(Moon 10, The sea, Early morning) Fishing, OPEN

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

As the Jade Dragon slowly rose from the east, a figure wrapped in thick travelling coat sat on a simple boat, casting a simple net on the starboard side, humming as he did so. The boat moved slowly onwards one the almost placid surface of the sea, a souls seagull crying high above the boat.

Fishy fishy fishy... Xiao Hua hummed, hoping he could catch some fresh food. The rations, while filling, were not exactly delicious. And after three days of the simple grub, sashimi seemed rather appenling choice.

[Hida Sayuri]

[ooc: well no-one else appears to want to fish, and I paid for this here kit...going to get some use out of it.]

"Ever fished along this part of the coast in your travels then?" says the very large woman weighing down the other end of the boat, net spreading to port. "What kind of fare are we likely to find?"

Her pragmatic cotton top has a charming cherry blossom print across the grey fabric, and her loose pants are a less faded shade of steel blue than the soaked clothing she'd worn last night. Not that anyone would have noticed the shade of it in the storm.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Hmm, probably... I like fishing..." the man murmured quietly, as if speaking louder would scare away their catch. "Though most of the time, I fish on land. And use a rod instead of a net, but..."

"Sawara... Sawara most likely. You know, it's kanji is a combination of the characters 'fish' and 'spring'. As it's most readily caught during that season. With good luck we might get few Shake as well, but I am not holding my breath."

The Unicorn spoke with a little urgency, calmly laying the net as he did so.

[Hida Sayuri]

She nods, continuing to manage the net, letting it spool from her hand; the other hand on the rudder of the tiny craft to keep them straight into the gentle waves.

"We'd get Sawara in the bay sometimes. All the fishin' ships would be out to catch what they could. Few of us'd catch a net full or two and fry the lot of 'em when we were in to shore. Doubt we'll get to heat up a pot of oil for fryin' out here." Her own voice isn't much modulated. She'd never found these ocean breeds as timid as their river cousins.

"But I did most of my fishin' in the rivers near home--trout an' such." She peers down into the water. "Is it even the right season for Shake? We don't get those much, I think I've only ever had it dried."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well, I am not an expert. I do not know if we are in the right place for shake... I have been told they migrate as the seasons change to another. That's why I said I wasn't holding my breath." the man chuckled.

"Hmm, fried sawara? I kind of like it better raw, but then again, ten people, ten colours as they say." the man continued, smiling to himself as he quoted a saying which implied that everyone had their preferences.

"I have a knife with me, and if we catch anything... I'll take a bite... fed up with the grub you know."

[Hida Sayuri]

"Already? It's only been a few days." Strong teeth show in a broad smile. "At that rate, you'll be diving off the ship when we return, just to be the first to the town and the closest shop serving anything."

Her gaze grows distant with memory. "There's a lot of fried foods where I grew up. I'm already missing that here. Pumpkin tempura's a favorite...but there's not many I don't like. They don't fry much in Unicorn lands then?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Yes. Already." he chuckled. "Never been a soldier before. And you may be well right, especially if we catch nothing... I rather like fish." Life as a son of a merchant patron had its perks. Good food was one of them.

"it's not like we do not fry food, venison and mutton are often cooked on fire, as well as rabbits and birds." The man explained, still keeping his voice low. "A matter of taste really, I just prefer my fresh fish as it is. Fresh."

"Tempura is good, though... I do not think any sane captain would allow a pot of boiling grease on their ship..."

[Hida Sayuri]

"No, I can't imagine they would." A gusty sigh follows. "Have to wait till we dock again for that. It's just not as filling raw."

One hand idly keeps track of the net as she digests the rest of his words. "Mutton?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Sheep. Very succulent, especially the young animals." the man mused. "Not that I'd offer it to visitors. Even we have some manners." he chuckled. "And I can live without... it's not like red meat is available beyond our lands."

[Hida Sayuri]

She stares at him, nose wrinkling. "You eat...sheep? They're smelly and filthy and...not food."

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"They do smell. Then again, so does natto. And fish that's being dried. " he chuckled, dropping a wooden piece from his hands, marking the end of the net he had been laying.

"Let's head bit further away from the nets, and see if we could get anything with the poles... I'll ask the kami for a good place.."

Closing his hands for a prayer, the man mumbled to himself.

Shinkai no kami yo, waga meirei wo shitagaitamae, waga shoukan keichou shitamae. Waga no moto ni kite, waga gimon ni kotaenasai.

After brief discussion with apparently no-one, the main pointed at a direction behind the bushi's back. "That way, if you were so kind, Hida-san."

[Hida Sayuri]

"But none of those smell like sheep!" she says, as if that completely explains her objections.

Still, there was a purpose here other than being disgusted by Unicorn dietary practices. "Steer again then and I'll get us away a bit." Moving carefully, she relinquishes the rudder and takes up the small boat's oars once more. Propelling them along the waves, instead of drifting with them, takes more strength, and Sayuri presses to the oars with a grin, trusting the man to be skilled enough to turn them without capsizing.

If they ate things like shaggy, smelly sheep, what she'd heard last night didn't seem as strange as it had. "So y'ever do any fightin' Iuchi-san? I'm told Unicorn women tend to court with some violence. Seems that'd be rough on those men who aren't bushi, no?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Aye." he nodded, taking the helm, turning the boat slowly as the woman put her considerable strength behind the oars.

Hmm, too bad it might be impossible to have a full crew of Hida on a merchant ship. Such a vessel would be faster than anything else up the northern coast. And smelliest one as well... the man mused to himself as he steered the vessel to the direction the kami had pointed to.

"But they still smell. And the meat... smells less. You have had rabbit or bird stew, no?"

Dumbfounded by her question, the smile disappeared from his face. "Erm.. pardon? No, I haven't been to a combat before... I can defend myself if needed, but barring a few drunken brawls, I have never had to... Those Yoritomo are quite vicious when they have had a one cup too much."

Baffled, looking at his feet he continued.
"As for the courting habits of my Clan, erm... no... no. We might not do it as the Cranes do, but I can assure you that no violence is involved."

[Hida Sayuri]

Speech slips out in shorter bits as she rows, breath matched to the pattern of the oars rising, falling, and splashing.

"Birds? Some. Rabbit's food for farmers. They keep 'em from the crops, an' get dinner too." She still makes a face. "Meat smells less, eh? Still don't sound fit to eat. Food so scarce on that side'a the Empire?"

"Oh yeah, been in a bit o'ruckus with some of the Mantis sailors a time or two." Her grin says it's at least an amusing memory. "They're good at it. Few of 'em can hold their own with the sake before...and after a brawl too."

"Don't know how the Crane do it. Poetry or somethin' maybe? But, yer sure none of your women do it with a punch or two?" She pauses in thought. "I guess that's maybe a good thing since I saw a few of 'em aboard, and brawls are likely enough when long at sea. Hate to see the trouble if they get frisky."

She pauses, oars raised. "Bout here, you think?"

After waiting for an answer she adds, "Not even the battle maidens?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Hmm, but rabbit stew is good. And the meat is white enough. And they look a bit like birds, with their long ears. You could think them as furry birds." he replied, trying to reassure the woman that the rabbits were actually edible.

"Not especially scarce... It's good and we enjoy variety." he shrugged. "Some insist that the red meat makes warrior strong."

"The one I brawled with came to me with a knife." the man winced, recalling less than a pleasant memory. "Luckily he was too drunk to hit anything."

"Erm... no, no. Who gave you the idea that Unicorn women would court men with violence in the first place? We want our wives to be strong, yes, but only so that they could keep our households, and bear strong children for us." The man explained to the Hida kindly, smiling as he did so.


"Yup, here is good." the man nodded as they reached to their destination. "Erm... I have never counted an Utaku, but... I am pretty sure that not even them..." He replied, wondering if their nets would catch any pray.

[Hida Sayuri]

"Furry...birds? Really? Do they fly in Unicorn lands?" That would be something to see, but she waves away the idea of stew. "Unless they do, I'll stick to something like duck. Now that makes a decent soup."

She stows the oars in a smooth movement, taking a moment to secure them.

"Hida-san told me so. Didn't ask how he knew." A thought occurs to her though. "I mean...a night can start with a bit of brawlin' at the sake house, and might end somewhere else. Don't know as he hasn't met someone that way."

"Someone as can lay you out pretty much proves they're strong, yeah?" She shrugs, bending to retrieve her fishing pole. "Still doesn't explain why he'd think you fancied me. Wasn't so much as a slap in the storm there."

"What'd you find for bait? Sweet talk somethin' better'n a bare hook out of the cook?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Well, they run pretty fast at least." the man chuckled, holding his pole over the side of the boat, carefully moving it up and down, hoping to lure in a stray fish as he talked with the Hida. "Hida-san? The big fellow?" Iuchi had not caught his name after all. "Well, I guess he'd be normal for Hida. The one who came to talk to you the other night?"

"Hmm, night might start that way in Crab lands, but... well, I guess it's not impossible. Not may way, though." the last sentence was murmured silently.

"Eeeeh... he thought that. Heee... " he shook his head. "No, I'm spoken for, Hida-san. And... a man of honour. Maybe he fancied you, and in a fit of jealousy, misunderstood?"

"Oh,this... I have a small piece of dried fish I took from my rations." he explained, gently tugging his rod.

[Hida Sayuri]

"If running fast were the same as flyin,' your kin'd be mounted on flyin' horses, no?" Taking her time, she carefully knots a hook to her line, large fingers seeming poorly suited to the task, given how small the hook and slender the line looked in her hands.

"Hai, that one. Hida Musasha." She pauses at his implication as if struck by her own tetsubo. "You think so? Guess stranger thing's have happened. I'm a damn poor prospect though, so I doubt it." If the idea discomforts her, she gives no sign of it.

She digs out a dried bit of her own breakfast, quickly packed this morning to bring along, with a sigh. "I'd hoped there might have been fresh. It works better. Cook told me no, but I figured you mighta been better at convincin'"

Closing her eyes a moment, she feels the breeze before opening them and dropping the line. "How long engaged then?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"If there were flying horses, we'd surely ride them alright." the man laughed, obviously amused by the thought. "Imagine that, flying cavalry..."

"Hida Mushasa, hee... so that's what he is called. And yes, it's possible. Though, I am not saying it is like that. Man's heart... and woman's heart as well... is a mystery... So if you want to find out, you'd better ask the man himself." he reasoned with her, carefully tugging his pole, more focused on the discussion than on the task at hand. It was not like it reduced his efficiency. He wasn't going to comment on her prospects either.

"There was fresh fish at the kitchen?" the man huffed. "I saw none in my bowl." He leaned a bit forwards, to peek over the side, looking for any signs of aquatic food.

"Depends. Legally, six months I guess. I was told it about two months ago." he replied somewhat dryly, his tone betraying his disapproval.

[Hida Sayuri]

One hand keeps a casual hold on the pole. Never know what might bite or when. "What's mysterious about it?" she asks curiously. "Nothing much to do about what's in anyone's heart or nethers till we're back ta shore anyway. And anything more formal's not likely."

A small jerk keeps the bait twitching below. "I just assume they've got some, somewhere. We're on a ship, fresh fish isn't hard ta come by. Doesn't mean it'll be breakfast, neh?"

A wry grin twists her lips at his commentary. "Like that is it? Tch. If ya didn't have someone in mind, at least the work's done and no bother ta you."