You know, Metsia,” Moru said sadly, “there's a good chance that Ryuhiko will outlive me.” She paused and looked at her sister. “Sometimes I think we're fighting a losing battle. Look at your poor oceans and rivers and streams. Where can you find pure water? And my poor forest. I'm losing several thousands of acres a day. No, I don't think I have to worry about outliving Ryuhiko.”

Metsia sat silently. She couldn't bring herself to argue her sister's point. She couldn't because she had no evidence to the contrary and she couldn't because she too believed as her sister. “I wonder,” she said softly, “Is there a point at which there is no recovery?”

They tried to change the subject to things less depressing but it was hard. They talked about their sisters. Moru told Metsia about the lair Thabeng had made for Ryuhiko and some of her outlandish costumes and behavior. They laughed because they both loved it when Thabeng was outlandish. Moru also told Metsia about Shinmasa.

“I'd better go back and talk to Shinmasa,” Moru concluded.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Metsia agreed. “Tell him your sister admires him.”

Shinmasa couldn't sleep. All he could do was lay there and think about Moru. The glass of whiskey still sat, untasted, on the table. Perhaps, he thought, what made it worse was that she had said she was in love with him. Was he being unreasonable or selfish to want a spirit to love him in a way beyond her love for nature? He had fallen in love with her long before he knew her real identity. Was there some devastating fate that would befall them if they were to be mates?

Hour after hour he lay there and thought. Question after question with no answers. Not even a good idea. Then he started worrying about how he was going to deal with being around her and working with her knowing that they had to bury their true feelings. 'It would have hurt a lot more but it would have been so much easier in the long run if she had just said she wasn't interested,' thought Shinmasa.

There was almost no light in Shinmasa's bedroom. He hadn't turned on any lights when he went in. There didn't seem to be any reason for lights. He didn't hear Moru enter. She walked quietly to the side of the bed before she realized that Shinmasa was not asleep.

“May I come in?” she asked softly.

“Of course,” said Shinmasa. He tried to see her in the darkened room. She was standing with her back to what little light there was so all he could see was a silhouette. It didn't strike him that she was wearing a long flowing gown. All that mattered to him was that she had come back. Even if she would not be his lover, he would at least have her near.

“I'm sorry if I upset you,” Moru spoke in almost a whisper. “I didn't mean to. I don't want to. I mean . . . .” There was a long pause as Moru struggled for words.

“It's okay,” said Shinmasa. “I understand. You're a spirit. I'm just a guy.”

“You're not just 'a guy',” Moru voice was a bit stronger. “You're a warm compassionate kawizati and I do love you. I love you in . . . in . . . well, I love you in 'that' way.”

“Are you a prude?” Shinmasa found himself giggling.

“A what?”

“A prude,” Shinmasa repeated. “You can't say 'lover' or 'sex'”

“Do you really want me?” The fear in Moru's voice was evident. By this time Shinmasa was standing toe-to-toe with her.

“Yes. Most definitely. I fell in love with who you are, not what you are. Whether you're an underpaid, powerless scientist or a powerful spirit doesn't matter. You're the same woman I fell in love with on that mountain.”

“Please understand,” said Moru lower her head. “No matter how long I've been around, I know nothing of these matters.” With that said her gown dropped to the floor and the two embraced. 

Tuna fish

I know it's rather strange to have a recipe on a blog page, but it is the easiest way to share it with lots of friends.  Pamela loves tuna fish sandwiches.  She says that I make great tuna fish, but, being a vegetarian, I've never tasted it.  I'm sharing it for two reasons - I can get feedback and if it's as good as Pamela seems to think, you might like it too. We do like things spicy.

TUNA FISH for a sandwich

Ingredients: 

1 can (1.5oz) of top quality white albacore tuna packed in water.  drain.
2 Tablespoons celery finely chopped.  (this is one small stock about 5-6 inches long)
2-3 Tablespoon red onion finely chopped.  (this is about a 1/2" slice from the middle of a medium sized red onion.)
a pinch of dry parsley
1/3 cup of mayonnaise  (I use real mayo w/ olive oil)
1 Tablespoon spicy mustard  (I use creole mustard but any nice tangy, spicy mustard should do.)
1/4 - 1/2 Teaspoon capers  (Pamela likes thinks salty)
few cranks of freshly ground black pepper.  (to taste)
a splash of lemon juice  (optional, to taste)
8-10 black olives finely chopped

Directions:

Put drained tuna in a small mixing bowl and break it up. Add celery, onion, olives, parsley, and capers and mix.

Once mixed add mayo and mustard and mix them in.

When well mixed add the black pepper and lemon juice individually so you can taste what you're doing.

Serving:

I like to use a good wheat or multi-grain bread. Sometimes I toast it.
As you can see I'm rather generous.  For this reason I get 3-4 sandwiches from this recipe. I also spread a bit of mayo & spicy mustard on the bread to give the sandwich a bit more kick.

Hope you like it.  Let me know what you think.

RYUHIKO INSTALLMENTS 1-9

Ryuhiko is the story of a Japanese-American with a PhD in geophysics who works for US Geological Survey and finds that he has a most incredible history - a history which would pit him against an unbelievable villain intent upon the destruction of life on earth.


Since it has been such a long time since I posted an installment of Ryuhiko I thought I'd better post links to the previous installments for those who had been following to review and those who are just joining us to catch up.  Enjoy.





Installment 1.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryuhiko.html

Installment 2.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryuhiko-02.html

Installment 3.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryuhiko-03.html

Installment 4.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryuhiko-04.html

Installment 5.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/01/ryuhiko-05.html

Installment 6.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/02/ryuhiko-06.html

Installment 7.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/02/ryuhiko-07.html

Installment 8. http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/02/ryuhiko-08.html

Installment 9.  http://oldconservationist.blogspot.com/2015/02/ryuhiko-09.html

Ryuhiko - 10

Shinmasa had figured out Lefu Sefefo's plan and the discovery made Shinmasa work all the harder to learn and prepare. By day he practiced his dragon skills and talked to Moru about dragons and life. Night after night he would return to the emptiness that is not empty hoping to meet his father. He grew stronger day by day, but more importantly he grew wiser.

He and Moru spent hours discussing nature and what was at stake in their battle with Lefu Sefefo. The reality of Lefu's use of negative human emotions naturally and quickly led to quantum physics and how that relates to the conservation of energy. In quantum physics we learn that everything in the universe is interconnected or, perhaps better expressed, one. The individual person or item being distinguished as individual is only seen as an item or individual by an observer through the illusion of macro-physics. If this is true then we must accept that what happens to one part of the universe will necessarily effect all other parts of the universe.

The famous psychologist, Carl Jung, believed in interconnectedness and studied quantum physics and eastern mysticism along with his psychological research to confirm his concept of synchronicity in which the belief in ultimate oneness of the universe is not only implicit but fundamental. The reason that the western mind has so much trouble with this concept is, according to Jung, the westerner carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies and isolates while the Asian “picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment.” What troubled Shimasa was how one could reconcile the oneness of two such extreme opposites. How could he, or anyone, accept that he was one with this spirit who is full of such hatred and animosity that he is not only willing but desirous to destroy all life on planet earth. The only possible explanation came in the form of yin and yang. Yin and yang would explain the polar opposites of Lefu and Ryuhiko, but there was something missing. It just didn't fit. Yin and yang do adequately, if not superbly, explain a perceived balance in the universe, but Shinmasa could not accept that yin and yang were absolutes; that is, that there was no other option or reality.

Shinmasa thought back to his college days when he took a philosophy course. The professor promised an 'A' to any student who could show an opposite to love. In the end result, when the smoke had cleared, none of the students could show an opposite to love. It sounds ridiculous but true. English has one word 'love' which it uses to label all forms of love. To 'love' a mate is, in fact, very different than, say, to 'love' ice cream. To the latter one can define an opposite which, in English, would be 'hate'. But there is no opposite to 'love' between two people. Long story short, it doesn't exist. The Greeks have four words for love – Eros (ἔρως) - love, mostly of the sexual passion; Philia (φιλία) - affectionate regard, friendship, love for family member; Storge (στοργή) - love, affection as with a parent for a child (rare in ancient Greek); and Agape (ἀγάπη) - love, especially brotherly love, charity. One can not identify hate as the opposite for any of these.

While Ryuhiko may be the yang to Lefu's yin, it does not define a relationship that must be. To be a day, must there always be a night? Does not the world's moon always have the same face to the sun. Yes, but that means that the dark side is the yin to the bright side's yang. The mental argument went on and on and on. The only hope was that there is no real and true opposite to love. That alone is the foundation on which one can say yin and yang are not absolute.

Lefu Sefefo knew that Shinmasa would eventually figure out his plan. Actually Lefu wanted him to figure it out and be there to see the beginning of the end of North America but he didn't want him to figure it out in time to do anything to foil his plan. To keep him busy Lefu decided that he needed to create some chaos to attract Ryuhiko's attention and keep him occupied.

Unfortunately the basic personality of the homo sapiens gave Lefu Sefefo plenty of opportunity to cause trouble. The small island of Pulau Sulu was just what Lefu needed. It was actually a part of the Phillipines but it was only 53 miles from Malaysia while it was 135 miles from the nearest other island in the Phillipines. With the average elevation being like that of so many of these small islands, only about three meters, the people were understandably worried when the sea started to rise. Malaysia and Phillipines have a cordial relationship but there's no love lost between them. Politically they are fighting over several islands and Malaysia is a Moslem nations while the Phillipines is predominantly Roman Catholic. It didn't take much for Lefu to do his dirty work.

He sent a rather skilled trouble-maker by the name of Mmolai Botle. The plan was to keep hitting Pulau Sulu with unusual and severe storms. This would not only do serious damage but cause the surrounding seas to rise which would daily increase the risk of the island finding itself under water. The people would begin to flee and they would naturally flee to the closest place; viz. Malaysia. It was then Mmolai's job to get the people in Malaysia angry at the refugees to the point that they turn violent.

Shinmasa first became aware of the situation from watching the news on his laptop. Lefu was right. It did attract Ryuhiko's attention.

“You know that's Lefu's handiwork,” warned Moru. “He's baiting you. He wants to get you out before you're ready.”

“Oh, I have no doubt that it's Lefu,” agreed Shinmasa, “but I'm not so sure he's looking for a fight.”

“And why would you say that?”

“Because when he confronted us in the storm he told me that he wasn't going to kill me because he wants me to see North America die,” said Shinmasa while studying maps of Pulau Sulu. Moru could tell that he wasn't paying a bit of attention to her warning. “How long do you think it would take me to fly there?”

“A very long time,” Moru snapped. She was a tad annoyed about being ignored. She'd known Lefu her entire life. But there was no argument and Moru very quickly concluded that, if she wasn't going to stop Shinmasa, she'd better do her best to protect him.

Ryuhiko planned his flight so that he would arrive in Pulau Sulu after dark. Even in the darkness he could see that all of the stilt houses along the coast were under water and what passed for the high spot of the island was just barely above sea. Most of the huts that were not under water were on their sides, broken and crumpled. They looked like grotesque silhouettes in the dark with light from the fires adding to the unnatural appearance. He could make out groups of people lying on the ground near small fires huddled together against the evening chill that was present even in the tropics. Most of the people had no clothes. Naked children lay snuggled as close as they could get to an adult while many adults were using themselves as human shelter for others. Trash and debris was scatter all around.

As Ryuhiko looked down on the devastation and human suffering he filled with emotion. He couldn't tell which was stronger, the urge to cry or scream out in rage. He struggled with the drive to do something to help. The frustration was almost more than he could bear. There was no reason to even stop here. He could do nothing about this misery. The only way he could help these people was by stopping Lefu Sefefo. Sadly he lifted high into the air and headed south toward Malaysia.

He barely made it to landfall before light. He found that the Pulau Suluians had first fled to a small fishing village on the north end of Jambongan Island. At first they had been welcomed by the local fishermen until a stranger named Kebenaran Khas, claiming to be a government official, showed up and started telling them that these immigrants were going to take their jobs, destroy the fishing and violate their religion. With sentiment turning against them the immigrants who were already on the island fled southeast along the coast to a heavy jungle area where they could hide, and new refugees soon learned where to go.

By the time that Ryuhiko arrived Kebenaran Khas had so enraged the local residents that they were hunting and killing the refugees from Pulai Sulu. It didn't take Shinmasa long to find Kebenaran, and it didn't take any time listening to the man rant and rave about the evil Pulai Suluians and how they must be destroyed to recognize this provocateur as a human manifestation of Mmolai Botle.

“These aliens will take our jobs and destroy our fishing. Their island isn't sinking. They are just saying that so they can take what is yours. Are you going to tolerate that?” The crowd yelled “No! No!”

“These aliens,” he continued, “will be around your children. They are infidels. Who knows what blasphemy they might teach your children. Do you want them talking to your children?”

“No! No!” the audience again yelled.

“Are you going to tolerate them around your women and children?” The crowd responded as expected and Kebenaran smiled an evil smile.

“They take your jobs, destroy your fishing, and violate the one true religion. What does the Prophet say of such infidels?”

“Kill the infidels!” the crowd began to chant. Kebenaran raised his arms in encouragement and the crowd chanted louder.

Shinmasa worked to get close to the hate preacher. After one of Kebenaran's rallies he was working the crowd. Shinmasa made his way up to the front and feigned being pushed into the politician as he drew near. Shinmasa caught a slight whiff of putrescine. A shiver of disgust passed through him.

As Shinmasa regained his balance he stood up face to face with Kebenaran. He looked into the imposter's eyes. There was nothing. At least there was nothing until their hands touched. When Kebenaran's hand touched Shinmasa's Kebenaran received a shock. The look of recognition, the hatred and pure evil, filled his eyes. Shinmasa wondered whether or not those around them could see his eyes. Kebenaran pulled his hand away quickly.

“The Master was right,” said Mmolai softly. “All I had to do was waste a few useless natives and you'd come running.” He paused to smile and shake the hand of a supporter then turned back to Shinmasa with a smirk, “Or did you fly, Ryuhiko?”

“It's over,” Shinmasa said. “I'm going to stop you.”

“Hush young dragon,” Mmolai said while still smiling, waving and shaking hands with well-wishers, “all I have to do is identify you as 'one of them' and you will die right now.”

“If you didn't have some reason to keep me here or let me live, you'd have already sicked them on me.”

Shinmasa turned and walked away. He didn't really know how he was going to stop Mmolai. His manifestation as Kebenaran had popular support and would keep it as long as he could maintain their hatred and anger. Shinmasa could try to expose his lies but no one was willing to doubt him. He was playing the religion card.

That's the interesting thing about religion, thought Shinmasa. A truly evil person can easily use religion because people are afraid to doubt, question or contradict what they are saying. Many religious documents from the Abrahemic religions end with statements threatening hell and damnation if the person reading the document doubts it. Shinmasa thought about a friend of his who was a Christian seminary professor with a PhD in both Old and New Testament. One day a Christian door-knocker stopped at the professor's home. When the professor opened the door they started their speel. Without telling them that he was a seminary professor he started replying to their memorized statements and proof texting with his own “biblical quotes”. The only difference was that the professor was making them up. The evangelizer could do nothing but agree with the professor because he was afraid to doubt, question or contradict. If it would turn out that, in this case, the professor was correct, it would be evident that they didn't really know all about their religion or they might go to hell.

In Ulster, commonly known as Northern Ireland, a man named Ian Pasley wanted to incite the public against those who wanted Ulster to be a part of the Republic of Ireland. The Republican Irish in Ulster were almost all Roman Catholic. Pasley knew that he couldn't keep people excited or angry over politics, but with religion he could kindle such hatred that people would kill for him. He founded his own “Protestant” church, proclaimed himself ordained and started preaching hatred against those horrible Roman Catholics. Since most Roman Catholics were Republican Irish he had accomplished his political goal with the use of religion.

Such a common ploy, and now Mmolai Botle, Lefu's evil servant, was using that ploy in the most classic manner. In any case, playing the religion card always works. How was Shinmasa to get around it?

Shinmasa spent the night with the Pulai Sulu refugees. As Shinmasa he had gathered a great deal of food and other supplies and taken them to an isolate clearing near the village. Once it was safe Shinmasa transformed to Ryuhiko and carried the load to a small clearing deep in the jungle about a mile and a half south of the village near where the refugees were hiding.

Ryuhiko made no attempt to hide himself. The refugees saw him land and were hiding in the nearby jungle watching him. He turned toward them.

“My name is Ryuhiko,” he called to them. “I will not harm you. In fact, I have brought you food and supplies.”

“Why should we trust you?” one of the refugees finally dared to reply.

“ I have seen your plight and come to help,” said Ryuhiko. “You know the stories of the protector dragons.”

“They were just that,” said the refugee. “Stories that our parents and grandparents told us.”

“Perhaps now that you've seen me you might think they were not just made up for children.” Ryuhiko transformed back to Shinmasa. “Besides this food is real and good and you have no one else you can trust.”

A man came out of the jungle and walked toward Shinmasa. He was tall and slender with dark skin and wearing a pair of torn up shorts that were little more than a loin cloth. Shinmasa could hear others calling warnings to him as he approached Shinmasa.

“Are you the leader?” asked Shinmasa.

“No,” said the man looking over his shoulder, “just the only one crazy enough to walk up to a man who was just a dragon.”

Shinmasa smiled. “I'm glad you took the risk. You can show the others that I'm really a friend and want to help.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you want to help us? Everyone else here wants to kill us.”

“Because I know the one who started all this and I'm going to stop him.” The man was now close and Shinmasa smiled and held out his hand. “Wouldn't you like to be able to go home?”

“Can you stop our island from sinking?” asked the man who now held Shinmasa's outstretched hand.

“Kebenaran is right about one thing. Your island isn't sinking. The sea is rising. If I can stop the one who is causing this then hopefully the sea will stop rising and you can go home.”

“That would be wonderful. What can I do to help?”

“Tell the others that I am a friend. Have them carry the food and supplies back to your camp and offer me a place to sleep tonight.”

“Done!” The man turned and called to the others who were now near enough to the edge of the jungle that Shinmasa could see them. With obvious hesitation the others came toward the two men and the pile of food and supplies. You could almost see the sight of the desperately needed food overcome their fear of the dragon turn man. Each in turn bowed, thanked Shinmasa, took a load of food and headed back into the jungle.

One man stopped after picking up a large bundle. “My parents told us stories about akai ryu,” he said, “but I always thought they were just stories. Thank you!” With that he followed the others into the jungle.

Their camp was not far from the clearing. Group of huts and lean-tos gathered around fires. Children played in the jungle while women were tending the fires, making basket and other necessities. They jumped up excitedly when they saw the men returning with food.

The refugees had a thanksgiving feast that evening. Each of them had come to Shinmasa and expressed their personal appreciation. After the meal the people told Shinmasa about their experiences. They recounted how their homes had been flooded, how the people of Jambongan Island had attacked them and they had fled to this place. They also shared stores of those who had not made it. There was the boat load of people who had been chased down by Jambongan fishermen in boats. The Jamboganians had sunk the Pulau Suluian boat and left the people in the water to drown. A young pregnant woman was stoned to death when she entered the village without her head covered, and a man was beheaded for talking to a Jambonganian child. They couldn't understand what was different. The Pulau Suluians had frequently visited and often traded with the villages on Jambongan. Why were they now filled with hatred? Shinmasa told them about Kebenaran Khas and tried to explain how he was using their religion to create hatred but did not try to explain who Kebenaran really was.

The next day there was another horrendous storm followed shortly by more refugees. Shinmasa spent hours sitting on the beach trying to think of how he was going to stop Kebenaran.

One of the refugees asked him why he didn't just turn into a dragon a scare the Jambonganians. Shinmasa explained how Kebenaran would just call him a devil and turn it into more evidence of how evil the Pulau Suluians really were. But that gave him an idea.

The following morning Shinmasa said good-bye to the refugees, transformed into Ryuhiko and headed toward the village.

He landed outside the house where Kebenaran was staying and called to him.

“Mmolai Botle, come out.” People gathered around as Ryuhiko waited. A couple of brave men tried to shot Ryuhiko with a bow and arrow and an old shotgun. Ryuhiko just gave them an angry look and told them to quit. “Mmolai Botle, come out. Are you afraid of me?”

“That is the home of Kebenaran Khas,” one old man shouted.

“Kebenaran Khas is an imposter,” Ryuhiko told the growing crowd. “His real name is Mmolai Botle and he is a deamon who has been using you to kill innocent people.”

The crowd muttered disapprovingly.

Finally Mmolai appeared. He appeared calm and filled with self-confidence, but Ryuhiko could see into the deamon's eyes. They were filled with anger, hatred and agitation.

“I've been telling these good people all about you, Mmolai Botle,” Ryuhiko stirred the anger and moved closer to the evil spirit. “They don't believe me, but you'll tell them the truth won't you?”

“My good friends, here you see the true nature of the Pulau Suluians,” Mmolai became quite theatrical. “Take a good look and know why you must be strong against them.”

“Oh, come on, Mmolai,” Ryuhiko continued to taunt him, “tell them who you really are. Show them the real you.”

Ryuhiko was getting quite close to Mmolai and he could see the concern on Mmolai's face. Mmolai didn't dare let the people see him as Mmolai Botle, the evil spirit servant of the spirit of death. Ryuhiko started physically pushing Mmolai. Each time he touched the evil spirit sparks flew. The pain was showing on Mmolai's face and the anger growing in his eyes.

“How's it going to serve your master to let me destroy you right in front of these humans?” Ryuhiko started to heckle the evil spirit. “No, you're not staying in the form of Kebenaran because you don't want them to see the real you. You're afraid. You're terrified of my power.” Ryuhiko kept physically pushing Mmolai. “You know that I can easily destroy you and you're scared. You're staying in the form of Kebenaran because you're hoping that I won't destroy you in human form.” Ryuhiko started pushing harder and the harder he pushed the greater the sparks. The people in the crowd started yelling at Ryuhiko, praying for their god to stop him, and throwing things at him. “Well if you think I'm not going to destroy you because you look like a human, you're wrong . . . . dead wrong!”

Ryuhiko put on a great act of pulling back his claw and reaching for Kebenaran. Before Ryuhiko could bring the powerful claw down on the human there was a cloud of smoke around Kebenaran followed by the stench of putrescine. Then before them stood the evil spirit Mmolai Botle in all his grotesque evilness. The crowd backed away even farther. Some women fainted and people began to vomit at the stench.

“Behold your pious leader,” Ryuhiko proclaimed in a loud voice. “See the one who has been telling you to kill innocent people.” Mmolai began to swing violently at Ryuhiko who easily ducked the attack. “Is this the faithful follower of your prophet or servant of your god?” By this time Mmolai was in such a rage that he was swinging wildly. “He tricked you into doing his foul deeds for him. In the name of this evil one you slaughtered innocent people.”

Mmolai Botle lunged at Ryuhiko. Ryuhiko struck with all the force he could muster. There was an enormous flash of brilliant light immediately followed by a violent explosion. Mmolai screamed in pain. His grotesque form launched upward by the power of their encounter. Hanging above Ryuhiko and the crowd of people he screamed at Ryuhiko, “You may have won this one, but you haven't seen the last of Mmolai Botle.”

The people stood starring. They were trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed. Ryuhiko could hear them talking among themselves.

“He tricked you,” Ryuhiko said to the people. “He made you do his bidding by making you think he was a faithful servant of Allah when his real master is the evil spirit of death. He got you to kill innocent people who wanted only a safe place to wait out the storms so they could go home.”

The Jambonganians just stood and watched as Ryuhiko rose above the crowd and flew off. He stopped by the refugee camp to tell them about his encounter with Mmolai and suggest that they might be able to return home soon.

Ryuhiko returned to his mountain lair. A few weeks later the people of Pulau Sulu returned to their island followed a short while later by people from Jambongan offering to help them rebuild their homes.

As Ryuhiko flew home he was totally unaware of the dark figure that followed at a distance. 

Why do we do it?

 What drives a normally rational, reasonably intelligent human being to live in a 16 foot camper trailer and work for free in the middle of the largest wilderness reserve in North America – some 3,000 square miles?  Glacier National Park alone is almost 1,600 square miles.  It's isn't an easy thing to explain.

In our case, we have a 16 foot vintage trailer that we've restored. we call it 'Willy'. Every May we pack Willy, load all of our 'toys' – two kayaks, two bicycles, two sets of scuba diving gear, and trekking gear – in and on our 2013 Ram 1500 4x4, gather the dogs and make our annual trek to Glacier National Park where we volunteer as campground hosts and back-country trail patrol. We live in Willy about 11 miles into the park. We do have electricity and water but there is no telephone, no internet, and no television. The joke here is that Glacier has two seasons – July and winter. Normally in May and June we never see daytime temperatures above 70 and night-time lows are in the high 30s or low 40s. By the time the lows are up to 45 we're sleeping with the windows open. Generally June is a very wet month. If it isn't raining it is snowing. Our day starts at 7am and ends at 9pm. While we do often get the chance for some time to ourselves we spend an average of 11 hours a day in the National Park Service volunteer khaki and brown uniform. When we do take time off we tend to elect to spend it doing other types of volunteer work – back-country trail patrol and working in the nursery that grows indigenous plants for restoration.

Our home  -  "Willy"

I can't write this and not think of a line in the movie “Beverly Hillbillies”. Jed Clampet has just discovered oil on his rural Arkansas land. His sister is telling him all the things she sees as wrong with the way he lives – no electricity, animals, in the middle of no-place – to which he replies, “Yes, we is'a livin' in paradise.” But that doesn't really explain why we do it, does it?

Granted, to our minds we are living in paradise. Glacier has clean air, the cleanest water in North America, magnificent mountains, and lots of bears, mountain goats, big horn sheep, moose, and many other animals. The only down side to the abundance of animals is that, for three months of the year, it also has an abundance of the most erratic, unpredictable and deadly animal on earth . . . homo sapiens. It takes our constant diligence and efforts to keep this invasive species from polluting the water, destroying the forest and driving the other animals into extinction. But I digress.

Jeff and Carolyn were fellow campground hosts in 2014. Like us they liked to find other ways they could help Glacier and the National Park Service. When he was able to get away, Jeff would work in the carpentry shop. He also helped install a new water tank high on a mountain side. Carolyn applied her teaching skills to provide educational programs. They are a great couple. But I must admit that we were most proud of them when we learned that they were going to count loons.

Counting loons might not sound like much until you understand that they would be taken by boat to a place so remote that there aren't even trails. There definitely wasn't any way of communicating with the outside world. They were 100% on their own to hike for three days counting loons in back-country lakes. I well remember us listening to the park radio when they called Dispatch to say that they were “commencing our back-country itinerary.” That's radio jargon for “we're going out into the wild unknown. If we don't get back when we say we will, would someone please come looking for us.”

Mt Edward stands above our home
at Sprague Creek

But I guess this is just another example. It doesn't tell why we do it.

Most of our campers are tent-campers. Willy is the only trailer allowed at Sprague Creek and “RV” on the registration tag usually means sleeping in a van or the occasional truck-camper. They tend to be at Glacier to hike, bike, kayak, or fish. They get up early and go to bed early. I really enjoy helping them plan hikes and other adventures then hearing them tell all about it at the end of the day.

When we have children they like to come to our campsite because Pamela will help them earn their Junior Ranger badge, send them out looking for flowers (no picking!) or take them on nature walks. One morning in 2015 I had just finished morning rounds at 7am and was enjoying my coffee when I saw four little blonde-headed girls heading toward our site. Pamela stuck her head out to say “hi” when, in unison, the girls asked “can you come out to play?” Pamela has a collection of pictures children have drawn and notes they have sent her.

I guess that's closer to answering why we do it, but it isn't the whole story. The opportunity to help people and their children enjoy and appreciate the wilderness is a strong motivator, but it isn't quite everything.

View from a mountain we patrol 

The back-country trail patrol that we do is called 'wildlife management' and falls under the auspices of Law Enforcement (park police). Even in our training it is admitted that what we do is really 'human management'. We hike trails that are very heavily traveled and have a lot of human-wildlife encounters. Our job is to help people understand how to behave in such areas and with the animals and plant life they encounter. We try not to be junior cops.

It is so rewarding to have a group gather around and ask questions. They want to know. We love telling the story of the great thrust that created the mountains that were then shaped by glaciers; about rocks that are two billion years old and Stramatolites that are billions of years old and are evidence that we were once connected to Australia; about the fragile alpine ecosystem; about why the animals do what they do. And it is so rewarding to stand with a person – child or adult – when they stand 25 yards from a wild animal without a barrier between them and see the looks on their faces. They are experiencing life as they've never known it.

A Mountain Goat is easily capable of killing a human. 

Once, when I was patrolling the Hidden Lake Trail, I was sitting at the Hidden Lake Overlook. There were lots of visitors and they were all asking questions about the Mountain Goats around us. I had a sandwich in my hand. Suddenly a large nanny (female) Mountain Goat was standing not 10 yards from us. She had undoubtedly been attracted by my food, so I put my sandwich back in my backpack and hoisted it onto my shoulders. She didn't move. The visitors stood mesmerized. Once realizing how big the animals was and how big her horns were, they asked if Mountain Goats are aggressive. I told them that she was smart enough to realize that she was outnumbered and she was trying to decide whether it was worth the risk to try to get to my food. As you might expect, she may not have been able to count, but she knew that I wasn't the only human there, so she finally ambled away. The visitors thought that was the most exciting adventure of their lives and they wanted to know more about this magnificent animal. It made me almost giddy to have people really want to hear about how we are tracking Mountain Goats so we can better understand them and co-exist with them, how they raise their young and why they risk coming so close to humans.

Yes, the opportunity to educate people about the nature of which they are a part must be a part of why we volunteer.

Wonderful animals that I love dearly,
but they're not 'Teddy Bears'. 

Have you ever stood a few feet from a Black bear, encountered a Grizzly on a trail, had five Big Horn sheep run around you to get to the mountain, had a mountain goat walk over your feet on a narrow mountain ledge, watch a coyote hunting, encountered a badger, watched elk in the evening twilight or looked into the dark eyes of a mule deer? If you haven't, you've got to try it!

To say that we love the animals might be one of the biggest understatements of this blog. There is nothing greater than living in harmony with nature. Man is a very special animal with our cognitive skills and abilities to dream and work toward dreams. Sadly, man is also one of the poorest animals on earth having denied his animalness and given up so many animal skills thereby isolating himself from his true nature and the unity of nature around him.

A shy Mule Deer doe

When we volunteer at a place like Glacier National Park and participate in programs like the back-country trail patrol and teach our campers and their children respect for the animals in whose home they are visiting, we are fighting a life and death battle for humanity. We are working and fighting for the restoration of the natural place of the homo sapiens so that it might live in true peace with itself, its environment and other animals.

Perhaps Pamela Smith; my colleague, companion, fellow adventure-seeker, best friend and mate; summed it up in two sentences after she listened to me read a draft of this blog.  "For me the entire experience completes the essence of who I am. It fills a void in my soul that I never even knew was there."  Well said, Pamela.  Well said. 

Pamela approaching the summit of Mt Oberlin
Determined to climb the mountain even with bone-on-bone knees
she climbed Mt Oberlin four months before bilateral
total knee replacement.  Touch, determined lady!

Post Script:  In not quite four months (May 1, 2016) we will officially be full-timers. We have already made application to work as volunteers at another National Park and are considering a third.