The Day of Thunder

[Otaku]

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She turned to look around her surroundings to see if there were drinks about and her eyes fell on Otaku, who was sitting near them. With some mustered manners, she dipped low to bow in greeting to the lone Ki-Rin. "Good evening! Care to have some of this rice and fish Kai kindly brought over from inside?"

Kai offered the plate:

"Eat all your fill, Lady of the Horse. The fighting takes much energy."

"..."

Otaku looks up at the two. "Thank you. I have enough here for my fill," she says with a gentle smile. "You have a good appetite, though... Kai-san?" She remembers the young ronin from Hisomu Goju's conference the other day, though it would be hard to say she learned much about Kai's identity there.

"Well met, Saru-san," Shang's clan colors and the tilt of the conversation the two younger women seem to be carrying on is enough for Otaku to make an educated guess about which Dragon family most likely raised this fluent word-player. "Mm... what's this about rats and foxes? As long as it isn't wolves, I suppose."

[Canary]

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A girl approaches who was sleeping at Enrou's place when Yukara woke up. Her foot is in bandages and she's using a crutch, but she comes up and sits down next yo Ayako, bowing and smiling to them, but quiet at first as to not interrupt their conversation.

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

snip

A girl approaches who was sleeping at Enrou's place when Yukara woke up. Her foot is in bandages and she's using a crutch, but she comes up and sits down next yo Ayako, bowing and smiling to them, but quiet at first as to not interrupt their conversation.

Ayako's face lit up as the injured girl arrives. "Shizuku!" she said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're moving about. Umm.... have you met Ryoshun Yukara?"

Turning to Yukara, Ayako explained, "Shizuku is studying to be Enrou's apprentice."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

Kai grimaced:

"Real wolves are cool. All about family, take great care of their old and young, can defeat enemies several times their size. If humans had half the unity a wolf pack has, they would be invincible.

From what I heard of the battle, you fought not-wolves. Things with the guise of a wolf, but behaving not like wolves at all. Calling them wolves is giving the darkness power of us, by renouncing the truthful image of a wolf by the distorted mirror it created."

She was apparently really passionate about wolves?

"As for rats, foxes, and monks, we were discussing of the persons that are in this village that you don't get to meet in every village. It is a mysterious place here."

[Ryoshun Yukara]

"I hadn't realized you were new to the Ryoshun family," Ayako commented. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to join them?"

"Yes, I joined in the last year. I was deputized by one of their magistrates, I suppose. I was already hunting the monster he had come to track down, so he simply folded me into his efforts."

Yukara shrugged, it seemed straightforward enough to her, even if perhaps it was not as common an origin as she thought.

A girl approaches who was sleeping at Enrou's place when Yukara woke up. Her foot is in bandages and she's using a crutch, but she comes up and sits down next yo Ayako, bowing and smiling to them, but quiet at first as to not interrupt their conversation.

Ayako's face lit up as the injured girl arrives. "Shizuku!" she said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're moving about. Umm.... have you met Ryoshun Yukara?"

Turning to Yukara, Ayako explained, "Shizuku is studying to be Enrou's apprentice."

"Ah, hello. Your teacher is quite talented - I was probably a miserable sight, as I am sure Ayako-sam can attest."

[Canary]

Ayako's face lit up as the injured girl arrives. "Shizuku!" she said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're moving about. Umm.... have you met Ryoshun Yukara?"

Turning to Yukara, Ayako explained, "Shizuku is studying to be Enrou's apprentice."

"Hi!" Shizuku greeted with a grin, bumping Ayako's shoulder lightly. "Miss me?"

At the attention going to Yukara, she smiles brightly. "Pleased to meet you! He finally agreed this afternoon, after I woke up."

"Ah, hello. Your teacher is quite talented - I was probably a miserable sight, as I am sure Ayako-sam can attest."

"He really is. I've never even heard of someone with the mastery of the subject he has," she said, putting the crutch down to rest on the porch.

[Ryoshun Yukara]

"Yes. I am surprised someone of his talents is here, this far out. I would not expect he has cause to use them that often, in a village of this size."

Yukara seemed genuinely puzzled.

[Saru Shang]

"Ah, hmm..." she murmured as she closed her eyes, straining to think of something that almost seemed like it on the tip of her tongue. Or would that be in her thoughts? However, when it made itself clear in her thoughts, her face lit up with realization. "Oh, yes! The fight yesterday. I had missed most of the details earlier but I know there were heroes among us. My thanks for the valiant efforts! It makes me wonder if this gathering was for you, actually! In that case, I think I might have done my share of toasts already."

She nodded after Kai's words. "Yes, mostly about the unusual people among us. Kai-san here is clearly interesting, from a faraway place with many colourful friends. Very peculiar names, might I add. I suppose more of the tribal remnants, maybe? But apparently, not unusual enough! I haven't seen much about rats or foxes around here. Monks, yes, kind of hard to miss Shinsei and his stone."

[Otaku]

Kai grimaced:

"Real wolves are cool. All about family, take great care of their old and young, can defeat enemies several times their size. If humans had half the unity a wolf pack has, they would be invincible.

From what I heard of the battle, you fought not-wolves. Things with the guise of a wolf, but behaving not like wolves at all. Calling them wolves is giving the darkness power of us, by renouncing the truthful image of a wolf by the distorted mirror it created."

She was apparently really passionate about wolves?

"As for rats, foxes, and monks, we were discussing of the persons that are in this village that you don't get to meet in every village. It is a mysterious place here."

"It is that."

"Ah, hmm..." she murmured as she closed her eyes, straining to think of something that almost seemed like it on the tip of her tongue. Or would that be in her thoughts? However, when it made itself clear in her thoughts, her face lit up with realization. "Oh, yes! The fight yesterday. I had missed most of the details earlier but I know there were heroes among us. My thanks for the valiant efforts! It makes me wonder if this gathering was for you, actually! In that case, I think I might have done my share of toasts already."

She nodded after Kai's words. "Yes, mostly about the unusual people among us. Kai-san here is clearly interesting, from a faraway place with many colourful friends. Very peculiar names, might I add. I suppose more of the tribal remnants, maybe? But apparently, not unusual enough! I haven't seen much about rats or foxes around here. Monks, yes, kind of hard to miss Shinsei and his stone."

Otaku shrugs one shoulder. "This feast was long planned, I think. Only Ryoshun-san was seriously hurt," she glances at the one-armed woman further down the veranda, "and that fight was her choice and fate. Nothing compared to what's coming."

She purses her lips, seeming to give Kai's words about wolves real thought before saying, quiet as ever, "All but one of that wolf pack seemed natural to me, though, except in their loyalty to that monster." She pushes some stray barley grains around her dish with her chopsticks. "If a human being acts improperly at times, does strange things, are they no longer human either? I think it can't be that easy. Else half the people in this village wouldn't count as human."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Hi!" Shizuku greeted with a grin, bumping Ayako's shoulder lightly. "Miss me?"

This got a fond smile from Ayako.

At the attention going to Yukara, she smiles brightly. "Pleased to meet you! He finally agreed this afternoon, after I woke up."

"Oh, that IS good news. Congratulations, Shizuku!" Ayako enthused.

"Yes. I am surprised someone of his talents is here, this far out. I would not expect he has cause to use them that often, in a village of this size."

"A good thing for both of you that he was here, though," Ayako said definitively. "You were both very badly hurt. I don't know what we would've done without him."

[Canary]

"Yes. I am surprised someone of his talents is here, this far out. I would not expect he has cause to use them that often, in a village of this size."

Yukara seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Well... most people didn't come here because it's the place they could do the most good," she admitted with a half smile. "We were very fortunate."

[Ryoshun Yukara]

"

"A good thing for both of you that he was here, though," Ayako said definitively. "You were both very badly hurt. I don't know what we would've done without him."

"Indeed so. I saw the rags. I did not know I contained so much blood, much less had the ability to bleed it and still... live."

A nod, as if it were truly mysterious.

"Well... most people didn't come here because it's the place they could do the most good," she admitted with a half smile. "We were very fortunate."

This comment then caused a pause, as she mulled it over.

"I suppose you mean that you were driven here?"

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Well... most people didn't come here because it's the place they could do the most good," she admitted with a half smile. "We were very fortunate."

This comment then caused a pause, as she mulled it over.

"I suppose you mean that you were driven here?"

"Oh, I thought you lived on a farm here, Shizuku. Was that wrong?"

Though, if she did live on a farm, most likely it was gone now, she reflected.

[Saru Shang]

Otaku shrugs one shoulder. "This feast was long planned, I think. Only Ryoshun-san was seriously hurt," she glances at the one-armed woman further down the veranda, "and that fight was her choice and fate. Nothing compared to what's coming."

She purses her lips, seeming to give Kai's words about wolves real thought before saying, quiet as ever, "All but one of that wolf pack seemed natural to me, though, except in their loyalty to that monster." She pushes some stray barley grains around her dish with her chopsticks. "If a human being acts improperly at times, does strange things, are they no longer human either? I think it can't be that easy. Else half the people in this village wouldn't count as human."

Shang followed Otaku's gaze to the one-armed woman in question and found herself grimacing before turning her attention back to the collective conversation. While battle was glorious, lost limbs were perhaps those details of a story wouldn't be too keen on featuring. Nobody wanted to know about the consequences of heroism.

She inched herself to the same support post that Otaku might have been leaning on earlier and decided to use that as her anchor, doing her best to not stumble as she took a few steps. "....Yes! I suppose that does bring up the interesting question of identity. I'm sure we're familiar with different moods, depending on the day, we humans can adopt from time to time. It would seem rather amusing if we would disqualify ourselves from being human just because we're acting a certain way! Not really, but what would that classify us as? Animals? A spirit made flesh?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

She purses her lips, seeming to give Kai's words about wolves real thought before saying, quiet as ever, "All but one of that wolf pack seemed natural to me, though, except in their loyalty to that monster." She pushes some stray barley grains around her dish with her chopsticks. "If a human being acts improperly at times, does strange things, are they no longer human either? I think it can't be that easy. Else half the people in this village wouldn't count as human."

She inched herself to the same support post that Otaku might have been leaning on earlier and decided to use that as her anchor, doing her best to not stumble as she took a few steps. "....Yes! I suppose that does bring up the interesting question of identity. I'm sure we're familiar with different moods, depending on the day, we humans can adopt from time to time. It would seem rather amusing if we would disqualify ourselves from being human just because we're acting a certain way! Not really, but what would that classify us as? Animals? A spirit made flesh?"

"Isn't that why you have that law thing? To decide on a limit on when a human's inhuman actions have marked them as a wild beast that must be dispatched to protect the pack?

But yeah, wolves can become uncool while still being wolves. A lone wolf, cut from any pack from too long, is a danger to all, including other wolves. Though still able to go back into coolness if they do manage to find a pack they fit in."

[Canary]

This comment then caused a pause, as she mulled it over.

"I suppose you mean that you were driven here?"

"Oh, I thought you lived on a farm here, Shizuku. Was that wrong?"

Though, if she did live on a farm, most likely it was gone now, she reflected.

"Oh, I do! We've only been here for five years, though, " she replied. She looks down, uncharacteristically downcast. "I uh... was having some issues a while back. We left home looking for help and ended up here."

She smiled. "I'm right as rain now, though! And the farm can be rebuilt. It's okay."

[Yoshitsune Ayako]

"Oh, I do! We've only been here for five years, though, " she replied. She looks down, uncharacteristically downcast. "I uh... was having some issues a while back. We left home looking for help and ended up here."

She smiled. "I'm right as rain now, though! And the farm can be rebuilt. It's okay."

"Your foot must be feeling better, then?" Ayako inquired. "I'm glad the healing worked - I was pretty worried for you."

[Saru Shang]

"Isn't that why you have that law thing? To decide on a limit on when a human's inhuman actions have marked them as a wild beast that must be dispatched to protect the pack?

But yeah, wolves can become uncool while still being wolves. A lone wolf, cut from any pack from too long, is a danger to all, including other wolves. Though still able to go back into coolness if they do manage to find a pack they fit in."

"Oh, I thought we were talking about just general definition. But yes, you raise a good point, actions likely speak far loud than general definitions." Any religious-caste orderly chart of definition aside. "There are rules and consequences that come from not following them. I suppose it might be better to not regard them as human if they are too far gone...but does humanity have a reputation as a whole where a stain needs to be expunged? For the sake of what? The Fortunes or Heavens watching us? I suppose there's a point in that..." She mused before glancing at her empty cup. If there was a time she needed a refill...

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Oh, I thought we were talking about just general definition. But yes, you raise a good point, actions likely speak far loud than general definitions." Any religious-caste orderly chart of definition aside. "There are rules and consequences that come from not following them. I suppose it might be better to not regard them as human if they are too far gone...but does humanity have a reputation as a whole where a stain needs to be expunged? For the sake of what? The Fortunes or Heavens watching us? I suppose there's a point in that..." She mused before glancing at her empty cup. If there was a time she needed a refill...

"I think we're doing that overthinking thing humans love so much. I did trick myself into saying a non true thing. Wolves can indeed get bad, as humans can get bad, without losing their wolfness or humanness. But, as a default, neither wolf or human are bad. As opposed to the darkness, who's always bad."

[Otaku]

"Oh, I thought we were talking about just general definition. But yes, you raise a good point, actions likely speak far loud than general definitions." Any religious-caste orderly chart of definition aside. "There are rules and consequences that come from not following them. I suppose it might be better to not regard them as human if they are too far gone...but does humanity have a reputation as a whole where a stain needs to be expunged? For the sake of what? The Fortunes or Heavens watching us? I suppose there's a point in that..." She mused before glancing at her empty cup. If there was a time she needed a refill...

"I think we're doing that overthinking thing humans love so much. I did trick myself into saying a non true thing. Wolves can indeed get bad, as humans can get bad, without losing their wolfness or humanness. But, as a default, neither wolf or human are bad. As opposed to the darkness, who's always bad."

"That, I also believe." Otaku smiles slightly and sips from her cup of water. The smile is fleeting, though. "The darkness in these late years is too skilled at bringing out the worst in humans. Or wolves. I would rather fight that, than have to decide when some of our fellow humans still count as human." She shrugs one shoulder. "An ugly fight, maybe, but it is an uglier question."