[D0: LA: Open] Over the hedge

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"Great Clans tend to send more than one to represent in such events... I would call that a delegation... Am I incorrect?" The Kitsune shrugged. "Some may say I am a delegation of one... two if you include Raakun." She chuckled.

[Bayushi Choudai]

"Ah, but one cannot be here without an invitation... unless you are saying our delegations were constructed by the Crane?"

On firmer footing again, obvious hallucinations of madness aside.

"I can say with all sincerity that I didn't know who else among the Scorpion would be present- and I still do not, since I've only spoken to one other since arriving here."

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"Isn't that part of the surprise. The clan chooses who to send based on the invitation sent. Me... well... I may not be the best of my craft but they know better than this one."

You keep selling yourself short

"Our lords know why they send us and fortunes will show us the way."

[Bayushi Choudai]

Our lords also sometimes send a bushi to do a butei's job, and get nearly an entire generation of soldiers massacred through picking fights that they're actually not that interested in winning.

"For your mouth to the Fortunes' ears, Kitsune-san. Still, before you sell your craft short, consider the other opportunities in play here."

He clasped his hands behind his back and looked up.

"If nothing else, I am certain we will get to witness displays of artistry that approach the sublime. The Crane have invested a great deal of political capital in this event. They wouldn't do that unless they intended for displays to let everyone shine."

Themselves most of all, of course, but we all do that.

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"Displays where the best shine and the not so good may stay opaque." She looked at the sky. "This one hopes that the fortunes have guided us to the right place. We shine where we feel at home. The Crane will see to that."

[Bayushi Choudai]

"As you say, Kitsune-san."

I suppose she'd rather we were all halfway up a tree with an audience of squirrels or something.

...

That thing is still sitting on her head.

...

It's really there, isn't it? I haven't lost my mind, it's the world that's insane. How reassuring.

"I'm fortunate that the kitchens here are generally excellent."

[Kitsune Shizenko]

Indeed, the tanuki was still on her head, literally. "I wonder if there any paper that may bring my art to shine."

[Bayushi Choudai]

"If it can accent art to advantage, the Crane will have it, Kitsune-san, of that you can be assured."

He paused.

"Something I've always admired about them, really. The Scorpion are much the same in that respect."

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"Really... I haven't been to Scorpion lands. Passed by but not really visited." She picked the racoon from her head since it was getting heavy. " My studies have taken to the forests of the empire."

[Bayushi Choudai]

Probably looking for new trees to live in.

"Anywhere in particular? I'll admit to a certain limited scope of travel in my life to date."

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"I have been to the forests of the Phoenix studying the different animals and the link of the spirit realms." The Kitsune nodded. "The forests tend to have a mystical and mysterious aura that may... ah... I would begin ranting about the mysteries if the spirits and the forests."

[Bayushi Choudai]

It would make as much sense as anything else that's happened since I ran into you.

"This one is no great woodsman, and wholly ignorant of the spirit realms, Kitsune-san, so any such... ranting would likely be wasted on me in any event."

He offered a fresh- if bland- smile.

And if his mind went back to the horrors he'd seen in Naishou's forests, well, that was to be expected.

[Kitsune Shizenko]

The Kitsune nodded. "That is what I thought." The girl shrugged. "Have you ever gone hunting for your ingredients?"

[Bayushi Choudai]

"Seldom. I generally acquire them from merchants... someday I hope to have a garden of my own to source a few, but my duties have not yet allowed me to be quite as settled as that."

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"In my travels around the forest, I find the most interesting berries and mushrooms to make nice food." She smiled.

Don't forget the insects...crunchy num The tanuki chittered.

Shizenko shook her head and looked at the tanuki and whispered. "I doubt he would make such plates."

[Bayushi Choudai]

"Something to be said for forage."

Although after my time in a Shosuro-run city, I'm quite leery of mushrooms.

...

Fortunes, she really IS talking to that thing, isn't she?

[Kitsune Shizenko]

Indeed, she was. "One has to make do with what nature provides when away from the city." She looked up at the sky. "Not all have the luxury of staying in a city for an extended period of time."

[Bayushi Choudai]

"One gets the impression that for some, quite the reverse is true."

The poor bastards.

[Kitsune Shizenko]

"Indeed... what do you prefer Bayushi sama? The protection of the walls or the open fields of nature?" The girl wondered as she looked at the tanuki.

[Bayushi Choudai]

Choudai half-smiled.

"Is it not obvious? My time in the wilderness has seldom proven auspicious."