Tale of Shirakawa and Urabe (Shinto Xianxia)

Tenchi contemplated the other options for a while, but ultimately her choice of partner was obvious, much as she might resent it.
She had already caught the interest of the golden girl and it seemed far smarter to meet her on Tenchi's own terms, perhaps even as a future ally, than to spurn her and risk her anger.
She straightened her back, put on an expression of calm interest and marched up to the golden girl. It was a pleasant surprise that the gaggle of girls trailing behind her target parted easily around her and let her walk up to the golden girl. Now she just had to politely ask her if she wanted to share a room, but any such formality was denied to her as the girl spun around.

She grasped Tenchi's hand between her own and smiled brilliantly, her cheeks dimpling in genuine joy. "Oh you came! I was hoping I'd get to know you!" Her voice had an airy, dancing quality to it, like a burbling stream, but Tenchi's eyes were drawn in by her eyes. They were pools of molten gold, her iris shifting constantly, bleeding out into the sclera like a starburst, and there was a drowning depth to them, drawing Tenchi in deeper and deeper.
For a brief moment she felt truly lost, staring aimlessly ahead, before her manners kicked in again and she blinked, freeing herself from the influence.
"Hoping?" Tenchi asked, voice still dulled by confusion as she gathered herself.

"Of course!" The girl replied without a hitch, then smiled apologetically at Tenchi and stepped back. "But where are my manners!" She gave a polite bow, which Tenchi fortunately found the presence of mind to return, dipping slightly below the other girl. Barely thirty seconds and she already owed her for covering Tenchi's lapse of attention. "I am Inoue, it is a delight to meet you. Please take care of me."

A tingle ran down Tenchi's spine as Inoue introduced herself, omitting her last name. There was definitely a game being played. But she was committed and there was truly nothing to be done but go forward. "It is an honour to meet you Miss Inoue, I am Asakura Tenchi, please take care of me too." She bowed once more, less deep this time. "If you might permit the indiscretion, I wished to inquire if you had already chosen someone to lodge with you?"

There was a brief moment of dead silence around her, as the other girls, which had previously been whispering among themselves, fell silent. Indeed even the austere girl slowed in her stride and turned her head to regard them for a moment. Even Inoue herself had lost her aura of unflappability for a moment and seemed genuinely startled. But then a vulpine smirk flashed across her eyes and the moment passed as conversation around them redoubled.

"Oh such impertinence indeed." Inoue affected mock indignation as she fell in besides Tenchi. "But very astute of you, even if your move was a little risky, I have not chosen anyone to partner with me yet." The sparkles receded somewhat as the girl spoke to her in a more normal tone. "And I was indeed hoping that someone interesting, or perhaps I should say, I was hoping that you would approach me. There's something compelling about you."

Inoue fell quiet for a moment, tilting her head to the side a little and looking at Tenchi with uncomfortable intensity. There was only the crunch of the dirt beneath their feet and the chatter around them to pierce the silence, as Tenchi could not quite bring herself to speak under the other girl's gaze. "Yes… There's something." Inoue repeated, then shrugged and returned to her casual smile. "But that can wait. For now, I will accept your implied invitation."

As Inoue finished speaking their group turned another corner and the forest parted in front of them to reveal a clearing. At its near end stood another tall shrine gate, painted a vibrant red, much like the others. Beyond it was a large square with a ground of stamped dirt. On its right-hand side it was closed off from the edge of the clearing by a large storehouse, on its left-hand side was instead a large notice-board, prominently displaying a large map at its centre. Beside it stood a smaller pavilion, in which could be seen a middle-aged woman in sect robes, currently meditating. At the far end of the plaza stood a shrine, its three buildings rising towards a large, gnarled tree winding towards the sky, its branches devoid of leaves or flowers.

Tsunehira came to a stop in front of the shrine gate and turned back to face them, making a short gesture with his hand. They all startled as the ground beneath them began to shift, precise rectangles of earth moving like the tiles of a puzzle box, and neatly arranged them in pairs of two. "Those of you who have not yet formed pairs, have been arranged by lottery. Should you wish to shift partners, consult Disciple Ayako." He motioned towards the meditating woman. "She is assigned to administer your group. Speak to her if you require assistance in matters of the sect."

Tsunehira then turned towards the rest of the plaza. "The storehouse is where you will retrieve food as well as your allotment of heart crystals. You will receive one per day, and can retrieve up to a week's worth in advance. The shrine you see is dedicated to the Great Lady of Dancing Petals." His expression softened a little. "Should you find yourself adrift, dedicate yourself in prayer."

Tsunehira turned back to them and made a snapping gesture with his hand. With a soft crack a bead of leaf-green mottled jade appeared in front of them. "These will guide you to your home and unlock the door. Take care of them. As a last matter, the gate is open to use to all those able to." With that Tsunehira gave a surprisingly casual wave and turned away. "Dismissed." He stepped towards the gate and disappeared, leaving Tenchi feeling unsteady as if she had just been released from a grip she had not even noticed before. Beside her Inoue seemed similarly unsettled.

Inoue recovered quickly however and smiled at Tenchi, "Well that was certainly something. Meeting such a powerful cultivator is always a humbling experience, isn't it?" Tenchi could only nod in response and held up the jade bead they had been given. After some silent contemplation and prodding, she finally turned to Inoue who had carefully concealed her smile behind a sleeve. "Do you know how it works?"

Inoue reached out and took the bead from Tenchi's hand, holding it up to her face. "It's really quite simple, it just needs a little spark." A flicker of concentration passed over her face as the bead began to glow from within, first gold then in a steady gentle green. Inoue placed it on her palm as the green glow began to concentrate into a single bright spot, pointing off towards one of the numerous small paths running from the clearing into the forest beyond.

"Well at least it's clear in its directions." Tenchi murmured, trying her best to prevent a note of awe from creeping into her voice. A genuine miracle! And handed out to all of them so casually… She peered at Inoue out of the corner of her eye, who seemed unfazed by the whole matter. Maybe she got to see such things regularly.

"Shall we be off then?" Inoue asked, interrupting her silent contemplation. "I want to unpack my things and I would hardly decline a bath either." She flicked her sleeve in annoyance and began to walk towards the indicated direction. "All that travel gets you awfully dusty."

The pair of them spent the short walk through the forest in companionable silence, enjoying the first quiet moment they had had since coming to the monastery. Around them the forest teemed with life and activity, cracking and rustling as things moved through the undergrowth. At one point, the two of them were startled into activity by a loud roar, echoing between the hills and mountains.

Nonetheless they arrived at their destination quite soon, coming onto another, much smaller clearing with a small house at its centre. A wooden veranda ringed the front face of the central block, ending where the house branched out into two smaller rooms. At the back stood an old gnarled tree, its branches awash and in white-and-red flowers.

As she stepped onto the clearing Tenchi noticed that, safe for the road by which they had come, all around it ran a circle of hempen rope. At regular intervals hung strips of paper their surface briefly pulsing with a soft glow as Inoue passed the threshold too. Tenchi relaxed, an almost unnoticed tension that had stayed with them, ever since they had heard that roar dissipating at the sight of their protections.

The inside of the house was split into a common area, a small kitchen and a washroom in the main building and their rooms each in one of the adjacent blocks. The area enclosed by the U-shape of the house had been styled into a small garden, delimited by the large plum tree at the far end. In front of it sat a perfectly circular stone platform, for meditation Tenchi presumed.

Unpacking her things had not taken her much time, though she had made it a point to carefully hang her clothing up inside the provider wardrobe. She had not brought much in terms of mementos, a wall-scroll showing the cherry blossoms of Asakura Shrine and her priestesses staff, which had been hidden among her clothing. On the bed she had found further monastery supplies, a sheaf of writing paper and implements as well as her uniform.

After she had taken a bath she had switched into the uniform, a simple cut robe of green cloth, but had chosen to wear her own sash, covered in a hexagonal tiling of gold on brown. As she sat on the bed and looked around the room, she sighed, letting herself sink into the bed in exhaustion. For the coming month this would be her home, and who knew what came after.

You have the afternoon/evening free:
[] Spend the time having tea with Inoue. She's your flatmate now, you should at least get to know her.
[] Hunt down Takara. You could try and start your minion training early.
[] Explore the forest. People are boring. And there's a chance you could meet a spirit.
[] A write in! Surprise me!

Sorry for the late update everyone. Voting will be open until Sunday this time instead of Friday.

Some time later Tenchi started awake from her exhausted nap. With a soft groan she rose from her bed, straightening her appearance as she looked around the unfamiliar room again. Living here would take getting used to. She stretched with a yawn and headed out the door onto the veranda.

The sun had set during her nap and the forest beyond was cloaked in shadow, lit only by the light from the two golden moons hanging in the sky. Tenchi shuddered a little as she looked up at them, a sense of her own smallness washing over her. She should look for Inoue, she decided.

Tenchi found Inoue in the garden, seated at the base of the plum tree. Her earlier beautiful robe had been swapped for a simpler one. The light fabric hung loosely on her, more comfortable than proper and it was still richly dyed in gold but it had no threadwork.

Around her in a circle sat eight coins and her eyes were scrunched up in concentration as she held a ninth coin in front of herself. Every so often it seemed to flicker like the spark of a candle flame that guttered out again.

But Tenchi's entrance into the garden seemed to have broken her concentration for good as she ultimately lowered her hand and opened her eyes, leaning back against the tree. "Good evening. I was just practising my teachings." She gave a frustrated sigh. "Or at least attempting to."

Tenchi stood in silence as she looked at Inoue's hands. A real miracle. Given by the divine! She could barely contain herself. But it would be impolite to ask after another's arts so directly. And now Inoue was looking at her curiously again.

"What brought you out here anyway, Miss Tenchi? Is there something I might help you with?" Inoue asked with a smile. She rose from her meditative position and stretched, her robe being pulled taut. Tenchi looked around in discomfort. Wasn't a girl as pretty as Inoue supposed to be more modest? Even if it was just her here.

"The marble. I was going to ask about the marble." Tenchi replied, not quite meeting Inoue's eyes. "What did you do to activate it?"

Inoue raised an eyebrow, taken aback. "You really do not know?" She tapped her chin, just once. "What an odd upbringing you must have had. No schooling in the arts at all." Then she shrugged. "Be that as it may." She dug around in a small pouch on the hem of her robe, producing the marble.

"Listen carefully then." She held up the marble, her eyes serious and intent. "This is a piece of artifice. People call them different things depending on the situation. Relic, Instrument, Holy Weapon." She waved her hand, indicating further unspoken options. "But at the base they're called Tools. This is a very basic one, with only a single function." With that she focused and once again the marble began to glow softly, before the light focused in on a bright spot, pointing at the house.

"It will always point at the house, Or possibly in the direction you need to head to get to it along the sects routes, I'm not quite sure." She tilted her head, her seriousness gone, before catching herself. "In any case. It is activated by the power of your soul. Your lifeblood. At the early stages it is also called the inner Flame." There was a note of reverence in Inoue's voice as she spoke and a tingle ran down Tenchi's spine. Some part of her had not believed it until now, but she truly was in reach of miracles.

"Let me show you." Inoue said, sitting back down in a meditative pose and aligning the coins. "It's far too early to manifest the soul at all, but I can show you something impressive anyway." Once again Inoue closed her eyes and began to focus on the coin in her hand. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, but nothing seemed to happen. This was getting awkward and Tenchi had just gathered her resolve to interrupt the girl when the coin on Inoue's palm began to flicker with light.

At first it was an unsteady trembling but with a deep exhalation Inoue seemed to have broken through some kind of dam and soon the coin was glowing steadily in her hand. She opened her eyes and motioned Tenchi closer with her other hand. "Look carefully at the design." She commanded.

At first Tenchi thought it was an ordinary imperial coin, but the design was different, she realised. Instead of the Imperial Chrysanthemum was an apricot flower, the field of grain replaced by a frothing river. And then Inoue breathed out deeply and the coin flickered. For a moment it lost all definition and became a blank circle before sharpening again. Its design had changed to a swarm of butterflies, dancing in a spiral.

Tenchi turned to Inoue again. "You… changed the coin?" She asked, somewhat confused. Inoue sighed in exhaustion and lowered her arm as the coin lost its glow, returning to its ordinary state.

"Look at the second one over there." Inoue motioned at one of the coins in the circle.

Tenchi went and looked at it. On it was the flower and river design she had seen earlier. "You own multiple of these?" She asked, but that didn't seem right.

"What? No!" Inoue replied, a touch of annoyance in her voice. "I swapped them! It's very impressive that I managed it at all!"

Tenchi held up her hands, placating. "Then let me congratulate you." She bowed formally. "Thank you for the demonstration."

Inoue gave a huff, "That's more like it. Spatial transfer is difficult. Even at this short distance." She leaned back against the tree, resting for a moment before focusing on Tenchi again. "That's all I can show you today though. That was exhausting" There was an odd pause before she continued. "You'll have to help me up."

As Tenchi lay in bed that night she contemplated the evening. Inoue had been surprisingly heavy, all things considered. Given her aesthetic, maybe she just carried a lot of gold with her somewhere. They had spoken only of idle matters afterwards, like the taste of the pre-stocked tea, quite good, and the noises coming from the forest, entirely unnerving. But she had real miracles. Tenchi still couldn't believe it. Right in front of her face. Not one of the grand rituals her shrine performed sometimes, but something concrete! She was still giddy with the excitement of it as she drifted off to sleep, exhaustion catching up with her.

Time for tomorrow! There's classes in the morning and you'd be an idiot not to attend. But who to learn from?

[] Elder Tsunehira - He might be kind of bland, but that will probably give you a solid foundation. He's certainly got the right background.
[] Elder Negishi - His background is the one most familiar to you, his style most in line with the shrine rituals you have performed before.
[] Elder Matsuo - She certainly left an impression. Out of the three she's probably the least conventional, but what works for her might not work for you.

I also want to apologise for the long delay, some very nasty stuff happened outside my control and dealing with it took a lot out of me.