Chapter
V
Dawn was soon approaching, and Nobuko
was watching over Prince Hayato, who hadn’t turned back into a falcon yet. After
hearing Master Ronin’s story, she decided to spend the rest of the night in
Master Ronin’s room to keep a watchful eye on Prince Hayato. Prince Hayato had
just woken up from his sleep and was trying to sit up a bit. “Whoa be careful
or your arm may bleed again” said Nobuko, in her male voice. “Tell me your name
please” said Prince Hayato. “I am Nobuo Okamoto your highness” said Nobuko.
“You can just call me Hayato,” said Prince Hayato “how’s my father”. “You don’t
need to worry about General Masao,” said Nobuko “because he is brave and
strong, and he’s the type of man who knows what he is doing”. “Thank you”
whispered Prince Hayato.
Suddenly the sun started coming up,
and then Prince Hayato turned back into a falcon. Nobuko put on a falcon
gauntlet that General Masao had lent her, and held out her right hand to the
falcon. The falcon walked onto her hand. “I suggest you don’t fly today,” she
said to the falcon “otherwise your wing may get worse”. The falcon screeched at
her; as if it understood her. “We better go before your father gets here”.
Nobuko brought the falcon out into
the courtyard. Master Ronin was also there. “It seems the falcon trusts you
enough to stay on your hand” he said. Nobuko smiled at that comment. “Before
General Masao gets here I must ask you,” she said “is there a way to break this
curse?” “There is,” said Master Ronin “after eleven years, the gods have given
me the answer. And they said to me that the curse will be broken on the day
when the sun and moon become one with each other”. Nobuko was confused with
what Master Ronin just said. “How can the sun and moon become one?” she asked
“I mean the sun disappears when the night comes and the moon disappears when
the day comes”. “I do not know the answer myself,” said Master Ronin “but it will
happen on the day after tomorrow. And then General Masao can confront Emperor
Hisashi, with his son by his side”. “But he plans to confront the emperor and
then kill him” said Nobuko. “No he mustn’t kill him,” said Master Ronin
“because if he does the curse will never be broken”.
At that moment four soldiers entered
the courtyard. “Oh no, they’re General Takeshi’s soldiers” whispered Nobuko.
“You’re right” said Master Ronin, anxiously. He walked over to the soldiers.
“May I help you?” “We have been given orders to search for General Masao, is he
here?” said one of the soldiers. “No, he is not here,” said Master Ronin “and I
would appreciate it that you soldiers leave my temple in peace”. Suddenly
another soldier saw Nobuko. “Hey that person is a companion of General Masao”
he said. The soldiers ran over to Nobuko. “Where is General Masao?” one soldier
said to her. “I have not seen him,” she said, in her fake voice, “now if you
don’t mind this falcon and I are in a hurry”. The soldiers drew their swords
for a fight. Nobuko sighed; ‘What a way to start the day’ she thought. She
placed the falcon down on a stone and drew her Kanata sword. Master Ronin came
forward and drew a Kanata sword too. “I do not like those who cause trouble at
my temple” he said. Together, Nobuko and Master Ronin defeated the soldiers. “I
have to say Master Ronin,” said Nobuko, in her real voice, “for an old man you
sure know how to fight”. “I learned all about sword fighting in my time,” said
Master Ronin “and I maybe an old man, but my health has not failed me yet”.
Just then General Masao arrived. “I
heard a lot of noise, is everything okay?” he said. “Not to worry General
Masao, my old friend, everything is all right now” replied Master Ronin. Nobuko
picked up the falcon from the stone and handed him to General Masao. “It’s best
that he don’t fly today,” she said “just in case his wing may get worse”. “Thank
you,” said General Masao, and he thanked Master Ronin too. Master Ronin told
General Masao about the gods telling him that the combination of the sun and
moon would break the curse. General Masao dismissed it as nonsense. “The gods
didn’t help when my wife died or when the curse was placed upon me and my son.
So there is no way they are helping us now. Come Nobuo, it’s time to leave”. As
General Masao started to walk away, Nobuko whispered to Master Ronin. “Follow
us”. Master Ronin intended to follow them; he wanted to see the curse broken
with his own eyes.
Nobuko and General Masao walked down
the temple steps to their horses. “I take it that Master Ronin told you
everything about my son and me?” asked General Masao. “Yes,” said Nobuko “he
told me everything about your past, including Princess Annika’s death”. “I see.
I take it you and my son also got acquainted with each other as well?” “Yes, Hayato
and I managed to have a chat with each other, before he turned back into a
falcon. So Emperor Falcon likes my company”. “Emperor Falcon?” “Well he is the
future emperor of Japan, so I thought we should call him that while in his
falcon form”. General Masao chuckled. “Fine with me. Come we must leave now”.
They spent the whole day riding their
horses to get to the palace. Then at last they stopped in the middle of a
forest. Nobuko looked at the sky; it was full of dark clouds. “It looks like there
will be a storm tonight” she said. “You’re right” said General Masao. He handed
Emperor Falcon to her. “Find shelter, the sun is going down”. “How can you
tell?” asked Nobuko. “After so many sunsets it’s easy,” replied General Masao.
He got off his horse and gave it to Nobuko, and then Nobuko rode off with
Emperor Falcon and General Masao’s horse to find shelter, leaving General Masao
to find a safe place to transform into a wolf.
Nobuko found an inn outside the
forest. “We can sleep and get something to eat here,” she said to Emperor
Falcon “but just to be safe; we’ll stay in the stable”. She asked the innkeeper
(in her male voice) if she could settle the horses into the stable. The
innkeeper agreed and Nobuko paid for it.
Very soon the sun had set and Emperor
Falcon turned back into Prince Hayato. Nobuko had waited outside the stable for
him to transform and get into some clothes; she wanted to give Prince Hayato
privacy while he was transforming. “I thank you for being here with me Nobuo”
Prince Hayato said to Nobuko. “It’s my pleasure Hayato,” said Nobuko, in her
fake voice, “now come, I suggest we get something to eat. We can’t pass through
this night on empty tummies”. “That’s a good idea,” said Prince Hayato “but how
will we get food without being recognized?” “There’s no need to worry, I have
already thought of that” said Nobuko. She presented two kimonos that women
wear. “I suggested that we disguise ourselves as girls, that way we can safely
go into the inn for something to eat. I know this isn’t dignified for a prince,
such as you, to cross-dress. But this way no one would recognize us”.
Prince Hayato sighed; he didn’t fancy
being dressed as a girl, but he knew this was the only way. And so Nobuko and
Prince Hayato changed from their male clothing into female clothing. When
Prince Hayato saw Nobuko dressed as a girl, he thought she looked really
beautiful. “If you really were a girl, I think I might have you for my wife” he
joked. Nobuko chuckled nervously; she still hadn’t told him that she was really
a woman. “Now that we look like girls, we can now get some food” said Nobuko.
Prince Hayato tried to speak like a girl, but his female voice turned out
terrible, so he decided to leave all the talking to Nobuko, and with Nobuko’s
help he learnt how to walk like a girl. “You are so clever Nobuo of knowing how
to walk and talk like a girl” said Prince Hayato. Of course he didn’t know that
she was really a girl. Nobuko felt guilty inside of lying to Prince Hayato
about her real self. ‘I must tell him and General Masao the truth once this
quest is over’ she thought.
Together, Nobuko and Prince Hayato
went into the inn and paid the innkeeper for a meal of soup, rice and fish.
Prince Hayato felt uneasy with this; there were a lot of men that kept looking
at them. But with Nobuko at his side, everything went okay. Nobuko also asked
the innkeeper if they could borrow two blankets and the innkeeper agreed.
After they finished their meal, they
went back to the stables and changed back into their male clothing. “I’m glad
that’s over with,” said Prince Hayato “when you see my father Nobuo, tell him
that I thank him and my mother for making me a boy”. “Speaking of your father, there
is something you should know” said Nobuko. She explained to Prince Hayato about
his father’s plan to go back to the palace and confront his uncle. “I always
knew that my father would want to confront my uncle one day,” said Prince
Hayato “the truth is I too have always wanted to confront my uncle ever since
he put that curse on us eleven years ago. I cannot wait for the day when this
curse is broken. I want to live a normal, happy, family life with my father
again, like we did before we were cursed”. “And you will too” promised Nobuko.
“What about you Nobuo? Will you go back to your family when this is all over?”
“I’m afraid I won’t Hayato,” said Nobuko “because I have no family to go back
to”. She told him about her family’s slaughter by General Takeshi and about her
adoptive father, Tetsuya, and about his death. “So to be honest with you, I
don’t really know what to do after this is all over, and I envy you for still
having a family”.
Prince Hayato felt sorry for Nobuko
and clasped her hands. “Nobuo you have helped me and my father ever since you
became our companion,” he said “and I promise you that when I take my place as
the new emperor, I will make sure that you too will live a happy life in the
future”. Nobuko felt grateful towards Prince Hayato and thanked him with all her
heart. “We should get some sleep now Hayato,” said Nobuko “your father told me
that it will take nearly all of the whole day tomorrow to travel from here to
the palace by our horses. And of course when the sun rises again, he would want
to continue the journey right way”. “I agree that we will need all the rest we
can get” said Prince Hayato.
With the blankets and the straw in
the stable, Prince Hayato and Nobuko made a bed for each other and fell asleep.
