Song of the Spring Moon Waning

by E. E. Ottoman

  With the little thrush settled on his shoulder, Wen Yu hurried out of his rooms, down the stairs, and into the street, heading towards the palace. Wen Yu kept his pace fast through the streets, the bird fluttering on his shoulder and around his head. A cart passed them, spraying water from a particularly deep pothole as it did. The thrush let out a startled chirp and settled on top of Wen Yu's head, gripping at his topknot.

  The guards at Liu Yi's gate actually did a double take when they saw him coming towards them with a bird perched on his head.

  "Just let me in," Wen Yu snapped at them, and surprisingly they did as he asked, opening the gates while gaping at him the entire time.

  "But … honorable student," one of the guards called after him, but Wen Yu didn't stop. He stalked across the courtyard to Liu Yi's apartments and knocked on the door. No one answered, so he tried the handle. The door opened, and he stepped through into the main room, the thrush fluttering into the air as he did.

  Liu Yi was curled up in a chair by the window. His skin was pale, there were dark circles under each eye, and his breathing was obviously labored even from across the room.

  "Liu Yi!" Wen Yu crossed the room, his full attention on Liu Yi.

  "Wen Yu." Liu Yi's breath rattled in his chest. "What are you doing here?"

  "You're not well." Wen Yu knelt next to the chair. "But you were fine yesterday?"

  "I fell ill this morning." Liu Yi struggled for breath and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against his hands. Wen Yu reached up to touch his face and found his skin fevered and clammy.

  "Will you be all right?"

  Liu Yi gave him a small smile without opening his eyes. "I haven't died from this yet."

  "You feel too warm." Wen Yu felt his face again, frowning. "Is there medicine you can take?"

  "I've already taken it." Liu Yi drew in a long, shuddering breath and then started coughing until he had to curl in on himself until it subsided. "I'd like some tea, though," he said when he could speak again, and Wen Yu nodded, standing.

  He discovered there was another room he'd not been in while searching for things to make tea. This room contained a fire pit in the center and a small amount of things to cook with. Wen Yu stoked the fire to life and put the kettle over it, noticing his hands were shaking as he did. Liu Yi had spoken of his illness but Wen Yu hadn't realized it could be this bad.

  The water boiled, and Wen Yu made the tea before carrying a cup through to where Liu Yi still sat curled in on himself, shaking with fever and now with a high flush across both cheeks.

  "You should go to bed." Wen Yu handed over the tea and then felt Liu Yi's forehead again, wishing he had something to wrap around Liu Yi to keep him warm. "You're running a fever and shouldn't be out of bed at all."

  "But it feels like it makes it worse when all I do is lie in bed." Liu Yi took a small sip of tea before he started coughing again. Wen Yu reached for the cup so that Liu Yi wouldn't drop it.

  "Come on." Wen Yu put his arm around Liu Yi's shoulders. "You need to be warmer."

  Wen Yu supported Liu Yi into the bedroom and pulled the blankets back. Liu Yi didn't object when Wen Yu undressed him and guided him into the bed, making sure the blankets were tucked around him, before he fetched the tea from the other room.

  The thrush fluttered after him and perched in the circle of the carved footboard.

  "Ah." Liu Yi licked his lips. "It's my little songbird." A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Did Wen Yu bring you back to me after all?"

  The small bird flew from the foot of the bed to the pillow next to Liu Yi's head. "I have the information you sent me to find." The thrush fluttered its wings and picked at a piece of Liu Yi's dark hair.

  "Do you?" Liu Yi turned his head to look at it, gaze becoming more focused and intent.

  "Yes." The thrush puffed itself up. "I have found the way to the Jade Mountain."

  Wen Yu turn from where he'd been. "What?" He turned to face Liu Yi and the thrush on the bed. "The Jade Mountain? But why do you want know how to get there?"

  Liu Yi shifted on the bed, voice small and low when he finally answered. "According to legend, there is a dragon lord who lives there who is very wise and very ancient, and I was hoping if I could get there he might know something of my illness."

  "But the poems …"

  "What about the poems?" Liu Yi was watching him now just as intently as he'd been watching the thrush.

  "There was an inscription on the inside of one of the covers which said that the poems had been written as correspondence between the Jade Rabbit and a certain dragon lord who lived on the Jade Mountain."

  "This cannot be a coincidence."

  "I don't really know." Wen Yu sat on the edge of the bed. "I just don't know."

  "Finish translating the rest of the poems." Liu Yi reached out to cover one of Wen Yu's hands with his. "Please."

  Wen Yu didn't know what good it would do, but he nodded. The thrush fluttered up to perch on the headboard, and when Liu Yi's eyes drifted shut, Wen Yu stood and walked back into the main room. He went to the desk and started going over his notes on the poems. It was a huge job, translating them. He had only the most basic sense of what they were about. Still, they were love poems, plain and simple, or poems about day-to-day life, one from a scholar, the other a physician. Perhaps that was where the key to Liu Yi's illness lay, Wen Yu thought. Maybe there was a clue in the descriptions of the physician's work. Still, he could not produce answers overnight, and he didn't know what the connection with the Jade Mountain was.

  Wen Yu put aside the papers and stood, moving into the courtyard. He paced around the empty space, then turned back into Liu Yi's apartments and sank down in front of the desk once more.

  What do I know of the Jade Mountain? Wen Yu asked himself. Aside from it being a fairytale, according to all the histories and other works he'd ever read. He would need to leave for the Palace Examination in less than two days. With a tired groan, he shut his eyes, resting his head on his arms. Eventually he dozed off.

  He woke to the room dark. Blinking, Wen Yu lifted his head, looking around. There were raised voices coming from the courtyard. Wen Yu climbed slowly to his feet; there was a crick in his back and his legs let him know they hadn't appreciated the cramped position he'd slept in. Stiffing a groan, Wen Yu pushed the door open and limped out into the courtyard.

  Both of the guards were talking in loud voices to someone out in the street.

  "I am sorry, honorable scholar, but we cannot let you in. This gate leads to one of the apartments in the Imperial Palace," one of the guards told whoever was beyond the gate as Wen Yu limped up.

  "But you have to understand," a deep voice said. "I must speak with Liu Yi. It is of the utmost importance."

  Frowning now, Wen Yu quickened his pace. "What's going on here?"

  Both of the guards turned, still blocking the entrance where the heavy wooden gate had been pulled all the way open. Wen Yu could see beyond them a man standing in the road, dressed in dark blue robes—not silk, but definitely finely made. The man also wore an ankle-length jacket and the black cap of a scholar. He had an unusually long, thin mustache and a small goatee.

  "I need to speak with Liu Yi," the man said, lunging at the doorway, only to be held back by one of the guards. "I was told he lived here. Please. It is important."

  "About what?" Wen Yu folded his arms over his chest. "He is in no condition to speak with anyone."

  The man on the road let out a snort of annoyance and tried to shake off the guard to no avail. "Shall we send him away, honorable student?" the guard asked.

  "No!" The man began to struggle in earnest. "Unhand me. I must speak with Liu Yi, it is important."

  "Perhaps you should make sure this man gets to the closest inn where he can stay safely for tonight," Wen Yu told one of the guards, turning away.

  "Wait," the man shouted. "Please, it is for the Jade Rabbit!"

  Wen Yu stopped and turned back around. "What?"


  "I am doing this for her," the man said, and Wen Yu took a few steps towards the gate again.

  "Do you know anything about the Moon Poems?"

  "What?" Now the stranger looked confused.

  Wen Yu turned to the guards. "Let him in."

  "I can't do that, honorable student." One of the guards shook his head. "It has to be Liu Yi himself who vouches for him."

  After a moment's hesitation, Wen Yu turned back towards the apartments. "Stay there," he called over his shoulder, heading back across the courtyard.

  Liu Yi was sleeping when Wen Yu entered the bedroom, curled up and looking far too small and fragile. Wen Yu shook his shoulder, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Liu Yi." He brushed hair back from Liu Yi's face, keeping his voice low. "Wake up. There is someone here I think you should meet."

  Stirring against the pillows, Liu Yi murmured and tried to turn over. Wen Yu shook him again. "Wake up."

  "Wen Yu?" Liu Yi eyes fluttered open, then he smiled, slow and sleepy. "Are you coming to bed?"

  "No." Wen Yu felt a little regretful about that. It would be nice to curl up with Liu Yi right now. "There is someone who wants to see you at the gate."

  "Oh." Liu Yi sat up and seemed to realize he was naked, casting about for his clothes. Wen Yu collected fresh trousers, sash, robe, and boots for him before helping him dress. He took Liu Yi's arm as they both headed back to the courtyard.

  Both of the guards and the stranger looked up as Liu Yi and Wen Yu drew close to where the three of them stood.

  "Liu Yi." The stranger's face lit into a smile, which dimmed slightly when Liu Yi did not smile back. He cocked his head to one side. "You're ill. I suppose that makes sense."

  Liu Yi's eyes narrowed. "What do you know of my illness?"

  "Liu Yi?" one of the guards asked. "Should we let him through?"

  "Yes." Liu Yi waved one hand, gripping Wen Yu's arm with the other. Both guards stepped back, and the stranger walked towards them.

  The stranger stopped a few paces from them, crossing his arms over his chest, and studied Liu Yi as one would study a particularly rare and unusual manuscript. Wen Yu didn't like the way he looked at Liu Yi at all, and he tightened his grip on Liu Yi's arm, glaring at the stranger.

  "Interesting." The stranger began to circle them slowly, eyes on Liu Yi alone.

  "Enough." Liu Yi tone was sharp. "I do not believe I have had the pleasure of your name."

  The stranger stopped, blinked, and bowed. "My apologies. I am Mei Hua."

  "I still don't understand," Liu Yi said. "What do you want with me?"

  "It's more what you have that I need." Mei Hua cocked his head to one side. "Maybe we should go inside and discuss this."

  Wen Yu didn't really want to, but after a moment Liu Yi nodded.

  "All right," Liu Yi said, turning back towards his apartments. Wen Yu half supported, half carried him back across the courtyard, and Liu Yi allowed it.

  When they were back in his apartments, all sitting in the main room, Liu Yi continued, "What is it that you know of me and my illness?"

  "I know very little of you, actually." Mei Hua perched on one of the chairs, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around him. "I've only been looking for you for twenty years, after all."

  Liu Yi went pale. "What?"

  Mei Hua shrugged. "The fish helped me get lucky."

  "I don't think I understand." Liu Yi closed his eyes and took a long breath. "Please start from the beginning and explain why you are looking for me?"

  "Oh." Mei Hua's eyes widened. "The Jade Rabbit made a pearl for us to use to make a bridge between my mountain, which sits almost fully in this world—well, closer to this world than not I suppose—and the Moon Palace, which is in the Celestial realm. But the pearl was lost." Mei Hua looked away, seeming to become shy. "So I went to find it so that we can be together. Anyway," he brightened, "I tracked you down. It took a little while, tracking the fish, then finding your village, and then discovering you weren't there, but I got here in the end, and in time to talk to you too. I'm so glad."

  "Why?" Liu Yi gritted out between clenched teeth. "Why me?"

  Mei Hua looked surprised again. "Because the moon pearl is inside you, of course."

  "What?" Wen Yu and Liu Yi said in unison.

  "I'm not sure how it got there." Mei Hua frowned, studying him. "A little strange for it to be inside a human. But there is no doubt; I feel her power inside of you."

  "Wait, I have the Jade Rabbit's power inside of me?" Liu Yi's tone was faint.

  "Quite a lot of it," Mei Hua confirmed. "That's what is making you sick, I would assume. Humans aren't meant to hold that much power."

  "That's why it cycles with the moon," Liu Yi said, voice soft, one hand clenched against his chest.

  "How do we know you are telling the truth?" Wen Yu asked, watching Mei Hua carefully.

  "Well." Mei Hua looked around the room. "I don't know. I could change into my dragon form, I suppose, but this room is very small …"

  "You're a dragon?" Wen Yu wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry from the shock of it all.

  "Yes, did I not mention that?" Mei Hua said. "I am the dragon lord of the Jade Mountain."

  Liu Yi hands clenched tighter against his chest. "I see. I was actually going to come find you."

  "Really?" Mei Hua beamed at him. "How thoughtful of you. Too bad you hadn't left sooner; then I wouldn't have needed to make the trip."

  "We still only have your word for all of this," Wen Yu said.

  "Let me see, what can I do …?" Mei Hua seemed to think for a moment. "What if I made it rain?"

  "Can you?" Wen Yu raised both his eyebrows.

  "Why, yes." Mei Hua stared at a point in the distance and drew in a long breath.

  There was a soft patter from outside which quickly changed into a roar. Wen Yu and Liu Yi both rushed to the door. The rain was pouring down from the night sky, a torrent that went on for a moment before dying away completely.

  "You wouldn't have any tea, would you?" Mei Hua asked from behind them.

  Wen Yu and Liu Yi looked at each other.

  "I'll go get us some," Wen Yu said, voice a little faint, then fled into the kitchen.

  His hands were shaking again as he put the water over the fire. It couldn't be true, he told himself. Everyone knew things like dragons and the Jade Mountain were fairytales. Then again, people said the same about talking animals. He shut his eyes for a moment, wondering when his life had stopped making sense so completely.

  "What of the poems?" Liu Yi was asking Mei Hua as Wen Yu carried the tray of tea back into the room. "How do you fit in with them?"

  Mei Hua raised both eyebrows. "What poems are these?"

  "The Moon Poems." Wen Yu sat with his own cup. "Love poems which can only been read by moonlight in a language not of this land."

  Mei Hua went very still, cup raised halfway to his lips. "Show me."

  Wen Yu looked to Liu Yi, who only shrugged. He stood and went to the desk, taking up one of the volumes and carrying it to Mei Hua.

  There was not a lot of moonlight, yet there was enough so that when Mei Hua opened the volume, words began to rise to the surface of the page. Mei Hua drew in a long, sharp breath.

  "You recognize them?" Wen Yu asked.

  "Yes." Mei Hua reached out and traced across the page with one finger following the shape of the characters. "They are from me to the Jade Rabbit and her in return."

  Wen Yu nodded. He'd already guessed as much, but Liu Yi looked surprised. "Really? Do any of them speak of this pearl which was lost?"

  Mei Hua flipped through the pages until he came to the end of the book. "No."

  "But if the pearl is really inside you," Wen Yu emphasized the 'if,' "then it would not be mentioned in the poems, since you said the scholar who gave them to you was very old."

  "He did not say he'd had them for a long time," Liu Yi pointed out. "Just that he could no longer work on translating them because of his age. St
ill, there seems to be something going on here that the three of us cannot see. That I have these poems is no coincidence."

  Wen Yu fingers clenched tight around his cup of tea.

  Liu Yi turned to Mei Hua. "What should we do next regarding the pearl?"

  "I'm not sure yet." Mei Hua took a cup from the tray. "I think the best thing would be for you to come back with me. I might have something in my library that could help us get Jade Rabbit's power out of you."

  Liu Yi took his own cup, sipped his tea, and nodded. "All right, then."

  "You're going with him?" Wen Yu sank down, and Liu Yi turned to look at him.

  "He thinks he can cure me," Liu Yi said, voice quiet, watching Wen Yu. "I have to go with him."

  "If you leave the palace, you won't be able to come back," Wen Yu said, although he knew Liu Yi was already aware of that.

  Liu Yi looked away from him, biting his lip. "I know." Opening his mouth as if to say something else, he instead bent double without warning, coughing until his whole body shook. Wen Yu moved to his side, hand braced on Liu Yi's back as he struggled to breathe.

  "Can you do anything?" he asked Mei Hua, who had set his cup aside and begun rummaging in his robes.

  "Here." Mei Hua knelt in front of Liu Yi. "Take this." He held out a small black ball of medicine herbs. It looked normal enough to Wen Yu.

  Liu Yi nodded, concentrating on breathing until the coughing subsided, and then accepted the medicine. He swallowed it down with the tea.

  "It won't do much." Mei Hua straightened up. "But it will ease the worst of it, I think."

  Liu Yi nodded and pressed one hand to his chest. "Thank you. It does feel better now. The pressure in my chest is not as great."

  Mei Hua yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "Would it be all right if I just wrapped myself up and slept on your floor?"

  Both Liu Yi and Wen Yu looked at him, and Liu Yi finally nodded. "Go ahead." He stood, taking Wen Yu by the arm. "Wen Yu, come with me."

  He pulled Wen Yu across into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

  "So you're really going with him?" Wen Yu asked.

  "Yes," Liu Yi snapped. "This has to be the reason I was chosen to have the Moon Poems and why they needed to be translated in the first place: so I would know of him and the Jade Rabbit and could go to him. But now that he has come to me, there is no reason not to go. It was fated that we would meet. Besides, if he knows what this is and how to take it out of me …"