Another Viewpoint

Hijunaki tells a grieving Rig to kill a slave called Katashi. Rig finds Katashi and another way of life.

I lifted my head from the water and Sajoki pulled me under. Blood flew out from the wound in her chest that I had given her. A wound that I regretted giving her and was happy that I would die because I had given it to her. Suddenly I was flying through the stars and the vaporous form of a giant snake could be seen.


"Come home, my creation, I own you. You come when I call." The voice of Hijunaki told me and I tried to fly away. Shifting to different forms the realization that it was useless came to me. I cried out and my form meshed with Hijunaki. I woke up.


The Calling of Hijunaki was telling me to go to a certain place, but I didn't want to go. Why should I go? My love Sajoki was dead and I had killed her.  But she had also wrenched my heart out of my chest and betrayed me to Tamui. I hadn't seen her betrayal coming and had been, instead, caught up in my love of her. I still was, partially. Why should I live and why should Hijunaki trust me? Spreading my wings, I thought of plummeting to the ground and ending it all here and now.


That would be useless, though. I had been spending months trying to kill myself and nothing had happened. Well, I would injure myself and wake up in relatively good condition. Killing an obake was hard to do, even for an obake. The first suicide I had attempted I had been too afraid of and stopped at the last moment.


As soon as the sun rose, I hunted. Being an eagle was fun and it felt so good to kill a rabbit. After eating I continued to be pulled towards Hijunaki. I flew to my right and suddenly was flying to my left. What was going on? Why couldn't Hijunaki just let me go to die?


But, no, he couldn't let me die because he had created me and so must feel like he owned me. I was my own person and he would learn that one day. Maybe not today, but someday. Shifting into a human I landed on the ground and let the rain wash over me.


The rain hid my tears and I realized I couldn't stay running forever from my emotions and Hijunaki's Calling. But I could go to Hijunaki later and just stay here for awhile longer. A few hours later I felt the Calling of Hijunaki even louder than before.


As the last raindrop fell I sighed. If I wanted peace I'd have to go to Hijunaki now to get rid of the pounding in my head. Shifting into a raven my mind became fully focused on Hijunaki's Calling. Hours went by and I did not feel anything but joy at getting closer.


After two days of flying, I landed by Hijunaki. He looked down at me, annoyed. Blackness enveloped me as exhaustion caught up to me.

I opened my raven eyes and saw Hijunaki. I realized that I felt refreshed and not tired anymore. I bowed to Hijunaki when I got up but his face remained angry.


"What is it, Hijunaki? I came when you called." I said.


"Rig, you avoided my Calling for awhile. But that is not what I have to talk with you about now." Hijunaki said. "I watched you while you were living with those humans. I saw that you fell in love with a woman."


Memories of Sajoki came back to me but I did not allow myself to be overtaken by them. At least not at this moment while Hijunaki, my creator, was physically with me. The thought came to me to argue with Hijunaki, but I realized he could kill me. As soon as that thought came I reassured myself that I was too valuable to him.


"She was a human, Rig, and you are not to form bonds of that kind with anyone. Especially with a human. She distracted you from trying to find a way to escape. I expected more dedication from something I created." Hijunaki said.


"But she eventually gave me the means to escape." I said.


"A total accident and not something you had planned." Hijunaki replied. "But I have need of you. I did not call you just because your testing is over, but because I have a mission for you. There is an underground palace where I live that I keep people and beings that I have created. It is a place that you will soon live at after you do the mission I will give you now."


Hijunaki sent me images to my mind of the palace. It was regal and larger than the space allowed for. I thought that Hijunaki made it that way by magic.


"What is the mission?" I asked him so that I could get the mission done and rest in Hijunaki's Palace.


"There was a slave that didn't do as he was told and eventually ran away. I would find him on my own but now I need to test you out on a real mission. By your first testing I know not to trust you in personal matters but possibly you are still useful."


"What did this slave do?" I asked and by Hijunaki's expression I could tell I had asked the wrong question.


"His name is Katashi and it does not matter what he did. What matters is that you will find him and kill him."


I realized I could say no and quickly die or say yes and live longer. There was no disagreeing with Hijunaki, at least not at this moment.


"I will find and kill him for you." I told Hijunaki and bowed.


"I expected as much." Hijunaki told me.


I flew away. There was a river close by and I drank from it. After that, I washed up and ate some bugs. Nothing was as good as the human camp, but at least I was able to eat. I did everything I could to avoid getting started on the shady mission. But I realized after a few hours that I would have to go on the mission soon.


I took off and started flying around to find Katashi.
*               *               *
I had been searching for Katashi for at least a week now. Every day was the same. I'd search for a few hours, eat, sleep, and then repeat. It was pretty boring and the only exciting thing was changing my form. The sun was setting and I was both tired and disappointed. I was in the form of an eagle and I was scanning the landscape for any sign of Katashi. Katashi's image was one that Hijunaki had given me, though I hadn't known it at the time. I had been too distracted by images of Hijunaki's Palace.


Looking down I saw a human. Flying down towards him I saw that it was Katashi. I landed in the tree and just watched. The excitement of finally being able to rest was at its peak, but I was interested in what Katashi was really like. He looked up at me and shook his head.


"So suspicious these days." He told me. "I thought you were going to kill me. But Hijunaki hasn't sent anyone out to kill me yet. Or else he hasn't been able to find me. Either way, I'm still alive."


Katashi interested me for some reason. The reason probably was the fact that he thought he was going to die, but didn't care. That was very admirable.


"You know what me and Hijunaki don't share the same opinion on? That one should give up this idea of love and just go for sex. It might not be as deep as love, but it doesn't have the same chance of heartbreak." Katashi said.


That struck me to my core. If I hadn't loved Sajoki, she couldn't have hurt me. If I had only looked at her for entertainment, then I wouldn't be sad now. I flew down from the tree and shifted into my human form.


"So this is it, is it?" Katashi asked and laughed.


"Not at the moment." I replied. "I am interested in your philosophy."


"What philosophy?" Katashi asked. "All I like to do is have fun with women. Even a creature such as you should know about the fun of womankind."


"I have had…fun with a woman before." I wasn't going to admit to him that I had loved her and was now mourning her death.


"I assume it didn't turn out well." Katashi said. "You have heard all of my 'philosophy' so now you can kill me. Hijunaki did tell you to do that."


I nodded to him and found that I couldn't kill him. The deaths of Sajoki and Tamui were too fresh in my mind. I also couldn't stand having to kill such a strong spirit.


"Do you have room for a partner?" I asked him.
*                *                *
"You are a good hunter." Katashi said as he ate one of the rabbits that I had caught.


"It was my old job." I said, not wanting to think about that time. Though Sajoki had been alive back then and I had been happy.


"You want to talk about that time now? I assume that's where you met your woman friend you keep talking about."


"She was lovely and I killed her. She was about to get me killed so I had to do something."


"You were just doing what you had to do. You didn't like it though, did you?"


I shook my head and heard a sound. The sound wasn't even close to what was normally heard in the forest.


"I was wondering when he'd be sending the real killers to get me." Katashi said and stood up. I shifted from my human form into a dragon. This dragon form was white with four legs and no wings. I could still fly because I didn't need wings to do so.


I let a roar out as Hijunaki's soldiers came towards us. Some were flying creatures and some could only run on the ground. The running creatures were as big as deer and the flying creatures were as small as eagles. Katashi and I nodded at each other knowing this could be our last time together. He had been a good companion and I'd try  and make sure there would be more time we could spend together.


I attacked one of the running creatures and found myself evenly matched with it. I tried to bite its neck but it was too well defended. In a few quick motions it had tossed me and had me hit into another running creature.


Without even a second to think, I attacked the second running creature. This one I managed to cut its stomach open and it fell down in pain. I took this time to try and find Katashi. Dodging another running creature I found Katashi being overtaken by the flying creatures. Deciding to help him and not save myself, I ran towards him.


Before I got too close, a few flying creatures came towards me. I swam-flew up into the sky and the flying creatures followed me.  Their small but tough bodies were a sight to see. For a little while we fought each other and our blood mixed with each other's. There was a soft sound and the creatures all went away. Worried, I went down to try and find Katashi. After a few minutes I found him.


I flew down to Katashi and saw his mangled corpse. I shifted back into my human form and touched his body. It was missing pieces, but its hand was still grasping his weapon. This body didn't affect me like the ones I had killed had. However, it was still disappointing to have my companion dead.


When I finally turned away from Katashi's body, I saw an image of Hijunaki.


"You shouldn't be sad about Katashi's passing, Rig." He said angrily and hissed.


"Why not?" I asked. "He was a strong spirit."


"Yes, but he slept with the woman Yamaka who I had marked as my own." Hijunaki said and disappeared. I was left alone again with Katashi's body.


I looked over Katashi's body and knew what I had to do. It wouldn't be good for such a strong person to be eaten by the wolves and vultures. No, he should become one with this place. I shifted into a large, bulky form with shovel-like hands.


A few minutes of digging in the dirt and there was a sizable hole. It wasn't a perfect shape, but it would do. I shifted back into a human and dragged Katashi over to the hole. Katashi was thin, but he still felt heavy to me. This was probably due to me not being used to lifting a human in my human form.


As I was about to drop Katashi in the hole, I realized that he deserved a better sending off.


"Katashi, I hope that, if there is an afterlife, you are being rewarded in it." I said and pushed him down. When his body crashed into the bottom of the hole, I wished I was one that could give a big speech. But I wasn't. He deserved something good to send him off. Something better than my words.


"Katashi, out of respect for you, I am adding your name onto my own." I said to his body. "With this I will remember you long after everyone else has forgotten you."


I then shifted back into the form I had used to dig the hole so I could fill it back up. Afterwards, I shifted into an owl and flew away into the night. As I flew I thought about Katashi's most important message. The message about just having sex and not loving so that one could stay safe and not hurt.


I remembered Sajoki and thought about how horrible it would be if I had never loved her. At the same time, if I hadn't loved her I wouldn't hurt now. Did I really want this much hurt to be with me every time I found someone that looked good? No, no I didn't.


With that thought, I decided to follow on in Katashi's legacy.

Author's Note

The plot point of having sex without forming attachments.