The Day of Thunder

[Jiyo Sora]

The rays of Lady Sun filtering through the fog illuminated a sight that most would probably have been fine.... missing.

While Sora was actually wearing more than he usually did after waking up in tent somewhere, his bare chest and back, crisscrossed with various scars, weren't exactly the epitome of couth. But he seemed to find the morning air... invigorating.

He was apparently bent on exercise- after stretching for a bit (producing a few noteworthy crackling sounds in the process), he started working through various unarmed combat forms, apparently with more of an emphasis on raising his heart rate than on actually practicing anything too specific.

He idly wondered to himself what fresh lunacy the new day would bring. He'd already noted a fucking fox spirit, a fucking CROW spirit, a fucking oni, and last but not least, a masked princess in the mix, so at this stage he was pretty well prepared to have the nearest rock turn out to be some kind of rock goblin.

If his life to this point had taught him anything, it was that you could count on the insane and the unexpected whenever Shinsei threw a party.

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Humans, like wolves, are social animals operating using a three generations structure, with grandparents taking care of teaching the young and ensuring the den safety while adults in peak physical condition take care of the hunting. Are you the den guardian?"

The voice had come from the high branches of a nearby tree where totally a normal human young girl had apparently set up her sleeping bag and likewise living accommodations.

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora looked up. Gave a weary sigh as his eye registered something.

Of course. Of course, makes perfect sense.

"Not so much these days. Used to look after some kids for the Boss back in my youth, a'course. That said, got no grandkids yet, so maybe the time will come."

He went back to his routine.

"Comfy up there?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Very. Fog is less dense up here, making for less damp clothes, and the vantage point offers greater security against probable threats coming from the forest. The lack of a big enough flat resting surface makes for some back aches but a young healthy body can shrug that quickly."

She jumped down to ground level, fully clothed, a small bundle under her arm, leaving nothing behind in the tree.

"Members of the pack need not to share blood for the pack to work. Are you not taking care of unrelated younglings at the moment?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"Nope."

Another stretch, another popping sound.

"In fact, been about twenty years since I had that job. My wife's looking after our two youngest while I wander around here like a complete bastard."

He offered a bow of sorts.

"They call me Jiyo Sora. Originally of the Hikaru Tribe in the spine of the world, but I've been a member of the Imperial Families since there have been Imperial Families. Who're you?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

Kai likewise showed her defenseless nape to demonstrate trust:

"Kai. I'm from near the cascade in the east some young people say is holy because your Shinsei once drank there, and older people say is holy because older sacred things also drank there. Ancient place of power, very sacred, very good at keeping the darkness at bay. Slowly giving under the pressure of people forgetting about it as their memories are twisted during their sleep. What is good cannot subsist without the dream."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Hm. Holy places, huh? Never put too much stock in 'em, but I've been to some unholy ones, so I suppose I should remain open-minded. Pleased to meet you, Kai."

He sighed.

"Shame people forget so easily, but that's why we try to write things down. If you have any old stories, I might ask you to share 'em during idle time. I'm not a very good scribe, but my wife can read my scribblings and write them up better."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"I was always better at being fooled by storytellers than at telling stories myself. Not many of the old silver-tongued devils are what they were sadly. Maybe the spider is still around somewhere? Otherwise, of the great tales, only a few fragments and names remain, most have already been adopted in this new age.

Though I'm not sure why the Tortoise was changed into a Crab. A transcription error maybe?"

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora chuckled.

"You don't have to be a captivating storyteller to get the story preserved, y'know. But tell me about this Tortoise, then. It's not a symbol that we had in the Spine of the World- we didn't even know a tortoise was a thing that existed."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Tortoise in the North, Dragon in the East, Phoenix in the South, Tiger in the West. Four Guardians, one for each season. As long as all four keep vigil, the land will know peace.

A story that is still going around, even if the Auspicious Beasts have nowadays been replaced with humans wearing their symbols. And that Crab/Tortoise confusion thing."

[Jiyo Sora]

"But you named four, and we use ten. Phoenix, Dragon, those match, but we don't use Tiger or Tortoise. And our Dragons are in the North. Hell the Crab are kinda east of them."

He cocked his head to the side.

"Might be we're making our own stories, without consciously thinking of- or even awareness of- the older symbols."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"You people really like to complicate things. Ten animals, easily twice too many to make a good story. Soon you'll start splitting the year in ten, or twelve, or fifteen sections just so every beast can have an equal share of it.

Anyway, the old stories are full of great animals doing great things. You people decided to be these animals, as a collective. Fine. The world changes, the story changes, in its details if not its essence. The Crane is always elegant, whether it's an actual crane ruffling its actual feathers or a human in a fancy dress.

But that comes with responsibilities. Be it Crab or Tortoise, Phoenix or Stag, Spider or Dragon, someone has to step into the protector role and protect. What are your Guardians doing? There are beasts of evil roaming the lands, and I see no dragon firing at them, be it an actual dragon with a fire breath or humans with dragon tattoos and bows and arrows."

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora's tone was quite, quite dry.

"I've led people wearing the Phoenix in putting down more than one of these things. I've seen the Lion doing the same, lent them my aid on the way here. If you don't see the effort of our various guardians, you must not be looking too hard. Besides. We can't simply slaughter our way out of this. If we kill everyone we're trying to protect then what's the damn point?"

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Fighting humans, there is always aplenty. But this goes well beyond that. It's about embodying The Legend.

Nobody goes to sleep peacefully thinking about angry men with pointy sticks, no matter how well-intentioned the men actually are. People however take comfort in the thought of a great tiger, a powerful dragon, a wise bird, looking over the land as they close their eyes.

Your Dragon soldiers need not to be an actual dragon. But that's how the people need to think of them, as a band acting as a single creature, with the might and the grace of a beast of legend.

The powerful symbols you've chosen must be more than simple decorations on your clothes. They need to be channeled strongly enough to become the matter of dreams. For the only thing that can truly defeat a nightmare is a greater dream.

Be not of the Phoenix. Be the Vermilion Bird."

A pause.

"But don't actually set yourself on fire. Humans die when turned to ashes."

[Jiyo Sora]

He snorted.

"My own story's already a bloated thing, impossible for any mortal man to live up to, and unlike some, I don't much enjoy the experience. You want some advice? Humans might think in symbols, but we don't speak in them. If you're gonna persuade someone to... become whatever the hell a vermilion bird is, you need to offer specifics. Otherwise you're just spouting gibberish as far as most of us reckon things."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"I'm not a word person. The Monkey, the Spider, they may have been able to string words together so it all makes sense easily. And probably, by this point of the conversation, they would also have persuaded you to put your briefs over your head and imitate the chicken. They are crafty but also kind of ass.

But you're supposed to have all these people who can talk to both spirits and humans alike? They, they should have no difficulty understanding.

If you really need a concrete example from poor me..."

Kai racked her brains until a candle finally lit up in her skull:

"Light. The Vermilion Bird is all about light. When people wake up at night, absolutely terrified, you don't want them to just stare at the dark alone with their terrors. You want them to see the Vermilion Bird in the distance, as a reminder they are not alone, that someone is watching over there.

There's a shrine near my place of coming into the world where a fire is always kept burning. It's atop of a hill, so it can be seen from all around the valley.

Your Empire is a bit bigger than that, so I guess you need a bigger shrine. Some tower in orange and red, with a fire at the top so big a twinkle of it can always been seen at night from anywhere under its protection.

Is it more comprehensible put that way?"

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora sighed.

"The Boss tries. To be a beacon, that is. But it's not easy to get people to see you as light when their own kin wake up screaming with too many new teeth in their mouths."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"You know the drill. I think you, or some friends of you, have written a ton of books about it, with a lot of fancy words, some of which were invented for the occasion. It's not about it being easy. It's not even about it being possible. It's nonetheless what needs to be striven for, or what's the point of living? A human without a dream is just a monkey on two legs.

By the way, didn't you use to carry a torch yourself in the days? Or was it some other Red Bird old man with an unusual eye?"

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora started laughing.

"I leave the books to abler hands- and abler minds! And torches are silly. Can't sneak well if you're carrying fire..."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"You're wearing red and orange clothes. Don't you think you should leave the sneaking to whose wearing the Bat or the Spider? Would make more sense.

I get you are a man of many stories, from many storytellers, and they don't always match well together. Such is a common fate for the long lived. And, as such, there's likely at least one tale where you had to be the sneaky one. But is that your core character? The image you're trying to leave behind? Sora the Sneaky?"