Doji moved with grace and poise and said, “This is how it must be.”
“That’s not an answer, mother. We need you here, the Clan needs you here not sleeping away the rest of your life,” Ai countered.
“You know it is more than that,” Doji said warmly.
“But why go it alone?” Ai replied, the serene smile was infuriating. It was so righteous, yet so powerful… why did she have to be a martyr? Why couldn’t she go back to doing useless things like tending the garden and writing poetry and… well she knew they were not useless things but in her growing anger she wanted to see Strength… not acceptance.
“It is my place to shield others… even when we felt our smallest in the darkest of places it fell to me to keep our spirits buoyed,” she said warmly.
Ai sighed and said, “Then at least take me with you, let me join you. Teach me to fight as you do and you won’t have to be alone.”
“I am doing this for you, for everyone,” she said with divine Compassion.
“Well… FUCK everyone else I don’t want to lose my Mother!” Ai shouted in anger.
There was a long moment of silence, then her mother tittered with soft laughter as the hallway grew darker. “Oh my sweet foolish child… maybe I am just doing this to get away from YOU… you know of all my children I always hated you… hated everything you did,” Doji responded warmly.
This was wrong… and she could feel it trying to worm its way into her mind… her dreams and secrets. She said confidently, “This is wrong.”
“Is it?” her mother retorted, “This is exactly how you remember it. You pleaded for a mother. And I denied you, because you never mattered. But we could change that, you could have the mother you always needed… you could purge my loving Husband of his Corruption…”
“Your trickery will not work here,” Ai said confidently.
“I am not trying to trick you, I am trying to help you. Right now while you are alone, your mother is out protecting everyone else that matters but you… she even came to Jiyo Sora just so she didn’t have to see you directly. You really think you make her proud? You are at best an anecdote, mentioned and then quickly forgotten,” the woman who wore Doji’s face said.
“And you are a coward… stalking us in our dreams,” Ai countered.
“Well now that is just rude, here I am offering you something you want and you just offer aspersions and derision. Now I see why your Mother abandoned you,” Doji… no Dream Doji said. She drew her blade and charged.
Ai steeled herself, her mother was far faster… stronger… but this wasn’t her Mother, because her Mother was fighting for everyone… even her. EVEN HER.
She heard her father’s voice, “Strive for that one perfect Strike, where blade and mind are one. When both are one, there is nothing your blade cannot cut, Nanzi speaks these words and these words are true.”
Dream Doji raised her blade as she covered the small distance between.
"Not just your stature. I admire you Ai. Your strength of character motivates myself,” Naraku said with that boyish grin.
Dream Doji grinned as she started to bring the blade down.
Sora spoke with his gruff tone, "She said, 'tell Ai that I am very proud of the woman that she has become.' She mentioned that you had had an argument, and followed with, 'She has the fortitude to stand up to her own mother and a god. How can I not be proud?'"
The Blade was now mere finger lengths from Ai’s face…
Her mother was fighting for everyone… for her, for her sisters, her cousins… her family… the Clan… the Empire… all of Ningen-do. All these years she had seen herself as falling short of her Mother’s legacy… and now she was never going to return, to tell her how sorry she was for their last meeting.
She was back in that moment, “Well… FUCK everyone else I don’t want to lose my Mother!”
Doji turned gracefully and Ai expected anger but she was calm… she closed her eyes and fainted… no she collapsed as she returned to the great battle in the sleeping world. Ai caught her mother and carried her to her chambers…
Guilt and anger nearly drowned Ai but she had found her truth. Her mother was proud of her. She was Doji’s daughter, she was part of her legacy, she had stood firm before a god… a phantom was nothing. Her Blade was drawn quickly as she sidestepped the strike entering a graceful spin before she unleashed a most perfect strike.
- Doji-Defiant.jpg (124.3 KiB) Viewed 128 times
OOC: Successful.
Etiquette + Void vs TN 25 Willpower | 7k4 ⇒ 35 (TN: 25)
Lore Corruption + Void Yumenosenshi Bonus 1 CR TN 30 | 7k4+8 ⇒ 51 (TN: 30)
Agility+ Kenjutsu (Katana)+ + Void + 2 FR | 10k4+10 ⇒ 45 (TN: 40)