[D9EE] The oral history of the Moto tribe (Expecting)

[Moto Mitsuki]

"The fight itself is the easy part. Killed or being killed, no time for doubts, for regrets.

What makes a soldier a soldier is how they spend the time outside battles, training, learning, honing their body and mind in prevision of the next time they will be called to war. It can be tomorrow, it can be in five years, it can be never.

It's not always the most thrilling period, but it's what we have to do. Soldiers who languish for the rush of the fight itself instead of focusing on that duty are often as dangerous for their comrades than for their enemies.

Plus, it's not like soldiers are doing 'just' training between great battles. We're often assigned guard, escort, safekeeping missions.

As for death... Death is the lord of all lords. It is to be feared and respected. Liking it on the other hand is the recipe for disaster."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Do you not get tired of the constant need to prepare for war? I absolutely detest the constant battles and infighting between the clans and wish my works didn't need to be used to cause pain when there is so much beauty in the world and greater threats to our safety in the south. Your own Ide family understand this and work towards peace and i think the rest of you would be happy just to ride all day. Yet the strength of the Unicorn is necessary more now than ever with the Lion itching for battle, the threat of Unicorn might may be the only thing that can stop their reckless need for destruction."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Every samurai carries by their side at least one blade designed for the purpose of killing humans. Not an ax, a knife, any blade that could simply be a tool, but an actual weapon of murder. Peace in Rokugani culture isn't based on lack of threats, but on the contrary on balancing an extreme threat by a similarly extreme one. Blade for blade. Army for army.

In that regard, for a clan to let its army slack off is like for a duelist to let their blade rust: Criminal negligence. And I serve the clan.

Not that the Sands are any better. If anything, they're worst. Scarce resources and huge riches make for many fights.

I'm more impressed that exist people honeyed-tongues enough to buy us some years of peace from to time than by the constant state of infighting really. Such diplomacy is a feat I'll be quite incapable of."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"You say that but you offer something quite lacking in society, an outside perspective. Your time abroad offers you insight to the greater nature of man that I think escapes many here in the empire and while many would ignore it I think you have a lot of value to add to things. What the empire needs is more knowledge, more perspectives and if the threats from the Sands or beyond come to our gate we will need your leadership."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Can't really disagree with that. I do have skills and knowledges that are uncommon in the Empire.

But I thought the Crane had a tradition of all their youth going on the roads for one year under the guise of a ronin to broaden one's horizons. You don't do that anymore? The idea seems very sound to me. Not as thorough as years on the other side of the world sure, but already quite the learning experience."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

A Musha Shugyo? They are less common now then I think they used to be though I had been considering it for myself before I got invited here. I wanted to get out of my home and see what other clans and regions did different than my smithing school, but a year on the road seemed like such a long time. I suppose it's different with a steed like yours, you can get places so much faster. No samurai is free nut i think you are just a bit more free than most of us."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Yeah, maybe a one-year trip is more adapted to a duelist who only needs to carry their blade and basic necessity, and can learn a lot from a few seconds clash, than for a smith who needs their bag of heavy tools and must remain for months in one place to get the hang of a new technique.

Well, if the mountain won't come to Shinsei, then Shinsei must go to the mountain. If that's why you were so interested in my weaponry? Trying to learn new things from them, getting a glimpse of the techniques used in Unicorn forges through them even if you cannot go there yourself?"

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Not exactly. While the techniques of the Unicorn smiths do interest me, they interest me greatly, I mostly wanted to spend some time with someone I know as an ally but don't know personally. The only Unicorn I spent any amount of time with was when I was much younger and I lacked the maturity to really learn anything from those conversations.

The Unicorn are not our oldest allies or our closest allies but you are probably our most important. Plus you fascinate me, it may be a romanticized view but you enjoy a kind of freedom that I have never known and seem to really enjoy life. I wanted to get a taste of that, see if it was real. I also wanted to thank you for allowing me to work on your shield and I really hope you like it, we never discussed how you wanted it finished and if you prefer it to be more subtle I can do that but Something so unique to the wider empire I felt deserved to draw a bit of attention to it and it's wielder; you are an eye catching person you should be armed as such.

Unfortunately I lack the skill to really make the most of this ride though this will be a lasting memory for me."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Skill only comes with time. No shame not being able to compete with someone close to having been born on horseback.

And no need to worry about the discretion of my shield. As a military commander, being highly visible on the battlefield comes with the job. Hard to direct the battle if your soldiers can't see or hear you... Even if that means being highly discernible by the enemy too.

Shields in general are not build from discretion anyway. I'm sure a Mirumoto master can move their second blade with such speed and grace one forgets it's there until the decisive moment... But shields are just too big to ever escape your opponent's attention, no matter if they are painted black or shining like the sun.

Not saying there aren't a few tricks you can do when fighting with a shield. But they're of the hidden in plain sight variety. You'll be surprised how many trained warriors forget a shield can be used as a blunt weapon in a pinch, so focused they are at getting around it for their own attacks."

An instant of silence then:

"Alliances are a complicated thing. From my understanding, for the balance of clans to be kept, alliances between clans tend to be answered with other alliances. The Phoenix is acting up. The Scorpion is... doing its usual thing. The Minor Clans between them have a hard time staying neutral, as the Shika often remind us in veiled terms.

We barely know who's allied with whom at this point. And even if we knew, the political situation will be shaken up so much by the upcoming war the alliances in a few years are unlikely to look like the alliances of today.

How would the Ide put it? Something like 'you can only trust an ally after they have become a friend'."

[Asahina Soyokaze]

"Well our futures are unknowable I hope that should we ever meet again you will count this one as a friend. Do you have any specific wishes for your future?" The words, while prying, weren't particularly flirtatious but curious.