The Day of Thunder

The fog still blanketed the village, embracing it in a chilly embrace and granting the isolated village an almost eerie feel. Despite this, Naraku had had as good of a night's sleep as he could remember; this of course made him incredibly wary, as if he was in the calm before a storm.

Once he had settled here, he drafted an action plan, he needed to know where he could get supplies and he should replenish his depleted supplies. To that end he had made queries to know who the town doctor was, hoping that such an isolated village would count with a steady supply of medicinal herbs to supply it's physician.

He stopped in front of the house, the result of his queries, and paced inside, scratching the screen door lightly "Hello?"

It's early still, but leg cramps wait on no man. Reo plods back to the healer's house that he had visited earlier, taking the time to let his mind catch up and shake off the bleariness of sleep. There would be a meeting soon, and a head start would be essential to ensure that he wouldn't be lagging behind.

"Hmm. Is someone else there?"

The figure in front of Reo is lithe and athletic, drapped in a dark kimono and with his arms covered with black bandages from shoulder to fingertips. His glossy black air cascades down his shoulders and there seems to be a menacing air around his demeanor; the air is certainly not wrong but it is disturbing enough to give a person pause.

Naraku turns to the source of the voice, identifying the man as a member of the Spider - perhaps one of the lordlings that Anjing spoke of yesterday. He eyes the man cautiously. "Good morning. I reckon you are not the healer of this village?" Naraku ventured as he eyed the man warily.

"That's correct." Reo nods. "Though the man has earned my respect. And he might just be offering something that will add ten years of development to my horticultural projects, even if I can't poach him." Reo leans on his staff. "Maybe I can convince him to take students on rotation..."

This musing seems to place Reo in his old world.

Naraku ponders on Reo's words; it seems like the healer's gardens will be perfect for his pursuits. "I am glad to hear that. I was hoping to get access to his garden," he states neutrally.

"I am Naraku of the Hiruma," he introduces himself.

Another person had had similar thoughts of replenishing medicinal items and herbs, and showed up bright and early for to the healer's house after having been given directions.

The tall girl took off her veiled hat as she approached, noticing two men outside the house as well. "Uh... good morning!" she greeted with enthusiastic cheer. "... Either of you the village healer?"

"He will likely offer it freely, though I intend to offer repayment in kind for that help."

Something in Reo's eyes shifts, as if remembering something.

"Naraku of the Hiruma. That's an interesting way to phrase it. I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that the two of us are the first to find the herbalist home."

Reo offers a bow, as much as he can while still holding the walking stick. "This one is Hisomu Reo, once Reo of the Kakita. I must say, your reputation precedes you. It isn't common that someone is so forward about

Togashi Satsuki wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2023 2:13 pm

Another person had had similar thoughts of replenishing medicinal items and herbs, and showed up bright and early for to the healer's house after having been given directions.

The tall girl took off her veiled hat as she approached, noticing two men outside the house as well. "Uh... good morning!" she greeted with enthusiastic cheer. "... Either of you the village healer?"

-the art they embrace." It appears to be a hasty ammendment.

"Togashi." Reo inclines his head. "I think I just had this discussion. No, neither of us are. Enrou might have a stroke from being so popular. We better offer him some backup supplies and coin at this rate. Or marry him. Do you think Ohta would marry him?" It's idle musing at this point as Reo rambles a touch.

Reo's words made Naraku tense up. He wasn't unaccustomed to being recognized by the members of his clan, but being recognized by one of the Spider? Well that was a novelty for sure.

"I believe we're not the first, I'm sure more than a few peasants have visited the healer before," he answered before turning to the new arrival, his eyes widening in disbelief. First a Spider lordling and now a Dragon lordling? Bring a Bat and he will think Anjing to be some kind of prophet.

"I'll be sure to offer him payment. His herbs will surely help me in my task," he concluded noncommittally.

"Yes, I'm Togashi Satsuki," she nodded, confirming Reo's words, then she offered a quick bow to the two men. "Ah well. I hope we're not waking up the healer by hanging out here so early in the day. I was hoping to see if he had anything to be used for medicine, but might be wishful thinking at this time of year?"

She at least was ignorant of whatever nefarious topic might've been discussed. "You are both medicine men then, yes?"

"I am a medicine man of sorts," Naraku replied with a sly smile. "Although I do not so much heal people as rather I help the world heal. Think of it like this, I do a healing that others might frown but that ultimately benefits the most."

"I call myself a medicine man. No fancy spirit powers, just good old herbs and emergency care. Why do you ask?" Reo looks over to Enrou's house. "Apart from the obvious? Everything I know about the man who lives says that he's quite talented so I imagine that between us we can help with whatever ails."

In truth she had asked to make conversation, not that she needed to say that out loud. "Just curious. I'm still very much a novice in the field myself, even if my sensei did his best to teach me everything he knew." Poor Nadare-sensei. "Calling upon the kami to heal has never been my strength, so gotta make do with less fancy ways, mhm. But I'm always interesting in learning more!"

And maybe she could learn some more from these folks, and the healer living here as well.

"... What sort of healing would that be? I know that some forms of medicine and treatment are rather extreme," she asked the more dour-looking of the two.

Naraku's cold gaze set on the Dragon lordling. "Well you see, it's fairly straightforward. Do you know what gangrene is? If you haven't been in a battlefield then most likely not, and it is nothing to be ashamed of it. Gangrene is a horrible condition that happens when a wound, normally a large and deep wound, festers and turns the flesh around it black and waxy."

"So how does one cure gangrene? Well, the most obvious answer is to cut the affected limb, to avoid the infection to spread and kill the patient. Well that is what I do. Not really treating gangrene, since I am not that kind of medic. More the whole, excising certain cancers from reality so that the rest might thrive," his tone is calm, as if giving a class. "The gangrene was an allegory."

"I know a thing or two about allegories," she said with a dry smirk and a shrug of her shoulders. One didn't grow up around Togashi and monks without experiencing that every day. "One might say a more apt allegory for such an approach could be... a chirurgeon, or an exterminator of sorts, mhm?" Satsuki cocked her head to the side slightly as those intense eyes scrutinized the Crab.

"Drastic measures must be taken to preserve life, but as Nadare-sensei would say, a genius would find a ways to overcome drastic measures."

"And to continue to beat the metaphor to death, part of my sundry duties is to try to treat the wound before it is a problem. To also figure out why some wound heal clean and others turn foul...and why others sprout extra eyes or tentacles. And then dissect the tentacles. You would be amazed at some of the colors those pustules come in...and I think I lost the metaphor." Reo drawls, stretching his leg.

"I'm glad you are interested in the art. When it comes to healing, nothing works quite as completely as when fueled by a shugenja. But shugenja are rare in the population. They tend to stay clustered in large settlements, or in large convoys and at least in the Spider the ones of substantial power are called to be Seers. Whereas I can teach near anyone some basic herbs. It's more time consuming and less reliable, but there are more of us."

One blink. Two blinks. He looks between the Spider and the Dragon, his demeanor slightly less dour. "Exactly. Your sensei seems to be a fairly level-headed person. I specialize in using poultices and concoctions to excise and exterminate certain... wounds."

"But alas, just like Hisomu-san said, I am also no priest. I do not speak to the spirits. So that is why I need to talk with the healer. My supplies are all but gone and I need to create new medicine as well as tinker with them to perhaps create better ointments to treat these... wounds"

Satsuki nodded happily to the both of them, even if the Crab was a little odd. Plenty of odd people among the Dragon, so she wasn't going to be so rude as to point it out! "Well, it sounds like we're all in need of the same then, yes? Let's see if the healer is awake, and perhaps anything we can be of help with. Since so many have come, we should be working together as much as possible to the best of our abilities."

"Speaking of Shugenja, is uncle Hisomu here, perhaps?" Of course he was probably very busy, but a gathering like this might've drawn his attention, she wondered. "Or any of my family from the Crab perhaps?"

"Hisomu is not joining us. At least, he had made no plans to when our convoy set out. However, Reiko-sama is with us."

Reo begins to plod up to the house to scratch on the door. Enrou would at least find it interesting.

So the Dragon lordling was the child of a living God. "Hida is not here, but Lady Anjing has come with us," he stated. "But yes, let us see if the healer will attend us. At least it should come as some solace that we are not three sick persons."

"I haven't seen my dear aunts in so long, so that's something to look forward to!" She was practically beaming at the silver-lining, or blessing. As Reo was the oldest, she was more than fine with letting him take the lead in announcing them at the door.

Then she remembered what Ranmaru had said the previous evening. "Is it true the Crab fought some monster of sorts to get here? One of my kin told me so, but sometimes he exaggerates stuff."