“Yeah...” Ishawari sunk into his chair as he recalled the second stanza with a frown. “My concern lies with keeping this ‘Smiling Monk’ happy. In fact, out of the entire poem, that is the only one that isn’t as straight forward as the rest. Though, I reckon it won’t be too much of a problem. It’s not like the Emperor would make it anymore difficult for us to achieve our mission, right?” 

With impeccable timing, lightning boomed in the distance. Ishawari refocused on the subject, not allowing any room for doubt to creep into the moment.

“While you gather what you can from Kana, I’ll head into the village to grab whatever food and equipment we might need. The villagers will want to know he’s okay, and it’ll be a perfect opportunity for me to address our departure.” 

Ishawari slowly exhaled, nodding with approval. This felt right. They needed to make a move, now, more than ever.  

“We should get what rest we can tonight.” He looked to Jin with soft eyes, “Will you be okay?”