private Bushi no Tamashi

[Azura 1,107]

Akira paused completely as her face flushed red with a confused look on her face. She didn't know how to react to his awkward proposal. 'This is surely a joke, is it?' Aki thought to herself. The others started laughing, but Akira stayed silent for a bit and calmed down before she replied him. "Being in a relationship is serious business. It's not something to joke around with." Akira quickly finished her bowl of rice and placed it back down on the table. She got off her chair and teleported back to her room in a rather aggressive and grumpy fashion, leaving red particles behind as she disappeared into thin air.

[Chickey 383]

"Seems you just got rejected Isamu, that's tough..." Saigo commented, starting a few more bouts of laughter from Rin. He was about mid-way done with his meal by this point. He sighed and continued to eat. "However, I suppose she is right. Someone's feelings shouldn't be played around with." He said, finishing his rice and downing the shot of sake he poured. He got up and walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

 

He stopped at Azura's door, sliding it open enough to the point where he could see her. He leaned up against the doorway and abruptly spoke. "I'll have to apologize for both Isamu's and my own actions, I shouldn't have laughed. He tends to do things like that often, after all I've known for him for while. So even I have been subjected to his sometimes poor taste of humor. However he practically doesn't know what boundaries are." He explained with his usual emotionless voice. "Relationships are indeed a topic that shouldn't be fiddled with in such an overboard manner."

 

Rin was still eating, almost to a point of looking like she was in a competition with Isamu.

[Azura 1,107]

@,

"I-It's fine. I'm sorry for storming off like that, Saigo." She apologized back. "Just tell him not to mess with my feelings.." Akira quietly said while looking down on the floor with her back facing Saigo. "Oh, and thanks for the meal." She blushed a bit as she turned around and smiled. Akira suddenly felt light-headed and collapsed onto the floor.

[Chickey 383]

"It's really no problem, I probably would of left too. And I've already informed him not to do such a thing like that anymore. However I can't promise he'll follow through with that." He said. He was about to reply to her last sentence, but then watched her fall over. He grew another confused face and walked over to her, now standing above her with his arms crossed. "You alright?" He inquired, his voice hinting a bit of concern now. He had never seen someone just randomly collapse.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Pumkin

[Azura 1,107]

Akira opened her eyes and saw Saigo standing right beside her. "I just feel a little bit seasick, that's all.." she replied with a soft voice as she carefully stood up. "I-I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me." Aki walked towards her bed and climbed onto it. She didn't want him to worry about her so she lied about being seasick in hopes that he'll actually believe her.

[Samurshy 708]

Arashi stripped himself of his robe, and crawled under the covers. Had it been an hour ago, he would not have been tired. But the combination of the shame and embarrassment from the recent conversation made Arashi mentally exhausted. It did not take long for Arashi to drift off. And soon he found himself in a dream 

Arashi was standing alone in what looked like a large garden. Ripe fist-sized tomatoes, ready to pick, hung loosely from a vine. Bushes with many variations of multicolored berries lined the perimeter of the garden. The garden was a veritable of lush, verdant, plant life and it all seemed massive. The air carried a fresh breeze that smelled of springtime. Arashi reached to the nearest bush to pick some red raspberries. As his hand passed the front of his face, he noticed something. His hand was small. No, this hand was a child's hand. He gazed down at his feet, this was definitely a child's body. He was only about a meter off of the ground. Just as he was about to pick a berry, he heard a familiar voice. 

"Zeke? Zeke? Lunch is ready" The voice called out from somewhere off in the distance.

The voice was definitely familiar, but Arashi couldn't place the voice to a face. The voice was a soft, female voice, that almost seemed to dance upon the breeze as it was carried from the mouth of the person it belonged to, to Arashi's ears. Even though he heard the voice, he still reached for the bush. Plucking the berries from the shrub, and plopping them in his mouth. The sweet tang of the raspberry filled his mouth. The taste was also very familiar. He was about to pluck more when he felt a hand on top of his head. He turned his gaze from the bush to the direction of the person who's hand was atop his head. His eyes first reached the bottom part of the person in question's body. It was definitely a female. A beautiful female at that. She was in a white, frilly dress, nothing like Arashi had ever seen before. She was definitely an adult woman, and Arashi would wager to guess that she was in her twenties. The woman was bent over as if to be eye level with Arashi. Her hair was bright yellow, like the fresh straw that Arashi fed horses at the barracks. But Arashi couldn't make out facial features. The sun was behind her head, casting a glare that made it impossible to see her face. 

"Zeke. Did you hear me, honey?" The soft voice came from the woman that stood before him. 
"Zeke..."
"Zeke..."
"Zeke..."
"Zeke...:

The dream slowly faded away, and the only word that stuck with him was the name, Zeke. Was it a dream world? Or was it a glimpse at something else? The dream had come and gone all too quickly, and with that, Arashi awoke.

[TheBreech 91]

As Fen examined his sword, he decided he'd keep it as his own, rather than toss it aside like he had done with others. He wanted to name it but was unable to think of a good name for it. Ultimately, he fell asleep trying to come up with a good name and the blade rested beside him because it was an inanimate object he fallen asleep holding.

[LOLINKLOL 6]

Isamu was surprised to see Akira storm off like that, he did not expect her to react so harshly to such an obvious joke. He decided it would be best to get a second opinion on it. "So Rin, think I should apologize? I mean that was a pretty obvious prank what with the ham bone and all. Maybe I should just go and explain everything in black and white. What do you think?"

Edited March 16, 2014 by LOLINKLOL

[Chickey 383]

Saigo walked over over to a place to sit parallel to Akira. "I would of noticed by now that you were nauseous far before you fell over. This isn't sea sickness." He stated. "You either don't want to tell me what's actually happening, or you don't know yourself." He added with a sigh he said as he pulled a stool over and kicked his legs up in a comfortable position, shutting the door as he did so. It was clear he didn't have any intention of leaving yet. "However there is no reason to hold anything back. Most of the people that know me would describe my personality as a emotionless monster that lacks morals. I won't judge you for anything, especially not some sort of sickness." He explained. "That's somewhat wrong however. I'd do quite a bit of things to be actually emotionless. Not feeling would make things easier." He mused on. 

 

Rin was still eating ravenously. "I wouldn't be surprised if Saigo is currently doing it for you." She said in between bites before stopping. "Obviously I thought it was funny, but girls are weird about relationships. For instance you know even Saigo would probably get even madder if you did anything like that to him." She finished.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Pumkin

[Azura 1,107]

"If I use magic when I'm over-emotional, I either feel light-headed or end up unconscious." she said as she continued. "But as I said, it's no big deal." Akira removed the magic barrier that surrounded her room. Bright blue particles started to dissipate as the spell wore off. "If you're wondering what that was, it's a protective spell to keep my mind at peace from attackers when I go to sleep." She explained as she got off her bed. 

[Chickey 383]

Saigo merely nodded. "I see... I apologize if I seem to be asking for too much information. But the last thing I need is for you to collapse out there with me not even knowing what it's about. Something like that could even prove deadly." He said as he slid the stool back with his foot and got up. "That could be a problem in the future" He thought as he walked over to the door. "Well I don't want to hold you up for too long. I'll probably leave you be for now unless you need anything?"

[LOLINKLOL 6]

"Yeah I suppose you're right about that. Knowing Saigo I'd be in pretty hot water right about now. Or cold water considering where we are right now." He then picked up his chopsticks to resume eating, not to be outdone by her capacity to eat. "So, what do you think those two stick in the muds are talking about?" He said as he resumed eating.

[Azura 1,107]

Akira walked over to Saigo and asked "Would you happen to have a quiet room for me to meditate in?" She wanted somewhere to rest in without any noise so she can regain her composure. Aki closed her eyes and manipulated the sound that was bouncing against the surface of the entire ship to see where the most silent room was. She opened her eyes and said "What about that room over there?" Akira pointed in the general direction through the wall.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Azura

[Chickey 383]

Saigo looked over to the room she pointed at, almost impressed with her being able to pinpoint what he would consider his own "meditation room". "Ah, I had that room as insulated as possible from sound for that reason right there when I had this ship built." He commented, looking at the room. "Sure, I have no problem with letting you use it." He finished before walking off to the deck of the ship. His vulture flew down landing on the pole. Seeing it wasn't making any sounds that sounded like the death of a baby whale, he figured it hadn't detected anything odd around them. He climbed up to the crows nest of the ship right next to the bird and sat down at the edge, simply observing the seas for now.

 

"Well I'm not sure exactly, but if anything, knowing Saigo they're probably just both not talking at all. That tends to be how Saigo likes things." She chuckled as she ate.

[Samurshy 708]

Arashi's eye's opened wide, as the dawn barely broke through the open window. Even though he technically had a good night's rest, he still felt fatigued. Maybe it was the fatigue from last night's debauchery, Arashi cringed whenever his mind wondered on that. Or maybe it was the mental fatigue of his mind pondering the dream that last night gave him. Either way, Arashi, while not physically drained, was definitely mentally drained. 

Arashi donned his black robe, and opened the slide doors to the balcony. By the look of the sun, Arashi could tell that morning had only just begun. Arashi stretched and yawned. As he stretched he could smell the sharp scent of sweat.

"Whew... maybe Natsuki was right..." Arashi said out loud, to no one in particular. 

At that very moment, Ikaku entered the room. 

"Arashi-dono, the boat that you requested for the expedition, is not quite ready for you yet. It should be ready for you in a bout an hour. ~In the mean time... I would suggest you head down to the hot springs and take a bath..." The bald man smiled. Arashi could tell that Ikaku was on the verge of laughing but kept it in.

"Oh, ha ha." Arashi chided sarcastically. 
"Fine. I'll go and take a bath." Arashi said

Ikaku bowed and then walked out of the room.

Arashi looked down on the hotsprings. He noticed that no one was at the hotsprings yet. Arashi was about to walk down the stairs to the exit of the building when he heard a female voice. 

"I-is sensei awake yet?" The female voice asked. The voice was right outside of his room.

OH SHIT... That's Haruki's voice!

Haruki was a short, thin female around 20 years old, who worked as a maid around the baracks. Normally, Arashi wouldn't have a problem with females around the barracks, but this female was different. Haruki fell in love (or maybe it was just lust), with Arashi the first time she saw him. The problem lied in the fact that, not only did she have no problem with showing her love, even though Arashi had turned her down many times, she was determined to not take no for an answer. Haruki took to every method of trying to get Arashi to have sex with her. This led to many awkward situations for Arashi. 

"Oh, well, no, he is not awake yet-" Ikaku said.

Arashi had a deal with Ikaku that if Haruki were to ever show up at his room, that Ikaku would stall her as much as possible.

"I don't care, just let me into his room" Her high pitched voice sounding ever more frustrated with every second Ikaku was stalling her

Arashi had no time to lose. He grabbed his fresh outfit, his satchel, and his katana. Arashi attached the scabbard to his back and drew the katana, holding it with both hands. The beautiful mirror sheen of the katana reflecting the light from the sun. He pored his soul energy into the hilt of the sword.  

"Shiroi Inazuma!" Arashi said

The instant he said those words, his katana burst forth with blue energy, changing its form from a traditional katana with an ornate tsuba, to a pure white double-edge katana that almost resembled a cross between a gladius and a katana. 

Arashi picked up all his belongings he needed, then with one hand he aimed the point of his sword upwards. He then tossed the sword like a javelin. It flew through the air with grace. The sword lost a lot of its weight when it became soul forged, making it easier to through through the air. The sword arced, with expert precision and stuck into the rock wall of the hotsprings far below.

Arashi then flicked his right wrist, making his body teleport to the sword 150 yards below. One moment he was standing in his room, the next instant he was standing in the hotsprings with his katana in his hand.

Arashi pulled the katana from the stone wall. He then slid it into its scabbard (which had also changed appearance upon soul forging to match the sword). Once the sword's tsuba touched the scabbard, the katana reverted back to its original state. He shed his robe and put all of his belongings in a pile. 

Arashi then slunk into the hotsprings, allowing the warm water to soak into his bones. 

((It's the next day guys. The maids should inform your oc's that you are able to go down to the pier and board the ship. I had my character wake up an hour early so he could bathe. Stupid Natsuki, with her hurtful words about Arashi's stank. >_<))

[Azura 1,107]

Akira watched Saigo leave her room. She went over to her bed, grabbed her bag and made her way towards the isolated room with the least amount of noise. She couldn't teleport there because she had no idea how it looked like. Teleporting without a clear image could end up killing you if you accidentally teleport into a wall or any solid object.

 

She approached the room and opened the doors. Akira looked around the room before going to the centre of it and drawing a rune on the floor with a special chalk that was coloured green. "This should do the trick." She told herself as she sat down in the middle of the rune and casted a spell. "Cylense.." The rune underneath her started to glowed grass green.

 

The rune acted as a noise muffler, preventing any sort of sound from travelling within a small radius. The rune will shatter if enough noise bounces against the barrier, so a quiet room was necessary. 

[Chickey 383]

Saigo observed the sea from the crows nest, watching for anything besides the seemingly endless waves of the void like ocean. However he had no such luck in finding anything besides the dull currents of water. He sighed, realizing that he had now resorted to looking at water for entertainment. He propped his head up by his fist and waited. There was a point in his life where he could look to other people for enjoyment, though that time had long since passed now. In fact, he could look to almost nothing for enjoyment now, nothing but music and destruction. The combination of the two at the same time were probably the only few times that Saigo could say that he had truly enjoyed himself since the coup against Narumi. The absurd way he was able to pull it off would be that he had a band travel behind him when he conducted a raid on a village. 

 

Bored now, he simply closed his eyes, now shutting even the sea out from his thoughts and he simply tried to think about nothing. 

[Azura 1,107]

The room was quiet and tranquil, and everything was at peace. She took deep breaths and exhaled slowly, but the air wasn't fresh. Instead, it was stuffy, and that was holding her back from being at peace. "This just won't do.." She told herself before she exited the room and went on the deck. "Hey Saigo, I'll be back in a bit." Akira shouted over to Saigo before she teleported high up into the skies, flashing upwards from each teleport.

 

She was around 30,000 feet up in the infinite sky as she started gaining speed back down. "Woooo! This is so much more relaxing.." She exclaimed, still high up and falling as she giggled with happiness and laughter. Akira usually does this when she wants to free her mind from everything within it and just simply feel free. It was also good practice to strike down at unexpected enemies with the power of gravity.

[Gyro Zeppeli 120]

*Shiho awoke in the morning to a knock at the door. She sat up and yawned.*

"Yes? This is cat. Who is door?"

*She said rather nonsensically.*

"Umm, the ship will be ready to depart soon. Please be ready to go in a little while." *Said a confused voice from the other side of the door. Then the sound of footsteps walking away were heard. Shiho rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stood up. She quickly undressed and donned her normal clothing and armor. She then packed up her supplies and such, picked up her bag, strapped her sword to her belt and her tanto to the back of her shoulder, and left the room, heading for the docks.*

 

"Hey! There you are kitty cat!" *A man with short messy brown hair walked up to Shiho. He had small bull horns sticking out from his head, and wore a long black cloak tied at his waist, with a standard Katana strapped to his belt.* "I've been waiting for you to show up." *Shiho looked surprised to see the man.*

 

"Onii-san? Tsubaki? What are you doing here? Are you coming also?" *Shiho asked her brother.*

 

"Nah, I wasn't chosen for this, unfortunately. I came to see you off." *Tsubaki said to her.* "And to give you some advice."

 

"And what advice would that be?" *Shiho asked him. Tsubaki got a serious look on his face.*

 

"I know that you don't think you are right for this mission Shiho, but you need to remember, you were chosen above almost all the other capable warriors here, that means something. It means that you are worth something, despite what you yourself might think. You need to have more confidence in yourself, don't let others push you around, and don't back away from a challenge of any kind. You are strong, and you are intelligent. Don't let anyone, not even your own psyce think anything else." *Shiho smiled at his pep-talk.*

 

"Thanks. It would be a bit of a help if I could properly soul forge though." *Shiho said. Tsubaki smiled.*

 

"Here's a tip, its a little something that helped me get it right. What you need, is a focus. Something to center yourself on, to allow you to put everything out of your mind but your soul and your sword. I have just the thing for you." *Tsubaki reached into his cloak and pulled out a charm. It was a small badge, a silver diamond shape with six golden fangs, two pointing up, and four pointing down. Shiho looked up at her brother.*

 

"This is your..."

 

"Yep, I want you to hang onto it for me. I expect you to bring it back to me once you've finished your mission." *Tsubaki looked at his sister with a sad face, then hugged her tightly.* "I'm gonna miss you kitty cat. You'd better stay safe out there."

 

*Shiho was a bit surprised at first, but then hugged her brother back.* "I'm going to miss you too Onii-san." *They held the embrace for a minute and then released each other. Shiho took the badge and attached it to the pommel of her Uchigatana. It fit snugly, and would not fall off. She then looked back at her brother. Tsubaki smiled.*

 

"May your blade stay heavy, and crush your foes under its weight." *Tsubaki said.*

 

"May your blade be swift, and always meet its target." *Shiho replied. They hugged once more, but this time, for only a moment, and then Shiho turned and headed off for the pier, looking for Arashi to tell him that she had changed her mind about the tournament, and that she will be participating after all.*

[Azura 1,107]

Two minutes have past and she was slowly approaching the ship. She cleared her mind of all her troubles and focused as she was seconds from hitting against the deck. Akira teleported right above the deck and dropped back down safely. "What a blast!" She said with excitement. "Hey, do you know how long till we reach Tani? I saw an island quite far away when I was on the way back down." Akira asked Saigo.

[Chickey 383]

Saigo watched Akira fall from the sky with a now amused face. Once she landed back on the deck, he turned his view over to the horizon. "Now that you mention it, I believe it will be coming in sight right.... about... now." He said as a tip of land was now coming into visibility off in the distance. "Not much longer now, though the hard part will be beginning soon. Now we'll be actually fighting for our lives, and the lives of our countries people." He said, jumping off from the crows nest and back onto the deck of the ship. "Failure is not an option, so I hope everyone is at there best for this mission. We'll need it." He finished.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Natsuki yawned and looked over as a hastily drawn note was shoved under the door. Surely I do not smell yet: I have yet to spray anyone. She began her morning ritual of brushing her tail, and donned her armor. Each piece she placed on her person was inspected, oiled, then securely strapped. She tied her tanto to her belt, and grabbed her naginata. She picked up the note, which told her the boat was read, and stuffed it under a breast plate. She left quietly, though not in much of a hurry. The scents of most of her other team members still remained inside the barracks, for now.

[Samurshy 708]

An hour later Arashi stepped out of the hotsprings full of vigor. 

Arashi had dawned his new outfit that the emperor had tailored for him. It was a light blue shokozu (ninja outfit) with Lord Hana's name emblazoned on the back of it in kanji. He slid his katana on his back, The beautiful katana was commissioned by Lord Hana from the famous swordsmithstress Nayuki Yashi. It was 49" long, with black rayskin grip, the blade made from divine steel, guaranteed to never scratch, chip or dull. On the bottom of the sword, attached to the pommel was a string attaching a feather to it. This feather was the only belonging he had with him after he woke with amnesia 4 years ago. At first, the feather was just sentimental, but it did not take long for Arashi to figure out that it held a power as well. In fact, Arashi was positive that the feather he had was a Taniaku. Even though Arashi's main objective for going to Tani is to collect the Taniaku, Arashi had another underlying reason. 

If Taniaku came from Tani, then this feather must have originated there as well. Perhaps someone in Tani knows about this feather, and maybe even my past. 

This thought had been spinning around in Arashi's mind ever since the recon team came back with the information on the Taniaku. Even though Arashi wasn't completely dedicated to figuring out his past, he still felt like he was incomplete without know it. He felt as if he had been split into two, the Arashi from four years ago, and the Arashi now. And he felt that if he was to be whole again, he would have to figure out about his past. 

Arashi secured his satchel over his katana on his back, and began his walk down towards the pier feeling fresh and clean. 

[Azura 1,107]

Akira looked off in the distance as a small corner of the land starting to revealing itself. "The anticipation is killing me.." she mumbled under her breath. "Well I doubt the Narumi are going to show up the second we arrive.." Aki said as she walked over to Saigo, materialized two bokken and tossed one over to him. "Lets have a friendly duel while we're waiting.." She said with a smirk as there was no way Saigo could just walk off on her. "This time there's a few rules. You can't use that ring of yours and I won't use magic. Once you're hit twice by your opponent, you're out. That is all." She explained to Saigo.

[Chickey 383]

Saigo caught the training sword and twirled it in his hand as he talked. "Fair enough. However you should be aware that all of my life I've been training not only as a swordsman, but as an anti swordsman." He said. "Magic and ranged abilities are my only weakness." He replied as he stopped spinning the sword as it pointed at Akira. Now he simply waited for Azura to attack, ready to counter at any time.