[Day 2 – Afternoon] An earned meal (Open)

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi made her way down to the galley for a good late lunch meal after she had her morning duties squared away. She didn't need intuition to tell her that there wasn’t going to be a hot bowl of curry waiting for her but at least there was something there...even if it was the dreaded salted preserved meat. There was the rumour that they were hitting land soon, in the meantime she could dream of large wild pheasants for lunch while contending with her current offering.

[Amaya]

And while she dreamed of dead poultry, another emerged for the late meal of the day before she went to catch some shut eye before the next day's shift. Amaya emerged in the doorway, looked around and saluted her. She didn't take a seat until it was clear she could and settled into an appropriately empty chair, glancing once at the Bayushi but not approaching unless beckoned.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi gave a glance to the passing heimen and this time, acknowledged her with a small nod as she laid her chopsticks aside on the tray. "Amaya. Good afternoon." She said simply, which itself could be an implied invitation without saying so.

[Amaya]

Taking the possibility as a likelihood, as it was better to assume you were needed than not if they were talking to you, Amaya approached and gave her a nod as she seated herself across from the woman. "Afternoon, O-Bayushi-sama," she said in a grated and formal tone. "Hope th'fortunes r favorin ya today."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

The unmasked Scorpion showed potential signs of a smile on her lips in approval. "Mm, I hope they do too, thank you...May they favour ours as well." She said with a glance given to what she only could guess was the direction the search party went to. "If Asahina-san's divination are something to go by, the Fortunes may have given us their attention this morning. Ne Amaya?"

[Amaya]

"Didn' catch th'divination," she said honestly. "Was a touch busy w'duties, but I'll take yer word for as to it bein a good sign of some kind anyway. Th'winds have been favorable this side of th'sea, an that's always a good thing if we're headed for land. Better t'hit landfall faster than slower I say. Too far from shore's a risk t'stay out on for long."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Her brows lifted in an incredulous glance at the heimen, assuming that she would have gotten word of what happened. She thought the peasantry were likely to be more chatty, maybe this one was in a hole? "That would be assuming much from my word. It was a sign, it remains whether it was good or not. Sometimes the misfortune of another is good fortune for us. And sometimes it's just infectious."

[Amaya]

Amaya really preferred not to discuss superstitious matters that often. They came close to shugenja talk, and that always made her a bit nervous. It did, however, make her feel a bit like she was in a hole at times. "Spose so. Well, if'n the sign ain't that clear, then I guess we'll jus have t'wait an see, ne?" she said, shrugging non-commitally. "That jus makes this like most days then, I figure. I'll go with hopin for a good day, though. I prefer'm to bad ones."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"What would you consider a good day at home?" Hoshi asked after a sip of tea.

[Amaya]

"Jus enough work t'make the body tired, a good hot meal, a swim to relax an a healthy night's sleep after it's all said n done," she said, shrugging. "If we're goin fer a perfect day, a festival'd be nice too while we're at't, but the rest counts for a good day'n my book." She almost asked the Bayushi the question in return, but paused just short and decided better of it.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi almost managed to nod at each item mentioned, "If you're good enough with your timing, all of those and a hot meal can be fulfilled here Amaya-san. Festivals are something we'll have to live without for now, Moon has a lack of them ne? I don't think it'll be too hard for you to find plenty of good days here."

"I'm pleased enough when everyone's happy." She said with a content tone.

[Amaya]

"Oh, I've got lil doubt th'days will be pretty pleasant most days round here. It's a good life f'er a peasant, not something t'be ungrateful for. They're treatin us folks right well round here," she said, sounding rather heartfelt as she relayed that tidbit. "I expect I'll be likin most of th'days one way r another, but we'll see. Who knows? Might end'p in a typhoon fer a week lurkin on th'shores."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"Or there could be only a generous offering of bananas waiting on the island. There's little point to think of the what ifs when you know the now is been treating you pleasantly, ne Amaya? You have good days lined up for you." She showed a small smile of reassurance, worry was never supposed to be a peasant's job anyway.

[Amaya]

"Should be good, I'd say," she said, noting that the Bayushi didn't seem to react to her sort of gallows humor. "So far th'sease themselves've been real calm, though I'm not recognizin all th'fish I'm seein't this point. We're past th'sea of shadows, eh? If... O-Bayushi-sama don't mind, could she tell m'where th'hell that is?"

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi took her time with picking her meal before she topped it off with a cup of cold tea. Clearly the heimen didn't gossip enough around here to keep this one in the loop. "We've been out of the Sea of Shadows for at least a day now, wherever we're at, it's far beyond the conventional reaches of the Empire. We could be closer to the Ivory Kingdoms."

She smiled faintly. "I managed to catch a King Salmon yesterday, but I was looking for something for exotic. That's a pity I didn't get the same luck."

[Amaya]

She frowned. "Wait... Ivory whatsits? You mean places there's ... Gaijin?" she said, her eyes raising up like dinner plates. "Can people even go t'places like those? I thought they was too far'n away t'reach ever. Fluke they ever came here." She had stopped eating entirely for a moment, and was staring gawk-faced at the woman, clearly a bit shocked at the idea.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

And I thought that King Salmon was the highlight of my day too...

Hoshi answered with a few nods. "Ivory Kingdoms, Amaya. I was only aware that we're heading to that general direction, as whether or not we go to those places, then...that is the Captain's doing, and of the fleet. It'll be less than a fluke now, especially when the Captains are both Mantis and Kasuga."

[Amaya]

"As O-Bayushi-sama says," she said, not sounding like she really believed a word of it. It wasn't exactly something she had ever really encountered before in her life. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs and make sense of it all, but that was only having midling success at best. "Well... don't spose we'll see much'f that anywho, so no point worryin bout where we are anywho."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi placed her hands together and rested her chin on them. "We'll see more than we'll like either way...What have you heard of their lands Amaya? What do you suppose there is like?" She asked, in a tone that says she'll be entertained by both fact and fiction at the moment.

[Amaya]

"Nothin. I don' even know what they look like. I'm xpectin magic carpets that fly'n th'sky, birds th'size of a kobune, tentacled horrors n th'like much as I am anythin," she said, shaking her head and shuddering. It should have gone almost without saying that, however educated she was, she was no scribe or scholar... and also a peasant. What could she know of gaijin?