Chapter 4: Arrival at Kurama
"We've finally arrived at the Kurama son. What do you think?" He looked around at the maze of trees in front of him, and a giant Shinto gate leading to a set of stone stairs leading up the mountain. "Father. Do we have to climb these steps?"
"Correct. Where we're going is at the top of this mountain. There are many monks who will teach you and guide you further in your training." He shook his head and looked at his father. "Does that mean you won't be training me further?"
"No. I'll be training you and guiding you in specific skills that you haven't had a chance to learn. The monks up there will improve your skills with weapons, reading, writing, Bushido, the minds of people, and many more skills. There's a legend of this place that the king of tengus lives on this mountain, and if the kami show interest in your abilities, they'll also teach you." He smiled. "Tengu live up there as well?"
"Hahahaha. That's just a legend, but even the monks say it as well that live up there. Some of them are kind of strange, and are used to wearing tengu masks, so don't be frightened of them, or they'll refuse to train you and send you back down the mountain." He nodded, looking at his father. "What do I need to do?"
"All you need to do now, is climb those stairs on your own. I'll be down here at the base of Kurama. Once its time, I'll climb it, and I'll return to training you further." He nodded and wiped his eyes with his clothing to hide a tear forming. "Thank you father for taking me this far. Now I have to walk up those stairs and show my true strength and power."
"Stop talking and go. Find your Bushido son, and remember I'm proud of your improvement. Bring further honor and glory to the Hattori name." He nodded and walked through the Shinto gate, and started to walk slowly up the stone steps.
He listened to the wind blowing through the trees, and admired the stone lanterns that were on both sides of the stairs. "They keep these stairs very clean... I feel tired just looking at them all." He frowned as he looked up at the mountain, observing the stairs that would take him to the top. "This will take a while." He walked in silence, observing everything around him, and stopped when he saw a trail of ants climbing over the steps. "You have your own path to climb as well it seems ants. May you find peace in your Bushido, and your path." He stepped over the line of ants and continued to climb up the stairs.
"This looks about halfway up to Kurama. What can I see from here?" He turned, looking down the path he had walked, looking in amazement. "That's incredible. The tree tops, the view is beautiful. I feel peace and happiness just staring at this. I can understand why the monks would like to live on this mountain.
"We're not just monks. You should address us by our name Yamabushi." He turned and looked at the monk standing behind him wearing a white tengu mask with long white hair. "My father told me about you. Also he mentioned a legend of the tengu who live on this mountain. Today I'm glad to have met one."
"Hahahaha. I'm impressed your father has taught you not to show fear. May I ask who your father is, and your name?" He nodded bowing at the monk. "My name is Hattori Masanari and my father is..." He stopped when he saw the monk wave his hand at him. "I know of your father, and I know of you. Are you at the age of eight?"
"Yes. I've recently turned eight, which is why I'm here."
"Good. Since you're a Hattori, you'll be given training here as a monk, among other things." He smiled and bowed at the monk. "Thank you greatly monk."
"I told you don't call me monk. I'm not a monk, I'm a Yamabushi, but if that's too difficult for you, you can call me by my tengu name." He nodded. "May I know your tengu name?"
"You may call me Sojobo." He nodded. "Thank you sensei Sojobo."
"Ahhh... Just Sojobo. If you call me monk or sensei, it'll make me feel older than I am. Come follow me up the mountain to the shrine, so you can do the entrance ritual." He nodded and followed the white haired Sojobo up the stairs towards the shrine on its peak. Once he got there he turned and looked at the view behind him. "There's peace here, beauty as well. I can feel it in the wind and the trees. I can see why there's a shrine here, and why you all find peace here."
"Is this the young Hattori we've been waiting for Sojobo?"
"Correct. This is him. I guess his father is down at the base waiting with his shadow friends." He looked at Sojobo. "My father doesn't have shadow friends. We walked together here, and I only saw him talk to the inn owner back in the village."
"He's observant, but he hasn't learnt much about his blood, and where he's from."
"We don't need to worry about that. His father will teach him those secrets. We'll teach him like the others who've come before. Masanari. Do you come here to be trained to stand before your lord and serve following the Bushido code to the best of your ability?" He nodded. "Yes."
"Than you'll be allowed to stay on this peak with us training until you turn the age of sixteen. Until then you can't leave Kurama. Do you accept this?"
"Yes. I accept this."
"When its time for you to learn the skills of your family, your father and Sojobo, will instruct you, until then you'll be working on several different skills. Understand monk?" He nodded. "Yes. I accept and understand this. I'll leave Kurama as a master of my family arts, and of the skills you teach me."
"Welcome to Kurama monk. May you become the next Minamoto Yoshitsune." He looked at Sojobo in confusion. "I don't know that name, can you tell me more about them?"
"Understandable someone from the Hattori family doesn't know who that is." He stood in confusion waiting for an explanation. He turned when he heard the shrine doors creak open, and a group of five tengu masked monks walked out and stood looking at him. "You'll learn about him in the future. But first, we need to see where to start your training. Has your father taught you anything before arriving here at Kurama?" He nodded.
"Yes. My father taught me about the art of tea, where I can see Bushido, and also the art of drawing my sword in silence."
"Show us your drawing skill." He bowed at the masked figures and waited for them to take a step back. He nodded as he bent his legs, while spreading them apart slightly. He took a long breath as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. He drew the blade as fast as he could without making a sound, and stood in front of the masked men in silence.
"His Bushido I could feel it as he drew it faintly. Loyalty."
"Yes. I felt it too. I wish to train him as well. There are many skills I can help with his footing."
"I also want to teach him. He seems to have a strong mind, so I can teach him the way of people."
"Hahaha. Boy. It seems you've got all of them here excited to train you and teach you. So it seems there'll be another legend walking down from this mountain. I hope one day after you've lived your life down there, you'll come back and share with us your experience." He nodded and bowed at the masked monks around him. "I will. Thank you for your education and teaching me over the next eight years. I won't let any of you down."
"Sojobo. He's your student first for the first four months. Than we'll send him to red, blue, black, orange and myself in that order. Once we find his strengths we'll focus on them."
"Follow this white old one. We're going to work on your sword work first. I'll show you to the place you can rest. As a monk you also have duties here at the shrine. While you're with me, your task will be to sweep the stairs up and down the mountain using this broom here." He looked at the long heavy broom handle, and tried to pick it up. He groaned as he was able to just get it off the ground. "You'll be used to it after time. Just need to sweep with it every day, that'll start to turn you into a legend." He nodded and let go of the broom. "Also meals are when the bell rings, if you are not around here by the time the bell stops ringing you miss out on the food. So you need to move fast. Understood?"
"Yes. I understand."
"Good. Now come into the shrine and offer prayers to the kami of Kurama." He followed Sojobo into the shrine, and grabbed a wooden cup drinking the water from the shrine. "Good. Now your incense for the prayers." He bowed as he was given the incense and lit them on the sacred flame. "To the ancestor kami of Kurama, to the tengu of Kurama. Guide me, train me, and make me the legend that this land needs. To fight for and protect my lord." He placed the sticks with the other incense and watched in silence as the smoke rose around the statues in the shrine. He turned to Sojobo. "Who are the statues of?"
"One is the king of the tengu. His name is the name I use. Sojobo, and the other is Minamoto Yoshitsune. I'm sure you can recognize the other statues around here, and just wanted to know about those two." He nodded. "Correct. You're right. The others I know, and the Buddha you have here looks well looked after."
"As you'll eventually learn about this place. There're many fires that spread, because there's not enough people to keep the loose grass and the steps clean. "If there's a fire, we need to make sure these statues are safe at all times. Understand?" He nodded. "Good. Well the talk is all over, now all you have to do is grab that broom and carry it with you where ever you go. Get used to its weight, and start sweeping the steps. Once you can sweep the steps easily. We'll move on to other things... Farewell." He bowed as Sojobo turned, and walked out of the shrine to meet with the others. He looked at the broom he had tried to carry before frowning at it. "If this is just the start, I must do all I can to bring honor to my family. My father is waiting for me, so I must make him proud of everything that I do here. My mother as well."
He picked up the heavy broom and held in in his hands for as long as he could before putting it back on the ground, panting heavily. "For honor I can do it." He looked at the broom in though. "This looks like a weight lifting bar I used in the gym everyday. What if I laid on my back, and used both hands to push it up and down? That should help my strength increase as well." He smiled as he laid next to the broom on the ground and used both hands to rise it in the air, slowly lowering it so it touched his chest, before exhaling and pushing it up once again into the air. "I can do this. No one can stop me."
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