It was a beautiful evening. The powerful and influence were out drinking fine sake, and those who were not were still enjoying the sunset at the beaches. The aerie was also beautiful, but less crowded with humans. The various night birds greeting the night in their own ways.

Hato added her voice to the birds, as so often as she had done in days gone by,

All those times, the days that we’d met
We would always fight, lie and scream
But still it’s one of the days I hold dear

If not for you, I would not be the
person standing here so proudly
And you taught me how to fight my fears
That I can make my dreams come true at will
If I try…

Even though my heart is aching
And my weakened spirit breaking
I will find a way a way to keep it
The memories we made along our dreams
And I know you won’t be coming
Though to God, I kept on wishing
So when I wake up to morning
I won’t cry, though you’re not here with me

Whenever I look at the past
There is only one thing I see
That we were so young, full of life, and naive
And now I wonder if this life we hold is
nothing more than fleeting dreams.
But those thoughts, they only hold me back
from becoming all that I can be.
I’ll move on.

I’ll go anywhere, just watch me.
Never stopping, always growing.
Oh, this happiness I’m longing
I know one day it will be with me.
Though our distance may grow further
Our circle of friends larger
Our love will just grow stronger
Proving that we’re meant for each other

I can feel myself I’m losing
And the pain in my heart growing
But I heard a voice inside me
Telling me I should stand and live
Every night whenever I sleep
I dream that you’re laughing here with me
And my tears never stopped flowing
Never dries, showing the pain I feel

So today, I’ll take my last chance
Waking up from this painful trance
I will pick up myself once more
Drying the tears that threaten to fall
When I close my eyes I can hear
Someone laughing with me loud and clear
To this day, I held that right here
Cause you’re still my most precious treasure

"Quite a song Hato-san." The gardens are empty of samurai of any reknown, meaning that for tonight ronin held their fill of the place. Okuri lies in a patch of grass, staring up at the changing sky. "Who taught you how to sing? The one who you sang of?"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 5:41 pm

"Quite a song Hato-san." The gardens are empty of samurai of any reknown, meaning that for tonight ronin held their fill of the place. Okuri lies in a patch of grass, staring up at the changing sky. "Who taught you how to sing? The one who you sang of?"

Hato bowed to her unintended audience.

"Ah no, the ones who taught this one now attend the court of Emma-O. The other voices of the choir now silenced, this one still offers the remaining words this one learned to the birds and the air kami." she revealed.

"Though if they brought you any joy, Okuri-san, that is pleasing as well to this one. It is a good night for wolves to howl at the moons, is it not?"

"It did. Bring me joy, I mean." Okuri found himself slightly surprised at his own honesty. "For holing up in the Shrine of Passion, there is very little joy to be found." He looks over at the woman. "I will honestly take what I can manage. And you are right...we live in the places abandoned by others, neither in one world nor the other. It does make me want to howl sometimes."

Okuri wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:03 pm

"It did. Bring me joy, I mean." Okuri found himself slightly surprised at his own honesty. "For holing up in the Shrine of Passion, there is very little joy to be found." He looks over at the woman. "I will honestly take what I can manage. And you are right...we live in the places abandoned by others, neither in one world nor the other. It does make me want to howl sometimes."

Hato briefly smiles.

"Ah, much like hermit crabs, neh? " she says, amused briefly by the thought of the wolves moving from shell to shell.

She nods.

"But this one understands that while the Shrine of Passion offers little in joy, it does offer food, shelter, and treatment to those who have lost their way in the many substances on might abuse to dream. This one does not trust the promises the Spider around the Shrine make of service, but this one cannot begrudge those who accept their offers either because they have no longer food to eat, or have no other way to find a way to serve."

She take s a moment to enjoy the flight of a bird from one tree to another.

"The Temple of Shosuro offers food, shelther....and silence. This one is grateful for it, but seeks to spend their time elsewhere when possible."

"To be fair, I don't exactly trust the Spider any more than I trust the Scorpion, so I can hardly blame you. And I myself am hardly in a rush to return to my bunk. I only chose that particular refuge because, well...there were still a few there who clung to their old ways like I have. "Service" is pretty loose, more than we are a pool that is easily found for hire." Thus..." he gestures with his hand. "I am here to listen to song from a fair young lady. Which, believe me, is a far more enjoyable use of my time."

Okuri wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 6:28 pm

"To be fair, I don't exactly trust the Spider any more than I trust the Scorpion, so I can hardly blame you. And I myself am hardly in a rush to return to my bunk. I only chose that particular refuge because, well...there were still a few there who clung to their old ways like I have. "Service" is pretty loose, more than we are a pool that is easily found for hire." Thus..." he gestures with his hand. "I am here to listen to song from a fair young lady. Which, believe me, is a far more enjoyable use of my time."

Hato smiles a bit at the wolf's kind words.

"There few enough places in the World of Dreams where song can be truly free. Free of money paid for space, free of choices placed by cultural officers. This is such a place in this moment. This one would be happy to entertain any requests for specific songs from their accidental audience, should they have one." she offers.

"There's one...I don't even know where I heard it from." Okuri clears his throat. "Join in if you know it. You'll be better than me:"

"There was once a girl without a name,
There was a tower no one could claim
No one remembers why she has climbed,
Or all those she must have left behind.

The first step is hardest, they said to her.
You will have to walk through fire.
It will burn away what you once were,
And always devour whole a liar"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:57 pm

"There's one...I don't even know where I heard it from." Okuri clears his throat. "Join in if you know it. You'll be better than me:"

"There was once a girl without a name,
There was a tower no one could claim
No one remembers why she has climbed,
Or all those she must have left behind.

The first step is hardest, they said to her.
You will have to walk through fire.
It will burn away what you once were,
And always devour whole a liar"

Hato's voice lifted up, joining in the song. While she was a better singer than Okuri, there was a balance between the rougher male voice and the more refined female voice.

"The second is the longest, they said.
You will walk under the restless dead.
The hanged all crooning from the gallows
To join them and rest in the shadows.

They say the third step is the cruelest,
Walk when the moon is at her clearest:
Love ends with the kiss of the knife,
Trust is the wager that takes your life"

"The last is strangest, she said to them
The easiest and the most solemn
For when the tower is yours to claim
You will have forgotten why you came.

There was once a girl without a name,
There was a tower no one could claim
No one remembers why she has climbed,
Or all those she must have left behind."

Okuri finishes, and looks over the woman, eyes widening and mouth slightly agape.

"I didn't know anyone else who knew it. You're...you're really good Hato-san"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 07, 2022 12:36 am

"The last is strangest, she said to them
The easiest and the most solemn
For when the tower is yours to claim
You will have forgotten why you came.

There was once a girl without a name,
There was a tower no one could claim
No one remembers why she has climbed,
Or all those she must have left behind."

Okuri finishes, and looks over the woman, eyes widening and mouth slightly agape.

"I didn't know anyone else who knew it. You're...you're really good Hato-san"

Hato bowed in acknowledgement of the compliment.

"It has been too long since this one had one to sing along with. This one is grateful for the opportunity, Okuri-san." she said, honestly happy to have had the ronin show up and sing.

"I'm really not much. There's no point in false modesty, I know where my talents lie." Okuri takes another puff of tabako. "You're really that alone? I know that's kind of the ronin thing, but really? No one else has bothered to listen, before I did so on accidenct?"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 07, 2022 9:19 am

"I'm really not much. There's no point in false modesty, I know where my talents lie." Okuri takes another puff of tabako. "You're really that alone? I know that's kind of the ronin thing, but really? No one else has bothered to listen, before I did so on accidenct?"

Hato smiled a bit.

"No matter how talented the singer, Okari-san, no one can sing a duet by themselves." she said lightly countering his honesty.

She shook her head a bit.

"But this one did not meant to imply that no one else had heard this one, though this one does seek out places where this one is unlikely to run into trouble with security for 'disturbing the peace. Though Okari-san might not believe this one were this one to inform him of her audience with the Whirling Neon Otomo."

"You know, I am not as surprised as you might think." Okuri settles back in, leaning back onto his elbows. "Ji-samurai assume that those of higher station as so lofty and above them. If this planet has proven anything, it is that the same human desires affect the bottom to the top"

He thinks for a moment. "I am curious though: were you a full time performer then?"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 07, 2022 5:12 pm

"You know, I am not as surprised as you might think." Okuri settles back in, leaning back onto his elbows. "Ji-samurai assume that those of higher station as so lofty and above them. If this planet has proven anything, it is that the same human desires affect the bottom to the top"

He thinks for a moment. "I am curious though: were you a full time performer then?"

Hato tilted her head at her fellow ronin's question.

"Okuri-san is referring to the time before this wave came forth from the ocean? Okuri-san's instincts are as keen as the nose on a hungry wolf, but this one would prefer not to speak of that time. It was a large rock with many sharp edges that caused this wave, and one would rather leave such a burdensome thing beneath the surface of the ocean where it will cause no further harm." she said with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Nor would this one seek to probe into her fellow singer's past. This one is hardly likely alone in desires such as this. Though this one would greatly enjoy further conversation on topics more recent, were Okuri-san inclined to speak on such matters."

"That is fair enough. My deepest apologies Hato-san." Okuri rises to his knees and offers a bow. "I don't like to speak of my time either...or rather, feel that I cannot speak of it. I ought to have extended the same courtesy, and for that, I am in the wrong."

The ronin studies his fellow. "Please forgive my curiosity as well. You are..." he pauses "It's been difficult to speak to anyone in a manner I would consider "normal". The masks that must be worn to find and keep work, to deflect anger from those who can strike with impunity have become so normal to me that it is unusual for me to just...talk with someone as a friend and equal."

Okuri wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 07, 2022 5:54 pm

"That is fair enough. My deepest apologies Hato-san." Okuri rises to his knees and offers a bow. "I don't like to speak of my time either...or rather, feel that I cannot speak of it. I ought to have extended the same courtesy, and for that, I am in the wrong."

The ronin studies his fellow. "Please forgive my curiosity as well. You are..." he pauses "It's been difficult to speak to anyone in a manner I would consider "normal". The masks that must be worn to find and keep work, to deflect anger from those who can strike with impunity have become so normal to me that it is unusual for me to just...talk with someone as a friend and equal."

Hato shook her head before glancing up at the evening birds.

"No apology is necessary, Okuri-san. Our pasts are shrouded, our presents are uncertain, and our futures are unknowable. That and the disdain of those above us tends to leave us with little but silence. Silence that can be quickly filled with doubts and fears if one is not mindful"

She watches as one brightly plumed bird makes a short hop from one branch to another, and Hato smiled a bit.

"Let us converse then, as friends and equals and stave off those voices of sin that seek to fill us with sorrow together. The city thrives with new arrivals for the season. Has Okuri-san seen anyone particularly interesting with those oh so sharp wolf eyes of his?"

"Apart from your joyful presence?" Okuri thinks on it. "A Miya, of all things, is here as a tax inspector. That one seemed to jump out at me. How about yourself Hato-san?"

Okuri wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 08, 2022 1:22 pm

"Apart from your joyful presence?" Okuri thinks on it. "A Miya, of all things, is here as a tax inspector. That one seemed to jump out at me. How about yourself Hato-san?"

Hato considered her own question.

"Not a new face to the world, but a new one to this one. An old wolf with an eye not his own. This one wonders if Okuri-san might have seen him at the Shrine of Passion." she put forth, thinking of the strange, menacing man.

"I can't say I've had the pleasure of that one." A thoughtful expression comes of Okuri's face. "It's probably worth mentioning that most of the ronin who call themselves Devout...aren't exactly close. It's a place to sleep, a place to pass on tips and tricks, but most wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. Also, most aren't ex-Spider. I certainly am not, and it really is a motley crew."