Black Morass sakoku

more and more, satsu came to see that this was not a spirit at all, nor even a shadow clinging needlessly to her; it was only another person, young and sharp, and sweeter than the beasts she had come to know within the saints. qualities that she missed.

they were bashful together.

the stars... satsu murmured, awed by the concept, entertaining it for a moment. what would it be like to have her brothers watching over her? to see her sisters dance in the night sky each time a star fell?

to my people, death... it is the end. there is nothing left of someone after. it was grim, the finality of it. but it gave greater worth and a deeper emphasis to life as it was lived, making every moment that much more precious.

knowing this however, satsu concluded that her desire to lead them home was in itself, wrong. there was nothing to guide with her bundles of sticks. nothing but the evil spirits of meifumado — those who walked the demon's path.

she was quiet thereafter, solemn, no longer bothered as much by the leg bone bobbing nearby.