Asami walked through the dark halls of the warship YSS Eucharis, the sound of her footsteps and the light clanging of the rings of her shakujo the only sounds in the empty passage ways. It had taken her almost a week to reach planet Hanako in order to be able to be there when the ship docked. Unfortunately the frigate she was on arrived two days late and thus was why she was only just now about to meet her new charge. Having only taken a moment to sign over some custom forms for the dock handlers to transport her belongings to the ship Asami had rushed over and just arrived aboard Eucharis in order to take on her next mission, Ketsurui Hanako.
Though being fairly rushed Asami actually didn’t mind all that much. She had come to the conclusion early on in life that things just happened. Even the most rigid of rocks could eventually be worn away by a small stream. Better to just follow the current and keep yourself open to new possibilities and opportunities than to try and stay rigidly fixed on one schedule or stance. Besides that she was used to moving around quite a bit. Her life had always been a nomadic one, moving from place to place. The work of an Arahoshi never truly finished it just merely progressed from one place to another.
Asami adjusted her hangai (straw hat) and noticed a small bracelet with a magatama shaped blue bead on it. The clopping of her boots and the ringing of her staff hung in the air in one high tone as it slowly died out as she stopped walking and let herself take a moment to look at the small, simple piece of jewelry. It had been a gift from one of the children she had taught in the small farming village of Socket Town which was located about two hours outside of Fritztown on planet Miyamae II. It was where her last mission had taken her and she spent almost a year there among the locals. As with her other previous missions, Asami helped the locals with simple things such aiding with the farms or public projects as well providing them with spiritual guidance. It was an interesting relationship in which she taught the villagers things and in turn they also taught her. She was able to learn many new things and experience deep friendships as well as make out of the way places like Socket Town still feel like they are part of the Empire.
Teaching children though was where her heart truly laid. Most of her missions took her to the fringes of the Empire where education and resources where not always readily available. Many of the children had only a little knowledge of the Empire and an education that focused more on practicality than the arts. Asami was able to teach them many things from complex math, to history, languages and other liberal arts. She knew that some people sought out personal goals, or feats of valor. Things they wanted to achieve for themselves. Yet for her, watching those children grow and apply the things she taught them, that was where she found her own personal satisfaction. It filled a space in her heart and gave her something she had never thought she would have or was missing for that matter.
Asami had had an effect on their lives and perhaps changed what the future may hold for them. Their lives had left an irrevocable mark on one another. The small leather bracelet with a small blue bead the symbolic reminder of that fact. Asami finally gently chided herself mentally.
‘Come now, we mustn’t keep Hanako sama waiting.’
Finally taking her eyes from the little ‘talisman’ she moved forward again.
Planet Hanako was a warm tropical planet and yet inside of the ship the air felt quite chilled. As Asami progressed through the ship she allowed her thoughts to drift. Though the Eucharis was silent now, she could almost see it bustling with activity with a full crew. Places like this always had an energy to it, its occupants leaving a spiritual impression or mark upon it. Many people have travelled aboard this ship, Asami could feel that. That and she could look at the ship’s past passenger manifests, but this was all intuition. A place where destinies meet, intertwine and then leave one another.
Her thoughts finally drifted to the task at hand and why she was here. Troubled wouldn’t be the right word, but Asami was certainly perplexed by this new assignment. She was chosen to perform a role that didn’t particularly fit her budo. Being a body guard was certainly much different than being a spiritual councilor. She understand of course that the circumstances that brought her here were not normal ones. The last few months had been trying times for certain portions of the Empire.
Asami also couldn’t help but wonder how she should approach her dealings with Hanako. She was so used to being implemented in the position of an advice giver, not one that required much violence. She knew full well that if a situation arose her training would take over, but hadn’t she chosen the life of an Arahoshi to avoid being put in such circumstances?
It was not a question of capability more than a question of desire. Asami did not like hurting others, it was that simple. When her training took over sometimes people died, and that is something she had to live with after the fact. Granted her past missions had not always been so peaceful. Pirates and other dangers where just a fact of life in the fringes of the Empire. Sometimes you were left with little choice but to act or use violence as a deterrence. It sometimes happened but usually these instances were fairly staggered and uncommon. This new mission however seem to put her in a position where combat was a more probable outcome.
‘Still one cannot hold on to the fear of possibility and expect to move forward.’
Asami thought to herself. It was true as well, she could worry about all the possible outcomes yet in the end it amounted to a waste of time. Better to expect nothing and leave oneself open to all possibilities.
She finally found herself at the door to the bridge, the ringing of her shakujo announcing her arrival. Though it seemed a little rudimentary, Asami knocked on the door three times before entering. She took in the bridge slowly with her eyes until they finally rested on the form of Hanako near the mission’s operations consul near the back. Allowing a small, polite smile to form on her face, Asami stepped forward and stopped just to the right of the CO’s desk. Taking off her hangai, her form became crisp and flawless as she bowed.
“Good morning Ketsurui Hanako sama. My name is Asami. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
As she bowed she held out a small data pad containing her mission orders from Ketsurui Yui and the Samurai House.
