[ It's true - Cloud's been pulling more than his fare share of shifts well into the night, and he wears the exhaustion better than most - part of his enhancements, maybe? It's hard to tell. ]
[ He doesn't answer Matoba right away - but he gives the man a nod as he walks over to the claymore. He does give the shadow a look, but - well, Matoba has shown him them once before. He understands the need for security. ]
[ He puts his hand on the sword, giving it a test lift - it's not a familiar blade, but it does have some familiar heft to it. He puts another hand on it as he lifts it up, balancing it on his shoulder. ]
...Weight's good. This'll work. [ He nods at Matoba. ] And don't worry - I plan to make note of everything I find. Better we have that information than not, right?
[ Which is Cloud's way of communicating something specific to Matoba - he still doesn't trust what's going on isn't something someone in the other factions knew about - and having information in case they try to cover it up is going to be more in their favor than it won't be. ]
[Matoba picks up a cup of tea beside him and watches as Cloud surveys the sword, weights it in hand, and hauls it over-shoulder. The man was no beanpole, but no one needs to know Matoba had his shiki carry that here for him. He's a little impressed!]
Yes, you are right... Whether any of you make it back or not. Do keep in mind, that if anyone as powerful as our leaders becomes corrupted in the process of all of this, that we will all likely be lost.
Of course, I'll be making preparations, in case of that. [Which is ominous, to say the least, but there's all this blood to go around, you see....]
[After a moment, with a glance from Matoba, his shiki shuts the door to the private room, and Matoba lowers his voice:]
By the way. Do keep in mind that the Enma is the one being fingered for our Boss's assassination attempt, 2 months ago.
A shame you won't be going up to the top with them. I'd love to be a fly on the wall, at that moment... [Matoba taps a finger to a paper charm on the table shaped like a butterfly, a bullseye-pattern on each wing, and slides it towards Cloud while holding his gaze.]
[ Another charm of Matoba's. He takes it, nodding, and stashes it. ]
I've been informed. [ It's not something he's discussed openly, but he has talked about the Daitengu's near-miss, and what their mysterious faction leader's intents seemed to be as a result of the aftereffects of the Night Parade. ] I might not be heading to the top of the tower, but if there's anything on our end that might point in the direction of who did this - regardless of who they are, you can bet I'll get evidence of it.
[ Unlike others, Cloud doesn't think the Enma was the one behind the Daitengu's assassination attempt. It felt too suspect - Shuten and Tamamo fighting over lost Sutoku ground, while Sutoku and Enma end up in a cold war due to an assumed assassination? It felt too clean, too easy for someone outside the structure to take advantage of. ]
Hopefully we avoid the worst-case scenario. [ Which, yes, would be one of Daitengu or Toraguma - or both - succumbing to some corruption within the Tower excursion. It would leave the Enma MIA and Tenkohime poised to take control - hm, that's certainly... not probable, but possible. It's a theory that might hold water. But there's no proof to it, either way. Opportunity without means was just circumstantial, at the end of the day. ]
[The butterfly felt like a normal, unmoving piece of paper, much as the ofuda had been- for now. It was within the tower, if worst came to worst, that it would be charmed to activate, fluttering back to survey the situation within the tower and give the rest of the city forewarning of what had befallen them as it returned to Matoba.]
[Hopefully, it wouldn't be needed.]
Haha, of course I would presume our Boss is motivated to take on this mission for much the same reason. But it isn't always so easy to decipher all the answers in the midst of a disaster. Things shake loose in the funniest ways.
[Nor does he think the Daitengu would necessarily make it known to the clan at large if they did discover what the nature of the Enma's involvement was. Nor did that necessarily mean that it wouldn't be prudent to know, anyway. It was as important to be informed of the goings-on within the clan's matters as it was to know of the ones outside of their proverbial walls.]
[As, no doubt, anyone within the clan of "alliances" knew.]
If we all survive this, I'll be curious to see if any of the whispers I've heard to this point were true. The fun of rumors is always discovering what is fact and fiction about them, don't you think?
[Meaning: he'll be rewarded with further information, if he makes it out to fill in the gaps.]
[Trust, but verify. He understood what Matoba was saying - Daitengu might want the answers as much of the rest of them, but that might mean they keep the conclusions they draw on a need-to-know basis. And if he brought back information that might figure out what happened that night the Daitengu was (supposedly) assassinated. Well. That was a matter that could concern the whole city if handled the wrong way. ]
And better we have the unvarnished truth than a second story spun for someone else's benefit.
[ Cloud understands what Matoba's after - Jigoku-cho might have a different coat of paint, and different people calling the shots, but there was a familiar cadence to what he was being asked - there are secrets at the center of all this, and Matoba wanted Sutoku's personal mercenary to do what he was good at - dirty work. ]
I'll be back. And with any luck, we'll know more about what's going on than we did going in. [ He straps the sword to his back as he looks at Matoba. ] Count on it.
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no subject
[ He doesn't answer Matoba right away - but he gives the man a nod as he walks over to the claymore. He does give the shadow a look, but - well, Matoba has shown him them once before. He understands the need for security. ]
[ He puts his hand on the sword, giving it a test lift - it's not a familiar blade, but it does have some familiar heft to it. He puts another hand on it as he lifts it up, balancing it on his shoulder. ]
...Weight's good. This'll work. [ He nods at Matoba. ] And don't worry - I plan to make note of everything I find. Better we have that information than not, right?
[ Which is Cloud's way of communicating something specific to Matoba - he still doesn't trust what's going on isn't something someone in the other factions knew about - and having information in case they try to cover it up is going to be more in their favor than it won't be. ]
no subject
Yes, you are right... Whether any of you make it back or not. Do keep in mind, that if anyone as powerful as our leaders becomes corrupted in the process of all of this, that we will all likely be lost.
Of course, I'll be making preparations, in case of that. [Which is ominous, to say the least, but there's all this blood to go around, you see....]
[After a moment, with a glance from Matoba, his shiki shuts the door to the private room, and Matoba lowers his voice:]
By the way. Do keep in mind that the Enma is the one being fingered for our Boss's assassination attempt, 2 months ago.
A shame you won't be going up to the top with them. I'd love to be a fly on the wall, at that moment... [Matoba taps a finger to a paper charm on the table shaped like a butterfly, a bullseye-pattern on each wing, and slides it towards Cloud while holding his gaze.]
no subject
I've been informed. [ It's not something he's discussed openly, but he has talked about the Daitengu's near-miss, and what their mysterious faction leader's intents seemed to be as a result of the aftereffects of the Night Parade. ] I might not be heading to the top of the tower, but if there's anything on our end that might point in the direction of who did this - regardless of who they are, you can bet I'll get evidence of it.
[ Unlike others, Cloud doesn't think the Enma was the one behind the Daitengu's assassination attempt. It felt too suspect - Shuten and Tamamo fighting over lost Sutoku ground, while Sutoku and Enma end up in a cold war due to an assumed assassination? It felt too clean, too easy for someone outside the structure to take advantage of. ]
Hopefully we avoid the worst-case scenario. [ Which, yes, would be one of Daitengu or Toraguma - or both - succumbing to some corruption within the Tower excursion. It would leave the Enma MIA and Tenkohime poised to take control - hm, that's certainly... not probable, but possible. It's a theory that might hold water. But there's no proof to it, either way. Opportunity without means was just circumstantial, at the end of the day. ]
no subject
[Hopefully, it wouldn't be needed.]
Haha, of course I would presume our Boss is motivated to take on this mission for much the same reason. But it isn't always so easy to decipher all the answers in the midst of a disaster. Things shake loose in the funniest ways.
[Nor does he think the Daitengu would necessarily make it known to the clan at large if they did discover what the nature of the Enma's involvement was. Nor did that necessarily mean that it wouldn't be prudent to know, anyway. It was as important to be informed of the goings-on within the clan's matters as it was to know of the ones outside of their proverbial walls.]
[As, no doubt, anyone within the clan of "alliances" knew.]
If we all survive this, I'll be curious to see if any of the whispers I've heard to this point were true. The fun of rumors is always discovering what is fact and fiction about them, don't you think?
[Meaning: he'll be rewarded with further information, if he makes it out to fill in the gaps.]
no subject
And better we have the unvarnished truth than a second story spun for someone else's benefit.
[ Cloud understands what Matoba's after - Jigoku-cho might have a different coat of paint, and different people calling the shots, but there was a familiar cadence to what he was being asked - there are secrets at the center of all this, and Matoba wanted Sutoku's personal mercenary to do what he was good at - dirty work. ]
I'll be back. And with any luck, we'll know more about what's going on than we did going in. [ He straps the sword to his back as he looks at Matoba. ] Count on it.