It was easy to understand why the acolytes and the maidens refused to approach the Shrine Priestess. She radiated an intense aura of dread and menace, as if a brutal and terrifying monster was sitting before them, a single hairsbreadth away from swift, terrifying violence.
It was difficult for even the Shrine Priestesses of the Ancient Pine to maintain their composure in front of Kayelinth.
“Your arrival was unexpected.” The Eldest offered, willing her hand to not tremble as she set her teacup down.
“Ah.” Kayelinth replied. Her voice was rich and comfortable, casual even. It was if the waves of overwhelming terror and unrelenting fury that broadcast themselves from her didn’t exist at all. “I haven’t visited a Shrine in some time.”
The Eldest struggled to put a frown of confusion on her face. “What Shrine do you belong to?”
Kayelinth chuckled at that and twirled the simple clay teacup on her fingers, walked it across her knuckles, and then snatched it into her palm before it could fall. Her reflexes were impressive.
She set the empty cup down on the table and knocked it over with a fingertip. “It’s gone. There is no one there that remembers my name.” Her voice was layered with complexity; wry acceptance, melancholy, sadness, bitterness, dry humor.
Kayelinth stretched so suddenly, hands over her head, that the Shrine Priestesses involuntarily recoiled.
“I was last at the Shrine of the Mountain Spider. She’s a timid one.”
“The Mountain Spider has ever been a timid one. Her anxiety springs from being associated with The Queen of Spiders.” The Eldest replied. “But you have not explained why you are here.”
“I would like to pray for a short time at the feet of the Ancient Pine. I have a very short list of things that I would like to do, but that list is eclipsed by the inevitable list of things that I must do.” Kayelinth offered in a voice edged with humor as she offered a shrug as if to say, “isn’t that the way of the world?”
The Eldest chuckled. “I think very few of us often are allowed the time to do what we want. How much time would you need at the Ancient Pine?”
The fire-haired woman tapped a manicured and painted finger against her lips thoughtfully. “An hour? A day? It’s sometimes very difficult to speak with an Original.” She offered with another shrug. “Certainly no longer than a day to try and see if my prayers are heard. Once done, I will trouble your doorstep no more.”
The priestesses conferred.
“It might be possible to grant you a day’s worth of time. However... There’s a matter that we have to deal with here at our shrine. It might not be possible for us to attend to your needs.”
Kayelinth’s gaze sharpened, and it was as if all the menacing bloodthirst she spread about herself suddenly focused into a blade of killing intent that hovered, gently prickling, at the Eldest’s throat.
“Do you need help?” The flame-haired Shrine Priestess offered in a low, cool voice.
“N-no.” The Eldest managed, feeling her forehead break out in sweat. She was suddenly aware that she was drenched in sweat. Whatever monstrous feeling spread from the woman, her body was racing to express her fear. “It’s a routine matter, something we’ve seen to many times before.”
The feeling of having a bared blade resting against her throat vanished, and the Eldest gulped in relief.
“That one?” Kayelinth asked, and then added, “The one in the yard?”
The Eldest nodded.
The flame-haired Priestess grinned around a mouthful of teeth that seemed too big, too bright, too sharp, too... toothsome. “She seems very promising. Fearlessly walked up to me and asked if I needed assistance. No one else dared approach, as if I were some monster.”
The Eldest raised an eyebrow at that. Was the woman simply unaware of the effect her presence had on people?
*****
The meeting with the Shrine Priestesses got off to a rocky start.
“I do not understand the relevance of such a meeting.” Moriko opened immediately after everyone had sipped their tea. Her voice was sour with irritability. “I have made my choice; I am ready to undergo the trials to become a Shrine Maiden.”
The three Priestesses eyed each other over their cups with amused expressions.
“We know.” One of the Priestesses replied patiently. She was the eldest, and her hair was completely white with age. “You’ve been quite vocal about it since you were young enough to speak.”
One of the other Shrine Priestesses tapped a piece of paper and passed it to the eldest.
“Ah. Your skill with the naginata and the yumi are exemplary, though your skills in the sword are somewhat... deficient.”
Moriko made a sour face at that. The naginata was not simply a bladed spear, meant for thrusting and slashing, it was a weapon that required the right balance of move and countermove. You had to think ahead, consider each step, each move taken that would result in your victory.
The bow was a weapon that required intense focus and concentration. You could not simply wave a spear or shoot an arrow indiscriminately; it took foresight, thought, skill, poise, and diligence, so that the thrust was not wasted, the arrow did not go wide.
Comparatively speaking, swinging a sword was ... boring.
“We’ve tested your aptitudes for the esoteric arts from time to time, and it seems that there will be no foreseeable problems there, either.” The eldest Priestess paused at that, and seemed as if she wanted to say something more, but elected not to.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Moriko was familiar with that expression. She knew exactly what she was, and in turn, knew exactly how the Shrine saw her. Everyone else got along with each other just fine; she was the eternal outsider.
“Ah. How fortuitous.” One of the Shrine Priestesses exclaimed in a flat voice devoid of emotion. “It seems we’re due for a visit to the Shrine of the Stony Pool.”
The other two Shrine Priestesses nodded, their faces blank. Moriko wondered why they’d bring this up in front of her. Wasn’t she to be a Maiden? Besides, how did Shrine Priestess business have anything at all to do with her?
“Ah. How fortuitous indeed.” The Eldest replied, her voice so flat and indifferent, like she didn’t care if she never once sat foot in the Shrine of the Stony Pool, as if it was the most uninteresting and boring thing ever.
“How many this season?” the youngest Priestess asked.
“Just the one.” The Eldest replied.
“You’ll be accompanying us on this trip, Acolyte. Well, alongside a dozen or so Maidens, I should say.” The Eldest offered by way of explanation. “You’ll be issued the standard traveling gear, but don’t think yourself a Maiden, don’t get in the way of the real Maidens, and do try to stay out from underfoot.”
“You are free to go, Acolyte.” one of the younger Shrine Priestesses snapped her out of her confusion with the unshakable voice of command.
Moriko rose to her feet and bowed respectfully.
*****
She managed to keep her composure as she exited the Inner Shrine, but the moment her twelve-year-old feet hit the pebbled path, she was running, her excitement too much to bear. A trip outside! A trip to another Shrine! She had to pack thoroughly and properly.
First was clothes; she scoured the sky; not a cloud in sight. It was early summer and the worst of the rains had passed. Still, a longcoat would not be unwise. She had heard the trip to the Stony Pool could take a few weeks by foot, it was not impossible that it would rain unexpectedly. She packed two sets of clothes in the traditional Maiden style.
She was debating a choice in sandals when a painful cramp clenched her lower abdomen and she doubled over in pain, fingers digging into the woven floor mats. She understood that she was a woman now, capable of carrying life and giving birth, but poetic turns of phrase and dry, clinical expressions didn’t prepare her for the pain of menstrual cramps. As she lay sweating on the floor of her small room, she petulantly kicked her feet. She was a Shrine Maiden, she shouldn’t need this sort of inconvenience. She would bear no children.
Kaori, one of the Shrine Maidens tasked with her training, stuck her head in Moriko’s room and eyed the girl groaning on the floor.
“Cramps, mmm?” She asked, her normally dry voice layered with sympathy. Moriko nodded.
“Mine were the worst.” Kaori confided as she came into the room. “Every month I’d think, “I’ve gotten used to them!” and bam! Like a shot to the gut, I’d be rolling on the floor praying to the Patrons to rid me of them.”
Moriko eyed Kaori dubiously. “Rolling on the floor?”
Kaori nodded. “It hurt that bad, like my guts were trying to tear their way out of me.”
“You seem fine, now.” Moriko observed.
Kaori smiled a little. “I have medicine for the pain, now. The Shrine Priestesses won’t give you any, though. They think that you should have a normal cycle for a few years.” She lay on the floor next to Moriko, even though it was an undisciplined and improper posture.
“Why?” Moriko asked.
“They say that it’s because it builds character. I think they want to make sure that we really want to commit to being a Shrine Maiden.” She paused. “The medicine numbs the pain, and you don’t have to deal with the problem anymore, but you’re still a woman, and they want you to remember that by having you go through this every month until...” She turned her head. “How old are you, again? Eleven?”
“Twelve, by Yamato calendar. Eleven, by Anglish.” Moriko replied, pushing herself upright a little as she searched her sleeve for a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her face.
“Then you’re screwed until you’re fourteen, by Yamato reckoning.” Kaori teased.
Moriko sighed. “No happy words of encouragement, Kaori?” She asked in a resigned tone. “I’ve been told I have to accompany some Shrine Maidens to the Stony Pool.”
Kaori immediately sobered up at this. “Ah.” Her face and voice were immediately blank.
She rolled to her feet gracefully, as if she’d been doing it all her life. Moriko still struggled with falls and rolls in her martial arts training.
“I’ll be right back.” Kaori announced, and then added, “Don’t go anywhere.” in an admonishing tone.
Moriko clutched her aching belly. “As if I could.”
Kaori returned shortly and seated herself correctly across from Moriko. From her sleeve, she pulled out a number of small implements; a square leather pouch, a lacquered piece of wood, some paper medicine packets, and a bundle of cloth.
“Sit up, Moriko. I’ll only explain this once.” Kaori warned, and Moriko struggled to sit upright. Her stomach roiled and churned.
“This is the medicine we take.” Kaori explained, pointing to the paper packets of powder. “Take it in tiny amounts while you’re on your trip to the Stony Pool. It’ll dull the pain. If you take too much, then the Shrine Priestesses will catch on, and then we’re both doomed to a life of penance.”
Moriko blinked at this, but nodded.
“It’s likely that they won’t allow you to bring a weapon. You are, after all, a twelve-year-old girl.” Kaori began, but shook her head. “But no Shrine Maiden should be without at least a kaiken.” She picked up the lacquered piece of wood, and tugged on it, revealing that it was a knife with a ten-inch blade.
Moriko nodded without changing her expression. A kaiken was a knife that was more ceremonial than functional- it didn’t have a crossguard, after all- but it was considered the last line of defense that a Shrine Maiden could have.
“Keep it with you at all times, even when you sleep or bathe. It should always be within reach of your hand, no matter what.” Kaori instructed.
She picked up the leather pouch and the bundle of cloth and explained that it was for her ‘monthly visitor’ and how the Yamato dealt with the matter. Some preferred to bury the cloths, others believed that malicious mages or even demons could use the materials to construct blasphemies and burned them instead.
Moriko nodded to the explanations.
“Any other advice that I should have for my trip to the Stony Pool?” Moriko asked curiously as she carefully stowed away the things that Kaori had given her.
Kaori pressed her lips together. “I can’t; it’s forbidden.” She finally replied. “Good luck, Moriko.”
She rose to her feet and stepped out of the girl’s room without looking back, leaving Moriko to stare at the door in bafflement. What was that supposed to mean?
She changed her clothes again; it was unsightly to see a Shrine Maiden wearing sweat-drenched clothes, and she felt it would make a better impression on those that she had to interact with while preparing for her trip to another shrine. First her undergarments, then the traditional hakui kimono top, followed by the wide pleated hakama skirt. Since she was still an acolyte, it was a brilliant red. She longed for the black hakama for the Shrine Maidens that was also divided for riding horses.
She took a moment to check the freedom of movement allowed by her dressing, and slipped her new knife into her inner robes, between the belt and her skin.
Normally knives such as these were given covered in clan seals and symbols, but Moriko was happy to receive a blank one without adornment. By abandoning her on the steps of the Imperial Shrine, her family had cut all ties with her. The preferential treatment she received from the shrine because of the family that had abandoned her chafed uncomfortably with her.