LE 5 - Shadows and Light (Closed)

[Shosuro]

She stayed silent for a long time, finally nodding. "I don't want to lose my connection to who I am, so I will accept any help you're willing to give. But... 'remaining Shosuro'... I'm not sure that is a meaningful phrase. Shosuro is only a slight variation on an obscure term in the Language of the Kami for a name." She frowned. "I wonder if my mother chose it? Her own name was a name they used in the Tribe of Seppun for unknown women."

[Nozomi]

"... that's ... rather fitting, but I hope that you understand my meaning. I would understand your intent, should you ultimately choose another name." She managed to chuckle slightly. "The night that I met your mother, I ... forgot my name, and a young girl named Phi departed that forest, heading south to join the HIkaru one day. Phi is a word from her now long dead people, which means Ghost. And, until the day that this girl named Phi crossed the river to the south a second time, returning to the land of the living, away from the empire of the Nezumi and the place of death that Hisomu was pulled from, she thought of herself as a ghost. When she took on herself a new path, she named herself Nozomi, a name which means hope."

"A name is a name, but it is an identity. And it should be your name as you claim it, whether it be the one you bear now, or one you bear in time." Boy... would this woman have a weird relationship with Nezumi name magic if she understood it.

[Shosuro]

"... To learn something like this, does one need to become a monk like yourself?" She asked quietly.

[Nozomi]

"To be honest? I have no clue. I'm not sure Shinsei knows even. Six years ago, there was no Order of Heroes. Fifteen years ago, I was a rappa, a killer for the Hikaru, and I had not given up that life. It took me years to forget those ways, and further years to learn from Shinsei's teachings. And, in truth? I'm not a very good monk at times. Kuu's a better one, as are many who've come since, who were trained from the very beginning as monks. I don't think we in the Order truly know what it means to be a monk. It's still being figured out."

That was a LOT more honest of an answer than she was likely to ever get from anyone but perhaps Shinsei. Most of the monks would have been a bit more certain about things that none of them had business being certain about yet. "If you are mystically inclined in the right way, and can follow the teaching, this may be possible. I need to meditate and speak with him to see if we find a way to create a teaching useable by others not of the Order. It may help that you yourself are of Bayushi's blood. Somehow, those of you who are so close to the divine are capable of ..."

Shrug. "Well, you break rules by existing, I think."

[Shosuro]

"Mm... Children of two worlds, one of which we will never see," she mused. "Certainly unusual, if nothing else. Hard to predict those effects."

[Nozomi]

"Mmmm, I doubt I would ever see one of them myself. At the very least, I do not think it's something that will hurt to attempt. You have some protection already, so if this does not succeed, we can build upon that to shield you further, but I will attempt to see what can be done in this regard." She had literally no clue how to cure something like this, given that she barely knew what 'this' was in the first place. "Thank you for letting me try, Shosuro."

[Shosuro]

"Thank you for being willing to try," she replied with a small smile. "It's nice to have some hope."

[Nozomi]

She saw what she did there. Well, it was her fault for using a name that meant hope wasn't it? Not that she really minded. She returned the smile a bit awkwardly and nodded. "I do not know what it will take, but I will find a way to help. For now, though, if you wish. I can help you with some meditation tricks I've managed to pick up. They can help to keep your void refreshed."

(OOC: If you wish, this is probably a good handwaving point of the two of them doing more basic training.)

[Shosuro]

"Hai... I would like to learn," she said, settling into a meditative position.

/fade to training