The Day of Thunder

[Akodo Kenji]

Kenji wasn't very interested in stopping by one of the various restaurants along the market streets of the village, he didn't really need people to cook for him after all. He was interested in getting some fresher food to cook with though, so he walked the streets of the markets in hunt for something appetizing.

"No, we aren't getting boar." He murmured to himself with a shake of his head, a smile making its way onto his lips a moment later as he tilted his head to the side for a moment before continuing his wandering.

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

Nearby, a short Crab woman in heavy armor was exchanging a few coins with a street vendor in a food stall. Accepting a cup of hot soup, the woman clutched the cup in both hands, allowing the rising steam to warm her face against the chill of the day.

"Darn this fog!" the Crab commented. "Won't it ever go away?"

[Akodo Kenji]

"The way the locals move around in it? Doubtful." The Lion replied, though the question, if it was one was obviously not meant for him. He had to admit it was annoying though, and he'd much rather have a clear day or warm weather or both, but sometimes you had to play the hand you were dealt.

"But with things like this all the time you'd wonder how they ever get things to grow."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"I've seem farms outside of town, so they must grow something," the Crab replied. "But it's just as foggy as here. Maybe more so!"

The woman attempted to take a sip of her soup, but it's still too hot.

"I'm called Yoshitsune Ayako," she added, attempting a careful bow that avoided spilling her soup. "Umm... were you one of the people at Shinsei's speech earlier? What did you think?"

[Akodo Kenji]

"And there are flowers and the like in the gardens, so I suppose it makes sense that it's not foggy all the time." Kenji replied. "Maybe it's just the time of year?"

"Akodo Kenji." He offered in way on introduction as he returned the bow. "But yes, I was there. A to what I think?" He shook his head. "Well, Its pretty hard to say. I mean it all sounded somewhat vague, sometime soon, some heroes, some fight. It certainly seemed important but it's kind of hard to put any real feelings into it until I know more."


His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I kind of wish we could just be told more solid information. Or that we knew the reason for it before coming so we could better prepare." His gaze moved back to the crab. "What about you?"

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Well, it seems clear that there will be nine great Champions, one for each clan, who will end up Saving the World," Ayako said, remembering Shinsei's words. "That's certain to be Lady Anjing for the Crab; she's already a bona fide hero, after all."

"I'm guessing the rest of us will play some kind of supporting role? Fighting off the armies of bad guys while the Thunders fight the evil champion, something like that. Shinsei wasn't very clear on how that will work. I thought I heard him say something like 'armies won't help' to the Lion daimyo; did you catch any of that?"

[Akodo Kenji]

"Yeah, but I was looking for who might be the Champions. I mean it will probably be Lady Anjing for the Crab, but what if it's not?" Could you be a double hero? "I mean what would you do if you spent the next few days preparing Lady Anjing for the task and the Hero ended up being you or one of your other clan members?" It would mean a waste of time and resources at the very least, at the worst it could be asking a courtier to do battle.

"But yes, I'd think we would play a supporting role. Or that's at least as much as he heard." As well as the fact that Lady Makime wasn't drawn here by destiny. "But I'm pretty sure it won't be fighting? He added his tone making the statement something of a question. "You heard right when he told Lady Makime that an army would be useless here. So, I doubt it's fighting the rest of us will be doing, at least during the confrontation. Which means I have no idea what we will do."

He frowned. "Hopefully not just standing around cheering them on."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Yeah, but I was looking for who might be the Champions. I mean it will probably be Lady Anjing for the Crab, but what if it's not?" Could you be a double hero? "I mean what would you do if you spent the next few days preparing Lady Anjing for the task and the Hero ended up being you or one of your other clan members?" It would mean a waste of time and resources at the very least, at the worst it could be asking a courtier to do battle.

"Well, hmm, I guess that could happen," Ayako said thoughtfully. "I would think they'd want the most experienced warrior to be the champions, but you're right - who knows how monks decide things. Maybe the names of the champions will be found written on the inside of a turtle shell, or something!"

"You heard right when he told Lady Makime that an army would be useless here. So, I doubt it's fighting the rest of us will be doing, at least during the confrontation. Which means I have no idea what we will do."

He frowned. "Hopefully not just standing around cheering them on."

"Yeah, I guess I don't know either," she said with a frown. "Maybe we had better ask the monks for some more details about what we should be doing."

[Akodo Kenji]

"I'm betting he cracks open that giant rocks he carries around and on the inside are nine names written in jade." Kenji replied with a wry smile. "Because you never know with monks as you said."

"Likely a wise idea." He agreed with a nod. "They should at least give us a good place to start I'd think."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"I'm betting he cracks open that giant rocks he carries around and on the inside are nine names written in jade." Kenji replied with a wry smile. "Because you never know with monks as you said."

"HA!" Ayako guffawed. "I bet that's exactly it."

"Likely a wise idea." He agreed with a nod. "They should at least give us a good place to start I'd think."

"I'll give talking to the monks a try, anyhow," she said, nodding in turn. "Unless you have any other ideas?"

[Akodo Kenji]

He chuckled as the young woman laughed, he hoped he wasn't right but then you could never tell with these things.

"No. This isn't really my area of expertise. I've heard tales of spirits and monsters and the lot, but I don't know much about what to do about them." Kenji offered with a shake of his head. "If they end up telling you something useful though, let me know." Might save him some time and some asking. "Could be they tell us entirely different thing if we end up asking after all,"

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"We did see a monster on the way here," Ayako ventured. "Me and the rest of the Crab, that is. It was a pretty horrible thing, that didn't know when to die. We had to hit it a lot."

"Hopefully we won't see a lot more of those, but ... best to be ready."

[Akodo Kenji]

"Glad I didn't encounter one on my own." Traveling alone he might of ended up as it's supper. "Sill it's good to hear that whatever ilrhey are, they can be defeated."

"Even if it takes a lot of effort."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Yes, it helps to have friends when fighting them," Ayako agreed. "Maybe that's what Shinsei's really doing by gathering so many different people here ... trying to get all of the Clans working together so that we face these things together, rather than one-by-one."

[Akodo Kenji]

"Sounds logical." Kenji mused. Even if he found some that he had seen here a bit questionable. "Especially given that he said he needed one member of each clan to fight this thing." Inviting a large amount of people from both clans certainly accomplished that too.

"Though I suppose it's up to us to learn how to best work with one another."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"I haven't really trained with members of other clans before. Perhaps some practice fighting together as a unit might be worthwhile," Ayako suggested. "It may come in useful if we need to work together against more of these monsters."

[Akodo Kenji]

"That does sound wise." Some group drills or something, Lady Makime would likely be interested in leading something like that. "As I would imagine that the same is true for a lot of the others here."

"I'll suggest it to Lady Makime when I get the chance, and you can perhaps do the same with Lady Anjing?"