The Day of Thunder

[Nozomi]

Nozomi was ... well, it was close to a miracle that she was thinking straight right now. She really wasn't, but she'd had a couple hours to beat the shit out of a tree that never did anything to harm anyone and scream into the void until her throat was hoarse. But eventually, a conversation that she'd had with the Shiba and with Shinsei himself had come back to her.

She needed to talk to Komori. So, after quite a bit of asking around, she was firmly rapping at a particular villager's door. "O-samurai-sama. Are you around?" The way she spoke was... a touch unhinged.

[Shiba Kumori]

Kumori came to the door quickly after finishing up her lunch. The agitated knocking caught her attention.

“Yes?” She said as she opened the front door.

Then after seeing the monk, “Nozomi-san?”

[Nozomi]

Kumori came to the door quickly after finishing up her lunch. The agitated knocking caught her attention.

“Yes?” She said as she opened the front door.

Then after seeing the monk, “Nozomi-san?”

"Shiba-sama," she said, her voice a little husky. She might have done some serious screaming not that long ago. There was a red-rimmed tinge to her eyes. Her lips turned in a frown and she had to breathe. "Have you heard news from this morning yet? We ... we should talk."

[Shiba Kumori]

“I have…” Kumori took only a moment to look over the other woman’s appearance and admit her into the home.

She directed Nozomi to sit, “I’ll grab something warm to drink.”

She left for the kitchen area for a moment before returning with a tray, cups and a simple warm barely tea.

She poured the tea for the woman and extended out the cup.

She waited for a moment… not wishing to impede the monk from saying what she wished to say.

[Nozomi]

-snip-

"Th...ank you," she said after a moment, taking a sip of the tea. Her hand shook. It jostled the cup slightly and she set it down as she seated herself. There was no need to risk losing her grip. She had to get a handle on herself. This was a lot for her to handle. "Then you are aware. I... am glad that I do not have to be the one explaining this. I do not know how much it has been spread around. Given that people are not screaming in the streets, it is not too widely known."

She had her hands on the table, calming her nerves a little. "I spoke with him, yesterday when he was himself, about what you and I spoke about." Which also meant that if 'it' knew what he had memories of, it knew about the possibility of alternate approaches to Thunders.

[Shiba Kumori]

She lifted her hand slightly as if asking for a pause.

“Before that… How do you know he was himself? There is part of me that is very worried… About anything he may have said in recent memory.”

[Nozomi]

She lifted her hand slightly as if asking for a pause.

“Before that… How do you know he was himself? There is part of me that is very worried… About anything he may have said in recent memory.”

She almost snapped. There was a split second where she nearly lost it and shouted things that she had said to nobody in years. Information that she kept concealed because of a prophecy from long ago. She had to breathe, to control herself. It took another sip and she closed her eyes.

"He was not under the influence as far as I could tell. He was afraid that he might have made a mistake in gathering everyone here, that he had overstepped. He was still apologetic, as he always was with me when he would try to shoulder the burdens without calling on those who travel with him." She swallowed hard. "I am certain he was intact, but I believe that the assault was already beginning, so he was in peril and none of us saw that." Or at least nobody she'd known.

[Shiba Kumori]

She nodded, “I saw him about a month ago… He was not his normal… self then either. And here he seems to have been almost sickly when I last saw him.”

She asked softly, “What is happening to him?”

[Nozomi]

She nodded, “I saw him about a month ago… He was not his normal… self then either. And here he seems to have been almost sickly when I last saw him.”

She asked softly, “What is happening to him?”

"The old fool has been taking on too much for years. You've been seeing him as he slowly degrades, shouldering the burdens of the entire empire," she said, reaching up to put her head in her hands. "I've tried chiding him about this habit of his, but ... he gives too much. It's in his nature. We rely on him, and he is all too willing to step up. I believe Jigoku chose him as a target because the kami were denied it, and it may have been assaulting him for a long time."

"He was still himself, but even the greatest of mortal men have limits. Even gods can fall. Jigoku may be trying to make him the very champion he has warned us of."

[Shiba Kumori]

“I know that tendency well… I’ve got parents who do the same thing.” She replied in a somber tone.

“Who guides us in this fight if not Shinsei…?” She asked.

[Nozomi]

“I know that tendency well… I’ve got parents who do the same thing.” She replied in a somber tone.

“Who guides us in this fight if not Shinsei…?” She asked.

"I have only met your father ... briefly. I am never comfortable in the company of the kami. They are so far above us that I feel dwarfed. But... from what he used to tell me about your father, I believe it," she managed, having an easier time looking down at the table, talking about anything else, anything but the fact that Shinsei might be corrupted.

"We guide ourselves. I don't know how. But we do it. This ... this isn't his fight, and it wasn't supposed to be. It's the empire's, and it's the Thunders'. Fate is mutable, changeable. We have to be able to change it, to take control. We have to. The alternative is unthinkable."

[Shiba Kumori]

“How do we do that?” She asked with genuine earnestness.

[Nozomi]

“How do we do that?” She asked with genuine earnestness.

She breathed. It was very careful, very cautious. Low, reedy breaths. 'How? You kill my husband. That's how.' No, Sugri was right. There were alternatives as long as he was fighting it, but she was struggling with the reality that this might very well be what they had to do, facing the enormity of fighting down one of the strongest men in the empire, empowered by the realm of evil. It was as terrifying as the thought of a god becoming a god of evil.

A swallow. "I ... don't know, but..." Her eyes closed. "I know that the answer probably means that we are going to have to do what hell would least expect. And if you lot are one thing, it is unpredictable."

[Shiba Kumori]

“What about you?” She asked with an intent look on her face.

“I don’t know the specifics of your past with Shinsei… But I know you two are close…”

She paused, “You say ‘you lot’… But I wonder if there isn’t something special about you being here… And him… being what he is right now.”

[Nozomi]

“What about you?” She asked with an intent look on her face.

“I don’t know the specifics of your past with Shinsei… But I know you two are close…”

She paused, “You say ‘you lot’… But I wonder if there isn’t something special about you being here… And him… being what he is right now.”

She swallowed. "I cannot say what we are. I have traveled with the Teacher since he left the darkness, and I share the stories of those transformed by his wisdom. I... am not important. Just a scared little girl who became a killer, who brazenly entered the darkness, and who he stopped short of becoming something much worse. I owe him my life, my new life, but ... I'm not special. I was never special, just a ghost, a shell of a person who didn't know why she was still alive that he helped give purpose to. I'm not even that good of a monk." There was a lot more to that, and how she said those first words was enunciated too strongly. There was a ferocity to it. She couldn't say it. She didn't know Kumori. She hadn't even told Kinsen back then, and there'd been a joke somewhere about Mayumi being a possible match for Genji, hadn't there? Not even then.

She looked at her hands. "It was not my time when they went to chase the kami, to save him. Fear would have destroyed me, and with my death they would have failed. Jigoku would have claimed two, not one." Her head shook. "I am still one ruled by fear, even as strong as I am. I am told I have a destiny, but I am a monk. I am not of the clans. I am no different than you in this. But I want one of them to adopt me, if for no other reason than to be there. To take one last chance to save him, or put him down like a rabid beast if I have to."

"I will not ... I will not let that happen if he falls and gets loose." What 'that' was, she didn't say.

[Shiba Kumori]

“You don’t need to say more than you want.” She reassured her even while noticing the depth of the emotion behind the response.

“I’m not sure you will need to be adopted… Shinsei himself was sure to lead the Thunders into the last fight…” She began.

“If he cannot be reclaimed by then… Then they will need another to guide them… And one who is willing to save first… rather than destroy… sounds to be the type of person the Heavens would want.”

[Nozomi]

“You don’t need to say more than you want.” She reassured her even while noticing the depth of the emotion behind the response.

“I’m not sure you will need to be adopted… Shinsei himself was sure to lead the Thunders into the last fight…” She began.

“If he cannot be reclaimed by then… Then they will need another to guide them… And one who is willing to save first… rather than destroy… sounds to be the type of person the Heavens would want.”

She laughed softly. "I don't get to do what I want," she said, sighing and shaking her head, glancing over at the young woman. "And he was sure of that, but I'm not sure that was destiny, or if he falls to darkness then it's still true. He would lead them into it, and he would be the last fight."

"We do need someone who would wish to at least try to save him, but ... they must also be able, willing and ready to see to it the final blow is struck. They won't get to strike it, but they will need to be ready. The Path is greater than one man. Reality is greater than one man."

[Shiba Kumori]

“I don’t know much about the Path or destinies to be honest.” She replied.

“But you’re here now… And your path is wherever you put your feet next…”

She shook her head, “There’s no reason to doubt yourself now… When you’re already this far.”

[Nozomi]

“I don’t know much about the Path or destinies to be honest.” She replied.

“But you’re here now… And your path is wherever you put your feet next…”

She shook her head, “There’s no reason to doubt yourself now… When you’re already this far.”

"It's a bit of a tall order, but everything is. We are asked so much. Then again? We have already been asked a great deal, and still emerged victorious. I... should not doubt." He wouldn't want her to doubt herself, not now. "Of course, if we're hoping that my sight is as piercing as his once was? I never did master the trick he used. I only know the basics of how to see a person's potential."

[Shiba Kumori]

“Usually people grow the most when they feel the need to do so… At least you have a place to start from.” She said with a supportive smile.