The late morning sun shone down on two mounted men as they rode the last few hundred feet leading to the gates of the village below Shiro Daidoji. The man in the lead was dressed in pale blue and held an ornate parasol above his head. His long white hair was braided down his back and he wore a scroll satchel and the mon of the Asahina. The second man rode slightly behind the Asahina and was almost a comical figure. He was much larger than the other man and wearing full light armor, his feet almost touched the ground on either side of his laden pony. One look at the man's face, however, removed all thoughts of comedy. His face was clad in a steel mask that resembled the face of a bear and his eyes were in constant motion, looking for threats to his charge.

The two men rode through the gates of the village and stopped at a two story inn named The Wall of Flowers. The two men entered the inn stopping just inside the door.

"Are you certain I can't convince you to travel on to Toshi Ronbo with me Kuma-san?" The Asahina asked, "I'll pay you double what I did for you to escort me here from Kyuden Doji."

The masked ronin smiled slightly, "That's a generous offer Asahina-sama but I cannot accept. I have business here at Shiro Daidoji. With that much money, though you should have no problem finding guards to accompany you, or you might just petition Daidoji Kowaru-sama for a Yojimbo to protect you on the way."

"Would that I had that much time. Well then if you won't accompany me, here is your pay wave-man." With a smile the Asahina tossed a small string of koku to the ronin the money almost floating through the air as if the air spirits were keeping it aloft only to be caught by the silk wrapped hand of the masked ronin.

The ronin bowed to the Asahina, walked out of the inn, mounted his ever suffering pony and rode out of the village toward Shiro Daidoji.

***

The castle of the Daidoji is one of the most defensible in the Empire but in this time of peace the gates stood open with a single pair of bushi standing at the ready. Kuma and Honored One, his pony, rode slowly toward the ancient castle and stopped a few dozen feet away. The masked ronin dismounted, took a deep breath, and then approached the gates leading the relieved pony behind him.

"What's your business here Ronin?" came the query from the guards.

Kuma smiled slightly as he removed the mask that covered the upper half of his face then said, "I'm coming home."

"Home? This isn't a home for the likes of you, wave-man," The elder of the two guards said with a faint sneer. The younger guard looked at the unmasked ronin for a moment and his eyes widened.

"I assure you Daidoji-san, this is my home," Kuma stated as he removed a tattered set of travel papers from the bottom of his travelling pack, "These should allay your doubts."

The ronin stepped forward and passed the papers to the elder guardsman. As the older man examined the papers the younger guard bowed and said, "Welcome home Tokiru-sama."

The former ronin smiled and bowed in return, "Thank you Yinusho-san. How's your family?"

"Doing well, my sister got married last week. And I…"

The older guard interrupted, bowing very deeply, "I am sorry Daidoji Tokiru-sama. I did not know who you were. Please forgive me for my rudeness."

Daidoji Tokiru smiled again and motioned for the guard to rise, "Think nothing of it, you were doing your job. Now I suppose I'd best go get changed. Please send a message to my uncle and tell him I have returned and request an audience."

"Hai, it will be done," the elder guard said, a look of relief on his face.

"I'd love to stay and catch up with you Yinusho-san but it's going to take me hours to remove the dust from a year of travel and I fear that I'll have to shake more dust out of all my blue kimonos. I'd also love to eat a meal that is more rice than millet, you don't get many of those wandering the roads," Tokiru said with a grin, "I'll invite you to tea or something later though, depending upon what my uncle needs me to do."

Daidoji Yinusho nodded and smiled, "Hai, it would be good to catch up with a classmate."

Tokiru nodded, bowed to the two guards in respect and walked through the gate leading his pony behind him.

***

Daidoji Kowaru, daimyo of the Daidoji family sat in a small room overlooking the gardens, his hands busy creating one of the basic forms of origami as his eyes scanned the reports on the table in front of him.

There was a tapping on the wall next to the door. Kowaru set the perfectly formed paper crane on the table next to the reports and said, "Enter."

A large young man entered the room and bowed. He wore a freshly cleaned blue kimono and his almost shoulder-length white hair was held back in a simple ponytail, with only a few strands slipping free. His hair showed signs of being recently washed and dyed. In his hands he held two simple boxes, one crafted of sandalwood and the other forged from steel.

"Ah, Tokiru-san. Welcome back nephew; I trust your travels were enlightening." The Daidoji daimyo said with a smile as he gestured for the younger man to have a seat.

Tokiru nodded, "Hai, thank you uncle. I understand that things have been interesting while I've been away."

Kowaru chuckled quietly and steepled his perfectly manicured fingers in front of his face, "That's certainly putting it diplomatically; perhaps you are wasted as a Yojimbo. Have you ever thought of becoming a courtier?"

"Hai, but think of the expense to the clan. It takes a lot of silk to clothe this frame, and as a courtier I'd need ten times as many kimonos. I fear the clan's tailors would riot."

"You are probably right; I suppose we shall keep you as a Yojimbo then." Kowaru smiled warmly then spoke again, "So, what did my sister's youngest son wish to speak to me about?"

"I…" Tokiru began, clearing his throat and noticeably steeling himself before continuing, "I wanted to thank you for allowing me to go on Musha Shugyo my Lord, and I think I owe it to you to tell you why I went, and what I have learned over the past year."

Daidoji Kowaru raised a single perfectly formed eyebrow, "I am not going to like what you have to say, am I?"

"Probably not, but I ask only that you listen too all I have to say before you sit in judgment." Tokiru said quietly.

"Hai, I will listen and try to reserve my judgment," The Daidoji daimyo nodded and began to fold a new piece of paper, "Continue Tokiru-san."

The large crane nodded and began again, more confidence in his voice, "When I left on my pilgrimage I didn't really know what I was looking for. I only knew that something in my life was wrong, something was missing. I knew that there were things about honor and bushido that I could not understand while under the protective mantle of the Crane Clan.

"I don't know if that's true. I may have learned what I have if I'd stayed in the Clan but I think it would have taken me many unhappy years to do so." Tokiru ran his hand over his white hair and continued, "In my travels over the last year I have learned much about the Empire and the people who inhabit it. I've travelled through almost every clan's lands and seen their best…and their worst. Wave-men see much that Clan samurai aren't allowed to witness.

"I've made allies of Gaijin travelers and of Miya Shikan himself. Made many friends and advisors whose advice I hold very dear.

"I've been to places few Rokugani have ever seen. I travelled to the Burning Sands guarding a Tortoise courtier who was vying for power. I've been to the Shrine of Shinsei, though not inside. I even spent the winter in Shinsei's Last Hope, aiding the Crab in the war against the Shadowlands. Each of these places taught me something.

"The Burning Sands taught me that Gaijin are not to be trusted, they will do everything they can to tangle you up in their politics not caring what happens to you when their schemes come to fruition.

"The Shadowlands taught me much about the Crab clan. They are human just as we are, subject to the same failings as we and the same strengths. Their job wears on their bodies and minds. But unlike the rest of us there is no rest for a Crab. It is a life I do not envy them, but I thank them for doing it.

"At the Shrine of Shinsei I learned something that I hadn't known about myself…I…" The younger man sighed slightly, "A wise monk told me something about myself, something I didn't want to hear. I denied what he said at first, but have since come to terms with and moved past it.

"When I left on my pilgrimage I was a different man. I was a man who thought that he knew what was best for the clan and for our family. I was a man who thought that you, Kowaru-sama, were one of the worst possible choices for the daimyo of the Daidoji family."

Tokiru bows his head in shame, then looks up with resolution in his eyes, "I was a fool. I freely admit that. I thought that an artist could not understand what it took to be the daimyo of the Daidoji, that we needed a warrior to lead us. What I didn't understand was that a samurai can be both an artisan and a warrior at the same time. I didn't understand that a true samurai trains their body, mind, and soul to better serve their clan and the Empire."

"We are a family of warriors, it is true, but we are also a family whose goal is peace. We fight so that the heart of the Empire may live in peace, so the artisans may pursue their art, and the courtiers may play their courtly games. We are the wall in the courts, keeping our way of life safe from those who would threaten it. Who better to understand what is at stake than one whose life has been devoted to the development of his soul through art?" The young Daidoji reached into his sleeve, pulled out an intricately carved flute, and set it on the table.

"This flute has taught me more about peace and perseverance than any of my senseis ever did. I've learned that art helps a samurai to become a better warrior, that it can turn enemies into friends, and that sometimes a little music will earn you a free meal." Tokiru smiled and looked at his uncle, "My Lord, I ask that I be allowed to reswear fealty to you, this time without the doubt in my heart."

Daidoji Kowaru looked at the young man for a few moments, his grey eyes searching for any sign of artifice in the large warrior and then nodded, "You may reswear fealty nephew. I won't require you to do so, however. I know that many of those within our family feel as you did. I know that I am spoken of as an artisan who has no business leading a warrior family. Perhaps that will lead them to underestimate me and our family."

Kowaru set the origami samurai that he made while Tokiru was speaking on the table. "We are warriors and we are artisans. We are Daidoji," The daimyo of the Daidoji family stood and moved around the table.

Tokiru bowed, head to the floor and swore fealty to the Emperor, the Crane clan, the Daidoji family and finally to Daidoji Kowaru himself.

"I accept your fealty. Rise Daidoji Tokiru, warrior of the Daidoji family," Kowaru said.

Tokiru stood, towering over his uncle and lord.

"Do you have anything else you wish to report Tokiru-san?" The daimyo of the Daidoji asked as he returned to his seat.

Tokiru nodded, knelt and placed the two boxes he had brought into the room with him on the table, "Hai, I have two more matters to discuss. The first is the question of what to do with this." The younger Daidoji opened the sandalwood box revealing the glint of gold within. Dozens of koku lay stacked neatly inside the box. "A competent wave-man can amass quite a lot of koku, especially when he doesn't have to save for his future. I am saddened that our clan will not be the first to have a shrine to the Fortune of Peace, but I hope that this small contribution will help in the building of small shrine here in Shiro Daidoji."

Daidoji Kowaru nodded and pulled the box toward him, "I will see that it is used toward that end. What is in the other box?"

"I encountered many dangerous men in my travels but very few dangerous things. What is within this box was wielded by a man who tried to kill me and the Emerald Magistrate I was working with. This weapon can make an otherwise sane man into a homicidal madman. I don't feel that I can protect it any more. I've felt its effects on my own mind and ask that you make sure that it is either destroyed or placed where it can not harm anyone again," Tokiru opened the steel box to reveal a simple knife made from the blood of Lord Moon, obsidian.

Kowaru looked at the obsidian artifact with a look akin to loathing and nodded, "Hai I shall see that it is taken care of."

"Arigato, that is all I wished to speak to you about my Lord." Tokiru said, his face a mask of relief as if a great weight had left his shoulders.

Kowaru smiled slightly, "I thank you for coming to me Tokiru-san. Honesty is something that is often in short supply. Now I grant you two days to reacquaint yourself with the clan before I will require your services. In two days we leave for Kyuden Doji to attend the funeral of Doji Sarutomo-sama, I would have you act as one of my Yojimbo on the trip."

Tokiru bowed slightly, "Hai, uncle I would be honored."

Kowaru nodded and grinned slightly, "Now if there is nothing else, I have reports to attend to." The young daimyo of the Daidoji family rolled his eyes and winked.

Tokiru grinned and stood, "Hai I will not keep you from your important work. May the Fortune of Peace smile upon you my uncle."

"And upon you nephew."