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

[Hida Sayuri]

There isn't even a momentary hesitation regarding the mercantile subject. Whether out of ignorance that it should be a touchy subject or a pragmatic lack of giving a shit, Sayuri seems to have no compunction about launching into such waters.

"So not military ships at all then. I guess we might see some of that trade, though most of ours is overland. Do you trade in something specific, or just everything that comes along?" She cocks her head, still unaffected by the chill and wet as she balances against the tossing of the ship.

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"Not really no. Swift coastal ships and large barges." He nodded, telling her that her assesment had been rather accurate.

"My family trades spices and sake. And some other novelty items." the man continued, rubbing his upper arms with his hands as he clung to the railing. The wet clothing clinging to his skin, the shugenja was starting to feel the cold sting of the wind.

"Speaking of ships... as you seem to be feeling better as well, shouldn't we head indoors. Standing in cold and damp is not good for your humours." the man suggested carefully.

[Hida Sayuri]

"hmm?" She looks more closely at the soaked shugenja. "You probably should. No sense catching something miserable if your spirits won't help you with that. I've never been bothered by rain or cold much, and I enjoy a good storm."

Her grin slips sideways as she inclines her head to indicate the other Hida sitting on deck, peaceful amid the chaos of wind, wave, and scurrying sailors. "Seems to run in the family, maybe?"

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

"As you say, Hida-san." the man bobbed his head, trying to keep his eyes on her as he did so. First the midget, and then the giant. He briefly amused the thought how the two would look next to each other.

"Carry the Fortunes." Taking hold of the rigging, the man turned to move towards the relative warmth of the crew quarters.

/exit (?)

[Hida Sayuri]

"Rest well, and hopefully dry." She shakes her head, hoping the little Unicorn wasn't going to be keeping most of the crew up with one a cough for the next week. Sleeping out here in the rain might become even more attractive.

With a shrug, she takes two long steps across the deck and crouches near her clanmate, heels upon the deck and forearms resting comfortably on her knees. After sparing a moment's thought as to whether he'd had someone bless the broad hat to keep the wind from claiming it, she offers a 'quiet' introduction. It would be a shout on a calm day, but only just cuts through the crash of waves and wind tonight. "Hida Sayuri, new to this ship."

It's a greeting lacking in any protocol, brief and to the point. What else would she offer a cousin in a strange land?

[Hida Musasha]

He nods, "Musasha..." he says in response. His gravelly voice is low, but carries well even in the wind. After a long pause, "This is when it happens..."

[Hida Sayuri]

"When what happens?" There is a barely perceptible shift in weight from heels to toes, but the words are enough to set herself more ready to act.

[Hida Musasha]

He sighs, his armor lifting and dropping, "On the Sea of Sorrows, as a storm winds down. A crew is tired and looking to rest, the Jade Dragon is heading to his nightly slumber, and the wind and rain is still loud enough to hide other noises. They crawl up the sides of the ship and onto the deck and try to grab a few men and drag them below. It isn't likely to happen here, but I won't let my guard down. Ever."

[Hida Sayuri]

She nods. "Never served that far out from the Bay, and the Shadows never came that far in while I was assigned shipboard. But there were plenty in the crews as had." No need to ask what crawled onto ships in seas down there. Something deadly and intelligent enough to pick their time to attack. The details of how many teeth or tentacles it had were pretty irrelevant.

One hand reaches back to pat at the haft of her own tetsubo. "Not like our guard's entirely down even sleeping...though it's damn hard to fit in the small berths here with a decent weapon."

"Were you always assigned to the ships then?"

[Hida Musasha]

He nods, "The day o' my gempukku. It was rainin', an' bakemono swarmed from the woods, this side o' the wall, an' I climbed a hut, carryin' a couple wounded. They came after, o'course, but I took stones from the chimney and bashed 'em all dead to a one I did. They said I was a born climber, an' sent me where that's not wasted. The wall has little use for climbin'."

[Hida Sayuri]

"Oh I dunno. Climbin's always good to have. If you need to get higher and there's no stairs nor ladder? Even on the Wall...well sometimes the big ones as make it to the top, if you're not so tall..." She shrugs. "Seen one fellow climb the back of one while I was trying to hit it in what passed for a leg. Stood on a 'shoulder' and smashed its head in."

She pauses for a minute, quiet. "Course he fell off with it and no climbin' was goin' to get him back up in the middle of that attack."

[Hida Musasha]

He nods, "Yeah, biggin's always leave a mess out here, tho. An' they smell...it ain't like nothin' you kin imagine. The eta can't scrub it all away, neither." He looks up at her, "Yer a fine lass, aincha, and here I'm bein' all dour. Ain't proper. Pull up a plank, no reason ta pass the time on yer feet. Nothin' ugly on deck, at least not yet."

[Hida Sayuri]

The big woman laughs, rocking back on her heels again, soaked hakama hems draped along the deck and the tops of her broad feet. "Course I can imagine. Y'think all of 'em drop off before leavin' a rotten mess?"

Her eyes drop to the dark deck at the complement, small and simple as it is. But she doesn't shift to a seat, remaining in that comfortable squat, arms resting on her knees again. "Nah, feels too much like I'd go sliding across the deck if I sit. I know it's not likely...but still. This's comfy enough, so long as one's not bothered by chill and rain." She jerks her head toward the hatch. "Yon Unicorn fled both--wisely. Slip of a thing to be out getting soaked."

[Hida Musasha]

He shrugs, "They all are pretty scrawny on this ship, but that ain't all bad. Sometimes ya need ta get into the wee places to kill somethin' gross, slimy, and elusive. We called crew like that bilge rats on the Jade Fortress. I think he fancied ya, I hear they like being beaten up by their women in Unicorn lands. Can't blame 'em for that, I 'spose."

He rose up on his knees to be eye to eye with her, "I ain't been out in the Empire long, they say I don' know how ta act, an' I agree. These folk are queer as a two headed bakemono."

[Hida Sayuri]

"Really? Why would someone *like* gettin' beat up?" She glances back toward the hatch again. "I mean, there's nothin' wrong with a good brawl, but that doesn't sound the same."

She blinks as he comes up eye to eye with her. "Why would you say that? Other'n the flying one, I haven't seen anything stranger than at a market day." After another moment she adds, "though I'm a bit surprised at our Yasuki cousin's outfit. Then again, I've heard the Mantis tend to dress light, so maybe she's just planned to fit in."

[Hida Musasha]

He shrugs, "Well, those Battle Maidens have to be some seriously well built ladies. And the other sailors on the Jade Fortress always would say they keep their men at home, with a heavy hand."

He doesn't turn away, but doesn't make eye contact either, "There's this wee one, she talks like a nezumi. An' a unicorn that smells like my mother's wedding dress."

[Hida Sayuri]

One hand swipes back sodden strands from her wide eyes; a futile gesture given the wind. "Well this one's far from home, and not Shinjo...who knows? I suppose it'd be polite to ask him to spar instead of just punching him in the face to find out, no?"

"But there's another that smells like..." She pauses, "what does your mother's wedding dress smell like anyway? Mine smelled of silk and incense, they burned so much of it at the temple that day. If it's a priest, makes sense they'd smell of incense, right?"

[Hida Musasha]

Musasha adjusts the ties on his hat, "Are you so interested to find out what he fancies? Then go for it. Don't break him, though, he belongs to the Emperor. As for my mother's dress, it smelled of summer flowers. Why would you smell like summer flowers on a sailing vessel? Feet, sure. Soap, yeah. Flowers?" He seems truly perplexed.

[Hida Sayuri]

If she blushes, nobody would ever know it out in the stormy dark. She does, however shrug with a smile. "Well, it'd be different, that's for sure."

"Flowers?" She rocks further back on her heels, arms crossed. "That's perfume I'd guess. Why not use it on a ship...smells better'n feet and folks who haven't found enough fresh water for decent bathing in a few weeks."

[Hida Musasha]

He shrugs, "Makes it hard ta think, that's why."