Still dressed from her meeting at the embassy, Yakumo carried a parasol to keep her skin out of the late afternoon sun.

The Grove had been a point of interest to see sometime, and finally she had a clear schedule to take a look. It was... kind of strange, seeing the fate of traitor's put on display. She wasn't quite sure how the idea of doing something like that would go over in Spider territories.

There were better uses for traitors, after all.

After his lunch, Nishida went wandering with his bodyguards in tow. He focused on nothing in particular, except for the fact that Hato may have given him a key to the lock of the mystery surrounding the gene experiments of the scorpions, so it was not surprising that he had somehow ended up in the grotto of the traitors.

It was probably also a small miracle that he once again ran into the spider diva, approaching her carefully.

"That was an excellent concert last night, if I may say so," he said out of the blue to announce his presence.

Turning to face the speaker, she tilted her parasol slightly back for a better look. "Ah, Miya-sama," she bowed deeply to the Imperial. "Thank you. I consider such words high praise from a man who did not seem the type to enjoy such shows."

She cast a glance to their surroundings, idly turning the parasol between her gloved hands. "Come to take a look at this strange display our hosts keep?"

"How could I not have appeared after our little chat?" he asked rhetorically, "But it was such a wonderful concert, I think you outdid yourselves" he said, coming a little closer to observe the thorny trees.

"It's a bit blasphemous, denying a samurai rebirth. What if someone is proven innocent after they nail him to a tree?" he said dryly.

"I am glad to hear it. It was... quite an event, sharing the stage with two other talented artists." Nevermind that she outshone them by far, in her eyes. But she tolerated Hinata much more than the other boys of Usagi Drop! and Kazumi had promising talent.

But her jealous spirit was quick to remind her that they were nothing compared to her.

"Hmmm is there any innocence left once someone has confessed to the crime... but to be honest, I find it strange that a clan would display their traitor's in such a fashion. But I am not very familiar with what the other clans do to such scum."

"Even if every confession is always true, it's a bit presumptuous to interfere with the kami's cycle. It is not the people who determine who is reborn as what, who gets to Yomi, and who pays for their present one in the next life." he said, even if it sounded a bit like he had learned it from memory, for all the priests and shugenja out there.

In his mind's eye, he only saw how one normally produced a confession. Many would rather lie and die than tell the truth and continue to suffer.
"What does the spider do with traitors?" he asked, in keeping with the theme.

Yakumo didn't think too much about the finer details of how confessions were aquired. It was never something that really crossed her mind.

"Hmm... I would agree with the Scorpion that treason is the worst crime a samurai can committ. I suppose the Scorpions care less about being the eternal judge, and more about sending the strongest message they possibly can of what happens to traitors." She shuddered a bit as she glimpsed some personal possessions hanging from a tree. "What frightens a samurai more than compromising their eternal soul, right?"

If your soul was eternal, and reincarnation was real, a samurai need not fear death - or so had the doctrine gone over millenia.

"As for what the Spider do... well, not this, that's for sure. Too much attention given to the very existence of treason. They're executed like everywhere else, with no fanfare, no mourning."

What happened after their execution was a topic she prefered not to dwell on long.

"It is of course right and important to create fear of betraying one's clan, but to place oneself above Emma-O? Who if not the judge of the dead should pass a better sentence?" he shook his head at how much the Scorpion was allowed to get away with.

"I apologize for bringing up such an unpleasant topic," he apologized, "Is there something more cheerful you would like to talk about?" even if it wasn't a particularly cheerful place, he thought.

"Don't worry about it, Miya-sama. I didn't exactly come here for cheery topics myself." And sure, she said that, but the chuckle hinted at some of the darker humor the Spider might have at such a subject.

"What about the Crab though? What do you do with traitors? I know you are Imperial now, but I know much more about the Imperial families and their ways than the Crab's."

"Depends" he said, "The Yasuki usually had a different idea than the rest of the clan." he replied, not knowing how much to tell even if they agreed they were over courtesy, "Most of the time the Kuni take care of it, but on the Green Carp they usually showed unfaithful traders the way to the jungle."

"The jungle...? Ah, so like, they would be shown out into the wilderness to survive on their own?"

Yakumo's knowledge of Green Carp's jungles were limited, only seen at a polite distance with security in tow when she stopped there on her tour. So she assumed it was her own homeworld. "Brutal. Certainly sets an example, I can imagine, to keep traders honest?"

As honest as Yasuki could be.

"Honest,..." he began with a raised index finger, before lowering his arm and thinking about how best to explain it. "The Yasuki have a... code, if you want to call it that. It's mostly about keeping a contract or trade once it's made. That may be logical to most samurai. After all, a samurai's word is his honor, but the Yasuki have a special focus on that and they take pride in that."

Yakumo would not have to learn that a contract would not have been made fairly, honestly, or with full consciousness. Besides, a Yasuki could hardly be prosecuted if the contracting party did not read the contract, did not understand it, the language was too complex or the definition of terms was somewhat vague. The only important thing was that after it was concluded, it had to be kept, ..... by both sides.

Yakumo gave Nishida an understanding look and a slight shrug of her shoulders, "don't need to worry about explaining it to me, Miya-sama. I understand to some point how the clans have different opinions on the tenets of Bushido. Believe me, I got pop-quizzed by a Lion today on the topic." She snorted a brief laugh, then quieted quickly as she remembered where she was.

It didn't feel quite right to laugh in this place. Not that it was a sacred ground, or a place of worship, but... there was just something about it that required a more solemn mood.

"May I ask you something, Miya-sama, as you're also someone who has the chance to see matters from multiple views?"

"A lion holding a pop quiz on honor? Quite something new" he said with a hint of a smile. "You're welcome, ask your question"

"Once in a millenia, a Lion does something new." Yes, she couldn't help herself from the sass. Because sassing was her favorite hobby.

Yakumo cleared her throat. "Now that you see the Empire from another point of view, as an Imperial, previously a Crab... hm," she seemed to struggle a for a moment on how to formulate her question, "do you think that it's possible for the other clans to accept my clan one day?"

"That's a difficult question, shall we walk a bit?" he replied, pointing to the path that led through the thorn forest. It was sometimes easier for him to find his words when his body was busy.

"Mm, of course," she nodded, shifting her parasol to the side so it wouldn't impede the Imperial as they walked together. Granted, she was pretty tall, so it wasn't like it was going to bump into Nishida's head, but it was the little gestures of being polite and considerate.

"I realise it's a question that isn't easily answered. Let's just say a meeting with one Lion journalist brought it to my mind today..." Yakumo admitted with a sigh as they began to walk.

"It's definitely not an easy question" replied and walked with Yakumo for a bit first.

It took a few minutes for Nishida to find an answer, "We are writing more than 3000 years of Rokugan history. In all that time there have been alliances, friendships, enmities and wars. And, even though I have personally experienced many impressions, I don't think the masses will change their prejudices so quickly," he said thoughtfully. He paused for a moment and before Yakumo could answer, he added, "But the Spider has strong allies in the Miya and the Crane, who know how to win the hearts of others. This will, sooner or later, hopefully lead to the attitude of the other clans becoming more neutral and not entirely permeated with hostility. "

It wasn't perhaps the exact answer she hoped for, but... all things considered, Yakumo knew she should accept this answer as something better than she had expected from a former Crab.

"... Thank you, Miya-sama. You're a good person." His words did seem to have put her at ease somewhat, as there was a tension to her that melted away now that had been imperceptible earlier. "Sorry for bringing it up, but... well, even someone like me get to a point where I get tired of hearing how I should accept being treated like shit just because of the name and clan I was born to. But your words are a comfort, reminding me that there are good samurai like yourself out here."

He had an honest expression of surprise on his face. He couldn't remember anyone calling him a good person, if that had ever been the case.

He quickly looked to one of the trees to hide his expression, ".... Th,.. Thank you for the compliment, Susumu-san." was his first somewhat wavering reply.