Dark Edge Village

Hirase was, of course, saddened by the loss of Chi-Pu. She had been a lovely woman, brave and kind, and had her choice fallen to him he would have thanked Hotei for the gift.

Now she was gone.

Her human friends would be seeking solace in their own ways; drink, training, private rage or grief, and of course the bottle.

Yet there was one being that, he knew, would mourn as deeply as it could for the lost Otaku, a being that could not indulge in any of those things. That being, too, needed company and solace.

And, perhaps, apples.

So in he went, moving among the stalls, trying to find the one where Tianma waited alone for a rider who would never return.

After having returned Gokiburi to his own home, Liu Fei was walking among the tents when she noticed the Asako from a distance. Unaccompanied among the horses of her Clan. It wasn't that she didn't trust the scholar because he was untrustworthy, she just didn't really understand what went through the minds of the more learned individuals. That was a bias likely due to her father, a man she felt she would never understand. For better or worse.

Still, she decided to not leave it alone and began to follow him. Perhaps it was her Bushi training or his kimono that made it easy for her to catch up to him, but that didn't matter much. What did was that she had, and before he could approach a horse she called over from the tents entrance.

Quickly noticing which one this was, and given the events going on elsewhere, she figured it out easily enough.

"I would not do that, Asako Hirase-san," she used his full name as mere means of identifying the familiarity.

A single meeting was not enough for him to memorize the voice. When Hirase turned, it was with his most iron-clad On fully in place. Seeing someone he had at least met did very little to soften it; if anything it made him even more wary.

"Shinjo-san."

He bowed, politely enough, halting his forward motion.

"My sympathies for the loss your Clan suffered. She..." He paused, then said, quietly, "Chi-Pu was a fine samurai. Many will miss her."

Liu Fei gave a short, firm nod, in agreement to that point. "Thank you, on behalf of the Clan," she said, aiming to create a proper conversational distance between the two rather than merely standing in the entryway.

"This seems a strange place to mourn her loss if that is why you are here, Asako-san."

"I've come to comfort Tianma." A sad smile graced HIrase's lips. "Since it seems no one has thought to include her in the funeary arrangements and she suffers more than any other here."

He looked over at Liu Fei with a self-deprecating smile.

"It would have been my task, had things come out differently."

"You only first met one of our horses a few days ago and you think that attempting to comfort a grief ridden Otaku steed is a good idea?" she asked flatly. Using the dryness of her tone to point out the key facts as they were. "Do you think you know what you're doing?"

"No." Hirase kept his tone level. "But I wasn't planning to go in with her. I just thought, an apple or two rolled into the feed bin...it's not much, but it's the only thing I could think to do safely."

"Good," she said to the first. Letting her shoulders fall as she let out a breath. "I appreciate your concern for the horse Asako-san, but I am sure it is best to leave it be. It is admirable, your Compassion, but the Otaku steeds are a different breed. I am sure the trainers would not appreciate someone coming in here in the middle of the night and giving snacks."

"It just...seemed like something I could do." Hirase leaned a hip against the nearest stable door after a brief glance inside to make sure he wouldn't disturb the occupant. "I cared for her. Last time I lost someone...I had something of hers, ours, to see to. IIt was easier to manage, knowing that something I was doing would have pleased her. I don't know how to go about that for Chi-Pu."

"Sometimes there just is not something to be done Asako-san," she said. Not leaning on anything but taking a similarly casual stance. "Maybe," she decided to offer an idea. "by helping the Unicorn find a home here, one she would have been proud of. That is something you can do to honor her memory."

"Disturbing a horse that knows a greater pain than you and communicates in a way you do not fully understand, that is not the way I think would be proper."

At no point did she seem to judge him, or speak from a place where she saw him as lesser, but merely she spoke the truth as she saw it.

"I was planning to do that already." Still, he was nodding in acceptance of the suggestion. "Though I hadn't really thought of how I might go about it proactively. I've been trying to smooth paths between a few people here, and I was ready to duel...or rather, be championed in one...one of the Imperials over a slight he'd made to the Clan. I've got the train to be more aggressive in courtly ways, I just haven't before been spurred to do so."

"And now you have?" she asked, inquisitively. Seeming to hold onto a new suggestion this time.

"I don't know." A thoughtful frown drew Hirase's brows together. "There isn't anything here, at least, that needs that sort of effort. It is your home ground. Overall, your guests have been respectful and open-minded about your Clans ways, at least that I have seen and heard. I had already thought to share the culture you have brought with you in the form of scrolls with the rest of the Empire. I know you hold a verbal tradition, but the written word is respected here."

Again, there was a pause.

"The right tales...the right heroes...will go far in influencing how the Empire views you. Most will not meet a Unicorn in their lifetime, but books...especially pillow books, written to suit the styles of the time, are very widespread."

"If you wish to learn how to be a more aggressive courtier, Asako-san, I would have you meet someone," she said, though her wary tone showed how she realized this may not be the most acceptable thing. Still, if it was something born from a desire to aid the Unicorn she'd try to push that possibly shaky connection.

"Otherwise, this idea of written tales and heroes. Otaku Chi Pu sounds like a hero for one of those tales. An honored Samurai who died courageously against a beast that threatened her home and those that reside here. I am not much of a story teller and even I can see the merit in it, someone as well read as you could easily make that into a story I think."

"I will meet anyone you like." A small smile appeared on his face for a moment. "I like people, as a rule. And, yes, I had hopes her story would be suitable. I still know very little of what happened other than rumor, which is generally wrong. At it happens, I am a trained storyteller, though I do not hesitate to admit I have much more learning to do in that arena. I am at least willing, which is a good start, neh?"