The Day of Thunder

Having heard there's a shindig comin', an' even he's got sense enough t' know you put on your best duds f'r a shindig, Akutou makes his way to the bath house he's been told's in town.

Findin' it's no pro'lem, e'en with t' fog, an' Akutou takes his time scrubbin' afore he sets himself t' soak.

He groans a little as he sinks into th' hot water. It's nice.

Sora didn't much care about prettying up for a festival, but he liked being clean- one thing that went all the way back to his childhood using hot springs in the Spine of the World.

So he strode in with his usual grace, tact, and polish.scrubbed up with a kind of manic frenzy, and settled in to soak like a man greeting an old friend.

Akutou sits up when the older man enters the bath.

"Evenin', sir," he says, nodding his head with a gesture that suggests he'd be tipping his hat were it on his head.

"Otomo Akutou," he adds, by way of introduction, just to be sure.

Sora returned the gesture with a lazy wave of his arm.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Jiyo Sora."

"Huh. Guessed right this mornin' then," Akutou says.

He adds, "The O-Iemoto said if'n ever I met you an' he weren't there to pass on his regards. So I'm passin' 'em, sir."

Akutou takes a deep breath. "So that was Shinsei this mornin', then. That typical of 'im?"

"The O... oh, you mean Dawei! Good man there. How's he getting on these days?"

A pause.

"Far as Shinsei goes, it was a bit less intimate than some of our chats on the trip South, but... I mean, what does 'typical' even mean with that guy?"

"Goin' inta Hell, maybe?" Akutou replies to the latter question.

"But th' O-Iemoto says his bones're hurtin' him. Somethin's in 'em, folks say, an' deep. He ain't that old, but he's gettin' old real quick.

"O' course, he could still be right behind that wall, there. Still moves quieter'n mice. Just doesn't do it s' fast or s' often, anymore."

"Sorry to hear he's pained.. does he still carve? I saw the piece he gave the Nezumi, you know- was there when he gifted it to White Moonrise."

Sora chuckled.

"I envied him. He was about as good a hand in an ambush as could be asked for, but he had skills that didn't involve combat. At the time I could hardly say the same."

"He carves more'n he does most anythin' else," Akutou replies. "Seems some of the little time he's at ease, anymore. Leaves most o' th' work t' Waka-sensei. She's gonna inherit th' school sooner'n later, most likely.

"Last I knew, he's roughin' out a new piece f'r the' Emp'ror's daughter. Says it'll be a final gift t' th' Imperial house from 'im."

Akutou shakes his head. "Damn shame, really."

"Final gift?"

Sora sounded genuinely concerned.

Because he was.

"He's hanging up the chisel?"

"Got bones in th' hands, too."

Akutou shrugs and adds "But it might could be he thinks it'll be his best, an' he wants t' stop while he's still good. Seen a lot of older folks go that way."

Sora snorted.

"If I have a 'best,' I used it up finding a wife who could somehow make my children into wonderful people. And that was so long ago I'd have to wonder why I kept on breathing. Dawei... I don't know that he can really have a 'best' with so many damn masterworks."

"Might could be," Akutou replies. "But there's only s' much I c'n say on that.

"You've gone a lotta places, word is. What all y' make o' this place, sir?"

"In an Empire riven by nightmares and nightmarishness? I confess I find this place unsettling because there doesn't appear to be anything particularly wrong."

"Like th' smaller predators keepin' quiet when th' big'un's comin' in."

"Or like the patient hunter waiting for the dogs to run the prey to them."

He made a dismissive gesture.

"Or maybe I'm just old and paranoid. Why let the Crab have a monopoly on it?"

Akutou snorts a laugh.

"Good question," he says. "But I never have hunted wi' dogs. Ain't got th' knack f'r it."

"It's something I observed in the lands of the Ki-Rin. Good technique, really, efficient."

"I'll have t' ask that Otaku woman 'bout it, then, Xiaochen," Akutou answers. "Might could help with some o' th' larger game an' such."

"From what I observed, there's a great deal of training involved, but it pays dividends."