[D6 LM] Open spaces

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled, "What should I imagine a Moto hunter to be?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Well." She crosses her arms and studies the sky for a few beats as she speaks. "A powerful person, physically. Most are not great talkers, except for telling tales after dark by the fire. Devout, but not pious, most of them. You would say, barbaric-looking, maybe, for most hunters wear the trophies of their best kills at festivals like this one." Her tone is possibly just a shade defensive, right there.

"Many Moto have quick tempers, but others are slow to anger and slow to forgive. My father is more of this second kind."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "I see. I can begin to draw a picture."

Seems like there's something there...

"So are you slotted to be a family leader like your grandmother one day?" He asked.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

She shrugs and says a little too lightly, "Not if I should marry out. This seems likely."

Then, turning her head to look at Yuuru as they walk, she asks, "What about you, Soshi-san? Will you wander the Shinomen all your life? Or have you other plans?"

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled and shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not. As much as I enjoy it, it is a stepping stone for future advancement more than anything else. There's a major bandit organization that is based out of the Shinomen. My dealings with them will help prove to my superiors that I can deal with lawless types like them, and possibly lead to greater postings in the future. I would love to be a magistrate in my clan some day, much like my father."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Oh." Saksaha nods. "So your father is a magistrate. I think you mentioned only your mother before."

Her open, curious look invites him to fill in this family outline with further details, though she doesn't press for specific answers, preferring to see what he'll say--or if he'll instead strike off to another topic.

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nods, "He is indeed. And he's a man I look up to; I enjoy following in his footsteps."

He smiles, "My father was born without the gift in a family which tended to produce quite a number of gifted individuals over the years. He worked hard through some of the toughest bits of the Empire's history and earned a spot now as a magistrate in Ryoko Owari. Much of who I am is a result of the teaching and care he showed to me as a child."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Ryoko Owari. I think I have heard this name, but I do not remember where it is," she confesses with a touch of embarrassment. "Is it an important place?"

In passing, she snaps off the bloom of a tall, spiky purple wildflower, holding it up to see it more closely, brows drawing down a bit. It looks sort of like others she's seen, but she can't quite place it.

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded as he looked at the flower she had plucked in her hand, "It is one of the economic and social gems of western Rokugan."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Ah." She nods vaguely, only slightly more informed than before. At least now she knows it is important, and roughly which bit of the map to place it in.

After a few more steps, she waves the purple flower gently and asks, "Do you know what this is properly called? It looks like the one named zufa west of the Sands, but the scent is not the same."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He shook his head as he looked down at the flower, "I can't say I do. I'm not all that familiar with the plant life here."

He smiled, "There are some beautiful gardens in Ryoko Owari though. I'll have to take you on a tour some day if that is our path. Almost anything you could imagine can be found there. It's a city of amazing things... both good and bad."

He chuckled.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha sniffs at the flower again, shrugs, and carefully tucks it into her belt pouch. "I thought maybe a scout would know such things. But then we are far from your forest."

She looks Yuuru in the face and then glances away across the field again. "If that is our path?" she asks, perhaps too-lightly again.

[Soshi Yuuru]

"If we end up connected at the end of this miai." He replied straightly.

"I must say I wouldn't be opposed to the idea if that is how it played out."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Hm." She nods. I don't know him very well. But from what he tells of his family, at the least it would not end in disaster. And yet... "I thought this maybe could work, also. But then the camp talk says otherwise here and there, so now I am surprised, a little."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled, "Camp talk, neh?"

He smiled, "I find that interrogating the source is always a better way at getting a grasp of the truth than any other."

He looked at her with an open and warm expression, "I'm here to find a woman that would be a great partner and spouse for me and whichever family we'd end up in. There's nothing else on my mind. Though I do look forward to one day romancing the woman I marry... So personally, I'd be welcome to an arrangement with someone like you."

He smiled again, "But if you have any concerns, don't hesitate to ask. I'm an open man, I promise I won't feel slighted."