A lone figure sat hunched in a corner table, lazily eating his soy-drenched noodles. He didn't expect to find anything particularly exciting here, but he was hungry, they could speak his language.

He sighed. He had things he would have loved to do, but as he couldn't communicate with the locals, he was at a loss.

Smilling happily, Choukichi slips into the tea house. Though he fully intends to sample the local cuisine, he has no idea how well it will agree with his body and figures a good start would be somewhere a bit more tailored to Rokugani tastes. With the charms at his neck clacking away, he moves across the room to the only familliar looking face and offers a polite bow.

"Ah, good day, Yoritomo-san." The man greeted the other, smiling. "Feel free to join me if you want."

Ah, a familiar scent.

Nobuyoshi enters the Jade Sun drawn in by the prospect of having a proper meal and some tea. His black and red mask betray nothing, though he is glad to have an opportunity to change back into proper red and black kimono for life off of the sea. He bows to the samurai assembled and sees about having a late lunch.

Choukichi nods his head and takes a seat across from him.

"Thank you, I have seen you around but we have never been properly introduced. I am Yoritomo Choukichi."

Suriya steps from the back with a fresh pot of tea for the Unicorn. She hesitates when she sees that he's been joined by two other samurai. Quietly she approaches and bows properly, despite the sari she wore. Her voice was soft and musical as she greeted the Mantis and Scorpion in softly accented Rokugani, "Welcome to the Jade Sun, Bayushi-sama, Yoritomo-sama... is there something in particular you would like...?"

The obviously gaijin woman unobtrusively replaces the Iuchi's pot of tea and waits, eyes demurely lowered.

Nobuyoshi looks at the servant.

"Does the Jade Sun have a specialty?" Nobuyoshi asks, curious.

"That would be the cuisine of your homeland," a small smile curves her lips at the joke before she continues softly, "Might I suggest the chirashi sushi? The fish is very fresh, though some of the variety may be strange to you."

Nobuyoshi nods.

"That, and an appropriate tea to go with it." Nobuyoshi says.

Having ordered lunch, Nobuyoshi glances around at the various patrons of the Jade Sun.

"Of course," she replies quietly with a bow before shifting her attention to Choukichi. The woman waits to be acknowledged, not interrupting the man's conversation with the Unicorn.

There were a few Mantis gathered around a table, swapping stories with one of the locals. A merchant most likely with the way he was dressed and the wealth he displayed. Two of the samurai were male and one of them female.

Nobuyoshi wanders over to where the Mantis are swapping stories with a local, though he'll wait to have the Mantis acknowledge him rather than simply sit down at their table.

The woman was a sweet-faced Yoritomo in her early twenties. She was the one who looked up and smiled a greeting at the masked man, "Konbanwa, Bayushi-sama... did you come in with the Half Moon?"

At her greeting, the conversation feel silent. One of the men, a Tsuruchi, nods politely while the other (another Yoritomo) nods as well and does a rapid fire translation for the gaijin. The merchant looks curious and glances from his friends to the Bayushi's mask and bows respectfully.

"I did." Nobuyoshi says with a bow. "I am Bayushi Nobuyoshi, hohei serving upon the Half Moon."

"Might I join your small gathering?" he asks politely.

Yoritomo Choukichi wrote:Choukichi nods his head and takes a seat across from him.

"Thank you, I have seen you around but we have never been properly introduced. I am Yoritomo Choukichi."

"Iuchi Xiao Hua. Pleasure to meet you... though saying that feels odd after seeing you around the ship..." he replied. "The food's decent here." The man poked his noodles with his chopsticks. "Then again, anything is decent after the rations..."

"Of course, pull up a chair," she replies with an eager smile, "I'm Yoritomo Keiko, this is my brother Mamoru, that's Tsuruchi Kachiro and this is Somo Pavarti. Do you have any news from the Empire?"

Somo asks a few questions of Kachiro who answers gamely. The gaijin gestures to the Scorpion's mask, looking puzzled as he asks yet another question. Whatever it was it caused Mamoru to laugh and Kachiro to lift his hands and shake his head in the negative.

Hm, so you told him I'm neither villain or a criminal? Nobuyoshi ponders as he joins the table.

"A pleasure to meet you all." he offers. "I'd be happy to exchange news from the Empire for news from the Ivory Kingdoms."

"I believe the greatest topic in the Empire now is the conclusion of the War of Dark Fire. Was there something specific you wished to ask about?"

"Well, the most obvious is if it's over," she asks with a dimming of her smile and a flicker of concern. Hachiro pauses in his explanation to listen and it was clear that all three wanted to know what happened.

Nobuyoshi nods.

"It is. A large force comprised of Phoenix, Crab, Lion, Scorpion, Dragon,and the Shogun's forces managed to kill their leader and the majority of the yobajin forces on the Dragon Heart Plain before they could reach the capital. Nobuyoshi offers. "From what I heard, there were still stragglers loose in the northern lands, but the war proper seems to be over."

Choukichi glances to the womanl with a smile

"Ah, something to drink and eat, whatever you reccomend, I trust your judgement."

He then turns his attention back to Xiao Hua.

"It's a big ship and we don't share the same assignment, makes it hard to get to know everyone... You get used to the rations eventually, no mainland cuisine, but the cook does do pretty good with what limited options he has. Try the food on a smaller kobune for a few months and what we've been eating will seem like an elaborate feast."

Yoritomo Choukichi wrote:"It's a big ship and we don't share the same assignment, makes it hard to get to know everyone... You get used to the rations eventually, no mainland cuisine, but the cook does do pretty good with what limited options he has. Try the food on a smaller kobune for a few months and what we've been eating will seem like an elaborate feast."

"I don't want to think about that." He chuckled. Being a son of a rather wealthy merchant patron had had its perks. Like decent food. "I'd rather think about this." The man added, poking his chopsticks to the pile of noodles before him.