Shrine Reading

[Iuchi Prashant]

The Iuchi smiles again, his eyes closed for a moment. "I'm relieved then, Kaiu-san." He gestures towards the path back. "Let's return then." He smiles at the Kaiu again on the way back. "I guess at times silence may be the best way to heal, but... If you ever feel the urge to talk to someone, remember companionship may be a powerful medicine too", he says, still smiling, then falls quiet.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

He smiles slightly back. Prashant had a charm that worked with him. Perhaps it was the constant smiling, the warm look or the soft voice. "You don't need to worry. It's an old problem, really. I mean, it still taunts me sometimes, but I have learnt to deal with it." He answers in a quite slow, quite soft tone, unsure if he should be saying so much.

[Iuchi Prashant]

The Unicorn boy nods, respectfully. "Hai... We each have our path to follow, and we must learn how to thread it ourselves.", he says, softly. "I just mean... I guess sometimes we see our own path more clearly after crossing paths with others". He falls quiet again after that, looking around the dojo as if pondering something.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"I... Send letters to my father. He started to send them first, actually. And now we correspond regularly. It helps, but this is luck, you know?" He looks down, at the grass. "I thought before that not everyone was this lucky, but now I wonder if it was really luck... Ah, this is becoming nonsense, isn't it?"

[Iuchi Prashant]

The Iuchi looks at him warmly again. "I guess sometimes things may seem confused when they are too important to us." He is silent for some more time. "If I may ask - is there something in particular that makes you feel it might not be luck?"

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

His voice started to tremble a little. He could hide things by expression for a little time, but the longer it takes the more his etiquette broke. "It's like, my mother was always home. She was too weak to stay at the Wall. She gave me my name."

[Iuchi Prashant]

The Unicorn's expression turns serious, his eyes still warm and welcoming as he nods to the Kaiu.

"...I understand", are his only words for quite some time. He then looks at the Crab's eyes for just a moment before nodding again. "She must have been a wonderful person", he completes with a quick, reassuring smile before going silent again, just accompanying the Kaiu as they walk back.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"Oh she was." He says in the same low tone and uses the sleeve of his kimono to stractch his eyes. He used the silence to recover himself, making his expressions not teary. "You are very gentle, Pura, Purasura, Purasuha- Iuchi-san. Sorry to have burdened you like this."
"I... I lost such face." He says after a short time. "Can we pretend this conversation never happened?" He asks.

[Iuchi Prashant]

Prashant keeps the same gentle, reassuring look in his eyes as the Kaiu speaks, then recovers himself. "It is no burden, Kaiu-san.", he says in a quiet tone. "And... From my little experience with the stories of the Little Teacher and others related to him, it should be no shame to deal with one's suffering." He smiles gently again, looking at the Kaiu for a moment, then looking ahead again. "One monk sensei back home told us this teaching time and again - 'Wisdom is the ability to perfectly understand and patiently accept the truth of suffering.' " he stopped for a moment. "I don't think there is any shame in suffering. In fact, I think Shinsei would see great courage in facing one's pain and doing one's best to learn from it, Kaiu-san.", he says, still looking down, then facing the crab and smiling again. "I won't have anything to tell others about this conversation other than about your courage."

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"Thank you, Iuchi-san. You are really kind, and wise. If I recall it right, the Tao said that wisdom can be found in many places, but you must always begin at home. I am by no means an specialist like a shugenja, but I think this adds curiously to the words of your sensei. I'm trying to think in a way they could connect, but can't. Do you have insight on it?" The Kaiu replies, looking at the road as he spoke, until he ended talking for a brief moment and looked at Prashant.
"I will too work towards trying to pronounce your name. Can you type it down?" He said, trying to think which kanji would be used to do so.

[Iuchi Prashant]

"It's your words that are too kind, Kaiu-san", the Iuchi says with a shy smile. "Hai... Those were also Shinsei's words indeed." He ponders for a moment while he searches his obi for a piece of parchment and coal.

"Another of Shinsei's lessons is on the nature of suffering. 'The source of suffering is desire', I remember my sensei saying..." He keeps quiet and thoughtful for a long while as he slowly writes what looks like some odd scribbles, then some Kanji.

"Maybe... " he slowly says, stopping for a moment more, then finishing the last of five Kanji. "Maybe ..." He looks at the Kaiu for a moment, then down again. "Maybe our home is our first experience of suffering - and of desire. Maybe... the desire of maintaining a place, a time, a feeling?..."

If the Kaiu looks at the Unicorn, he will see something watery shining in his downward face. Are these...

Prash then raises the piece of Parchment. "Well... This is how my name is written originally", he points at the gaijin letters. "The original meaning is "calm", or "peace"", he says, smiling again. "And this is how my parents write it in Rokugani", he points to the five Kanji below:

葉楽志安土 - the Kaiu will recognise the sounds: pa-ra-shi-an-to; and some meanings - 'leaf', 'pleasure/ interest', 'intention', 'peaceful', 'earth'.

"The meaning changes a bit, and it probably looks as odd as the gaijin letters for a name, but...I think it captures a bit of the same idea", he says in his usual gentle tone.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"The desire to maintain a place, a time, a feeling. You only long because you desire to stay. You only cry for you desire to change, but can't. It may be impossible, or it may be underwhelming. Desire to do the impossible will never lead to anything good, anything good." He shakes his head slightly, tone low and put down, before looking at the Iuchi again.
"My father is a very wise person. He said that we are not expected not to feel, because Hida-sama mourned the loss of his first wife. We are simply expected not to be swayed by our emotions, our purpose shining bright towards Yomi and Tengoku."
He started to look at the ground whilst they walked, to distract his eyes from the sight of the crying Unicorn. Prashant was kind. Very kind. He too deserved kindness back.
"But to minimize suffering entirely, that should be the purpose of enlightenment, should it not? Isn't meditation about clearing your head and heart from all else, and does it not bring enlightenment?
He takes the piece of parchment with the gaijin letters, analyzing them. That was a very long name.
"Those symbols are so undetailed, and they need all those to signify two different words! I know that the Empire is greater than all others, but I didn't know other places were so behind!"
He wondered on why his parents would give him a name from a strange underdeveloped language, but thought it would be too rude to ask. He seemed to suffer quite a bit missing home.

[Iuchi Prashant]

"The desire to maintain a place, a time, a feeling. You only long because you desire to stay. You only cry for you desire to change, but can't. It may be impossible, or it may be underwhelming. Desire to do the impossible will never lead to anything good, anything good." He shakes his head slightly, tone low and put down, before looking at the Iuchi again.
"My father is a very wise person. He said that we are not expected not to feel, because Hida-sama mourned the loss of his first wife. We are simply expected not to be swayed by our emotions, our purpose shining bright towards Yomi and Tengoku."
He started to look at the ground whilst they walked, to distract his eyes from the sight of the crying Unicorn. Prashant was kind. Very kind. He too deserved kindness back.
"But to minimize suffering entirely, that should be the purpose of enlightenment, should it not? Isn't meditation about clearing your head and heart from all else, and does it not bring enlightenment?
He takes the piece of parchment with the gaijin letters, analyzing them. That was a very long name.
"Those symbols are so undetailed, and they need all those to signify two different words! I know that the Empire is greater than all others, but I didn't know other places were so behind!"
He wondered on why his parents would give him a name from a strange underdeveloped language, but thought it would be too rude to ask. He seemed to suffer quite a bit missing home.

"Your father sounds like a very wise man indeed, Kaiu-san", the Unicorn boy says, and he takes some time before saying anything else. "I... I think I cannot say what to expect from enlightenment. 'Seek it, but do not expect it' was what the Teacher said, ma?..."

He looks down for a moment.

"I... Do think it probably takes more than meditation to find it, though", he says, his face gentle again, his eyes resolute. "But it might help one find peace with one's desires and suffering... So it makes sense it's an important part of finding one's path".

He then looks at the parchment on his hands again.

"But... Back to this.", He says eith a smile that is almost like a grin after the Kaiu's comment. "My name is actually a single word, Kaiu-san - a word that is akin to "calm" or "peace". It so happens that the symbols represent not the words themselves, as we do in the Empire, but the sounds... So more symbols are necessary for each word." He then writes his name again, but tries to do so in a more elaborate manner, using the strange script to do a sort of drawing. "It really isn't as economical, and each letter is not as significant in itself as in our Rokugani script... But... Well, the cultures and traditions of the people we of Shinjo's line met during her wanderings are varied and sometimes quite complex. The Tegensai sometimes add meaning using the letters to create elaborate drawings. Others yet have different traditions." He looks at the drawing for a moment, not particularly happy with the result, but hoping it serves as a demonstration. "I am sure the glorious Hantei Tennō-heika knew then, and understands now this diversity and its relevance - else our lineage's long-standing dedication to unraveling it wouldn't have been asked by the Emperor", he says, smiling gently again.

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

"I don't know that much about it. All my attempts of meditation have gone pretty badly, honestly." He shakes his head. "I need more practice. That's what Yotsuo-san said."
He frowns.
"So each one of those is part of the sound for Parashianto?" He passes his finger over the letters as if it would help something. "But why would anyone use a language like this? It uses so much ink, and everything should be so awfully complicated to memorize the sequence to write." He shakes his head. "I think it is not something to understand. The others weren't blessed by the presence of the Kami, after all. You seem to know this language. Can you talk to its people?"

[Iuchi Prashant]

"If you want to try meditating together at some point, this is something I have been practicing quite a bit during my time here", he says, smiling again".

He then looks at the parchment again. "Yes... the letters - and the way they connect - represent the sounds and their articulations. It is a very different way of writing, indeed... but when you think about it, the writing may not be as deeply meaningful as our Rokugani is, but it isn't that complicated. It is as if... you were 'speaking' with letters, I think you could say?" he smiles.

He then nods. "Hai, Kaiu-san, I do speak Tegensai. The Unicorn have learned quite a bit, and have had quite some experience with other peoples in their travels", he says, smiling gently again. "I... think I could talk to them. Hope, even. I haven't been outside the Empire myself.... yet" - he seems to ponder for a while on that 'yet'. "But I think I could."

[Kaiu Aiichiro]

Outside the Empire yet. Something ringed his ears on how naturally the Unicorn said so.
You'll be on the Wall forever. Live and die as one of its bricks.
That was no concern.

"How is rokugani complicated in comparison to that?" He frowns. "You can more or less remember kanji based on the figures, and words based on the kanji." Then Aiichi looks in front of him. "We are already on the barracks. Guess it is time to organize ourselves to sleep. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Iuchi-san." He bows.

[Iuchi Prashant]

The Iuchi ponders the Kaiu's words for a while, with one of his eyebrows slightly raised. "I suppose you have a point, Kaiu-san. But thes are different ways of doing things... That's for sure".

He then looks at the Kaiu again, smiling again. "It has been my pleasure, Kaiu-san. May the fortunes follow you - and I hope we find some time to speak again"