<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Maseko</div><div class="spoiler_body">Sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=283917) and Description (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=234223.msg11532337#msg11532337)</div></div><hr/><br/>Maseko had not made much impression as a shugenja until now.  From her manner of dress to the warclub she carried and the traveler's pack she did not, she defied classification- but her name and her wakizashi proclaimed her samurai, and she had been treated as one.  More or less.  Crucially though, none of that<em>mattered</em>to her in the slightest.<br/><br/>After helping Shiori to dismount the great Keiko, as any footman in service to a superior might, she simply smiled to the taller woman's humble gratitude.  Her black hair, damp and dark from the day's gentle rain, hung lank, framing the angles of her face, in the same way her jacket hung around her navel.  As Shiori began to busy herself with preparing the camp, Maseko turned away from her and, kicking off her sandals, stepped away from the others in the camp.  As she walked, slowly and deliberately, she felt the earth underneath her feet, rolling under her arch and squelching between her toes.  She closed her eyes and outstretched her arms, and she felt the gentle misting on her hands, her bare forearms, the water soaked into her jacket running from her shoulders down her back, between her shoulder blades in unpredictable patterns, and the water running down her cleavage in predictable ones.  She stopped when she felt like she was in the right<em>place,</em>but place meant something a little more than usual, and she knelt, her pants soaking through from the wet earth immediately.  Now she could feel the tremors in the earth as Shiori-san dug behind her, disturbing the earth spirits of this clearing, and she whispered to them in apology and supplication.  She could feel Keiko, weighty, weary and eager all at once, as she stomped- indeed, she could feel all of them through the earth, or through sounds in the air, or the sound of the water bouncing off of them, or the heat they made her feel.  She did not concentrate on these things, but simply let them be.<br/><br/>Her outstretched arms folded in front of her and she bowed her head as she began to pray, reciting a brief prayer she had long since used, her warm contralto drifting low across the field.<br/><br/>"The myriad Great Kami of our ancestors,<br/>Children of the Lady Sun and the Lord Moon,<br/>Met upon Seppun Hill after five years to discuss,<br/>So discussing, the Great Kami knew<br/>Rokugani as children, who needed wisdom as children,<br/>And the Great Kami held a tournament to decide<br/>Who would become Emperor of Rokugan."<br/><br/>She felt the rain increase in response, as water spirits heard her and reacted to her story.  The tremors of the earth became more noticeable, the sparks in Shiori's firepit brighter to her perception- though her eyes remained closed, and the wind began to circle her.<br/><br/>"Hida's strength fell to Shinjo's Speed,<br/>Shinjo in turn was bested by Bayushi's Cunning,<br/>Bayushi in turn was bested by Shiba's Patience,<br/>Shiba in turn was bested by Doji's Wiles,<br/>Doji in turn was bested by Akodo's Technique<br/>Akodo in turn knelt before the Hantei,<br/>While Wise Togashi knew all at the beginning."<br/><br/>As she recited the great Kami who had began the formation of Rokugan so long ago, the rain fell upon Maseko more energetically, and the wind whipped at her jacket and her hair.  Her arms unfolded, and stretched to her sides, palms up.<br/><br/>"Each of the Great Kami swore fealty,<br/>And each of the Great Kami built a clan,<br/>And each Clan in the image of the Kami."<br/><br/>The earth beneath her knees no longer responded to Shiori's digging or the hooves of Keiko, instead reacting to the cadence of the prayer, and Maseko could feel the fire spirits responding deep inside her- the cold air was no longer noticeable, and the water running in rivulets down her breasts and stomach felt like a warm summer rain, not a cold spring mist. Her back arched and her head tilted back, so slightly that it might not be noticed.<br/><br/>"As the spirits of the Heavens witnessed<br/>The Imperial Kami Hantei crowned,<br/>As the spirits of the high and low mountains witnessed<br/>The creation of the Great Clans<br/>As the spirits of the north and east winds witnessed<br/>The Empire ruled by the blood of the Kami,<br/>So shall they all witness this place."<br/><br/>The heat within her brightened, a fire building at the joining of her thighs in competition with the water running between them.  The wind buffeted her, pulling her jacket entirely from her sash, and she did not care.<br/><br/>"And as the spirits of the Heavens, the Earth and the Winds<br/>Witnessed crimes innumerable, great and small,<br/>The Spirits gave their help to Shugenja,<br/>And through Shugenja, to Rokugan,<br/>To clease these crimes away."<br/><br/>The earth seemed to pull at her, clinging to her knees in recognition of past fealties to her and shugenja like her. The wind circled her fiercely, whipping her hair around her face and excited.  The rain pelted her, abandoning the camp in it's eagerness to remember ancient service, and serve again.  The sparks from Shiori's stones dulled as fire spirits nestled close to Maseko, feeding the fire in her loins.  Her voice raised as she leaned further back, caught up in the spirits' eagerness, but her cadence did not change.<br/><br/>"As we remember these things in this place<br/>This place will be purified accordingly<br/>And here we can tell the spirits<br/>'There is no sin here that can be called a sin,'<br/>For the spirits have made it so."<br/><br/>And it all stopped.  The rain, which had stopped misting the rest of the camp about a third of the way through the short prayer, no longer fell at all.  The wind had calmed, and the stars began to appear.  And suddenly, Shiori found the campfire much more cooperative now that the spirits were no longer distracted by the shugenja; in truth, the spirits were tired but had enjoyed the memories and the excitement, as they always did... though there was a need Maseko felt, and her pants were wet from her own water as well as the rain and mud.  She cursed internally, but there was no helping it- this would help set camp, keep her fellow samurai in fighting shape, and help preserve the tracks, at least in the area around her.  Quiescent earth, air and water spirits would help with all of those things, and agreeable fire spirits would encourage starlight and a good campfire.<br/><br/>She realized that she was bowing forward, facing away from the camp her hands before her... but they weren't clasped in prayer, gratitude or supplication.  They'd started drifting toward that insistent heat of their own accord, and that would not do.  "Bah," she said as she stood.  She bent over and brushed some of the mud off of her knees, unaware how well her pants were hugging the curves of her ass, sticking to her flesh as wet as they were.  Satisfied with her mostly-clean knees, she stood up straight, rolled her shoulders and adjusted her jacket so that at least her tits were covered, though she didn't bother tucking it in again.  She also made sure her fingers brushed against her hard nipples under the jacket as she smoothed it back into place, and though she didn't tuck it in again, even she was not prepared to say whether it was because she was tired from the days exertion or whether she was hoping to incite... interaction with one of her colleagues.<br/><br/>If she had to guess though, she knew she would absolutely love... she stopped her reverie when she realized that one hand was, again, drifting towards her thighs.  With a grunt of frustration, she spun around and returned to her sandals, tucking her feet back in their accustomed place before walking slowly back to the campfire, breathing slowly.  Her jacket hung limp, framing her navel, and her cheeks were clearly flushed, but perhaps these things would be overlooked.  She hoped not.<br/><br/><hr/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Props to the Norito Purification Prayer for inspiration.  Also, spending a spell slot and a void point to make the rain go away near the campsite in accordance with my school ability, and it affects a radius of one mile.<br/><br/>Edited due to excess of commas and occasional repetitious language.  Bah.  And again.</div></div>