Ryu yelled a greeting, and waited.
First, there was silence. Then Ryuhitsu heard a soft buzz, like a wasp trapped under a clay bowl. The buzz grew louder with each passing second, until it had reached the intensity of a dull roar. Ryu looked up again at the dragon statues, whose eyes were glowing with a bright red light.
Then, right when Ryhitsu thought he could take the noise no longer, a burst of scalding steam shot from both of the dragons' mouths at the ground in front of Ryu.
When the steam cleared, the door was open and three figures stood in thedoorway. The first one, a strange bald man covered with tattoos and wearing only some loose pants, laughed heartily and said, "Ha! Quite an entrance the Agasha let us have, eh, boy?" Ryu did not know who he was, but he immediately liked him. The second man bore a long scar on his forehead and was wearing the mon of the Mirumoto a daisho in his obi. He studied Ryuhitsu with inquisitive eyes, and then merely bowed to him.
Ryuhitsu returned the bow, and then realized that this was the fabled Mirumoto Hyru, the long-standing Daisho Master of the Mirumoto school.
The last man had a hawkish nose and wild hair. Ryu racked his brain, but could not recognize him. All he could determine was that the man was most likely an Agasha, since he wore their mon.
Mirumoto Hyru nodded to the two men with him and said, "Welcome Ryuko-san! This man to left of me is the Ise Zumi Togashi Uji, and the shugenja here is Agasha Kaze, named for his ancestor Togashi Kaze, and I, as you most likely have ascertained, am Mirumoto Hyru. We will be your head instructors here."
Seeing the pained look on Ryuhitsu's face, the Ise Zumi asked, "What is wrong, young one?"
With great reluctance, Ryuhitsu replied, "It is nothing, Togashi-sama. It is just... well... sensei, my name is not Ryuko. It is Ryuhitsu."
Hyru flashed Ryuhitsu an apologetic smile, and, bowing to him, said, "My humblest apologies, Ryuhitsu-san." Then, turning to the Agasha, he said, "Kaze-sama, if you can, will you lighten this poor boy's load?"
The Agasha nodded and said, "The stones please, Ryuhitsu-san."
Ryu took out the stones and handed them to Agasha Kaze. When the shugenja took the stones, they transformed into the purest of white doves and flewaway...