Heavenfall

"Nothing that large ever goes into the mountains, other than the occasional bear." She'd honestly probably scare the crap out of those things. She wasn't really good at handling animals, anymore than she was at handling people. "Heh, maybe I'll get the chance one of these days. But why'd you leave your herds in the first place? I'm sure you've heard that before."

Just like she'd heard the same question about the mountains.

"I heard about these sky gods. I wanted to meet them... there is much change, and I want to make sure my tribe aren't in danger."

She sighed.

"A little bit foolish, perhaps, but I had this hope that I would be able to find a good way to make sure we get to keep living as we have."

"Ah... you're a bit like me then. The winds of change are coming, and I felt the need to be here as well. The Hikaru are being swept up in history," she grunted out, nodding. "I do not know if you will truly be able, but if you want to live free... talk to old Koyama. That lowlander left to chase the wind, to chase his precious Shinjo. Seems to me you might find some of what you want in that direction."

She doubted Bayushi was too big on herding, though the horns were kind of cool.

"Yes... but I don't know how they plan to divvy up the land they will settle in... so I don't know which of them will take the pastures we normally graze."

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Of course, ideally, they'd leave them alone, as we've negotiated for generations, but I don't know if I can trust that to happen."

"It would be wise to make preparations." Because if you asked her, she was firmly in the camp that believed they fully intended to carve this empire apart one piece at a time until it was all divided up. "There are still remote areas though at least. If it comes down to it." Though by the sound of it, these herds needed a lot of ground to cover.

"They need to keep moving, so we do not graze the fields bare... otherwise the grass will not grow back well in the next season."

She sighed.

"We could use less land if we did not care about the local villages, but we are careful not to destroy their fields as we travel."

"You're more thoughtful than some." It was neither praise, nor was it criticism. She could have said 'you're more thoughtful than the Hikaru are' but it would have sounded like a critique of her own people that she didn't feel. The world had carrion feeders, and she was not too proud to say that her people could be exactly that at times, and buzzards were not the sort to be so thoughtful of their neighbors, but such beasts were a reality and even a need of the wilds.

Still, it was a sensible practice with herding. "There's probably some open land with few villages, but that won't last forever."

"It won't... we could fence off land and declare it our ancestral right, but we are not a warrior people. We could not defend such a claim."

With a sigh, she added, dryly, "I can only hope these kami are amenable to bargaining, as that is our way."

"From the little I've seen? One of their few decent skills is talking people into things. So I'd say you can probably bargain with them. People say they're desperate for manpower, for people willing to work with them. Building an "empire" takes a lot of people, I suppose." She snorted a little, shaking her head. "I'm not an empire builder or a conqueror. I'm just a knife in the dark when you need one. But you're bound to be able to talk. Still... you can defend yourself, right?"

She leaned in close to look at her very pointedly. "it's going to matter soon. You know how to fight at least a little, I hope."

"Some. We have to know how to keep beasts and bandits away from the herd."

She looked concerned. "Do you think the Nezumi will attack us?"

"No. I am genuinely assuming that we can talk our way through that if it comes to it," she grunted. "We have them with us. No, I'm concerned about whatever lies out there. This whole 'jigoku' thing, the monsters we don't know yet but that we will have to face. If a god can't get out of this mess on his own, we're n for a fight at some point."

"Oh."

She looked glum.

"I don't really know anything about that."

"I'm hoping most of it falls into the category of 'Hit it until it stops moving.' You know, like bandits, only tougher." She winked over at her. "For now, though. If you can get a little defense training in, never hurts to prepare, does it?"

"That's true... I'll keep that in mind."

Ryoko rose, a heavy sigh slipping her lips.

"I suppose I should get going. It's been nice talking to you. Perhaps next time we'll know more about where we're headed..."

"Probably. Nice chat. I'll... uh, see you around, Ryoko." Phi got up herself and nodded towards the other. There were things that needed doing, and time waited for no man or woman. A wave and she was on her way.

"Next time then."

/scene