Read L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix for Free Online Page A

washed her hair in a thunderhead, and where she wrung it out, rain fell.
    Sadly, she knew this moment could not last forever. As she lounged in the clouds, Uona saw something approaching. The thing glittered in the sunlight. She soon realized what it was.
    The small bird fluttered to Uona's side and looked into the Air Mistress' pale brown eyes. She gazed back at the bird and took the small scroll from its talon. Upon reading the missive, she let herself fall out of the clouds and back toward ground once more—back toward the problems of the Emerald Empire.
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    The man on the road looked like a hermit or a wandering monk. His head was shaved, and he wore a simple blue cloak over his kimono. The kimono's silk had lost its luster, and its decorations were faded with years of wear. Patterns of fish and sea plants covered the fabric. Simple straw sandals adorned the man's feet, and he held a paper parasol over his head to ward off the afternoon sun.
    He came to a wooden bridge over a small river and paused to watch some peasants fish. Children played on the banks of the river below the bridge, laughing and running. The river seemed to share the children's joy. One of the fishermen looked at the man and smiled.
    "What brings you out today, Brother?" the peasant asked, thinking the man was an itinerant monk.
    "The sun, the sky, the trees, the water," the man answered, smiling.
    The peasant, a broad-shouldered farmer in rough clothes, extended his fishing pole toward the man. "Care to try? I'm not having much luck today," the farmer said. "Maybe a priest will have better fortune."
    The man folded his parasol and leaned against the bridge's wooden railing. "No thank you," he said pleasantly. "Besides, I'm not a priest, just a traveler. I'm sure your luck will improve." He hummed a lilting tune.
    The farmer humphed good-naturedly and cast his line once more.
    The wanderer watched the line fall into the water. He gazed at the ripples the hook made as it hit. He changed his tune slightly. As he did, a fish jumped, and then another.
    The farmer scratched his head. "Well, what do you know?" he said. "Looks like there are fish in this river after all. I was beginning to wonder."
    "Better hold onto your pole," the man told him. As he said it, the line went taut, nearly yanking the bamboo rod out of the farmer's hand.
    The farmer laughed. "Looks like you may be my lucky charm!"
    The man shook his head and picked up his parasol once more. "No," he said. "Your luck was bound to turn. I'm just glad to have been here to see it." He opened the parasol and finished crossing the bridge. The fisherman landed his catch and waved to the stranger.
    Isawa Tomo, the Phoenix Master of Water, waved back. The peasant never suspected the true identity of his lord.
    Tomo wandered down to the banks of the stream. The children rushed up to him, calling his name. The fisherman may not have recognized him, but the youngsters did. Tomo often passed this way. The children didn't think it odd that an Elemental Master should play with them, and their parents never believed them. Tomo played ball with his friends for a while before walking upstream once more.
    He stopped for lunch on some rocks next to the rapids. Hidden stones churned the water white, like the manes of fine horses. Tomo ate his natto, sweet bean paste, and then made the leaf wrapper into a boat. He set the boat in the river and watched it navigate the eddies and whirlpools around the rocks.
    As the boat disappeared around the bend, Tomo stood and left the riverside to walk through the forest. Late afternoon shadows danced amid the birches and pines. The fresh smell of the woods caressed Tomo's nose, and he drank the scent in gratefully. Overhead, birds sang sweetly.
    A sudden quiet came to the forest. Tomo stopped and looked around. Was that a cloaked figure beneath the trees? Perhaps the Hooded Ronin? Tomo had heard he was in the area. No, it was just a trick of light and shadow. The birds