therewerefifty | [Action/Written/Accidental Audio]

[Action/Written/Accidental Audio]

[The day she spends like most, in her usual haunts; she works at Seventh Heaven, she trains deep in the forest. She finds time for a cup of tea in there somewhere. Makie keeps wrapped up more than usual; she's felt a little off, lately, so in case of oncoming summer colds she tries to take care of herself.

She looks for a man. (A particular one, hush.) Still can't find him.

She finally gathers her courage and returns to the smithy to see if someone can repair her weapon. Hopefully she'll see that boy again; he already knows. And if not, she'll just weather any awkwardness. Makie's slowly coming to the realisation that here in this village, it doesn't really matter, but old habits die hard.

When she finally returns home in the evening, she makes a cautious post to the network. She doesn't want to leave this any longer.

...does she really just need to write into the book? Well, then.]

[Written]

I'm looking for a gentleman I met during the time that... Twila arrived in Luceti. Sir, I never caught your name, but I would like to talk to you, if I may. I was the woman with the shamisen that [...uh.] spoke to you from the rooftops in the plaza.

[...this is awkward. She stops there.

Whatever responses she might get, Makie fails to close the journal when she's done. Which doesn't altogether mean that much given there's dead silence for some hours afterward, as she just curls up with a book to read. It's punctuated maybe once by a fit of coughing.

It's only when it reaches about 9.30 that evening that a few stray experimental notes of her shamisen can be heard. And then Makie starts playing. Sorry, any early sleepers. At least it's likely she won't be playing for long. >>;; Learning journal etiquette the hard way.]

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Oh. Well. Let's just keep you warm then. And I'll add a little honey to your tea. That's good for throats I understand.

Summer cold are dreadful things, though. If it gets worse, please make sure to call a doctor. There are plenty in the village.

I'll do that. And thank you. For the honey, I mean. [Never had honey with her tea, actually-- she wonders what it tastes like.]

How long is a game of Go?

Of course.

[She starts pouring and whisking and adding the honey and things, sliding the cup across the table and pulling out her game board.]

That depends. Usually around twenty minutes. But experienced players can go for hours and hours. I've heard of games between my uncles lasting for weeks.

I see. [Weeks at a time, huh. Sounds interesting. She picks up the cup delicately and blows on the steam rising from it, before offering Saori a smile.] Well, then. I am at your mercy.

Alright then.

[Because the mun is incredibly lazy, Saori takes the next several minutes to give Makie a simple explanation of how to play Go. She'll provide demonstrations and some basic tips and strategies, and when she's done she slides a bowl of stones over to Makie.]

Do you have any questions, or need anything explained again?

[Gosh, you lazy mun, you.]

It seems... reasonably straightforward.

[SHE HAS HER DOUBTS. But she reaches for the stones. It's not like she has to be good at it.]

[Explaining the game is incredibly lengthy and dull, sue me.]

It is. It's both complicated and simple at the same time. But it should give us a way to pass the time, wouldn't you say?

[Saori places the first stone...]

Now since we've got time, can I ask you who taught you to play shamisen?

[That's okay, this mun doesn't even know how to play.]

It should indeed. [She stares thoughtfully at her own stones. Now, how did it go...]

My mother taught me how to play when I was a little girl. [Fondness colours her voice.] We played together for a long time.

[At that, Saori smiles.] It was the same for me. My mother and my aunt taught me when I was a child too.

Those were some of my favorite memories. Learning things from them. And my father, too.

[Her expression visibly flattens at the mention of fathers, but her mood isn't exactly ruined. She just... doesn't enjoy that topic. And deflects.]

My mother was always very busy in the last few years. But we always found time. It was something I looked forward to.

[One of the only.]

[Okay. Saori doesn't comment further about her father then. Not after that expression.]

What does your mother do, Makie?

[Also a touchy subject, but for different reasons. Makie isn't ashamed of what her mother was driven to do in the end, but she wonders whether Saori's opinion will be very different. There's a brief pause.]

My mother... was the wife of a samurai until I was ten. After that...

After that, she worked in one of the brothels of Yoshiwara.

[Saori...understood what Makie was saying, and it outwardly didn't ruffle her a hair. She knew about Yoshiwara, and knew a bit of the harsh conditions faced by people there. But she, herself, had never entered the place when she'd been to Edo. There wasn't any stigma under Heaven's laws about brothels or prostitutes, but the place had simply been to noisy and crowded for most gods to want to visit. Earthly pleasures rarely interested the kami, after all.

Hardly a thing to be ashamed of, doing what you had to do to survive. Place only survival about your duty to Heaven and Earth was one of the many mandates gods lived by and mortals were no different.]

There's no shame in that, though I am sorry she was driven to such. [After all, who would choose that life?] Is she still living?

[Her frame relaxes. Makie coughs-- a lighter one, this time-- and reaches for the tea.]

No. She passed away some years ago. [Her expression is wistful more than grieving. It's been a while.] She... died with no regrets.

I'm sorry for your loss.

[Saori's own expression grows distant, her own mind weaving through the silvery haze of her own memory.]

That's all anyone can really hope for. A life without regrets.

Indeed. For how she chose to live, and meet the world...I am very proud.

[That won't ever change. She finally makes her choice and places a stone on the board.]

Do you...have parents? [It's awkward to ask. Do gods have parents? But Saori feels so very human much of the time.]

[Saori nods and thinks a moment before placing her stone. Talking about her life, and her parents was not something she did to just anyone, but...it was Makie, and she'd shared something close to her heart. Fair is fair]

I did. They...passed away, nearly five centuries ago. [She cants her had to one side, looking at the board for an instant before going on.]

I was human, once. Born to mortal parents.

{Truly? Makie's expression becomes a mask of confusion, and she tries to remember any of the stories she remembers about spirits.]

...you must have had a very interesting life.

[The look she picks up on, and one she's used to. Her situation hadn't been the most normal, no. And sometimes the idea of a spirit having lived another life was unexpected.

But then, a lot of her early life is lost in a haze.]

Not...really. It was fairly quiet but pleasant, until my family was murdered. I was simply lucky, and made a choice to honor the spirits. They chose to bless me in return.

[Oh...

She says that so matter of factly. But this was centuries ago. Perhaps if people live that long, then everything becomes so distant...]

Do you... know who murdered your family?

[Apart from that distant sadness, it makes her think of Rin.]

[Saori nods slowly. She knew the face of the man very, very well. Yamataki Mitsuhiro is a face and name burned into her memory as surely as her own mother's. One she'll never let herself forget, even through that misty hall of mirrors that was her memory.]

I do. A sorcerer who laid a curse on my family, a plague that took them in winter. [She's relating this as matter of factly as she can but there's a frozen steel to her words. She'd never forget those words, and the ghastly sight of her parents final days. Wasting away, with bodies like skeletons and eyes blind and haunted.]

He wanted me to die alone.

[A somewhat savage light briefly flickers in Saori's eyes, replacing the sadness. Equally as etched into her memory was her first act as a goddess: brutal revenge.]

And he died screaming.

[Who can blame her? The idea of it isn't shocking, given Makie's own background. She considers Rin's desires, and then her own; she doesn't think either of them would seek vengeance in such a savage way. But...Saori is different. This sorcerer sounds so much more malicious.

For a moment, she feels an echo of satisfaction for her friend.]

Were there repercussions?

Edited (just to clarify) 2013-07-23 03:04 (UTC)

[Saori shakes her head, her eyes go flat and her voice somewhat raspy. It's not an entirely pleasant memory, though there was a certain satisfaction in turning loose her servants on him.]

No. What repercussions could there have been? Mortal law doesn't apply to me, and the laws of my kind permit revenge.

[Saori huffs out a quiet laugh]

We're actually obligated to give others their due. For good or ill. In a sense, it was the proper thing to do.

No, I don't doubt it. Even mortal law in Japan... and culture... revenge killings are a large part of the world we live in.

[She takes a sip of her tea. It's better to clarify.]

When...I was brought here. I was on my way home to kill my father.

Honor demands what honor demands, and only life can pay for life.

[Nodding sagely, Saori stirs her own drink with a finger while she contemplates what she's been told. Makie's earlier reticence to speak of her father had been apparent. But killing him? Maybe it's rude to pry, but...she had sort of set up the question]

May I ask why?

[She looks at the stones on the board, shaking her head. If Makie didn't wish to share, she'd take no offense. Saori picks up a game piece and makes ready to place it in a position to take some of Makie's through a trick. If the other woman seems to want an out, she'll place that and change the subject back to the game. It's only proper to offer a way out of difficult discussions, after all.]

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