Cold water enveloped my skin as I lowered my feet into the lake. Winter had come and gone, and the spring flowers bloomed brightly, yet the waters of lake Inawashiro still ran icy. A chill ran up my skin, freezing me, but it was exactly what I wanted. Soon my foot would pale further and I’d feel nothing as it numbed. Soon the pain would go, if only for a brief moment.

It was quiet today, my only companions were the snow-white swans lazily gliding through the water; they took one look at me before hurrying off. It was fine though, I was used to it. Many times I had sat here beside the lake by myself, staring out across the water, seeing Bandaisan towering in the distance. The mountain reached up into the skies with three peaks, each covered in snow. The village closest to it had beautiful onsen tucked away in the nearby forest. I’d visited them a few times, spending my evening soaking in the hot waters.

My foot had lost feeling now, and the ever-present pain dulled to a gentle throb. I’d done too much walking today, travelling from house to house, tending to cuts and illness. I’d even checked over a newborn that had arrived with the cord tight around his neck. Each family thanked me profusely for my help and thanked the gods their children hadn’t been born like me. I pretended not to hear their quiet words, and left as quick as I could. Here, out by the lake, it was just me and sometimes, even for a moment, I could forget about it all. Here with my foot numb and the pain leaving me alone.

I had been born with a deformed foot, one that curled beneath me and rolled further as I took each step. The whole foot turned inwards and no matter how hard my mother tied bandages to make it flat or pull it out to the front, it always curled right back. And so I’d learnt to slowly walk on it, crushing my toes beneath me.

The water broke and from it arose a dark shape. My hope rose for a heartbeat, crashing again as I realised it was a swan from earlier, diving under the water in search of food. What was I thinking? It was too early in the year to see the kappa again. They usually preferred the south at this time, finding warmer water for their families. Sometimes a few stayed behind, swayed by the promise of all the cucumbers they could eat, but they soon left when the snow started to pile up.

I’d been right here half sat in the water when I met my first one, a young kappa soon grown from his family. I was a child at the time, sitting alone and he swam right up to me as if it were the most natural thing to do, asking if I had a cucumber on me. It was a shock, seeing a being as big as me, with green scaley skin and webbed fingers. What surprised me most was how he could speak through a turtle-like beak in almost perfect Japanese. And it was just my luck that I had brought a little food with me, although not any cucumbers. I’d tempted him with a peach instead, and he devoured it slowly, biting and pecking with his beak.

That summer we became fast friends, Sou swimming around the lake with perfect ability while I clung to the land. I’d never learnt how to swim, too afraid my foot would drag me down into the dark depths of the lake. The other children splashed around carelessly, swimming out into the refreshing water in the heat. Although they never said anything to me directly, I knew they never included me because of my foot. I couldn’t join in the games of running and chasing and would only hold them back.

One day, the children ran around splashing as usual and another kappa appeared. This one was not from the family of Sou, and much older with his green scales so much darker they were almost black. And unlike Sou, who was friendly and kind, this kappa grabbed a young girl and tried to drown her.

Screams and shouts and thrashing flooded the air as water sprayed high, but everybody knows kappa are most adept in their home, the water. Nobody could out-swim them, not even Sou who raced after him and the flailing girl.

When Sou returned, empty-handed, the village was angry. Word spread up and up until it reached the shugo-daimyo who oversaw the area. It was the fifth child to be drowned and eaten and he would not allow another to be killed. From then on everyone spurned kappa who came close. Some were caught in fishing nets, lured in by chunks of cucumber, then slaughtered and thrown back into the lake as a warning to the rest.

Some pleaded to the shugo-daimyo, saying how it was only the rogue kappa causing issues, but he wouldn’t listen. In his eyes every kappa was dangerous and needed to be killed.

I’d cried when Sou told me he was leaving, and begged him to take me with him. But I was just a child, and he was a kappa.

I pulled my leg out of the lake. The pain from my foot had now moved to my heart as I remembered the only real friend I had made. It was years before I started seeing him again, and only in the middle of the lake out of view. In secret he taught me how to make medicine from the lake to treat fevers and how to set broken bones, and I in turn gave him cucumbers to take back home. Sou had worried about my foot and how I was to survive, but with medicine, all I’d need to do was walk from house to house. Only later did I become a doctor, as more and more people asked for my help.

Taking a bandage from a small basket, I started wrapping my foot, which slowly began to come alive. Pain lanced as I covered wounds that never fully healed from where my foot dragged. They’d open up again tomorrow as I checked on today’s patients, but I had this moment at least to forget it all.

I made my way back to the village with the aid of a stick as darkness crept in around me. Lanterns blazed with light as preparations were being made for the next festival. It’d been a bad winter with more snowfall than we’d ever seen, so everyone was excited to dance and be merry in the warming weather. However, I’d find myself isolated from them all. I didn’t need a reminder I couldn’t join in with the dances, ones my heart ached to be able to keep up with. This year, the shugo-daimyo would stay for the festival; he always visited one of the villages surrounding the lake during the spring, under the guise of helping, though it was obvious he was really checking on the kappa. Anyone sympathetic to kappa was taught otherwise.

And yet, I did not listen. I still met Sou in the middle of the lake once or twice a year, and he taught me more about medicine. When questioned, I lied, saying I was out harvesting plants for the various medicines, making sure to grab handfuls of weeds on my way back. No matter what anyone said, I would never give up my friendship with Sou. I’d rather die than be alone in the world.

I returned home and slumped my bag down on the floor with a sigh. It had been a long tiring day and I just wanted to sleep. My futon lay out, dishevelled and unaired; despite my age, I’d not had the luxury of finding a wife to love and take care of my home. I crawled under the blanket and hoped for enough sleep tonight, with the festival looming close and the shugo-daimyo’s arrival, anxiety chewed at my stomach. What if Sou tried to meet with me and was caught? I could imagine him trapped in tough nets, biting his way free, only to be dragged to the surface. He’d be weaker there, not just because of the water, but for the biggest weakness of kappa: their heads. On top the kappa’s head sat a depression of water, and filled gave the kappa vitality and strength, but if he lost the water… I’d seen too many kappa dying, their head-dish empty, scared what the gods would do to us for this. Fear ruled the village, and fear struck each kappa down dead.

As I fell into a fitful sleep, all I could do was wish the gods would change me into a kappa. I would be free to swim in the waters, carefree, and leave the bloodshed behind me.

 

The shugo-daimyo arrived early. Travel had been swift and favourable for his horses. The village was abuzz with activity and I was cooped up inside dealing with another injury. A neighbour had been hunting a week prior and had been bitten by an unknown animal. Rather than coming to me, he’d washed and bandaged it and carried on with his day. Even as the skin tightened and blazed with heat. he kept up with his daily work, and each day it wept pus and raged under a bandage. I held his hand gingerly, turning it side to side to inspect how far the infection had spread. It wasn’t a particularly deep bite, though I could work out strange marks that didn’t seem like a normal bite at all.

“Where were you when this happened?” I asked him, lightly pressing the skin around the wound. It had spread across the back of his hand, making movement difficult, and the reason he finally came to me.

“On the edge of the village. The light was dim so I couldn’t tell what did it. It was my fault though, I spooked it crashing through trying to find a quick place to take a piss.”

“Then you’re fortunate the bite was on your hand.”

I leant forward for a closer look, scanning down the strange pitted row of strange marks, trying to remember where I’d seen such a thing before. It certainly wasn’t the work of cats or dogs, their teeth punctured much deeper than this. It was too small for a horse bite, his whole hand would be swollen and red. I glanced to Katsuo who was silent. I could feel his nervousness shaking his limbs lightly.

“Kappa.” I said, watching him carefully. “You were bit by a kappa.”

“No, no,” he said, pulling his hand away from me. “I was nowhere near the water. It can’t have been a kappa. Plus, they’re all dead.”

“No they’re not. Or the shugo-daimyo wouldn’t be here.”

We were both silent then, both weighing each other out. I remembered where I’d seen that kind of bite before, as Sou had once bitten me by accident, leaving a distinct lines down my leg. He’d immediately dove into the blue waters and returned with a handful of weeds, and wrapped them around my leg.

“Ryozo, this will cool it down,” he’d said, black eyes full of worry. “Stop any infection.”

I’d found the whole thing fascinating, how weeds could help treat wounds. They weren’t just weeds to kappa, but great tools for medicine. After that, Sou continued teaching me more, happy I was a quick learner. It took me far too long to realise he’d been teaching me so I could find purpose in the village, instead of sitting by the lake, pretending my foot didn’t exist.

A few times I had thought about cutting it off completely as surely a stump would function better than a curled up ball of a foot. My mother forbade it, wailing into my kimono that I shouldn’t do such a thing. So I promised her I wouldn’t, and in return she tried again in adapting sandals to make it easier to move around.

Katsuo still stared at me and I smiled as I realised. “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Tell anyone what? It’s just a normal animal bite.”

I nodded. “I can help this infection, and it should start healing pretty quick. With your payment I require a cucumber. I don’t have everything I need to help it right now, but tomorrow I can dress it properly. And then this animal bite will go away.”

“A cucumber? But—”

“I must go back to the source.”

Something shifted in Katsuo’s eyes then, like he finally believed my words. I didn’t take it personally, not with how strict the shugo-daimyo was at enacting his words. It warmed my heart to know it wasn’t just me who looked out for the kappa. It had been risky almost outright saying I was sympathetic to them too, but if someone really came for me I’d… Actually, I didn’t know what I’d do. What man knows what he’ll do when faced with death?

Would it be as freeing as I always imagined?

Katsuo nodded and wandered over to a basket filled with vegetables. “I have one now, picked fresh this morning. You can take it.”

“Good, then I can go out later. I’ll return when the medicine is all prepared.”

I left Katsuo’s home swiftly after that, urging him to bathe his hand in the lake in the meantime. The cold waters had always been good to me, and I had always wondered if the kappa had anything to do with it. What if they spurned us for our treatment of them? Fresh waters turned stagnant and deadly. It was something I should ask Sou, if I had the chance. Our meetings were always hurried to keep him out of sight.

I knew I should wait until the sun lowered in the sky, but the thought of seeing my friend again so soon led me almost straight to the lake. First, I needed tools and supplies. The lake was deep and I was certainly not able to swim down to pick weeds, so I used a long tool made of bamboo. Much like the tools that toiled the soil, this pulled the plants from the sodden ground. While waiting, I’d trim the plant down to just the leaves, and bring them ashore… or that’s what I told everyone. The tool did work, I’d tried it out a few times just to be sure, and I could use it if anyone wanted me to demonstrate, but really, I asked Sou to grab leaves for me. He made sure not to disturb the plants too much so they could regrow easily, and I didn’t damage the lake.

Once I’d gathered what I needed, I hurried towards the lake and in a boat as fast as my clubbed foot would allow. I hadn’t seen Sou in a few weeks and I missed his company. There was still a chance I wouldn’t see him today either, as the cucumber could invite another kappa instead. It’d happened before, and I met a young family trying to find a new home.

The waters were still today, there wasn’t much wind, and even the sun was out to banish the chills of winter. I’d passed many people out working, building a new irrigation system for the growing fields, and children playing at the water’s edge. Each of them paid me no attention as I walked past and now rowed out in my boat towards the centre of the lake. There I would be safest, and only there would Sou surface to speak to me.

Oars sliced through the water propelling me onwards. Here, gliding through the water, was the only place I felt fast and unstoppable and even able to race the winds themselves. No wonder the kappa loved the water so much.

Eventually I found the right spot to stop, the opposite village was just in sight and yet still a blur from this far away. From a small basket I pulled out a knife and the cucumber, slicing it into thumb length chunks and dropping them into the lake. Down and down they’d fall into darker waters, hopefully to be snatched up by a kappa.

I sat back and waited for the familiar tapping noise from the bottom of the boat; the signal Sou gave to make sure it was safe. While I waited, I looked up into the sky. Clouds covered the blue skies, trailing past slowly. If the clouds held onto their rain and passed us by, it’d be a perfect night for the festival to start. The shugo-daimyo would be eager for it to start, he was never a man for patience. I’d seen him a few times, preferring to stay out of his way and slipping into nearby shops. His reputation for strict cruelty was certainly well known, however, and soon everyone else kept out of his path too. There had been whispers that his armour had been made of kappa bones and his sword sheathed in kappa skin.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sou was here.

Tap. Pause. Tap.

I peered over the side and a pair of black glassy eyes stared back at me under the water. I smiled. Taking the last chunk of cucumber, I slipped it into the water and Sou snapped it up instantly.

He surfaced and blinked away water. “Ryozo. It’s been many days since you last called. I missed you.”

“You too, my friend.”

“More lake weed?”

“I—uh, yes, actually. But you don’t need to go so soon.”

Despite my words, Sou dipped below the surface once again, leaving me all alone. In the meantime, all I could do was lower the bamboo pole, pretending to get the weeds myself.

Tap. Tap.

Sou’s beak pecked against the bamboo, pretending it was another chunk of cucumber. At first I thought he really did get them mixed up, but every time I lowered the pole he did the same, and I realised he was just joking with me. A pang hit me. Even now we had to resort to jokes and playing beneath the water. It made me ache to be in the water with him, away from all the eyes ready to betray me. I knew one day we’d be able to laugh and joke as we had done when I was a child, playing happily in the water. I promised myself every time I saw him.

“Here.” Sou dropped a pile of slimy leaves in the boat and held out his webbed fingers. “More cucumber?”

“I’m sorry, I already gave you the last piece.”

“Hmph.” Sou blew air through the nares on his beak. “Next time I will only bring you two leaves.”

“Only two? That’s cruel.” I laughed. “You know I can’t take too many cucumbers, there will be suspicion.”

Sou crossed his arms in such a human way, I laughed harder. He’d learnt that from me and was determined to use it every time in some way. He hated how other kappa didn’t understand, especially underwater.

“I have something for you,” he said, holding out a brightly coloured snail shell. “This one is not medicine. It’s for good luck.”

“Thank you.” The shell was small, only about the size of the end of my fingers, but shone with bright colours in the light. “I’ll treasure it.”

“I should go. Next time bring more cucumbers.”

“Wait,” I said, reaching into the water and grabbing his arm. He couldn’t leave right now. “Already? You’ve only just surfaced.”

“Yes. Young kappa have been going to the land. We’re not safe.”

I thought back to Katsuo and his kappa bite. If the young ones were testing coming to the surface, it was no wonder he was bitten. Of course, it was all bad timing with the shugo-daimyo arriving now.

“No,” I said sadly. “The shugo-daimyo has arrived already. It was risky coming out here now, but… I’ve been so lonely lately, Sou. I wish it could be how it was before, I wish I could stay with you in the water. I’m tired of this.”

Sou grabbed my hand and gently squeezed. “Ryozo, you are a human. I am a kappa. Only gods can change that.”

“So I should beg the gods again?”

“No,” he said shortly. “The gods can’t be trusted.”

Sou let go of my hand, despite me desperately trying to keep hold of it, and slipped under the water, swimming away from me.

Again I was alone, in my boat.

By the time I’d rowed back to shore and dragged my foot up the soft shoreline back to the village, evening was approaching. Along the main road raced horses, their riders showing off to the village women. One of them was the shugo-daimyo’s son, the younger Hosokawa-san, dressed in fine armour. Up and down he rode, kicking up dust far and wide. The village women were watching him with a mix of fascination and annoyance. I joined them, wondering if I had to wait until they finished their spectacle to go back to my house. It irked me and I just wanted to jump out and spook the horses, sending them running off out of my way.

I almost laughed as another had the same idea as me, running out into the road, a quick blur shuffling in the dirt. The short man was hunched over and… and wasn’t a man at all. It was a young kappa.

I needed to save him.

The horses galloped back down the road again, bursting through the dust cloud. No. I ran as fast as my foot would allow, tripping me; I landed face first in the dirt, only able to watch as the horse careened, trying to avoid the kappa. It was too late.

The horse cried out first, followed by a piercing yell and a deep thud. Hoofbeats continued as the horse raced away, leaving the rider in the dirt. He grunted, winded. Others hurried to his side, checking for injury, as I still lay in the dirt, alone. I sat up and brushed it from my face, watching the new spectacle. It was Hosokawa-san, wailing any time his bloodied leg was moved. A farmer raced off towards the village, no doubt looking for me. I was the one who dealt with most injuries, although the women dealt with childbirth, only needing my help when excessive bleeding occurred.

I climbed to my feet slowly, stopping only to scoop my tools and the drying leaves back into my basket, and started towards Hosokawa-san who was now shouting to those around him. As I approached, I saw blood staining his grey hakama black where his leg lay in an awkward position and his face had paled to snow.

“Kusano-san,” one of the farmers beckoned, “we were just going to find you—”
“—I will have the horse whipped—”

“—Hosokawa-san has fallen from his horse.”

“I did not fall,” he hissed between a grimace. “That stupid horse threw me. It’s untrained—”

“Enough,” I commanded. “If you can complain this loudly, perhaps the injury isn’t as bad as the blood shows.”

Hosokawa-san was quiet then, and I knelt down to inspect the damage. His leg bent and twisted under itself, hidden under the wide material of the hakama. He hadn’t realised it yet, but white bone protruded through a worn section, soaked in blood.

“It’s too dirty here to inspect your leg, my lord, but it’s definitely broken.”

Hosokawa-san huffed and winced. “How dare the horse do this to me.”

I stared at him. I wanted to tell him how it was his own fault, racing the horses on such a thin road, but I was just a villager, and he was the shugo-daimyo’s son.

“We need a cart and some people to lift you, my lord. That’s the only way back from here.”

“Fine. Get on with it.”

It took three men in the end to lift him into the cart, his leg still bleeding. Sou had told me of keeping wounds clean with fresh water, making sure no dirt fell inside, as it helped it heal faster. So when we finally managed to cart Hosokawa-san back to his room, I asked for a bowl of water and fresh bandages. His grey hakama were discarded with difficulty; although the garment was loose around the legs and only tight at the waist, the material had started to stick and it brushed against torn skin. Eventually when I managed to look at the entirety of the damage, I sighed. The bone had splintered into two pieces and pierced right through his skin below the knee. The skin of his lower leg had grown paler and cold, and soon it would start to die. If it hadn’t already.

The shugo-daimyo burst into the room, a tall man with a loud voice wearing the most lavish kimono I’d ever seen. He too wore grey hakama, the plainness at odds with the patterned kimono.
“Father…”

“What is wrong with my son?” he demanded.

“A broken leg, my lord.” I said, bowing my head. “It may need amputating.”

“Amputating? Can it really be that bad?”

I stepped aside to let him see. I’d cleaned the blood away and stemmed it with bandages, but the bone still burst out, covered with more bandages. Hosokawa-san had been given the best medicine to deal with pain, though even that was not enough to take it all away. It had, however, stopped his screaming.

The elder Hosokawa-san took one look and shook his head, no doubt seeing similar wounds before. Horses could be so dangerous when they spooked or bolted. I’d seen a few riders kicked with powerful hooves before, their black bruises spread wide and far. One swelled so big for days, it had to be lanced; that night, I’d witnessed my first death as infection took him.

“Is there nothing else for him?”

“I… I could try pushing the bone back into place, but I don’t know if it will work. I’ve never tried something like that before.”

“I will send for another doctor, then. He is only a few days’ ride away.”

I paled. “My lord, your son doesn’t have that long. We cannot leave the bone out like this. It has to stay inside the body, or he’ll worsen.”

“We’ll wait. Make sure he won’t be in pain.”

The shugo-daimyo gave no room for response and turned to his son, who’d fallen into a fitful sleep. After watching him for a moment longer, he left without a word. How was I supposed to treat him like this? Sou had taught me all about broken bones and how quickly they could weaken a man to death. If only he could be here now, he’d know how to help. I couldn’t even risk going out to the lake and asking him, not when the shugo-daimyo would want me right here with his son. Instead all I could do was try to keep him alive long enough for his father to realise his mistake.

By evening, Hosokawa-san had paled further to a sickening grey. He’d lost a lot of blood which still slowly wept from the bandage and I had to keep switching it for another. I wasn’t sure how much longer he would last like this. Inside, I was angry, so angry, that the shugo-daimyo would let his son slowly die like this. He would soon be past even my help, if he wasn’t already. There was only other one way to save him now, one I knew the shugo-daimyo wouldn’t even entertain.

I’d already sent for him to come and see his son again, hoping to plead for him to change his mind. Instead, he enjoyed the festival, sending word just to keep doing my best. But my best would never be good enough. I’d learnt how to heal in small hidden lessons in the brief moments I could talk to Sou. I’d picked up more by healing wounds of the villagers, but cuts and bruises were nothing like this.

Hosokawa-san stirred. I took the damp cloth from his forehead and rinsed it in the bowl beside his bed before returning it. Fever was setting in and his skin was hot to the touch, sweat soaked his kimono and it clung to his skin. It would be a long night, I was sure.

The shugo-daimyo had been accommodated in one of the bigger houses, the occupants now staying with their neighbour. This room was bigger than most, although it only had one futon. If I was to get any sleep, I’d have to rest on the tatami. Sleep, next to a dying body.

From outside I could hear the drumming of various taiko, followed by other instruments, growing stronger as the festival boomed. I closed my eyes. The gods couldn’t bless me, but perhaps the festival could draw them near and they could bless Hosokawa-san. The beat of the festival travelling to his heart, keeping it going. It wouldn’t take much for them to save him, and I’d heard of them blessing others before. In my mind, I cried out to any who would hear me. I’d been annoyed with Hosokawa-san before, and his racing up the street, but I never wanted him to be injured.

I couldn’t kneel here any longer; my mind was swimming in guilt and pleading for help. I was useless here. It felt like my skin was crawling with restlessness and I needed to just do something other than be here.

If the shugo-daimyo wouldn’t save his son then I would. He’d be angry and I wasn’t sure what he’d do with me after, but I would not sit by watching this man die.

I slipped out of the house without being seen, everyone had flocked to the festival thankfully on the other side of the village. Bright lanterns hung from each house, leading the way towards the lake, and I followed them. My foot ached with a deep stabbing pain and it took all my concentration to ignore it and keep going. The moon was high in the sky tonight, the light would reflect on the water and guide me out into the deep waters. I didn’t have any cucumber to draw Sou, or even any kappa, out to help me, I didn’t know who would even have some. They still weren’t fully in season, only a few had grown enough in the colder weather.

From the village I made my way down to the soft land around the lake. It was always harder to drag my foot down here, the worn sandal digging in deep. The sand was worse, and I sunk deeper and deeper. However, I didn’t go for the sand this time, I walked down the small pier where boats were tied up. Lowering myself into the closest one, I took the oars and started the long journey towards the centre again. I’d splash around if I had to, anything I knew would grab the kappa’s attention… though, I had warned Sou about the shugo-daimyo arriving earlier. What if he had left this part of the lake to travel north already?

I pushed the thought away. I wouldn’t think of it.

My arms burned with exhaustion as I pushed on and on, gliding through the water. The opposite village couldn’t be seen in the darkness, so I had to guess when I was anywhere near the middle. On and on I rowed in the darkness, following the moon for a guide. Any other time, being alone on the lake alone would be peaceful. Any other time I would have been too scared to row out into the nothingness. And yet here I was.

I let go of the oars. I couldn’t row any further. My muscles would barely listen to me begging them to row on and on. Here would have to do. Now I just needed a kappa to find me. I started by sticking my hand into the water and splashing around, hoping to catch any of their attention, and then moved on to splashing with the oar. But nothing.

“Please Sou, I need you.”

I pleaded with the water, but it stared back black and quiet. I knew they were down there, somewhere in the lake, out of my reach. Would I need to climb into the water? I sighed. I couldn’t swim. If I entered the water then I’d need help.

“Ryozo, the water is not for you.”

“Sou?” I turned and Sou stared back at me, face bobbing above the surface. “I need your help. I thought you had already left.”

“And I thought you might need me.”

“Sou…”

“What is the problem?” he asked, eyes scanning me all over, no doubt worried it was me that was injured.

“I am treating a leg wound, the bone came out and I don’t know how to put it back in. He’s feverish and getting worse.”

Sou stared at me for a moment and blinked away the water from his eyes. “And you want to save this one?”

“Yes. I don’t want to watch him slowly die when I could help.”

He nodded. “Good. Ryozo is finally wanting to be a human, not a kappa.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t just teach Ryozo medicine to learn. I wanted you to be happier with others. Where is the person?”

I sighed. “In a house close to the shore, I can’t go as fast as you, but we can keep you out of sight. The festival is still going, we only need to worry if someone comes back to check on him.”

Sou went quiet. I knew it was a big ask of him, that he could be in danger coming out of the water. If the shugo-daimyo or any of his men saw Sou, they’d attack him on sight. The villagers… I wasn’t so sure what they’d do. I would never let any of them hurt Sou, however.

“I will do it for Ryozo,” Sou said eventually, clacking his beak together. “And they will see how good you are.”

“Thank you, dear friend,” I said, bowing to him. “I know I shouldn’t ask this of you.”

Sou slipped under the water, barely disturbing the surface. From behind, the boat started to shift and move, and I realised Sou was leading us ashore. Above me, the stars and the moon watched us as we sped towards the village, my heart pounding in my chest. I both feared for Sou’s safety and yet I couldn’t help but feel excitement. Rarely had I seen Sou use medicine himself. And so by the time we’d made it to the house, keeping Sou in the shadows, my heart raced faster than ever.

Hosokawa-san had deteriorated in the time I’d been gone. His breathing was laboured and his chest struggled to rise.

“He will die without my help,” Sou said, taking one look at him. “This is difficult for me.”

“The shugo-daimyo wouldn’t let me try to heal him, he hasn’t even seen how bad his son is right now. He’s too busy at the festival.”

Together we slowly removed the bloody bandages until Hosokawa-san’s leg was bare once more. A sharp shard of bone poked out from bloodied skin at the shin, and the rest of his leg was deathly cold.

“It’s bad,” Sou said, running his webbed fingers down the leg. “No blood here at the bottom. It’s dying. Bone is in many pieces.”

“Can it be saved?”

“No. It must be removed. What tools do you have?”

I stared at him. I was right, the leg couldn’t be saved. Even if the other doctor was to arrive here in time, he would say the same. The shugo-daimyo was gambling on his son’s life.

Sou watched me patiently. “Tools?”

“Oh, sorry I…” I reached into the bag I shoved in the corner of the room. After we first arrived I’d asked a farmer to run to my house and grab anything that could be useful. Thankfully, he’d chosen well by bringing anything in sight. “I have a knife, bandages, thread for wounds. Will that be enough?”

“Hmm. No saw?”

“No. I’ve never amputated before.”

“Today you will learn.”

First we had to prepare the room, bundling the futon up so Hosokawa-san’s lower leg was lifted. In the meantime, Sou had given him something to chew on when he would inevitably wake up due to the pain. My medicine wasn’t strong enough to make him sleep through it.

Outside, the taiko still drummed away, the rhythm now aiding our movements. One step at a time.

“He will not like what I will do. You must hold him down until I am done.”

I nodded. “I will make sure he doesn’t move and that no-one enters.”

“Good. First I need to take off the leg. After, I will stop the bleeding with thread. Then we seal it with more thread.”

Sou moved quickly into place after that. I took my place beside Hosokawa-san’s chest, ready to hold it down if I had to. I wasn’t sure how Sou managed to take the leg without a saw, but I trusted my friend.

Smack.

The sound was sickening, a wet crunch. Over and over Sou hammered at the bone with his beak, blood spraying into the air. Hosokawa-san woke, groaning against the braided leaves between his teeth.

Peck. Peck. Peck.

Sou did not stop.

My hands pressed firmly to Hosokawa-san’s chest as I kept telling him it’d be over soon.

Peck. Peck. Peck.

Each peck made him shake now, a mix of pain and shock. He screamed, barely muffled. It was the only thing showing he was still alive.

The leg landed with a thump.

Sou’s face was now red, not green, even the last drops of water sitting in the dished depression on his head was filled with blood. He made quick work with the thread, his webbed fingers barely stopping as he sewed. I felt useless kneeling on the tatami, unable to help Hosokawa’s pain, unable to help Sou finish the amputation. It would be over soon, though, I was sure. Even out of the water, Sou could still move fast and strong, fuelled by the water on his head.

  It was too empty now though, and I could see my friend’s movements starting to become sluggish. I quickly soaked a clean bandage in the bowl of water and reached towards Sou.

“One moment, my friend.”

Sou paused and I filled the dish-depression enough for him to continue. It wasn’t the freshest of water now and I worried it would make him ill. He nodded to me in thanks before continuing.

  The moon had moved further across the sky by the time Sou was done. All sounds of taiko were now silent, the festival finally finished.

“I’m done,” Sou said, starting to sound weary. “Ryozo, bandage what is left.”

I switched places with Sou, bringing over a pile of white bandages. The remaining stump was pink and puckered as the skin knit tight together. On the floor lay the remains of his lower leg, cold and dead.

“I need to return to the lake. He needs a medicine only made from lake plants.”

“Be safe, Sou—”

“Kappa,” a voice hissed. “Get away from my son.”

The shugo-daimyo stumbled forwards, the smell of sake strong on his breath. He drew his wakizashi and pointed it to Sou; the short blade rested firm in his hands, ready to strike.

“Stop! Please. My lord.” I pushed Sou behind me and bowed to the elder Hosokawa-san. “I invited the kappa here. He was the only way to save your son.”

The shugo-daimyo’s eyes turned to his son, widening as he noticed the fresh stump resting on the futon.

“I told you to wait for the doctor.”

“He would have died, we saved his life.”

“Kappa don’t save lives. Move aside.”

I lifted myself from the bow and looked him in the eyes. “No. I won’t let you hurt him. Sou has never—”

The tip of the wakizashi pressed to my chest. But I would not move.

“Then you can die as well.”

“Ryozo—”

The shugo-daimyo pulled back his arm to strike as I held my ground… however missed his strike as drunkenness sent the blade to the left, stabbing the air.

“Fa...ther…?”

His attention went back to his son who flitted in and out of consciousness.

“My son. I will kill these who would harm you. If it weren’t for them you would be able to ride again.”

Screams. Outside came voices calling for help, calling out a word I dreaded to hear. Kappa.

The shugo-daimyo stopped and listened. “More? Time for my blade to be bathed in blood once again. Both of you get outside.”

He stepped aside to let us pass, but still kept his blade at the ready. I glanced back at Sou. His black eyes were unreadable, though that was also normal for him. Outside I had more of a chance of survival, so I took it. I slowly dragged my foot giving Sou more time to recover and escape back to the water. Together we all made it outside where the screams continued. Stopping in the doorway, I gasped as the streets were filled with kappa of all ages. Elder kappa hissed at any humans wielding blades while the younger ones ran around causing chaos. Horses were untied and ran around in a panic, a house burned brightly with fire, and more kappa were emerging from the lake.

“Kill them all,” the shugo-daimyo roared as he saw the scene. “Don’t stop until every last kappa is dead.”

“No,” I yelled. “They are—”

“You,” he continued, bringing his blade back to me. “You will die now. I command it. Get on your knees.”

I knelt. I would die for the kappa if it truly came to it. I believed that much in their innocence. Sou had taught me as such, one lesson at a time. I would not abandon my friend, or any of them.

“Ryozo.”

He called to me, unsure if he should be helping me or his kin. He should help them, not me. I was ready to die. To be truthful, I had for a long time now.

I calmed my breathing, the cool blade now resting at my nape.

And then came a sound. Piercing. I cupped my hands over my ears trying to block it out. I glanced around. The kappa had stopped and all screeched high into the air, their beaks all wide open. The sound brought everyone to their knees, all at their mercy.

Sou stopped his screech and picked up the wakizashi the shugo-daimyo had dropped. It sat awkwardly in his hand as he held the handle, his webbed fingers shorter than those of a human.

“No—”

The blade landed its mark and the shugo-daimyo’s neck burst open, blood spurting high. Again he struck until his head dropped with a dull thump, removed from his neck. Immediately the screeching stopped, and then they descended. Kappa rushed to the body, pecking and biting and ripping it into nothing. As if he never existed.

And then, they left. Each kappa heading back to their beloved lake.

Around me, other villagers climbed back to their feet, hands still protecting their ears. Everyone too shocked to say a word.

“He is dead. He will kill us no more.” Sou took one look at me before heading back towards the lake.

I lay not knowing what to do, whether to chase after Sou or succumb to the exhaustion pulling at every muscle.

Deep down, I knew letting him go was the best thing. Kappa weren’t as strong out of the water and their skin dried too easily.

I also knew that Sou would be back, because he was my friend, the only one I had.