The Day of Thunder

"Keep your jade close if you have it and focus on eachother and the memories. Grounding yourself might help, we've dealt with worse." Anjing gives the fog a glare as if the swirling clouds were picking a fight. "There will be other foreign samurai than Ranmaru here, they might have some idea about h...

Snip She slowly arcs an eyebrow "Sounds like an easy childhood. I hear that for all its strangeness the Crane court lives very well." Although she relents, slightly, probably because she has some food and warmth and Hikaru seems a good sort. "But a safe childhood with opportunities to grow, that is...

She jabs a spoon at him. "Yup, too skinny. How are you going to stay warm at night? Or carry an axe for day's on end? You've clearly been neglecting yourself." She looks dangerously close to just forcing the whole cooking pot on Hikaru. "A partner would make you rest. Hmmm, you know some of my child...

Takuma had been scooting ahead, looking for trouble for awhile. "I haven't seen anything of note ahead, other than a naked Dragon roaming around... Which, I see you have found." He said on his armor and tetsubo over his shoulder. Then flipped it around to his other shoulder aiming it towards the Dr...

"Under siege?" Her brow creases for a few moments. "I see. I shall pray to the Fortunes to keep her walls strong until you can find her enemies and drive them away. " That at least made more sense to her. "I have met Shinsei, but it was many years ago now. He does feature in some of our stories thou...

Snip "That's the way of it." She nods, pleased with his answer. "And I know it must be hard for your Lady to be unwell. Sickness is a monster that you cannot simply march out and slay. But yet you are willing to try anyway. I suppose you can't be that brave without being a little foolish as well, I...

"Anything else, those strikes would have killed it, Ayako with her axe, our archers with their arrows, Tai even dropped a piece of the mountain on it. It's like the thing couldn't understand its own injuries." Maybe it was simply too crazed to do so, or still obeying the laws of its realm. "You face...

Snip "Mmmmhm." She frowns, retrieving two scarred wooden bowls and starting to carefully fill each with stew that steams gently in the cold air. "Depends what you mean. The world's ended for a lot of people a lot of times. This might be one of them. But the end of the world for everyone? Everything...

"The problem with marrying a demigod, you're always known in relation to them. Some things are unavoidable I suppose. But this is nonsense, off your knees Hikaru, this is not a court and you will catch a chill down there. It would make me a poor host." She sniffs the stew and reaches into a small po...

"We'll see, that is what a monster would say." She grunts. "But you seem like an alright sort Doji Hikaru. You are one of the Crane then?" Her tone is neutral, although the flickering firelight playing shadows over her face doesn't make for the friendliest impression. "It was a long journey here, I ...

Snip "My pardon. I hope I don't disturb you." He said, his voice soft and deep. Anjing shoots him a suspicious look, a hand going to the battered club propped up against her pack. Definitely not a Crab this one, still, quite polite. "Mmmmhmm, not overly much." Her eyes narrowed. Wait, far too skinn...

"It was a gruesome, huge thing with too many mouths," Ayako recalled, nodding. "Lady Anjing and the rest of us were able to kill it, though it took some doing." "Well, we killed half of it, at any rate," she amended. "The other half... ran away, kind of?" "A horrible thing, Tai and the spirits name...

The small fire crackles quietly as Anjing slowly holds her hands over it, hoping some of the warmth would burn away the damn fog that seemed ever present. The village seemed normal enough, although something about it had struck her as odd. Until they'd had a chance to do some proper recon Anjing had...

Ranmaru's vibrancy faded away as more and more retorts came his way. People on his side of the mountain, as it were, didn't really listen to him either. Plus mentioning his mother was particularly brutal, especially since his butt could handle much. "Well, yes," he murmured. "My mom is necessary. A...

Ranmaru's sheer power Anjing's stare could wither crops in the fields, it could strike a bird from the sky, it focused in on Ranmaru like a mountain cat eyeing a rival riddled with mange. "Now, I've never killed a half-naked man before, and it wouldn't want to start now. But boy, unless you change ...

"Well, good to know we're heading in the right direction and it's not some kind of illusion." Which, she reflected unhappily, wouldn't have been completely impossible. "And what is the wrong path for Rokugan? Bet all of us could give you some pointers there." Anjing clearly thinks Tai's teasing and ...

"The whole Empire? That's a lot of land, didn't see you there when we walked across it. Might have been before your time though." Anjing eyes Ranmaru for a moment, considering, before making a small hand gesture for Ayako to not strike the man down, maybe the stranger had information. "Tai is right,...

The younger woman stood up a little straighter at Anjing's words. "I shall strive to make it so," Ayako vowed. "Whatever is in this village, I will be ready for it!" "I know, just keep your axe to hand and your wits sharp. Rokugani from other Clans can be...strange, some take offence easily." Anjin...

"Lady Anjing," Ayako said, bowing respectfully. "I-I must admit I'm a little uneasy. After what happened to Dae-Jung, and the others." Her eyes looked troubled. "I'm not afraid of dying, but ... I don't want to fail you if ... if something happens." "Tssk. I would not have bought you along if you w...

Ayako stepped off the road with the rest of the Crab party in deference to Lady Anjing's command, but the younger woman stayed standing and gazed into the fog with great suspicion. After losing several of their number on the long march, it felt like every shadowy shape might be a potential enemy, a...