The New Winds

After the jiujutsu lesson and practice, Yotsuo spent some time centering himself and focusing on the lessons granted by the Hida sensei. After some time, he nodded to himself, feeling that the lesson had fully been integrated into his understanding. He rose from his spot in the yard and went to collect a rake and began the process of cleaning the ground of any fallen leaves or petals that had gathered since yesterday.

D2 Horse, Void Recovery, Meditation / Void, TN 20: 4d10o10k2 40 +1 VP

Outdoor work.

Meh.

The outdoors were totally overrated. A good library, or meditation chamber, or even a nice hot bath, were much better than traipsing around in the heat or cold. And doing work out there was even worse.

Still, Otoko was hardly an entitled Imperial Kuge or anything. The Yogo served. So, she found a rake of her own. She spotted the tea ceremony Kuni from the trip coming to get a rake as well, bowing to him slowly.

"...Kuni-san.

He returned the bow before returning to raking. "Yogo-san. I hope your day has been going well. I saw you did well in the training earlier."

Her taking technique when she started left much to be desired... but leaves were at least being moved. "...I am as surprised as anyone. You did well also Kuni-san."

"Well, it's a different discipline than I'm used to," he replies. "Usually I deal less with the kami than that. But there are certain ways that monks can use their influence to our advantage. Not with prayers in the same way, but by aligning our spirits with their element and being granted small blessings. Fortunately for me, this training suits me since I've been learning to align my spirit in different ways since I started training with my master."

Otoko gave a slow nod at that. "...I confess, I know little about the way of monks, of any kind. Monastic traditions are not plentiful in Scorpion lands, and there are none among the samurai. All the same, I stick by my words."

She paused, masked face glancing up a moment. "...While I have spoken to the water kami before, they are usually... difficult with me. I am glad they decided to behave this day at least."

"I'm glad they did not give you difficulty either," he replies, continuing to rake. "I met a Kuni once that had difficulty with the Air kami, and it liked to cause problems for him. So I've seen that kind of stuff before, but I don't really understand it."

"I am... not certain I understand it all fully myself. My next hurdle will be trying to do the same with the air kami." She paused in her raking. "...How does a monk speak to the kami, out of curiosity?"

"We don't really. We, attune ourselves to their elements and invite their blessings," he replies. "We don't generally ask them for their gifts verbally. It's not something that my master back home has taught me how to do yet, but this is giving me a head start on that I think."

Otoko's head tilted slightly. "...I am not certain I understand, but I am rarely certain. I do not even fully know how it is I speak to the elements, what makes me able to and not others. Regardless of the how's. you still did well. I am certain your sensei will be pleased when you return. There is a Crab school for monks then?"

"There is," he replies with a nod. "The Kuni Wardens see to the spiritual purity and safety of others. Plus, there are a lot of people in the Crab that join the Temple of Osano-Wo. It may not often seem like it, but the Crab actually have a great deal of respect for monk lifestyles. Though Crab and retired Crab monks are also often sohei."

"...Those that join the Brotherhood lose their worldly ties, yes? So they would no longer really be Crab. I understand that much well enough, so it is difficult for me to think of a monk that still is tied to the structure and order that comes with clan life." Neither the Scorpion nor the Unicorn had clan monks after all. It seemed quite strange to her to think about.

"That's true, but many members of the Temple of Osano-wo still live in Crab lands and still willingly defend those lands against external and spiritual threats, not unlike Kuni Wardens. They may no longer be Crab samurai, but they still hold many Crab values and our clan supports them much as we can."

She gave a slight nod. "...Understandable. There are... few temples in Yogo lands. While some monks must appreciate hardship, the swamp that takes up most of our lands, as well as the poor, mountain soil in the rest, barely sustains the peasantry, let alone any larger temples. That is not to say the Scorpion as a whole are not religious. With three shugenja traditions, we would have to be..."

"Which are you training with?"

"I'm not familiar with meishodo. What is that?"

Otoko was silent a moment, just raking thoughtfully. Finally she seemed to decide on a proper answer. "...To put it at its most simple, it is imbuing talisman and such objects with the kami so that they may assist later on.:

"So they're like nemurenai?"

"...In a vague sense. I confess I know little about how nemuranai are created and work, so I can only guess." She gave a soft shrug. "I would more easily equate them to wards like my family use, a specific magic stored after a prayer."