Back to the Wall...
After parting ways with Tara and the others, Reisuka makes her way back to the wall with haste, and helps a man getting attacked by an ogre along the way. Ikoma Fujiro is a very strong swordsman and is heading his way toward the wall, too, and says he'll see her there. She goes there to deliver her message much faster than Fujiro can possibly keep up.
An Unfortunate Wreck...
Someone is floating on the wreckage of a ship along the river where the Lost are gathered. Reisuka asks permission and leaps from the wall into the Shadowlands proper to ford the river to the floating wreckage. She is about to pick up the unconscious mantis man when the thunk of a grappling hook on the edge of the wreckage wakes him up, and he drags her underwater, creating a bubble of air there so as to avoid the incoming arrows. When they arrive back, he introduces himself as Yoritomo Vihaan, and explains his ship was wrecked.
Released from Duty...
Reisuka's year on the wall is up and her captain releases her to go home. Both Fujiro, because he is done with his task, and Vihaan, because he needs to find a boat to give him passage home, ask to tag along. Reisuka is certain her mother can help him.
On the way, they run into Shosuro Izamiya's group, whose Courtier both immediately recognize Vihaan but keep it to themselves by Izamiya's instruction to Sayaka. They all ask to travel together, and Izamiya and Sayaka exchange whispers about whether or not Vihaan knows where he is going. They meet a small spider group encamped along the way, and Izamiya notes to Fujiro that someone who looked just like him lead a funeral at the last group of spiders, prompting Fujiro to take his leave from the group to go look for this person. Reisuka camps with the spider and enjoys the company, along with Vihaan, while the rest of the group takes up an inn nearby.
A Dawning Horror...
As they become close to the Yasuki residences, Vihaan realizes he's in big trouble. Reisuka isn't just any Yoritomo--she's the Daimyo's daughter, and the daimyo certainly would see him skinned, as he is a pirate who often contends with the Yasuki on the high seas. He kindly takes his leave to try and find a way back home via boat, with Reisuka none the wiser. Izamiya is amused. They arrive to an affectionate Nagisa who is happy to meet her daughter's companions.
A Friend in Deed...
The group appeals to Nagisa to allow Reisuka to travel with them, mentioning the prophecy containing her and the scroll they carry. In the initial conversation, Reisuka also mentions Vihaan and his need for a boat, and while she doesn't notice her mothers Onn breaking, Sayaka and Izamiya do. Nagisa asks for the scroll, and Zeshin cannot rightly refuse a daimyo in her home so he hands it over. She has her top Lore people help her look it over for signs. Her Master Calligrapher and her Master Theologist both find lots of interesting things--there's a poem saying "The Totori heir hides behind a mask." and an implication that the leader of the Lost is a Hanti, but also that her daughter might be the reincarnation of the Sun Goddess Ameterasu. She shares all but the Totori information with the group, hoping to get ahead of everyone, before returning the scroll and allowing the group free passage in her lands.
Vihaan's Escape..
Nagisa immediately sent a messenger to Yasuki Tomi upon learning of Vihaan's arrival in her city. Tomi starts quickly searching about the town with her ninja underlings, but only finds Vihaan after he has boarded a merchant ship on his way to Mantis land. She's too far behind to try and get on the ship and exit it afterwards, so Tomi allows him his escape, but she asks a military vessel to escort the ship from a short distance, and, if anything seems to go wrong, to sink it to the bottom of the ocean rather than allow the Mantis to steal their ship.
Meeting Kanpeki...
The group as a whole goes out to try and find the spider crawling Yasuki lands, and Reisuka, a scout, finds them first. She approaches the spider clan and asks that she be offered a moment with Kanpeki, whom she requests stay put so that Izamiya can approach him, and extends the welcome of her mother, the Daimyo of Yasuki lands. Kanpeki agrees to wait.
Izamiya meets with him and discusses the fact that he's looking for the reason and motivation behind the Spider clan, and the leader therein. Kanpeki confides that they hope to be acknowledged as a clan through acts of heroism, and he is not, technically, the leader. His father runs the clan from somewhere else. Izamiya feels out that Kanpeki's main motivations are a desire to please his parents and little else, and that he does not have the same dark desires that the rest of the Spider seem to. While describing it to the rest of the group, Reisuka mentions that it sounds like taint.
The rest discuss that the strange 'religious' behaviors and their motivations could be related to the Hanti bloodline, and the presence of taint could be their reasoning behind these strange behaviors if they have found a way to handle the call of Shadow.
Izamiya convinces Kanpeki to help him arrange a meeting with his father at the Black Crane Estates.
Meeting Gaisotsu...
After several letters of permission and request are exchanged, Gaisotsu and his small entourage arrive in the town beside the Black Crane estates for their meeting in the Daimyo's palace. Nagisa oversees the conversation, along with her Master Calligrapher and Master Theologist, but Izamiya primarily does the speaking. The talk reveals a deep love for his people, a wish to save the empire, and a drive to see his son succeed, along with a worry about his wife. Izamiya strikes up several deals with Gaisotsu in the exchange, offering him a healer for his wife and an in with the clans, seeking leverage over this person who presumably has Hanti blood.
During the exchange, Gaisotsu's yojimbo and Reisuka exchange strange looks. When the meeting is over, she approaches the woman and asks her name--getting "Kenshi" from her. Reisuka and she exchange a chat and confirm that they think they are tied by karma, and Reisuka and she spend some time together.
Nagisa goes over the conversation with her advisors, confirming that Gaisotsu seems to have Hanti's sword. The Master Theologist arranges to see it with his brother and confirms it completely, and their plots and plans start in on trying to find the Totori, since this Hanti doesn't seem to be the best fit and they'd like to know their options. Through the Master Calligrapher, they arrange a court with the Crane clan pursuant of peace, but Nagisa courts Sayaka for an in to get the artifact she needs to test for Totori's blood: Totori's Fan, which will only open if held by a Totori.
Before she can even get the arrangements off the ground, though, Reisuka describes her companion, and Nagisa suspects she knows who the Totori is: Tsudao is, somehow, alive, and does not want to be known.
