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Yokuni bows his head in acknowledgement. "The kami Togashi knew not only the outcome of the tournament, but saw the future of many things. And not just one future, but an endless web of interlinked possibilities. The weight of foreknowledge is a heavy one to bear, Kotone-san. Navigating that web, guiding events to the outcome that leads to the Empire's survival, and triumph over the Dark Kami...it is the work of a hundred lifetimes." He stands, looming. "Come, I have something to show you." He turns and strides to a door behind him, which he slides open, revealing a featureless room with a single candle to provide illumination. "Close the door behind you," he instructs, and enters the chamber.
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Mar 9, 2014 05:41
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Kotone Kotone is quiet, having largely said her piece, but follows quietly. There's more a tiredness in her, as if thick with regrets and memories brought to the surface by this meeting. Still, as instructed, she moves to shut the door behind her, pulling the room deeper into darkness.
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Mar 9, 2014 06:33
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Ikoma Takakage Most of the fair-weather drinkers had fallen to their cups, but the monk remained. Either he was as well-traveled as Takakage, or he was a storyteller of prodigious skill. "Tell me, oh honorable monk," the Lion says. "What do you know of the Unicorn? What is their role in the Empire, as you have seen it? I have seen and heard much, but they are as a river without banks."
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Mar 13, 2014 07:08
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Kaiya "I do." Kaiya keeps working. "What sort of poetry? Is it a status report or a love poem or are you asking for a favour?"
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Mar 22, 2014 05:03
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Ai "The first one! Definitely the first one." Ai nods, then coughes, blushing somewhat. "...and also the second one." Given she named herself for love stories, it is perhaps unsurprising that the brash warrior does have it in her to be as shy and timid about romance as a young girl.
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Mar 22, 2014 05:05
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Kaiya Kaiya nods in understanding and starts working silently. Just as Ai starts to think she's not going to say anything, though, she starts reciting a love poem to the sword. It's not a bad poem! There's a reference to having a hunger/need in there that Ai might want to tweak slightly but it's pretty good. <+Morphball> Ettin: 24 = 3k2(7,3,[10,7])
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Mar 22, 2014 05:21
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The monk smiles blearily at Takakage. "The Unicorn? Of course, they are...they are...well, they are explorers, honorable men and women, and they patrol the roads. They are different from other Rokugani, but so are we Dragon, so I can respect that..." ~~ In the darkness Kotone senses a change, a shift of some kind, and suddenly she realizes she is in the presence of more than a mere man...then, a soft glow, as of starlight, begins to illuminate the chamber, and she becomes aware that Togashi Yokuni is none other than Togashi himself. What makes it obvious is that he is a dragon. The light filling the chamber does indeed seem to be coming from stars, small lights forming constellations above where the samurai and the dragon sit. "At the dawn of the Empire, I looked into the future and foresaw...every myriad possibility." A web of lights connects the stars, making the room look like it has been colonized by some kind of constellation-spinning spiders. The dragon reaches out a clawed hand--somehow able to reach--and taps a strand, sending tremors all along the webs. "You see a representation of the state of the future, simplified so your mind will not be overwhelmed. As you see, all things are interconnected. I saw, and continued to see, the outcome of my sibling's tournament. Had I desired, I could have spoken to any of them, to give victory to any of them...but it was Hantei's Empire that I saw surviving, that I saw thriving, and that I saw overcoming the threat to come. The threat...we now face." Togashi regards Kotone emotionlessly. "Would you see the future that would have been, had things been different? To understand why I act as I have? I cannot and will not show you what lies in store for you...but know that your destiny lies on the path I have set you on, and it is for that alone that I have done this to you, though you feel betrayed and abandoned. If it will make your journey easier, I will allow you to witness what might have been."
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Apr 7, 2014 05:21
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Kotone Tensing in a way that usually presages a sword draw, Kotone's hand remains conversely away from her hilt. Awe, anger, and wonder all flow through her expression as she tries to grasp the impossibility before her, and then relaxed. It was an immense display of power, but it wasn't the unnatural of the forces south or the motion of a predator. It was divine. She looks away. What difference would it make for her to know? What would she see? Tragedy? Regret? Failure? And what would it matter for her to see it? Would it change anything? She closed her eyes, pondering. Was she just afraid? Did she care? Would it just underline his manipulations? The anger boiled up easily still. How dare he toy with people's lives? Did the Emperor know? Would it matter if he did? Her eyes looked up at the dragon as she realized one simpler possibility that washed away the other questions. Was he... trying to comfort her? All she could manage in reply was laughter, breaking down in the amazement and absurdity of it all.
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Apr 8, 2014 05:31
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Ai Ai reads the poem over, then nods. "I think I can work with this. Thank you." She smiles broadly and genuinely - something of a rarity, these days. "If there's anything you need that I can take care of, just call me." Then it's off to find a messenger that can be trusted to get the letter back to Toku, once she's made a few edits.
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Apr 12, 2014 18:44
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Tora Still waiting near the gates, Tora spies Ai and waves to her. "Ai-san! Any word on when we depart? Death and glory will not wait forever."
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Apr 13, 2014 01:52
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Kaiya Kaiya watches Ai go in mild surprise - she hasn't seen that before. It starts to distract her from her task, so she makes it quick. She only gives the sword about another hour of attention before packing up, going back to her room and passing out on her futon. "Zzz"
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Apr 13, 2014 15:50
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point taken, update to come.
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Apr 14, 2014 15:50
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Ikoma Takakage "Hm, yes." Takakage nods as if the monk had imparted great wisdom. "Different. I can see situations where that would be advantageous." And others where it would not. Have I remembered to keep my mouth shut this time? "The next time I meet one of their bold warriors, I will remember this. Their... difference is their strength."
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Apr 17, 2014 06:11
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Sorry this game has gone so silent this past month. Are we all still here?
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May 11, 2014 18:26
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Still present!
Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 20:17 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 18:50
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Ready and waiting!
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May 11, 2014 20:09
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Distracted, but unbroken.
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May 12, 2014 07:50
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Also distracted, but sure
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May 12, 2014 07:55
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Sorry for slow response - I graduate this weekend and these past two weeks have been a bit crazy, but I am here!
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May 15, 2014 20:05
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Of the Great Clans during the reign of the Scorpion Emperor, the Unicorn were perhaps the most aloof. While many individual Unicorn still held positions of honor and importance to the Empire, including my own yojimbo, the Clan as a whole were the last to commit to Shoju's ascendancy - on either side. Neither did the slowness to commit end there. When the Wall was threatened and the other Clans mustered, only the Phoenix and the Unicorn did not prepare for battle - the Phoenix because they were dealing with another threat within their own lands, which the Emperor understood fully and none could deny. The Unicorn, however, had not reported any such threats, yet still they held back... -Excerpt from The Scorpion Emperor - A History by Miya Shouko After some much-needed rest, explanations, revelations, and replenishing your supplies, the Dragon send you on your way to the lands of the Unicorn, along with an escort to the border of their lands to see to your safety, and perhaps more helpfully, traveling papers signed by the Dragon Clan Champion himself. These papers are enough to earn you a Unicorn escort, complete with fresh horses, upon your arrival in the lands of the Unicorn. Your destination is Shiro Shinjo, seat of the Unicorn Clan Champion. Your mission is to bring the Unicorn to the Wall, under the command of the returned Hantei Emperor. And when, after a week's ride, you arrive, you find that you're not the only group of ambassadors... Shiro Shinjo Shiro Shinjo is not what you'd typically expect from a Rokugani castle. The strangeness of the Unicorn is well known and it extends to their architecture - in this case a sprawling fortification with as much attention paid to the care and comfort of the horses as to the human riders. Years of living in the rough, though, have dulled you to such niceties, and your sensibilities are perhaps less offended than might be a group direct from court. Like the delegation of Scorpions staring openly at you as your presence is announced in court to Shinjo Yokatsu, the Clan Champion. The Unicorn Champion is a man who looks distinctly uncomfortable at the situation he has found himself in - though whether that is because he is now caught between the emissaries of a band of outlaws and the Emperor who hunts them, or simply because he is in court in the first place, is anyone's guess. "What has brought such an...unusual group of guests to my doorstep, under the protection of the Dragon Clan Champion?" he wonders aloud almost immediately after you are announced. Clearly the man has no understanding of the finer points of court ettiquette, and he himself seems to realize that he is being too direct immediately, reddening and muttering a curse beneath his breath. Still, the question hangs in the air...
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Jun 1, 2014 14:56
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Ai Ai grins. Court etiquette has never been her style - she's a brash, loud fighter, more at home with military men than perfumes and graces. (Even if she is a good hand at the shamisen.) "A bold question deserves a bold answer. We come to you in the name of the true Emperor, to bring you the gravest tidings, which even one who opposes us should know. Whether you kneel for a Scorpion or not, we ask you come: the Shadowlands are rising as one, and every sword is needed to hold the line. I won't waste your time with flattery or poetry."
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Jun 2, 2014 19:12
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Tora Tora steps up beside Ai. She's spoken bluntly, so no point in holding his tongue. "My comrade calls the tidings grave, I call them happy. There is glory and death enough for all. Already the forces of the both Emperors, true and false, march for the Wall. The armies of the Lion will follow soon. Honor and duty demand every true samurai take up their blade and join them." "Will the histories not speak of the terror of the Unicorn's charge, of the prowess of the Khans in battle, o great lord?"
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Jun 3, 2014 00:35
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Kaiya Kaiya just stands there, straw hat pulled over her eyes. The Scorpion can probably still tell she's trying to keep down her fury though. Ettin fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Jun 4, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 13:04
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Kotone Standing there, Kotone at least manages to look every part the wary ronin as her eyes stay on everybody but Yokuni. The idea of getting caught in a trap is not out of the question, given the Unicorn's notorious fence-riding. Well. Their very skilled fence-riding. She hadn't needed for Yokuni to show her what might have happened. It would have been a distraction. She needed to stay sharp despite having lost two lords, and focus on her duty to the empire. Her selfishness was a hard thing to resist, to lash out at everyone around her and take up her own path again. So she might understand a little of how Yokatsu feels about the situation. Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 16:38 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 4, 2014 23:23
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Minoru If there's one thing Minoru is at the best of times, it's awkward around people. These particular people, however? It's all he can do to stay steady on his feet. Fortunately no one but he would be able to tell just how tightly he's holding onto his hands, white-knuckled.
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Jun 6, 2014 08:32
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Ikoma Takakage Takakage's companions were split between zeal and panic. No, concern. Samurai do not panic. As it was, were they in a trap, his words could no long extricate them. He smiles, puffs his chest, and arches his eyebrows fiercely when Tora speaks of the histories. These... warriors demand fierce historians. His mon is on display, so he will either be cut down or be the conduit between his people, this task, and History.
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Jun 15, 2014 06:23
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The Unicorn champion shakes his head. "These tidings I knew, for moments ago Bayushi Shangguo, my own cousin, has just informed me of the same. The only difference is the name of the Emperor he serves. Bah. You leave me in a difficult position. Should I ride for the Shadowlands - as every bone in my body cries out to do, to stomp out the accursed Dark Moto who fell to Fu Leng and brought shame to my clan - I must choose an Emperor in whose name I will ride. We patrol the highways of the Empire, my children of the Unicorn; I am not without ears to the tidings of the so-called True Emperor the Dragon have spirited up from somewhere. You would have me choose, and throw my children into battle to defend an Empire that barely wants us here. You would have me choose, but why would I ride to battle for an Emperor unworthy of my support? If Shoju were worthy, why has he not been able to hold his Empire from the brink of chaos? If this Hantei claimant were worthy, why has he hidden in the mountains of the Dragon these past years? I tell you all what I would have told you alone - the Unicorn will not ride for weaklings or fools, and I have yet to be convinced that either Emperor is neither." He sits back in disgust. The Scorpion delegation are apparently impassive behind their masks. The court, as a whole, is utterly shocked. There is stillness.
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Jun 19, 2014 02:11
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Ai Brash: [21:22] <+Morphball> MorsRattus: 20 = 4k4(9,8,2,1), add 5 to that for 25. Just barely avoided violence. Ai is not impassive. She is angry. It shows clearly on her face. Her hand drops to her sword for a moment before she catches herself. "So, you are going to wait, then? Do nothing? If every bone in your body aches to fight the Shadowlands..." She snarls. "Then I say to you - the man I serve is no weakling and no fool. But I am unconvinced the man in front of me is neither. Still - it is the one in front of me who commands the Unicorn." She controls the anger. Harnesses it. Toku would not want her raging. Use the anger, ride it. "If you want strength, I will offer its proof with my own hands. I do not care which emperor you ride under, for all that I will say, here and forever, that Shoju is a usurping coward." She turns towards the Scorpion delegation. "But I will offer you this: I will duel one of theirs. And any of my companions who wish to join me can make their own challenges. When it is over, you decide who is weak and cowardly in the face of true danger, Shinjo Yokatsu."
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Jun 19, 2014 02:27
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Tora Tora seems ready to join Ai in her challenge, but stops for a moment, cocking his head to consider the Scorpion. He leans over to Ai to speak quietly. "A duel is a good idea, but I think we need to be audacious with its form." He turns back to Yokatsu. "I have no doubt that my companion would defeat any number of the False Emperor's dogs, but if pure skill at arms were all you wished to see, then you would have already chosen a side. I say, give us a task to perform, some great deed you need accomplished. Let those fools vie with us to see it done. When we surpass them, you will know whose banner you should follow."
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Jun 19, 2014 04:04
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The Scorpions seem prepared to duel Ai, but Yokatsu leans forward with great interest at Tora's suggestion. "Bold words, and well spoken! Very well, a task it shall be. I will of course need to decide upon a task worthy of the assemblage gathered here. Tomorrow, I shall set it before you. Tonight, we drink, and dine, together! Let none be enemies in the house of Shinjo Yokatsu this night!" He stands up to punctuate this last, and his court erupts in a cheering roar at his proclamation. It seems you're going to have to put up with a Unicorn party tonight.
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Jun 22, 2014 04:17
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Kotone Kotone looks over to the others. There's a moment of surprise, and then a smile hidden from the Unicorns over to Tora. All things considered, a party didn't sound bad. But... then there were Scorpions around. She folds her arms into her sleeves, pondering this. Would the Scorpions go so far? ... of course they would. It looks like it isn't going to be a relaxing sort of party. But then, with the Unicorn, could it ever be such?
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Jun 29, 2014 06:50
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Minoru Madness. This matter of banners was-- well, critical, but was it critical in this moment? The state of the wall was critical. drat the question of whose name it should be under, until the end. Let the survivors concern themselves with thrones; the cause of the Emperor would be as true then as it was still today. His hands grip themselves tighter, nerves growing even more taut. drat everyone. drat everyone for failing to act for right. If they had not all been damned already.
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Jun 29, 2014 07:48
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Kaiya Well, if they're marching anyway, Kaiya can think of this as some kind of pre-battle party. "As long as we're ready to go afterwards," she grumps to herself.
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Jun 30, 2014 04:15
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Ikoma Takakage The Unicorn champion was a fool, and his politicking during the time of crisis was a traitor's brand. However, he held the power in this situation. If the Cunning Lion knew Scorpion--and he had known a few--they wouldn't relax just because of their host's ill-timed party. They'd be plotting, scheming, poisoning, and who knows what else, so as to gain the advantage in the next day's task. This would not do. Takakage would meet them as a warrior on the court's field of battle. He would enjoy their host's hospitality, and by the fortunes, so would they. As the sake began to flow--and stranger stuff, poisoned by gaijin hands, if the rumors could be believed--he deployed his weapons: sly compliments, thrilling stories, exhortations to drink, drink, drink, lest the honor of their clever host be tarnished. Courtier (with 1 Void and No Boundaries): 8d10o10k4 42 If they spilled to avoid drinking, he'd play the buffoon and refill their cups. If they feigned tiredness, he would call for toasts in their name or share tales of their great deeds. Anything to keep the enemy at the party, out of trouble, and appropriately liquored.
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Jul 4, 2014 23:53
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As the feast commences, a great table is laid out with food both exotic and familiar, almost till it groans. Drinks are poured liberally, and the celebrations become raucous. After all present have eaten their fill, Yokatsu stands and calls for attention. "This is good!" he declares, slightly drunk. "But what is best in life?"
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Jul 5, 2014 14:42
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Kotone Kotone has indulged only slightly; it's hard for her to feel at ease, either with the Scorpion or Unicorn. The possibility of a daimyo using Fu Leng's assault to preserve his own ambition is not far from her mind, but ultimately she must remain ready for a challenge at all times in this situation. She stays away from spicier foods, instead taking in rice and some familiar bland tastes. Nothing that might hide something she wouldn't notice. Hopefully, her ronin paranoia is unwarranted, but... At a private moment with some of the others, she says softly to Tora, "Need we really win this contest?" She pauses. "We must honor our lord in all contests, no doubt, but depending on the nature of the contest..." A little odd coming from the former Topaz Champion. "... I am simply saying we may be able to consider failure as an option."
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Jul 6, 2014 20:53
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WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE GUYS
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Jul 14, 2014 23:35
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Minoru Correct moral action? Sitting somewhere quiet? Not being at parties full of Unicorns and other, hostile, Scorpions? Somehow none of these things seemed like they would be considered best in life by anyone. Minoru looks around a bit wildly for someone, anyone other than him, who might be able to answer a thing like that.
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Jul 14, 2014 23:46
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Ai Ai takes some time to formulate her answer, but the core of it is clear. She's known it since the day she chose her name. "What is best in life...is to find a love that will remain forever, beyond distance and time. It is not something that will bring you fame, glory or honor. But it is what is best. To have someone for whom you would do anything, to know that, without question, there is someone who is more important to you than yourself." She smiles for a moment, closing her eyes and bowing her head. Then it fades, and she's back to pouring herself a generous quantity of shochu and downing it in one go. "That is what is best."
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Jul 15, 2014 00:12
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Tora "Vengeance, honor, and glory. And a worthy death in their pursuit." Tora stands back in the shadows, his dark clothing making his read mask stand out all the more.
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Jul 15, 2014 00:30
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