Sapphire Ambassadors

Raakun wasn't a happy camper with the trail rations that he scurried to the flower garden to see if he could find sunflowers and take some the seeds. Shizenko followed Raakun to try and keep him out of trouble. It was a few minutes in the garden that Shizenko realized that some times the obvious answer is on one's nose. "Next time... for today's display is already decided." She whispered to herself.

Raakun tilted his head in curiosity.
What did you decide?

"I must learn a bit more about flowers and what they mean."

Flowers have meanings? You hoomans are weird.

"That is what Ikebana artists use to show some emotion."

One such artist who had done just that was Yoshino. She was currently sat next to a plethora of flowers and looking across them intently. What's more, she had an open furoshiki beside herself. Fresh sweets were visible! There was even a honeyed scent nearby that mixed wonderfully with the beautiful smell of the flowers.

Yoshino was nibbling on one while giving the flowers a great deal of thought.

Raakun smelled the sweet aroma and quickly ran toward the furokishi. "Raakun!" Shizenko called out as the tanuki moved to follow his nose. She now noted the Doji that looked better on this day. "Ah... Doji sama... I hope the fortunes have blessed you this day. You seem a bit more rested today."

"I slept better, yes. Good afternoon." Yoshino dips her head in greeting to the Kitsune. She notes the tanuki moving toward her sweets. Testing what she'd observed she held up a single finger. One.

Would he understand that?

The tanuki stopped and took one on each front paw. Shizenko looked at the tanuki and chuckled. Raakun quickly went to Shizenko and gave her one and the Kitsune took it. "Thank you Raakun." She looked at the Doji and nodded. "That is good to know." She moved closer to the Doji with a bit of curiosity. "What do you have here? "

The Crane chuckled a little at Raakun's antics. She hadn't expected he'd take two so he could give one to Shizenko.

"Just some sweets and a stick of incense." She shifted to the side to reveal it, stuck in the ground. "I'm impressed he knew 'one'. Your tanuki is smart Kitsune-san."

"He is smart when he wants to." The girl chuckled. "Doji sama... I wonder if you could help me. This garden is inspiring and I have little inspiration for my Makoto display." She said with sincerity. "This garden had made realize that Ikebana can be a way to go."

Nodding, Yoshino turned thoughtful. She pivoted about to better face the Kitsune. With one hand she gestured for her to join if, if she liked. "For Sincerity? Hmm. Anemone are the flowers of sincerity, so an ikebana display featuring them would be within the theme." Yoshino was really considering it. "It might be a bit plain and predictable however. You'll definitely want to add some of your own flair to it."

"Have you seen my displays? They are simple but their folds are crisp and clean." Shizenko made a mental note about the flower. "It is the meaning behind the simple work."

"Yes, and retaining that will be key." Mentally she considered how to convey her advice. That every Crane learned the basics of flower meanings and Anemone are one of the first. It might be considered too simple to only have them represented was her line of thinking. Accompany flowers, the vessel and how the display was arranged could all add additional meaning. How to not overwhelm Shizenko's core message was the important thing.

It would be impolite to say all of that however. They'd only known each other a few days. Yoshino only made a thoughtful noise.

Shizenko bit the sweet given to her by Raakun allowing Yoshino think. Then broke the silence explaining. "I understand that this can be a bit difficult but I can tell you that I know how different flowers can be used in medicine. But their meaning behind each one in an arrangement..."

"Would be too much to learn in only a few days, and I do not have a pillow book on the subject to hand. You may be able to find one in town, but..." Yoshino obviously couldn't make any guarantees about such a thing. She shook her head. "So, the quickest solution is consultation, ne? I could suggest some flowers. What would you like to convey?"

"I don't know. Since it is for Makoto...I guess purity of honesty." She shrugged "I am starting to find them interesting in a different way."

"Let's see... some habenaria radiata, white lilies and magnolia would combine nicely with white anemone. It would be very white however. Could be mistaken for a funeral implication by the uninformed. Mixing in colour would be more appealing. Perhaps dahlia, to show the good taste of sincere words, and daffodils, as a mark of respect to those so addressed? A single azalea would be a nice mark of humility in the speaker..." Yoshino became engrossed with ideas.

"Yeah too much white would be more about death than Makoto. How about a chrysanthemum to show what we do for our empire? " Shizenko wondered.

"That would be a poignant touch. I like it." Yoshino actually enthused. "It would look best somewhere central."

"I wonder if there are flowers that represent each clan..." Shizenko started to muse. "Because that would make it colorful and not so much as death arrangement."

"I can only think of family Mon... but that is a very interesting idea." Yoshino says, immediately warming to it. "What would you have as the flower of the Fox?"

The woman gave it some thought. "I think peach blossoms... for some reason I feel they can represent the clan."

"Peach blossoms...?" Yoshino sat up expectantly. She was curious of Shizenko's reasoning.