open Cultures Unite (1x1 with GeneralDirection)

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

They all leave as a group, though Asahi stays a second longer for her sister. Soon, all of them recollect outside the hospital. "...Well, it's getting late. Silver-san and I should head back home. We've got dinner to think about, and then bed time." Samurai says. "Yeah. I need to finish my work around the city too. Silver-san, it was good to spend time with you. And just so you know, you're free to visit any time you like." Asahi says with a nod. Denki clears his throat, darts his eyes, and tries to act stoic. "Yes, I'd say my investigation is complete. I didn't notice any malice, so I suppose you're innocence checks out, Silver-san. Perhaps you could also visit my corner of Japone sometime... You know, if you want to, and if you've filled out all the proper requests forms and such... It might even be fun to--!! What?" Denki is interrupted when he sees the faces as Asahi and Samurai.

At first, they were staring at him in disbelief, then they smirk, scaring him even more. "You like Silver-san~!" They say in sing-song manner, making Denki give a light blush across the ridge of his snoot. "Ah! I--I do not!! I was just being generous, is all~!" Denki says trying to defend him. "Just admit it~! You like him now." Samurai says with a giggle. "You even used the -san honorific. Don't deny it! We all use it now." Asahi says with a mile-wide smile. "'UGH!!! Just knock it off, all ready!!" Denki runs at them like he's ready to attack, but Asahi and Samurai dodge him easily, laughing happily.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver smiles and replies “Yes, it was nice spending time with you too, Asahi. You were a great host! And everyone else too, of course. When I return, I will most certainly come back here to see you.”

The kirin can’t help but chuckle at Denki as he tries to act uninterested. He wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it, and his reaction to their teasing just makes it even more obvious. “Glad you enjoyed yourself, Denki… even if you don’t want to admit it.” He says with a grin. “At any rate, today was lovely. I for one have no shame in admitting I had fun. Thank you all for the memories.”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Denki huffs and makes himself neat and tidy again. "Well, I should get going. But you know where to find me." Denki magically becomes bolt of lightning and takes his leave.
Asahi bows and walks off in her own direction.

Samurai starts walking back towards the location of his palanquin. "Well then, shall we get going? Tomorrow's another day, full of possibilities."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver waves to them both, feeling a bit sad as they parted ways. But Samurai was still here with him, now’s not the time to be unhappy. “Yes, like you said, it’s getting late. Time to head home, have some food, and get some rest. I do have something important I’d like to discuss with you, my friend. Perhaps we can talk while on our way back home.” He says as they start walking back to his friends’ palanquin.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Of course, my friend. Whatever you want." Samurai tells him. As they walk through the city, there is a moment of dread in the air, as if a pair of eyes are watching them from a nearby alleyway. And yet, should Silver turn and check, he'll find that the alley is empty and no one is there. In fact, the feeling of being watched will completely disappear just as fast as it happened.

In no time, they reach the palanquin. When they are inside, and Samurai's kurokos are transporting it, Samurai and Silver are free to talk privately. "So what's on your mind?"

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver gets into the palanquin and waits until they start moving before speaking. ‘Well, first of all, on our way here, I had this weird feeling like I was being watched. Didn’t see anypony that looked suspicious, but I know that feeling… anyway, that’s not what was on my mind earlier. At some point I will need to head back home, and when I do, I’m not sure when I’ll be coming back. Or if I’ll be coming back. I’ve been getting the feeling that some ponies are expecting me to stay here, but I can’t do that. At the very least, I would need to go back home and talk to my family and friends about it. I have been enjoying my time here with you all, but I’ve been away from home for a while now. I guess it’s just really hard for me to make that decision.” He states sincerely.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Samurai listens and looks away for a moment. "Being watched? I've felt that way before myself." He continues to listen to Silver. "To stay? Because of what Hanako said?" Samurai offers a kind smile. "Silver-san, that was a turn-of-phrase. We're all just happy that you're here among us, that you exist. Nopony expects to stay if you don't wish to. You have the freedom to stay or leave, whatever you want. That's what we filled out all those forms for the other day. I won't ask you to stay. Your freedom to travel is something many samurai would love to have. But my friend, I do hope you'll at least say goodbye before you leave."

Edited October 25, 2022 by Oni Musha

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere just yet, and of course I’ll say goodbye.” He says reassuringly. “I’m just not sure how to make that decision…yet. Your country isn’t exactly next door to me, so I feel that once I leave, I can’t guarantee I will be back anytime soon. I have other ponies’ lives to consider besides my own. I’m really thankful that everypony here has been so welcoming of me. I’ve had a wonderful time here so far, but I’m not going to leave just yet.” He comments as he produces the art he was working on earlier from his saddlebag and continues working on it.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Well, anything I can do to make things easier, I'll glad to help. I just can't go with you when you leave. As a Samurai, I am not allowed to travel outside of Japone unless one of my superiors gives the order. But I know you can always find Japone again. We're on most maps, so we're not going anywhere." Samurai lightly jokes.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver is silent for a minute before responding to his friend. “I don’t think there really is much anypony can do, sadly. It’s up to Vesperr and my sister, Charlotte. When I get back, I’ll talk with them about it, but that conversation could go in any direction, really. It’s too bad you’re all bound to protect your country like that, I’d appreciate some company on the trip back home. But I understand you all have your obligations. Now then, let’s just focus on the present for the time being, I’m not leaving yet. We can still have fun together.” He smiles, looking over to Samurai.  

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Samurai nods and respects Silver's choices.
For now, they return to Samurai's home. And much like the day before, they have dinner, spend some casual down time together, and call it a night. What will the next day hold?

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Once they arrive at Samurai’s home, they have dinner and relax for a bit before heading to bed. It takes a while for sleep to find Silver though, his mind is somewhat troubled by the conversation they had earlier. He wanted to come back here again to spend more time with his new friends, but he couldn’t exactly leave his marefriend and sister behind. Maybe it would have to be a trip that he made on his own, then. Eventually, Silver drifted off to sleep and another morning began.

“Hey there, my friend!” Silver greets Samurai as he makes his way into the kitchen. “Ready for another adventure? Well, maybe nothing quite like what we went through yesterday…” He trailed off, briefly remembering the previous days’ events.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

The morning seemed like a normal morning. Nothing out the ordinary. However, upon walking into the kitchen, the one sitting at the table rises up to reveal a much taller and more slender form, so it's clearly not Samurai Equine. It looks directly at Silver. ...It's a gazelle! It has an intense, yet somehow blank, look on its face. And it's chewing on something round and tube-like.

Edited October 29, 2022 by Oni Musha

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver blinks a few times as he’s not met by his unicorn friend, but rather by… a gazelle? This was certainly not what he was expecting. He was a bit unsure of how to respond, or if he should say anything at all… it’s too early in the morning for this.

“Um… hi?” He cautiously tries to greet the gazelle. Samurai never told him he had other creatures staying at his place, but then again, it wasn’t exactly his business whether he did or not.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

At that moment, Samurai burst into the room and leaps at the gazelle, trying to grab it! But the gazelle leaps out of the way. "Stop that gazelle! It's eating an important letter from the shogun!" Samurai says before the gazelle begins to run through Samurai's house. He picks himself off the floor and gives chase.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Silver’s eyes go wide upon seeing his friend pounce at this seemingly innocent gazelle, until he hears Samurai tell him that the gazelle was eating an important scroll for the shogun! The kirin immediately joined in giving chase around the house.

“You know this guy?” He calls to Samurai as they round a corner.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

The kurokos do their best to seal off windows and doors so the gazelle can't escape. Samurai gives chase with Silver. "No! He just wondered in here from the wild. He's definitely a long way from home." Samurai explains.

They chase him into a sand garden, where Samurai does some of his training. "All right, big guy... No sudden movements..." Samurai tries to circle around him. "Silver, would it be cruel to try and use magic to hold him down? I don't want to harm him, I just need to get that scroll."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Oni Musha

Samurai brought up a good point, what was this animal doing here? It didn’t belong here. Speculation would have to wait for another time, though. They chased the gazelle until they reached the training grounds, where Samurai tried to circle around him.

“No, I don’t think so, Samurai.” He replies. “Did you want me to try and keep him held down while you retrieve the scroll?”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"If you think you can." Samurai says.

The gazelle can tell he is being surrounded. Samurai stays oddly still behind him, waits, then leaps at the gazelle! The beast tries to run off in another direction, but Samurai manages grab it's hind legs as he hits the ground. "Silver~! Now!" Samurai says moments before the gazelle kicks Samurai, forcing him to let go.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Firefighter Equine

Silver nods his head solemnly in confirmation and waits for his friend to get into position. Samurai manages to grab the gazelle’s hind legs, but the gazelle is quick is react and kicks back, forcing his friend to let go. Silver’s horn pattern lights up and he uses his magic to try and keep the gazelle pinned to the ground for as long as he can, hoping that Samurai can grab the scroll in time.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

The gazelle struggles against being magically pinned, clearly startled. But it doesn't matter, because it works! With the gazelle pinned, Samurai is able to leap back up and pry the scroll from the gazelle's mouth! "I got it, Silver! You can let go now." Samurai says, shaking any gazelle saliva off the scroll.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Firefighter Equine

“Awesome!” He responds as he releases his magical grip on the gazelle. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the scroll about? Must be something pretty important for you to go through all that to get it back.” He remarks.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

The gazelle leaps around, happy to be free. The kuroko escort the confused animal out of the premises as best they can. "Any scroll from the shogun is important, my friend. More often then not, they are my next orders. Which means time is now of the essence." Samurai unravels the scroll, which does look a bit more regal now that it can be seen out of the gazelle's mouth. He reads it. "Not good... An origami shinobi was last spotted on Highway E4A, far outside my region of Japone. The shogun wants me to investigate immediately. The samurai in charge of that region will assist me."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Firefighter Equine

“Oh no, that doesn’t sound good at all.” Silver comments once his friend is done reading. “Although I have to admit, I haven’t the slightest idea what an origami shinobi is.” He explains. “But, if the shogun wants you to investigate it right away, especially if it’s outside of your region, it must be very dangerous.”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Samurai leaves the training grounds and starts to put on his formal attire, putting his mane into a top knot. "Do you wish to accompany me or stay behind? If the Shogun is calling me to do this, it could get dangerous. I wouldn't blame you if you want to sit this one out." Samurai says.