Campfire Tales (D5, LE. Open)

[Seppun Dawei]

Having returned to whittling, Dawei keeps quiet amid the conversation. But his mind is not still.

Intent matters little, he thinks, certainly against effect. How many times have I meant to do something I could not or did not? How many did they?

He sneezes as dust from the woodworking gets up his nose. The hand holding the knife is swiftly held out to the side.

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko shook her head.

"We all have the power to shape our future, and how we will be remembered. Such is the power of humanity."

[Nanzi]

"Are you okay, friend Dawei-san?" he asked.

Saruko shook her head.

"We all have the power to shape our future, and how we will be remembered. Such is the power of humanity."

"If you find the trick to mold your image after death please let Nanzi know," he joked.

[Togashi Saruko]

"We are doing that very trick right now, no?" she retorted calmly.

[Seppun Dawei]

Dawei wipes his nose, clearing it of the dust, and he waves away the concern.

Didn't mean to attract attention like that, he thinks. Again, intent doesn't mean much.

[Doji Kaze]

Kaze remained in the shadows, spear across his lap.

"I look in the stream
I see myself in water
But it is not me.

A man grows weary and sleeps
An image is an image.

The words are spoken
I hear myself in the air
But it is not me.

A man grows weary and sleeps
An image is an image."

Poetry=18

[Nanzi]

"We are doing that very trick right now, no?" she retorted calmly.

"Then we should all aspire to the man in the darkness with pretty words like Kaze-kun," he said warmly letting the subject fall away from him.

[Seppun Dawei]

[Verse]

Dawei gives it a try, ineptly.
"The hands reach them out
I feel myself in the earth
But it is not me.

A man grows weary and sleeps
An image is an image."

[Nanzi]

Nanzi considered the theme and followed suit:

“Words are like children,
They grow, they live, they surprise,
Legacy of joy.
A man grows weary and sleeps,
An image is an image.”

He chuckled and added, “Nanzi fears his offering is a pale shade of what Kaze-kun has offered.”

OOC: Poetry: 4d10o10l3 20

[Seppun Chisei]

Chisei cleared his throat. "I ask where stories come from exactly because I wonder about how much of them really happened. I imagine they run the whole spectrum from entirely fantastical to..." he paused a moment, "... almost entirely true."

He held up a hand. "Before anyone objects, I do recognize that this is often the wrong question to be asking of a story."

[Nanzi]

"Every story about Nanzi, absolutely true, he is the greatest friend you can have and the worst villain and all things in between," he said with a wink.

"Lover of many, killer of many... now father to a few, and husband of one."

[Seppun Chisei]

"All of them?" Chisei said, his eyebrows going up. "Really, all of them? Because I've heard quite a few. Very, very many, in fact."

His lips twitched, as he struggled to not smile too much.

[Nanzi]

"All of them?" Chisei said, his eyebrows going up. "Really, all of them? Because I've heard quite a few. Very, very many, in fact."

His lips twitched, as he struggled to not smile too much.

"Including the four years Nanzi spent as a princess betrothed to the King of Bones," he said wistfully.

Jongwun gave a dubious look to her sensei.

[Togashi Saruko]

"Your name is Kaze?" Saruko asked, as Nanzi had given away the poet-man's name.

"Did you learn poetry from Lady Doji as well?"

[Doji Kaze]

"Hai, Togashi-sama. I learned nearly all of my words from Lady Doji." He tilted his head. "I...was very pleased to hear your tales."

[Togashi Saruko]

"I'm glad you enjoy them." Her voice was sincere and seemed genuinely happy that it had pleased him. "What kind of stories do you like best? Or do you prefer poetry perhaps?"

[Doji Kaze]

"I prefer poetry for its precision. And the music." He idly traced a design on the haft of his spear. "But the stories have much that I like as well. There is a...welcoming quality to prose that poetry sometimes lacks. I think it is how focused poetry is, where even a tightly-wound story embraces much that is not the central point."

He looked to the side. "I like the ones where the one-who-is-clever helps their friends best. They are...pleasant."

[Togashi Saruko]

She nodded as her face came alight with ideas. "Then maybe next time we get the chance to gather round the campfire in the evening, we'll have music and songs, as a change of pace." Saruko at least seemed to enjoy this idea.

That Kaze liked stories of clever heroes helping their friends was something she committed to memory, as she liked to please the audience when she knew what was favored.

"Do you write down your poetry too, Kaze-san?"

[Doji Kaze]

"I do some carving into wood. Paper is...well, I didn't bring any. It seemed...fragile. And my...expectations for this journey suggested caution."

"Do you...write? Or is the performance the heart of it?"

[Togashi Saruko]

"Ah, I'm not a very good writer. I can do it but I'm very much a beginner still." She chuckled a little over her own flaws. "But I did bring some paper with me. For painting. Before I met the Kami I only knew how to perform - singing, dancing, storytelling. And now I get to try all these new things!"

She did committ to memory what kind of stories Kaze liked.

"Maybe we'll have some music next time we gather round the fire..."