"Are you really going that far?" The captain asked in disbelief. "Do you really expect me to lend you space on my ship to go that far? Do you really think I would risk my ship on such a venture?"
I made sure that I was calm before I answered him. "I can pay you very well."
The captain shook his head. "The point is that my business puts my ship's priority above everything else."
Yomosa turned to me as if my powers extended to controlling minds. I shook my head and tried to think of anything that I could say to this captain.
"I am sorry to waste your time." I replied and bowed.
The captain bowed and we parted ways.
"It doesn't seem anyone is going to let us use their ship." Yomosa said quietly when the captain was out of earshot.
"Yeah, guess I must have lost my charm." I said and smirked. I didn't smirk because I was happy or the situation was amusing. I smirked to try and make her feel better. She finally replied with her own small smile but it quickly faded away. Asking for a ship was a hard venture for two 'common people' that asked for a lot. This task was affecting us both.
"But you'll be able to find one." Yomosa replied confidently.
"Or we'll have to resort to another plan."
"And that would be?"
"You'll see it if I ever have to use it."
I entertained the notion that one captain would agree to my request. That one captain would allow us our very odd desires. Turning to look at Yomosa I saw that she still had confidence in me, but that she wasn't blind to the facts. The facts being that I would most likely have to resort to another plan.
"Just don't kill anyone." She whispered in my ear.
I understood the reference. Don't kill anyone like I had killed her intended husband.
For the next few hours we went asking the rest of the captains for the use of their ship. But they were all turned off when they found out we wanted to leave Japan and it was a journey no ship would likely return from. So the captains rejected us. One by one they said no.
Finally the last captain walked angrily away from us. I stared at the open ocean. A sight I had been used to seeing as a wall, not as something you could go across. I had freed myself from Hijunaki. I had freed myself from Katashi's teachings. But I hadn't yet freed myself from the notion that the whole world wasn't the part I had grown up in.
"It's scary for you, isn't it?" Yomosa asked as she put a hand on my shoulder. I didn't look at her but continued to stare at the ocean.
"Yes, I think it's scary for you too." I replied.
"It is, but I can't let that get to me. If I did, I'd regret it my entire life."
"Because you gave me up?"
"Partially. But also that I let fear get the better of me when I've been fearless for so long."
"I wouldn't blame you if you left me now."
"But I would." She said and squeezed my shoulder.
I finally decided to look at her and I was ashamed at asking her for so much. But also proud that both love and a desire for bravery were having her go along with me.
"Do you want to hear the backup plan?" I asked her. Yomosa's smile was the only thing I needed to continue speaking. "I take on the form of an Eastern Dragon and fly us to our new destination."
"How long will you be able to fly?" She asked.
"Long enough." I said and Yomosa nodded.
We then walked away from the harbor like we were going to spend personal time together. Time when groans and moans would be things best left to only us two. No one looked at us and the captains seemed glad to see us go.
Yomosa and I made our way to where the corpse of the Eastern lay. No one had yet been brave enough to look for it and other animals were only beginning to eat it. A dragon was something to be feared, even by things that couldn't fully comprehend them.
I focused and felt myself changing. It was a normal thing for me. Something I had been born to. My main human male form shifted to become larger so that the form of an Eastern Dragon could be accommodated. My skin then broke out into scales and my hair stayed on my head but then went all the way down to a few inches beyond the tip of my tail.
After a few more changes I was an Eastern. I went down to allow Yomosa to climb aboard me. She kissed my head and then found a place to sit comfortably. Or at least a place she wouldn't fall off from.
"I love you more than I have loved anyone before." She told me. "And you have changed more than I thought possible. Just wanted to say that in case this is the last conversation we are to ever have."
"You have opened my heart in ways I didn't think possible." I told her and then I was swimming through the air to a fate, as of yet, unknown.
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Sushi, Sake, and Tanuki Links
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