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[ { "from": "system", "value": "yo can u write like Akahige Namban using my stuff as a starting point? btw might drop u in mid-story with random chars" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A warm, soft body laid itself down by Jiro's side. She slid a hand down his body and whispered, \"Are you awake?\"\n\nHe responded by reaching for her. They felt one another in silence for a while. Her tits were small and firm, their nipples erect.\n\n\"I need it so badly, Mr. Samurai—I hope you won't mind. I watch my mother from the loft, and... you know, I have to amuse myself. The young men... I like them, but of course they are from the village and one of them will marry me, so they can't... they can't...\"\n\nJiro stroked her shoulder. \"I understand.\" The peasants, he thought, were not proper people. Some expected their women not to have sex before marriage, but in another village they might demand it, and in still others they did not marry at all but mated when lust overtook them. What mean people they were.\n\nHer stroking hand reached the length of his penis, which was squeezed between them, and she gasped as she became conscious of the reality of its size. He stroked the insides of her thighs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The long beard that lay between them was moist with dew." }, { "from": "system", "value": "You must use the word 'moment' exactly 2 times in your response" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could tell she had been playing with herself, from the slick state of her fingertips. He fingered the fleshy tip of her small clit for a second. She squirmed against him, her mound pushing roughly into his palm. Her efforts at his staff grew frantic and rough. She jerked at the honey pole urgently and was rewarded with a drop of moisture as his weapon cleared its throat.\n\nHe lowered his head to kiss her nipple, proudly erect in the dark, but she moaned, \"No, no,\" deep in her throat and pushed his head away. She rolled back onto the hay, spreading her legs as wide as she could. \"Please, now, now!\" she demanded feverishly.\n\nHe knelt between her legs, looking down for a moment at the picture they made in the dimness. Her pale body was spread in an inviting Y, a dark patch at the juncture of her legs. His massive balls hung down, pulling him by their weight, while his pole projected aggressively forward.\n\nShe looked at his face for a moment; then her eyes followed his." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The thick end of his pole was pointing her way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wondered perversely what it would feel like in her mouth, on her tits, then drove such unnatural thoughts from her mind. Impatiently she reached for the source of her pleasure. He lowered his body, and the tip of his pole poised at the hungry entrance to her cunt. She arched her body upwards and pulled ferociously at his buttocks. He came down heavily upon her waiting body. There was a momentary resistance and a gasp from her, and Jiro knew she had been a virgin. Then her arms and legs clamped hard around him and her teeth bit into his shoulder.\n\nHe thrust his way well up her lubricated channel, and she grunted at the feeling and the weight. He started a back-and-forth movement, and she held on to his body grimly. He dug his hands through the hay and clutched her firm buttocks. She squirmed in his grasp, but her grip did not slacken. It was obviously up to him to move for both of them, and he set to work with a will." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her channel was tight enough so that every thrust was an effort as she clung to him like a dead weight." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Annoyed, Jiro started pummelling her with his cock in earnest. The full weight of his erect penis smashed into her, her hips bruised by the weight of his loins. She began a snorting, stertorous breathing, and he paused, afraid that his violence was killing her. Her hands clamped onto the muscles of his back, then shifted to his ass and dug in, urging him on.\n\nThe urgent movement was too much for Jiro. He let himself go completely, pounding into the girl's passive body. At last she began to respond, her hips matching his movements. She threw her head back, and he could see the whites of her eyes and the dark cave of her mouth. He forced his tongue into her mouth, and she barely responded at first, then began to suck at his mobile upper cock with enthusiasm. They twisted wildly in the sweet-smelling grass until Jiro felt his balls twitch in violent orgasm. Streams of sperm jetted out and flooded her hot interior. She responded with an orgasm of her own, as she imagined his cock filling every orifice she had." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She relaxed her grip and smiled at him in the dark." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That was very good, Mr. Samurai. It was wonderful. It was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. Now I know what it is to be married. I must be married very soon.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He smiled in the dark. \"There is more to marriage then that. Perhaps I should teach you other things, too...\"\n\n\"Oh no—I am only a peasant girl. This will do very nicely.\"\n\n\"But there are many other things men and women can learn to do,\" he protested halfheartedly.\n\n\"I know, Mr. Samurai—I have seen my mother through the crack here, many times. But I had rather learn them from my husband. Otherwise he will think I was not a good girl.\"\n\nJiro shook his head in disbelief.\n\nShe left him as the sounds of the young men's goodbyes came through the wall. Jiro lay back and prepared for sleep. His cock was pleasantly flaccid on his thigh. He wondered what his friends were doing, back in Miyako. Unconsciously his hand stroked his manhood, playing with it and jerking it from side to side. In a little while, he knew, he would be wondering where Etsu had gone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Since she was unavailable, he thought philosophically, he had better stop playing with himself and go to sleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The hatch above his head opened, and a whisper came to him.\n\n\"Mr. Samurai? Are you awake?\"\n\nHe grunted assent.\n\n\"I just wanted to check that you were comfortable. Can I get you something?\" The widow slipped into the loft, unable to see him in the dark. Inadvertently she trod on his outstretched hand. In trying to avoid hurting him, she stumbled and fell onto his broad chest. \"I am sorry, terribly sorry!\"\n\nHer body was warm, soft—and completely naked. She held on to him as if to get her breath back. Jiro leisurely ran a hand down her back and between her buttocks. Her hairs were damp from a washing, and he recalled having heard the sound of sluicing water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shivered at his touch." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His other hand ran down her front, lingering on each tit and its erect nipple. He held her bush with a flat palm, then hoisted her easily over his body. She squealed; then her hands searched out his erect pole.\n\n\"Ah, it's wonderfully big!\" she breathed. She tried to roll over, bringing Jiro to cover her, but he resisted. He parted her legs, then raised her in the air. The tip of his prick tickled the hairs of her pussy, and she breathed heavily. Fucking for her had been a natural thing, with no artifice. Jiro had experienced experts, and he knew the game of love as none of her previous men had. He teased her crack for a long time, the tip of his cock penetrating her gently then withdrawing. She struggled in his arms, anxious for the morsel of flesh that she knew would spell relief for her demanding cunt. He delayed some more, his mouth seeking out her nipples in turn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a moment he poised her unmoving over his cock, then suddenly brought her down the length of his shaft until their hairs mingled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She squealed with delight and grunted as her soft, warm, lubricious interior gripped him. To prolong the pleasure he raised her again until only the tip was left in her. She struggled to lower herself again, her hair and nipples brushing his massive chest. At last he surrendered to her demands, and she straddled him with her muscular thighs, his cock stuffing her belly. She rode him wildly, as if untired by the effort of eight muscular men she had been mounted by before. This time she was mounting the man, and the newness of the sensation removed all her tiredness. She experimented boldly, riding high with her back arched and head thrown back, then crouching over him at full length. At times he encouraged her to grind her hips deeply onto him, and she squealed again at the sensation.\n\nHis finger slipped behind her buttocks, and she raised her ass slightly as he slid it along her juicy lips. Then, finger moistened, he tickled the brown bud of her asshole. She rode him more wildly for that, driving his cock deeply into her until she could not contain her fury. Her cunt exploded with spasms of passion, her thighs clenched his, and she lowered her head to bite painfully at his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Jiro raised himself on his shoulders and heels and drove into her as she forced herself downwards." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 4 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her insides were flooded for the ninth time that night as he spurted a diminished load of sperm into her cunt. She lay on him for a while as he played with her ass and stroked her back. Then, still without a word, she rose from the loft and departed to her pallet.\n\nJiro fell into a deep sleep." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "im ur writing buddy. i set scene (might have existing chars), u do three sentences like Akahige Namban" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you sure he said we must wait here for him?\" Matsudaira Konnosuke asked the slight young girl before him. Obviously awed by the company, she bowed low to the ground while mumbling her replies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It will go hard for you if you are lying!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he warned, and she shivered as she looked at his severe face.\n\nHe was dressed in brocade silks. His topknot was black and straight as a sword slash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though Midori knew him to be a stern man, administrator of life and death for the imperial city of Miyako, still she thought she saw a hint of sensuousness in the narrow lips and classical profile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He continued looking at her speculatively. Midori, experienced in the ways of men, still could not tell about this sample of the upper classes. She had simply had no experience with such high-class persons before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked around her nervously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The middle-rank guesting house was luxuriously appointed. Monks were supposed to be abstemious, as were pilgrims, but the Shogun's government demanded a minimum of comfort for its minions, at least the important ones.\n\nThe smooth, bare wooden pillars and beams of the room were clean and well made, exuding the faint fragrance of hinoki wood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The painted fusuma panels had been decorated by an artist, and the finger holes for the sliding fusuma doors were made of lacquered copper, each cover a different play on the shape of a crane." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Precise word count needed: 'several' × 2" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Peculiarly, the lord before whom she sat was unaccompanied by any attendants except the two women for whom she had searched, and so far neither had said a word. She had been several days on the way, searching for traces of Lord Matsudaira, and had then spent several days more searching for his resting place. All that time, fear for Elder Sister Osatsuki had driven her on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was an altercation outside, followed by a low voice calling for Matsudaira's attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forgive the intrusion?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes?\" answered Matsudaira.\n\n\"A message from the ronin Miura Jiro, my lord.\" The retainer slid the fusuma door open, stepped in, knelt, and slid it closed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was a young samurai, plainly dressed in black overcoat. He bowed and handed a folded slip of paper to Matsudaira with both his hands, then turned and left.\n\nMatsudaira read the short note and smiled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Jiro is at the nearby teahouse—\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had barely finished speaking before there was a rush of movement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The slim woman Midori identified as Okiku rose quickly to her feet. She bowed (rather perfunctorily) in Matsudaira Konnosuke's direction and slipped out the door, not before flashing a brief smile at Midori. The other cowled figure stirred impatiently but did not move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Governor Matsudaira looked at Midori." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He smiled at her for the first time. \"It seemed you were telling the truth, girl. Mr. Miura says he has Osatsuki with him.\"\n\n\"Wonderful! Oh, wonderful!\" Tears of happiness coursed down Midori's cheeks, and she bowed gratefully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rosamund looked on curiously." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The yamabushi girl was attractive in a common sort of way. Her most impressive feature was a mass of soft brown hair, unusual amongst the denizens of the Japans, whose hair was usually a coarse black. Rosamund longed to touch those soft tresses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wondered if Goemon felt the same, hiding his feelings behind the stern exterior of his official persona. It was exciting to have Jiro back, and she was getting bored sitting in the guest house. She could not move around freely, since in her guise as Matsudaira Konnosuke's concubine she was restricted to her quarters or palanquin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had wanted to visit the great monastery of Mount Koya but found the entrance forbidden to women. She wished they could all resume their former guises—Goemon as an itinerant doctor, Jiro as masterless samurai, a ronin, Okiku as pilgrim—and go travelling once again. The enforced inactivity of life in the House of Women, bound about by formal rules and the restrictions of her own uniqueness in this society, had palled long since." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Team writing exercise. I start (might include existing characters), you do 11 sentences in Akahige Namban style." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Where are we going?\" asked Rosamund." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I saw you looking at some of those men,\" Okiku said irrelevantly." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Include this dialogue snippet naturally: \"They were rather pretty, weren't they?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her eyes moved as if she were searching for something in the dark.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Rosamund thoughtfully. \"They were rather pretty, weren't they?\"\n\n\"Don't you think we deserve some entertainment?\"\n\n\"If you're thinking what I think you are... How would I choose one anyway? There were so many of them!\"\n\n\"Why choose?\" laughed Okiku. \"Can't you take them all on?\" She hugged her friend, who smiled and arched her back. Her big breasts jiggled suggestively, their nipples erect.\n\n\"I imagine I could service them all, and that might just satisfy me. But still...\"\n\n\"I'll help you. I'll choose the best ones for you. Ah, I hear something. This must be the place I was looking for.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They turned in to a narrow lane, at the end of which was a large, rather dilapidated old barn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sounds of laughter and music came from between the cracks in the walls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We must find a place for you,\" Okiku added." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They wandered about for a few minutes before finding a tiny building that was used to store grass for thatching." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At Okiku's direction, Rosamund made herself comfortable on the soft, sweet-smelling pile." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She spread her outer robe, released her sash, and lay back. Okiku could see Rosamund's teeth flash and her perfect white body glimmer in the dark, barely shadowed at her crotch by her golden bush. Okiku knelt quickly and kissed the blonde between her legs. She tasted pleasantly salty, and Okiku could not forbear a quick lick.\n\n\"They must not see you, so it will be all in the dark. I'll send them out one by one and caution them against showing a light. Have fun, my dear.\"\n\n\"What about you?\" Rosamund asked softly.\n\n\"I have something I want too. Don't worry; I'll be around. If there are any problems, call out. You have your chain and dagger at hand? Good.\" Okiku was gone like a shadow.\n\nThe festivities in the barn were at full tilt. The young men who had battled so valiantly for the village's prosperity were being repaid for their efforts in wine, food, and an evening's respite from their daily labors. In one corner a group of young men were gambling, their faces flushed with drink and excitement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The largest group was sprawled on piles of rice straw in a rough circle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A man wearing the mask of an old peasant had just finished acting a comic skit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The punch line was rather obvious from the jerking of his hips, and his audience were helpless with laughter. The young man in woman's clothes was making ready to dance. His makeup had run and he was reapplying it, and his neckline was rather more open than a respectable matron's should be. Other young men lay about the barn, telling stories, drinking, or talking quietly. Some had passed out. In one corner a drinking contest was in progress.\n\nNo one paid much attention to Okiku's entrance. One or two of the revellers called out to her, offering a drink, recognizing a visitor to their festival. She was still dressed in her page's outfit, the heavy reddish male makeup obscuring her features just as the loose sark and pantaloons obscured her figure.\n\nEncouraged by cries of \"Kichibei! Kichibei!\" the young man in woman's clothing began to dance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For a man he danced a woman's role quite well, and his audience displayed its appreciation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gradually the tempo of the dance changed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It became more languid, then faster and faster as the dancer, helping himself with his fan, displayed the stages of a woman's passion." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Word usage target: 'okiku' must be used 3 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The music changed and the dance became a burlesque, with the fan portraying a reluctant lover and Kichibei an amorous old courtesan. The audience rolled on the ground with laughter, tears streaming down their cheeks.\n\nA heavyset, well-muscled man sat near Okiku. He had been drinking rather less than most, and his eyes, full of laughter, were on the dancer. His loincloth bulged pleasingly. Okiku leaned over to him and whispered, \"Excuse, me, but you must earn some merit. The nun Sister Bara has ordered me to call you to her. She awaits in the small hut where the grass is stored. Please be punctual and, of course, discreet.\"\n\nThe young man looked at Okiku in puzzlement. She met his gaze squarely, and he lowered his eyes. She noted he had fine cheekbones, notwithstanding the coarseness of his life. He rose and left the barn. The sky was bright with the light of the moon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He oriented himself and stretched. Loosening his loincloth, he pissed against a convenient tree, then shook himself dry. He approached the small hut cautiously. There was someone in there. He sweated somewhat nervously. Ghosts were about in the night.\n\n\"Do not fear. Come here—there is a gift you can give me.\" The voice was definitely female, if oddly accented. He crawled inside. In the dark he could barely make out the outstretched thighs of a young woman. His courage rose in him. Drink was fine, but this was better." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He slid a hand up each long and tapering thigh. The legs were smooth and perfectly shaped, not the muscular, stocky thighs of the village girls into whose matting he had crept several times before. His face was near the soft bush at the juncture of her thighs, and he sniffed appreciatively.\n\nRosamund shivered in delight as the dark bulk of the man knelt between her legs. She raised her knees slightly to allow him his moment of quiet contemplation; then suddenly his weight was upon her. She sighed in satisfaction as his thick cock found the gluey entrance and drove up her channel. He was rough and uncaring, and she was grateful. His hard hands, callused from net and oar, squeezed her full breasts. He drove himself into her rapidly, while his mouth was busy about her neck and shoulders. She felt the pleasure of his hands on her full breasts and the weight of him on her frame. \"Harder!\" she whispered, and his movements became frantic and his hands tore at her full mounds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This... is... so... good!\" he gasped. \"I have never felt such full tits.\" He bit a nipple in emphasis, and she moved delightedly under him.\n\n\"Yes, yes, bite them, squeeze them! Don't stop!\" she pleaded.\n\nSensing her mood, he left all restraint behind. His cock bore into her, the bones of his pubic mashing her beneath him. He bit at her full breasts and followed each bite with a twist of the nipple. She ran her hands the length of his back and buttocks, marvelling at the frantic bulging of his muscles. One finger teased his anus, and his buttocks tightened, driving his prick yet deeper into her. She scratched hard at the soft portion of his inner thighs, and he jerked in agony. The first faint drops of emission emerged from the tip of his prick, and then his sperm burst from him in full thick sprays that soaked her interior." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Required word frequency: 'walked' (2x)" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Spent, he lay on her soft belly, his body still undulating slowly as the last of his sperm dribbled from his softening cock. Suddenly she stiffened under him, her teeth bit into his salty-tasting shoulder, and she moaned. Knowing she was coming, he squeezed her breasts as hard as he could and was rewarded with the flash of a smile and a mad dancing of her pelvis. Her spasms died down, and she stroked his back.\n\n\"You must go now,\" she said softly. \"Return later if you will, but many more must earn merit this evening.\"\n\nHe climbed off her and while still between her legs, bowed deeply. The night air was cool on his sweaty skin as he walked back to the barn. The party was still going on at full blast when he walked in the door and helped himself to some sake. The young samurai servant caught his eye, nodded, then leaned over and spoke to another youth...\n\nOkiku finally decided it was her turn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Young men were leaving quietly on schedule for rendezvous in the grass shed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kichibei ended his dance to the delight of his audience and scampered off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She spoke to three young men who had just finished a long and serious talk, and watched them troop off into the dark doubtfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They would occupy Rosamund for some time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then Okiku slipped off into the night after Kichibei, who had no doubt gone off to change." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was standing by a well, about to draw water for himself, when Okiku approached." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let me do that for you,\" she said in a soft voice.\n\nHe stared at her warily. There was something about this young samurai lad that stirred his blood. He had no objection to the sort of relationship he thought was being proposed to him, but there was something decidedly odd here. Okiku ran her hands down Kichibei's chest. It was muscular but not too bulky. She leaned forward and bit a pectoral.\n\n\"I am sweaty and stink,\" he objected.\n\n\"You smell just fine to me,\" the figure before him countered coolly. \"I like sweaty bodies, my dear.\"\n\nSuddenly Kichibei felt he knew what was expected of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned his shoulders coyly and glanced down. The samurai lad laid a hand gently on his shoulder and tilted his shy chin, then kissed him deeply on his painted mouth. They shuddered together, and the samurai youth's arms went around Kichibei's hips.\n\n\"I am ashamed,\" he whispered.\n\n\"Nothing to be ashamed of,\" countered the youth, leading Kichibei to a nearby patch of grass. They knelt together, and Okiku's firm hands slowly explored Kichibei's body. She stroked his chest and his sides then loosened his sash while he sat passively on his knees, hands fluttering on the silk sleeves.\n\n\"You look so fierce with your short sword,\" Kichibei murmured as the hard pommel dug into his hips.\n\nThe samurai youth laughed and loosened the scabbard, laying it and the sash aside. A hand descended lower and touched Kichibei's sturdy erection. \"Mine is hardly as magnificent as yours,\" Okiku laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, no!\" protested Kichibei, still enjoying his role as a woman." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reached forward and the samurai youth's hand guided him between the folds of loosened breachcloth. He felt the crisp hairs at the bottom of the muscular, yet soft belly. But then his fingers slipped surprisedly into a warm, slick channel and were guided downwards between the plump female lips. He strained to push on but was restrained by Okiku. She wanted to enjoy the perverse situation to the full, and she continued to act the role of the man. Her demanding hands explored Kichibei's body while holding his hand prisoner between her legs, where she forced his blunt fingers to masturbate her to the full. At last the game reached a plateau. She seized his erect rod and drew it forth from his robe.\n\n\"Why, you're a man!\" she said in mock surprise. He strove to move forward, but she restrained him again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She turned away from him, her hand still firmly grasping his erect member." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her pantaloons fell by her knees as she knelt on all fours before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He rose and lunged, guided by her hand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His turgid cock lodged in the thicket that guarded her juicy cranny. She held him there for a moment, supporting herself on her elbows and rubbing the plum tip against her soft lips. Frantic with desire, he pulled her to him, his body humping like a dog's.\n\nAt last, satisfied that he had been raised to a fever pitch, Okiku let him have his way. With a grunt, Kichibei sank deep into her juicy interior. He was about to set to work at once, when she restrained him. She smiled at him over her shoulder, holding him in with her muscles and a restraining hand that commandingly held on to his hairy sack of balls. He felt himself expand in the tight, wet warmth. She let him go, and he began to drive into her with an increasing tempo. His hands clutched at her hips, and then when she directed them, he squeezed her small breasts and their prominent nipples. She moved back against him forcefully, her smooth, tight buttocks smacking against his hard belly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt his come rise from the depths of his balls, and he cried out in agony when she squeezed the base of his prick.\n\nWithout mercy she pulled at the base of his cock, exposing the cream-lathered length to the cold air. Spasms of pleasure racked her as he withdrew and as she slammed herself backwards onto its waiting length. She came furiously, her insides dripping the honey of her come as he watched helplessly in her grip. Her smooth, tight buttocks trembled before his eyes, and he could feel the walls of her cunt shake as she took her pleasure.\n\nAgain she exposed his cock to the night air. She smiled over her shoulder and shifted her grip to the plum tip. She raised the aim of his fleshy cannon and moistened the entrance to her ass slightly with the juicy knob. She placed it properly and inched backwards until the rod was firmly seated in the tiny bud opening of her anus. He felt the muscular ring grip him comfortingly, stronger and more demanding than the entrance he had been in before.\n\n\"Now!\" she commanded, loosening her grip and positioning her hands firmly on the ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He needed no encouragement. His cock rammed home into her tight nether orifice. Her ring muscles fought him all the way, constricting his entry and milking the length of his shaft. His hairs rubbed roughly into the softness of her buttocks, and his full weight bore down on her. She let out a breath at the fury of his assault. He rested there for a short moment until a twist of her buttocks reminded him there was much to be done. He tried to withdraw, only to find that her muscles had purposely constricted around his length. The withdrawal was slow, milking the length of his cock in a way he had never experienced before. He rammed forward again furiously, and again, each time having to fight his way out, his irritated cock sending messages of exquisite pleasure to his brain. They were both panting now, his hand clutched convulsively at her sides. He pushed in again and this time found relief from the strain." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the root of his manpole he felt the rush of liquids streaming forth. He pumped masses of sperm into this woman's backside, while she twitched and jerked beneath him, eyes closed in pleasure as her own climax mingled with his. Finally they collapsed in a pile on the grass.\n\n\"Hey, Kichibei, nice performance, but he should have been on top, not you!\" A passing drunk regarded them owlishly, then ambled on into the dark.\n\n\"I've ruined your reputation.\" Okiku smiled at him, still panting.\n\n\"It was worth it. Please do not worry.\"\n\n\"It certainly was, and I won't,\" she replied coolly as she gathered her clothes. \"It was a good festival.\"\n\nRosamund was waiting for her in the booth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her robe and the grass beneath her were sodden." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 12 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They walked off into the moonlight, holding hands and laughing together.\n\n\"Did you have a good time?\" asked Rosamund anxiously.\n\n\"Of course. Did you think I wouldn't enjoy myself? He was all I could expect.\"\n\n\"He? Only one?\"\n\n\"I don't have the same appetites as you. It was nice and kinky.\"\n\n\"Mine were too,\" laughed the blonde girl. \"There was this one with enormous hairy balls and a rather small prick...\"\n\nThey waded into the sea to wash. \"Do you think...?\" they both started saying at the same time, then laughed.\n\n\"Yes,\" Okiku continued the thought for both of them. \"I'm sure Satsuki took good care of our men.\"\n\nThey walked sleepily onto the boat." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode: Collab writing\nContext: May reference existing characters/world\nAmount: 8 sentences\nVoice: Akahige Namban" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Okiku crouched on a branch, motionless. The stalking yamabushi crept closer. Midori's keening teased him on, When the man was directly below her, parting the bushes that hid the brown-haired girl, Okiku slipped from her perch silently as an owl. The yamabushi died with a snapping crack of the bone in his neck. Okiku stepped off the warm, twitching body, then immediately leaped high, tumbling in the air as she rose. A second mountain ascetic slashed down at the spot on which she had been standing. Her feet hit the ground, and she flexed her knees and leaped again. The yamabushi leaped high too, and they met in midair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her hands moved swiftly and a bright length of steel whispered through the air as it was withdrawn from concealment in her pilgrim's staff. The yamabushi shrieked and fell in a heap. Midori ran to Okiku's side. Her sash was off her waist in a flash as she tried to stanch the bright stream of blood that gushed from Okiku's arm and side.\n\n\"Are you all right? Mistress Okiku, are you well?\"\n\nOkiku grunted. The cuts were superficial, but her arm and side would soon stiffen. Another yamabushi ran into view and headed for the two women. Midori hastily interposed herself between Okiku and the attacker." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hands extended into claws, she tried to block his approach, screaming incoherently." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 4 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The yamabushi batted her aside, concentrating on Okiku's blade. Midori swung her head, and her fine brown hair blinded him for a critical instant. The man hesitated. There was a double whir through the air. The yamabushi screamed. His eye sprouted a metal star, and his throat gushed scarlet." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Mode:\nCo-writing\nContext: Story continues from larger narrative, characters/lore may lack introduction\nLength:\n9 sentences\nStyle:\nAkahige Namban" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Goemon slipped patiently from shadow to shadow, one tree to another. He wanted to entice the yamabushi chieftain into the forest. It would be better to dispose of him quietly, if at all possible. A group of the mountain men patiently tracked him, and suddenly Goemon found that all his wiles were in vain. Daisangyoja stood before him, a mocking smile on his face. Between them stood five fierce-looking yamabushi. Goemon stood quietly in the clearing, his mind cool and alert. He smiled at the five men as they surrounded him. His calm enraged them, and they made trembling attacks in his direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took the fan out of his sash and fanned himself patiently." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the yamabushi lunged, and Goemon easily avoided the attack. A second cut at his head, and he parried neatly with the fan. The steel ribs clanged on the sword metal. Goemon threw a handful of powdered pepper into the attacker's eyes, then slid beyond him and hammered the edge of the fan into another attacker's wrist. The man's weapon fell from his grasp. Goemon seized his lapel, twisted, and threw the struggling yamabushi easily onto two of his companions.\n\nGoemon kicked high and his foot connected with a yamabushi chin; then he spun, grabbed a sword hand, and twisted. The yamabushi fell to his knees with a broken wrist. Goemon attacked again, opening the fan one-handed and cutting at a rough face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sharpened steel edge of a rib sliced through a black pillbox hat and tore at a scalp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The yamabushi, blinded by his own blood, did not have time to react as his own sword was twisted from his grasp and plunged into his belly. The attackers, those still able to move, were in a panic. They turned to flee, and all but one fell victim to their cowardice. Using the borrowed sword, Goemon cut them down as they fled. He turned to deal with their leader, and threw the sword with disgust at Daisangyoja's retreating back.\n\nIn the shrine complex below, the tabard bearers advanced, their devices held high. Conchs, flutes, and drums heralded their approach, and the torches were raised to oppose them.\n\nGoemon heard a crying sound, and ran rapidly through the forest seeking the woman's voice. He charged into a clearing in time to see a wild-looking yamabushi aim a cut at Okiku, who was leaning painfully to one side." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your response should contain the word 'goemon' precisely 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Goemon's fan spun through the air just as the yamabushi raised his sword and attacked. A steel star sprouted from the mountain man's eye. The fan's jagged edge sliced through the exposed great artery in his neck. Goemon passed him at a run and retrieved the steel-ribbed fan. Okiku smiled at him through the pain and pulled the steel throwing star from the yamabushi's gory eye, and the three of them set off to find more enemies.\n\nThey all met again in a clearing in the forest. Goemon looked at his friends, then ruefully at the pile of bodies in the clearing. None of the three bodies bore any wounds, but their necks all rested at curious angles. A heavy man was sitting on a rock." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had a minor cut and was being tended by two young women, twins, who were dressed as itinerant actors." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Goemon's face twisted in momentary disapproval. Actors should not involve themselves in important affairs. Then his natural good humor reasserted itself, and he considered his own actions ruefully. Jiro stood near the wrestler, eyes raking the forest. Only Okiku and the wrestler were wounded. Considering that the wrestler was completely unarmed, Goemon thought his survival a miracle. The riffraff that made up a mountain beggars' band was hardly a threat to him, Jiro, or Okiku, all of whom were armed. Rosamund had found Satsuki and the two of them had hidden the best they could, coming out when Jiro's powerful bellow had announced the yamabushi's defeat. They counted seven bodies and several trails of blood." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Use the word 'those' 2 time(s) - this is a strict requirement" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Daisangyoja's body was not among those found.\n\n\"They'll attack again,\" Jiro said stolidly, wiping his long blade. He sheathed it in one smooth motion, his eyes never leaving the wrestler's.\n\n\"Good,\" the wrestler grunted. \"I do not care for those people.\"\n\n\"No, I am sorry.\" Midori moved her open hand in negation. Her voice was soft but firm. \"They will not return.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How do you know, dear?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Satsuki's mild rejoinder seemed to give the yamabushi girl confidence.\n\n\"I know the bands. Daisangyoja has failed them too many times. They will not obey him now. His dreams have come to naught. We have nothing to fear from him. He will be replaced by one of his seconds.\"\n\n\"I saw Hachibei's body on our way here,\" Satsuki said in a low voice. \"And... I am afraid I killed Tsuneyoshi myself...\" She looked somewhat abased, her eyes held low.\n\n\"Nonetheless,\" said Goemon, \"we will be very careful. They will probably search for us at the festival. We had best reach the village before nightfall. It is small, and there will be no crowd to serve as a blind for them to stalk us. I would rather meet them in the open.\"\n\nAt the far-off shrine the lit torches met the advancing tabards and opposed their entrance to the precincts. The excited crowd watched as the tabards advanced again and again, only to be repelled by the blazing wooden barrels. The bearers' faces ran with sweat. The crowd drank and called out excitedly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the darkening forest several dead men lay quiet, uncaring." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ferns caressed their faces.\n\nEvening fell as the party from Miyako tolled up the path. Across the valley they could see the last glow of the torches from the festival. Above them the stars shone through the growing night. Somewhere below them in the dark they could hear the endless sheet of the roaring waterfall. They sought the headman amidst the quiet cluster of thatch houses.\n\nThe formalities were soon concluded. Food was brought, and they were apologetically shown to the only free room the grateful headman could offer them, the main room of his house. The meal was a simple one, rice, grilled ayu whose flesh was sweet and redolent of pure mountain streams, fresh mountain vegetables, and delicate-flavored pine mushrooms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Exhausted, not even blowing out the lamps, they crawled into their bedding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not even Tatsunoyama's mountainous snores could keep anyone awake.\n\nMidori awoke to a delicate touch on her thighs. She opened her eyes and looked up into a cloud of golden hair. Rosamund smiled down at her, then leaned forward and kissed her passionately. The blonde's inquisitive tongue searched Midori's mouth expertly, and Midori surrendered to the feeling.\n\n\"I've been wanting to have you alone for some time now,\" whispered Rosamund. Midori hugged her to her breast. Her nipples, she noticed without surprise, were rock hard, almost painful with her desire. Rosamund's mouth moved downwards silently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She engulfed a nipple, then sucked the entire small breast into her mouth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Midori sighed a ghost of a sound. Her hands lightly touched the fall of golden hair against her chest.\n\n\"I've been wanting to do this for soooo long...\"\n\nShe tugged at the hair gently. It was softer than hers, and unlike any other she knew, it fell in ringlets that resisted straightening.\n\n\"Harder!\" said Rosamund.\n\nSurprised but obedient, the former yamabushi girl complied, forcing the blonde's mouth to dig deeply into her breast. She was rewarded with a flickering tongue that laved the painful nipple. Rosamund's mouth shifted to the other side, and her fingers sought the soft, downy hair of Midori's pussy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Midori obligingly spread her legs. Her hips rose without conscious command to meet the probing digit. Rosamund cupped the soft, downy mound with her hand. She squeezed the slimmer girl's lips between the three middle fingers, rubbing the slick clitoris fiercely. Midori grinned and showed her teeth, and her hand squeezed Rosamund's full breast harder than she intended. She was about to apologize, when Rosamund kissed her deeply, then muttered, \"Again!\" The brown-haired girl squeezed harder and was rewarded with another soul-searching kiss. The blonde's expert tongue licked out and laved the inside of her mouth, then nibbled the length of her neck, descended to her shoulders, and then sucked hungrily at her erect brown nipples. For a moment Rosamund raised her head and peered through the dark at Midori's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hard! I like it hard!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she said. There was a note of pleading in her voice. Midori obligingly squeezed the beautiful full breast before her. The erect pink nipple burned against her palm, and her strong trained fingers sank deeply into the soft flesh. She was rewarded by a muted groan and another deep kiss from the blonde. Intrigued and somewhat mystified, Midori experimented. She took one perfect soft nipple and pinched it roughly. Far from having it pulled back out of her grasp, she found Rosamund's body covering her and the blonde's mouth laving her with kisses.\n\n\"You like being hurt while fucking?\" she asked in a whisper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rosamund giggled softly. \"Goemon, Jiro, and Okiku all raped me when we first met. I've loved it ever since. Hurt me—please hurt me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For a moment Midori was shocked to the bottom of her soul. Lovemaking was for fun and enjoyment. She had seen the result of rape, and no one she knew who had undergone the experience enjoyed violence. That was a thing for men, and not of the best sort. Then she suddenly recalled whom she was speaking to. Of course, Mistress Rosamund was a foreign devil... Their customs must be so different, and one could not expect their reactions to be completely human. No girl would enjoy that sort of thing, but among the kebozu, the hairy devils, it must be the norm.\n\nMeantime the friction of the blonde's fingers on her cunt was getting to her, and she felt obliged to return the pleasure she was receiving. She stiffened a finger and drove it into Rosamund's shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had been taught finger massage by one of her former band, and the pressure points could be used for ill as well as good.\n\nRosamund yelped and ground her hand into the chestnut-haired girl's cunt. Her body wriggled with abandon on the slimmer body below it. Her full breasts were mashed against Midori's smaller ones, and both women joined their mouths in a passionate kiss.\n\n\"You must be quiet or the others will wake up,\" Midori whispered.\n\n\"No, they're too tired. In any case, they'll just join the fun...\"\n\nSuddenly it occurred to Rosamund that she would rather have Midori to herself for a while, and she whispered half-reluctantly, \"Actually, maybe you should gag me somehow. I usually yell a lot...\"\n\nMidori, still somewhat unsure of herself, removed the silk scarf that Rosamund used to tie her sleeping robe. She gagged the blonde, not too tightly, then looked into Rosamund's eyes to be sure she was doing the right thing." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The blue eyes, almost invisible in the gloom, looked at her with a hint of mischief and expectation. Midori spread the blonde beneath her and set to work with her fingers and tongue. The strong, practiced digits dug into the blonde's soft breasts, eliciting muted squeals. Midori kissed each painful point carefully, before moving on to the next, descending gradually.\n\nRosamund found herself enjoying one of the most pleasurable fucks she had had. At first Midori was gentle with her, careful not to hurt her too much. But gradually as she got into the spirit of things, the light blows turned harder, the pain from the probing fingers more lingering. Midori's mouth sucked on her skin, bringing pleasure with the pain, and Rosamund started shivering uncontrollably. Her hands, which had been guiding Midori's head to the places of her greatest pleasure exploring the slim girl's smooth body, now flailed aimlessly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Midori paused a moment, and a bold idea occurred to her. She slipped off the blonde, flipped her over, and rapidly tied Rosamund's hands together behind her back. Rosamund did not object, merely waiting for what was to come.\n\nThe sight of Rosamund's magnificent ass beckoned to Midori. The smooth, pale hills rose in a perfect curve, bisected by a long, sweet line that separated the two halves like a peach. She kissed each bun separately, then dug her fingers viciously into them. There was another muted squeal, and she set to work in earnest, her teeth nipping the smooth skin, her fingers digging into the soft flesh. Rosamund's trembling increased, and she agitated her ass in circles, unsuccessfully trying to evade the painful touch.\n\nMidori separated the two halves, exposing the length of the crease, the tiny bud of the asshole, and the beginning of the blonde forest below." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She bent close and wondered whether any man had penetrated that little hole." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her fingers explored for her, and Rosamund's ass jerked up to greet her. She dug her fingers in in earnest, then shifted some of her attention to Rosamund's cunt. As soon as she touched the slick lips, she was rewarded by a flood of moisture that overran her fingertips. She forced the beautiful legs apart and her tongue licked out to collect some of the honey. Rosamund trembled violently, and her hips bucked, throwing Midori's head backwards.\n\nShe turned Rosamund roughly over and crouched over her body. She was surprised at the size of the blonde's clitoris, which stuck out like a tiny fleshy claw. She sucked at it, at the same time forcing her cunt down onto the blonde's mouth. Her tongue licked the length of Rosamund's cunt; then she settled down to sucking hungrily at the large clitoris, her fingers digging into the muscles of Rosamund's thighs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The combination of the demanding mouth and knowledgeable fingers was too much for Rosamund to bear." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 7 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Over her nose she could smell the musky perfume of Midori's cunt. She wriggled her wrists, and the sash on her wrists fell away. She ripped the gag from her mouth and reached for the slim girl's ass. Her mouth and nose were covered by the fragrant forest of Midori's soft hairs, and she began licking and sucking hungrily.\n\nBoth women were exhausted before long, their faces covered with one another's juices, their insides rippling with the number of times they had come. They stopped with mutual consent, and Midori rolled off Rosamund, touching her sleepily. Both smiled in the darkness as they composed themselves for sleep." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "user starts, u write ~9 sentences more. copy Laura Joh Rowland's style. heads up: might have existing chars/lore" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano went outside, summoned the troops he'd banished from the ageya, and told them they could take Lord Mitsuyoshi's remains to the castle. He would have liked to send them to his friend and adviser, Dr. Ito, at Edo Morgue, but couldn't subject the body of an important person to such a desecrating, illegal procedure as a scientific examination. When Sano went back inside the ageya, Hirata met him in the corridor.\n\n\"We've interviewed everyone in the house,\" Hirata said in a low voice that wouldn't be overheard by Police Commissioner Hoshina, who loitered nearby. \"The clients and courtesans say they were together in the bedchambers last night. There was a party here, and the servants say they and the proprietor and the kamuro were busy waiting on the guests the whole time.\n\n\"Nobody noticed anything unusual, until the commotion when the body was discovered. I'm inclined to believe they're telling the truth. They knew Lord Mitsuyoshi was in the house, but they weren't personally acquainted with him. I didn't find any reason why they would kill him.\"\n\n\"What about his retainers?\" Sano asked.\n\n\"They were at the party, according to them and the other guests. If they know anything about the murder, they're not talking.\"\n\n\"We'll interrogate them again later,\" Sano decided." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hoshina gave Sano and Hirata a faint smirk that said they needn't bother trying to hide anything from him because he could find it out on his own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he slipped away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It would have taken only a moment for someone at the party to go up and stab Lord Mitsuyoshi, especially if he was unconscious.\" Sano described the murder scene. \"We'll have to investigate all the guests.\"\n\nFortunately, Yoshiwara was a small, gossipy community, and any hostilities involving Lord Mitsuyoshi shouldn't be hard to discover. But the party complicated Sano's work by increasing the number of potential witnesses and suspects.\n\n\"I sent the detectives to ask people in neighboring houses if they observed anything that might help us,\" Hirata said.\n\n\"Good.\" Sano told Hirata that Lord Mitsuyoshi had spent the evening with Lady Wisteria, who'd disappeared along with the pillow book. As Sano described the book, he realized he should tell Hirata about his past relationship with Wisteria, but now was not the time; he didn't want Hoshina or the other policemen to overhear. \"Please go out and see if you can find any leads on Wisteria or the book.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, Ssakan-sama. By the way, when I interviewed the servants, they said Wisteria's yarite found the body. She'd gone back to the Great Miura—the brothel where she lives—so I brought her here because I knew you'd want to speak with her.\"\n\n\"Well done,\" Sano said, grateful to have such a capable, trustworthy retainer as Hirata. \"Where is she?\"\n\nSomewhere in the house, a female voice burst into a strident harangue. Hirata rolled his eyes toward the sound. \"Momoko made sure to tell me that she was once a great tayu, but I can't imagine that her manner ever would have pleased many men,\" he said, then took his leave.\n\nSano followed the voice to the rear of the ageya, where a door stood open to a guest room. Inside were two women. The younger was in her teens, and Sano recognized her as one of the courtesans he'd seen in the parlor. She knelt on the floor before the older woman, who wore a brown kimono with the black girdle and cap of a chaperone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The latter, Sano deduced, was Momoko." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She thrust a silk quilt at the courtesan's frightened, babyish face.\n\n\"You should be careful when you drink wine in bed!\" she exclaimed, shaking the quilt, which exhibited a large purple stain. Her voice had a brassy edge, as if she often shouted. Her hair, knotted above her long, thin neck, was dyed a dull, unnatural black. \"This will never come clean. You've completely ruined an expensive quilt, you little fool!\"\n\nThe courtesan cringed and mumbled.\n\n\"Don't blame your client,\" Momoko said. Her profile was elegant, but vicious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And how dare you talk back to me?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Word usage requirement: 'quilt' must appear 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She smacked the courtesan hard across the face. The courtesan shrieked in pain. Momoko hurled the quilt at her. \"The price of this quilt will come out of the fee you earned last night. Forget about buying your freedom, because at this rate, you'll never leave Yoshiwara until you're so old and ugly they throw you out. Now go home!\"\n\nThe courtesan sobbed as she scurried out the door past Sano. The yarite turned and saw him; the anger in her expression gave way to surprise, then dismay. \"Oh! Are you the shogun's ssakan-sama?\" The words came in a gasp, and when Sano nodded, she quickly bowed. \"I'm honored by your presence. Your retainer said you wanted to see me. How may I serve you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sano noted that she must have once been beautiful, but the passage of perhaps forty years had sharpened the bones in her cheeks and narrow figure." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her coy smile showed decaying teeth and failed to hide her fear of Sano. Obviously, Momoko knew why he wanted to see her, and how precarious was her situation.\n\n\"I'm investigating the murder of Lord Mitsuyoshi,\" Sano said, \"and I must ask you some questions.\"\n\n\"Certainly. I'll do my best to help you.\" Momoko minced closer to Sano, her posture sinuously provocative, her smile rigid as a shield. \"Shall we go to the parlor? May I give you a drink?\"\n\nPerhaps her garrulity was merely an outlet for her nervousness, Sano thought, as might be her attack on the courtesan. Or was the yarite a cruel killer, chattering to hide her guilt? Reserving judgment, he accompanied Momoko to the parlor, where she seated him in the place of honor in front of the alcove." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She bustled around, fetching the sake jar, warming it on the charcoal brazier, and pouring a cup for Sano." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What a shame, the death of Lord Mitsuyoshi,\" she said. \"He was so young, so charming. And how terrible, the way it happened!\" Momoko talked faster and faster, alternately smiling and biting her lips, while darting frantic, coquettish glances at Sano.\n\n\"Let's go over what you did yesterday evening,\" he said.\n\n\"What I did?\" Momoko froze, and panic leapt in her eyes, as if Sano had accused her of the murder.\n\n\"I'm trying to determine everyone's movements and learn about the events leading up to the crime.\" Sano wondered if her reaction indicated guilt, or the fear that he would think her guilty although she wasn't.\n\n\"Oh.\" Relief slackened the yarite's face, but it immediately tensed again.\n\n\"Did you chaperone Lady Wisteria to the ageya?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sano asked. When Momoko nodded, he said, \"Tell me about it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The yarite knelt before Sano, twisting her hands in her lap." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Shortly after the evening meal, the proprietor of the Great Miura told me that Lord Mitsuyoshi wanted an appointment with Lady Wisteria.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every transaction in Yoshiwara was performed according to strict protocol. Sano knew that Mitsuyoshi would have gone to the ageya to ask for Wisteria's company, and the staff would have written a letter to the brothel, formally requesting the appointment.\n\n\"I helped Lady Wisteria dress,\" Momoko said, \"and then she made her procession to the Owariya. We got there about an hour later.\"\n\nA tayu's procession to meet a client at an ageya was an elaborate affair that involved some ten or twenty attendants. It moved very slowly, so even though the brothel and the Owariya were but a few blocks apart, the journey would have been long. Sano had a sudden vivid image of Wisteria dressed in brilliant kimono, walking past admiring spectators, kicking each foot in a semicircular, ritualistic pattern as she stepped. She must be in her mid-twenties now, but still small and slender and graceful, with unusually round eyes that gave her delicate face an exotic charm...\n\n\"What happened then?\" Sano asked.\n\n\"I took Lady Wisteria to the parlor, where Lord Mitsuyoshi was waiting,\" Momoko said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I served them their sake.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The greeting ritual between tayu and client resembled a wedding ceremony, in which the couple drank from the same cup to seal their bond. Sano pictured Wisteria seated at a diagonal from Mitsuyoshi, neither speaking to him nor showing emotion, as tradition required. She sipped her draught, while Mitsuyoshi gazed upon her with anticipation...\n\nSano refocused his attention on the yarite. Her hands maintained their grip on each other, and the nervous movement of her eyes quickened. \"It was their third meeting, so I took them upstairs,\" she said.\n\nNo tayu made love to a new client on his first visit, nor his second. Wisteria would have rejected Mitsuyoshi twice previously, as custom dictated. Sano envisioned Momoko, Lady Wisteria, and Lord Mitsuyoshi climbing the stairs to the bedchamber, where Mitsuyoshi would finally claim his prize." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He imagined their expressions: Mitsuyoshi's eager, Momoko's sly, and Wisteria's carefully blank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Had any of them known how the tryst would end?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I showed them into the room,\" Momoko said, \"and Wisteria dismissed me. Lord Mitsuyoshi closed the door.\"\n\n\"Was there anyone else present then besides Wisteria, Lord Mitsuyoshi, and you?\" Sano asked.\n\n\"No. I brought them up by myself. It's the custom.\"\n\nAnd Yoshiwara custom was inviolable.\n\n\"Then I went downstairs. I had to watch over the courtesans who were entertaining the guests at the party. What a hard time I have with those wretched girls!\"\n\nMomoko's speech accelerated into chatter again, betraying her wish to avoid discussing what had later happened. But this was what most concerned Sano. He said, \"Did you see Lady Wisteria again after you left the room?\"\n\n\"No; that was the last I ever saw of her.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The yarite interlocked her fingers so tightly they turned white." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you any idea where she went?\"\n\n\"No. She certainly wouldn't have told me, because she wasn't supposed to leave.\"\n\n\"Whom might she have told?\" Sano said.\n\nMomoko pondered, biting her lips. \"Wisteria isn't close to the other courtesans. She keeps to herself.\" An aggrieved expression came over Momoko's features. \"She never even speaks to me unless she has to, because she hates me. These girls today have no respect for their elders. I work hard training them, and how do they repay me? By treating me as if I were a mean old slave driver!\" The brassy tone returned to her voice. \"Well, of course I have to punish them for disobedience. And they suffer no worse than I did in my day.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The cruelty experienced by Yoshiwara courtesans at the hands of their chaperones was legendary, and the incident Sano had witnessed today was minor compared to the routine beatings and humiliation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Probably, former courtesans like Momoko enjoyed inflicting the same wrongs done to them upon the next generation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And Sano suspected that enmity lay on both sides of the relationship between courtesan and yarite—especially when one was beautiful and sought after, while the other had lost her glory." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you hate Wisteria as much as she hates you?\" he asked Momoko.\n\n\"Of course not. I love all the girls as if they were my daughters.\" But the yarite's indignation rang false. She said sharply, \"Something bad has happened to Wisteria, and you think I did it?\"\n\nSano observed how quickly Momoko had responded to the implication that Wisteria had been hurt or killed, then perceived an accusation. \"Did you?\" he asked.\n\n\"No! I don't know where she is, or what's happened to her. I swear I never saw her after I left the room!\"\n\n\"Let's talk about Lord Mitsuyoshi. How did you feel about him?\"\n\n\"Feel about him?\" The yarite's face reflected puzzlement, although whether feigned or genuine, Sano couldn't tell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why, I hardly knew the man. I only saw him at parties, and when I brought courtesans to him for appointments.\"\n\n\"Did you see him again that night?\"\n\n\"No—that is, not until I found him—\" Momoko averted her gaze from Sano and murmured, \"Dead.\"\n\n\"How did you happen to discover his body?\" Sano said.\n\n\"Well, I went upstairs, and I noticed that the door to his room was open. I glanced inside, and I saw him lying there.\"\n\n\"Why did you go upstairs?\"\n\n\"I needed to check on another courtesan who was entertaining a client. These girls behave better when they know someone is listening. And I wanted a moment alone. The party was noisy, and I had a headache, and it was quieter on the second floor.\"\n\nThat she'd offered multiple reasons when one would suffice warned Sano to doubt them all; yet Momoko was so agitated that he couldn't tell if she was lying, or just nervous. And anyone would be nervous while facing the threat of execution." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Your hairpin was the murder weapon,\" Sano said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you explain that?\"\n\n\"My hairpin? It was?\" Momoko gave a shrill titter of confusion and surprise, but Sano guessed she'd recognized the hairpin when she'd discovered Mitsuyoshi's body. \"Oh, well, I lost that hairpin ages ago—I don't remember when. I have no idea how it got there.\"\n\nA scornful male voice from the doorway halted her stammering: \"I suggest that you stabbed it through Lord Mitsuyoshi's eye.\"\n\nSano looked up to see Police Commissioner Hoshina stride into the room, followed by Yoriki Yamaga and Yoriki Hayashi. They must have been listening all along. Now Hoshina loomed over the yarite, who recoiled in terror.\n\n\"You went upstairs last night,\" he continued, \"and when you saw that Lord Mitsuyoshi was alone and asleep, you killed him. Then you ran downstairs and pretended you'd found him already dead.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No! That's not what happened!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though clearly aghast, Momoko smiled and batted her eyes at Hoshina, employing flirtation in self-defense. \"I didn't kill him!\"\n\nAnger rose in Sano, because he needed information from Momoko, not frantic denials produced by intimidation. He said evenly, \"Hoshina-san, I am conducting this interview. Stop interfering, or leave.\"\n\nHoshina didn't bother to reply. \"Arrest her,\" he told Yamaga and Hayashi.\n\nThe policemen advanced on the yarite, and she scuttled backward, crying, \"No! I'm innocent.\" She simpered in a desperate attempt to ingratiate herself with them. \"I've done nothing wrong!\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Word restriction: Use 'hoshina' 2 time(s) only" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano stood between Momoko and the men. \"The evidence against her isn't proof that she murdered Lord Mitsuyoshi,\" he said, glaring at Hoshina.\n\n\"It's enough for a conviction,\" Hoshina said.\n\nThis was an accurate statement: In the Tokugawa legal system, virtually all trials ended in guilty verdicts, sometimes based on less evidence than that against Momoko. Sano had to forestall persecution of someone who might be innocent. \"She has no apparent motive for killing Lord Mitsuyoshi. You'll not arrest her, at least until I've finished questioning her.\"\n\nA sneer twisted Hoshina's mouth. \"I'll finish questioning her at Edo Jail.\"\n\nAt Edo Jail, prisoners were tortured into talking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forced confessions aren't always true,\" Sano said, enraged by Hoshina's attitude." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your task: Include \"If you wish to drag your feet, don't expect me to follow your bad example. Besides, if this woman is guilty, I'm doing you a favor by applying pressure to her.\" somewhere in your response" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hoshina was well aware of the realities of Tokugawa law, but so eager to show Sano up and impress their superiors that he would risk mistakes. \"And the investigation has barely begun. There may be more to this crime than is apparent, and other suspects besides Momoko.\" He saw the yarite looking from him to Hoshina, and hope alternating with fear in her eyes. \"Lady Wisteria must be found and questioned, as must all the people who were in Yoshiwara last night. That will take time.\"\n\n\"All the more reason to speed things up,\" Hoshina retorted. \"We both know the shogun expects quick action on this case, and what will happen if he doesn't get it.\" The shogun would punish everyone associated with failing to find his cousin's killer, and exile or death were likely penalties. \"If you wish to drag your feet, don't expect me to follow your bad example. Besides, if this woman is guilty, I'm doing you a favor by applying pressure to her.\"\n\nHoshina nodded to his subordinates." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They seized the yarite by her arms, dragging her upright." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't resist, but quaked in their grasp, her eyes wild with terror as she appealed to Sano: \"I told you the truth about what happened last night. You believe me, don't you? Please don't let them take me!\"\n\nSano found himself torn between prudence and his desire to conduct a fair, honest investigation. He risked incurring the shogun's wrath by showing sympathy toward anyone remotely connected with an attack on the Tokugawa, and therefore mustn't prevent the yarite's arrest, even if he wasn't convinced of her guilt. Yet Sano believed that justice would be subverted unless he curtailed Hoshina's overzealous actions. Thus, he settled on compromise.\n\n\"Arrest her, then,\" he said.\n\nMomoko let out a wail of despair. As Hayashi and Yamaga dragged her toward the door, Sano steeled himself against pity. \"But if she's hurt—or if you send her to trial without my permission—I'll publicize that you are sabotaging my investigation because you'd rather find a scapegoat than allow me to identify the real killer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hoshina stared at Sano, his eyes black with anger because Sano had not only impugned his professional honor but threatened to bring their antagonism out in the open." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the latter was a step that neither of them could take with certainty of surviving. A long moment passed; the room seemed to grow colder. Sano waited, his heart racing with fear, because he had much to lose, while Hoshina had Chamberlain Yanagisawa's protection.\n\nThen Hoshina reluctantly lifted his hand at the two yoriki. \"Take her to jail,\" he said, \"but make sure no one harms her.\"\n\nAs he walked out of the room with his subordinates and their prisoner, his malevolent glance backward said that Sano had scored only a temporary victory. Sano expelled his breath in a gust of revulsion for the strife that always complicated his duties. These seemed insurmountable because the Black Lotus case had severely reduced his stamina. The final disaster at the temple had comprised the worst violence he'd ever seen, a senseless carnage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His involvement made Sano feel sick, as though the spiritual disease of the Black Lotus had infected him." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 6 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano couldn't even draw strength from a happy domestic life, for the Black Lotus had robbed him of that, too. Lately, the thought of Reiko caused him more worry than solace.\n\nNow Sano mustered his flagging energy. With Hoshina probably thinking up new ways to plague him, he must move fast to prevent the investigation from slipping entirely out of his control. He set out to obtain the names of Wisteria's clients and the guests present at last night's party, and begin looking for other suspects besides the yarite.\n\nHe stifled the fear that he'd lost control of the investigation even before he'd begun." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Task: The user will write a bit then you need to write around eight sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Characters and lore may appear without context - work with what's given.\n\nAuthor style: Laura Joh Rowland" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano and Hirata reached Edo just before the hour of the boar, when the gates to every neighborhood would close for the night, halting the movement of traffic through the streets until dawn. The snowfall had ceased; the indigo sky glittered with stars like ice crystals. A ride up the hill through the stone passages and guarded checkpoints of Edo Castle brought Sano and Hirata to the shogun's palace. Snow gleamed white upon the gabled roofs and transformed the garden's shrubs and boulders into ghostly shapes. Sano and Hirata trod softly in the eerie quiet, alone except for the sentries at the palace doors.\n\nBut the interior of the palace was a hive of activity. In the shogun's private chamber, a funeral altar held smoking incense burners, hundreds of lit candles, and a portrait of Lord Mitsuyoshi. Sano and Hirata entered to find Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi hunched on his bed on a raised platform." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Precise word count needed: 'yanagisawa' × 2" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Swathed in quilts, his face haggard, and his head bare of the black cap of his rank, he looked less like the dictator of Japan than like an old peasant. He moaned with every breath. Edo Castle's chief physician, dressed in a dark blue coat, felt the pulses of the shogun's body; two more doctors mixed herb potions. Attendants and guards milled about. Near the platform, Chamberlain Yanagisawa sat facing four members of the Council of Elders.\n\n\"What is your diagnosis, Dr. Kitano-san?\" asked Yanagisawa. Tall and slender, with sharp, elegant features, he was a man of remarkable beauty, clad in brilliant silk robes. His intense, liquid eyes watched the shogun." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Your task: Include 'doctor' 2 time(s) in your response" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The death of Lord Mitsuyoshi has caused His Excellency a severe shock,\" the doctor said gravely. \"His emotions are out of equilibrium and threatening his physical health.\"\n\nAnxious murmurs arose as the elders, all dignified samurai of venerable age, conferred among themselves. Conspicuously absent was Senior Elder Makino, who Sano supposed was still journeying home from Yoshiwara.\n\nDr. Kitano palpated the shogun's chest. \"Do the pains persist here, Your Excellency?\"\n\n\"Yes, ahh, yes!\" Tokugawa Tsunayoshi groaned.\n\n\"He's taken neither food nor drink all day,\" the doctor informed the assembly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To the shogun he said, \"You must keep up your strength. Won't you please try to eat?\"\n\nServants proffered bowls of broth and tea, which the shogun waved away. \"Alas, I cannot. Ahh, how I suffer!\"\n\nSano registered alarm at how badly the murder had affected his lord's weak constitution, just as Tokugawa Tsunayoshi spied him and Hirata. \"Ah, Ssakan-sama, at last!\" the shogun said; his swollen, red-rimmed eyes brightened. \"Come here to me.\"\n\nEveryone watched Sano and Hirata approach the platform, kneel near the other officials, and bow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the officials bowed to the newcomers, Chamberlain Yanagisawa's face wore the deliberately bland expression with which he'd greeted Sano throughout their truce." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The elders looked hopeful that good news would relieve the shogun's illness, and Sano felt apprehension tighten his nerves." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you caught the, ahh, evil criminal who killed my beloved cousin?\" the shogun said with eager anticipation.\n\n\"Not yet, Your Excellency,\" Sano was forced to reply.\n\nDisappointment drew the shogun's features into a frown. \"And why have you not?\"\n\n\"I apologize for the delay, Your Excellency, but there's been insufficient time.\" Sano masked fear with a calm, polite manner. The shogun had no understanding of detective work, and thus expected that every killer should be caught within the day." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This case is a complex one, with many people to interview.\"\n\n\"And many leads to pursue,\" said Hirata, the only person to come to Sano's defense.\n\n\"But I've got search parties looking for Lady Wisteria, the missing courtesan who was with the Honorable Lord Mitsuyoshi last night,\" Sano said, \"and—\"\n\nAn impatient gesture from the shogun cut him short. \"At least you can tell me exactly how, ahh, Mitsuyoshi-san was killed. No one else seems to know.\"\n\nTokugawa Tsunayoshi cast an annoyed look at Yanagisawa and the elders, who turned to Sano. He understood that they did indeed know, but preferred not to deliver the news themselves.\n\n\"The Honorable Lord Mitsuyoshi died of a stab wound through the eye, inflicted with a woman's hairpin, probably while he was semiconscious,\" Sano said reluctantly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shogun drew a great inhalation of horror." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Merciful gods,\" he whispered, then began to pant, clutching his chest." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ahh, ahh, ahh! I'm dying!\"\n\nPhysicians hastened to his aid. Sano and Hirata exchanged stricken glances. Tokugawa Tsunayoshi often fancied himself on his deathbed, but perhaps he really was this time.\n\nDr. Kitano held a cup to the shogun's mouth and said, \"Please drink this, Your Excellency.\" The shogun gulped, then flopped back on the bed, sighing.\n\n\"My poor cousin,\" he lamented weakly. \"So beautiful and full of life one day, then dead and disfigured the next. The loss of his, ahh, companionship grieves me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tokugawa Tsunayoshi liked handsome young men, and Lord Mitsuyoshi had won the position of heir apparent by flattering, amusing, and flirting with the shogun. \"For such a cruel killer, no punishment is too harsh. Ssakan Sano, have you any idea who committed this terrible crime?\"\n\n\"So far there's one definite suspect: Lady Wisteria's yarite.\" Sano explained that the hairpin belonged to Momoko, and that she had found Lord Mitsuyoshi dead.\n\nThe shogun pushed himself upright. \"Ahh, then this woman may be the culprit?\"\n\n\"Yes. And I have arrested her,\" a masculine voice said from the doorway.\n\nPolice Commissioner Hoshina entered the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He must have ridden as fast and hard from Yoshiwara as had Sano; yet he'd changed from traveling garb to a maroon silk kimono, and looked stylish and vigorous. As he knelt beside the chamberlain, they betrayed no sign of their intimacy. Yanagisawa's relationship with the shogun had never been exclusive, and it was no secret that they'd both enjoyed many other lovers, but Sano knew Yanagisawa never flaunted his affairs, lest their lord take unexpected offense. The elders' courteous bows to Hoshina acknowledged his special status. Sano's gut tightened: Hoshina's arrival boded no good for him.\n\nThe shogun responded to Hoshina's bow with a feeble smile. \"Ahh, Hoshina-san, welcome. I was not aware that you were helping Ssakan Sano with the, ahh, investigation.\"\n\n\"I'm always ready to help when I'm needed,\" Hoshina said in a humble tone that didn't hide his arrogance from Sano." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And I believe I am needed in this investigation, because with all due respect to the ssakan-sama, he appears determined to make slow progress.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano had expected trouble from Hoshina, but this was the first time Hoshina had attacked him in front of the shogun. His heart began to race, for he understood that his adversary had decided to make their rivalry public here and now.\n\nBefore he could counter the accusation, Hoshina said, \"In spite of all the evidence against the suspect, the ssakan-sama would not arrest her. He preferred to give her the benefit of the doubt. I had no choice but to step in.\"\n\n\"You refused to arrest the person who killed my cousin?\" The shogun gaped at Sano, appalled. \"After I have elevated you, a former rnin, to a high position and trusted you to do my bidding? Can this be true?\"\n\n\"I am most grateful for your patronage, but I must say that the yarite's guilt is by no means certain,\" Sano defended himself. \"The evidence doesn't prove she's the murderer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ahh, you are correct,\" the shogun said, his opinion always easily swayed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While Sano detested squabbling for power, he had to strike back at Hoshina." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He said, \"The police commissioner would rather persecute a convenient suspect before all the facts are in than make any effort to identify the true culprit.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now the shogun turned to Hoshina. \"Would you indeed?\" Angry color suffused his pale cheeks. \"I allow you to, ahh, take over the police force, and you shirk your duty?\"\n\n\"My duty is the reason I jailed the yarite,\" Hoshina said deferentially, but with a venomous glance at Sano. \"If there's any chance that she killed Lord Mitsuyoshi, she shouldn't be left free to attack other members of the Tokugawa regime.\"\n\nThe shogun looked from Hoshina to Sano in confusion. The elders sat like stones, and Sano perceived their attention focused on Chamberlain Yanagisawa, though nobody looked straight at him. Yanagisawa, the power behind the shogun, usually took charge during meetings and settled arguments, but tonight he was in an aloof, enigmatic mood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Smoking his pipe, his expression hooded, he merely said, \"Have you anything else to report concerning your investigation, Ssakan Sano?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I do,\" Sano said, uncertain whether to be thankful that Yanagisawa had changed the subject, or fearful of what his former enemy had in store for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've identified another potential suspect. It's Treasury Minister Nitta Monzaemon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The shogun exclaimed in surprise; the elders frowned, while Chamberlain Yanagisawa sat alert." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As Sano told of Nitta's history with Lady Wisteria and Lord Mitsuyoshi, his presence in the ageya at the time of the murder, and his suspicious departure, Hoshina narrowed his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Apparently, the story was news to him, and he disliked that Sano had beat him to it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nitta-san has served me well, and I never doubted his, ahh, loyalty to my clan. That he might have, ahh, killed my cousin is unthinkable!\" The shogun's skepticism immediately turned to anger. \"If he did, he shall die for his treason.\"\n\nThe reminder that a taint of suspicion could negate years of faithful service poisoned the air. Hoshina said to Sano, \"How did you learn about the treasury minister?\"\n\n\"From a confidential informant,\" Sano said, keeping his promise to Senior Elder Makino.\n\nHoshina glanced at Yanagisawa. When Yanagisawa didn't speak, a shadow of bafflement crossed Hoshina's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Evidently, Hoshina couldn't fathom the chamberlain's mood any better than could Sano." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Required text (preserve exact wording): \"I've sent troops to his estate.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Has Nitta been questioned?\" Hoshina spoke cautiously, as if now less certain of victory over Sano without his lover's backing.\n\n\"I've sent troops to his estate.\" Sano had done this before coming to the palace. \"If Nitta is there, he'll be under house arrest by now. If he's not, my men will send search parties after him. I'll interrogate him as soon as possible.\"\n\nThe shogun nodded in approbation, but Hoshina compressed his lips, clearly displeased by Sano's efficiency.\n\n\"What other plans have you, Ssakan Sano?\" Chamberlain Yanagisawa's bland manner gave no hint of what lay underneath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While Sano was loath to reveal his strategy to Hoshina, he couldn't refuse to answer." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll call on the family and associates of Lord Mitsuyoshi and ask whether he had any enemies, and what he might have done to make someone want him dead.\"\n\nTokugawa Tsunayoshi lurched forward off his bed. \"Lord Mitsuyoshi was a fine, honorable young man, beloved by all. He never, ahh, wronged anyone in his life!\" The shogun sputtered in outrage; droplets of saliva flew from his mouth. \"Are you saying you would, ahh, blame him for his own death?\"\n\n\"Of course not, Your Excellency,\" Sano said, horrified that what he considered basic detective procedure had been misinterpreted. \"I just think Lord Mitsuyoshi's background could provide valuable clues that we can't afford to overlook.\"\n\n\"Well, we shall overlook them because, I, ahh, won't let you cast aspersion upon Lord Mitsuyoshi.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shogun's red eyes smoldered at Sano. \"And you shall not, ahh, bother his family with questions during their time of mourning.\"\n\nThe elders looked perturbed, as did Hoshina: He realized that the shogun's pronouncement applied to him, too. Yanagisawa alone remained nonchalant. Sano's heart plummeted as he saw an entire avenue of inquiry closed to him.\n\n\"But Your Excellency, unless we gather all possible clues, we may never find the killer,\" he said.\n\nA lethal combination of fury and peevishness darkened Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's expression. \"Do you dare suggest that the, ahh, killer is to be found within my clan?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "/insert_quote: \"A thousand pardons; I meant no offense.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, Your Excellency,\" Sano said hastily, although experience had taught him that the murderer was often a person close to the victim. \"A thousand pardons; I meant no offense.\"\n\n\"Well, just, ahh, remember that you are forbidden to investigate Lord Mitsuyoshi or intrude upon the person or property of any other Tokugawa clan member. You will therefore confine your detection to other people and places.\"\n\n\"Yes, Your Excellency.\" Sano surrendered with regret.\n\n\"You will also stop dallying and find my cousin's killer at once, or suffer the consequences!\"\n\nSano experienced an antipathy so strong it bordered on hatred for the shogun. That all his efforts counted for nothing in the view of his lord! No matter how many cases he solved, any failure would doom him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He didn't expect gratitude or encouragement, but the Black Lotus case had diminished his tolerance toward the shogun's constant criticism and threats." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He must get away before he said something regrettable, or anything worse happened.\n\n\"Your Excellency, may I speak?\" Hoshina said.\n\nThe shogun nodded indifferently as the doctors massaged pressure points on his limbs.\n\n\"Perhaps the ssakan-sama has a particular reason for conducting his investigation in such a questionable fashion.\" Hoshina's eyes sighted on Sano like gun barrels. \"Perhaps he would cast suspicion on the Tokugawa clan to protect himself.\"\n\n\"That's a lie,\" Sano burst out, shocked and infuriated that Hoshina had virtually accused him of the murder. The room had gone still, the faces turned to him frozen in surprise." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Goaded into blunt speech, Sano said, \"Perhaps you wish to sabotage me so that I won't discover that you were involved in the crime.\"\n\nHoshina's mouth curved in a satisfied smile, though he must know how dangerous was the game he played. Turning to Yanagisawa, he said, \"Honorable Chamberlain, what do you think?\"\n\nHorror flooded Sano as he saw that Hoshina intended to break the truce between Sano and Yanagisawa by manipulating the chamberlain into taking sides in his war against Sano. A suspenseful hush quieted the room while the chamberlain pondered Sano and Hoshina, his expression unreadable.\n\nTokugawa Tsunayoshi suddenly clutched his chest and moaned, \"I think I shall die unless my cousin's death is soon avenged!\"\n\nDull-witted and self-absorbed, he'd missed the meaning of Sano and Hoshina's interchange. Spasms racked his body as the doctors laid him down on the bed." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Job: User writes start, you add ~six sentences sentences. Style: Laura Joh Rowland. Note: May include established characters" }, { "from": "system", "value": "<<USAGE LIMIT>>: 'visit' must be used 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Yanagisawa stood alone in her chamber, waiting for the only guest she'd ever invited to visit her.\n\nShe wrung her cold, perspiring hands and breathed deeply to loosen the knot of anxiety in her stomach. She dreaded receiving a virtual stranger, and the thought of anyone breaching the sanctuary of her room. But the visit must take place here, in the privacy she needed.\n\nHer chief attendant appeared in the doorway. \"There's a girl here to see you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Yanagisawa's heart lurched as she fought the urge to run and hide." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bring her here,\" she said.\n\nDetermination fostered courage. She'd already taken a step against Reiko, but the consequences were too uncertain. If Lady Yanagisawa expected to sway the balance of fortune in her favor, she must persevere, despite her regret over her malice toward her friend.\n\nReiko's nursemaid O-hana entered the room. She wore a fashionable red kimono printed with a design of snow on black tree branches. Avid curiosity shone through her modest demeanor, belied her hesitant step." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Welcome,\" Lady Yanagisawa murmured. She clasped her trembling hands under her sleeves, intimidated by O-hana's bold, pretty face.\n\nO-hana knelt and bowed. \"It's a privilege for this insignificant person to be summoned to your presence, Honorable Lady.\" Her voice brimmed with eagerness to ingratiate herself with her hostess. \"A million thanks for inviting me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lady Yanagisawa had recognized O-hana as a good prospective accomplice the moment she'd laid eyes on the girl at Reiko's house; yet she needed another chance to judge O-hana's character." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Incorporate 'o-hana' into your response exactly 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kneeling opposite her guest, Lady Yanagisawa forced herself to look at O-hana. The girl's eyes sparkled with a verve and cunning that repelled, yet gratified Lady Yanagisawa.\n\n\"May I offer you some refreshment?\" Lady Yanagisawa asked.\n\nWhile they waited for a servant to bring tea and food, O-hana said, \"Your chamber is nicer than Lady Reiko's.\" Her sharp gaze took in the gilded murals, the shelf of antique porcelain ware, the lacquer tables, cabinets, and chests inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl. \"And this estate is much bigger than the ssakan-sama's.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She liked expensive things and aspired to a higher station than her job as a nursemaid, Lady Yanagisawa noted with satisfaction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whatever loyalty O-hana had to her mistress would likely matter less to her than the chance for a connection with someone who could give her things that Reiko couldn't.\n\n\"Please enjoy my home during your time here,\" Lady Yanagisawa said, her self-confidence rising.\n\n\"You're so kind. Many thanks.\" Smiling vividly, O-hana said, \"When I got your message, I couldn't imagine what you could want with me.\"\n\nIt wasn't her place to turn the conversation toward the reason for the invitation. O-hana was a little too forward for her own good, but that suited Lady Yanagisawa." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her aims would benefit from the girl's bold initiative.\n\n\"We shall discuss that soon enough,\" Lady Yanagisawa said.\n\nThe refreshments arrived. Too tense to eat, Lady Yanagisawa watched O-hana consume trout roe served in an orange rind, sashimi, shrimp stuffed with quail eggs, roasted gingko nuts, and sweet cakes. The nursemaid ate very fast, as if the food might be snatched from her before she got enough. Lady Yanagisawa liked O-hana's insecurity as well as her greed.\n\n\"That was delicious,\" O-hana said, licking her lips." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How I regret that I, a poor nursemaid, am not in a position to give you something in return.\"\n\nLady Yanagisawa smiled. Her shyness ebbed as she felt herself gaining mastery over the girl. \"You could tell me about yourself,\" she said.\n\nO-hana's eyebrows rose in surprise that a lady of high rank should care to know about a servant, but she gladly complied. \"My father is a clerk at the Hinokiya Drapery Store. One of the ssakan-sama's soldiers is a customer. He befriended my father and arranged for me to be a nurse to Masahiro-chan. I didn't really want to be a servant because I'd rather get married. But the work isn't too hard, and I love Edo Castle. Here I get to meet better kinds of men than I can meet at home. I'm hoping I'll find a husband who can give me a nice house and pretty clothes and I won't have to earn my own living anymore.\"\n\nAnd if she snared a Tokugawa samurai retainer, she would move far up the social scale." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Incorporate 'yanagisawa' into your response exactly 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Yanagisawa was glad to find that O-hana wanted something so ordinary and easily granted. \"I can arrange that,\" Lady Yanagisawa said.\n\n\"What?\" O-hana said, startled.\n\n\"A good match for you, with a Tokugawa samurai.\" Lady Yanagisawa's money and her husband's position would be enough to entice someone to marry a pretty commoner.\n\nO-hana looked amazed by her good fortune, yet puzzled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You would do that for me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She touched her chest. Then suspicion sharpened her eyes: She wasn't a fool; she knew favors didn't come free. \"Why?\"\n\n\"Because there's something I want you to do for me,\" Lady Yanagisawa said. Her heart began to pound with her urgent need to engage O-hana's cooperation and her fear that she would fail.\n\n\"What is it?\" Though her voice was cautious, O-hana leaned forward, as if to jump at her heart's desire.\n\n\"First I want you to tell me everything Lady Reiko does. Second... I can't tell you just yet,\" Lady Yanagisawa said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You want me to do something to Lady Reiko?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "O-hana wilted; her face took on a queasy expression. \"I wouldn't want to hurt her.\" The girl was ambitious, but not evil, Lady Yanagisawa realized. \"And I don't want to get in trouble.\"\n\nShe had an instinct for self-preservation that was stronger than any affection she felt for Reiko. This discovery heartened Lady Yanagisawa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She understood that O-hana might be persuaded if she knew she would escape blame." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I promise you won't have to lay a hand on Lady Reiko, and you won't get in trouble,\" Lady Yanagisawa said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let us strike a bargain. In the near future I shall give you instructions about what to do. You shall follow them. Afterward, I shall arrange your marriage to a rich, handsome Tokugawa samurai, and you shall want for nothing.\"\n\nO-hana hesitated, obviously weighing the reward against the unknown dangers. At last she shook her head in regret. \"I can't decide until I know what you want of me.\"\n\nDismay spread cold tendrils through Lady Yanagisawa, but she had planned for the possibility that O-hana would balk. She said, \"Do you see that green box on the shelf of porcelain ware?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "O-hana looked, then nodded. \"Go see what's inside.\"\n\nO-hana rose, walked to the shelf, and removed the lid from the little box. She took out a square packet of red paper. Her lips parted as she felt the heavy gold coins in the packet.\n\n\"I offer this gift as a token of my good faith,\" Lady Yanagisawa said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Agree to my proposition, and it's yours.\"\n\nO-hana stood immobile, the packet resting on her open palm. She stared at it as if trying to discern whether she held her dearest dream or a poisonous snake that would bite her. Lady Yanagisawa watched, her breath caught by anxiety. What if O-hana refused? Would she tell Reiko about the proposition?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If so, what would happen, and how could Lady Yanagisawa achieve her aim without O-hana?\n\nGuile and avarice, distrust and fear played across the girl's features like wind shifting sand. \"I... need to think,\" she said.\n\n\"Then think about how my husband is the most powerful man in Japan,\" Lady Yanagisawa said, her quiet, flat voice disguising her emotions. \"People who offend him or his kin pay dearly. Many are assassinated or executed. Some disappear and are never seen again. No one knows what becomes of them. But I could arrange for you to find out.\"\n\nThe nursemaid lifted her gaze to Lady Yanagisawa." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 7 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her eyes glittered with terror and need. Then a sigh of capitulation deflated her. Nodding, she slowly closed her fingers over the packet of coins.\n\nLady Yanagisawa experienced such an overwhelming sense of triumph that she nearly swooned. She also quaked with sudden apprehension because she'd taken her second step in her campaign against Reiko, and victory would cost her Reiko's friendship. The loss encroached upon her mind like a cloud bringing darkness and desolation.\n\nBut she addressed her new accomplice with calm authority: \"Go now. I will send someone to hear your reports on Lady Reiko's doings. And you will receive my instructions soon.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Job: User writes start, you add ~six sentences sentences. Style: Laura Joh Rowland. Note: May include established characters" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Mitsuyoshi's family lived in a special enclave of Edo Castle, reserved for important Tokugawa clan members. Here, Sano and two detectives strode along flagstone lanes through landscaped forest that separated mansions surrounded by gardens and stone walls. The enclave, deserted except for sentries in gatehouses, seemed remote from the city's turbulent life. Gray clouds spread rapidly across the sky, but Sano breathed hope from the fresh, pine-scented air. Perhaps the solution to his problems awaited him inside the mansion belonging to Lord Matsudaira, father of Mitsuyoshi.\n\nAfter introducing himself to the gate sentries, he said, \"Please tell Lord Matsudaira that I must speak with him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The sentries conveyed his request, and so quickly obtained permission for Sano to enter that he dared believe Lord Matsudaira hadn't yet heard what had happened to him or become prejudiced against him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "An attendant escorted him and his men into an audience chamber, where they found guards stationed along the walls and Lord Matsudaira standing on the dais." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why have you come here?\" Lord Matsudaira demanded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had the shogun's aristocratic features, but set in a broader, more intelligent face; his robust physique wore black ceremonial robes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hands balled on his hips, surrounded by his troops like a general in a military encampment, he glared at Sano, who realized with dismay that his host already knew he'd been branded the murderer of Mitsuyoshi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bowing quickly, Sano said, \"Before I explain, please allow me to offer you my condolences for the loss of your son.\"\n\nLord Matsudaira dropped his hands and tilted his head, staring as though he couldn't believe what he'd heard. \"I'll not accept false sympathy from the man who killed him.\" His voice was harsh with indignation.\n\n\"Please understand that you've been misinformed,\" Sano said, as his men clustered defensively around him. \"I did not kill Mitsuyoshi-san.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you say,\" Lord Matsudaira retorted. \"The word around the castle is that you did. Do you think I don't know you've been accused by the shogun?\" Disgust and hatred twisted his face as he took a step toward Sano. \"I also know about the book that describes your plot against my son and His Excellency. Police Commissioner Hoshina told me this morning.\"\n\nHoshina had been quick to spread the news, turn public opinion against him, and prevent him from getting Mitsuyoshi's family to aid his investigation, Sano thought. \"The book is a fraud,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The accusation was initiated by Hoshina. It's no secret that he's out for my blood.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Required word frequency: 'shogun' (2x)" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Matsudaira waved his hand in a gesture that dismissed Sano's explanation as a poor excuse. \"The shogun, chamberlain, elders, and police commissioner all believe you're a killer and traitor. That's proof enough for me.\"\n\n\"The shogun hasn't yet decided I'm guilty, in spite of the book and Hoshina's slander,\" Sano said. \"His Excellency has allowed me to continue investigating the crime and prove my innocence.\"\n\n\"Your clever tongue has saved you from execution,\" Lord Matsudaira said disdainfully. \"But I'll use all my influence and power to ensure that you die.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moving to the edge of the dais, he raised his left fist at Sano and rested his right on the hilt of his sword. Then a sob choked him. His belligerent posture crumpled; he averted his face.\n\nSano thought of Lord Matsudaira's reputation as a kind master to the citizens on the Tokugawa lands he managed, and perceived that he genuinely mourned Mitsuyoshi, not just the loss of political advantage he'd enjoyed as father to the shogun's heir. Sano pitied this grieving, misguided man.\n\n\"It would be better to use your power and influence to discover the truth about your son's death,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've come to enlist your help in exposing the real killer.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Matsudaira's head snapped around; fury glittered through his tears. \"You've come to stage a show of innocence and gloat over the misery you've caused this clan! I'll not help you save yourself.\" He leapt off the dais, advanced on Sano until they were a mere step apart, then thrust his face so close that Sano could see the red veins in his blazing eyes. \"The only reason I let you in was so I can tell you in person that you, who have destroyed my son and betrayed our lord, are the most disgraceful creature on this earth!\"\n\nThe insult struck Sano like blows to his spirit, and he retreated backward even as he said, \"Please hear me out. In most murder cases, the victim was killed by someone close to him. Things he did, or trouble in his relations with people, can have led to the crime, and—\"\n\n\"You would blame my son for his own murder?\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "<<EMBED THIS>>: \"The fault belongs entirely to his killer. All I meant was that the key to solving a murder case usually lies in the victim's background.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Matsudaira interrupted in outrage. \"You're an even worse villain than the courtesan's pillow book portrays you. I'm ashamed that I ever thought you were an honorable samurai!\"\n\n\"I'm not blaming Lord Mitsuyoshi,\" Sano hastened to say. \"The fault belongs entirely to his killer. All I meant was that the key to solving a murder case usually lies in the victim's background.\"\n\nLord Matsudaira shook his head, scorning Sano.\n\n\"Your son must have had an enemy,\" Sano persisted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You knew him all his life, and you must know what his activities were, whom he associated with, the places he frequented.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sano extended a hand and infused his voice with all the persuasiveness in him. \"Please help me identify the enemy who killed him.\"\n\n\"My son was a harmless, respectable young man, and liked by everyone around him. He had no enemies, and he didn't die because of anything that happened in his personal life.\"\n\nIt had occurred to Sano that Lord Matsudaira might not be the best source of facts about Mitsuyoshi, whose reputation for debauchery suggested he'd had plenty to hide from his father. \"Perhaps other family members were more familiar with your son's business than yourself,\" Sano said. \"Perhaps they would be more willing to talk to me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Though he saw little chance that Lord Matsudaira would allow him to interview anyone else here, he had to ask." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lord Matsudaira huffed in shock at this new affront." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My wife is ill from grief. I'll not let you bother her with questions or insinuations about our son.\"\n\n\"Then may I speak with Mitsuyoshi's brothers?\" Sano said. \"Or his personal retainers?\"\n\nJust then, Sano noticed one of the guards watching him with closer attention than the others. The man, perhaps thirty-five years old, had the powerful body of a fighter and the sensitive face of a scholar. His gaze met Sano's, then veered away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sano recognized the guard as one of Mitsuyoshi's men whom he'd seen in Yoshiwara after the murder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This murder was strictly political, as you well know,\" Lord Matsudaira said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My son fell victim to your quest for power. You murdered him so your son could take his place as the shogun's heir. He was an incidental casualty of your attack on the Tokugawa regime. Now you seek a scapegoat to frame for your crime, so you can escape treason charges.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm neither a murderer nor traitor,\" Sano denied vehemently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm innocent, and I'll prove it.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 7 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Use the word 'justice' 2 time(s) - this is a strict requirement" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Matsudaira jabbed his finger into Sano's chest. \"Mitsuyoshi's brothers and retainers know what you are, and if you approach them, they'll kill you to avenge his death. Consider it a favor from me that I deny you permission to speak to them. I wouldn't willingly trespass on His Excellency's right to determine your fate, but if you come here again or go near any members of my household—\" He drew his sword, brandished it at Sano, and shouted, \"I'll kill you myself and save the executioner the trouble!\"\n\nThe detectives leapt between Sano and Lord Matsudaira's sword; the guards drew their weapons, anticipating a battle. \"Even as you accuse me and threaten me, the real killer is out there somewhere,\" Sano said. \"If you won't cooperate with my investigation and you join my enemies in condemning me, you'll deny your son the justice he deserves. The murderer will walk free.\"\n\nFixing a long, hostile look on Sano, Lord Matsudaira said, \"He already has.\" Then he addressed the guards: \"Escort the ssakan-sama off the premises before I personally deliver him to justice.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Job: User writes start, you add ~11 sentences sentences. Style: Laura Joh Rowland. Note: May include established characters" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guards stationed outside Sano's mansion opened the gate for Kikuko and her maid Rumi.\n\nKikuko skipped gaily across the courtyard toward the big house. She was happy because she liked this place. The little boy and his mother lived here. The boy was so much fun, like a baby doll who could walk and talk. And his mother was so pretty. Kikuko liked them. She was so glad to come again, she hummed a happy song.\n\nA lady opened the door and came out on the veranda. It was the little boy's nursemaid. Kikuko didn't like her much. There was something mean about her face, even when she smiled, and she wasn't smiling now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She looked upset and sad." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mama was often sad, and that made Kikuko sad, too. But after today, they would be happy all the time. Mama had promised.\n\nThe nursemaid brought Kikuko and Rumi into the big house, and they took off their shoes and outdoor clothes. She said to Rumi, \"You can wait in the parlor.\"\n\nThen she took Kikuko by the hand and led her through the house. Kikuko went willingly, but she was puzzled because the house was so quiet and empty today. Where had everybody gone? Kikuko didn't ask, because the nursemaid frightened her a little, even though Mama had said she was their friend. Kikuko was glad when they went into the boy's room.\n\nHe was sitting all alone, playing with his toy animals. Kikuko was disappointed that his pretty mother wasn't there, but happy to see him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hello, hello,\" she cried, bouncing up and down and waving." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The little boy smiled. \"Kiku,\" he said.\n\nThey laughed together, and the nursemaid stood watching them for a moment. Then she went away. Kikuko remembered the game that Mama had told her to play, and she was happy she'd remembered. She wouldn't want to disappoint Mama and make her sad. She began to run around the room, flapping the long sleeves of her pink kimono.\n\n\"I'm a butterfly,\" she said to the little boy. \"Catch me!\"\n\nHe chased her, giggling with excitement. Kikuko swooped out of his way. Then she ran to the door that led outside. She pushed open the door and ran onto the veranda." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Catch me!\" she called.\n\nThe boy toddled after her. She hopped down the steps, and he crawled down them. The garden was a wonderful place to play, even though the day was cold and cloudy. Kikuko fluttered around trees, bushes, and rocks. The boy ran after her, yelping. She liked that there were no adults to tell them to be quiet. That made the game more fun.\n\nA glance around the garden showed Kikuko the pond, an irregular oval of water amid leafless cherry trees. She dashed to the pond and stood at the edge. The water was murky, and dead brown lily plants floated on top." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kikuko wrinkled her nose in disgust." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 7 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she had to obey Mama.\n\nThe little boy ran toward Kikuko, arms spread, delighted because he thought he was going to catch her. Kikuko hesitated, then waded into the water. Oh, it was cold! She shivered as the first step chilled her up to her ankles. The next step plunged her knee-deep.\n\nTurning to the little boy, Kikuko called, \"Follow me!\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 11 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Characters and story elements may appear without introduction - roll with them naturally. Try to mimic the style of Lucia St. Clair." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As she walked along the dark road, the espression on Kasane's plain round face was stoic, but she had no illusions about her future. She knew that her new master might be intending to take her to a deserted place and rape and kill her, but she doubted it. Kasane was a shy child and a virtuous one, but in the past few days she had come to think of herself as merchandise.\n\nShe had been kidnapped at sea by a pirate masquerading as an honest boat captain. He had sold her to the procurer, who had peddled her to innkeepers twice and then restolen her. He would have done it again if the mysterious, ferocious young stranger hadn't interfered. Now this latest master would undoubtedly go into business, too, with Kasane as his stock. One didn't waste anything that could be exchanged for money.\n\nBefore leaving for the pilgrimage to Ise several days earlier, Kasane had never been beyond the call of her village drum. Since then she had seen only the worst of men, but this one was nothing like the pirate and the procurer. For one thing, he was very young." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he was certainly extravagant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even though the moon was only beginning to wane and was almost directly overhead, he had lit the lantern.\n\nKasane carried the baggage and the lantern too along the deserted farm road. She walked in front and held the lantern's pole to the side and behind her so it lit her new master's way. She glanced back over her shoulder only once. The light and shadow had transformed Cat's glower into a hideous mask. She looked to Kasane like Lord Emma, the king of hell.\n\nThe temple grounds were beyond the fields, among the steep folds of the high hills west of Totsuka. A heavy mist swirled low to the ground there. In the darkness of a grove of trees, Cat almost missed the slender granite marker indicating the turnoff onto a badly maintained path.\n\nAs she and Kasane moved forward cautiously, the trees and bushes closed in around them. A fox barked. Something rustled in the black depths of the undergrowth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kasane stopped so abruptly, Cat almost bumped into her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A goblin,\" Kasane whispered.\n\n\"Keep walking, simpleton.\"\n\nIn the stillness of the night Cat's own voice sounded harsh to her. She thought of Musui's kindness and felt small and mean. She remembered his gentle admonition. A true warrior knows compassion. Cat decided to leave the child some money when she abandoned her.\n\nIn the moon's bright light, tears glistened on Kasane's cheeks. Her lips trembled as she felt her way along the dark, rocky path. A gust of wind blew, and both she and Cat heard a rattling, like bones.\n\nKasane gave a small cry and shrank back when something tall and thin loomed from the ground fog." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She felt rather than saw more shapes in the darkness beyond under the trees." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tombstones.\" Cat lowered her voice and took a firmer grip on her walking staff.\n\nHundreds of tiered stone monuments rose up from the fog and crowded the slope of the hill. A forest of tall wooden funerary laths, some new, some old and neglected, clattered against each other in another gust.\n\nCat and Kasane walked past granite columns and slabs, carved with snarling lions and the ferocious faces of Buddhism's guardian kings. In the mist the grave markers looked like a silent army turned to stone.\n\nThe lantern had been burning low. Suddenly it guttered and went out.\n\n\"He said it held enough oil for two hours' light.\" Cat was furious that the oil vendor had cheated her. She knew he had long since closed up for the night and decamped; but she wanted to march back to Totsuka, rap him on the head with her staff, and demand her money back.\n\nKasane shrank back against her and clutched her sleeve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Don't be a fool.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But Cat herself spoke in a whisper. \"When our eyes grow accustomed to the darkness, the moon will guide us.\"\n\nKasane didn't dare point out that the massive cedars were now shutting out most of the moon's light. Still clinging to Cat's sleeve, she strained to see around her. \"Did you see that?\" she whispered.\n\n\"Yes,\" Cat murmured. Suddenly Kasane's presence was a comfort to her.\n\nA flame flared in the distance, then softened and broadened into the glow from a lantern. It lit portions of the gravestones around it and in places left angular sheets of night.\n\nThree huge shadows stooped and reared against the granite monuments. Each shadow sported a pair of pointed fox's ears.\n\n\"Where?\" The word drifted, like a fragment of a lost conversation, through the gravestones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Over here.\" The voice was nervous and subdued." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bring the light, you bucket of night soil.\"\n\n\"Two of them in one night.\" The first speaker sounded as though he had fortified himself with strong drink, home-brewed sweet-potato wine, probably. His dialect was too coarse to belong to someone who could afford sake. \"What luck.\"\n\nCat heard the rhythmic kachunk of wood striking stones and saw the curved shadows of two mattock blades rise and fall on the monument. She thought again about returning to Totsuka but dismissed the idea. The inns would be tightly shuttered. Even if she could have found shelter in a shed or chapel in town, she would have had the problem of avoiding Kira's men in the morning. The idea of sharing her night's lodging place with this sort of riffraff made her skin crawl, though. The only solution was to evict them.\n\nWith both hands gripping the staff lightly, she held it up as though it were a long-sword, parallel to her body and with the tip slanted outward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her pulse thrummed in her ears as she started forward, crossing each foot in front of the other in the buoyant scissor gait of a sword player." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was concentrating on centering her thoughts and breathing properly when she felt a hard tug at her sleeve. She whirled, dragging a heavy weight with her. She struck down and behind her with great force but stayed her hand at the last moment. When the staff landed on Kasane's side, it was painful but not damaging.\n\nKasane shut her eyes tight and held on to Cat's sleeve with both hands. She had decided she would rather die of a blow from her strange new master's staff than release her grip.\n\n\"Let go of me, you idiot!\" Cat whispered as she tried to disengage her. \"Wait here.\"\n\n\"Don't leave me, master.\" Kasane spoke in a tiny, strangled voice. \"Kill me, but don't leave me in this haunted place.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat could see the hysteria rising in the peasant's contorted face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shook her hard by the shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll be back. I'm only going to see who they are.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're demons or ghosts.\"\n\n\"I doubt it. I think they're human, and they're up to no good.\"\n\nCat pried Kasane's rigid fingers loose. She brandished her staff and started forward again, using the gravestones for cover. She lifted each foot deliberately and set it down as softly as a leaf landing. She thought they were mortal, but she wasn't certain.\n\nKasane stood in the gloom and watched the only being who might possibly be human desert her. From the corner of her eye she thought she saw something stir in the well of night behind a tombstone. The roots of her hair tingled at the nape of her neck. She tucked her robe's skirts up into her sash. Crouching, she crept after Cat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kasane wanted to scream to drown out the noise of the mattocks and the rustlings and squeakings and the liquid hooting of the owl in the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She could only whimper far back in her throat." }, { "from": "system", "value": "CONSTRAINT: Include 'could' 3 time(s)" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She remembered the old proverb, \"Ghosts and girls are best unseen,\" but it was no comfort.\n\n\"When were they buried?\" The man's voice sounded so close, it startled Kasane. It distracted her from the sharpening odor of rotting flesh.\n\n\"The other one's only a few days old. This one's been here almost a week.\"\n\nThe light of the lantern was close enough now to make the darkness around Kasane complete in contrast. But at least she could see the beings that were casting the shadows. She could see that the fox ears were formed by the stiff knotted ends of the towels tied around their heads. She also could see that these demons were wearing filthy loincloths and collections of paper rags.\n\nKasane crouched behind a marker and watched Cat approach the men. She put a hand down to steady herself, but instead of earth, she felt the cold, rubbery skin of a woman's breast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It gave strangely under her fingers." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 3 sentences." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Include 'shrieked' 2 time(s) in your answer - no more, no less" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The stench of death hit her in the face.\n\nKasane shrieked. She shrieked again. She kept on shrieking." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Let's engage in a collaborative writing exercise. I'll provide a starting point (which may include pre-existing characters and lore), and You'll continue with 6 sentences in the style of Lucia St. Clair." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Include exactly 2 instance(s) of the word 'kasane's'" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At Kasane's shriek, Cat whirled to stare into the darkness. \"Idiot!\" she muttered. \"I should have left her in the closet, too.\" But Cat's skin prickled, and her heart raced at the horror in Kasane's cries.\n\nAt the start of a battle, Musashi wrote, shout as loudly as possible. The voice is a thing of life.\n\nCat took a deep breath, gripped her staff tighter, and gathered her courage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ei-i-i-i-i!\" she screamed as she charged through the gravestones toward the lantern light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No one was there." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Kasane's screams descended to gurgling sobs, Cat heard the men running headlong through the underbrush. With her staff at the ready and her heart still pounding, Cat picked up the abandoned lantern and prowled the area. When she was sure they were alone, she called to Kasane.\n\n\"There's a dead person here, Your Honor.\" From the darkness Kasane's voice shook with fright.\n\n\"There are hundreds of dead people here, you bucket of dirt.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat was so enraged that she forgot her parents' careful instruction on proper conduct and terms of address." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kasane's scream had unnerved her and completely disrupted her concentration. \"Peasants have no sense,\" she muttered to herself.\n\n\"This one isn't buried,\" Kasane said. \"Maybe it's a homeless spirit.\"\n\nCat walked among the tombstones to where Kasane crouched, her arms crossed in front of her and her hands clutching her own shoulders. Her eyes were wide in terror." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat stooped to inspect the body." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She's gone in the white scarves of death.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She knew she was only affirming the obvious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But someone bothered to bury her for those dung beetles to dig up. She must have relatives to pray for her soul. In any case, we can't do anything for her.\" Cat stood. \"It's late. We have to find a place to sleep.\"\n\n\"Here?\" Kasane dared to question her new master. Her encounter with the supernatural had made him seem relatively harmless by comparison. Mad, certainly, but not homicidal. \"The demons might come back.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They aren't demons.\" Cat held Kasane's wicker pack while Kasane arranged the woven straps over her shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then she tied the rolled mats on top of the pack and held the furoshiki on top of the mats while Kasane adjusted the knotted ties across her chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The burden towered over Kasane's head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're men so poor they steal from the dead.\" Cat handed her the lantern. \"They fear the executioner's blade in this world and the wrath of the gods in the next. They won't be back.\"\n\n\"Must I go first, master?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Cat prodded her with the staff to start her moving.\n\n\"What were they stealing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kasane spoke in a hushed voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was fearful of disturbing the corpses and angering her master; but she was more terrified of a silence broken only by the anonymous rustlings of foxes and monkeys and owls.\n\n\"A corpse's hair and fingernails are easily pulled out. The thieves sell the hair to wig makers. They trim the nails, then sell them in the gay quarters. The women give them to their patrons as pledges of love. That way a woman can fool many men into thinking each is the only one she loves.\"\n\n\"Don't the women know where the fingernails come from?\" Kasane shivered at the thought of touching a corpse's fingernail. Being kidnapped by pirates and almost violated, being dragged into the night by a fierce stranger, finding opened graves and plundered corpses, they were all too much for her. She shook so badly that the lantern's light trembled along the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"We...\" Cat caught herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The women don't think about it. Go-betweens buy the tokens from the robbers and sell them. The buyers never see the scoundrels who did the deed.\"\n\nCoffin carriers, priests, and merchants have found a way to profit even from death, Cat thought. She remembered the delicate, half-moon-shaped nails she herself had bought, and wondered, for the first time, from whose hand they had been taken.\n\nThrough the canopy of leaves Cat saw a slope of silvery moss and weathered cedar shingles glinting in the moonlight. A well-worn path led to a plainly built, open-sided chapel set back among the trees and bamboo and underbrush. She rapped Kasane's pack with the staff and pointed to it. \"We'll sleep here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Near the place of death was one of life." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The small, wall-less building was festooned inside with wooden ladles with the bottoms missing. They had been blessed by the Shintō priest who also served as a Buddhist bonze. Then they had been carried home by pregnant women. After successful deliveries, the women had written their names and ages on the handles and returned them.\n\n\"Lay out the mats,\" Cat said.\n\n\"Yes, Your Honor.\" Kasane was relieved that at least he didn't seem inclined to kill her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She hurriedly unrolled the mats and laid one on top of the other for double thickness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You can sleep on one,\" Cat said gruffly. The chapel's floor was of packed earth and quite cold. As angry as Cat was with Kasane, she couldn't bear the thought of making her sleep directly on it.\n\n\"You're very kind, master.\" Kasane knelt and knocked her forehead repeatedly on the ground. Then she scurried around, filling Cat's small brass pipe and lighting it with the flint." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While Cat smoked and stared out at the dark forest, Kasane took her brother's paper travel cloak from her pack and laid it over her master's mat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She spread Cat's new cloak on top of that as a coverlet.\n\nShe lay down on the other bare mat. She drew up her legs and tucked the hem of her robe around her icy feet in a futile attempt to warm them. She pillowed her head on her arm, closed her eyes, shivered with the cold, and thought of home.\n\nThe thatched hovels that made up Matsu-mura, Pine village, would all be dark by now. Kasane knew that her parents and her grandmother would be asleep on their frayed straw mats in the single room of their tiny house there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They wouldn't even be worried about her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As far as they knew, she and her younger brother and seven other pilgrims were in the care of the leader of Pine village's pilgrimage club and were on their way to the great shrine at Ise." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Include 'kasane' 3 time(s) in your answer - no more, no less" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kasane was sure that fate wouldn't allow her to see her family again. She was also sure that was just as well. Her parents had engaged a go-between to arrange a marriage for Kasane with a young farmer, a stranger from a neighboring village. Kasane's trip to the Sun Goddess's shrine was to be the traditional pilgrimage of a bride-to-be. But the pilgrimage had gone dreadfully awry.\n\nNow Kasane felt sullied beyond redemption." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even though she had not lost her virginity, she knew that no man would have her as a bride. She knew that if she returned to Pine village, she would bring terrible shame to her family. She would live out her life single and the object of endless gossip. Tears burned her eyes and nose as she buried her face in the crook of her arm.\n\nThe procurer had snatched Kasane from the inns where he had sold her each night and had kept her on the run for days. She was so exhausted that even her grief, the cold, and the terrors of the graveyard nearby couldn't keep her awake." }, { "from": "human", "value": "By the time Cat finished smoking and brooding about the journey ahead of her, Kasane was asleep." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kasane looked so young and innocent and helpless that Cat felt a pang of shame at treating her so badly. She draped the shabby paper cloak over her. Then she wrapped herself in her own cloak, laid her staff next to the mat, and drifted into uneasy sleep.\n\nBecause the temple had no priest, no dawn bell rang to waken Cat. The hour of the Hare was half over, and the sun had risen when she opened her eyes. Cat stared up at the clusters of dusty wooden ladles dangling from the broad beams of the chapel's ceiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Each represented a child brought into the world." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat wondered what all of them were doing this morning.\n\nShe glanced at the other mat. It was neatly rolled and tied and set next to the dirt-eater's pack and the furoshiki.\n\n\"Idiot!\" she raged at herself. If she had slept so soundly she didn't hear the peasant escape, she wouldn't have heard enemies creeping up on her, either.\n\nCat knew she had to leave immediately, before the child brought the authorities." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She tied up the furoshiki's ends and settled it on her back." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She studied the abandoned pack. Surely the peasant didn't want it, or she would have taken it. Inside, there might be something she could use as a disguise. Cat put one arm through the pack's straps and hoisted it onto her left shoulder.\n\nShe was tying the cords of her hat under her chin when Kasane appeared. The hem of her white robe was tucked up, and her bare feet and legs were covered with black loam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She carried several dirt-covered bamboo shoots in her arms." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were about as long as her forearm and pointed at each end.\n\n\"I brought the bamboo's children for you to eat, master.\" She put them down and washed her hands and feet in the nearby stream.\n\nCat took off the hat and the furoshiki and the pack. When she sat cross-legged and rummaged in the bundle for her pipe, Kasane lit it. Then Cat watched in astonishment as Kasane pulled a large, sharp knife from inside her robe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Where had she gotten it?" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Incorporate 'bamboo' into your response exactly 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat was appalled at her own carelessness.\n\nKasane was staring humbly at the ground, but she caught the look. \"It belonged to my last master,\" she said.\n\nShe deftly split a large section of bamboo that was dead and dried to a silvery brown. She carved a narrow slit in the back of one of the halves. She filled the hollow in the piece beneath it with bamboo shavings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When she rubbed a strip of bamboo across the first half, sparks flew from the silica in it." }, { "from": "system", "value": "🎯 Target word: 'through' | Required occurrences: 2" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The hot powdered residue fell through the slit into the tinder below. Kasane blew gently on it through a slender bamboo tube. She had a fire going in about sixty heartbeats.\n\nShe fed the tiny flames with dried cypress needles and twigs, then larger pieces of wood until the fire crackled and burned steadily. She arranged five flat stones around it. On them she balanced three sections of green bamboo with bottoms formed by the nodes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "While the water in them boiled she used the knife to peel, trim, and slice the shoots." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The rice, the bamboo's children, and two of the dried flying fish were cooked about the same time. Kasane used the water in the third container for tea.\n\nKasane dished the food onto bamboo sheaths and served all of it to Cat. Then she retired to the far side of the chapel. She sat back on her haunches, folded her hands in her lap, and bowed her head.\n\nThe shoots were white and crisp and sweet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When Cat had eaten the two fish and half the rice and shoots, she pushed the bamboo sheath with the remainder across the dirt floor to Kasane." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you so very much, kind master. You honor this miserable individual.\" Kasane bowed several times before eating the warm rice. She savored the rich, unfamiliar taste of it.\n\nThe shōgun had decreed that peasants weren't to eat rice, but Cat decided to defy the law. She wasn't happy about the necessity of tying up her captive and abandoning her. She was buying her conscience off cheaply." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What village do you come from?\" Cat asked. If it turned out to be convenient, she would send word to the peasant's people.\n\n\"Matsu-mura, Pine village, in Kazusa province.\"\n\n\"I have to tie you up and leave you here.\"\n\n\"Please, master, don't leave me.\" Kasane flung herself forward in a supine bow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I beg of you, please don't leave me here. This is a haunted place.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She imagined being tied up when night fell and the robbers returned to pull out her fingernails.\n\n\"You'll tell the authorities where to find me.\" Even as Cat said it, she wondered why she was bothering to explain her actions to a peasant.\n\n\"I promise I won't tell anyone.\" Kasane was weeping so hard that she was practically unintelligible. \"No one will find me in this desolate place. Night will come. Demons will come.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She clutched at Cat's jacket." }, { "from": "system", "value": "🔍 Find a place to insert: \"Don't be a fool. In the next town I'll tell someone to notify your people. You can go home.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her tears left dark spots on the faded black cloth. \"Take me with you. I'll be your servant. I'm strong. I'll carry everything. I'll massage your feet and cook your meals.\"\n\n\"Don't be a fool. In the next town I'll tell someone to notify your people. You can go home.\"\n\n\"I can't return to Pine village, master. I've been disgraced.\"\n\n\"I have enemies,\" Cat said. \"Traveling with me would be dangerous.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I stay here, the old master will catch me.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kasane's voice trembled, but she stopped crying. This was to be her fate. She must accept it. \"He'll beat me and sell me again, but there is no help for it. A woman has no home in the three worlds.\"\n\nThe old saying had originally alluded to the three realms of Buddhist existence. Among country folk, ignorant of Buddhist philosophy, it had come to mean that women must live first in the homes of their fathers, then their husbands, then their sons." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kasane opened her pack and dug into it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This will protect you on your journey, Your Honor.\" She held out a cheap wooden amulet in a tiny brocade bag. It was dedicated to the god of travelers, and the headman and president of Pine village's Ise club had presented one to each pilgrim. Then she handed Cat a packet wrapped in cloth and oiled paper. She treated it as though it were as magical as the amulet.\n\n\"My brother's travel permit.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How do I know you won't inform on me?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat stared at the packet. \"How do I know the authorities won't be looking for this permit?\"\n\n\"I promise, master.\"\n\n\"What good is a peasant's promise?\" Cat was ashamed of the sympathy she felt for this commoner.\n\n\"Even an inch-long worm has a half-inch soul, master,\" Kasane said softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat winced. Kasane's words struck her like a side blow that slipped through her armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She remembered Musui's kind smile. This whole business was bothering her far more than it should. She was becoming weak and foolish. This peasant's trifling problems were interfering with her purpose.\n\nCat stared at the travel permit. It would be of great use, but she had good reason for not wanting to take it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To accept it would burden her with on, a debt of gratitude." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "On could be a very heavy load indeed.\n\nCat took the permit and paced with it. Through the cloth and the oiled paper she felt its sharp, crisp edges. Ahead of her lay the mountains of Hakone and the most formidable government barrier of them all. The permit might get her through it.\n\n\"I'll take you as far as Fujisawa, the next town,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"From there you must make your own way.\"" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 3 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you, master. Thank you. May the gods smile down on you.\" Kasane bowed low again. Then she hastened to clean up and pack." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Lucia St. Clair. Story might have ongoing characters/plots - work with what's given" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The performance of Shichisaburo's company at Kambara's temple was open-air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The \"theater\" was defined by large straw mats hung from bamboo palings. From the wings of the temple's outdoor stage, Shichisaburo looked out over the house, or rather the yard.\n\nKabuki audiences were always boisterous, and Shichisaburo had the small bruises faded to a purplish yellow on his calves to prove it. The bruises had been inflicted by overwrought fans in the pit, the place-for-packing-them-in. They had reached up and pinched his legs when as the villainous character Lord Kudō he had strayed too near the edge of the stage.\n\nEven so, this audience made Shichisaburo uneasy. The people sitting on temporarily roofed platforms along the two sides were decorous enough. They were in the expensive seats, after all. But the ten-mon ticket holders, the farmers and servants and merchants' clerks, were crowded into the three center sections—the place-for-packing-them-in, the great beyond, and at the very rear, the deaf gallery. They sat on the ground on bundles of grass or on rented thick, rigid straw cushions that looked like half a tatami." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They seemed to be in even more of a ferment than usual.\n\nMost of the farmers had never seen a kabuki performance before. Their hamlets were too far from Edo or Kyōto or Ōsaka for them to travel to the theaters there. In any case government decrees forbade their attendance.\n\nThe government held that kabuki would waste the farmers' time and fill their heads with extravagant appetites. They would start using hair oils and tying their topknots with paper cords instead of straw. They would demand umbrellas and barbers, public baths and pawnshops, all of which would surely mean the downfall of the nation. But as with most of the admonitions posted on the government's bulletin boards, this one was being honored more and more in the breach.\n\nPeople shouted their orders to the purveyors of boxed lunches and tea and sake as they hawked their wares through the tightly packed crowd. With mouths full of vinegared rice and raw fish, the fans gossiped and discussed the performance and called out encouragement to Dragonfly on stage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shichisaburo noticed that the vendors were selling a lot of sake and shochu, a potent brew of sweet potatoes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The farmers were drinking especially heavily.\n\n\"A big crowd.\" The stage manager peered around the huge, stiffened sleeves of the outer robe Shichisaburo wore for the role of Lord Kudō. \"We'll have difficulty clearing away the corpses from the last scene.\"\n\n\"How many cockroaches?\" Shichisaburo asked.\n\n\"Only twenty or so of the abbot's relatives. Most are paying customers.\" The stage manager bowed and hurried off to chastise a writer who thought his ideas should take precedence over the leading actor's. He shook his head at the general state of moral decay that could produce such a preposterous notion.\n\nShichisaburo had other worries, however.\n\nThe Danjuros of the pit will go out on their ears today, he thought.\n\nWhen young swells of the lower classes got drunk they imitated aragoto, the \"rough stuff\" acting method of their idol, Ichikawa Danjuro." }, { "from": "system", "value": "You must use the word 'style' exactly 2 times in your response" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brawls sometimes erupted, and the police had to drag the combatants away by their topknots.\n\nBecause Danjuro had fallen ill ten days ago, Shichisaburo had been obliged to take over some of his roles and adopt his acting style. Shichisaburo suspected Danjuro had feigned illness long after he was better so he could stay behind in Edo and continue his clandestine affair with a young guardsman.\n\nShichisaburo knew that ignorance was what made a man resent his fate, but he wasn't happy to be playing the villain. The \"soft stuff\" style of the romantic heroes was more to his liking. The swooping blue-and-black-and-purple lines of the \"rough stuff\" makeup Shichisaburo had painted onto a white powder base were designed to throw his pug nose and well-padded cheekbones, forehead, and chin into high relief. They had transformed his pudgy face into the hideous mask of the evil Lord Kudō. Lord Kudō's scowl mirrored Shichisaburo's mood.\n\nEven with four or five men to hold up the train of his layered robes and the enormous square, shieldlike sleeves, Shichisaburo's costume weighed him down. He gestured, and an attendant slid a tall stool under him so he could sit back on it and still appear to be standing." }, { "from": "system", "value": "[System: Use 'where' 2 times in response]" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a device used often on stage to give the actors relief during long scenes.\n\nNormally Shichisaburo would have been napping in the small dressing room curtained off for him, but he couldn't relax today. He had to see Lady Asano in her first appearance in this dance interlude between acts of The Revenge of the Soga Brothers.\n\nEven though the temperature of the air was brisk, moisture formed where the thin copper base of his huge wig and horned headdress rimmed his painted forehead. He made another subtle gesture, and a hand and towel shot forward to dab delicately at his brow.\n\nShichisaburo had good reason to perspire. He was taking a tremendous risk inviting Lady Asano to stay on. At the very least he would be reprimanded for allowing a woman to work in his company. And if he were caught harboring a fugitive, his theater would be closed permanently and he himself banished to a place where his acting talents would not be appreciated.\n\nBut Shichisaburo enjoyed the intoxication of risk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he couldn't just give Lady Asano the money she needed and turn her out as she had suggested." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Under Shichisaburo's fierce makeup was a bland, world-weary visage that in turn belied a tenderness of heart. He couldn't bear to think of Cat braving the perils of the Tōkaidō with only that foolish young peasant woman for whom she had developed such an irrational attachment. Besides, Shichisaburo was so short-handed that he was desperate for reliable help.\n\nHe needn't have feared that Cat would betray him by a misstep. Dragonfly had been right. She was a master of bewilderment and a very fast learner. She had had only a few hours' rehearsal before this performance, but with confidence and grace she now made her debut by way of the musicians' and stage hands' small \"coward's door.\"\n\nAs a kurogo, a \"black man,\" she was to assist the actors and make sure props were where they should be. She was perfectly obvious to the theatergoers, of course, but she was as invisible as a shadow. She was swathed in the kurogo's black costume from the top of her head to the toes of her tabi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her face was covered by a black veil. Because black was the color of nonexistence, Cat didn't exist.\n\nCat's heart was pounding as she ducked through the low door at the rear of the stage. She walked behind the three singers seated in a row and behind the flute and samisen players and the three drummers, all of whom were absorbed in their music. Beyond them stretched the stage. It wasn't a large stage, but to Cat it looked vast and empty and lofty. Even though Dragonfly was dancing at the other end of it, Cat felt as if, far below, every eye in that sea of heads were watching her. With heart pounding, she crouched in her assigned place near the backdrop and waited for her cue.\n\nDragonfly was acting the part of a shy waiting maid who had been ordered to rehearse the lion dance. Left alone with the lion mask on a stand, she danced hesitantly at first." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the mask began to exert its power, however, her eyes were drawn more and more often to it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally she went to the stand, knelt, and took the lion head in her hands. Tentatively she clapped the hinged jaws a few times. Then, holding it out in front of her, she began to dance with it in time to the flute and samisen and the chanting of the singers.\n\nSlowly the lion head took control of the young woman. Dragonfly's tremulous movements became stronger, more powerful. He tried desperately to rid himself of the heavy mask, but he couldn't. It began leading him around the stage.\n\nJust as the mask had bewitched the waiting maid, so Dragonfly bewitched Cat. She was so mesmerized by his lithe, strenuous performance, she almost missed her cue. When it came she picked up the long flexible rod from which dangled a butterfly of bright red silk stretched over a frame of bamboo slivers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat took a deep breath and stood up slowly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Holding the butterfly out in front of the mask, she began her own dance in simple counterpoint to Dragonfly's elaborate one.\n\nHanshiro was in the audience, and he was as drawn into Cat's spell as she was into Dragonfly's. He stood with arms crossed at the rear of the deaf gallery, near the main entrance, the \"rat gate\" under the drum turret. He had taken his long-sword from the rolled mat and stuck it back into his sash. His umbrella and his iron fan were at hand.\n\nHe had already identified seven men who were probably Kira's retainers scattered through the crowd. An informer at the temple must have discovered Cat's presence and alerted them. Hanshiro knew there were informers. One of them had identified Cat's job on stage for him.\n\nOne of Kira's men wore a towel sling supporting his broken arm." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Frequency requirement: 'butterfly' - 2 occurrence(s)" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had ended up in the bottom of the ravine behind the pilgrims' inn in Mishima after Cat had disabled him. Hanshiro assumed he had been brought along to identify Lady Asano when they captured her.\n\nIn spite of the certainty of trouble, Hanshiro concentrated on the small, lissome figure in black. As he watched Cat dance with the rod, he thought it fitting that she should be the butterfly enraging the lion. It was a part she was playing well in the interlude that was life.\n\nThe beat of the drums became louder and faster and more insistent. The samisen sounded alarmed. The mask reared and swooped in Dragonfly's hands as the lion chased the butterfly on the end of Cat's rod. The wooden blocks rattled, increasing in speed with the swelling music and the drums' tempo until the tension seemed unendurable. Then, as the clappers gave a resounding crash, Dragonfly turned his back to the audience." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat crouched unobtrusively again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two other black-clad kurogo moved up next to Dragonfly. Each one pulled a thread in the shoulder seams of his robe. The pale purple silk with its drifts of clouds and flights of magpies dropped open. One of the assistants unfastened the wide sash, which also fell away.\n\nUnderneath was a dragon's bloodred robe emblazoned with huge gold flames and silver lightning bolts. Another assistant slipped off Dragonfly's wig while two more replaced it with the lion's wild white mane, the train of which dragged on the stage floor. A kurogo held a mirror while Dragonfly, still on stage and in a matter of moments, repainted his makeup.\n\nWhen he turned back around he had become a ferocious lion spirit. The crowd went wild.\n\n\"You're as good as your father!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "they shouted. \"We've been waiting for this!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat hardly heard them." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Word count directive: Use 'dragonfly' exactly 3 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She and Dragonfly moved as though connected by a taut, invisible cord. Time and again Cat whisked the butterfly out from under the lion's nose. She teased him with it until Dragonfly was whipping his long white mane about his head in a frenzy.\n\n\"Sun!\" The crowd was delighted. \"Light of my life!\"\n\nWhen Dragonfly chased Cat into the wings the audience applauded wildly. People in the pit threw flowers onto the stage. They called out Dragonfly's clan name, family name, and art name. The elite in the box seats extemporized poems to his genius.\n\nOne by one, Kira's retainers, using the uproar as cover, closed in from the sides." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They reminded Hanshiro of a line from an old poem, \"A flock of sparrows raises quarreling voices...\" He followed casually at a distance. The men were obviously planning to catch Cat backstage.\n\nCat didn't stay backstage long, though. She was to assist for the last act of the Soga brothers' famous epic. Kasane, now dressed as a boy herself to avoid the theater's ban on women, quickly handed Cat a towel. Cat lifted her black veil and wiped her sweaty face with it. Her heat was pounding with exertion and excitement.\n\n\"Did you see your pilgrim?\" Cat whispered.\n\n\"Yes!\" Kasane's eyes sparkled. \"He's sitting near the front. He sent another poem.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She put a hand to her waist where the letter was hidden under the sash of her jacket.\n\n\"I'll help you read it when the performance is over.\" Cat ducked back through the \"coward's door\" and crouched at the rear of the stage again while the turmoil died down.\n\nNow that she had finished the most difficult part of her duties, she could look out over the crowd and see individuals instead of a noisy blur. The first individual she saw was Hanshiro.\n\n\"Burei-mono!\" she muttered. \"Impudent clod!\"\n\nOnce she discovered Hanshiro she wasn't surprised to see his cronies, Kira's retainers, flanking the stage. Their robes were tucked up, and their sleeves were tied back for action. The pairs of swords projecting from their sashes marked them as samurai. Various affectations, such as the patterns on their jackets, the knots in their sashes, and the way they wore their headbands, identified them as residents of Edo." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat also recognized the man with the broken arm, and she was sure that more of Kira's lackeys were stationed behind the theater to cut off her retreat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the middle of it all sat Kasane's pilgrim, enrapt and oblivious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Daikon! Radish!\" A roar of disapproval met Shichisaburo's entrance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the first two acts the pit had formed a strong dislike for the villainous Lord Kudō.\n\nShichisaburo gamely declaimed his lines, although he was drowned out by cheers when the gallant Soga brothers appeared. The cheers turned to more shouts of \"Radish!\" and \"Turnip!\" when Kudō motioned imperiously for his guard to arrest the brothers.\n\n\"This play is no good!\" A hulking farmer stood up in the third row. \"Those two brave young men can't fight against so many. I, Buhei, am strong.\" He pushed up the sleeves of his coat to show the corded muscles of his arms. \"I'll help them.\"\n\n\"Yes, help them!\" the farmers shouted. Their fury at Kudō's villainy spread to the rest of the fans in the pit, many of whom were primed by sake for a diversion anyway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Help them!\" The cry was taken up as far back as the deaf gallery, where people weren't even sure what was going on.\n\nSomeone threw a heavy straw cushion at Shichisaburo, who ducked. The cushion landed with a smack on the wooden floor of the stage. The kurogo tried to fend off the mats that followed, but the musicians crowded through the \"coward's door.\"\n\nShichisaburo hiked up his skirts and fled for the wings in a hail of mats, wooden lunch boxes, soft persimmons, and chopsticks.\n\nWomen started screaming. The farmers stormed the stage. The pilgrim, fearing for Kasane's safety, began laying about him with his staff, and a brawl broke out in the pit.\n\nIn his haste to escape, one of the musicians knocked a round box off a stand just inside the wings. Shichisaburo's wooden head fell out of it and bounced across the stage. Buhei reached it first and held it up triumphantly by the topknot." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The people in the deaf gallery cheered and surged forward.\n\nCat saw Kira's men shoving through the crowd. They would reach the wings before she could. Hanshiro was close behind them.\n\nThe last singer was at the nearby \"coward's door\" pushing the man ahead of him into the one ahead of him. Cat grabbed him by the back of the sash and whirled him away. He collided with the first of Kira's men climbing onto the stage. They tumbled over the edge and into the farmers.\n\nAs Cat ducked through the low door, she scooped up a chopstick. When the samurai who was following her cleared the low lintel and raised his head, she swung the pointed end upward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gave it the full force of her arm, stabbing it through the back of his chin. As the chopstick drove into his palate, it impaled his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He dropped to his knees in the doorway and made squealing noises in his throat as he clawed at the short, protruding butt of the stick.\n\nCat couldn't see Hanshiro using his fan and umbrella to dispatch her enemies in the mêlée on stage. \" 'A flock of sparrows,' \" he chanted to himself as he sent another man sprawling, \" 'raises quarreling voices for a place to sleep.'\"\n\nHe was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Nameless, who attacked Hanshiro with the stout stick on which he had carried his lanterns. Hanshiro was surprised to see Nameless, but he wasn't surprised to find him a challenging adversary, even for one so young. The two of them were fencing with umbrella and stick when the police entered the rat gate and people began scattering through the matting along the sides.\n\n\"What's happening, younger brother?\" Backstage, Kasane was wide-eyed with fear.\n\n\"Ruffians!\" Dragonfly ran shrieking toward them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Save me from the uncultured beasts.\" When he clutched at Cat she felt the weight of a packet of coins drop into her sleeve. \"Follow my son,\" Dragonfly whispered.\n\nHe started screaming hysterically again, and he kept on screaming. He was screaming when he brought a stool down hard on the first of Kira's men to find his way through the dark maze of backstage corridors, piled with scenery, curtains, and props.\n\nThe boy slid open a closet door under a stairway and pulled away the pile of bedding stored there. He had washed off his makeup, but he still wore his red maid's robes, geta, and wig. Cat and Kasane crawled into the closet as Dragonfly's son's head disappeared through a trapdoor in the floor and down a ladder.\n\nKasane scrambled after him. Cat followed and closed the door over her, leaving them in darkness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She could smell the dust of centuries in the passageway. It must have been built for escape when bands of warrior-priests and monks from rival temples attacked and counterattacked in the ancient wars. Cat heard a rat's squeak and the skitter of small toenails across the plastered wall. She jumped when she felt the boy's gentle touch on her arm.\n\n\"Exchange clothes with me,\" he whispered. From overhead came shouts and the heavy tread of running feet.\n\nFeeling slow and clumsy in the dark, confined space, Cat stripped off her black head covering, the veil, her black jacket, trousers, and tabi. Going by feel, she handed them to the boy and received his robes and geta and wig in return.\n\n\"Continue along this passage.\" As he whispered he put on the kurogo's costume." } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "im ur writing buddy. i set scene (might have existing chars), u do three sentences like Lucia St. Clair" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ditch planks!\" By the time Cat arrived at the edge of the river outside Okitsu, the two porters were wading the swift, shallow current as it meandered through the boulders and across the shingle of the riverbed.\n\n\"Wooden privy shoes!\" She raged at their naked, moxa-scarred backs and their buttocks, which were clad only in faded gray cotton loincloths.\n\nShe would have waded in after them had not Kasane held on firmly to her sleeve." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat jerked it from her grasp.\n\n\"I would rather be attacked with swords than made a fool of.\" Cat hitched up her own loincloth under her trousers, as though about to go after them anyway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Robbers in every country, rats in every house,\" she muttered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For a warrior of your skill to attack them would be like skinning a louse with a spear, Hachibei.\" Kasane was diplomatic, but surprisingly firm. She feared her mistress's aristocratic temper would draw attention." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Word frequency rule: 'river' × 2" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The porters had demanded seventy coppers each, thirty over the usual rate, to carry Cat and Kasane across the river. The river was deep and treacherous, they said. They deserved the extra pay, they said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the river had been deep. Kasane had been terrified as the man carrying her on his back struggled against the rushing water. The cold water had pushed past her thighs, soaking her to her waist." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shrouded in grey clouds, the sun had just risen above the horizon when they reached the snore. The porters had found no return fares at such an early hour, so they had wandered upstream, around a sharp curve. Cat had grown suspicious and followed them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She'd arrived at the bank as they were wading across the real ford, which was much shallower." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The river had shifted in its bed recently, moving the sand bank away from the highway's crossing. Cat had been gulled.\n\n\"Cockroaches!\" Cat shouted one more imprecation at them while she untied the sandals hanging from her belt and put them on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pulled the left front opening of her jacket farther across the right and tightened her sash. \"Baka!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she muttered.\n\n\"We're on our way back, Your Honor,\" a voice called from above. \"We can take you cheap as far as Mariko.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two hostlers were the ones who had sold their hats to Cat and Kasane at the base of the climb to Satta Pass." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they were sitting on a bench in front of an open-air tea stand among booths selling sugared rice cakes, ear shellfish, and gift-wrapped packages of dried bonito and papery seaweed. The tea stand and the bench were on a rise, commanding a view of both the actual and extortionary fords. The postboys' mare was tied to one of the shop's front corner posts." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat knew Kira's men were questioning all the hostlers and kago bearers. Traveling back and forth as they did, they were in the best possible position to act as spies and informers. These two had big grins on their faces, which made Cat even warier." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Oishi had always said a laughing person could not be estimated." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your offer is kind.\" Cat bowed politely. \"But we shall ride the knee chestnut-haired horse.\"\n\n\"Well, then, walk if that suits you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The hostlers looked so much alike, they must have been brothers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had thick mustaches and goatees. A disorderly fringe of dusty hair stood out around the shaved crowns of their heads. They wore the small topknots of laborers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Their patched and faded blue jackets were dirty at the collars and frayed at the sleeve hems." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Curly black hair showed at the diagonal front openings of the jackets.\n\n\"Walking is very good for the circulation.\" The second man grimaced in ecstatic concentration as he dug in his left ear with a long-handled, ladle-shaped ear pick." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat glanced at Kasane. The swelling in her ankle had gone down some, and she was maneuvering well with her crutch; but Cat still felt terrible about making her walk.\n\n\"You understand why we can't hire a horse, don't you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "she said in a low voice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes. Don't worry about me.\"\n\n\"Boss Viper sends greetings,\" one of the men called out as Cat and Kasane started back toward the main road.\n\n\"The kago man?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The very one.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat took a firm grip on her staff, looked around for trouble, then climbed the steep path to the tea stand. Once she got closer she could see that the two men had drawn a grid in the dirt. While they drank their morning tea, they used river pebbles as markers for a game of Six Musashi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One moved the \"parent\" stones with a long bamboo withe." }, { "from": "system", "value": "/set_word_count: bōshū, frequency: 2" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The other had removed one of his sandals and was using his toes to grip and move the \"child\" pieces.\n\n\"I'm Bōshū.\" The stouter one bowed as he sat cross-legged with his feet tucked under his thighs. Cat knew that Bōshū wasn't his name, of course, but the province from which he came." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This hirsute love child of a bow-legged badger,\" Bōshū continued, \"is my brother, Hairy.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat was in no mood for what passed as wit among the laboring class. \"How do you know Viper?\" she asked.\n\n\"He's Boss.\" Bōshū seemed surprised Cat didn't know that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Everyone knows Boss Viper,\" Hairy added." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He instructed us to look out for you,\" his brother said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Though he wears rags, Viper has a heart of brocade.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat beckoned with her staff to a tall thicket of bamboo. The Bōshū brothers abandoned their game and untied their shaggy chestnut pony. As the mare followed them her hoofs clattered on the stony path." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat looked around to make sure no one else was close by." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did he tell you about me?\"\n\n\"It's as they say, honorable sir,\" Bōshū said. \" 'Word of an evil deed travels a thousand ri before good news leaves the gate.' Boss Viper sent word to those he trusts that you're the son of a poor but honorable warrior confined to his bed by a lingering illness. You're on a quest to recover a treasured pair of swords stolen from your father's house by his evil steward. The steward has since fled to the Western Capital. The thief's henchmen are pursuing you to keep you from recovering what's rightfully yours.\"\n\nKasane listened attentively to this latest version of her mistress's adventures." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat wore a neutral expression, but she was impressed with Viper's creativity." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Whether he and the Bōshū brothers knew Cat's real identity was a mystery, however.\n\n\"How did you like the view from Satta Pass?\" Bōshū untied the straw horseshoes from the saddle and began tying them on the mare's feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It wasn't an easy task." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pony stamped and fidgeted. She drew her purple lips up over her long yellow teeth, twisted her neck sideways, and nipped at him as he worked.\n\n\"So you were the ones who left the barring-stone,\" Cat said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And tied the crossed feathers of my father's crest to it, she thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We noticed the Edo sharks swimming upstream.\" Bōshū and Hairy managed to look both noncommittal and conspiratorial.\n\n\"How much would you charge to take us to Mariko?\" Cat asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because you're the first customers of the day and we're going that way anyway, we'll give you a bargain for luck. Only two hundred coppers each.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Two hundred coppers!\" Cat narrowed her eyes and shifted the staff she was leaning on, a warning not to cheat her. \"You said Father Viper told you to watch out for me.\"\n\n\"He didn't say we had to starve doing it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hairy led the mare in front of the stone wall that kept the hillside from sliding onto the road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With a merry jingling of the brass bells on her bridle, the pony turned to glare balefully at Cat through her long, disheveled forelock, white as mulberry threads." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat felt a tug on her sleeve.\n\n\"Please, Hachibei,\" Kasane said. \"You ride. I'll walk.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat handed her bundle to Hairy and climbed onto the retaining wall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We should take advantage of this opportunity to wash our clothes while the devil's away.\" She held out a hand to pull Kasane up.\n\nThe saddle was a rickety affair consisting of two oaken arches front and rear with two thick pads of cloth-covered straw between them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A pair of open wooden frames large enough to hold one passenger each hung on either side of it. The panniers' bottoms, with their bars and knobs and the ridges formed by the rope lashing them together, were padded with a pair of shabby, thin quilts, folded to fit. The horse's blanket was decorated with large black characters spelling \"good luck.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the looks of the saddle, \"good luck\" was an appropriate sentiment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a great deal of chivvying and clucking and whipping of his bamboo rod, Bōshū kept the mare in one place long enough for Cat to lower herself into the nearest box. Then he turned the horse so Kasane could clamber into the one on the other side. He tightened the straw rope that served as a cinch and compensated for the differences in the passengers' weight by dangling stones from Cat's pannier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the entire contrivance looked as if it might come apart or slide under the horse's belly at any moment.\n\nHairy tied Cat's and Kasane's bundles across the mare's haunches, but Cat rested her staff along the rim of the box so it would be close at hand. She wedged the soles of her sandals against the corner pieces to brace herself for the jolts to come." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She shifted about gingerly in a futile effort to fit her shoulder blades under the frame's crosspiece." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bōshū jerked on the nose rope, and the mare lurched forward with a tinkling of bells and a great explosion of wind. As Cat's pannier rolled and pitched to the rhythmic jingle of the pony's brass bells, she thought of the river porters again. Musashi wrote of crossing at a ford in his Fire Book." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crossing at a ford occurs often in a lifetime, he had written." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 4 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It means setting sail even though your friends stay in harbor. It means discerning the enemy's capabilities and attacking at his weak point. If you succeed in crossing at the best place, Musashi had said, you may take your ease.\n\n\"Bōshū,\" Cat said, \"do you know of a maker of weapons between here and Mariko?\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "The user will write a bit then you need to write around 11 sentences continuing directly from the user's text. Characters and story elements may appear without introduction - roll with them naturally. Try to mimic the style of Lucia St. Clair." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A line of singing children danced past Hanshiro and his new traveling companion, the pilgrim who had been following Kasane. The children were calligraphy students from a school on Tub Makers' Street in Mariko. They wore identical white robes and bamboo hats, each inscribed with an inspirational verse painted by their teacher. To keep their group together they held on to a straw rope that caused frequent entanglements on the crowded road.\n\nNow that the rain had stopped, the muddy Tōkaidō was a-swarm with youthful pilgrims again. The urge to go to Ise had reached at least as far as here. Hanshiro's companion smiled at the noisy children as though they were innocent, poppy-cheeked Buddhas. In fact, everything seemed to cause him delight.\n\n\"They say that what with this holy call to the children and the arrival of Lord Wakizaka and Hino's men, Shimada looks like an earthquake in a thread shop,\" he said.\n\nHanshiro grunted in reply.\n\nThe young man called himself Traveler." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had an angular face, a wide mouth, squared jaw, and narrow black eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His high nose belied his peasant origins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wore brown leggings and brown cloth arm coverings with flaps that extended to the first knuckles of his callused fingers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had on a wide-brimmed pilgrim's hat with the shallow rim that shielded his face. He wore a pilgrim's robe and trousers of cheap white cotton. He carried a wicker pack on his back. His pilgrim's scroll was rolled into his straw sleeping mat to keep it dry.\n\nThe lad was a relentless optimist. As far as Hanshiro could tell, he was a model of his class. He extolled hard work and the nobler virtues. He was friendly, earnest, honest, cheerful, and candid. He was almost handsome. Hanshiro wanted nothing more than to run his sword through him and leave him squirming in the mud.\n\nFor Hanshiro, emotions of all sorts were infrequent and unwelcome guests, but he had never experienced jealously before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He had gone back on his resolve to ignore Lady Asano's vulgar indiscretion, and he was furious with himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Instead of continuing his journey, he had waited for the recipient of her letter to retrieve it from the temple message board in Okitsu." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The discovery that Lady Asano was carrying on a flirtation with a peasant had Hanshiro almost speechless with rage.\n\nNever turn loose the reins of the wild colt of the heart, he thought bitterly.\n\nTraveler was such a simple, countrified sort that Hanshiro suspected a ruse. He was too innocent to be plausible. Maybe he was putting on a cat show, feigning innocence.\n\nHanshiro preferred to think so. He wanted to believe Traveler was not a suitor, but a conspirator in the Asano cause. The love letter was only a subterfuge, a way of passing messages.\n\nTraveler wasn't behaving like a conspirator, though. He was behaving like a man addled by love. He looked like a pigeon that had swallowed a peashooter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "For the past five ri Hanshiro had listened carefully for mistakes in his speech, but his dialect was flawless." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Either he was a superb actor, or he was what he appeared, a rice farmer from the province of Kazusa." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he was receiving love poems from the most beautiful, ferocious, accomplished woman Hanshiro had ever known." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The woman who called herself the Floating Weed.\n\n\"I haven't spoken to her yet, but when I saw her with the actors in Kambara, she was dressed as a boy.\" The worst of it was that Traveler insisted on discussing his dalliance. \"She looked charming, really charming. And she's so cultured for someone of her class. She writes the most exquisite poetry.\"\n\n\"Umh.\" Hanshiro was appalled by the possibility that with very little encouragement this bumpkin would recite Lady Asano's amorous poetry.\n\nHanshiro had coaxed from the young man the information he wanted. Now he was ready to quit his maddeningly genial company. Traveler was to leave his reply to Lady Asano's last letter on the board near the east gate of the main temple in Mitsuke. He already had bargained with a messenger to run ahead with it, but he was hopeful of finally speaking face to face with his beloved there. That explained his ebullience.\n\nUnless, of course, the whole story was a fiction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bow down! Bow down!\" A liveried runner trotted along the road, scattering people in front of him.\n\nBehind him Hanshiro heard the calls of Lord Wakizaka's shouters. Above the dispersing crowd he could see the rhythmic shiver of the plumed fringes on the heralds' tall staffs. The rear of the procession wound up the slope and out of sight around the crest of a hill. Pedestrians were either disappearing into the refuge of tea houses to wait out the train's passing or they were kneeling by the side of the road and bowing until their heads touched the ground.\n\nHanshiro sighed. No wonder the Tokugawa family had held on to power for a hundred years. The mandatory annual visits to Edo drained the provincial lords' coffers. And when Wakizaka traveled he insisted on making a display of every sandal bearer and armor polisher he was allowed.\n\nHanshiro didn't much care that the expense was ruining Wakizaka and adding to the influence of the money lenders. He did care that the Tōkaidō would be clogged for days." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unless he stayed ahead of Wakizaka, he wouldn't be able to find a bed or a river porter or a decent meal anywhere." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fortunately, staying ahead wouldn't be too difficult since daimyō trains only averaged four or five ri a day.\n\nTraveler, however, was awed by the ranks of banners, emblazoned with Wakizaka's crest and snapping in the breeze. He gaped at the guards in their matching jackets and hakama and wide-winged vests. The pike bearers and bowmen and the caparisoned horses bearing the swordsmen were followed by clerks, grooms, footmen, sandal bearers, and servants of all varieties.\n\nJust coming into view on the slope were the women's black-lacquered palanquins with their swaying gauze curtains. Walking beside them were maids and ladies-in-waiting wearing bright cloaks and veils and twirling their parasols. Still out of sight behind the hill's crest was the baggage train that extended back a ri.\n\nThey entered the town limits of Mariko in a silence that intensified the solemnity and splendor. The heralds twirled and tossed their tall, feather-decked staffs in rhythm with their stride. Behind them the footmen drew their left feet up to their lower backs in unison and extended their right arms, then reversed the order. As they advanced they appeared to be swimming through the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hats and umbrellas and banners and feather-fringed pikes danced with the motion of the march." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The government that required travel of the daimyō tried to deny it to the peasantry. Government edicts forbade \"sight-seeing and rambling over the hillsides.\" As with most edicts, this one was often ignored, but Traveler had never in his nineteen years seen such a sight. He prostrated himself in the mud but indiscreetly tilted his chin so he could peek at the marchers as they approached.\n\nWith legs astraddle and his hands on his hips, Hanshiro looked down at him. If the fool weren't careful, some fifty-koku field warrior with rice paddy manure still between his toes would catch his eye, take offense, and lop off his head as though it were a cabbage.\n\nHanshiro didn't consider Traveler's well-being his concern, however. He took a few quiet steps backward, turned, and joined the people ducking into side streets.\n\nBy nightfall he reached Fujieda and found it crowded, too. The daimyō's retinues were augmented by youthful pilgrims who slept everywhere. He read a note pinned to a door: \"We have gone to give thanks at Ise.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The word of the holy signs found in Okitsu had surged on ahead of Hanshiro." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "People were camping in courtyards and under the roofs of well sheds. Charitable merchants were offering free food and tea and towels and sandals. As the town watchman made his rounds, he called for a lost child.\n\nThe horde of pilgrims was wonderful cover for someone passing as a pilgrim herself. If Cat had started this flood, she could now lose herself in it. She would be the translucent fish, the white-bait. \"The white-bait, just like the color of water, itself moving,\" as the poem said.\n\nHanshiro knew he could find lodging and a warm welcome at the Iris inn no matter how crowded the Fujieda might be. The Iris's gentle, soft-spoken proprietor would serve him herself. She would ladle scalding water over him in the bath. She would laugh softly behind her hand as she caught him up on the gossip since his last visit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When the night lantern burned low, she would slide under Hanshiro's covers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "When he left the next day she would demonstrate her love." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She would leave her gate and come out barefoot into the cold dew and the public's gaze. She would wave to him until he was out of sight.\n\nHanshiro had never felt worthy of such affection, bestowed like a gift, without thought of thanks or repayment. He certainly had never encouraged it, except to treat her with the grace and affection he accorded all the women he admired. Her silent, enduring devotion had always mystified him, but it had been as comfortable and warm and all-enveloping as the Iris's satin quilts.\n\nThoughts of the Iris's cooking and quilts would have to suffice for now. Hanshiro only paused to look through the gate and into the inn's small garden. He knew the Oi River was in flood and Shimada was jammed with people; but he would not stop. He would use a ruse that was risky but had worked for him before.\n\nHe had supplied himself with a lantern on which was painted \"official business.\" It was the sort carried by the men escorting government messengers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It would get him across the river ahead of the processions of Hino and Wakizaka." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The moon rose late, halfway to morning; but it was worth the wait." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even in its last quarter it was so bright that it threw shadows from the rocks in the road. The silvery light gave a soft, spectral glow to the houses and trees and signposts. It gleamed from the bald heads of the Jizō statues in the stone niches along the roadside.\n\nAs he strode through the light, Hanshiro savored the elegant syllables of an old poem.\n\nDrawn on by moonlight\n\nHe passes right by the inn\n\nWhere he meant to stay;\n\nA traveler in the night\n\nIs walking tomorrow's road.\n\n\"Ssst. Your Excellency...\" The nighthawk stood in the shadow of a wooden bridge that arched over a stream. She was careful not to let the moon's beams fall on her face and expose the wrinkles there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"For a trifling thirty mon I shall play your flute as it's never been played,\" she whispered hoarsely." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 3 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm grateful for your kindness, auntie,\" Hanshiro said good-naturedly. The moonlight and the solitude had restored his composure. \"But I haven't time for heavenly music tonight.\"" } ]

[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue with the same vibes as Lucia St. Clair. Story might have ongoing characters/plots - work with what's given" }, { "from": "system", "value": "Produce a starting prompt please." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hanshiro sat at the writing stand in Futagawa's shrine to Hachiman, the Shintō god of warriors. With a dagger he sliced the tip of the fourth finger of his right hand. He squeezed the finger until a puddle of blood formed in the bottom of a small bowl. He dipped a fine-haired brush into it, put it to the thick sheet of white paper, and began writing an oath of loyalty.\n\nCat watched him warily. She was seated on a pile of cushions that raised her head above his. The position symbolized that Hanshiro was below-the-eyes, a subordinate.\n\nThe abbot gestured to an acolyte, who brought forward a small brazier, set it down near Hanshiro, and fanned the coals. When the blood had dried, Hanshiro lit the paper and held it over another bowl while it burned. A second acolyte added hot water to the ashes, and Hanshiro swirled the bowl to dissolve them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then he drank the mixture." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he finished, the abbot and his assistants discreetly rose, bowed, and left. Kasane started to leave, too, but Cat motioned her to stay. She remained kneeling unobtrusively in a corner, but in effect Cat was alone with the bounty hunter.\n\n\"That was an impressive performance.\" Cat's voice was chilly and remote. \"Did you drink a similar oath in the service of Kira?\"\n\n\"No, my lady.\"\n\n\"Then why have you pursued me?\"\n\n\"The mistress of the Perfumed Lotus wanted you found.\" Hanshiro knew that fact certainly wouldn't raise him in Lady Asano's esteem." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"My sword would never have harmed you.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Crows circle your sword guard. Are you of the New Shadow school?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Hanshiro was impressed. Lady Asano was a keen observer.\n\n\"Doesn't the New Shadow school teach that weapons are unfortunate instruments hated by Heaven's Way?\"\n\n\"Heaven's Way is to maintain life.\"\n\n\"Then why do you offer to kill my enemies?\"\n\n\"When one man's evil causes suffering for thousands of people and that man is killed, then the blade that deals death is the one that also gives life.\" Hanshiro could see that Lady Asano still distrusted him. \"Perhaps time will convince you of my sincerity.\"\n\n\"I don't have time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat tugged at the front hem of her secondhand jacket." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pulled the overlapping flaps tight so they wouldn't bag open when she stood up." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Under his steady gaze she had become acutely aware of her shabby traveling clothes. \"All I wanted from your oath was your promise not to betray me.\" She bowed curtly. \"Now my companion and I must start. We have far to go, and the sun's already high.\"\n\n\"Your Ladyship...\"\n\n\"I do not have the right to be referred to in that way,\" Cat was irritated. If you weren't an ignorant provincial, you'd know that, her silence said. She motioned to Kasane, who rose and gathered up their two bundles.\n\n\"Then what shall I call you?\" This interview wasn't going as Hanshiro had planned it.\n\n\"You have no need to call me anything.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat hardly glanced at him as she took her furoshiki from Kasane, who helped adjust it on her back. \"Our paths fork here.\"\n\nHanshiro didn't show his surprise, but he had assumed she would be grateful to have his sword and his arm as protection.\n\n\"Lady Asano...\" The command in Hanshiro's voice was subtle, but so compelling that Cat hesitated at the door. In spite of her reproof he called her by the title her father's death had stolen from her. \"I know you must be on your way, but grant me a few moments.\"\n\nCat returned to the cushions. She regarded him with a neutral, unreadable expression.\n\nHanshiro was more pleased than if she had meekly accepted his offer. She had heart. She had spirit. She had dignity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was a mistress he could be proud to serve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And he would serve her, no matter what she said now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The travel permit from Lord Hino's councilor is for me and my disciple and a servant,\" Hanshiro said.\n\n\"Yes. You might as well take it back.\" Cat drew the letter from the front of her jacket and held it out. \"It won't help me, but I thank you for your trouble.\"\n\nCat knew her behavior was rude, but she was angry. He had harried her and frightened her and now thought he could make amends with a prick of the finger.\n\n\"At least allow me to present you with a small token, as an apology for the anxiety I've caused you.\" Hanshiro pushed a new wicker traveling box across the tatami. Then he bowed and left so Cat could open it.\n\nA gift. Cat drew the box to her and stared at it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Gifts could be very expensive for the recipient." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What price would the Tosa rōnin try to extract for this one?\n\nWhen Cat took the lid off the box, Kasane moved close to see the contents. \"It's beautiful,\" she breathed.\n\nCat held up the garment on top of the pile of folded clothes. It was a pale chrysanthemum-colored robe of wadded silk lined with striped satin. Pine trees, each needle embroidered, bordered a rushing blue river. The river started at the left front hem, spiraled to the right and around the side. On the back a huge carp the color of cedar bark leaped upstream against the rapids. It was the design invariably worn by actors portraying the youngest Soga brother in his struggle to avenge his father.\n\nUnder the robe were a hempen hakama and formal haori jacket the color of cedar and the accessories to make up a young warrior's traveling outfit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the bottom of the box was a servant's livery of the same color with a horizontal stripe of dark rust." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll give them to the abbot.\" Cat folded them neatly and replaced them in the box. \"He can sell them to raise money for the temple.\"\n\nKasane made no argument, but Cat could see she was crestfallen.\n\n\"These clothes will make us conspicuous,\" Cat said. \"At the very least they'll attract thieves.\"\n\nKasane read her suitor's poem aloud to Cat.\n\nAlone in the night\n\nI visit you by dream paths—\n\nThere's no blame in that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He's a bold, romantic rogue, Kasane.\" Cat laughed." }, { "from": "system", "value": "<<USAGE LIMIT>>: 'would' must be used 2 times" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Here's my answer.\" Kasane was shy and proud. She had written this one herself. In her letter she confessed that someone else had copied the earlier poems for her.\n\nI would read your words by moonlight\n\nOr by the reflection of the snow\n\nOr by the glow of the fireflies.\n\nAnd if there were no moon or snow or fireflies\n\nI would read it by the light of my heart.\n\n\"He'll like it, I'm sure.\" Cat curbed her impatience to get started." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Thick gray clouds were moving in overhead, and she could hear distant thunder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cat felt Hanshiro's letter under her jacket. \" 'Now is not the time to be thinking of yourself as one all alone.' \" Surely the lowering sky was what was making her so melancholy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kasane hung her letter to the Traveler on the big wooden message board near Inari's shrine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cat whirled when someone spoke from close by.\n\n\"Forgive me, my lady.\" Nameless bowed low.\n\n\"You're the lantern painter.\" Cat raised her staff, ready to strike. She recognized the young warrior from the attack at the ferry on the Tama River, and she was ready to break his nose again.\n\nHe looked much younger than Cat remembered him, probably no more than fifteen or sixteen. The bruise across his nose and under his eyes had faded to lavender. The nose itself was misshapen from her blow.\n\n\"Forgive me, Your Ladyship, for failing you.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Didn't Hanshiro-san tell you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was trying to guard you, but I failed. In the fight last night he took all the topknots, shu, shu, shu. He prevented me from killing your enemies.\"\n\n\"Who ordered you to follow me?\"\n\n\"No one.\" The boy looked thoroughly dejected. \"I was a page in Akō when the news of your father's shameful betrayal arrived. We all wept bitter tears. I swore with the others to defend our lord's castle to the death or wreak vengeance on his enemy.\n\n\"But the councilor betrayed us. He meekly handed over the keys to the shōgun's agents. Then he became a profligate in the brothels, probably with the money he stole from your father's estate.\"\n\n\"And are there no plans to avenge the Asano name?\"\n\n\"None that I know of, my lady. I went to Edo to try to kill Kira myself, for one cannot live under the same heaven with the slayer of one's lord. But I was unsuccessful. Kira's house is a fortress. His son, Lord Uesugi, has stationed extra bowmen there. I had decided to follow my lord in death when I heard you had escaped. I set out to find you and try my insignificant best to guard you against your enemies.\"\n\nThe lad had also hoped that if some of Lord Asano's former retainers were plotting revenge, Cat would lead him to them. He'd been disappointed all around." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What have you been doing between Kawasaki and here?\"\n\n\"I was in the scuffle at the theater in Kambara, and I joined the fray behind the pilgrims' inn in Mishima.\"\n\n\"You were there?\"\n\n\"You almost broke my nose again.\" In spite of his misery, Nameless smiled shyly. \"Forgive the impertinence of a humble boy, my lady, but you were magnificent. You were also very difficult to follow.\" He didn't mention that he had blundered into Cat at the mountain pass near Nissaka and had pretended to be a babbling dry-goods clerk.\n\n\"And the Tosa rōnin, what do you make of him?\" Cat despised herself for asking, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to hear everything she could about Hanshiro." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He can drink a great deal, my lady.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boy grimaced at the memory of trying to match Hanshiro at draining sake jars. \"At first I thought he was one of Kira's hirelings, but he's on your side after all. That's a great stroke of fortune for you. He's an accomplished swordsman.\"\n\n\"Thank you for your help.\" When Cat picked up her bundle the boy tried to take it from her. Cat gently pulled it away. \"Kasane and I will continue to travel alone,\" she said.\n\n\"I can carry your things and protect you from ruffians and make arrangements at the inns. I'll bargain with the river porters and the ferrymen and heat water for your tea at night.\"\n\n\"We'll get along by ourselves.\" Cat wished she were as sure of that as she sounded. \"We prefer to travel as we have been.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She was half tempted to accept his offer; but after watching Hanshiro's sure, graceful movements, after looking into his dark, gold-flecked eyes and reading his poetry, she couldn't bear the thought of spending her days in the company of this boy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She rationalized that she didn't know anything about the boy except that he was persistent. She couldn't trust him any more than she could trust the dangerous, taciturn rōnin from Tosa. Yet how to refuse without wounding his pride?\n\n\"I have an important, personal favor to ask of you,\" Cat said. \"It will require great discretion, cunning, and courage.\"\n\n\"Anything, my lady.\"\n\n\"I want you to take a message to my mother,\"\n\nThe boy's eager expression faltered. \"Back to Edo?\"\n\n\"Yes. It grieves me to think how worried she must be. But the task is a dangerous one. My enemies will try to intercept you if they find you have word of me. You understand, don't you?\"\n\nCat told the absolute truth, but her face lied artfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her face said the letter would contain a message of far greater moment than reassurances to her mother." }, { "from": "system", "value": "Next message should be approximately 3 sentences." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She let the boy think it would be the final link in a plot to avenge her father.\n\n\"Your wish is my will, my lady.\" The boy wasn't entirely fooled." } ]