The Day of Thunder

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora finally, finally started to drift off.

He knew the nightmares would be waiting for him, but... He was waiting for them.

"Reiko! Reiko!" Kinyoubi, her voiced panicked in a way Sora had only heard once, when Shirayuki had slipped on a mossy rock and fallen into a river. She'd been less... coherent with her words at that time, of course, and had plunged into the stream herself. She held Reiko in her arms, their youngest daughter's hair clotted with blood. Kinyoubi was staring around in a blind panic.

Which was how he knew he was being fucked with. His wife didn't panic, not when their children were in danger.

"Sora, where the hell ARE you?!"

He knew the nightmare wanted him not to be there. To force him to watch the, suffer in his absence.

But he also knew Yume-Jigoku could FUCK itself.

So he stepped out of the grove of willows that hadn't been there a moment before, stepped out of the trees and into the room the nightmare had plucked from his memory. It was actually the small room Soryu had used, not the larger one Reiko and Kozan slept in that had once belonged to Phi and Shirayuki.

"I'm here."

He was wearing his armor, with the names she'd written on it, and the names glimmered like stars, casting light about the chamber.

He could feel the nightmare trying to twist things. To make Reiko appear dead, to turn Kinyoubi into a monster, to set the place on fire.

I deny you.

The armor became a robe, but the names- the names she had written for him- stayed as Kinyoubi, her arms empty of any injured child, stood up to embrace him. He held her close, willing himself to dream the smell of her hair.

And you know what?

The children were there too.
Phi, teaching some farmer's children their characters outside. He could hear the amusement and pride in her voice as her pupils seemed to get it.
Shirayuki holding aloft a dismayed fox wrapped in a kimono in triumph running down the hall. And of course, the kimono was one of his.
Soryu and the dog Kyosei had given him playing out in the courtyard.
Reiko, her five-year-old's fingers clumsily braiding a single bell into her hair to "look more like Phi."
Kozan, her twin, trying to "tattoo" himself with one of Shirayuki's calligraphy brushes.

So do they.

They'd probably never all live in the same place again, but for one night, at least, Jiyo Sora's family were all with him, and he slept the sleep of the just.

[Sora is Not Having This Shit
Day 2 Nightmare event, Willpower roll 1- TN 20, Jiyo Void-Bomb for +2k2 | 6k6 ⇒ 80 (TN: 20)]

[Canary]

Dojiav.jpg (29.24 KiB) Viewed 151 times

Not too far away from them, an heart-rendingly beautiful woman sat nearby, observing with a small smile. She held a teacup carefully between delicate hands.

[Jiyo Sora]

"Oh.... hello. Hopefully this conversation goes better than our first, my Lady."

Sora froze his happy vista, rose, and bowed.

[Canary]

Doji bowed, as well. She gave a soft laugh at the comment. "That is my hope, Jiyo-san," she said before taking a seat again. "Will you join me for tea? I would like to enjoy this beautiful scene you've created a little longer, if you don't mind."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Given what you are doing for every living soul in the Empire, Lady Doji, how could I deny you a brief respite?"

The images started to move again. In Sora's absence, Kinyoubi was now, as she had often told Sora she did when he was on the road, reading one of the stories Phi had written with evident pleasure.

"And tea would be lovely."

It was something he hadn't known existed the first time they had spoken, but it had definitely grown on him.

"Is there anything in particular we should discuss, or will I forget it all by morning?"

[Canary]

She simply manifested another cup and handed it to him. "Given how many times you have saved or protected my family, Jiyo-san, I would say we are 'even'."

She took a sip, then added, "On the subject of protecting family... Thank you for what you are doing for the monk Kichi."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Well. I'll admit I wanted him dead, right up until I saw him by the river with 'Ukyou.'"

He shrugged, smiled, and sipped.

"At that point... what good would killing him, or exposing him do? I regret every life I've taken unnecessarily. It's why I've tried to be so careful about it over the past twenty-five years. Why add to my collection, you know? Besides which... I think he revealed himself to Ai- who, by the way, I'm sure you're already proud of, but allow me to add my own endorsement- and gave her a chance to... question herself in the right way. I've told her the decision is hers, because... it has to be. He made that introduction for a reason, and I think it's tied to his new path."

He chuckled.

"I may, of course, have pointedly mentioned forgiving him as a possible means of truly slaying what he once was, but... times like that, I definitely understand Shinsei better."

[Canary]

She nodded and sighed. "Ai... Jiyo-san... If I may ask a favor? Please... Tell Ai that I am very proud of the woman that she has become. We... exchanged as heated words as courtesy allows." She smiled to herself. "She has the fortitude to stand up to her own mother and a god. How can I not be proud? But... I may never be able to return to Ningen-do to tell her that myself."

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora froze for a moment.

Telling Doji, "wow, that sucks," or, "damn, that's a heavy burden," seemed to miss the gravity of her statement by an order of magnitude.

"I will tell her, Lady Doji. And as one who once told you I found you incomprehensible, I want to thank you for proving me wrong on that score. Shame the understanding comes under these circumstances, but... well. No one ever said life was fair."

He took a sip of the tea.

"Do you suppose if we prevail that you could visit your family as you're visiting this dream right now? In the absence of... well. A miracle to prove you wrong, it might be some comfort to offer."

[Canary]

She smiled a little sadly. "I can try. Your feat of will allowed me a brief respite from my place but-"

She suddenly looked up, eyes wide. "That- but- That can't be right..." She stood and looked down to him apologetically. "My apologies, Jiyo-san. Something has come up. It seems my brief respite is over. Please, continue to take care of them!"

With that, the Kami vanished.

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora closed his eyes.

Fortunes be between you and harm in all the dark places you must walk, Lady Doji.

"And I will keep faith."

He set the tea down, let out a cleansing breath... and then joined his family.

He would be quite busy when he woke.