The Day of Thunder

She nodded intently, “I think that’s the right approach…”

She rolled her shoulders and put a hand on the strap of her pack.

“So… how bout finding that hearth and a place to crash?”

Easy to be compassionate when you’re at the top… She sat quiet for a moment before responding, “I’m not sure it’s ‘easy’ to be compassionate ever… I’ve seen both rich and poor… powerful and weak be total asses. Living a cushy life leads to its own bad paths I take it.” She looked over to him. “It s...

“Made for?” She tilted her head. “I’m not a big follower of destiny with a capital ‘D’… nor am I really one who is in the habit of letting others tell me who I am and what I should be. I’ve seen people get real twisted up in knots trying to be what they think others want them to be…” She leaned down...

She nodded, “You’re right… But there’s more than one way to be a hero.”

She offered a shrug in return, “And I think we’re at a stage where we need more courage than less… Whatever way that courage shows itself.”

She looked down at the pack at her feet for a second, formulating a response. “Always been the wandering type… Never did the ‘join a clan’ thing. I had a real controlling mom at home and whatnot… So tried to get out as much as I could as a kid. Got to see a lot of the empire actually. My family is f...

“Most of us were kids once… yes. Did your mother birth a curmudgeon right out of the womb?” She asked.

“But I don’t need to go that far back… It’s only recently that things got so much more serious.”

“Don’t cut yourself short.” She replied.

“You did also stand there menacingly from time to time.”

She chuckled a bit before adopting a half smile, “I used to be more fun. Back when the world was more fun.”

She nodded in silent affirmation. There was part of her that knew it was much more likely there were at least a couple of different reasons for the man’s appearance in her path… one more mythical and the other much more practical, but a substantial part that did seek for some kind of respect… in ret...

“Oh noes. Whatever shall I do if you don’t fall madly in love with my radiance?” She replied without any emotion in her voice. She shook her head in mild consternation, “I would hope you’d be perceptive enough to realize I have no interest in anything like that. You bloviate in a way that makes me t...

“I could make a number of guesses… But you could also just say things. Anything wrong with speaking straight?” She replied with a look over in his direction.

She found a place to sit nearby and placed her pack on the ground in front of her feet. She didn’t answer his question right away. “The people appear to be setting up for a festival of some type. Not too sure what it is and why…” She paused and let out a breath slowly through the side of her mouth. ...

She snorted once in mild bemusement, “We can be kon-plex companions. No more desirable than a wolf to many. Better watch out.”

The duo walked beyond the camp and towards the first ring of homes of the village.

“Well… do we just go around knocking on doors?” She asked.

Duuuuuuuuuune


I mean….

Doooooooom!

“What’s that mean?” She asked with a note of confusion.

“Alright…” She said with a simple nod and walked along with the man. She didn’t have to acknowledge out loud that Norikage had earned his keep on the long journey and could understand why he’d want at least one night of relative warmth. She walked along quietly looking off towards the village. The f...

Han-Hei clamped down on her lips a bit as she caught the pack in her hands. She immediately saw red as the pack slammed into her chest. She looked at him in anger for a brief second. But then something seemed to bring her down from the rising emotion. She stood there for a second before offering a t...

“Oh yeah, I forgot. We need to take from those who have less than us in order to protect them…” She said with a nod and a tone of practiced sarcasm. “You clanners are always so helpful and brave. Just like that magistrate back where I met you.” She replied as she came to an open spot and put down he...

“Well you also don’t get frostbite… but I guess there’s no real reason why you’d need to negotiate for me too.” She repositioned her pack on her shoulder. “Uhh… I’m not really rollin’ in mountains of cash or anything… I guess you don’t owe me anything.” She shrugged, “Besides that time I saved your ...

“You got any connections? Can’t say I’ve ever been here before.” She replied as she looked around the camp.

“If only you were like your sneaky cousins then… I’d love it if I could see less of you.” She stopped herself from ranting more as she felt the blood rush to her ears. Teach me to break the silence. She walked on quietly until she reached the edge of the camp. She then stopped and looked around for ...