Re: D14 ME - The War is Over
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:57 pm
The Lion nodded.
"You are almost entirely correct, Doji-sama. There is a wisdom to your words which are years ahead of what I could even comprehend. I cannot speak to the will of my Champion, but the conflict between Lion and Crane begun well before us and will likely end well after us."
He paused.
"But... if I truly intended to do nothing, to simply walk away and bask in the moment, I would not be here. I would be, as you say, dreaming of my upcoming marriage. But here I sit, attempting to parlay with two opposite sides who have been forced to ask an impossible question - to demand that one group lives or dies for the sake of the other."
He let the words hang.
"I am unsure if you know of my organization, Doji-sama, but I am a writer for the Records of the Fallen. I have spoken to many people across the Empire, but almost all of them during grief for the loss of a loved one. I have come to know that beneath the samurai there is the person, one who will do anything to protect the ones they love. Usogawa-san's involvement in all this attests to that."
He had no solid proof, but he did have a Lion's sense of right and Usogawa's reaction when he asked at hand.
"By the marriage's end, I will be an Imperial. A servant of the Seppun themselves - no longer simply hanging on the right arm, but responsible for all arms - the right, the left, even the underhand, to an extent. Perhaps I am hasty, Doji-sama, Shika-sama, but let us suppose we could advise this 'one man'. That we find him on the street one day, eating soba noodles in a teahouse or drinking tea with friends in a port town."
He fingered the coin on the empty chair next to him, even if he didn't present it yet.
"What would he have to do, do you think?"
"You are almost entirely correct, Doji-sama. There is a wisdom to your words which are years ahead of what I could even comprehend. I cannot speak to the will of my Champion, but the conflict between Lion and Crane begun well before us and will likely end well after us."
He paused.
"But... if I truly intended to do nothing, to simply walk away and bask in the moment, I would not be here. I would be, as you say, dreaming of my upcoming marriage. But here I sit, attempting to parlay with two opposite sides who have been forced to ask an impossible question - to demand that one group lives or dies for the sake of the other."
He let the words hang.
"I am unsure if you know of my organization, Doji-sama, but I am a writer for the Records of the Fallen. I have spoken to many people across the Empire, but almost all of them during grief for the loss of a loved one. I have come to know that beneath the samurai there is the person, one who will do anything to protect the ones they love. Usogawa-san's involvement in all this attests to that."
He had no solid proof, but he did have a Lion's sense of right and Usogawa's reaction when he asked at hand.
"By the marriage's end, I will be an Imperial. A servant of the Seppun themselves - no longer simply hanging on the right arm, but responsible for all arms - the right, the left, even the underhand, to an extent. Perhaps I am hasty, Doji-sama, Shika-sama, but let us suppose we could advise this 'one man'. That we find him on the street one day, eating soba noodles in a teahouse or drinking tea with friends in a port town."
He fingered the coin on the empty chair next to him, even if he didn't present it yet.
"What would he have to do, do you think?"