[hider=Calm before the storm]
Inigo awoke to the sound of Helen, his younger servant, throwing up into a wooden bucket that she had kept by the side of her bed. This was her first time aboard a ship. Until recently it had been her first time she had been outside of Cawaport. Inigo had originally questioned Hathorn, her uncle and his other retainer, as to whether it was wise to bring her with them. However Hathorn had told him of Helen’s wish to travel the world and had requested that she be allowed to join. Hathorn had been with Inigo for years and had never asked for anything in return, he felt it was only fair he granted him this one request. Right now Hathorn remained asleep in the hammock above Helen, seemingly undisturbed by the unpleasant noises his niece was currently making. Inigo however decided that he would get no more sleep this morning and arose, dressing himself in his long coat and climbing the stairs to the deck. Many of the crewmen were already up and ignored Inigo as they went about their tasks. Inigo himself was careful not to disturb them and quietly went to the bow of the ship to watch the sun rise as he often did back in Cawaport. 

Kanna watched Inigo quietly as he emerged from the belly of her vessel and made his way towards the forward most area of the ship. She was sitting at a small table that was placed for her on the quarterdeck and was dressed comfortably in black hakama with her hair tied back in a ponytail. Since having received orders to join her brother at the front lines, Kanna forgoed any formal wear and dressed in a way so that she can don her armour in a hurry should a situation deem necessary. Strapped to her left hip was her katana and kodachi, two blades that she would carry at all times moving forward unless social etiquette dictated otherwise. Most of her people ignored the foreigner as he moved among them, though he seemed careful not to be a nuisance to their duties. She wondered what brought the foreign commander to her deck so early in the morning as she carefully sipped her morning tea. 

Inigo watched as the sun started to rise over the horizon, feeling the warmth slowly warm his face. It was a comforting feeling and reminded him of home, when he used to watch the sun rise from his balcony with his wife sleeping behind him. He felt eyes on him and as he turned he caught the eyes of princess Kanna. Out of respect he gave her a short bow. 

From her seated position, the young akaiban noblewoman returned the foreign commander’s bow, as is required by her culture’s rules of etiquette. While most of her countrymen had an indifferent or negative view of the westerner, she found that the man to be pleasant enough and thus far had enjoyed his company. She was surprised to discover that he had come out for the same reason as she did, to enjoy the sunrise, as there would most likely be few opportunities to do so once they reached the front lines. She took another slow sip of her tea, savoring it’s warmth as it traveled through her body. 

Just as the sun finished stretching over the horizon, Toshiro appeared to the young woman’s left to tell her that they were approaching the shores of Noiba signaling the end of her morning tea. She sighed softly as she placed her cup on the table's surface and stood.

"Let us prepare to meet my brother then."
[/hider]



[hider=Home at Last]
Goto Kenji stood silently on the long stone quay, killing swords tucked into his sash at the perfect angle, long blood-red kimono moving ever so slightly as the north wind buffeted him with a gentle caress. A bow was slung across his back in its protective leather case, the string removed, and a bag of arrows hung beside it. Like all samurai he was prepared to fight at a moments notice and would kill without question. That was the samurai way.

Out in the bay, the late afternoon sun bathing two tall beige sails trimmed with Akaiban red and filled with a wind that smelled strongly of the distant mountains. The vessel was being forced to tack back and forth across the bay and Kenji found himself enjoying the sight immensely. There was beauty to be found in all moments, in the shift of the sails, the gentle wake thrown up by the sharp prow, in the way she turned with a perfection that made his heart ache.

On the mainmast, flapping fitfully with the wind, was Kanna-Samas sigil. It was almost identical to her fathers, save for two extra circles in the bottom left corner. A coiled dragon, gold on red, made up the rest of the shogunate seal. None but a member of the shoguns family would fly such a flag. Every vessel she passed, and there were hundreds in that anchorage, dipped their own standard in salute. 

He waited as the ship drew closer, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the woman he had come to escort to Daichi. At his back fifty other samurai were drawn up in ranks to welcome the Princess and the barbarian general. It was all that could be spared at the moment. A single Runelord was present but the man seemed somewhat distracted, constantly looking around and staring at the hills that ringed the harbour. 

A single pier, one of a dozen, had been quickly cleared, swept, and cleaned for the arrival of the Princess. Everything had been made perfect, even the freshly woven tatami mats that would serve as a path from the ship to the waiting horses. Small flowers had been scattered about the stone, Kannas favourite; a suggestion of her brothers. Three maids waited as well, their heads bowed, hands holding freshly steaming tea and cha; should the Princess and her guests wish it. Yes, everything was perfect. 

Kanna herself was not surprised by the welcome she was receiving as she stood by the handrail on the starboard side of the vessel. She wore finely crafted black armour atop similarly colored hakama, her swords strapped tightly to her left side and her fox mask strapped to her right. Steady lungs took in deep, even breaths as she focused her mind on those around her and on shore. She was working on memorizing the life forces of those on land as she was already familiar with the ones around her having spent so much time with them on her travels. 

As the boat slowed, seasoned hands tossed ropes to anchor the ship and position the gang plank so that they could disembark the Reaver. Kanna collected herself and left the railing to join Toshiro who had been waiting for her to be ready to descend onto land along with the rest of her party. She paused to speak with Inigo whom she was now confident enough to converse with in his native tongue after spending many long hours with Meredith's teachings during their travels.

"Inigo-san, I have instructed Meredith to be by your side from here on out until you are confident in your understanding of our culture and language.” She spoke carefully and with a light accent. “If you do not have any pressing questions, then I will lead us off the ship.”

“Thank you, my lady” Inigo said with a bow before signalling to his retainers to gather his belongings as he followed Kanna down the plank. 

Kenji, the maids, and assembled samurai, all bowed as one the moment Kannas feet touched the stone quay. He stepped forward and bowed again.

“Kanna-sama,” His stoic face broke into a grin. “Welcome home.”

He caught sight of the barbarian general who came behind and bowed, though much more stiffly, to the man. Despite himself he was impressed with how the newcomer carried himself, a confidence that Kenji was not sure he would feel if the roles were reversed. 

“Inigo-san, welcome,” He said in stilted Formarothian. “The Crown Prince told me you would be present. I welcome you to this land.” While he understood the words, they were difficult to say, and he found them graceless and without flow when compared to Akaiban; a language whose vowels had a liquid beauty all their own. 

The maids, not needing a cue, quickly stepped forward and bowed, offering both Cha and tea to Kanna and her guest. “A refreshment, Kanna-sama?”

Kanna lifted a hand to politely refuse the refreshments , "No thank you, but perhaps Inigo-san would like to try our tea?" From the corner of her eye she could see Meredith explaining things to Inigo as she had once done for her. Turning her focus from her guest, Kanna returned Kenji's smile with one of her own.

"Kenji-san, what a delightful surprise to see you here! How is your family?"

“They are well, thank you.” He beamed, honoured that she had remembered to ask. “They were evacuated west along with all the other soldiers from here, by orders of the Daichi-sama.”

The maids had stepped forward to offer tea to Ingio during the exchange and Kenji wondered idly how the foreigner would react, watching the exchange out of the corner of his eye. 

As Inigo walked down the plank he was impressed by the welcome party that awaited them considering how close they were to the Iba front lines. Then again he was travelling with Iba royalty and had it been one of the De Reimer siblings landing on the shores of Formaroth a similar reception would likely be received. Though he did not know his rank of authority here in Seikatsu, he returned a bow to the samurai so as not to risk offence and took the tea that was offered to him, feeling it’s warmth against his hands. As he was about to take a sip from the cup something caught his eye up on the hills in the distance, a flash of white light. As he looked up the flash of white light disappeared and was instead replaced with a red one. In a matter of seconds Inigo saw that this red light was a great ball of fire flying towards them getting bigger as it did. Out of instinct he pushed Kanna with all his strength towards Kenji in a desperate attempt to save her from the fire that would soon engulf them. 

Kanna wasn’t prepared for the force Inigo used to push her forward and she went flying into Kenji. Confusion was soon replaced with anger as she tried to regain her composure, her speech reverting back to her native tongue. “Who has lost their mind?!”

“Elves!” The Runelord screamed just as the fireball slammed into them all. He was gesturing toward the distant hilltop. In an instant, the samurai drawn up to receive Kanna exploded into motion as officers bellowed orders. Men leapt to their horses and thundered away toward the distant killtop even as Kenji, off balance from the unexpected body slam, toppled into the water with a curse. 

The explosion of the spell sent Kanna into the water as well, which helped to save her back from being horribly burned as she splashed into the salty shallows. She was lucky she wore the armour of her people as she would have never been able to kick herself back up to the surface under the weight of armour from other countries. As the young noblewoman breached, coughing out some of the water she took into her lungs, Kanna began to register the sounds of painful screams that came from those who survived the impact. Using her legs, she kicked herself back to the dock and hauled herself up using the footholds that were bored into the stone blocks. 

Kanna was taken back by the scene that met her when she clambered back onto the docks. Where she had once stood at the edge of the dock was a blackened corpse burnt beyond all recognition. The plank that once connected the Reaver to shore was simply gone and a large charred hole took it’s place on the ship. Shiphands laid strewn about the deck, moaning in agony from splinters and burns. Those who remained on the dock that were neither thrown into the ocean or took to pursue their attackers laid on the charred stone. Flecks of fire swirled around the scene as the local winds appeared to have picked up the remains of flower petals and tatami mats. 

Pulling herself together, she looked for any recognizable face among those strewn about her and found that she couldn’t find any of them. Kanna wondered if they were thrown into the water as she had been and ran to look into the waters around her. 

Kenjis enraged face greeted her a moment later as he scrambled onto the stone quay to join her. His robes were a mess, his armour twisted, his short sword missing. He wasted no time as he looked her over quickly, and then ran for his horse at the head of the quay.

“Protect the Crown Princess.” He snarled at the dozen samurai who had remained before leaping into his saddle and kicking his mount after the swarm of horsemen who were making for the distant hill. The remaining samurai swiftly closed in on Kanna, surrounding her with their bulk and hurrying her toward the remaining horses. 

Kanna knew her duty, but couldn’t help feeling torn between leaving and staying behind to help save those who were injured, a by product of her training as a restorative mage. She placed her left foot in the stirrup of an available horse, a beautiful painted mare, and hauled herself into the saddle. “Keep up.” she instructed simply to the men around her before nudging her horse into a full gallop after Kenji. 

[/hider]

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