The Day of Thunder

[Hisomu Reo]

Reo jerks more a moment and sits back on the wagon. He was grateful to the convoy, but even with the chance to rest his leg still offered a chance for a spasm.

"Blast and barter" he mutters to himself, half sitting and half falling onto a log set around a small fire. He massages his leg, continuing the ritual as pain shot through. He steeled himself with slow breaths, the old wound practically his oldest living friend at this point. Amara had passed a few years ago, too stubborn to join him in the Spider. His leg was the last real reminder of his time with the Kakita. His clothes were of a finer quality, even if he had elected for traveling clothes than the bright gold and teal number he saved for formal occasions. His face had lost its gauntness with regular meals and the comfort of routine. He had grown a beard now, to Ninube's chagrin and then pleasure.

But the pain never left.

Grunting, Reo pulls some ginger root, dried herbs and rice out his traveling pouch and fits it into a small pot. He fills the pot with his canteen of water and sets it over the flames. A fire was on. Perhaps the others would be back soon.

[Reiko Ohta]

One of his companions soon returned, bundled up in her cloak and face covered by a scarf, even though it really wasn't that cold. Spying the fire, Ohta nodded and walked over, sitting down herself and putting her heavy bag on her lap before uncovering her face, "A wonderful idea, Hisomu-sama."

[Hisomu Reo]

Reo can't keep a small smile from tugging at the edges of his lips. "You'll need to put up with my cooking again then Ohta. Ninube always says that it tastes better after you eat for a while." He stirs the pot.

"And "sensei" is fine if you want." Reo shrugs. "I'm just an old librarian you know."

The last statement was only technically accurate. While a generation older, Reo's face hadn't shown the signs of age he had expected, and while both he and Ohta were equal in rank within the Spider (with Ohta more lauded) they both knew that was how he preferred it.

[Reiko Ohta]

"And you know how stubborn I can be, 'sensei'. Whether it's putting up with your cooking or helping you with things even when you don't ask. Or calling you Hisomu-sama. I'm not going to grow out of that just because I'm past my gempukku you know."

Ohta fished through her pack and got out an old looking clay cup, it's grey sides plain apart from the symbol for "improvement" on them on one side.

[Hisomu Reo]

"Hummph. It's going to make people confused as blazes when they expect to see someone like Reiko-sama and get me instead" In spite of the words, the upward curl around Reo's mouth quirks a touch higher. "I'm hardly one to chastise about stubbornness. I can't rightfully chide a student over a lesson I never managed to learn myself."

Reo stirs the rice and rumagges through his pack for a small chunk of salted and dried fish. He flakes off bits with a knife before stirring it into the rice as the water comes to a simmer. He slides a lid over top as he idly cleans the knife on a rag.

His eyes land on the cup. "Is that one you made?" The Seekers encouraged students to work with their hands, and part of their goal was to collect as wide and varied a collection of techniques as they could. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was an interesting touch. Did it mean more? Was his mind slipping already?

[Reiko Ohta]

"One my Spider mother made, actually, for me. She always did have my schooling at heart."

A small chuckle, only under Ohta's breath, "She always told me that children and education were the future, and the reason I was an only child was so she could focus on making sure I had all the tools necessary for myself to help ensure a prosperous future for the Empire and the Spider."

She turned the cup in her hands thoughtfully, "...she was the one who got me all those scrolls on medicine and animals and such you always saw me reading through outside. My Ki-Rin mother always scoffed at that, said hands on learning was the only real way to internalize a lesson."

[Hisomu Reo]

"Huuumph." The sound is similar to the one before, but an octave higher and Reo's sides shake.

"I went dead set in between your mothers then? Never a wrong way to learn, so long as you do. I hope that came through." Reo motions the stick he's been using to stir on Ohta's direction. "It's not that anyone sets out to be a terrible teacher, but Ninube and I were making a lot of it up as we went. Are making it up. I mean, we think you lot are turning out fine, but you never really know until we all get tossed back into the fire."

Reo idly raps the stick against his wrist. "I'll say this about your mothers: one child was hard. Seven?" Reo starts to count "Seven children is a madhouse." The smirk becomes an actual smile for a moment. "And I am going to miss it"

[Reiko Ohta]

"You MISS a madhouse? In these times?"

She shook her head a little, sighing.

"If there's any one thing I want these days it's more peace, quiet, and sanity please. And maybe comfort, but I'm not going to go out of my way for that part as long as there are still opportunities out there. I mean, I'm not here for comfort, certainly."

[Hisomu Reo]

"The madness of the younger generation is that they do not see the limits that we take for granted. There is joy when they surpass them." Reo's smile holds before it retreats. "And fear. And envy. And that is a trade I will always take. When I was eight I was left by my family in a back room of a shack, giving me half a chance odds of living and full odds that I would never be useful at the farm ever again. Ninube and I wanted to make something so our kind of lives would be a relic of the past...while keeping alive the skills we used to survive this long."

Reo opens the pot and stir, nodding as he spoons some of the porridge into their bowls.

"Why did you come out here? I'm here to follow the old sage for another venture." Reo motions idly with his stick again for emphasis. "The Seekers need new members like you. Ninube and I are...well, there is a reason why we let Susumu do most of the talking."

[Reiko Ohta]

"I'm here to LEARN of course. I've been studying everything that's happening since graduating, but there are so many false leads and dead ends to this madness and everything going on lately. What better place to find a breakthrough than here? I didn't follow anything but my notes and the instincts of where they point, but that seems to have lead me here one way or another in the end."

She looked down at the porridge in her bowl, lightly stirring it with the tip of her chopstick. It wasn't much to look at, but then good camp food rarely was.

"Or did I need a more specific reason?"

[Hisomu Reo]

"No specific reason." Reo responds mildly. "But some of your peers are looking through the reports to come in to try to make sense of what is coming through. Others are insinuating themselves in other courts. Some even have petitioned the Nezumi to go back to the Shadowlands. Others go to the Bat, thinking their shugenja have the key. The warning of the Little Teacher was...vague."

Reo raises a chopstick and blows on a mouthful of porridge. "I am not saying that you are wrong, mind you. I came after all. The last time I saw Shinsei was right before Yamadono went down to Jigoku to pull Hisomu-okami out. But some of your peers would have chosen a path that was more comfortable, a better way to place themselves as the new face of the Seekers. You didn't."

[Reiko Ohta]

"Hmph. As much as I understand the desire to try to look into things, but if something is vague, I'd rather keep following up on it than simply suppose what it means. At least while the iron is hot, as a Kaiu might say. Is that not part of why you're following? The constant tug of finding knowledge hidden in things, the edge between the spiritual and physical in an Empire built by the Children of the Heavens?"

Ohta simply held the bowl in her hands, waiting for it to cool and sucking in its warmth.

"After all, isn't that the Spider in a shell? The worldliness and honor of the Matsu with the spirituality and unity of the Reiko, both with the pragmatism and balance of the Hisomu?"

[Hisomu Reo]

"You're not wrong Ohta. I don't believe I indicated as much...but it's good to see that your ability to make the argument is still strong." Reo allows a small twinkle in his eye.

"That is why I am out here and not at the Archive. But there is something you need to understand." The humor abruptly washes away. "I continue to study because I saw things the last time I ventured out with Shinsei. You can read the accounts if you like, but the words don't do it justice. The rain was acid. Creatures were twisted mockeries of themselves. A small girl turned into a venomous spider that it took multiple bushi to take down. I watched a mountain of a man who could have killed me with one hand have his head splattered into a bloody stump by an Ogre. But that's not what scares me the most"

Reo pauses. "There was...a call. The land, or Jigoku itself called to me, promised to make me more than a proud man with hurt pride. It promised to show me things that would make those who mocked me tremble. I didn't get away because I was strong of mind, or had some hidden knowledge to tame it. I got away unscathed because Kanna-san and Reiko-sama called me back."

He pauses, uncertain whether to continue.

[Reiko Ohta]

Ohta listens calmly, though almost can't hold back a small cough or two when she swallows some hot porridge and it almost goes down the wrong way. She shakes her head at the end, "And that's what I mean in the end. We need more. Stories are good and all, they put things down memory can forget. But more first hand experiences..."

She trails off a moment, "...you do realize, of course, how dangerous learning about something that can't be understood properly is of course. More than I do, I'm very sure, from what you've said. All the more reason someone like me should be here to help you though."

Not needing to blow on the porridge now, Ohta took a bite, holding the bowl up close so she didn't have to lift the chopsticks much.

[Hisomu Tadaka]

Goju comes in and gives a deep bow to his father-in-law first. "Reo-sama, I hope you are well." He gives a normal bow to Ohta. "Afternoon, Reiko-san." He seems to read the air. "I hope I am not interrupting."

[Hisomu Reo]

Ohta listens calmly, though almost can't hold back a small cough or two when she swallows some hot porridge and it almost goes down the wrong way. She shakes her head at the end, "And that's what I mean in the end. We need more. Stories are good and all, they put things down memory can forget. But more first hand experiences..."

She trails off a moment, "...you do realize, of course, how dangerous learning about something that can't be understood properly is of course. More than I do, I'm very sure, from what you've said. All the more reason someone like me should be here to help you though."

Not needing to blow on the porridge now, Ohta took a bite, holding the bowl up close so she didn't have to lift the chopsticks much.

"You're right. Whatever esteem you hold of me, if I appear to be going to a place I should not, I want you to tell me. I may not listen, and I know you will similarly not likely call off a search unfounded. But I need to hear as I approach my limits and I hope you will as well."

Goju comes in and gives a deep bow to his father-in-law first. "Reo-sama, I hope you are well." He gives a normal bow to Ohta. "Afternoon, Reiko-san." He seems to read the air. "I hope I am not interrupting."

"Not at all. I put on the food pot for all. Matsu, Mai and Reiko-sama will remember the day where they ate from similar ones, and I hope they join us."

Goju was a bit hard to judge, and the trip would hopefully give Reo more insight on the man.

[Reiko Ohta]

Ohta certainly had no objections to someone joining them; She'd been expecting it even. Giving a seated bow to the stranger, she spoke up, "Not at all, Hisomu-san. We were just discussing what brought us here. It's not the sort of place one simply 'ends up', after all. If I'm here, I know I have a purpose. And I'm sure you do as well, hm?"

[Hisomu Tadaka]

"Ah. Thanks, Reo-sama." Goju wasn't all that hungry since he just ate but took some to be polite. He always felt awkward around his in-laws. They were a little too insightful for his taste even if by accounts they were good people. Who knows? Maybe Hisomu already told him? Either way, his past something he wanted to forget no matter how much he couldn't.

"I'm Hisomu Goju, a Seeker of the Sea and captain of The Jolly Jellyfish." Goju sits down with his food. "I just know Shinsei told me I had to come here. Hisomu-kami approved. So, here I am. I prefer not to think about my purpose. I'll let those higher up than me worry about that." Goju also assumed it meant nothing good for him personally. Oh well. As long as he can have a good death to not shame his children, he supposed that'd be good enough.

[Hisomu Reo]

"Shinsei? He does have his choices for people. I don't necessarily understand his choices, but they appear to always work on." Reo inclines his head. "Though I am surprised that you were this far from the shore, I am glad to have a diverse skillset"

[Reiko Ohta]

"Hisomu Goju..."

Ohta seemed to become thoughtful at the introduction, even as Reo spoke. When he was done, she spoke up herself.

"You... are that author, correct? Children's stories, if I recall. Hm. I can see someone like that not wanting to think about why they're here. Still, no boating and no writing I should think."

Though she knew the Little Teacher had reasons for everything. Probably knew things she did not about this Hisomu.