[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

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

Wasako smiled faintly, "Oh, just small things. I suppose they mostly stem from my parents making sure that my brothers aren't exactly picking on me, which could be considered my earliest combat training I've been given so that I could manage when they start horsing around in the yard. There had been a time when they had thought that perhaps I would take on the ways of Niten and my grandfather tried to earnestly give me pointers but those might have been muddled in my thoughts. I guess memory is something that can be tricky to maintain sometimes..."

"...It's very likely...Do you think someone's memory would seek them out specifically?" She pondered.

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

"I grew up in a large family. I know all about that sort of thing," she said in a bemused tone. Admittedly, her brothers were a little less rough and tumble and more the exploring and getting into trouble types than they were the beat sister up types, but the similarity amused her. "but you mention not following niten. I wasn't familiar with the Dragon having another style of fighting, I admit. They're quite famous for it."

"Ah... well, I think we should all be prepared for a spirit to return whom we have felled in battle once before, in truth. Our memories haunt us in the physical."

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

"We do but I suppose I wouldn't say it's a path where we exactly pride ourselves when it comes to martial prowess...at least the traditional manner or practical sense that bushi serve. I'd say that we are more of a spiritual path where we tie the seeking of Enlightenment and the way of the sword together. Typically, we find ourselves reclused to the mountains where we train in peace and spend time in contemplation."

Not having seen battle before, she could only imagine what this must mean for others. There were many veterans among them.

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

"Ah, I see. Forgive me, but that sounds like a very... Dragon approach to things," she said, stifling a little chuckle. "Not that it is bad at all, but the empire always does talk about the dragons up in their mountains, meditating upon enlightenment. Why should they not do so with a sword as well? I suppose you learn something new every day, thank you Mirumoto-sama."

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

"It is...something admittedly that even a majority of my kin do find peculiar. We are considered more folk than most Mirumoto," she said, to point out that not all Dragon actually act the stereotype, even though she is wholeheartedly the meditative sort of Dragon. "Some Togashi are known to be trained with the sword as well but so suppose we could be considered a diverging branch who share more in common with the monks than our traditional warrior kin. No path is greater than the other, our commitment is just merely placed on other tenants in life. As a result, we are rarely seen in ordinary posts. I might very well be wandering the Empire if I wasn't helping my sensei teach others."

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

"I remember a saying a monk told me once. If you see Shinsei in the road ahead, find another path." No, that wasn't exactly what the monk had said, but 'if you see Shinsei in the road, kill him' had always struck her as a little bit of an extreme way of making the point. "If enlightenment was all a single path, I think people would find it much more easily than they actually do. It would just be a how to book, and years of dedicated training. It's... different for everyone, and the glimmers of it can be found in the oddest places."

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

"Yes, it is..." she said pensively on the matter of Enlightenment. Admittedly, she wasn't actively seeking it but it was a reminder that she wasn't going to find it. As much as she'd like it to fall on her lap one day for doing her hard work, as expected. "It's perhaps part of the reason you hear stories about monk travelling the Empire, rather than just remain in their temples. We shall see where things go after this and if I'm able to make the most of my time here. I imagine if I manage to do that, I may likely be ready to learn from the rest of the world."

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

"So... tell me, Mirumoto-sama, what sort of lessons do you truly want to know and learn from?" After all, she was here at the behest of her lord. There must have been something that he felt needed to be known. "To watch our daily lives and share in them? As you said, some monks step down from within their fine, secure and distant monasteries, while others meditate day and night. What lessons do you think that you need most to learn from?"

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

"Admittedly," she said before leaving a dangling pause there. "I was sent here initially by my sensei to learn about the Lion Clan, on matters they conduct their day to day routine and how they manage warfare. I suppose it's an easy enough purpose, especially when I could compare their ways to ours and learn through our differences. I suppose he probably didn't expect that they would find themselves in a war against the Steel Chrysanthemum, which likely makes this an entirely lesson than intended. However, while the content of the lesson might have changed, there's still much to learn here."

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

"You will have ample opportunity to see that in action here," she practically muttered before snorting and looking outside again. "You've accidentally dropped into a full scale war that is very much run the way the Lion would wish it. In fact, I daresay it may be a chance to see Lion against Lion, a very rare thing indeed."

A shake of her head and she glanced back to the Mirumoto. "I would not counsel you to ignore your duties, but since you will have so much chance for that here, perhaps broaden what you look into a little? It might be a once in a lifetime chance to dip your toes into the outside world before you return, yes? Never know what you'll find."

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

Wasako widened her eyes for a moment. "Oh! Of course! I think I've been thankful to make the acquaintance of many samurai, yourself included, who come from different corners of the Empire. And I'm thankful to be able to meet them, sharing their thoughts especially. I think I've done my best to diversify? Admittedly, I guess it's taken me away from my focus on the Lion and the frontlines. I perhaps have more parts than a whole thesis at the moment. But I know there won't be a shortage of warfare in the coming days, that's for sure."

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

She smirked over at the Mirumoto. "You're very kind to say that, but most people wouldn't count themselves that lucky to make the acquaintance of one of the wave men. We're not usually the most noteworthy sorts," she teased a little. "Though I suppose if you're looking to broaden your horizons, just about all of us offer something a little different for you to try. It might almost be best to know what you're not seeking to learn about and hope it isn't secretly the path to enlightenment."

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

"I believe I did have a conversation regarding this with a Kakita. I think it went along with the idea that people all possess some knowledge or experience that is worth sharing. I suppose while you don't have a school, you've likely made your own lessons over time?" she said in the regards that ronin are adept self-taught samurai.

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

She tilted her head and there was a little twinkle in her eye. "I do not, do I?" she almost purred, those bland features carrying a little grin that was almost cat-like for the moment. "Are you quite so sure? We ronin don't often like to speak of our pasts, but not all of us were taught by our own luck and skill. Perhaps I have a sensei somewhere, and a lord who is oh so disappointed in my failures in life. We are always a puzzle. you never know what the secret of our past is."

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

"Ooh?" she murmured at first with her eyes narrowing, wondering if she unintentionally made a mistake on the ronin. It was all too easy to assume.

She gave a shake of her head, feeling a bit silly, even if she was just a ronin. "My apologies, I had assumed...but I suppose there could very well be an island among the waves? In that case, you still possess world knowledge, although you might have a base to ground all of your experiences on. Kakita-san and I were debating, I think, if the base was more important to contextualize the experiences or the other way around."

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

"I rather like that. A stone in the midst of the ocean's crashing waves. It has a nice ring to it," she said, her smile still present. "So, let us play a guessing game, shall we? No real prize. Tell me. Do you imagine I was born without a master, or do you think me a former servant of a lord, -sama? I might not be too willing to share details, but I can tell you if you're right at least."

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

This wasn't the sort of game she imagined playing with a ronin. They didn't typically like talking about their past. "I'd like to think that throughout our conversation you are speaking as someone who well-versed at the benefits of broadening your horizon, certainly going through that yourself at some point. That could be the storyteller in you but perhaps you might be a former servant."

Admittedly during their conversation, she did almost feel like she was being lectured.

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

Her smile broadened. "You'd make my mother proud saying that of me," she said with a little clap. "But you aren't wrong. I am on a Musha Shugyo. A pilgrimage of a sort. The path I walk, I cannot do among my kin any longer, and the right was granted to me. More than that, though I will admit I don't want to speak about. Nobody ever goes on pilgrimage without good reason, and it's never an easy thing." She was holding a lot back in there, but then again the Mirumoto wasn't wrong. Ronin didn't like talking about their pasts.

Maybe her upbringing just had a bit of a cunning side for games, when she started spinning her yarns.

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

"A musha shugyo, I suppose that might be a very effective way of roaming the Empire without concern of borders and obligation, although without some obvious necessities." As much as she would like to say that living as an ascetic is hard mode, she had been granted quarters in the Dragon embassy. If it weren't for that, she could be staying at the temples but it as likely that she would be given priorities for room and board over a ronin. "I can easily why it might not be an easy decision to make and especially so when it comes to lifestyle. May I ask how many years?"

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

"I can't remember the exact dates," which was a bald-faced insincerity and she didn't feel like concealing it. "But it hasn't been a long journey for me. I have only somewhat recently begun the path that I walk, but even a short time is ... educational about what the open roads of the empire can be like, I'm finding."

[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

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