Post by Doji Hyuu on Feb 15, 2011 2:06:44 GMT -5
*Hyuu strokes his chin as he regards the talisman, taking it from the pouch with Hikori's permission. It is a small, egg-shaped ball of crystal nested in a small brooch made of stylised feathers. He has seen them before but never used one. Showing it to Domotai, he attempts to explain*
"This is a small talisman made by the shugenja of Shinden Asahina. It persuades the spirit to remain in the body when it might be tempted to depart due to wounds. It should assist you, Domotai-sama, better than my humble ministrations might. I will suggest that Hikori-san administer it to you tomorrow morning. But until then I suggest we get our rest"
*Hyuu reaches for a blanket* "But since I asked for stories from you I would be wrong not to offer one of my own. It is not a story of great import and I can't promise to tell it well but hopefully you may derive some satisfaction from it"
*Drawing the blanket across his legs - still somewhat fussily despite the lack of need for courtly manners - and smoothing it down, he begins* "When I was a young man, known as Doji Kuriku, I studied at the Dojo of Lies in Ryoko Owari. Those were both happy and sad times for me. Happy because to be taken as a young man from my family's quiet country estate to the teeming, lively streets of the Empire's greatest city was exciting and exhilirating. But sad because the other students made my life hell"
"To be a Crane among Scorpion is hard enough, but to be a Crane among Scorpion while being required to learn subtlety and restraint is still harder. I could not lash out in anger or even with insults for to do so would have been to ignore the teachings of the school. They called me "The Blue Ninja" - they told me I must be a Crane spy and that I was too foolish to spy properly"
"I made some friends and my sensei eventually granted me my dues as a diligent student. If I had my choice again I would gladly return. But I don't wish to dwell on that. What I do wish to tell you about is a young student I knew called Bayushi Keimo. Keimo was the first Scorpion to have any kind words for me, offering to share his onigiri with me when my food mysteriously disappeared. I accepted gratefully, and we talked a little."
"But I soon came to realise that the confidences I shared with Keimo were turning up in strange places. I confided to him that as a youth I had had a fear of spiders, and then weeks later I found a huge but harmless spider in my bedding. Perhaps a coincidence - nobody likes to find a spider in their bed, even without my particular fears - but I was suspicious. I further confided in Keimo that I had once been criticised by my mother for my failure to wash my hair as a youth and had ever since determined to wash it fastidiously"
"Sure enough weeks later, in one of our lessons, I had been assigned as the subject of the other student's mockeries and one mentioned that my hair smelled offensive. I intended to brush it off, but I realised that I had discovered Keimo for what he was - a spy, a false friend, sent to win confidences from me. But now that I knew what he was, he was not a liability but an asset"
"I pretended to be offended, and then, when speaking to Keimo later, feigned weakness and confided in him my worst fear - that, as a youth, I had been terrified by a small pink ceramic doll that my mother had kept as a childhood keepsake that had been broken by a fall and whose delicate features had come to resemble a dead thing. Keimo nodded sympathetically"
"But sure enough, I found not yet a week later, as we prepared for another lesson, a young Shosuro student carrying such a doll with the intent, no doubt, to perturb me. I chose instead to draw attention to the doll, the ridiculousness of a young woman carrying a child's toy, an a broken one at that!"
"After that Keimo no longer spoke to me. But I had learned a lesson. I often wondered whether my sensei designed the whole incident to teach it to me, or if it was simply existence itself acting as our teacher. Who knows? But the lesson was clear. Only a small piece of knowledge can turn a great weakness into a great strength, and one's enemies need never even know that knowledge is possessed"
*Hyuu smiles tiredly* "Well, I hope the story has been enjoyable to you in some way. I will try to get some sleep now, and will see you all on the morning. Just think, in less than a day's time we could be toasting our return with warm sake in Mountain Watch Keep" *Before long he is gently snoring*
"This is a small talisman made by the shugenja of Shinden Asahina. It persuades the spirit to remain in the body when it might be tempted to depart due to wounds. It should assist you, Domotai-sama, better than my humble ministrations might. I will suggest that Hikori-san administer it to you tomorrow morning. But until then I suggest we get our rest"
*Hyuu reaches for a blanket* "But since I asked for stories from you I would be wrong not to offer one of my own. It is not a story of great import and I can't promise to tell it well but hopefully you may derive some satisfaction from it"
*Drawing the blanket across his legs - still somewhat fussily despite the lack of need for courtly manners - and smoothing it down, he begins* "When I was a young man, known as Doji Kuriku, I studied at the Dojo of Lies in Ryoko Owari. Those were both happy and sad times for me. Happy because to be taken as a young man from my family's quiet country estate to the teeming, lively streets of the Empire's greatest city was exciting and exhilirating. But sad because the other students made my life hell"
"To be a Crane among Scorpion is hard enough, but to be a Crane among Scorpion while being required to learn subtlety and restraint is still harder. I could not lash out in anger or even with insults for to do so would have been to ignore the teachings of the school. They called me "The Blue Ninja" - they told me I must be a Crane spy and that I was too foolish to spy properly"
"I made some friends and my sensei eventually granted me my dues as a diligent student. If I had my choice again I would gladly return. But I don't wish to dwell on that. What I do wish to tell you about is a young student I knew called Bayushi Keimo. Keimo was the first Scorpion to have any kind words for me, offering to share his onigiri with me when my food mysteriously disappeared. I accepted gratefully, and we talked a little."
"But I soon came to realise that the confidences I shared with Keimo were turning up in strange places. I confided to him that as a youth I had had a fear of spiders, and then weeks later I found a huge but harmless spider in my bedding. Perhaps a coincidence - nobody likes to find a spider in their bed, even without my particular fears - but I was suspicious. I further confided in Keimo that I had once been criticised by my mother for my failure to wash my hair as a youth and had ever since determined to wash it fastidiously"
"Sure enough weeks later, in one of our lessons, I had been assigned as the subject of the other student's mockeries and one mentioned that my hair smelled offensive. I intended to brush it off, but I realised that I had discovered Keimo for what he was - a spy, a false friend, sent to win confidences from me. But now that I knew what he was, he was not a liability but an asset"
"I pretended to be offended, and then, when speaking to Keimo later, feigned weakness and confided in him my worst fear - that, as a youth, I had been terrified by a small pink ceramic doll that my mother had kept as a childhood keepsake that had been broken by a fall and whose delicate features had come to resemble a dead thing. Keimo nodded sympathetically"
"But sure enough, I found not yet a week later, as we prepared for another lesson, a young Shosuro student carrying such a doll with the intent, no doubt, to perturb me. I chose instead to draw attention to the doll, the ridiculousness of a young woman carrying a child's toy, an a broken one at that!"
"After that Keimo no longer spoke to me. But I had learned a lesson. I often wondered whether my sensei designed the whole incident to teach it to me, or if it was simply existence itself acting as our teacher. Who knows? But the lesson was clear. Only a small piece of knowledge can turn a great weakness into a great strength, and one's enemies need never even know that knowledge is possessed"
*Hyuu smiles tiredly* "Well, I hope the story has been enjoyable to you in some way. I will try to get some sleep now, and will see you all on the morning. Just think, in less than a day's time we could be toasting our return with warm sake in Mountain Watch Keep" *Before long he is gently snoring*