Coming Home // Sensei

You opened your eyes, and the green-blue grasses of home exploded in your vision. You laced your claws through them, let your paws dig into the earth. You listened to the song of the jungle, filled with the mating calls of spring, and smelled the fresh air.

Then you screamed.

It was part joy, part anguish, part relief. You screamed until your lungs couldn't take it, stabbed your limbs into the ground like gravity was about to reverse, and screamed again. You rubbed your face in the grass, the thin blades leaving cuts all over your face, and inhaled their scent.

After that, the only reasonable thing to do was pass out -- so you did.

---

You awoke at dusk. The jungle was louder now -- calling the predators of the night to begin their hunt -- and the scent of wood smoke was thick in the air. You hadn't moved from where you fainted, but a roughspun blanket lay over your chest. A feline Ysoki lounged on a rock nearby, his grey fur bristling from the humidity, his grey-brown eyes pointed at the sky.

Clouds had gained some muscle since you saw him last, and about a dozen inches. Scars criss-crossed all over his face, likely from some kind of carnivore attack, although they'd long since healed. He must have gotten them not long after you left. He was wearing the stole of a warrior -- red leaves to indicate he'd transitioned to adulthood, blue to indicate his marriage, and green in a pattern that described his two sons.

Clouds: "How do you feel, Beast in the Night?"

You looked down at your paws, and realized you were naked under the blanket. Your fur was dirty from all the thrashing, but you were otherwise unmarred. At least, on the outside.

Balio: "I'm sorry, Clouds."
Clouds: "Ha! You return from the dead before my very eyes, and the first thing you do is apologize?"

The Ysoki laughs, but raises a hand to stall any further explanations.

Clouds: "I gave up on you coming home twenty years ago, Night. I became a warrior on my own. I married Dances with Leaves, from Sool. We have two sons -- Wind and Mist."
Balio: "I said I was sorry, Clouds. You don't need to lie to make me feel better."
Clouds: "What do you mean? Two sons!"

Clouds put up two claws, to emphasize, his brow furrowing in confusion.

Clouds: "My eldest has a nose for trouble, but his younger brother reels him in. They'll both be in the running for Chief--"
Balio: "Oh, that I believe. But you married Dances with Leaves? I must have failed. You can turn off the simulation, Mr. Angel."

Clouds huffed, and threw a clod of dirt. You caught it. The two of you met eyes, and exploded into laughter.

Some minutes later, in between gasping breaths and a friendly embrace, you were able to convert the blanket into something with a little more decency. Clouds pointed down the way to Wexa, just barely visible on the horizon. It had grown in the past thirty years -- nearly doubled in size, with a proper wall, and gill nets in every nook of the river. You wondered if Noct and Sool had done equally well, but you knew you wouldn't believe Clouds if he told you. You'd have to see it for yourself.

Clouds: "So. You kept your promise after all."
Balio: "Did I? I don't recall teaching you the sword."
Clouds: "Ha! I am a fan of the bow, myself. I am teaching my sons. We think Wind may have the Gift, but Mist takes to it very well. Or, he will, when he can pull the bowstring back all the way..."
Balio: "Clouds... How old are your sons?"
Clouds: "Mist will be two this year."

A deep laugh escapes again, and you give your old friend a congratulatory pat on the back.

Clouds: "You are welcome in my home, if you'd like."
Balio: "I might stop for dinner. But I'd like to see Noct..."
Clouds: "I understand. After that... Perhaps you could visit Wexa, like you used to. Perhaps my sons will call you sensei?"

You breathed in the air of home, let it roll all over your soul, and buried your guilt deep, deep at the bottom. You'd returned home to train Wind dozens of times. You could do it again. As for Mist...

Well, there was always room for improvement.

Balio: "I'd like that, Clouds. I really would."

His smile broke your heart, like it always did, and you set out towards Wexa. To begin a chain of events repeated many times. A sequence that would create one of the most consistent and capable Walkers seen in the past three hundred Iterations. The one that might finally break the Infinities, and set them all free.

You set out for the home of Lightning in the Wind.