[Day 4, Late Afternoon, Garden] Wisdom of the Kami

[Isawa Junpei]

After cleansing his mind and body, Junpei was finally ready to commune with the spirits. It would be all he would do this day, or at least he hoped, and so he prepared himself for a long while of poised meditation. Laying out a tatami mat on the grass, in the midst of the garden, as private as he could get he closed his eyes and open his senses to the elements. Without any need for a scroll, he began a simple chant, holding a mudra of communion with his hands.

(Commune (Air))

[elonweis]

The kaze-kami arrive with a gratifying swiftness, bringing with them the scent of foreign spices and fresh, clean water. They dance around the Isawa and hum happily, overjoyed to find a kindred spirit. Their voices were light and lilting, oddly accented and as liquid as the language of the natives. All of them tried to speak at once, excited by Junpei's presence.

Hello.
Hi. Who are you?
Greetings!
Salutations!
Namaste!
Be quiet!
You be quiet!
Shush.
Shh.
Hi!

[Isawa Junpei]

Junpei smiled as he opened his eyes, no longer needing the focus it brought. "Konichiwa, mina-sama. How beautiful your homelands are, have you come on the trade winds or are you from the mainland? Or perhaps both." Speaking in the ancient language of the elements, he, to the best of his abilities, tried to keep his voice both respectful yet conversational.

[elonweis]

There were at least seven of them flitting around him. One wraps itself around his arm while another pokes around his clothes, warm and just a little wet. The others play with the cloth of his robes and his hair, endlessly delighted by the way they fell and the cloth billowed.

Oh! Me! I'm from the ha-
I'm from the forest!
I like puppies. They smell soft.
Will you fly with-
Ouch! My eye!
Haha! You're it.
Heeeeyyyyyyyy...

[Isawa Junpei]

Junpei's eyes closed again and he let out a breathy laugh. His own spirit delighted in the play of the kami around him, and with his lightened spirit came a lightening of his frame. Though it was not a conscious effort, Junpei rose into the air, no more than a foot or three, and completely unaware of the fact save, perhaps, that he no longer felt pressure on his lower legs.

"How I worried you wouldn't have the same capricious nature as the spirits from my homeland," Junpei spoke, more to himself, but still in a way the kami could understand. Another laugh broke his lips, "I trust no untoward thoughts or tragic emotion has spoiled your trek across the island. I've heard that the natives are worried about something, and I would hate to think they have dowered your mood with their fretting."

[elonweis]

Eeeeeeehehehehe!

A few start the ancient game of tag beneath the Isawa, swirling around and around in circles to form a small cyclone of dust beneath him. They stop suddenly at the mention of worry. The two that were clinging to him, pressing closer and... shivering? There was a stillness to the air as one whispers solemnly.

Ssshhh.

A dozen little fingers press to his lips, urging the tensai to silence on the matter.

[Isawa Junpei]

Junpei continued to smile, pressing his arms close to himself in a mudra of serenity, "My goodness, whatever is the matter?" He spoke gingerly to the spirits that had grown quite still, attempting to affect an air of tranquility to the spirits.

[elonweis]

They fret and don't seem to want to answer but still do. A kingdom's worth of fear slams in to the Isawa, scrabbling at the inside of his mind. Desperation came quick upon its heels, adding to the stew of emotion and from behind a sense of malevolence finally drives everything to bed.

The air kami hover around the tensai worriedly, patting at him in the hopes that their answer didn't hurt him.

(1/12)

[Isawa Junpei]

Swept away in the emotions, it takes a moment for him to come back to his senses, offering reassurance to the kami, "I'm alright, worry not about me, it is I who worry about you. What atrocity fills you with such dark feelings? These are heavy burdens for the wind to bear. Forgive me for bringing such tumult to your care-free spirits."

[elonweis]

The kami waver back and forth before replying in a single eerie chorus.

Death and blood tread the earth. In the shadows she waits, reborn to swallow the land and remake it in her image.

(2/12)

[Isawa Junpei]

"What devilry is this? Who is this woman? What is her name? Where is she?" The first question was more of a statement, but the rest were offered in rapid fire. Normally he might have been more controlled with his communion, but to terrify the elements, themselves, implied a powerful evil. In Junpei's mind, images of some anonymous, black-clad demon-witch played in his mind, like some female version of Iuchiban or some other powerful tsukai.

[elonweis]

The little air kami scatter before returning and flitting around the tensai, even more agitated then before. Yet, they were compelled to answer.

Death-
- destruction.
The end of things.
Ruhmal.
Do not speak that name...
Names have power.
- not of this realm.
But in this realm.

(6/12)

[Isawa Junpei]

The answers were confusing to Junpei, though he would meditate upon them later to better understand. For now, though, it was his place to not just act as crass interrogator to the spirits, but to act as their councilor and companion, Shh~, calm yourselves and be at peace. In this moment you are safe from her power here with me."

[elonweis]

They crowd around him like children looking for comfort, causing his clothes to ripple in all directions. Eventually, one offers.

I like winter in the mountains. Do you snow?

[Isawa Junpei]

"That is a complex question. I do not snow as you, but like you, with a little help from the mizu-kami I can do just that." Were he able to draw upon his chi to strengthen his connections to the elements he might have tried to prove his abilities, but with the complexity of summoning snow and in a fashion that would not simply drop a great clump of it upon him would require some doing, and for all his talents with the wind spirits, he had sacrificed his connection to the other elements for it.

[elonweis]

There's a few giggles and what passes as playful shoving amongst kami. Mostly it's just air moving back and forth. They quiet and start to flit about, tying and untying knots in the tensai's hair. It was obvious that they were getting restless when they started making jokes...

What is the height of stupidity?
I don't know, how tall are you?
No you're stupid!
No you-
You're all stupid!
Says stupid.

[Isawa Junpei]

Smiling and please to have the spirits back in a joyful mood, Junpei pressed on with his communion, "If any of you came on ships from the mainland, I was wondering if any of you might know what the coast is like? I heard many people are making their way to Lanka."

[elonweis]

Lonely, no one-
Empty like the inside of a gour-
- there, except them. They-
Snipsnapalleatenup!
I can fit in a cup.

(7/12)

[Isawa Junpei]

As much as he found their words odd, they nevertheless weren't really answering the question that the Captain probably most wanted to hear, namely what caused the shipwreck. It seemed odd that whatever evil was passing over the mainland had reached out its singular tendril to destroy a ship in the middle of the ocean. "Do any of you know about ships lost or destroyed on their way here?"

[elonweis]

Junpei's clothes suddenly puffed out behind him as an echo of the fear those sailors must have felt skips across his conscious.

Consumed by fire, sunk beneath water. I miss pushing the big cloths. They told good stories.

(8/12)