Don't suppose ay of you know of Legend of the Five Rings?

[Tolui]

You should look it up. It's cool. But anyways, here's a little thing I wrote about my character for it. I'm mostly doing this for the silver XP

Seriously, though, opinions would be nice, too.


“Me? Go to Yasuki capital?! Really?!” Tsubaki tried to keep her voice calm, failing utterly. “B-but I don’t know very much about politics at all!”

“We need another Phoenix representative, not necessarily another courtier . You are one of our youngest shugenjas, and yet you have surpassed several of your seniors. You are a perfect candidate, Agasha Tsubaki-san. Not to mention an Agasha. We have sent word to your family, and they approve. You will leave in two weeks time.” The senior shugenja told her, not taking his eyes off of his papers.

Tsubaki shifted her posture, trying to make the butterflies in her stomach stop flying about. “B-but my studies—”

“Can be furthered there. Many of our best shugenjas are there as well, and you will learn much.” The senior shugenja looked up, meeting Tsubaki’s eyes. A shiver went down the girl’s spine.

“I would not send you if I did not think you were ready. Am I wrong?” Tsubaki shook her head so hard her ponytail whipped around and hit her face.

“N-no! I mean, I’m not—but you’re not…” Tsubaki sighed, giving up. “Very well, sir. If you think it best.”

The corners of the senior shugenja turned up, almost like a smile. “Come, Agasha Tsubaki-san, this is a wonderful opportunity. Surely you are not disappointed?”

“N-no, that’s not it, I’m just…”

Scared. Tsubaki sighed again. “I’m sorry, sensei. I shouldn’t have questioned your judgment, I just don’t feel… worthy? I don’t want to dishonor the Phoenix with my ignorance.” She stared at the floor. She heard her sensei get up from his desk, walking over to her in his soft, silken slippers.

“Tsubaki-san.” She looked up. Her sensei was looking at her with pride. “You will not dishonor us. I know it.”

Tsubaki smiled and nodded, trying not to convey her terror. She had never left the Phoenix land before; the farthest she had ever traveled from her family’s estate in the Agasha lands was her current location, Kyuden Isawa, where she spent most of her time studying the ways of the shugenja. She could count the non-Phoenix people she’d met on one hand!

It will be an adventure, Tsubaki. She tried to tell herself. This really would be a wonderful opportunity to learn. She might even meet some distant relatives in the Dragon clan! Not to mention all the Crab could teach her about the Shadowlands.

And yet…

Once Tsubaki was out of the main building, she knew where she wanted to go. She hurried towards her Special Place, running when she was sure no one was watching. She tried to keep the tears in, but some fell all the same. Hoping no one had followed her, Tsubaki found the hole in the courtyard wall, squeezing through the opening. It had been so much easier when she was younger! With one last grunt, the young Phoenix pushed herself through. She stood and brushed the dust off of her robe, thanking the kami that it hadn’t rained recently and the hole wasn’t full of mud. She followed the path she had walked so many times until she came to her destination; a tall, ancient camphor tree, standing near a small stream. Tsubaki hiked up her skirt and climbed the tree’s thick, sun-warmed branches, remembering the first time she had some this.

She was eleven, and one of the other apprentice shugenja had said something hurtful to her. Tsubaki had wanted to run far away, maybe into the Shadowlands. After all, she knew EVERYTHING at that age, and would have little problem surviving. She might even become a hero. So Tsubaki had crawled through the hole in the wall and started running. She stopped at the stream for a drink of water, and it was then she noticed the tall, beautiful tree.

Tsubaki smiled as she settled on her favorite branch, the one that curved to form a perfect seat, looking out over Mori Isawa, the Isawa mansion in the distance. It looked farther away than it really was, which suited Tsubaki just fine. She leaned against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. She wasn’t Agasha Tsubaki, who had to leave for the Yasuki estate in two weeks, leaving behind everything she had ever known. She was a bird, perched in the tree, and she could fly away whenever she wanted. But she wouldn’t fly away, because she had no reason to. She might fly South, to the Agasha lands, in the winter, and stay there until the Isawa lands had thawed, but winter wouldn’t come for a long, long time.

And then she opened her eyes again, and looked in the direction of the Mori Shrine. It was there that she meditated for her gempukku, and had met that strange nezumi. The ratling woman had said that she would play a big role in the future, and that she had to practice. Had it really been a vision sent by the kami? Or had some crazy nezumi just wandered in to play some shogi? Tsubaki didn’t know, and she didn’t want to tell. To think, she saw a ratling during the most important moment in her life! Unthinkable.

But, as Tsubaki looked out at the Mori Shrine, remembering her gempukku, she realized that she was not, and could never be a bird, free from doubts or fear, able to fly wherever she pleased. She was Agasha Tsubaki, bastard of Agasha Akihiko, shugenja, and soon, ambassador for the Phoenix clan in the Yasuki capital.

With a sigh, Tsubaki pressed her forehead to the trunk of the camphor tree for a moment before climbing down. As she neared the bottom, a branch snapped beneath her foot, sending Tsubaki tumbling to the earth. As soon as she was sure that nothing was broken, Tsubaki could have sword she heard someone say, “It happens.”

Had she said it? Was someone watching? Oddly enough, Tsubaki didn’t care. She smiled, and started to laugh. It happens. People fall out of trees, or are born bastards, or are sent far from their homeland, and life would go on. For them, for everyone. It happens.

The young shugenja stood up, still smiling, brushed the dirt from her clothes, and started back towards the Isawa estate.

It happens.

[Taruto]

*waves arms* Hey hey! I play the L5R roleplaying game. I'm a Phoenix bushi. ^^

Anyway, I liked your little story. I could feel the mood of your character, and I could get the feeling of being in Rokugan. I don't think there's anything at all wrong with your story - So well done!