[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

At the conclusion of the day, Wasako paid the local shrine a visit and offered her prayers to the Fortunes. Despite having found safety, this was going to be short-lived. The heavens rumbled with thunder as it pelted the city with rain. She did wonder if what she was hearing was thunder or merely something ominous moving towards them? After she had finished with her prayers she found herself a good spot where she could sit down and watch the rain. It was a long journey on the road with little rest and she finally had a moment to herself. Her eyes slowly closed as she looked inward to tune out all of the concerns of the world and those within herself, finding balance so that she could brave the chaos in the future.

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

The thunder crackled and boomed in the distance, and in the dark light a figure dressed in a straw cloak and hat emerged, the water cascading all around. They drew up the steps into the shrine and paused there to take the hat off, knocking the water off of it and shaking her cloak to a presentable level of dryness before clapping once, loudly, at the entrance. Having performed that little ceremony to announce herself to the kami present, she entered the shrine.

It had been a long day already. Relaxing, perhaps even promising, but it wasn't wise to ignore the fortunes. She'd crossed from the west safely, and there were fortunes to thank for her travels. A shugenja ignored such things at their peril.

Catching sight of the dragon, she bowed once before taking a spot quietly and lighting a stick of incense to begin her own meditations. Kami, but there were a lot of clans represented right now, weren't there? She was starting to wonder if maybe this town was too busy for her own good.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako hadn't fully drifted into her thought just yet when Mari approached and thankfully too, she could just have likely fallen asleep considering how late it was at the moment. It had been a very exhausting day and there wasn't any rest found once she arrived in town. She opened her eyes to see the person who entered the temple and acknowledged her with a bow in return.

"Good evening, samurai-san..." she said cautiously at first after seeing the wakizashi. At the very least, she knew that Mari was a samurai and not a monk.

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

Green, but no gold. A dragon then? She returned the bow before fully settling herself into position. "Dragon-sama. Good evening to you." She didn't look too tired herself, but she was a bit more of a night owl. Mari liked to sleep in in the mornings, one of the few advantages of a ronin's life when not in the employ of someone more demanding. She could pick her hours. "I hope that I'm not interrupting your meditations?"

Definitely samurai, but that kimono had seen plenty of wear and tear, even for the cotton sort, and there was no mon in sight now that she had put her straw cloak to the side. Definitely a ronin.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"No, not at all," she shifted in her seat somewhat as she uncrossed her legs, favouring another seated position by sitting on her heels. "I guess I was trying to collect my thoughts before getting some sleep. I was probably wasn't very successful even before you had arrived. You can't find the refuge of the mind at will, it often has to find you. Perhaps another time."

She smiled at first before recalling her manners. "This one is Mirumoto Wasako, of the Northern Wall Mountains."

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

The Northern... ?!? Someone was a long way away from home, weren't they? Mari supposed that it took all kinds, but this town was a veritable hotbead of the strange and unexpected. Mute tensai, one-legged Asakos, sparrow sensei, Lions who called their budoka equals. And now someone from... yep, she had officially come into the strangest batch of people she had ever expected to encounter in her life. Deep down, she wondered at the choices in her life to have brought her so far from the edge of the woods, forgotten away from the rest of the world.

"Dragon-sama," she said. "I am Mari... heh, of the open road I suppose. A wolf has nowhere to lay its head save the den of the day. I would not fret much. None can keep their focus so easily when the thunderer plays this openly." A vague gesture towards the outside.

"Tell me, -sama. If this is not too personal or impertinent, do you ever feel a touch... out of your element? I feel I have delved far from the home of my youth. Like driftwood on a river with no control over the current's flow."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"No, but often a good test of how you've progressed in the art of meditation. Admittedly, I've meditated in worse places...and it's not the first time we've been greeted by rain and thunder. I suppose after the events of the last few days, it's shaken me up so much to even doubt the sun as the blessed Lady Sun," she said on a grim note before giving a shake of her head. No point of playing doomsayer, there might have been plenty already.

"Out of my element? In more ways than one, yes. After spending so many years on the mountain, these cities even start becoming a strange city. I had spent my childhood in them but now I find them like mazes...with people. Is that what you mean?" She looked to her curiously.

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

"Lady Sun's warmth and gaze are good, yes," she said distantly. She'd always liked a bit of gloom more. "But I will admit that I appreciate the rain. The water kami, at least, are at peace. I do not feel such roiling, twisting forces as I have in my prayers of late when I speak to them today. It is ... nice."

A pity the earth kami she favored were not the ones at peace, but the water were more useful right now. She relaxed from a meditative pose. It felt easier to do, after this long of a day. To just relax a little. Being 'proper' in front of the samurai of this town was tiring. "Not exactly. I hail from a small village in my youth. Very little travel until fate and my feet took me to the open road. But it feels strange to see so much activity. Even Shiro Akodo was nothing like this."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"Hm, that reminds me of a conversation I had with a Phoenix shugenja who felt the same way. We talked about the soothing properties of water and the serenity it could bring. I think she considered rain an omen of hope."

Then they evacuated the Toshi. Of course, it didn't mean she was wrong, the Fortunes and Heavens worked in mysterious ways that it would take a lot of patience to see such hope come into fruition. They were on the backfoot but yet to be defeated.

"I found myself on the open road only recently, at my sensei's wisdom," she nodded. "And hai...I'm told that everything happening here is unusual. Even how formalities are being conducted at the moment. There's a sort of underlining chaos not just outward but inward as well. It might explain my difficulties with meditation. I suppose war is not the norm and a war with a great enemy from another plane is absolutely abnormal."

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

"Omens are such difficult things to interpret. But I tend to think of rain like this as a good one," she said idly, looking out into the rain with a certain fondness. What would a lightning bolt look like if she prayed now? A pity... but she supposed it was better that she didn't actually need one wasn't it?

"Chaos...yes. That's what I feel when I walk the streets. Nothing but chaos, and in the midst of its roiling depths, who knows what could come? What could lurk. And to face a threat like what people have spoken of? Not of hell, but of the maddened spirits of slaughter, serving an ancestor?" She shook her head, sighing. "It's far above a humble soul like me to decide. I just ride the chaos."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

She frowned pensively after letting out a sigh under her breath. "It's also beyond my comprehension and say as well. I think we are all humbled before the might of this enemy. It's a bit overwhelming being in a war and a war where people are very much involved too. There are many lessons being thrown at me at once to make this a very intense learning experience."

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

"I admit that I'm a little accustomed to being faced with forces that are beyond my ability to control them, and how they impact me. It's daunting, but it is... a little more familiar than I wish that it was." A shake of the head and she sighed, almost a little mournfully. "But what this one is doing, it is a whole other level. Not that it changes anything about me or what I will do. I know what I am here for, after all."

For all that she joked that she was out to fill her belly like any ronin, she did seem to have purpose of a sort. "But I suppose it is our place to be in his way until the Imperial Legions arrive to save the day yes? Or we go to our final rewards, heh."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako looked quizzically at Mari for a moment before she was reminded that she was a ronin after all. It should be distasteful to chase after koku but it wasn't like ronin were known to be swimming in koku or living a lifestyle of excess wealth. It was sort of a lifestyle of a involuntary ascetic?

"Seeing as you're here, I imagine that you've made your mind on your prospect at the very least. It's unlikely that we'll be seen as neutral, regardless of our stance, so long as we're in the way. Considering his has already shown his temperament through actions already, it will likely take everyone and anyone just to slow the fores of slaughter. That's the intent, at least."

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

Nope. Honor did not fill the belly. Koku did that. And she did not have much chance to truly live a life of duty or enlightenment when the stomach rumbled, so her views tended to be on the practical side, even when ideals came into the picture.

"As with many things, my choice is made for me," she admitted. "Another day, perhaps the choice was because of a lord's wishes? Today, it is because I came from the West and not the East. Imagine, if I had traveled south just behind his forces? I might be conscripted by him just as easily. But as you said... such a man would not make that sort of distinction. We are in his way, so the die is cast." There might have been a tinge of bitterness somewhere in her tone. She concealed it with sincerity well, but it was definitely there.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"A sort of fate brought you here, I suppose? I imagine that the Steel Chrysanthemum's currency is mainly fear anyway," she said with a shrug as she never met a returned spirit before. Were they even intelligent enough to barter with others if they were so bent on destruction?

"However, I do hope your time is made worthwhile here," she said regarding finding employment. It couldn't be her, she didn't have any money to give.

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

She certainly didn't seem to hold any sort of reverence for the notion that they might be fighting what were ancestral spirits upon the earth. That was the business of a clan samurai with a family shrine to visit, she imagined. "Who can say? I know that the gold that changes hands here shines as well as it does in any other place," she said with a bit of a smug, matter-of-factly grin on her face.

"But we're not here to talk that sort of thing. It's beneath a good, honorable soul such as yourself, eh Mirumoto-sama?" She offered a little wink. "No, I'm quite certain I will find plenty to get up to in Nikesake and keep myself busy in the coming week. I have no question of that. We will probably both be very busy, so there is no harm in enjoying the moment of peace we have, while we have it."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako looked critically at the other woman and could only shake her head. Ronin. She shouldn't have been surprised and they were seen as despicable for several reasons. It was better to let the matter drop. She was standing on this side at least but she was going to trust her as far as she could throw her.

"Of course, Mari-san," she nodded once and changed the topic. "Have you been in Nikesake for long? Anything about the city makes it different from the other ones you've been on your travels?"

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

It probably wasn't a bad idea. Like most ronin? She was loyal to herself, so there was a certain amount of preservation in her mind. There was no promise that a ronin couldn't change sides, though most tended to be loyal once they'd picked a side, at least for the time being.

"I only just arrived, about the same time as the refugees from Toshi no Omoidasu. I pitched a tent only just now. If there's any difference, it is how... saturated this place is. There's people everywhere, and the town is full to the gills, so it's... very busy."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"I've been told by many that things are very different from the norm, even very simple or day to day matters." She nodded in acceptance, "It doesn't exactly give me a good idea of either towns but I suppose I'm not exactly here for sightseeing and leisure. I think I was still able to get an idea, at least. I found it very curious that any town or city would need more than one baker or one tea house at first."

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

She laughed, shaking her head and closing her eyes. "Oh... I remember those days. The first time I saw a large town... it was a sight to behold. Ryoko Owari has a whole veritable town, just for the eta that service it," she said, the mirth apparent. "I didn't stay too long. It was far too large even for me. My birthplace barely has a name. Only a few samurai protect it at any time. Two tea-houses in one town does seem a bit much, doesn't it?"

[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

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