[Day 1, Mid-Afternoon, Open] Hare Comes Calling

[Usagi Zenko]

Zenko, below decks once more in safety relaxed a little...although he was at present a bundle of nerves as he was coming to try and settle things between himself and the sea...if one of the shugenja of the ship could give him advice on it at least.

He sighed, stopping before the door to sick bay and knocking a couple times, in case there was a sick patient in side or the medic on duty was distracted. The Hare was dressed yet in his Imperial sailor uniform.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

"You can come in," comes the call from inside the sickbay. Daidoji Fuichi sits prettily on a stool within, but quickly rises to offer the Hare a bow. "Good Afternoon, Usagi-san. How can I be of assistance?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods, and then bows. "Ah, Daidoji-sama. Hello!" He offers a smile.

A moment passes.

"Ah..well..." he looks downwards. "I need some help..advice or something..." he seems a bit embarrassed.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi beams encouragement to him with raw smile power.

"I'd be pleased to help in any way I can. And you needn't be embarrassed, Usagi-san, I can keep a secret if it's sensitive."

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods. "My thanks." He looks about. "Well...its...its like this."

He looks up at the Daidoji. "I'm terrified of the ocean. All the time. And, I wanted to know, if there was anything that could help?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi's brow creased, unable to process that fully for a moment. "What is it that frightens you about the Ocean, Usagi-san?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He frowns a moment...and then verbally explodes. "Everything! It's huge! It's so very very huge! Its the only thing that might be as big as the sky! It's deep, its wet. It moves all of the time, there's no landmarks, there's no land! There's no trees, there's no shade. It's all salt, you can't drink it and the water is everywhere! Its full of all kinds of life, who knows what all, yet you can't see any of it! We're days away from shore, I have no idea how far away from home we are, or I am, or everyone is. It could go calm at any moment and leave us stranded, it could go crazy at any moment and leave us dead. All that stands between us and the water is a bunch of wood, and doesn't wood eventually get wet enough it sinks? Why don't we sink? It's huge! We could be anywhere!"

He takes a deep breath...

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi puts out a hand to forestall him. "It is a lot like the sky, Usagi-san. Haven't you ever wanted to fly? This is the closest one can get."

He paused. "I am not certain that I can make it attractive to you, but I can say that, while I am not particularly enthused about military service, I am in love with the sea. The smell, the power, the majesty of the sunset and sunrise on the vast horizon of blue. It is magnificent, and our safety upon it is assured so long as we work together as a unit. If, when linked together through bonds of duty, we strive our utmost to survive, I do not think there are too many forces that can overcome that. We have already passed through the Sea of Shadows with only minor incidents, after all. Surely we can whether a mundane trackless expanse?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He shakes his head. "No, never wanted to fly..." He frowns. "I must respectfully disagree. The smells are all wrong here. If not of men and ropes and oiled wood, then its just salt, salt and more salt."

His frown deepens. "How is there anything mundane about all of this at all?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi's kind expression never changed. 'Why, Usagi-san, it was always here. It will always be here. Simply because you had yet to experience it did not mean that it did not exist in precisely this way. It is eternal, natural, and the eternally unchanging is, well, mundane. There is nothing to be afraid of; my ancestors have sailed on the ocean for hundreds of years and lived so that I can be sharing these words with you. Isn't that proof enough?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He shakes his head. "The kami have existed for hundreds of years right? Are they mundane? An Emperor has held a Winter Court every year for over a thousand years...yet it is not mundane. Just because people have known about it and sailed upon it, and are familiar with it, doesn't mean its not awe inspiring...or in my case, terror inspiring."

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi shrugged. "You've decided to live in fear instead of appreciating the beauty of it. This is upsetting, because courage is one of the watchwords of the samurai. Do you know what I find terrifying about this voyage?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He frowns, and rests against one of the walls. "Fear doesn't make someone more or less courageous. Courage is that you act despite the fear, not that you are without it... no?" He sighs, frustrated. "What do you find terrifying?"

[Daidoji Fuichi]

"I find it terrifying that I will be asked to abandon my oaths and cause the death of another living being. I am terrified that for doing so I will be denied any chance of Yomi, that my soul will be consigned to yet another revolution of the kharmic wheel, that I will be marked a failure by my sensei."

He cocked his head to the side. "Do you feel that sort of fear as well? The fear of failure, of knowing that you will be exposed to Regret, the most terrible of sins?"

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods. "Hai...although yours sounds much more rational. How does a soul even move on from a death on the ocean? It's an entirely new domain...and it seems like there are customs that tend towards insuring deaths occur on land, instead of at sea..."

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi chuckled.
"I do not think that one's location on this earth, aside from a very specific area, has any bearing on whether one's soul returns to the wheel. The customs probably exist because a fire large enough to consume a body is very, very dangerous on a ship, and dumping it in the sea seems...unwholesome."

He shakes his head,
"The point is, will you be able to master your fear, to see beyond it to the necessity of your Duty, or should you look for another line of work? I am having to adjust, and I understand that several of the other shugenja are having similar concerns. Is your fear of change so great that you are willing to give up Bushido?"

[Usagi Zenko]

His eyes narrow a little as if challenged. "No, I do not fear it so much that I would give up my duties. But what do you mean, look for another line of work? I was ordered to this position...are you telling me that there exist those who've sought to do their duties on the water?" He sounds a bit amazed that this could be the case.

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi is surprised that this hasn't occurred to him.
"Of course. My father and brothers have all willingly sworn themselves into service on the sea. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't a great many volunteers here."

He frowned slightly. "But that is immaterial. If you will do your duty, then your fear is irrelevant. You will experience it and grow accustomed to it, and, eventually, it will cease to be fear at all. Akodo-san and Yasuki-san have been helping me with jiujutsu, for instance, and, while I am scared out of my wits of putting it into practice, I am already accustomed to the forms and the motions. One day, even anger will shed its terror. It will be the same with you."

[Usagi Zenko]

He nods, listening. He breathes out heavily. "Hai...you speak wisely." He offers a thin smile...although he perks up at the talk of jujitsu practice. "Oh! Do you think there's room for another in such training? Or is it done in the morning? I'm on duty then...and I suppose you are on duty in the afternoon...." He frowns. "Drat...I suppose I'll have to find some time to try my style against theirs."

[Daidoji Fuichi]

Fuichi smirked. "A pracitioner, are you? I think Yasuki-san will be pleased to have a challenge."