dusk-is-faster-than-you

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

After much confusion, celebration, and a minor kidnapping, the time to rest had come. There was a big day ahead of the many friends and allies of the newly-wedded couple as they prepared to head into the Deoro. Some well-deserved rest was in order in proper beds before all they would know is either the hard ground or, if they could find the space, a suspended hammock.

Satoru could use the rest. Sleep finds him, as it finds everyone. Where does he find himself after such a tiring day?

There were a few places that Satoru found himself in his dreams. During the better ones, it was the Cherry Blossom Orphanage, when he would find himself sitting at the dinner table with Koda and the rest of the Dokuchi family. During the worst ones, it was back in his childhood home, surrounded by flames yet just as helpless as he had been at a child.

So when he found himself in an unburned replica of his childhood home, yet still at his current age and level of scarrification, he knew that something was wrong. He also knew something was wrong when the dream was lucid and he could actually control himself instead of running the same flame-burned route as he had for thirty-two years now.

"You must be Aclazotz," he said to nowhere in particular. "It's hard not to hear your name as of late in this land."

@dusk-legion-diplomacy

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Fallen

She was the most beautiful human he had ever seen, and he had seen many humans in his long, long life. She was fierce, skilled, agile, trained. Somewhere in her forties, if his understanding of human ages was correct. She had long black hair and black eyes that burned like fire. She wore clothing that was both practical and pointed, not hiding her past in the Imperial Court before becoming the Dokuchi Reckoner boss. Her katana, black and gold, sliced through a person like a warm knife through butter. The first time he saw her, she had cleaved someone in half from anus to head.

He fell instantly.

He did not know much about love. He was an oni – most of what he knew was anger, hunger, and power. Those were the three things that mattered. But merely looking at her was like a surge of power, something that satiated his hunger and directed his anger into a fine point.

He was not one to study. Being an oni did that to oneself.

But he watched.

And, after a while of watching, he approached.

She did not rebuke him. She had been working to bring back the old ways of kami worship in her gang. Oni worship was not among their historical practices.

Despite this, they spoke.

And as the seasons changed, it went well beyond merely speaking.

If only he got to see his son.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Eishi woke up in the fanmail covered room once again. This time, it wasn't alone in bed. Yuriko was with it after the events of last night, where Yuriko decided to show Eishi some fun time, that lasted 7 hours. Now, alightly bruised and sweaty, Eishi was held in sleeping Yurikos arms. It debated for a moment wether to wake the ninja up, but it was cut short by the hands on it's breasts squeezing them, which made Eishi let out a small moan. "I was about to wake you up. You primised to show me the mech Koda got from the Hyozan boss."

( @azzie-beastbinder )

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Late Night Musings

“...Umezawa, are you awake?”

“I was about to ask you that, kid. But yes. What’s wrong?”

“...”

“Come on, kid. I��ve known you since you were a baby, you can talk to me.”

“I know. I just...I don’t know. I’m...faltering. I can feel it. Everything is just too much, and...”

“...And it feels like you’re going crazy.”

“I can hear scissors talking, Satoru.”

“Okay, so you’re literally going insane. So what? You’re still Koda. You’re still my little brother. You’re still the Dokuchi boss.”

“For how long, though? I’ve only been in this position for five years and I’m already burning out. Even fucking Boss Mazene kept her position for six years. What did she do that I couldn’t?”

“Well for one thing, she was already in her fifties when she took the position, and everyone hated her to the point where my gang’s ancestors were hired to kill her. For another, she took her position because she killed Boss Puddlepaw, who wasn’t much better and only led for a year longer than she did.”

“...How do you remember my gang’s history off the cuff like that?”

“I remember everything Ayame taught me. She was the best teacher I ever had. And that’s saying something, considering I’ve gone through the Imperials’ enforcer academy three times now.”

A snicker. “You have, haven’t you?” A sigh. “I don’t know if I can live up to her example.”

“You don’t have to. I don’t go through my life trying to live up to my father, and he was the boss before...well, technically there was a guy between me and him, but you get the point.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to follow up on Ayame Hayashi. It’s like...everyone looks at me like they assume I’ll do incredible things just because I’m her son. Everyone acted like it was already set in stone that I would be the Dokuchi boss even before Boss Mei stepped down-”

“Koda. You’re spiralling.”

“...Right...”

“Look at it this way, kid. In five years, you’ve done more for the Dokuchi Reckoners and people beyond Kamigawa than pretty much everyone since Setsa did. You actually care about your gang and want to keep them safe. You’re a good boss, Hayashi.”

“...I wonder what things would have been like if I never became the boss...”

“I don’t see the point of wondering about it, but sure, let’s play this out. Let’s say you never became Boss Mei’s second-in-command when you were seventeen. Goldenscar wouldn’t have accepted no matter what Boss Mei asked her to do. Ghostmark would still have been sixteen, so he definitely wouldn’t have been in the running, even with him learning under Tsuji.”

“Right...which means Okino probably would be the next one, since she was twenty at the time. And she’s the best of us.”

“Quit putting yourself down, Hayashi. But sure, Yuriko as boss. Since she wouldn’t be a movie star, since we both know she can’t handle two big things all at once, that means the Dokuchi would be in an even worse state, financially speaking.”

“Yeah, because she’s the one keeping the orphanage funded now...”

“Right. So regardless of how good of a boss she would or wouldn’t be, that part of the Dokuchi Reckoners would still be suffering in a way that it isn’t now.”

“...Yeah...”

“You’re a good guy, Koda. Towashi’s done its damnedest to break you at every turn, but here you still are. Your first reaction when someone is suffering is to help them. Your first reaction to injustice is to right it. You’re a better person than I was at your age, and you’re still a better person than me now.”

“...Thanks, Satoru.”

“No problem, kid. Now get some shut-eye. We’ve got one hell of a hike in a few hours.”

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Eishi woke up in the fanmail covered room once again. This time, it wasn't alone in bed. Yuriko was with it after the events of last night, where Yuriko decided to show Eishi some fun time, that lasted 7 hours. Now, alightly bruised and sweaty, Eishi was held in sleeping Yurikos arms. It debated for a moment wether to wake the ninja up, but it was cut short by the hands on it's breasts squeezing them, which made Eishi let out a small moan. "I was about to wake you up. You primised to show me the mech Koda got from the Hyozan boss."

( @azzie-beastbinder )

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Eishi woke up in the fanmail covered room once again. This time, it wasn't alone in bed. Yuriko was with it after the events of last night, where Yuriko decided to show Eishi some fun time, that lasted 7 hours. Now, alightly bruised and sweaty, Eishi was held in sleeping Yurikos arms. It debated for a moment wether to wake the ninja up, but it was cut short by the hands on it's breasts squeezing them, which made Eishi let out a small moan. "I was about to wake you up. You primised to show me the mech Koda got from the Hyozan boss."

( @azzie-beastbinder )

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Eishi woke up in the fanmail covered room once again. This time, it wasn't alone in bed. Yuriko was with it after the events of last night, where Yuriko decided to show Eishi some fun time, that lasted 7 hours. Now, alightly bruised and sweaty, Eishi was held in sleeping Yurikos arms. It debated for a moment wether to wake the ninja up, but it was cut short by the hands on it's breasts squeezing them, which made Eishi let out a small moan. "I was about to wake you up. You primised to show me the mech Koda got from the Hyozan boss."

( @azzie-beastbinder )

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Thank you, I'm sure will get to work on something together soon.

We're here! Seems we're among the last of the Dokuchi Reckoners to join up here. It can't be helped, but we hope to catch up on what we've missed. Probably not last, but we sure did take our time. The Dokuchi's cutest kitsune, here to post mildly to incriminating information about ourselves! (This is an external network, right?) .. And to help out around here again now that we're back near the Dokuchi's hub of activity.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Ah, hello! I don't believe we gotten to meet yet. I'm Dusk-Fur, from the Order of Jukai, new member of the Dokuchi Reckoners, but old friend of the family.

We're here! Seems we're among the last of the Dokuchi Reckoners to join up here. It can't be helped, but we hope to catch up on what we've missed. Probably not last, but we sure did take our time. The Dokuchi's cutest kitsune, here to post mildly to incriminating information about ourselves! (This is an external network, right?) .. And to help out around here again now that we're back near the Dokuchi's hub of activity.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

The good news is, Chima (@dimir-archivist) has recovered under my care. I can feel myself itching to travel once more, so I will be guiding her to the Order of Jukai and then traveling towards this Takenuma Swamp myself in order to get a feel for the area.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

A Thousand Pains

The new Hyozan boss was a child.

Not that Ayame Hayashi was too surprised. She had become the second-in-command under Tukebe when she was sixteen and took over when he stepped down the moment she turned eighteen. She had launched the youngling program so that Dokuchi Reckoners could fully join the gang yet still be mentored by the age of sixteen. The young had a type of energy that she did not anymore, at the age of forty.

But Satoru Umezawa, a teenage boy whose voice hadn’t even fully cracked yet, stood before her at fifteen years old. He was the spitting image of his father Daichi and had the same temper as his mother Keiko. He already smelled of blood, poison, and technology, the three core parts of a Reckoner.

That was the moment that Ayame took him under her wing, to teach him about being not a Reckoner, but a Reckoner boss, and the pains that one would face from such a position.

A year later, Ayame held a little bundle in her arms as she gave orders to her waiting Reckoners. Satoru, now at sixteen and far less scrawny than he had been before, stood dutifully by her side, his prosthetic hands folded behind himself as he learned how to give orders hands-on. When the little girl in the bundle that Ayame held became fussy, Satoru took her so Ayame could focus on work. Despite the dangers of the life of a Reckoner, there were still always children to look after, and Satoru found himself gravitating towards those sorts of duties despite his position as a Reckoner boss.

Maybe one day, he’d take in one of his own. He had already learned the news of his infertility young, so having a biological child – as much as he wanted one in the future – was impossible. But maybe helping to take care of this child as his younger sibling would help fill that pit.

Satoru was twenty-one when he got the news about Ayame’s murder. He had grown into his own as a Reckoner boss, but he still dropped everything to take off across Towashi towards Dokuchi territory. Ayame’s child had already gotten the news, and Lethaltooth and Silentsign had taken her in, but Satoru dropped to his knees and let her cling to him and sob for as long as she needed.

It was the least he could do.

Satoru, at twenty-three years old, was the first one that Ayame’s child told about being transgender. It wasn’t a surprise, as Satoru had already gone through the song and dance of transitioning socially and, for the most part, medically as well, and Ayame’s child knew this.

Koda was seven when he introduced himself by his new name, and a quick-witted little bastard already. Satoru barely managed to not laugh when Koda showed him the kanji he had settled on for his name. Naming oneself “orphan” was a step up from Satoru naming himself the equivalent of “the guy who knows things” with the kanji he used for his name.

So it was Satoru who was with Koda when he told Lethaltooth and Silentsign, along with Goldenscar and Ghostmark. He was there to celebrate afterwards when it all went well, even acquiring a cake (or, more accurately, stealing, because he wasn’t above stealing desserts) so they could both eat until they got sick.

Satoru was the only person outside of the Dokuchi Reckoners who was allowed to sit in on the Reckoner tattoo ceremony. He was a tattoo mage for his own gang, so of course he knew the basics already. And Koda, at thirteen, had wanted a family member he knew well to be there when Flinttooth gave him the first of the serpentine tattoos that would define his life from then onward. So Satoru, at twenty-nine, got to watch as Koda Hayashi officially became a Dokuchi Reckoner youngling.

“Take care of my little brother, Benkei,” Satoru said as he finally went to leave, pausing only to address the man that would be Koda’s mentor.

“Until my dying breath,” Benkei Oda agreed.

Neither of them knew how accurate that would be.

“Let me kill Sakai,” Satoru, at thirty-one, had snarled over the frequency during a moment stolen in the terrible business of being the Hyozan boss. “I’ll have him dead by lunch. Lethaltooth, I will ask you for nothing else-”

“What Koda needs,” the elderly nezumi, probably in her early sixties at this point (though Satoru never knew how old Koda’s adopted parents were), “is support and safety, not vengeance. He will be able to get vengeance on his own time, when he’s ready. But right now, he needs his family. Myself, Silentsign, you, Goldenscar, and Ghostmark.”

Fifteen. Fifteen years old, and Koda had barely survived three months of torture that killed seventeen grown Dokuchi a month in, had bonded with a kami to escape, and had gone completely silent, speaking to no one – not even with nezumi sign language.

Satoru took a deep breath. Lethaltooth was right. Typically, if a nezumi made it to old age, they usually were. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

Thirty-three and seventeen were Satoru and Koda’s ages, respectively, when Koda became the youngest Dokuchi Reckoner boss on record. And the Dokuchi Reckoners were obsessive about their records. He had beat his own mother as youngest by a year, not even technically out of youngling training. But Mei’s illness had finally gotten worse, and she would need to dedicate most of her time to fighting it, so Koda Hayashi became the second Boss Hayashi.

And he was a natural at it. He was sharpened by years of being a Reckoner already and quick-witted from childhood, so it was difficult for other Reckoner bosses to not take him seriously as he poked holes into things and made a name for his gang once more. Satoru didn’t go easy on him, but the verbal push-and-shove as they hashed out a non-intervention deal was fantastic. It was almost as if Satoru were once more arguing with Ayame herself, except that Koda also had a temper that Ayame didn’t have. Even Greasefang, who was dating Koda’s sister by this point, had to give it to Koda that he was doing a damn fine job at keeping family and Reckoner boss dynamics separate. He was cold, calm, and firm in what he wanted.

Satoru knew that Ayame would be proud of Koda if she were still alive.

Satoru took in a lieutenant shorly after Koda became the Dokuchi boss, a young man who was sixteen named Hideo who needed a mentor, guidance, a parent. Hideo was like Satoru and Koda both in a lot of ways – quick as a whip, sour attitude, well-suited for the life of a Reckoner. Hideo filled a hole in Satoru’s heart where the idea of a family of his own was poked.

Even Koda had approved of Hideo as Satoru’s son and lieutenant when the two met, and getting Koda’s approval was a monumental task in and of itself since he became Dokuchi boss. Koda did not hesitate to give his approval to Hideo after dueling the younger man for practice just once.

But Reckoners were not allowed to stay happy for long.

The Phyrexian invasion five years later was sudden and harsh. While Kamigawa was used to the tales of the Kami War, they were unused to fighting their own people. The Imperial Court’s samurai fell first, quickly compleated. It took the combined forces of the Reckoner gangs and Saiba Futurists to fight back the wave in Towashi. The Dokuchi Reckoners were along the rooftops, cutting down as many invaders as they could, while the Okibas and Hyozans, among other gangs, handled the street-level fights. Satoru himself fought alongside Goro-Goro, an akki from the Sokenzan mountains.

But even with all of this, Reckoners and Futurists also fell to the invasion.

It was only after the invasion finally stopped all at once, when the bodies of the fallen Reckoners were recovered, that Satoru found Hideo’s body. Koda was the one to recover it, half-compleated and covered in oil.

Koda knelt down beside Satoru and made sure that the shadows hid his brother while he cried.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

I did enjoy the time in Sokenzan, but it's nice to be able to relax a bit more. Getting my room sorted out finally. I forgot I need money for everything here. I might go mug an enforcer or two.

After that bloodletter incident and the Omenpath got sealed, the boss had the rest of us draw back to Towashi, so at least I'm home and can sleep on top of a cabinet again. Not that there's anything wrong with an akki cuddle pile, but still. Cabinet.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

There are many things I appreciate about the Order of Jukai, but one of them is that their martial arts are not so leg-focused. As someone with a serpentine lower body, I appreciate that the orochi have learned and invented techniques to account for such.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

A lot of those techniques are fairly recent. Not all that long ago, the orochi had legs. But as we have always done in the Jukai, we adapt. These were opportunities for growth.

There are many things I appreciate about the Order of Jukai, but one of them is that their martial arts are not so leg-focused. As someone with a serpentine lower body, I appreciate that the orochi have learned and invented techniques to account for such.

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Night falls. The usual sounds of armored paladins making ready clamors outside as all others usher themselves in. There is a strangeness on the wind. Something is deeply, deeply wrong. The night's shadow feels infinitely darker and colder. A creaking cackle sounds upon the wind.

But Koda hears none of this. He is elsewhere.

Where does the intrepid young Boss Hayashi find himself?

He – as one, not two like before – sat in the Jukai Forest once more, the darkness of the trees a comfort rather than a fear for him. He was meditating, and he was aware that he was no longer alone.

“You’re back,” he said simply, knowing that Aclazotz was present. “So either you’re deeply bored, you’ve picked me out as a threat, or you’re using me to keep things distracted. Which is it, o bat god of night?”

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Eishi woke up in the fanmail covered room once again. This time, it wasn't alone in bed. Yuriko was with it after the events of last night, where Yuriko decided to show Eishi some fun time, that lasted 7 hours. Now, alightly bruised and sweaty, Eishi was held in sleeping Yurikos arms. It debated for a moment wether to wake the ninja up, but it was cut short by the hands on it's breasts squeezing them, which made Eishi let out a small moan. "I was about to wake you up. You primised to show me the mech Koda got from the Hyozan boss."

( @azzie-beastbinder )

[dusk-is-faster-than-you]

Falter

The Omenpath had been guarded for a while now, with each vampire-demon that came through easily obliterated by the combined guard of akki and Dokuchi Reckoners. Goro-Goro had three dragon spirits summoned alongside his lightning, Zenkuro’s sais had been cleaned from his most recent kill already, and Haruko ensured that the dark of the night was their shield rather than their downfall. And back behind them were others who could aid – Azzie, Ruby, Dusk-Fur, Redlash, and the Warren of Dragons were ready to step in if needed, and Atsushi was a mere shout away. They had already fought off multiple transformed vampires that came through, but they could tell that something big was coming.

Goro-Goro brandished his sword and drew upon the mountain’s mana, feeling the energy course through his veins like it always did. He masked it from the others, but he could feel himself weakening. He had been holding the line solo before Azzie, Ruby, and Zenkuro got there. And even now, he was the strongest of them, able to destroy their enemies from the moment they stepped from the Omenpath.

Another trio of vampire-demons came through, and Goro-Goro raised his sword to draw more lightning into it once more. Zenkuro and Haruko beat him to the punch, however, by tackling two of them. Dusk-Fur beat him to the third vampire-demon by kicking it in the face. He let out a sigh of relief and lowered his sword. His kidneys ached from the magical strain he was experiencing. He had been holding the Omenpath since it opened, but even now that he had allies to guard it, he didn’t want to let his warren down.

“Another coming through!” Zenkuro bellowed, raising his sais and sliding into a fighting stance again. Goro-Goro took a deep breath and brandished his sword one more time.

The thing that came through the Omenpath was more bat than vampire, but it stood almost as tall as Zenkuro and had a pair of arms separate from its wings, in which it brandished a flail. Black mana poured off of it, a disgusting taste of swamp and cavern which made Goro-Goro’s mouth go dry. A bloodletter, according to what Azzie had told him about Torrezon’s foes that were coming through the Omenpath. But something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

As Goro-Goro brandished his wakizashi to call down the lightning of Ryusei, he felt his scars from the Phyrexian Invasion a few years prior split open. His breath caught in his lungs, and he heard the other mortals behind him hit the ground and cry out in pain. Just the mere presence of this beast made Goro-Goro’s blood drip from his scars.

Zenkuro let out a roar that shook the very mountain they stood on and launched himself at the enemy, catching its flail in one hand and yanking it from the monster’s grasp before catching its hands. Haruko appeared from the bloodletter’s own shadows, gripping its wings in her skeletal limbs and planting her foot against it to try to rip the wings from its back.

Goro-Goro gasped for air and brandished his sword. He called not on lightning – he didn’t have the mana for that – but on the dragon spirits he had already summoned. One of the three charged in and, thankfully, bit the bloodletter’s head clean off in the same moment that Haruko ripped its wings from its back and Zenkuro ripped its arms off.

“Good job, Goro-Goro!” Zenkuro called over his shoulder as he continued to rip into the bloodletter. He had taken to tasting their foes, as most oni would.

“Good,” Goro-Goro managed to get out. He was swaying on his feet, the ground swirling under him. “Good. Keep holding line.”

He dropped to his knees.

His wakizashi hit the ground a moment before he did.

The last thing he heard before the world went dark was Redlash yelling for a healer and Azzie scrambling to get to their communicator.