The Day of Thunder

[Togashi Satsuki]

Year 29, Spring

The Imperial city had seemed quite dismal when Togashi Taiyo had arrived with two of his closest companions; Bantaro and Koyuki. When he had put forward his idea of artisans visiting the courts of the other clans to spread cheer, and his new idea for an artistic direction, not many had been keen on braving the uncertainty of the roads these days, but a couple had volunteered, and two of his own close friends had offered to go with him personally to the Emperor's city. The trio had heard the stories of it- Taiyo directly from his sister - but what they had met hadn't really lived up to it. Taiyo with his keen sense of smell could even smell the dread in the air as they passed through the streets, but at least it had dispelled when they met his uncle Shiba. And of course it had disappeared completely for him when he saw Shirayuki.

In the evenings, the trio performed for everyone, the Emperor and every person in the city that dared to come. The young Dragon prince's acrobatics and stunts did awe and impress, but it was their comedy theatrics that brought light and cheer to the audience. It was the idea he had come up for the traveling artisans; a light-hearted focus on human life.
For the past years now, everyone was plagued by dreams and nightmares, and art that seemed supernatural, surreal, even ephemeral did not bring much solace to those seeing it. Taiyo along with a handful of Saru artisans had begun their own movement of focusing on life-like art, even embracing the delightful imperfections that were present in nature rather than the idealized image of beauty. And plays with comedic scenarios based around daily life and misunderstandings would at least brighten some souls.

And the audience laughed along with the silly play, telling the story of two lovers - Ai and Jo - working for a landlord of a big farm, trying to get married, and how they continuously had to foil the efforts of their philandering employer from seducing Ai. There were many scenes with outrageous lies to hide their marriage-plans as they would be caught in all sorts of indecent situations that could somehow be explained away. Taiyo felt certain that even Shiba laughed, as well as Yuzuru who was able to follow along due to many of the exaggerated noises they made with their physical comedy.

At the end of each performance, Taiyo felt confident that they were doing something to brighten up the capital and the lives of its people... but he wasn't sure it would be enough. Even assurances that it was more than enough, it didn't stop the dreams from tormenting him when he finally went to sleep. If only the dreams had been gruesome and terrible. No, the worst thing was how the dreams twisted his own hopes and dreams, and uplifted his insecurities. In these dreams, he became a powerful daimyo, who carried on with several affairs despite being married to the wonderful Shirayuki. She was probably having affairs too, but it didn't matter because he ruled the courts with his influence and popularity. He hated to see how he took advantage of everyone's faith in him, wielding politics like a toy without care for who got hurt.

All Taiyo knew when Amaterasu's light finally came in the early hours was that he never wanted to be like that.

----

Year 29, Summer

The moon hadn't yet risen after nightfall, but the stars were alight as Togashi Hoshi slinked under the cover of dark towards a seemingly unimportant building. His parents probably wouldn't approve of his interest in sneaking around and putting his nose into other people's business, but he did love secrets and there were plenty keeping secrets these days. Hoshi did suspect that his father knew but said nothing so far, and his mother... well, maybe he could say it was her trickster-heritage if she got upset about it? Despite the bulk of his size, he did move with a serpent-like silence as he entered the building, and the darkness did not stop him much either as his supernatural gifts allowed him to see almost as clear as day in this unlit room. From his entry-point, he saw an open doorway, covered only by a cloth-curtain, leading to what must be the storage in the back.

His senses made him aware of a sleeping dog nearby, that had yet to notice him. As long as he made no sudden moves or anything, it should be fine, but the added danger now heightened his awareness considerably. The thrill of the danger made his blood surge with excitement. With calloused yet deft hands, Hoshi moved the curtain aside and made his way inside the storage room, taking care to drop the curtain back to its stillness. It was now that the smell hit his nose; flowery, exotic. It was not a scent he had learned growing up in these mountains, nor from anything normally grown by the Wu. But as he looked around, this seemed to be just a normal storage room. Mostly empty shelves now, that normally would've been stacked with medicine and food, with a few containers here and there with plain and uninteresting contents. Nothing of note, really. But as he slowly searched the room, taking care to not make any sudden noises or movements, he became aware of where that scent was coming from; below him.

It took a little time to find it, as dirt had been spread across the hidden hatch built into the dirt-floor, but Hoshi opened it with no trouble and disappeared down into its dark room. The amount of care it had taken to hide this place made him first suspect that it might've been abandoned and locked away for the past years, but as he surveyed the shelves of the secret basement, he could see that there was a lack of dust accompanied by footsteps as well on the ground. It was still in use. His suspicions of this place were further confirmed as he opened the lid from a box he had been inspecting, and saw the source of the scent he had caught just a whiff of earlier - black lotus. Hurriedly he shut the lid close, already feeling his head growing foggy from just the brief encounter with the rare bloom, and Hoshi fumbled about for his satchel by his hip to quickly stow away this evidence. His head was pounding as he rushed out of the basement, trying to fight off the effects of the flower in a desperate move for wind and fresh air. Closing the hatch behind him, he had forgotten all about the guard-dog sleeping nearby. It heard the sound of his stressed movements and sought him out in the dark, a few small yips leading up to proper loud barks. Barks that were reduced to whimpers as the canine creature beheld the son of Togashi, half-man and half-dragon, much larger than any normal human and his lower body like that of a dragon. Hoshi barely paid the animal any mind as he finally made his way out of the building and breathed the fresh night air.

Black lotus. Nadare had told them that some fools had used it in medicine, as a way to sedate patients that needed extreme measures taken. It was effective in that way, as not much of its midnight-hued stalks of pollen was needed to make a full-grown man fall into a deep slumber, but the problem was that most would never wake from that sleep. Just a whiff of it could lead to drowsiness and hallucinations. From what he had observed of the many tribes that had sought refuge with the Dragon, particularly within the Wu that did not meddle in the affairs of each tribe's customs, was that some still used these kinds of ingredients in various rituals and cures. In the past years, Mirumoto had had no other choice but to ban its use considering the plague of nightmares and the dangers that came with such a dangerous plant. Combined that was a recipe for disaster. And now Hoshi knew that he had been right in his suspicions that the ban didn't stop everyone.

Looking up at the stars as his head cleared, Hoshi hoped it was just a case of a few fools putting a lot at risk for a silly ritual, rather than anything sinister. They didn't need more problems to deal with now.

----

Year 29, Winter

The evening was surprisingly calm, all things considered, as the group of travelers made camp. It was just the five of them, though it had begun as just two, before adding in more as they came closer and closer to their goal. From early on, they had done their best to avoid entering towns and villages along the way unless necessary, considering they wouldn't know what sort of madness they could meet there. With the campfire going, providing them all with warmth as well as heat for cooking, Togashi Satsuki stepped away from the camp, which was not unusual in itself. They all did so from time to time, even if they had all become a bit more strict with things since Makime joined them as she seemed to treat them more like a tiny military-camp. Not that Genji or Hikaru seemed to have an issue with that sort of order for the group.

Finally finding a moment for herself, Satsuki let out a deep sigh and leaned against the thick trunk of a tree. Sometimes she felt bad for leaving suddenly without speaking to her father, but she reasoned that he probably suspected what she had been planning and if he wasn't stopping her she probably had his blessing to go. Right? But she felt she needed to go and find her own way, and she hadn't felt like making a discussion about it. Or saying goodbyes. Because saying goodbye felt like she might not come back to see them again from this journey in search of destiny. Still she wasn't overwhelmed by those feelings as she kept them present in her mind, her eyes closing to focus inward. In her mind, Satsuki was not traveling across the Empire in the winter. She was back in Doji's home, on one of the verandas there overlooking a snow-covered garden. Her father was sitting beside her in deep meditation, with a slight crease of concern on his brow.

Before she could reach out and touch his forehead to smooth that crease away, his eyes opened and looked at her gently. There were a few times Satsuki felt that awe everyone else had when they looked at her father, as she normally just saw her loving parent, but this time she felt it for a brief moment as she beheld those divine eyes.

"... What troubles you?" she asked, and there was a long pause between them. Like a long deep breath, followed by a slow exhale; then repeated again.

"Much troubles me, little moon, as the future becomes more uncertain." His words were more like something she heard in her mind now, rather than words spoken aloud. She could feel his worry - the strange sensation of uncertainty that he had no doubt almost never felt. The mighty Togashi could see the many possibilities of the future, and yet he could not know if his sister would live or die. Or what would happen to everyone else.

"Don't think that uncertainty alone worries me," he assured her, having sensed her feelings. "Your mother brought me much I could not foresee or anticipate; her love. And most important of all is the gift of being a father. Our children never cease to amaze and surprise me."

Satsuki laughed softly, allowing it to cover up her own embarrassment. "Dad..." she chuckled and looked away, casting her eyes down into her lap. It was then she realized she was holding something in her hands as they rested in her lap. Only the past couple of years had she learned what this was; a conch shell, attached to a braided ribbon of silk. But this one was exceptionally beautiful, and it had inlays of jade it seemed… or was it naturally like that? There was more that she hadn't noticed at first, a bag of cloth in her lap that clinked softly as she shifted in her seat. Her head turned to her father, who spoke before she could ask. “Gifts for the family. She wanted you to have this, all of you.”

Her eyes opened as she inhaled deeply, the cold air of the wilderness filling her lungs. The scent of ash from a campfire filled her nostrils, and Satsuki realized she was just outside the camp, and not in fact in the lands of Doji. Those green eyes, glowing with the soft warm gold of the Heavens, looked down to her hands where she was holding a beautiful conch shell. Just like she had seen in her vision just now. Satsuki knew she had not carried it with her here, so did that mean…? Briskly she took a step away from the tree and looked around. There were no signs of anyone else near her. It hadn’t been a dream, as she realized now she had been aware of her breath the entire time sitting beside her father. So it was something else.

A family gift it was then? It still felt warm in her hands as she turned it over, and its polished sheen reflected the full moon's light. She wasn't sure who it was from, but she would carry it with her. As she opened her satchel to put it away safely, she noticed that it was a tad heavier than normal... and upon opening it, there were more items inside, gleaming in the moonlight. Gifts from... Doji? For the family? The words of the conversation echoed in her mind, mixing with her own thoughts. Seeing what looked like an ornamental dagger of jade, Satsuki thought of Genji. It seemed to suit him. At some point, she would find the time to give it to him. With the treasures safely stored away , she returned to the camp with a reinvigorated purpose in her steps.