[Action all over]

[therewerefifty]

[It's not so much that Makie has a clean bill of health-- she needs to keep taking this medication for another four months or so, by the clinic's reports. But she hasn't had a coughing fit in weeks and feels pretty healthy, all things considered-- just a little drained, that's all. And now, she's passed the bar of her illness. She's no longer contagious.

Which means she can stop holing herself up in her room and start going forward with plans to actually, you know...

...live a little.

What a concept.

She still doesn't go out until the afternoon though, tracking down Saori (and other house members if they're around) to inform them of a decision she's made during her convalescence. And then likely packing what very few things she has, and putting haru-no-okina through some well-needed maintenance out on the sunny rooftop. But in the afternoon she goes to several places, shamisen in hand:

Seventh Heaven, to ask after her old job;

The tea house, because it's been a while;

The forge, to request a weapon;

The Welcome Centre, to find out what apartments are still free;

And finally, back to the battledome to investigate it more thoroughly. (She keeps an eye out for Konan on her travels, mindful of an offer made a long while ago. Just in case.) Once she knows sufficiently enough (or someone programs it for her), she steps into one of its rooms for the first time, shamisen neatly tucked to the side out of harm's way, and experiences it for herself. (The program name of the day: Shift Hunters. How fitting, that they're like giant wild dogs.)

...probably stays in there a little too long, though, since her stamina is kind of shredded right now.

Catch her at any of these places or anywhere in between.]

Comments

[therewerefifty]

[She hopes things will not, but Makie long has lived in the real world. The offer is touching, either way. A blessing from a goddess.]

I would be honoured.

[windandrain]

[Stepping closer, her fingers begin to trace a pattern in the air. Makie might recognize the character (匿) if she's literate, though Saori has no idea. Sparks fly along her fingertips, the space between them positively thrumming with power.

Then Saori speaks, her words rote and ceremonial, a ritual repeated many times.]

Makie, you are blessed by the Daughter of Wind and Rain. The sky will watch over you, and should harm befall you your enemy will suffer tenfold. Should you need me, I will find you.

[And then the symbol darts forward, flowing into Makie. For a brief instant, it pulses against her chest, leaving a faint tingling sensation. That then fades as the rite completes. The goddesses demeanor changes back to it's cheery, less weighty self, and she inclines her head in a fractional bow.]

You'll come back to visit, yes? I'd hate to miss our tea times together.

[therewerefifty]

[She's never been faced with a direct display of Saori's power. The symbol is recognisable, though Makie doesn't really pay full attention once the ritual starts in earnest. Her hand comes up to touch the warm tingle of the symbol's passage.]

You will see me often. I enjoy the company of your household a great deal.

[Then she smiles.]

Thank you, Saori.

[windandrain]

[Smiling brightly, Saori crosses the space between them and gives Makie a quick hug. Nothing fancy or clinging, just one friend to another.]

You're welcome, Makie.

[Pulling back, she grins and nods back towards the ring she'd come from.]

When you're able, we'll have to train together so you can get your stamina back.

[therewerefifty]

I'd be glad to. [She nearly extends an invitation to visit the battle dome with her, and then Makie decides she'd prefer to know how to use it first.] To be honest, I look forward to finding ways to rebuild my strength. These last few months have been very...quiet.

[Dull. She hasn't trained at all. Makie feels vastly out of practice.]

[windandrain]

I understand that. I've only been out for a month, and I already feel less sharp. I missed this...[She indicates the ring.] And the Battle Dome. It's good to get back outside. You wouldn't think so short a time could have such an impact, though. Maybe it's the barrier, but I just don't feel as fast as I should be.

[therewerefifty]

When I was a child, I learned that taking one day off from training required a good ten days of harder work to compensate. The human body forgets... or it becomes lazy.

[Back when her father still deigned to teach her, that was. He was humouring her.]

[windandrain]

I guess that would be true...yes. This body isn't quite human, but a month off is still a month off.

It sounds as though you worked hard as a child though...

[therewerefifty]

Not as hard as you would think. My father told me that more or less to discourage me. He assumed the knowledge was enough that I would lose interest in the dojo.

I had other lessons that were more important, so my time in the dojo was purely to satisfy a young girl's curiosity.

[windandrain]

Oh? What lessons were those?

[She knew Makie valued training, she identified as a fighter, so the statement made her curious. What would a younger Makie value that much?]

[therewerefifty]

[To Makie they weren't quite so much important as they were important to her family. Before a certain day. The dojo was more fun, she remembers. Then, she didn't take it seriously at all. That was her brother's job.]

I was the daughter of a samurai household with great expectations placed upon it. The only role for a woman such as myself would be as a wife her husband could take pride in.

[windandrain]

[That's something that draws a faint laugh from Saori. Her own father, her entire family even, had been so different from that. Even though she knew a bit about Makie's past, it always struck her as off.]

I'm not so certain I'd agree with your family's logic there. The tradition of Onna-Bugeisha was certainly nothing to dismiss. Maybe the traditions changed over time, but that's still nonsense.

[therewerefifty]

Mm. I know that tradition had more prominence in earlier times. That my father agreed to teach me at all is a mark of it-- I would still be expected to take up arms in defence of my household. But... [She searches for the words, and her thoughts turn to Kagehisa.] Form. Decorum. Tradition. Where the country is at peace, so much of these parts of our society have been highly ritualised. Women have little place in such things anymore.

Were I not from a samurai bloodline, it may have been different. [Ironically. Still, as that day with the dogs confirmed for her, to be rescued by a girl was considered too degrading.]

[windandrain]

[Saori snorts at the thought. The tradition of war, the ritualization of it, that was something that'd always somewhat amused her for one reason or another. Granted the time she'd been a child, her life as mortal, had been during a wilder era. It was simply expected for nobility to learn to defend themselves, and then there was the matter of gempukku.]

Strange to think how much a few centuries can change a society, isn't it? I wasn't much older than you when I changed, but it sounds as though the life I had was so very different.

[therewerefifty]

I suppose it's perhaps the difference between a time of war and a time of peace. Some say we've had too much peace... certainly a samurai's life now is far different than it would have been even in my grandfather's time.

[windandrain]

Some people would say that there's no such thing as too much peace...but I'm afraid I can't quite agree with that. Life needs the spice of battle, or something at least, to make it worth living.

[Says the easily bored immortal...shut up Saori]

[therewerefifty]

[Makie smiles faintly at that, looking down at her hands in her lap.]

I suppose everyone needs something different in their lives. If battle is what makes it worthwhile for some...

[windandrain]

It's just a part of life. What is it without some measure of conflict? I know you understand what I mean.

[therewerefifty]

[She does. She just...wishes it was different.]

Living a life without conflict... means you don't hurt anyone.

[windandrain]

Maybe. Or maybe you're just the person being hurt. Either way, wouldn't it make for a limited existence? There's only so much people can do on their own, and they will always disagree. If everyone agreed on everything, where would we be?

[Saori has no illusions about that sort of life. Conflict is in her nature, as a living expression of nature. She almost craves it, at times. The pull to destroy and take is strong, almost a need. She's good about holding that instinct in check, but a storm is still a storm.]

[therewerefifty]

[Makie has a lot of thoughts on Saori's point of view. On a base level, she knows very well what the world is like. But she can also see how much pain she's inflicted on those she knows and cares about. Including herself. Just by existing.

Luceti is a gentler touch than home ever was. Here, it feels...permitted to be herself. Home is different. So very different.

She is different.

Limited existence.]

...

I think such a world is incapable of existing. Even the laws of society themselves cause conflict...

[...]

It would be nice to keep my memories of this place.

[It's sort of on the same subject.]

[windandrain]

[For a moment, she's quiet. The idea of a place like that simply didn't appeal to her, and she could absolutely agree there. Society created conflict, and even then it was just the way of the world. She's a being with a violent nature, so her mind is skewed. Peace would be a nice reprieve but making it permanent and lasting would mean the death of so many things, herself included.

The final comment, though, snaps her attention back.]

Would you? I think...maybe that might be where you and I differ. There are some things I would never ever want to lose. But there are so many things I just want to forget. Shifts and loneliness wore on me for so, so long.

[therewerefifty]

This place is...

[She pauses. She's unsure if she wants to go this far in confession, but...

...]

This place is a refuge for me. Nothing is required of me. It means...I can live for me. Or I've learned how to.

[Sort of.]

I'll go home, and I'll forget that.

[windandrain]

[Saori's eyes close and she smiles sadly.]

I suppose I can understand that. I don't know how many memories I'd want to keep, but I'd hate to go home and forget about my friends here. [Makie included. And she has a confession of her own, at that.]

But I honestly don't want to leave. Not yet. I...don't know if you saw it in the tunnels, but I've been here before. I-I was experimented on here in the past, but I have no memory of it. So I want to stay. I want to remain long enough to put a stop to this, to keep people from coming back. And to find a way home through my own power.

It has to be possible, someway. And if that's true, then maybe we can find a way home with our memories intact.

[therewerefifty]

[Mention of the tunnels confuses her, with Makie so distanced from the journals in general. So she doesn't actually know what Saori is talking about. The confusion may flicker on her face, before she follows the gist of what Saori is really saying.

Experimented on...

She closes her eyes.]

I would help you with that, if I could.