Hoshi took up a small spoon to eat the sakura-flavored jelly dessert as she answered Sif's multiple choice question with a swift, "Yes." They ate up the last meal and Hoshi was given the check and a box the same size as the second sake bottle that they had just started. Along with it was a carton of a dozen eggs, given to the captain by the restaurant host with a gracious bow. After leaving a sizeable tip, Hoshi left with a bow to the proprietors that seamlessly transitioned into her tucking the two boxes under her happi coat's tubed sleeve. With a slow wave of her pink hand, she ushered everyone out of the dining area they had been inhabiting for more than an hour.
Sif raised an inquisitive brow as the simple "yes" was the apparent answer to her question. Yes to it being their own choices or yes to it being provided? She thought for a moment before coming to the conclusion that whatever she had in mind, the outfit would be covered. If that were the case, she may have a reference to work off of once they were done here.
The Kaiyō crew set off out of the ryokan only to find night had descended while they enjoyed their ryokan. Pines and evergreens that had been vibrant in the daylight were now darker than the new twilight they were set against. The shadowy pillars set up against the denimy blue and sparkling lights of the night behind them and Captain Hoshi tucked in between the nearest opening between their trunks. Following some local trail that was barely more than a trodden gap between ferns and other foliage, Hoshi's short form pushed them in to the darkest reaches of the forests of Lark's Hill.
"Never forget the natural beauty we are protecting when we protect Yamatai." Hoshi sighed, "It's not all fleet depots and capital cities that would fall under the Mishhuvurthyar or Kuvexians. Tami itself was occupied by the Mishhuvurthyar for a long while and from the fleet that fought an insurgency came its Senator, who still serves the planet today. What do you think you all would do if we no longer had to fight?"
William and Dmitri finished up, then went their separate ways when the Captain explained they were going to a spa. "You have fun. I'm going party." Dmitri replied waving to everyone as he left.
"You mean that's an option?" William replied to Hoshi's question with a smirk. "I don't know what I'd do." He replied after a long moment.
"See ya, Dmitir! Is Nepleslian Sky Marshal hereditary?" Hoshi asked. "Maybe that? You're a skilled leader as well as a warrior."
Isuke cupped her chin and hummed softly as she pondered her captain's question. It was a fair question, for sure. Thinking on it, fighting had been a part of her life in some fashion for quite a while...
"I'm not too sure either, although I suppose I could go back to bodyguard work... or maybe I'd consider running a teahouse or something? That sounds kind of fun in its own way, I do like meeting people after all!" the pink-haired Lorrfolk laughed. "Maybe go for my own ryokan, or just an onsen myself!"
William snorted. "Absolutely not, I hate politics. Also it's an elected office." He replied to Hoshi. Looking over to Isuke, he added "Both of those options sound nice. A personal onsen sounds amazing."
"Ooh, like the one in Kaiko park?" Hoshi asked, thinking of her own ryokan's tiny-sized pool.
While she said this, Hoshi peeked her head around the trail's bend and then hurried ahead. There was a little gabled roof no bigger than a foot or two wide over what looked like a well from which a little steam was pluming. She pulled the carton of eggs from under her crooked elbow and started placing each egg on the grate over the top of the well while bouncing one way and another on the heels of her boots.
"If that's the case, we've gotta take you there, Isuke, to get some inspiration! Aiko's been quite a bit, she can vouch!" Hoshi added, looking over her shoulder in between pulling eggs and placing them.
Aiko marched upright along the forest trail with her comrades from the Kaiyō, her long legs and stiff posture missing most of their usual elegance as she stepped very deliberately one foot in front of the other. All the sake she'd sipped at the Ryokan kept the princess' cheeks warm, though, and filled with a shade of scarlet that traced down to her jawline in the way that an emotional flush wouldn't. But there was no reason to use her Nekovalkyrja gifts to purge the rice wine's delightful effects just yet, for she seemed to be managing everything just fine for the time being.
"None of us have to fight, Hoshi," Aiko said with her nose pointed up a little while she walked, using it as a guide to make sure she stayed on a straight path. "Military service is a choice in Yamatai. Without the Star Army, I would still find some adventure out in the cosmos. And where there is the unknown there would surely still be some occasional battle. As would trips to onsen both undiscovered and familiar alike."
"A good choice, in my opinion. Much better then the fights I got into when I was young, or back during the Ikemen days. About the only thing I disliked about enlisting was having to get the replacement eye." Isuke chuckled, tapping her eyepatch.
Being as fresh as she was, Sif did not know what to respond with to the captain's question. Not because she had no idea, but the complete opposite. The books she had read have provided plenty of options to her when her service ended, if she ever decided to stop serving in the military. She wasn't perplexed at all when everyone else had an answer. Can't reliably have the future plotted out when you're still a few months old after all.
Since joining the military, Molli hadn't given any thought to a future without it. That future was a far-off horizon. Hoshi's probing got her to think, and the Nepleslian realized that for as much as she craved the thrill of racing, returning to Funky City's aero-bike scene held no appeal. She'd seen enough of planet Nepleslia to last a lifetime. "Ah'd prob'ly go 'nventurin', galaxy's a big place after all!" Bounty hunting held a certain appeal, plenty of chasing to go with that.
"Doesn't feel like a choice to me, is all," Hoshi said without looking from the eggs. She set the carton aside and looked back to the trail, taking it once more. "Not when the Empire remains under threat. You know me, Aiko. The new crew might not know this, but when the Kuvexian war ended I took a break from service and lived on my ranch here on Tami. I'll probably do the same when we've reminded the Mishhuvurthyar of our convictions."
"In truth, service is not a choice for members of the Ketsurui Clan," Aiko admitted flatly, though her mouth had curled into a little grin. "Or at least not for myself. So then I will have to keep fighting Mishhuvurthyar and Kuvexians until space-time comes undone. Where is it you were taking us, though? As you said, I can vouch for the onsen at Kaiko Park but still expect to be captivated by someplace new today."
“Maybe I’ll go off adventuring with Aiko-sama, to find those undiscovered onsen out there. For now and to answer her question, I think we’ve made it to one such bath, though!” The forest itself hadn’t opened up and Hoshi had to slide in between two trees, gripping one ruddy tree’s hairy bark in order to do so. But once she and the others had squeezed through, they could see the flora ringing the rocky, steaming onsen like a protective boundary.
The evergreens were still darker than the night behind them, but there was less mystery to their lower boughs as old iron lanterns flickered with some ever-present volumetric light hung idly from their bottom-most branches. The large pool itself was inky and dark, but the steam that lifted off of it caught the light and was a misty white. Rocks with pine needles dusting their surface lined its irregular shape and the With the immediate area lit only barely, Hoshi picked a spot along the water’s edge to take up a seat, pulling off her boots and then socks.
“There’s nowhere to take a wash beforehand, so use one ofthe towels nearby to dip it in the water and then wipe yourself off. Can anyone find it? Like I said, I’ve never been here, just given the good word by my neighbor after I helped him with lambing.” Hoshi said.
William sighed as he took in the site. He could feel his tense muscles already preparing for the hot water. He moved off to the other side of the pool, pulling his boots then his shirt. His body was covered in a multitude of healed burns and scars. He also had a handful of tattoos on his shoulders, chest, and back. He took a wash cloth and wiped his body down, then disappeared behind a tree to strip into his underwear to clean off.
The princess' smile maintained through Hoshi's reply and the natural mountain hot spring that had opened up from the trail before them. When Aiko saw the darkened pool twinkling under lantern light, the buzzed blush in her cheeks faded—no doubt because she'd finally decided to forcefully filter the inebriation from her blood—and her gait transformed out of the calculated trudge and back to the princess' usual delicate grace.
"Superb find, Captain Hoshi," Aiko said, beginning to unbutton the metal snap buttons on her blouse as she stepped more quickly and confidently into the trees near where William had gone. "You must bring me to thank your neighbor when next I am at the ranch."
The pair of trees had been a bit of a squeeze for Isuke compared to the smaller and more lithe Hoshi, but the sight of the onsen was a welcome reward. The scarred Lorrfolk casually wandered over to find herself an unused towel, before unceremoniously and casually starting to peel off her clothing - at least taking a moment to fold them somewhat, instead of just tossing them on the ground.
Her haori and hakama combo had basically kept her entire body covered up, and even beneath that she still wore a traditional kimono. But once the kimono was cast aside, there wasn't much left to cover up the numerous scars and Isuke's chocolate-toned flesh. There also wasn't anything to hide a somewhat unusual combo of a sarashi and plain panties either.
"Do you hear about a lot of onsen through that kind of work, captain?" wondered the Lorrfolk aloud as she wetted her towel.
"Not so much," Hoshi answered as she folded her own clothes and dutifully stacked them up. She was a lithe woman, especially in the chest, and noticed hers and Isuke's comparatively different sizes with a widening of her dark blue eyes. "I'll definitely keep my eyes and ears open for you, though! You know, uh, to hear about any others!"
The onsen and the surrounding area looked picturesque in Sif's eyes, a scene straight out of a movie. But aside from that, the open atmosphere and its seclusion gave it a tranquil feeling that everyone else may have treasured more than she did, considering what operations they hinted at.
For the newbie, it wasn't the first time she would have to be naked in front of the other girls. However it was the first time she would lay eyes on the male form with her own eyes, and it proved a slight bit distracting. William was built completely different with his musculature more pronounced. And the scarring that told of battles in a way not available to nekos. It was a mark of pride for some, and one of shame for others, wasn't it?
Sif turned away to look for a place to stow away her clothing, hopeful that no one noticed her staring before she herself changed into a simple white towel before washing herself off with a wet towel.
Molli got a feeling that she'd walked into the type of place that you weren't supposed to raise your voice, and the heat from the water licked at her, inviting the tired, one-armed woman to sink into its depths. While the rest of the crew went about disrobing, Molli's eyes gleamed brightly in the night as she scanned the area for the towels their captain wanted. It wasn't difficult to spot them -- they were sat, folded and neat, inside a handcrafted red wood container close to the water's edge, just a few feet away.
"O'er there," Molli said, pointing towards them as the light behind her irises dimmed. She considered dimming them completely once she caught sight of Isuke's toned, scarred back, out of the realization that she was about to be surrounded by naked people -- again. Wiping her brow, Molli made her way over to the container and retrieved a towel. She shed her jacket and retreated into the cover of the trees to work herself out of the bodysuit she'd deigned to wear today. With one arm, it was a difficult task, but she'd managed it all the same.
Once she'd re-emerged, the spritely Nepleslian woman was clad in naught but a fluffy white towel, which contrasted sharply with her bronzed skin, and gave everyone a good look at the severed steel port at her shoulder, where a cybernetic limb is attached, or would be. Unlike some of her peers, the young soldier's flesh wasn't decorated with the scars of past battles.
"Oh, thanks Molli!" Hoshi called as she stripped all the way to being in the buff. "Or should I be calling you by your new nickname?"
Molli's cheeks flushed red, which the light from her eyes illuminated in a crimson glow. An insult was in the back of her throat, swallowed down by the respect she had for Hoshi, and her rank. What came out instead was an ugly marriage of a sigh, a grunt, and a yelp. "Y-Yer th'cap'n..." she muttered, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "Ent th'worst nickname..."
"Okay, then..." Just as confused as Molli's reply was Hoshi's expression as her brows had pushed deeply against her eyes and her smile had lifted on only one of her cheeks, but she replied knowingly. "I keep wanting to call you Molls. Not much of a nickname since it barely cuts down on syllables. And you can call me whatever you were just cooking up in that brain of yours whenever you want!"
"M'friends called me Mo. Di'n't like it," she replied, crossing her arm, "Sounds like ah guy's name." When she thought about it, maybe 'Momo' wasn't the worst nickname. "...Uh, ah call ya Hosh in m'head... Y'sure that ent too casual?"
Back behind the tree where William was preparing, Aiko's white shirt suddenly struck him in the side of the face as he scrubbed down. Being a simple blouse, the attack didn't hurt in the slightest, but the intent was still clear enough.
"'The Princess is a real stinker,' hmm?" Aiko quoted him from earlier. "Do not think that my Nekovalkyrja brain has forgotten simply because of the sake, Wil-kun. Maybe this rag I have provided to you will change your mind."
Already, Aiko had kicked off her ankle boots and slipped out of her tight shorts, and stood confidently bare while looking her ID-SOL friend in the eye. Both hands on her hips, William's other sights didn't distract the princess whatsoever. They'd fought and lived together on the Kaiyō so long that such trifles concerned Aiko even less when it came to him than it did with most soldiers.
William was suprised by the shirt smacking him. He gingerly removed it from his face and turned back to Aiko. "You know, it's not fair that you can filter out alcohol..." he replied, a blush from all the sake on his cheeks. "I might have been able to slip that one by you." He replied, hanging the shirt on a branch.
Aiko raised both arms above her head and locked her fingers together there while crossing her legs at her shins, too, before stretching what must have been every muscle in her body from head-to-toe. Turning her face to the left, she peered down at her exposed armpit and gave a waggish grin that showed off her pointy canines. And then she walked forward, passing beside him to leave the aromatic scent of wisteria flowers in her wake.
"Many things are not fair, Wil-kun," Aiko told him, nabbing the towel she'd stashed on her way there and wrapping it around her tall form. "Come along, everyone else is already starting to enjoy the water."
With that said and done, the princess made her way back to the hot spring itself.
William rolled his eyes, while his blush only deepened at Aiko's display. "Yes, yes let's go." He said turning, his own towel wrapped around his waist.
"Hey all," Hoshi opened the box of sake, pulling out what the restaurant had given them before leaving, with a reminder. "Don't think you're getting into the water in underwear or suits. Its a natural spring, such clothing will impede its function." Nude herself, the pink captain set down onto the rocks and put just a toe in before smiling delightedly and wading in, holding the thick opaque bottle over her head as she did so.
"Di'n't y'say towels were okay...?" Molli asked, sitting down by the water's edge with a trepidatious look on her face.
"It wouldn't feel like a bath otherwise!" replied Isuke with a hearty laugh, the Lorrfolk already working on unwrapping her tightly bound sarashi. There was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a bit of a bounce to see when the bindings came off.
The false one-eyed Lorrfolk casually glanced over towards William as she stepped out of her underwear at the same time. "Guess I won't be the only one with scars around here, at least. I suspect you probably got most of yours in better situations then I..." she hummed softly as she lastly undid a hairtie, buried somewhere, and let her pink hair flow completely free.
It also happened to be the only hair you could find on her body.
"Mmmm, just to wash off," Hoshi said to Molli with her eyes unabashedly on Isuke. "Or to bundle up your hair, too, I suppose. Just don't let the towels go underwater. Sorry if baths in Yamatai are a little more strict than Nepleslia. Isuke gets it!"
"Ah ent been 'n any public baths on Nepleslia..." Molli let her legs dip beneath the water until she grew comfortable with the heat, and then, with a deep breath, slid the towel off and sank beneath the water, up to her neck. Her arm still went across her chest out of reflex. The Nepleslian tried to keep her eyes from wandering, let their darting give away how nervous she felt being around everyone in a state of undress.
"None?!" Hoshi looked truly suprised, then her expression changed as Molli got in quicker than she had expected. The captain unscrewed the cap to the bottle and handed it towards Molli, hoping for the Nepleslian to reach out for it. "Wil, you have to add public baths to Nepleslia when you're the King Emperor. I still want to go to one of the Lorrfolk's underground onsen. This must be positively cold water to you, Isuke!"
Before responding, the Lorrfolk girl made sure to at least slip into the water herself first. She waved her hand lightly, "Every onsen is great in its own way. I'll also be honest captain, it's been a while since I've been in an onsen back in Hell. I haven't really gone back to visit too often..."
Molli shook her head at the offered bottle, "N-Nah. Private. A lil' walk in shower... Cold as ice," she said.
Out from the shadowy trees that ringed the onsen, Aiko emerged clasping her towel with her right hand at the opposite collarbone to keep it from slipping off as she walked. Then, when she saw her crewmates decorating the pool with their presence, she dropped both arms to her side and let them swing freely while happily tiptoeing over to the onsen's edge.
"More libations, Hoshi?" Aiko asked in a way that sounded like she didn't expect an answer, peering at the box of sake when she said it.
The princess stood there at the water's rim for a moment, simply looking from face to face, and then finally dropped her towel. Quickly, Aiko put her left toe in the water and then let her body follow in behind it. She was submerged up to her strong shoulders only a second later, the warm pool clinging to her curves and muscular thew as she descended, and then settled down to her chin a second after that.
William followed Aiko out from the trees, running a hand through his hair as the other held his towel up. He then noted the distinct lack of clothing of his crewmates. "Well you all have me at a disadvantage..." He grumbled as he slipped his boxers off while keeping the towel in place. Hearing Isuke's remark about his scars. HeWhyrned his gaze over to her. "Nah, got most of mine doing something particularly stupid." He added.
"I think most people think the same about me, honestly. Especially with the medical technology on Yamatai, some might find me quite strange to not just get them all healed up."
"Why you men ever sheathe your swords is beyond me," Hoshi said with a roll of her eyes, taking a sip of the bottle Molli had passed on. She herself hadn't gone all the way to her chin like Molli and Aiko and was hovering in the water so only her lower half was submerged. She shivered slightly, especially thinking about Molli's cold showers and likening them to the cool night here on Lark's Hill. Hoshi asked, "Anyone want some of the sake they sent off with us?"
Isuke couldn't help but snicker at Hoshi's comment. "Swords, huh? So what do you use for a scale then? Wakizashi up to a zanbato or such, perhaps?" she raised her hand. "I'll have as much as sake as I'm allowed to have."
William waded into the water stripping the towel from his waste and tossing it over his shoulder. "Don't you roll your eyes at me Hoshi." William said, with a fake scowl. To Isuke he replied, "Odachi Norimitsu." He replied with his own eyeroll.
"I'll stop when you stop with the whitey-tighteys," Hoshi replied with a little wave of her head then "So why don't you heal up your wounds like Isuke was saying, Wil?"
Turning back to Hoshi, he thought for a moment then replied. "Kind of like my tattoos. Reminders, badge of honor, etcetera." He said showing the burn on his neck to Hoshi. "You were there for this one. That Advanced we dropped a mountain on?"
"Neko aren't really given that opportunity," Hoshi muttered, a hand going to her shoulder as she said so.
"Y'can't keep yer scars? Why?" Molli asked, head tilting, which made her flinch as an ear submerged underwater.
"Hemo heals all," Hoshi said, passing the bottle to William before she, too, submerged. Now with water over her shoulders, a soft smile returned to the captain's face. "That or you're resleeved and get a brand new body void of any imperfections like that."
Imperfections... certainly a way to look at it. Not that Isuke ever had thought about it that way - requirement to enlist aside, she had remembered still being a bit upset at Sachiko getting her the replacement eye. Reminded of that, she reached up her eyepatch and remembered to take it off, placing it somewhere nearby. Unlike her usual visible eye, this one had a grey iris.
"Guess you can keep those kind of things then, Molli?" she glanced over at her. "I had to get my eye replaced to enlist. Still one little thing I'm a bit upset about, but well, at least they let me keep everything else. Long as I don't get myself, well..." the Lorrfolk trailed off.
"There is an operative serving under Saiga-taisa who maintains an old wound," Aiko mentioned, just then remembering the Neko girl who'd kept a clipped ear after the Second Mishhu War. "It is unnatural for our kind. The memory will always be there in any case."
"Ah'd wanna keep m'scars. S'like ah lil' memento," Molli said, with a self-assured nod. "Knew ah lotta folks that got chromed if it got too bad. Losin' eyes, fingers, y'know the deal."
"William played that game until, well, that's his story to tell," Hoshi said as she leaned her head back. "You got a nice place for the arm the Mishhu tore up, Molls? It's also a memento of a hard-fought battle won, now."
"I told Molli about that particular game already. Had arms, legs, spine, and eyes replaced at one point, before I became an ID-SOL." He explained for the newer members.
"It's space dust," Molli said, "Too damaged t'keep. Ent sure ah'd keep it anyway... Seems too mack-aber."
"Not any more macabre than the scars William and Isuke boast, or Saiga's team member for that matter!" Hoshi thought aloud, mind churning about what Molli had said. "It's always my hope that my crew don't get any wounds or die. But when faced with the reality of war, that's just not plausible."
"I'm simply lucky to have crewmen who inflict more damage on the enemy than they do on us," the pink captain had looked to Aiko when she said this and even waded over to her and passed the bottle of sake to the Ketsurui Nekovalkyrja as she did. "And yes, more libations."
William smirked. "I've done both." Holding up two fingers. "Major wound and died." He added. "Don't recommend it. Not fun."
"Ah'll, uh, do m'best?" Molli replied, unsure of how to take a casual admission of death.
The ID-SOL waved a dismissive hand. "Don't mind me, that's just how I process it. Literally gallows humor."
"At least you can make jokes about it, eh? I'll keep your advice in mind though. I'm certainly in no hurry."
The pink-haired Lorrfolk gently reclined and ducked her entire head under the water, before popping back up and running a hand through her hair. "Maybe we need a happier topic, or else it'll just turn into me and William having to tell everyone about the origin of a scar or something."
William smirked, "Well I got this one frooooom." He began
"Sword practice like most of the others?" Aiko chuckled, her lips just above the waterline. "You cannot fool me nor our sensei in the same way as these impressionable young soldiers. But your most impressive wounds were well-earned nonetheless, so I suppose you are permitted some embellishment."
William relaxed into the water next to Aiko. "Yes, the princess beats me. So does Sensei." He replied opening one eye and glancing at Aiko with a smirk. "You can't give all my secrets away. I'm supposed to be the big scary Nepleslian."
"You will give them away yourself soon enough," the princess said, looking over to Hoshi. "I think he needs another, Captain. The walk to get here has robbed our Nepleslian friend of his sincerity. Pour one for me as well, would you?"
"He's fine," Hoshi said as she passed the bottle along. She settled along the rocks behind herself and leaned her head back and looked up at the stars in the center of the clearing. The trees all seemed to shoot up towards the celestial pinpricks in the night sky and the captain wondered if she could remember the star charts well enough to recall if she had visited any of the twinkling lights in her vision.
Silently listening to the others talk, Sif unntentionally delayed her dip in the spring listening to conversations happening. Once she was all wiped down however, she made her way to the warm waters, taking a spot next to Molli.
Sif sat on the rocks with her feet in the water, and carefully lowered herself to the water, the towel peeling off her body as she slid forward in one smooth motion, not wanting to expose herself to the chill in the air more than necessary while keeping to the captain's wishes of not allowing the towels to be in the water.
"Excited for your first foray out of training?" Hoshi said quietly as Sif entered, barely taking her line of sight off of the stars overhead as she did.
Aiko nodded at Hoshi and then looked expectantly to their newest crewmate. "If Molli-san is a good example, Star Army training will give us another excellent soldier," the princess said. "And do let me know if you have any concerns, Sif. We will all do our best to make sure your first mission leaves you craving more action."
Sif gave an enthusiastic nod. "I'm looking forward to it. I'll put my all into the mission."
Molli scooted over to make room for Sif, the newcomer that was taking 'be my right arm' a little too seriously by her estimations. She wasn't complaining, though, and it was a little comforting to know she'd given the new girl a good impression. "Ah'll do m'best to show 'er th'ropes," Molli said, beaming at the praise from Aiko, "Y'could prolly learn better from another neko, though. Yer gonna outpace me."
"Not true," Hoshi murmured curtly in response to Molli, but didn't clarify further.
"For some things perhaps," Aiko followed, grabbing the sake bottle Hoshi had passed along. She examined it with some puzzlement, unsure for a moment if she wanted to drink it without a cup, and then knocked back a sip anyway. "Most parts of being a soldier are not contingent upon Nekovalkyrja abilities, and many of our kind end up making poor warriors. You keep up sufficiently, Molli, just as I am sure Sif-san will."
"Really?" Molli asked, in disbelief, "Ah thought y'were born 'n raised t'be good at fightin' 'n soldierin', how d'you be bad at it?"
"I would not know," Aiko said decisively, and thought no more of the question.
"In my experience, attitude and mindset plays a big part of it. Don't try to be the one who has all the answers. Be the one trying to learn. Do that and you'll be fine." William replied sagely as he lowered further into the water until his mouth was covered.
"Mmmm," came Hoshi's soft utterance as she agreed with William's wisdom.
"Y'don't know? But, then how d'you...?" Molli thought better of finishing that question, given Aiko's curt response, and so she dropped it. "Thanks fer th'advice," she said to William, "Yer full of good tips, eh?"
"When Neko give birth, they can choose to imbue their memories and such to their daughter. Yui-taisho did so when she had Aiko, so maybe it's more innate for her than others not born with such a mother's experience." Hoshi filled in the gap of knowledge for Molli as she breathed out and floated up and out of the water. She chose a nice rock to sit on as she let the chill night air lick at her wet frame.
"Yes," Aiko agreed, glancing at both William and Hoshi. She grabbed the sake decanter again and took another sip in as refined a way as one could swig from a bottle. "There are billions of Nekovalkyrja. Not all of us end up matching Taisho Yui, and many do not strive for it in the first place."
"I myself have made a lot of mistakes," Hoshi said. "I didn't really think too much of them the first decade I was alive, just kept soldiering. Once the weight of the Kuvexian war really set in and I realized just how alone the starship Kaiyō was out there, my thinking and soldiering—as you call it—changed quite a bit. I could no longer rely on reinforcements if I made a mistake like before and had to be sure of my decisions without checking in with command. For some of us not born with that innate intelligence, the only way to gain it is through experiencing the bad along with the good and learning from both."
William turned to Molli at her last statement and he smirked. "You grow up on the Kaiyō, you learn a thing or two. I've been on the ship since I was 16 years old." He replied. "Made a lot of mistakes, butted heads with Hoshi on more than one occasion, had the princess beat me to a pulp a few times..." He said, reminiscing.
In a way, Isuke was reminded of her times back in the Ikemen. Though on a significantly smaller scale, and with far less stakes of course, but still! There was always something to learn when you listened.
"I feel so young and out of place in this conversation," quips Isuke with a laugh. "This is my first actual assignment and all, all my prior work being in bodyguard work... then before that, well, the part that made me have to wait this long and all."
The crew had plenty of advice and reassurances. It reminded Sif of her friend that she met while she was still in training, and it warmed her heart that the people she's working with had the same level of supportiveness. "It seems I'll be in good hands then," Sif mused aloud. "I admit I'm not the best of my batch, but I assure you I won't let you down." Perhaps a promise too hard to keep, considering the pedigree of the crew, but one could never shape a blade without f first throwing it into the fire.
William laughed at Isuke's remark. "I'm not that old. I'm only 24." He replied. "And you will do just fine, Sif." He added.
The new girl nodded with an appreciative smile back at William.
"I can call you obasan if saying it would help you feel at ease," Aiko said to the pink-haired Lorrfolk woman, clearly letting the sake do some speaking now. "But you do not appear any worse for your wealth of expereince prior to joining the Star Army, Isuke. It will serve all of us well, I am sure."
"Ent better hands than th'princess 'n Hosh's 'n Willy's- Will's--all of 'em," Molli was flush with pride at the respect they'd given her, as well as the memories of her first mission with them. There was still a lot she didn't know about her comrades, however, like Isuke's stint as a bodyguard, apparently. "Didja guard anyone important?" she asked, bringing a hand up to her chin.
Isuke counted on her fingers for a moment at William's comment. "Lemme see, think I'm now... 26? Somethin' like that. You stop counting once you pass the age requirements for things."
"Well, she's important to me at least! But before I enlisted, and after the Ikemen life, I was bodyguarding Senator Sachiko, actually. It was a busy time, I got turned from more or less a street urchin, into an upstanding member of society. A ton of schooling to start with!"
"Mmm, I think we ate urchin earlier tonight," Hoshi said with a wide and winding smile. "She's the Elven one, huh? That's cool to imagine a Lorrfolk working with an Elf. They're two of the original species of Yamatai, after all."
"Not that many seem to know about Lorrfolk, we're practically a myth it feels sometimes. But then again, Hell is very stuck in its old ways, so not a lot of them leave. Even rarer to see female Lorrfolk out and about like myself, since we're supposed to stay home and take care of kids. Something like that."
"The Princess and I have had our own dealings with the elves." William stated at Isuke's revelation. "Did you ever have any run ins with Leona Rifte?" He asked.
Isuke rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I believe so... I don't think I ever talked to her much. At least, not in anything but a professional capacity."
"The elves are nice," Hoshi said, remembering how William and Aiko had met them. "But almost as mythical as Hell is." Hoshi stretched out her arms up towards the stars, then lightly kicked her feet under the water's surface, sending it churning. "Elysians invaded Hell and Yui purged them of the Lorrfolk's home. In some ways, Yamataians came into Elven lands without asking. I'm just happy to have their support after all this time. They seem to have taken a liking to some of our crew."
"The natural beauty of Yamatai we fight to protect, as you said Hoshi, includes all of the Empire's people," Aiko said warmly. She adjusted her seat in the pool and looked up to the darkening night skies and the countless points of light through the circle of trees around them, letting her neck and shoulders feel the cool evening air bite against more of her flesh. "So many of those stars in the heavens are our friends. It will be a long time before we can stop fighting to protect them."
"All too true," Hoshi said, recalling what she had said about Tami earlier. Her head again dipped backwards to look up at the stars, then back at those gathered in the warm pool. "With company as good as yours, it's nice to imagine that long fight as we defend all those stars up there and the ground under our feet alike."
"They always say good company makes everything more enjoyable and better. I'm inclined to agree, in my experience."
The Lorrfolk stood up out of the bath, stretching as she did so, then putting her hands on her hips. "Well, its also a bath, so aren't we supposed to get around to offering to clean one another's backs or something? We have to show Molli the full experience!"
JP by Ametheliana, raz, Gunhand, Gles, Krisslanza, and Nameless
