Common Paralix
There was once a small little village that specialized in growing tea. Tea of all sorts was tended in the village, knowledge passing from one generation to the next. One year, there was a great tragedy. There was a drought that took hold of this little village.
The villager's crops wilted and died. Priests told the villagers that there was a dragon who lived in a nearby spring that they should pray to for aid. For weeks the villagers lavished what little they had on the spring, hoping the dragon would see fit to bless them with rain.
Akahana, a beautiful young tea picker, worried that her family would not be able to help appeal to the dragon, as they were not as well off as some of the others. Her parents had become too frail to tend the crops, leaving the chore to Akahana alone. She searched through her home to find some small treasure to present to the dragon, but only found dry leaves from the previous harvest of tea.
She knew of her own beauty and asked the priests if she could present herself as a gift for the dragon, as her family was very poor. They thought that the dragon would be pleased with such a gift. So, the following day, she dressed herself in her finest clothes and brewed the final tea leaves to present to the dragon. She looked down at the cup, the tea was a pale yellow color. She felt she had failed, but presented herself and the tea to the dragon. Suddenly, rain poured down from the heavens. The villagers still tell the story of Akahana and how she married the great dragon, and brew the Dragon's Well tea to honor the two.
CIs by VinnyCrow
Story loosely based on Dragon Well Tea Myth.
