The day had come for the wedding, and Kaori was less than prepared. It had been over a decade since she'd seen Midi, and she wondered what had changed. What if the Lareci clan had changed while she was away? Kaori knew most of the happenings in her clan since she kept regular contact, and signed all of the documents for trade and laws; but, what if there was someone pulling strings behind her back? What if instead of changing for the better, her clan had become a bunch of cutthroats? What if what was left of her clan had been wiped out, and Saia was toying with her the whole time? Kaori paced around her room nervously as Ikuchi watched from the seat of Kaori's desk.
"My master, you shouldn't be so concerned... I heard humans have skin reactions from stress." he said, referring to acne caused by too much stress in life.
"I know... it's just... I haven't been home in so long, and I don't know what to expect. For all I know this could be a trap, or- or Kirei could be dead by the time I get there, or-" "Master, with all due respect, your worries are illogical." the man said, looking at Kaori with his hellfire like, dragonesque eyes.
Ikuchi stood up and walked to Kaori, resting his hand on the top of her head and gently rubbing it.
"If this man is half as amazing as you are, my master, he would not be dead or anywhere close to it upon arrival." he commented in a soft, gentle tone. Kaori walked into Ikuchi's chest and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you Iku." she said in a weak voice. Ikuchi reciprocated the hug
"Nonsense." he replied while holding Kaori and closing his eyes to feel her emotions flow into him. He admired Kaori for her strength, and weakness. She had so many different emotions hidden behind her mask, and bore the burdens of many without cracking under the pressure. At the same time, she worried many people -Ikuchi included- by doing this. No being existed who could handle everything, not even dragons could do it. He knew at some point Kaori would break, and he felt it was his duty to be there to help her pick up the pieces and put herself back together.
Elsewhere in the White Mermaid, Tia would be dealing with her own business. Kaori had picked her up at her guild hall to accompany her to the wedding. From what Kaori had told her, they would take the White Mermaid to a port in Midi where they'd meet up with a trading caravan and another Noble. The other noble was Mizuho, another old friend of Kaori's from when she was a child. She would be attending the wedding as well, but needed to be descretely transported since her family tree had been quickly dwindling at the hands of assassins. The trip would take four days in total, one day to fly there and three days to travel by land. Naturally, Ikuchi would be with them as backup. "All right ladies and Ikuchi, we'll be landing in five minutes. Looks like we're late on account of there being people waiting for us." the sound of Salty, the ship's helmsman, sounded over the loud speakers.
Kaori disengaged her and Ikuchi's hug and the servant went back to his room. Kaori turned to her wardrobe and gently opened it, looking at the setup within. She looked at the outfit within, a white kimono with blue trimming and a matching sash, sandals, her mask recolored to match her clothes, a hair tie, and a new katana.
"Alright, let's do this." Kaori said softly, reaching for the robes and gearing up.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she donned her cat mask and tied the ribbons. She was wearing her hair in a pony tail that was mostly on the right side of her head, letting it dangle down to her thigh. Kaori slid her katana into her sash and looked at herself in the mirror once more. She remembered how she'd overcome so much in her life, and how she would have even more to get past. Kaori then turned and made her way to the cargo bay to disembark the ship. Ikuchi was waiting, wearing a pair of black dress shoes, polished to a perfect shine. In the middle of the bottom lace was a solid gold flower, a hibiscus. He wore a set of black dress pants to match, and a well cared for shirt of the same color was tucked into them. From his neck dangled another golden hibiscus, as though it were symbolic to the man. His broad shoulders gave way to normal sized arms, the muscular structure hidden behind black silk sleeves; courtesy of his dress shirt. The man wore a dark grey tie that had a crimson outline on the top, and holding the two tie ends together and preventing wind from flicking them about was a golden clasp. On his right hip, under his belt, was a katana that was white as snow; contrasting Kaori's black katana.
"Are you ready, master?" Ikuchi asked while looking at where the cargo bay door would open.
"I'm never ready." Kaori replied, commenting how she's never actually been ready for things to happen, but adapted when they did.
As the door opened, letting the warmth of the morning sun in, Kaori took a deep breath and began walking forward. Ikuchi spoke to Tia saying
"Lady Haiku, I know you believe yourself to be strong- but there are many definitions to that word." with a gentle tone before walking forward. Ikuchi had smelled her emotions, or lack there of, for some time after the meeting Tia attended a month ago. The man had incredible ears, and a just as noteworthy sense of smell; able to sense subtle changes in a person's natural scent. Something was bothering her, but he had no intentions of forcing it out of her- he had no right. On the other side was the same old man from the meeting, as well as another nineteen men with katanas at their waist, and bows slung across their backs. "Lady Lareci!" one of them shouted, getting on his knees and placing his forehead to the ground. "My Lady, welcome home!" another said, doing the same as the first. The entire group had done it, all welcoming the clan leader back. Kirei's vassal spoke up saying "Your clan welcomes you warmly, Lady Lareci. Lady Suki is in the carriage, waiting to depart."
Kaori:
"Did you bring what I requested?"Vassal: "Of course, you don't think I'd get sloppy after a decade do you?"
Kaori:
"No, but I can't afford to not check. A lot can go wrong in three days."Vassal: "Indeed, I see you've brought company."
The vassal turned to Tia, locking his eyes on her. "Haiku-sama, you look more radiant than the last time I saw you. Thank you for accompanying Lady Lareci so far from your homeland, the honor extends from her clan to ours in equal." he said and bowed to her out of respect. Kaori had been taken back by her warm welcome, and had just began shaking it off. She got weak knees and fell to her knees and placed the forehead of her mask to the floor towards her warriors.
"You all have no idea... how honored I am to be welcomed by you. I'm sorry for having been absent for so long, and swear on my pride that I'll make it up to you!" she said with a shaky voice. Several of the men got up and walked to her, helping her off the ground and giving her an embrace. A small number of the warriors were female, who also greeted Kaori with displays of affection. None of the men wore masks, but the women all wore cat masks with markings that differed from Kaori's. Ikuchi stood beside Tia and leaned over saying
"Master was the first female warrior to reach one-thousand kills in battle. Wearing the mask became a tradition for other Lareci female warriors to honor her, as well as terrify their enemies by making them think Lady Lareci was on the field."