Wedding at Fire Shrimp Village an L5R PbP

From a Crane perspective, of perfection and harmony, there was someone breaking the picturesque scenery that the patrons of the Sleepy Willow were so proud of. A ronin woman, was sitting near the gardens, watching as the slight rain was falling outside.

The woman, although a ronin, did not follow the typical stereotypical image of wavemen, uncouth, rude and most likely dirty lordless samurai, she was 'fine' in that regard, she had a sense of fashion, especially around her hair and the makeup she was wearing, but she was still a ronin, so probably it didn't matter for the Crane owners of the inn.

She continues to watch the rain fall, bowing cordially and respectfully when someone pass close to her, as expected, even if the sign of respect was not replied in kind....

A short distance away on the other side of a partition separating her room from the garden there was a quiet woman kneeling next to a table with a small collection of ledgers out next to an abacus. Her fingers moved swiftly and precisely along the abacus, pausing only intermittently to reach over and flip the page of the ledger she was appraising.

Every few minutes her hand would pause and reach over to her cup of tea which cooled exponentially with each sip she took. She had gathered the books shortly after she arrived that morning from her father's associate. She was nearly finished with the third one when she felt an increasing pain in her neck which was difficult to ignore.

She tried to roll her shoulder to ease some of the tension, but the inability to press on the point of pain herself led to an ever-increasing uncomfortability. She decided to rectify the issue as she frequently did, by going for a bit of a walk and attempting to put her muscles to a more proactive use.

She opened the partition and closed it behind her, walking around to the location where one could put on slippers to walk through the garden. She took deep breaths as she walked about, subtly turning her neck back and forth to admire the scenery... and relieve a bit of stress on her tendons.

She noticed the ronin from a short distance away and gave a polite nod of acknowledgment as she drew near.

Amika noticed the crane woman making a polite nod towards her direction. As it would had been expected from someone of lower status like her, the ronin female approached the clan samurai-ko, slowly.

When she arrived right in front of her she bowed, very low, as a sign of respect. '' Amaterasu's no kami blessings, Crane-sama...'' Have you had rice today? '' The ronin asked politely. '' I hope that i'm not bothering you with my presence, Crane-sama. If so, i can go somewhere else.'' She said, without raising her head, always bowing. '' The name is this one is Amika.''

"Your presence doesn't bother me Amika. You bring a lovely aura to the garden." She said warmly.

"What brings you this way?"

'' You are most kind, Crane-sama.'' Amika replied to the kind words coming from the crane samurai. '' This one is just passing by through your clan's lands, travelling to the south.'' The ronin replied to the Daidoji's question.

“Then we have a similar destination it would seem.” She replied warmly.

“You don’t appear to be heading to try your luck on a Twenty Goblin Winter..” She said as a lead.

'' Not at all...'' She replied. '' I have heard about that Crab clan tradition, but i have no skills to be even considering the idea. Although every samurai must be ready to fight and die at a moment notice, the reality is, that fighting is not my forte, Crane-sama.'' She adds.

'' My mother tried to teach me the art of the sword but i was not a very good student of it, to my shame''

Kaneko gestured slightly to her missing arm, “Not all are blessed with the gift of martial prowess. There are many different ways to contribute to the empire.”

'' I-uh...'' The ronin bowed to the Crane woman after she noticed the gesture towards her missing arm. '' Forgive me Crane-sama, if my comments sounded rude. It was not my intention. '' She kept her head low, very low. '' Indeed there are many other ways to show dutiful service towards the Daughter of Heavens.'' She adds.

“That was not a rebuke, little wolf.” She said again with warmth.

“What is it that you do to rend service to others?”

'' This one is a painter with some skill.'' Amika replied. '' This one also knows something about calligraphy but mostly this one dedicates herself to the art of painting, Crane-sama'' Amika replied to the crane woman.

"That is a most useful skill indeed. What sorts of compositions do you find yourself creating most often?" She asked.

'' Sumi-e background landscapes is what this one usually does, Crane-sama.'' The ronin replied to the crane samurai. '' This one has somewhat specialized in such art, but with some more effort other styles could be also be done by this one.'' She adds.

'' Calligraphy as an artistic expression is also something that this one is currently trying to achieve. Learning the intricacies of the written language of the court is something that this one is currently pursuing as well, Crane-sama''