Heavenfall

(Expecting)

She had seen some forms of markets before, but this one was really beating out her expectations. Saruko had quite wide eyes as she looked at the various forms of Nezumi craft on display, everything that ranged from tools to what seemed to be personal accessories... and then there was all the stuff she didn't know what was.

Is it a back-scratcher, perhaps? she wondered as she looked at some oddly shaped sticks.

Sora was at once saddened at the clear decay the Nezumi city had experienced and elated at all it still had on offer.

He was trying to figure out Nezumi etiquette as best he could, but he found that he mostly ended up simply thanking any Nezumi he spoke to for their patience with him.

And then he spotted one of the only friends he'd made five years prior.

"Oi! Saruko! Quite a place, isn't it?"

"Hm?" She looked up from her mental rumblings about some of the Nezumi tools, smiling as she noticed Sora. "Sora. It's quite... amazing, I'd say. I never thought I'd see anything like this."

Imagine if we get to have something like this back home some day... I hope I get to see it.

"You find it to your liking?"

"Very much so! After all the fuss I make about making sure we understand the reasons for the ways of tribes before we try to change them.... seeing what the Nezumi's ways have accomplished is... quite a thing."

"Yes," she smiled warmly, taking a step away from the booth and making a clear show of her hands that she hadn't taken anything.

"Imagine we could see something like this back home. I've seen something like markets, but nothing like this. Imagine people from all corners of the land coming together in a place like this, showing their crafts for trade. How much knowledge and skill could bloom."

"And how much it would let people come to understand one another's ways... no, we definitely need something like this."

Saruko clasped her hands together in delight. "I'm so glad you agree! Shiba-Kami will for sure like the idea too if it came from different sides too. Hopefully the others who visit the city will see it too. It's such a great opportunity."

Her expression looked a little bit more serious for a moment. "I hope that the swamp-thing doesn't spread to this place. It would be such a loss..."

"We have to do what we can to prevent it. If for no other reason... do you know they have histories that reach back more than five hundred years?"

"Oh..." she had to take her time to let that sink in. "... how do they remember so much history? Do they write it all down somehow... on stones maybe?" Saruko had seen stone-carvings before so that would make sense. Paper was so flimsy. Parchment on the other hand could withstand the sands of time much better than paper.

"They used scented sticks, actually- they have a sense of smell that's pretty refined."

"Huh."

Well, that was... weird. Not the weirdest, but pretty weird.

"Guess that means it's hard for those who are not Nezumi to read them then. A shame... I would've loved to hear all those stories."

"Hopefully some day we can sit down and transcribe their readings... and maybe share some of our own. I think they'd like to know about Han-Han, at the very least.""

She laughed. "I'm sure they do. The great epics of Han-Han, the breakfast-thief." Oh no, Saruko hadn't forgotten that.

Her expression sobering a little, she gave Sora a curious look. "How are you holding up after that thing we came across in the swamp?"

"Well. On the one hand, it was extremely horrible, and it certainly brought some of the danger home, but... for me, personally, it doesn't change much. But it does make me worry about the... sloppy preparation."

Saruko nodded, a touch wary almost. "I had found out from Kinsen a few days prior that she didn't know about the importance of jade, and didn't have any. So I stressed to her how important it was, and that she needed to correct it as soon as possible. The morning before we found the dhola, I spoke with Hantei about my concerns that she had set out on this journey without adequate protection. He assured me that he had acquired jade for her, but hadn't gotten around to giving it to her..." something that confused the Dragon Wife, as that seemed like a very simple thing to do.

"So I was... shocked and surprised, I guess, when she had that outburst in the swamp. Maybe she just is..." she didn't quite say the words an idiot, but the implication was there.

"Well. Given my own opinion of Hantei, I have perhaps... uncharitable views on him. That said... I would have thought that all of us carrying the stuff around would... be indicative? Do we need to have someone stand in the middle of camp screaming about it?"

Saruko shrugged, her hands held out in a helpless what-can-you-do posture for a second. "I had thought that the Kami would've told their clan members at least, and from there, the others also shared with their clan. I know I spoke with Nadare and Wu before we left Great Mountain City to make sure that they were protected - I would've been a poor comrade if I didn't share it with them."

She sighed a little. "And people call my husband the one who is difficult to understand. I feel like I don't understand a lot of what's going on with the others sometimes. Like Hantei..."

"That one is so convinced of his rightness it doesn't occur to him to question what he does."

"I don't think I understand enough about him to make such assumptions."

But she was concerned that Kinsen's insistences overrode what concern a husband should have to protect their loved one. To her, Togashi was patient, especially when dealing with the various things she had gotten up to over the years, but he had always had a firm but gentle touch to stop her when nescessary.

"But I also don't like the... divisions, that I see already. We both believe in the Kami bringing us all together, Sora, but how can that happen when we are already drawing lines in the sand?"

"We need a way to air grievances and address them without backbiting. We also need everyone to be clear about what they intend."