Raiju's Grand Adventures: This Place

      “This, this has to be a dream. This place can’t be real.” Raiju had woken up lost in a strange new forest. This forest was dark and cold. There was a fog surrounding him and the trees were tall and thick but were close enough to each other that he couldn’t see very far past them. The only sounds to be heard was either silence or the occasional hoot of an owl that always seemed to be very close. There was only a single path that Raiju walked on that seemed like it went on forever. The path wasn’t normal though. His paw prints didn’t show up on it if he looked behind him but he could see them right under him. He tried turning around and walking back the way he came but he couldn’t go back. The path was mirrored. No matter which way he faced, the path looked exactly the same down to the very rocks and small plants. He found a big rock and threw it in front of him and when he turned around, the same rock was there where he threw it in front of him. He walked towards it and picked it up again before throwing it behind him to see if it’d show up in front of him. The rock didn’t show up nor did he hear it hit the ground and when he turned around to look for it, it was no where to be found. Any object he picked up did this. He tested it with a small rock where he dropped it in front of him and it showed up both in front of him and behind him but when he dropped it behind him, it disappeared.

Panicked, Raiju tried walking off the path just to find the path was there behind some bushes. He slowly turned around and saw the bushes on that side were moved the same way as the bushes he was currently touching. The blood left his head when he started pushing around the bushes and seeing not just the ones below him moving but the ones across from him moving in the same way. He eventually went back to the path and after calming himself down, he ran down the path. Running as fast as he could. He couldn’t tell if minutes or hours had passed but he stopped suddenly when he heard a new sound. It was waves crashing on the shore.

      Cautiously, Raiju kept walking forward and found a huge lake with violent waves crashing on the shore. The water was a deep red colour and the waters looked like the ocean during a storm with waves easily reaching four meters tall. There was an odd thunder storm floating above the lake but not going anywhere near the land nor could he see any rain. There was just lightning and thunder. He assumed the waves were caused by the storm but there was no wind. Through some cracks in the clouds, he could see the moon. It was full and much larger than it should be. It was also a blood moon which Raiju assumed was the reason the water was red but the clouds from the storm should be blocking most of the light and yet he could clearly see that the water was red.

      Raiju stood there for a moment. Despite everything, it seemed peaceful here. Or at least, it should be peaceful. If the waves were calmer and the storm was gone, it’d be a really relaxing place.

      “It’s pretty isn’t it Raiju?”

      Raiju just nodded before snapping back to whatever reality this was. Standing next to him was an old wolf. Gray fur covered his muzzle, his eyes were both clouded, he wore a long cloak and held a walking stick that he must use as a cane. “I’m sorry but, who are you?” Raiju asked trying to be as polite as possible.

      “It matters not who I am but rather who you are, to this place. It knows you.” The wolf said as he moved his paw to gesture to the water.

      “How can a place know you?” Raiju’s head was tilted and his eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to look at the violent, red lake.

      “The same way you can know a place, but different.”

      “Ok… Then, what is this place?” Nothing the old wolf was saying made sense and Raiju could only hope that he’d get some sort of straight answer about this place.

      “This place, you should be very familiar with. If not, then you see you know where your problems lie.” There was a small pause, the only sound being a clap of thunder and a big wave crashing almost at the same time. “This place, goes by many names, in many cultures. What it is to you, I cannot say. To give it a title, this place, is a symbol.” There was another long silence.

      “A...” It wasn’t until now that Raiju noticed the wolf had an ajirogasa hanging on his back. “Uh… A, symbol? A symbol for what?”

      “A symbol for Zen, your Zen. It is a state of knowing yourself, the true you, and being liberated from life. A place of pure peace.”

      “Peace?” Raiju looked at the lake which was currently the complete opposite of peace.

      “It doesn’t look like it now, but one day, you’ll learn how to create the peace. To calm the violence and open the door for true enlightenment. True peace, within this place. Within you.”

      Raiju looked at the giant waves that grew and shrunk far on the lake and the ones that crashed onto the shore. He looked up at the clouds that flashed with lightning nearly non-stop with thunder sounding infrequently. “How do I calm this?”

      “First, you must understand what ‘this’ is. The water, the storm, the moon, the forest. They all mean something to this place. To you.” Raiju was about to speak when a big wave crashed and the water touched his paw. It was ice cold and caused him to jump with a small yelp. The old man was completely unfazed by the water that rushed over his paws. “You need to figure out what to calm first. The water, or the storm.”

      Raiju thought for a moment. Trying to think of a good question. “Well, what are they? How does one calm rough waters?”

      The wolf smiled a small grin. “The storm, your anger, frustrations, hatred. It sparks to life yet lays dormant. Waiting to strike.”

      “Is that why the water is so choppy?”

      “The water, bright red and angry, is your tranquillity. The storm is playing with your peace. Hiding the moonlight from you.” The wolf pointed towards the moon and the storm moved to show the moon.

      “And what is the moon? Why is it red?”

      Before the wolf could answer, a bolt of lightning struck near them making Raiju cover his ears and jump but the wolf didn’t flinch. “Fear not, the storm can’t physically hurt you. It hurts you everyday you let it fester and grow.” He paused. “The moon is the source of energy for your inner peace. It’s what fuels you to stay calm. It’s red because it’s corrupt. You’re troubled by your past, present, and future and such, cannot be enlightened.”

      Raiju was embarrassed that he kept jumping over things whereas this old wolf didn’t seem to budge over nearly getting struck with lightning. “Is that why the water is red?”

      “Yes. And no. The water is red because of the guilts you carry. All the regrets you hold cloud the water and stop you from seeing clearly.”

      “So, how do I fix everything?” This was far too much for Raiju, who was secretly pinching himself trying to wake up but nothing was happening. He was trapped in this dream but, was that really such a bad thing?

      “I cannot say as you already know the answer to that question. You just don’t know it yet.”

      “What does that mean? I know it but not yet?” Raiju’s head couldn’t tilt any further than it was already.

      “Before I leave you.” The wolf started to slowly walk towards the lake. “How do you calm angry water? You remove the source of it’s anger. Find the root and once the root is gone, the water will grow still.” He was standing in the lake with the waters up to his waist but the waves seemed to calm when they got near him so he just stood in calm water as huge waves crashed around him. “Let me ask you this.” He was now up to his neck in the water. “How do you clean muddy water while keeping it calm?”

      As he finished his sentence, the old wolf was fully consumed by the water and Raiju jolted awake. Back in his colourful forest with birds chirping their morning songs. “How do you clean muddy water while keeping it calm?” Raiju repeated trying to understand everything. Why was he having such weird dreams? This one was only a couple nights after his last one where he had to help himself fight that beast. His body and arm still hurt from it and now he had this weird dream.

      Raiju got out of his makeshift bed and stretched; several pops could be heard before he released with a sigh. He removed his nightwear and put on his cloak. He carried all his dirty clothes with him as he started to walk to the nearby river to clean them. His mind was still racing. “How do you clean dirty water without disturbing it? Do you try to skim all the dirt out or do you just leave it alone to clean itself?”