Dark Edge Village

Saksaha pins back her yurt's doorflap as a sign of welcome to her guest, and ducks back inside to add another handful of charcoal to the fire in her small hearth. It's still novel and a little shocking to her how casually the people in this country burn wood, but the Unicorn haven't held Dark Edge long enough to have built up a supply of yak chips here, so wood it shall be to make her tea. She does have to admit that it smells a little better.

Combined with the open door, the goat Fiyanggu munching a fresh basket of hay in front of the tent is surely as good as a signpost to help the visitor find her way.

Sure enough, the goat was like a beacon for Tomoe to find her way through the camp. "Oh, Fiyanugu-chan!" she said in a cutesy-voice and had to stop in her path to give the goat a few pats and scratches behind the ears. "Are you behaving, hm? Not causing any more trouble for Iuchi-sama, I hope, huh?" she carried on a little in the cute voice, before popping her head in to look for Saksaha.

"Good evening, Iuchi-sama? I see your goat hasn't run away from you yet?" she let out a girlish chuckle.

The little goat is always appreciative of a pet or three from her well-deserved admirers, though she doesn't let this distract her from her dinner for long.

"Oh, good evening, Usagi-san." Saksaha pops her head out of the tent entrance. She's dressed in something more like priestess-casual this evening--embroidered wool robes with fewer beads and ribbons, with her hair in a long, plain single braid. "Not today, at least," she says with a giggle of her own at Fiyanggu's expense. "Will you come inside?"

"Thank you, please forgive the intrustion," Tomoe said politely as she stepped inside the tent.

"Did you try yourself at the test today? I personally gave it a pass... mounted charges isn't really my thing, to be honest."

"I am not a great rider, but I like to do it," Saksaha admits, waving a hand at the cushions scattered on the rug near the stove to indicate Tomoe might sit on any one she wants. "Since I am shugenja, and not a warrior, there is no great weight of expectations to bear up in such challenges. I can just... have fun." She smiles a bit wryly at her guest.

There's not too much decoration or clutter of personal possessions inside the yurt beyond the basics the clan has provided for every guest. Saksaha's wakizashi hangs by its cords from a peg on the wall lattice in the place of honor opposite the entrance, next to a flat hand drum whose animal-skin surface is painted with an elaborate bright-colored design. Other hanging fabric-things are probably clothing; bedding is rolled up properly near the wall, and and a jumble of smaller items atop a folding table at the side of the tent includes cosmetics pots in foreign looking designs, a mortar and pestle, and a couple of boxes either of which would be about the right size for a writing kit.

Tomoe couldn't help but to cast a curious glance at all the things in Saksaha's yurt. Just like someone could tell a lot about a person by visiting their room, so too could one tell a lot about a person by visiting their yurt. Most likely.

"Ah, I know there was no expectations for me to do it, but... I thought it prudent to not risk injuring myself when I've just been learning to stay in the saddle. Or embarrass the horse too much with my lack of skill," Tomoe said with an honest chuckle, casting another glance around.

"What sort of tests do you think your Family will set before us?"

"That is thoughtful of you, Usagi-san," Saksaha says, not seeming to disapprove of Tomoe's reasoning in the least. "Better this than to be driven to injury by pride. To speak truth, I worried for some of the horses today also. An unskilled rider may damage his mount in this kind of sport, if both are unlucky."

She settles herself down onto a cushion as well, folding her legs rather than sitting on her heels--her voluminous split skirts, with trousers underneath, make this pose no threat to her modesty. "I do not know what test my family will set. Not at all," she admits with a slightly rueful smile. "Perhaps some trial of knowledge about religion, or the elements. But I did not expect a trial of poetry from the Otaku, or for the Shinjo to hide... eggs"--honestly, that one's still kind of confusing to her--"so I think they may surprise me also."

With a wave of her hand at the hearth and the metal pot sitting atop it, she adds, "Oh! I am making tea. Will you have some? Um... it is in our nomad style, though. I am not sure if you like it."

The Hare hadn't considered that the jousting could've been dangerous for the animals, so she was even more relieved to know she probably made the best decision there in not participating.

"I would love to try it," Tomoe said enthusiastically. "I've greatly enjoyed what I've sampled of your people's food and drink so far, so I don't see a reason to stop now."

"Ah yes... the egg-hunt," she chuckled, "I heard there were some rather over-eager weasels in the vicinity too. I had give some medical aid to one of your kinsmen, Shinjo Kemuri, as the little critters had been rather zealous in their attempts to take the eggs from him. Nothing too bad, of course, as he's a tough man, but no sense in leaving wounds from teeth and claws unattended.

"Wounds?" Saksaha's eyes widen. "No, indeed that is not good. Animal bites too easily fester." She shakes her head worriedly as she stirs the pot with her ladle and begins filling two nicely carved wooden bowls with the milky, reddish-tan liquid. "I saw some of the little beasts when I was out there, and it is true I ran a little," she confesses with a slightly embarrassed laugh. "But I did not know someone had been injured. Shinjo-san had luck that you were there."

She passes Tomoe a bowl. It does indeed contain tea... if not at all in the form other Rokugani are used to. Strong black tea has been boiled with rich goat's milk, a handful of toasted millet grains, and a big pinch of salt.

"I think he would've lived," she chuckled warmly and accepted the bowl with a quiet word of gratitude. It certainly looked... different. And smelled different. Still, no need to be squeamish now! And so she took a first sip of the strange 'tea'.

"Huh... this could be nice with some mochi," she nodded, not quite sure yet what she thought of it, but it could probably be very nice with something sweet to nibble on.

"So... how goes the miai for you?"

"Mochi... that's the stuff that looks like soft cheese, but feels like..." Saksaha flounders a bit. "The sweet stuff?" She takes a sip of her own tea and considers. "Maybe so. I do not know how to make this mochi, though," she admits.

"The miai? As a miai... I am not sure." She smiles a bit wryly. "I have met people I will be glad to call friends, but no one I want to carry me away over his saddle bow. People tell me this is not how it works in this country, anyway."

"Hai, mochi is made of mochigome, a particular kind of rice. The rice is soaked overnight and steamed, and then is pounded by mallets until it's a sticky mass. Of course, there is all sorts of varieties on it - different flavours, different methods of preparing the mochi..." She grinned sheepishly and shook her head a little. "Sorry, sorry, I digress so easily these days into these topics. I've gotten so used to trying to answer as much as I can about the Empire when I speak with the Unicorn."

Tomoe took another sip of the tea, slowly taking her time this time to place the flavours properly.

"Ah... yes, I've been told of that particular practice," she chuckled. "No one you would want to throw over your saddle bow either? A pity..." Aw, and I had thought maybe she'd like Yuuru. "A good friendship is at least a solid base to found a harmonious marriage on though."

"I mean, I think the other phrase in tales is 'swept off her feet?'" Saksaha giggles from behind the rim of her tea bowl. "Of course I did not really expect such things. But since I think I will not be let to choose myself... to become too opinionated seems not wise, or at least not cautious." She rests the bowl carefully on her knee and shrugs. "Better to marry one of several friends, maybe, and not be disappointed? Does that seem too cold?"

"Not really, I'd say. Many Rokugani marriages don't have the benefit of starting off with a friendship, as many are arranged for the needs of the clan and politics. My own parents had a marriage arranged for them as part of a trade agreement between their clans, and didn't have much chance to meet before their wedding... but I'd say that they were lucky, in that they were both were able to find happiness in their duty to eachother. From what I can remember of their relationship, they seemed very fond of eachother," Tomoe shrugged once and took another sip of tea.

"It's wise to not get too attached too... I kind of suspect there will be many broken hearts at the end of this miai, but I can't really fault people for it either. It's only human to seek someone that will make you happy, especially in a gathering like this that is encouraging us to find Benten's blessing."

"Yes. It is an arrangement with strange rules. Why not let those who want to choose each other just choose? But maybe the clans want to see their worthiest children come back with a match instead of marry away, and so they make this plan." Saksaha shrugs.

"Maybe I will like their rules better if I am considered more worthy," she adds with a slightly rueful smile. "But it is as it is. Does any Unicorn try to steal your heart, Usagi-san?"

Earlier today she might have tried to ask about Soshi Yuuru (or maybe not, of course, since 'subtle' is not among her great skills). But he did say this morning that he and Tomoe were just friends, so...