War Changes Everything [Reboot] Past Thread

"Komai mostly always kept to itself, so I'm not surprised people know relatively little about it," Reifer said. "It was my father who ruled at one point but he eventually passed, leaving it to my mother before some time. She loves her people but her heart wasn't truly into things and when she got sick she had to slow down. That was when I stepped in; before I was simply traveling. I really had no destination in mind I just..wandered."

"I'm not quite sure what is wrong with my mother, no one is really is. One of the other reasons I decided to take this job among many is to help my mother. I had been hoping to find clues to things while she was too sick to move around much."

Yuki frowned a bit at that. "I see... perhaps my father knows someone that could help... or can find someone. I'll ask him when we get back... Ilia, are you done? I appreciate the concern, but you are being rude..."

"I'm being thorough. Any bodyguard worth their salt would do the same."

Hestor chuckled. "She's very diligent, and she has a point. Trust has to be earned, and she's living in a unknown land with strangers. We'll take our leave and again if you ladies need anything then you can ask the maids."

Reifer figured the two likely wanted to rest; the other talks and guiding them arund can wait. "Do either of you have anymore questions before we go?"

Yuki shook her head, smiling, while Iliara glanced at him. "...I'll be patrolling the halls around this room occasionally. I'll assume you'd have guards around to make sure I don't do anything else; is that going to be an issue, Lord Reifer?"

"I don't see a problem with that. As long as you're not doing anything they'll have no reason to bother you and visa, versa." Reifer turned aroun to leave. "You two have a good night."

Hestor followed after and soon both were gone.

_____________

Around the next morning, one of the maids knocked on the door. They wanted to see if they were up and ready for breakfast.

Iliara was true to her word; she patrolled the hallways periodically throughout the night, only sleeping in short bursts. The next morning, she and Yuki decided to stay only long enough for that little tour Reifer offered, before heading back home. That was when they heard the knock at the door, and soon enough, the two of them were heading down to breakfast.

Just about as expected, the dinning hall was buzzing with activty, a few greeting them as they passed by and went into the more private chambers; away from most of the others and certainly far more quite.

Reifer wasn't there, surprisingly or not though. "Lord Reifer will be here shortly." The maid explained as she glanced around before motioning to the long table. "Please feel free to relax."

Hester, however, was there with someone in tow. A little girl, around five if not a bit younger trailed behind him in a dress with red bow on her head. He smiled seeing the two. "I am glad you decided to join us this morning. And this little girl my daughter in all in blood, Leneth."

The girl paused in her walking, looking at the two as if deciding what to say or do before shrinking back a bit and grabbing her father's pants leg and burrying her face there. Hestor chuckled, shaking his head. "She's still rather shy around most people."

The girl didn't smell human or demon but rather similar to Reifer. A dragon, if they picked it up and a Gold Dragon if they knew more percisely about the scent in the first place in particular.

Iliara had met many people of different races in her life, and picked up on Leneth's race quite easily. Yuki was oblivious. "She is adorable, Hestor. I'm sure she will be very beautiful when she grows older."

Leneth, in response, removed her head from her father's pants leg to look at Yuki again before giving her a small smile though she was missing a tooth--and after realizing it covered her mouth; seemed she was self concious of it.

"I'm sure she will. Though that's just something else to worry about when she gets older." Hestor was briefly amused by the display. He was happy for the small gesture as tiny as it was if Leneth did that to someone it was usually a good sign. In all his time of having the pleasure of raising the little girl, anyone she was soon comfortable with was a positive sign.

Lord Reifer arrived not too after and soon he was seated. Leneth actually had a rather large plate for someone her age which she happily took a active eating, eyes closed as she seemed content.

"While I know there's a lot of things you can't go into with things being new, could you share what your home land is like Yuki?" Reifer asked.

Yuki blinked a bit, surprised. "Ah... well, that depends. Do you mean Asai-Asakura, where I live, or the home land of my race? If it's the latter, I can't say, as I wasn't born there, and I know little of it. I'm a bit of an oddity at home..." She smiled, while Iliara raised a brow.

Reifer shook his head. "I meant more Asai-Asakura though I'm curious what you meant by your last comment."

Yuki waved it off. "I'm simply the only one of my race within Asai-Asakura. I'm not even sure what my race is. My father never told me I was adopted, but I know I must have been, as we look nothing alike and his abilities are radically different from my own. In fact, none within Asai-Asakura seem to have anything resembling ice-related powers. Anyway, enough of that. Asai-Asakura... it's also known as the 'Land of Nature's Blood'. A bit dark, but fitting I suppose. Blood Blossom tree's grow everywhere. I've heard that Earth Realm has something similar, 'Cherry Blossom' tree's. Of course, the petals are pink, while those of the Blood Blossom are blood red... hm... perhaps the two tree's are related, actually. It's possible..."

Hestor smiled a bit to that. "I've seen those tree's myself a few times, I visited earth once before.." He frowned slightly. "It was slightly in a bad way the last time I visited long ago before I came here. After the dragon empire collapsed among other things, that place has been building itself back from the ashes. I can't say how it is now, its been a long time ago."

Reifer nodded slowly. "I've never been there but we have enough problems here to deal with. But when things slow down and I have the time, I would like to visit Asai."

Yuki smiled at that. "I'm sure my Father would be happy to have you there once things have settled. For now, Ilia and myself have decided that after breakfast, we'd like to take you up on your offer of a small tour, and then we must set off for home."

It wasn't too long before breakfast was finished, and when it was done the group began their tour of the small country or at least the 'main' island since it was a set of them linked together but the one they resided in was naturally the largest.



People of different races went about their business, of course it was heavily favored in demons but there were a few others here and there. Some smiled and greeted them, others went about their business, far too much in a hurry to bother or not caring. Leneth naturally hung by her father, taking curious glances at Yuki and Iilara when she thought they weren't looking.

In the center was a large tower that stretched so far upward the top couldn't remotely be seen even by those with enhanced vision.

"This is the Sky Tower. It's not the most original name, but its fitting. It's been here since my mother was a little girl," Reifer said. "According to her and others, it was originally built as a experiment to see how tall something could be made and still be stable. Of course, when it was done they realized a host of other problems with it and it was abandoned."

He was going to say something else when a armored man came walking up. "I apologize, but Lord Reifer I do not think this is wise to be walking around with so little protection."

Reifer shook his head. "I understand your concerns, and you're right I should be more cautious but there is a line between that and jumping at every shadow. I was born into this world fighting, and I intend to go out the same. Nowhere is completely safe and I can either live with it and adapt or let it control me. It may be partly foolish dragon pride speaking, but I will not skirt away from it. It's not who I am or my way."

Another pause before the other man sighed. "I do not agree but I understand. I will take my leave for now." They gave a nod to the young women then went about their way to another part of the town.

Yuki seemed preoccupied with the tower and the sights, but Iliara's attention had shifted to Reifer after his impromptu speech. She seemed to have new respect for him, if anything. She could fully understand his view on things; it was exactly the same way that she and her sister had lived. She didn't say anything; she was playing the role of Yuki's mercenary bodyguard still, after all. But she gave Reifer an appraising look, and a small nod.

(sorry for skipping over. It could have been used as a character building tool but I was drawing blanks of where to go next so went with ending it early)

 This continued for a bit longer, with Reifer showing them more and more of the various sites with each having their own importance and niche. Eventually, by the time they were done it was about at least half way throuh the day.

 "I do hope you enjoyed our little tour," Hestor said, Leneth was no longer hiding behind his leg anymore still close and looking at the two women. "There were a few others we weren't able to show but we didn't want to hold you two over."

 "When we come to your home, we'll have to have a tour of our own." Reifer was truly looking forward to that, it was always interesting seeing other cultures and places.

Yuki smiled, nodding at that. "I look forward to it, as will my father I'm sure. And your land's are beautiful, Lord Reifer. Hopefully one day I can visit again. For now though, I suppose we really should be going." She gave a polite bow, as did Ilia, surprisingly or not. "Thank you for your hospitality. You may expect a messenger within the week, from my father."

Reifer nodded in response.. "And I look forward to it too. You two stay safe back on your travel back home."

Leneth, waved to the the two young women as they prepared to leave while her father gently patted her on the head. "I really enjoyed things, so we'll have to do it again. That and Leneth seems have warmed up to you slightly. That's a pretty good sign."

Yuki only smiled, waving a bit to Leneth as she and Ilia left. "Hopefully we'll see you again soon!"

~~~~~

It was nearly a week later that any word would reach Komai. The news came in the form of a man dressed in all black, and flanked by a heavily armed unit of soldiers, all bearing the Asai-Asakura crest.

And they had marched straight to the gates. "I demand audience with the Lord of Komai!"

The man was lead to Lord Reifer's personal guest chambers where he, Hestor and a few others were currently waiting after just having finished with something. Reifer did wonder what this was about, but he assumed it was the messenger Yuki had mentioned some time back.

"You wished to speak to me? I assume you're the messenger from Asai." For some reason, Reifer didn't feel this was entirely a friendly visit if at all though he had nothing to go on at the moment then feeling.

The man in black gave Reifer a blank look, before gritting his teeth a bit. "Yes. We would like an explanation, if you please. Explain to us why our Princess and her guard never returned home, and why our scouts found THIS within your borders when they went searching!" He pulled from his bag a shattered bow and the tattered remains of what was unmistakably Yuki's kimono, both stained with blood. "They were at the sight of a struggle, and with some searching, some of your men were buried nearby; killed by arrows from Ilia's bow! Lord Asakura want's answers, and if we do not get them here, I can assure you there will be consequences." It was rare for a messenger to threaten someone of Reifer's status; then again, the situation was not exactly normal.

Both Reifer and Hestor were disturbed by this bit of news. To further complicate things, neither had heard any news what so ever about a scuffle of any kind. If his men were truly behind it, then it had to be someone rogue and it made no sense to attack them.

Were they even alive? Why hadn't he heard anything until now? Too many things didn't make sense. To make matters worse, there really was nothing he could do to 'fix' things if some rogue men and women working under him attacked the two for unknown reasons, more so if they were dead.

"..I can't say what happened; this is the first time I've become aware of this." Reifer truly wished he had knew about this earlier or had kept tabs on them more before they left. "Not that you have any reason to believe me, and even if I'm truthful and had nothing to do with this with it being some acts of rogue elements it makes me look irresponsible. So this conversation was over before it started without hard evidence. If it leads to a war, so be it."

Why had such a good meeting gone so horribly wrong just a day after?

The messenger growled a bit. "You're right. If you have no evidence to prove your innocence in this, then there is but one course of action. If you wish to avoid war, Lord Asakura demands the head of the one responsible for this, and Komai's unconditional surrender to Asai-Asakura. Komai will be divided among Asai-Asakura, Akashi, and Sounn. Your people will be treated fairly. Accept these terms, or ready yourself for war. There will be no negotiations." Everyone present of course knew who 'the one responsible' was considered to be.

Hestor clinched his fist. "You expect-"

Reifer interrupted thoese present before they could join with Hestor as he shook his head. "I can't do that. You'll have to prepare yourself."