[Road to Hirosaka] The Journey There

[Asako Saburo]

His morning meal, preparations, prayers and meditations were done. It was time for him to be on the road, to make his way towards the dojo. There were expectations of prompt arrivals and Saburo already expected the walk would be a little tiring for him. So, when he stepped out of the gates of the great city and made his way onto the road, it was with ample time ahead to...

Pause.

Was that a bunch of people in various colors, all about his age, under a little meditative light, getting ready to have tea at the side of the ... Saburo stared from a distance that was appropriate and polite to just stare, but stare he did, unsure if he was seeing this correctly. No, no, they definitely appeared to be preparing to have tea. Fortunes, but the dirt of the road. Do they have any idea how many vile things get trampled in the dirt? There are literally hundreds of buildings to... do they all have the constitutions of oxen?!?

Stifling the utter internal horror at the thought of drinking anything that was not in a sealed water flask on the road, he stepped closer. There were enough of them that not bowing would be rude, and mother had taught him to not be rude, so the pale, sickly looking thing approached and bowed with the stiffness of complete formality. "Samurai-sans...," he said, unsure of just about any address. His voice was like rocks scraping against each other. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the Kaito and added "Cousin" as a quick afterthought. That mon and color he knew well enough at least.

[Kaito Haruki]

"Wonderful, another soul joins our little meeting. Now I would like to remind people that tea is more than leaf juice that we drink, it's a conduit through which we can observe all the elements interacting with each other in as pure a form as possible." Haruki takes this moment to look at the water he took from the river. Sure it might be dirtier than what you would find in a tea shop, but that just adds character right?

[Asako Saburo]

That... that is river water. Unboiled river water... Fortunes, there is something wrong with this boy. He maintained a polite distance as they began to set out tea, staring at the set like one would a viper that was lurking on the side of the road, waiting for it to slither off in some other direction so that you could continue your journey.

"I will simply observe your ceremony, thank you. I have already partaken today, but I would be interested to see." It was... mostly accurate? Yes, mostly. He'd had tea earlier, and he did kind of want to see if the people about to have tea were going to die of food poisoning in the next day or so, assuming they were going to Hirosaka as he was. He was currently betting on a yes. However, if any of them gave him the slightest excuse to give them an escort to the wagons from here, he was going to jump on that in a heartbeat.

[Kaito Haruki]

Haruki sees the boy turn sickly looking at the pot. City Slickers, am I right? "Relax, I'm just getting started on the preparation. First step is to get as good of water as you can." He then reaches his hand in, grabbing a herring. "You guys eat yet, or should I just toss them back?"

[Miya Wyn]

"If we leave and go inside we would not be here, where we are supposed to be meeting any more. My father has spent many nights on the road, and he did not skip tea those nights. Sometimes you must make do with what you have to complete your duty."

[Yogo Otoko]

"... I had rice and tea before I came out to start this journey. I will... pass on taking a share from those who have not had either." The tall Scorpion's tone remained level, and she gave a slight bow. Her oni mask seemed sincere enough.

[Kuni Yotsuo]

"Yeah, my sensei back in crab lands used to make tea for us all the time when we were traveling. You just have to boil the water first and strain out impurities before you start steeping the tea. I mean, if you think about it, it's all just water, even if it comes from a river instead of a well, it still touches the ground. Only way to have water that doesn't have some dirt in it is to collect rain or to summon it with magic."

[Asako Saburo]

Ok. One of you is not absolutely insane and weird...

He looked at the Yogo for a single moment, catching the mask and mentally noting 'scorpion' for his future reference. Mother had warned him to be wary around those ones. Always sneaksy, always plotting something. But what they were not doing was drinking... he ... he'd just seen the man fish a fish out of the. He was going to be faint. At least the Crab seemed to understand a bit. But still, he was feeling green right now.

No, everything was fine. He wasn't going to let that fish water touch his lips, so he was fine. He grunted and nodded at Otoko. "Forgive me. I sense that we are waiting here for a similar purpose. I take it that the four of you are also traveling to Hirosaka for the Ruby Champion's lessons?" he directed it at her, though it was general enough that anyone could feel addressed if they wished.

[Yogo Otoko]

Her head turned to look at Sakuro, though the predawn light cast many shadows. "...As soon as the guide is here, yes." She gestured in turn with a thin hand barely slipped out of her sleeves.

"...Kuni Yotsuo. Yogo Otoko. Other's not introduced." She didn't sound offended. More... resigned.

[Miya Wyn]

The Miya nods toward the Kuni, "Boiling and straining, before steeping is important, though I also have some already strained and blessed water on me as well." He looks up at the Asako, and nods in response to his question, "Yes I do also have the honor."

[Asako Saburo]

He grunted and grumbled for a second, nodding now that he'd verified that these people were part of the traveling body. It meant that he had no reason to continue further until the guide arrived, so he could put his hands behind him and simply avoid drinking. Simple enough. He slowly breathed in and out, bringing a sleeve back in front of him and coughing once into it before speaking.

"Asako Saburo. It is an honor to travel with fellow students." His voice had the sound of someone following a preset script that someone had given to him. Quite possibly his mother. "I look forward to the champion and their sensei's instruction."

[Kaito Haruki]

Haruki pauses from placing the few fish he found in his pot on his metal sheet. "Ah, you're right! Where are my manners, my name is Isawa Haruki of House Kaito. It is a pleasure to meet you all" he says with a bow to each of his colleagues, making sure to bend further when facing Miya-Sama. He then proceeds to pull out a bucket and a bit of cloth, then pours the water from the pot into the buck with the cloth in between, straining the water. "Could I ask for someone to start collecting stones? I want to have everything in order to safely start a big enough fire."

[Kuni Yotsuo]

The Phoenix was making the tea, and the other kid having tea was Imperial. So the Kuni mentally gave up and rose to go get a few large stones to contain the fire. Figures that the Crab would be used for manual labor, he thinks to himself, having been warned of such by his master back home.

[Yogo Otoko]

Otoko moved off the path a bit and grabbed a rock. She slowly brought rocks over one at a time, the umbrella in her other hand limiting.

[Kaito Haruki]

After Haruki strains the water to the bucket, he quickly wipes off his cloth, then strains the water back into the pot. Repeat a couple of times to ensure there is no dirt, and he starts the next process. He grabs a bunch of water, avoiding any fish this time, and pours it over an occupied bit of land far enough from the river for people to sit. This softens up the water just enough for him to use his bucket and start shoveling it into a pit, using the moved earth to form a barrier for the fire.

[Asako Saburo]

With a momentary pause and a grunt, Saburo decided to make himself useful. He liked to think the gathering of stones was like preparing to set up the stone memorial for the passing of three fools, a permanent memorial on the side of the road that you don't just drink river water, even with a bit of good boiling, but he decided to keep his mental notes to himself. He did, however, collect a few stones and brought them over with the rest before dusting his hands off... and dusting them off some more... then taking a cloth out of his backpack and dusting them off a third time to get the dirt that was absolutely not on the palms of his hands off, grunt and stand there...

Near the Yogo. Well away from anyone drinking the tea.