The Day of Thunder

Norikage was in the forest outside of the village. People used forests for a lot of reasons, to hunt, to gather wood and herbs, to venerate the small gods who live there. Forests could be dangerous, he knew, they could even be mysterious.

This was completely different. It was not within his ken, he knew. This place felt dangerous, and not in the manner in which an animal may threaten you for getting too close, but a different, much more sinister danger. The danger of something with intent far beyond it's own safety.

Crunching along game trails, he decided to stalk more slowly, more quietly. His own instincts warning him he might be watched or detected in some other way. Something was here, he couldn't put a name to it, and that worried him far more than anything else.

Then, he heard a whisper. Norikage became completely still, senses searching for the source. It had been too close, but there was nothing here, he was certain. He had to be. It was just his imagination. Clearly.

He decided perhaps he should climb a tree, and try to get a more advantageous view. Yes. Scouting.

Climbing the tree reveals... fog. The forest disappears into fog as far as the eye can see (which isn't far because... fog). He can see some mountains outline vaguely in the distance, maybe? And the bright light of Lady Sun above, though even she is having difficulty penetrating the cloud cover above.

Onnatagu's Beard this place is not right.

Norikage had seen thick fog before, but not so bad in the afternoon, even in a mountainous region. This wasn't it. Not it at all. He stayed in the tree, relaxing on a branch, feeling relatively safe in his position as he considered his experience in this region.

This village, the region itself, was obscuring something important.

It does feel relaxing up here, though, despite the wrongness. Like it's just him, drifting in a sea of clouds. No world below or above.

Yes, that was right. Nice a relaxing in the creepy forest you can't see the end of, where Lady Sun's light doesn't reach. Nothing wrong about that at all.

He leaned up against the tree trunk, swinging his legs off the branch he rested on and listened to the forest. Was it still too quiet, or was that just him?

After a time, the silence was broken but muttering curses... and then a woman's face, followed by the rest of the woman, seemed to appear out of the fog in a nearby tree.

Yukara was muttering as she rubbed her palms on the legs of her loose pants, cursing the beetles which had taken up residence in her bag and spooked her when she opened it, now she was picking them out one by one and tossing them away into the mist. She didn't seem to have noticed the scorpion as she fussed with her bag in the crook of a few branches, almost as if trying to find out how comfortable it might be for a nap.

"I don't have enough food to share with you little pests... go eat moss, or whatever you normally do..."

"Plants, usually...beetles love fruit seeds too", the Scorpion said from his own tree as he looked around. "How was the river after I left? Having any trouble remembering?" He sounded amused.

For her part, Yukara didn't truly jump. Unlike a cat seeing a cucumber, she merely froze for a moment, as if attempting to parse what she had just experienced into the correct category of threat or harmless noise.

After just the briefest pause, she cast her gaze about, until she saw the Scorpion.

"I am not... the river remained very wet."

She furrowed her brow. "What are you doing up here? Is this your spot? I can move."

An eyebrow quirked. "I am not lord of this forest to claim a place of my own, no."

With an athletic roll off the branch, he landed safely on his feet.

"Ryoshun Yukara, you are as I recall", he said slightly amused. He found it funny to himself, now that he had someone to push all his fears onto, he was much more comfortable. "What brings you here?"

And now the Scorpion was below her, having jumped down a little. She quirked her head, and then crossed her legs, resting her chin on her hand, peering down at him.

"Was looking to see if any of the trees were particularly comfortable. Not had any luck so far though. All too gnarled and... occupied." She tossed another beetle.

"This forest is strange."

"Strange is a way you could say it", he agreed. "Wait until we stop talking...you might hear it."

And Norikage indeed stopped talking, standing silently, watching her face for a reaction.

"It?"

She furrowed her brow, but fell silent, listening.

So far she hadn't heard anything.

Anything at all.

That drew her attention fully, her gaze boring into the mist with a mixture of fury, fear, and hunger, before she composed herself.

"Was that what you listened for, Bayushi Norikage?"

Her voice was forced into a calm tone, but even a casual listener could detect the tension in it.

"At the edge of your perception, you heard that howl, doesn't seem real does it?" He leaned back against the tree he leapt from. "The river, the dreams abating, this forest...my guess is they're trying to placate something, or don't understand what it is they're venerating with this festival."

"That howl... sounded real to me."

Taking a steadying breath, she continued, "Though it does ask a fair few questions about this village. I've been in places going bad... going... mad... and none of them were as bizarre as this place."

"Shame most of us can say we've been somewhere like that these days", Norikage remarked. "And it sounded real? Suit your own senses, I guess."

"Maybe it just sounded like something I have heard before."

Her expression remained troubled, but she turned her gaze back to Norikage.

"I am sorry to hear it's been going bad everywhere - I had hoped it was only in the desperate little hamlets that dot the foothills. Places always one bad season from extinction already. I am tired of chasing monsters that used to be people. I pray that whatever this strange village is, it truly does hold a solution... an answer to this madness. I do not wish to grow old in a world where nightmares can escape from our dreams."

Bold of you to assume you could grow old in a world like that.

"I'm not one for it either", the Scorpion replied and folded his arms. "But like you said by the river, maybe there's a reason Shinsei brought everyone here, and not just him having a good feeling about it."

"I would assume so - a wise man would not go to such lengths for no purpose at all."

She sighed, and extricated another bug from her bag, before hopping down gracefully.

"I do not believe these trees will make a good resting place. I will have to continue searching. And you, Norikage, did you find what you wanted out here, or are you also left bereft?"