The Day of Thunder

Having Ayako's report of Matsu's injuries, Tai goes hunting for the woman through camp. You'd think it would be easy to find someone that large...but maybe she's laying down?

Water. That was the first thing on the Amazon's mind. Her waterskin, kept cold buried in the ground. She sat on a log outside of her tent, enjoying the cool drink. Hunched over as she replayed the thoughts of the fight over and over in her mind.

How she was so easily beaten, when her father would have stood as the tallest mountain in the face of the adversary.

And it angered her.

Bare feet in the mud have a bit of a slap-squelch kind of sound as they round yet another tent corner. Then a pause, and a low-voiced. "Lady Matsu, no? How's the ribs? Ayako tells me you shared in the excitement this morning."

"They've felt worse. Not much though." She did laugh, then winced before taking a longer drink from her skin. Wiping her mouth, she offered it to her. "It's not much, but I offer the hospitality of my humble abode." Offering a smile to the Kaiu, regarding her closely. "Kaiu Tai, right? I've heard your name."

Matsu wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 07, 2023 1:54 pm

"They've felt worse. Not much though." She did laugh, then winced before taking a longer drink from her skin. Wiping her mouth, she offered it to her. "It's not much, but I offer the hospitality of my humble abode." Offering a smile to the Kaiu, regarding her closely. "Kaiu Tai, right? I've heard your name."

"Yep. Or just Tai, I'm still gettin' used to needin' a second name instead of just what village someone's from. Feels strange usin' Kaiu's name when he's still walkin' around with it too." Stepping closer, she looks carefully up and down, seeing where the bruises are on visible skin.

"If you don't mind, I can ease that somewhat." She unwraps the well-secured cloth around her hand, the shallow cuts having mostly healed under Anjing's reasonably tidy care. Cutting a new shallow cut with a sharp stone knife, she reaches to set the hand on Matsu's shoulder, if allowed; a soft, hissing chant mixing with the rain-patter.

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D4 LA PTiP on Matsu | 5k3 ⇒ 25 (TN: 10)

The sensation of the balance of water within her is invigorating, if still unusual. Her eyelids flutter, as she breathes in deeply. Then those dark eyes focus on Tai. "Tai then. I get what you mean. I still feel... weird... when I hear people taking my name," Matsu confessed, a little rosy tint to her cheeks then.

"Thank you... I..." She paused. For all her physical strength, magic still surprises and impresses her. "What do you think is going on in this village?"

11/15 +0 After all the healing done throughout the day.

"Hmmph. Anjing's quite over it I think. But then she's had a few more years. There's children now who've always had the name." She rewraps her hand. Considering that standing while the giant daimyo sits puts Tai nearly eye to eye with her, the flush is noticed, but only acknowledged with a small quirk of her lips.

At the question, she laughs a bit. "Way too much, I think. I don't know if this ritual was a good thing once, but it's hard to imagine weakenin' folks with sleepless nights and the weird visitors I hear some saw last night is going to do anythin' but weaken us before this fight Shinsei says is prophecied."

"Spent a fair bit of the mornin' walkin' to a cave full of corrupted jade that's been poisonin' the river. Good thing the villagers don't seem to drink from it or we'd have a whole other set of problems. We can purify it, but it'll take more jade and a fair bit of energy from folks who can work with the kami." There's a pause for breath as she realizes that it's getting to be kind of a lot. "Turns out the headwoman's been working up a ritual to... OK, this gets kinda into the spiritual weeds, but it might be somethin' we could use to close the dream realm away from here and trap the monsters we're supposedly here to face. But the notes kept mentionin' that she was watched by someone else dangerous. Female. But not named. So that's comfortin.' Some research to do there, but looks promisin'"

"Oh, and there's a ritual comin' up that does impossible stuff like regrowin' limbs. The town healer was pretty evasive about hmm..negative side effects. So I don't trust that at all either." She frowns, "Which doesn't really square up with the headwoman writin' that ritual up, but also weakenin' folks with these ritual bits. There's somethin' else there, but I doubt I'm gonna manage to corner her...or get answers if I did. Anjing's the one as can sweet talk people when needed. I handle the spirits and she gets the humans."

She pauses again, thinking. "Pretty sure I'm leaving stuff out."

The Amazon's lips formed a hard line as she digested the information. Still the visions of what she saw when she finally woke up haunted her, because it added to the air of not trusting this village.

"And now Shinsei is possessed by this evil as well." She muttered, checking over her bruise, though the pain had subsided.

"Something watching her, that's a woman..." Matsu pondered, "There was a female demon five years ago during the Winter we were snowed in. Was fucking around, and probably fucking some of them, with the Crane." She spat the name out, hatred seething slightly.

"Could be related?"

Tai nods "Shinsei possessed...and so strong. That's not a good thing by any measure. Don't know what that does to him leadin' folks to this fancy prophecy." Her eyebrows rise at the younger woman's vehemence...daimyo or no. "Heard somethin' about that. Could well be that the demon's here and she needs to hide from her."

"Thought your folk, Spider, that is, were workin' with the Crane on huntin' these dark things?"

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sorry lost this one in the tabs.