- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, oh, oh!! Interesting story!!! Thanks a lot for writing @Ame-no-Uzume !!
Tale of Shirakawa and Urabe (Shinto Xianxia)
- Thread starter Ame-no-Uzume
- Start date
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
"... and may Haya-Sasura-Hime gather these impurities and cast them off." Asakura Tenchi bowed a final time and moved away from the shrine. It was an abbreviation, but it would have to do. The rabble was already giving her strange looks, as if it was her fault that their daily interaction with the spirits was a quick and inconsequential affair. She'd hoped that here, in the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields, the people would have a proper respect for their gods, but no, it was just as bad as it had been at home.
Tenchi sighed as she looked around the plaza, back at the different shrines she had offered her prayers to. Her journey here had been an excess of boredom, confined to the barge as she had been. And it had taken so long! A whole week!
Her cheap-skate of an uncle could at least have had her delivered with something faster than an ordinary riverboat! She hadn't even asked for something as extravagant as a transportation array, but even a simple spirit drawn carriage would have cut the voyage from a week down to a day.
Not that she was surprised by his actions, their relationship had always been cordial at best. Ever since her parents had not returned from that ill-fated campaign in the north, he had done his filial duty in taking care of his brother's child. Not less but certainly not more. And she had been happy with it, because, outside of the lessons about their shrine work that even he could not discard, she had been free. Unbound by social mores and left to her own devices in the vast lands of the shrine.
And when he finally had her removed from the succession, she had gladly taken him up on it, hoping to be finally freed of the politics of the position, to focus on what truly mattered: The ritual and the spirits. But she had been mistaken and without the aegis of her future position she had been confined to her rooms and made to study etiquette so she might at least make a suitable wife.
She had fought the very notion and finally threatened her uncle with making the whole matter public. That had been the last of it. A month later, he had informed her that he, in an excess of filial piety, had secured her a place as an initiate of the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields.
On the surface it was a good position. The Sanctum was one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the empire, though it had gradually lost its political influence. But in truth, it amounted to her removal from the family. Go and don't come back, it said.
She pulled herself together and looked around with a hint of anxiety. In her reminiscence she had relaxed her bearing, a shameful demonstration in the face of the sacred place she was in. And even worse, in front of those dirty peasants scrabbling for the attention of the holy gods.
She straightened her back and shook out the sleeves of her kosode. It was a beautiful piece in ocean-blue and green, a sea-turtle rendered in fine stitching, swimming up the length of her body. Then she turned her head, discarding the emotion and walked up the road towards the mountain.
----
The mountain was a spectacular display of the beauty of nature and the power of the spirits. Its entire slope, reaching all the way to the unseen summit, was covered in dense forest.
Tenchi had left behind the Sanctum's associated town for a while now, and by this point even the road leading up towards it was lined by dense forest on each side.
The line of trees was only broken by the occasional way-shrine or hall and at regular intervals by a large torii, spanning the road and immaculately preserved. At each gate she passed, Tenchi thought she could feel a shift in the world around her. A sense of expansion and revelation, as if she could better see what had been in front of her all this time. And with each gate, she felt that the mountain had grown larger, beyond the simple change dictated by her approach.
At the end of her track she arrived at the foot of the mountain, where there stood one last gate. Unlike the others, this one was not a simple structure of wooden beams and red paint, but instead a building in its own right.
It had been erected around a truly massive arch, formed from soil and loam patterned like scales. Each of the squat towers forming the left and right pillars of the torii had its own shrine with a libation bowl and offerings ensconced in a hollow left in the front. The gate was slightly raised, the beginning of a staircase running up towards it, but behind it was only an unbroken line of trees.
Tenchi looked around in confusion as her path ended nowhere at all. She walked up to the small shrines more on instinct and began hunting around in her pack for a coin to offer, when a voice interrupted her.
"Hey! Kid! Up here! I don't wanna wait for you to do the whole spiel with the shrines." Indignant, she looked towards the source of the voice, up. On top of the gate sat a young man, clad in a simple green and gold robe and pants, but with bright orange trimmings and a badge showing a mountain and its mirror-image done in the same colour.
"What do you mean, 'spiel'?" She called back angrily. "It is only our duty to render service to the spirits great and small." Unlike what she had expected, this prompted only a groan and an eye-roll from the man.
"Oh spirits, you're one of those." He muttered darkly, before fixing her with one of his eyes. It was a gleaming bright azure and as it caught her in its focus she a sensation like drowning in the deep blue sea overcame her. Tenchi had prepared another angry retort, but it had died on her tongue and she let out only a cough.
The man rubbed his head awkwardly. "Oops. I think I overdid it. You all right down there?" When she nodded in assent, he continued unperturbed. "Anyway, I've been sent here to keep an eye on those of our dear juniors that are arriving. You are one of my juniors-to-be, I hope?"
She gathered her remaining courage and nodded once more. "I am honoured to meet you, senior. My name is Asakura Tenchi." Perhaps those etiquette classes had been useful after all.
The man, her senior she reminded herself, just made a dismissive gesture. "Karawa Genjou. Anyway. The reason I'm here is so you don't get lost when you arrive." He walked towards the gate. "Just follow me and step through. I'll be right there." He said and from one moment to the next, was gone.
Tenchi looked up at the gate and the two small shrines one last time, bowed once and then swallowed heavily and stepped through the gate.
There was a brief, terrifying moment where she felt the world come apart around her, a discontinuity of sensation, at one moment the ground beneath her feet and then a formless nothing. No up, no down, no back, no front, simply unending darkness settling on her like a gaze. And then her feet stood on the ground again and it was only with a heavy effort that she could avoid retching on the spot.
"Yeah, it's always rough on first timers. Price of admission really. It's a good sign that you didn't fall over." Genjou seemed a little sheepish.
"Do people ever just… not make it through?" She asked and his grin faded.
"I've never seen it. But there's stories…" He shuddered and made a waving motion with his hand, dismissing the topic. "This is no time for ghost stories. As much as I'd love to tell you one, we must part here." He motioned up ahead. "Up there is the introduction hall. Report there. I have to go and wait for more stragglers. And... you're not listening anymore."
Tenchi stood there slack-jawed, no longer hearing what Genjou was saying as she stared ahead. Where there had been only the treeline before, now stood a grand shrine complex. A multitude of halls in different styles, assembled haphazardly around a central sanctum, as old a building as she had ever seen. Its thatched roof crested by a serpent's head carved beautifully lifelike from a single unblemished cypress trunk.
She stumbled when Genjou clapped her on the back "Go!" He said, pointing her towards a large, flat building, a long hall, ringed by a raised walkway. Some of its side-panels were opened and she could see people inside, standing around or seated on cushions and chatting.
She gave an internal sigh, bowed to Genjou who gave her an encouraging smile and headed towards the building. Even here she could not escape other people.
---
The inside of the hall was surprisingly spacious. The ceiling had looked fairly low from the outside, but the roofing was partially hollow, removing any need to stoop. The cushions were lined up in orderly rows, oriented towards a raised stage at the far end of the hall. The floor was covered in tatami matting and Tenchi dutifully took off her sandals before stepping inside.
On the stage sat a truly wizened old man, who surveyed the crowd and the entering students with a relaxed but unnerving gaze. There was something odd about his posture, a twisting litheness, suggesting readiness, but for the moment, Tenchi committed to ignoring him in favour of the other students.
With a sigh she realised that her late arrival, or at least she guessed that it was late by how full the hall was, had denied her the option of sitting somewhere alone and undisturbed. Five open cushions remained, safe for those at the very back of the hall. But she would not begin her time here by shrinking away from these ants. She was a loyal servant of the gods and everyone knew they favoured the bold.
The first open seat was available near the front of the hall, next to an elegant girl wearing a bright yellow and gold kimono, embroidered with red and white flowers, her hair running down her back in a loose braid before artfully curling on the floor beside her. She was engaged in an animated chat with the boy sitting on her other side, who would have been the very picture of aristocratic dignity were it not for his slouch and bored expression. He wore a dark grey vest, traced only by a single chain of purple flowers down each sleeve that seemed to fall and move with every gesture of his hands.
As Tenchi studied the pair, the girl suddenly looked up and caught her eye for a moment. Her eyes were a soft yellow like molten gold and they sparkled captivatingly as the girl gave her a sly smile and a challenging quirk of her eyebrow before turning away again. Tenchi sighed internally. A social butterfly. She hoped she had not caught her attention in earnest.
The second open seat was similarly near the front, this one next to a girl that was the very picture of austerity and elegance. She sat with her back ramrod straight, wearing a simple but exquisite vest held entirely in dark shades of green that seemed to ripple in the muted light filtering through the wall screens. The only expressed detail was a tortoise-shell pattern picked out in bright green thread across one shoulder.
The girl held her eyes focused on the man on the stage, ignoring even those seated around her as they made conversation, in a clear gesture of dismissal. Tenchi could not, in earnest, fault her for it, impolite as it may be. The man sitting on the stage was likely to be a senior cultivator. Anything less than full attention would have been rude.
The third remaining cushion was next to a similarly straight-backed boy, but where the girl had had the dignity to simply ignore all those that did not interest her, he was looking around with a mix of anxiety and challenge in his eyes. Unlike everyone else in attendance, he did not wear civilian clothes, but instead a suit of scale armour, each individual platelet done in red and black lacquer.
As Tenchi looked at him, he caught her gaze, a spark of defiance clearly shining in his eyes and held it until she turned away to the next empty seat. He would be a hassle, she thought, but someone would have to teach him a lesson eventually.
The fourth available cushion lightened Tenchi's heart. The girl it was next to sat in an impeccable position for prayer and held herself with trained dignity. She was clothed in a pristine white kosode, the only embroidery a pattern of grain ears at the lower rim where it disappeared beneath a pair of richly dyed red pants.
The girl finished a polite conversation with the person sitting next to her before looking around the room again. As she caught Tenchi's regard she gave a formal bow, insofar as she was able to while seated, before turning away again. Finally someone with manners it seemed.
The fifth and final cushion was next to an unremarkable looking boy, hunched slightly in a defensive posture. He wore a dark brown vest, still expensively dyed but lacking the richness of colour and air of perfection that was present in the clothing of most of the others in attendance.
He was fidgeting with one of the tassels of his vest and looking into his lap, looking for all the world uncomfortable and weak. Tenchi considered it an encouraging sign that at least one person in the room knew how to behave surrounded by such divine majesty.
But it seemed she would have to make a choice for now, as another person arrived behind her. Where would she sit?
Pick one of the following to sit besides:
[] The golden girl. Just because you ignore politics, they won't ignore you.
[] The austere girl. She seems sensible. You're definitely not annoyed at her ignoring you.
[] The angry boy. Someone will have to beat some sense into him. If it's you, he may even prove useful.
[] The polite girl. There would be comfort in meeting someone else with priestly training. And she seems nice.
[] The unremarkable boy. You'd be negotiating from a position of strength. He seems amenable to being moulded the right way.
I just made it in time! I hope you're as excited as I am.
Its time for the first choice! Who will be your first friend? Or perhaps enemy?
I hope the paragraph splits in this post are more agreeable than in the last one!
"... and may Haya-Sasura-Hime gather these impurities and cast them off." Asakura Tenchi bowed a final time and moved away from the shrine. It was an abbreviation, but it would have to do. The rabble was already giving her strange looks, as if it was her fault that their daily interaction with the spirits was a quick and inconsequential affair. She'd hoped that here, in the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields, the people would have a proper respect for their gods, but no, it was just as bad as it had been at home.
Tenchi sighed as she looked around the plaza, back at the different shrines she had offered her prayers to. Her journey here had been an excess of boredom, confined to the barge as she had been. And it had taken so long! A whole week!
Her cheap-skate of an uncle could at least have had her delivered with something faster than an ordinary riverboat! She hadn't even asked for something as extravagant as a transportation array, but even a simple spirit drawn carriage would have cut the voyage from a week down to a day.
Not that she was surprised by his actions, their relationship had always been cordial at best. Ever since her parents had not returned from that ill-fated campaign in the north, he had done his filial duty in taking care of his brother's child. Not less but certainly not more. And she had been happy with it, because, outside of the lessons about their shrine work that even he could not discard, she had been free. Unbound by social mores and left to her own devices in the vast lands of the shrine.
And when he finally had her removed from the succession, she had gladly taken him up on it, hoping to be finally freed of the politics of the position, to focus on what truly mattered: The ritual and the spirits. But she had been mistaken and without the aegis of her future position she had been confined to her rooms and made to study etiquette so she might at least make a suitable wife.
She had fought the very notion and finally threatened her uncle with making the whole matter public. That had been the last of it. A month later, he had informed her that he, in an excess of filial piety, had secured her a place as an initiate of the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields.
On the surface it was a good position. The Sanctum was one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the empire, though it had gradually lost its political influence. But in truth, it amounted to her removal from the family. Go and don't come back, it said.
She pulled herself together and looked around with a hint of anxiety. In her reminiscence she had relaxed her bearing, a shameful demonstration in the face of the sacred place she was in. And even worse, in front of those dirty peasants scrabbling for the attention of the holy gods.
She straightened her back and shook out the sleeves of her kosode. It was a beautiful piece in ocean-blue and green, a sea-turtle rendered in fine stitching, swimming up the length of her body. Then she turned her head, discarding the emotion and walked up the road towards the mountain.
----
The mountain was a spectacular display of the beauty of nature and the power of the spirits. Its entire slope, reaching all the way to the unseen summit, was covered in dense forest.
Tenchi had left behind the Sanctum's associated town for a while now, and by this point even the road leading up towards it was lined by dense forest on each side.
The line of trees was only broken by the occasional way-shrine or hall and at regular intervals by a large torii, spanning the road and immaculately preserved. At each gate she passed, Tenchi thought she could feel a shift in the world around her. A sense of expansion and revelation, as if she could better see what had been in front of her all this time. And with each gate, she felt that the mountain had grown larger, beyond the simple change dictated by her approach.
At the end of her track she arrived at the foot of the mountain, where there stood one last gate. Unlike the others, this one was not a simple structure of wooden beams and red paint, but instead a building in its own right.
It had been erected around a truly massive arch, formed from soil and loam patterned like scales. Each of the squat towers forming the left and right pillars of the torii had its own shrine with a libation bowl and offerings ensconced in a hollow left in the front. The gate was slightly raised, the beginning of a staircase running up towards it, but behind it was only an unbroken line of trees.
Tenchi looked around in confusion as her path ended nowhere at all. She walked up to the small shrines more on instinct and began hunting around in her pack for a coin to offer, when a voice interrupted her.
"Hey! Kid! Up here! I don't wanna wait for you to do the whole spiel with the shrines." Indignant, she looked towards the source of the voice, up. On top of the gate sat a young man, clad in a simple green and gold robe and pants, but with bright orange trimmings and a badge showing a mountain and its mirror-image done in the same colour.
"What do you mean, 'spiel'?" She called back angrily. "It is only our duty to render service to the spirits great and small." Unlike what she had expected, this prompted only a groan and an eye-roll from the man.
"Oh spirits, you're one of those." He muttered darkly, before fixing her with one of his eyes. It was a gleaming bright azure and as it caught her in its focus she a sensation like drowning in the deep blue sea overcame her. Tenchi had prepared another angry retort, but it had died on her tongue and she let out only a cough.
The man rubbed his head awkwardly. "Oops. I think I overdid it. You all right down there?" When she nodded in assent, he continued unperturbed. "Anyway, I've been sent here to keep an eye on those of our dear juniors that are arriving. You are one of my juniors-to-be, I hope?"
She gathered her remaining courage and nodded once more. "I am honoured to meet you, senior. My name is Asakura Tenchi." Perhaps those etiquette classes had been useful after all.
The man, her senior she reminded herself, just made a dismissive gesture. "Karawa Genjou. Anyway. The reason I'm here is so you don't get lost when you arrive." He walked towards the gate. "Just follow me and step through. I'll be right there." He said and from one moment to the next, was gone.
Tenchi looked up at the gate and the two small shrines one last time, bowed once and then swallowed heavily and stepped through the gate.
There was a brief, terrifying moment where she felt the world come apart around her, a discontinuity of sensation, at one moment the ground beneath her feet and then a formless nothing. No up, no down, no back, no front, simply unending darkness settling on her like a gaze. And then her feet stood on the ground again and it was only with a heavy effort that she could avoid retching on the spot.
"Yeah, it's always rough on first timers. Price of admission really. It's a good sign that you didn't fall over." Genjou seemed a little sheepish.
"Do people ever just… not make it through?" She asked and his grin faded.
"I've never seen it. But there's stories…" He shuddered and made a waving motion with his hand, dismissing the topic. "This is no time for ghost stories. As much as I'd love to tell you one, we must part here." He motioned up ahead. "Up there is the introduction hall. Report there. I have to go and wait for more stragglers. And... you're not listening anymore."
Tenchi stood there slack-jawed, no longer hearing what Genjou was saying as she stared ahead. Where there had been only the treeline before, now stood a grand shrine complex. A multitude of halls in different styles, assembled haphazardly around a central sanctum, as old a building as she had ever seen. Its thatched roof crested by a serpent's head carved beautifully lifelike from a single unblemished cypress trunk.
She stumbled when Genjou clapped her on the back "Go!" He said, pointing her towards a large, flat building, a long hall, ringed by a raised walkway. Some of its side-panels were opened and she could see people inside, standing around or seated on cushions and chatting.
She gave an internal sigh, bowed to Genjou who gave her an encouraging smile and headed towards the building. Even here she could not escape other people.
---
The inside of the hall was surprisingly spacious. The ceiling had looked fairly low from the outside, but the roofing was partially hollow, removing any need to stoop. The cushions were lined up in orderly rows, oriented towards a raised stage at the far end of the hall. The floor was covered in tatami matting and Tenchi dutifully took off her sandals before stepping inside.
On the stage sat a truly wizened old man, who surveyed the crowd and the entering students with a relaxed but unnerving gaze. There was something odd about his posture, a twisting litheness, suggesting readiness, but for the moment, Tenchi committed to ignoring him in favour of the other students.
With a sigh she realised that her late arrival, or at least she guessed that it was late by how full the hall was, had denied her the option of sitting somewhere alone and undisturbed. Five open cushions remained, safe for those at the very back of the hall. But she would not begin her time here by shrinking away from these ants. She was a loyal servant of the gods and everyone knew they favoured the bold.
The first open seat was available near the front of the hall, next to an elegant girl wearing a bright yellow and gold kimono, embroidered with red and white flowers, her hair running down her back in a loose braid before artfully curling on the floor beside her. She was engaged in an animated chat with the boy sitting on her other side, who would have been the very picture of aristocratic dignity were it not for his slouch and bored expression. He wore a dark grey vest, traced only by a single chain of purple flowers down each sleeve that seemed to fall and move with every gesture of his hands.
As Tenchi studied the pair, the girl suddenly looked up and caught her eye for a moment. Her eyes were a soft yellow like molten gold and they sparkled captivatingly as the girl gave her a sly smile and a challenging quirk of her eyebrow before turning away again. Tenchi sighed internally. A social butterfly. She hoped she had not caught her attention in earnest.
The second open seat was similarly near the front, this one next to a girl that was the very picture of austerity and elegance. She sat with her back ramrod straight, wearing a simple but exquisite vest held entirely in dark shades of green that seemed to ripple in the muted light filtering through the wall screens. The only expressed detail was a tortoise-shell pattern picked out in bright green thread across one shoulder.
The girl held her eyes focused on the man on the stage, ignoring even those seated around her as they made conversation, in a clear gesture of dismissal. Tenchi could not, in earnest, fault her for it, impolite as it may be. The man sitting on the stage was likely to be a senior cultivator. Anything less than full attention would have been rude.
The third remaining cushion was next to a similarly straight-backed boy, but where the girl had had the dignity to simply ignore all those that did not interest her, he was looking around with a mix of anxiety and challenge in his eyes. Unlike everyone else in attendance, he did not wear civilian clothes, but instead a suit of scale armour, each individual platelet done in red and black lacquer.
As Tenchi looked at him, he caught her gaze, a spark of defiance clearly shining in his eyes and held it until she turned away to the next empty seat. He would be a hassle, she thought, but someone would have to teach him a lesson eventually.
The fourth available cushion lightened Tenchi's heart. The girl it was next to sat in an impeccable position for prayer and held herself with trained dignity. She was clothed in a pristine white kosode, the only embroidery a pattern of grain ears at the lower rim where it disappeared beneath a pair of richly dyed red pants.
The girl finished a polite conversation with the person sitting next to her before looking around the room again. As she caught Tenchi's regard she gave a formal bow, insofar as she was able to while seated, before turning away again. Finally someone with manners it seemed.
The fifth and final cushion was next to an unremarkable looking boy, hunched slightly in a defensive posture. He wore a dark brown vest, still expensively dyed but lacking the richness of colour and air of perfection that was present in the clothing of most of the others in attendance.
He was fidgeting with one of the tassels of his vest and looking into his lap, looking for all the world uncomfortable and weak. Tenchi considered it an encouraging sign that at least one person in the room knew how to behave surrounded by such divine majesty.
But it seemed she would have to make a choice for now, as another person arrived behind her. Where would she sit?
Pick one of the following to sit besides:
[] The golden girl. Just because you ignore politics, they won't ignore you.
[] The austere girl. She seems sensible. You're definitely not annoyed at her ignoring you.
[] The angry boy. Someone will have to beat some sense into him. If it's you, he may even prove useful.
[] The polite girl. There would be comfort in meeting someone else with priestly training. And she seems nice.
[] The unremarkable boy. You'd be negotiating from a position of strength. He seems amenable to being moulded the right way.
I just made it in time! I hope you're as excited as I am.
Its time for the first choice! Who will be your first friend? Or perhaps enemy?
I hope the paragraph splits in this post are more agreeable than in the last one!
I think this should now mark voting as opened?
- Location
- France
[X] The unremarkable boy. You'd be negotiating from a position of strength. He seems amenable to being moulded the right way.
Our first minion!
Our first minion!
- Location
- United States
I picked Tenchi from Tenchi Muyo. His grandfather maintains a shrine. Asakura from Yoh Asakura, Shaman King.
Name meaning roughly Heaven's Dynasty.
[X] The austere girl. She seems sensible. You're definitely not annoyed at her ignoring you.
Last edited:
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] The unremarkable boy. You'd be negotiating from a position of strength. He seems amenable to being moulded the right way.
We need cultists I mean allies!!
Well, thanks a lot for this great update @Ame-no-Uzume!
We need cultists I mean allies!!
Well, thanks a lot for this great update @Ame-no-Uzume!
Alright, I'll close voting tomorrow evening in about 20-22 hours.
Thanks to everyone who has replied already! Lets see if there's a surprising upset!
Thanks to everyone who has replied already! Lets see if there's a surprising upset!
And voting is closed. The winner is: [X] The unremarkable boy. You'd be negotiating from a position of strength. He seems amenable to being moulded the right way.
I am going to aim for next Sunday again for an update.
And now voting is closed! -_-
Apologies everyone, the next update is going to be delayed until next Sunday. I got busy with Uni and made the mistake to buy Elden Ring -_-
- Location
- Spain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hahahahaha don't worry 😉
Chapter 2
After a brief moment of indecision, Asakura Tenchi strode through the room homing in on the seat next to the unremarkable boy. Not exactly prime material, but he would have to do as a first acolyte. The boy flicked up his eyes at her as she sat down next to him before immediately hunching even further, studiously not paying attention.
They sat in silence as Tenchi waited for him to introduce himself. Or at the very least greet her. But no, the boy seemed to wilt even further under her gaze until she had had enough. People here really seemed to have no manners.
Tenchi inclined her head slightly, she would not bow to someone so clearly beneath her, before speaking. "Might I have your name?" she asked. The boy even had the poor grace to startle, flinching as she spoke, before turning to her. "Akita Takara, at your service." he mumbled down into his lap.
There was another moment of silence before he seemed to remember himself. "Might you honour me with yours?" He added quickly, a little louder this time. Ah, he could learn, Tenchi thought to herself with a smile. "Certainly, Sir Akita. Asakura Tenchi. I am glad to meet you."
"Pardon the directness, Sir Akita, but I can not help but notice you seem a little ill at ease here. Is something troubling you?" Her smile gained just a touch of a knife's edge as she continued to look down at the other boy. He seemed to have missed the insult however and simply smiled shyly at her. "Ah, you are too kind to ask. I arrived here only earlier today from the capital and I must admit, I am not used to the exalted company." He looked around the hall, resting his eyes briefly on the two girls at the front.
"The capital?" Tenchi was surprised, she had not expected someone so obviously of lesser status to have come so far. "That is quite the distance, is it not?" The boy blanched at this, before catching himself and inclining his head before her again. "Apologies, Lady Asakura, I meant only the provincial capital, Asa-no-ura." He was quiet for a moment, before saying with a little more conviction. "It may be beneath the notice of a noble person like you, but it is a wonderful place."
"I'm sure it is," Tenchi placated, "I unfortunately did not have the chance to look at it on my voyage here." In truth, she had seen it, but to her it seemed scarcely more than a fishing village with the governor's mansion dumped on a nearby hill. Once it might have been a great port, but the area had not been an important part of the imperial trade network in centuries and overseas travel was an endeavour only for the brave and foolhardy. Nonetheless it would have been rude to insult the boy, and, more crucially, pointless.
"I must admit, I myself was raised quite provincially. The shrine my father oversaw was a full week's travel from the capital." By mortal means at least. "But it too was a lovely place." There was a twinge in Tenchi's heart as she said it and remembered home. "Especially in spring such as now, when the plums bloom and the cherry trees stretch themselves up towards the sky…" Well now she was just getting wistful, she thought with an annoyed start. "Apologies, it seems I have gone off track."
As the boy prepared himself to give another reply he was interrupted by a sharp hiss coming from the front of the hall. The old man had straightened himself up imperceptibly, his previously placid expression now looking sharply at all of them.
"Welcome, children." There was a sybillant note to his speech, like a resonance with something entirely inhuman. "Welcome to the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields." He stretched out his arms at this and gave a short dramatic pause.
"My name is Saionji Kinhira, the abbot of this place. It is my joy to welcome a new generation to your wonderful seat of learning. I am certain you are all already quite excited to get started. But to be able to embark on the path of divinity, we must begin with a foundation." With that he settled himself a bit and launched into an explanation.
"Perhaps most pressingly, some of you may still wonder where you are, as this does not seem to be the mountain you have arrived to, eh? In truth, whether it is or is not is a debate for the grand philosophers and theologians, nothing for you to concern yourself with. More practically, I welcome you to the Coils, the domain of Kuroda, our patron."
"For now you are confined to the eastern foot of the mountain." His hand motioning towards the left, "but you are welcome to attempt to reach any other area. Perhaps you will exceed expectations. However, I caution you against attempting ascension of the mountain. It is a matter for those with higher cultivation, who have already begun to shape their own divinity. If you were to fight your way up as you are now, the results would be… unfortunate." At the last word, his eyes flicked around the room, glittering black and slitted, with none of the fatherly cheer. Besides Tenchi, the boy, Takara, gave a whimper.
And then the spell was broken and the man continued unperturbed. "For the first month, you will room together in pairs, and appropriate food and drink will be provided to you. Afterwards living arrangements will… change." There was a brief smirk on his face. "In these early days, you will be provided with instruction which I encourage you to attend. You may not find what you learn immediately useful, but I urge you to consider free access to the wisdom of your seniors a luxury that will not often return."
He gestured to his right and from behind a man stepped to the front, his head shaved bald and wearing a simple robe all in green, with the double mountain mark you had seen earlier embroidered on his sleeves in a light blue. "My son, Tsunehira, will provide you instruction in the matters of the self." The man gave a formal bow, his expression impassive and calm, much like his voice. "I look forward to seeing you improve under my tutelage." And with that he stepped away.
The next man that stepped up made for a sharp contrast. Where Tsunehira's clothes had been simple and relaxed, this man's were formal to the extreme. The colour scheme remained however, and while the man's mantle and pants were of exquisite cut, they were still held in shades of leafy green, with golden trimmings. He too, wore the double mountain, in two light blue emblems, stitched onto each side of his chest.
As Kinhira introduced him, he gave a bow. "Be honoured that you receive your instruction in matters of ritual from none other than Negishi Yasumori, who has taken the great effort of travelling here from the capital for this teaching position."
"It is only fitting that I should do my duty here, where the future servants of the throne are raised." The man stated confidently, before stepping to the side.
Where the two men before had shared at least a joint image of subdued propriety, the woman that followed after eschewed even that. Dressed in a red and yellow flame-patterned kimono, her only acknowledgment of what seemed to be the Sanctum's colours was the obi, which stood out in a dark green. In her hair, she wore a hairpin in the same light blue as the others, the double-mountain pattern picked out in coral at the end.
"And I am Matsuo Taseko. Instructor in the proper spiritual affairs, not that boring formality Yasumori likes to drone on about. Some of you may even have some value, so I encourage you to try and find me, if you want to truly walk the path of the divine." And with that, she swept from the hall.
There was an awkward silence, but Tenchi hardly noticed as emotions warred inside her. The outrage! And yet, that force. When the woman had spoken, she had felt herself be dragged along by the words, like a leaf, dancing on the wind. She took a deep breath and contemplated the other people on the stage.
Foremost of them was the serpentine man, his presence subtly coiling around the hall even now, as he let them sit in stunned silence. But the others were not to be underestimated, she thought. The bald man had been quiet, but there was a clarity to him that the others lacked. As if he was somehow more himself. And behind the eyes of the formal one, though currently lit with outrage, gaped a terrifying abyss of knowledge and patterns, like looking at the vault of heaven with its innumerable dancing stars.
She glanced to her left at the boy. Akita Takara, she reminded herself. She would have to try and remember his name. His eyes were slightly glazed as he stared towards the far end, where the woman had exited and his mouth was ajar. Shameful, Tenchi thought to herself as she prodded him in the side. The boy gave a start, thankfully not doing something as undignified as yelping and straightened back up, eyes focused up front.
For just a moment, Tenchi thought she felt the serpentine man's eyes on her, a subtle smile curving his lips, but then he began to speak again. "Well that was certainly a spirited introduction," he continued unoffended, "but do not discount Lady Matsuo for it, she has travelled far and wide and her knowledge of the spirits of this land is unparalleled."
He rose in a single smooth motion, "Tsunehira, would you?" He gestured to his son, who began to speak without a moment's pause. "Well then, I will direct you to your living quarters for the moment." And as he spoke he simply flowed apart, his skin breaking open like a sheaf of paper and reforming as there stood two of them. "-boys follow me." "-girls follow me."
Tenchi and Takara rose along with the others, but this time the boy actually had the presence of mind to give a formal bow. "Lady Asakura, I am most grateful to have met you. I hope this will not be the last time we meet on this mountain." Tenchi gave a small smile, and returned the bow, just slightly lower than she had to. "Thank you, Sir Akita, you are too kind. Perhaps we shall meet in front of this hall tomorrow?" The boy's smile widened at that and he bowed even lower. "Thank you very much." He hastily added before joining the growing throng behind the other Tsunehira. That had been a success, Tenchi liked to think.
As they followed Tsunehira towards the mountain, he began to speak, his voice carrying to them despite the distance. He spoke clearly and matter of factly, like a military instructor. "For now, you will be housed together, two people per house. There will be no fighting among you for the first month. I caution you against trying to bend the rules, escaping the notice of my father in his domain is a skill beyond any of you."
There was some grumbling at the announcement, Tenchi noticed, by those that stood out as subtly more elegant even among the students, though not the two girls who had sat at the front earlier. Nonetheless, people were beginning to cluster up in groups of two, though plenty remained alone.
So far none had dared approach the golden girl from earlier, though a clump of people following her suggested that soon, somebody might. She turned her head as if noticing Tenchi's look and gave another of her enigmatic molten gold smiles.
At the same time the austere girl had simply ignored the announcement and continued to walk on her own, a graceful spring in every step. Anyone who wished to join her would have to catch up first.
The nice, proper girl was currently in a loose cloud of people who were evidently trying to arrange themselves, but so far she had not found a partner either.
As Tenchi contemplated what to do, she noticed one more girl walking alone that she had not seen earlier. She was taller than the others, her long beautiful hair braided intricately in a pattern Tenchi had not seen before. Her style was utilitarian, a simple set of leather pants with reinforced seating, riding clothes if Tenchi was any judge, and a deep indigo vest embroidered with a subtle flower and cloud pattern. She walked smoothly despite the increasingly ragged path, stepping lightly around unstable footing.
It was evidently a day of decisions, Tenchi thought to herself.
Who will you attempt to lodge with?
[] The golden girl. She clearly seems to have an interest in you. Might as well get close to her on your terms.
[] The austere girl. She seemed a bit stuck-up, but she was clearly someone important. And there was something lonely about her now.
[] The proper girl. If you shared lodgings with someone, you at least wanted them to be agreeable. God knows what you're getting yourself into with the others.
[] The new girl. There was something captivating about her. And as a pair of outsiders, perhaps you could help each other out.
[] Walk alone. There is no need to dive in already. Maybe the best option for a partner was simply someone else who knew nobody.
Here's the next update! You'll have to make moreminions friends!
Voting will stay open until Friday again and I apologise for the delayed update...
They sat in silence as Tenchi waited for him to introduce himself. Or at the very least greet her. But no, the boy seemed to wilt even further under her gaze until she had had enough. People here really seemed to have no manners.
Tenchi inclined her head slightly, she would not bow to someone so clearly beneath her, before speaking. "Might I have your name?" she asked. The boy even had the poor grace to startle, flinching as she spoke, before turning to her. "Akita Takara, at your service." he mumbled down into his lap.
There was another moment of silence before he seemed to remember himself. "Might you honour me with yours?" He added quickly, a little louder this time. Ah, he could learn, Tenchi thought to herself with a smile. "Certainly, Sir Akita. Asakura Tenchi. I am glad to meet you."
"Pardon the directness, Sir Akita, but I can not help but notice you seem a little ill at ease here. Is something troubling you?" Her smile gained just a touch of a knife's edge as she continued to look down at the other boy. He seemed to have missed the insult however and simply smiled shyly at her. "Ah, you are too kind to ask. I arrived here only earlier today from the capital and I must admit, I am not used to the exalted company." He looked around the hall, resting his eyes briefly on the two girls at the front.
"The capital?" Tenchi was surprised, she had not expected someone so obviously of lesser status to have come so far. "That is quite the distance, is it not?" The boy blanched at this, before catching himself and inclining his head before her again. "Apologies, Lady Asakura, I meant only the provincial capital, Asa-no-ura." He was quiet for a moment, before saying with a little more conviction. "It may be beneath the notice of a noble person like you, but it is a wonderful place."
"I'm sure it is," Tenchi placated, "I unfortunately did not have the chance to look at it on my voyage here." In truth, she had seen it, but to her it seemed scarcely more than a fishing village with the governor's mansion dumped on a nearby hill. Once it might have been a great port, but the area had not been an important part of the imperial trade network in centuries and overseas travel was an endeavour only for the brave and foolhardy. Nonetheless it would have been rude to insult the boy, and, more crucially, pointless.
"I must admit, I myself was raised quite provincially. The shrine my father oversaw was a full week's travel from the capital." By mortal means at least. "But it too was a lovely place." There was a twinge in Tenchi's heart as she said it and remembered home. "Especially in spring such as now, when the plums bloom and the cherry trees stretch themselves up towards the sky…" Well now she was just getting wistful, she thought with an annoyed start. "Apologies, it seems I have gone off track."
As the boy prepared himself to give another reply he was interrupted by a sharp hiss coming from the front of the hall. The old man had straightened himself up imperceptibly, his previously placid expression now looking sharply at all of them.
"Welcome, children." There was a sybillant note to his speech, like a resonance with something entirely inhuman. "Welcome to the Sanctum of Bountiful Fields." He stretched out his arms at this and gave a short dramatic pause.
"My name is Saionji Kinhira, the abbot of this place. It is my joy to welcome a new generation to your wonderful seat of learning. I am certain you are all already quite excited to get started. But to be able to embark on the path of divinity, we must begin with a foundation." With that he settled himself a bit and launched into an explanation.
"Perhaps most pressingly, some of you may still wonder where you are, as this does not seem to be the mountain you have arrived to, eh? In truth, whether it is or is not is a debate for the grand philosophers and theologians, nothing for you to concern yourself with. More practically, I welcome you to the Coils, the domain of Kuroda, our patron."
"For now you are confined to the eastern foot of the mountain." His hand motioning towards the left, "but you are welcome to attempt to reach any other area. Perhaps you will exceed expectations. However, I caution you against attempting ascension of the mountain. It is a matter for those with higher cultivation, who have already begun to shape their own divinity. If you were to fight your way up as you are now, the results would be… unfortunate." At the last word, his eyes flicked around the room, glittering black and slitted, with none of the fatherly cheer. Besides Tenchi, the boy, Takara, gave a whimper.
And then the spell was broken and the man continued unperturbed. "For the first month, you will room together in pairs, and appropriate food and drink will be provided to you. Afterwards living arrangements will… change." There was a brief smirk on his face. "In these early days, you will be provided with instruction which I encourage you to attend. You may not find what you learn immediately useful, but I urge you to consider free access to the wisdom of your seniors a luxury that will not often return."
He gestured to his right and from behind a man stepped to the front, his head shaved bald and wearing a simple robe all in green, with the double mountain mark you had seen earlier embroidered on his sleeves in a light blue. "My son, Tsunehira, will provide you instruction in the matters of the self." The man gave a formal bow, his expression impassive and calm, much like his voice. "I look forward to seeing you improve under my tutelage." And with that he stepped away.
The next man that stepped up made for a sharp contrast. Where Tsunehira's clothes had been simple and relaxed, this man's were formal to the extreme. The colour scheme remained however, and while the man's mantle and pants were of exquisite cut, they were still held in shades of leafy green, with golden trimmings. He too, wore the double mountain, in two light blue emblems, stitched onto each side of his chest.
As Kinhira introduced him, he gave a bow. "Be honoured that you receive your instruction in matters of ritual from none other than Negishi Yasumori, who has taken the great effort of travelling here from the capital for this teaching position."
"It is only fitting that I should do my duty here, where the future servants of the throne are raised." The man stated confidently, before stepping to the side.
Where the two men before had shared at least a joint image of subdued propriety, the woman that followed after eschewed even that. Dressed in a red and yellow flame-patterned kimono, her only acknowledgment of what seemed to be the Sanctum's colours was the obi, which stood out in a dark green. In her hair, she wore a hairpin in the same light blue as the others, the double-mountain pattern picked out in coral at the end.
"And I am Matsuo Taseko. Instructor in the proper spiritual affairs, not that boring formality Yasumori likes to drone on about. Some of you may even have some value, so I encourage you to try and find me, if you want to truly walk the path of the divine." And with that, she swept from the hall.
There was an awkward silence, but Tenchi hardly noticed as emotions warred inside her. The outrage! And yet, that force. When the woman had spoken, she had felt herself be dragged along by the words, like a leaf, dancing on the wind. She took a deep breath and contemplated the other people on the stage.
Foremost of them was the serpentine man, his presence subtly coiling around the hall even now, as he let them sit in stunned silence. But the others were not to be underestimated, she thought. The bald man had been quiet, but there was a clarity to him that the others lacked. As if he was somehow more himself. And behind the eyes of the formal one, though currently lit with outrage, gaped a terrifying abyss of knowledge and patterns, like looking at the vault of heaven with its innumerable dancing stars.
She glanced to her left at the boy. Akita Takara, she reminded herself. She would have to try and remember his name. His eyes were slightly glazed as he stared towards the far end, where the woman had exited and his mouth was ajar. Shameful, Tenchi thought to herself as she prodded him in the side. The boy gave a start, thankfully not doing something as undignified as yelping and straightened back up, eyes focused up front.
For just a moment, Tenchi thought she felt the serpentine man's eyes on her, a subtle smile curving his lips, but then he began to speak again. "Well that was certainly a spirited introduction," he continued unoffended, "but do not discount Lady Matsuo for it, she has travelled far and wide and her knowledge of the spirits of this land is unparalleled."
He rose in a single smooth motion, "Tsunehira, would you?" He gestured to his son, who began to speak without a moment's pause. "Well then, I will direct you to your living quarters for the moment." And as he spoke he simply flowed apart, his skin breaking open like a sheaf of paper and reforming as there stood two of them. "-boys follow me." "-girls follow me."
Tenchi and Takara rose along with the others, but this time the boy actually had the presence of mind to give a formal bow. "Lady Asakura, I am most grateful to have met you. I hope this will not be the last time we meet on this mountain." Tenchi gave a small smile, and returned the bow, just slightly lower than she had to. "Thank you, Sir Akita, you are too kind. Perhaps we shall meet in front of this hall tomorrow?" The boy's smile widened at that and he bowed even lower. "Thank you very much." He hastily added before joining the growing throng behind the other Tsunehira. That had been a success, Tenchi liked to think.
As they followed Tsunehira towards the mountain, he began to speak, his voice carrying to them despite the distance. He spoke clearly and matter of factly, like a military instructor. "For now, you will be housed together, two people per house. There will be no fighting among you for the first month. I caution you against trying to bend the rules, escaping the notice of my father in his domain is a skill beyond any of you."
There was some grumbling at the announcement, Tenchi noticed, by those that stood out as subtly more elegant even among the students, though not the two girls who had sat at the front earlier. Nonetheless, people were beginning to cluster up in groups of two, though plenty remained alone.
So far none had dared approach the golden girl from earlier, though a clump of people following her suggested that soon, somebody might. She turned her head as if noticing Tenchi's look and gave another of her enigmatic molten gold smiles.
At the same time the austere girl had simply ignored the announcement and continued to walk on her own, a graceful spring in every step. Anyone who wished to join her would have to catch up first.
The nice, proper girl was currently in a loose cloud of people who were evidently trying to arrange themselves, but so far she had not found a partner either.
As Tenchi contemplated what to do, she noticed one more girl walking alone that she had not seen earlier. She was taller than the others, her long beautiful hair braided intricately in a pattern Tenchi had not seen before. Her style was utilitarian, a simple set of leather pants with reinforced seating, riding clothes if Tenchi was any judge, and a deep indigo vest embroidered with a subtle flower and cloud pattern. She walked smoothly despite the increasingly ragged path, stepping lightly around unstable footing.
It was evidently a day of decisions, Tenchi thought to herself.
Who will you attempt to lodge with?
[] The golden girl. She clearly seems to have an interest in you. Might as well get close to her on your terms.
[] The austere girl. She seemed a bit stuck-up, but she was clearly someone important. And there was something lonely about her now.
[] The proper girl. If you shared lodgings with someone, you at least wanted them to be agreeable. God knows what you're getting yourself into with the others.
[] The new girl. There was something captivating about her. And as a pair of outsiders, perhaps you could help each other out.
[] Walk alone. There is no need to dive in already. Maybe the best option for a partner was simply someone else who knew nobody.
Here's the next update! You'll have to make more
Voting will stay open until Friday again and I apologise for the delayed update...
- Location
- United States
[X] The golden girl. She clearly seems to have an interest in you. Might as well get close to her on your terms.
[X] The golden girl. She clearly seems to have an interest in you. Might as well get close to her on your terms.
- Location
- Leeds
Mostly to be a contrarian.
[X] The new girl. There was something captivating about her. And as a pair of outsiders, perhaps you could help each other out.
[X] The new girl. There was something captivating about her. And as a pair of outsiders, perhaps you could help each other out.
Iris_Aeternus
Above the Sequence - Eternal Darkness
[X] The golden girl. She clearly seems to have an interest in you. Might as well get close to her on your terms.