¬The two boys trekked across the hills to the Kosai mountain where the stream was at its widest and the tall pine trees sheltered them from the elements. The dark was creeping across the mountains but that was what Ren Yu and Su Jun needed for their fishing. Su Jun took a red box out from the bag of tackle and wire and then placed the folded rods on the grassy ground. He opened the top of the box and an ethereal glow emanated from inside, it looked very auspicious, the young monk in his red robes, his smiling face illuminated. Su Jun delved his fingers into the box and pulled out a wriggling glow worm grub; this was their bait. He handed the grub to Ren Yu who tied it to the end of a rod which he had unfolded and secured in place with a small wooden dowel on a string. The worm plopped into the water and shone brighter than ever, resembling a reflection of the moonlight in the rippling depths.
Su Jun and Ren Yu settled down in comfortable mossy patches from which they could keep an eye on all the rods. They both sat in silence for a while, appreciating the mountain air and the quiet, the wind was less strong up here as it didn't bother to weave its way through the trees to find them. Ren Yu stretched him arms up and breathed deeply, "On a mountain, it's where I belong."
"You should go west then."Su Jun replied, peeling a fruit from his bag and handing half of it to his friend. "I've heard the largest mountains in the world are west."
"Want to get rid of me Su Jun?" Ren Yu grinned biting into the fruit and wincing at the sour taste.
"No, I would never want to be rid of my friend, but then again, I highly doubt he'll stay in Gowla forever, I suspect one day it will just be me and these rods up here."
"And still no fish," sighed Ren Yu kicking at the ground.
"Still no fish," replied Su Jun. "You're right, Su Jun,” Ren Yu announced suddenly. “I will go west one day. Although Ren Nuan's always telling me if I want to go anywhere, I should go north."
"To the Royal Provinces?” Su Jun turned his head. “She's right; you could become someone of importance."
"I'd rather be someone of worth," Ren Yu shifted so he could see the glow of the town below through the trees.
"What calls you west then Ren Yu? Looking for Spirits?" Su Jun seemed thoughtful but Ren Yu scoffed and threw the rest of the fruit away.
"I care nothing for disappeared deities, I'm not like you Su Jun, I won't sit on a floor laid by men before an altar made by men, dressed in robes sewn by men and thank someone else for it all -"
"Were you not listening to Jiang Ru?" Su Jun interrupted, sounding almost disappointed.
"I thought you were praying, not eavesdropping on our conversation!" Ren Yu snorted, kicking at his friend gently with his boot.
"I can do both," Su Jun smiled wryly and skimmed a stone across the surface of the stream.
"You'll scare the fish," remarked Ren Yu absentmindedly. He was turning it over in his mind, why did he want to go west? He thought of the legends and stories he had heard as a child, often told by Ren Nuan, full of painted warriors and strange creatures. The whole world had once been full of such figures and mysteries, things not understood by mortal men. But then the land began to be purged, it went from east to west and the burning sun scorched the mystery from all it touched, "but..." Ren Nuan would interject, "they say it has not yet reached the far west", then she would smile faintly and remark, "the day is not yet done."
The metaphor had frightened Ren Yu as a child. "Who is the sun?" he would ask fretfully and Ren Nuan would eye him quizzically, "Why do you say who?"
Ren Yu wanted to see the painted warriors, he wanted to see herds of wild horses and travel the world that stretched out behind the mountains. The boys fell again into a comfortable silence as Ren Yu dreamed and Su Jun watched the rods. After a lengthy amount of time and no luck the boys had as many shining glow worms in the stream as stars in the sky.
"I'm going to have to return for evening ritual," stated Su Jun.
"I suppose I'll have to return for mine too," replied Ren Yu, although whilst Su Jun would be rolling prayer-beads, Ren Yu would be rolling inebriated customers out of the tavern. They began to pack away their rods when the small metal coins dangling from the end of one of them began to jangle.
"A catch?" asked Ren Yu excitedly as he sped over to it, he looked down to the end and sure enough, where there had been a glowing worm there was now a flash of silver.
"Providence is finally on our side!" remarked Su Jun as he went to fetch the bag. Ren Yu felt the weight on the end of the line, it was surely a large fish, his boots were slipping on the dewy earth and the wire as he grabbed at it, tugged mercilessly against his palms. Suddenly, the moss beneath his feet ripped from the earth and he went sliding into the stream, "Su Jun!" he cried before his head went under. The water was quite deep and fast moving enough to force even the fittest swimmer beneath its surface. The cold smacked against Ren Yu’s body and his feet stuck to the soft silt of the bed below. The weeds in the stream, that stretched and bowed with the current, seemed to be angry Ren Yu had gotten in their way and slimy leafy fingers grasped at him, trapping his wrists and ankles. Suddenly, there was a tight grip on his arm and he felt himself being wrenched upwards, away from the weeds. His upper torso burst through the water's surface and the cold air pricked his face as Su Jun dragged him to the bank.
"You fell in!" exclaimed Su Jun looking pale, Ren Yu was about to scold his friend for the idiocy of such a comment when the fact that Su Jun had just saved his life dawned on him. "Thank you," he gasped, "I never knew that stream was so powerful. Maybe that's why we never catch any fish, they want to stop for the baits but they keep all whizzing by!"
"But Ren Yu, you caught a fish!" Su Jun exclaimed.
Ren Yu realized he'd have to forgive Su Jun's increasingly redundant comments - he was probably in shock. "Yes Su Jun, I did, that's why I fell in."
"No, look!" Su Jun held up Ren Yu's hand, "you've caught a fish!"
Sure enough when Ren Yu looked down he was still clutching the coiled wire, his eyes followed it down to the earth beside him where a giant catfish lay, flapping sporadically in the moonlight.
"I damn well caught a fish," murmured Ren Yu before laying his head back on the moss.
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