(D2 EE monastery shrine) Seeking calm where the earth may shake

[Soshi Naoko]

Children see with clearer eyes than the adults around them. There's amusement threaded through the distress of the encounter with that woman and her child as Naoko skirts the less well-lit spaces of the cavern, heading toward the shrine to the mountain kami, hands hidden up the sleeves of her haori and wishing she'd the foresight to have picked up something with a hood.

Just outside the shrine, she pauses to offer two quick and muffled claps with her hands still within her sleeves before hurrying within the stone temple and its flickering candles and lanterns.

[Seppun Akimitsu]

It seemed she would not be alone in the shrine. After some time, maybe a few seconds or a few minutes hard to say unless one is paying close attention, another joined her in the shrine.

Akimitsu had decided to explore deeper into the caverns after he dried from his bath. He walked into the space and offered all proper Rituals to respect the shrine as he looked about. After that he turned to Naoko and bowed

"Good evening soshi-san. I do not believe we have met properly yet, this one is Seppun Akimitsu. I hope I am not disturbing you." He spoke with an even and dispassionate voice.

[Soshi Naoko]

When he entered, he had seen her kneeling beside the shrine, murmuring something repetitive and a bit short for a prayer. Perhaps some mantra. Against the back of the tall ears of her mask was a flicker, as if real fox ears twisted there to catch the sound of footsteps--surely a mirage born of flickering candlelight and a suggestive mask. But her voice had shifted to finish, sitting up as he came to offer his own prayers, hands tucked into her sleeves, shoulders stiff and unconsciously hunched a bit.

Still, she offers an abbreviated, seated bow before rising. Her clothing is the rough travel gear she's spent the day running around in, through the forest and around the monastery searching for answers as everyone else has. Pants that more resemble those peasants work in than graceful hakama, and a rough shirt visible beneath the quilted coat. "We haven't, and you're..." she thinks a moment, then shakes her head. "The disturbing isn't your fault, Seppun-sama."

"Soshi Naoko," she adds with a small nod and deep breath. "You come all the way from the capitol to learn from this Sensei Wu? He's that famous?"

[Seppun Akimitsu]

Akimitsu nods "He is that. Stories of his abilities have indeed reached the capital. I was sent to learn from him, to better protect the Emperor and his family." Akimitsu explained

"We are not far from Scorpion lands, are you from near by Soshi-san?" He asked moving deeper into the cavern.

[Soshi Naoko]

His first words are like the sharp chill of cold water on the forehead, or a long breath, something to pull thoughts out of circles and refocus them. Her fidgeting hands still, resting quietly though still hidden within her sleeves. "That's actually important. I...hope the Fortunes aid you in your goal. Though if they do not, maybe it just means there isn't actually anything more valuable to learn from him than the Seppun already know."

She nods to the second. "Same mountains, but farther north. Might have taken almost as long to travel as from the capitol. Snow hasn't let go of a lot of the deeper woods." Even with that, it probably took longer from the capitol. The Soshi may not have the strongest grasp of geography and speed of travel in the lowlands. "It's pretty backwater in the mountains. This's all got to seem pretty dull for someone used to cities." There's a pause before she asks, "have you *seen* the Emperor?"