Dark Edge Village

Even in a small village, there was always work to be done. New homes were erected. Old ones were repaired. The ill/infirm required tending. Peasants gathered to wash their laundry. Many tended the fields.

Suki made her way among the locals, finding such work and offering aid. Today she was assisting a group of peasant carpenters in the process of building a home. At the moment, the monk was helping to raise the wooden columns atop the packed-earth foundation; the basis for the rest of the simple home. It was hard work, especially with the burgeoning heat. Wiping the sweat from her brow, Suki kept an eye on the workers, watching for any signs of exhaustion or heatstroke.

Having been forced by poor conditions to halt her progress early yesterday, Tsume axiously started before dawn to make the last few miles to the event.

"Overseer, which way to the-"

Belatedly she notes the satchel of scrolls and looks puzzled.

"That is...excuse me sa..."

Tsume looks in confusion at the scene, her cheeks coloring in the morning light.

The sudden arrival of a samurai caused those peasants who could stop working to do so, offering appropriate bows. Suki wiped her hands together, brushing off dust.

"Ohayo, sama," she offered, bowing. "This one is Suki of the Brotherhood of Shinsei. Is there something I can do for you?"

From the shade of the tree line a well dressed and straight postured man appears. His fan fluttering like a butterfly across his face, displaying some form of agility.

He stops to observe the minor clans man speaking to peasant, puzzled at why? He approaches in curiosity.

Aramoro addresses the group as a whole "Day fellow Rokugani. Very busy I see. Best, I guess, catching the cool morning before this excruciating heat sets in, ne?"

He looks over the rising little house "Your task seems ridden with ward work."

"Hai-sama," Suki offered, joining the other peasants in offering respectful bows to the well-dressed samurai. "As the Little Teacher said, your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

"Ah, I am Ryuuta Tsume, of the Piranha clan. I am pleased to meet you, monk-san. I was uncertain of the way to the festivities which started yesterday. I am a guest here of our newly reunited kin."

The woman bows to each in turn.

Piranha Clan. Interesting.

"Glad to see another new arrival," Suki smiled. "Many of us are being put up in the tents out on the fields. Others have personal quarters at the Administrative Center," she gestured in the directions for each, indicating the presence of the three sets of tents and the village's center structure. "This one would offer more detailed directions, but she has only recently arrived herself and is not an active participant in the miai."

He took notice of Suki with a nob in acknowledgement.

"Wise words, a follower of Shinsei I see. Seppun Aramoro, Imperial guard." He takes a bow. "Fortunate is the one that finds his work and gives in to it with all his heart, irrespective of what ignorant people say. I cannot otherwise than agree Monk-san"

He turns to face Ryuuta "Welcome to the Miai Piranha-san" he gives a slight bow then he looks her up and down "You came to participate the following weeks?"

"I thank you deeply for your assistance monk-san. I did not mean to distract your from your assistance of these others."

"Yes, Seppun-sama. I hope to find a suitable husband to bring back to the forest."

She smiles as she says this, though she keeps her eyes demurely downcast.

"I am terribly sad to be so late in arriving though. We were delayed exiting into the lands of our neighbors, the Hare. Sadly they are still untrusting of our new allies, and thus repairing the roads has been greatly delayed."

Aramoro tilts his head slightly in amusement at how bluntly the Piranha mentioned catching a betrothed.

"Enlighten us with the story of your clan Piranha-san, it is still very young and the more ears that hear it the better for it's name. I for one cannot claim to know it well."

He looks to the group of peasants whilst speaking to Ryuuta "That is the ears that have time to listen." He says in an ordering manner to imply the peasants have no business here.

The Seppun looks over to Suki "A wise ear, however, is always a boon." he says with a slight smile.

Suki gestured for the other heimin to return to their work. She would join them again when etiquette permitted. She turned to the samurai from the Empire's newest minor clan, curious.

Tsume tilts her head back and slightly in the tone of a recitation launches in.

"We have the honor of being officially sanctioned to guard the Shinomen forest and the treasures of those creatures we call the naga. We work closely with these creatures, many of which are not in any way monstrous though they are quite unusual to us. The civilized ones call themselves Tausha's Legion, and they have a deep wisdom which we have just begun to understand."

Tsume pauses for a moment.

"We have an important mission, Seppun-sama. I am most glad to be a part of it."

Aramoro pressed his lips together, the idee of snake people wa so... distasteful. He had no choice in accepting it though, their existence as been imperially stamped by the forming of the sanctioned minor clan.

"That was quite informative Tsume-san. I look forward to seeing what talents the Piranha Clan samurai have in store."

"I hope we excel beyond your expectations, Seppun-sama."

Tsume's nod is emphatic, a difficult assignment accepted.