It was cold.

But supposedly that was a good thing.

Masanori really wasn't sure. Standing with his arms crossed across from the flow of frigid water, his eyes closed, he was trying to meditate - trying to do what Ryoko had done. She'd described it so... vaguely. It was infuriating. Why couldn't she just give clear advice, properly explained? Instead she talked about a feeling beneath the skin, some sort of 'well inside', and all sorts of other figurative nonsense. She talked about emptying her mind.

Maybe that was easy for her, but every time he threw a thought out, two more took its place.

Supposedly there was a magic in the bloodline of ogres, but he didn't feel magical, simply foolish, as he came each morning to attempt the impossible.

As the number of people in the imperial city had increased in anticipation of the wedding event, Kawauso had startedto range farther out to feel more connection to the world beyond the stone walls. This morning, she actually hiked as far as the waterfall, which was reputed to be quite beautiful.

And there was a large person there. Just sitting and sounding frustrated. Well, and looking...

Kawauso moved closer, curious look upon her face. She didn't have her spear, but she doubted something sitting by a waterfall like a human was much of a threat to her. As the stranger continued to sit and mutter, the tall Lion considered that perhaps she shouldn't disturb them. She took a seat on top of a medium sized rock, from which she could view the waterfall and the strange person, and waited quietly for a time.

After a while, Masanori began pacing.

He was clearly a human, mostly, dressed in the style of the Imperial messengers and scribes, the Ongaku.

Finally giving up and opening his eyes, he came to a sudden stop, regarding the woman who had been watching him with surprise and some embarrassment.

After a protracted moment of awkward silence, he brushed himself off, bowed, and said, "GoodmorningMissIDidn'tSeeYouThere."

The long-legged Lion turns to face him more directly, shifting into a cross-legged sitting position. She still looks at him curiously, but gives a little bow from her perch on the rock.

"Good morning, imperial-sama," she says pleasantly, playing the odds with the number of functionaries she's seen dressed the same or similarly in recent days. "Apologies if I disturbed your efforts here. I wasn't sure of your goal, and wasn't sure how to be the least intrusive."

Masanori straightened, tucking his hands into his sleeves.

"Ah, it was nothing important. An experiment which has failed in sequence for dozens of attempts."

He waved a hand vaguely, expression now studiously bland, attempting to be polite, even if he couldn't quite suppress the faint quirk of his lip, a hint of amusement, even if taken at his own expense.

"This one is Ongaku Masanori, Imperial Historian and Messenger. At your service."

"Mm," the woman verbalizes remembering to introduce herself. "I'm Akodo Kawauso. Emissary of the Dai-er, the Lion Clan," she corrects herself, smile never leaving her face.

"So the waterfall isn't helping with what you were trying to do? That's a shame. It's pretty impressive. Maybe so impressive it's actually a distraction?" She looks up at the waterfall again, then back at the imperial.

"Possibly, though it wasn't for her."

A small shrug, and he offered, "I have not met many Lion - my duties never allowed me to tarry long in their land. I hope our hospitality is suitable for your needs."

Kawauso makes a face for a moment, not recalling who "her" was, but lets it pass. At mention of hospitality, she chuckles.

"The hospitality is well beyond my humble needs. That's part of why I'm out here. The land and water are quite hospitable too, and ask very little of a person. Larger villages and cities seem to come with a lot of rules and expectations, which..." Kawauso smiles and looks down a moment. "I am still uncertain whether they are worth the trade-offs," she says with an honest smile at the man.

"Ah yes."

He paused, contemplating that.

"Was your family tribe perhaps more nomadic? I know many of my kin have struggled with the idea of 'setting down roots'."

"Ah, not nomadic, exactly," she says, sounding somewhat mysterious as steps down from her rock.

She points to the river above the waterfall as she explains. "When you are used to constant movement -- constant life -- as the river brings you everyday, cities -- especially big, stone buildings -- feel like they come from another world. It's a steady world, I suppose. Predictable. But less vibrant," she says as her hand drops.

"I see."

He arched an eyebrow. "Yet some would say the city provides you visions of the entire empire, with all the strangers passing by, art and stories from all over."

It wasn't entirely clear if he believed that argument, or was simply playing devils advocate.

"How about you? Do you dislike the predictable?"

Kawauso makes a face at Masanori's comment about th he city, but rapidly shifts back to a smile at him.

"I don't know who needs to see a whole empire worth of things," she says philosophically, "save the glorious emperor himself. And his aides and advisors, I suppose. That makes good sense. But for me, the predictability of one season following another, one day following another... Those kinds of things are probably enough for a simple country girl like me."

"So you desire both the predictable and the vibrant?"

Masanori furrowed his brow, as if taking notes.

The furrowed brow makes Kawauso laugh lightly in amusement.

"Wouldn't you?" She asks with a warm chuckle. "If I knew I could always catch the same number of fish at one place in the river, I still wouldn't go there everyday to fish. Perhaps it is my safe spot, to go when I need those for-sure fish, but I would be silly not to look for better places, right? Movement is life," she says, sounding like it's something of a mantra for her.

"Hmm... I suppose I am the sort who would test just how long that spot yielded the same bounty - and if it did... why?"

He tapped his chin.

"So would you like a city if it had less stone houses? Or is it the crowds which annoy you?"

It seemed he was attempting to problem solve, or perhaps just taking some sort of mental inventory.

Kawauso is looking at him cheerfully, giving the impression of a curious animal wondering what a silly human will do next. "Is it important to you that I live in a city somewhere?" She asks half joking.

"The city of the Makime, where I go to school, is not so bad. It's still a young city, still lots of growing to do. It is not... entirely..." She seems to be looking for just the right words. After struggling for a time, she tries differently: "It is a city focused on doing, rather than a city of being." After she says it, her face scrunches. "That sounds silly... Apologies, Ongaku-san. I clearly need to find better ways to explain my thoughts."

"No, I think I understand."

He smirked at her question. "Not precisely important that you live in a city, but I would hope to make note if the capital is undesirable - those who live here might lack the awareness of how it feels to outsiders."

With a tiny shrug, he added, "Consider it my desire to ensure there is never reason to look down upon the capital - that I wish to ensure it is the best that it can be."

Kawauso stands up from her rock, but gives Masanori the curious animal look again.

"But what is desirable to some is undesirable to others," she notes without sounding argumentative. "How will the glorious capitol be all things to all people?" She asks the question with a smile, suggesting it's a rhetorical trap, not a serious curiosity.

"It's large, and getting larger. Perhaps we will cram it all in."

A faint smirk.

"Regardless, I suppose the point is taken."

Kawauso bows her head briefly, perhaps in thanks for her point being taken, and returns to looking at Masanori with a smile on her face.

"Mostly, I think," she says, brushing her hands off on each other. "You will find that more and more, the capitol will attract the kind of people who already like it. The rule makers and rule followers will think well of it, and they will gather more and more with each other." She shrugs.

"People like me will not often come, and won't stay when we do, but perhaps, somehow, your city can still help the emperor and his advisors remember how life is where we are?" This is a genuine question, with Kawauso looking at the Ongaku for all aspects of his reaction.