The New Winds

Ginkarasu waited and waited for the Kitsuki to come out and meditate again. Settling himself in he knelt, keeping an eye out, while trying to stay calm.

Really, dancing in the rain last night had been so much fun.

It was not long before said sensei appeared. She gives a shallow bow to Ginkasaru and takes a seat under a tree, motioning him to join if he wishes.

"Here to take in the mysteries of the Universe, Yasuki-san?"

"Universe seems pretty big, Kitsuki-sensei." He fidgets a bit, but makes sure to keep his left arm steady. But he does move over to join her, bowing deeply. "Trying to understand it always leads to trying to understand why I'm in it, and that always disturbs uhm...my harmony."

"Ah, to discover ones purpose is a daunting thing."

He looks to the Kitsuki a moment and nods. "Hai, that's true. It's easier to think about why a rock is flat or why a river fills up the ocean."

"Is it? You have the material reasons. The rock is flat because it is worn down by time. The river flows to the ocean because the ocean is lower. You exist because you were born. But that is only one part of the why. There is more to it than just what you observe."

He nods. "And the rock is flat because the kami willed itself so. If I were a rock, I'd want to be a good skipping rock like that. To have a chance to dance once upon the waves."

"I didn't know that about the ocean. Just that the ocean is never full, and the river is always generous. Have you seen the River of Gold? I got to ride up it when we left home, and the sailors said it never ran dry."

"You would get to skip for only a brief time though, before sinking to the bottom of the water, eventually getting ground down into thousands of pieces of sand."

She nods at the other question.

"Indeed, I have seen it."

"Is a moment worth chasing after years and years of working towards it?" He asks, curious.

"That depends on that moment. Some say you can spend a lifetime searching for the perfect sakura blossom, and when you do, it is a feeling so pure and fulfilling that the lifetime of search only feels like an instant has passed"

"I know being a yojimbo can mean that I'll have to decide if a particular moment is worth my life. It's not drastic as the Hida on the Wall, but its still there. I have to hope that I danced upon the waters before I sink beneath the, Kituski-sama." He ponders the idea of a perfect sakura blossom.

"Oh! Like trying to find the right words to a poem?"

"Exactly, Yasuki-san. Now come, sit, and clear your thoughts. Allow what we have spoken about to bring a clarity in your thoughts."

He nods at that sitting carefully and waiting to see how the Kitsuki meditates again.

This time, she takes a pose different than before, sitting with her legs crossed and her arms out to her sides, bent 90' upward at the elbow. Her palms open to the sky. She also sits with her eyes open, staring intently at the world in front of her, unblinking.

Dang! I'll never manage it with her eyes open!

Ginkarasu fidgets a bit but tries to concentrate.

He waits awhile and then tries to deftly maneuver the wrapped white bean mochi into the Kitsuki's open palm, before going back to try and copy her meditation.

The sensei doesn't move a muscle at the gift.

Ginkarasu finds this meditation with eyes open much more difficult. It was tougher to imagine the ocean.

How do you see everything, but focus on nothing?

Eventually Ginkarasu got up to leave, though he did try to stay just around a corner to wait and see how the Kitsuki reacted.

After some time, the Kitsuki moves a little and goes to stretch, noticing the mochi in her palm. She gives a nod of thanks and a faint smile at it.