(Open to any and all, of course.)

If she had not come alone, then the teasing she would have had to endure would have been brutal. Twice in a row, she missed being awake to greet the arrival of Lord Yakamo. The pony was probably doing better than she was. At least the day prior, she had been productive, gathering tools.

Kiku unrolled a blanket upon the beach and removed her katana, setting it carefully upon the ground.

Next to the blanket, treating them without the reverence of a sword, lay other various tools of war, always in multiples. Naginata , nagamaki, yari, yumi and daikyu, no-dachi, ono, dai tsuchi, bo, jo, and quite a number of sheathed tanto and thicker versions of aiguchi sometimes known as yori toshi.

After enough trips to get them out to the sand, Kiku thrust several of the spears into the ground with the blades pointing upward to mark her presence. Then, she sat with tea and began sharpening the knives one at a time while she waited.

knowing full well that he should probly be reporting to Kitsu Ryoji, Kikaku seeks out Matsu Kiku. after all it will be more fun learning to use some sort of weapon then what ever the other shugenja had in store for him.

Seeing Matsu Kiku, the shugeja says. "Greetings sensi-sama."

"Iye. No titles." Looking Kikaku over showed... no mons whatsoever. What exactly was the Kakita offering that attracted so many wave men? Obviously, the Legion's pay must be fermented and found in clay jars.

"Call me Kiku, Ronin-san." After a moment to stretch out her arms, the Matsu stood, slapping her hakama clean. "You are here to learn the science of war, I hope? I didn't bring any cards or chickens for divination, and I don't really understand how the future can be read from either, anyway." The priest was gifted with Kiku's ready grin, tugging at the wrinkles next to her eyes.

Either she had grabbed one as she stood, or had one hidden upon her person beforehand. Nonetheless, there was a thick-bladed knife in her hand and she flipped it, letting the morning light flash off of the fresh edge of the blackening steel. The smith that made it had not been interested in it as an appreciable artistic endeavor, or he wouldn't have made something with such a short life-span, as steel that sits so long in the coals is prone to rusting.

This morning the Kitsu priest is only dressed in a yukata of simple brown and gold, with a golden Lion mon on it’s back, already tied back. He still carries his wakizashi in his obi and his two ever-present satchels over his shoulder. He has a scarf over his head and was carrying a large bucket with cleaning supplies in both hands as he made his way by the training area, looking more like cleaning woman than a priest.

He pauses and begins to examine a few of the weapons in the sand thoughtfully, before a bo captures his attention and he puts his bucket down next to it and hefting it, lost in his contemplations of the large stick.


[ninja edit]

Kiku clears her throat and nods to Ryoji. The knife continues to dance in her hand.

"Kitsu-san. Have you come to learn, or cultivate a new meditation technique?" She didn't laugh at, but her eyes showed amusement. "If you find a meditation that can best an oni, we would all be saved great trouble."

Ryoji looks up with a start, breaking from his thoughts and bows deeply and formally to the Matsu.

“Matsu-sama, it is an honor, forgive my intrusion. I am afraid I know little of oni, so could not give very good advice as to what would stop one… jade perhaps?”

He smiles broadly failing to understand he missed the point of the question.

Kuni Manabu limps his way towards where he was told the weapon excersizes were to be held, leaning on his tetsubo. It's been awhile since he had practiced his form, and in his condition, he needs to stay sharp. His bum leg and lack of depth perception were an obstacle to be sure, but being a Crab means overcoming such difficulties. Still, he curses the training taking place on the sand.

He barely holds back a laugh as he sees the collection of other shugenja gathering around the small Matsu. This would be an interesting first day for them, especially with a Matsu teacher. He was relieved somewhat, however, to know that these shugenja were learning to not rely on the kami entirely.

"Good day to you all, samas," He says with a bow, standing close to the gathering of them, awaiting instructions.

Ryoji looks up with a start, breaking from his thoughts and bows deeply and formally to the Matsu.



He smiled some as his area of expertise came into play. "It works for some, but you'd be amazed at how effective a simple tetsubo blow is."

Yasuki Hochkie walks over to the gathering wearing nothing but his traveling clothes and carrying only his trusted tetsubo. He walks towards Matsu Kiku and adresses her quietly. "Matsu-san we have not had the pleasure of a formal meeting, allow me I am Yasuki Hochkie I have been appointed to teach the use of tetsubo to the volunteers. I find however that I have always been the student and have never had the oppertunity to teach. Would you allow me to observe you this day to help better understand my role as a teacher?"

Fuji walks towards the training area. She is wearing her usual kimono and hakama, but her sleeves are tied back and an expert eye could see that the kimono is slightly looser than normal. One does not need to be an expert to see the Daidoji mon tattooed on her wrists.

When she reaches the group she bows deeply to Matsu Kiku and then to the other trainees.


Fuji

Ryoji bows to the Kuni as he approaches and addresses them, giving the crab a friendly smile, looking perhaps a bit embarrassed.

“I am afraid I only know slightly more about tetsubo than I do oni, Crab-sama.”

"-San. Matsu-san." The heavy knife continues to dance in her hand, turning and spinning, even as she sighs. "Kuso. I was hoping I could learn to kill oni while pretending not to sleep."

She gave a nod to the Kuni as he approached. "-San. I am not a -sama, Crab-san." Oh, he brought a tetsubo. Excellent. Wait... that was the one she wasn't here to teach. Drat. Maybe he could play ogre for the others? Though, a limping ogre with one eye might not... oh, who is she trying to fool. If he knew how to use it worth a damn, he would probably suffice perfectly to teach squishy shugenja how to not be crushed by a small tree being swung like a flyswatter.

When the other Crab approached with unexpected formality, she blinked and offered a curt bow. Hochuki-san? Mmm... Hoch-ki-eh-san? Someone's parents stank of horses and sand. "Yasuki-san, I'm Kiku." At least she was matching Hochkie's low volume. "I will need your experience with the creatures in question. I've not fought them enough..."

When Fuji approached, Kiku opened her mouth to greet her, then promptly closed it. "Zakkenayo. I can't just call you ronin-san, or there will be confusion. Chance has forced a need for introductions." The Matsu's sigh was over-acted in its expression of martyrdom. Clearing her throat, she raised her hand over her head, knife and all, and made her's very clear and concise.

"Oy. I am Kiku of Kenson Gakka. If you want to know more, you'll need to bribe me. I accept old-looking clay jars with the right liquid contents and stories filled with bragging. My duty here is to evaluate your usefulness with weapons of war. I cannot teach you specifically how to kill an oni. I hear that some of them can't die unless you feed them overcooked rice with a spatula made out of mahogany from a tree struck by lightning called down by a Miya while dancing on a Noh stage. I hate dancing, so that is right out. I will try to make sure you can kill something other than yourself. Questions?" Or perhaps not really concise at all.

"There will be plenty of time to learn of tetsubos and onis, Ryoji-san for today allow us to bask in Kiku-san's knowledge of other means of combat."

The smile on Manabu's face spread as the woman spoke, though it was clear he was unused to more then a slight smirk. Her humor was infectious, and he was loathe to deny it. It reminded him of home, in a way, although her humor was much less vulgar. With no questions or comments ot add, at least none that were appropriate, he simply stood there, leaning on his tetsubo.

The Kitsu blinks at Kiku for several seconds at her proclamation and slowly raises his hand, his smile strained behind nervousness.

“Matsu… Kiku… -sama… -san… errr… I just wished to borrow this to help cleaning the shrine in the village…”

He held the bo slightly forward to make it clear of which he was speaking and he bows slightly to her.

"It would be a pleasure to tell you what I know of onis and lost. Perhaps after this training session you would join me for a drink of sake and we will discuss it as well as our plans for training. I fear that my sake supply is limited as I had not intended to be gone as long as I have but I believe I still have a bottle of triple fist sake from the Friendly Traveller villiage."