(Day 6, LE) Celebration Feast (Roleplay Thread)

[Ikoma Eichiro]

"Smaller sips, the school may teach us how to tell stories and fight and laugh as hard as Ikoma. No drinking lessons unfortunately." Eichiro eyes the cup, "I think I'll leave it be for now."

[Vutall]

Hinata takes a sip in response, not saying anything, but continuing to smile gently at Eichiro.

[Ikoma Eichiro]

Instead of gabbing away, like he was wont to do. Eichiro takes his lead from Hinata and leans back for a moment, just taking in the moment as it is.

[Kitsuki Asahi]

Kaidan shrugged. "Probably, debates could start wars or end them... But i am no courtier... well I used to play one in Hirosaka... fun times."

"I don't think I'm much of one either." he chuckled. "Not compared to a few here. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow."

[Bayushi Kaidan]

Kaidan shrugged. "We serve our lords how they see fit..."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

As the evening gives way to night and the festivities continue, Eichiro has told a few more stories. Things about his village, about his younger brother, and just more relaxing nothings that have no real point, except to fill time and let him see her reactions. He didn't feel like he needed to perform when telling her those stories, not like when he was in front of an audience or reciting them to one of his sensei.

Hinata, he realized now, was somewhat spare with her words for the most part and that was alright with him. He was trained to talk for hours, and he would if left to his own devices. And she seemed content to listen. Maybe someday he'll understand what goes on behind those dark eyes of hers, but for right now she would just need to tell him like she had earlier that evening.

'Wait, just Hinata?' he thought. It was MUCH too soon to be thinking in those terms.

[Kitsuki Asahi]

Kaidan shrugged. "We serve our lords how they see fit..."

"Of course." he nodded. "May we serve them well."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

Eichiro finished his latest nothing story about the Osana-wo monk and an oxen cart (a story he thought was hilarious) and paused, taking a exaggerated small sip of his sake. "So, Mirumoto Hinata-san, I have talked and you have listened patently. But I find that the topic that I am most curious about is you. Could you tell me a story about you, so that I may patiently listen?"

[Vutall]

"I once sat at a mountain stream for a few days, watching and meditating on the fish who lived there. They were a curious bunch, having swam all that way and lept up a waterfall only to lay their eggs and die. It gave me a lot to think about life. Oh! And the bear! He waited patiently at the edge of the water and then when one of the fish lept up the fall, it lept right into his mouth."

[Bayushi Kaidan]

"Of course." he nodded. "May we serve them well."

Kaidan nodded and continued to admire the heavens. Perhaps he could read the stars, but really wasn't much for him to do. "Do you know the stars?"

[Kitsuki Asahi]

"I am afraid not." he shook his head. "I appreciate their beauty and the wonder they evoke, but they aren't something I can study and understand directly."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

"I once sat at a mountain stream for a few days, watching and meditating on the fish who lived there. They were a curious bunch, having swam all that way and lept up a waterfall only to lay their eggs and die. It gave me a lot to think about life. Oh! And the bear! He waited patiently at the edge of the water and then when one of the fish lept up the fall, it lept right into his mouth."

The story she told didn't matter too much to Eichiro. Fish, eggs, a bear, there was a message if he thought about it but with the combination of sake and being fifteen it was quite beyond him at the moment. What he was fascinated by was hearing her speak as long as she did. The way her eyes moved as she recalled the tale. He just wanted her to keep telling him about.. something, anything.

"I think I'd like to see that someday, to better understand. Can you tell me more?"

[Vutall]

"The stream was so clear it seemed almost invisible, but had enough strength to carve it's path through the earth, and at the waterfall, it became white and raging. An interesting contrast of two states."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

"The stream was so clear it seemed almost invisible, but had enough strength to carve it's path through the earth, and at the waterfall, it became white and raging. An interesting contrast of two states."

"But.." he ponders, a difficult task this late, "the strength is shown in both." Maybe this philosophy thing wasn't so hard. "Did you learn anything else?"

[Vutall]

"Many more things. For example, I could hear the waterfall long before I could see it, but when I moved down the stream, I had no sense of its existence. It was silent that were I to not set eyes on it, I never would have found it."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

"Many more things. For example, I could hear the waterfall long before I could see it, but when I moved down the stream, I had no sense of its existence. It was silent that were I to not set eyes on it, I never would have found it."

More furrowed brow from Eichiro, the waterfall disappears like it didn't exist. "Were you... to have gone another way," he starts, piecing something together to engage with her, "it would be like it had never been."

He still doesn't quite get it, but if this is what she wants to talk about that's fine with him.

[Vutall]

"Exactly! So, does then life only exist if we observe it, or does it always exist? How do we know?"

Hinata seems to be much more animated and lively during this discussion than she has been in the past. There is wonder and excitement in her voice.

[Bayushi Kaidan]

"I am afraid not." he shook his head. "I appreciate their beauty and the wonder they evoke, but they aren't something I can study and understand directly."

"Learned that people's destiny is intertwined by what the heavens tell you. " He nodded. "Obahan taught me how to read the stars."

[Ikoma Eichiro]

"Exactly! So, does then life only exist if we observe it, or does it always exist? How do we know?"

Hinata seems to be much more animated and lively during this discussion than she has been in the past. There is wonder and excitement in her voice.

"In my readings about Honesty, it seemed to indicate that Truth simply is." Eichiro draws on what he knows from his readings, finally having a tie in. "So, is life a Truth?"

[Vutall]

"How could it not be? The implication that life is a lie would be..."

Her voice trails off, and she looks a bit stunned.