[D12, LM, Open] A Moment of Peace

[Doji Noriko]

Tucked just behind the main Temple of Tengen was a small shrine--not even a statue, just a block with the name of Hamanri carved upon it. There, a short distance from the site of the fracas of two nights past, Doji Noriko sat in quiet contemplation.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko sets her own offering of incense before the carved name with a small wish for the stability it represented. The Empire could use it. She offers a small, rather standard prayer, before speaking, perhaps to the Fortune, if one wanted to interpret it thus. If one didn't wish and interruption of their own contemplation.

"The world is out of balance, spirits angered, omens ominous. It seems there is a strange moment of possible paths right now. Which would the heavens and the world have us walk? What Emperor or Empress do we need?"

[Doji Noriko]

Noriko looked over at the Asahina with an eyebrow raised. There was nothing that suggested insincerity, there, though Noriko would not put it past certain courtiers to stage a public prayer to elicit a response from a Wind. But what to say to something so plaintive?

"I find that we share a prayer, Asahina-san. Perhaps Hamanri will be more forthcoming with two together than he was with one alone."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko offers a smile and a bow. "I hope he is hearing prayers from far more than we two, or things are farther out of balance than I guessed. But it is so rare for Fortunes to step in too obviously." A deeper breath, sighed out with a small grimace. "But I think, while our rulers have the favor and attention of heaven, I am not sure they plan to set a glowing and obvious sign to guide us. We see their disfavor in calamity and favor in prosperity, but seldom see direct guidance."

"Well..there's the tale of Osano-Wo striking the gates with lightening. I remain doubtful that we'll see that sort of sign. But maybe...if enough of us ask fervently enough..." She wonders what the effect might be of the entire court petitioning a single Fortune to intervene in the matter.

[Doji Noriko]

"Perhaps it is not the Fortunes that need to hear the prayers of the nation, but the people who hope to claim the throne. Perhaps it is the strength of our ambitions that creates this imbalance of which you speak."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko nods emphatically. "That is one element, though I am beginning to think the kharmic troubles run deeper than recent generations, and won't be erased simply. In fact, if you look at the Empire in a similar way as you look at a person, you see that there are many, sometimes conflicting, laws that govern the balance both should exist in."

"There's a reason monks separate themselves from the world...supposedly...as they seek to clear their souls for the spark of enlightenment." With the all too recent example of monkly meddling, it was obvious that they were not entirely above things of the mundane, political world.

She presses her lips together a moment, troubled thought coming to a center. If there were any place to ask such a question, perhaps standing before these fortunes was that place. "What sort of Empress would *you* be in all of this?"

[Doji Noriko]

"You are the second to put me to the test, Asahina-san. If I hesitate, it is only because I believe the first wanted a very different response than I was prepared to give. There are some who believe a plan--any plan, no matter how disruptive--is preferable to an ear that hears and a mind open to ideas.

The fact is that no one can understand what it is to be the Empress while they are bound up in being themselves, with all the foibles and schemes and hopes and failures that come with that. It is very difficult, then, to project precisely what will happen when one takes on the mantle of rulership. I think it will be a hard road, but I have been trained all my life to listen and to be of help. That is what I am good at. That is what I intend to be."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Only the second? I'm honestly surprised." She shakes her head. "I don't look for a plan, or exact foreknowledge. Even an Empress lacks the latter or we wouldn't even be worrying about the succession."

"I listen to enough voices that aren't even human to find ways to keep the natural world in balance with humans who can't hear it. So I know it isn't quite enough to listen and be of help, though it's an excellent start." She looks up, searching for words to the feeling inside. "I suppose I wonder what the moral compass is, within you, and them, that will guide that help. When one faction's need is another's harm. When the earth cries out that the foundations crumble, and plague is creeping from the sea. It's always a job that's frankly too large for a mortal, so one hopes the heavens offer some supports beneath the throne." Her tone says that she's not entirely sure that this is true, but she does wish it to be.

"I don't think the Imperial Advisor would care," she says flatly, "beyond how it would shake Imperial power if those things took 'too many' lives. It's not politic to say so, but..."

"Which law does your soul seek when troubled by such immense weights?" The Master of Water seemed to think this was the right direction. Hoshiko wondered what convinced someone who could command the immensity of water.

[Doji Noriko]

"You ask me whether I am compassionate? Whether I look to the heavens for guidance?" She sighs as the questions leave her lips, the ghost of a smile following behind. "You may know me by my deeds--another answer that does not always satisfy, but the only true test of compassion. Have I shown it?" Her tone rises to form a genuine question. "Do I? But as to whether I look to the heavens, of course I do. All mortals should. It has always, I think, been a little easier for me to embrace them, because they have always been so very near."

And, at that moment, the light of the sun peeks over the temple roof, cascading down to alight on Doji Noriko, to gather around her like a robe of purest silk.

"But I think there is no question that the one who must come to the throne will need to give more of themselves than anyone else. And not just materially. Rather, I will become a little less Doji Noriko and a little more Hantei. But I mean to retain my morals, and my motives, which are to help others wherever I can, giving of myself first."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

It is a long moment before she can reply after what can only be seen as an endorsement in this holy place. She swallows. "Keep some of yourself, Lady. I think that piece of Doji will be valuable in times to come, and may keep the Hantei you need to be from souring that compassionate heart."

She hesitates, then adds "...remember that we stand between the Heavens and the Earth as you seek that moral core. There is yet a balance to find."

[Doji Noriko]

"Your advice is appreciated. It reminds me of Ikoma Honoka's. Not precisely the same, of course. A different approach entirely, but the same conclusion."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Hmm...something about many paths to the same truth might apply then." Hoshiko thinks a moment. "But in all of this, do you need anything to keep yourself well in this time? There's little enough one priestess can do, but whatever that is, it's on offer."

[Doji Noriko]

"I need for very little. A friend who loves the Empire is good enough for me."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"That, I can be." She looks to the carved block. "I hope it's enough. That all of it is enough."

With a small smile she adds. "As a friend, I have to ask if you've found anything worth reading this winter? I have a copy of Ikoma Shono's Seasons cycle from last year, and a copy of Memories and Other Realms borrowed from a Kuni this winter that I could pass along."

[Doji Noriko]

"I haven't had too much of a chance to read for pleasure this court. What sort of work is Seasons?"

[Asahina Hoshiko]

There's a sympathetic smile. "I can imagine." The busyness of court is legendary. "Poetry cycle though the seasons of a single, imagined year. Most notably the year the Ki-rin left. It begins with courting poems between Lion and Ki-rin at a winter court, continuing the exchange through spring, summer, and the first bit of autumn, with the later autumn portions being one-sided and finishing with reflections at the next winter's court."

[Doji Noriko]

There's a sympathetic smile. "I can imagine." The busyness of court is legendary. "Poetry cycle though the seasons of a single, imagined year. Most notably the year the Ki-rin left. It begins with courting poems between Lion and Ki-rin at a winter court, continuing the exchange through spring, summer, and the first bit of autumn, with the later autumn portions being one-sided and finishing with reflections at the next winter's court."

"That sounds lovely, Asahina-san. If you are finished with it, I would be pleased to read it. Have you read any of Akodo Sanae's works? I do have an old copy of "Autumn Whispers," if you haven't read it already. I would be happy to make the exchange."