The stories not yet told (D24, LE, Open but expecting)

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Getting back to civilization had many benefits, and one of them was access to fresh supplies of quills, ink and paper.

As the night was closing in, Ayumu waited for a last exchange of stories before people part ways. Except this time, the words won't be simply hanging in the air, they would settle down on paper.

His own gift was waiting before him, freshly penned.

[Miyako]

With the celebration of Nozomi's new life winding down as the evening moved on, Miyako took her pack and her temporarily-empty cup and moved over to another part of the hall where Ayumu was waiting.

"Hello Ayumu... a good day back in the city?" she asked with a smile as she took a seat and moved her pack besides her. "Berry-wine?" she offered him from a wineskin before she refilled her drink.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Hello Miyako. With pleasure, thanks. I think we're allowed to indulge today. How was your day?"

He is careful to put aside the papers before taking the cup, as to avoid any stupid incident.

"I was working on some basic dictionary for Ryoko. I'm not great at drawing, but I can at least make a list of the most usual symbols, with a small sketch of what they represent by their side."

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko wasn't one to keep notes most of the time, so she arrived empty-handed to the meeting.

"Is this where the storytelling happens?" she asked with a soft chuckle.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu smiled:

"The storytelling happens wherever you are Saruko. But since I cannot take you back to the imperial estate with me, I thought I might as well bring back some of your words home. Or offer them to anyone wanting to carry them.

We need to write a few new books if we have to fill all these shiny new libraries what we're planning after all."

[Miyako]

"It's not the forest, but it's good to be back to a familiar place, that's for sure," she responded to Ayumu as she filled his cup. "Ah, hello Saruko, some berry-wine for you too?" she offered when the Dragon arrived. One offered and all cups are filled, she set the wineskin down to the side away from the papers and ink and the like and took a sip from her own cup.

"Libraries?"

[Togashi Saruko]

"I don't think you wish to deal with an upset dragon who'd have to come and rescue me," Saruko remarked with a joking tone. She was joking right?

"Ah, thank you, Miyako. Berrywine would be great." Now she felt a bit safer with drinking now that they weren't in hell anymore. "And yes, libraries! Imagine a place where all the stories and knowledge can be written down and read!"

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

Ryoko drifted in, she'd been told to come, though she wasn't sure what good she would do here... after all, she could barely read her own name.

Still, here she was, with a blue furred hat and shawl over her usual white and red clothes, expression curious. She hadn't met these people before... not properly.

With a small wave, she said, softly, "Hello. Ayumu told me I should come."

[Miyako]

"Ah, so like a storage hut filled with books and papers then!" she stated excitedly, very much assuming she got the concept right. "That would be a looooot of books and paper though. But have to start somewhere, right?" When the newcomer arrived, she offered her a small wave in response, her bone and stone bracelets clacking together.

"Hello! I don't think we've met - I'm Miyako of the Chinsei," the tribeswoman greeted warmly as she reached over to her side to get the wineskin. "Cup of berry-wine for you?"

[Togashi Saruko]

Saruko bowed her head to the newcomer, and presented her empty palms in greeting. She recalled the strange-looking woman from story-time around the campfire.

"I'm Togashi Saruko of the Dragon Clan. It's good to meet in better circumstances."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ryoko drifted in, she'd been told to come, though she wasn't sure what good she would do here... after all, she could barely read her own name.

Still, here she was, with a blue furred hat and shawl over her usual white and red clothes, expression curious. She hadn't met these people before... not properly.

With a small wave, she said, softly, "Hello. Ayumu told me I should come."

"Hi Ryoko. Thank you for coming.

Miyako is a fellow talented traveling storyteller. I felt like you two should meet while we still had the chance, especially as I might have asked her for a book suitable for a beginner at reading.

Togashi Saruko is a lot of things, among those a spinner of stories, a patron of the arts and the assurance you'll be welcome in Dragon lands should you travel there.

As for my own presence, well, first..."

He handed there his makeshift reading exercise.

"I look forward to keep on teaching you how to write when you will pass back by imperial lands. But in my absence or that of another teacher, here's some practice. The written symbols are on the left, the bad pictures of what they represent on the right."

"Ah, so like a storage hut filled with books and papers then!" she stated excitedly, very much assuming she got the concept right. "That would be a looooot of books and paper though. But have to start somewhere, right?" When the newcomer arrived, she offered her a small wave in response, her bone and stone bracelets clacking together.

"Yes, libraries. We have quite the big plan to have a lot of them through the empire, frequently producing, acquiring and exchanging new books. Setting up the logistics is a nightmare, but we're making slow but steady progress. Ryoko here might end up as one of our first official book conveyors, among other things.

And from our previous discussions, I feel like you have the potential to provide us with original texts to store in there."

[Ongaku no Ryoko]

"Oh... thank you."

Ryoko offered a somewhat clumsy bow to all three, "I am Ongaku no Ryoko, I'm very glad to meet you."

Holding the sheaf of parchment, she flipped between sheets, curiously examining the pictures, trying to see if any confused her.

"I don't think I've had this... berry-wine. Is it sour?"

[Miyako]

“If anything, on the sweet side,” Miyako confirmed before she started sifting through her pack in search of something. After a few moments, she removed from it and presented a pile of parchment pages full of scribbling.

“It took me quite a few nights around the campfire to jot it all down and finish it all, but here they are. This is what I can recall as simple and easy lessons that were used with me when I first learned to read some seasons ago. The first few pages are short little rhymes, a couple poems, and quick tales that Chinsei share with the children to teach something about the forest. The rest are longer stories, still on the short side though, and again more Chinsei forest tales, a couple of which I remember helping me read. I tried to draw a picture now and again too, but my drawing isn’t fancy or anything like that,” she admitted as she slid the parchment pile over to Ayumu for his review.

“Maybe when I get home to Chinsei Mori I sit down and think about something to write, put together, and send to you to read,” she said to him with a smile.

[Togashi Saruko]

"I started with numbers and other simple lessons... I'm still not very good at writing," she admitted honestly. Reading wasn't something she was doing fast either.

"But with the project of libraries, if we can get it to work, more people will have the opportunity to learn and read."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu waved at the pile of still blank sheets.

"Writing may not be your forte, but you're a star at narrating. All three of you are. I would be honored if you were to tell me, or sing to me, or to another scribe, your versions of the tale we just lived, so it can be recorded for the future generations. Not necessarily now and today, but one day. I'm sure Miyako will eventually write down her own personal spin on it, and others may do so, but there is far enough material in this story for many different talented artists to take a shot at it and produce something unique."

[Miyako]

"You think other people would want to know about what I saw?" she asked after another sip of berry-wine, genuinely surprised at that. "I... never really considered that anyone would be interested in such a thing, to be honest. Clan-tribes must surely have scribes and storytellers to write down what was a clan-tribe matter - would they really want to see and hear what tribe-tribe and Nezumi saw and did in the end?"

[Togashi Saruko]

"It's not often a god is rescued from another realm, or that a rift between worlds is sealed. This is the kind of story that will be told by the next generations, and may perhaps become legend." Saruko mused, one of her reasons for going on this trip becoming fulfilled.

[Miyako]

"That I understand... I guess I meant more of why anyone would be interested in my account of the matter in particular," the tribeswoman added with a shrug before finishing off the rest of the wine in her cup. She brought out the wineskin again to refill it.

"But I know some from the clan-tribes have asked us from tribe-tribes why we would come on such a journey - at least, that's a question I got more than once, and it wouldn't surprise me if others in the tribe-tribes heard the same. And there are the Nezumi too, and all that they saw and all that they did, but their writing is done on those sticks and scents as far as I can tell: who might tell their story on paper and would anyone read it?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"As far as creating goes I have a philosophy."

Ayumu took a sip for dramatic effect.

"It's never about what others can do, but only about what you can bring to the table. Some can know more vocabulary, own a more beautiful writing or voice, have had more past enlightening experiences to mix with the current narrative. But no matter how highly you think of them, and how humble you are about yourself, you always have something different to say about the same story, some other perspective to bring in, a different voice, a different look.

So don't worry about what Saruko, or anyone else, has done or could do. Only think about what you you can do."

A nod:

"As for the Nezumi, once relations with them are normalized, I hope we'll eventually understand their system and start translating things both ways."

[Miyako]

"Well... if there are those that will read it, then I can offer just that," she responded after considering his words. "Maybe even get some of those campfire tales down on paper. Chinsei have passed them down to one another in the village and between villages on different sides of the forest as well, and I think people enjoyed them enough around the campfire that I think they might be worth sharing. I would read a book myself about those kinds of stories from other villages and places too."