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Disguised as a child,
Disguised as a child,
Kenshō wraps itself in white and red cloth and sneaks down the mountain. It may be its new ears, or its much smaller body, but the music is impossibly louder than it was before. Kenshō feels every drumbeat in its chest as it closes in on the festivities.
Night has long since fallen, but the lanterns and red hot grills keep everything lit, and thick clothes keep everyone warm. Unlike the more sensible humans, Kenshō is barefoot and wearing nearly nothing.
Although Kenshō looks unusual in every way, the villagers do not recognize the dragon as inhuman. Or perhaps they simply do not register its presence at all.
The first thing Kenshō discovers
The first thing Kenshō discovers
Is shaved ice, a relatively new invention. To flavor it, the villagers use the little they have—small amounts of powdered tea, preserved red bean paste, or unripe fruit. The resulting treat is refreshing, but mildly bitter. This, Kenshō does not discover, for it feels how sticky the dessert is and immediately pours it down the back of someone's coat.
When that ceases being funny,
When that ceases being funny,
Kenshō wanders in search of more entertainment. Fortunately, many of the booths have games.
For those that involve knocking down targets, Kenshō cheats uses its mastery of wind. When forced to compete with others, Kenshō simply sabotages its opponents. In some versions of the myth, the dragon freezes a child's hands to a table to stop them from winning.
When Kenshō comes across a food booth,
When Kenshō comes across a food booth,
It plans to knock the vendor unconscious with an icicle. Something that smells that good would not be given for free, Kenshō had rationalized. Just as the icicle is about to give, something catches the dragon's eye. It's another booth — one that contains a large array of glossy stone statues.
Entranced, Kenshō abandons its plot and forgets its hunger to get a better look at the carvings, all of which depict snarling white beasts with red eyes.
"What interesting coloring..."
At Kenshō's wide and feral stare,
At Kenshō's wide and feral stare,
The vendor's gaze turns apologetic and pitying. "Poor thing," she tells the dragon, giving it a palm-sized statue of a coiled serpent. "Place this in your home." Upon closer inspection, Kenshō finds the stone is a very light green.
"The dragon won't curse your mother again if she keeps this close. She needn't fear having more children."
Kenshō leaves the carver confused, rolling the statue between its artificially small fingers. As it ponders the woman's words more deeply, the dragon thinks of the shrine's statues. Each depicts a venerated figure from scripture. If the villagers are carving statues of Kenshō... that means it is equally important.
Looking around with fresh eyes, Kenshō recognizes its image on lanterns, decorations — crude serpent-like shapes are even burned onto the food. With this understanding, the dragon continues traveling down to attend over the coming years.
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