[D2EE] Catching Moonlight (open)

[Doji Hikaru]

Snow fell. And while the chill winds had finally settled, Hikaru still shivered as he stood in the garden. No matter. It would not be the first time he suffered for his art.

He was painting.

In the protection of a tree, Hikaru stood, his canvas carefully balanced before him. It was a lovely night, despite the snow and cold, snowflakes catching moonlight as they fell, to vanish in the already covered ground. Brow furrowed with concentration, Hikaru layered light and dark paint, trying to capture the contrasts, the beauty of the night.

It wasn't working.

Damn, damn. He didn't curse, not aloud. His expression remained mostly impassive. But the whiteness to his lips was less from the cold, and more frustration at his lack of ability. Fingers tightened on the brush, nails going white... although he still handled it delicately enough that no harm would come to it, not even in his frustration.

"Never good enough." He whispered, stepping back for a moment.

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D2EE Painting, base TN15, 3CR, vp 1k1: 7d10o10k4 23

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Need anything Doji-sama?"

The question had been asked with a polite dose of worry, and was backed up by a similarly concerned stare.

Ayumu had been using the respite in the storm to check in what disarray exactly was the garden after so much snow (current state: it actually looks nice because the snow is hiding the things it might have crushed), and had been surprised to notice a mostly still human silhouette in the shadow of a tree.

From close, at the light of the lantern he was carrying, the Doji thankfully seemed physically fine, if morally troubled.

Actually, Ayumu himself probably looked worst than him, the dim light and the thick winter coat above his Imperial uniform emphasizing his extreme skinniness and prominent bones.

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru turned to look at the strange, skinny man. "No." He said shortly. It was not an inviting refusal, and it might have ended as the shortest, least satisfying conversation of the winter.

After a few moments, he sighed, bowing. "Doji Hikaru. And no, thank you." He gestured towards his painting with open hand. "I had hoped to capture some of the beauty of the night in a painting of mine. I find myself unsatisfied with the result. The only remedy is more practice."

He inclined his head politely. "May I ask what brings you out tongiht, Jiyo-san?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Ayumu bowed in turn:

"Jiyo Ayumu, born of the Isawa.

Duty sent me into the cold. The palace staff had to reorganize a bit to handle the siege of the palace by the snow, and I'm helping filling in the blanks. At the moment, I'm doing emergency damage control in the garden, checking that nothing is about to dangerously collapse, locating and cleaning up nasty icy patches before someones trips on them, that sort of things."

He looked at the canvas, curiosity painted on his face:

"You can paint in such a weather? How do you manage to keep your pigments from freezing?"

[Doji Hikaru]

"Of course." Hikaru said. "I hope I don't disturb your duties, then."

His lips pressed together as Ayumu came to look at his canvas, but tearing it away seemed inappropriate. "The pigments supplied by Lady Doji do not freeze easily." He said. "Besides that, one must work quickly, use only a bit, and refresh the brush with water." He touched a lump in his kimono.

"Are you a painter, then, Jiyo-san?" Hikaru asked, his tone polite.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Not in the sense I guess you were hinting at. I've painted walls, carts, statues... With a large brush, in a single color, to protect them from rain and vermin.

Regarding more artistic forms of painting, I am but a novice. A lucky one, as I have been able to witness expert painters at work, among which first and foremost the legendary Togashi Saruko of the Dragon, but a novice nonetheless.

I think we have some of her pieces in the castle at the moment actually. Maybe not her flat paintings though. The sculptures of the Fortunes she helped make should be around at least."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's expression of somewhat polite interest became both more polite and more interested. "I do not think I have seen those works. I would like to, if you could direct me to them. Togashi Saruko is a legend, and while the Dragon and the Crane do not always see eye to eye, her artistic skills have earned her great esteem with my clan."

Reaching out, Hikaru firmly folded away his canvas. It would not be good for the painting, but it was clear that he cared little for it. "On what occasion did you meet her?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Strange ones. Fifteen years ago, Saruko decided to join the expedition into the unknown to save her husband's brother. This was not met without some opposition, as she was not a warrior nor blessed by the spirits in a way that could be weaponized.

But she hold steady, got her way, and eventually turned into one of the convoy spiritual beacons alongside Hantei, Shinjo and Shinsei. And the many people that ventured into the darkness needed as much light as they could be offered. Sometimes literary, as the sun itself did not shine properly on this cursed land and the fog had a mind of its own. Always metaphorically as the malign influence of Jigoku weights heavily on the soul, pushing people into states of the mind dangerous for themselves and others.

History mostly remembers how she told and recorded stories under the fading stars, but she basically had a hand into every artistic endeavor reminding us of who we were so we didn't lose ourselves. She made our banners, she painted our guardians, she wrote our chronicles.

As for myself, I was also part of that expedition, as a simple handyman – part guard, part cook, part mender. I was giving assistance to whoever needed it, and eventually I ended up assisting great artists like Seppun Dawei or Togashi Saruko.

Some of the relics which were made in these dire times should still be safely stored within the Imperial estate nowadays. As for the where exactly, I would need to make inquiries. I have been absent for a long time, and the palace has grown quite a bit and gone through several reorganizations since."

[Doji Hikaru]

"I see." Hikaru inclined his head. "I did not realize you were fortunate enough to be a part of that expedition. The name of Seppun Dawei is known to us as well." He bowed. "I apologize for not recognizing your name as well."

Hikaru sighed. "Alas, I was far too young to have taken part. I was but a child then, newly settled in Lady Doji's household. I vaguely remember Lord Nanzi returning, along with his retinue, the woman who would become my sensei, Lord Hadananzi..." Hikaru shook his head. "It was all very long ago."

Hikaru turned his gaze skyward. "May I ask what has taken you away from the palace for so long?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"For such a dangerous expedition, a lot of clans returned with more members that they left with. This strangeness is easily explained though: Almost half our numbers were made of free tribespeople who chose to align themselves with one Kami or the other through the course of this journey. Ongaku for Shiba, Agasha for Ryoshun, Miyako for Bayushi, Hadananzi for... the Crane."

Ayumu knew little about Hadananzi, but he suspected he had joined his current clan as part of one of Nanzi's ploys first and because he was moved by Doji's message second. His meteoric rise indeed seemed to support the hypothesis he was Nanzi's protege, to not say creature.

"My promotion has a teacher had kept me quite busy. I have been traveling all over the Imperial lands, and occasionally beyond, going from village to village to help train the next generation of civil servants. A bit of history here, a bit of mathematics there, how to read and write about everywhere.

A task as vital and captivating as it is never-ending. My main reason to return to the Palace was actually to update my teaching material with the last acquisitions of its libraries. I will get back to my pedagogical tour eventually."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's eyebrows went up the tiniest bit at the pause between Hadananzi and his clan, but he made no comment on it. "I am not supposed. It was a just quest. The sort of thing that would draw the best from all over the burgeoning Empire."

He listened politely as Ayumu spoke. "A worthy goal. The well-being of the Empire and its people should be cultivated as a garden. Or so I see it."

He looked away again. "I have traveled a great deal of late as well. Stag, Imperial, Lion, Dragon lands... alas, I had to turn back before I saw much of the Dragon. First home, then here."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"That's indeed a long trip. If I may ask, what was the reason behind it and why did you have to abort it?

Also, out of professional curiosity, did you have administrative issues while undergoing it? I've heard some of the clans are tiptoeing with the idea of watching more closely who passes through their lands, by questioning people stopping at inns notably, and that sometimes it can turn in quite the mess if the guards don't like the answers they hear. For example, one poor samurai apparently found themselves stuck in the same city for a month due to an imbroglio that required many exchanges of letters to be solved."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's lips pressed together. "It was a private matter for the good of the Crane." Alas, he had not yet been told to trust Ayumu. "But as a member of Lady Doji's retinue, I must see her from time to time. A year was as long as I could be away; too long, perhaps."

A slight raising of the eyebrows, and Hikaru shook his head. "I had little difficulty. In fact, I saw few warriors, except when I visited keeps, or when I was in Lion lands. There were few enough opportunities for anyone to stop me, and when there were..." Hikaru tilted his chin up, "-perhaps my manner is such that none thought to question my right to be there."

He frowned gently. "Did this not cause an incident? Surely this samurai's clan was not happy to have them delayed for so long."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"It did, but nothing that couldn't be appeased with some diplomacy and an Imperial official acting as mediator.

I'm not surprised that your experience is different from hearsay. The empire is young and still experimenting a lot with its own functioning... And news about what went wrong always travel more quickly that news of what is working fine.

It's also quite immense and with only so many people to look after it, so it's easy to slip through the cracks, in good as in bad. For example, from my understanding, keeping the large patch of unaligned lands between the Stag, the Crane and the Scorpion decently safe for travelers is no easy task."

[Doji Hikaru]

"Yes..." Hikaru said. "Speaking for the Crane, I know we've had to ensure enough of our warriors are in and around the villages to protect them. After all, seeds must be carefully tended in order to grow. I expect the others are doing much the same. And the land between..." Hikaru took a deep breath. "Someday, the Kami's vision of an Empire will come to be, but not yet. I only hope that it is without our lifetimes."

He looked at Ayumu. "It does seem that different clans are managing things in different ways. Under the vision of Emperor Shiba, I expect that these should come together in a cohesive whole. I can't help but wonder what that will look like." A hint of a smile touched his lips. "I am not sure if that is my spirit as an artist, or just a natural curiosity. But it will be something to see."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"No one but the Kami themselves know how long they can live, if they even age at all. We'll try to do as much as we can until our last breath, but it's likely we'll only live to see the very beginning of a plan spanning over many generations."

Ayumu cast an eye over the darkest part of the garden. Though he couldn't see it, he didn't doubt one of the many Imperial foxes was watching them at the moment.

"Legend has it that it was a vision of the future that guided Yuzuru to Shiba, and he trained several disciples in his art over the last decades. If you want some hindsight about what the future will look like, you may try asking any of them.

But as with all predictions, I can't guarantee they'll be understandable with our current knowledge.

Imagine going back thirty years into the past and telling someone that in the future a crane and a phoenix carrying blades of steel will discuss the projects of the children of the sun to reshape the world. They might make a beautiful painting out of this image but I would quite surprised if it somehow matched our current reality."

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's lips twisted in dark humor. "I can only hope that the painter has more skill than I."

He waved a hand. "But your point is taken. Oh, I can admit there is some desire to see what the future holds. But without being able to see it develop, could I understand it? And would I even want to?" He shook his head. "Perhaps at the end of my life, I might choose differently. But even then, I may just hope to be virtuous enough in this one to see it next time."

A moment, and then he gave Ayumu a nod. "You seem to be a man of virtue, Jiyo-san. Are you familiar with Lord Akodo's work on Bushido? Or is virtue your nature, regardless of any study?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"I definitely won't comment on my own virtue, one way or the other.

As for Bushido, I have read it but I haven't studied in it in depth and I don't keep a copy on me at all time. It's an interesting book for sure but my personal opinion is that the best way to understand a book is to read many others, not to focus devoutly on only it. Any book is eventually limited in space and must take shortcuts that can only be filled with external inputs, both from other books and from life experience.

Oh, and if you're wondering about the story that I once told Nanzi himself that, if he wanted people to be courageous, telling them tales of courageous people might be more efficient than repeating the word Courage..."

Ayumu forced the first syllable to make the capitalization of the first letter audible.

"... it's indeed something that happened. Though of course, as with all true stories, within a particular context and not exactly in those terms."

[Doji Hikaru]

"Hmmm." Hikaru's eyebrow went up. "And yet, Leadership is written by a Kami." He waved a hand. "I don't pretend that it is the end all and be all of texts, but it is certainly worth studying."

His eyes narrowed, just a little; thoughtfully rather than in irritation. "Would you tell me the context? That sounds like a story in itself."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Written by a god but read by humans.

Some artists are able to perceive thousands of nuance of green. Some persons are unable to differentiate green from red. If you show a painting from the former to the later, most of the nuance will be lost on them, no matter how much time they spend contemplating it.

But the understanding they couldn't achieve that way, they might get from a different painting playing on a different color instead. Or a sculpture, or witnessing the sun rising. There are more than one way, but not all ways are for everyone.

As for your question..."

Ayumu took an instant to gather his memories of the event.

"The context is what the poets call heroic, so it's grim. Fifteen years ago, in the heart of darkness, a detachment of tribespeople marched toward certain death to buy time for Hisomu's rescue expedition. You may know of them thanks to the work of the Order of Heroes or Miyako's famous book.

Nanzi commented on that act using words from Bushido. He might have meant well, but to an audience who had never read that book, or any book for the matter, his speech couldn't have sounded more hollow, like a joke he was the only one to understand. In others circumstances it might have worked fine, but at that moment it was a painting brandished in the face of someone who's just lost their eyesight."