Amaya had learned a considerable amount about the preparation of food, having an inquisitive nature and living her life behind the walls of the shrine until quite recently. It had been something she wanted to learn, and though it was considered by some to be servantsâ work and therefore unworthy of her, she had been rather stubborn, and eventually it had been declared harmless enough. She was excellent at it, in truth, and didnât spare any of that talent now. The meal itself was lightâshe doubted travelers would want to be weighed down by excessively rich food, but she consciously chose dishes that would provide a lot of nourishment for relatively little consumption, and when these were done, she brewed a fragrant tea to compliment them, setting everything she needed on one very large tray and carrying it back to the rooms the siblings had received for the night.
Knocking cautiously on Sachikoâs shoji door, she knelt and set the tray beside her, opening the door politely and transferring everything inside. She even served the dishes and poured the tea herself. Likely, ojiisan would have had a small fit if he saw her doing such work, but that was his problem, not hers. Amaya liked being able to show personal hospitality to people, and there were no other visitors this evening.
Ordinarily, she would have offered them a tour of the grounds, but it did not seem like something they would be interested in, particularly. Kenji especially gave off the air of someone who only barely tolerated her presence, but Ama chose to ignore this as gracefully as possible, and when the lull in activity invited conversation, she addressed herself to Sachiko instead. âI apologize if the accommodations are less than youâre accustomed to,â she said softly, pausing to take another clump of sticky rice into her mouth, chew, and swallow. âBefore the temple grew large enough to take in guests, it was really only the priests and monks here. Even I was a bit unusual at first, since all of my fellows and the attendants are male.â She judiciously refrained from mentioning why someone like Shusuke, evidently older than she was, would call her by such an elaborate title as the one he had. She was not one to take things like that to mean much, after all.
By the time Amaya had arrived with the food, Kenji had already dressed out of his attire and into something more simple. It wasn't much, just a basic, pale blue, yukata, and had set his traveling clothes into a neat pile on the side of his futon. His hair was not bound by the traditional tie, and instead, left to hover over his shoulders and spilled down his back. Luckily, his hair was not so long as Sachiko's, where even though it was tied, hers still managed to graze the floor. He didn't understand why she kept it so long, but never spoke anything about it. It was her hair, she could do what she wanted with it. Sachiko was dressed in a similar fashion, though her yukata was white. She didn't seem to mind it much, and smiled when Amaya arrived with the food.
Kenji sat to the far corner, occasionally touching his rice with his sticks and sipping at the tea. It was rather delicious, he would admit, but not out loud. He wasn't going to go on a praising spree. It was apparent that she could cook, and she would perhaps know this bit of information. Why should he reinforce that, or state the obvious? Sachiko, however, held no such reserves, and allowed her eyes to widen slightly when she began to eat, scrunching her nose in delight before she blinked slowly at Amaya. She thought about Amaya's statement, and placed her bowl down, pursing her lips together in the process.
"Kenji and I have slept in trees, on rocks, and on the ground. This is the first decent place we have been able to rest. It is of little consequence though, we are used to having to sleep out doors," she replied, offering Amaya a reassuring smile as Kenji sighed softly. He would admit, sleeping on a bed every now and then was pleasant, but that was a luxury neither of them could afford. Not that he wouldn't if he could, but the life he and his sister chose was not one for such comforts. "I would not worry about our accommodations, Ama," she added, picking her bowl back up to resume her meal.
"If you do not mind me asking, what exactly are your duties here?" that question caught Kenji's curiosity. He wasn't always curious to know things, however; she had mentioned that she was the only female in this place. Odd as it was, he did not doubt that her role her was important, given the way Shusuke had referred to her as KĆkenhime.
Amaya snorted softly at the recitation of the places theyâd slept, but nodded her understanding. The life of a traveler must be hard, though she did not intend to pry any deeper than that into their business, despite her own curiosity on the matter. If they desired to speak to her of it, they would. If not, she had no need to snoop. âAh, I see. Forgive me for presuming, then. Itâs just⊠you remind me of someone I knew once. Someone quite noble. Thatâs all.â It didnât matter that she knew they couldnât be in any way related to Tomoyori. They still reminded her of him. But that was neither here nor there.
When Sachiko asked after her duties at the shrine, she tilted her head to the side, raising a finger to her lip as though contemplating. âI wonder,â she said noncommittally, but then she flashed a close-lipped smile and shook her head. âActually, most of my duties are just the same as the others. I maintain the shrine, and advise people who come seeking spiritual guidance. I do my best to heal the sick and tend those whose souls are more wounded than bodies can be.â she looked down at her hands, white-gold lashes brushing her cheekbones for just a moment, and then she looked up again, an odd little half-smile adorning her face.
âI also reinforce the Seal, when that becomes necessary, and hear the prayers of the visitors. What Shusuke said⊠KĆken just means âGuardian.â Iâm meant to protect the Seal here.â She shrugged her shoulders slightly, as if to say that it wasnât really all that interesting. âBecause of that, Iâm not really allowed to leave this place⊠itâs all Iâve known for most of my life. Thatâs why I like talking to visitors so much.â She really hoped she wasnât annoying them, but there wasnât a way for her to tell, exactly.
"It all seems like arduous labor if you ask me," she stated, shrugging her shoulders in the process. Kenji barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes at his sister. As if what they did was anything but arduous. They were mercenaries, warriors for hire, and most of the time, that required a lot of effort to just bring down the next bounty. He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling slowly, before closing his eyes. "Can we take her, Ji-Ji?" Sachiko asked as she turned to Kenji. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to contemplate the statement. Take her? She wasn't supposed to leave the shrine; her duty was to protect the seal. Though he did not know what exactly was sealed, if they took her from it, it would not be well.
"She needs to see the world," she continued, inching closer to Amaya before grabbing the girl and wrapping her arms around her. Kenji sighed heavily through his nose as Sachiko kept a firm grasp on Amaya, her arms wrapped around the smaller woman's shoulders. Kenji opened his eyes and narrowed them at his sister.
"No," he spoke finally, his gaze flat and unamused. Sachiko furrowed her brows as Kenji's gaze remained stoic. "She has her duty here, Sachi, and you would be put on the wanted list for kidnapping a Tengu," he continued. Sachiko sighed in defeat, releasing Amaya in the process. "Apologies, Reijin-san," he apologized on Sachiko's behalf. Really, he wondered why the sun was so slow to rise after just setting. He just wanted to be done with this place, and find the Bakeneko to collect their pay. He placed his empty bowl down upon the tray before him, and turned towards Amaya, bowing slightly. He said nothing as he disappeared back into his corner of the room. Sachiko shook her head lightly, but smiled nonetheless.
"Don't mind Ken, he wasn't always like that," she stated in a nonchalant manner, her gaze softening as she glanced in the direction he left. "But the meal was delicious, Ama-chan," she added as she turned to glance back at Amaya. It was a shame, really, that Amaya wasn't allowed to leave the shrine. As dark as the world may seem, there were still moments worth capturing, and the only way to find them was to explore. Perhaps one day, there wouldn't be a need for her to continue guarding the seal, and Amaya could finally explore the world. "So, if you don't leave the shrine, what do you do besides shrine duties?" Surely there were other things she did? If not, Sachiko felt a little bad for Amaya. She needed to be able to do other things... but it wasn't her place to say so.
Aside from making a small noise as she was suddenly pulled back into Sachikoâs embrace again, Amaya remained mostly silent throughout the exchange, studying the way the two siblings interacted with one another, and noting that, for a person of her size, Sachiko was extraordinarily warm. She wondered for a moment if they might not be dragons, because Yuu was warm like a furnace, too. But something about them wasnât really dragonlike, and so perhaps they were something else. Flame elementals, perhaps, or kitsune or something. All of those seemed wrong, too. She had to admit, she wasnât all that surprised by the fact that theyâd guessed she was a tenguâmost of those who worked at the temple were, after all. Tengu were one of the few other species that humans trusted fully, and so they didnât need to worry too much about disguising themselves like the others did. Of course, Amaya herself was a different case, but that wasnât really important at the moment.
âAh, I couldnât possibly,â she contributed. âWeâve only just met, after allâIâm sure traveling with me is a burden you do not need.â Only partially because she was an inexperienced traveler herself. Also partially because there were a lot of people out there who would not hesitate to kill her if they knew what she was. It was why she of all the tengu here moved in the guise of an actual human being. Besides that, the seal would need reinforcement again soon, and she had to be at her best for that. It was probably better if, from tomorrow, she closed herself off from others and started her purification. It was a lonely thought, and she almost sighed, but Sachikoâs last question brought her back to herself.
âOh, um⊠I mean, I greet the visitors, and tend the gardens. I read quite a lot, too, and practice my martial arts. I even get to teach some of the little ones, so really, I have very little free time. Iâm never bored.â She smiled in a reassuring manner and leaned backwards against Sachiko behind her. The prolonged contact was surprisingly nice. Others at the shrine and surrounding grounds rarely touched her save in emergencies, something about worldly corruption. Likely, theyâd be upset with Sachiko for doing so, but they didnât have to know. It was true that Amaya was never bored, but she felt bad for being unable to say that she was never lonely. The others tried their best, she knew, and she would never tell them that sometimes, it wasnât enough. Heâd known how to chase away the loneliness, to break the barriers between her and everything else in the world, but he was gone now. Even the brief time sheâd known him seemed like a dream.
Slowly, she extricated herself from Sachiko, and turned to face her, bowing slightly. âBut Iâm keeping you from your rest. I donât know what the two of you are doing, and I donât expect you to tell me, but it seems serious, and I wouldnât want to hinder you. So please, take your rest, and know that youâre welcome here any time you need to come.â Her eyes were soft, her smile small but genuine. âIt was truly a pleasure meeting you and your brother. I will pray for your happiness.â
Sachiko shook her head slightly, a small smile gracing her as Amaya leaned back against her. She really did like it when people were not afraid to touch in return, and it brought her a small amount of comfort. It made her remember that she was still alive, that her brother was still breathing and that they were, and would always be, the last of their kind. Phoenix were immortal in the truest sense. They could not be killed, and if they were, they ressurected from the ashes of which they perished in, however; they were not entirely immortal. Her kind had still been driven to extinction because of them, and there were times when she forgot that she was alive, that she was living a nightmare instead of a dream. She almost snorted at Amaya's statement of being a burden. If anything, Sachiko was the burden in this.
She knew her brother was searching for someone, and it just so happened that in order to find this someone, they were required to do mercenary work in exchange for information and the ryo that gave them places to stay and food to eat. Sachiko was only trying to steer her brother away from this cause, however; she had so far been unsuccessful. She sighed softly, leaning forward when Amaya removed herself from her spot, and glanced towards Amaya. The Tengu said she would pray for their happiness, and something broke behind Sachiko's eyes. It was too soft to notice, however, and she shook her head from it. Happiness was stolen from them a long time ago... and whether they could retrieve it has yet to be seen. She hoped they could.
"We are searching for a man named Hidenori, as you know," Sachiko stated, her voice low so that Kenji would not be able to hear her. "He is wanted in the village of Sagae for a murder he committed. My brother and I," she paused, glancing to stare at the door that separated them and turned her attention back to Amaya. "We are searching for him to take him back to face his punishment. It is preferred that he brought back alive, but it is hard to do so when they resist," she concluded, letting her eyes falter. Kenji didn't have a problem with killing people, and it was something that continued to break Sachiko's heart. She missed her brother, the one who couldn't harm anything and wanted to save things.
Where had he gone? She, however, could not bring herself to kill someone so readily. She was still a phoenix, and part of her just wanted to heal something that could not be healed. Taking a deep breath, Sachiko raised her eyes to meet Amaya's and offered her a broken smile. "I am afraid this will be the first and last time you will see us. We do not linger in one spot for long," otherwise their secret would be discovered. That was something they could not afford and it was something that meant life and death for the both of them. "I hope your prayers reach the god of whom you pray to, happiness is but a dream to us now," she spoke, bidding Amaya a goodnight before retiring to her room. They would have to leave first thing in the morning. She said too much, and though it didn't seem like it, Sachiko wanted to tell this Tengu everything. She wept, instead.
Knocking cautiously on Sachikoâs shoji door, she knelt and set the tray beside her, opening the door politely and transferring everything inside. She even served the dishes and poured the tea herself. Likely, ojiisan would have had a small fit if he saw her doing such work, but that was his problem, not hers. Amaya liked being able to show personal hospitality to people, and there were no other visitors this evening.
Ordinarily, she would have offered them a tour of the grounds, but it did not seem like something they would be interested in, particularly. Kenji especially gave off the air of someone who only barely tolerated her presence, but Ama chose to ignore this as gracefully as possible, and when the lull in activity invited conversation, she addressed herself to Sachiko instead. âI apologize if the accommodations are less than youâre accustomed to,â she said softly, pausing to take another clump of sticky rice into her mouth, chew, and swallow. âBefore the temple grew large enough to take in guests, it was really only the priests and monks here. Even I was a bit unusual at first, since all of my fellows and the attendants are male.â She judiciously refrained from mentioning why someone like Shusuke, evidently older than she was, would call her by such an elaborate title as the one he had. She was not one to take things like that to mean much, after all.
By the time Amaya had arrived with the food, Kenji had already dressed out of his attire and into something more simple. It wasn't much, just a basic, pale blue, yukata, and had set his traveling clothes into a neat pile on the side of his futon. His hair was not bound by the traditional tie, and instead, left to hover over his shoulders and spilled down his back. Luckily, his hair was not so long as Sachiko's, where even though it was tied, hers still managed to graze the floor. He didn't understand why she kept it so long, but never spoke anything about it. It was her hair, she could do what she wanted with it. Sachiko was dressed in a similar fashion, though her yukata was white. She didn't seem to mind it much, and smiled when Amaya arrived with the food.
Kenji sat to the far corner, occasionally touching his rice with his sticks and sipping at the tea. It was rather delicious, he would admit, but not out loud. He wasn't going to go on a praising spree. It was apparent that she could cook, and she would perhaps know this bit of information. Why should he reinforce that, or state the obvious? Sachiko, however, held no such reserves, and allowed her eyes to widen slightly when she began to eat, scrunching her nose in delight before she blinked slowly at Amaya. She thought about Amaya's statement, and placed her bowl down, pursing her lips together in the process.
"Kenji and I have slept in trees, on rocks, and on the ground. This is the first decent place we have been able to rest. It is of little consequence though, we are used to having to sleep out doors," she replied, offering Amaya a reassuring smile as Kenji sighed softly. He would admit, sleeping on a bed every now and then was pleasant, but that was a luxury neither of them could afford. Not that he wouldn't if he could, but the life he and his sister chose was not one for such comforts. "I would not worry about our accommodations, Ama," she added, picking her bowl back up to resume her meal.
"If you do not mind me asking, what exactly are your duties here?" that question caught Kenji's curiosity. He wasn't always curious to know things, however; she had mentioned that she was the only female in this place. Odd as it was, he did not doubt that her role her was important, given the way Shusuke had referred to her as KĆkenhime.
Amaya snorted softly at the recitation of the places theyâd slept, but nodded her understanding. The life of a traveler must be hard, though she did not intend to pry any deeper than that into their business, despite her own curiosity on the matter. If they desired to speak to her of it, they would. If not, she had no need to snoop. âAh, I see. Forgive me for presuming, then. Itâs just⊠you remind me of someone I knew once. Someone quite noble. Thatâs all.â It didnât matter that she knew they couldnât be in any way related to Tomoyori. They still reminded her of him. But that was neither here nor there.
When Sachiko asked after her duties at the shrine, she tilted her head to the side, raising a finger to her lip as though contemplating. âI wonder,â she said noncommittally, but then she flashed a close-lipped smile and shook her head. âActually, most of my duties are just the same as the others. I maintain the shrine, and advise people who come seeking spiritual guidance. I do my best to heal the sick and tend those whose souls are more wounded than bodies can be.â she looked down at her hands, white-gold lashes brushing her cheekbones for just a moment, and then she looked up again, an odd little half-smile adorning her face.
âI also reinforce the Seal, when that becomes necessary, and hear the prayers of the visitors. What Shusuke said⊠KĆken just means âGuardian.â Iâm meant to protect the Seal here.â She shrugged her shoulders slightly, as if to say that it wasnât really all that interesting. âBecause of that, Iâm not really allowed to leave this place⊠itâs all Iâve known for most of my life. Thatâs why I like talking to visitors so much.â She really hoped she wasnât annoying them, but there wasnât a way for her to tell, exactly.
"It all seems like arduous labor if you ask me," she stated, shrugging her shoulders in the process. Kenji barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes at his sister. As if what they did was anything but arduous. They were mercenaries, warriors for hire, and most of the time, that required a lot of effort to just bring down the next bounty. He pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling slowly, before closing his eyes. "Can we take her, Ji-Ji?" Sachiko asked as she turned to Kenji. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if trying to contemplate the statement. Take her? She wasn't supposed to leave the shrine; her duty was to protect the seal. Though he did not know what exactly was sealed, if they took her from it, it would not be well.
"She needs to see the world," she continued, inching closer to Amaya before grabbing the girl and wrapping her arms around her. Kenji sighed heavily through his nose as Sachiko kept a firm grasp on Amaya, her arms wrapped around the smaller woman's shoulders. Kenji opened his eyes and narrowed them at his sister.
"No," he spoke finally, his gaze flat and unamused. Sachiko furrowed her brows as Kenji's gaze remained stoic. "She has her duty here, Sachi, and you would be put on the wanted list for kidnapping a Tengu," he continued. Sachiko sighed in defeat, releasing Amaya in the process. "Apologies, Reijin-san," he apologized on Sachiko's behalf. Really, he wondered why the sun was so slow to rise after just setting. He just wanted to be done with this place, and find the Bakeneko to collect their pay. He placed his empty bowl down upon the tray before him, and turned towards Amaya, bowing slightly. He said nothing as he disappeared back into his corner of the room. Sachiko shook her head lightly, but smiled nonetheless.
"Don't mind Ken, he wasn't always like that," she stated in a nonchalant manner, her gaze softening as she glanced in the direction he left. "But the meal was delicious, Ama-chan," she added as she turned to glance back at Amaya. It was a shame, really, that Amaya wasn't allowed to leave the shrine. As dark as the world may seem, there were still moments worth capturing, and the only way to find them was to explore. Perhaps one day, there wouldn't be a need for her to continue guarding the seal, and Amaya could finally explore the world. "So, if you don't leave the shrine, what do you do besides shrine duties?" Surely there were other things she did? If not, Sachiko felt a little bad for Amaya. She needed to be able to do other things... but it wasn't her place to say so.
Aside from making a small noise as she was suddenly pulled back into Sachikoâs embrace again, Amaya remained mostly silent throughout the exchange, studying the way the two siblings interacted with one another, and noting that, for a person of her size, Sachiko was extraordinarily warm. She wondered for a moment if they might not be dragons, because Yuu was warm like a furnace, too. But something about them wasnât really dragonlike, and so perhaps they were something else. Flame elementals, perhaps, or kitsune or something. All of those seemed wrong, too. She had to admit, she wasnât all that surprised by the fact that theyâd guessed she was a tenguâmost of those who worked at the temple were, after all. Tengu were one of the few other species that humans trusted fully, and so they didnât need to worry too much about disguising themselves like the others did. Of course, Amaya herself was a different case, but that wasnât really important at the moment.
âAh, I couldnât possibly,â she contributed. âWeâve only just met, after allâIâm sure traveling with me is a burden you do not need.â Only partially because she was an inexperienced traveler herself. Also partially because there were a lot of people out there who would not hesitate to kill her if they knew what she was. It was why she of all the tengu here moved in the guise of an actual human being. Besides that, the seal would need reinforcement again soon, and she had to be at her best for that. It was probably better if, from tomorrow, she closed herself off from others and started her purification. It was a lonely thought, and she almost sighed, but Sachikoâs last question brought her back to herself.
âOh, um⊠I mean, I greet the visitors, and tend the gardens. I read quite a lot, too, and practice my martial arts. I even get to teach some of the little ones, so really, I have very little free time. Iâm never bored.â She smiled in a reassuring manner and leaned backwards against Sachiko behind her. The prolonged contact was surprisingly nice. Others at the shrine and surrounding grounds rarely touched her save in emergencies, something about worldly corruption. Likely, theyâd be upset with Sachiko for doing so, but they didnât have to know. It was true that Amaya was never bored, but she felt bad for being unable to say that she was never lonely. The others tried their best, she knew, and she would never tell them that sometimes, it wasnât enough. Heâd known how to chase away the loneliness, to break the barriers between her and everything else in the world, but he was gone now. Even the brief time sheâd known him seemed like a dream.
Slowly, she extricated herself from Sachiko, and turned to face her, bowing slightly. âBut Iâm keeping you from your rest. I donât know what the two of you are doing, and I donât expect you to tell me, but it seems serious, and I wouldnât want to hinder you. So please, take your rest, and know that youâre welcome here any time you need to come.â Her eyes were soft, her smile small but genuine. âIt was truly a pleasure meeting you and your brother. I will pray for your happiness.â
Sachiko shook her head slightly, a small smile gracing her as Amaya leaned back against her. She really did like it when people were not afraid to touch in return, and it brought her a small amount of comfort. It made her remember that she was still alive, that her brother was still breathing and that they were, and would always be, the last of their kind. Phoenix were immortal in the truest sense. They could not be killed, and if they were, they ressurected from the ashes of which they perished in, however; they were not entirely immortal. Her kind had still been driven to extinction because of them, and there were times when she forgot that she was alive, that she was living a nightmare instead of a dream. She almost snorted at Amaya's statement of being a burden. If anything, Sachiko was the burden in this.
She knew her brother was searching for someone, and it just so happened that in order to find this someone, they were required to do mercenary work in exchange for information and the ryo that gave them places to stay and food to eat. Sachiko was only trying to steer her brother away from this cause, however; she had so far been unsuccessful. She sighed softly, leaning forward when Amaya removed herself from her spot, and glanced towards Amaya. The Tengu said she would pray for their happiness, and something broke behind Sachiko's eyes. It was too soft to notice, however, and she shook her head from it. Happiness was stolen from them a long time ago... and whether they could retrieve it has yet to be seen. She hoped they could.
"We are searching for a man named Hidenori, as you know," Sachiko stated, her voice low so that Kenji would not be able to hear her. "He is wanted in the village of Sagae for a murder he committed. My brother and I," she paused, glancing to stare at the door that separated them and turned her attention back to Amaya. "We are searching for him to take him back to face his punishment. It is preferred that he brought back alive, but it is hard to do so when they resist," she concluded, letting her eyes falter. Kenji didn't have a problem with killing people, and it was something that continued to break Sachiko's heart. She missed her brother, the one who couldn't harm anything and wanted to save things.
Where had he gone? She, however, could not bring herself to kill someone so readily. She was still a phoenix, and part of her just wanted to heal something that could not be healed. Taking a deep breath, Sachiko raised her eyes to meet Amaya's and offered her a broken smile. "I am afraid this will be the first and last time you will see us. We do not linger in one spot for long," otherwise their secret would be discovered. That was something they could not afford and it was something that meant life and death for the both of them. "I hope your prayers reach the god of whom you pray to, happiness is but a dream to us now," she spoke, bidding Amaya a goodnight before retiring to her room. They would have to leave first thing in the morning. She said too much, and though it didn't seem like it, Sachiko wanted to tell this Tengu everything. She wept, instead.