Raiden looked up from the balance beam he had made. The Logs had been planted and the mountaineers were putting more logs between the paralel lines. supporting the vertical logs with support beems.

"I could really use the both of you to help finish this, so we don't all die tommorrow, Yes that is the correct path."

"I'll help you."

Kenren fell in step beside Mizuki as she went to tend the wounded.

"I have been... selfish and thoughtless of late. And since it is within my power to aid the wounded, I will do so."

An eye twitched once, than both closed tightly, shaking his head. Remain calm. You have to know your place. He knows more than you. Do as he says. Katsu got to his feet and bowed slightly, "I am sorry. I guess I was just thinking of a way to help. If she needs to go, there will be no one here with any expirence in healing." That's when he heard the call for all to help. There are not many healers here... I should serve more purpose there. He thought, following the new priestest.


He made eye contact with her. "I'm sorry, I never did get your name. I saw you were busy, and I didn't get a chance to meet you, and it appears we may be working together." He put his hands flat on his body and bowed low. "I am Togashi Katsu, and I am forever in your debt. In case you are in need of my services, I shall be more than willing to help. I thank you for saving me."

Mizuki nodded to Katsu, her arms full of bandages and bottles and jars.

"I am Agasha Mizuki. Give it no further thought, it is only my duty to aide my allies."

She would've bowed back, but that would've dumped her cargo, so she just nodded her head. She smiled up at Kenren as he spoke.

"Isawa-sempai, death and cold can cloud anyone's judgement," she said, her expression soft. She leaned down beside a man with several arrow wounds and began tending to them, ignoring the vomit threatening to creep back up her throat. She really hated being here with all the bodies and what not. "It certainly clouded mine. Everyone is human, everyone makes mistakes." She cleared her throat. "Unless you're perfect, like some people." With that, she flicked her eyes in Taken's direction, grinning.

Taken sighed as he found out that his trip away from the battle field had been cancelled. He was beginning to lose his normal state of outward calm, as the bodies laying about him all seemed to take on a new, sinister, appearance. He had not killed before. Not purposefully, at least. Now, today, he had no idea how many of the lions had died from his arrows.

All he knew was that what seemed like over a hundred corpses littered the pass, beginning to turn blue and bloated from the constant rain and cold. Any of them could have been caused by his arrows. There were children amongst the corpses, barely old enough to have been conscripted for this war. Their lives had been cut bitterly short, and he didn't know whether he had anything to do with their deaths. He couldn't help but think that it was his arrow that had killed that man, or that man, or any other corpse laying amidst the rain waters.

And then he noticed the others. They all seemed so calm about it. The priestess had vomited, but the others showed no outward signs of grief over the deaths. Not even the deaths of comrades seemed to slow them. He looked down at the ground slowly and sat down, wincing slightly as the movement pulled at the skin around his healing wound.

He had heard the call to help build, but he could not find the energy to care, surrounded as he was by death. The only thought that could make it into his mind through all the grief was, 'And more shall die tomorrow...'

Katsu had finished giving one man a natural remedy when he saw a man sitting on the ground, in fact, the same man that had saved his life. He took a breath and walked over, kneeling before him. "Taken-sama. He look weak. I know she has cured your wound, but do you need further attention?"

Afte tending to the wounds of many, and directing the eta to remove those who could not be saved for cremation, Kenren found himself thinking.

Thinking. He had been doing a lot of that recently. It was rather odd, especially since most of his training had revolved around not thinking, but rather, acting on instinct, the "no-mind" of Phoenix fame. "When you have time to think," his master had said before, "so do your enemies. And you have many more enemies than you think. Sometimes you must act, and think later."

Looking at the way he had stepped into the fray and mown the Lion down with hardly a second thought, it seemed to him as though he had succeeded, in some small way at least.

Then he looked at his hands, and shuddered to see them covered in the sticky brownish-red of a fading life. As he quietly Summoned water to cleanse himself, he silently wondered if perhaps he had trained himself too well, so much so that life and death were nothing more than phases to him, the coming and going of which were nothing more remarkable than the segue of spring into summer.

But that's how it is, isn't it? We make choices, the consequences follow, we respond to those consequences, and so forth. It was as inevitable as water flowing from a high to a low place, or a dry leaf falling off a branch. All things in life lead to one final conclusion, and what we think is free will is little more than an illusion we weave for ourselves to make life seem more palatable.

Everything is everything. Death follows all.

That is the only truth.

As he dried his hands with a conjured flame, Kenren began to think about what his final conclusion would be. And more importantly, how much it would involve Keiko.

It did not make for good pondering.

OOC: From now on Kenren operates at a -1 die penalty.

Mizuki still worked to patch wounds and say prayers with and for those who asked or died. She finally got a moment to sit down and take a breath. She wanted so many things right now- to cry, vomit, take a bath, go home...

Still, people needed her, and as comforting as that should've been, it really only burdened her. She didn't want to be here, watching people die, cold and wet and hungry. She drew her knees to her chest miserably, retying her ponytail. She looked around. Taken was sitting on the ground looking pretty miserable himself. Even Kenren seemed to be lost in thought.

A twinge of guilt came over her; she was being a spoiled brat again. Brooding over her discomfort...at least she lived and was uninjured. She wasn't the only one here suffering...

'Oh hell,' she thought, 'I'm being angsty.'

She stood up and approached Kenren, holding out his haori to him. It was drenched, caked with blood and dirt.

"Um, Isawa-sempai? Here's your haori...I'm sorry it got so dirty."

"Heh?"

Kenren blinked, stunned as introspection collided with reality, in the form of Mizuki's voice. The resulting battle was silent, brutal, metaphysical, and ended in favour of reality. He was glad to be free of his thoughts, though. He was fairly certain he'd have spent the next few hours sitting there thinking about nothing if they'd have let him, and he seized upon Mizuki's distraction as a welcome opportunity to turn his mind back to the world.

The Phoenix looked up at the Dragon, taking his haori back, careful not to touch the bloodied spots. He sighed inwardly as he realized he'd probably have to throw it away, but he held on to it, anyway. He was no Seppun or Miya or Otomo, rich enough to casually toss aside a dirtied garment.

"Thank you. I am glad it was helpful, though it seems, I may no longer be able to use it... " he said, pointing to the caked gore all over it.

"It doesn't matter, really. Besides, I wasn't feeling that cold. And you don't have to call me Isawa all the time.. you can just call me Kenren. I... don't like being an Isawa much anymore."

She smiled.

"Alright, Kenren-sempai. And it's not ruined, just dirty. I'd be glad to wash it for you, if I could ever get to that blasted hot spring..."

A hint of whine creeped back into her voice, but she quickly changed her tone. She glanced around at all the working men.

"Raiden-sama certainly is...um...diligent, isn't he?"

Kenren returned the smile.

"Yes, he is. He's always put himself into everything he did. Even when we were hunting that maho-tsukai... he selflessly grappled the pekkle no oni attacking us so I could get a clear shot at it, even though he knew that the oni would explode and Taint everyone around it in its death throes. We lost a good shugenja there..."

He suddenly realised that he was growing morose again.

"Anyway, if you'd help me wash it, I'd be very grateful. I'm a typical male, all I know is how to break things and make the rest dirty. "

Mizuki found this extremely funny. Her peals of laughter rang all through the camp.

"Ah, Kenren-sempai....I suppose it is very good we are ruled by an Empress, then." She grinned. "Though I must say, if that is a typical male, I must be a poor female, for I don't know the first thing about cooking or cleaning! I don't think I could even boil water right."

She relaxed a bit and exhaled a bit.

"Speaking of boiling water, who's in charge of the food around here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, though I have always found senbei to be very helpful when I'm hungry."

He produced a small packet of the rice crackers from his black obi, and took one of the hard, biscuity things before handing the rest to her.

"You wouldn't need to cook or clean much in a temple though, I'd imagine. You're a priestess, right?"

She nodded, took two crackers, and handed the rest back to him.

"Thank you. And yes. A rather junior one, though. I hope to improve my skills. You are a master shugenja, aren't you? I'm a bit embarassed to admit this, but this was my first battle."

"Hardly a master, though this is not the first time I have seen conflict in the line of duty. And you did quite well for your first. Without your aid, Katsu and many others would have gone to meet their ancestors."

She just shook her head.

"You flatter me. Anyway, speaking of doing my job, I've done it, and I'm not getting any warmer or drier standing here. Would you and..." She glanced around, looking for someone who wasn't going to be much help. She grimaced. Taken.

"...Taken-san please accompany me to that hot spring? You guys could probably use a hot bath as well. Besides, you've done your job and Taken-san isn't getting much done."

Raiden took one of the barracks tents and using his tanto cut a section of cloth. He filled the cloth with sand. and dragged it to the ballance beam. He tied the sand bag to the sticks tied to a rock.

"I need some help with this." Soon three mountaineers came and helped him put the sticks on the balance beam. there was to much sand so raiden pulled it out by hand.

The sand bag and counter weight wobbled a bit then settled. Raiden took a length of climbing rope and tied it to bothe bamboo sticks near the sand bag.

Ten mountaineers began to pile rocks on the bamboo wall while the three who helped Raiden tied the rope to the support beams.

"I suppose it would be reasonable. After all, who knows if Lion scouts may have set an ambush."

Sakuma winced at the brightness of day as he started to come back into a conscience state.

"Sakuma! I'm so glad you are all right. Taiba and I had to drag you away from the battle after you fell unconscience." Kaito standing over his wounded brother exclaimed.

Sakuma: "Ow my head. What hit me?"

Kaito: Silent for a moment he began. "I have no idea."

Sakuma: "So the battle is over?"

Taiba: "For now. A momentary defeat. We were forced to retreat but we'll be ready to make another charge."

Sakuma: "Help me tend to my wounds hastily before the next battle. I will not be defeated again so easily."