Dark Edge Village

Cheerfully unaware of the snu-snu that had nearly taken place in this location a short hour ago, Saksaha arrives at the shrine to pay respects to the various Fortunes and Kami now invested here. It never hurts to make such overtures before undertaking a spirit journey like the one her Family has called for later tonight, after all.

She has already changed into the most traditional robes that represent her calling, hung all over with ribbons, beads, and tiny chimes that click and clink faintly when she moves.

Misa was no fortune teller. Nor, technically, was she a priestess. Certainly she had no magic, she couldn't speak to the kami after all. She wasn't a monk either, even if the people she'd trained with were close to it.

All the same, she realized the importance of the upcoming ceremony, and she was just normally pious, so what better place to come before the night's event than to offer a prayer? She entered with her servant's assistance, making her way over to a small make shift shrine to pray. She was aware of another presence, but Sanmi assured her there were prayers going on.

Misa's own prayers ended soon, and she stood listening to what she was assured was a Unicorn.

Saksaha finishes leaving her offerings of dried fruit and cheese at the feet of the several statues and under the arch and turns back, noticing another woman has arrived. She walks a little closer, away from the arch--click, clink, click--and remembers to bow. "Good night to you, Dragon-san," she says politely.

Or wait, was that supposed to be Dragon-sama? If nobody told you, were you just supposed to guess?

The servant seemed to frown a bit at that, but Misa just smiled, bowing. "And a good evening to you as well Unicorn-san. This one is Tonbo Misa, advisor of her family. I trust and hope I didn't interrupt anything, and that you've had rice today."

He gaze was a bit off kilter.

Advisor. That sounds kinda... important? Oops.

"I am Iuchi Saksaha, Tonbo...sama and, um, miss." She nods to the servant, not deferential as she'd be to a samurai, but still polite. In the camps where she'd grown up skilled commoners were few and needed enough to make such gestures reflexive. "A shugenja of the Unicorn. This rice thing means eating, doesn't it? I have eaten, just other things. And my prayers are finished, like yours. I hope your evening is a good one?"

Misa gave a soft laugh into her sleeve, smiling at Saksaha's words. Samni gave a slight flush at being acknowledged. "The miss is my servant, Sanmi. And yes, my evening thus far has been a good one. I came here to pray in preparation for your family's test later tonight. I understand it is to have something to do with traveling the realms and seeking visions?"

"Yes." Reflexively, Saksaha nods--the beads in her hair shift and rattle softly--even though she's begun to guess from Misa's somewhat unfocused gaze that the Dragon woman's eyesight is poor or even nonexistent. "This is wise, Tonbo-sama. You should not walk away from Ningen-do without such preparations, especially if you have not much experience with these journeys," she says in a sincere tone.

"No, I don't have my family's gift with divining the future certainly, nor any experience traveling the different realms." She gave a faint smile, liking the sounds of the beads in Saksaha's hair. "Though... I do have at least a bit of experience transcending the base understanding of this existence, for what that's worth."

"I am not sure what you mean," Saksaha admits. "But maybe what you speak of will be helpful. To make the spirit journey it is not enough only to drink the herbs. You must be able to... to untie spirit from body, so you may walk away into another realm without moving."

She gives Misa a somewhat curious look which the other woman obviously won't be able to see, though she'd hear again the slight shifting of Saksaha's costume. In this get-up she's probably much easier to track aurally than most people, really.

"Your family has many diviners?"

"I suppose you could say so, yes... though I am not far traveled, so I'm not certain what's a normal amount." She laughed softly into a sleeve. "My family have begun to pass on a line of tradition of speaking to the kami about the future."

"The kami of the elements can speak of the future also? I did not know this is one of their talents," Saksaha says, surprised and rather impressed. Dong-Ha would definitely be interested to learn this fact. "The shugenja of our people do not speak to them as yours do, since they do not answer when you travel far away from this country. Now there is another reason I want to visit your Clan's mountains."

"You would be welcomed, of course." Misa gave a warm smile. "I can't speak too much on what it's like seeing the future with the kami, since I don't speak to them myself, but if your travels ever take you there, you would be given one of the best rooms at Kyuden Tonbo. Does Iuchi-san believe she knows where the future will take her yet?"

"I do not know," Saksaha admits, with some color rising to her cheeks that Sanmi would see but Misa would not. "Somewhere else than here, but... I have exchanged no promises. One I think I might be happy with comes from your Clan," she adds a bit hesitantly.

Her head tilts a bit curiously. "Togashi Udo? He is a fine man certainly. That much I can't dispute. There are many good men here however, so I doubt you will end up poorly regardless. The threads of fate can work in mysterious ways."

"Maybe. But I think there must be some men I would not get on well with, even if they are good men," Saksaha says with something of a laugh in her voice. "And some Clans might suit me more than others. Togashi-san thinks that my tribe and yours have something in common, even though we live in different ways. If I went to live with the Lion, maybe things would not be so easy," she continues in a slightly more sober tone (and entirely unaware of the Tonbo family's history with that clan).