The Rising Sun Saga

60. First in the West; The Scattered Cloud (pt.1)

We will start this part of the tale with our hero Sun Ritsu on one knee at the shoreline of the Heavenly River. Overhead stretched the now complete bridge that joined the Rabbit Province with the Void.

Soon visitors would no longer be limited to boarding the single ferry to cross the river. It was easy for residents of the Rabbit Province to forget about the accident when they were distracted by the concept of easier ways to move between the giants across the Void Sea.

Even so, there's always going to be some who will never forget the sacrifice it took to make that bridge. Sun Seven, for example, who lost his best friend to the construction project. And of course, our hero, whose heart bleeds for just about any pitiful schmuck. The one. The only. *cough* – bastard.

Team Lemon Lime's champion: Sun Ritsu

So there he was, like I said, kneeling in the sand under this massive bridge. As he picked up handfuls of sand crystals and let them waterfall back to the shore, he thought he felt tremors coming from the base of the bridge. As if something were crying out to him.

The sand seeped through his fingers. The sun's glare made each grain shimmer like raw iridescent glass.

Take a look at Sun Ritsu's eyes – two seething gold embers. In them, quiet flames licked the sky.

Not far from this site, a Spider looks out of a window, quietly cultivating her venom – something her boss hadn't instructed her to do, but was important to her all the same.

And not far from there, we find a monk poring over magazines, trying to absorb more, to see if they had missed something. Anything to help their student overcome the odds. Without them being aware, their new obsession had replaced the addiction from before.

Then somewhere else, we see a pig rich in Luck and nothing more than that. He could feel the very same pressure that his hero was under. The dragon in him longed to make moves – truly powerful ones that could turn the favor for his handsome monkey god.

He brooded, wondering how he could overcome his circumstance to assert himself as a proper advisor. His initial sense had not been wrong when identifying a chosen one inside his monkey king.

The cursed dragon would see his hero's journey to the end, whatever path it takes.

Bodhi

It was a sunny day in Kawaii Village.

Hundreds of tailgate tents peppered the parking lot of the The Divine Cave of Three Stars arena. Attendees milled about, doing their best to stay in the shade and wait out the long break.

Amidst all of this was a humble green and yellow tent where our cadre waited for their champion's return.

It would be hours before Sun Ritsu could finally be seen making his way through the parking lot, hands hidden in pockets, gaze hooded against the glaring sunshine.

Bodhi the monk bolted out of a cheap folding chair. When Ritsu was within earshot, they hit him with a, "And where the hell were you?"

The last thing Bodhi wanted was for Ritsu – or anyone for that matter – seeing how worried they had been during the champion's absence. With their piercing gray eyes, they tossed daggers in Ritsu's general direction. To the monk's confusion and frustration, Ritsu easily avoided their gaze and seemed only half-present as he helped himself to a vacant lawn chair and glanced around before lighting up a pink cigarette.

The way the sun clone's eyelashes shuttered and his chin jerked involuntarily as he took in that first drag made Bodhi sick with envy. If only they could lean on their own vice in times like these!