The Day of Thunder

"It might surprise you all to learn he was young once." Makime kept walking, "Also brash and stupid... which I imagine is less surprising."

"Now I am sure you have heard your parents speak of the demonstrations and trials the Kami put on as they prepared for their grand tournament." She paused to look at one suspicious form in the mist, but moved on once it resolved into a tree, "Lord Hida had, unimaginatively it must be said, built a wall for the town's defense."

Makime sighed, "Sora got it in his head that Lord Hida wasn't worth respect and climbed the wall in defiance. To shout angrily and piss on it. In front of Lady Sun, the Heavens, and any unfortunate passerby...which given it was a town was not a small amount."

She shakes her head, exasperated, ready to continue the story further...

Hikaru had been listening quietly before this. His adoptive mother had been there, but she wasn't a Kami, nor was she one of the most famous Imperial advisors in the land; there was little to add. But the respected Sora, Imperial advisor who'd aided in the rescue of Hisomu, pissing on a wall, got his attention.

Hikaru's lips parted, then pressed together, a frown on his handsome features. "I'm sorry. He what?" His lips moved a few more times as various questions tried to solidify, but failed. "Did something, ah, set him off?"

Makime sighed, stopped, and turned around.

"He climbed up a wall." She moved her hands like some one climbing.

"Stood on top like he was the Lord of all he surveyed." Makime waved her hand to take in everything. "Screaming like a petulant child."

"Then," She made the motion of some one pulling off their lower clothing. "He pissed on the wall." She moved her hands like a man peeing, "Like the uncouth idiot he was. The Emperor and that damned Fortune of Patience he married, bless her soul for the hell it must endure, have done much to make him presentable."

"Now...are we caught up? Shall I continue because Lady Anjing finds her way into this."

Satsuki was stifling a laugh. "Wait, what? Please don't tell me auntie Anjing peed on the wall too?"

Hikaru had more questions, but he wasn't about to tell Lady Makime that.

"Please continue." He said, politely, if a touch faintly.

With a snort, Nao laughed. "Mom never told us about that. That story definitely needs to be recorded for the future."

"Of course Anjing didn't. Even back then Lady Anjing was infatuated with Lord Hida." Makime shook her head, "No she climbed up the wall and got into an argument with Sora. Over the wall, human nature, and some mess about staves and flying frogs."

"Sora being able to form coherent thoughts is a relatively new development, likely owing to the benevolent influence of the Emperor and his wife." Makime pressed her lips into a thin line. "And back then Lady Anjing would fight the very mountains if she thought they had slighted her...she's much better at picking her fights now, in my understanding."

Another long sigh, "Then of course another young, naive fool full of wonder and curiosity. Hailing from a merchant family, and thus inclined to meditate an argument, inserted herself into this fight..."

Satsuki pressed a hand over her mouth as she laughed too. "That sounds like both of them, to be honest, yeah."

"... And the third one? Could she mediate between a stubborn goat and an equally stubborn mule?"

"I'd be very curious to hear the answer to that as well." Hikaru murmured, one of his almost-smiles on his lips.

Nao said nothing, but watched Makime expectantly.

"Well if recall correctly...my first words were 'Would you two just fight it out or fuck it out', not the best opening gambit." Makime frowns and rubs her chin, "I was a weaver once...was always interested in odd patterns, things to work into the silk. I had been trying to record one such pattern that had by happenstance been formed on the wall...until one of them screamed loud enough to splotch my notes. I was...upset."

"To answer your question yes, I got them to agree to yell at me. Three young fools screaming at each other. Or really two screaming and myself trying to get the argument to just stop. And talk them down before someone fell and broke something." She waved it off, "They did finally come down though, by jumping and nearly hurting themselves before stomping off in opposite directions."

Satsuki was absolutely shocked that Lady Makime would say something so uncouth, and in fact said it to them right now that it came from her lips!
Clearly I misunderstood this auntie earlier! She also didn't like the thought of what an upset Makime would be like.

"I am somehow not surprised at the outcome. It does sound very much like those two," she chuckled warmly. "Mom never told me that story! Neither did Anjing or Sora."

"I'll definitely need to write it down later." Nao giggled.

"Of course they didn't, it's not exactly something that paints them in a good light," Makime answered as she continued at pace, "There...two bits of wisdom today. We were all young and stupid once. Remember that any time you think you are being clever."

"But I am always clever," the young woman said with a wide grin. "I think uncle Sora once said something about being young and stupid too, but that young goes away and stupid usually remains. Not that I think that applies to everyone."

Hikaru had gone back to frowning thoughtfully. "I must admit, I have trouble imagining Jiyo Sora-sama behaving in such a way. The path that took him from-" Hikaru grimaced, "-pissing on a wall built by a Kami, to rescuing another and advising the Emperor must have been a truly strange one. I suppose a lot has changed in the last twenty-five years."

"I was a weaver once boy." Makime remarked, sparing a glare back, "A great many things have changed since the Kami descended and chose one among them to lead."

Satsuki nodded. "Yeah... mom says she was a goatherder and storykeeper with the Ayakashi before she met the Kami. My maternal grandfather is still around and he tells lots of stories of the time before their arrival - he worked with leather and fibers to make armor to protect the tribe from dangers, even if they were few."

"But judging from you, lady Makime, I'd say Akodo made a good choice in who to advice him and help him lead."

"Mom spent her youth trying to hide from the dead." Nao said.

"My mother was young when she joined Lady Doji." Hikaru said. "I believe she was learning to work with wood? I'm not sure." Hikaru shook his head. "She does not often speak of her life in the Seppun. She considers herself a Crane."

He did not return Makime's glare.