Heavenfall

Being among the trees again had an unsettling affect on Kaze. He shrunk into the shadows of the leaves, eyes straying to the thickets where, far away in the Shinomen, he used to make his home. A shiver worked its way down his spine, and, hackles rising, he crouched low to the ground and unslung his spear, his ear cocked for danger. This was home, well enough, or something like it. This was hell.

It wasn't danger that approached however, but instead a large, thick, and study Seidou woman.

She eyes the spear and smirks.

"You'll need to stick me with something bigger than that to make me feel it."

She comes within striking distance and raises her hands in a guesture of no-threat.

"I'm just here looking for game. You?"

Kaze shakes his head to clear out the memories.

"Ah..." he rasps. "Hai...I...game, right." He gets up from his crouch. "Not that I heard much from this distance. I'm Doji Kaze, of the Crane clan." He looked up to see her face. "You must be of the Seidou."

“What’s left of it, now what everyone’s run off with Anjings lover. “

“Crane you say? Another of the fallen gods to rule us? I wonder why they all pick animals...”

Kaze's head started to tilt, but right itself just as quickly.

"Metaphor. Just like the mountain stands for the unassailable might of your people."

"I suppose, but then they all decided to pick an animal. Look at the tribes, we all just went with a name of a powerful person from our history. Who hears Hida and thinks Crab?"

Kaze smirks. "I don't know...have you seen Hida? The resemblance is uncanny."

Satone narrows her eyes a little.

"Hida and I are built similar, other than I having a womanly grace that he lacks. I do not look like a crab."

Kaze seems unfazed. When you have been hunted as a hare by a pack of wolves, even the danger of imminent smashing by someone with roughly twice your height has little effect.

"Yes, but you do not encase yourself in a thick metal shell at all times. Hence, you do not look like a crab." A pause. "And that womanly grace counts for a great deal, I think."

"Hmm. Fair enough. What animal would you be? I think I would like...."

She tries to think of a tall, graceful and strong animal.

"Well, something more...elegant"

"I have spent a great deal of time trying not to be an animal anymore, Seidou. But if I am like a crane, then it is well enough for me. As for you...there is something of the strength of the horse in your form, but the grace is that of a panther, so I would lean in that direction. The great cats are strong, too. I have the scars to prove it."

"I like the idea of a panther. "

She thinks on the earlier statement for a moment.

"Being like an animal is not always a bad thing. The freedom one has, for example"

"Ah, yes, the freedom." He frowned. "The only prerequisites of which were loneliness, hunger, and fear." A shake of the head. "No, I don't miss it. The company is much better now."

"Even the solitary hunter animals have family or pack. Only those who are sick or mad are truly alone."

Kaze raised his eyebrow. "Ah. That must have been it, then. Certainly my people thought so. I don't miss them much, either."

He sighed. "But the future is brighter, for me at least."

"So, it is fair to say then that the addition of a god in your life has been a benefit?"

"Hai, very much so." He paused a moment. "Before I met the Lady, I knew neither words nor concepts. I was a creature of instinct only. Now...well, I am not the equal of Nanzi, but I know enough to say what I think. I feel...human, now. That is worth a great deal."

The explanation gives Satone pause, making her think of something she didn't really comprehend.

"You had no family at all before? No teachers? No tribe?"

"They tossed me out as a child, when my father got tired of me." His dry rasp lowered in volume. "I stole from them for a year or so, was beaten when I was caught. So in the end I stole a bow and lived off the woods. My survival was...fortuitous."

"That is certainly rough, you have my sympathy. Sounds like a terrible parent. Once you bring a child into this world, you have a responsibility to see to them until they can see for themselves."