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Ranbu no Izayoi
Ranbu no Izayoi
Later that evening, Izayoi could be found kneeling by the stream they’d camped by, her hair falling down just below her shoulders as she cursed sulfurously under her breath. On closer inspection, she seemed to be running something through the water and fiddling with it.
A person with proper fear response would probably choose to retreat, considering the samurai’s mood. In Eliane’s case, though…
The Skaelan woman was someone that was wired for anything but a proper fear response. She had been getting an extra breath of fresh air by the stream where Izayoi’s obvious fussing drew her in closer, clearly annoyed with something.
Eliane wasn’t Miina, so fortune favors the bold. “Something wrong?”
”No, I’m merely agitated for no reason whatsoever.” Izayoi shot back without even raising her head. ”Perhaps tis simply that time of the month.” Obviously sarcastic. ”Did you want something, Eliane?”
The pink-haired woman canted her head to the side at that. If she was aware of Izayoi’s obvious anger, she did not show it. “Perhaps,” she allowed, with some minor amusement, before continuing seamlessly into a proper question, “I can assist with whatever it is you’re doing?” Eliane’s hands were idle for the moment, so why not stop to help an obviously frustrated Izayoi?
”...There is no need.” Izayoi gave up whatever she was doing as a bad job for the moment, tucking whatever she was holding into her kimono before rising and facing her companion.
”If you are curious, your countryman is an idiot. In any case, moving on. We are down two members of our party and forced to engage in this ridiculous test. I hope you’ve restocked on ammunition ever since the battle at sea.”
“If you say so.” Eliane gave her a look, but shrugged, wondering what Esben had done. She found him to be an intelligent man, even if he had his moments. Izayoi’s immediate change of topic was completely unsubtle, even for Eliane, but considering the topic she easily took the bait and chuckled darkly. “Better the test than me having to make good on my threats. Thankfully I’ve restocked, although it was difficult. Most of the people here have hardly heard of the concept of gunpowder, let alone advanced Valheimian ammunition.”
She produced one of the rounds from a pocket, because of course she carried minigun ammunition in her pockets now wherever she went.
”At this point, I would almost have preferred that you were entirely serious.” Izayoi murmured darkly, her frustration with the Grovemasters more than evident. Nonetheless, she nodded when Eliane confirmed her resupply, folding her arms.
”I believe I shan’t have to ask, but I may as well: how have you been faring considering all that has happened? None of what has happened since the desert has been entirely expected.”
Eliane shrugged at that. “It would have been interesting, at least.”
She briefly scratched her cheek as she pondered Izayoi’s question. “Ambivalent. We are far in over our heads, but we’ve been making solid, tangible progress where I hadn’t expected us to,” she admitted. “So– worried but content. I have a real enemy to point my weapons at.”
Despite the conversation, her eyes continued to flick towards her counterpart’s pocket, obviously still curious what had happened between Izayoi and Esben. “And what about you? After the events in your country…”
Izayoi sighed at that, letting some of her weariness show as her shoulder slumped slightly.
”Believe me, despite everything, I would still rather be on the front lines in Osprey. Had this quest not been of the utmost importance, Lord Hien could not have persuaded me to leave.” She turned and stared straight at Eliane, meeting her gaze.
”You, of all people, ought to understand. Despite how crucial our mission is here, would you not prefer to face the invaders in your country, had they been there? I believe it was mentioned offhand you are a figure of some local repute in the capital.”
Eliane inclined her head. “I think I understand, to an extent. Skael has had the great fortune to not have been attacked in living memory, but in your position I would do no differently.” The Skaelan woman made a grimace before continuing with another nod. “Yes… a battle in the capital. Our politics are something else entirely…”
Izayoi nodded in understanding. ”Then I am glad we are in alignment.” She paused for a moment, tilting her head as she considered Eliane. ”Forgive the presumption, but your deeds and demeanor remind me of myself years ago, in many ways. At your age, I was also a captain of a lord’s guard. Hien’s father, if you must know. And I was just as eager for a fight.”
Canting her head to the side as well, Eliane considered Izayoi’s words, the obvious parallels making her pause even if their personalities were quite different. “Yes, I can see the similarity. Striking, actually,” she agreed, hoping that similarities remained as they were and meant nothing more for the future, for her country’s sake. “Don’t think I’m ready to open a new bakery yet, though…”
”Believe me, life will hardly wait for you to be ready.” Izayoi remarked dryly as she picked up on Eliane’s subtext, speaking from experience. ”Fortunate that you already have a secondary plan for the course of your life. You learned your skills from your family, then?”
Eliane shrugged at that. “I did. The best bakers in the entire country, if you ask Esben. He’s not wrong, but I doubt that man has been there as many times as he implies.”
”I see. I take it you wish to visit Skael once we are finished here in Drana Asnaeu, then?” Izayoi paused, furrowing her brow. ”I confess, I am not eager to return to Edren. I will not gainsay you should you elect to push the matter once we are finished with this ridiculous trial and these ridiculous excuses for rulers.”
She grinned. “Can’t wait to get back. The weather here is nice but the awful governance of these people taints the very land like the Blight.” Thinking back at the equally unpleasant dinner with Galahad’s father, as entertaining as she had tried to make it, she couldn’t help but to agree as well– to an extent. To her, Edren might have been a lesser country, but it was still coffee mecca. “I’ll stress that we try to avoid Midgar as much as possible. I doubt the Duke likes me very much either, now…”
”Oh, you wish to avoid Midgar?” At this point, Izayoi’s tone could be mistaken for sandpaper. ”Yes, imagine how I feel.”
Eliane winced. She could be dense at times, but even she could recognize when she was treading into deep water like this. “Sorry. That was out of line of me.”
”Bah,” Izayoi scoffed, relatively unbothered despite her words. ”Think nothing of it. Merely an ageing widow’s grousing. As I’m told, I believe old hags are allowed a complaint or five daily.”
Eliane tilted her head. Her fellow swordswoman wasn’t even that old, but she decided not to comment on that aside from giving her a wry smile.
