[LM 13] Seeking Destiny (Open)

[Shinsei]

Shinsei returned to the camp, seemingly none the worse for wear for wherever he had been the last couple of days. His gait is confident and purposeful as he moves through the camp, eyes searching from underneath his deep hood. "... Have to head it off..." He murmured to himself. "... End the cycle..."

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"Good morning, young wanderer. Dried meatstick? I think this one is actually bear." The man in dusty clothing extends a hand holding a couple sticks of dried meat for the other man.

[Shinsei]

He looked at the meat sticks, the person before him, then looked away. "No... My work is too important right now. Excuse me." He stepped away, starting to look through the camp again.

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"A man who is too busy for food. A man that disappears, then reappears. Have you jade? Can you touch it?"

The questions are asked in a still fairly friendly tone. And arm is extended again, but this time, it bears a small jade figurine, carved into the shape of a badger.

[Nanzi]

Nanzi watched as he thought, Shinsei was gone? Pray tell where did the little charlatan run off to? Or is this another trick of the corrupted lands?

He rested his hand on the hilt of his blade, just in case. Jongwun standing nearby looking angry, she had not slept well.

[Shinsei]

Shinsei took the figurine and touched it to his lips and chin as others had been doing before handing it back, expression frustrated with the delay. "There. I need to be going now."

[Canary]

Nanzi watched as he thought, Shinsei was gone? Pray tell where did the little charlatan run off to? Or is this another trick of the corrupted lands?

He rested his hand on the hilt of his blade, just in case. Jongwun standing nearby looking angry, she had not slept well.

I don't know where he went, but something is wrong... It's not Jigoku, so I'm not sure what exactly...

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"You have already been going. And now are returned. Leaving so soon might be a bad idea. Take a few moments. Dust the dirt of the road off your clothing. Take a breath. Sometimes, the best way to achieve speed is to slow down. Dried meatstick?" After accepting the jade back, Kyosei again extends what might, in the future, be called jerky.

[Nanzi]

Nanzi responded his eyes following the charlatan and thought, Not Jigoku? He seems off, even more so than most so-called wise men. Maybe he finally cracked under all the pressure? As amused as Nanzi would be, this is a bad place for such a thing.

[Shinsei]

"You have already been going. And now are returned. Leaving so soon might be a bad idea. Take a few moments. Dust the dirt of the road off your clothing. Take a breath. Sometimes, the best way to achieve speed is to slow down. Dried meatstick?" After accepting the jade back, Kyosei again extends what might, in the future, be called jerky.

Shinsei sighed, pinning Kyosei with a look. "I'm not sure why stopping would be a bad idea. And surely you need your rations for your own health. We need to be at our best in the coming days, to keep Jigoku from its prize."

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"And you were one at that first meeting, one with easy access to the little gods. For you to lose yourself, to hunger or to the land around us, would also be bad. For you to lose yourself to a monster here, that would be worse. I've heard the story of the little girl, and of the face-takers. So, all need to be cared for." He waves the meat stick. "This is part of the stores of the expedition, which you are a part of, at least to my knowledge. So, it is available for you. We all are looking for a way to keep Jigoku from it's prize, but actually succeeding? That is a different story. I, for example, have an idea, but it is a bad one. But, listening around, I haven't heard of others. I've even asked the spirits of the earth, and they have no idea. I grant you, I can't hear all, but I do try to pay attention when I can."

[Shinsei]

Shinsei finally sighed, accepting the dried meat. "Fine. All right. You've made your point." He took a bite, chewing for a while on it. It being jerky and all.

[Nanzi]

Nanzi approached and said, "Kyosei-san, there is a plan. Trust in that."

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"Is there? I had not heard. I found out about a meeting, but only after it was done. Is it a plan that you feel will work? Does it allow for another if it fails? Or is it one that is like striking at the fractured cliff - perfection or total destruction?"

[Shinsei]

"I, for example, have an idea, but it is a bad one."

"What is your idea?" He asked finally, suddenly looking more curious.

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"Amazing how much a little food can help you regain yourself, isn't it?" Kyosei smiles at the hooded man.

"It is an odd thought I had. I understand we must get Fu Leng out of the pit, the crater we can see in the distance. But, how to close it? That is what the Earth Spirits are most concerned with. From my understanding, he has withstood this long, as the essence of Tengoku within him fights against Jigoku. Can he, somehow, concentrate all that power into his off hand, at the top, then get it chopped off? It might cause the two to work together, to clash, and to close or obscure the opening."

"I have a very large piece of jade, and have been carving at it for almost 5 years now, off and on. It could be used either as an additional part of that closing, or placed on his missing arm, as the carving seems to be taking the form of a forearm and hand. As I said, I know it is bad, but it was what I thought of." Kyosei shrugs.

[Noriaki no Yamadono]

Yamadono had been waiting on news for the return of Shinsei. Matsu had been a wreck of worry while traveling, knowing that Phi had gone after him. The large man was tending to a campfire when he saw the commotion, and stood.

He approached the gathered crowd.

[Nanzi]

Nanzi frowned, there seemed to be a great deal of people ready to sacrifice the kami’s name, hand… body or soul when the point was to rescue him. Nanzi finally said, “It is a plan, when the time is ready it will be revealed, Kyosei-san. Your idea is unconventional, but our mission is to rescue Fu Leng first and foremost, if this can be sealed we may try but our goal has not changed.”

“Chopping his hand off or any harm to Fu Leng will be done only at his behest.”

[Kyosei of the Isawa]

"As he would have to move all the blessing of Tengoku, and curse of Jigoku himself, obviously so." Kyosei nodded. "As I said, a bad idea. But, sometimes, airing a bad idea can spark an idea that is good. Only with silence does nothing change."

[Shinsei]

"That's a really strange-" He cuts himself off and his snap over to Yamadono as he and his daughter approach. "... That destiny..."