Dororo: A Novel Tsuji Masaki Part Seven The Tale of a New Sea Voyage Chapter 1 Just as Tahoumaru had said, a small boat was floating near the shore of the Cruel Cape. "Hey, look!" Dororo said, pointing. The boat was drifting slowly away. Hyakkimaru's inattention had caused them to be separated. He considered that a terrible failure on his part and strove to pay good attention this time. He leaned on a spear as he walked, physically exhausted. "What do you think happened to Tahoumaru?" Dororo asked. He seemed worried. Hyakkimaru had more faith in his younger brother's skill with a sword. "He won't be killed so easily, I think... Now, what's going on with this boat?" The boat was full to the brim with demonic energy. Dororo, of course, didn't notice. "There's something off about that boat," Hyakkimaru said. "Like what?" Dororo asked as he jumped in and took up an oar. Hyakkimaru joined him in the boat. After they'd rowed a little ways, Dororo blinked in shock and slid back in his seat as if he'd been struck. Look at that ship! Not the boat they were in--a different ship gliding out over the water from the edge of the island. The ship must weigh several hundred tons, but with its torn sails, broken masts, and rattling planks, it was clearly abandoned. It certainly looked creepy, like something not of this world. "What is that ship?" Dororo asked. "It's a demon... and maybe not just one. It's as strong as several demons put together." "Aniki! It's sucking us in like a whirlpool! What do we do?!" Dororo let his oar drop, but the boat kept moving at its previous pace, straight toward the demonic ship. "It seems we're being invited aboard," Hyakkimaru said. "I see no reason to reject the invitation." Hyakkimaru kicked his feet up and took a rest while the boat moved toward the ship all on its own. It was as if there was a powerful magnetic force between the vessels. As Hyakkimaru and Dororo drew closer to the demon ship, they noticed a ladder hanging from the side. Hyakkimaru caught hold of the ladder, and together they used it to climb on board the demon ship. The demon ship shouldn't be seaworthy at all. As Hyakkimaru and Dororo rose up to the main deck, they noticed water everywhere. The planks under their feet were squishy and soaked through, rotted; it was a miracle they could support any weight. Dabs of blood-red marked the deck and the shattered masts: the only splashes of bright color on the unremitting gray of the demon ship. Creak, creak, creak. The ship made its own sounds, like speech. Dororo skipped over a patch of deck that was thick with rusty nails. He was certain the nails hadn't been there a moment ago. The rigging fell from the broken masts to the deck and rose up like a corpse made of rope and water, confronting Hyakkimaru head-on. "Enough of these games, demon," Hyakkimaru said to the animated rigging. "I'm your opponent. If you're going to fight me, do it the right way. Show yourself!" More sounds like from the ship: creaking, rustling--laughing. "I'm right here!" "Show me your true form," Hyakkimaru said. "How do you tell the difference between an abandoned ghost ship and a possessed demon ship?" Dororo asked. The demon laughed again. "There isn't much difference. Dead people haunt ships. People call me 'ghost' just as much as 'demon.'" The wind rose, accompanied by the sound of strange laughter. The half-destroyed deck buckled as the gale passed over it; the ghost ship was sailing against the wind, putting extra stress on the vessel. "Demon, what are you trying to do?" Hyakkimaru asked. "Kill you, of course!" the demon said, laughing again. "Really? And how do you plan to do that?" Hyakkimaru asked that, but he already understood what the demon was planning. It would be very easy for this demon to sail them all the way out to open waters and leave them there to drown, far from land and any kind of help. That's not what I'm planning at all, the demon replied immediately, speaking directly into Hyakkimaru's mind. I knew you were coming and am well prepared. Don't tell me that this demon can read minds! Hyakkimaru thought. The demon ship laughed hugely, as if it had never heard anything so funny before. Shit! It really can read minds! Hyakkimaru thought. He wasn't sure what to do, but he remembered that this battle wasn't over yet. The demon had an advantage; that didn't mean it had won already. Oh, I like your spirit, the demon said in his mind. You're right: it's too early to give up. But it's also too early to declare your own victory. Look toward the hold! Dororo and Hyakkimaru both looked to the hold of the ship at the same time. The passage leading to it was black as pitch. The demon's lair must be beyond that stretch of darkness. Creak, creak, creak. A lumbering, mechanical sound echoed from below. A humanoid figure shuffled into view, missing a head. Its shambling steps were as measured and regular as clockwork. Dororo gasped, briefly afraid, but he stood his ground. The monstrous mechanical figure was the same size and shape of a strong, tall man, but it must have a weakness. "I see you've met my faithful sailor," the demon said. "When the ship sank, his head was cut off by the rudder, and now he is as you see him." In old tales, a ghost ship is usually a remnant of a real ship that was lost at sea. Some shipwrecks are caused by vengeful spirits. During the Tang Dynasty, there were stories of more than one hundred headless monsters that had only one hand and one leg. How do I handle this one? Hyakkimaru asked himself. The demon didn't give him time to think. "Stumped already?" The demon laughed. "He's certainly a tough opponent. No holding back on me, now." A chain rattled, loud; the headless sailor lifted a small anchor by the chain. Rattle, rattle, rattle. As the sailor hefted the anchor, it rose in the air. The sailor spun the anchor above his headless torso on the chain. If the anchor weren't so huge, it would be just like a kusurigama or a ball-and-chain mace. Hyakkimaru observed this and understood what the next attack would look like. The demon chuckled. "Well, well! You're a smart one, Hyakkimaru!" Hyakkimaru found the demon's constant interpolations irritating. He needed to concentrate. If he didn't fend off the headless soldier, he wouldn't be able to take down the demon controlling it. He'll jump left, then try to trip me by wrapping the anchor and chain around my legs, Hyakkimaru thought. As predicted, the anchor lurched left on its chain. "Ah!" The deck tore open like a sheet of wet paper. With that, Hyakkimaru finally grasped the demon's plan. I see! So you're going to erase the ground under my feet until I no longer have anywhere to maneuver? Hah! "It's all over for you, Hyakkimaru!" the demon said, cackling gleefully. "You think so?" Hyakkimaru stayed still, staring at the approaching sailor. There! I see it! There's a hole in his chest. The sailor lurched. He dropped the chain with his left hand in order to protect his chest. The anchor poked another hole in the deck. Damn it! Hyakkimaru thought. If this lasts too long, I'll lose. I can't move without coming under threat of the anchor, and he can't move without destroying all of our footing. "Take your time, take your time," the demon said. "I've got all day!" The blood boiled in Hyakkimaru's head; it was impossible to stay calm. The sailor chose that moment to pounce, leaping to Hyakkimaru in a single bound and bringing the anchor around to cut right through him. Hyakkimaru dodged at the last instant, putting some distance between himself and the sailor. To Dororo, it looked like Hyakkimaru was getting beaten pretty bad. Shit! Where's the actual demon? That's what we should focus on! Hah! Can you hear me, little one? the demon asked, speaking into Dororo's mind. If you can, come and give me a hug! Rattle, rattle, rattle. The sailor's chain wrapped around Hyakkimaru's left sword arm. "It's got you!" Dororo called out. "It's time to attack me with your right sword, Hyakkimaru! However will you manage?" the demon asked, sounding not unconcerned. No, Hyakkimaru thought. A sword can't break an anchor. That's not the answer. "You should give up now, don't you think?" the demon asked. The demon was trying to undermine Hyakkimaru's sense of composure. Hyakkimaru knew that and fought to remain calm. All I need to do is win. Everything else is just a distraction. But nothing came to mind, and the demon's taunting was making him mad. He wrenched his thoughts away from the demon and concentrated on something else. Okay. I'll think about Dororo... When I first met him, I thought he was a hungry, filthy thief who wouldn't make it far. But now... Dororo is a friend. Like Mio and the children at the temple were friends... Hyakkimaru had spent too much time lost in thought; the headless sailor was advancing on him with the anchor. "Just give up the ghost, Hyakkimaru," the demon said. "The moment you take another move, you're done for!" "I'm not!" Hyakkimaru gritted his teeth and thought about Dororo--Dororo, the greatest sneak-thief in all of Japan. He hadn't had an easy life. His parents had died when he was very young, leaving him all alone. Like Hyakkimaru, Dororo had grown up without parents, but he hadn't let that tragedy darken his exuberant spirit. Where had Dororo's strength of will come from? Rattle, rattle. The chain swung overhead; the anchor sliced right through a mast. Dororo is bright and happy because he's not alone, Hyakkimaru thought. He knows how to find friends--and to hold on, when he does. The strident sound of metal on metal echoed as Hyakkimaru wrestled with the chain. Sparks flew between the chain and Hyakkimaru's trapped sword arm. His other sword arm cut firmly into a broken mast and remained wedged there. The demon cackled. "Poor Hyakkimaru." This was a sticky situation. Hyakkimaru couldn't move his right sword arm at all, and his left sword arm was all caught up in the chain. Look out, Hyakkimaru! "Aniki!" Dororo, with his usual recklessness, attacked the headless sailor. He was swiftly repelled by the sailor's strong arms. "Gah!" Dororo fell, landing atop the head of a statue that adorned the ship's prow. He grunted as he fell. At the same time, the demon shrieked in dismay. Dororo had thought that what he'd landed on was a statue's head, but it was a real one--the demon's! Dororo froze for a moment, but then he saw his opportunity. He might only have limited control of the demon's head, but he could work with that. "This is the demon--the real one!" Dororo shouted to Hyakkimaru. "It's the real body!" Dororo didn't know that Hyakkimaru'd had his mind read by this demon and was abusing him like a children's toy. He'd lost track of Hyakkimaru's movements after being unceremoniously thrust onto the demon head. What was this demon, anyway? Well, it was a creature of water called Yamajiji.1 As it had the power to read people's minds, it was a very powerful monster indeed. "You're scared of me. You want me to get away from here and to safety. You think that if you mess around now, you'll get eaten. I know absolutely everything you're thinking, and I don't even need to put any effort into it. I can't stand it. You're so annoying," Yamajiji said. Dororo's hand brushed against a bucket that was hanging on the side of the ship. Due to his great fear, he wasn't able to control his movements perfectly for a few seconds, and wound up splashing his hand in the bucket full of water. The splash landed on the demon's face. Yamajiji recoiled at the splash of cold water. "Humans are awful! You didn't even need to think about that before you went and ruined my eyes!" Yamajiji was not the first to suffer from human thoughtlessness; there are many stories written throughout the ages that are about the same thing. And thoughtlessness was not Yamajiji's only enemy. The demon could read minds perfectly, but it couldn't control the whims of chance. Dororo, who had discovered the demon's true body, jumped up. The demon had no arms or legs or body aside from the head. Maybe that meant he could hurt it, if all it was was a head. He jumped up and down on the head, pounding his feet into the monster's head as if he were a tea grinder pulverizing the demon into powder. "It's time for the world's greatest thief to show off his skills!" Dororo picked up a piece of driftwood lodged in the side of the ship, then faced the demon again. "Hey! Hey, you demon!" All was chaos. The ancient demon screeched in pain and called for the headless sailor's help. Hyakkimaru was still keeping the sailor busy. He used his left sword, which was wrapped around a chain, to gouge the sailor in the stomach. The sailor, frightened by the demon's pleas for help, tried to break free, but this caused him to lose control of the swinging anchor. He fell to the deck with the anchor poking out of his chest, screaming. Hyakkimaru also fell, supported by nothing but the right sword arm stuck fast in the ship's mainmast. "Aniki!" Dororo called out to him. Hyakkimaru collapsed completely to the deck, laying horizontal even though his right sword arm was still stuck. It took Dororo a moment to realize what had happened. "Aniki--your arms! Your arms grew back! Both of them!" 1 山爺: Yamajiji, directly translated, means "old man of the mountain." There is robust Japanese folklore of spirits, gods and magicians that dwell as sages in Japan's many mountain ranges.↩
Sep 8, 2023 • Subscribe
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