Episode 26 Over Onion Soup!

“We’re on a downhill slope now…” Kunai mutters as the four of them, Kunai, Ryuu, Arai, and Ivy approach a slight downhill descent on the path before them.

Arai glances around, narrowing his eyes and peering forward into the semi-gloom. “It looks like the ground just up ahead flattens out and becomes a small plateau. It also looks like…there’s a house on that plateau!”

“A house?! Here?!” Kunai cries out loud. “It’s not the weapon maker guy Alcaster was talking about, is it?”

“I doubt so,” Ryuu replies, “Alcaster said he lives much deeper in the valley. He never said anything about a house being here, though.”

“I wonder if it’s safe…” Ivy mutters. “It looks a little spooky here.”

“Only one way to find out,” Kunai replies. He glances up suddenly as the clouds in the sky shift, allowing a stream of sunshine to stretch down into the small plateau. Before them, now brightly lit, is a small wooden cabin, built on top of a snowy plateau surrounded on three sides by tall, rocky cliffs.

“A dead end?” Kunai mutters.

“No,” Ryuu replies, “look.” He points at a small, narrow rift inside the cliffs on their left, where it opens just wide enough to allow one person to walk through. “I’m guessing that little passage their leads into the greater part of the valley below.”

“Should we pay whoever lives here a visit, or should we keep going?” Arai wonders out loud.

“My guess,” Ryuu replies, “is to keep going. We don’t know whether friend or foe lives there.”

“Aww! But I’m all curious now what’s inside that house. Don’t you wanna see, too, Ryuu?” Ivy says.

Ryuu shrugs irritably. “I don’t care. I’m just stating the better idea. But don’t blame me if we wind up someone’s dinner tonight.”

“Oh, lighten up, Ryuu!” Arai replies. “We’ll just take a quick look inside and be gone. Don’t you want to see too, Kunai?”

Kunai blinks a couple times, slightly perplexed as he stares from Arai’s pleasant face to Ryuu’s threatening face. “Uh…well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…”

Ryuu sighs. “I thought you were on my side, Kunai…”

“Let’s go in then!” Ivy cries, running forward to the door of the cabin and knocking several times. She waits at the door patiently, while Arai, Ryuu, and Kunai slowly trot up to the front door behind her.

“Looks like no one’s home,” Arai says after a while.

“Aww…but I wanted to see what’s inside!” Ivy cries out loud.

“Maybe if we…” Arai mutters, raising his staff and pretending to accidentally drop it, so that the head of the staff slams into the doorknob, knocking it open. “Oops! How clumsy of me!” Arai cries cheerfully.

Kunai blinks, as Ivy and Arai step inside, while Ryuu steps haughtily over the threshold behind them. “I never knew Arai had such great erm…burglar skills…”

Kunai quickly follows the other three inside, and they stare around inside the cabin. In front of them is a long wooden table, laden with three bowls of a steaming liquid.

“Three steaming bowls…?” Kunai mutters. “Now why does this seem so familiar?”

“AHH!” Ivy screams out loud, pointing abruptly at the bowls lying on the table frightfully. “This is just like that story of Athena Pierce and the Three Lycanthropes!”

“You’re right!” Arai cries suddenly. “If that’s the case…we should probably get out of here.”

Ryuu nods. “At last, we’re in agreement.” His eyes suddenly widen as he turns and sees Arai sitting down at the table, picking up a spoon lying next to one of the bowls. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Well, as long as we’re here, we might as well have a good meal,” Arai relies cheerfully.

Ivy squeals happily and takes a seat behind the table, before Ryuu reluctantly joins them. Kunai stands, blinking down at the others from the side.

“Hm…this soup is way too hot,” Ryuu growls, tasting a bit of the soup.

“Heh, this one’s really cold,” Arai murmurs, shivering at the cold taste of the soup.

“This one’s just right!” Ivy says happily.

“I um…don’t have soup,” Kunai comments awkwardly.

Ivy suddenly lowers her spoon nervously, staring around the small cabin, where there are three rocking chairs and three beds in the far corner. “You know I was just thinking wouldn’t it be really scary if the three Lycanthropes showed up right now?”

“That’s impossible,” Ryuu grunts haughtily, “considering that story’s nothing but a fairy tale meant to scare little kids when they’re bad.”

The group suddenly turns in alarm as the door to the cabin slides open. Suddenly all four of their eyes widen, as they scream, yell, and point at three tall, hooded figures entering the room, one resembling a Lycanthrope, one resembling a Werewolf, and the last resembling a White Pang.

“THE THREE LYCANTHROPES!” Kunai, Ryuu, Arai, and Ivy scream in fear at once, pointing at the three.

“RUN!” Kunai cries out loud, sprinting forward and running into the figure resembling a Lycanthrope.

The figure grabs Kunai, restraining him from running, glancing around perplexedly at its two comrades and the other three who are in the room. Suddenly he reaches up to his face, taking off his Lycanthrope mask. “What in the world is going on here?”

Kunai gasps as he takes a step back, relinquished from the figure’s grasp. He stares up into the face of an old, white haired, white bearded man.

The other two figures remove their masks too, revealing an old, gray haired woman and a wrinkled, bald old man stooping before them.

“Oh, what a relief…they were only masks after all,” Ryuu mutters.

“Wait! May…maybe…maybe what if they’re wearing masks under the masks?!” Kunai cries out loud, pointing at the old man standing in front of him.

“Masks under their masks?!” Ryuu cries out loud, drawing his sword and raising it, charging towards the old woman who is nearest him.

Next to Ryuu’s side, Kunai suddenly leaps into the air, trying to peel off the mask of the old white haired man standing before him. The old man struggles, trying to pry Kunai off of him.

The woman chuckles to herself lazily, before quickly reaching forward and placing a small sheet of yellow paper on the tip of Ryuu’s sword, freezing him on the spot.

Ryuu blinks and removes the scroll, staring at the red letters imprinted on it. “Wait a minute…this is an Undead Scroll!”

“Very good! You can read!” the old woman replies.

“Who are you people, anyway?” Kunai inquires, blinking furiously as the old man roughly pushes him off.

“I’m glad you asked!” the old white haired man replies cheerfully. “We are the Three Ancient Ones guarding the Valley of Darkness in El Nath! We are the siblings Kusanagi, Yata, and Yasakani!” he shouts, pointing to himself, the woman, and the bald man in respective order.

“Never heard of them…” Kunai mumbles.

“Why you…!” Kusanagi cries angrily, shaking his fist at Kunai. He takes a deep sigh. “You kids these days know nothing…”

“So let me get this straight,” Arai replies, “you three siblings are the guardians of the valley behind this mountain here? I see…well, we won’t trouble you then! We must get going into the valley, if you’ll so kindly allow us to pass.”

“Just wait a minute…” Kusanagi grumbles, “you four are passing through here? State your purpose! We allow none to pass our door without good reason.”

“Ah…well, you see, we’ve heard that there’s a weapon maker that’s said to live deep within that valley. We are looking for him so he may make a new claw for me,” Kunai answers. “So that’s why we’ve come this far.”

“I see…” Yasakani replies, “you seek the legendary Azuma, the smith said to produce weapons of unmatchable power? It has been long indeed since any have come seeking for him.”

“Yes,” Kusanagi mutters, “the last time any dared journey through this valley was years ago, when Kimura came seeking Azuma to create a sword for him.”

“Look, I don’t care who the hell this Kimura guy is, we just want to get to this Azuma ourselves! So if you’ll just let us pass, thanks, and we won’t trouble you any further,” Ryuu growls.

Arai suddenly grins, looking up from a bowl of one of the hot steaming soups lying on the wooden table. He places his spoon on the table, having finished the soup. “Mm-hmm! This soup is delicious! What is it, incidentally?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Yata replies cheerfully. “It is onion soup that I made myself.”

“Onion…?” Ryuu mutters under his breath, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

“Nothing like a good bowl of onion soup to warm the heart!” Yata answers.

“But…why onion?” Ivy asks interestedly.

“Ah, well, you see, you don’t live here, huh…well, not much grows in such cold weather as we get all year round. But for some reason, onions seem to thrive in our soil for apparently no reason! So we grow onions to eat all year long!” Yata replies happily.

“So, wait…all you guys eat day after day are onions?” Ryuu asks awkwardly. “Don’t you get tired of eating onions? I know I’d be if I had to eat this crap all day every day.”

“No, don’t be silly, Mr. Redhead!” Yata answers, smiling mischievously. “We eat any people that happen to pass by our home! We do need the protein, you know.”

Kunai, Ryuu, Arai, and Ivy blink simultaneously as they stare in a long, awkward silence at the Three Ancient Ones standing before them.

“Ahahaha!” Yata laughs suddenly. “My joke, my joke! I am so funny, aren’t I?!”

“Erm, right…” Kunai mumbles to himself.

Ryuu narrows his eyes, staring at Yata with a sour expression on his face. ‘That’s nothing to joke about, considering these three just burst in dressed as monsters…’

“So at any rate…may we pass your doors in search of the legendary craftsman Azuma?” Arai asks suddenly, standing up to meet the three elders.

“Of course you may,” Kusanagi answers. “However, I must warn you of the dangers you shall encounter down deep within that valley.”

“Dangers?” Ryuu asks, looking up interestedly. “What kind of dangers do you speak of?”

“You might’ve wondered what we were doing outside,” Yasakani answers. “We occasionally journey from time to time into the Valley of Darkness ourselves, to keep in check the various undead living in there.”

“Undead?!” Kunai cries out loud.

“Yes…” Yata replies, “there are many undead that reside within that valley. And until just recently, they have been quite well behaved. But lately some sort of powerful new undead has risen among them, and caused much unrest in the others in the valley.”

“In other words,” Kusanagi adds, “journeying into the valley is equal to a death sentence. There is very little I can say to assure you that you will return once you enter.”

“We’re up to the challenge,” Ryuu responds arrogantly, shouldering his sword. “As long as I’m alive, I can guarantee our little party here won’t get hurt.”

“Very well,” Kusanagi replies seriously, “then I grant you your wish to travel into the valley. However, I have warned you, and we can do nothing to help should you run into trouble. Please do not take lightly the dangers inside the valley. We will not be held responsible for your deaths.”

“Old man,” Ryuu replies, “we won’t die. If any of us so much as loses a finger, may your onions rot and your crop be destroyed. I guarantee you that we shall return.”

“Heh,” Kusanagi answers, “we shall see about that.”