Gate of Memoirs/Meeting of a Lifetime

For good or for ill, encountering a kami has changed Hakuzo's life forever.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Land of Giants"	Music: "Land of Giants"
 	
*—An old world.
*Ash falls between Hakuzo's fingers as he traces his hand along the path, searching for any lingering pulses.
*The lack of ambient sound makes him stand back up, to say nothing of the dilapidated stone lanterns nesting in dead grass.
 	
*Though Hakuzo hadn't been back in more than an age, the familiar scent even in decay was unmistakable.
*It was a different kind of quiet from when he had left it.
 	
*As the fox-demon finds his way deeper among the long-rotted bamboo,
*the past catches up to him like a petal in a breeze.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*"I remember."
*"Yes, a long time ago, but never long enough for me to forget."
*"Foxes don't forget grudges."
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*"Where I come from, animals have spirits."
*"Live long enough, like me, and you start to learn."
*"The speech and gait of man. Their faces. The false smiles and sneering wiles."
 	
*"Yes, *that* is me."
*"I may be a wild fox, but I knew I was meant for more."
*"The centuries perfected my craft and sharpened my tongue."
 	
*"What gods we have in this realm are aloof and cryptic...and yet the people revere them."
*"I wondered why."
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*"So I too, sought the path to their so-called enlightenment."
*"It wasn't my fault humans were gullible."
*"After all, is it not in their nature to fear what they do not know?"
*"Until, of course, I dared to dance too close to the edge..."
*"As Nature reflects Man, Man reflects Nature... That is the unspoken rule of this world."
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*Hakuzo: Ugh.
*Hakuzo sheds his disguise, abandoning the lightning-scorched pilgrim's coat for his true appearance.
*Hakuzo: Did you have to do that?
Music: "Overcome"	Music: "Overcome"
 	
*"Speaking so haughtily to a kami—a veritable force of nature—invites certain disaster."
 	
*"And yet, he with the epithet of Echoing Thunder was nothing like his namesake."
*"Calm, almost demure—save for the barest hint of lightning crackling about him."
*"I despised it. Despised him."
*Suizen: As expected of a wild thing with no manners.
*Suizen: Not a whit of remorse for your transgressions.
 	
*Hakuzo: *Transgression*? What a strong word.
 	
*Hakuzo: I was merely providing the people with what they lack.
*Hakuzo: *Change*, o great kami. It's in the wind.
*Hakuzo: Have you heard?
 	
*Suizen: No, I hear only lies.
*Suizen: Lies that blind the innocent and rob them of their faith.
*Suizen: You, who have deceived Man and twisted them for your own ends...
 	
*Suizen: In Heaven's name do I judge your misdeeds.
 	
*Hakuzo: Damn you kami and your lofty ideals!
 	
*Hakuzo: Natural order or Heaven's decree; it matters not.
*Hakuzo: I will not let another decide my fate.
*Hakuzo: Catch me... If you can.