July 5 2026
LadyRainStarDrago AKA Teresa Amehana Garcia
The dragoness moved through the shrine on two feet, drifting with the gentleness of morning mist in her human guise. The red and white of her miko shōzoku glowed in the early morning beneath Amaterasu’s rays. Amehana’s steps wove from the residential hall of her family to the Honden where her own mirror, similar in some ways to Amaterasu’s, dwelled.
Amehana inhaled deeply, allowing the scents of the gardens and the lingering overnight incense seeping from the various subshrines to permeate her lungs. Having not yet had her morning tea and rice she fed instead on the elemental energies around her. Food would be there when she was done. Their son and daughter were grown, the boy in his father’s old position as guard at the Youkaimura gate, the girl in the kitchen performing the duties of lesser miko and preparing the morning food offerings. Something she herself had not had to do now for… centuries?
Time was hard to hold onto now. She now easily understood why the elder kami could no longer keep track of it, not even her own father.
The Storm Shrine rose before her and she ascended the steps after leaving her geta to the side of the stairs. As usual, with each step she felt the separation between herself and the plane of living normal life was in grow, thankfully not to the degree her thread to physicality would snap again. Making bodies to inhabit was not something she wished to do today. Her hand slid open the doors, and the light of sun and moon (wherever Tsukiyomi currently was) lightly struck the surface of the Storm Mirror.
“Arashi Kagami,” she intoned softly.
“Arashi Amehana Hoshitatsu Tenryū Himemikokami.” Her mirror intoned in return.
They flowed the energy between them peacefully, parts of a whole joining in similar fashion to how her mate had long ago healed the two main halves of her separated incarnation. She allowed her consciousness to release the final few trappings of incarnated life and spread itself out among the local storm systems and then reach beyond, touching up against the other remaining storm dragons of her clan around the world… withdrawing whenever feeling the seeking energy of her clan’s rival.
After all these centuries, they still sought her? A married woman? A very happily married woman with no intention of giving up her kitsune? She snorted. Gathering the news and state of the worlds was more important than dealing with such petty concerns. If found, she’d deal with it. Then probably bewilder her mate again, just because she enjoyed –
There, a dissonance.
Her consciousness congealed above a facility far from human, yet firmly in the human world. Here, she took the form of a roughly dragon shaped serpentine cloud, her five toes per hand and foot, six wings, and prehensile tail plume each splayed wide to maintain the hold.
Perhaps she should have had tea first after all.
Below her sprawled a small compound of strangely shaped buildings seemingly grown from the plant and mineral life around them. Vines and trees intertwined with spires of crystals of such quality Amehana found herself fighting her species tendency toward hoarding that got the Western variety in such deep trouble with equally greedy humans. With the handiwork she witnessed, Amehana half expected some elves to pop out of somewhere.
Nope, no elves. Not after a morning of watching. Her distant physical body reminded of a missed opportunity called breakfast and a new due collection called lunch. All this time it seemed nothing had stirred.
Then, she saw them.
Tall, thin, rather Nordic looking. Definitely blond. Amehana groaned. Lemurians on holiday. Lovely. Why weren’t they around Mount Shasta? They rarely left the area. They rarely even came to the surface anymore, much less left the Mount Shasta area… like… dwarves… and elves…
The earlier disturbance was probably just one of their little generators to manipulate the weather. HER weather. In HER bailiwick.
“Feckers...” She grumbled to herself, followed by a few other unpriestessly words but definitely things her very distant ancestor Susanoo would consider clever and thus still at least kami-like. “How dare they?”
She’d read the old records. She had the shattered memories of one of the times she’d been shattered, thanks to Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu, resulting in all the myriad of her clan. Blood memories. She was aware how close this probably splinter group was beginning to come to that old path. Bad enough humans were already in it, they didn’t need Lemurians finding it again too.
“I’d better report to the council, though it’s not Kamiari-Sai yet. It’s been long since we had to have an emergency gathering. Hopefully it won’t take a month like the yearly does...” Amehana sighed her herself, a plume of cloud spilling from her mouth like flame and steam. Lightning flashed within her as she darkened, her waters gathering in her irritation and her size growing. All unnoticed by those below.
With a flash, she sent a summons, exercising her rarely used right and standing. In the mountains of Rhian the Kagami Arashi flashed within the Purple Shrine and wards activated around the territory of the Elemental Empire. In Draiganpairc the Dragon Stone glowed, calling the witches of the O’Drake bloodline to attention wherever they were scattered around the world. This tugged on the Makay bloodline of Seal Point through their ancient blood oath.
“We have a problem, and the Heart of Storms needs protecting. This I see from within Arashi Kagami.” Her words rolled as thunder through the web of life to each kami.
Below the sea her grandfather looked toward her. Within his stronghold in the mountains her father paled, and dropped his teacup. Together, unknowingly as one, they rose to answer her call, unwilling to leave the last of her clutch to be undefended and risk a repeat of disasters long past.
Alright! Caught up! Day Five's story actually managing to get posted on the day before any distractions calling me away from that. Whoo!
suddenly remembers she's been forgetting to update her fictionpress
Wow, over 20 years of posting my work for others to see, and it catches up with me how many places I don't post to as often as I should. Good thing I'm posting here first...
Need more coffee. I'm very glad I've got this to post to before remembering to update those old places. Meanwhile, my boy's messaged me that he's picked up some food to take with us to Mom's so we have food to eat while we are back where I grew up to run our booth the two days of Big Valley Days. It astounds me how far he's come in his development. I wanted a family business when I first fell pregnant with his big sister, I can certainly say that I have one now with how they've helped with different events over the years as they grew.
Linktree: www.linktr.ee/Amehana
First Posted: https://www.patreon.com/Amehana/posts/ffm-5-2026-all-162995200
Dragon Hearts RPG (referenced): www.DragonHeartsRPG.com
