You Aren't Fish

Before their boat was swept away by the river current, the pirates had to disembark with their supplies.

To Sumire, it almost felt as if time stood still. Everything had happened so fast, and before she knew it one of her friends had sacrificed himself to save them. She never even got to witness his fate…

“He'll be fine,” Senren tried to reassure Sumire, noticing how despondent she seemed to become. “That man is a creature far superior to humans. Not to mention, he clearly loves that medicine woman. I don't suspect he'll let anything keep him from Nezu, or fulfilling a promise.”

“Mm…” Sumire made a less than certain noise, hoisting the parcel of supplies over her shoulder by a strap. “I can't exactly say that I disagree with you, but what if we're wrong? I don't like leaving friends behind. What if there are just too many for him?”

“When we met Jimmu, he was a sea serpent far bigger than our ferry,” Senren reminded her, pulling the other parcel’s strap over his own shoulder. “A lesser dragon, essentially. If the Hagashi are too much for him to bear, he could simply transform and overpower them or swim away.”

“Okay, but like… What if he's too big for the river?”

Senren didn't dignify that with a response. Instead, he merely stared at Sumire, unamused.
It gave her the opportunity to see how worn he was.

“Uh, here, let's get you some water,” Sumire changed the subject, rummaging around in her parcel. After a moment, she produced a small jug of water and handed it to Senren. “You're probably really dehydrated now, huh? Drink up, we still have a while to go.”

The ronin nodded his acknowledgement. As he drank, Sumire took the opportunity to observe their surroundings. Jimmu was completely right about the Hagashi not being able to follow them into the cave — there was quite a long stretch of water between the cave entrance and the riverbank where they stood, one which would be completely uncrossable if you couldn't swim against the current. Case in point, now that it was no longer pushed forward by Jimmu's blast of energy, their empty rowboat was now gliding down the river and out of the cave.

In the other direction, the cave interior stretched out before them endlessly. Luminous crystals in the walls kept the pathway just barely lit enough to see where you were going, and the river water was crystal clear.

“I suppose we should get going,” Senren handed the jug back to Sumire, bringing her attention back to the task at hand. “It looks like we should be able to walk on the stone beside the water, at least for a while. Just watch your step.”

Sumire nodded and began to follow him down the path. The entire place had an oddly tranquil, even somewhat mystical feeling about it. She could even feel the hum of energy coming from the many crystals around them in her left eye.

“It's beautiful here…” the pirate woman breathed in awe as they ventured further into the cave. “I had no idea this old mountain held so much treasure in it.”

“I don't imagine you're the only one,” Senren replied, examining their surroundings. “It doesn't look like any humans have ever ventured this far into the mountain. Only animals and perhaps Yokai have ever touched these rocks…”

The reality of that made their adventure suddenly feel much more special. To be the first humans to ever explore this river cave was an astounding achievement, one which made Sumire practically giddy. She had to be careful not to get too excited, lest she slip and fall into the water.

However, it felt like they had walked for quite a while before the scenery changed. It was impossible to know just how long it had been, being underground like they were, but time definitely seemed to pass slowly. Sumire and Senren remained quiet, both in anticipation and caution, which certainly didn't help matters. Sumire felt like she could lose ages in this cave…

“Sumi…do you hear water?” Senren suddenly asked, stopping for a moment to listen.

“I mean, we're walking beside a river,” Sumire replied with confusion. “Of course we hear water. We've been hearing it this whole time.”

“No, I mean something louder. Like the water is getting louder.”

With an unusual burst of energy, Senren carefully sprinted forward. Sumire darted after him, watching her step as much as possible without losing him. A few moments later, she found her quartermaster halted at what was very clearly a fork in the river, where it split into five paths.

“I see…” Senren stated almost nervously. “So the increase in sound was because the amount of streams increased…”

“How do we know what one to choose?” Sumire wondered aloud, her voice laced with a bit of anxiety. There was almost no difference in the five options, save for the centermost stream, which was much wider than the others.

“Well… I imagine that the one in the center leads to the waterfall, according to legend,” Senren answered. “But there's no bank or ledge to traverse it by…”

“That narrows it down by one, I guess,” Sumire tried to pay closer attention to their surroundings, looking for any clues to what would be the right way. She certainly could hear rushing water up ahead, a sign that the subterranean waterfall was getting closer. However, the sound echoed through the cavern so much that it was impossible to tell what direction it came from.

Each path also looked relatively the same. The crystals, the stone walls, the stalactites — all of it unique, but none of it particularly special, nor indicative of leading to the top of the mountain.

“They all seem to be inclined, too… Ugh, this is way too hard.”

Bloop…

Splish!

The new noise in the water drew the pirates' attention to the leftmost stream. There, upon closer inspection, they found several koi fish swimming up the path.

“No way,” Sumire breathed in awe. “I'm not seeing things, right? Those are definitely koi?”

“They certainly are,” Senren looked at the water for all of the other streams. “And this is the only path they appear to be swimming up. I don't see any signs of other koi fish at any of the other streams.”

“Haha! That's perfect!” Sumire pumped her fist into the air triumphantly. “That's gotta be the right way! It'd be way too weird of a coincidence otherwise. C'mon, Sen, let's just follow the koi!”

So, follow the koi they did. Down the leftmost path, Sumire and Senren trudged alongside the river stream, always keeping the traveling koi in sight. The path seemed to go on for a while, at points widening so that they had to hug the cave walls in order to remain on the riverbank. At other points the riverbank vanished completely, forcing the pirates to hop from rock to rock until it reemerged. When the path got too dark, Sumire used her lightning to illuminate the Koi Tear on her sword like a lamp. When she slipped or lost balance and threatened to be carried away by a stronger current, Senren pushed himself to stabilize the water long enough for her to make it to safety.

The two of them pressed onward diligently, using teamwork and their unique skills to overcome the many obstacles in front of them. It sparked a strange sort of feeling within Sumire that grew larger with each step forward.

“Ya know… I kinda think I get it now,“ she said after some time, as they walked along a bit of the more relaxed terrain. “The perseverance these little fish have is pretty amazing. Every obstacle we overcome feels kinda…empowering. It makes me want to conquer more obstacles, or accomplish more things.”

“I agree,” Senren replied, watching the koi swim along unperturbed, like gems in the clear water. “The more trials we face together on this journey…the stronger I feel like I become. The stronger our bond feels as well. To think that many of these creatures lost their lives pursuing such a feeling… I understand why they wouldn't give up hope, now, even when faced with their own mortality. It is the pursuit of something greater than oneself which gives life meaning.”

“Huh…”

The pursuit of something greater than yourself is what gives life meaning.

That thought seemed to stick in Sumire's mind like glue, or perhaps more like a sesame seed stuck between one's teeth. Something persistent and ever-present, which prodded at one’s inner-self until its esoteric intentions were fully realized. An unscratchable itch.

“Sumire, look! There's light!”
It was rare to hear so much excitement in Senren's voice. Snapping out of her thoughts, Sumire looked up to find a stunning sight.

They had reached the river’s end, which was marked by a beautiful structure of cascading ponds. It was several feet high, enough that one would have to scale it to reach the top, where light and water streamed down into the different tiered pools. No longer capable of following without climbing up the plateaus, Sumire and Senren watched as the koi fish jumped from pool to pool, and finally out of the cavern.

“That place at the top where the light’s coming from,” Sumire inquired with barely contained anticipation. “That's gotta be the exit, right? I bet it leads to the mountaintop.”

“I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case,” Senren concurred, gazing forward in awe. “These Koi make it look so easy… But to get there, we'll have to climb those slick plateaus.”

Sumire smirked smugly, pointing at herself with her thumb.

“Just leave it to me.”

She confidently strode up to the cascading ponds and began inspecting the rock. After a moment, she removed the sword from her back and performed a strong, precise cut, wedging the tip of the blade into the rock just enough that it could be used as a platform.

“There we go! It won't hold our weight for long, but it'll give us a boost up. C'mon, Sen, try it out!”

Senren felt less than comfortable being the guinea pig for the makeshift sword platform, but he didn't really have another choice. So, he cautiously walked up to the pond, hopped onto the sword, and used it as a base to immediately hop onto the plateau around the closest pool.

“Impressive. It actually worked quite well, Sumi.”

“Of course it did! Now toss down that bamboo rope Nezu packed with the med supplies.”

Curious, Senren obliged, and once Sumire caught the bundle of rope she immediately unwound it and tied one end tightly to the hilt of her sword. Keeping the other end wrapped around her arm with a bit of slack between them, she then followed Senren's example to hop to the plateau.

“What exactly are you planning to—?”

“Hiyah!”

Sumire yanked the rope, which freed her sword and sent it flying up towards them. Although the ronin recoiled, the pirate beside him refused to flinch and caught the sword with ease.

“O-oh… I see…” Senren remarked, attempting to regain his composure while faced with the radiant pride that was Sumire's expression. “How innovative of you. I suppose we should keep going.”

The duo performed this climbing routine a few times, steadily making their way up the cascading ponds. Before they knew it, the opening of the cavern was within reach, and past the water pouring in and the warm rays of sunset, they could see the sky and a canopy of woodlands.

“This is it, Senren,” Sumire announced, a little breathlessly. “We did it. Beyond this point, our dreams will be realized…”

“We'd better not delay, then. We haven't come this far just to hesitate at the finish line.”

The grin he gave Sumire was cheeky, like when two best friends tease each other. She returned it in earnest and let her heart soar, hoisting herself through the opening.

For a moment, the late evening sun was too blinding to see anything as they passed through. But once their eyes adjusted on the other side, Sumire and Senren found themselves sitting upon the edge of a beautiful pond. Koi fish wiggled past them to the other end of the pond a few feet away.

“Good job, everyone. I'm so proud of you! Now, let's try— Ah!”

Meeting the koi fish was an exquisitely beautiful maiden, who gasped in complete shock upon laying her glimmering silver eyes on the two humans. However, the shock on her face was soon mixed with a healthy dose of bewilderment.

“Wait… You aren't fish.”