Heavenfall

"Saruko is hellbent on boosting morale around here, and can be trusted. Wu is philosophically quite close to us, and knows his way around a fight. Ayumu is a bit... odd at times, but he's dutiful and reliable, and I would trust him with my life. And Kyosei is knowledgeable, steady, and most importantly, knows how to shoot beams of green light that burn monsters, so..."

"i ken th' lest pairt. Saw him daein' it." Koyama nodded. ""Is this Wu guid fur oor group?"

"Eh... I think his aims are similar, but I think that he might be better as a philosophical ally than as a full-blown member. I haven't really directly spoken to him on the issue, though."

"Then let's let him dae whit he does oan his ain accoont. Tis mair aboot principles than organisation efter all."

"More or less my thought. Good people doing good things hardly need us looking over their shoulder."

"Also fur keekin ower shoulders is juist nae mah style." Koyama nodded. "Still, we'd need some numbers in guid places tae hae an impact."

"You mean we need more than Ki-Rin and Imperials, hm? It's a fair point. Especially since some of us aren't undying children of dragons."

He winked at his friend.

"Yeah, ye sook lik' that, bein' a bairn o' angst 'n' snark." Koyama chortled, winking back. "W' need fowk in they clans wha's kami ur th' largist gogans aboot wiping oor heritage clean."

"I think I can seed a few willows there. And if not outright recruiting, I can press advancement for the right sorts..."

"Ah'm sure they'll fall fur yer charm." That was Shroedinger's irony.

"I'll have you know, the future Empress thinks I'm the very embodiment of charm."

"Ah dinnae doubt it. 'n' ah dinnae doubt ye. A dinnae ken howfur it's aff tae be in th' future, bit ye'r o' mah gang. We kin be bastards 'n' devils, bit we'r bastards 'n' devils o' th' kind."

"Damn right."

"Let's dram fur that." Koyama unbuckled his beer skin and devoted the time for both of them to partake with solemn resolve in what was left of his personal supply. After this was done, a new thought came to him.

"Also, whit dae ye ken aboot Satone?"

"I think she's too afraid to properly voice her concerns. I hope we can help her."

"Ah ken tis nae aboot bein' feart, bit confused."

"A bit of both, maybe. She's, ah... Hung up on her charge, and is worried that the Empire will ban her beliefs."

"Anythin' damning aboot her beliefs that wuidnae be oor usual?"

"She says that she leaves that her friend that she evidently wishes were a bit more. Makes it hard to address her concerns directly, but... I steered her toward Jin."

"Ah think she kin be a bawherr lik' ah wis, though a dinnae ken if she haes th' forethought tae tak' th' path ah hae taken. Jin kin hulp in that though."