A shrine away from all the people, actually nestled in the wonders of this world seemed like an idea place to commune with the world. So Mumei organized an excursion, grabbing a bottled water from the inn as she ran out.

With a vehicle full of her fellow Minor clanners, she might even be able to try some fungal sake while at the shrine since someone else *could* drive back. Clad in her usual worn jeans with copious pockets and synthetic top, she checked the little ATV for leftover spores before getting going.

Izumi had also peered at the ATV, seeing if the dusting of 'shroom spores had damaged the paintwork or anything more serious. Not that he knew how the ATV worked, just that even he could spot a corroded hole if one appeared. He seemed happy enough that the rental was still hale.

"Anyideawhatthistempleislike?"

Koseki was going along for the adventure today. There was never a bad excuse for an adventure in his book, but he figured they probably needed a bushi along for the ride. He checked his weapons one more time. Something predatory might need to be shot with extreme prejudice.

He helped the fox with the vehicle safety inspection. "Seems okay despite yesterday's dusting. Going be a longer drive today. Interesting place for a temple, so far out."

Mumei shakes her head. "I just know it's built way out in the wild on some rock. Seems the right place to tap into the world's voice."

She pokes around the vehicle controls a bit to figure them out. "Where's those wipers again, Kitsune-san? In case we run into more spore clouds or something?"

_______
(If someone else wants a ride, feel free to be asleep in the back seat. XD)

Izumi jumped into the passenger seat and pointed across the dashboard.

"Thoseswitchesthereforthesidewindows. Mainfrontwipersareonthewheel."

With a slam and a roar and some shifting, they're soon underway through the sticky hot day and alien landscape.

While Mumei does keep her eyes on the road, she also frequently points things out on the trip...almost everything is new. That patch of something bright orange across the plain, the sticky-looking bluish ooze running alongside the trail for a bit, the fantastically gooey bug that splats on the windshield.

Mumei winces. "oooo, sorry bug that was some unlucky flying. Hope you weren't just running from something bigger." She does slow a bit though, in case bug-eating predators were also ignorant of the danger of windshields. "Anyone have time to look at ah...anything about those giant lizards?" She sure hadn't.

Izumi shook his head.

"Ilookedupthefungalstuff. Theydobuildwiththem, thedojohereismadeoffungalplanks. Alsothere'ssomewithhallucinogenicpropertiesandmorethanafewthataredeadlytohumans."

Mumei continues in silence for long moment, unspooling the roll of Fox speak.

"Thought so, those stalks were realllly solid out there. Wouldn't want to be near if one fell! But what're these hallucinogenic ones like? Those sound like they'd help you tap into the kami here better, being part of them and all."

He pulled his densai out of his pack and paged through the notes he'd taken at the Temple.

"AsakazeRedHat and YellowKokuBracket."

He flashed the pictures hoping not to distract her from driving too much.

He flashed the pictures hoping not to distract her from driving too much.[/quote]

"I definitely need to see if anyone in town has those." She pauses, looking a bit to the side. "Aaaasuming they're legal, that is...of course."

It's a long drive through the windy mountain roads, but since the whole trip takes up only one timeslot, not too long. The imposing, five-story, black basalt structure eventually looms into view. "Whoa. I did not think it would be so big! Even at a well-established colony. Think that's defense against those big lizards?"

"Lookslikeafortressmonastery . . . "

The little Fox was impressed.

"Yeah. Think they're sohei?" She slips out, stretching to sky to loosen everything after the long spell of sitting. The smell's a bit less when not right down in the forest, but definitely not the same as back in the city.

She takes a moment to enjoy the view and get a feel for the surroundings, wondering if it made sense to meditate out here rather than inside the dark edifice after paying respects to... the Mori? "Not even sure what kami this shrine's to. Local one...maybe based in sacred stone?"

He opened the passenger door and jumped down.

"Let'sgoinandsee."

"Yep!" She heads for the entrance, washing hands and mouth at the basin, hoping it's cleaned often enough not to become an infusion of burning spores. The thick stone hopefully keeps it cooler inside, because it's sticky out here.

She ran her hand along the solid stone as she went, yearning to reach more deeply than hands could.

Izumi follows suit with the ritual purification and then also touches the stone.

"Feelslikeit'sbeenhereawhile."

Mumei nods. "Stone endures...until the water wears it away." It sounds like an almost ritual phrase, but it's hard to tell if it's a benediction or a threat.

Within the shrine, she pauses, taking in the giant statue and the many smaller ones that look far more human than the four-armed creature. "Oh...that reminds me of images for ancient Rokugan, but not..." she frowns, "not the kami of the Empire really. " her voice lowers.

"do you think this sect borrowed from the ancient pre-Celestial colonies we conquered?"

With the Kitsune concentrating on nature far more than religion, even for their shugenja, Izumi was ill equipped for this conversation.

Didn't stop him.

"Fourarmsdoesn'tlookrightfortraditionalwaysfromtheHomeworld."

He shrugged and looked at the nonsense kanji.

"ThePhoenixshouldknowtheTaobetterthananyotherclanbutthisjustlookslikegibberishatfirstglance."

"Well, I went to look up the dangerous lizards in the library, but I ended up meeting a cute Kuni instead." Koseki shrugged, it had seemed like a win. Still he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of danger along the route.

When they arrived at the temple he had to agree it looked solid, and a bit odd. The symbols were completely unfamiliar. He checked the gas mask was attached to his gun belt.

"You know, apparently earth kami really like me. I dont know why exactly, and they like Firefly in general, but anyway, so I'm told."

He double-checked the rifle for the n-th time and looked around for suspicious humans or really suspicious giant lizards.

Mumei nods at the Fox's assessment, glad again that she wasn't taking anything just now. "Those almost kanji feel a bit like something you'd see on a bad trip, if you know what I mean."

She looks to the Firefly, "makes sense. The Crab are kind of tied to earth in general and the Firefly started with Crab family, no?."

"We're more deeply involved with water. I'm kind of fond of how damp everything here is. Like being constantly under the attention of the water kami." Ok, that attention would be more welcome if it weren't so warm, but still.

She approaches the statue, deciding that it's only polite to offer a small cone of incense since she's here.

"Yeah, and we do a lot of tunneling, what with all the space mining and all." He chuckled and looked up at the statue. An approving nod was awarded for the lantern.

"Four arms? Huh. That's a bit...weird." The kanji gave him a headache so he looked away and noticed Mumei going for a lighter.

"Hey, I'm glad someone likes all of this damp. Say, anyone mind if I smoke?"