[Moon 9: Early Evening - Aftdeck - OPEN] Purge

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Emerging from the crew courters, a wobbling Iuchi walked to the railing, and unceremoniously emptied the contents of his stomach over the board. A little pale, he lifted his head to gaze outwards, the wind blowing his hair all over his face. The man looked somewhat pale and unhealthy as he steadied his breathing while clinging to the rail.

The man was wearing the same purple kobakama he had worn the day before, as well as the same white short sleeved gi, leaving most of arms and a part of his shins bare, and as the storm raged around them, his clothes clung to his skin, revealing his slim stature.

[Hida Sayuri]

The howling wind is cut somewhat by the solid breadth of the woman leaning against the railing, large hands wrapped securely around said railing as her hakama slap wetly at her ankles. Not that much could likely be seen of her in the storm until lightening lit up the sky and the broad, toothy grin aimed at the sodden Unicorn. The grin was one of commiseration, Sayuri's stomach had finally succumbed to the storm after barely a twinge these past few days, but the nuance of precisely what her storm-lit smile meant might not be apparent in so brief a flash.

"Just as well they didn't waste effort on cooking tonight, given how much of it would have gone overboard." Bare feet grip the deck as firmly as her hands upon the rail. There is a shift of the shadowy bulk as she bows a bit in some sort of greeting, still gripping the rail.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Wiping his mouth with his hand, the man man turned to face the giant of a woman whom had addressed him. "Yeah... " The man grimaced as the action brought the taste of bile to his mouth. "Apparently the things they say about military rations are... unfortunately accurate."

Hoping to stay standing despite the weather, the man clung to the rail with some desperation as he regarded the bushi.

"Iuchi.. Xiao Hua. Fresh recruit." he bobbed his head.

[Hida Sayuri]

Her low voice closely resembled the thunder rolling through the clouds. "Fresh here too. Hida Sayuri."

"What do they say about military rations?" She might be having this chat on the sun-warmed deck of a few days past for all the chill and wind seemed to bother her, though locks of hair torn from confinement and the hems of her clothing whipped with the wind. "I mean, I know what they say back home, but not anywhere else."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well met, Hida-san."

"They say that taste is not a factor..." the man replied, grinning as he clung to the rail amidst the storm. "Not as much as some other things.."

He paused for a while, holding back the urge to heave the contents of his belly over the board once more.

"...to put it politely." Iuchi finished with a weak grin.

[Hida Sayuri]

"Close enough. I'm told they'll keep a person alive, much as the taste'd make 'em wish otherwise." The shiver of the deck as they slap into the next wave, and the wash of spray thrown hard enough to cut across the driving rain are met with the same huge grin she'd given the Iuchi earlier.

"We don't get 'em like this in the Bay. I'll have to thank Kaori for the recommendation to this post. It's well worth the trip to see this!" She glances at her much less sturdy companion. "So long as you don't follow dinner overboard, neh?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

The man nodded, smiling ever so faintly, ending drenched once again as a particularly high wave struck the side of the vessel. "Something like that, yes..."

The man looked miserable, his face pale, the messy long dark hair clinging to his face. "Hmm, You hail from the Earthquake Fish Bay then?"

"Quite a weather..." he commented, meekly.

[Hida Sayuri]

"Nope." A quick shake of her head set those loose strands of hair whipping through the wind. "Served there a bit. It's a bit less intense than the Wall...well usually. Lighter duty to rotate off to sometimes, neh?"

"I grew up at the foot of the mountains north of there."

She cocks her head, visible in the intermittent light flickering within the clouds above. "Gonna be alright? Some aren't well-suited to storms." She pauses. "Never heard what sort of weather they have across Unicorn lands. Get thunderstorms like this?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Ah, I see..."

"I guess... I feel a lot better with less... in my belly." he chuckled, as the winds messed with his hair. "And yes, we do get... the thunderstorms that roll across the plains are quite something..."

Another wave crashed to the boat.

"Well, with less waves, of course..." the man grinned.

[Hida Sayuri]

"So long as you're steady then. Don't want to see if I'm fast enough to catch you if you go over." Still, she keeps her eyes on the obviously frailer man as the wind and waves continue to batter them both.

"How do the horses take it? Can't imagine they like thunder."

She leans back in a stretch, still holding the railing, feet braced. "Almost want to stay up here...or see if they're planning to have us sleep in the hold. Those wee berths are going to break me. I feel like a bonsai tree, all bent into some ancient shape that's not my own."

[Hida Musasha]

A man in heavy armor walks by the two, bowing politely as he passes. The water is kept from his face by a wide straw hat. He walks calmly and self assured toward the center of the deck, where he sits down cross legged and waits with his tetsubo on his lap.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

Bowing back to the Hida as he passes, his hair whipping front and back, Iuchi turned back to the Sayuri, faint smile playing on his lips.

"Ah, if I fall, I'll just walk back!" he explained to her as the wind howled around the duo.

"As for the horses, the herds go where the leader wills. Most of the time they try to take cover somewhere... I am not a horse master... " he chuckled, rest of his words lost in the howling winds. "As for the ones we keep with us... are usually accustomed to the dim of the battle."

"Well, I have no such problems..." the man continued, giving her a sympathetic look. "But I am pretty sure I can't sleep in..."
The man's right hand waved at the general direction of the raging sea.

[Hida Sayuri]

The shadowed bulk by the rail straightens from her stretch only to bend once more returning her clansmate's bow with a 'quiet' greeting shouted over the wind.

One hand rests on the rail as she directs her attention to the Unicorn again. "Walk back?" Difficult as it is to tuck much nuance into conversation over the storm, the tone of confusion carries through.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"One who can talk with the kami of the sea..." the man explained, grinning faintly. "...need not to sink unless they want to."

[Hida Sayuri]

"Ooooh. Right." There is a damp nod. "That's a handy talent."

"Erm. But they don't help with the sickness? Not so friendly as all that, then."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well, yes and no..." He chuckled. "But I can survive this on my own... And, while it would help with the symptoms, the cause would remain. Better I get used to this now."

[Hida Sayuri]

"Sure. May as well get you stomach under control before real duties start. They're not gonna be too pleased having you posted here otherwise." Her grin, seen in flashes in the dark, might be sympathetic. "Not been shipboard much then?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well, actually, I have. Quite a lot." the man smiled apologetically. "Most of the time, close to the coast. We'd beach if the weather got foul..."

[Hida Sayuri]

A good-natured chuckle rumbles through the next flash of lightening, as if the thunder chose to be hasty and accompany the explosion in the sky. Actual thunder follows, of course. "A fair weather sailor then? Whereabouts did you sail?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"All up and down the coast, taking occasional longer voyages to Mantis isles." The man replied. "My family oversees some of the trading that happens between the Unicorn and the coastal Clans."