The Day of Thunder

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju was having a pleasant dream. The sails on his ship bore the symbol of the jellyfish as the did the sails of the boats near him. He had done it.

[Chuchu]

Goju was having a pleasant dream. The sails on his ship bore the symbol of the jellyfish as the did the sails of the boats near him. He had done it.

The sea, calm and inviting, cradles his vessels like a mother, gently rocking each in time to his heartbeat; the air is fresh, the sky bright, and everything in the world is as it should rightly be. Half-real sailors tend to the ship's every need, smooth as smooth can be, letting Goju lean back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Thunk.

Soft at first, the sound of fleshy bodies against the ship's hull soon cannot be ignored. Concerned cries rise from the crew as several men stop to peer down at the source.

The sky darkens. The sea, darkening with it, offers only the light pink-and-lavender bodies of jellyfish, which bloom across the black expanse of the choppy water. The lands of the Spider behind Hisomu Goju fade as a fog swallows the world he knows and loves before setting its jaws on his fleet. Before him the green-sky roils. Heavy is the air, like lead in his lungs, like shackles. The animal part of his mind recognizes first that something is on the horizon.

The silhouette of a nezumi breaks upon the clouds of the storm above, great and terrible, a rainbow of light shining in an arc behind its obscured face. It dwarfs the fleet. The shaman -- oh, he will be blessed if it is only a shaman -- looms ahead.


(IRL example of a Brocken spectre :3)

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju tenses up and looks around for a way out and sees nothing (literally). So, he calms himself and shouts out, "What do you want?"

[Chuchu]

"What do you want?"

"Are you alright?" A high-pitched voice calls out. Slowly the great shadow on the clouds diminishes until its source is revealed -- a tiny nezumi. A child. Walking on the water, or, rather, skipping, careful not to step on any jellyfish. "There's a big storm on the way, it just hasn't hit you yet!"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

A child, but still a shaman. Goju still considered them a threat, though he showed no aggression. "Aye. A storm is always coming." He still watched the way a mouse watches a cat.

[Chuchu]

"No! It's a big one! A scary one," Her voice softens, unsure how to explain it, or, perhaps, hitting upon some unseen barrier only a Dreamwalker understands. "But this one is bad too. Do you want help? I could send you somewhere else, if you'd like, or you could make yourself go. Just don't forget the big storm when you go!"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju looks around and looks at the short Nezumi and realizes something. "This is a dream, but you are not a part of it. Who are you? Are the one who...?" Goju doesn't finish the sentence. Whether it is because of the pain or that he doesn't want the Nezumi to is a question he isn't 100% on.

[Chuchu]

The choppy waters begin to grow fierce, though the little shaman keeps her space calm as she continues to advance, careful not to step on any of the roiling jellyfish swarming the waters... until... Goju's words give her pause and for a brief, flashing moment, she unleashes a sixth sense in a vain attempt to discern more. She is a child, but not an ignorant one; perhaps this human has been cursed in some way, and if so, it would be wise to learn more...

Name Lore: presence of Name magic | 8k3 ⇒ 30

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju watches the Nezumi, still unsure if it is friend or foe.

((Info in PM.))

[Chuchu]

The shaman regards him neutrally before closing her eyes and twirling on the surface of the water. Thin waves whorl around her small body to carry her and the jellyfish unnaturally to Goju's vessel, the nezumi stepping carefully onto the boat as the water retreats. The waves grow wild in her absence, rocking the boat enough to almost knock her tiny body over, and she squeaks before scampering on all fours closer to Goju. Thunder peals make the little nezumi fluff up. She looks highly undignified, especially this up close, so small as she is.

"My Name is Great Number," Chuchu -- though undoubtedly it is a shorter part of her true Name, as shamans are wont to carefully guard such things -- "And your Name is much younger than it should be. Did you change it?"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju regards her carefully. "I apparently offended one like you." The storm was a threat, but the shaman was a bigger threat in his eyes. Was she mocking him? Or did she not realize? She was smaller than most Nezumi? Could she be a young shaman? Of course, this was a dream. It could be a trick.

Goju decided, at least for now, to treat her as she presented herself. So, he gave further explanation so she understood. "So, that Name was lost, and I had to take a new one."

[Chuchu]

Up close, her age is more apparent; Chuchu doesn't have the chunky ears and floppy tail of a nezumi pup, but she's still very young, young enough to still leap like a grasshopper at frightful sounds or unexpected movement.

Her brow furrows. It was as she worried, and yet... he should be in much, much worse shape. To lose your Name is to lose everything and waste away. What happened to this man, and what should be done about it? When the storm has raged itself into nothingness, this will be dealt with, she decides.

"Which Nametaker did this to you? Do you know?" Her fur bristles further as her ears flatten against her skull.

But lightning shatters the sky and suddenly Chuchu's jumped over to hug a mast as thunder follows. She doesn't like how the boat's violently rocking, either. Her tail tightens around the mast as she forces her eyes open. "Your dream's too scary!"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju shrugs and speaks louder due to the increasing storm. "I don't know. I was drunk. I don't even know what I did." He looks around. "Trust me. There's scarier stuff than this." He tries to picture his crew doing their duties, ensuring the boat survives the storm.

[Chuchu]

"I still don't like it!" She wails. "Calm your heart! Please! This storm is yours to conquer!"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju closes his eyes and concentrates. They are in a room in Nezumi lands. It was where Goju had waken up with no Name. "Better?"

The storm still rages outside. You can't stop the storm, but you can manage it.

[Chuchu]

"Better?"

She flops onto the floor like a fish and then relaxes -- Chuchu doesn't recognize the room, but it's familiar, and that's comforting.

"Mmhmm," The ratling nods. And then she hits him with another question -- "Where were you when you lost your Name?"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

She flops onto the floor like a fish and then relaxes -- Chuchu doesn't recognize the room, but it's familiar, and that's comforting.

"Mmhmm," The ratling nods. And then she hits him with another question -- "Where were you when you lost your Name?"

"Here? Maybe? I don't know. Like I said, I was drunk. I don't remember anything from that night." Goju shrugs. "I did wake up here though."

[Chuchu]

"Hmmmm," She murmurs, shakily getting up to peek around and see if she can guess. Chuchu pauses though to look up at Goju. "You are very clever, to survive as you have." There's a gentleness -- the gentleness of a child unsure of how to comfort an adult, but wanting to try somehow.

Carefully she begins to investigate.

(Should we get a DM in on this?)

[Hisomu Tadaka]

"Just a lot luck and a lot of help."

Goju senses something. "Please don't." Goju thinks of how to put it. "When my existence was wiped out, the people I cared about were happier. I lived a life of dishonor and selfishness and caused them nothing but pain even if I didn't mean too. Besides..." Bec careful Goju "It could be a problem if my original Name was restored. I was someone of importance in the Empire. If it was discovered what happened to me, some would feel the need to punish the Nezumi as a matter of honor. I don't want that. When the Emperor moved the Crab to the north, it was because he wanted peace."

He sighed. "I want Goju to be a man who doesn't hurt those he cares about. Whether the shaman who took my Name was just in doing so or not, it was probably for the best. Goju is a better man than Tadaka ever was."

((Probably too late to do anything that would involve rolling.))

[Chuchu]

He sighed. "I want Goju to be a man who doesn't hurt those he cares about. Whether the shaman who took my Name was just in doing so or not, it was probably for the best. Goju is a better man than Tadaka ever was."

Listening intently, she watches him with sad eyes. Chuchu blinks a few times before fluffing her face with her hands, trying to hide it.

"...being an adult sounds painful..." Sniffle. "If this is the Name you want... may I strengthen it, at least?"