The Day of Thunder

The woman nodded to Akuto and motioned for a guard to assist and guide them.

She regarded Otaku "I have heard of this water mad sickness, we do not see it often. For it to affect a whole pack seems...unlikely. given the reported monster I think it's safe to say something unnatural is at work here."

"This is the work of the enemy," Naraku interjected. "I would need to confirm it, but given their somewhat stable appearance, I would think these are animals that have been tainted by Yume-Jigoku."

He looks at Aoyama. "We should pile the corpses, burn them and conduct purifying rituals. Our victory will be for naught if the farmlands become tainted. I do not want your villagers to be saved from the monsters only to face hunger's biting touch soon after."

"That is the most likely," Otaku agrees in her quiet voice. "We must track where this creature came from. If it got through the fog where we can't... or if it came here some other way." Her lips thin in a pensive frown. "We'll not get far with that in the dark. Tomorrow, then."

She glances at Naraku, also splashed with some of the ichor from the giant wolf monster. "Do you have jade on you, Hiruma-san? The green spiritual stone?" From her tone, she clearly expects the answer to be yes--Naraku seems to be have more specific knowledge about these beasts than she does, if anything--but it's got to be asked.

"I agree that we must track the source. Tomorrow I will gather an expedition and head into the forest," he pondered. "We should avoid any combat but at least we can canvas the zone and lay some alarms. If push comes to shove we could have early warnings to alert the villagers and take them to safety."

He pulls out his necklace from under his armor, the familiar green of jade visible. "I would never go without it. The times are troubled Lady Otaku and we can not afford to be complacent."

"Good." Otaku nods. "Be wary of the landscape, not just the wildlife. The fog here is... I mislike it. Sometimes land is changed by corruption, or places open into other realms and one might wander through. One of Consort Yuzuru's family is here, who might help if you find something like that."

She doesn't know yet that Hoto-Hori has actually already discovered the opposite problem--that the village is cut off from the other realms, or at least some of them.