The Day of Thunder

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

Cowardly canary, the slip of paper read. Ayako had just drawn the part in the draw lot play, but she frowned.

“No,” Ayako said aloud. “I already played this part, I don’t want to play it again. I fought off the corrupted Shinsei. I’m a hero now!”

As if in obedience to her thoughts, the black ink characters on the paper seemed to shimmer and rearrange themselves. Heroic crab, the paper read now. “That’s better,” Ayako said, nodding judiciously.

“Ahhh, you fought me off before, little Crab, but you did not defeat me,” one of the other actors said. Ayako turned and looked at him, and saw that it was Shinsei. But it was not as she had seem him last, not Shinsei-the-Destroyer; it was truly Shinsei-the-little-teacher, the potbellied little man who spoke in riddles and smiled a lot. The little teacher held up another slip of paper; his paper read, Champion of Jigoku. Of course it had just been an act! The real Shinsei never would’ve punched her in the mouth; the real Shinsei would never have tried to remove her spleen. He was just trying to act the part!

“It looks like we’ll have a rematch,” Ayako said, smiling as she showed the little teacher her own part. “I won’t be so easy on you this time!”

“Don’t be too overconfident,” Shinsei replied, as he donned the hideous demon-mask that distorted his features into those of Shinsei-the-Destroyer. “Don’t forget… tonight our audience is the Emperor and the whole Imperial Court!”

And suddenly Ayako and Shinsei were in a massive audience hall, surrounded by finely dressed samurai. Imperial banners hung on the walls, and the Emperor sat on his majestic throne. Lord Hida and every single one of the Crab daimyo were there, as well as countless kami and high ranking samurai from every clan … along with Ayako’s parents. And Ayako was there, wearing a goofy paper hat meant to look (somewhat) like a Crab. For a moment she quailed before the gaze of the Imperial Court.

Then she remembered: I’m a heroic crab! Ayako stood up straighter, and her paper hat had somehow transformed into a fine kabuto with a golden Crab crest. “I won’t let this evil hurt anyone else!” she declaimed in her most heroic voice, and pointed towards the demon-Shinsei with her axe. “You’ll have to go through me!”

“troublesome samurai,” Shinsei-the-Destroyer intoned in a theatrical voice. “Through you? If you insist on being a shield…” Moving to Ayako, he began pummeling her with his fists. Ow! I need to talk to him about his method acting! she thought. But even as the thought took shape, her armor somehow hardened and became diamond tough, blocking the force of Shinsei’s blows.

Raising her axe, Ayako put her whole weight into a powerful, descending cut. The axe struck the demon-mask with a sharp crack, but as it touched Shinsei’s form, the monk suddenly dissolved into a flock of hundreds of crows, that fluttered about the chamber for a moment before fleeing the palace.

As the two pieces of the broken demon-mask fell to the palace floor, silence fell over the court. Ayako looked around a little nervously as the courtiers glanced at each other, trying to gauge how they should react.

The silence was broken as old Lord Yoshitsune, greying but still clear eyed and strong, began to clap. Then the other Crab daimyo joined in, and her parents, and once the other courtiers saw which way the wind was blowing, the Imperial Court was filled with the sound of applause. Even the Emperor seemed to crack a small smile.

With axe in one hand and helmet in the other, Ayako bowed, the deepest bow she had ever done. She heard the Crab delegation begin to cheer.

—
4EN The Will Shapes the Dream, Willpower/Acting +Void Point TN25 | 6k5 ⇒ 34 (TN: 25) succeeds
4EN The Dream Shapes the Form, Awareness/Acting +Void Point with 1 called raise TN30 | 5k4 ⇒ 37 (TN: 30), 2 free raises for next roll
4EN The Form Shapes the World, Agility/Heavy Weapons +FullAttack +Void Point, 2 free raises reduces TN to 30 | 9k5 ⇒ 38 (TN: 30) succeeds!