Seeking to calm the waves [D1, EE, Open]

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

Kayou moved slowly but deliberately from shrine to shrine, offering prayers.

Along the way she stopped to talk to people, mostly the non-samurai, offering kind words and reassurances. Trying to project calm in this troubled time.

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

A shorter figure picks her way through the snow-dusted streets with a light traveling pack over her shoulder. Myo-en herself might not be instantly recognizable in her winter gear--the padded jacket hides some of her tattoos, and the scarf keeping the errant snowflakes off her shaved head hides her face a little from some angles--but Kayou hasn't changed a bit, at least as far as Myo-en's keen eyes can see.

"Kayou-sensei!" A note of surprise sounds in Myo-en's voice as she raises a hand in greeting.

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

Kayou looks up and smiles. "Myo-en-san! What a delight to see you. What brings you here?"

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

"I have been at the Governor's court. A mild place to winter, compared to the mountains." A smile curls the corners of Myo-en's mouth as she comes closer, hitching her bag more securely onto her shoulder. "Now the castle is filling with samurai arrived from Morikage Toshi, I began to think someone else would appreciate my room more..." She shakes her head a little, brushing the scarf back from her face with calloused fingertips. "How long have you been here, Kayou-sensei?"

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

"Only a day or so," she replies, "this one is seeking support among the Clan for the Order of Harmonious Work."

"If you are to be staying at the Temple of the Seven Dragons, we will be neighbors,"

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

"That was my plan, if they'll have me." Myo-en grins "That is much more my kind of lodging than a castle."

Her expression sobers slightly. "One should not complain when fate brings old friends together, but... I wish we could have met again under better circumstances."

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

"Hai," agrees Kayou. "But it seems our lot is to be buffeted by the winds of fate. Still, it is easier with a good friend to rely upon."

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

"That's true," Myo-en nods soberly. "I don't know what to expect here, yet. This morning I cast Hexagram Eighteen, which is auspicious," her brows draw together, "but no sooner had I stepped outside than the news from the north gate arrived. I can't see clearly what it all means."

Her mouth curves upward again, a little. "At least I know there is one more person here I trust."

With a sudden clatter of pinions, an unusually large crow glides into view from over the roof of a building and lands neatly on Myo-en's shoulder. Myo-en's reaction--a slight shift of balance, but no real surprise--suggests this is, improbable as it might seem, a normal occurrence for her

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

Kayou bows to the crow. "Welcome, Crow-san."

"Well, this one is glad you are here. Myo-en-san. She wished to discuss a variety of matters with the Togashi about way of training and teaching. Though with events being as they are, their will likely be little time for polite talk."

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

The crow--which has a bright bit of red string looped around its neck, matching the braided cords that hold hanging prayer tablets in many temples and shrines--bobs its head in Kayou's direction and fluffs its feathers, almost as if it understands her greeting.

"Training." Myo-en considers this and nods. "I heard the news from down in the south... late and slow, probably," she adds, lips curving a bit ruefully. "That you'd founded a temple. I was happy for you, but I thought this meant you were not likely to spend many more long seasons up in our mountains, and it was hard not to regret that a little."

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

Kayou smiles. "This one hopes to have many years ahead of her, Myo-en-san. Perhaps you should come down from the mountains and live with us for a while."

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

Myo-en looks uncertain for a moment, then laughs softly in her throat. "Perhaps. The future isn't unwritten, but it is unclear to simple minds like mine. Anything might happen, even pleasant things."

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

"Indeed, the past resembles the future as water resembles water," Kayou says with a smile.

"But on a more practical level, do you need any help on your way?"

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

"Almost certainly. Who ever doesn't?" Myo-en deadpans. "At this moment, though, not for anything that has revealed itself to me yet."

After a moment's further thought, she adds, "Unless the master of the Temple of the Seven Dragons objects to Karasu-san lodging there. In that case your good word might be helpful." She raises a hand to deliver a gentle head-scritch to the crow perched on her shoulder. "She will find a way inside anywhere I am, eventually. Sometimes I don't even know how."

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

"This one would hope that the temple master would welcome one of Shinsei's birds," says Kayou with a faint smile. "But if a good word is needed, you will have it."

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

"Shinsei's birds might be wise, but they also disrupt things." The crow cackles to itself and takes wing again, launching off Myo-en's shoulder with a raucous flurry of wings.

Myo-en watches it go and shakes her head. "Like the teacher himself, I guess."

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

Kayou smiles. "And as we should aim to be and do."

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

"Hm... is that what your Order is meant to do? Disrupt?" Myo-en casts Kayou a curious--though not disapproving--look.

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

Kayou smiles. "Not all change is bad, Myo-en-san, as you know."

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

"All existence is change. What has waned waxes, and what has waxed wanes," Myo-en agrees. "Directing the course of change is harder than it looks, though." An uncomfortable lesson she keeps learning again, even after she thought she'd already grasped it.

Seeking to calm the waves [D1, EE, Open]

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