The Day of Thunder

[Saru Shang]

The undrinkable river was just one of many spots around the village and Shang wasn't going to let that bit of downer prevent her from exploring the rest of the county. With her bow and quiver, she ventured out to see the rest of the wilderness to see if she could get an idea of what was truly going on around here. Admittedly, she sought out inspiration first before answers and hoped to find it in the forests. Could she see the trees from the forest? It seemed that the fog was doing fine work of covering up both. She found herself reaching out with her hand as she hiked to make sure she wouldn't accidentally walk into a faceful of branches.

"...huh?" Shang murmured as she snapped a glance behind her. Was there someone else here?

[Jiyo Sora]

The Imperial Samurai Jiyo Sora, Hero the Empire, Protector of the Emperor's Daughters, Founder of the Imperial Libraries, a man who had spoken with each and every one of the living Kami, was taking a stroll through the woods, presumably to decompress.

He wore no armor, but he did carry both of his swords, plus a yumi in case he spotted anything that looked particularly worth shooting at- but he plainly wasn't hunting, simply strolling along in a weatherbeaten kimono, and regarding the inevitable snags on his garb and twigs to the face as perfectly normal events to be expected on a stroll of this sort.

[Saru Shang]

When Shang heard some footsteps and some snapping twigs from the approaching samurai, she quickly dismissed the strange voices and whispers she thought she might have heard during her stroll. However, it was enough to put her on edge as she took up the yumi in her hand and called out with some obvious tension in her voice. "...H-hey! Who goes there?!"

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora looked up through the fog, and laughed.

"A terrible old man, trying to walk alone and failing. Jiyo Sora. Whose similar attempt am I ruining?"

[Saru Shang]

Shang took up a defensive stance against the old man and shot a glare in his direction. It was perhaps after a beat that she would relax from her stance and shake her head, feeling a bit silly about how she jumping at shadows and letting it ruin her mood.

"Sorry about, Jiyo-sama. The forests here have made me a little jumpy, I didn't intend to snap at you. It's probably the imagination playing tricks on me, it tends to run away sometimes. This one is Shang of the Saru," she would bow and slowly approach him so that they didn't need to yell across the forest. It was also perhaps to make sure that Sora wasn't a mirage either.

[Jiyo Sora]

"Bah, you call that snapping?"

He shook his head and grinned.

"Pleased to meet you, Shang of the Saru. My daughter's marrying into your family soon, so it's doubly pleasing to make your acquaintance."

[Saru Shang]

"Oh, a joyous marriage? I hope?" She brought up with a small smile on her lips. Those supposed arranged marriage practices weren't so common around the Empire yet, right? "Any occasion where families found themselves connected to one another is often a blessing, I'd hope. I hope to represent the Family well to give you much optimism for the future. That said, one Saru is also different than another."

[Jiyo Sora]

"That's true enough, I've found your family generally among the more comprehensible groups of people in the Empire. Might be because your founder was my first friend who wasn't from the same Tribe I was... Anyway. Shirayuki and Taiyo seem happy together. Obnoxiously so, really."

He paused, as a thought seemed to strike him.

"Hopefully they keep the number of grandchildren I have to remember birthdays for to a manageable horde..."

[Saru Shang]

Shang chuckled softly at that thought. "I wouldn't be so bold to presume that there's much love surrounding their relationship but they do say that happiness is not something that happens without a good reason behind it. It sounds like they're destined to have a fortuitous marriage indeed! May their marriage become a shining beacon to us all! I can't say I know for certain what that might mean for grandchildren but I'm sure you'll manage somehow, Jiyo-sama."

She let out a sigh as she turned her attention to look at the surrounding forest, wondering if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. "If we manage to weather the storm and return home, I'd say that perhaps having trouble keeping up with your grandchildren is a good problem to have."

[Jiyo Sora]

"I have a wife with two five year olds waiting for me. That's priority one. The grandkids can wait a spell..."

Which was to say, he agreed.

[Saru Shang]

Shang found herself blinking twice at the mention of the five-year-olds. "...Oh, so I suppose you're still expanding your family as your children are looking to get married. That's quite an impressive feat, Jiyo-sama, and I'll probably leave it at that..."

"But, if I am to say one more thing on the topic." She narrowed an eye for a moment as she thought back at the mention of grandchildren. "It might only mean that many grandchildren is more of an eventuality than a possibility if I am to be frank."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Ah, but if we space them out...." he grinned and winked. "Just hope they aren't as.... twin-happy as my generation seems to have been. I blame the Boss..."

[Saru Shang]

Shang raised a hand to her lips and gave a casual clearing of her throat to perhaps make it obvious that she intended to change the topic of babies and grandchildren. "...ahem...uhm, so, Jiyo-sama! I've been meaning to gather some opinions around here, well, everything! I'm sure I've seen you around Shinsei's little announcement and prophecy for things to come. What are your opinions on that?"

[Jiyo Sora]

"I think when he sent me into Jigoku with Old Man Yamadono, White Moonrise, Seppun Dawei, and Hantei to rescue Hisomu, it turned out all right. I also got into a fight with his embodied hubris once about twenty years ago, so we can weigh that on the scales."

He shrugged.

"I'm inclined to trust him. His intentions are good, and we've been looking into this Thunders mess pretty heavily over the last two decades, even before the Harbinger appeared at Court."

[Saru Shang]

"Oh, there were whisperings of the Thunders beforehand? I'm curious as to what were the signs? Did Shinsei speak of Thunders and it was taken as metaphorical when she meant by actual physical Thunder Champions?" She said with some mirth in her expression as she adjusted her quiver slightly. "There's little reason to not trust his intentions, he is Shinsei and a living legend in the flesh. I guess I'm wondering more about these Champions and how they're selected, as well as the idea of destiny that puts all of us. I won't assume that my role in this tale is a Champion as I've never even taken down a boar before but the idea of destiny would imply that we all have a role in this story."

[Jiyo Sora]

"Bah, destiny's just a word we use when we really seem to mean prophecy. Destiny doesn't do a damned thing, we do. It wasn't destiny that cut Hadananzi with a jade-coated blade, it was that obnoxious prat Kakita carrying a weapon he'd prepared for the occasion. Destiny didn't yank Hisomu out of Jigoku, Hantei, Old Man Yamadono, White Moonrise, Seppun Dawei and I did."

He shrugged.

"So once we know what needs doing, we do it. Far as the Thunder prophecy goes, we heard about it on the trip south twenty years gone. Bits of it in a Nezumi library, bits of it here and there... we've known about at least a champion for the past two decades, but the details were hazy. Actually, my friend Jin worked out a spell to kind of sniff out people who might have it in them..."

[Saru Shang]

Shang perked up and found herself glancing around her surroundings as Sora was throwing out names of a few famous figures, wondering if they were going to suddenly appear on cue. That seems like something that would happen if destiny was feeling coy. "Of course, Jiyo-sama. A play or tale isn't anything without its actors. Things just don't fall in place out of thin air, I'm assuming that's where these Thunder Champions will come into play. I was wondering more about what this meant for the rest of us. Nine is a small and specific number, Shinsei or his clairvoyant wisdom will have enough people to pick from in attendance."

She gave a few blinks and turned her head slightly as if she was trying to get a better hear or something. "What's this now? We're already aware of one Thunder? And you might know who the others are? Care to share the details? We have a whole village of people who are already in suspense about being the next figure in history!"

[Jiyo Sora]

"I know that a being of evil referred to Lady Matsu as a Thunder twenty years ago. And she has the potential to be one, but... I think it's also about refining any such potential."

He looked abut at their surroundings.

"And for the rest of us... well. When the five of us went into Jigoku, many others fought and held the line as the forces of the Realm of Evil tried to break through. So that's likely where we'll find ourselves."

[Saru Shang]

"I'm sure it was hard to do much with that information back then, it could have almost meant anything without proper context. So you think that this might be something with a battle involved?" She frowned as she looked at her yumi for a moment. "Here I thought that there would be room for being part of the audience without being front and centre of everything. However, if that's what the show demands then I won't complain! I've been meaning to find inspiration somewhere in all of this. It could be in the shining moment itself or the past, too. Surely, not everyone is fighting for the future just because they were destined to. We all come from somewhere or something where we want to return to."

[Jiyo Sora]

"As I said, destiny's not something I concern myself with. I have five children- and had a hand in the raising of five more. My friends have children. my enemies have children that I rather like, as it turns out. I want them all to have a future worth living in. That's why I'm here. And if all I do is haul a bucket of water that some Thunder gets a drink from, then I can live with that."