D4EM - Red Dawn

[Shimizu Ryori]

The sun breaks over the horizen, Amaratsu's eye bloodshot and accusing, peeks through the heavy curtains seeming uncertain as to whether it is a fit hour for man or beast to be up and about.

Matsu Kyra seems to share Lady Sun's opinion stretched in the grass watching her brother run through Katas in the pre dawn light as suddenly the world becomes bathed in crimson, the young Shimizu stops to admire the arrival of the Kami's mother, bowing toward her and mouthing a simple silent prayer.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

The pair would soon hear a light, husky voice singing something a little melancholy-sounding in a strange language--not a particularly strong or resonant performance, but at least not actually hard on the ears. A Unicorn in elaborately embroidered wool robes is making her way down the field more or less in Ryori and Kyra's direction, stopping at each of the poles marking the field boundary to look at the various charms dangling from them. Each time she pauses her steps for one of these brief inspections, the song trails off into silence, only to be taken up again as she continues on to the next.

[Shimizu Ryori]

He hasn't even really seen one of the Iuchi yet, while Kyra's head rises and watches a moment then dusmisses the girl Ryori stops in his movements, his katana still in hand , part way through a kata, and watches her as she moves between the poles, listening to her strange foreign chanting.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

After a bit more of this Saksaha seems to notice she's not alone; her head comes up from the charm she's looking at and, a few moments later, she waves in a friendly-gaijin sort of way and begins somewhat tentatively approaching Ryori.

Halfway there, though, she spots the low shape of Kyra in the grass, and her pace slows to a halt.

[Shimizu Ryori]

He slides his sword into his saya and waves to Kyra she rises on all four paws to her full height, then keeping her rear high in the ear she drops her front down stretching in a fluid motion in the Iuchi's direction and settles there a moment staying longer then if she was merely naturally stretching.

As she does he states "Good morning, Iuchi? Sama. Have you had rice yet this morning? I am. Shimizu Ryori and this is my sister Matsu Kyra, you have a very lovely voice."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Did that beast just... bow? At first the part of her brain that she shares with monkeys and other non-carnivorous mammals had been convinced that the head-down-tail-up posture was preparation for a pounce, but no pounce had come. Fortunately. Against all common sense, the big cat and the human boy seem to be... an item. Of some kind.

"Good morning, Shimizu-san," she says after processing all of this. "That is kind of you. I have not had rice... oh. But I think you mean, have I eaten? Yes, thank you. I am Iuchi Saksaha," she remembers to bow, "and it is good to meet you. And, um... Matsu Kyra?" She looks around for a third, hidden human and then realizes he must mean... the lion??? "Um, this is your sister?" She tilts her head toward the big cat.

Ryori might or might not notice that in all this time she's avoided making any sudden or twitchy-looking moves.

[Shimizu Ryori]

He smiles "Hai, the Lion train with great and ferocious warriors of the Lion Clan to provide a team that truly formidable in combat" he smiles and clicks his tongue and Kyra settles back down to curl up lazily. "I am sure many of our traditions seem strange to your clan, being gone so long"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Oh. So... the lion is like a war dog? Our warriors use such animals," Saksaha says, seeming to relax a little as it becomes clear that Kyra is apparently well-trained and poses no great hazard to an incautious bystander. Calling the beast a 'sister' is more like something she'd expect from the Otaku and their horses, but still, this makes some sense out of the scene she'd walked into. "She is a very handsome creature. I did not know lions would submit to be trained."

[Shimizu Ryori]

"The breed we train with are very special left over from the dawn of the empire" careful Ryori remember the Shinjo "Akodo himself conquered the tribe who first called Kyra-chans ancestors thier siblings, and they brought thier ways into the Lion, much like some of the Moto ways were no doubt brought into the Unicorn." he smiles " Is your jewelry, and that strange language you were singing in from the Moto?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"I see," she says, nodding slightly, which makes the beads in her hair clink together a little. "The song is Moto, yes, from my grandmother. A morning song. Jewelry... if you mean these," one small hand touches the collection of amulets hanging at her breast, "they are the mark of a mystic, among our Clan. What you would call a shugenja."

Saksaha's Rokugani speech is fluent and precise, but the way she pronounces some words is, if anything, a bit archaic.

[Shimizu Ryori]

"Ahh our shugenja are not so easily noticed, I mean they don't wear armor, but only bushi wear armor and only in time ofcwar, and they carry scrolls, but so do heralds, and librarians, oh they do not carry Katana's, wait no neither do courtiers, " he seems stumped, then Kyra growls at him and he opens his mouth smiling "thats right thier eyes are golden like lady sun and glow in the dark, thank you Kyra-chan, that is how you recognize a lion shugenja oh and they are usually talkingvto themselves but if you ask them about it they will say they are listening to the wind or interrogating the fire or some other mysrical mumble jumbo"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha raises an eyebrow. This is a markedly different description of Lion shugenja than the one she'd had from Matsu Yurio a couple of days back, but certain details do tally. "I have heard of these Lion priests with golden eyes and hair. They speak to your ancestors, is that right? It is an impressive power. But then, so is taming lions."

[Shimizu Ryori]

Saksaha raises an eyebrow. This is a markedly different description of Lion shugenja than the one she'd had from Matsu Yurio a couple of days back, but certain details do tally. "I have heard of these Lion priests with golden eyes and hair. They speak to your ancestors, is that right? It is an impressive power. But then, so is taming lions."

"Not just the Lion ancestors, they are experts in speaking with spirits of ancestors and dealing with them, for advice, or to resolve issues. " he smiles " The Unicorn are no less Impressive with thier gigantic horses, and thier exotically beautiful women, " he nods in her direction " and thier great warriors, and ability to survive for so long out in the unknown" his tone is respectful.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

The corner of Saksaha's mouth twitches up a bit. "Oh. So we are to be known for 'exotically beautiful women?' I did not know this. Your yellow-eyed priests sound a good deal more exotic to me. But maybe I at last understand why the guest tents are so crowded."

[Shimizu Ryori]

"Not all Unicorn are exotically beautiful, only a few of you" he smiles "nothing that one has grown up with is exotic" he raises an eyebrow "there are so many guests because the Unicorn change the game they shift the balance, like a new piece on the board, and no one has yet seen where that shift will take the empire, everyone knows the storm is coming, noone know yet which way the wind will blow." he sighs " everyone wants to be friends with this new unknown to make alliances, or to stop others from doing so. Even those who do not want to be friends do not want the unicorn to know that yet."