Kaido no Yume V

He didn't wake till nearly noon. The heat of the day was oppressively comfortable, but he was hungry; the smell of Nyaiya's cooking got him up and walking. It smelled strongly of bread and peaches.

He went to the center of the clearing, where the fire was. Nyaiya was crouched next to a small pile of green fruit. She would take one, piercing it with her sharp claws, peel it, and toss the bright center into the cooking pot. The rinds she sucked clean and tossed into the fire.

The tigress smiled when she noticed him coming to sit down.

"Ah, Kaido! You are looking much better!"

"I feel much better."

"It will be because you are here. The island is the most sera place in the world, and it can resto—"

Maro had snuck up behind her and growled in her ear. Nyaiya, startled, leaped straight over the fire and nearly flattened Kohath.

"Maro! I asked you never to frighten me like that!"

The big tiger laughed. "But it is so fun to see you jump!"

He indicated a large amount of beige cloth draped over his shoulder.

"I have brought the kino from the others, so now everything is ready. Kaido, tonight is the full moon, when we go to the sera place and listen to the Silence. Will you come with us?"

"I don't know what sera means."

Maro looked at him as though he was from another planet, which was true enough. He looked at Nyaiya and shrugged.

"Sera", she said, "is sera! It comes from being sera to something that is sera. Brother, tell him what it means."

"It is a virtue that grows when one is focused on something sera... No, that will not do. Ai, it is like having a pot that is not broken. If the pot breaks it cannot be sera. If the pot is whole and put to use it can be sera."

"So.. it's like virginity?"

Maro winced. "No... It can be mended, and if it is mended it can be sera again, but it is not the same kind of sera, because it is not as strong.

"Chastity, then?"

"Ai! That is not right at all... but I cannot say it any better. You will see for yourself."