[D3 LM] One fish, two fish (open)

[Yogo]

With the sun now well above the horizon, Yogo headed to the river with his rod on his shoulder. Poking around the riverbank produced a small worm of sorts, darker than anything he had ever seen but since it was long and slimy, he figured that the fish would still eat it. Impaling the poor thing on his bony fishhook, he cast his line, the trusty piece of bark keeping the bait at 'just the right depth' as his father had put it. With the weather nice and with very little to do, the young man was content to sit by the water and kill time by trying to catch himself a fresh meal.

[Ryoshun Mai]

Mai came to relax by the river and work on her carving. She bowed at the other and tried to keep her steps quiet, lest she scare the fish. She pulled out her trusty carving knife as she sat a respectful distance nearby and softly began rasping the knife along a cream white branch that was a foot long and a little over two inches around.

She looked over at the other who was fishing from time to time, silently inviting him to chat when able.

[Yogo]

The scruffy figure in worn robes was whistling happily, occasionally tugging his rod. The gentle wind stirred his mangy curls. If he had a comb he hadn't touched it in a while. Hearing steps, the young man turned to nod at the girl, figuring that since she had sat down further away she wanted to be on her own. Seeing that he was busy with her knife, he propped the rod between his legs and leaned back, whistling still.

[Ryoshun Mai]

Hearing the whistle, the Bat decided he must not be too worried about sound. "Hello! This one is Mai of the Ryoshun, who might you be?" She continued to carve as she spoke, hands moving expertly even when not directly looking at the work.

[Yogo]

"Uh.." Startled, the young man turned to regard the woman, brushing his hair from his brow. "They call me Yogo. I am of the Shoji, but..." he shrugged, looking around. "Not that that matters here." She could see that he wore many charms crafted from bones and feathers, several bird skulls danging around his neck. "Well met, Mai of Ryoshun." Blinking, he tilted his head to the side. "Who or what is Ryoshun?"

[Ryoshun Mai]

"One of the gods who fell. The one who died. Somehow our family leader, Nazo, can talk to him still and married him. I swore loyalty to Nazo and joined what is now called the Bat Clan."

"I love your charms. I do a lot of crafting from tooth and bone myself. This here will be a knife with some of these teeth along the blade." She produced a large jagged tooth from a little pouch on her belt for him to look at. The bag clattered indicating more of the things. "Came from a giant man-eating fish called a shark."

[Yogo]

"Oh. Right. The tenth one, right?" he asked her, trying to recall what he had been told. What she said next caused him to blink. "So, uh... this Nazo fellow is married to this being she has never seen?" Yogo scratched his chin, trying to make sense of the situation. "Right, the Bat clan." No-one had told him about the Bat clan, but if her words were anything to go by, there might have been a reason for that. "Uh.. thank you?" Mai could see that the young man was rather flustered. "They keep the evil spirits away." His long fingers reached for the skull charm, picking it up before letting the bones rattle against his chest.

"I see." he looked at the large tooth, tilting his head to the side. "That's one damn big fish." Was all he managed to say. "What kind of rod you use to get one of those?" he asked her, looking up from the tooth.

[Ryoshun Mai]

"Yes, the tenth. As I said, Nazo can commune with the dead. Whether she has seen him with her eyes I don't know. I am a simple weaponsmith. It isn't unheard of for people to be married to strangers via an arranged marriage then have their partner leave for one reason or another. In a way, I guess it isn't all that different."

"We can use any protection from evil spirits as we can get where we are going."

"I don't know what kind of rod was used to catch it. I do know the traveller who brought them to us from the south said they have multiple rows of teeth like this."

[Yogo]

"Errr...no. Where I am from, people usually meet at least before they marry. And then they sorta stick together. That is sorta the idea, isn't it. Marriage?" Yogo's expression betrayed just how puzzled he was. "You know, family. Babies." Somethings you couldn't quite manage on your own. "But, if you say it is so..." There was no little amount of doubt in his voice, though he seemed willing to drop the topic as she admitted she didn't know that much about it.

"So I have heard. I met a rat-person who was talking about creatures twice as tall as man with metal skin. " Yogo murmured. "And smaller creatures that are without number."

"I see." the shaggy man nodded, seemingly satisfied. "I am happy I have never seen a fish that big. I rather eat the fish than the other way around."

[Ryoshun Mai]

"Metal skin? I wonder how well they would melt down..." Her line of thought was far from normal there. "Was there any further description of the small creatures? The one ratman I met was as tall as nearly two men together."

"I was told you see them coming too. A fin like a giant knife comes out of the water and cuts across the surface with great speed. Even the tiniest drop of blood gets their attention." She paused, "I am glad they only live in the salt water that is unfit to drink."

[Yogo]

"And apparently some of them burn on their own." he shrugged. "Sounds bit fanciful, but so does a walking, talking rat." Yogo remarked, wondering if this expedition had been such a good idea after all. "Only that they are easy to kill. The small ones. That rat-person was very keen on killing things. Their homelands sound rather rough."

"The fish I know really once care about worms that kind of stuff." Shaking his head, the young man tried to wrap his head around the idea of a fish as big as him. "Then again, if you can catch one, your tribe is going to eat well for a while! Think about the size of things. All the roe, the liver." Yogo was almost salivating.

[Ryoshun Mai]

"They just randomly burst on fire? Sounds inconvenient for them. I hope the small one are easily killed, as often small things come in numbers. I wonder if we met the same rat? Ch'Jak'Matt, I think it called itself. Carried a big axe?"

"I like to use those gross slugs that eat the vegetable plants. The big squishy yellow ones? The hooked jaw fish up home tend to be large when they lay their roe in the spring and jump the falls." She indicated a fish about a meter feet long with her hands. "They put up a lot of fight."

"The little ones with blue stripes and red dots taste best to me though, we get those year round in the Bat mountains."

(Masu salmon, Tenkara trout)

[Yogo]

"Doesn't it." Yogo nodded. "I mean, there are spirits of fire so, I guess that could happen?" He did have some issues believing the rat-person, though. People told all sorts of stories and he'd believe that metal men existed when he saw one. "Yeah, Che-Jake-Mate." She could see his eyes lit, the young man nodding eagerly. "Awfully big rat, wasn't he."

"Well, I guess they should work too?" he offered. "Fish aren't that picky. Small fish, at least. My father says that every fisher thinks they know the trick - when all the tricks work. If they didn't, they'd be poor fishers, neh."

"So, where are the Bat mountains?" he asked Mai, looking around. "I suppose they were not always called Bat mountains?"

[Ryoshun Mai]

"I guess it could, the Bat don't interact with fire spirits as far as I know. Still sounds painful, and useful for us if it does damage them."

"Hard to imagine one of those size Rats raiding your granary." She laughed, "or the person sent to catch it. I am glad he is on our side."

"I have seen people use dried meat but it seems a waste to me."

"We live way to the north, to the west, in the tall jagged mountains. These ones are basically small hills."

[Yogo]

"I mean, I figure that if they run around burning like that, it's sorta how they are." Yogo mused. "On their side. But can we trust them. How do we know we aren't lead into a trap?" an eyebrow rose to indicate question. "Ah. Lots of mountains in the north. "I am from woods north of here. Way north. Lots of mountains there, but not sure they are yours."

[Ryoshun Mai]

"To be honest, I am not sure if we can either. I am trying to learn all I can from and about them, though. Lest, they become an enemy."

"We have wooded areas, but lots of bare rock, and snow. They may be the same, I do not know. This is my first time away from them."

[Yogo]

"I really hope we aren't marching into danger with enemies on our side." Yogo voiced his concerns. "But, I guess we should trust the Kami to know what they are doing." History might prove trusting Kami a bad idea, but the young man had so far seen only the good that they could do. "Well, I've lived most of my life in a small village. Didn't think I'd ever leave. Than I heard about the Kami. Wanted to see them for myself and now I'm here."

[Ryoshun Mai]

"Let's learn all we can in the time we are away, and bring it back to our respective villages. I am sure something useful can be gleaned from being around others."

[Yogo]

"Well. I don't really fancy going back." the young man admitted. "There's so much to see in the world. Now, assuming we'll all come back from this little adventurer." he flashed her a mischievous grin.

[Ryoshun Mai]

"I don't know if the whole expedition will survive, but I suspect you are clever enough to return wherever you decide to settle. I have no intention over dying easily nor venturing too far alone anywhere potentially unsafe. So unless the entire expeditionary force is wiped out, we will live."