RP: The Shokyaku (Honored Main Guest)

[Kakita Mitsouko]

CLOSED RP intended for the Tea Ceremony (more specifically, a Yuuzari-no-chaji) at Kosaten Shiro, attended by The Phoenix Void Master Agasha Shodai (the Shokyaku), The Kakita daimyo Kakita Mitsouko (the Teishu) and 3 NPC Crane ladies.


The setting:

After the hall where the hosts wait, the sukyia opens to a garden. The chashitsu is immersed in an elegant garden of trimmed bushes and carefully placed stones, completely isolated from the stress and buzz of the fortress; like a squared simple jewel in golden tones, from the subtle lights inside. Only the sounds of the nature and the compassed move of the shishi odoshi and cicadas breaking the quietude of the garden were to be heard there.
A path of flagstones lead the way to the chashitsu; the squared hall in the center of the garden. The way down the chashitsu is properly swept and watered; the smell of fresh grass and spring flowers fills the air. In its way, a mizusachi where the hosts could wash their hands.
Entering by the traditional low porch, by kneeling, the host will see a simple ambient, traditional in size and colors. The hanging scroll in the tea hall is painted in a disused calligraphy style, indicating its age; the words are:



If you have one pot / And can make your tea in it / That will do quite well. / How much does he lack himself / Who must have a lot of things?*




The objects are from excellent quality, even keeping the simplicity. The chabana flower arrangement was on nageire shatai slanting form.


Kakita Mitsouko is using an off white kimono with a silver obi, no mon.
NPC: Doji Mikado and two influent Daidoji ladies.The older women were invited by the importance of their relatives for the Kakita daimyo. All the three ladies are using kimono in plain blue color with their mon.

* author: Sen no Rikyû
(The intention is to reflect the simplicity in everything one does and is. The verses are not mine, but from an real artist. P.S.: I am no tea master, neither Mitsouko is. But let's assume it's not the more perfect, but one pleasant chado or cha-e. For RP purposes, we can skip the whole ceremony intrincate details, jumping to the plotting part. )

[Agasha Shodai]

To see the decoration of Shodai's kimono, click here:

www.zumodrive.com/share/cEC0M2UxMT


Agasha Shodai arrived at the small manor house in Kosaten Shiro that Mitsouko-san's return letter had informed him where the tea ceremony was to be held. Shodai was formally dressed as the Void Master, wearing a black kimono with a red-gold obi stitched to give the impression of flames. The back was decorated with the image of a phoenix in flight over the shugenja caste's universal mon, with the kanji for Void larger than the other four. The silk image of the symbol of endless rebirth was ornately detailed and - if one looked at it long enough - one might come to expect it to come to flaming life.

Given that the kimono he wore had been passed from one Void Master to the next for over three centuries, such expectations were not necessarily the stuff of an overactive imagination.

Agasha walked through the mansion silently, smiling and nodding to the servants and soldiers as he passed them. In his hands he carried a gift wrapped in blue and silver silk - a gift for his hostess that Shodai hoped Mitsouko would like. The object was long and slightly curved that practically screamed "blade" except that it was too long to be a wakizashi, too short to be a katana, and lacked the bulge of a guard at either end.

As Shodai reached the doors leading to the main hall, the polearm-wielding Daidoji servitors on either side of the sliding wood and rice paper doors stood a little straighter. "Chop, please."[/b] The one on the right asked.

The shugenja nodded as he reached into his kimono to extract a block of pure silver collected from the streams in Mori Isawa and - through magic - made stronger than steel to prevent the normally soft metal from deforming. The chop was magically tied to the Office of Void Master - it automatically changed who it identified as the Void Master when the title was passed along.

The man accepted the chop and stamped it. The resulting mark was that of the mon of the Phoenix clan, but with a circle containing the kanji for Void clutched in its talons - the mon of the Void Master. Flanking the mon's two sides were Shodai's name and his official title for heraldry purposes. The bushi nodded and returned the chop.

The two then turned to face the doors. They slammed the butts of their polearms on the floor twice, making a resounding thump both times. "Lady Daimyo Kakita Mitsouko and honorable guests, we present to you the Shokyaku for this evening: Tensai Agasha Shodai, Void Master of the Phoenix Clan and Voice of their Elemental Council."[/b] The one who'd viewed the chop announced before he and his companion slid the double doors open.

On the other side, Agasha was greeted by the image of Mitsouko-san dressed in a simple but elegant kimono with a silver sash at her waist. She was accompanied with there other women - one of which he recognized from the morning's welcome - in blue kimono and bearing their family mons. The Void Master thought he saw Kakita Mitsouko's cheeks flush slightly as she recognized him from the times he'd removed his mempo: if she hadn't genuinely known his identity before, she now did.

Shodai bowed respectfully before he stepped across the threshhold to approach Mitsouko. "I thank the new Kakita Family Daimyo for her generous invitation to this event. I hope that my choice of gift to the hostess will mean as much to me as this invitation does..."[/b]

He pulled the small length of silk that held the two ends of the silk wrapping closed to reveal a flame red katana sheath. "This is the saya of Shiba Kaigen, a Phoenix clan yamabushi and hero of the early Fifth century, who stood with only a handful of his closest companions in the Kiken na Roka - the Treacherous Pass - against a Lion army and held them off at the cost of his own life. So great was Kaigen's efforts of blade and spell in that fight that ever since that time, his saya has been able to change its appearance to suit it's possessor, adjust itself to sheathe any bladed weapon, and keep any blade it sheathes polished, sharpened and properly maintained."[/b]

Shodai held out the saya to Mitsouko. "The Phoenix Clan offers this gift to you, Kakita Mitsouko, as a gesture of our continued support of the Crane clan and your Family as well as my personal respect for your skill as a duelist."[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

When you can breathe, and breathe. Recede, find within the exact point from where you can observe the tides of life. Do so and contemplate what otherwise can be obscured by the rush and the movement. Then you can choose how to act. She finished the final arrangements for the tea ceremony, and was glad the process was able to cleanse her mind, bringing such clarity to her thoughts.

The chado philosophy was a sinthesis of harmony, purity, and patience. And Mitsouko wasn’t a patient person. But where else she would be able to refrain for some hours the pace of the outer world, to find answers? Mitsouko had a single night to find if a hard decision concerning her life was the right one. That would probably be the last night of a long time of battle and blood, politics and maneuvers. The problems of war, taint and politics, during the time of the ceremony, was locked outside the gates of the sukyia.

When her guests came, she was somewhat serene and kept they entertained, until her Shokyaku arrives.

As she thought earlier, Agasha Shodai wasn’t the young man she used to mock anymore. Well, she wasn’t the same girl as well. And, they had something in common, besides the fact of being weird in their early years. Uhn, and she wasn’t expecting such glory. But, well, wasn’t he officially in visit?
She bowed to her main guest:

Void Master, I am the one to be glad to your acceptance to my invitation. I am profoundly honored.

After that, she presented the other participants, the three ladies very gentle ladies and smiling.

Mitsouko was impressed by his choice, and insisted she wasn’t honored enough to deserve such gift, but after the three usual refusals, she would not make him lose face refusing such fantastic present. She blushed when examining the legendary saya, in awe, and tried to show her appreciation. Mitsouko became sincerely taken by emotion for the care Shodai had taken to choose a gift for her. Well, again, when these things happened with her, words used to flee.
After a sigh, she said:

Sho-san, I will accept your incredible present because I can see how sincere your words are. I believe our clans had suffered with some unfortunate events, and the friendship between them should return with the same strength historically the Fortunes witnessed. What is in my hands to do to achieve this, I will gladly do.

She asked to a servant to keep the present, and turned to the guests to invite them to begin the ceremony. Then, they take their way through the garden, to leave behind status, glory and ranking and be like equals in the chado realm of simplicity.
....
The ceremony reached its finish about four hour later, and it was pleasant and joyful. The exchanged a fluid and interesting conversation about chado, poetry and philosophy, Mitsouko honoring her main guest with special attention. They were filled with acknowledgement and peace. At least for that night. The ceremony ended with the guests thanking her for the chado, but she asked them to stay a little more. The evening was starry and warm, the blossoming garden inviting and the ladies asked to Mikado to hear her sing; the young lady blushed, but Mitsouko insisted:
I am sure we can enjoy the warmth of the night in the garden. Also, I know you will be enchanted with the talent of Mikado-san.

Shodai-san, I’d like to talk a bit with you,though, if you don’t mind.

She turned to him, showing a part of the garden where they would be seen but not heard.

[Agasha Shodai]

Agasha Shodai nodded in agreement. "I would enjoy that immensely, Mitsouko-san. After an delicious cup of tea like we just enjoyed, there is nothing I enjoy more than a stirring conversation with a exceptional companion."[/b]

Shodai knew he was probably going overboard with the flattery, but the words were just flowing. The shugenja had never been known for having a silver tongue, but it was if something inside him was providing the words faster than he could comprehend them.

As the two of them walked towards the garden, he took a deep breath. Even in a military outpost, the Crane knew how to find beauty and make it flourish. They slowed as they reached a lone sakura tree by a stone bench. The tree was now covered with green leaves, but not a single cherry blossom remained: it was past the time of year for the "pink snow" as Shodai had always called it when he'd been a child.

Shodai smiled gently at Mitsouko. "I have no doubt that you have many questions, Mitsouko-san: about me, about our journey so far and yet to come, and much, much more. Feel free to ask whatever your heart desires and I will answer with complete honesty..."[/b] He smiled warmly at her. "Even if all I can say is 'I don't know.'"[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Shodai’s warm smile made an unexpected effect to Mitsouko’s heart. Something inside her soul knew that smile very well; instantly she felt that weird feeling about the vision they shared. And that was one of the subjects she wished to talk about:
Sho-san, I am glad that you will present me with your total honesty; you deserve mine as well. I had many questions, about you and me. Do you already know why you had to come to me like another person? And…Since I understand we have a special connection, well, I mean, me and Sho-san, or me and Agasha Shodai, that is also the Void Master, as I am now the Kakita daimyo… these are names and nothing more, and we know we are more than it… She shook her head trying to find a better way to say the things she had need to say, and ask the questions she had need to do. But, direct to the point How long do you know about the promise Shokujin made to his fiancée and… did you come to me because the promise he made?

[Agasha Shodai]

Agasha Shodai nodded, giving her another warm smile. For all the power at his fingertips, it was the simple pleasures that Shodai enjoyed most - and a conversation with an intellectual equal was the best of them all. Some of Mitsouko's questions he'd anticipated, but others were still a surprise to him. "To answer the easiest question first, no, I didn't come to you because of Miya Shokujin. In fact, it wasn't until that first moment when we touched - when I began treating you, Mitsouko-san - that I ever heard the name or experienced a vision of someone else's memory."

"As for your first question, I came to understand why I needed to come as Asako the moment I saw Toku Kenpachi at your home as Toku Sanjuro's omiai envoy... Asako Jinjutsu as a potential suitor for your hand is harmless - politically speaking - in comparison to the Void Master of the Phoenix Clan. If Kenpachi had known, he probably would have raised more of a stink about our plan to travel to Kyuden Miya... Perhaps even insisting on accompanying us himself rather than letting Hirotomo-kun monitor us. Given the unpredicted events that have waylaid Sanjuro-san for the immediate future, Kenpachi-san's unavailability would have taken him out of the loop when the Monkey Clan and the other members of the Minor Clan Alliance needed continuity the most."[/b]

Agasha swept a hand at the beautiful woman before him. "Another reason was that you welcomed Jinjutsu's offer to save your life because you believed him to be what I have made him to be: a minor league shugenja that appears, at first blush, to be rather non-threatening. If you had known I was Agasha Shodai, Void Master and Tensai of all five Elements, you might have been less inclined to accept my help when you consider your fear of magic..."[/b]

He reached out to touch the trunk of the late-season cherry tree. He hummed a song softly to himself - the odd song that he'd never heard or learned but knew by heart. As he did so, the trunk began to brighten as new life - a second spring - filled the tree. Before their eyes, the tree swelled with pale pink cherry blossoms that practically glowed under the light of the paper lanterns decorating the gardens. "...and the fact that my very touch IS magic, Mitsouko-san. It always has been..."[/b]

Shodai looked momentarily pensive. "There was also a third reason; one that I am not entirely proud of... I had a personal reason for the deception, Mitsouko-san... Even before your mother approached me - before I knew of the amazing woman you are now - I discovered during a meditation that the Fortune of Marriage was preparing to influence my life. I guess that despite how much I enjoyed the way I was living my life, this revelation made me realize just how lonely I really was..."[/b]

He sighed, smiling at Mitsouko with a slight sadness to his eyes. "It also reminded me of a promise I made myself as a child; that when I married, I wanted it to be for love. My parents' marriage was built off of love as much as it was politics... But I was gifted with magic and a wealthy, well-connected family, so I could never tell if people were being nice to me because they genuinely liked the real me or who society defined 'me' to be, based off of things beyond my control. When you and I first met - when I was your age and you were 10 - I was a young man driven and determined to master my very existence. I thought - foolishly - that doing so would find an escape from the definitions society limited me by... Only to find out that such efforts only cemented peoples notions of who 'Agasha Shodai' was..."[/b]

His shoulders raised in a shrug. "I guess I wanted you to get the chance to know the REAL me... For the first time in a long time, I don't have a clue how things will go. I don't know what will happen to you and I will go between us or what the Fortunes have planned for our journey's end. I just know I want it to be the real you and the real me that goes through this adventure together, Mitsouko-san."[/b] He chuckled softly to himself as he took a seat on the corner of the stone bench with her. "Rather ironic, isn't it? One of the most powerful men - magically and politically speaking - in all of Rokugan, pining to have a life where he can set it all aside at the end of the day and just be a man..."[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

The song Shodai was humming had a special significance for Mitsouko, that was incredible, she didn't know if he had his knowledge, but Mitsouko sensed that was one more weird connection between them. The love song her grandmother used to lullaby her, when her mother left. It was embedded in mixed feelings.

She raised her face to admire the view of the blossoming sakura, impressed by the power of a simple touch. But Mitsouko had an opinion about it, from her dreams maybe, or from the rigid experience her father tried to make her assimilate.

Simple...we are humans, powers and positions can be taken from us at any time, by the Emperor or by the Fortunes; or one can undress your robes and wander through the land, Sho-san. You make good use of what destiny lent to you; so I wish to say about myself, in the future. I will try to remember that nothing that I possess is really mine.

I never ambitioned passion, but harmony, purpose and fellowship. Believe me, Sho-san, passion is tragic, or at least, infertile: it devours its tails like a serpent… envy and death are attracted by pure love. But, my friend… Can I call you friend? Possibly there’s a cure for all tragedy. Confidence, loyalty, true admiration for one’s character… Things that grow in these days…

I know you Sho-san. That was not the paths you passed or what you can do with the gift you bring from your very birth day. It’s your willingness to make your best, your compassion and your sense of justice that impressed me the most. I try to do my best and I hope I achieve your compassion through the years. Yes, magic still makes me shrugs, but you aren’t only magic. I can see the human in you.

Mitsouko sighed, talked too much. She was talking too much these days. A slight smile to her guest.

I can say, you don’t need masks to me.
But...our political importance for each other's clans made you change your mind about me?

[Agasha Shodai]

Shodai smiled at Mitsouko's offer of friendship and her words of emotional comfort, the barest hint of an embaressed blush faintly coloring his sun-tanned cheeks. No one - save for his mother and father - had ever complimented him for something OTHER than his abilities.

It felt GOOD.

"If we cannot call each other friend by this point, Mitsouko-san, then there is not a single person in all the Empire with a friend."[/b] Agasha told Kakita with a warm smile. "And, no, our respective social standings were not something that affected my decisions directly... We both have more titles and honors accorded to us because of our personal code of ethics than either of us probably care to count. Status and position are two things that I respect, but not seek for myself; I'm only the Void Master because the previous Master chose me before he... left."[/b]

Agasha Shodai rubbed the back of his neck. "As for the mask, I honestly expected that you and I would have completed our journey to Kyuden Miya before we were going to have this conversation, Mitsouko-chan... Asako Jinjutsu is very effective when I'm traveling because almost no one recognizes him, which meant our journey would have gone without anyone bothering our little group because of who I am. You honestly weren't meant to figure out who I was so quickly, but your skill at seeing through my disguise was better than I expected. Not to mention the fact that I hadn't anticipated that you would actually remember me; we met only a handful of times 10 years ago, after all..."

"Consider the fact that the letter I asked Shiba Kazuma, my personal friend and Clan's champion, to send was sent before you or I even met. I sent it because in my meditations I saw that if I saved your life, you and I would be travelling together and that the Fortune of Marriage would be involved in some way, shape or form, but not HOW. That is the reason I bid Kazuma send the letter to the Kakita Daimyo - not knowing that YOU would be the Daimyo by the time it arrived..."[/b]

The Void Master stood up to pluck a large cherry blossom from the tree. "Perhaps you are wondering 'Why me, then?' While you probably didn't notice that my Thread of Destiny beside yours when we were visiting the Divine Wheel, you did that Toku Sanjuro's thread is still aligned with yours. This means that if we can find him and restore his memory, you will have two men seeking your hand. I arranged for my Omiai to reach out to you before we met because of what I saw... If I hadn't, I would have sent it now that I have seen what an amazing woman you are."

"I cannot say that you and I are 'destined' to marry, Mitsouko-san; only that it's one of several possibilities. Tengoku has deliberately obscured my ability to divine the future as it pertains to you, Sanjuro-san and I."[/b] He held out the sakura in his hand towards her as he sat back down. "Heaven is giving you a gift and a challenge, my friend... It has decided to permit your free will to CHOOSE your future without it exerting any influence one way or another."[/b]

Shodai took Mitsouko's hand in his for a brief moment - dropping the cherry blossom there - before letting go. "All I can promise is that, much as Miya Shokujin did for Seppun Saimei, I will be a rock to support you, a friend to comfort you, and an ally beside you no matter what you face... For as long as you'll permit me the honor, Mitsouko-san."[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

She admired the sakura blossom in he hand; her destiny in her hands, Sho-san said. Not really, entirely. The gentle and flattering words are not what she was expecting. At least, not in that intensity.

Thank you very much, Sho-san. This present makes my heart smile; even in such days of worry. Who would say you have in your bag of talents the sensitivity for beauty and poetry?

Sho-san, I saw the threads, I wished to not have seen. This night, I choose to begin a new life. I need to begin a new life. I can see how our relation can be important, not only for the empire, but for me and you. I cannot fully understand why the destiny of us three is intertwined this way; I can only imagine that is for a greater thing that is beyond our understand can reach by now. But I can say, now, that our growing sympathy is a good omen. If we can remember the way we first met, it's really a improve. Mitsouko chuckled, still embarassed; she was avoiding his eyes until now, but then she raised her eyes o find theirs, with all seriousness she can found in herself:

Sho-san, I want to let my regrets behind. I need you. Everything you promised now. Support, alliance, comfort. We have friendship already, and I can give you every of this things back. And more, just give me time.

I can tell you a response if you have a question; my clan would be very happy with a closer friendship; I understand yours have the same wish as well.

She caressed the petals of the fragile cherry flower, with the fingertip, thoughtful.

I am only afraid that we have not the enough time for more poetry and etiquette in the proper way it requires. It would be lovely, anyway. I promise, in time of peace, we will have time for us.
Mitsouko with the hand in the height of her face, offered Shodai the sakura blossom, looking at him attentively.

[Agasha Shodai]

OOC: As a reminder, The Days of Thunder occur once every thousand years where the forces of Rokugan meet those of Fu Leng to determine who would have destiny on their side for the next 1000 years. So "a year's worth of Days of Thunder" would mean 365,000 years.

IC:

Agasha Shodai smiled warmly at Kakita Mitsouko as she asked for the time needed to sort her thoughts and feelings out. "Time is a commodity you and I both have in abundance, dear Mitsouko-san. For a friend as exceptional and amazing as you, I would stay by your side - in one way, shape, or form - until we had a year's worth of Days of Thunder behind us if it were possible."[/b]

The Void Master's bi-colored gaze looked deeply into the green-gold of the Kakita Family daimyo when she built up the nerve to do so and a smile creased his lips as she held up the sakura blossom. In a brief moment of flirtation, Shodai accepted the blossom, bringing it close to his lips as if to kiss it, but whispered softly to it instead; so softly that Mitsouko would have needed magical enhancement to hear it. As he did so, the colors of the blossom became a little bit richer, the scent a little sweeter, and it grew just a little bit bigger.

As he finished the spell, Agasha turned it slowly in his fingers, to let Mitsouko admire it. "I have just shared a secret with this little blossom here; one that I have asked it to share with you when it feels the time is right. Until it does, it will not age, fade, or wilt; it will constantly renew itself as a reminder of your promise to me and my promise to you until it's task is completed."[/b]

Shodai then reached out to tuck the blossom in Mitsouko's fine white hair, just above her ear. One finger touched the tip of her ear as he did so, sending a pleasant tingle of warmth up his arm, but no visions... It was now clear that only when he was going all out - magic-wise - that the images involving Miya Shokujin and Seppun Saimei would come to him.

"I am a man to whom patience comes with ease, so any questions I might have, I would prefer to see if they will answer themselves in time, rather than put you on the spot here and now, Mitsouko-san."[/b] The Void Master said as his hands returned to his sides as they should. "But I know you well enough to know that there is one thing you have not yet asked of me that is something we should discuss before we deal with the challenges we shall face in the days ahead. Something that you have been wanting to ask me since last night..."[/b]

Agasha Shodai's eye grew - something most would have considered impossible - a bit more intense. Before they reflected kindess and friendship, now they added curiousity and interest as well. "What did you experience when my spell accidentally pulled you into the visions of the past that I have been getting since the day the Fortunes allowed our ways to cross once again?"[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Mitsouko's eyes grew wider as well, when the singular spell was made and the sakura blossom was embeded in their promise.

Holy fortunes, Sho-san, can you please stop to make spells around me? Every little spell, I hold a hiccup!

She thought it was really beautiful, a moment full of delicacy but the "Crab Bride" in her was exhalted, mainly when she was the object of such romantic attention. She chuckled blushing, trying to not hurt Shodai's feelings with her harshness, and hold his hands in hers ...oh no, where are you, Mikado? The Crab Bride is here again! His hands were warm; hers, cold.

Look at me, forget I am not the most gracious Crane you knew. She used again the kitty smile Sho-san already saw her trying with Hirotomo.

I am not really sure, Sho-san, of what I saw and experienced. It was so weird... I was there, watching Shokujin, that I know was you, and Saimei, that was...me. I witnessed their last day together. I mean, it seemed to be the last day together. I thought a lot about it, and I can tell you we need to find out something important in their story. It is part of ours, or, at least, it's a reason that explain the fact we are able to remember.
I was told to never tell to an event that happened to me when I was a child. Well, I really doesn't remember much about it, but it's related to the fact I don't be comfortable with magic. Remember when I said I saw you in my dreams when I was just a girl? I can't remember what you used to say or why you used to visit. I only remember it had to do with a travel I made with my mom. Part of my memories were ripped from me, Sho-san. It was painful, believe me. But it was allowed me to remind that I asked to have those memories taken from me.

I think it of course should be related with Saimei, Shokujin.. and you and me. And the person who made us not to fulfill our destiny in that life. Maybe now I am mature enough to face the visions of sadness Saimei experienced...but of course, I was a child.

Her expression became sad for a moment, but she focused in Shodai again.

I know they are ready for a life of love, but more than it, their honor was taken from them. If what you said before is put together with what we witnessed last night, they were prevented from their wedding for a plot of a still unknown perosn. Maybe all we need s discover whois the person which caused such disgrace... I have heard of many tales about true grace after crimes being unveiled. We still don't know about the end of Saimei and Shokujin's story, but I am sure we will find a crime and a secret. Somewhere in the past there was a unpunished crime, Sho-san.

[Agasha Shodai]

"My apologies, Mitsouko-san... I didn't realize your fear was related to all magic - I though it was only against magic being used on you directly."[/b] Agasha Shodai said, feeling his pulse quicken at her kittenish smile even as he felt the chill of her fear through her hands. He would have been tempted to rub them warm, but it was something that would have been on the "iffy" side of propriety, so he resisted the urge. "I will keep it in mind going forward, though."[/b] He promised with another warm smile.

He listened silently as Mitsouko explained the source of her fears. As she described what she could recall, Shodai felt a chill sink into the pit of his stomach... Isawa Tisuke, in an effort to give her daughter peace, had attempted a sealing magic similar to that used to seal Ishiken-do students' Void manipulating abilities until they learn - through arduous training - how to control their gift and remove the seals of their own accord.

What's worse; she'd done it WRONG and left her daughter emotionally scarred because of it.

Seal magic is some of the most complex magic in the known world and typically requires at least TWO shugenja to properly implement. If Tisuke had gone so far as to seal up a part of her daughter's own soul - possibly alone! - and done so incorrectly was the absolute epitome of a failure of magical ethics and prideful arrogance on par with that of the fallen Ninth Kami.

At the same time, he could imagine the thoughts going through the Water Tensai's mind... A rocky, political marriage, a daughter she loves in emotional pain that could lead to health issues, and the fact that she believed herself capable of solving the problem...

No, Shodai could not bring himself to condemn Tisuke completely. He probably would have made the same mistake had their roles been reversed.

"I agree. I believe that Miya Shokujin KNEW who caused Seppun Saimei's death, but in his grief and outrage I suspect that he avenged his love, but did so in a way that had repecussions over the last two centuries that MUST be set right for his onus to be abated... Perhaps it is for this reason Tengoku blessed both you and I with high positions of authority in this life: between the political influence of the Crane AND the Phoenix clan we could unleash - not to mention my gifts of magic and your gift with the blade - nothing short of the Emperor himself could prevent justice from finally winning out."[/b] Shodai smiled at Mitsouko. "They have waited patiently and we two will grant them - and us - peace by the time we are done."[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Mitsouko smiled, then noticed the song Mikado was singing had ended. The poor Doji would lose her voice if she keep forcing her to sing to entretain the other guests.

Though, she noticed the frown in his face after her comments: Dont worry, 'Sho'. My Mom has her secrets and reasons, she allowed me to live my life like Mitsouko, not Saimei. I am glad.

Then she put on her feet: By now, I need to save Rokugan from losing the amazing and talented Mikado-san voice forever! Please, I only have a final comment before let you have you well deserved rest this night. But it's not only about me and you: it's about the Empire...
Dear friend, the next days will be tough, but I am afraid we had much more ahead. My clan already sent letter to yours, since we feel we must act to fight this evil spreading: this oni on our doorway, the plague increasing in force, by the south and there are rumors of spots of evil everywhere... We can think in a strong coalition, but since we cannot trust in wrong ears, maybe we need to act with the most discretion...

Mitsouko explained then to the Phoenix Void Master the thoughts of Crane clan about what the Most influent clans in the Empire should do to prevent the evil to spread the doom over Rokugan..

[Agasha Shodai]

Shodai smiled at Mitsouko; it was clear the Kakita could read his emotions like a book. He smiled at her. "I'm glad she did; I find the Kakita Mitsouko you are very interesting..."[/b] He winked at her. "No, my concerns are about the event that caused your fear in magic, Mitsouko-san. If anything, I think these visions are simply echoes within ourselves... They do not define who we are supposed to be in this life; merely the means to allow the remaining fragments of our previous incarnations to resolve their unfinished business... Nothing more. Our lives must be our own otherwise or these visions would have been far more prevalent in BOTH our lives before now."[/b]

The Void Master chuckled slightly at the Kakita Daimyo's light-hearted humor about rescuing the Doji woman's voice - which Agasha had to admit was very beautiful from the sounds of it. For a few moments, Shodai idly wondered how Mitsouko's singing voice sounded, but that would be something to discover for another time.

Their conversation moved shifted into one of a more serious nature and Agasha Shodai was once again impressed by Kakita Mitsouko's mind. She was proving that her clan chose well in making her Daimyo for her family. They spoke politics for a few minutes and when she mentioned an inter-clan meeting in Ryoko Owari, the Void Master immediately agreed to the importance of such an event.

"...I shall personally attend this summit as the Phoenix Clan's representative. In the meantime, 'Asako Jinjutsu' will continue to travel with Toku Hirotomo and yourself, Mitsouko-san, to preserve the appearance of propriety."[/b] He nodded gravely at the Kakita Daimyo. "First we will banish the oni threat from the lands of your Clan and then we shall see to the safety of the future of the Empire. Once we do that, then we will return to our little mystery. Agreed?"[/b]

[Kakita Mitsouko]

Agreed, Sho-san. She winked, light humored again. Like the wind, Mitsouko's moods were changeable, tending always to the smile than to the sadness. But there is nerve in her to tempests as well.
When they returned to the other guests, the Daidoji pair of women graciously dismissed soon, and Doji Mikado acompanied the Phoenix Void Master and the Kakita daimyo to the porch.
Mitsouko bowed to Agasha Shodai with a smile, capturing the blossom falling from her hair due the movement with the two hands in a shell.

I will keep this close, as a reminder of this night and the conversation we had, Sho-san. Good night, my first and gentle Shokyaku.