The Day of Thunder

[Wu Zhe]

Exile – Excerpt from the writings of Wu: The originals kept safe and secret in the family's library but a copy was obtained for the use of Bayushi-no-Kami by scorpion intelligence.

I have been the witness of events that will be made into myth, walked with those who will be remembered in legends and with those who will fade from memory despite the debt that is owed to them.

It is inevitable that history forgets events, people or lessons of importance as only a fraction of what is lived will ever be committed to parchment for them to even have a chance of survival into posterity.

It is with this hope that I write this down before I leave for this must be remembered and learned from. It is our duty to learn from failures and losses so we might overcome them in the future, ours and others both.

Now we must learn from the failure of Shinsei

This I came to witness as we journeyed south to rescue the Kami Hisomu from the clutches of the realm of evil. The journey was hard for everyone but much more so for the little teacher. Some of those closest to him might have felt his unease but for the rest of us we only learned of it when the trouble came.

Shinsei had sought to prepared himself for the approach by exorcising his doubts, his ambtion, his sense of self importance as to not let Jigoku find any flaws in his soul and thus lead the expedition to success. I am sure he did not quite expect his own evil to take form.

Shinsei's shadow sought to do evil but was thankfully stopped in time from killing the young girl called Matsu by those present, her father included.

There was shock, to be sure, and reproach was given but I believe only I understood what truly had happened, perhaps beside Shinsei himself, and the realization shook me. The Shinsei who had guided us, impressed the gods and held wisdom deeper then any among us could not find balance nor peace within himself. In exteriorizing his darkness he did not simply fail to vanquish it: he lost to it. His hubris, his fear, had won and it is they who had motivated this careless act and now was free to roam our realm.

He achieved peace through using a shortcut, through cheating.

Doing so he released something as malevolent as he was beatific, has wicked has he was wise. Powerful as he or probably even more so.

Despite this I cannot judge him. I did not know the weight upon his mind nor can I claim to have been able to do better. His regret was plain to see and I must empathize.

Still, the realization was sobering and it is why I cannot read his Tao without a careful eye: It's wisdom is true but incomplete. It might speak of the goal but I fear it will find itself flawed when it come time to guide one's soul through the deepest dark.

Still, there was something else I saw.

Where the mighty, the wise and the mystical stumbled I saw the honest, humble and mortal stood firm against a darkness unknowable.

I take heart in this.

It took time for me to properly understand and finally write this: The tall will always fall, the wise will always be proven fool and the honorable sin.

The worship of the great will always fail.

But at the same time the small can rise, the coward can lay down his life for another, the bent be made to stand straight.

It is not in the Heavens, the gods nor any other power that we must have faith in but within our own abilities and comrades. Not as individuals but as a family, a community, a people, together.

The tall will always fall, the wise will always be proven fool and the honorable sin but was always a mistake to expect otherwise. When they fall or stumble we must be there to help and support them as they helped and supported us. So must we do among ourselves.

The worship of the the great will always fail because we foolishly put too much expectation on their shoulders and wish them to be able to do what they cannot.

We must learn to stand on our own so we may stand with them and walk together on the journey ahead.

On the flip side of this we must admit that it is the duty of the mighty not to be worshipped or held above by those whom we guide: We are fallible and we must not bring them with us in our fall. The magnitude of this task is not great for most people but very arduous for the gods and their followers.

Already I have seen the followers of certain Kami kneel mindlessly, blinded by their power. Already I have seen the first Daimyos of the clans elevate themselves above other men thinking themselves wiser and more clever then they are because they were chosen by higher powers and already I see the people under them agreeing.

I might be wrong but I believe this is why Togashi-no-Kami was reticent in taking followers and why he speaks little and in riddles: he does not give us wisdom or knowledge but leads us to find our own, carefully.

I am afraid I to not have his wisdom nor grace, however.

In so I have come to the conclusion that I must leave the Empire. My people, my family must learn to live and find their way without looking up to someone who bears the thinnest veneer of divine authority. In this I have no fear for I know the people who joined under my banner and I have faith in them. I have planted the seed but they will grow on their own terms in ways that will surpass my expectations.

Exile may also help me prepare for the return of the Dark Prophet for it was beaten back but not defeated. I can guess the methods he might use upon it's returns but I need to be able to do what Shinsei could not and I do not think I can do it here

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