The Day of Thunder

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora's nightmare was a bit different- as a treat, almost.

Now Kinyoubi sat in their shared rooms, cradling both Reiko and Kozan.

Where Reaiko's still, pale form had a bloody head wound, Kozan appeared waterlogged- as if he'd drowned in a stream.

Sora knew the one, it was where he always took the kids for a quick stroll near the Palace.

And as Kinyoubi sobbed, begging aloud to know where he was... Sora entered the room. Or the thing that had been Sora.

He watched as his own corrupted flesh stared balefully down at his weeping wife, its armor covered in filth, the names Kinyoubi had applied to it illegible beneath layers of dried blood, mud, and harder things to imagine. He saw it draw the katana it carried, running its rotten tongue along the blade before raising it high.

I

DENY

YOU

It was a war he'd fought with varying degrees of success over the past five years, but tonight?

Tonight he strode into the room, intercepting the downward strike of the monster's blade with the haft of his naginata. The polearm splintered, but he'd taken control.

For a moment, he thought of what he knew of dreams, what he might be able to do to weaken the nightmare figure before him.

But any such wisdom eluded him, as he instead made an important change.

The twins, now very much alive in Kinyoubi's arms, screamed aloud, as Sora bellowed at the top of his lungs, "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!"

His wife didn't hesitate, didn't look back, didn;t even try to soothe their children- she picked them up and ran, because she was Jiyo Kinyoubi, and she had never been one to panic or give in to helplessness.

He dropped the broken weapon, the names on his armor starting to give off light like that of the sun.

"Just you and me now."

The rotted form cackled. "Not for long! I am you but stronger. Pierce my heart, it will not harm me. Spill my guts, I will not die. I do not bleed, I do not tire. I do not think of failure, or regret."

It stalked in the shadows of the room opposite Sora, its oracular eye seeming to gleam at him.

"All I seek is victory, without distraction. So tell me, old, tired fool... Who are you to stop me?"

Sora's blade was in his hand as he stared his corrupted, rotted self dead in the face. He had drawn it as swiftly as he'd ever done anything in his life. He raised the katana and pointed it at his darker self, characters forming along the length of steel, a whirl of... names.

"I am Jiyo Sora. I carry the name of the toughest woman I know, I serve the finest man I know, and I am married to the wisest woman I know. I have had a hand in the raising of ten children, any one of whom would make any parent too proud for words. I am Chasing Tomorrow. I have contested with gods and held my ground. I have been to the heart of Jigoku and back to rescue one deity in the company of another."

His blade started to burn as if with inner fire, and for the brief moment he saw fear on the monstrous face.

"And you had better pray I'm all you ever face, because the others are well out of your league."

When he struck, it wasn't with a sword, not truly. The thing that hit the creature directly in its oracular eye was more a linked set of characters- every name on his armor, and a few more besides.

The monstrous double barely had time to scream.

[The Will Shapes the Dream- Battle/Willpower, TN 25, Spending Void for +1k1 | 6k5 ⇒ 33 (TN: 25) Success! No curse here...

The Dream Shapes the Form- Lore: Spirit Realms/Intelligence TN 25, +1k1 from Fukurokujin's Blessing, Spending Void for +1k1 | 6k4 ⇒ 21 (TN: 25) Failure, no benefit.

The Form Shapes the World- Kenjutsu/Agility vs TN 40 | 9k4 ⇒ 48 (TN: 40) Success, Lucid Dreaming Unlocked]