Mushi-shi>17.Pickers of Empty Cocoons

Narrator: The world we live in is filled with thousands upon thousands of caves. Legend has it that people who vanish into thin air are doomed to wander aimlessly within these caves forever... without their memories, and without their souls...


Ginko: Hm? A letter?

Ginko: All torn up again? I think it's about time for a new uro. This one is old. Hm? Wait, this isn't addressed to me... Aya?



MUSHI-SHI 17.
Pickers Of Empty Cocoons 虚繭取り(うろまゆとり)



Ginko: Hello, Aya. How've you been?

Aya: Ginko...


Aya: I was thinking the other day it was about time to replace your uro.

Ginko: Yeah... Letters have been arriving cut-off... And getting other people's messages...

Aya: (gasps)

Ginko: So, you're still doing it, huh... You're still trying to reach her by letter?

Aya: And what's wrong with that?

Ginko: You know what. And if Jii-sama knew you're still obsessing about her like this, he'd be rolling over in his grave right now.

Aya: Ito's alive... somewhere, I know it!

Ginko: But there's no way to bring her back. Aya... let her go... Call it fate and leave it at that...


Ito: Aya, look. This cocoon... it's empty.

Aya: Yeah, you're right... that's strange.

Ito: What do you think happened to whatever was inside? Did it leave?

Father: Aya, Ito... Put that thing down right now.

Aya and Ito: Hm?

Father: Listen, you mustn't pick up empty cocoons like that.

Ito: What? Why not?

Father: If the pupa is gone, bad things crawl inside and take its place.


Ito: It's the elder from the main house. He's back. He's been here a lot lately.

Mother: Girls, I... I need you to come with me.

Elder: Ito, Aya... think back a moment -- do you remember Jii-sama, the old man, who lives up in the mountains?

Aya: Jii-sama? Who's that?

Elder: It's all right, you were only two years old when you met him last. Whenever children are born into this family, it is customary for Jii-sama to come and evaluate them for certain special traits.

Jii-sama: Very interesting. It would seem both of these children are able to the uro in this jar... When they are ten years old, I'll return, and then, one child will come with me.

Elder: Jii-sama is an uro-mori, a guardian. It's a tradition that has been passed down through the Tozawa family for generations. But until your birth, no one with promise has surfaced for many years. Thus, it has fallen to you to keep the tradition alive. This isn't easy, but one of you girls must go with Jii-sama. And since your parents cannot decide, then I will. Which one of you is Aya, the younger sister?

Aya: ...That's... me.

Ito: Elder, please, let me go.

Aya: No, what're you doing?!

Ito: It's all right...

Aya: No, wait! If Ito is gonna goes, well, then I'm going, too!

Mother: Aya...

Elder: Very well... I can't imagine how difficult it must be to send one child away, let alone two. But if you think about it, this may be for the best. After all, Jii-sama is old, he probably doesn't have much longer to live. Once he does finally pass away... living alone in those mountains would be miserable... If they're together, it may help to ease the loneliness somewhat. But listen, it's not as though you'll never see them again...


Jii-sama: You must always leave the door slightly open. If you don't, the uro will swallow us up. Thank you for coming. Now, please, make yourselves at home. Sit. I've waited a long time for this day. I was beginning to fear it would never come. And I certainly never expected two apprentices at once.

Ito: Tell me... have you lived alone here your whole life?

Jii-sama: For the most part. Ever since the old woman I apprenticed under passed away. I don't get much in the way of company. Just the occasional mushi master who happens by. Until now at least, their stories were really all I had to look forward to. Ah, oh yes... Mmm. I thought I'd begin our time together by telling a few of them to you. I must have written down hundreds over the years. What do you say? Are you ready to get started?


Ito: Hey, you found another empty one.

Aya: There's a lot here. We never had this many around our village.

Jii-sama: Girls, tell me something. Do you know tamamayu are?

Aya: Mm-hm.

Ito: The cocoons that have two pupae in them, right? And they're really big?

Jii-sama: Correct. Now, I want you to go and find empty ones like that, and bring them to me. They are essential; we couldn't do our work without them.


Jii-sama: A normal cocoon contains only one thread, useless for our purposes. But tamamayu are made by two pupae, so they consist of two threads. I unwind them and remake them into two cocoons. Since this makes its "home" much thinner, the uro that lives inside become confused. So confused that it comes out of the cocoon. Aya, use that to scoop it up!

Aya: (gasp)

Jii-sama: Well done. Now just place the uro in here. Now it's sealed in. For the time being, the uro will only be able to travel back and forth between these two cocoons and nowhere else.

Deliveryman: Jii-sama, letter for you!

Jii-sama: Ahh, now then... who's turn was it next? Remind me...

Ito: What's the letter say?

Jii-sama: It's not addressed to me. Often times it's a request to send a mushi master, sometimes a personal letter from a mushi master's friend... Ah, yes, here's the one. Mushi masters never stay in one place for too long, they're not easy to locate. But if I put a letter into cocoon 1, the uro will deliver it to the mushi master who has cocoon 2, no matter where they may be. The cocoons work well for a while, but they need to be replaced every few years. That's because of the uro, over time, it opens up an uro-passageway inside the cocoon. Eventually, it penetrates its way through to a closed room somewhere or even to another uro-passageway. When that begins to happen, letters stop being delivered reliably.

Aya: Uro are neat, don't you think so?

Ito: Hey Jii-sama, do you think I can put the letter in next time?

Jii-sama: Ito, Aya, listen, you must never underestimate the uro. Uro are mushi, powerful mushi that can open up holes in our world... You must always treat them with caution. Many uro live in the mountains and forests that surround our home. And they breed wherever they can find an enclosed space. That's why you must never fully close any of the doors. If you happen to close a door by mistake, you must not open it. If you do, and the uro are inside, then you will be swept into an uro-passageway... along with the escaping uro. These uro... they cannot survive very long at all outside of closed spaces.

Aya: What happens to you if... you're sucked in?

Jii-sama: You're condemned to wander inside the uro-passageway for the rest of your life. Haha, yeah, don't worry. That won't happen if you follow my instructions. I've lived to a ripe old age without an accident. Just remember; never close doors, and never open doors...


Ito: Hey, Aya. Done with the laundry yet?

Aya: Yes.

Ito: That's great! Jii-sama says we can play until dinner time then.

Aya: Really? I'll put this up. Wait for me.

Ito: Um, Aya... Remember, don't shut the door.

Aya: Mm.

Ito: Whew... it's so nice outside today...

Aya: Oh... Ito?

Ito: ...... (gasps)

Aya: Hey Ito... you asleep?

Ito: Don't lift it.

Aya: Ito?


Aya: It's my fault... because I lifted the sheet... And because I didn't pin it to the clothesline tight enough...

Jii-sama: Aya, you mustn't blame yourself...

Aya: Where is Ito? Where did she go? How can we... how can we bring her back...?

Jii-sama: I'm afraid that... there is no way, Aya...

Aya: But there... there must be... I'll find a way... I'm going to bring Ito back.


Aya: We were always together. Playing... laughing... I never thought we'd be apart. It feels like it was only yesterday she was here.

Ginko: Aya, you've been like this for five years. And you're still not sleeping or eating much, I can tell. You've got to think about yourself for a change. Would you like to enter the uro-passageway? I'll go with you. You can see for yourself what the uro-passageway is like. What do you say?


Ginko: Over there.

Ginko: When an uro infest a tree that lies along the light pulse vein, the trunk swells up, like this. It's like an allergic reaction. Grab on to the chain and follow me.

Aya: ...! So that's the... passageway?

Ginko: Yes, but just the end of one. Soon, we'll reach an uro cavern.

Aya: Ginko, how did this... Who put this chain here?

Ginko: It was another mushi master. This pathway's been used as a shortcut by mushi masters for years. It's been said that some of them stayed too long and lost their memories. So I don't use it much.

Ginko: Hey, what's the matter? Aren't you coming?

Ginko: Of all these passageways, they say the one with the chain is the only one that leads back to the outside world. As for all the others, they connect to enclosed spaces somewhere that can't be opened from the inside. This is just one cavern. There are thousands of others just like it. Do you understand now? The chances that your sister even passed through here are slim. I'm sorry, Aya... But you're never going to find her, no matter what you do. Aya, let her go. You've had a hole in your heart for too long. Close it. Start living again. Ito would want you to.


Aya: Ito...? Is that you?


Narrator: Several years later, a strange tale began to circulate about a certain silk-producing village. It was an ordinary day, and weaving had just begun...

Old Woman: Hm? (screams)

Narrator: ...when a girl suddenly emerged from a tiny cocoon, a girl who appeared to be ten years of age, and could not speak a single word.

Old Woman: W-where did you come from?! Somebody, come here! Quick!

Narrator: Later, she was returned to her home village, whose name and location were on the letter in her breast pocket.