> Consult with local shrine before leaving the next day.
> You decide on a course of action and go to sleep.
> ...
> It is a vision clear as the water of a mountain spring. A sword, its straight, two-edged blade five-and-a-quarter handspans long, three fingers wide, tapering to the tip. The blade is of a shining, iridescent metal unseen across Creation. Its guard is of polished oristeel, engraved with imagery of a faceless hero fighting a vast serpent. The handle is tightly wrapped with black silk, set with silver pins, each one finely patterned. The tassel at the end is of a beautiful scarlet thread, woven into a complicated charm pattern to repel evil and misfortune.
> This time, you are holding the sword. It feels
heavy in your hand. Strange. It looks so light. Oh, that's why.
> You are no more than six years old.
> You cannot make out the details of your surroundings, and there seem to be people around you, but they are vague shapes, no more than outlines, merely there to set the stage. The only thing you can see clearly is standing seven metres away.
> A vast tiger, as tall as a man, pacing deliberately around you.
> You hear its voice in your head.
Her voice. It is no mere animal.
>
Oh, but you do smell familiar.> ...
> You wake up.
> The dream remains clear in your memory.
> You wash, dress and eat breakfast. You set out early - the shrine will be a short detour away, built in a small, pleasant grove.
> You set a few incense sticks burning and recite the correct sutras.
> The mirror set in the shrine grows opaque and a powerful female voice echoes out.
> "
And here you are, Aichi of the Hieda. How you have grown up! Do not worry, those bandits will not trouble the villagers, their presence upsets the feng shui
of the land. They are long gone."
