Heavenfall

If swamps were going to pop up in their path unbidden, then clean water was going to be at something of a premium.

Which was why Jiyo Sora, Imperial colored kimono hiked up to his knees, was making a point of filling waterskins.

It also helped, having a relatively simple task, because he'd been thinking a hell of a lot lately, and the limits of his own ignorance were making themselves painfully plain.

A large woman, barely covered by her choice of clothing, has a similar idea. She walks up the the stream humming softly to herself and pauses at seeing another person there.

"Those clothes seem awfully impractical. Won't they get caught on things and trip you up?"

She says as a greeting.

"Yep. Which is why I'm wearing this thing here, getting water. Keeps my other stuff dry... or dry as anythign is in this damn mess."

He paused. Looked her over.

"Seidou?"

"Yes. Seidou, and NOT Crab. Satone."

She says pointedly, walking up to the stream.

"Why have such an outfit at all? Is there a reason for it?"

"Well, it's pretty comfortable. And it makes me easier to miss in a crowd dressed the same way."

He arched an eyebrow.

"Not a fan of Hida, then?"

"I don't know him well enough. And I have...issues...with the whole situation. I like being Seidou. And we were doing fine before he got here. Why do we suddenly need to bow down to someone?"

Sora shrugged.

"You don't. Be glad Shiba won the tournament. Hida or Hantei or Akodo would likely have forced the issue more strenuously. Of course... had they won, I wouldn't be here."

"Oh? Any why is that? "

Satone sat down on the ground on top of a dry section of land, a rock of some sort.

"And the more I seem to learn about some of these things, the more I dislike them. If they truly would have forced people to bow to them, I have even less respect for them. How can just 8 creatures take over the entire world."

"Well, the why is simple- i would have left."

He chuckled.

"As for how eight beings can take over the world... that is a tricky business, but the biggest reason?"

He set a filled water skin down.

"I was at a meeting in the Seppun lands for those who oppose their rule. And do you know what came out of that meeting? They let Nanzi talk them into open military opposition as a means of resisting the Kami- even though, by fighting off the Noriaki for the Seppun, they'd already demonstrated considerable martial skill. And moreover, they never cooked up any real... plan. If a bunch of idiots voicing dissatisfaction was all to be mustered against them when they were gathered in one place, well..."

A shrug.

"No real future in that, especially with entire tribes joining them. Be grateful that Shiba prevailed, many of the others would have forced people to either join them, leave the lands they claimed, or die. As it stands... he lends me an ear when I bring him objections raised by those who aren't... sold on the idea of the Empire as the Kami envisioned it. And it happens a fair bit, because, as you note... some people were doing just fine without them. For my part, I think that beings whose existence in Ningen-do spans a mere ten years have every bit as much to learn as they have to teach."

"I would most certainly agree. But unfortunately it seems most will not. I am not even sure if there is a Seidou left anymore. I hold their name, but all the rest have flocked to become Crab. If it is the same across the world, how would those of us who appose have any strength left at all? It almost seems like a forced choice...Join us, or die out."

"But a choice being made by tribes, all the same. My people, the Hikaru... well. I left the tribe the day Shiba became Emperor, but they were where I grew to adulthood... anyway. Most of them have joined Shinjo and the Ki-Rin. A few remain in the Spine of the World, living as they always have, but... fewer and fewer. No Kami forced them to make that choice. It was Shinjo Koyama- who I knew first as Kozan of the Hikaru- who killed Chosaku and led many of them to follow his wife."

He shrugged.

"In many cases, the changes are small, but lasting. Some, like the Seppun, were, well, rescued by the Kami. They needed them. Others, though- the Hikaru, the Noriaki... didn't need to join. Shiba wouldn't have forced them. But humans- members of those tribes- made the choice."

A frown.

"For the Seidou, it seems a bit... odd, because from the outside looking in the changes are things like family names, colors, and polite social customs. But you are Seidou. Tell me what the changes actually mean to you."

"We are survivalists and smiths. Warriors, but only out of necessity because of raids from the Nezumi, ogres, and trolls. Miners and merchants as well. At first glance, there isn't much change, no. But it's a deeper thing and difficult to describe. For example, I have heard that many of these kami are trying to set down customs that are improper to do. Labor being one of them. That there are others, who are beneath them, that can handle that. "

"Well, that's not how it was for us. We all did anything, no one was better than anyone, and no job was considered improper. If I was a miner, i was just as respected as the smith, for the smith could not do their job without my ore. Hunters and gatherers and farmers were all important and equals for without them we would not have food to feed our warriors to grow strong and protect us against our enemies."

"Bowing down to some immortal, eternal leader who will change things does not seem like it is good for the long term of our culture and duties. We cannot just wait for them to die or elect someone new to lead if things start to go bad."

He half-smiled.

"You sound like me. I have no use for systems of caste- who feeds a warrior? Farmers or hunters. Who makes the weapons for warriors? Smiths and fletchers. But...."

The half-smile became a bit sunnier.

"Since I have the ear of the Emperor's children a lot of the day under normal circumstances, let us say that I'm trying to secure a future for everyone I can."

"But, you are just one man. How many have your foresight and will? So many flock to power because they are weak minded, and like someone to tell them what to do. They will happily take the laws set forth from the kami and never second guess them because it is easier for them to just allow something considered more powerful to make the decisions."

She sighs.

"And, who is to even say they are more powerful? I bet I could take at lease one of them in a fight. Plus I question things about them, like this rescue. If I had a family member lost, I would not have waited five years to go find them, for example.."

"Am I just one man, though? Or am I one of a set of like-minded sorts?"

A chuckle.

"Besides. If Shiba's heir retains anything of what I've taught, the impact will be... considerable. As for the delay?"

He gestured to the swamp.

"That seems more prudent the further we go. Had we just blundered down here without coordinating, without planning... the results would be catastrophic. Tell me, what do you know of Jigoku?"

"Nothing. "

She says frankly

"Well, let me share some basics, then. Some of it had heard before I ever met the Kami, some I saw ina vision the other day, and some Shinsei told me when I told him of the vision. Feel free to pelt me with a mudball if this gets boring."

A deep breath.

"Jigoku is... a world, like ours, an entire world, consumed with corrupting and enslaving everything it touches. Everything. Plants, animals... according to a Nezumi I spoke with, it drove the ogres mad. Those it corrupts are made slaves- puppets, really. Fu Leng's fall punched a hole in our world and let Jigoku in- a hole we march closer to every day. It is not a thing to be done lightly."

"If i corrupts everything, and he is there...wouldn't he be corrupted too?"

"He has been fighting it for ten years. But yes. He very well might be, despite the power of Tengoku he still carries. In which case, the job changes, even if our destination does not."

"Mmm. I see. Were the Kami ever going to tell any of us following them on this journey any of this? Or were they just hoping that someone else would do that for them?"