[D12, ME] - a stroll by the river, expecting

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna headed down to the river for an evening stroll along the water with Ryusei, careful to look her absolute best after the sumai event.

His letter! Oh! She still smiled and blushed to think about it.

It seemed like walking along the river - the water - would make it even easier to dream about life at Shiro Shigi.
Her life with him.

[Shiba Ryusei]

He tried not to sprint down to the water's edge.

In that, he succeeded, even as he looked forward to the day when he wouldn't have to play it quite so cool.

He was going to write songs about her.
Probably TERRIBLE songs that only their children would think were any good musically, and that he was going to sing at the top of his lungs.

But for now...

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled brightly to see him. Very brightly. Her whole face lit up. Radiant and happy.

"Ryusei!" Just a whisper. But the precise kind of breathless whisper that could convey an exclamation point.

They were somewhat isolated here by the river's edge. Certainly no one appeared to be within hearing distance.

"It's good to see you. And I cannot begin to say how impressed I am by the deal you presented in court yesterday. That is wonderful news for Shiro Shigi. You must tell me how it came to be!"

[Shiba Ryusei]

Fortunes, what that smile did to him.

"Well. A bit of... inspiration, for one. It dawned on me that if a beautiful, skilled, and intelligent woman was to marry into House Shigi, then a going concern of a port would be a nice wedding present...."

He chuckled.

"But also, the Crab were keenly interested in the farmland blessing- and Yasuki Ryoichi-sama and I have a good working relationship. So if the blessing happens to be in his House's province, and the port happens to be in mine, we could hardly be faulted for doing one another a small service. And, ah.... while Shiba-ue asked if House Shigi would be all right with the presence of Crab mariners, I had to say that certainly they make better guests than outright criminals."

A pause.

"We might have a couple of dockside brawls to sort out, but... frankly, they'll be better security than the scanty force we currently have garrisoning the castle. The Phoenix will have equal rights to the place, after all."

He glanced at her sidelong. Held it, because looking away from her was something he had to do entirely too often.

"And if my Yuna is half as clever as I know she is, those Crab ships might well be sailing south with glasswork by the time the port's construction is completed."

[Agasha Yuna]

A wedding present!

"I must get to work on the glassware workshop so I have a present for you in return."

"Closer ties with the Crab are wise. The Yasuki will be important partners in trade. A port will bring so much opportunity. We can start with all that a port needs to flourish. An inn. A sake house. A tea house. A market. But that will bring people and generate more resources." Ah, she was excited thinking about it.

"And the blessing to their farmland. A very powerful gift. That is arranged for the Dragon also, and while we did not specify which house's lands, it needs to be in the very few places farming is possible. The lowland. Not Ageki land."

"Ah, I need to send letters telling family and friends about our good news. And getting Kaiya-sama and Uncle Toma-sama thinking about glassware fashion." She grinned. "I think that's what I'll do tonight after our walk. I wish I'd heard back from my family about the earthquake matter. That still concerns me."

"I've teamed up with Asahina-san and some others, pooling what we've learned so far. I think some of the pieces are coming together. I pray we figure it out in time to yet do some good."

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei wanted to tell her that she never needed to get him anything, that as far as he was concerned, simply knowing her was all the gift he required.

But...

Never stifle her, never clip her wings, and let her do what she's good at. Let her find joy in bringing you joy, just as she does for you.

"I think my own letters about the engagement might just now be reaching home, so I'll likely be home before I get any reply here... or with luck, intercept any responses on the way back."

When she shifted to the earthquake, he nodded.

"I confess, I've been busy with Clan matters.... let me know if there's anything I can do."

He doubted it. He was a bushi with a solid political streak, not a shugenja or even simply a sage of Earth.

[Agasha Yuna]

"We should be able to write to each other in the interim between winter court and the wedding."

She wasn't entirely sure how long that would be. A month? Two months?

"Your letters bring me such joy."

She touched a place on her chest that wasn't in the position of her heart exactly. More likely an inner pocket where she kept the letters close.

But then her expression turned a little more serious and solemn. "It has been interesting putting together what Asahina-san had uncovered and some of my own research. She had discovered an angry entity. A ghost maybe. And she thought it might be Hantei Ningi."

"And I was able to share quite a bit of information about Hantei Ningi because he is the very Emperor who killed Tenjin the poet for his truthful (but perhaps unflattering) poem. And upon his death, the imperial court was struck by pestilence and disease - which is something the Scorpions had foretelling visions about and started stockpiling medicine. And that same disease immediately stopped when Hantei-sama apologized to Tenjin and made offering of a temple to the truthful written word. The Ikoma Libraries! The temple to Tenjin the Fortune."

"Is Tenjin the Fortune angry because of some failure in a record? Something untruthful?"

"Or is the problem that Hantei-sama made peace with Tenjin the Fortune, but failed to make peace with the other person that he executed in anger. A Dragon monk who taught unarmed fighting to peasants, after Hantei-sama ruled that peasants could not carry any weapons. And Hantei didn't just have him executed. He had all the peasants who learned the unarmed style killed. A terrible slaughter. His own Emerald Magistrate committed seppuku rather than kill the Dragon Togashi Kaze. So Hantei-sama elevated a Lion to the position to kill him. And that Lion did it."

"I think we're going to try to speak to Hantei-sama's ghost - or the entity claiming to be him - and gather more information with the context I was able to provide about his life. Those he wronged."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"And we are certain that it relates to Hantei Ningi in some fashion? Or perhaps a more general matter... with no one on the Throne, who can redress the crimes against Togashi Kaze?"

[Agasha Yuna]

"It is all uncertain. There may still be an entirely separate matter with Kyufoki and Gobai. Earthquakes and Balance. There is a link between them."

"But Jihen thinks the balance issues are long-standing. A question could be ... what changed during Hantei Ningi's reign. Is that a point of disruption to balance that hasn't been corrected? He was the first to decree that all land in Rokugan belongs to the Emperor. That wasn't true prior, with Hantei or Hantei Genji. But that doesn't seem likely to change. And there are probably other things important during his reign."

"If you think about it, the Empress who just died... her ill omens began far before her death. The whole succession problem is because she could not have children. That could be a sign of disfavor also."

"I'm not sure. I think it may take shugenja to learn more. But I can continue to try to research. But I'm not even sure what the right next research question is."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Balance..."

Ryusei frowned.

"If equilibrium has been disturbed- on a spiritual level- then wrong attempt at correction might... agitate matters. I hope this... conversation with the ghost of Hantei Ningi is at least... informative."

He paused.

"Will you be safe during this process? The conversation, I mean..."

[Agasha Yuna]

"That is definitely a concern. I think I must defer to the shugenja. I'm not sure if I'll even be present when they try to talk to it again."

"But if there is something scheduled... something ahead ... that I think is dangerous, I will let you know. It would be better we faced something like that together."

"We ... we have too much to live for. I don't want you to do anything reckless either."

She suddenly wanted to reach for him. To hold on tight. Tighter. One day.

[Shiba Ryusei]

He nodded.

And wished he could hold her close.

"So long as I'm with you, I know things will be all right. It sounds silly when I put it that way, but... it's also the truth. So have no fear, I'll run no undue risks."

They both had so much to live for now.

"And if I turn up anything to do with... any of this, I'll come running."

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled. "Thanks."

She continued walking along the river, taking a moment of companionable silence to really see and hear and smell the river.

"I thought it would be fun to imagine Sandpiper Island, walking beside running water. Though the experience of the sea is probably a bit different than a river. Can you hear the sea, when you are inside Shiro Shigi?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

Their home.

Somehow sharing it made it more novel for him as well.

"Always. Even on a calm day, you can hear the surf, although if's more of a hiss than a roar. On a stormy day, it sometimes sounds like the waves are hitting the castle walls, but that's only happened about three or four times in the history of Sandpiper Island. We have some of the same birds you get by this river, like that raven over there, but we also have... well. Nine kinds of sandpiper, ospreys, lots of gulls, cormorants..."

He trailed off.

"Lots of birds. Not a lot of land animals- a few frogs near the springs, that kind of thing, but most of the animals look to the sea. We have a small sea lion colony the House Shigi either protects or ignores depending on who's in charge. On clear days in the right season, whales come pretty close as they pass by."

[Agasha Yuna]

She listened attentively, fascinated.

"Oh! You make it sound so magical. So beautiful."

"A symphony of bird song and ocean spray underneath the hours of our days."

She sighed happily.

And then there was a shadow in her expression.

"Oh ... I ... I should tell you something." She'd wanted to put it out of her mind. To keep it away from this place, this moment, this lovely romantic stroll, but all the talk of the sea around Sandpiper Island just reminded her that it was too important to put off.

"As I've been continuing to chat with the shugenja and others investigating the dark omens and spirits and history here, Yasuki Masaki mentioned that she's had sign from the spirits that the plague is coming from the sea.

"The spirits of the river, she said, showed undulations like the sea, and finally a scenery that looked like sandy shores with thick, choking vegetation - very likely unnatural - extending from the shores to the land. Unfortunately, she could not make out any specific signs pointing to which coast the spirits referred to."

"But that could be a terrible threat to us. To anyone living on the coast. I think it's imperative that we right whatever is causing these issues now. If there is some righting of a wrong that could prevent or end it, like with Tenjin's plague, it is most urgent to find out."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I hate to say it, but we're no strangers to plague. It was a seaborne illness that caused the initial postwar fall in HOuse SHigi's fortunes."

He frowned.

"If it reaches us before the port construction begins, we'll likely be safe enough- there aren't enough people in the province to sustain anything so grand as a plague. But if it hits later..."

He let out a hissing breath.

"We need to sort this out. I just.... have no idea how I can help. Usefully, that is. I suppose I could look into quarantine measures. One thing about being on an island... it's how the House survived the last big one."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Interesting. Perhaps the records from that time will prove essential either to the Phoenix or another coastal clan. You can certainly review closely when you return home. Find all the records related to diagnosis and cure and quarantine ... all of it."

"I think we should focus on preventing it by solving whatever spiritual problem is causing these ill omens. There must be a way! Maybe having an Emperor in place will re-stabilize matters. But I fear there is more to it."

"Perhaps a shrine to Jurogin? The earth kami can protect from disease. If I don't hear from my family here, I can certainly pull all our records related to protection from disease and make copies for our reference. Perhaps my family can perform a ritual to protect your - our - lands at the wedding."

Now that would be a good wedding present.

[Shiba Ryusei]

"If nothing else, we should bear Jurojin in mind before any crisis."

He nodded.

"And a blessing would hardly be taken amiss. It might even impel the Isawa to offer one of their own- pride, you know. And even if not... I believe we'll be constructing a Shinseist shrine. Asking them to bless its grounds might well be fitting..."

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled brightly at the thought of a Shinseist shrine.

"Thank you. I'll be glad to have a shrine there."

"The Tao will guide us. “What you do not understand can kill you.” The more we understand, the better we can prepare, prevent, or mitigate."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"All while maintaining our balance."

He grinned in spite of the dire portents.

"'Real boats rock,' as an old salt once told me. 'Sooner you make peace with that, the better.' Then he spat, which I think I'll skip..."