Kenzo had a lot of energy to burn off and a fair amount of personal frustration as well. With an axe borrowed from the forge he worked his way into the woods determined to gather some better wood for Kyo to use. He didn't go as deep as he could, nor did he try to cut down the trees right outside the village because he didn't want someone to come and try to stop him.

"A driftwood shrine, pfft, that bar will be lucky to make it though another day and they want to honor the kami in the same way? No matter what happens here were going to need wood and the forest already hates us so what's the hold up?"

He found a familiar tree, one with a small gouge in one of it's branches left by one of his knives. "Well I already damaged you so I guess your as good a place to start as anywhere." He hefted the axe and prepared to set to work.

A voice sounds out from above, amongst the branches of a nearby tree,

"Has that tree done something to offend you Crane-sama?"

Comfortably nestled in a crook between limbs, playing with a tanto, is a woman in lightweight armour and grey-green clothes.

Kenzo took a few more swings before stopping. "Not particularly but if the forest is already mad at us I don't see the harm, we need the wood after all."

He stopped and turned towards the voice. "Oh, umm, greetings Hiruma-san I mistook your voice for another. I am Daidoji Kenzo, it is a pleasure to meet you." He dropped the axe offered a proper bow.

Heiko stands and gives something of a perfunctory bow from where she is, "Yeah, good to meet you too Daidoji-sama. I'm Heiko, of the Hiruma as you guessed."

After a couple of moments she scrambles down the tree to the ground, checking around as she moves. "What makes you say that the forest is already mad at us? It doesn't feel like the Shinomen Mori. There's a forest that would let you know when it got mad."

"Well everyone who goes into the deep woods alone doesn't come back. Expeditions have gone in and returned but anyone who goes in alone disappears. Plus one of my clanmates here has a gift and she assures me the forest is both foreign and angry though we don't know why as of yet."

He took a seat on the ground, his back leaning on the tree.

"I haven't seen you around before, have you been adapting to things here well?"

"I've been getting to know the woods. You know, sleeping in a tree, watching the animals, learning the feel of the land," she pats one of the trunks.

"But you don't go deep into this sort of place without learning its moods first. That can take some time. I'm guessing there can't be anything /too/ big here, but be careful for venom," she smiles.

"I would, if three separate superiors hadn't told me not to I would probably be in there right now., but when someone with a gift tells you the spirits are pissed off then you listen or you die."

He glanced at the deeper forest.

I believe there may be some real beasts in there, the boar I dragged back to the village after yesterday's hunt was the biggest I have ever personally hunted so unless they are the apex creatures here something has to be hunting them. If I had to guess I would say some kind of bear probably but who knows this island is huge."

As Kenzo looks further inland, Heiko comments "We'll get there one day, just be patient and careful. Also, let the ritualists figure out why things are annoyed."

She looks thoughtful for a moment. "Bears aren't really up to taking on boars, normally. They'll pick off a piglet given a chance, but much prefer less angry prey. It's wolves you want to be careful of. For whatever reason, packs /like/ to go after boars."

"I'm going to guess the Unicorn have asked after the hide - I hear tell that it makes good saddles."

"I would rather wolves over bears, at least with wolves we can take to the trees if things get complicated. No clue about the hide, I turned the kill into Moto-sama so he may have but if you want it for something you could ask him. You spend any time in the Shinomen?" He asked casually.

She smiles, "Just a little. That's where the next big threat's going to come from. I've seen tracks there bigger than any you'd expect, and stranger things besides.
The Shadowlands are spent, after centuries of bashing their heads against our wall. We'll be able to just go and take it back some time soon."

Kenzo's has wiped around to regard the Crab.

"What did you just say? "

"Watch out for the Shinomen Mori?" she responds quizzically, "No?"

After Kenzo dissents, she continues with "Oh, The Shadowlands. It's been getting quieter for generations. I reckon that in just a couple more we should be able to push back in and recover our lands. It will be good to see a grandchild in Shiro Hiruma."


[OOC: Excuse me assuming your character response, to save time
Also, I'm aware of just how wrong this opinion is and that, in ~4 generations, you get the lead up to the 2nd DoT.]

"I... Why is this the first I have heard this? You would think it would be big news throughout the empire."

She looks disgruntled.
"Hmph. The leadership is overly pessimistic. They worry that things might just be biding their time, or that the Imperial Court will stop sending funds or other such courtier stuff. It's just a conspiracy to keep the Hiruma landless and subserviant. They'll never let the information out until they have some sort of plan for the future."

"So, what, you were sent here to keep you quiet?"

"Well, nobody said that, but when you think about it, the answer becomes pretty clear..."

"Well you are in good company here, it seems that instead of a bunch of sailors like the first group to come here and go missing the empire has sent a bunch of scouts and plant experts most of whom think this place is a punishment. Not me though, I'm loving every minute of this."

"I would assume that scouts would be much more useful once we're actually on land than sailors. So far this posting is more interesting than my last one - the forest is intriguing and I want to get to know it more."

"Well there are four of us by my count not including any scouts that may be among the Lion forces here, have you met the Fox and the Scorpion yet? They are hard to find, I think they mostly keep to their rooms but I look forward to us all working together. In fact I would really like to propose a race or some kind of wager between us all just to keep things entertaining." He said with a broad, warm smile.

"What kind of wager are you talking about? A race between places we already know, or something else?"