[D3 LM] Clearing my Head

[Asako Hirase]

"That is one benefit of the ability to retain scrolls...it is a wonderful way for your mind to travel, even if your body must remain in one place." He chuckled. "That is how I managed my own restlessness when I was young. My mother's personal library was rather broad and she added to it regularly through correspondence with friends across the enterprise."

[Ide Amaya]

She seemed a little confused by this. "Mind travel? Is that a kind of magic?"

[Asako Hirase]

"It should be." The older samurai chuckled. "But, no."

He paused, realizing suddenly that, with no books or scrolls, this young woman had never had the joy of being transported by a well-written tale. By the widening of his eyes, this was a rather shocking revelation.

"...you've never had the chance to read a pillow book, have you."

[Ide Amaya]

She smiles and produces a well-cared for, but somewhat travelled pillow book: The Delicate Rain Caressed Her Face Like the Touch of Her Lost Love Beneath the Cherry Tree and Other Poems. "They are not common, but I do have this."

[Asako Hirase]

"May I?"

With her permission, he took the work from her, examining the workmanship as well as the content with the experienced 'speed glance' of one trained as a Librarian. After a few minutes of intense scrutiny, he handed it back with care for its age.

"Poetry is a wonderful artform and I do not by any means dismiss it as a form of relaxation. Still, that won't have the effect I'm mentioning. Have you ever had the joy of listening to a gifted storyteller who does a long, extended piece? A matter of hours, I mean, and without interruption?"

[Ide Amaya]

When he returns the book, she returns it to a fold in her obi. "I have experienced something like that, but I somewhat suspect the riding tales told by the Moto to keep the spirits up is not quite the same thing. They are certainly long, but length is not the best measure of a tale. I once rode with a woman who recited her entire family lineage to me to try and take my mind off the rain. It was not exactly transporting."

[Asako Hirase]

"Oh, dear." He'd heard his own share of such recitations and, smiling, shook his head. "Not ideal, no, though I think it might be wonderful for lulling children to bed at night." Growing more serious, he explained, "The joy of a good pillowbook of the fictional variety is that it can absorb your mind, utterly. Some of the scrolls in my personal library back home are thick enough that it takes many hours to read them; you know that you have found a fine one when you find yourself obliged to finish it all in one go, all but compelled by the need to see how the story resolves. Even if you have a sense of it, either because the tale is of a classical form or speaks of an event you know of from history, such tales have a power to them that is difficult to resist."

[Ide Amaya]

"That truly does sound wonderful. The shared experience of story telling and ballad singing is a powerful one, moving many hearts in unison; but to enjoy a tale alone, with only your thoughts for company... well, I should like to try that with something longer than a poem, I admit."

[Asako Hirase]

"Hmmm...yes..." Something that was a bit too gentle to be called 'plotting' lit his expression for a moment before he dispelled it. "Shared stories are a wonderful way to share cultures quickly. So is food. I think that might be why plays remain so very popular; they allow both things to be enjoyed together."

Curiously, he asked, "Did you encounter much performance art in the Sands? As a people, I mean, not just your own self. I've already enjoyed Unicorn music, but I don't know what other things you might have found on the way."

[Ide Amaya]

"We experienced some," she nodded, "roving bands of character players criss-cross the sands, taking their shows wherever some coin or a meal can be found. Though the," she paused, trying to remember what she had been told, "playhouses you have, I don't think you'll find anything quite like that beyond the Empire."

[Asako Hirase]

"You will enjoy seeing plays in the major cities of the Empire." He was confident she would have that opportunity, it seemed, displaying no doubt in tone or expression. "I've seen only those of my own Clan, but I hear wonderful things of the works of your near neighbors in the Scorpion. They are quite famous as the best actors and playwrights in the Empire, though the Crane would certainly dispute the fact."

[Ide Amaya]

"I would certainly be glad of the experience. I have been riding a long time, I am ready to experience beauty more sedate than that witnessed from a speeding horse."

[Asako Hirase]

He chuckled, nodding. "I can see how that would be. I can't imagine you can focus on the simple beauties of nature at speed, even if they surround you. Stillness and solitude are very real blessings. I think it is one of my favorite things about mountains."

He turned, smiling at the nearest ones, shadow on the horizon though they were.

"Beauty exists all around, and even in a village of some numbers, a turn in a cliffside path is all it takes to be able to forget they are there for a time."

[Ide Amaya]

"Do you prefer solitude? Does that not make the function of the ma-ai a little difficult?"

[Asako Hirase]

"I think everyone requires it, now and then." Giving the matter a bit more though, he added, dryly, "I think having a loud and boisterous little boy has made the pleasure that much more rare and, because of that, more cherished. But, no, this is not difficult for me. I enjoy people and I enjoy new things. I'm actually having quite a fine time here."