Asleep in Nara (Short Story Series, Pt. 5)

Note: This continues the short story series about Sebastian, an American abroad and in over his head in Nara, Japan. This story will be around seven or eight parts long. There's also now a slight chance it could go to nine parts.

You can find the previous chapters here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Jael came to a dead stop under the umbrage of a massive, billowing tree. She turned to face the pursuing Sebastian. The sun had long since set. There were no walking lights, not even the faint glimmer of a cell phone screen. Only the sickle moon and the glint of fear in the surrounding deer’s eyes provided any illumination.

Sebastian was losing steam. He was trying, and failing, to dodge the many, many piles of deer feces. The park was overpopulated by the creatures. They were considered sacred in Nara, after all. Back home, Sebastian and his dad had enjoyed hunting the animals and turning them into jerky every deer season. The deer in Virginia were appropriately skittish. However, in Nara, they had no reason to be afraid of humans. Hell, you could walk right up to one and punch it in the face--not that Sebastian had ever tried, at least not while anyone was looking.

His shoes were caked with dung now. He was furious at the deer, glaring at them as they gawked. Seeing him running full speed seemed to resonate with some basic survival instinct he thought they had long since shed in Nara. Groups of the creatures leaped backwards in ever-widening circles as he neared. They were parting at his approach, cutting a path for him. A path leading straight to the now stockstill Jael who stood there, blade at the ready.

Sebastian, in his reckless abandon, and clearly having learned nothing in the tussle in the funeral home, charged headfirst at Jael. He never even noticed the blade in her hand. She deftly moved out of the way, catching the side of Sebastian’s shirt and flinging him face first into the deer shit-covered ground. He sprung back to his feet with a mouth full of the crap. He spit and scraped his tongue.

Jael lunged. This time, Sebastian caught sight of the weapon, but it was like nothing he had ever seen. Still, he didn't need any pre-existing schema to understand that a thrusting blade was meant for killing. Jael seemed to be holding some sort of grip, and the blade extended over the top of her fist and snaked forward, where her fingers would be if she weren’t clenching her fist.

Sebastian jumped backward and to the side, narrowly escaping the edge of the blade. Jael swiped rabidly, and Sebastian was finally realizing how dire his situation had become. His stomach sank with each near-miss. The deer had encircled them, enchanted by the gladiator duel to the death.

Jael’s blow finally landed. She sliced downward with a vicious cry that made the animals scatter. Sebastian got his arms up just in time to feel the skin split as the razor-sharp blade went through. The cut came so quickly he hadn’t even felt it in the moment, but he let out a high-pitched wail in shock. He toppled backwards, desperately clamping onto his forearm with his other hand, trying to staunch the bleeding.

As Sebastian pushed himself onto his feet, his forearm suddenly throbbed in pain. He gripped it harder, fully realizing how much dirt and feces he was rubbing right into the open wound. But what choice did he have?

Jael, meanwhile, didn’t pounce on Sebastian while he was down. He had thought for sure she would finish the job; instead, she took a calculated step backwards and planted her feet apart. She undulated her fingers in succession along the grip of her weapon, twisted her forearm to the side to display the full width and length of the blade, and waited.

Sebastian scrambled to his feet. He darted his head in every direction, looking for an escape. Jael was blocking his way back to the road and out of the park. He glanced behind himself, but really didn’t want to run any deeper into the park. He hadn’t ever gone very far back there. He knew there were miles of trees, a mountain, some shrines or something. But he would be lost and likely bleed out by morning. Or survive and lose an arm to infection. No, he needed to get past Jael and back into the city.

Sebastian took a deep breath, held it a moment, and then sprinted to his right, still clamping down on his forearm. Jael had anticipated his move. She sprang into action. Sebastian, recalling his days as a high school quarterback dodging defensive linemen, juked his head to the left and stutter-stepped before jumping back to his right.

Jael wasn’t fooled. She followed his hips, his inertia. In a panic, Sebastian spun counter-clockwise toward Jael, hoping to catch her from behind and toss her aside like she had done to him. Instead, in the middle of his spin, Jael slammed the flat of the blade into Sebastian’s nose hard enough to break it. As he, still spinning, lifted his injured arm up to instinctively grip his nose, Jael arced the blade through the length of his back, top to bottom. Sebastian let out another howl of pain; this cut, he felt immediately.

His brain, in a frenzied state of adrenaline overload, convinced him the blade had gone right through his spine. He toppled to the ground, writhed, and then jumped back onto his feet moments later. Jael hadn’t delivered a killing blow, of course. She was adept with her weapon, and no matter the attack or Sebastian’s futile maneuvers, she was going to inflict exactly as much damage as she intended, not one whit more or less.

This time, Jael circled around Sebastian to again block his escape to the road. She wanted him to run deeper into the forest. Now, Sebastian was viscerally aware of how outmatched he was.

“What do you want from me?” he asked, wondering why he was even bothering. It seemed fairly obvious what she wanted. He felt the blood from his forearm laceration pool on the knuckles of his hand and then drip to the grass.

“A little cooperation,” Jael said, crossing her arms. The blade sneaked out and covered part of her left biceps.

“I don’t under--” He took a step backward. Jael took one forward. Sebastian stopped. His eyes were locked on the weapon firmly in her grasp.

“Run,” Jael said. “Don’t walk.”

Sebastian turned and fled.

Jael uncrossed her arms. She loosened her grip on the weapon and shifted it to the other hand. She took a couple of wide left-handed swipes as she waited for Sebastian to hobble far enough away. He didn’t look back.

The katar, the weapon in Jael’s hand, had tasted blood. Now, it was thirsty for more, and Jael was all too happy to oblige. She switched the blade back to her right hand and pursued Sebastian deeper into Nara Park.

Sebastian’s breaths were unsteady. Each step sent a sharp jolt of pain up and down his lacerated back. The fingers of his left hand were going numb. He was losing too much blood from the gash in his forearm. Still, he knew now he couldn’t take Jael in a fight. His only hope was to lose her somewhere in the park. He didn’t know what kind of sick most dangerous game scenario she was staging here, but he knew his only hope of survival now was to run and hopefully slip off into the darkness and hide.

He was going to lose his left forearm. It was amazing how quickly he had come to terms with that imminent loss. But if he could keep the limb elevated and squeeze hard enough to clot the blood, then maybe, just maybe he could save at least the upper part of his arm and, of course, his life. Maybe.

It didn’t sound convincing, but that bleak hope was all he had left.

He couldn’t assess the damage on his back. He just knew it hurt like hell. It would have to wait.

His thoughts in a scramble, his feet moving faster than his brain, Sebastian tripped on a root and tumbled. His face smashed into the ground, and part of an incisor splintered off and flew from his mouth out into the darkness. He was just thankful he hadn’t swallowed it. Salty hot blood covered his tongue.

He cursed under his breath and climbed back onto his feet. His arm was bleeding worse again. He had to keep moving quickly, but more carefully. He couldn’t hear anything in the woods. There was no telling where Jael was stalking him from.

After a few minutes, Sebastian stumbled upon a walking path. He didn’t like the idea of losing his coverage, but he liked even less the idea of losing more teeth or precious time. The path would have to do.

He wasn’t sure which way to turn: left or right. He also didn’t have much time to dwell on it. He chose left. His shoes slapped along the asphalt. Jael would hear him for sure. But he pressed on. Had he turned right instead, he may have stood a chance.

***[The photo is my own, taken along the entryway to Wakamiya Shrine in Nara Park]