A Ronin's Path (LadyYuna & Silverknight's 1x1)

As he walked out of the house he looked around and let out a small whistle as he then smiled walking down the path which was something he hadn't done for a while would take a good bit. He looked at Aiko out of the corner of his eyes and then continued to walk forward. "You know, I haven't been to Kyoto in forever, since the shogunate was driven from the city during the war," he commented as he walked, he wondered what troubles they would find upon the road, and what issues would come up.

As he walked, he noticed that things in nature never changed that much, the woods were still the woods, the animals kept going as if nothing had ever happened. He wondered what gave them this unique skill to forget the past seemingly and avoid the pitfalls of repeating it as well. He wondered if it was a curse to know the things that came before or a blissing, but he did very much remember those old days. Though he was a young man and his fighting had mostly accorded at the tale end of the Kyoto period and mostly during the post period, it was still a place he had a lot of memories of.

"So, I have been wondering, where you on the side of the rebels or the side of the shogunate," he asked as he walked, it wasn't a concern of his now, but he had been curious. "I have heard of rumors of women fighting but actually never your name specifically, which means as you present your name, that you were extremely good at working in the darkness," he mused as he looked at her. "I was more the idealistic warrior back then fighting the foe in front of myself, no need to hide in any shadows."
 

"Is that so? Well... this will be quite the trip for us both then, I suppose." Aiko mused, moving a few strands of her hair away as her sheathed blade lightly bumped against her hip every now and again. Even though she'd only rested one day, it had been more than enough to allow for her to regain her strength. She felt more energized and able to walk longer distances now. It'd only get truly annoying when - if - any encounters which required fighting would show up. But that would be something she'd wait for. Until then, no sense dwelling on a mere possibility. If the bridge appeared, so to speak, so be it.

The soft breeze dancing along her clothes and face made a small smile cross Aiko's face. Things like this, the sun rising and falling, plus the sounds and sights of waterfalls - to name a few - were some of the more pleasant aspects of life and thus some of her favorite things to enjoy. It was a shame not many others in this world could stop and savor them, tending to resort to chaos and violence instead. She couldn't help but pity and even fear for the future of humanity, most of it anyway.

"Neither, at first. In the beginning, I was fighting for myself, to keep my freedom. I'd served under a family that raised me as their servant. Given the nature of my upbringing though .. I waited for an opportunity to flee from them. That arrived in the form of the war. They weren't good at fighting. I can't say I was perfect myself but I had taken chances throughout the years to watch the men of the clan hold and use swords. I managed to practice in secret, forming my own technique in the process. After a bit of fighting, though, I felt more ... willing and obligated to side with the rebels. Or at least their beliefs. I didn't pledge my allegience to any one side but I did favor one over the other, definitely. Even now, I still am more of a rebel than one who would turn to the Shogunate. They just ... have never really shown they can handle themselves, avoid using their powers, something of the like. And until then ... I don't think I'll ever begin to help them out."

A small smirk crossed her face as she nodded. "Few if any ever got the chance to know my name. Most didn't ask and those who tried perished too fast to earn it. The select few who lived are those who have been seeking me out and thus know me better as Niken Okami Aiko rather than only my first name."
 
Masanori couldn't of been surprised by her statement, he had guessed that she had been one of the people who battled against he Tokagawa, but the fact she most likely worked for her paid the most was rather common back in the day as well, mercenaries were common, and they were hired by anyone who could pay more. The fact she still rather work for one side then the other would make sense too, as it would be natural for one to grow attached to one side over the other. Himself, well he battled for one side as a member of a unit of that side, he still had no hate against the other side, just disagreed with them on their wanting to westernize the country, he thought they should fight for their old traditions more then they were.

"Well good, now I know a lot more about you, though I don't think I will be referring you as a wolf any time soon," he said his tone that one of a teasing tone as he walked with her and then looked at the country side, it was the farmers who always seemed to win. Warriors came and went but the farm was forever, it was something that he remembered a old teacher telling him about years before this moment, that the harvest happened no matter what was going on in the world, that nature paid little mind to the actions of humans that summer still came every year as did winter.

"Well, at least we don't have to go up north, that island can get so damn cold in the winter," he mused as he had a lot more bad memories of the republic days fighting with the help of the French against the others and fighting what was a losing battle that was foolish from start to end. "Well, Aiko, I am sure we are not going to find trouble till we get closer, but I guess we should be on the look out, have you been in this road in a while, know any good places to stop along the path?"
 

... A wolf?

Had he meant in the sense of a loner? Or was there something else altogether she had missed? Mentally dismissing the matter, Aiko managed to return the smile with her own. "I suppose," she mused, still a bit curious on what he had meant in the first place. "Though to be fair, I've never really thought of myself as much of anything. A mercenary, swordswoman, ronin ... all in about that order. But nothing more. Wolf is actually a new one for me, that being said."

Her head tilted slightly as he mentioned them not needing to go north. In fact, it made her chuckle a bit. "Have you forgotten where we are, let alone where Hiroshima is?" Without waiting for his answer, she then produced a map and let him look at it. "We do have to go north, although not very far up. So according to this, Matsue will be the first city that we'll come across. Lest you wish to stop or avoid Kobe altogether, we should arrive in Kyoto soon enough. Maybe two to three days due to walking on foot."

Even still, that was relatively fast given their circumstances. Once she allowed Masanori to get a good view of the map, she slipped it away into a hidden pocket on her kimono.

"Don't worry though," she added, more for reassurance than anything. "I had full intentions on keeping alert. As much as I've tried to forget I used to be Niken Okami Aiko, few others have done just that. So ... I'm kind of used to being sought after in bad forms." It was definitely a depressing truth. But it was also just that in the end; a fact, one that Aiko couldn't deny or alter even though she'd give anything to do so at times.
 
He was actually just referring to her nickname which used Okami which meant wolf, thus the term for her. He smiled as he nodded his head, "Well that I must say is surprising, but okay," he replied as he looked over at her. He walked as he continued on the trail, he wondered how she got her nickname, he guessed it had been cause she seemed like a lone wolf, but he didn't know her past, it was possible that she had not been a lone wolf for her whole life. He guessed she had been though cause she had been a mercenary who took contracts. He knew that such people were normally considered wolves for they worked alone doing the bidding of their bosses. He knew that the woman was a skilled fighter and had a long history that he guessed was dark and had a lot of bad parts in it too.

As he walked he rubbed the back of his head, "I know the general direction north and west to Kyoto but I don't remember the path as well as I once did. I figure that I haven't had to take the path and well having not had to take the path has caused it to well leave my memory to a large degree," he said sheepishly as he walked. He then listened to her estimate of how long that it would take to get to Kyoto from where they happened to be. He nodded his head as he continued to walk. "I think that we should stop in Kobe, perhaps we can find some information there before we head into Kyoto, given the mission we have on hand any information would be good," he mused as he walked. "I also figure they can't just turn this revolution on, it will take them time to get things arranged more then enough time for us to go there and get some more information front he people up there.

"Well, I am sure you are ready, I will do my best to keep up, it has been a while since I killed a person, but I am sure I can find my fighting spirit really fast," he mused as he figured that fighting was something that would be akin to riding a bike, something that he just had to do to remember. He knew that he practiced his swordsmanship but he also knew that his training had not been in a battle. He knew from his own experience that training and fighting in a life or death battle were two very different things that were very different from each other. He walked with her as he kept his attention u[ and watching everything around them as they spend the day traveling, it was a nice day the weather was nice and just the right amount of clouds. He walked quietly with Aiko as they went along too. He traveled from where he was all the way to Matsue in near silence most of the way.
 

By the time the night began to replace the sun, they had gotten about halfway towards Matsue. Like Masanori, she kept mostly to herself. Her eyes always watched out for signs to ensure they never went the wrong way which, thankfully, was relatively easy to continue to do. She thought on a lot of his words and replies, especially her own fighting spirit. It was definitely within her, she knew that much. But a small part of Aiko was just a bit worried when Masanori admitted his own would need some ... assistance in emerging. While she didn't expect trouble, many what-if scenarios had already formed in her head since she'd taken the first step out from Hiroshima.

While it was true there was definitely such an issue as overthinking, Aiko had always believed it was much better to have too much of something than not enough. And now was no exception. That being said, she hoped that if they did indeed run into trouble, he'd be able to withdraw his blade, defend himself, do anything but hesitate. That ... would likely get him killed if not worse. But she didn't bring it up for a few reasons. One, Aiko assumed he probably knew this already. Two, she wouldn't talk to him as if he were an idiot. It was disrespectful and she didn't want to risk losing what could be one of the few, if not only, allies she'd made in a long while.

As she snapped herself away from her thoughts and returned to the here and now, however, Aiko noticed the two were in a massive forest. "Given the signs we passed plus noting our current position, I'd say another day, maybe day and a half at most. Then we should get to Matsue. Until then ... "

She sat down and leaned against a tree. It wasn't the most comfortable spot. But it was a strategical one. She could keep herself and her blade nearby and no one would be able to easily ambush her without Aiko being able to feel it. Given she was typically a light sleeper, her hearing was also mentally included in the equation.

"We rest up. Do we both sleep at the same time? Or do we take turns with shifts? I can do either way but I didn't know if you had a preference?"

While her words had truth in them, she did have only one worry on taking turns. And that was the fear the one who stayed awake wouldn't get enough rest. So while she had admitted she didn't have any preferences between what he chose, a small part of Aiko hoped he'd say that they both sleep. It would definitely be the riskier option but it would be the more beneficial choice also.
 
He looked over at Aiko as he looked at her for a moment and then paused for a long moment, he knew what shew as getting at, they would have to sleep out here among the woods. He nodded his head as he thought about what they should do, "we both get some sleep, that way we both can get some sleep and if something happens tomorrow on the road one of us isn't so tired that we can't do anything and will have to depend on the other one," he reasoned as he looked at her, he knew that she or he could also take care of the other if something happened. He knew too the odds of something happening would be rather small actually.

He took and leaned against the other side of the tree as he knew that this would be a good place to rest sitting up, his sword was on the ground right next to himself. He was a light sleeper as it was so that if someone walked up, there was a good chance that he would wake up ready before he was attacked anyway. "Well, I think this should be a good place to rest, though, do you think we are a bit to close to the road," he wondered as he looked out at the road, "if we are farther away from the road then we would be able to be hidden more if someone comes down this road looking for us, though honestly I don't think we will have any people looking for us yet, and if they are they might not know what to do, they might think we are going to join the group who would want to kill you and no one is after my head, you on the other hand, I don't know about."

He rested his eyes as he let her think about that, he didn't need that much sleep but a good nap here would be good, he wasn't sure if he would wake before her or after her but he figured that when they got to the first city along the way they could be able to gather information and maybe stay at a nice place for a night or so. He knew people who lived in Matsue, and owed him a favor. He figured he could use this favor he was owed to their advantage. He slept lightly as he rested, he slept for a fair bit of time enjoying his rest, but always mindful of the ways he had ahead to travel to Matsue and then to Kyoto.
 
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