Saturday, September 4, 2021

Summer River Adventure Episode 4 Part 2

Thunderbird starts speaking to you, his voice so close yet so far. He asks if everyone is present and tells you all to send your consciousness to where his voice is. You soon find him in the dreamscape, and you ask if this is the inside of a dream, ask if everyone else is here, or ask how you guys got there. C gets an extra bit of Thunderbird explaining that he's the one who takes away sadness from the dreams of the oppressed. If you're ever trapped by your sadness, he asks that you remember him and promises he'll come to you from wherever, whenever. He then senses that everyone else is coming soon, so he stops there for now and says he can talk about personal stuff more next time.
 
Arachne tunes in yelling about deadlines and payments before catching herself, then announces her arrival. Magami comes in next barking and announcing his presence, then asks where Shiva and Jugo are. The two promptly show up on cue, with Shiva suddenly freaking out about being caught in threads and yelling about flipping out. Jugo attempts to calm him down telling him using brute force is wrong and that Shiva is always like this.
 
Shiva actually does stop, if only to make Jugo clarify himself. Jugo decides to repeat a previous point he's said before about how it looks like Shiva is bothering you. Shiva takes offense and calls him an uppity brat who knows nothing about the karma between you and himself. You shot him first, and now that you've implanted emotions into him he has to respond to you. Jugo calls him outrageous and says Shiva isn't the only one with bonds and fate. Jugo actually decides to say out loud that he feels something with you. He's not sure what yet, but he doesn't plan on backing off. Shiva is mildly impressed he'd say that, so he decides to show he's not all talk himself, and the two start throwing hands.
 
You ask the two to stop fighting, be exasperated at the two, or play yourself up as the soap opera girl being fought over by two guys and plead for them to stop. Magami comments that it looks like the two are getting along now to him, and he asks in wonder if this is what it means to speak with your fists. Arachne wonders if they just hate each other for being too alike or are close enough to handle fighting each other, saying there are all kinds of relationships that others may not understand. Magami expresses jealousy and wishes they were beating him up with their fists so that everyone would be happy, and Arachne notes that the two don't seem to hear you guys and is unsure what to do with them.
 
The problem of Shiva and Jugo fighting ends up getting resolved when both end up getting themselves removed from the dream dive to Arachne's shock. Thunderbird is also surprised, saying their strings got tangled before it could be stabilized, which is why they're gone. He assures you guys they're fine though, they just woke up back at the camp. You guys can't really go back for them though, so he shrugs and says they'll just have to be on guard duty instead. 

Magami notes that Tajikarao isn't here and asks if he also failed to get into wherever you guys are. Thunderbird explains that this is actually Tajikarao's inner world, so he should actually be further inside. Thunderbird then invokes Sunkamanitu Tanka for guidance, summoning a small wolf of light that then leads the party through the dream mist. Magami reacts like he recognizes it, so you either ask him if something is wrong, comment that the wolf seems to be showing you guys the way, or say it's a white wolf like Magami. In A, Magami says it's nothing and that he just remembered something from his past. In B and C, Magami agrees after a moment and suggests sticking close to it so you guys don't lose sight of it. Either way, Magami is noted to look sad upon looking at the wolf.

When the party eventually gets out of the light tunnel, you guys turn up in what seems to be a dim cave. Magami is surprised to see it, and Arachne asks about this being the inside of Tajikarao's dream as she notes there being a giant boulder up ahead. Magami says he recognizes the place as Takamagahara, and this particular area as the place where the sun was said to have hidden itself. Bonfires cast strange shadows that dance cheerily. Magami says this has to be Ama-no-Iwato, which in turn means that the people making merry nearby would be Tajikarao and the other deities.

The rest of the party is shocked to see that Tajikarao isn't doing anything differently then as he is now, and you either react the same way or note that he seems to be having a lot of fun. Tajikarao notices Magami by this point and recognizes him, inviting him to join the banquet, saying they need to be loud enough for the sun to hear them. Magami is surprised that Tajikarao recognizes him, so Tajikarao says of course he does since they're both friends who live in the same world.

Thunderbird wonders if Tajikarao is trapped by his past festival memories to have reverted to the time he was back in his home world. Arachne asks for an explanation of things since she doesn't know much about Takamagahara, so Magami steps up to do so. Magami makes a point of saying he wasn't personally involved so everything he says will be secondhand, but this particular festival is related to a huge incident in Takamagahara's history.

The world was created by a set of three siblings: Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo. Tajikarao revered and served the eldest of the siblings, Amaterasu, but one day the younger brother Susanoo did something so shameless that Amaterasu hid herself behind the Ama-no-Iwato, which then blanketed the world in darkness. Tajikarao and the others then threw a huge festival in order to lure Amaterasu out and bring the sun back to the world, and Magami wonders if this memory has something to do with what Tajikarao has been keeping secret. You either yell at Tajikarao to come back to reality with you guys because he's supposed to be going to a festival over there, or you ask if he remembers you. In the former (A and B), Tajikarao doesn't understand what reality is supposed to mean but puts it aside because the festival going on is more important. In C, Tajikarao says that's a strange question and says he does, but when he tries to remember he can't.

Anyways, Tajikarao says he has to get the sun out from the rock door before the world is cast into darkness, so he has to party it up really hard to make the sun want to peak out from the cave. Arachne is outraged that Tajikarao is regressing into the past further and might forget you guys for real, so you suggest pulling him out before that happens, say you feel bad about interrupting his fun, and/or yell at Tajikarao to remember.

Thunderbird says that immersing yourself in the past can be good, but losing the present and by extension the future because of it would be an even sadder thing. Arachne declares that fashion is something that connects to the future. It is because that people have a past that they chase after the now and later, and Magami tells Tajikarao he wants him to remember him. The dream deities around assume you guys must have unsavory designs for the sun, so they get ready to remove you guys from the area. Magami tries to explain that you guys just want Tajikarao to come back with you guys, but by this point Tajikarao reacts in surprise and says you're that shameless brother. Thunderbird is confused at this, and Tajikarao says he's so jealous disgusted at how outrageously you behaved, so he declares he'll mete out divine punishment as a servant of the world's order, starting the episode battle. More happens after that.

After the battle, things tune in at the part where Arachne suddenly decides to put away her needle and threads, then sighs as she fixes her hair up. Tajikarao and the others look at her in confusion, so Arachne says she's always forgetting about what's important when she gets mad. The first thing she needs is to understand other people, just like she's about to make some bespoke clothing. It's what she learned to do after all.

Arachne briskly walks over towards the festival goers, then lowers her head to them. The deities are shocked at this, and Arachne apologizes for interrupting their important festival since none of you knew what was going on. She asks the deities to explain Takamagahara and this festival in detail. The deities stop showing aggression at this along with any signs of attempting to push you all out. One says it's fine if you guys understand, then apologize for getting rough. Thunderbird and Magami add their own apologies too.

Some time later, Arachne asks about Takamagahara getting dark because the sun hid away. One of the deity mobs explains that because of that, they brought the strongest one around so that they could pull the rock door out of the way. The plan was to make a loud party that would make the sun peek out of curiosity, at which point they'll jump in and force the door open all the way.

Arachne says she understands the plan, but something about it bothers her. You ask why the sun hid itself to begin with and ask if the deities ever asked Amaterasu herself about the reason. The deities look at each other upon being asked that, then exclaim that they could never do something so shameful. In Takamagahara, shame is not permitted, and anything you can't allow the sun to see you do is something that can't be allowed at all. The sun hiding away is something that's never happened before since the world's creation, and Tajikarao adds that no matter what had happened, he still has to pull the rock door open.

Arachne is surprised at Tajikarao's sudden shift in behavior after being offended at the sight of you earlier, so Thunderbird suggests that the little brother that Tajikarao mentioned earlier wasn't at the original festival in the past. In which case, with Tajikarao being tied back to this memory he might not be able to recognize you due to that. Whatever is going on, it's unstable and dangerous, and Thunderbird wonders where the source of the issue is.

Arachne says you guys have understood things a bit more, then asks Tajikarao to explain some stuff. Specifically, she asks if Tajikarao regretted forcing the rock door to open to bring out the sun. You think about the law of Takamagahara and/or the sun's feelings, and Arachne says Takamagahara may view hiding something as shameful, but she's also told Tajikarao to not completely reject the concept of clothing. Maybe revealing everyone is good from a certain point of view, but wherever the light shines, there will be shadows behind it. Everyone has things they can't or don't want to tell others, and that's a lesson she's learned painfully she says as she smiles gently at you.

Arachne talks about how when the shadows of the heart get bigger you may want to run away from the light, and she feels that's okay. But if you ever want to step into the light, she'd prefer that to be when you choose to do so. She's failed a lot herself to get to that point. There were times where she aired other people's dirty laundry against their will. She's had nights were she couldn't sleep because of her regrets, which she uses as a point to tell Tajikarao he isn't alone. If he regrets things and can't move on because of them, she'll stick with him and offers to go to the past with him.

Tajikarao and the deities shudder at Arachne's declaration, but Arache adds that she's still planning to go on ahead. She still hasn't brought out the best of her own Shadow. She plans to get there one day, and if she can, so can he. There must be something waiting for her beyond this, and the sun can one day wear its own Shadow and shame with pride as well. You speak up to add your own request as well since you'd like to make yours look good and/or call Arachne cool. She looks happy at that, Tajikarao looks conflicted, and Magami acts concerned for him.

At that moment, a heavy shaking rocks the cave accompanied by a flood of light. One of the deities figures the door has opened and calls for a charge to pull the rock away, and they all charge it at once to do so. Arachne is taken aback at this and worries that her speech didn't get through to to them, but Thunderbird reminds her that this is a memory of the past where what happened has already happened. One of the deities calls Tajikarao over to help out, and Tajikarao seems conflicted. He starts talking about wanted to laugh and enjoy things together with the sun, especially 'enjoying the festival together.' He was sure that a clear justice was there, and he charges over looking conflicted over to the rock door to the party's surprise.

The party is taken back to the upper layer of the dream world as Tajikarao joins you guys, saying he wanted the sun that looked so sad to smile. If she did, she could cheer up and then shine upon the world and everyone again. He detested the brother who shamed her and thought doing so was the correct thing to do, but it isn't clear if he's looking at the past when he says that. Now though, Tajikarao admits he doesn't know the brother very well. He doesn't know why he did what he did or if he was hiding anything in doing so. Was what Tajikarao did really the correct thing to do, and was what he believed to be correct truly so? And maybe opening up the rock door was the correct thing to do for the sun.

You tell Tajikarao that only she could tell him, so you hope he can ask her one day. Tajikarao agrees, and he actually drops the honorific he uses to address you when he says that. He closes his eyes as if to think on things, and after changing back to his life jacket outfit, he says he might have come to Tokyo to fulfill that wish. You either react in surprise that he's gotten his memories back, ask if he remembers you, or tell him he can't forget anything anymore. Tajikarao smiles, saying he knows and that he remembered something important. Once he gets out of the dream, he has something he wants to talk with you about. He disappears from view, and soon after you leave his mental world.

You awaken back at the tent, hearing the soft breathing of the others around you. Thunderbird is also awake and asks if something is wrong since you have tears running down your face for some reason. You tell him you don't know, that you're glad Tajikarao got his memories back, but you don't know the reason. Thunderbird decides to pull you in closer to him where he's lying next to you, and he starts talking about how there's nothing that's right for every single person. For that matter, there are times when such things don't hold for even a single person. Everyone gets pushed out from there at some point, which is why they hesitate and fight. But in his opinion, engaging in and thinking about what was once right and moving on from it is where you find what's truly right. There is the contradiction in that you may never reach it, but maybe the ones who come after you can make it there. That's why he continues to fly. He believes that someone somewhere can find what he wasn't able to.

Thunderbird starts brushing your head and coaxes you to close your eyes. He talks about how he wants to be a hero, fighting and thinking about such things and wishing for it. Maybe one day you'll get to that point, but for now he wishes you sweet dreams, o future hero, his hero. The soft kind warmth of feathers cover you as the night grows peaceful once more under the starry sky, and the episode ends with Magami making a sad noise to himself.

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