The Day of Thunder

[Otaku]

"It helps," Otaku admits to Tai with a slight smile. "My mother's man and my little brother practice magic the old way along with the new, too. Little cuts from sharp knives... I've seen many." Scars, too, as bad or worse than Tai's, though she's too polite to mention that part.

"Hidden corruption," she shakes her head. "That could explain some things we saw in the plains. People who seemed well enough, until..." she shrugs resignedly.

[Kaiu Tai]

snip

Tai nods. "It's awful. Between that and folks raging out of dreams to do terrible things? It's hard for folks to trust. To be close as they were before all this. I've seen those who keep themselves closed off, to avoid caring too much for what they might destroy."

"How many homes were ruined? This whole space is too much to guard without proper walls. But can't just give up the whole fields if they want to eat after it's all over."

[Makime]

Makime's jaw tightened a fraction at the old Crab's words. Her own thoughts elsewhere for a few seconds.

"I am not sure it is enough to guard with walls. They should have turned converted a building or two into a makeshift fort to fallback to, and had spotters watching for trouble. When you have small numbers and a large area you have to condense yourself or risk being killed off in small groups."

[Otaku]

"Many of the fields are still fallow, at least," Otaku shrugs. "The beasts running before the wolves damaged some houses. Lives are what matter most, though, not land."

She sighs softly. "Everything else, we can rebuild if we win here. If we are defeated, tomorrow's harvest won't matter."