There were so many suitors and only some fit the needs of the Lion. It occurred to Nozomi that she had not made much of an attempt to meet any of the Crab. Perhaps, unlike thus far, it would be wiser for her to try to make a good impression.

The Kitsu sat within the temple in deep reflection. For once, she seemed to actually be quite good at doing something. Not a single thought disturbed her within this plain place. It was nice, really, to be so free of distractions for once.

---

D2 EE Meditation / Void TN 20 for Void Recovery: 4d10o10k3 42

1/3 VP for Nozomi!

A friendly Asako arrived eventually to the Temple.

After that Otori experience, he could use a few words towards persistence. If only to hear himself say them.

Voices could be heard nearby, as Akemi and her servant Kyoko walked down the alley:

"Remind me why we're here Kyoko? We have tons of temples to Kisada in Crab lands."
"I was hoping that maybe this one had a better library section since we're in Phoenix lands Hida-sama."
"And what for?"
"Research on Hida Kisada's son, Hida Yakamo."
"Why... Oh, the Jade Hand. Think that could be relevant to modern fleshcraft technology?"
"Possibly. The base principles are fundamentally the same. A precise mechanic enhanced through the right prayers."
"That's a stretch, but as grandpa would say any opportunity you let pass by will haunt you for life. And if we could find some text from some second millennia scholar explaining why having a non-biological arm is quite cool actually, that would be nice too. Would give me extra ammo for some stupid arguments I've been having with hyper-traditionalists."

Kisada seemed good enough for a substitute Fortune of Heavy Metal, so Ruhe came to pray for inspiration! Clearly, for the miai, he needed to adjust his repertoire to incorporate more romantic vibes, but while love metal was not entirely an uncharted territory for him, he still needed to explore it more. Connections between love and the traditional themes of death, destruction, mayhem and monsters in and out could be meshed with miai vibes for sure, but the way to do so wasn't obvious. So at some point he took out his densai and stylus and started making perfunctory mind map for the purpose of such lyrics while shooting glances at the others in the hall to glean their motivation behind spending their miai time exactly here.

So many others within the temple. But for now, Nozomi wanted to approach the one she had been meditating on: a Hida of all specimens!

Except there was something strange about her arm. The Kitsu clearly noticed it, her eyes going to it. "Good evening, Hida-sama," she stammered out after giving an introductory bow. She pushed up her glasses and regained herself, if only just. "Does this temple do him justice?"

"Hi Lion-sama!"

The question was not really one she had thought about. She took an instant to think about it:

"Well, I haven't really met Hida Kisada myself to ask him about his opinion, but, from my understanding, he favored – as all Crab – practically before everything else. As long as the foundations, the walls and the roof are solid and kept that way, I would say it fits him."

Kyoko gave her that glare that meant she had once again forgotten about her etiquette lessons, and she quickly bowed in turn:

"Hida Akemi, of the Crab, pleased to meet you. If I may ask, what brings a Lion to the den of the most Crab of Fortunes?"

"The construction seems sturdy to me, though I am no architect," the Lion commented. She then smiled meekly at the Crab's introduction. "Kitsu Nozomi, priestess of the Lion. I came here to meditate on proceedings thus far."

"Oh. And did your time here help you reach a conclusion?"

"It is a work in progress," Nozomi admitted. She fidgeted with her glasses and eyed Kyoko. Then, her gaze went back to the samurai. "What brought you here then?"

"Searching for old records and essays about the Jade Hand. It's unlikely that I'll find some that we don't already have in Crab lands, but hey, the Phoenix are good at preserving old texts, so not totally impossible."

"The Jade Hand, huh?" Her eyes went back to the Crab's arm before trying to be more polite about it. "I admit, I figured this place would have less readings available. Have you tried the Temple of Fukurokujin yet?"

"Yes, but I haven't dare ask the Phoenix librarians there for access to their oldest texts yet. I may be a strong courageous bushi, but even I cower in fear at the idea of facing a zealous librarian within their domain. I'm sure they have a bureaucratic labyrinth already set up for people who anger them.

So for now, I'm using them to my presence by quietly reading the classics. Have to do that either way, they're on the to-read list my teachers expect me to have completed by next month... Somehow."

In a moment of metallic epiphany, verses started coming together for something that was certainly inspired by Fortune of Persistence, with a touch of the philosophy of his Clan's Fox cousins. The stylus almost blistered the densai as it raged across it in Ruhe's hand.

You rise, you fall
You're down, then you rise again
What doesn't kill you will make you more strong
You rise, you fall
You're down, then you rise again
What doesn't kill you will make you more strong
Rise, fall down, rise again
What doesn't kill you will make you more strong
Rise, fall down, rise again
What doesn't kill you will make you more strong
Through black days
Through black nights
Through pitch black insights

Breaking your teeth on the hard life coming
Show your scars
Cutting your feet on the hard earth running
Show your scars
Breaking your life broken, beat & scarred
We die hard!

"Perhaps I would be able to help? They may be more inclined to help a priestess, after all," she said with a smile. Then she tapped her glasses. "Plus I've spent ample amounts of time in the library."

She nodded along. "That's not to say you couldn't do readings here though."

"Your help would be greatly appreciated. That's a very specialized subject however, and I don't want to impose if such things are outside your area of interest. Do you have a particular appeal for ancient history, especially the one of the Crab clan? Or maybe for weird magical artifacts from a bygone past?"

"I wanted to help you," Nozomi admitted, fidgeting with her glasses afterward in thought. When she was ready, she nodded, mostly to herself. "I mainly study Lion history, of course, but it is part of my duties to know things. Not as much as the Ikoma though."

"Sure then. Should we schedule that expedition to the past for another day? In truth I have a business meeting in less than a hour, had just planned to taste the water with a few questions today. Here, take my Com' ID."

Akemi shared with Nozomi, should she accept it, her communicator identifier. The Hida clearly had some trouble getting her own device to display the number, but she managed eventually.

"Out of curiosity, what are the everyday duties of a Kitsu shugenja like? The Crab shugenja are a bit peculiar in that they focus almost entirely on the fight with Jigoku, directly at the frontline or in research facilities, so I actually have little idea of what another clan shugenja does of their days."

Mal-Chin rose from his prayers.

He stretched a bit.

People talked a lot.

History is it? A brief look up to the Fortune, and a nod in thanks.

He headed over to the vending machine, to check out the charms available.

"Sure, we should at some point," Nozomi said with a tinge of anxiety. She took the ID and shared her own for good measure.

"I believe most clan shugenja have many similar details. But yes, we have clan-specific duties. It shouldn't be surprising that Kitsu are ingrained in the war effort."

"You expect to be mobilized soon? I am to return to my unit pretty much as soon as the miai and its betrothal consequences will be done with."