Finish Him (D10, EM)

[Jihen]

Jihen was out and about in the morning. Hearing of one of the sumai milling about the market trying to draw heat for himself for the upcoming event.

Jihen went and spoke with the man as he had done previously. He was developing a bit of a rapport with the wrestler...

Having said farewell to the sumai called 'Raiden', Jihen found himself on the street as the town began to wake up and ready itself for another day.

[Soshi Eiji]

Jihen was out and about in the morning. Hearing of one of the sumai milling about the market trying to draw heat for himself for the upcoming event.

Jihen went and spoke with the man as he had done previously. He was developing a bit of a rapport with the wrestler...

Having said farewell to the sumai called 'Raiden', Jihen found himself on the street as the town began to wake up and ready itself for another day.

While others were out looking for early morning deals, Eiji had been out hunting for leads. Still a certain bald head bobbing among the other early bird shoppers did catch his attention and so he approached.

"Ah, good morning my good monk. Out shopping for a new tea set?" he offered as way of greeting.

[Jihen]

He smiled and shook his head, "Never a bad idea to have a good spill-resistant tea set... Though it is not what I am after this morning."

He bowed deeply in deference to the samurai, "I hope the days have been kind to Soshi-sama?"

[Soshi Eiji]

"They've been busy my good monk, but that is it's own blessing. Idleness is good for recovery, but not for growth." he mused.

Eiji looked around a bit.

"You know, there is a small teahouse nearby. Not nearly so fine as the Copper Hills, but they also don't charge triple for wearing a mask. A good strong black tea is a fine way to start the day, why don't you let me treat you?" he offered.

[Jihen]

"That would be most kind of you Soshi-sama." Jihen bows in deference again.

"I would be honored to partake of your generosity."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Think nothing of it, my good monk. Such actions are simply how a samurai should conduct themselves." he demurred.

He led his one-armed friend to a minor tea house with an illegible sign. The propietor had thought it would be amazing if he could name his shop 'Simplicity' but arranging the kanji to combine 'simple' and 'tea' to form simplicity. But that wasn't how kanji or ink worked, and so the result was less simplicity and more 'Simple with Tea written over it'.

It was still early, so the tea house was mostly empty leading to quick seating and a quick hot pot of strong black tea.

"Ah but forgive me, my good monk. You asked me how I've been. I've yet to ask you how you and your master are faring." he said.

[Jihen]

"We both fare in a way well-met to our deeds. In this world... the things we do invariably come back to us." He replied with a smile and a gracious nod as their tea arrived.

"And how does your Lady fare? I'm afraid I have not had the honor of meeting with many of the delegation heads. They are undoubtedly far too busy to have to waste their time with a monk as myself. I hope they are in good health despite the bit of wet weather we experienced."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji smiled.

"Ah, I doubt time with you is wasted, my good monk. But the title of clan champion is a heavy one. She bears is with a will as mighty as the ocean, but it leaves her little time for socializing. We cannot all be sandpipers soaring along the shore." he offered.

He sipped his tea.

"And Empress is an even heavier burden still. The throne is an odd chair is it not? Most chairs take your weight, but you take the weight of the throne."

[Jihen]

He nodded, "To be anything is to be bound to that thing. For the Emperor... they are bound to the realm. They bear the weight of it, and we lift them up together."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji smiled.

"Hai, we all the palequin bearers of the Empress in a sense are we not? Whether they demand we run, or demand to rest every block, whether they order us to move along well swept streets, or slog through mud, or rush through brambles, that is their decision. The paths exist as they are, and they choose how we proceed, we merely bear the weight." he offered.

He looked back at the monk.

"So I am curious, my good monk, as both a traveller and an astute observer of the world, what are your thoughts on the road ahead and those who would travel them are."

[Jihen]

"As with everything Soshi-sama... there are many roads ahead. All of them fall within the singular Way... but none of them are quite the Way either." He replied.

"All creatures have a voice with which they express the Way. So it is with us. I hope to navigate my path the best as I can with the voice I have. When the Heavens make their decision the Emperor will take their first step along the path that we need share together. I hope it to be a good step..." He tilts his head.

"I can sense contemplation within your words. What path do you feel laid out before you in these times Soshi-sama?"

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji considered his cup.

"I am confident in my own road. It may be rough, and I have just crossed the border but I am confident in my stride, as always." he offered.

He set the cup down.

"Perhaps I simply suffere from a problem of perspective. When I envision an Empress, I think of all the virtues one must posess. And in each of the winds, I see at least one of them, the kindness of Doji-sama, the ruthlessness of Otomo Keihime-sama, the wisdom of Seppun-sama, the desire to learn held within Otomo Gorobei, and the earnest desire to help in ronin-sama."

He shook his head.

"But when you stare in to the bonfire, it's hard to see the candlelight. Where is, for example, the ruthlessness in Seppun-sama?" he asked.

[Jihen]

"It is always important to avoid having our confidence turn to overconfidence... The higher you stand above modesty, the easier it becomes to lose your footing." He recited.

"When one interacts with the Heavens is 'ruthlessness' what we expect? Pitiless, merciless, devoid of Compassion..."

He asks, "What is it in a lack of rueth that you find useful to one such as an Emperor?"

[Soshi Eiji]

"It is always important to avoid having our confidence turn to overconfidence... The higher you stand above modesty, the easier it becomes to lose your footing." He recited.

"When one interacts with the Heavens is 'ruthlessness' what we expect? Pitiless, merciless, devoid of Compassion..."

He asks, "What is it in a lack of rueth that you find useful to one such as an Emperor?"

Eiji raised a hand at that.

"Not the Heavens, my good monk, but with the mortals. As you say, confidence is a virtue, but overconfidence a vice. So it is with compassion. Compasion is a virtue, overcompassion is a vice."

He shook his head.

"Imagine, if you will, my good monk, you are walking through the woods when you are accosted by a bear. Now this is the bear's territory, they are hungry, and they have cubs to feed. And perhaps your kharma is so spotless, you are content to let the bear eat you. But here I am, waiting for the wise advice of my good friend monk who is already back on the wheel."

He lifted his cup.

"As Doji-sama demonstrated when she stood up for Seppun-sama's honor in court, sometimes you have to stand up to the bear."

[Jihen]

"So it is fair to say that it is not 'ruthlessness' per se that you find useful in a lord, but the Courage to act without hesitation in a proportional and satisfactory manner? Say I could distract the bear... perhaps sacrificing my pack to appease its hunger? And afterwards informing the locals of a dangerous bear in the woods that seeks to eat human flesh."

He tilts his head, "I sacrificed my momentary gratification to ensure that the town was informed of the danger before them. Allowed them to see the problem as it truly is and allowing the people to act accordingly."

He continues, "How the people now react based off of what I experienced is then left up to them. Undoubtedly there are times to let the bear go about its existence... living and let living. Or to hunt it down and destroy it. But, I have seen many communities across the empire build shrines to bear spirits, tiger spirits, or fox spirits. They learn to mollify these bears... work with them in harmony to protect the village and its people... To do this is no less courageous or satisfactory than stabbing the beast in the heart. But the weight of karma is different between these two approaches... And the long-term ramification of such acts... equally divergent."

He smiles, "Besides... I don't really like my chances with a spear against the bear anyway."

He then asks, "So is it to the Doji-sama that your current thoughts lie? What other virtues have you seen that move your heart thus?"

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji chuckled at that.

"You know, my good monk, you may be the first person within Kyuden Ikoma to equate fleeing from danger with Courage rather than naming them the antihesis of each other."

He shook his head. Ah, monks.

"Fleeing from the bear exhibits many good qualities, but it exhibits Courage no more than Seppun-sama fetching a pail of water at Otomo-sama's demand does. Duty for both, Courtesy for Seppun-sama and Compassion towards the bear. But Courage is the wrong virtue to cite."

And that was Eiji's strongest problem with the aged Seppun, a lack of Courage.

"Balancing the virtues of bushido is never easy. It is all too easy to cling to one tenent and neglect the rest. 'I am honorable because I did what Duty commanded' is not correct when it is followed by 'though I did neglect Courage.' And the Empress will be seen as the paragon of all that is honorable."

He spread his heads.

"All of the heirs are honorable, that goes without saying. That I have seen more of certain tenets from them than others does not indicate the absence of others, but more likely I was simply not privledged to witness an expression of it. I have certainly seen Doji-sama exhibit adherance to all of the tenents which I appreciate."

Eiji looked at the monk thoughtfully.

"You know, my good monk, it occurs to me that some may not believe that the incident in court with the spilled tea was ENITIRELY accidental. If you consider how the events played out, it would be tempting to believe that the incident was engineered to make Otomo-sama looked powerful and her two biggest rivals look foolish and weak. But perhaps that is not the case entirely. Perhaps that is what was agreed upon, but secretly those who support Seppun-sama were looking for a way to make him look like the bigger man. To showcase his Courtesy just as Doji-sama demonstrated her Courage when she stood up for Seppun-sama's honor."

He took a sip of tea.

"An interesting conjecture, is it not?"

[Jihen]

"As one who is not bound to the same interpretations of courage as one of the warrior class is I see courage in a great many places and things. I see it in common people doing very mundane things and the very high in their most ignoble moments. There's all types of courage, honesty, courtesy, compassion, honor and duty... The contestation of these things and their relative balance in one's heart is a constant source of internal reflection." He replied.

"It is potentially interesting conjecture. An interesting tale as it were... and all tales are subject to some measure of rhetorical manipulation... The eyes that see such things and the mouth that speaks such untruths are of course subject to the limitations of human perception. But for me... the Tao says it best. The truth is always simple. Liars make things more complicated."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Well quoted, my good monk. Of course, as a storyteller tales are what cause my heart to beat. Some tales are very strict recountings of the truth, some are more fanciful. The Tao of Shinsei is, at it's heart, a good story I believe, despite my former clan's stance on it. It's just so quotable." he said.

"Do you recall what Shinsei said when the Emperor asked him what the deepest truth was?" he asked.

[Jihen]

“Stories are equally fond to me Soshi-sama. But it is as Shinsei replied. They are all wrong.”

He replies with a flick of his eyebrow, “Including his very same answer.”

[Soshi Eiji]

"Quite the scholar, my good monk. You do remind me of the tale of the loneliest monk. Have you heard it?" Eiji asked.