Located behind the eternal flame temple is the eternal cherry blossom garden that embraces its warmth and shuts out the cold. It is also connected to the same cycle of natural energy that fuels the eternal flame making the cherry blossoms and plants stay alive eternally. The garden has existed since ancient times prior to Zaishin's construction and has been preserved by Zaishin's dwellers for centuries. Zaishin residents frequently visit the surprisingly vibrant and massive garden for meditation and an escape from the rest of their country's brutal cold.
Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:58 pm
IkiomiO-dorohana The Child of the Cherry Blossoms
Though incredibly young, Ikiomi truly looks like a mature woman; what with how she is taking her stroll in the garden, looking dignified and respectable. Though if one knew her personally, they'd know she's a lot more free-spirited than that; and she only really carries herself as such because it became habit, though her mother's zealous teaching probably played a big part in her getting to that point. A short while later, she arrived at her destination. A little clearing between the trees and flowers that leads upto a small pond. With nothing but a breath, the flowers and cherry blossoms around her seemed to bloom yet more vibrantly. "Sometimes, I truly do wish I could just stand here and be at ease; eternally among the cherry blossoms..." Ikiomi then sighs, and continues: "... But I suppose that wouldn't do, I still have a duty to my family and people." Proceedingly, she takes up a completely different stance; almost one of a dancer. As she performs a few twirls, her body seems to dissappear into the falling petals. A few moments later, she seems to materialize entirely out of a cloud of petals. "Hmm..." A look of gentle focus appears on her face for a moment, as her hands glow pink for a moment. Slowly, seemingly conjured from the chakra in her hands, a sphere of water forms between her hands. Slowly, the sphere grows larger; until it eventually swallows her hands. She then slowly walks over to the pond, and lets the water flow out into it. A gentle smile plays across her face as she again focuses her chakra into her hands, and forms a large number of rose pink pebbles; which she then places in the pond. As she stands up, she stretches her arms out around her; as she does so her palms glow pink yet again, and a gentle wind seems to wrap around. The petals in the air all seem to start converging around her, floating and dancing there; almost as if held up by sprites. As she begins to twirl again, seemingly vanishing into the swarm of petals, seeds seem to spill out from her sleeves; and float about the storm of petals. A few of the seeds seem to sprout midair, eventually falling to the ground when their little roots poke out.
Several minutes later, Ikiomi reappears just like before from the cloud of petals; and looks down at the little sprout around her feet, a gentle smile playing across her face. "Don't worry little ones... You'll be safe here..." She says as she sits on the ground near the sprouts, her voice barely above a whisper. Carefully, she sows the seeds into the soil; saying a little prayer for each, wishing for their well-being. Standing up, she opens her palms; which almost immediately flood with flower petals, as if she herself turned into some kind of petal fountain. The petals, as if of their own accord, float up into the air; and began dancing around her. Looking around for a moment, she focuses her chakra into her palm and forms a bunch of rose pink pebbles in the shape of petals. She then throws them towards the deeper parts of the garden, and almost immediately shifts stance again; and this time seems to beckon to the stones as they fly through the air. As if commanded to, the stones stop midair and fly back towards her. They then land gently her outstretched hands. Smiling at the little stones, she places around the spot with the sprouts.
With another sigh, she transforms into a cloud petals; and seems to fly deep into the garden, away from the any of the normally traveled paths. Soon finding another clearing, though the grass in this one a few inches taller. Changing back to her normal form, she sits on the ground. "Here's... to hoping no one finds me for a bit..." She says as she waves her hand through the air infront of her, causing a group of strange looking flowers to bloom. The petals on the flowers are a deep purple, almost a ultraviolet color. The smell, however, is intensely sweet; almost sickeningly so. "If... that book was right, these should be... extremely toxic..." Ikiomi says, a slight look of worry playing across her face. "... I should survive this... I hope..." She says, picking one of the flowers. "Forgive me, little one..." She says, and then eats the flower. Immediately, her face goes pale; and she begins to cough. "... Violet... *cough* Death... it's so... sweet..." She barely manages to say, her breathing quickly growing slow and heavy. She then focuses her chakra, and her whole body glows a gentle pink color. Almost immediately, her breathing clears up; but her face is still pale. "That book... said to take this... slowly... So I'll do just that..." She says, beads of sweat clearly forming along her brow. A few deep breaths later, she looks up at the sky through the cherry blossoms; obviously lost in thought.
Learned: To Begin Blooming, Flower Release: Chakra Petals, Rock Throwing Technique, Water Manipulation, Projectile Control Technique, Retrieving Wind Technique, Massage. Training Started: Toxicity Training, Wood Manipulation.
Ishiba Satomi
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:01 am
IkiomiO-dorohana The Child of the Cherry Blossoms
Looking back down at the intensely violet flowers, Ikiomi decides to put that bit of her training off for just a moment; and focus on a few other things. Proceedingly, she stands up; and takes a few deep breaths. With a few motions of her arms, and a sudden burst of chakra, what appear to be four clones of Ikiomi appear around the young girl. "Oh my... it worked." She says, clearly astonished by her own handiwork. A little giggle later, and the clones vanish into a jumble of things: A short breeze, flower petals, some pebbles, and a splash of water.
A short moment later, Ikiomi refocused her mind; this time on the air underneath her hands. Focusing her chakra into that area, she slowly floats up into the air; practically flying. A gentle smile began to play across her face, and then she turned into a swarm of petals again. The petals slowly floated downwards, and when they all touch the ground: Ikiomi reappears, now sitting on the ground. Looking at one of the nearby trees, she reaches out to it with her chakra; however, the tree barely gave off much more than a shudder. Sighing softly, she turned her head slightly to look back the violet flowers; and says under her breath "I'm truly sorry, little ones..." And then picks one of them, and eats it. The effects of the flowers' toxin is immediately noticeable, as her breathing hastens and her face pales. |I'll... *cough* be fine... *cough*" Ikiomi says, clearly trying to keep her confidence high. Slowly, her breathing returned relatively to normal; and she went back to looking up at the cherry blossoms, feeling... nostalgic? She wasn't sure, but it was like she was feeling some ancient connection to someone or somewhere she'd never been.
Learned: Wind Clone, Wind Release: Instant Movement Technique, Earth Clone, Water Clone, Petal Clone. Technique Training: Toxicity Training (Post 2), Wood Manipulation (Post 2).
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 5:44 pm
IkiomiO-dorohana The Child of the Cherry Blossoms
Slowly, Ikiomi stood up again. This time, she pulled out her fans. The design wasn't anything too fancy, just a simple white base with cherry blossoms printed along the vanes. However, the fans were a bit more ingenious than that. With a simple sudden movement, blades could be extended from the ends of the vanes. Suddenly, Ikiomi changed her stance. Her legs were brought close together, and her knees slightly bent. Her left hand was extended infront of her, with the fan in that hand pointed towards a nearby tree. Her right arm was only lifted about halfway up, leaving her right hand relatively open; though still firmly gripping the other fan in that hand. With a light breeze produced from the focus of her chakra, Ikiomi infused the fans with wind chakra. And suddenly, she vanished and reappeared right next to the tree she was pointing the fan at. With a swift motion, she thrust the fan in her right hand infront of herself; and at the tree. With a sharp whistling sound, a sudden blast of wind extending outwards from her fan drilled a hole into the bark of the tree. "Oh no... I didn't mean to hit quite that hard..." Her sudden change in posture was almost funny with how she practically started falling over herself as she moved her hands away from the tree, and herself in general.
Oh... it's fine... Thank goodness, it wasn't as deep as I thought..." Ikiomi says after having taken a moment to examine the hole she made in the tree. "Okay... time to start with a bit of something else... She then says, clearly trying to keep herself calm. She focuses her chakra in her hands, and then claps them together. Suddenly, the ground around her in a twenty foot radius turns to a ten foot deep moat of mud. Smiling slightly, she then places her hands against the surface of the mud and focuses her chakra again. The moment a petal or leaf touches the mud, a pair of bright pink and white cartoonish crab claws rises suddenly out of the mud and snatches it; pulling it under the surface. Now giggling, she focuses wind chakra into her hands; and causes the crab claws to instead shoot crescent shaped blades of wind at the petals and leaves. Excitement now reaching her, Ikiomi begins to dance on the little island of solid ground surrounded by the moat of mud. As she does so, she seems to flash in and out of existence with purple and pink light. Slowly, she turns into a storm of cherry blossom petals again; her fans dancing about in the flurry. Slowly, a number of other storms of cherry blossoms appear around the area; floating and dancing above the, supposedly, magic crab filled mud moat. Slowly, a pair of small hands appear amid the flurry of petals Ikiomi turned into; which wave about a moment, then disappear. One of the violet colored flowers slowly floats upwards and into the very core of the flower petal storm. Slowly, the other flurries of flower petals dance closer to the original. Slowly, the grass around the moat seem to try and reach their roots into it; but it doesn't seem to do much.
Slowly, the massive storm of flower petals vanish; and Ikiomi reappears, a broad grin playing across her face. Alongside this, the look on her face appears very contented.
(Learned: Wind Release: Vacuum Blade, Slashing Wind Skill, Medical Release: Instant Movement Technique, Medical Release: Dark Instant Movement Technique, Mud Moat, Beach Crab, The First Akira: Akira of Speed. Training: Wood Manipulation Post/3, Toxicity Training Post/3)
Ishiba Satomi
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 12:37 pm
It took Suga a long time to find where Ikiomi was training. She had an idea of where her adopted sister would be; Ikiomi loved flowers, and there was only one really big garden in Zaishin. But what took her so long was her trip back home from the dojo. Then trying to remember why she was there (food), and then trying to remember why she wanted food in the first place. And then by the time that happened, she’d already forgotten where to go. It was quite embarrassing if Suga had to admit, but thankfully she didn’t because the only one who noticed was Tsuki. And he couldn’t talk to anyone.
As if on cue, the crow flying above her cawed out, as if to make fun of her. Suga blushed slightly and gripped the basket in her hands tighter, but ignored him. It wasn’t becoming of a lady to argue back, especially not to birds in public. “Keep it down, you’re disturbing the peace.” She said just loud enough for her companion to hear. Tsuki responded with a cawing that sounded a little like laughter as Suga continued to walk through the path in the garden. After a few more minutes of enjoying the beauty of Ein no Hana, Suga came to the clearing she knew her sister would be at.
Suga watched from the rim of the trees as Ikiomi practiced. The black haired girl couldn’t help but notice that in small intervals, the other girl would stop and eat some weird purple flower. Suga didn’t know enough about flowers to know that it was poisonous, and in fact trusted Ikiomi to know that it wasn’t. After the girl’s last display of techniques, Suga decided to make herself known. The older girl clapped quietly, but loud enough to echo through the quieter clearing. “Impressive, Miss Ikiomi.” She said, her calm expression almost bored-like. “You really do like to show off, don’t you?” While it didn’t carry a usual jovial tone, it would be obvious to Ikiomi that her sister was joking.
Start Narrative Mission 16 Bonding with a Sister (Trauma)
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 12:39 am
IkiomiO-dorohana The Child of the Cherry Blossoms
"S-Suga!" Ikiomi sputtered out, clearly surprised by her sisters' sudden appearance. "I... wouldn't say that I like to show off..." She was clearly flustered, though it was hard to visibly tell; since her face was so pale. Though her hand movements clearly betrayed it much better then her face did. "Oh, Suga, I wouldn't suggest trying to come over here; the crab might get you." Ikiomi says, gesturing to the pair of pink and white cartoonish crab claws sticking out of the mud moat; which are slowly moving through the mud like whatever they are attached to is swimming. "Oh, I know..." She says, leaning down over the edge of the mud moat. Slowly, she places her hands into the mud and then moves them around. Suddenly, the whole moat was filled with strange bright pink lily-like flowers. "Maiden Lilies!" She says, stating what the flowers are. "Sadly, they're not very long lived; even for flowers." Ikiomi then says, clearly a little saddened by the thought that the flowers would die. "But, in this place, they should stay in bloom pretty much forever... Which... is nice." She says, a soft smile quietly playing across her face. Slowly, Ikiomi stands back up; and looks at Suga with a slight smirk. "I... want to show you something, Suga." Proceedingly, she forms a handseal; and then slams her open palm into the ground, causing the whole moat to shake and move violently. Then, she forms another handseal; and suddenly mist begins to rise up out of the mud moat. But, by the look on Ikiomi's face: She isn't done quite yet. A few more handseals later, and she moves her hands to be at their full extent; and suddenly a powerful wind begins to blow in, shaking the trees and causing the mist to swirl and dance. Slowy, but surely, a Chinese dragon seemingly made out of nothing but wind forms surrounding Ikiomi. "This... this is what I've been practicing! It's... amazing, isn't it?" The look of joy on Ikiomi's face feels almost infectious. Slowly, she starts to dance again; first with basic steps and arm movement, but slowly picking up the pace and increasing the complexity of her movements as the wind continues to build.
Barely even a few moments pass, and Ikiomi slowly floats upwards; seemingly disappearing into a cloud of cherry petals. Flowers of every sort rapidly begin to sprout and bloom in the surrounding area, as if seemingly being given life by Ikiomi's expedenture of chakra. After the cloud of petals that Ikiomi transformed into rose up a few feet, it suddenly shot into the air with a massive burst of wind. The dragon of wind then followed the cloud upwards with a similar gust of wind. Slowly, the ground stopped shaking; and the mist disappeared. However, the cloud of petals and the dragon remained high up in the air. Slowly however, ever so slowly: The petals descended back towards the earth. As the petals reach the ground, Ikiomi slowly reforms from the cloud: The look on her face one clearly of joy. "One more thing, I think." Ikiomi says, bringing her hands together as the dragon slowly floats back down to the ground. She then opens her hands up mimicking the way a flower bud blossoms, and a large cloud of bubbles begin to shoot out of her hands; flying high into the air, and getting caught up in the windy mass of the dragon. The bubbles themselves seemingly danced about of their own volition, but Ikiomi began to do something again. This time, instead of bubbles coming out of her hands: Cherry blossom petals came flying from her hands. For a moment, it almost looked like the petals were chasing the bubbles around; but it was hard to actually determine. Slowly, the wind dragon dispersed with a gentle breeze. Ikiomi then sat back down on the ground of her little island among the mud, and ran her hand across the ground; causing small white flowers to bloom forth from the grass. She then placed her hand against the tree she was sitting next to, which seemed to shudder with delight at her touch; though that may have just been the wind.
"So, Suga, did you just come to see me because you wanted to; or did you have something in mind?" Ikiomi says, picking one of the bright violet flowers. Holding it up to her face, she seems to give some kind of quiet prayer; and the flower dissolves, seeming infusing itself into her hand. Though it almost appeared as though she had a pained look on her face, it was for the briefest of moments; and it was practically imperceptible.
(Learned: Wind Dragon Technique, Wind Riding, Ground Shaking Technique, Violent Bubble Wave. Training: Wood Manipulation Post 4, Toxicity Training Post 4.)
pyrategross
Ishiba Satomi
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 8:35 pm
“The… crab..?” Suga turned her gaze down to the mud moat that ended just inches from her feet. Right on cue, the black haired girl witnessed the crab claws swinging wilding through the mud, pinching and snapping at nothing. It got dangerously close to Suga’s foot and the young girl carefully lifted her knee up to her chest to move just a few inches out of the way. Because of the distraction, she missed what her sister was saying about the flowers that sprouted in the mud. Something about them not living long enough? Suga just had to play it off and pretend she’d been paying attention. “Yes, Miss Ikiomi.” She said with a slight bow and a polite smile. “I can’t wait to see the fruits of your training.” Truth be told, Suga was also excited to show her sister what things she’d managed to learn too. But the younger samurai’s affinities for skills didn’t loan themselves to preserving the beauty of the garden. As such, Suga was more than happy to watch Ikiomi’s new skills.
So she watched her sister, the older girl taking a few steps back to give her some space. And not a moment too soon, too. Within seconds a gust of wind kicked up around the two girls, blowing the blossom petals around., and strong enough to make Suga bow her head and cover her eyes with her arm. So, having missed the formation of the technique, the samurai finally looked up to see a vague shape of a dragon formed from the wind around them, and her sister riding on top of it like a warrior. Suga’s normally dull expression lit up and she took in breath in awe. It really was something else, watching her younger sister perform such amazing looking jutsu. Ikiomi and Suga started at the same time, and yet she was progressing so quickly. And for a brief instant the words of her instructor, Lord Meija, echoed in her mind. Maybe she really was too weak to do anything. The thought dampened her spirits and it came across her face for only a second as she watched Ikiomi’s display. But only for a second, before she gave her sister another small smile.
“Fantastic work, Miss Ikiomi. You’re definitely coming along nicely.” Suga said as she took a step forward. In the background, Tsuki was pecking at the snipping crab claws. “And I uh…” She paused and stopped in her tracks. Why was she here? The weight of the basket in her hands brought the thoughts back to her head. “I figured you’d be training so I brought some lunch for you.” Ikiomi ate another one of those purple flowers. “But it seems like you’re all set for food, my lady. May I ask what those flowers you keep eating are?”
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:45 pm
IkiomiO-dorohana The Child of the Cherry Blossoms
Ikiomi was practically beaming as she watched her sisters' reaction, quite obviously overjoyed in fact. However, she paused a moment; only now noticing the basket Suga was carrying.
After Suga asked her question, a few painfully long seconds passed; the look on Ikiomis' face slowly melting away. Eventually, her face was as blank as a mask; and about as pale, now that she's not blushing so much. Ikiomi then turns to look back at the bright violet flowers, her face still as smooth as polished stone. "How did that poem go? Mother said it represented what made our familty what it is..." The sudden somber and flat tone to Ikiomi's voice was undoubtedly unusal. "Spring, the dance of the flowers. Summer, the song of the sun. Autumn, the poem of wishes. And Winter, the blossom of snow. To the seasons, a festival; a ceremony held in honor of each, in memory of the prior, and anxious hope for the next... That's what she said, wasn't it?" Ikiomi then paused, her hand tentatively reaching out to the small patch of vibrant flowers. "These little ones... Are precious, but their life is toxic; their prescence a little tragedy waiting to happen. They... are called by those who know not they for themselves, but they for what they do to others: Violet Death. A scroll had once spoke of them, the potency of their toxin suffcient to kill a lesser dragon on its' own..." Again, she paused; but this time held her finger up to signify to her sister to let her continue. "But yet... Their touch is so familiar. Like an old friend from some time long since passed. They sing to me, Suga. Their voices wishing to be heard by anyone, by someone...! In so doing, of making them a part of myself: I can feel their memories, not those of their own; but of their ancesters. A goddess, as powerful as she was beautiful. But the sensation... is distant. Like I'm only seeing part of the whole. I don't know where this trail leads, but I hope to one day find its' end." Though the distance between the two of them made it somewhat hard to tell, it was clear Ikiomi was crying. "These poor little precious ones... have been alone and hated for so long... Why would anyone do this... to something so innocnet...?" Ikiomi had always been known for her beautiful voice among the family, a trait she clearly inherited from her mother, but here... her voice sounded quite pained. "But yet... they ask only for freedom... for their pain to finally end... And so, I... will take their pain upon myself... All so they can sleep peacefully...
Ikiomi then picked one of the flowers, tears still streaming down her face. She didn't eat it, it simply dissappeared into glittering dust in her hand. Then, as if in response, the patch of the rest of the violet flowers did the same; turning into naught but dust, which then gently blew away. "May you all... sleep... peacefully..." While the sentiment was sweet, it looked like Ikiomi was the one that was going to pass out. As some kind of last ditch effort, she tried to reach for the branches of the cherry blossoms above her; but her reach didn't quite make it that far, or anywhere close really. Instead, as should have been seemingly impossible, the trees seemed to bend and shape their branches to catch her hand; stopping her from falling over. But still, as she lost conciousness, the trees seemed to gently lay her down onto the ground.
(Technique Training: Toxicity Training Finished!, Wood Manipulation Finished!.)
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Ishiba Satomi
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:59 pm
Suga flowed in the familiar poem of her mother’s that Ikiomi recited. It was spoken around the household to the both of them from their mother, usually during their formality lessons. It was one of the harder things for Suga to learn, as poetry was very hit or miss with her. She was told that it represented the family, and Suga believed that for sure. However, the black haired girl had a hard time...feeling it. Suga often felt like an outsider to the family. Not intentionally, because the O-horodana family treated Suga well enough. But she somehow felt disconnected from them when it came to things like family traditions. A wave of melancholy hit her, and Tsuki felt it too, Suga knew. She didn’t even have to look over to see the crow with its head down. Something snapped her out of it though: Ikiomi talking about the Violet Death.
It took her a second to piece together what happened. To follow Ikiomi’s words, her actions, and infer what her little sister had been doing. “Miss Ikiomi-!” Suga started, fear in her voice as she was visibly startled. She was trying to get her words in when she was cut off by the rising of a single finger. Quickly but very visibly disgruntled, Suga stopped talking to let Ikiomi finish. It sounded like nonsense to her. These flowers were deathly, and she was just eating them to… free them? “With all due respect, my lady, that doesn’t make sense. Flowers can’t just-Miss Ikiomi!” Before she could finish speaking, Ikiomi fell.
In Sugakuda’s mind, time slowed down to a deathly crawl. Her world went grey and all of her senses faded as she focused on her sister. She could feel, and was only vaguely aware, that the basket had fallen out of her hands. Suga rushed forward, she knew she was moving fast, but her movements felt impossibly slugging and heavy. The food from the basket littered the ground as she ditched it to try and catch her sister. The wood branches that actually caught Ikiomi didn’t register with Suga; she knew they were there but it didn;t matter. The girl hoisted the smaller one from the branches and picked her up.
“TsukI!” Suga’s own voice brought her back to reality, and everything about the normal world came rushing back to her. “Find a hospital! Now!” The bird let out a caw and flew off, his master following swiftly behind it.
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2021 9:20 pm
[Seinaru Enjo • Seiryu • Bloodline • Bukijutsu] ❝If there is no mud, there would be no lotus. ❞
It was oddly quiet and empty in the gardens. Behind the Warm Temple rested this nature of beauty and purity. Her dark almond hues watched the trees carefully. They had to suffer from the sheer cold when they put out the flame, it seemed that they didn't get damaged in the process since Hanabi managed to ignite the flame. Her head tilted downwards to her hand as she opened her palm for a moment. Slow breaths. She remembered her father's training. When she was getting angry or started to lose her focus, he would ask her to look at her lines on her palm. Feel the flow. The fire was dangerous to play with and she needed to be careful. While it brought warmth and for example, this garden... it can even destroy this garden. She wished that the fire had destroyed the jashinist that had dared to place their dirty souls upon the pure temple.
At least their soiled souls were gone. Yet.. Hanabi could not shake the feeling that they would be back. Clenched her fists, she was worried. Will the new Shogun do something before lives are lost? It seemed, that just like this garden, quiet and empty, there was something coming, and what Zaishin and its protectors do next, will unfold the chapter of all their lives.
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OoC:
pyrategross
Jenni Deer
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Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:50 am
Monk of the Iron Desert Rank:Monk 磁気 | Classes:Bukijutsu | Scholar 力 | Body Rank:D 勇 | Elements:
“Hello there, samurai.” A voice came from somewhere in the garden. Suzuran spoke from one of the trees closest to Hanabi, hanging upside down from one of the branches by her knees. She looked at the samurai with a smile on her face, a knowing cat-like smile. The young monk had been waiting for her student to show; a young warrior assigned to her for training. And while Suzuran didn’t know much about her would be protege, she knew that Hanabi wasn’t it. “I’m surprised to see you out here, and not at the Shogun’s castle.” Suzu flipped from the branch and deftly landed among the flowers, kicking up a small cloud of petals. They danced in the wind between her and Hanabi while the monk looked at her with interest. “I hear everyone’s there to meet the guests from Arashigakure.”
As the young pale woman's oddly colored eyes would scan the area eventually they would fall upon the owner of a voice calling her a samurai. She hadn't earned that title nor had she done anything to deserve it either. Even then she had no way to politely correct the individual before her either due to her... limitations currently. Instead she would bow to the individual politely before seeing someone else in the area with them. She would turn to the samurai and respectfully bow to them as well. She knew where she was in this pecking order. She knew a little too well due to situations in her home life. Instead she would hold her hands in front of her stomach with her arms lax. Her fingers fidgeting with her hands slowly as she hadn't a clue what was expected of her or what she was to do. Only that she would never truly be a samurai even if she made it as a warrior within this village.
[Seinaru Enjo • Seiryu • Bloodline • Bukijutsu] ❝If there is no mud, there would be no lotus. ❞
'Hello there, samurai.' A voice called out as she gently shifted her weight onto her back knee and turned slightly to not leave her front vulnerable towards the voice. Her eyes went up and they were met with a pair of almond hues, just like her own jewels but hers was lighter while Hanabi's was much darker. Upside down and with a smile on her face, Hanabi couldn't help but gave the exotic stranger her own smile, to see a woman upside down brought back memories of her childhood. Hanabi found herself envious, does she even have the courage to do something so silly anymore? Her eyebrow rose at her comment to be surprised seeing her out here and not at Shogun's castle. Then came the point. Hanabi couldn't help it as her eyes rolled, "I'm not the kind of person that goes after rumors and gossips. Yes, there are visitors but that's Shogun's business and not my own. Why go there if I'm to meet a crowd? If there's news of politics, it'll spread quickly enough." Hanabi explained as she relaxed slightly, her arm resting on the hilt of her katana. Sounds of another footstep as Hanabi turned to see who it was and it was a woman she had never met with an odd scroll in her mouth. Her brows furrowed as a frown crept on her lips. The ivory stranger seemed nervous and fidgeted so much, this, in turn, made Hanabi nervous. After the recent attack at the temple and the deaths of those poor innocent monks, the raven-haired samurai couldn't help it when the thought of was this woman a trap, crossed her mind. Carefully, Hanabi watched her but made no move to attack. The nervous female did not attack and therefore, Hanabi had no reason to.
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OoC:
pyrategross
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:30 am
Monk of the Iron Desert Rank:Monk 磁気 | Classes:Bukijutsu | Scholar 力 | Body Rank:D 勇 | Elements:
Suzuran looked perplexed by Hanabi’s answer. “So you don’t abide by rumours, but you will wait for rumours of what happens afterward. You’d think if that were the case, wouldn’t you want to see what’s going on for yourself?” Suzu replaced her curious look with her broad smile again. “This world has many beautiful things in it, child. Things that description couldn’t begin to capture. Like this garden.” The monk reached out and let a petal fall into her palm. The whole time she never unlocked her eyes from Hanabi as her cat-like smile reappeared. “Telling me about how the flowers glow in the light of the moon wouldn’t do it justice compared to seeing it happen with my own eyes. But with that said, the gods truly do put us on the path we’re needed the most.” Suzuran clapped her hands excitedly, once. “Which is why I’m so glad you’re here. I was hoping we’d get some protection after the attack at the temple. Now that’s something I’m glad I wasn’t there for!”
Suzuran stopped as her senses picked up movement from the corner of her eye. She made a thoughtful noise as she turned to face the young girl. “Ah! And I see my new student has arrived. You must be… Senshoku, correct? My name is Suzuran, and I’ll be handling your graduation.” The woman lightly put her hand to her chest and her body performed a slight bow. “We’ll be using a variation of an exercise from my home country. The rules are simple.” The monk held her hand out to show the girl the petal the monk had caught earlier. “Your goal is to take this petal from me, undamaged, by the end of the day. And I fully expect you to come at me with everything you have. If you can’t manage that-” Suzuran paused, letting an ominous silence hang over the garden. “-you’ll be barred from being a samurai, permanently.” She said, her smile taking a more menacing air.
For a while the fragile looking girl would be paying attention to other things rather than these two talking. It would be rude for her to overhear what they were talking about... wouldn't it? Or would she be the rude one not hearing what they were talking about? She didn't know for sure and this caused her insecurities to blossom even more as she began to fidget with her hands a bit more looking around paying attention to everything but the two of them. She could hear something that sounded like a heated exchange coming from the one woman but she couldn't make out what was being said. She still wasn't going to be the one to try and do anything rude. It wasn't too much longer until the under individual was speaking again. Her tone didn't sound as snappy in her mind as her eyes caught wind of a hawk soaring through the skies.
It wasn't until another moment had passed that she heard herself being brought up in a conversation. Then upon hearing her name she would look to her new sensei and bow respectfully once again. Then Senshoku herself became curious about where this woman was really from. As she would lay eyes upon the petal she would hear the rest of what the woman wanted her to do. To secure her position in the village so that way she could bring in extra money into her father's household. Then the cliff hanger came her way and to say it didn't effect her would be a lie. She tilted her head looking at the woman and holding her hand against her chin thinking. So the biggest thing was going to be getting it undamaged? she thought to herself as an idea came to mind for her. She would pull out a small note pad and quick write upon it with a small pencil from her jacket. She would flip it around so that the woman could read it. Holding it out her heart was hammering against her chest because she didn't know how much she'd be laughed at for this or disappointing her new teacher. But this was the first thought that came to her mind. To get it from her undamaged. This would be the safest way should it work as she thought about everything else. The note read as such May I please have the petal?
