Heavenfall

Reo has kept his eyes up over the last few days, and today he sees a familiar shape flit within the sky. It seems like the crow from the last few days. Reo has seen the tent in the area before, and he finally puts them together. He had been curious about the man, especially with the rumor of what had come to camp looking like him.

"Hello there. Is that bird yours? He's rather fascinating"

"I wouldn't call him mine. He's less of a possession ans more of a business partner."

Shinsei stepped out of the tent a moment after speaking, finally dressed in something other than scraps and bandages. The hooded robe the he wore was... different from the one he'd been wearing before, more distinctive, with a large crow embroidered on the back.

"What brings you here today?"

"Curiosity, I suppose. One, because that is an amazing creature you have there." Reo finds his gaze drifting back to the bird on Shinsei's shoulder.

"But I have heard that you pose interesting questions to people. Introspection does one good, I have found."

"Karasu is one of a kind, that's for sure."

Shinsei tilted his head to one side and nodded. "I have been known, from time to time, to engage in introspection and conversation. What is on your mind?"

Reo pauses, his lips pursing. "There is one thing. I have been trying to study the strange things we've seen in the creatures. One of the others, Nanzi, said something about how it would be more merciful to let anyone afflicted die. I just..." Reo trails off. "Is it normal to not even look for a cure? When is it that something is so broken that it cannot be saved?"

"Ahhhhh, that is a difficult question indeed." Shinsei moved over to his sitting rock, gesturing for Reo to join him. "There will never be an easy answer to that question. One can argue unto the end of time that when one loses their mind and body, when they are beyond reason by way of pain or madness, that ending them is a simple mercy. But then, if someone manages to return from such a state, what of those never given the chance?" Shinsei's eyes held a hint of sadness to them at the thought. "One should never stop striving to find a cure for these things. If none try, none will ever find it."

Reo greedily eyes the rock. It takes him a few tries to properly vault himself onto the rock as well to sit, but he lets out a sigh of relief when he is finally able to rest.

"That was my argument back to him. But still..."

Reo pauses. His eyes longer on the sky, and it's a few minutes before he responds.

"There is danger in it. Not just the risk on infection it's that-" Reo bites his tongue. He hasn't mentioned this, even to his clan. "There's something in the darkness that is calling me deeper in. I can feel it as we get deeper." The man's fingers go to the Jade. "I don't want to be one of those monstrosities that I have seen, but I would be lying if I said that they did not fascinate me. A dark beauty in a nightmare. It scares the hell out of me but I can't look away."

"Does that make sense?"

"It does." Shinsei's words were especially soft, as if he feared that Reo might break if he spoke with too much force. "That is the nature of the thing which we face, to tempt and cajole. Whether by subtle influence or even seemingly offering aid, Jigoku will try to claim those who come close to it. And it will breed fear and mistrust, as it has among us already, always questioning who may have gone too far beyond themselves."

With a small sigh, he turned and looked towards the south. "Everything we learn leads me to believe the best way to handle those afflicted will require a mixture of compassion and ruthlessness. Many will need to be trained to temper their reactions..."

Reo gives a small chuckle. "That sounds like the task of a healer." The man yanks up a pant leg, higher than anyone has seen the past few weeks. Starting at the lower shin and continuing up his mid thigh are bulges of bone pressing out against the skin.

"I wanted to badly to fit in. I went to roughhouse with the others boys. I never paused to think they might all gang up on the misfit with the off manner. I can remember laughing as I started to roll. I was part of it. Even when I sped up I wasn't worried...I couldn't see the gorge."

Reo looks down, remembering an old shame. "The bones came through in many spots I'm told. I just remember the pain. Every moment hurt, but I can remember the agony as Amara shoved them back in. Like the pounding of drums in a song of despair. But without it... without it I would not have a leg at all."

Reo nods to himself, "Merciless, yet compassionate. That's what you said, right?" He lets out a slow breath. "Maybe that's why. To need to understand that agony to be able to look at it in others without shame or fear."

Reo falls silent, letting out a series of blinks. "Odd. I don't talk like that. Is that one of your powers monk?" The words are only half joking.

Shinsei was silent as Reo spoke, but shared in his mirth at the very end. "Ah, I have been told that I possess an alarming effect on people who wish to speak their minds. Just don't go trying to marry me, one potential spouse is enough."

That last line was delivered so flatly it was hard to tell if it was humor or honesty.

"But that is precisely what I mean. Pain, though uncomfortable, is a teacher. The original teacher, in fact. Before speech and instruction, there was only pain and temperance to teach us the correct way to proceed. Many will be suspicious of your study, and it is dangerous, but if we do not learn, and learn quickly, it will only invite more pain."

"There's no need to worry, I like women." Reo replies with solemn bluntness. "One in particular, and that's its own challenge but..." A small smile tugs at the corner of Reo lips.

"Others will think what they think. The merit of what I do lies in the intellectual curiosity study and potential benefit, not the well wishes of hand wringers. I already have guidance from the people whose opinions I respect and they've accepted me regardless. So what does the others opinion matter?"

Reo pauses as he reflects on his own words. "Huh. How do you do that? Make people come to their own answers?"

"Challenging does not mean impossible, these things can be... quite unexpected really. I certainly hadn't considered such a thing myself, but here I am."

Shinsei laughed a loud, genuine laugh, and spread his hands widely to either side of himself. "Ah, that is the greatest secret of any wise man, and perhaps why Nanzi refers to me as charlatan. My truest secret is that I have no answers but my own. I cannot give you the things you seek, for you already possess them. I simply have a measure of wisdom that allows me to point others in the right direction."

"Hah! That guy!" Reo snorts. "He's the one who made me doubt studying because it was more "honorable" to let them die rather than search for a cure. It's good to know someone else thinks he's full of shit."

"Now now, don't go telling people I'm suggesting Nanzi could fertile the empire with his ideals. I most definitely did not say such a thing." Shinsei nodded quietly. "He has a point, but he is too extreme for my tastes in many of his ways. However, as I seek to achieve balance in all things, I know the world for what it is, and men of Nanzi's demeanor are necessary in their own ways. It is not for us to see them all."

"Fertilize the Empire. I'm going to use that one...which I absolutely did not get from you." Reo offers a ghost of a smile. "I surprisingly enjoyed talking with you. I hope I have the chance in the future." He peers over to the side. "And Mr. Karasu too...fascinating creature."

"Surprises come from any number of places. Mine came from behind a veil that was, at the first encounter, staring at my tent while eating lunch. Ever since then, I've been pleasantly surprised roughly every 48 hours." He grinned. "I've enjoyed this conversation as well, just don't go trying to experiment on Karasu. He'd take exception to that."

"I will confine my studies to observation. He's rather elegant in flight, aren't you Mr. Karasu."

Karasu cawed in affirmation.