Dark Edge Village

Khulun arrives in her best furs and leathers, with much on her mind from the previous night. That was a lot to sift through and the situation was far more dire than she had considered. Most importantly, what were they going to do about this Lying Darkness? Was this another threat that the other clans knew about but didn't tell them because it made them feel bad?

The Moto princess waits for the governor.

Samai arrived, almost caked up in make up, and her familiar perfume of roses stronger than ever. Even that couldn't hide the circles under her eyes and the visible fatigue. Still, she tried to stand strong, fighting through all she had learn from the other night and the long, long day.

She nodded towards Khulun, but left it at that.

Kitakuhime was already there, patiently waiting for all to arrive with her hands folded on her lap. She wears typical Rokugani kimono with the bright and pure colors of the Unicorn, just recently made for the miai. Her perfume is a subtle scent of jasmin. The girl nods to both Khulun and Samai, but remains silent if not addressed directly.

Ide Dabo arrived, though it took a moment for the other Unicorn to recognize him. He was dressed in a heavy purple jacket with long sleeves, but the friendly smile which so often graced his face had vanished, replaced with an unhappy scowl.

He looks over the three women, lingering longest on Kitakuhime and Khulun, before motioning to a nearby servant. "Leave us. Nobody is to enter until you hear differently from me."

Bowing, the servant made her way out of the office, closing the doors behind her and leaving the room bathed in unpleasant silence.

Well that sounds… bad. She frowns and then just gets to the point, “Ide-dono, I come to you to bring a message from a servant of the Dark Brother, Kiyoshi the Onyx Champion. He is the one that sent me the relic of Shinjo-no-kami, it is truth and his minions plucked it from her when she was captured by this… evil called the Lying Darkness, the Shadow from the outlands.”

She places her sword down in front of her, which has the netsuke of Shinjo on it. She continues, “The Onyx Champion is lies and evil but in this I believe he speaks true, he says that this Lying darkness has captured the Mother of Unicorns and without our aid she could be lost to us! But his offer is not without evil and peril, he wants the corpses of our dead, the souls can go to their just reward, but he wishes the bodies for his armies.”

“He wishes for us to convey this request to the leaders of the clan, thus I come to you. He said other things… dark things… of the Dark Brother’s return and the secrets that are hidden from us by the other Clans.”

Should I stab myself now to make things easier?

Kitakuhime shakes her head negativelly, waiting for Dabo to speak first.

"Moto-san, be quiet." Dabo's voice is harsh, though he does his best to keep his anger in check.

After a moment, he begins to pace. "Samai, perhaps you can introduce me to the two women you have brought to my office. At first, I mistook them for samurai of the Unicorn, but surely I must be mistaken. The women of the Unicorn are noble and honorable. They do not have to be told to behave like proper samurai, because they are proper samurai."

Dabo turns back to face his distant cousin. "So please, introduce these women to me. They surely must be the children of barbarians that accompanied the Unicorn to Rokugan. They have succeeded in embarrassing our Clan not once, but twice, in as many days, something a Unicorn samurai would simply not do."

Anger begins to creep into Dabo's voice. "Do you know their parents? If you do so, please tell me, because I wish to know to whom I must apologize after I slap the purple off these wild dogs that have found their way into Unicorn armor!"

She is silent and lowers her head.

Kitakuhime's bows even further apologetically, sticking her forehead to the ground.

Well.... the horse gave birth to a goat. And not one that gives milk.

Samai was silent for an awkward long time. "I do not know Dabo-sama." She hung her head, silence reigning again. She slowly raised it, shame and fatigue mixed in. "The respect for the miai seems to have evaporated." She took another long, pregnant pause, before looking over to the two woman.

Am I responsible for their fates now? Or am I on the list as well? The thought overwhelmed her.... a part of her wanted to pile on. If it where only Khulun... after the other day, Samai would not only throw her under the horse, but kick her to make sure she doesn't fall short.

But Kutakehime.... was a different matter.

"As kuge, they should have known better. And I should have made sure that they know better." She lowered her head in shame as well.

That was not what she expected, she didn’t know this Ide well but she figured she was going to stab her in the back after all that fighting but perhaps there was loyalty to kin after all. This was a right mess and they hadn’t even gotten to the evil beyond all evils bit.

Ide Samai wrote:"As kuge, they should have known better. And I should have made sure that they know better." She lowered her head in shame as well.

"At least one of you seems to grasp the situation at hand." Dabo sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "If there was not already a shortage of Unicorn women at this miai, I would have all three of you sent back to your parents this very night."

He lowers his hand. "Unfortunately, that is not a viable option at this time."

Well.... that was... worth it?

Samai remained bowed, she didn't trust herself to look at the other two. "To further prevent any further shame upon our family, I will take full responsibility for their actions, Dabo-sama. Granted that they are willing to listen to my words."

She straightened herself, and looked at Khulun in particular.

Noticing Dabo started to calm down –– at least for now –– the Otaku princess slowly returns back to a straight position to be addressed, if he so decided. Her eyes are cast down, nevertheless.

Khulun nods and looks to Samai and just nods to her and then back to Dabo to see if she should continue or if that was it.