Originally Posted by
Fenric
[Koi World]
Kenji nods, but has to giggle a bit at the last part.
And I'm eighteen. Most of the time, it'd be a hundred years before I was let out of the cave! But I'm only half dragon, and Mom and Dad trust Myobi to keep me out of too much trouble.
They reach the gates of the castle. It truly does deserve the name, if only in style: it would be little more than a mountain outpost in the glorious days of the empire. But it is tastefully and exquisitely built with innumerable decorations and carvings, statues and arrangements of plants.
There is no guard... none is needed here. Kenji leads them inside, past a garden that was clearly tended carefully for a long time but is starting to be overgrown. Kenji sighs
I do my best... but I'm no gardener. Grandfather hasn't been able to tend to the garden, and asked us to stop bringing gifts...
He looks to a small "grove" of cherry saplings, the oldest of which has been growing for perhaps nine years... and briefly forgets his guests
They say that if you really, truly, need to understand time, look to the trees. They know and alter the passage of time. If you can understand them, then you can change the world.
he shakes his head
Sorry, old nonsense and fairy tales. Come on, this way.