The Day of Thunder

[Nanzi Ai]

Just ne more lap around the village and that should tire herself out enough to finally find sleep. She had been running for nearly thirty minutes before she stopped and leaned against a building… scowling at the moon.

“Dear grandpa, stop mocking me… jerk,” she said tersely to herself.

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Are you speaking to your actual grandfather, or is this this human thing about complaining aloud about things to people that aren't there and are not related to the issue?"

A figure jumped down from the roof of a nearby house and a young girl landed on all fours next to the Crane.

"People do that all the time. It's confusing."

[Nanzi Ai]

Her blade came to hand quickly, a blur… the draw was sublime but she didn;t focus on that. She looked at the creature… wait person… was she dreaming finally? Sweet rest had finally… no she was awake.

Sadly.

After a heartbeat she lowered the blade having recognized her having the long conversation with the Crab… something about animals maybe? She said with military precision, “Nanzi Ai of the Crane, and although that was a private moment of sorts, yes I was speaking to my actual grandfather.”

The blade was sheathed and she had, “Despite his actions he is still family, Grandfather Moon, meet… apologies, your name?”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Kai."

She showed the exposed back of her back to demonstrate trust, as was expected.

"Aren't you talking a bit too softly for him to hear you? He's so high up in the sky.

And he's doing a better job at being quiet and resplendent than the Rabbit or the Coyote, but I get what you're saying. Eating one's offspring is great taboo. Immediately makes you the villain of the story."

[Nanzi Ai]

“Greetings Kai,” she said.

Ai was puzzled by the mannerisms but she had been schooled in this by the best, so she approached it with preening Crane grace. She responded, “Perhaps he cannot hear me, but I think he might be listening to his children’s children if only out of hunger.”

“Besides it would be most untoward to shout at this hour, though it would be the same during the day as well. His sins will never be forgotten, but we are thankful for Hantei-ojisan freeing his family.”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

snip

"Oji... Ah, yes, your uncle! Your actual uncle, not your uncle in courtliness only. The great hero who saved his family. And then did it again. Strong story there.

The state of your things with your grandfather is very awkward though. We need the moon. Very important to have light from heavens during the night, especially in this time of darkness. But also he's angry and might do bad things at the worst possible moment?

Maybe it would be a good thing to make a shrine, or dance, or something like that, for him. Important to keep the gods appeased, even when they've been mean to you in the past. Especially actually."

[Nanzi Ai]

“I had never considered that, perhaps I can ask Shiba-ojisan if he thinks that is a wise decision? Our grandfather is still in the throes of madness hence why his face changes so often throughout the seasons… it is unclear if such actions would appease or only inflame his madness,” she said honestly.

“Though I am told that it is very difficult to enter Tengoku, I only know of two living people that have done so; perhaps it is equally difficult for him to enter Ningen-do.”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"To pass from one realm to the next is not so difficult. It's doing so without being so deeply changed you barely qualify at the same person that's the real challenge. If the Moon descended here right now, in all likeness, he wouldn't be the same, for better or worst.

Guess we are not to expect his help in the upcoming battle in all cases, at best his neutrality. Maybe your grandmother would be more sympathetic to our cause?"

[Nanzi Ai]

"She has given her favor to the Son of Heaven... but I am sure she will nudge things as she is able without breaking the rules of the Day of Thunder," she said warmly.

"But this is our moment, we must save ourselves."

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"‘We’ the complicated part here. At this morning meeting, there was a lot of ‘We’, but most were ‘We the Dragon’, ‘We the Crane’, ‘We the Lion’, and so on, and not enough ‘We people of this realm’. Even the choice of the number of heroes seemed more political than practical. Nine, one for each clan, is a lot, and at the same time quite restrictive."

[Nanzi Ai]

“It follows the logic of dreams and legend, nine Great Clans, nine Thunders each in service to Nine sword defenders of the realm; I see it as providence. Some may not agree but the Nine Thunders are merely the champions the rest will have to hold the line,” she responded.

“It’s natural to see to your own first, then the whole, but we all have a Duty to the Son of Heaven and the realm but we see to our parcel of it and allow others to steward theirs as they see fit. But they will come together here and elsewhere,” she said warmly.

“I do not see any problems here.”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"It's one way to see it. Another is that Dragons and Lions work better in pairs, and Scorpions make poor heroes. Stories don't let themselves so easily tamed by the current worldly organization.

The nine for nine thing is indubitably symbolical. But it needs to be backed up by more stories highlighting cooperation and how none of the nine can triumph without the help of the eight others. At the moment, it feels a bit like the tale of the Dragon and its eight sidekicks.

In other words, what can the Bat do than the Dragon cannot do? I'm definitely not saying there's not something here, for in more than one tale Tiger had to bow in thanks to Rat. But that story of each own distinctive abilities needs to be unraveled and repeated so it can infuse its own strength into the bigger narrative.

Also, legends tend to be based on transgression. The more you try to fix strict rules, the more they will be thwarted. Maybe of the nine, the Crane will end up being a Spider with a dress of feathers, and the Kirin a Dragon forced to walk on four legs. Or maybe not. But one should definitely look beyond picking exactly one protagonist from each clan, as it might not be how the story needs to go."

[Nanzi Ai]

“Except in this case the animals are merely symbols, the Dragon is Togashi-ojisan… the Crane is my honored Mother, Doji; and so on and so forth and they have already worked together in rescuing the Spider champion, my Honored Uncle, Hisomu,” she said warmly.

“The clan are not animals, they may use such terms as a means of expression, but they represent the personalities, wills, and ambitions of their founding Champions. These are the stories we are building.”

She finished with, “Perhaps Dragon is traditionally a powerful creature, in this happenstance, it is simply a symbol for Togashi-ojisan, who is powerful but in a different way from Hida-ojisan, and so on and so forth.”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"When you call yourself Dragon, Dragon you are. Names have powers, they shape you. At the moment Hida decided he would be Crab, he became Crab. If he had wanted to stay Hida, he would have called his clan Hida.

The image needs not be perfect. But it's what each clan represents that will be determinant in the success of this story. Togashi will not be the protagonist of this particular fight. It will be a Dragon, and the more of a dragon they will be, the better.

These symbols, you of course mold them every day. That Dragon of today will not be the Dragon of yesterday. Nowadays, a dragon can be a human with tattoos. But it is still expected of them to not just be a sword swinger with a dragon drawing upon their backs. They must embody the powerful spirit of the dragon in some way. Maybe something to do with fire. Maybe something to do with clouds. Maybe something to do with time.

But at the end of the story, they need to have been so Dragon that even if they were to switch clothes and names with another fellow champion, they would still be unmistakably recognized as a Dragon."

[Nanzi Ai]

“They will be samurai first and foremost, they have names and they will embody the ideas of their Clan, they will embody what the Dragon espouse… whatever that is. If they are Crab, they will embody strength, power, and endurance like their Champion but also they will be themselves as well. A Crane will reflect the aesthetics of our Clan but they will also be an individual,” she responded.

“They have names, they have families, and we cannot forget that even if they are a Thunder.”

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"On that we are in agreement. Being one thing is easy. The hard part is being something and being something more at the same time. A human. A samurai. An animal. A symbol. Oneself. A legend. To transcend, to exist as several things at once, in several realms at once. A being of the realm of mortals that's also a being of the realms of dreams, who can fight the darkness within the very place it has called home."

[Nanzi Ai]

"Shinsei never asks for anything easy," she said with a nod.

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Of course. Such is not his role. He is the teacher. Would there even been in point in asking you to do something you already know you can do?"

[Nanzi Ai]

"Point taken, I see him as more a harbinger of troubles than a teacher; he does not teach much of anything that I know of despite his moniker," she said ruefully.

[Kaijarisuigyo]

"Because you are not child anymore. When you're little and know nothing, the teacher imparts their own knowledge until you know more than nothing. As you get older, they become more of a companion on the road to learning, providing support in your journey toward new knowledge also them aren't sure what it's all about until it's found.

It's like that blade swinging thing. Once you've covered the basics, improvement becomes a path of your own, masters now only being able to give perspective, not simply tell what to do to reach the next level."