[LN D4] 11th Hour Musings

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren is abnormally quiet, as he's been through most of the day whenever not pressed. He waits until he's back in the at the inn, the first time he's been alone with her since he's learned.

"So... Today was, let's say "interesting"?"

[Sutorenja]

She sat and began the process of cleaning her weapon and said, "I agree, in the Lion sense."

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren moves to his knees and begins the ritual of tea preparation, the edge of his mouth quirking as he remembers doing the same thing the night before.

"You mean, the curse of " May you live in interesting times? " The second part was " May you get what you wished for"" Ren snorts. "It seems we have suffered both"

He is quiet for another beat. "I did not wish for your identity to be revealed. Please, how would you like to be addressed, at least in private? "

[Sutorenja]

"I am only Sutorenja," she said after a moment of thought.

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren offers a soft and genuine smile. "Well, that's good. I am rather fond of her, and I am privileged to have her as my yojimbo. Tea?"

[Sutorenja]

She nodded as she cleaned her weapon.

[Ikoma Ren]

"I do think I need to ask..." Ren stops, searching for the right words. "I just can't believe that my plan, and you...did you know? It just seems an incredible coincidence"

[Sutorenja]

She spoke, "Know what, Ikoma-sama?"

[Ikoma Ren]

"That someone was going to try to form a new Oturi's Army. Because, from where I see it, I cannot imagine anyone who would be best suited to forge a group of castoffs and outcasts into a true force, nor someone who might be in such need of such a force. It just seems too... What I wished for"

[Sutorenja]

"I had no idea, it was not my intention to form anything but learn to be a better samurai, see the Empire from the ground level, and master the blade," she said honestly.

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren hands over a cup of tea. "I would very much like to see that." He offers a soft smile. "I truly do. "

It's hard to find the right words when so much could not be said aloud

[Sutorenja]

"You are seeing it, I would hope," she said honestly.

"It is not so glamorous."

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren snorts. "First off, let's be honest here: attacking spirits, misdirection and assassination plots and a possible struggle within the Imperial family? That is the sort of things that get glamorized in the histories. Living it, not so much, but years of training of recounting epics of my ancestors certainly shows me the seeds of a story."

"Second, yes, I know the life on the ronin is not glamorous. But I do truly think that you're something special. Sutorenja-san is special, has a way of bringing people together, of making them feel useful and uniting them. Of leading them. I think she could be worthy of epics all her own, and if a bit of discomfort is needed for that story, then so be it"

[Sutorenja]

"You are an odd if amusing one, Ikoma -sama. Your boundless optimism is amazing to watch. Still, I am just thinking on the impossible events we have endured," she replied.

"It's a bit daunting."

[Ikoma Ren]

Ren waits a beat and then lets out a belly laugh.

"I'm going to tell you the same story that I did last night. Well, my last night. I told you about it this morning"

They once say that Shinsei's crow once came upon a flock of quail stuck in a hunter's net. Visiting them, he hopped down the grass where they lay snared.

"Fellow birds", he squawked in the language of beasts "Your wings may be pinned so that you cannot fly, and the fear of death may grip your heart. If these things happen, just understand that you have been trapped by the hunter's net and do not give up! Remember, if you work together you can be free. Now, this is my plan. You must stick your heads out through webs of the net and, then, you must all flap your wings together. As a group, though you are still bound in the net, you will rise up into the air. Fly to a bush. Let the net drape on the branches of the bush so you can each drop to the ground, and fly away from under the net, this way and that, to freedom. Do you understand? Can you do this?”

“We do understand,” answered all the quail as one, “and we will do it! We will work together and be free.”

Hearing this, the Crow was content. The very next day a group of quail were pecking on the ground when they heard a long whistling call. “Twe whee! twe whee! twe whee!” It was the cry of a quail in distress! Off they rushed. Suddenly darkness descended on them and their wings were pinned. They had indeed been trapped by the hunter's net. But, remembering the wise crow's words, they did not panic. Sticking their heads out through the webs of the net they flapped their wings together, harder and harder and slowly, slowly, with the net still draped upon them, they rose, as a group, through the air. They flew to a bush. They dropped down through the bush, leaving the net hung on the outer branches, then flew away, each in their own direction, this way and that, to freedom."

"We're quail in the net. But I'll flap with you"

[Sutorenja]

She smirked and said, "That is a rather silly story, but well told. We shall flap together."

[Ikoma Ren]

"I'm slipping" Ren retorts. "Yesterday you told me that it was the silliest you'd ever heard."

[Sutorenja]

"Wasn't yesterday just today but different?" she responded.

[Ikoma Ren]

"Yes, but I wasn't quite as good in telling the story it seems." Ren responds. "You smiled more, which was quite the reward for this humble storyteller."

[Sutorenja]

"I suppose my burdens are heavier today, do not fault yourself," she said in response.