The Wind and the Void Read Online Free Page B

moving fast, fear of his upcoming encounter with Moriko slowing his steps. But the day would come soon. He couldn’t put it off forever.
    Evening was falling, and a brisk wind told him it would be cold tonight. Ryuu could already feel it in his bones. He looked for some small hollow or brush he could spend the night in. As evening fell, Ryuu saw the flicker of a fire off in the distance. He walked towards it, hoping to share the warmth. When he approached, an older man invited him to join him by the fire. Ryuu gratefully accepted.
    The old man was grizzled, long hair seeming to sprout at random from the tattered clothes that covered his body. He had the look of a man who had spent his life on the road, and Ryuu suspected the old man didn’t have a place he called home. Even so, the man was kind and generous, and Ryuu immediately took to him.
    “Where are you traveling to, young man?”
    Ryuu hid his half-lie behind a grin. “To the south and west.”
    The old man shook his head. “Those are dangerous places. You would be better served to stay away.”
    Ryuu frowned. “What do you mean?”
    The old man eyed him warily. “You haven’t heard?”
    Ryuu shook his head.
    “There are all sorts of strange happenings west and south of here. Mind you, I’ve only heard rumors, but when one hears the same rumors from many different places, it’s best to be wary. People say the roads aren’t safe anymore, that travelers have gone missing. One of the crazier rumors I’ve heard is that an entire village disappeared.”
    Ryuu laughed. The old man had had him going for a moment. “Villages don’t disappear, friend.”
    “No, but people do. The story I heard was from another traveler who had it from a village he’d been in. Apparently a little girl in the village went to sleep one night, and when she woke up the next morning the entire village was gone. Her parents, family, friends, everyone.”
    Ryuu served them each a bowl of stew that had been cooking over the fire. After the days of cold traveling, the warm broth was a welcome relief. They ate in silence for a few moments and Ryuu tried to decide if the old man was pulling his leg or if there was truth to the story.
    The old man spoke again. “Anyway, you can believe me if you want. I’m heading north, away from the rumors, but you have the look of a man who can take care of himself.”
    Ryuu’s eyes darted to the old man, suspicious.
    The old man chuckled to himself. “I may be old, but these eyes have seen more than yours, and they don’t miss much. You move silently, all the time, and that sword on your back isn’t hidden from anyone who can use their two eyes.”
    Ryuu hesitated for a moment, wondering if he had walked into some sort of trap. But the eyes of the old man sparkled with mirth, and Ryuu accepted him at face value. He laughed softly and pulled his sword out and laid it by his side.
    “You’ve sharp eyes, old man. I’ve traveled for hundreds of leagues and you’re the first who has noticed.”
    The old man smiled. “People. They walk around all the time, but they don’t see anything, not really. If people would just slow down and open their eyes, they would see an entire world they didn’t know existed.”
    Ryuu nodded. He felt the same way about the sense.
    Maybe it was the fire, or maybe it was the obvious mirth of the old man, but Ryuu found himself relaxing for the first time in over a moon. “So tell me, old man, if you’re so observant, what do you see?”
    The smile disappeared from the old man’s face, and Ryuu knew he was looking at the old man as he was, not as he often appeared to be. Ryuu was reminded of Tenchi, cycles and cycles of wisdom hidden behind a grinning face.
    “You’re a warrior. The way you move can mean nothing else. But it’s really your eyes that give you away. They never stop, they’re always looking every direction. You’ve lived a life where you could be attacked at any moment. You’ve seen more than you