The Day of Thunder

There's a rustling the underbrush in the deepest part of the woods, just as the fog thickens past the point of being able to leave. Strangely, a creature only recognizable into the jungles of the Nezumi in the south stumbles out of the fog before taking a rest. It's injured, bleeding from what looks like an animal attack.

A surprisingly stealthy . . . . human . . . was the first to discover it.

"Well, what the fuck do we have here . . . . ?"

He looked around for any signs there had been a fight nearby. There was none of the 'walked into an eye level bush' shenanigans of a few days part on show here.

It's impossible to see into the fog where the creature stumbled out. The only signs of a struggle are its injuries and the blood it left in its short path from said fog.

Its eyes open slightly.

Hmm? A dreamer? Its nose lifts to sniff the air. I smell... nightmares here.

"You're a long way from home, little one . . . and a lot of the fuckers here will want to eat you."

He stayed his distance for now, thinking.

"Then again, something already tried to eat you . . . "

We try to eat it, it tries to eat us, it said, giving a mental sigh as it closed its eyes. At least it's tasty.

"It fucking speaks . . . ???"

He stood up and stared at it.

"OK you're not a fucking pig for sure . . . . what Realm are you from?"

A pig?! How dare you?! It opens its eyes, huffs indignantly... then lays down, tired and in pain. Yume-do. What Realm is this?

"Yume-do . . . . should have fucking known. This is Ningen-do allegedly, although your Realm seems to be bleeding in an awful fucking lot."

He sauntered closer.

"And I said you weren't a pig. So, what eats a dream eater? Sorry but I don't have any healing arts. Not part of the Kitsune skillset."

A swish of . . . tails would be seen by those that could see that kind of thing.

Ningen-do? How strange, it said, watching him.

The wounds will heal. Especially after tonight, if the smell in the air is any indication.

It narrowed its eyes. Well, your kind do walk among humans often enough. Should we pretend to be humans here?

"Probably for the best. The natives and all the visitors here are spooked enough by all the strange shit coming from your Realm to begin with. Good chance they might attack you if they find you like this."

He twirled the smoking pipe that he never, ever used for smoking around one hand.

"What mauled you anyway?"

Our Realm is the same as it's always been. That cancer trying to spread spits out all the weird stuff. It replied, seeming rather grumpy at the insinuation.

Strange shit, as you put it.

"Don't expect the humans to know the difference. Most of them know fuck all about the Realms. Something invades Yume-do and splashes shit all over Ningen-do, they're just going to take the easy route and blame your kind as the source. Even when it's right in their fucking faces they try to explain things away how they want it to be rather than how it is."

He kept twirling the pipe.

"More than a few of them must have figured out what I am by now, but not a single one actually does anything about it."

Ugh... That's a fact. Humans don't like anything they can't understand.

Must be. I've seen both your faces before. Someone nearby is worrying about you, it observes.

"About me? Fuck, yes. They should be. I'm going to find that fucking crow and pull out every feather one by one before I roast him. And if it's not that fucker then it's Sora and that just makes me laugh. Or it's the Fifth and then it's her problem, not mine."

He laughed out loud.

"Worried about me. Ha."

Worried for your safety, stupid, it replied with a roll of its eyes.

"My safety . . . . . ?"

He looked incredulous.

"Me?? Fuck, only Boss man cares about me and he's miles away. Or at least he better be and have not dragged his blind ass all the way here."

It shrugged. I didn't look too deeply. Love tastes awful. I just ate the worry.

He blinked and carried on as if he hadn't heard that.

"Still haven't told me what the fuck slashed you up like that."

That cancer, it said. We bite it, it bites us.

"Uh Jigoku filth? I'd be fucking careful of that. Some of it lingers."

He looked out into the forest.

"Is it in the fucking fog? Is that why I can't open a portal to my own Realms?"