D12 LE - Meditations on Something Else (Open)

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

Other people were trying to cleanse this place of its touch by the spirits of slaughter. To Mari, for all that she had spoken out on the subject, she both didn't feel competent to the task of cleansing this place and she didn't feel that this essence would either linger over-long, or open a new breach into the realm of slaughter itself. It simply wasn't in her mind a force that could or needed to maintain that kind of hold here among the living.

Much of that was because she didn't believe that there was any force short of Tengoku who could oppose the forces that she now served. But that was a private matter.

So, now here she was. Seated in a lotus position and in the midst of meditations. The last day had been less taxing, and yet she still was getting used to a new sleep schedule, and there were still considerable concerns of the day. It was best to settle the mind, and with the temples in their current shape... here was better.

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

It was not Togashi Tetsu's time to banish the influence of Toshigoku either. However, her reasons were surely different. It was not a belief that she could not but rather that she should not. They were there to challenge the Empress' position and Tetsu was not going to rob her of said challenge.

"You are not helping the monks from the Two Shrines," she stated plainly as ways of announcing her presence.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

Such different reasons not to participate. And yet, there were many.

Hearing the woman approach and speak, she blinked and came out of her meditative stance to glance in her direction before bowing appropriately. When she rose, there was a shake of her head. "No, Dragon-sama. While a Shugenja, I fear that my skills with the arts of purification, at least the ones I was informed of, are not among my gifts." Which was ironic, given that she was skilled at binding spirits and banishing them... but not the raw essence of anger and wrath itself. "I felt it best to cleanse my thoughts before turning in for the night. I am expecting circumstances will change in the city once the army is but a distant memory."

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"A distant memory? Is that what you hope for this to be?" Tetsu shook her head. "Remember them, for they represent the cost of being unprepared."

The monk looked to the exit of the dojo. "From what I hear, those monks could use any hands they could get. It could be an opportunity for you to learn."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Forgive the use of the turn of phrase, -sama. I meant more that they are no longer an immediate physical threat to the residents of this city and ourselves." But, to the other, there was a firmer shake of the head. "If one is to tamper with the realms of the spirits, there is a time and place for learning, and this is not it. I might cause far more harm than good, and better that no progress be made than a loss."

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"Perhaps. Or perhaps it is deception." The Togashi smiled faintly. "But I will not press the point."

Tetsu looked the woman before her over. "Oh? What disaster could come from you testing your skills there? Are you afraid of..."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She shrugged and rolled her shoulders. No, she had no concern about the comment of deception. Most people assumed ronin were deceitful at least some of the time after all. "Afraid? I am not sure I would use that word. I am not afraid of many things, -sama. Duly cautious of mingling my spirit with the touch of Toshigoku perhaps, but I am more concerned with a misstep causing that influence to spread further than I am for my own well being. The essence of the spirit realms are not things to toy with lightly, and I only feel competent with one."

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"True. It would be unwise to permanently set yourself back by dabbling in forces you cannot control." A slight smirk. "Especially Toshigoku. Well, we have certainly seen what it's like to be a slave to that realm."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"I... do not hate Toshigoku, as I think some here have come to recently. It serves a needed purpose. Those whose kharmic debt demands it, but not Gaki-do must have a place to go. The imbalance is their presence here. In time, it should right itself. It does not desire to consume all, after all." There were other spiritual forces that did that, though it was pretty clear that she was avoiding naming it. It was, after all, considered taboo to flat talk about Jigoku.

...well, unless you were in the company of Crab. They were weird.

"A soul of wrath certainly has its problems, and as a healer it would be ... contravening to my calling."

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"All has its place in the universe, though it is a pity that the unworthy must be committed to an eternity of slavery for the sins of one life." Tetsu looked at their arms, a mix of ink and scars. "A healer then? Honorable work, though it comes with its own dangers."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Even sakkaku, I am told," she said with a briefly bemused grin before shrugging. "Sometimes kharma is not a thing which is kind, -sama. The ways of heaven are difficult for mortals to understand I suppose. I know it is so for me. And yes. The reserves find themselves imperiled from time to time. It is a thing to always be mindful of, but it is a task I take to gratefully."

It kept her off the front lines for one.

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"Sometimes what appears to be kind is unkind." Tetsu shrugged. "I could give a starving man some rice but then that would rob him of the struggle to acquire the food for himself."

The Togashi nodded along with the talk of healing. "You do good work but do not forget that a healer who cannot herself is useless."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She laughed lightly and smiled over at the Togashi. "That is why this one rides upon the back of the water dragon when in combat," she said, shaking her head. "When I first studied the healing arts, I felt deeply that to use my prayers on myself would ultimately me a problem. So I sought in meditation a way to remedy it. It was not easy, but it has served me well."

A handy kiho. For many reasons.

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"I had heard of such a technique during my travels. It is something I will need to learn myself." Tetsu blushed slightly. "The path to Enlightenment is one of constant improvement."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"A priest not of the brotherhood can usually attain only a few, bare steps on the path, but it's been... a helpful one to me. And, as you said. Kindness may in fact be unwitting cruelty at times. We cannot always know the rammifications of our actions until the ripples flow outward along the surface of life's water."

Togashi Tetsu · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:12 am **Posts:** 57

"It is helpful indeed. Tending to one's own wounds is difficult with traditional medicine. With meditation, though," Tetsu trailed off and then smirked.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"A great deal is possible with a proper state of mind and attunement to one's own mortal frame, yes. Humanity does not know the limits of its own power." Not in the slightest. It was a thing that could be tapped into uniquely in ways she found fascinating at times, for all that she knew only a little bit of such things.

D12 LE - Meditations on Something Else (Open)

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