Windin' Down [Day 5, Afternoon, Embassy Halls]

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

Back in her armor and walking about the grounds of the Embassy, a bored and somewhat on edge Yakusoku wanders through the embassy. Hands clasped behind her back, the woman works at figuring out the layout of the place, going into those areas they're welcome to visit while avoiding the others. Stopping near a small table holding some flowers from the embassy garden, she looks at the orange and green, tropical blossoms with a slight frown. "Even the damn plants gotta look like they're from another world," she murmurs, letting out a heavy sigh. Oh well. Hopefully their time in Lanka would be coming to an end in another day or two.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Just as Yakusoku finished her commentary on the embassy's choice of flowers, another figure was halted by the curiosity of the bloom and stopped too appreciate it. At first, she could have been mistaken for one of the regular residences of the Embassy, being dressed in something very local. It wasn't too long though to see that this woman had a mask and a daisho on her.

"Oh. Ichiro-san. Good afternoon." She managed to be the first one to speak from this surprise encounter.

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

Yakusoku glanced up at Hoshi, caught off-guard by the outfit. "Bayushi-san. Afternoon," she offers a bow and a crooked smile, focusing her attention on the woman's face instead of that thing she's wearing. "So..." she allows the word to hang on the air for a moment, trying to choose her words carefully. "Glad ta see yer doin' alright. Heard ya didn' come in last night and about popped an asshole Tortoise in the mouth while we was out lookin' for ya." She didn't sound annoyed. In fact, there was a hint of relief there. "The way people were whisperin' 'bout how ya didn't come home some folks, like that Kasuga, thought ya'd been gutted on the street."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Funny that it wasn't a bad guess...I nearly was. "So I see...I'm glad that I was able to disappoint Kasuga-san's expectations or else would have have wished from the Yomi that you did punch him. -Ah. As you can see I'm doing alright. I was only gone for a few hours of the night and spent the time immersing myself with the people here. It was a pleasant time." She said in a tone that was rather casual about it.

Her light mood too a pause as she bowed deeply, "I am very sorry for troubling everyone over it."

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

"Eh, don't worry 'bout it none," she shrugs. "Yer back, that little bastard was wrong, and I ain't bein' punished for assaultin' one of the local guards... even if he woulda deserved it." Curling her fingers slowly the Badger allows the knuckles to crack and pop before she rests her hands at her sides. "So ya mind wanderin' a bit? Maybe enjoy the storm or grab some lunch?"

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi let out dramatic breath. "You may find this weird coming from me but getting something local would sit very well with me right now Ichiro-san. Some catching up would be good too, Usagi-san did more than hint a lot happened."

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

"Maybe they keep a bit of local food 'round here. If not, there's always goin' down to that tea house or somethin'," again, she shrugs. "I tried the local food an it ain't that bad. As far as what happened," she starts off down the hall, glancing back for a moment to make sure Hoshi's following, "I can only tell ya a bit. Don't know much."

"See, we heard ya never came in last night so me, Himiko-san, Kichirou-san and Kiyo-san went lookin'. So 'ere we are, Himiko-san and Kiyo-san ain't wearin' armor, Himiko-san ain't got no weapon. Kiyo-san's got an unstrung bow. Kichirou-san and I got a daisho and I 'ave my groomin' knife," she sets the scene and pauses for a moment, looking to make sure none of the guards were wandering nearby. "And 'ere comes this Kasuga from the embassy a screamin' in the streets, throwin' out insults. Starts talkin' 'bout us bein' ignorant, claims the translator the Embassy sent with us is the Ambassador's scribe and that that peasant's worth more than we are."

"So I turn at him and start givin' him a piece of my mind. He gives me this bullshit line about how are half-armored, barely armed group of crewmen are lookin' like some war party and gonna scare the 'dumb as sheep' barbarians. So I'm figurin', at first, maybe he's onta something. I mean, he does live and work 'ere. So I agree to come on back, take off my armor and maybe drop off my groomin' knife; sure as shit ain't walkin' 'round this place with no daisho. Himiko-san though wants to just keep lookin'. So 'ere goes the Kasuga again, a bitchin', pissin', and moanin', calling her every word for stupid under the sun and sayin' she's likely to get gutted just like you. So I tell him, if he keeps it up I'm-a 'ave his ass called before the Ambassador and the Cap-ain for all the shit he's talkin'. But since he's takin' our translator and we can't be wanderin' without one, we get Himiko-san to come on back 'ere and I go about takin' off my armor. Was gettin' ready to go out lookin' again when I 'eard you was back in-house."

Yakusoku stops again, raising a large, calloused fist and shaking it a bit beside her head. "I shoulda popped that slimy, rat bastard in the mouth for actin' like that. Sayin' us Imperial Legionairres ain't no better than some peasant and that you was likely dead in the street somewhere," she sighs, lowering her hand. "But I kept my cool this time. Still, even though he says that ya told off his boys when they wanted to send someone wit' ya when you was 'sneakin out' last night, I think they shoulda at least insisted on a translator or somethin', ya know? Ya can handle yer-self in a scrap, but we ain't exactly Lanka experts 'round 'ere."

Once again she starts off down the hall, making sure she isn't going to bump into anything, or anyone, before starting to walk backwards. "Other than that, I don' know much a what's goin' on. Didn't really learn nothin' yesterday so I didn't go to no meetins' 'bout what people were figurin' out."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi followed along for the stroll as the Badger laid out the events of the morning. She was hoping that she wasn't missing a lot but what should have proven to be a simple search didn't exactly pan out that way. "That was more than a bit, thank you."

"Mm. I thought running into a conflict with our own people wasn't going to be a problem here..." She let out a quiet breath. "Maybe something about staying here too long has done something to their ways, I wonder if he remembered the fact we were operating on Imperial authority."

She didn't have a recollection of leaving the embassy, so the less commented on that, the better. "I didn't think I would be gone for that long."

"I've heard that the previous conflicts the Mantis had with the Ivory Kingdoms are...rearing their ugly heads again." She said softly to change the topic afterwards.

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

"Oh it ain't no problem. Yer crew Bayushi-san. Providin' ya information or help or whatever's what I do. And the way I sees it, somethin' must be wrong with yer 'ways' to end up workin' out 'ere in the first place," she shrugs, leaving it at that. At the mention of conflicts beginning anew she frowns. "Well that ain't good. Hope the Captain's ready to pull us outta here if the people in this damn town start trouble. Was hopin' shore leave, even this shore leave, would give us a chance to do some relaxin,' ya know?. But this place seems ready to up and explode at any moment." She shakes her head, peering past shoji screens as they wander by them, trying to remember where to find food in this place. "Ya remember where to get some food 'round 'ere? So used to bein' on boats I can't find my way around buildin's half the time," her smile returns at that, a quick, friendly glance offered to the Scorpion.

[Bayushi Kichirou]

"I suspect if we were to stay in port more than a few days we might end up turning the entire embassy against us as well as the locals." Kichirou says as he moves out of an adjoining hallway stopping only briefly to bow to his shipmates before falling into step, "I don't mean to interrupt though Ichiro-san, Bayushi-san." he offers as apology for crashing their conversation, "I think whoever destroyed the ship we found is docked here as well. Well the survivor we found seemed to think so at least."

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

"If we can trust'em," Yakusoku gives Kichirou a quick glance, "not like he's any less gaijin than the rest of'em."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

If Yakusoku meant the ones in the embassy, she could easily agree. The trade and association with gaijin wasn't anywhere near the most glorious of assignments. The samurai here must be either greedy enough for coin or worse. "From the massive city of tents on the harbour, I already had a feeling the city was an overfilled barrel. Hardly the exotic experience even the adventurous were looking for..."

She gave a glance about the place. "-Ah...If it's like any Rokugani estate, the servants should be able to make a lunch room out of these meeting rooms on a moments notice really."

When Kichirou appeared, she bowed politely. "The ship that sank them is on this dock? What are the chances we'll be followed once we leave?"

[Ichiro Yakusoku]

"Let'em follow," Yakusoku snorts, the corner of her mouth turning into a half-grin, "we'll be the last ship they ever try to sink. Startin' to think they can take on our boats because they've been sinkin' ones crewed by gaijin would be a fatal mistake."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

Hoshi wished she could admire the other woman's confidence but the people here might have been desperate enough to send their best ships. The fleet only had one warship among them. "Let's hope that they don't get clever around here."

[Bayushi Kichirou]

Keeping pace with the women Kichirou listens as they bandy about the information he'd just given them. Nodding at one point or another as its made, "Well in any situation I would imagine more information might be useful. If no one else has done so a bit of investigation down at the docks might prove fruitful." he offers with a shrug.

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"We have a point of interest if that's the case. To have an enemy ship parked so casually in your own home seems like sloppy work on part of the gaijin here. Unless they have a lot of holes here...Do you know of its make?"

[Bayushi Kichirou]

"It looks the same as all the other ships here. I'm not skilled enough to notice any difference if there is one." Kichirou says with a shake of his head, "It was flying a particular flag however. I'm not sure which one exactly, but Akodo Jishaku-san seemed to know."

[Bayushi Hoshi]

"It's a shame that I've yet to introduce myself to him, I should make a point to before we raise sail again. We should at least know the make of this ship..."