The Day of Thunder

Shang continued on her walk through the gardens. It seemed that she was content to spend the day in the dreary rain, despite not having a good reason to. Her walk would eventually bring her to the sleeping gardens just as the daylight was diminishing on an already dark day. She found a seat on a bench under a tree that gave her some reprieve from the elements, her straw cloak could only repel so much until the water started finding its way into the crevasses.

She found herself sitting down and gathering her thoughts. The thoughts wandered enough that she found herself daydreaming and the relaxing nature of the garden would be enough to coax her eyes to close as they felt so heavy...

"Oh!" Shang murmured as she tensed up and stopped herself from falling asleep. Her relationship (and everyone else's) with sleep had become complicated in the last few days. First, it was hard to sleep and then strange oddities began to happen in the dreaming world. Worst still, it seemed that being awake only meant that worse things were waiting for them. Much like that monster between the world of the dreaming and the mortal realm...

She heard a slight squelching sound, and another figure appeared. This one did not look so much waterlogged, as mud-slogged. Like you took someone covered in dust and dirt, then threw pails of water on them. It hid any mons he might have been wearing very effectively.

He appeared to be exploring the garden, ignoring the weather, but paying particular attention to the plants that might be here. Even, or especially, any weeds that had not been removed yet.

He did not appear to have seen her.

Shang gave her eyes a quick rub to awaken herself before murmuring to herself for being so silly. She should have had some tea this afternoon instead of wandering around in the rain all afternoon. However, when she saw the stranger, she figured that the next best tool to keep her awake was some casual conversation. She rose from her seat and called out to Kyosei. "...ah, good afternoon, there! Thankfully, the rain hasn't been heavy enough to wash all the flowers away. Then again, if this keeps up, this might be the only opportunity we have left to see them."

The figure, Kyosei, jerked, startled. He clearly had not seen the other in the gardens either. Not really a surprise, with her being so still, him being so focused, and the weather.

"Ah, good afternoon. My name is Kyosei, of the Isawa. I hope the weather hasn't prevented you from enjoying your food this day?"

"Wait, only opportunity? What do you mean?"

Shang nodded back to Kyosei when she got his attention and offered a smile. "Pleased to meet you, Kyosei. This one is Shang of the Saru. And funny enough, I think I've come to realize that the rain might be my brightest part of the day. It's given my stay here some colour and perhaps far more merciful than the night, I must admit."

"I'm talking about the rain! If this keeps up, we're going to be washed away in the great flood once the river fills up!" She waved off a dismissive hand. "Sorry, I'm being dramatic here, forget what I said...But supposedly the day will be upon us now. Exactly, when? I'm not so sure, there haven't been any updates regarding the prophecy."

"Prophecy? What prophecy? I just made it into town last night, I don't know this prophecy." He stepped closer, though not improperly so.

"Really, now?" She said with a momentary look of bemusement. It seemed that the village was still receiving outsiders even at this time. Maybe the boundaries were thinning between them and the world beyond the fog but now she also wondered what else could possibly get in...

Shang's expression turned dire as she explained. "It might be best coming from the great Shinsei himself but I'm afraid the most recent rumours is that he might have been driven away from here. I'm not so sure, I haven't spoken on first-hand accounts yet but I digress. If the prophecy still applies, it seems that this land will be the battleground between Jigoku and the mortal realm and where we'll be making our fated last stand. The land has been rift with turmoil for a long time, as you know, evil threatens us on a spiritual level. Even I have felt its effects, I suspect, worming its way into my nights..." She gave a shake of her head, doing her best to forget the horrors of the night.

"We are here because of destiny, all of us. Some more so than others. Supposedly, there will be Champions among us. They are called Thunders, I am told, and there will be one from each Clan. They are our last hope, it seems," She nodded gravely on that note.

"The Thunders. By the muddy sides of the mountains. I thought, hoped that might be further in the future. And that I wouldn't be involved in it." His shoulders slumped.

"Ah, well. I'm unlikely to be one of them chosen. So, try to figure out who the chosen ones were, and how best to support them..." He looks around again.

Shang shook her head. "I have to admit that I'm a bit behind on my signs and portents but this was something that you've already been aware of, Isawa-sama? Hm, I suppose there were some individuals who did mention that they knew about the Thunders too but little of the context. Apparently, they haven't been found yet or at least based on what I've heard. If you are not chosen, then many you will have a role to play in all of this. What are your thoughts about destiny?"

"Destiny... is a lot of rush and bother and uncomfortableness that afflicts champions, and those near to them."

He returns his focus to her. "The Thunders were first heard of, by me, some half decade ago. Not much since then, but I knew something was coming. As I said, I hoped it would be further in the future. They are supposed to be champions, one for each clan, who will face the great Evil's champion."

"That's one way to look at Destiny, I suppose...some people would consider it an honour but I suppose it does demand much from them at the same time. I've never thought about the inconvenience of it all. I just assumed that all will be swept under the banner of doing things for the greater good? Surely, there are other tales to tell about their unintentional effects on others," she mused as she thought out loud.

"Oh, I too now wish it would be further in the future. Much further. I'm sure that we all had hoped that our presence there wasn't because we were so close to the end of everything that we know," she said as she glanced around. "I never thought about the potential end but if I did, I didn't think it would be so muted. So haunting and ominous. Sometimes I feel everything will fade before our eyes and we might not even know it."

"What a disturbing thought. I know that the enemy is related to the Realm of Dreams, which can definitely be very... strange. And my view of Destiny may be altered by being there for the Tournament of the little gods, the journey to rescue Hisomu, and the wedding that went... wrong a half decade ago. Too many times near Destined events."

"Forgive me, I can only imagine and conjure interpretation from my thoughts. When you're unsure of the possibilities, sometimes just conjuring up potential outcomes is sort of reaching for inspiration. Hm, it might not be entirely productive and that sort of outcome isn't very good. I'm going to need something brighter! More positive!" She exclaimed before returning to the topic of Kyosei and destiny. "Anyway...It sounds like you've been through a lot. It doesn't sound like destiny was going to leave you alone. I take it that you and Jiyo Sora-sama probably go far back."

"Hai. We met at the Tournament. Got to be friends on the journey to the gate to Hell. And have been fairly close ever since. Even taught a few of his children a few things."

She nodded slowly as she gathered more details of that relationship. "Oh, I don't think he mentioned that part but then again, I don't know if was expecting you to be here for me to understand the relationship. He did mention coming from a different place and being another person prior to the fall of the Kami. I'm sure that's the case for every one of your generation, I know I can say the same about my parents. If Jiyo-sama was growling at people across the river and punching them...may I ask what did you do prior to the arrival of the Kami?"

"I began as a miner for the tribe of Isawa. Then, when my gift with the spirits was... brought to the fore, I was trained as a ritual spirit-speaker. It was as a student of my Master I was sent to observe the Tournament."

"A miner, so far nobler and descent pursuits compared to our mutual friend here," she nodded. "The gift of the kami is something else too. I'm sure your world changed because of that...in an already changing world. Was there something that kept you grounded in all of this change? I'm sure you no longer look at mining with any fondness in this new world. What is your niche now?"

He smiled wryly.

"I oversee a mine."

After a few beats, he continues. "Actually, my son does most of the overseeing now. I travel for the most part, trading and conversing. Looking for new knowledge, helping those that need it, and others might miss."

"While life is a long journey, it can still be circular in a way sometimes. I suppose you haven't strayed too far from your origins, which is fine when it's honest work!" She chuckled with a few nods. "I think it's quite a time to be travelling the Kami Empire at the moment, strive and uncertainty aside, especially when it's constantly growing even right now before our eyes. There are also a few pockets in the Empire who have yet to take their first steps into progress. Then again, I speak as someone with only half your experience. In a way, I'm travelling in hopes of capturing some of this pioneering or adventuring spirit that a generation before me experienced, at least how I envision. Surely, things are no where close to what they were before."

"By chance, do you know how to repair a wagon wheel? You could travel with me."

"Actually, perhaps half to a third of my travels are to those areas the Empire claims, but has no control over. So, if you really did want to go to such a place, you are welcome on my wagon."