[D3, EE] Field Hospital

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

Suzume Chihaya wrote:

"But how unlikely that she should come here... unless there is some other force at play."

With as scowl, she looked at her hands.

I can think of a few in my own life who died in the midst of carnage and betrayal...

"If it was truly them, how would they have found you both?"

"That is exactly what I am wondering, Suzume-sama." Touki gave her a bow. "In our little skirmish, there were four of us. Two at least," a flicker of his eyes towards Kayou, "-saw or thought we saw someone we knew. Someone who is gone." His voice was steady, but his pause grew long.

"It must be some trick." Touki's jaw tightened. "Or else it is fate. I do not know which." Nor which was worse.

Matsu Kōgyoku · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:36 pm **Posts:** 368

Kōgyoku had little to add to it. Her grandfather might or might not have been genuine in some perverted way, but it was a task for the Kitsu to resolve it, not for her. She'd have to live with the burden of having faced and killed his form until proven that it had been but a cruel ruse meant to cripple her resolve. It hadn't, for she had stood by her honour.

Still, the pain lightened a bit. "I suppose our minds and hearts should be ready for all kinds of trickery."

Suzume Chihaya · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 3:29 pm **Posts:** 850

A soft sigh. "Hai, I suspect we might."

Leaning back against the wall, she added, dryly, "I don't envy you your encounters - I prefer fighting those who cannot tell me apart from a Crane - a sign of poor eyesight - perhaps why they failed so often to land a blow on me. I was fortunate to attract the blind ones."

Kayou · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 2:51 pm **Posts:** 419

"Yes, we should armor ourselves against future trickery," says Kayou. "Though she is not sure how best to do so."

Kodama · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:17 pm **Posts:** 404

Kodama braves a line from the Tao that seems most relevant to the conversation occurring.

"The art of war is to put your enemy in a position that he cannot fight from."

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

Touki turned to look at Kodama.

"What do you suggest, Monk-san?" He asked politely.

Kodama · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:17 pm **Posts:** 404

"How many will hesitate when faced with a foe they never imagined facing? Or a foe that had ever before been a friend?" He asks in return to the Akodo's question.

"Everyone knows the reverence the Lion have for the Ancestors. It is the duty of all to honor those who came before. This is wisdom. It seems like a blade that is sharpest when facing those who hold to that wisdom. That it occurs when facing the Lion's army... How could that be coincidence?"

Kayou · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 2:51 pm **Posts:** 419

Kayou nods. "We cannot afford to underestimate the Usurper, he has tools at his disposal that we are as yet unaware of. This one does not know how to learn more about what surprise that may be waiting expect to talk with our scouts and those that witnesses the slaughter at Winter Court."

Kodama · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 7:17 pm **Posts:** 404

He nods, agreeing with Kayou.

"Your opponent knows you as well as you know yourself. A villain however expects that secretly all others will act the same as he would when faced with hard decisions. The hero acts how is needed to become victorious."

Suzume Chihaya · **Joined:** Wed Apr 01, 2020 3:29 pm **Posts:** 850

"Indeed, that is possible - though I suspect we will largely discover these tricks by encountering them firsthand."

Crossing her arms, she added, "We will have to steel ourselves in the days to come - and let honor guide us. Perhaps some study of our clans' ancestral teachings will allow us to fix our eyes upon the true legacy of those who came before us, seeing past any treacherous facsimiles."

Akodo Touki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 03, 2020 8:17 pm **Posts:** 628

"Perhaps so, Suzume-sama." Touki said, giving a slight seated bow.

Still, he frowned, clearly troubled. "It is a terrible weapon, to be able to use the appearances of those who are lost to us against us." His lips thinned. "But the alternative is even more difficult to contemplate."

The Hilsilage · **Joined:** Sat Apr 04, 2020 9:15 pm **Posts:** 160

But contemplate it they must, as they work to undo the terrible efforts of the slaughter spirits.

/scene?

[D3, EE] Field Hospital

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