The Day of Thunder

Sora, having had a pretty miserable time the night before, and hearing ominous early reports of some sort of fight at the Sleeping Garden, tried to re-center himself, sitting in front of his tent.

As so often happened, he failed to really clear his mind, but he was certainly giving it the old college try.

A familiar voice came from behind a nearby tree.

“You look worse than normal…”

"I'm always looking to exceed my limitations, Kumori."

He glanced toward the tree with a wan smile.

"It appears I have succeeded."

She was already leaning on the tree when he turned to see her.

“So… dreams, huh?”

He chuckled.

"What else? I mean, aside from all the other concerns we all have, of course..."

Not far off there is a young man that's been around the camp performing some morning exercises. As he does so there is an almost rippling shimmer in the air around him, mostly transparent, that looks like his body is being wrapped in water. As he comes back to center he stands to his full height and bows his head in respect for the Void dragon that just touched his spirit.

He moves closer to the fire but seems to just be seeking warmth, "Last night was a bit rough going for a bit. Mind if I warm up a bit? Mine went out last night."

He bows respectfully to both of them, clearly understanding their importance even if not their specific names and details.

D4 EM, Touch the Void Dragon, Meditation/Void | 7k4 ⇒ 29 (TN: 15) +1 Perception/Strength/Water

"By all means, Ryoshun-san. We're all in this together, after all."

He offered the best bow he could from his seated position.

"Jiyo Sora."

Kumori also nodded a greeting.

“Shiba Kumori.” She said like it was any other name.

"Ryoshun Huan," he says, with a nod as he rises from the bow. "It's an honor to meet both of you. I've not gotten out of the temple much during my stay in the imperial city, so I apologize for not recognizing your positions among the imperial families."

"I did not mean to interrupt, though. Just get some warmth and refresh my spirit after the effort it took to sleep last night."

"Seems to be a fair amount of that going around..."

Jiyo Sora wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 05, 2023 12:39 am

"Seems to be a fair amount of that going around..."

"You too Jiyo-sama? I may be able to help if you would like. It'll take a bit more effort but I can..." he wobbles his head, "...kind of include one other person with my magics. It may feel strange but i can connect our kharma temporarily so the refreshing magic affects us both," he replies with an open palm to indicate his invitation.

Sora shrugged.

"What the hell, can't hurt. Wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen a monk do."

A small tent, near a wagon that had not been there on previous mornings, disgorges a man. Of average height for a non-Crab or Kami-descendent, he looks disheveled and a bit dusty. He squints and looks around, before rubbing his eyes, then looking around again.

"What? Sora-sama? Shiba-sama? What?!"

Sora blinked.

"Kyosei. Perhaps my dreams have improved... when did you get here, old friend?"

"I arrived last evening. Saw a much larger crowd than I ever expected. Much larger. I've been through here before, never saw so many people here before. What brings you all out here?"

While Sora caught up, Huan pulled out a blade and lifted a sleeve. He cut a line along a scar on the back of his forearm allowing blood to begin welling there. He didn't even say anything as he focused on it. It simply turned into raw void, sublimating into the universe in return for the connection created. If Sora never experienced it before now it would be an empowering and potentially intrusive feeling.

Looking up after the spell, Huan nods to the new arrival. "Good morning."

He doesn't move directly into exchanges of pleasantries, focused more on the magic.

D4 EM, Kharmic Intent w/ Sora, 3 wounds | 7k4 ⇒ 38 (TN: 20)

Sora and Huan have a shared Void Pool for 10 minutes with a max equal to their Void rings added together. Huan has 1/4 void points

Well, that's a new feeling.

Sora blinked.

"Shinsei's why I'm here, Kyosei. You mean to tell me you've been by here before? We've spent the last three days trying to figure the village out..."

Huan quietly cuts the open wound a bit more to release a bit more blood. Like before, it dissipates into the air for a moment, but this time, as it is sparkling an becoming part of the void Huan breaths in and the darkening spiral of blood reaches towards his body and in fuses it. In that moment Sora can feel a surge of energy that fills between them. It doesn't even feel like it's reached capacity, but Sora can sense reserves of energy he's never felt before.

Huan leans his head back, and despite the wounds on his arm he seems to relax into the feeling of being awash in the void. He nods to Sora.

----

D4 EM, Drawing the Void, 1 wound | 7k4 ⇒ 44 (TN: 10) +4 void points

The two are one short of full void points. When Kharmic Intent wears off, Jiyo will have full void points and Huan will be down by 1.

Wow.

"That is... quite the trick, Ryoshun-san."

Kyosei blinks as he observes the ritual the other is doing.

"Figure out the village? It's just a village. Much like many others in the Empire... What's so difficult about it?"

He applies his training and intellect to observing what the unknown was doing. It was apparently consensual, so he wasn't worried about that.