The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

into Kei. The constables would never have expected you to take the route you've taken. Your getting lost may have been a blessing. The wanted posters describe a red-haired young girl. Do something about that big sword and no one will know who you are."
    "I see." Youko stood up. "Thank you," she said.
    Rakushun looked up at her in surprise. "Hey, you're not thinking of leaving right away, are you?"
    "Better sooner than later. I don't want to be a burden."
    Rakushun jumped up. "Better later. You really are impatient, aren't you?"
    "But . . . . "
    "After you get to the Kingdom of En, then what? Walk around grabbing people off the street and asking them if they know a guy named Keiki? Do you know how to book passage on a ship? How to petition for sanctuary in En?"
    Youko looked away. Compared to her journey up till now, with only this new destination fixed in her mind, a considerably different future had opened up to her. Nevertheless, there would be more obstacles like this she would have to surmount. And these likely didn't amount to a tenth of what awaited her.
    "You can't go rushing off without the slightest bit of preparation. If you don't prepare now, you'll be boxing yourself into a corner."
    Youko nodded. There was still a part of her that feared falling into a trap, but on this point she had no choice but to trust Rakushun.
    "That's right. Have something to eat, put some meat on your bones. Even setting a quick pace, it will take a month to get to Agan."
    Youko nodded again. At least until she got the better part of her strength back. That'd give her time to figure out what Rakushun was up to as well. Was he simply doing this out of the goodness of his heart, or was it part of some deeper stratagem? She had to get to Agan and then to En. But more than that, she had to first ascertain Rakushun's true intentions.

Chapter 38
    R akushun said as they were cleaning up after lunch, "I hear it was quite a big shoku."
    "That's what one of the elders of Hairou said."
    "The news is that the wheat crops in the eastern region of Shin County were completely wiped out. It was a big tragedy."
    Youko only nodded. Somewhere in her heart she felt a twinge of guilt.
    "I seem to have touched upon a sore spot. Not because you think it was your fault, I hope."
    "It doesn't mean I'm all depressed about it," Youko said, scraping the ashes out of the stove.
    The rat's furry tail reached over and rapped her lightly on the knuckles. "Shoku do not happen because kaikyaku show up. It's the shoku that bring the kaikyaku here."
    Rakushun instructed her to deposit the ashes into a wooden box. The remaining embers were stored in another container.
    Youko said, "Can I ask you something?"
    "What's that?"
    "What exactly is a shoku?" The elderwoman in Hairou had said it was something like a storm or tempest, but she still didn't understand its exact nature.
    "Ah, so you don't know what a shoku is, either. You don't have shoku where you're from?"
    "Well, it's written the same as an eclipse of the sun or the moon. We have those."
    "They're not dissimilar omens in some respects, except that the sun or moon don't appear to wane. So I guess you could say it's like a great tempest. A tempest throws the air into turmoil. A shoku throws the spirits into turmoil."
    "But there's also wind and rain?"
    "There can be wind and rain. There are shoku that blow through like a typhoon. They are rare. Earthquakes and thunder and rivers flowing backwards, sinkholes appearing out of nowhere, any kind of natural disaster you can think of, that's what a shoku is. In Hairou, the bottom of Lake Youchi rose up and all the water flooded out. The whole lake vanished off the map."
    Youko washed her hands after dumping out the ashes. "Are they always so destructive?"
    "It depends. We fear shoku far more than typhoons. You never know what will happen during a shoku."
    "But why should such things happen?"
    With a serious expression on his face, Rakushun set to making tea as if it were the most important thing in the world. "From what I've heard, a shoku is when here and there get tangled up together. When things that were originally apart come together and overlap each other, disasters follow. I don't really understand it myself, but that's what I think is going on."
    "Here and there . . . . "
    The tea he made looked like green tea. The aroma was quite different. It resembled a herbal tea, with a quite soothing flavor.
    " There is what lies beyond the Kyokai. Here is here. I