[Day 11 - EM] Scimitar Champloo

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"Shouting, yelling, brawling... wrestling," he responded. "Then we drink and do it all over again."

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

Chihaya smiled broadly.

"That sounds like a great deal more fun, I confess."

Sheathing her blade, she returned to a resting position.

Then her foot came forward in an aggressive stomp, blade drawn and promptly stabbed backward toward an invisible foe, and again the kata began.

Conversationally, she added, "So, how do you find the lands of the empire - do they suit, after so long on the road?"

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"Good ground,” was his simple reply.

“It’s a home and a place to defend and grow. There are many that did not live to see it,” he said firmly. He then went back to his own training with the mighty scimitar.

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

She watched his style in silence, pensive expression on her features.

After a while, she inquired, "What is that weapon? I believe I saw your kinsman use one... is it specialized for use with your horses?"

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"We call it a scimitar though horse saber or just saber is also common,” he said showing her the curved sword.

“Suitable for use from horseback or on foot, this one is ancient, used by lineage for a long time. The edge is still keen, and it has seen ten thousand battles,” he said proudly.

“It simply is this way, I am no craftsman, I cannot say to the why but it works.”

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

She gave it a contemplative look.

"It's interesting. I feel like I would not know how to use it - it seems heavier - perhaps better suited to a man of your strength."

Glancing at the katana in her hand, she gave it an appraising stare - she hadn't really thought about why it was shaped the way it was... she wondered how different each blade was? Did different clans have different styles, and she didn't even bother to check?

"My blades were forged for an ancestor on my father's side - a Suzume Kuge who lived in the year 593, Suzume Jotoro. They have not seen ten thousand battles, but they have always served me well."

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

He patted his own daisho and said, “Hai, these are good swords... cut well but I prefer this most days.”

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

"Understandable - if you train with a blade, and inherit a legacy, both are to be valued."

She quirked her head. "I admit, I find your clan fascinating - they make me question all sorts of things I simply assumed."

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"Like?" he asked, having sheathed his weapon.

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

"What we eat. How we fight."

A faint laugh.

"The things that offend us."

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"Well I cannot say what that means, sayyeda, I simply live as I was taught,” he responded in his deep voice.

“Moto are Moto, we endure, and we change like the wind and the dunes. We will ride the plains, the dark lands, or the pretty courts of the Big Bird clan... Goose or Heron... children of Doji. We ride, we learn, and we conquer.”

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

She contemplated that.

"Do the Moto know how to stay, to then live in a land, after they conquer?"

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"We know how to serve, sayyeda, if we must hold the we hold it, if we must ride into hell itself than we gather our warriors and we ride. Uncle leads us, and his word is the first word of Moto and he follows our Champion, and all follow Lady Shinjo, it is known,” he said.

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

"Very true."

She chuckled.

"But it is a change, to go from a life on the road, to a life in place. I admit I've had such a transition myself - it was one which took time."

With a faint shrug, she resumed her kata.

"Is it true your women give birth in the saddle?"

It sounded extremely implausible, but then, she hadn't heard of yoguruto before today either. Hard to know which rumors about these unicorn were accurate, and which were fancy.

After all, the man was very hairy, just as rumored.

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

“I am no woman, but I sense they give birth where they can, how they can, as comfortably as they can. I can introduce you to a mid-wife if you want something more specific,” he responded.

“My guess is that it isn’t too much different from yourself, horses don’t change what’s under the small clothes.”

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

That brought a laugh. "True, but rumors abound that your children can ride horses before they are two, and that they grow full beards within their first month."

Pivoting, she flicked her blade, returning it to saya, and then beginning again, a new set of motions.

"There are so many outlandish rumors, one wonders where they all began. I don't suppose your clan had any rumors of the empire which turned out to be false?"

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

“We were told all the woman looked like goats and that the rivers ran with sweet honey… glad to know at least the former was untrue,” he joked.

“Now the beards, that is unfair, it’s about four months on average and the women start shaving them by year one, not to outdo the men of course. My mother could grow a luxurious beard when she wished to. Learning to ride young is true, though often you are paired with another for quite some time.”

He stroked his own well kept facial hair and said, “I don’t get your fashion sense.”

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

His explanation made her chuckle, and she nodded when he made his goat comment, with a wry expression.

"Our fashion sense?"

She looked surprised. "I've seen many Unicorn wearing kimono - what is so strange about it?"

Glancing at her own kosode and hakama, it seemed to her the most natural thing in the world.

Moto Batzurig · **Joined:** Sun Apr 26, 2020 3:05 am **Posts:** 275

"Many wear them, many just started... I prefer the old ways," he gestured to the leathers and furs.

"Warm and functional."

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

She glanced at the pile, and couldn't quite hide the look of discomfort.

"Dead things? I would feel ill at ease with dead creatures draped over me - I confess."

Gesturing to her hakama, she added, "I find this quite practical - for all sorts of activities."

[Day 11 - EM] Scimitar Champloo

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