[D10 MA] Divine Herbs

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Ah, my clanmate might have misunderstood the situation slightly, then," Shinnosuke says with an apologetic shrug. "I wasn't quite sure whether he meant there was some kind of... imminent threat, I suppose, or something like that. Much better if there isn't!" he adds, rather fervently. There are already quite enough imminent threats to go around.

"I am glad you like the tea. It comes from the mountainous part of the Crane coast, south of the Three Sides River mouth. Not my own home province, but my uncle married in from down there, so we often have some at home. My lady aunt's husband, I mean--Kinuyo's father."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"What's it like where you're from, Doji-san?" Aiko asks. "Lotsa trees your way?"

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Not at all," Shinnosuke answers with a chuckle. "My family's land is in the floodplains of the Tangu River. Flat as a wheaten pancake, though it's rice they grow there, mostly." His fine, musical voice draws out the picture in a leisurely fashion.

"That land has been under the plow since the dawn of the Empire, I suppose. For all I know, even earlier. Every inch of field has its ditch and its dike to bring the water in and out when it's wanted for the rice crop, and every inch of flat land is fields." He spreads his hands, the gesture describing the level-ness of the farmland. "Apart from the one old grandfather tree at the earth spirit shrine, the only trees in any numbers are the little mulberries the farmers grow on the dikes between fields. They keep those around because they can raise silkworms on the leaves. When we need timber for building, it has to come down the river or up from further south."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"Well, I c'n un'erstan' needin' t' feed folks," Aiko says. "But you're missin' out, not havin' more trees 'round. They're restful, like."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"I have had some chances to admire forests, too," he says with a grin. "Needle's Eye, the sacred forest beside Kyuden Doji, is very pretty. Samurai from the castle and the town like to picnic and ramble there on warm afternoons. Never at night near a full moon, though. And of course Osari Mori is not far from there either. I've always thought that one quite imposing, though I suppose it might not compare to the forest in your homeland."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"Tell me boutcher Osari Mori, Doji-san," Aiko replies.

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Oh, well," Shinnosuke pauses to arrange his recollections. "Osari is quite different from Needle's Eye, I suppose. Needle's eye is imperially sacrosanct, so nobody settles in it or logs it, although of course Lady Doji keeps it maintained. Osari Mori is a great deal bigger, and people actually live there. There are villages of foresters, and a quiet little town where some of the most respected Doji sensei live. My other cousin Sumiha studied there for a few years, so I remember visiting her."

He sips his tea before continuing, "I remember a lot of very tall oaks and hardwood pines. I was told it's all managed quite carefully, because they've got to be tall and straight for ships' timbers and masts, which the Daidoji value highly. But I dare say it still looks very wild and romantic to a rice country boy like me," he adds with a laugh. "Straight trunks of trees one behind the other so that you can't see the horizon. And here and there you come on sunny clearings full of low growth and flowers, where a big old tree used to be and it hasn't filled in yet."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"Huh. A managed forest," Aiko says. "Whoda thunk?

"Kitsune Mori ain't like that," she continues. "It's wild an' raw. An' while we do take timber from it, th' idea that we'd manage it," and she shakes her head. "That ain't like t' happen anytime soon."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"You have timber in perpetual abundance, and not as many mouths to feed, I suppose, so there's no need," Shinnosuke guesses. "Although Kinuyo-neesan's stories do rather make it sound like a place that wouldn't be easily tamed, even if you had a whole province worth of foresters and farmers."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"An' there're things in th' woods as'd make it difficult, too," Aiko agrees. "Part of what makes 'em s' beautimous."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Things that a person might be, er.... permanently distracted by, from the sounds of it," he says, brows drawing together a bit. "Is it true there are dangers, besides just wild animals one might find anywhere? If even the Champion can be enspelled, it must be quite difficult to keep safe sometimes."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"I f'rget," Aiko says, "if I asked you ifn y' know 'bout Spirit Realms an' such."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"I don't believe you did." Shinnosuke refills the teacups without interrupting the conversation. "I'm not utterly ignorant, anyway. There are a great many spirits and journeys across the Realms in plays, you know, and some of them are based on true histories. And lately I've been learning a great deal I never knew just from being around Asahina Hoshiko-san, who is a genuine traveler among the Realms herself."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"'zat so?" Aiko asks. "I'll hafta palaver with 'er 'bout that, then. But since I ain't gotta go through th' whole thing with you, I c'n say that, in th' Forest, th' wall betwixt here an' th' Animal Realm's more like a veil, one that's easy t' push t' th' side."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

Shinnosuke's brows arch and his eyes widen a bit. "All the time? Needle's Eye has a story like that about it, but even the most superstitious farmers say it's only a rare thing for the other realms to touch there, just now and then." Composure returning, he adds, "I'm sure Asahina-san would be quite interested. The Realm of Waiting and its courts are her particular interest, but she speaks as though she's been all over."

[Kitsune Aiko]

"F'r th' most part," Aiko says, "you c'n get f'm one to t' other. Now, y' cain't get t' the Heavens direct like, not without help; y' ain't just gonna stumble up in there. Th' opposite, sad t' say, ain't the case."

She shakes her head.

"But we gen'rally get along with th' Chukushudo folks. I mean, there's some as're ornery, but y' get that anywhere. Why," and here she grins, "I hear there's even ornery Miya now an' ag'in, ifn you c'n b'lieve it."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"This may astonish you, but even Doji are known to be ornery from time to time," Shinnosuke says with the air of one sharing a great secret. "Hard to believe, I know." He leans back a little, rolling his shoulders. "So that is the sort of thing that preoccupies your Champion? The friendly and unfriendly from Chikushudo? Have, er, have you ever met such a spirit?"

[Kitsune Aiko]

"I've met both kinds," Aiko replies. "An' any of 'em c'n go either way, as th' mood takes 'em. 'specially the cat ones."

She shakes her head.

"There's an allure t' th' Realm o' Animals f'r some folks," she adds. "I ain't felt that s' much. But a lotta folks have, an' they do."

[Doji Shinnosuke]

"Oh, well, cats." Shinnosuke smiles wryly, shaking his head. "Unreliable creatures, even at their most mundane. I confess I find dogs easier company, myself."

[Kitsune Aiko]

Aiko nods.

"Dogs're loyal, ain't no lyin'," she says. "'course, they's tricksy, too."