There was much that s*** could have said in reply to Mocharatte, such as pointing out that calling herself “sovereign royalty” was a stretch, or that the guards had done nothing resembling shoving her, or how getting angry at one of the emperor’s advisors when you were obviously in the wrong wasn’t likely to accomplish much of anything. He contented himself with a simple “Thank you”, however, obviously sensing that it was neither the time nor the place to attempt a civil discussion with the young princess.


After listening to Hitomi’s question, he paused a long moment, neither opening his eyes nor turning his head, letting the implications of her inquiry sink in.


“What indeed.”


“It is not my place to foretell the future, Sekichi-san, so allow me to put this succinctly. The most powerful man on the continent summons you to a private council, based not on your merits, but on those of an object you possess.


How much are you willing to bet on your irreplaceability?"

Kuh. It sounded as if the calvary had arrived, though with some rather odd news. It probably couldn't be helped though, it wasn't the first time the ruler of the entire known world had been called away to deal with something more urgent than finding the sun. The sun, as evidenced by it's little vacation could wait awhile- frightened masses were not as often so courteous in their actions. But it didn't seem as though he was the only one that didn't have time for a meeting about saving Yoikoro. The young woman- the calm one- asked a very interesting question, one that hadn't even crossed Umiko's mind. What if one of them were to refuse the quest, she queried.

And in vague and ominous form old s*** answered. A subtle threat on their life. Oh, while she didn't care for the man, his methods really sung to her. But it was about enough of that, s*** was speaking on behalf of his majesty and it just wouldn't do to represent him so. Opening the window up she quickly and carefully slid through, using her scarf to close it behind her as she landed on the floor of the room before quickly standing again, in much the look of a water drop splashing to the ground. There was really no need for a more subtle entrance, the room was to small and packed for her to have ever gone unnoticed, but it surely would catch anyone solely focused on s*** and co a little off guard when she spoke up.

"Now now, our lord would never wish any harm to any of you, but he does extend the offer a nice long vacation here at the palace for anyone that doesn't think they can bear this trial for the good of Yoikoro. After all he is a very caring man that only wishes to help his people in their time of darkness. I should know, I was once a great enemy to him, The Great Sea Dragon of Hijimage, if anyone is familiar with his majesty's exploits, and I still stand here today not only alive and well, but as a dear friend of his." She spoke earnestly, though she didn't exactly know for sure the punishment of defiance, however throughout her whole speech she had been approaching the table and her tone quite noticeably changed upon reaching it. "More then I can say about some in the room." With a clawed scarf she picked up her own paper and held it aloft dramatically. "Are you kidding me with this? You could have easily alerted them to my presence before I was ready to be revealed."

She sighed and dropped down to her butt quite near Hitomi after, setting the paper back down as she rubbed the bridge of her nose with her actual one. "Also hello Daiki." She said before staying quiet enough to let another get in a word.

After the newly arrived girl collided with him, Hideki took some time to regain his breath after standing up once again. He'd only just regained his breath when any response he would've made was cut off by the entry of servants of the emperor. Although feeling slightly miffed, Hideki waited through s***'s speech, giving this Daiki Oshiro a once-over. He barely held back the urge to laugh: the emperor really expected this group of strangers to work together and find out what had happened to the sun? Anyone with a shred of sanity would surely see it wasn't going to work. Hideki, of course, didn't work well in groups, but the old woman, the young girl, the princess? It was absolutely ridiculous.

Still, as Hitomi posed her question, which Hideki himself had been thinking, he already knew what the answer would be. Now that they were gathered here, they had no choice but to go along with this ill-advised quest. The window slid open, and yet another person came through: a one-armed woman with a strange scarf (that must be her relic). Identifying herself as the emperor's friend, and as the 'Great Sea Dragon of Hijimage,' whoever that was. She simply reinforced s***'s point, and Hideki watched with curiosity as her scarf moved about.

Resigning himself to the fact that it was this or imprisonment for the rest of his life (though prison didn't seem nearly as bad compared to travelling with this lot), Hideki dusted himself off from his earlier fall and walked over to the table, seating himself on another side, away from the others. Though he was no great reader, he could at least recognize his own name, and he could write 'mountain.'

Wordlessly, he reached over to grab his scroll and the writing implements. Quite ungracefully, he ground the inkstick against the inkstone, then dipped the brush and wrote out 'mountain' in broad strokes. Returning the writing tools to their original position, Hideki couldn't help but wonder why they thought it was better to write things out rather than take a verbal vote. Typically bureaucratic. In any case, Hideki had no questions to ask, so he folded his hands in his lap and waited for the others to cast their votes.

As the elderly man spoke, Hitomi's eyebrows curled upward, her lip quivering as her mouth hung slightly agape. She bowed deeply. "Please forgive my impudence. It wasn't my intention to imply-" The young woman cut off her plea and wheeled around as she heard a noise behind her. She turned just in time to see Umiko's scarf shut the window. A relic. Well, that explained the ninth scroll. Hitomi sat quietly as the older woman gave her spiel, taking this time to think.

It would be a simple matter to escape the palace if she wished. And surely spending the rest of her life as a fugitive wouldn't be so bad. Yeah, no. There really was no choice here. As much as she wanted to put this codger in his place, she could never live on the run like that. The last year had been difficult enough without the added stress of the emperor's men bearing down on her, and half the reason she'd accepted this summons in the first place was because she'd been hoping for an opportunity to find employment at the palace. If she wanted any shot at that, she would just have to withstand a few more months of roughing it.

"As I was saying," Hitomi spoke once Umiko had finished, "I am nothing but honored to have this opportunity to serve the emperor." The calligrapher reached for the implements Hideki had just used and followed suit, beautifully rendering the word Shikame. As she wrote, she cursed the fact that their names had been printed on the scrolls. Otherwise, she might have been able to copy her vote onto someone else's. Fortunately, there were other methods she could employ to achieve the same result.

"If everyone would hear me, I believe we should take the path through Shikame." She addressed her fellow relic users with a gentle voice, a stark contrast to Hideki's silence. "The mountains are treacherous and inhospitable, and likely home to brigands. On the other hand, I am familiar with northern Shikame, and I have acquaintances there that can assist us. Please take this into consideration as you make your choices." She concluded with a small bow.

This… this was a lot to take in at once. Chouko had already been under the impression that she was living a dream, having been summoned to the emperor’s palace, but what she was living presently had entered the realm of fairy tale. For one, there was a dragon, which, for the first time, Chouko had realized was no mere decoration. Before she had had the chance to pick her jaw off the floor, however, or to grasp completely the magnitude of what it meant to depart on a quest to find the sun, or to wrap her head around the fact that someone might not want to go on such a quest, a mysterious ninja emerged from she knew not where. This woman spoke also of dragons, and from this point forward Chouko was completely lost.

She had never heard of a thing called a relic, and she was still counting on her fingers to make certain that she had accounted for every dragon in the room when people began to move around her. First the woman that she had bowled over (who had been strangely silent about the ordeal. Embarassed, was Chouko’s guess), then the pretty one that had posed the odd question about what would happen to those that didn’t join the expedition. It had never crossed Chouko’s mind that someone might refuse the emperor. From the moment that old s*** had begun speaking, there had been no doubt in the peasant girl’s mind that she would accept the mission to search for the missing sun. It was clear as day to her; if the emperor asked a favour, one obliged. Simple as that. Furthermore, the man had called upon Harida’s number one messenger! She wasn’t about to let him down. No siree.

The girl listened quietly and respectfully to her elder’s argument for taking the road through Shikame, but she had known which path she wanted to take from the outset. It was a simple choice, really. She had just come through the mountains, and she knew them well. Anyone could see that it was logical to turn around and go back the same way. When no one else spoke, Chouko contained herself no longer. Bowing deeply, and trying her utmost to remember her father’s brief training on the formalities of palace speech, she countered: “Forgive me, Onna-sama, but I gotta disagree. I just came through those mountains, and I seen no bandits. Plus I know em’ like the back of my hand, right? I think it would be most wiser to pass back through them, that it would be.”



Nailed it.

Kaguya has guessed before that they were there to deal with the sun, however he expected a group of professionals, not this seemingly ragtag bunch. their presumed mission was the main reason he agreed to go with the guards who had delivered his summons. He had grown bored over the past century, and returning the sun seemed to be interesting and honorable enough. Not to mention that this may be the mission on which he finally is allowed to die.

"I agree with Sekichi-san," Kaguya spoke mildly as he reached for his own scroll. "I have spent many years in the mountains, even in light, the terrain is difficult. In the darkness, that danger might be too high, with the reward being comparatively low. Not to mention that riding on horseback the entire way will leave you all much less fatigued when we reach our destination."

He also was sure from his experience that the mountains would be infested with bandits and thieves. Surely even this group would be able to overcome them, but the added distraction would be unnecessary. He retrieved the quill from Hitomi, and wrote Town on his scroll before placing it in the ballot box.

"Perhaps my kingdom can help us return the sun," Mocha said as she pet her dragon.

Kuh. It seemed so far there would be little room for discussion as most that had said there piece had immediately voted, if they said anything at all. Umiko would need to act quickly if she was to influence any in the group.

"The mountains are a quicker route, if you know how to traverse them. And while I can't speak for the contacts of another, there are plenty of mountain villages in support of the emperor, and most of the roaming tribes not strictly allied with us are neutral enough to trade with us." She nodded as her scarf crossed like arms would, while she made motions with her real one. "That being said, while many of us are well to do in the mountain environment we are only as fast as our slowest member, and the terrain would be brutal on those more delicate, especially if we have a storm."

"But honestly it matters very little what I think would be the better path. We have an expedition leader already here before us, so I say let him lead us. My vote," she took up the brush, "Daiki's choice. Please listen well and choose the best path for us."

s***’s impenetrable expression melted to a pout as Umiko entered the room and rebuked him. He mumbled something about “just having a bit of fun for once” and “obviously the one time he tries to joke around it backfires”, but mostly he stayed quiet afterwards.


Oshiro for his part had held his brow in a solemn crease since the beginning of the discussion. It was evident to Unmei that he was taking everyone’s points into consideration, weighing them against each other, arbitrating the arguments in his head. He spoke when prompted by Umiko.


“I lean towards the mountain route for its speed, but I would hear the council of all other members of the company before casting my vote. An effective leader seeks to understand those he leads.”


It was Yoko who responded to Oshiro first. She had remained relatively quiet among the others in the room, her years of life experience having taught her to know better than to speak unless spoken to. She considered taking the young scarved girl up on her offer of an extended vacation in the palace, but quickly remembered that she wouldn’t be able to play her flute at all during her stay. She needed to get out of here. Breaking the silence she had kept since thanking Sekichi-san for the tea, Yoko spoke as diplomatically as her country heritage allowed.


“If I may permit myself to speak, I’m sure we are all quite anxious to see the sun return, but it isn’t known whether this journey will lead to its restoration. It is plain to see that I am the feeblest among we who must undertake this journey. Due to the uncertain nature of our quest and the likelihood that I will cause it to slow should we take the mountain route, I would humbly request that we take the path through Shikame instead.”


With this she shuffled up to the center table, took the already well inked brush into her right hand, held her designated piece of paper in her left, and quickly scribbled “Sukami”. She wasn’t exactly well versed in calligraphy.

Chouko liked this elderly woman. She reminded her of Koga-sama, one of her favourite village elders. Koga-sama was always worried about being a burden to others, even though she worked the hardest out of anyone! Elders were to be respected, and Harida’s number one messenger wasn’t about to let this kindly old grandma feel bad about her age. She probably had the most powerful relic (whatever those were) out of anyone!

“You don’t gotta worry, Obasan,” she said, grinning and clasping a hand behind her neck. “We can still go through the mountains. I’ll just hafta carry ya.” Anticipating the incredulous stare that would follow, she added: ‘Sides, I’ve eaten bowls of rice that were bigger n’ you are!”

After listening to this girl describe eating a monstrous bowl of rice, Mocha decided to avoid relying on her. Tentatively, she spoke up. "You can ride ryuu-chan," she said. The dragon stood up and looked at Mocharatte with an expression that said, "Wait, what?"

She scribbled "Mountain path" on the scroll.

Unmei looked around as the other vocally debated their various options. He waited listening. He personally didn't care if it weren't for the option of being pardoned or dying he probably wouldn't even be here. He continued to look down at his cup before slowly reaching up and writing "Mountain Path" on the scroll. He just wanted this over as quickly as possible.

Oshiro gave a simple nod as the last vote was silently cast- at this point he was too deep in thought to read any particular emotion. Since it was four for Shikame and three for the mountain route it was solely up to him to decide with path to take. It didn't take long before he took the ink and paper in hands, the choice was clear.

"I believe the mountain route would be the best, if you were soldiers, but it's clear you are not. The little extra time we would save is simply not worth the risk to civilians, if things were to go bad. We will take the path through Shikame where our slowest will be a horse, and if we do need to make extra time we can push our beasts to exhaustion, not our people." He marked his paper as so and stood to leave. "For the moment s*** and myself will need to carry out some final preparations. At your soonest convenience, please make your way to the stables, we will be heading out as soon as we can. Ryuujin-san here will be more than happy to be your guide if you do not know where they are."

He waited for s*** to stand before they both bowed and left the room, leaving the relic holders alone.

"Kuh. I wasn't supposed to be babysitting all of you." It wasn't just Unmei that could tell whom Umiko was directing that at. "Oh well, duty is duty, might as well come with me if you need to."

Umiko was less gracious as she left, giving no bow and little heed to the others. She was easy to keep pace with however making sure Unmei stayed with her, as well as not leaving any other guests behind. Whether those who knew their own way followed her or not was up to them, however it was clear she was making a bit of a detour.

"Hmm. I wonder." Hitomi said, c*** her head slightly as Chouko finished speaking. She didn't elaborate. The girl's disgustingly endearing attempts at formal speech would almost certainly have made the young woman laugh had they not been in polite company, and if she had t been so filled with disdain toward the girl for disagreeing with her. On the other hand, she was quite pleased with Yoko and Helmet-san choosing to take the Shikame path. With the vote reaching a favorable outcome, Hitomi's misgivings were all but forgotten, even if this conclusion had only been reached by virtue of her and Yoko's poor constitutions.

As Umiko brusquely made to leave for the stables, Hitomi stood as well. The ninja didn't seem particularly pleasant to be around, but if the rest of the group followed her, she decided that she would as well. Otherwise, she could always return to the entrance and attempt to find the servant that had taken her horse. In the meantime, she moved to Yoko's side.

"I'm so glad Shikame was chosen." She said, offering the older woman a hand to help her up. "I don't know if I would have made it through the mountains." Hitomi's eyebrows lifted a bit as she smiled awkwardly.

Chouko wasn’t disappointed by Oshiro’s decision. After all, he was a warrior of the Emperor, doubtless filled with wisdom passed down through generations. Even though it irked Harida’s number one messenger mildly that they would not be taking the most efficient path, she was at ease in her confidence that surely the soldier knew best. Besides, it wouldn’t be all bad. There would be horses, and Chouko was quite fond of horses. Lovely, strong, intelligent, fast beasts that they were. Granted, she was more fond of travelling beside them than on them, but surely there would be opportunity enough for that on their journey across the plains of Shikame. It wasn’t as though her companions were going to strap her to the saddle by force.

...right?

As the mysterious ninja left the room, angry with someone about something – Chouko wasn’t sure what – the Haridan girl noticed the pretty woman make her way over to Obasan’s side and help her up. Eager to congratulate them on the soldier having chosen their path, Chouko walked over as well, preparing once again to make use of her brief training in formal speech. These women seemed really nice, and it was important that she make a good impression.

Eyes arched and gap-toothed smile beaming, she said, “It’s great that Oshiro-sama could recognize your weakness and chose the easier path, that it is, isn’t it?”

She was so good at this.