Antlers and Horns (D5, LE)

[Hantei Kinsen]

"Well..." Kinsen raises her eyebrows, saying, "Your people can learn how they can contribute in this new Empire that is forming up. Simply saying one doesn't want to change, because it is the way it has always been is kind of... well... not very smart. Not to say it is selfish. Enlightenment should be welcomed. If one is able to use their own sparkle to make this light reach others."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I don't say we cannot change, but... if we give up everything that makes us who are, our history, our caravans, our skills and talents... would we even be... us anymore?"

Ryoko furrowed her brow, trying to calm the ache behind her eyes.

"We don't take from others or prey upon the villages, we just travel. We are free. I don't understand how that could be bad."

[Hantei Kinsen]

"Well. I am originally from the northern mountains. When I was... gifted... to the Noriaki chieftain as a spoil of war, he shackled me in chains like a beast, so I wouldn't flee. I couldn't even let my nails grow or paint them. I became nanny to his son, from another woman. That was the only thing that made me sane. He... waited until I was old enough, and since I was too 'dangerous', he made me kill his enemies, always threatening to destroy my father's village if I did not comply. So willing he was into getting me killed, he pointed me at the Kami during the battle at the Seppun territory, years ago."

Kinsen looks to Hantei, and smiles again. "If if weren't for dear husband, his brothers and sisters, I would be dead. Instead, they took me in. They treated me. Taught me better."

She bows thankfully her husband, even though she knows he has heard this before. Then, Kinsen turns to Ryoko, similing. "I took the light they gave me, and delivered it upon the Noriaki. Now the culture they once had is different. Evolved. Yet, the Seppun, always the peaceful sort, also benefitted from this. Instead of enemies, now they have allies. They can trade, and prosper together. One protecting the other when it is needed. Always under the light of the Kami as our guides."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko listened, her expression growing increasingly horrified.

"I had no idea... that sounds as bad as the nezumi! How could he act like that!?"

Rising, she moved around the table, to wrap Kinsen in a hug, adding, "My tribe isn't like that, I swear... we don't want to hurt people. We just want to keep living in peace."

[Hantei Kinsen]

As the girl rises up and starts moving towards her direction, Kinsen instinctively prepares for an assault. Yet, the result was... unexpected.

As Ryoko's embraces the wife of the Stag warmly, Kinsen's talons recoil back. Her arms, once ready to counter-attack, are rendered numb as they try to find ground underneath herself. Her golden eyes look to Hantei as her head falls to the soft cushions with the momentum of Ryoko's tackling hug.

She remains silent, blinking at her husband.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko hadn't expected the hantei to lose her balance, and she pulled back, looking worried. "Eto... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to push... I just thought... it was sad."

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen chuckles, and slowly gets up to seiza again. She also fixes her hair back into the proper comb she had made before looking back to Ryoko.

Looks like she's annoyed. But that's not quite real. Kinsen gently takes Ryoko's hand on hers and squeezes a bit. Smiling with closed eyes, Hantei's wife says, "It was sad, indeed. Ryoko-chan. It is much better now. What you say I teach you some of what I learned from the Kami. Perhaps you, too, could tell your Clan about the enlightenment of the Kami and show them a better path?"

[Hantei]

Hantei's eyebrows rose at the physical assault of the small horned girl. He had been about to intervien when Kinsen righted her self and seemed to take no offense at the incident. Though he did wear a slight frown at the inappropriate display, he said nothing for now. "We do not come to destroy but to build, we do plan to change things but we hope you can trust us that it will be for the better."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I.. I don't know you. But everyone says very good things about you."

Leaning back on her heels, Ryoko added, more quietly. "I do not think my clan are bad people, or that our ways are bad... but if you have good things, like the tea, or ways to help there be peace among all the villages we visit... I think we would welcome those things."

Brushing off her knees, nervously, she added, "If we don't want to live in stone houses, do you think there would be a place in the clans for us to keep our herds and travel? Is there room for us to be ourselves, even in the Empire?"

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen frowns a bit. Not sure how she could explain without being a tad blunt, she does it anyways. "Of course, we should stay true to what we are, but always in servitude of another. If you want your people to roam free among the Clans in this new Empire we are building, then by all means, show how they can serve whomever crosses their path. If they become nuisance, or take too much space others need, they'll be selfish, and there'll be conflict."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"The ogres of my tribe fled from servitude under the Nezumi, where they were slaves."

She looked very serious. "It would be wrong of us to then demand they be slaves of another. Are we to be valued friends, or useful pawns to be used and discarded when inconvenient?"

[Hantei]

"There is a difference between service and slavery. To serve is a calling something done because it is the right thing to do. My people serve me because they trust in my wisdom and ability to lead and i in turn serve the emperor because he is the chosen son of Heaven. I am not his slave certainly but i do serve him." He explains with a calming tone.

"We are not saying the way you live your lives is bad only that there is a better way. But for that we have to impose rules to bring order to the chaos that engulfs this world. This will change how people live their lives but it is in service of a brighter future."

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen nods to Hantei, reinforcing his words, and smiles back to Ryoko. "I take pride in serving my dear husband. In return, he blesses me with his grace and wisdom. His appreciation of this servitude deeply appreciated. It fills me with purpose."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"I... kind of understand."

She sighed. "Still, I guess I don't know which clan will claim the land we currently travel. Maybe we can arrange a bargain with them, as we do the villages we meet now. Otherwise, we don't hold land of our own, so I do not know how we could join a clan - all our belongings and talents are tied up in our herds... without a place for them to graze, that will fade in less than a generation."

[Hantei Kinsen]

"Looks like you have the opportunity to move first and chose first, then. That's a good thing, Ryoko-chan." Kinsen nods a few times and smiles.

The evening was surely pleasant.

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

With a small nod, she added, "I guess I should. Do you have any advice on which clan might have a place for a tribe of herdsmen and musicians, wood workers and wanderers?"

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen shrugs, adding, "Wandering around might be an issue. Most of the Seppun are farmers. There's no need to wanter around like other tribes do. The Noriaki are doing the same, and I believe many of the other Clans that plan to grow will settle down. Shinjo-kami-sama, though, might have other insights about this." Kinsen looks to Hantei for a moment, trying to understand if there was something in his mind she didn't grasp.

Then, she looks curiously to Ryoko, and asks, "So your people are protectors of the herd. Which creatures you take care of?"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Water buffalo and goats, mostly."

She sighed. "If we stay in one place too long, the fields can get grazed bare. We'd need to have many pastures to rotate between, to keep the land healthy."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she added, "And we also have Ogres in our tribe... would there be a place in a clan for them? Being, as they are, ageless beings themselves?"

[Hantei Kinsen]

She shakes her head, explaining again. "I believe the question is: what can the herd protectors bring to a Clan to have their place?"

[Hantei]

Hantei spoke up briefly "You need not worry about food for your herd. Advancements in agriculture will be able to generate enough food for them that you will not have to move between pastures. You can settle and build a community, something permanent. I know the freedom of wandering is attractive to many but nothing lasting can be built without a foundation. You can only sustain you cannot advance past a certain point without the benefit of permanent structures."