[D1, LA] Prince and Princesses

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Chi-Pu sits as well, her armor clinking and leather creaking

"I personally find it lovely, and have Kitakuhime-sama and I have ridden a fair bit of it as we escorted on of the Lion here not to long ago. It will be a wonderful home. I look forward to learning a life that does not constantly require moving daily."

[Kitsune Takeo]

Takeo nodded in understanding. He had never lived life on the move, having been raise the halls of the palace, but had met enough who did.

"I cannot imagine what it would have been like, to live my entire life beyond the borders of the Empire," he said, quietly, "I am sure you have seen many things that would baffle even the most studious and well-read here. What do you think the biggest difference might be?"

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Chi-Pu looks at her sisters to answer, but adds quietly

"The Shadows."

[Kitsune Takeo]

"The shadows?" he returned, his voice a question, "How do you mean, Otaku-san?"

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

"Before we arrived home, we spent 5 years riding through a land where darkness was alive and shadows hungered. It...It is not something for polite company, Fox-sama. Forgive me."

She gives a weak smile and looks to Kitakuhime and Imane.

"Sisters, what do you think will be the most different here?"

[Otaku Imane]

Imane listened politely, putting her earlier lack of preparation aside and following the flow of the conversation. She winced inwardly at the talk of the Dark Ride and took the opportunity to change the topic.

"What will be the most different? In the past we have always been the strangers in someone elses lands. Now we are strangers in our own. For myself I look forward to exploring this place."

She smiled at the thought of long days riding Almatar across the plains.

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Kitakuhime serves both coffee and tea, but offers their guest the first, with both hands extended and a bow, "This dark drink is also part of our great journey. It travelled through many dangerous, unspeakable locations, to get its way here. It is bitter, a tad acid when brewed properly and –– strangely enough –– so delightful when you get used to it, you'll would want to savor it every day in your life. It has a certain slap to it, that makes you more aware, alive, and prepared to notice the beautiful things around you. Which makes you ready and inspired to deal with what has to be done."

Expecting him to take the cup, she stays bowed. When accepted, the girl resumes serving her sisters with whatever they please. Perhaps a light –– almost imperceptible –– giggle could come up in the process of passing and looking directly at their eyes.

When she finally returns to her place, and after everyone else taste their drinks, she sips, replying to Imane, "Samurai without steeds."

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Chi-Pu takes what she knows to be coffee and holds it in her hands, letting its warmth spread to her. Not that it was a cold morning, in fact, quite the opposite. But the older woman smiled at the sensation and seemed to relax a little, learning back some as she listened to the conversation.

[Kitsune Takeo]

"Then I accept your offer of a new experience graciously," Takeo said, offering a half-bow as he took the cup of coffee and looked it over for a moment. "It smells wonderful," he said, after taking a deep breath and then stealing a sip.

The taste was...acrid. Certainly unusual. Not altogether pleasant, but...but the bitterness was endearing in a way - not like overbrewed tea. No, this was something different.

"I see what you mean, about the taste. It is certainly not something I am used to but..." he began, lingering over the word a moment, "but neither was sake at first and I have managed to find an appreciation for that."

He broke into a smile. Despite the unusual nature of the drink, he made no move to take a cup of tea, resolving to finish his coffee first.

At Imane's comment, he offered, "Strangers need not explore on their own, though I imagine you may find some excitement in such. The Kitsune stand ready to offer any assistance that the Unicorn should desire in their return. It was, as Shinjo-no-kami decreed, our duty to stay behind and to record all that transpired while you were away. It was a duty we have maintained in the long centuries since your departure."

And at Kitakuhime's comment he smiled. "As surely as getting used to samurai on steeds - true steeds," he emphasized, "will take getting used to for the rest of us. One can only began to wonder where you found such magnificent friends." He looked back to the horses appreciatively.

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

((As we have 4 people all conversing, don't feel like you have to answer this one right away if you want to wait for one of the two you addressed to answer))

Chi-Pu looks thoughtfully at the Fox, bringing one hand up from her cup to place a finger at the corner of her mouth, tapping her lip.

"You must have much to tell us, Fox-sama. May I ask the first question? Why did the Lion have to give us back our land and not your clan?"

[Kitsune Takeo]

Takeo paused a moment after the question, before he began answering.

"That...that is a difficult and somewhat nuanced question, Otaku-san," he began, before pausing again.

"We have been gone from the ancestral lands - the Ki-Rin Provinces if you will - for nearly 700 years. Those who stayed behind when Shinjo-no-kami led the expedition were a considerably smaller number than those that left. And we were charged with governing the same amount of territory. Suffice it to say, logistical difficulties presented themselves," he said, forcing a smile.

"Despite our best efforts, we were unable to adequately defend the land from bandits and were forced to seek assistance where we could. We turned to the Hantei, who wanted to ensure that he honored his promise to Shinjo-no-Kami by providing for her people, and he issued the Lion to handle the problem. When we returned to retake the land...well, the Lion wondered why they should do such work for no reward and seized control of them. With our diminished numbers, we had little hope to defeat the Lion and so we left," he said, sorrow creeping into his voice towards the end.

"Knowing that without the numbers necessary to defend ourselves we would be at the mercy of the Great Clans, the Emperor sought to honor his promise to protect Shinjo's people who had remained. Political realities at the time would have prevented him from issuing a proclamation that the Ki-Rin were Sacrosanct - it would show favoritism among the Great Clans. But if he gave us a new name and a new status, then he could protect us. And so we became the Fox and were granted the Kitsune Mori and it was decreed that no Great Clan could make war upon a Minor one. It was his way of honoring his promise to Shinjo, and it allowed us to continue and to honor ours - to record the histories that would be needed when she returned."

He sipped again on the coffee to allow the story to settle a moment.

"As for why they were returned to the Unicorn, I would hazard at guess at a few reasons, not the least of which is that the Shinjo family rides among you. When Shinjo-no-kami set out on her expedition, she was doing a service to the Empire - it would be poor courtesy to return home and find that while her family had honored the Empire for the past 800 years, it had neglected them. The other reason, I imagine, would be that had such large amounts of land been gifted to us, a clan that pales in size comparisons to the Lion...the affront would be too much for the Lion's honor. The political tenor of that exchange would be untenable. And in recent years the Lion have..." he sought the words, "...grown more aggressive in their treatment of the Minor clans. There are ways to inflict wounds without war."

Despite his grim tone, his face broke into a smile before he delivered the last, "And surely granting us the lands would have been an unnecessary delay, for surely when the Unicorn returned, we would have welcomed them to reclaim them as well. They were always the lands granted to Shino-no-kami and they remain hers and those who honor her to this day."

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Chi-Pu listens to the tale intently, hardly even blinking as the Prince described the events.

"That is.."

She pauses, trying to pick her words carefully.

"That is certainly a tricky situation. Fox-sama, now what we have returned, will your family rejoin with us? Then you could have the land as well!"

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

Kitakuhime doesn't even sip while listening. Her eyes focused on his.

[Kitsune Takeo]

Takeo's on flickered for the briefest of moments, surprise alighting on his face before he regained his composure. It was a question he was preparing to broach, but not one he had expected to come from the other side of the conversation.

"That is," he began, "Up to larger powers than my own. It is..." he began, wondering how to address it, before settling on honesty - he knew no other way.

"It is something that I was to discuss with you, more generally, during the miai. Kitsune-dono has considered it, but of course the decision does not rest with her alone. I would be remiss if I did not point out that if we were to broach such an option it would not be for the land. The Emperor has granted us land and tending to the Kitsune Mori is as much our duty as providing your families with the histories that we wrote for them."

He shook his head.

"If we approached such a subject, it would be with an aim to returning to the family of our ancestors and the bond we made with Lady Shinjo at the birth of the Empire. It would be born out of duty - not for want of land."

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Chi-Pu smiles brightly and looks to her sisters in battle, waiting to see their response to the answer.