The Day of Thunder

To assuage all his complicated man feelings, Ranmaru sought out a particular woman to help parse out his choice of words. She hadn't been particularly kind to him but she also seemed wise because she was, well, old. His bout of self-reflection did not include covering up his chest, though. He still strutted around the Crab Camp with his muscles out for people to gawk at.

Tai's carefully working up the fire, keeping it low within its ring of stones to avoid this wind blowing sparks onto tents. There tea heating, just getting some steam on as she boils the heck out of the aged bits. She glances up as the strange Dragon with a shirt allergy approaches.

"Mornin.' Lose your way in the fog? Main camp's a bit that way." She waves off in the correct direction, punctuating the gesture with a yawn.

"A Dragon is never lost. At least, that's what the big man himself likes to say." Ranmaru scratched the back of his head. "I was looking for you, to be specific. You seem wise due to being uh... Older than I am." His mom did say that a lot of women didn't like to be called old old.

"hmm. Well I am that...older, at least. I'll go out on a limb and say wiser for sure." Her blackened grin seemed cheerful enough, or maybe sinister, like everything else here. "Well, pull up a trunk or rock or somethin' and sit on that side to block the wind a bit then and we'll get to why you're lookin' for me."

Ranmaru took the comments in stride since he had, in fact, come to her for advice. As instructed, he positioned himself to help keep the fire lit. "You know all about mystic stuff. I didn't think the nightmares would bother me... and a lot haven't. Last night, though, it's really been sticking to me." He pressed his lips together, deep in thought. It really was taking up a lot of his brain cells. "It kind of relates to our conversation on the way here. I mean, I've really tried to help people but I think I'm going about everything wrong."

This was just about the time when someone might expect him to have realized the merit to a lot of what women do. Well, he did... kind of, but what he would say next certainly didn't show it. "How should I phrase it better? Like women are smaller so they should leave fighting to the men but a lot of people get really angry over hearing that."

Tai sits quietly to listen, offering her full attention to the boy, who seemed like he'd been thinking *something* over, bless his soft head.

When he finishes, she just looks at him, silently for a long moment, blinking slowly once, like an owl, as she fully registers the absurdity. Good thing the tea was still in the pot or she'd likely have sprayed a mouthful on him as she laughs, slapping her knee. "Oh boy, I bet they do get angry. Box your ears maybe?"

"You've seen Lady Anjing, who ain't much taller'n me. She spars with Hida, child. Biggest kami of the bunch. Try tellin' her she oughtn't and see if she leaves you any teeth in your head." She reaches for the tea, calloused hands not caring about the heat of the handle as she pours her cup full.

"You think the rats or trolls cared how big we were when they'd come raidin'? Another spear to defend your home is another spear. It's madness to tell half your folk to sit on their hands and hope the other half are enough to hold the monsters off." She lifts the pot and her eyebrows as she looks up at the Dragon. "Tea?"

Well, laughter was just about what he expected. It wasn't fun for him to sit through, he made that clear with how much he shifted about, but he had come with the intention of hearing her out. "But surely Hida is holding back with her. And the men too, I'll admit that much, but perhaps more? I mean they are married..." Although he wouldn't want his own theoretical husband to go that easy on him. Maybe if he was super large... Oh my.

"There's a reason why I didn't go ask her." Ranmaru crossed his arms, pouty like a young child. "But I would want to apologize sometime later for agitating." Certainly not for believing what he believed.

Talk of raids, though, made him think much on it. "Hmm... Yes it does make sense to have everyone be able to defend the home." He started holding out fingers, trying to put it all together. Were warriors the same as guardians? An invasion by some monster wasn't really much of a war.

"But... Hmm..." This was taking a lot of energy on his part. "Yeah, tea would be good." Women usually made good tea!

Tai picks up a cup from those nestled along the outer edge of the fire ring and pours a cup to hand over. "If we're fightin' to protect our homes, we'll fight to take new lands or handle these corrupted creatures." She levels her gaze at him over the edge of her own cup as she drinks.

"Look at Lady Otaku. She'd probably knock you into next week too...or ask Tsubame to do it for her." She clucks her tongue. "There's simply no reason to fuss about what someone's got between their legs as some kind of indicator of what they're good at, you know. Met one of the villagers yesterday. He's a fine artist and father. His wife's the warrior. And seems quite good at it."

"Using a horse is definitely cheating in this example," Ranmaru said. "If I wanted to ride a horse, then I bet I would be pretty good at it." The story about the male artist, however, was particularly horrifying to him. "But she isn't of our caste, is she? She just... fights?" He scratched the back of his head. "And I thought they wouldn't have much time for art, what with all the farming and stuff they have to do."

A light lit up in Ranmaru's head, the wrong sort. "And think about it! This village has all sorts of wrong things happening to it. What if their relationship is a symptom or even a cause?"

Tai shakes her head. "There's nothin' about them as caused all this. The realm of dreams is bleedin' into this one, and the corruption of Jigoku sneaks in through that realm. They're normal enough. There's others messin' things up here." She frowns, head tilting a bit as she thinks. "What's a caste? More of whatever weird thoughts you've been puttin' together?"

"I dunno, I think that the leakage might have caused some people to do minor weird things..."

Ranmaru wasn't quite sure where that thought of castes had come from. There were talks among some clans about hierarchies and stuff but nothing too absolute.

But he was going to run with it. "There's a difference between self-teaching in some random village and learning in a proper place. Besides, it only makes sense that the people who fight are to be honored the most."