[Day 7, Early Afternoon- Hirame's Room] With Friends Like These... (Closed)

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"'Cause up there, all that happens is I fall, an' that don't seem too likely, seein' as I've been runnin' th'ratlines since I was little. 'Sides, Kakita-san... you're a Crane. Y'mean t'tell me a single misstep in Court can't be fatal?"

She chuckled.

"'Sides, from the head o' th'mast? Feel like I can see th'whole world some days."

[Kakita Ahiru]

Ahiru shrugged, a feat she somehow managed to look elegant. Must be the impeccable Crane-breeding or training, or both.

"There's a difference between blundering in court and falling to break your neck, I feel. A skilled courtier should be able to turn their misstep in court or someone else's around to their advantage somehow. Though some folks would claim such things to be their plan all along as they try to salvage the situation - particularly Scorpion are fond of that, I've been told."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"An'a skilled hand can make good on a slip or a missed hold most of th'time."

A wink.

"Not that we ever do th' "I meant t'do that' but."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"Hmmm..."

Ahiru glanced up at the ceiling, where the doll was hiding.

"... Do the Mantis have courts? Proper courts."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"If y'mean 'proper' like 'stodgy,' not really. If y'mean 'proper' like, 'places where courtiers work an' make 'greements an' we put on cultural an' artistic displays? Yeah, we got those. Kyuden Gotei's actually a pretty decent-sized city, 'cordin' t'Cap'n Kaito. Biggest one I've ever been in, but I don't get 'round cities much, so I gotta take his word for it."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"Stodgy? What's that supposed to mean?" Ahiru frowned slightly at that thought. "Surely, Lord Yoritomo must have a proper court where he entertains ambassadors and diplomats."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Yeah, but if someone takes too long t'get t'th' point? They get ignored and things move on."

[Kakita Ahiru]

Ahiru was slowly realising she would have her work cut out for her if she married into the Mantis. Because this court sounded uncivilized and backwater (well there was water involved?).

Could she renovate Yoritomo's court? Less talented people had tried.

"Have you met Lord Yoritomo himself? He sounds like the kind of... hands-on type of leader, from the rumors."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"Oh, aye. Talked t'him three times that I c'n recall. Once when I was little an' happened t'be visiting Mom, he came t'check on her after a rough passage. Asked what she needed t'get back out t'sea. He picked me up on 'is shoulders, said I hadda be lookout. Once he came aboard Yukikaze t'talk with Cap'n Kaito 'bout somethin' Stood out 'cause we changed course after that meetin', and he remembered makin' be lookout when he saw me runnin' th'ratlines. Third time was back ashore, he pulled all of us trainees on Yukikaze out to race boats 'cross th' harbor."

She chuckled.

"He likes bein' seen."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"So it seems! I don't think I've heard of a daimyo being so... so... down to earth?" she wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "What you're saying sounds very different from the stories I've heard of him from the courtiers in Kyuden Kakita, who share gossip. That he is a brute with little social grace, a scoundrel, and boorish."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"They're just angry 'cause he don't play by their rules an' they can't make 'im care. 'Sides. He's diff'rent with folks he's respons'ble for than folks he owe nothin'. Most people are, far as it goes."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"Folks he owe nothing?" Ahiru didn't quite ruffle her feathers as such, but she did feel a certain type of way about that. "I don't think I quite agree that the other clans and their samurai are folks who 'he owe nothing'. That is not how life or politics work, Kasumi-san."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Kasumi shrugged.

"As Champion of a Minor Clan, he owes th' Emperor his fealty an' service. What're th' rest of th'Clans t'him? Occasional employers?"

[Kakita Ahiru]

The Mantis girl's indifference in her shrug did annoy her slightly, and Ahiru huffed. "And this might be why the Mantis are in the situation they're in? That the other clans don't take them seriously?"

If... if she had to become a Mantis, then she was damned if she would allow her new clan to continue existing in this way.

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"I dunno. We got invited here, got our own quarters, an' we even got a test pretty near made for us t'show off in. Seems t'me at least one Great Clan's takin' us seriously. An' it's not even one we've been, uh... on th' best of terms with."

[Kakita Ahiru]

Ahiru raised an eyebrow. "Kasumi-san, tell me honestly why you think the Mantis are currently enjoying this level of hospitality compared to the other Minor Clans?"

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

"I have no idea. I'd guess it's 'cause my boorish scoundrel brute of a Champion wi'out social graces found some leverage t'use."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"Possible, but unlikely considering the situation."

Ahiru straightened herself a little, as if she was back in class, analyzing courtly machinations. "The Crane recently suffered from a tsunami striking most of our coastline, a hit to their usual food-productions not to mention the costs of repairs. This puts the Crane in a weakened position - certainly there are Great Clans they could approach for assistance, but owing favors to the Great Clans is much more costly and with its many pitfalls in the great scheme of the political scene."

"On the other hand, you have a Minor Clan with resources, or the ability to get resources as a middle-man, with ships able to cover the large area that is the Crane coastline. Costly in terms of coin, but much more convenient in the long-run as it is much easier to appease a Minor Clans with simple tokens of gratitude - instead of owing a favor to say the Scorpion, meaning losing ground in the courts, you throw a few gifts to the Minor Clan to make them feel special and appriciated. Nothing lost but money, and a Minor Clan thinks they're being respected with minimal effort."

[Yukikaze no Kasumi]

Kasumi's reply was perfectly level.

"Th' same Minor Clan that's profited mightily offa that tsunami an' its aftermath, an' sees no profit in helpin' th' Crane grow any stronger when their weakness is our opportunity. Who was it had our back at th' last court? Wasn't th'Crane. It was th' Crab. And why d'you think they helped us? It wasn't outta th' goodness'a their hearts."

[Kakita Ahiru]

"And yet, here we are, the Mantis being shown hospitality and courtesy on the same level as a Great Clan while negotiations are taking place in the halls of power during the tournament. Turning pirates - no, sorry, opportunists - into legitimate traders, lessening the chance for retaliations in the future. Such are the ways of the court. A good showing once in Winter Court is all well and good, but can it last? Not the way it is currently headed, but that is diverting from the issue I adressed at first," Ahiru explained. Minor Clans had over history risen and fallen with the occassional exceptional star, but it had never lasted. None had had the staying power of the Great Clans.

"The Mantis currenty enjoy this level of hospitality due to circumstances that has little to do with Lord Yoritomo's actions."