Early Watch [EN]

[Togashi Saruko]

"The mountains can seem unwelcoming, but we don't turn people away. You'll be more than welcome to visit."

Her expression grew a bit more serious, but also... solemn, perhaps?

"We intend for everyone to be able to return home from this. We do." There was a sense of conviction in her tone, even if concern managed to creep in. "... If something were to happen to you, do you have someone you trust to deliver your words for you, to your kin?"

[Miyako]

She shook her head. "I have not asked anyone to do so. My only kin that I know of is my mother, and I explained as much as I could to her before I left about what it might mean if I did not return. And at least some of my village cousins know similar, but whether they take it to heart I do not know."

[Togashi Saruko]

"If there is no one else amongst us here, I would... be honored to be the one to bring word and belongings back. But I pray it won't be needed." And she had no idea of where the Chinsei lived either.

"... Sorry, that's probably an awkward thing to say."

[Miyako]

Again she shook her head. "Not at all. It has been something I have thought about at least once, and I am sure I am not the only one. My things are just that: things. There would be no need to bring back my tent, or ensure my cousin Junzo gets his sturdy cooking pot back that he may or may not know that I borrowed for this journey. All of that can be replaced, nothing precious there for anyone." A pause.

"My bow would be the only thing that would be meaningful if returned to the Chinsei, but I would not put one's life and limb on line to fetch it were something to happen to me. But if it won't put you in that position, that and my word would be the only things." A soft smile. "But I too pray that it won't be needed."

[Togashi Saruko]

"Then, in the event that it happens and we pray it doesn't, you have my word I will see it returned and that I won't put myself in needless risk to fetch it." She nodded once, and that was that - she had givven her word.

[Miyako]

"Should it come down to it, you will have the Chinsei's thanks for it," she responded with a nod. "Is... is that some sort of tradition among those of tribe-clan though? To bring back possessions of the Fallen to tribe-clan-person's village?"

[Togashi Saruko]

"Hmmm... maybe. I've never asked the others about it, but I know that among the Ayakashi, it would mean a great deal for a family that their belongings are returned to the family, and at least with a story about what happened to them."

Weapons, armor, and practical items were all valued and would be repurposed for the closest family, rather than being discarded and forgotten. They had value in many ways, after all.

"Maybe it will become a tradition? Who knows, but I know that we can all have a hand in shaping the future going forth."

[Miyako]

"I see..." Miyako replied, and she stood there for a good few moments, seeming to dwell on Saruko's words.

"If you offer me such a promise... then I can only do but offer the same in kind." She stood up straight as could be, held her spear close to her with one hand, and with the other she put a balled fist against her chest. "I pray it not happen, and I hope it not happen, but if it should come to pass, then I will see to it that your people of clan-tribe will have your things returned as well. Even if I must climb the highest mountain, endure the coldest winter, the hottest fires that heat the waters, the strongest of winds... it will be done." And at that she gave a single emphatic nod.

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko had felt certain that Nadare or Wu, granted that nothing happened to them either, would be the ones to do such a thing. But, she couldn't deny this favor bestowed upon her by Miyako, as it was offered in good faith. It would just not be right.

"... Thank you, Miyako. It means a great deal, to have exchanged these promises. And... well, we both pray it's a promise neither of us have to fulfill. We're still young people with so much left to do, right?" she grinned widely to lighten the topic. "No handsome partner is waiting for you back home for you to torment, hm?"

[Miyako]

Another shake of the head as Miyako relaxed and grinned. "Ha, nobody special like that, at least none right now. For a time I had my eye on a boy from the next village over that I knew. We almost always ended up on the same team a lot when we played games with the other kids in the nearby villages, running around the forest and building little stick-forts and splashing around the pond and the like. A season before I received my bow, though, his village fostered him into another tribe in some marriage exchange." A pause.

"Had he stayed in the village, he would have eventually become a farmer working and taking over his father's farm. I hear he might even be a farmer now in his new home. I... don't think I would have wanted to be a farmer's wife and work a farm. I still don't want either of those things. I think it worked out for the best. But no, nobody special like that, and at least for now, that is fine with me," she said and offered a nod at that.

"And how about you? There is one that waits on the mountain for your return?"

[Togashi Saruko]

She smiled thoughtfully. "A peaceful life as a farmer is not a bad thing, but I can agree with the sentiment that it's not for everyone." Thinking back, she hadn't been so different herself thinking like that before she met the Kami. Though there hadn't been any boys she felt that strongly about in the tribe.

"Ah, my husband and our children are waiting for me back home." Her expression became more wistful and distant. "I... do miss them terribly. But, I'm also glad to know that they're back home, where it's safe, and far away from this place. Oh... I wonder how much the children will have grown while I've been gone..."

How tall would they be? How much would they have learned?

[Miyako]

"Ah, then you have much joy and wonderment to return to: for that I am glad," Miyako said through her smile. "That they are safe and sound is great, and though you are far away from them, that you do so so that they might continue to be safe and sound in the time ahead is great as well. How old are they, if I might ask? Really young ones? Ones that can talk? ... ones that have learned to talk back?" she asked, smile turning to a smirk at that last one.

[Togashi Saruko]

"Not so much talking back yet, thankfully," she chuckled. If the children were anything like her, they'd probably grow to be quite sassy indeed. "Two years old. So they talk, and continue to surprise me with how much they've learned to say. I swear, they're like sponges, absorbing everything they hear and repeating it."

[Miyako]

"Two passings of all of the seasons... they start the Time of Know Little Yet Know Much then," the tribeswoman responded.

"Child that know so little of the world, always curious, want learn and touch and hear and smell and taste many things. Sometimes too curious! And parent and grandparent and wisewoman and elder stop and try teach good and bad, right and wrong, safe and unsafe, protect child from danger: and it is then that Child Know Little becomes Child Know Much, get sad, get angry, get mad, cry many tears, shout at top of lungs many things! Surprise parent with feelings over very small thing, thing that mean nothing to adult; surprise parent with things parent thought child knew nothing about! Too young to have memory of it, but Mother has stories of Miyako in that Time: mischievous child was she," she said with a laugh.

[Togashi Saruko]

Her laughter was warm and mirthful. "Why, it sounds like you described them quite accurately, Miyako! Mischevious, yes, and so curious, and so fearless." So much like their mother in that regard.

"I thought I was so prepared for children, that they couldn't surprise me or be a challenge, since I'd often watched over my cousin's daughter since she was born. But, much to my surprise, I find that it's a completely different thing indeed when it's your own children! Makes you understand why they say it takes a village to raise a child."

[Miyako]

"I imagine it different when one is primarily responsible for their health and well-being. You may play with them, feed them, tend to their wounds, put them to sleep, and do so for some hours a day, maybe days at a time, but in the end of your task you hand your cousin's daughter back to your cousin, and it is something one can do at any time. When the child is your own, they are yours for which you do all these things, when Lady Sun journeys, when Lord Moon chases, the Day and Night, for seasons upon seasons upon seasons, until they might take their place in adulthood. But you are right: as your cousin had you for help, and likely as your cousin do the same for you, you need not do it alone, and the village made and molded and melded Miyako as much as Mother did," she stated in agreement.

"I know not so much of that myself, just what I think from what I observe. Once in a full moon or so I help village friend with her child, watch that they don't run off too deep into forest and such, but I don't have cousins where I might watch their kids often like that to fully know... I think when the time is right, I would bravely step into the world of the Little Miyakos. But I cannot really say."

[Togashi Saruko]

"A world of little Miyakos," she chuckled warmly at the idea. "Perhaps that will be your path, but who knows. Most importantly, it should be a path you truly want to pursue though. Children born of love are said to be blessed, after all."

Saruko mused up at the nighty sky. "If such were to come to pass, would you settle down in the Chinsei Mori? Or have you given any thought to following the Kami?"

[Miyako]

"Half of my Chinsei cousins join the big clan-tribe of one Kami called Bayushi: tear their sleeve of fine shirt and wear it on their face. Some clani-tribe cousins come to the village to visit, talk much of Bayushi and talk of Clan-Tribe of Scorpion; they want more to come be part of Clan-Tribe, maybe want all Chinsei to come be part of Clan-Tribe. You see before you I wear not the sleeve of my shirt on my face, so I have not joined the Clan-Tribe Scorpion when my clan-tribe cousins have come to visit and talk,"

"I listen, though, and I consider. But Chinsei are cautious, wary in many things. Village elders deliberate, and discuss, and hold council, but they are slow - deliberately so - in deciding what the want. Much change over seasons, some cousins do not want to wait, and so they go on their own. Would be nice for Chinsei to step into changing world together. I learn much about the Kami, still listening, still learning. Maybe... maybe I need to consider what happens if the elders continue to drag their feet, or decide it best to stay in the forest, remain Outside by remaining inside. Maybe I need to consider if I join my cousins in deciding for myself for once." And at that she too looked up at the sky and reflected on what she had just said.

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko listened and considered Miyako's words carefully, but in the end smiled gently. "We can always listen to the words of our elders and follow their advice, but... sometimes we must also stand to find our own paths. Though some paths can be more difficult than others to tread... so I hope Miyako will choose wisely, when the time comes, and that it is a choice that makes her happy. Wherever that may lead her."

[Miyako]

"Mmm..." Miyako let out between her lips, and she continued to look at the sky for a good number of moments longer before returning her gaze to Saruko.

"... yes. I hear that, and I begin to understand that now. We have yet to reach even close to the center of where we venture, and yet I feel that I have seen and heard so much already, and it has given me much to think about in terms of what comes for me after all this is done and we are returned and scattered into all the directions of the winds. Your words as well: they have been warm and welcoming and understanding, of me, my tribe, my thoughts, and my concerns, and you have also given me much to dwell upon. And for that... I thank you." A soft smile.