Dark Edge Village

The Iuchi, like the rest of their Clan, had had little use for building temples and shrines on their long journeys, but they know the value of honoring a holy site when they pass one on their way. The tori arch on its lonely little rise reminds Saksaha strongly of the sacred trees she'd seen on the steppes as a child, bowed almost into arches themselves by the weight of the many prayer flags tied around their trunks and branches.

Kakita... husband of Lady Doji. That makes you Shinjo-no-Kami's brother in law, a member of her tent. I could wish for your guidance.

She climbs the steps to the shrine with a bowl held carefully in both hands. After bowing three times, she lifts the bowl and with a silently mouthed invocation scatters its contents--goat's milk, fresh that morning--into the wind and down the grassy hillside.

The young Soshi magistrate in training approached the top of the shrine and caught sight of the woman spreading her offerings across the shrine. He looked on quizzically for a moment to see what it was she was doing exactly. It was certainly nothing he had ever seen be done before.

What is that... milk?

As he approached he saw it was the Iuchi he had met after his wrestling match a couple days ago. He smiled and greeted her as he drew near, "Good afternoon Iuchi-san. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Good afternoon, Soshi-san." Saksaha remembers to bow, for a wonder, wiping her free hand on her skirts. "No, I was nearly finished with the offering. I hope you are well?"

He nodded, "I am."

He looked around and smelled the milk in the air. "What type of offering were you giving Iuchi-san?"

"It is a spirit offering for the ancient Kakita," Saksaha says, setting the wooden bowl down on the step. "Not my ancestor, but an ancestor of the empire, so I thought it was still meet to give it." Then, belatedly parsing his curious look, she realizes a simpler explanation is actually in order. "Oh. It's milk. I suppose... your people must offer something different?"

He nodded but decided to be interested rather than shocked, "Is there a meaning behind the giving of milk?"

Her brows draw together and one hand unconsciously rises to touch one of the amulets hanging at her breast as she tries to think how to explain something that is, to her, so basic. "Milk is life. It is what mothers give to their babies, and what the earth gives to us, through our herds, to keep us healthy and full. Milk is wealth and plenty, and... and springtime, and mother's love." She shrugs a bit helplessly. "It is the commonest offering to spirits, and one of the most powerful. You can also give wine or kumis or arkhi, or sweets, of course, depending on the prayers."

Yuuru nodded, "I see. It's an interesting view; one I must admit is foreign to me... but not altogether incomprehensible."

"What would you offer an ancestor-spirit, instead?" she asks, looking up at him curiously. "Rice? Sake?"

He nodded, "Those are common, yes. Most of these rituals tend to have something that's specific for the deity being paid homage to... or the season... or the occasion. My mother would be a lot better to answer a question like this than I am, but rice and sake are pretty common."

She nods a bit gravely and, glancing back over her shoulder, moves a respectful few more steps down from the top of the hill before asking, "You don't think Kakita-shiryo will, um... will he object to my offering? If it is so different from what he is used to..."

Sure, Yuuru isn't a priest, but he's close kin to some. He might at least have an idea.

"I tend to think that it's more the feeling you're expressing than the objects you do it with. If you have access to both, then great.. that's probably what one should do. But if you did it in the spirit of respect and honoring; I know I wouldn't be upset if I were a deity." He replied.

"That is my feeling as well," she agrees, with an air of some relief. "But it is clear I do not always understand how things are done here. I would not like to give accidental offense, to gods or men."

And honestly, the latter often seems likelier around here. If Yuuru isn't bothered by her offering, that's good enough for her.

He nodded, "There's plenty of sense in that. Most of the people honored by this shrine have been Kakita. Kakita can be pretty prickly types... as can Matsu... or Otaku as I have learned."

He smiled, "You're wise to be more careful about the people rather than the gods. Fortunately I'm a fairly open-minded guy, and don't sweat the details. I know your hearts are in the right place, even if some of the other people here don't think so."

Saksaha listens thoughtfully and agrees, "I also have heard the Matsu and Otaku have much in common. Many similar virtues." And similar flaws... she remembers a few recent conversations with Dong-Ha about bushi with rocks where their brains ought to be.

Now. Should I take his bait, or let it lie? She decides to split the difference and tickle the fishhook a little, without grabbing hard at it. "I am glad you understand our good intentions. If some others do not..." she shrugs. "To give the benefit of the doubt is something that has served well on our travels. But maybe it is different for those who don't often meet new peoples."