Neighpon Shogunate civil war

Sprinter quickly nodded, getting excited again. "I would be so greatful! I want to be the best i can. This place makes so much more sense than Equestria. So much meaning and purpose. Its perfect."

---

Silver was a little surprised. Usually he got lectures about holyness and all in exchange for the service. This pony was rather straightforward. Normally he stuck to being to himself, but with the events that led him to this land, he found himself slowly unraveling to his more instinctive curiosities.

"<Neighponese was my first language.....>" He said, looking away as she tended to his wound. It stung him but, not more than he could handle. Feeling another ponies hooves over his wounds was somewhat soothing for him. That kind of contact for him last happen in Equestria. There was hardly much there for him now. Not much that he could tell he wanted.

Her advice was spot on. He knew he needed to give it some rest, and he would not oblige that so easily. As for the others, he knew they got a decent treatment already, and he would rather not subject them to it any more than they already had. "<...I can show you his home...He may be there.>"

Silver reached for his vest, carefully getting it back on with some effort. It was tricky with his wound, but he would not leave the tent without it. If there was not much else to discuss, he would lead the way out and head into town with her in tow.

Steel nodded. "Do not thank me yet, Sprinter. You still have to talk to Spur."

Paradise followed in silence, smiling and nodding at the reactions her garb attracted. At the very least, there was a nod of respect, but some took their actions further, an elderly mare even genuflecting.

Sprinter sighed and nodded. "He will be hard to convince....But I think this place is rubbing off on him. He may not look it, but he has been....starring off into space a lot more than he normally does. You will know it when you see it. He said he was born here after all, but he wouldn't say much more than that."

---

Silver lead the way, staying silent. His curiosity told him to ask questions, but he restrained himself. He shouldn't care about any of this. And he refused to entertain the idea. For now.

Soon the arrived at a large estate in the town and Silver lead the way in, waving to the guards as he escorted her up to the audience chamber. He had little care for being 'official' about granting an audience and simply walked in. Inside, he hoped to find his Lordship.

Fortunately, "His Lordship" was just finishing counting out The Profits from the day. "Oh! Mister Spur! To what do I owe the hono--" He paused as he saw the Miko next to Spur. "<And you as well... What brings you here, Honored lady?>"

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Steel nodded, sighing. "He'll share his past when he is ready." he said simply, standing up.

Bowing respectfully, Paradise said, "<The honour is all mine, kind sir. The faith has decided to send me here to aid the town as great conflict draws near. This trading port has survived the initial anarchy and is thus a place of great interest for the clans fighting for dominance. We have much to discuss, lord of the town, but introductions should come first, should they not?>"

She cleared her throat. "I, Paradise Blossom hereby bless this house and the town it looks over on behalf of the faith.>"

Silver simply stood in place, not really sure if he was needed or not. The only thing that kept him from walking away was to hear what this pony was going to do. Functioning on religion alone was an alien thing to him. For now, he waited.

Crack Shot watched Silver lead the strange mare into town from the town wall. He was a bit curious as to what she was doing here. He turned back to the road for a quick scan. Everythin's alright up here. I'll just do a bit of nosin' about and come back. The town had gathered a bit of a reputation due to anypony with a weapon was usually shot down before they managed to get close, largely due to himself. With them not seeing much action lately, he figured for now there wasn't much of a chance of being attacked anyway...

He turned back to see the townspeople bowing to the new pony through his rifle scope. He had to know more about her. Silver and the rest of the gang sure weren't respected at any capacity by the locals. Of course that was mostly due to the hell they raised in the sake dens at night. Without telling anypony, he hitched his beloved rifle into its case on his side and followed the pair into the estate.

"<I, Golden String, Welcome you to our town.>" He said, a little unnerved by her news. "Thank you, Mister Spur. If you need, you can leave."

"Golden String, the first order of business is evacuation of the town's elderly and young, those not involved in fighting," Paradise implored, "There is a monastery that I have just recently departed that can take care of them until the worst of the fighting has passed. The clans do not dare attack them for such an action will draw the ire of all, including fate itself. The next thing is that I will need a place and some supplies to look after the dead and wounded. That might also be a place where the devoted can pray for guidance and safety. It is times of great chaos where hope is needed the most, and prayer provides so much."

You have the resource to pay for mercenaries, so surely you have the resource for these essential services, she thought.

Silver frowned, but kept his place. He did not like being dismissed from this, but with the monks words, he stayed and spoke against her.

"<I doubt that nessesary. We have held here well enough on our own, and if we remove the populace, we divide the city and weaken it. And if it comes to winning this land in its entirety, i would not put attacking a monetary past them.>" Silver grunted, not thinking that Paradise had much of a say here, or that he at least has more say than her.

Crack Shot stayed well back. Whatever they were speaking about, he had no way of understanding it anyhow. So he just hung back and waited for Silver to come by, or their obese boss.

Golden thread sighed. "<It's not so much that, Mister Spur, but the fact that... If a force truly IS heading this way, The Elderly, the mares, and the Children might get hurt... And, As lord of this town, I can't let that happen. Despite the Growing modernization of the other Clan Leaders, I doubt they'd be willing to incur Divine wrath by attacking a Monestary.> He explained, Already starting to put the gold into bags.

"<Thank you, Lord String,>" Paradise said, genuflecting. She didn't add her personal opinion that both the modernized clans and the supposed 'traditional' clans were equally likely to do dishonorable things in order to gain power. Still, the monasteries had the advantage of being a waste of time to attack, the faith being a neutral party. Well, they were on the side of the Holy Emperor, which basically amounted to the same thing.

"<There is also the matter of setting up a place of residence where I can perform my duties for the dead and wounded.>"

Silver did not like this at all. How could ponies be so in love with their honor and religion. It was difficult for him to grasp why so many could hide behind an idea that could so easily be compromised.

"<This is lunacy. We expose ourselves by moving them. Any reasonable enemy would attack at this time. Who is going to care about beliefs and religion when there are ponies here for them to kill and conquer? If you want to be rid of your people, send them from the ports where we don't have to babysit their passage.>" He turned to look at Paradise. "<And you can join the medical tent if all you will be doing is patching ponies up.>"

Silver had never objected so much so openly in quite some time, but his tensions from the time he spent living her had begun to grow. From the event that led him here to now, he was feeling more irritable and less reasonable. A breaking point was getting near.

(pass)

Golden nodded, sighing...

"<I see what you mean... Get the Elderly and the young onto the boats. We can hopefully get them out of harm's way.>" He said, placing the bags by Silver's Hooves. "Here's The rest of your pay, Mister Spur. ... I'm sorry I dragged you and your Group into this." He said, heading into the back room. "<I still need to prepare myself... I believe I can still fit into my Armor."

It was then Paradise's turn to object, running in front of him. "<Lord String, if you load your innocents onto the ships, there is no way that the faith can look after them. There has been no doctrine concerning naval combat and they would be at more risk from pirates and warships. If we act swiftly, we can get them safely to a monestary without wasting too many warriors to escort, and then it will only be temporary In fact, the bare minimum would show that the evacuation is not a military force. By sea, you have no destination and no real protection. If unruly ships don't endanger them, then storms and sickness will.>"

Paradise took a deep breath. "<However, if you do decide that course of action, I will pray for their safety. That's the least I can do.>"

"<They don't NEED a monastery. They just need to get out of the way.>" He felt more frustration than he had known for a while. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stand this argument. Why did he resent it so much?

Silver took his mind to another subject to get out of the uncertainty that he was not comfortable with. The bag of gold at his hooves. "<So....You are completely relieving us then?>" If they were indeed done, then Silver would be more than happy to march out of there. Sill, something in him lingered on committing fully to that.

(pass again)