The Day of Thunder

After a brief prayer, Yoshitsune Ayako moved to the edge of the pond, where she selected a small, flat stone. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the stone skipping over the surface of the pond, bouncing once, twice ... thrice, before it sank beneath the water with a plunk.

Bending down, Ayako carefully selected another small stone for its aerodynamic qualities, before turning to look at the pond once more.

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6MA Meditate for void recovery, Void/Meditation TN20 | 7k4 ⇒ 34 (TN: 20) succeeds

And along came an Imperial.

He'd spent the last appreciable stretch of time writing up an elaborate diagram and explanation of how the SPirit Realms were intersecting, and thus, a place where the barrier to Yume-Do- or Yume-Jigoku- seemed thin was of interest.

He paused when he spotted the Crab.

And took a cleansing breath in case he had to try to beat her down if something in the garden had taken her mind.

It would be... difficult.

Ayako sent the second stone skipping along the surface of the pond with another splish-splish-plonk! Then turned and smiled warmly as she saw Sora approaching.

"Hello, Jiyo-sama!" she said with a friendly tone. "It's an exciting day, isn't it?"

Oh thank the Fortunes.

"It does seem to be working out that way, doesn't it?"

He chuckled.

"Between you and me, I've never been too keen on destiny, but things seem to be falling into place...."

"Yes, it sounds like the monk Nozomi has some ideas for carrying out Shinsei's plan," Ayako agreed. "I'm, uh, hopeful that I can play some small part in it. I tried to do some of the things the old Shinsei said to do .... stuff he said before he went crazy, I mean."

"Nozomi's been his student for over twenty years- we're lucky she's here. Far as playing a part goes, well..."

He shrugged.

"I know I won't be a Thunder, but here I am. I imagine we'll all have a part to play, one way or the other."

"We all helped rebuild those farm houses yesterday," Ayako remembered. "I'd like to think that it'll be like that. No one person could have fixed all the houses by herself; but with a lot of friends working together, we were able to get it done. And a lot of people will have someplace warm and dry to sleep because of our efforts."

"Good example, actually. What I know about building, repairing buildings, carpentry, or fine detail work wouldn't take one character to write out. But I could move material, so that's what I did. Many hands make light work, and when the work's this important, well..."

"I didn't know much about building things to start with, either," Ayako admitted. "But spending the whole day, I picked up a little about how it works. I kind of liked it!"

"If we get out of this, uh, situation, I think I might like to do more," she daydreamed idly. "The Crab mountains aren't too heavily settled yet; maybe I could help build more villages for the clan. Maybe even a castle someday."

Sora felt a surge of warm feeling and stamped it down to keep from beaming like a drunken old fool.

"I think that would be an excellent use of your time and talents, especially if the Empire is to enter a period of peace."

"Peace, yes. I hope that will come to pass," Ayako agreed. "We just have to defeat this Champion of Jigoku. And I'm sure that will happen; I know Lady Anjing has been conferring with the other daimyo and I'm sure they've come up with a plan, maybe with the help of the monks."

"The daimyo..."

He chuckled.

"The daimyo will have their ideas, and any you owe fealty to can issue orders. But... I am not certain any of the daimyo present are much better equipped to cope with or plan for matters spiritual than you or I. If Jin were here, or Reiko, or the Seppun... bah. No matter."

"I'm sure Lady Anjing will know what to do," Ayako said loyally. "Or know who to ask about it, at any rate; I suppose you're right that this dream stuff is more spiritual than anything else."

"Though I think I'm getting the hang of preventing those bad dreams from affecting my sleep too much," she confided. "I had a rough night early on, but I've been able to push the bad dreams back a bit."

"Could be practice, Yoshitsune-san. The enemy's growing agitation has insured we've all gotten some... experience. But I know what you mean, I've had more control over mine of late..."