The Day of Thunder

[Ryoshun Nao]

She wanted to day something. Anything. But, there were no words to express the maelstrom of thoughts and emotion within her.

She simply bowed her head.

[Nozomi]

Otaku stands quiet and self-contained, one hand resting lightly on the swords in her belt. The image of samurai composure is slightly marred (or augmented, depending on your opinion) by the scattering of horse hairs clinging to her coat where Tsubame rubbed up against her after his afternoon workout.

-
Spirit ads: Great Destiny, lucid dreaming, Kharmic Tie.
No Spirit disads.

She breathed in and out for a moment, turning to finally look upon the young, quiet woman she'd met at the start of things. she hadn't spoken much with Otaku, but she got the feeling few heard more than a few words from her at any time. Approaching slowly, she offered her a small, distant smile. It was a sad smile.

"You... are innocent. He was innocent." Sometimes that man could be so infuriatingly almost naive in his innocence and purity. When he finally took hold of something worldly, however briefly, it had been as much a surprise as anything. "There is a purity in your soul that is undeniable. Those who walk into the darkness must be pure and sure in who they are. They must shine like the light of the sun in the face of the darkness. You will shine, Otaku. You must."

(Otaku is selected as the Thunder of Purity)

[Sugri]

Sugri watches intently as Nozomi declares each Thunder.

Most he had not properly met but he simply had to trust that the selections were correct. If they survived this endeavor perhaps he could learn more of them as individuals, instead of icons, at that time.

He looked through the crowd at the others gathered and hoped that none would let the fact that this was not their destiny sink their spirits or sour their souls. There was much work to be done and many heroes needed. These nine might be destined but every hand was needed and important.

[Hiruma Naraku]

Naraku looks towards Otaku. He had fought once next to the Ki Rin, in the fight that would become the turning point for his life, so it was fitting that this fight would also count with her during this event.

He nodded at her approvingly.

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Genji bowed and accepted his role in the coming war. "I will do what I can."

He glanced back to his...brother. A warm smile spread across his face. "Brother..." he was heavy with a mix of emotions, but he focused on the positive ones. "I am sure my children are looking forward to meeting their uncle."

Tadaka didn't know how the restoration of his Name effected what he lived through as Goju.

He had less mixed emotions. He had utter confidence in his brother. He loved his brother and now could finally be the brother Genji deserved. "Aye. I can't wait for you to introduce us." It was clear to Tadaka. Genji, you are not allowed to die here.

[Chuchu]

Ai let out a breath she was unaware she was holding and said, "I am humbled, Little Teacher."

Chuchu gently tugs on Ai's sleeve til the Crane leans down to meet her. The nezumi gives her a hug, too -- this one more like a sister's, sweet and knowing. Again she whispers a blessing in her own tongue, this time into Ai's ear so she can hear it; perhaps the girl's connection to the Dreaming will impart its meaning to her.

"Never stop being a dreamer, Lady Ai, and never stop questioning what your dreams mean. Finish the work your mother started, and return home together, hand-in-hand." The shaman squeezes tight. "Keep your wits about you and tell truth from lies, and your Name -- and hers -- will echo across eternity."

[Nozomi]

Norikage saw.the souls being gathered for the task that lay ahead. He was confident they would do what they needed to. He didn't know then all, but had.met some and others had a reputation that preceded them.

Maybe this would turn out.

She walked over towards Norikage last, her eyes boring into his like with the others. Her gaze had gone from person to person, soul to soul. Finally, she saw in one perhaps a bit of a memory. It was not Shinsei's, not at first. The mask, still worn around her face in memory of Bayushi who had worn one himself, had been on her face. She'd been ready to kill, to destroy. There were monsters, enemies that needed to be quashed.

She remembered the time when she had been riding on the back of Shinjo. When she had see him, coughing up the remnants of bile from the fight. She remembered how he had been ready to thrust himself into the very heart of danger, to strike and put an end to that which must be destroyed before it destroyed them all. As she remembered it, she saw a home burning to the ground. It was like the exact opposite of the memory of Zhe calling for mercy. Madness had claimed the house. The people were in danger. Someone had to do it. For the sake of everyone.

"People would not think this of him. Shinsei was not a violent man in life. They would not imagine that he was capable of it," she said, shaking her head. "But fire must first burn the unclean to ash, so that it may be purified, so that it may be reborn. Just as the Hiruma must rise from the ashes, there must be ashes first. If it must be. It must be. If the Teacher must die, the blow must be struck. In you I see a heart with a fire strong enough to burn away what must be burned. You are so like so many I have known from the Scorpion. You will do what you must. If that moment comes, do it. Do not hesitate."

(OOC: Bayushi Norikage is selected as the Thunder of Destruction)

[Nozomi]

(OOC Note: The Thunders, as noted by the Mods.
Protection - Matsu
Destruction - Bayushi Norikage
Rebirth - Hiruma Naraku
Knowledge - Ryoshun Nao
Honor - Akodo Kenji
Mercy - Wu Zhe
Purity - Otaku
Clarity - Hantei Genji
Introspection - Nanzi Ai)

[Bayushi Norikage]

As any scorpion would, he felt uneasy from the monk's gaze, considering what they were looking for. When Nozomi spoke, he felt a small part of him screaming to run out of the area.

Yeah...but if you do that, then someone else has to deal with this, if it's even possible to switch.

That he would feel worse about.

He bowed. "I accept this path, and I'm honored by the company fate has granted me."

This isn't because you're special, it's because this has to get done. Don't get a big head.

[Chuchu]

"My life, for the rest of the world? I pay it gladly."

The little shaman is... unsure... of Matsu, having not met her at all (unless TPO forgot in her brainfoggy state). All the same she creeps closer on all fours to stop a few feet away, looking up at the stranger with big dark eyes.

"To protect others strengthens your Name -- to protect those who cannot protect themselves is the greatest of all acts of Name. We survive because we take care of each other." Chuchu stands up, hands clasped together. "Strike down your enemy on behalf of your people and your Name shall echo across eternity."

She then turns to Naraku and bounds towards him!

[Canary]

He was silent for a second then nodded in acceptance.

The ratling shyly goes to hug Wu Zhe. She doesn't know him, but she saw him near Chouri, and the woman seemed to trust him... her little arms squeeze him once as she whispers a little blessing in her people's tongue.

"To show mercy to another is an act of great Name, and one of the first signs one is more than just an animal. Do not give in to any call for revenge when grace can be chosen instead, and your Name will echo across eternity."

She scampers over to Ai, next...

[Wu Zhe gains Chuchu's Blessing: While in Yume-do as a Complex Action, Zhe may heal [his Void]k2 wounds to another person a number of times per day equal to his Void+Water rings.]

[Canary]

Ai let out a breath she was unaware she was holding and said, "I am humbled, Little Teacher."

Chuchu gently tugs on Ai's sleeve til the Crane leans down to meet her. The nezumi gives her a hug, too -- this one more like a sister's, sweet and knowing. Again she whispers a blessing in her own tongue, this time into Ai's ear so she can hear it; perhaps the girl's connection to the Dreaming will impart its meaning to her.

"Never stop being a dreamer, Lady Ai, and never stop questioning what your dreams mean. Finish the work your mother started, and return home together, hand-in-hand." The shaman squeezes tight. "Keep your wits about you and tell truth from lies, and your Name -- and hers -- will echo across eternity."

[Ai gains Chuchu's Blessing: As a Complex Action while in Yume-do, Ai may gain form a shield that grants herself and any allied characters within 15 feet Reduction equal to her Void. This effects lasts for 3 rounds. All effects of Chuchu's Blessings stack.]

[Canary]

"My life, for the rest of the world? I pay it gladly."

The little shaman is... unsure... of Matsu, having not met her at all (unless TPO forgot in her brainfoggy state). All the same she creeps closer on all fours to stop a few feet away, looking up at the stranger with big dark eyes.

"To protect others strengthens your Name -- to protect those who cannot protect themselves is the greatest of all acts of Name. We survive because we take care of each other." Chuchu stands up, hands clasped together. "Strike down your enemy on behalf of your people and your Name shall echo across eternity."

She then turns to Naraku and bounds towards him!

[Matsu gains Chuchu's Blessing: A number of times per day equal to her Earth Ring, while in Yume-do as a Simple Action, Matsu may imbue herself with the solidity and purity of Jade, gaining reduction equal to her Earth Ring+School Rank, and any blow dealt by a creature with at least one rank of Taint does 3k3 damage to the creature. This effect lasts for two rounds. All effects of Chuchu's Blessings stack.]

[Chuchu]

He would make sure she survives.

The nezumi tackles Naraku with a hug, clinging to him tightly. Her first few words are fast and squeaky with worry. "You have to survive," She whispers. For Ai and for her and for the second Name he carries in his heart. Chuchu can't help herself -- she wants Naraku to come home with her like he promised. Still. She has a duty to fulfill.

"In times of great danger and suffering," She paces her words, calms herself, "We can choose to walk a new path -- one different from the path we thought was laid out before us by life. You have been reborn once already, Hidden Black Snake in the White Orchid's Branches, when you took another Name within yourself. Treat every time of crisis as a chance to change for the better, and your Names will echo across eternity."

Her ears lower shyly when she lets go. Chuchu takes a second to look up at Naraku before departing from him.

[Sugri]

As the rat-kin bounds away from the Spider Sugri approaches in turn. He draws one of the flesh-cutting arrows from his quiver, one with slightly mussed fletching compared to the others.

"This arrow missed him once so it would be inauspicious to grant it to an archer. But, if the champion is Shinsei... or at least using his body, this has known the true measure of the foe. May it guide you and grant you some of the insight I was able to glean from our time in combat against him. He is powerful but he is not infallible."

He presents it to the Spider musing at the memory of a dream of a fate further intertwined in lifetimes to come.

[Canary]

He would make sure she survives.

The nezumi tackles Naraku with a hug, clinging to him tightly. Her first few words are fast and squeaky with worry. "You have to survive," She whispers. For Ai and for her and for the second Name he carries in his heart. Chuchu can't help herself -- she wants Naraku to come home with her like he promised. Still. She has a duty to fulfill.

"In times of great danger and suffering," She paces her words, calms herself, "We can choose to walk a new path -- one different from the path we thought was laid out before us by life. You have been reborn once already, Hidden Black Snake in the White Orchid's Branches, when you took another Name within yourself. Treat every time of crisis as a chance to change for the better, and your Names will echo across eternity."

Her ears lower shyly when she lets go. Chuchu takes a second to look up at Naraku before departing from him.

[Naraku gains Chuchu's Blessing: One per game, while in Yume-do, as a complex action, Naraku may bring one character who had taken lethal wounds back to Out as though they had Great Destiny or Dark Fate.]

[Chuchu]

He glanced back to his...brother. A warm smile spread across his face. "Brother..." he was heavy with a mix of emotions, but he focused on the positive ones. "I am sure my children are looking forward to meeting their uncle."

Chuchu pauses, looking between the two as their eyes meet. Her tail goes straight up when she hears the word brother and all at once she cheeps and runs to embrace Genji. Oh! Oh, he has to live, for Goju! The pain he must have felt wells up in her heart and overflows in a few shed tears as she quietly hugs Genji's leg.

"Return to him," She sniffles out before wiping the tears from her fur. The little nezumi steps back to look up at this stranger who's not a stranger at all.

"You have been given the greatest burden of our times, but you do not bare it alone." Chuchu smiles -- or what counts for a mousey sort of smile, anyway. "You fight not just for others, but with others. Never forget that. As unbowed as the mountain against the winds, bare them forward as they bare you. Never falter from the path and your Name shall echo across eternity."

Goju's, too.

[Shiba Kumori]

Kumori stepped forward after the names were announced and blessings bestowed.

“The Thunders have been selected…”

She looked at each of them in turn… Spending a precious moment looking at each of the champions.

“As the representative of the Emperor Shiba… the conduit of our people to the Heavens. I offer my full support to each of these individuals selected… They have been asked to serve the realm in this particular way. And they shall have all the power of both Ningendo and Tengoku to help them fight the evils of Jigoku. The lights of the Heavens will be with them and they will banish the darkness.”

She paused and looked to the group, “They are our light… but we all must fight the darkness. Let us do all we can to support them… and lift where we stand… No matter the role. Let us all be willing and ready to sacrifice all we have to protect this world that we inhabit… and preserve all that which is good.”

[Otomo Akutou]

Akutou, present despite his player's absence, looks on, remaining unobtrusive in the back.

[Canary]

Kumori stepped forward after the names were announced and blessings bestowed.

“The Thunders have been selected…”

She looked at each of them in turn… Spending a precious moment looking at each of the champions.

“As the representative of the Emperor Shiba… the conduit of our people to the Heavens. I offer my full support to each of these individuals selected… They have been asked to serve the realm in this particular way. And they shall have all the power of both Ningendo and Tengoku to help them fight the evils of Jigoku. The lights of the Heavens will be with them and they will banish the darkness.”

She paused and looked to the group, “They are our light… but we all must fight the darkness. Let us do all we can to support them… and lift where we stand… No matter the role. Let us all be willing and ready to sacrifice all we have to protect this world that we inhabit… and preserve all that which is good.”

Briefly, incredibly briefly, the roiling stormclouds above part, and Lady Sun's glory shines down on all the people who stepped up to gather in this place to protect Ningen-do. Whatever their reasons, however they came to be there, the warmth of the sun shines down, dappling through the trees in rays that touch each person present.

[All weapons of those present are now considered Jade for penetrating reduction.]