The Day of Thunder

[Saru Shang]

Shang gave a slow nod of her head at the explanation of the penguin, still not entirely sure about what to conjure regarding this animal. She supposed maybe they were just tightly-knit songbirds with black and white feathers? Maybe thick feathers like some birds in the mountains?

"I am sure that we've found ourselves needing to move cohesively when many of us have come from different places with little planning here. Add to that fact that some people have been at odds with each other, as well as how they feel about the villages. It's likely made for some awkward operating apparatus without all of us being on the same page. The construction of the defensive hasn't been tended to very much and we've only started to work on the wishes to Doji-Kami," she said before her eyes widening in concern. "Now! If you will, imagine us handling fire! I'm sure some people would complain that the fire wasn't making enough smoke or argue where we could situate the fire best for the villager's peace of mind!"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Hmm. Yeah, you might be right. There's no need for the darkness to have any direct influence here. We've reached a point, in stress, in fatigue, in mistrust, where, was someone proposing to drink tea in the morning, people would be at each other throat with the most insane arguments about which kind of tea and how hot it should be, and in the end no tea would be brewed.

I guess that, if we feel a fire is needed, we just have to make a fire, other people be damned."

[Saru Shang]

"Some could say that this is the darkness is already at influence here but working in subtle ways to get under our skin, to stress us out with fatigue and even questioning reality. But is this darkness just a convenience strawman for problems already ingrained in some of us? Or did you mean the literal darkness?" She said with an unsure glance at Kai.

"That's the issue with fire and an argument surrounding it. Suppose people get up in arms about the fire being around, then proceed to want to put it out, move the fire or start their own fires. Then in turn start causing other fires or lighting things on fire. That's a bit silly in thought but more or less makes the point, I'd think."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"I tend to use the word darkness to describe Jigoku's... Will? Influence? Force? I'm not sure there's a perfect word in any language for that. That part of the realm that reaches into other realms and try to remake them into its own image. Not actual darkness but likewise intangible and that can be pushed back with the help of physical things, like jade.

Though I guess the word is confusing as it's a thing that feeds on our inherent inner... darkness. As in, our fears.

Ironically, that extremely strict hierarchical system seems to have only increased the fear of being powerless less you constantly flaunt your authority. People seem terrified of being reduced to nothing if they don't make their own fire, that has to be bigger than all other fires."

[Saru Shang]

Shang shook her head. "No, the word darkness is fine! I suppose I found myself weaving in and out, wondering if we were talking about the proverbial or literal! My apologies about that. But I suppose I found darkness tied to the night, then tied to sleep and sleep isn't an entirely great place. It also ties to the reported intruders in some of the tents too, so that kind also ties into literal darkness hiding them and making things all the more murkier. I meant the fire as in literal fire earlier. But I would imagine the metaphor fire exists more in ourselves than what I'm trying to feed right now. Which also, yes...I am also trying to feed too. So, potentially one and the same, I've just realized!"

With that, she bent down and took a more reasonable-sized log to toss into the campfire.

"Surely, a conflagration is a sign of life, especially now? That said, fire can also threaten to consume everything if people think that some people have more right to their fires than others. To say that all fire is the same seems wrong, however. You can paint things in broad strokes."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"I expect you people to have the best expertise with fire since the very symbol of your Empire is a bird on fire.

I'm however surprised it wasn't more represented in this venture. Learning the secret of fire was what allowed that were then scared monkeys to face the dangers of the world. Without fire each night is dark and full of terrors for creatures whose senses are so damped by the, literal this time, darkness.

Though I guess the danger of people burning down the whole village if given a torch was very real."

[Saru Shang]

"When did monkeys ever play with fire?" She blinked momentarily at that point before continuing on. "The invention of fire is vital as it is dangerous. I'm sure our usage of fire allows us to cook food, make sake, and have light in the dark nights. However, it is capable of undoing everything that we've built too. Kind of a strange double-sided sword but more that one fosters and the other destroys. I suppose the same could be said with water...."

She shook her head as she preemptively grabbed another log. "But I digress, I think would feel more at ease if everyone didn't think they were an expert at how to use fire. I suppose you speak of the Imperials? I have only spoken to a few of them in passing but I'm not so sure if they want to wield that flame either. Literally, I mean. I suppose they have done their duty to foster the Empire. Although, I suppose the analogy might be right that they could undo what they've helped made possible."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Monkeys have played with fire since Spider has caught a piece of the sun in their net and gifted it to them so they could survive the cold after they've lost their fur due to one of their previous pranks. Obviously.

And, as is a recurring theme these days: The wanting has little weight compared to the needing. If a torchbearer is needed against the darkness, the most apt person to carry a torch will have to take up that mantle, regardless of personal desires."

[Saru Shang]

"A monkey without its fur?" She chortled a little at that thought before shaking her head to dismiss that thought in her head. "That would be a very fun look for them but good on them that they managed to get some fire in exchange. I suppose they could consider hunting for some fur too."

She tapped a finger on her chin in thought. "I suppose in the same case as the Thunders, supposedly. Although, I would like to think that these people would find themselves worthy and present themselves in front of destiny as the torchbearer. To be told that you're going to be a torchbearer just doesn't seem to put enough romanticism in the gesture! Less selflessness to rise to the occasion and more that you were simply ordered to do a job! Do you suppose the Thunders might just find themselves of the same mind and step forward just cause we needed them?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Imagine someone who has all the qualities to be the torchbearer. But their not as competent hierarchical superior thinks they will do a better job at it. The system as is makes stepping forward quite complicated for our ideal champion. They might even rationalize that they are indeed not the right person for the job, because humans like to use flawed logic to convince themselves of things that make their life easier.

Now, if someone out of the system, like a monk, steps in and says 'You, you are Torchbearer; this is the will of the Heavens', it solves all the issues. No conflict will brew between the two samurai, and the best person will be sent to do the job.

It is always the Trickster job to ensure the story goes the best way, by tricking the protagonists into assuming their role. Long ago, Spider would have tricked the lazy and arrogant Tiger into nonetheless protecting the weaker animals of the forest. Nowadays, little teachers that aren't so little ensure the best samurai will protect humanity.

Heroes save the world. But it's the storyteller that makes it so heroes exist."

[Saru Shang]

"There is obviously a hierarchical system in the greater Kami Empire but when we're so remote with so many leaders in one place but no one is more in charge than the other, I wouldn't think that we're in a situation where at the mercy of being awarded the role by direction. I suppose, if the daimyos and Emperor's runaway daughter really wanted to push their authority, they could...But I am thinking more of an unspoken realization of fate or destiny that makes it so. A monk might be the closest element of that..." She sighed softly. And where was that monk now?

"Ultimately, you are right. It is through conjuring and 'deception' that we could fabricate some of these heroic figures. We should think it is very foolish to send a few mortals to do work only Fortunes and Kami might be capable of but we have been told it will be so, and it will be so when the time comes." She said before tossing some branches into the fire. "Anyone can feed a flame, I suppose."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Can they really? The more human I become, the more I realize how much Tiger had to play according to a certain script.

Likewise, the Sun is the strongest deity there is, and yet she cannot stray from her usual course. And I also think I heard your princess complain alongside the lines of 'no one has less freedom than the Emperor'.

I don't think the greater powers are happy with entrusting the fate of the next millennium to meager mortals. I do believe however they don't have much of a choice. That's how the game must be played, even if it's a skewed game.

Thus why tricksters are so good at it."

[Saru Shang]

"Well, I'd like to think that humans have that capability in each of them, at least," she said with an open shrug. It was clear she wasn't entirely sure but this was more a sense of optimism than wanting to be weighed down by the facts of reality. Or would that be whimsy, coming from the ephemeral Kai? Who's to say?

"I suppose life does assign us certain roles that we must play in a play, much like your Tiger role, it seems. However, we must also still be able to play within a play, right?" She chuckled, knowingly laughing at her own joke. "But more seriously, the play is still being written as we speak and I'd like to think that there could be some changes. Not to say that we would deviate so greatly from what the writers intended. There is the idea of destiny that makes it all the more trickier, perhaps? Making us think that we've gone off-script and we're taking destiny into our own hands when we're not. Don't you think that sometimes we do feel more empowered when we take matters into our own hands when it might be the hand of others?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"I would say destiny is not so much a thing that exists than a human attempt at making senses of phenomena incomprehensible when operating with senses restricted to viewing time as linear, with causes preceding consequences.

In the dream, where the before and the after are muddy concepts, it wasn't uncommon for something in the future to have consequences in the past. A bit like when a story folds upon itself, with flashbacks, flashforwards, scenes in different periods answering each other.

Likewise I would say destiny doesn't make our choices and actions any less relevant. Kinda the other way around. It's what we decide to do at the critical crossroads of our life that impact not only our future, but also our past. We aren't grand because of destiny. We build a strong destiny because we are grand."

---

[sorry for the delay, my focus was on the D7 combat]

[Saru Shang]

Shang gave Kai a big blink at first before giving her a few slow nods, enthusiastically digesting her words. "Hm! I don't think I've really viewed it as such before. That's rather inspiring and well put, especially with the line at the end! Perhaps that's something I could consider using in the future in my storytelling or speech work. That said, I'm not entirely sure that something so whimsical as a reverse cause could be so easily grasped by many people. We've recently come from a time where things were so nebulous prior to the arrival of the Kami, supposedly. To think that there isn't a clear top-down order of things could have some people questioning if there's a semblance of order in the universe to begin with."


(OOC: No worries!)

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Sure. Part of the point of stories is to take all this incomprehensible stuff – I suspect even the wisest flying dragons are often puzzled by the mechanisms of the cosmos – and to make it into a coherent narrative from which understandable gems of truth can emerge.

It's not about the exact, mathematical, details of how heroes come to be. It's about how, in time of need, there will always be heroes."

[Saru Shang]

She nodded a few times at an earlier point. "Right, I do believe we are returning to the point of conjuring the fantastical and impossible so that the truth can be born. Creating the unreal so that it can be born into reality. It probably won't be grasped on the first time, like most lessons but constantly retold and given in time, it may be real!"

"What is your calling if not an inspirational speaker, Kai-san?" She chuckled at the question.

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"An excellent question. To which I have no answer yet. From the moment I appeared in this world I have been dealing with the urgent concern of the end of the world. What will happen next will be a new story, a new beginning.

As for you, will you be returning to the mountains of Dragon? I seem to have understood humans have grown very territorial and sedentary in the last years."

[Saru Shang]

"Most humans..." She paused and narrowed her eyes as she reconsidered using the same word choice as Kaija. "People, I mean. You know, it was just a generation ago when we supposedly wandered the land to hunt and forage for food, sometimes for warmer weather. Sure, there were some settlements here and there but I'm just saying that some wandering happened. Especially so with the smaller tribes and communes. It was only recently when the Kami arrived, that education thrived, the land was more settled, borders were drawn and people found a niche along the Clans. As the ways are standardized, we found fewer reasons to move about when we've come more secure and learned."

Shang became more pensive with her expression. "That said, I've kind of wondered if those ways are a fading memory. Heaven knows that my parents are pretending those days down exist, now that they're with the Dragon Clan, despite not knowing how to read in the slightest or passing adherence to the philosophy. It was finally home, a home. But how about when home was just about everywhere? So, prior to all of this, I had been already making my way down the mountains. For the purposes of inspiration for my livelihood and educating who I can, of course. So to answer the question, I still have a bit of wandering to do. Perhaps, with some company too if the Fortunes will it."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Oh, you are the Dragon clan samurai the rumor says is getting married today then? Congratulations."