[D7 EA, open] Shelter from the Storm

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

Myo-en finds her way to the back streets of the commoner district, where the townsfolk say the refugees from Morikage Toshi and Toshi no Omoidoso have crowded in to Nikesake. Several days of walking meditation haven't quite erased the burn of helpless frustration she'd felt behind her breastbone when she went back over the city wall of Toshi no Omoidoso and left the better part of the people outside to shiver in the frozen night while she returned to the warm temple dormitory. There'd been no good alternative, but that didn't make it righteous or honorable.

The next day, the whole great crowd had marched off with Tsukimi and the others, headed for questionable safety... and apparently they'd ended up turning for Nikesake. With a full day's head start, Myo-en hopes the reason she hadn't overtaken them on the road is because the whole refugee train made it safely, though that might be an overly optimistic assumption.

Now she has on a change of dry clothes, a dry, fluffy and sated-looking crow perched on one shoulder underneath the wide brim of her hat, and a purse filled with several handfuls of the Dragon embassy's unhulled rice. Her clan won't miss it, right? Someone else might need it more.

Sharp black eyes skim the crowds as she walks casually down the cobbled street.

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

A short distance away there was a Lion woman walking around checking on refugees. She carried two large jars filled with some kind of sustenance and plodded along from group to group asking if any were in need.

She placed the bar with the two hanging jars on the ground for a moment as she knelt down in the mud to hear the whispering of an old heimin woman who beckoned for her from a makeshift bed of rice husks and hay.

A moment later she leaned back away and shook her head with a smile, "It is no great deed ma'am. We're all struggling together... But we can make it through together as well. Eat up. Show these youngin's what it looks like to have guts."

She stood up and but the bar over her shoulder before smiling again at the old woman and her family and continuing to walk down the street.

Seeing a Dragon woman next on her trek she bowed her head politely, "Afternoon Dragon-san. Having any trouble getting situated?"

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

Another walked the lower streets, with purpose, guiding Meushi so as to avoid trodding on those that were suffering. If this was to be war and he needed to be prepared. He looked for a fetcher among the now crowded stalls, surrounded by refugees.

Once he locates one he goes about the transaction, increasing his stockpile of arrows tremendously.

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"Hello." The careful dark eyes pick out both Ren's insignia and something.... not entirely Lionish? about her bearing. She bows, cupping left hand over right, while the bird on her shoulder grumbles and shuffles its feet to keep its balance. "Lion-san. My situation is more than comfortable. I am hoping the same is true for the civilians who came from Morikage Toshi. They struggled enough going south down the coast. Now this rain..." Dark brows draw together below her shaven forehead.

((aah, sorry, thought I hit post on this ages ago!))

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She nodded and looked out over the crowds, “They’ve gone through a lot... and I suspect that they will have to go through a bit more...”

She turned back to Myo-en, “Were you with them in Morikage Toshi?”

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"I was not." Myo-en shakes her head, making drops of water spill unevenly from the edges of her hat. "But in Toshi no Omoidoso, yes. Where some of these people had to stay outside in the rain and snow, and then march three days... I hope Nikesake can shelter them better."

She looks a bit more closely at Ren, strangely mirrored by the crow on her shoulder, which tilts its head to inspect the Akodo with beady black eyes. "And you, Akodo-san?"

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

"I was stationed back in The City of Remembrance for a little over a month before all this started." She replied.

"My name is Akodo Ren." She bowed politely. "And I'm happy to have the company of another fellow concerned member of the samurai class."

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"Hm. I suppose that is me." It isn't at all the way Myo-en would have described herself, at least not on instinct, but neither is it inaccurate. She considers this for a beat or two. "I called Myo-en, of the Order of Togashi. And I am indeed concerned."

She scans the street again with the curiously intent expression that seems to be standard for her. "You're Lion, Akodo-san, but maybe you have not been here long... do you know what the Governor of this town plans for these people? Toshi no Omoidoso had no plan and no time to make one, but their fight buys Nikesake some time..."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She shook her head, "Unfortunately I am not familiar with Governor Ikoma... I'm from a bit further west and only recently joined the Lion a couple of years ago... As of yet my list of friends is not that expansive."

She looked around, "I would expect an honorable response, however. In my time with the Lion I've learned that while the terminology they use differs from some other places I have been... they do care for the people in their own manner."

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"'In their own manner'?" Myo-en echoes. "What manner is that? Is it very different from your homeland?"

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She looked around, “This... essentially was my homeland. I was born a Phoenix. I know the people... I know how they were ruled over, and now I work to interpret the intent of their new lords and their ever present desire for military capacity.”

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"Oh." Well, that explains the non-Lion-ish vibe, to be sure. "So your new clan cares for its commoners because of... military capacity? That must be a very different way than people in this province are used to, I think."

It still sounds better than the 'let the weak weed themselves out and the strong contend for survival' approach her Shosuro friend had once tried to explain to her. That bar is admittedly at about floor level, though...

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She nodded, “Fortunately for the people the Lion’s canon text speaks of the need for nutrition in any conflict. Their duty as Right Hand necessitates constant preparation... which requires good harvests and logistics. It can be presented in a very... obtrusive manner at times though...”

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"So the Phoenix and Lion take different paths to the same destination?" Myo-en considers asking Ren which approach she thinks is preferable... then re-considers when it quickly occurs to her that there is really no non-awkward way for someone in Ren's position to answer that question.

Learning! Polish! All that stuff!

"I have not visited Phoenix lands, though I've traveled among the Lion several times, so I cannot compare their management myself." Her periodic concerned glances at the refugees making their way through the slippery street may indicate that the Lion aren't earning full marks right now, though admittedly there are mitigating circumstances.

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

"Not the most interesting of topics perhaps... But one's day to day duties are a big part of who they are. So... you might say I am an entirely uninteresting individual." She said with a smile.

"I take it your duties for the Dragon are somewhat different?"

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"Yes." Myo-en nods, sending a trickle of rain off the edge of her hat as she straightens her head... which disturbs the dozing crow. It flicks its tail feathers grumpily and then tucks its chin down again.

"I have been a soldier, a scout, and a guide. And a plain monk. Lately... a diplomat, I think I should call it?" Her lips turn up in a vaguely puzzled smile, as if this circumstance seems a bit peculiar to her. "Never a manager of lands or men, though."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

"I too have been all those things... except soldier. But I'm sure in some previous life I scratched that off my list too." She said with a smile.

"What kind of 'diplomacy' have you been engaged in?"

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"The kinds of diplomacy that don't call for great cunning, mostly." The corners of Myo-en's lips quirk upward again. "I spent the winter at court in Toshi no Omoidoso, in the castle I hope is still standing today. Before that I received Unicorn visitors with my clan." That seems to be a pleasant memory, judging by the shift in her tone. "I agreed even to try diplomacy by marriage, although I never before thought that might be in my destiny. I'm not sure whether it will really happen, though."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

"Destiny follows an unusual path at times. Sometimes it takes you and another on the same path for a while." She smiled.

"What made you think you were not likely to marry? The whole... vows thing and whatnot?"

Togashi Myo-en · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:27 am **Posts:** 418

"Yes, for one part." Myo-en opens a hand palm-up. "I have a Kami's name, but that is a rebirth of choice, not a birth by blood. Lord Togashi's children don't need to marry to carry on his line. Still, some do, so it has always been possible." That still doesn't sound as if she'd been seriously considering it, though. "The thing I never predicted at all was that I might marry for diplomacy. I am fortunate in my place in this life, but not in the usual way of political brides." She laughs ruefully, shaking her head a little. "The Unicorn do not know the usual way of political brides yet."

[D7 EA, open] Shelter from the Storm

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