The Day of Thunder

[Makime]

"I can't speak for spiritual matters but if Jigoku brings an army, I'll see it crushed." Makime's voice conveys less a sense of assurance and more just a statement of believed fact.

[Doji Hikaru]

"It seems to be a war on more than one front." Hikaru said. "Lady Doji and Lord Ryoshun engage it in the spiritual realms, while we stand ready in the here and now."

He grimaced, his right hand briefly clenching, then relaxing. "I wish there were a way more of us could lend aid in the spiritual. Although even if I could enter another realm, I don't know if I'd be of any help there."

[Hantei Genji]

"Harbinger was looking into establishing more tea houses, potentially in other territories." Genji, who was silent up until now spoke up, his soft voice carrying through the fog still. "It's certainly an invasion of dreams. I..experienced some of it. Been trying to avoid it as much as I can, really." He muttered.

He glanced around, his hand still on his sword. "If any demons come into our Realm, we are ready for them. As for taking the fight to the spiritual.." he let out a sigh. "When I was visiting Aunt Doji, I did try to keep her spirit up, with poetry and stories. It might be silly, but I figured she might appreciate it."

[Doji Hikaru]

"Harbinger was looking into establishing more tea houses, potentially in other territories." Genji, who was silent up until now spoke up, his soft voice carrying through the fog still. "It's certainly an invasion of dreams. I..experienced some of it. Been trying to avoid it as much as I can, really." He muttered.

He glanced around, his hand still on his sword. "If any demons come into our Realm, we are ready for them. As for taking the fight to the spiritual.." he let out a sigh. "When I was visiting Aunt Doji, I did try to keep her spirit up, with poetry and stories. It might be silly, but I figured she might appreciate it."

Hikaru glanced at Genji, giving him a gentle smile. "I am sure she did, Hantei-sama." While they had previously used given names, Hikaru was not about to do that right now in front of Makime. "Lady Doji... appreciates... all forms of art, from painting to a story well told. It was good of you to visit."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"I'm sure she heard them, Genji," Satsuki assured her cousin with a smile and nod. "Hopefully there's a shrine or a temple in this village, and we can pray to Lady Sun, to give her daughter strength in these dark times."

Poor grandmother. She was a mother too after all, who had first lost her children to another realm, and now might lose her daughter again. "Oh, that reminds me of something... Nao and Genji, after we get some rest at our destination, come see me, hm? There's something I want to share with just family."

[Ryoshun Nao]

"Alright." she nodded.

Nao was staring at the fog now. She felt certain there was nothing there, not at the moment. But, it did remind her of something. She'd need time to think about it.

[Makime]

"Perhaps whatever the Stormcrow is planning here will help remove the pressure from Lady Doji." The Lioness didn't turn this time, more concerned with the path forward. "Or perhaps not, he is often infuriatingly vague about everything."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"It doesn't sound like you care for Shinsei very much, Lady Makime," Satsuki chuckled a little, but remained mostly serious. Mostly. "He's always been very welcome in my parents' home, but traveling around the past years... well, I've learned that it's a lot more varied what people think of him."

[Makime]

"I have no use for a 'font of wisdom' that spews deliberately confusing riddles." The contempt was pretty evident in Makime's voice. "Unclear information is often worse than no information. Maybe for sanctimonious philosophers who would spend their days navel gazing it's profound." She flicked her hand in a gesture mimicking the tossing of garbage. "For war leaders like me it just risks lives unnecessarily."

[Ryoshun Nao]

"Like fog?"

[Makime]

"Fog is like the land, not entirely in my control." The Lioness sighed, "If a messenger fails to arrive. Misfortune. If fog descends unexpectedly. Misfortune. If scouts miscount or lose their bearing. Mistake. These are all things that can happen, you have to be flexible and adapt."

"However, babbling some nonsense about the 'stream flows backwards at dawn, follow the red heron to the land of plentiful enlightenment by the place in which the monkey contemplates the wisdom of the beetle' is just deliberately inane garbage that is supposed to make you sound clever. Give me silence over that utter vomit."

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki giggled and smiled. "Sounds like Lady Makime would have a bad time visiting the Dragon-lands, well, with the exception of the Wu, I guess? They're a bit more straightforward and less focused on the spirituality of humans like my parents are. Good, honest folk, you know."

[Ryoshun Nao]

"Is it really better not to listen than to try to understand?" she asked. "Obviously, there is a time and place for contemplation, just as there is for conflict. Between studying with the elements, listening to my sister's divinations and meeting with some of Satsuki-chan's people, I fully understand the frustration of listening to something that seems indecipherable. It's like a fog. Do you wait and see what emerges? Do you rush past it? Or do you take what time you have, and adapt?"

[Hantei Genji]

Genji eyed the generational...conversation? Argument? Whatever it was. A part of him wanted to step in and mediate a bit, but then... it wasn't his place. Not like that.

He did eye his cousin. "How are you finding the trip so far?"

[Makime]

Makime stopped again and turned, her expression one of irritation, "How old are you child?"

"Does the concept of 'deliberate' and 'outside of one's control' escape your understanding? I don't deal in matters of enlightenment and spiritual understanding. I deal in war. And in war, information must be clear or people die unnecessarily. Sometimes it can't be. I don't control the fog. But when it is deliberately handed to me in a form that is by design supposed to be unclear...we have a big problem. That's the sort of thing your enemy does to trick you into making a bad decision, not the actions of a supposed ally."

She shakes her head and turns to resume walking.

[Ryoshun Nao]

"15 Winters." she answered. "I respect you Makime-sama. If we enter a conflict, I will listen to your advice, even if it does not make sense to me. I will try to understand. But, I won't bother you with spiritual concerns, if you don't wish it."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru grimaced. "I respect riddles as a form of poetry, I suppose. There is a certain artistry about them that I admire."

He shook his head. "But I paint to express something, or to share something, not to convey information. Perhaps if..." Here, his imagination failed him, and he waved a hand. "Certainly not in any circumstances I can imagine."

Looking at Nao, he inclined his head. "For spiritual matters, that may be something else. Part of the riddle is the growth in solving it, perhaps."

[Togashi Satsuki]

"As I've learned, there's a time for contemplation and koans, and there's a time for being direct and honest." She patted Nao's shoulder. "To ponder things in a contemplative way is good for personal growth and insight, but when dealing with matters greater than yourself, it's good to put that aside."

"Like Lady Makime thinks of war, a daimyo like my mother, or your sister, must be able to put aside personal contemplation to provide the best service for the people that look to them for leadership."

[Ryoshun Nao]

"The issue is, some information can be dangerous to share directly." she said. "I've never met Shinsei. He sounds exasperating and insufferable by several accounts. However, there can be a danger is speaking plainly regarding matters of prophecy. The same can be said for spirits and the realms they inhabit. There is a risk of revealing yourself to them."

[Togashi Satsuki]

Satsuki chuckled. "Adapt as the situation demands, hm? I think uncle Akodo wrote something about that, you know."

"Dad is... what you could say is not someone who shares things directly, unless absolutely needed. His way of leadership is different from say, Lady Makime, as he provides advice so that others may find the answer themselves and grow. But that is not something that can always be done," she shrugged slightly as she searched for an example. "In matters of prophecy, things are rarely clean-cut, because the future is endless possibilities that can change and turn."

"But say if there was an issue that required more context, like when my mom had to explain to others the dangers of Jigoku when they traveled to rescue uncle Hisomu, she chose to be direct because lives were at risk." She placed her hand up to her mouth to conceal it, indicating that she was going to share a secret and her voice dropped a little. "She even had to tell some people not to be intimate the further away they got from the Empire's border, because there was no telling what the influence of that realm could do to a child conceived near it."