Six Crimson Cranes

Shiori wakes up in her bed to Hasho covering for her, claiming that a snake scared her away. Her six brothers, father, and stepmother Raikama (which literally means “The Nameless Queen”) scold her for missing the ceremony, as it caused great shame to the Bushians. When Shiori mentions the small dragon, her brothers do not believe her, but Raikama seems momentarily disturbed by the news. Shiori begrudgingly agrees to embroider an elaborate tapestry as an apology gift for the Bushians, even though it means she will miss the upcoming Summer Festival. Raikama notices Kiki hidden under Shiori’s hand and rips up the paper bird. Alone with Shiori, Hasho recommends she not try to reanimate Kiki, so she does not risk being exiled from Kiata and encourages her to make peace with Raikama.

Time moves slowly for Shiori as she works on her despised embroidery. She spends her days ignoring Raikama, who frequently criticizes her stitching. Raikama does not allow Shiori to attend the Summer Festival, but when the emperor arrives for his consort, he lets Shiori go after she promises to work on her relationship with her stepmother.

Shiori meets her brothers in the park and indulges in the abundant food, while her brothers prepare for the annual kite-flying competition. On a walk with Hasho, Shiori strikes up a friendly conversation with one of the emperor’s warlords, Lord Yuji, and Shiori reflects on her preference for marrying one of his sons. While wandering through the food carts, Shiori notices a peculiar boy with a dragon mask and red eyes, who trips Hasho and runs off with Shiori’s food.

Shiori chases the dragon-mask boy and confronts him, where he gleefully eats her food. She finally recognizes him as the dragon from the Sacred Lake, and he introduces himself as Seryu, “Prince of the Easterly Seas and most favored grandson of the Dragon King” (38). Shiori tries denying that magic does not exist in Kiata, but Seryu explains that rare Kiatans are born with it and offers to help her practice her skills. Torn between her family, who are partaking in the kite ceremony, and the possibility of magic, Shiori chooses to stay with Seryu. The first thing he teaches her is that walnut wood possesses concealment properties and can hide enchanted things.

Shiori continues to meet with Seryu every day that week, and he teaches her how to animate things by imbuing them with her soul. This process requires her to think of joyful memories, so she reminisces about cooking and singing with her mother. Seryu recognizes that magic exhilarates Shiori, but warns her that one day, her magic will be dangerous.

Shiori decides to enchant her embroidery needles to finish her tapestry faster, and while she succeeds, the sustained magic costs her energy. In private, Raikama warns her to stay away from the dragon in the Sacred Lake. The next time Shiori meets with Seryu, he mentions that dragons and snakes are related, which reminds Shiori of the time she tried to steal one of Raikama’s pet snakes—the event that Shiori believes caused Raikama to start hating her. Seryu reveals that he implanted part of his dragon pearl into Shiori’s heart to keep her alive in the lake, which allows them to communicate telepathically.

Shiori successfully reanimates her paper crane Kiki, and the two can also communicate telepathically now. Before Seryu leaves for a prolonged trip to another part of the dragon realm, he reveals that Raikama is a powerful sorceress, but since she is not native to Kiata, her magic must come from another source. Seryu further advises Shiori to keep her dragon pearl fragment a secret, because enchanters covet pure forms of magic.

After finishing the tapestry, Shiori returns to her usual responsibilities, which she tries to avoid. She spies on Raikama, to confirm anything about her magic, but only witnesses her daily routine. One day, she finds Raikama’s missing golden sash floating in the Sacred Lake, and brings it to her as requested. Shiori notices that her stepmother’s eyes glint with gold as she commands her to get the sash cleaned. The next morning, Shiori’s new maid, Guiya, informs her that Raikama took the sash. Shiori sneaks into Raikama’s private garden to find out what she plans to do with the sash.

Shiori follows Raikama down a magical staircase through a pond, following a ball of red thread. She recognizes that they have arrived near the Holy Mountains, and that a magical pool is filling with the legendary tears of the goddess Emuri’en. Raikama recites a spell as she dips the sash in the pool, reciting the names of the royal children. As she speaks Shiori’s name, the water turns black, seven serpents appear, and Raikama’s face transforms into that of a snake. She spots Shiori and tries to wipe her memory, but Shiori runs away with the ball of thread.

Shiori commands the thread to lead her back to the castle, and she rushes to warn her brothers. Her brothers do not believe her, and Raikama arrives, commanding the boys to leave. Shiori convinces them that Raikama is enchanting them, and they finally believe that Raikama is a demon. Raikama admits that Shiori discovered her secret and transforms the six brothers into crimson cranes (as they were named after the first six stars of the Crane constellation, with Shiori being the “knot” that holds them together). She also enchants Guiya, Shiori’s maid, and Shiori notices that Guiya has black powder in her hand. Raikama curses Shiori to silence, warning her that any sound will cost one of her brothers his life. She also forbids her from revealing her identity through writing and places a walnut bowl over her head before Shiori becomes unconscious.

Shiori wakes up in an unrecognizable place and realizes Raikama has banished her to a northern island. She also realizes that the walnut bowl has been magically fused to her head, preventing anyone from seeing her full face. She spots six cranes flying overhead and yells and throws her slipper at them to get their attention. The birds, which turn out to be swans, suddenly die and crash onto the beach, and six serpents slither out from the bodies to warn Shiori of her curse.

Shiori weeps with despair, but finally calms down to make a plan. She finds Kiki in her pocket, who reassures her. Together, they find the island’s only village of Tianyi, where she spends three days silently begging for food or money, but everyone ignores her because of her strange bowl. Desperate, she tries to steal a fishing boat to escape the island, but the boat’s owner, Mrs. Dainan, catches her, and knocks her out with a fishing pole.