Heavenfall

The Very Long Day of Jiyo Sora extended ever onward as he went looking for his oldest friend left drawing breath.

The man called Small Mountain might hold onto that title for a while still, as he seemed to be unaffected by either the very corruption of the place, nor battered by recent encounters. He, however, was neither on his brawn sleep nor on amorous non-sleep with his wife, what probably indicated just a bit of disquiet.

"Ye'r up late, Sora. On guard?"

"After a fashion. I didn't see you at the meeting today, so I wondered if you'd heard?"

"Ah get routinely skipped fur those as mah guidwife is aye thare." He shrugged. "Heard whit?"

"That the Nezumi might have a way to close the pit created by Fu Leng's fall. The hang-up is that it involves using his Name in some magic of theirs, which had Reiko and Nanzi all a-flutter."

He sighed.

"Your wife tried to explain that his Name- the way the Nezumi mean it- is going to change anyway as he becomes mortal, but there was still some hemming and hawing. Although it did shut your brother in law up more than most things I've seen, which means I owe your lady a favor."

""That's... Gaun a bawherr 'boon mah heid. Bit esoteric." He scratched his scalp. "Is how come she insae around?" Clearly, he wasn't in disposition for making fun of Hantei shutting up, something that would otherwise put him in good mood.

Sora had actually meant Nanzi being shut up, but words were so imprecise.

"No, that seems something to do with Phi. And Shinsei. And that fucking crow. I'm not privy to the details, I just know that Shinsei's not around, and Phi and Karasu went with Shinjo when she departed."

He wanted to ask if she had told anyone where she was going but somehow it would be embarrassing for him not to know so he kept himself hanging. He was already unnerved enough not being there for her, wherever that there was.

"Whit Phi haes tae dae wi' it? 'n' shuid ah ken this Karasu?"

"Karasu's that pain in the ass crow Shinsei keeps around. No idea what Phi had to do with it, you know she was never much of a talker..."

"Aye." He shrugged. "So ah guess a'm haudin' th' tentpole 'til she gets back. Anything that needs tae be daun?"

Sora frowned.

"That's a bit unclear, at least in the specific sense. I'll try to keep you posted- and Jin is working on some avenues that might benefit from a bit of brawn. But as matters stand, we carry on. We rescue Fu Leng, and hopefully, we close the Pit."

Koyama also frowned. Frown suited him. "Ah hae tae ask. This Shinsei laddie, wha is he verily? Ah think ah cannae grasp his relevance."

"He is, so far as I can tell, a very experienced, very insightful man. Saruko knows him better than I do."

He paused.

"And so does Phi, it would seem. I will say, he doesn't seem hostile to our... basic worldview."

"SHIT. SHIT, SHIT, SHIT."

"Whit? Whare?" Koyama was blissfully unaware of the morbid vision.

"I saw a future for you, my friend. A fuckin' bad one. You're pierced through by some wound, and the Earth consumes you... and then... you start to rise up from your tomb..."

"Sounds lik' shite indeed." Koyama frowned deeply, looking down at his chest and hands, shifting fingers. "Howfur reliable are yer visions?"

"I only see possibilities, my friend. This eye has shown me my own death countless times, which allowed me to evade it. But its warnings should always- always be taken into account."

"Sae again, whit hae killed me in yer vision?" Koyama had mental issues dealing with a prospect of his own mortality.