[D6 LM] Open spaces

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Well, you are good at talking, Soshi-san, but are the rumors actually true?" she asks, watching him with her head a little on one side. "Or not?"

[Soshi Yuuru]

"About Usagi-san? She's an old friend. I was caught in the rain and stopped by her tent on the night of the storm. Bored minds with too many pillow books filling the empty void take something like that and turn it into some crazy story about romance."

He smiled, "We're friends, and we're here to do what our lords sent us to do.Which isn't get all lovey dovey with someone we can't marry and forget our duties."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Mmm." Saksaha nods. The Moto part of her--which is a good three-quarters, really--would have preferred a straight 'no' or even a straight 'yes,' but, she thinks, from all she's heard there's no great use expecting that from a Scorpion. Some of this is probably at least a little apparent from the play of expressions on her face, though she tries to keep a pleasantly neutral mien.

"I ask this because of a talk with a friend, a recent talk." Her slightly husky voice once again takes on that pronounced lightness it has when she is trying to speak casually of something about which she actually feels more strongly. "He told me this arranging of marriages between two people when each does not know the other well is very common here in Rokugan. Also that it is even done when bride and groom have never met at all. And that if two people are not happy in such a marriage, they often turn to others very quickly." She shrugs. "Since this is so, and since I do not think I will have privileges to choose my own match, this problem troubles me. It is not a game I have the wish to play."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "A life with me would require no such games. I have been taught that one should not marry the one they romance, but should romance the one they marry. Of all my personality flaws and quirks, disloyalty is not one of them. Infidelity is not on my list of acceptable behaviors... and from what I can tell, I don't think we would tire of each other. I would strive every day I could to make sure you were happy with me as a spouse."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

She listens carefully and nods her head again to sign understanding. "This is something, at least. Of course, it is not my choice in the end, unless my Family's contests are very particular," she adds a bit wryly. "But I thank you for speaking truth to me." As much as you have done clearly, anyway.

She catches at another wildflower as they go past and tries to snap it off like the last one--something daisy-like this time-- but the stem is tough and the earth soft from the recent rains, so at her tug the whole thing comes up by the root instead, transforming what might otherwise have been a casually graceful gesture into something rather more comic. She stares for a few beats in surprise at the long stalk dangling from her grasp, a small clump of roots trailing soil at the end, and then breaks into a helpless giggle. "Sorry. Have I spoiled your moment?"

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled and took the plant, and her hands, in his own. His hands shifted to the plant solely as he brushed away some of the dirt and then ripped off the roots with his strong hands in one swift motion. He handed the flower back to the woman with a welcome smile and a squeeze of her hand, "You made it better. Very cute Iuchi-san. Very cute indeed."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

She flushes in spite of herself and twirls her prize between her fingers. "This one I know. Aisin hūntahan, sovereign for rashes. I do not know how to prepare the ointment yet, though," she confesses. "...And I was not trying to be cute."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He smiled and nodded, "That's probably why it was so cute. Your natural cuteness is far better than any faked cuteness you could muster methinks."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"...if you say so," Saksaha says, still pink-cheeked, wavering somewhere between flattered? and suspicion that she perhaps ought to know better. She can practically hear Grandmother's voice in her ears, delivering a few scathing remarks on the subject of boys who go around telling young sorceresses they are 'naturally cute.' Besides, is cuteness really something she aspires to? It's never come up before, at least since the age of eight or so.

"So," she says, deciding to set her figurative feet on firmer ground, "if you do not know plants, what is it you need to know to be a woodsman of the Scorpion? Our magistrates must ride well, and know several languages, but I think neither of those would be much use to you."

Of course in a few hours it will turn out that Yuuru is actually a passable rider after all, but since Saksaha has already used up her quota of future-vision for the day she has no way of knowing this in advance...

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "There is a large pocket of bandits called the Forest Killers that reside in the woods. They're a tough bunch of miscreants, so battle ability is a major requirement. Tracking, stealth, scare tactics... all these are tools I use regularly. It's an awfully difficult place to get around as well, so a good bit of athletic training is necessary."

He smiled softly, "And what about you? What does it take to be a meishodo priestess?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

She nods thoughtfully. "Hunting in forests is not like on the plains, this I know. Our battue would not serve so well where trees are too close to ride. But where do these bandits come from? Do many people live in the lands between Clans?"

Despite her curiosity she does remember to answer Yuuru's question, adding, "As for us, I cannot think we are so different from your shugenja, except that we command the elements differently. We must study a great deal about theology and the cosmos, learn control of the mind, and practice how to read and inscribe the names of power. I also learned the healing arts from my grandmother, though I am not very accomplished yet." She twirls the yellow flower between her fingertips again. "Also, I do not know half the herbs that grow in this country, and half the ones Grandmother taught me I cannot find here. Almost I must begin again."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He smiles, "It sounds like you could use a good library at your disposal. We have some of the best back in Soshi lands."

He then nodded replying back to her question, "There are quite a few people who attempt to live outside the normal constraints of society. And the Shinomen has remained relatively untamed for many years... the lands that far west aren't as densely populated and so those who are looking to run from their problems have tended to gather out there. It's a bit of a hassle now to try and root out those cells now that a clan has responsibility for the forest... It's too much work for a minor clan, and so people like me are there to help."

He then tilted his head, "I'm afraid I probably have a much more bleak outlook on your journey than maybe I should... I've only heard tidbits about a Dark Ride... but you speak of time well-spent with your grandmother and of studying flowers and wildlife... You must have had time to develop some interests outside of your duties then? What is it you like to do when given a moment of free time?"

He smiled warmly, showing interest in her and her response.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha frowns a little. "To live as one pleases is one thing, but that is no excuse for banditry."

She takes a deep breath. "Yes, the Dark Ride. It is not strange if we speak of it little, now it is over. It is not good to speak too much of unlucky things. But we did not ride into that place until some time after I started my apprenticeship. Before that we traveled in the bright sun." Her expression softens at these memories. "The wagon train moves slowly, so you can ride away, off into the grassland or the little thin forests. You take the afternoon to pick herbs or look for fruit, or go swimming in a pond. Every day it is something different. The scouts ride wide and know the land is safe enough, so no one minds if children wander, if the older ones go mounted along with the young ones."

She looks away from Yuuru, out toward the horizon. "Then we ride into the dark lands, and this is not anymore possible. It may look safe some days, but this is only treachery. So mostly we study and work."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "It sounds like a most difficult trek... You needn't talk about it if you don't wish to. I enjoy learning more about you. Whether it be of your dark days of trial, or a warm afternoon with your grandmother, both tell me a bit more of how you've become such a strong woman."

"So do you like to swim and explore as you mentioned?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

You've only seen me in the bright sun, Scorpion boy. How should you know anything about my strength?

Saksaha's lips quirk a little.

"I do. Well... it is long since I went swimming. But I used to."