Kyuden Shika

After the departure of her first guest, Mitsuki had remained at "her" clearing to wait for the next one. Sat on a rug, her heavy saddlebag next to her, she was writing something on a piece on paper, using her shield as support.

Her horse Avel was nibbling whatever looked appetizing in the woods not far away, very much visible from a distance.

Not exactly sneaking, but not quite announcing himself loudly, he walked nearby Arvel. He knew better than to approach him without the Moto there.

He clicks his tongue to get his attention, then places an apple on the ground before moving to join Mitsuki.

"Good evening," he finally greeted.

Mitsuki acknowledged his presence with a nod but did not stand up to bow:

"Good evening Kitsu-sama. Did you find back your way easily? It has been quite a few days since our last meeting here after all."

"Yes. I stopped by a few days ago and added another stone to the shrine. I hope that is not a bad thing," he said with a nod.

"I have no issue with that, and the gods likely don't either. The rituals of the Ujik already vary so much from one family to the next I would say as long as it was a non-destructive act done in good faith, everything's fine. No need to be a 'true believer' or something like that.

Well, unless the gods explicitly manifested their displeasure of course. You didn't wake up in the middle of the following night extremely thirsty, and with all sources of liquid in your room, bottles, cups, fruits, whatever, mysteriously dried up, did you?"

"No, nothing like that. Perhaps they thought it would be futile with the amount of rain we're getting though," he replied with a chuckle.

"Is that a common punishment for the spirits that watch over the Moto?"

"It's a classic... And one that would have been impossible to mistake for a natural occurrence in this weather.

But for real, I think they were simply happy, or at least neutral about your gesture. No need to worry about it.

Were you seeking for something in particular on your passing? And did you find it?"

"I was attempting to capture a rabbit not far away with someone else, though the attempt was unsuccessful. Afterwards we passed by and I added the stone. And afterwards... well, we ended up falling in the mud and played around in it a bit. Was a good time," there was no sense of innuendo. It was apparently actually playing in the mud a bit.

"So I found something but not what I was looking for."

"So begin a lot of the best stories. Though usually there's some sort of a magical lamp, or ring, or sword, waiting in the mud.

Speaking of which, the debate with the monk this morning has reminded me that the same words, when written down, have way more strength than when simply pronounced. So I was thinking that maybe I should write down the most important tales in my repertory."

She looked at her page. A lot of crossing-out and very few full words were on display.

"Except I have no idea with which one to start. It's not like I can write them all it would take me a lifetime. But deciding which tales are worthy of that honor is no easy task at all."

"I'll help then," he offers. "I've got experience with writing. You tell me a story that touches your heart and I'll put ink to page for you. Sound good?" he asks.