The Day of Thunder

Soju listens to the story and nods at Ai's conclusion. "Perhaps. Do you believe that ignorance of the evil one has done excuses that evil? If an evil person attacked your family and killed your parents, believing that they were doing good, would you forgive them after they were told the truth and se...

"Shooting lightning would be very fun," Soju admits with a thin smile. "It was later, yes. My children were gone, my husband was gone, and I was all alone in my home. I had lots of time for... thinking about things. It was not just my daughters, understand. It was someone's daughters, or their sons,...

"I was wrong. I forced them into it, and when they tried to escape, I caught them and brought them back. They loved each other so much. Even after it was over, I still thought we had done the right thing, to save everyone. It was only later that I realized..." She shakes her head. "I do not like how...

"I cannot say for certain what is in her mind, as our talks have tended to be very brief. Presumably she hates me, and it is difficult to think her wrong for doing so." She lifts her hands out of the water and spreads them in a 'who knows?' gesture.

"The forest is in Kirin lands now," Soju says, her tone resigned. "Presumably they are doing something about the gateway to keep it closed, but it's difficult to care too much. We will find out in a few years, I suppose. That being said, I doubt the Scorpion would be all that upset if they were the ...

Soju is silent for a few moments, merely playing with the water with her hand. "This is the part where I should offer a convenient lie or half-truth, but since we have already talked about the Shoji..." "My daughters, Mai and Miki, were born as twins, which was seen as particularly portentous among ...

"Do not apologize," Soju says, waving her words away. "I am not easily offended, and you seem like a pleasant girl. Too many apologies will make people think you are a pushover, and that is not my sense of you." At the question of her family, a pained look flashes across Soju's face. "No. I have no ...

They're going to end up on an episode of Storage Wars: Rokugan in the distant future.

"No," she says, shaking her head and sinking back into the water. "I was a spiritsinger in my tribe. I would sing to keep the spirits quiet and my village safe, but I never spoke with them or ordered them around." There's a small shrug that sends out a few ripples. "I get a little prickly whenever I...

A mirthless laugh escaped from the bathing Scorpion. "Terrible." "But, to answer your question..." Soju leaned back against the side of the bath and stared up at the sky. "My people - the Shoji - made their home within and around a terrible forest. Within its depths was a gateway that led to the lan...

Soju takes a few moments to get her thoughts in order, then sits up. "It is like... imagine if you are in your home. The children are fighting, your husband is annoyed with you, but these are problems that you understand. Problems that you will fix. Maybe also your neighbor keeps trying to look at y...

"I was alive before the gods fell from the sky, and things were not this bad. There were problems, yes, but they were familiar problems that we knew how to deal with. More or less." She shakes her head, as if dispelling a thought. "I suppose it does not matter. Wish in one hand and shit in the other...

"There's a sensei showing up? Shouldn't everyone have already been taught all they need to know by the time they rush off into the mountains for some unknown, vague purpose?" She shakes her head. "You would think that having a bunch of gods unite the tribes into a single empire would make things mor...

"So it is less about godlike powers and more about political nepotism, then." Soju releases a disappointed sigh. "I shouldn't be surprised. Still, it seems odd with all of the gods turning into dragons and foreseeing the future that they're not fixing all of the bad things that only started once the...

"Thank you. I hope that you will have a chance to attend a proper performance."

She motions toward the village with a blanketed arm. "If there are groups of young people with swords descending upon the village with a vague sense of adventure, I think they will find a problem one way or another."

"Yes, I am a performer for the festival." Her brow furrows. "You are the second person to say they arrived in this village without knowing why they are here."

"Your dedication is admirable," she says, hesitantly. "I think you may be missing my point somewhat, but that is the way of youth, I suppose."

"What is this mission you are on?"

"You could pick a direction and wander off, never to see your people again." She gestures behind her. "You could find a tribal girl, set up a hut alongside a river, and live the rest of your life there. Or you could go the other way and become a bandit." "Do not let others tell you what you should b...

Soju gives him a skeptical look. "I do not mean to interfere in your life, but you should find some time for yourself. Your trainers and masters are not you, but you are letting them run your life as if it was their own." "By the time you get to be as old as I am, you start looking backwards at your...

Soju accepts the blanket with a smile and wraps it around her shoulders. "Thank you. You are very considerate for such a young man. Have you found yourself a wife yet?"