A woman sat next to Moriko’s simple bed made up of blankets on the woven mats. She was at once instantly familiar and yet unrecognizable to the young Yamato, her face shrouded in shadow.

“It seems you want to become a Shrine Maiden.” The woman mused in a low voice. “Why is that?”

Her voice held no mockery, only simple curiosity, as if whoever she was speaking with had no understanding of Shrine Maidens or their meaning.

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Moriko replied. “If you ask me for a reason why; I’ve forgotten.”

“You could choose to be something else though, right?” The woman asked curiously.

Moriko shook her head stubbornly. “I want to be a Shrine Maiden.”

“Such a boring answer. Completely unwilling to entertain the idea of possibilities. You are a very boring person, Fujiwarahime-no-mikoto.”

“Don’t call me that!” Moriko bolted upright in her bed furiously. “That is not who I am!”

“Are you not? The Imperial blood certainly runs through your veins.”

“I don’t care about my blood!” Moriko exclaimed. “I never cared!” She shouted in frustration. “It’s only brought me trouble.” She finally finished, and the woman chuckled.

“Blood certainly does cause problems. There are things in your blood that run deeper than the ties to the ancient land of Wa.”

Moriko blinked in confusion at that. Wa was an ancient name for the lands of Yamato, before the Imperial Empress came, bringing the blood of the Dragon to them.

“Why do you want to be a Shrine Maiden, Moriko?” The woman repeated after a long silence.

“I want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to be treated differently. I want to be able to make choices and have the strength to keep those choices from overwhelming me.” Moriko replied.

“You want to be strong?” The woman asked curiously.

Moriko bobbed her head a little. “Being strong means you have the freedom to make choices for yourself.”

“Be careful what you wish for, little princess. Strength always calls to strength.”

Moriko opened her eyes to see the Shrine Priestess she’d met earlier by her side.

“Sleep well?” The woman asked.

“Lots of dreams.” Moriko complained.

The Priestess shrugged. “Sometimes there’s truth in dreams.”

“Strength always calls to strength.” Moriko repeated from her dream. The woman twitched, but nodded. “That’s right.” She set out several bowls of food.

The Priestess was a little surprised. ‘Strength calls to strength’ was a simple thought exercise for newly-raised Shrine Priestesses. It was a bit of a shock to hear it from an Acolyte on her pilgrimage to becoming a Shrine Maiden.

“What do you think it means, Acolyte Moriko of the Ancient Pine?” The Priestess asked.

“It’s like the Shrines, I think.” Moriko began. “The Shrine Priestesses tend to associate with their kind, the acolytes with the acolytes, the Maidens with the Maidens.”

The Shrine Priestess passed the acolyte a pair of chopsticks and gestured at the food. “You can talk while you eat.”

Moriko dug in with a will, feeling as if she hadn’t eaten in a year.

“Someone who is strong will draw those that are weak, and simultaneously push them away.” The Shrine Priestess offered. “Being strong isolates you. Only the strong know what it’s like to be strong, and so, being strong will draw others to you.” She paused. “What weapon are you best with?”

“The bow.” Moriko replied. The Shrine Priestess nodded. “Did you never draw the eyes of the envious because of your skill? Did others ever complain that they weren’t nearly as good as you? Were there others that were better that you struggled to equal?”

Moriko nodded.

“And eventually, a hierarchy is born where there once was none: the best bowmen are at the top, and the worst are at the bottom.” The Priestess eyed her. “Disproportionate strength will isolate you and make you vulnerable. That’s why we try to break up the cliques and hierarchies that tend to form in our Shrines when we can.”

The woman smiled. “Speaking of strength calling to strength, I’ve arranged for you to meet the Kushinada-hime.”

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Moriko blinked a couple of times at this as she tried to chew her food with a mouth that didn’t seem to want to work right.

The Kushinada-hime was an old tale within the Shrines. A long time ago, back before the War of Liberation, there was a woman who was strong in the esoteric arts, who had bonded with her Shrine’s kami.

The kami was mercurial and fickle and forced her to wander around from place to place to satisfy its curiosity. At some point, the kami assumed a human form and consummated their relationship, a direct violation of the vows a Shrine Maiden took. With the consummation, the Shrine Maiden lost all of her powers, and in turn the kami was no longer able to assume a human form and dissipated.

The Kushinadas that were born from her all had a deep, powerful connection to the kami, with many powers that were simply inaccessible to the Shrine Priestesses, so every generation, the Kushinada house dedicated a girl to the Shrines, and thus she became the Kushinada-hime-no-mikoto.

Much like Moriko’s situation, the Kushinada-hime was an irregularity amongst the other acolytes, shrine maidens, and shrine priestesses. She was given special dispensations because of her bloodlines.

After making sure that Moriko had eaten every scrap of food, she was led through the shrine of the Stony Pool to the acolyte quarters, where she was presented to another girl, younger than herself, dressed in the same acolyte clothes as herself, but wearing a silken blindfold that was covered in wards.

The girl looked up from her puzzle, and rose to her feet.

“Hello. You are an acolyte from the Ancient Pine, right?” the girl asked curiously. “My name is Kaguya.”

“Moriko.” Moriko replied, uncertain how to address her. Kaguya, however, gave her a small smile.

“I appreciate you not addressing me by title. I’m trying to be a very good acolyte.”

Moriko snorted, and the girl chuckled in response.

“You’re blind?” Moriko asked, but the girl shook her head. “I see too much. The blindfold protects me.”

“I cannot see that as anything but strange.” Moriko replied, stepping further into the room. “Can you explain?”

“Certainly. Would you care to help me with my puzzle?”

The two girls worked on the puzzle, a thing of interlocking wood pieces.

“The world is a big place, and there are many things that most people cannot see.” Kaguya began. “Unfortunately, I am forced to see everything, including the things I am not prepared to see... and the things I do not want to see. My mother has told me that when I am older, there may be a time when I can remove the blindfold, but unfortunately, the time isn’t now.”

“So the blindfold...”

“Allows me only to see what I should see... like you.” Kaguya finished. She examined a piece of the puzzle with her fingertips, and then put it into place.

“It seems our time has come to an end. It was a pleasure to speak with you, Moriko of the Ancient Pine.”

Moriko looked up, just as the Priestess reappeared.

“It seems the Priestesses of the Ancient Pine were very insistent to retrieve you, young Moriko.” The Stony Pool Priestess offered without any preamble.

Moriko excused herself, and was escorted again through the shrine to where the Shrine Priestesses and Maidens from the Ancient Pine waited.

“You are no end of trouble.” the Eldest Priestess complained. “Still, I suppose I should commend you for arriving here before us.”

“There was a bear.” Moriko pointed out flatly.

“Oh, I’m sure you’d like to think so.” The Eldest admonished. “We will return to the Ancient Pine.”

“So soon?” The Priestess of the Stony Pool that had seen to Moriko’s care spoke up. “We haven’t even shared tea.”

“There will be other opportunities. I have to get this one back to the Shrine.”

The Priestesses made their apologies for the intrusion, promises to return, and the usual prayers for further meetings.

The return trip was made in silence, as Moriko was forbidden from speaking until they arrived back at the Ancient Pine.

“The trip is a test”. One of the Shrine Priestess explained when they brought Moriko in. “A judge of character. How you react to sudden danger, how you behave when cut off from the rest of the group.”

Moriko swallowed. “I failed, then.”

The three Priestesses exchanged glances. “Why would you say that?”

“I left my food, weapons, tools, all of it back at camp when the bear showed up. If I was truly ready, I would have used my sleeves as I should have.”

The Eldest snorted. “Certainly not enough to justify a fail. You made it to the Stony Pool on your own without assistance. You pass.” She deliberately didn’t mention that Moriko had been intentionally separated from her bow before the other priestess used her magical arts to shapeshift into a bear. It wouldn’t do, after all, for an acolyte to kill one of the Priestesses.

“There’s one final test that’s necessary before you move onto the path of the Shrine Maiden.” The Eldest began, and then added, “You remember that you were only able to use a few, minor spells during your trip?”

Moriko nodded.

“It’s because you haven’t communicated with your kami, which is understandable, because we don’t know who your kami is. The first step is to commune with a kami and discover who is responsible for your rebirth. It’s also possible that your soul is newly made, in which case you have no kami to watch over you... in which case, you should be able to swear to the Ancient Pine.”

Moriko adopted a complicated expression. “Must it be the Ancient Pine? There are many kami, after all.”

The Eldest raised an eyebrow. “Of all the kami, the Ancient Pine is the safest. Eleven is too incomprehensible. The Stony Pool is mercurial. The Spider is timid. The Mountain Cat of the Imperial Shrine was lost in the incident with the Kushinada-hime. The Mad Fox... well, her name should be enough for you. The Ancient Pine is reliable and safe.”

Moriko folded her arms across her chest and lowered her head in thought. “What of the Phoenix, or the Nameless Stone?” She asked after a bit. “They’re Originals, right?”

The Priestesses eyed each other with bemused smiles. “Nobody has ever been able to attract the Phoenix’s attention, and the Nameless Stone refuses to act as a Patron. He will reincarnate you when you die, but he will not grant boons.”

The youngest Priestess spoke up. “It’s wholly possible that you belong to the Ancient Pine already.” She paused, “Or that you belong to a different kami altogether. If you belong to a kami that we have no knowledge of, then it’ll fall to you to seek it out. Either way, this ritual will have you commune with the Ancient Pine. If you already belong to it, so much the better. If you belong to a different kami, it should tell you who you belong to. If you don’t have a kami... I’ll repeat that the Ancient Pine is the safest choice.”