The Day of Thunder

[Togashi Satsuki]

Having seen Ai earlier that day at the morning-meeting, Satsuki knew that the last remaining item she got from her aunt was definitively intended for her cousin. Having checked around a bit in town, she returned back to camp to look for Ai there, moving around the tents that looked like they belonged to the Crane.

"Ai-chan?" she called out, and tried to not be too loud about it (but she still was loud).

[Nanzi Ai]

Ai had been cleaning the tent as it was making sure not to mess with her guest’s things but also wanting it to be homely and welcoming. She emerged and said warmly “Honored Cousin, I am elated to have our paths cross once again though I wish it was somewhere else and not on the eve of the Turning of the Wheel. All the same your face is welcome.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

"There you are! And being all dramatic and poetic," she laughed warmly and offered her cousin a hug. "I'm glad to see you too again, and knowing more of our family is here. Was your travel here safe?"

[Nanzi Ai]

"Just me and the road, but it was pleasant enough."

"Much safer than what Anjing-obasan experienced for sure," she responded. "And you?"

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Wow," she was a little stunned at how tough her cousin was. "It's uncertain times we live in. Very courageous of you to travel all by yourself. I traveled here with Genji-kun, as well as Doji Hikaru, Hantei Akito, and Lady Makime. We had an uneventful journey, which is good news in itself."

Satsuki held up a hand, "but I have a specific reason for seeking you out today, cousin! Other than saying hi to family, that is." The hand then moved into the satchel at her hip, and withdrew an object wrapped in cloth. "It's for you. From your mother."

[Nanzi Ai]

"Wow," she was a little stunned at how tough her cousin was. "It's uncertain times we live in. Very courageous of you to travel all by yourself. I traveled here with Genji-kun, as well as Doji Hikaru, Hantei Akito, and Lady Makime. We had an uneventful journey, which is good news in itself."

“Of course it was you that would abscond Doji’s favored son,” she teased.

“But I am pleased that you had a safe journey, all things said and done, the Crab ran into a horror and chased it off and I, well, took the opportunity to follow up leads on the monster that murdered my honored uncle. Nothing to show for it but I have not given up,” she said honestly.

Satsuki held up a hand, "but I have a specific reason for seeking you out today, cousin! Other than saying hi to family, that is." The hand then moved into the satchel at her hip, and withdrew an object wrapped in cloth. "It's for you. From your mother."

The game was upon them and her cousin played the first hand. Ai replied warmly, “It would be untoward to accept such a thing from an honored cousin, when your presence is gift enough from my Honored Mother.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Abscond? Hardly," she chuckled a bit awkwardly. It was a complicated issue... "Yeah, I heard about the troubles the Crab encountered. Unfortunately, I feel like it's a sign of things to come, if nothing is done to stop this evil soon. Like that monster yeah."

Satsuki moved on quickly from that. "Oh, don't be like that. Your mother is watching over us, even with everything that's happening, and she wants you safe. That means much more than my presence!"

[Nanzi Ai]

“Dearest cousin your presence shines like our Honored Grandmother, my Honored Mother has done enough just bringing us together after all these years apart. I cannot abuse your generosity any further, surely you see why I must refuse,” she said politely and warmly.

[Togashi Satsuki]

"Quite the flatterer you are, comparing me to grandmother Sun," she smiled sheepishly over such a comparison. "But my father was very insistent when he said that she wanted us to have this with us, to be protected by the purity of grandmother sun. And I'd hate to let him down."

[Nanzi Ai]

"Togashi-ojisan said as much, then I cannot let him down, for the good of the family, I accept," she said kindly.

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki was relieved to have that social-dance out of the way, and gladly handed over the item with care. "How... how are you holding up, by the way? Our families are under a lot of stress these days, but none more so than yours, it feels like. Is there anything I can do for you?"

[Nanzi Ai]

“We endure,” she responded, kindly accepting the gift. “First there was Hadananzi… then the Harbinger… then the purges and now little sweet Hajime and all the rumors about his late father.”

“But the Empire is suffering, the wheel is turning, and I am both elated and saddened to have you here in this place.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

Rumors were rumors, and all they did was hide the truth, she thought bleakly. "Mom always said something along the lines of the family that holds together in the winter will stay warm, saying it was an old saying from her tribe she grew up in. Our families and our homes are beset on all sides, so we hold together, mhm?"

"Did you come here to answer this call of Thunders too, that Shinsei spoke of? I often had the impression he wasn't very popular with your honored father."

[Nanzi Ai]

“I think Dojihime has opted for the idea of closing ranks and shielding the family and clan. I suppose it has the same outcome,” she responded.

At the mention of Shinsei and destiny she responded, “He isn’t fond of the Little Teacher by any means but he respects powerful people and Shinsei can move the clans with a word. You have to respect that. I was raised on the story of the Thunders, the turning of the Wheel, and the Day of Thunder since his return from Hell… I was scarcely months old upon his return and already he decided that one of his children would of course be a Thunder.”

“We are in that sacred moment, cousin, the Day of Thunder is coming.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

"That sounds... intense. Growing up being told to be a hero, that is." Her parents were both more than fine with their children seeming to roam about trying to find their own paths in life, in comparison that seemed like free-roam parenting.

"Mm," Satsuki nodded, "I've heard that a few times, but I can feel it. It's what drew me to this place. I didn't follow Shinsei, but followed my own senses here. The air itself seems tense, like a bubble waiting to burst, you know."

She sighed a bit, still trying to wrap her head around everything that was happening, and was going to happen. "What did your honored father tell you of the Thunders, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Nanzi Ai]

“The Crane do nothing by half, dear cousin,” she said honestly. “We are the children of Gods made flesh, a normal life was never our destiny.”

She nodded at the request and said, “Creation operates in cycles, the turning of the wheel as it were as this cycle will repeat. The Day of Thunder has come before and will come again. The moment that champions of Ningen-do and Jigoku do battle for the fate of this realm, for Evil hungers for our world without end.”

“Champions are chosen to represent our realm, these are the Thunders and they do battle with the Champion of Jigoku. Father believes that Hisomu-ojisan was being molded into this when he punched through the world into hell but we saved him. This is something we have discussed at length with the Spider, but this is my best understanding of it.”

She finished with, “Jigoku has a new champion and that Champion is marshaling the forces of Yume-Jigoku against us. In this place. This moment. Even if we succeed, I do not believe we will survive the ordeal.”

[Togashi Satsuki]

She listened, nodding along as some of what Ai was saying was what she had heard other places too. It was good have it confirmed. "Mm, you're right. Great things seem to be expected of us."

"As for Jigoku... it is a jealous realm for certain, that wants nothing more than to corrupt. The fact that it has infiltrated the realm of dreams is frightening and impressive all at once - it speaks to the tenacity of our enemy. Ningen-do is at much at risk as Yume-do is." If Yume-do became corrupted for good, it would be the end of humanity and probably this realm too, as all living things dreamed to a certain extent.

"Why do you think we won't survive though?"

[Nanzi Ai]

"Nothing solid, just a feeling that many that have come will not leave this place," she said honestly.

[Togashi Satsuki]

She nodded again, understanding that sometimes a feeling was just a feeling... and sometimes more. "I hope that as many as possible will survive, and that we are victorious. I... really don't want people to die, to be honest."

"But there might be something to leaving this place though. I heard some say that they keep getting lost in the fog, trying to find their way out, and just end up back where they started."

[Nanzi Ai]

"We are destined to be here, we can't leave... there is no turning back now," she said warmly.