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RP: 5th Fleet [Chapter Seven] We're Not In Yamatai Anymore...

AvaNet - it was a name that was vaguely familiar to Aya. Admittedly history had never been her strongest subject (she was much more interested in spreading peace, love, and the Yamataian way via explosives and gunfire), but the significance wasn't lost on her. As they travelled, the scene unfolding in front of them was at once familiar and alien. If it weren't for the medieval trappings, it could have perhaps been mistaken for an average day in Yamatai. But it was impossible to ignore how everything seemed to be locked in the past.

Sif's realisation was a striking one to the blue Neko. The idea of the Elysians having copied these people was even moreso. But any response was forgotten as the Legionnaire warned them against lying. That's too close. Turning to telepathy, she sent to the others, "We should try to coordinate our stories while we have the time. I'm not sure we'll get away that easily next time..."
 
With every new location they visited, it seemed that new suspicions were sown in the minds of the squad whose presence Yuzuki found herself in. The thoughts and considerations were as varied as their travels and encounters, which she supposed was only fitting. For herself, Yuzuki settled once more into silence not wanting to muddy the metaphorical waters more with what would no doubt have been baseless guessing on her part at the moment. Instead, Yuzuki focused on observing the oasis of civilization in a place that had previously been warned as containing only peril hoping to glean some information about exactly where they were and how the peoples of this place conducted themselves aside from being city dwellers.

At the very least she wanted to keep herself busy enough that she wouldn't succumb to the temptation of needling back at the guard for his accusation. After all, Yuzuki had pointedly avoided supplying any suggestion of exactly who or what Adelaide was because truthfully Yuzuki wasn't too certain herself, and she wasn't sure that she fully believed what information had been supplied. Adelaide and Coco's relationship, presence, and circumstances were unusual, to say the least, and perhaps to someone who was looking for problems, suspicious.

Yuzuki's idle thoughts were conveniently reinforced as Coco spoke up in a dialect that Yuzuki's digital brain identified as possibly Elysian, or an ancient Nepleslian dialect. Neither of which she had the knowledge to understand and so far away from the hub of a starship relatively permanent in its unknown nature. Fitting given how much of late seemed to fall into that category.
 
Dimitri wasn't surprised by the guards poking their noses into their business but their reaction to Coco's speech was a bit curious but he wasn't sure if he should mention it. He would have to save that for when they were elsewhere. "I guess the wall was a clue, but this place looks pretty lively. You wouldn't think it was situated in the middle of such a dense forest."
 
Simply put, it was all white marble and togas around them, but it wasn't plain. Colored sashes were often worn with their garb, or the garb itself was dyed in many luxurious hues. The stone itself wasn't always white and bare either; they could see paintings and murals, the very buildings themselves acting as a canvas. Or, sometimes, the very marble from which images and figures were carved, painstakingly painted, and brought to life. The workmanship and skill put into them made these figures, some depicting everyday life, moments in history, or gods and demons, look almost real. All of this art, skillfully woven into the architecture and the city itself, grew in complexity and number the deeper they went, finally culminating in another wall and gate, this one in the city itself.

One carved out of marble, depicting Gods of lightning, love, war, the sea and more.

"The Cloud District," their previously silenced legionnaire spoke. Having regained his composure from before, he signaled for the guards to open the gate, and with the gentle, smooth, polished sound of stone sliding over stone, the squad's carriage moved forward. What they saw was so much like home, yet so different. Many of the people were the very pinnacle of beauty, their skin youthful and their bodies shapely and flawless. Yet, it was all marble and togas. And more importantly, elves. Half of the population here were elves. "It is my duty to safeguard this fair bastion of civilization, and so I must watch you like a hawk," the guard began, finally talking to them properly again. "And though your knowledge of their most fair tongue - wait, are you even listening?" the man glanced at Coco in particular.

'Help me,' Sif's voice echoed in their minds. With their attention on the guard, Coco had picked up Sif in her hands to begin examining her like a doll maker would examine a doll. The Mini-Neko's face was flushing with embarrassment as she was practically handled like a toy by the 'child'. This, in and of itself however, was something worth noting.

"Tabun," the little girl replied, the carriage finally bringing the squad into an open air market similar to the one before, but with added refinement. Though the goods were primarily what the forest and the city's farms could provide, there were plenty of objects of note. Trinkets from far away lands could be seen, and the arms and armor on display in one stall in particular - though much like the soldier's - were of fine quality. But perhaps most importantly, was the familiar two handed curved sword alongside a set of traditional armor.

A sharp slashing sword and a suit of archer's armor; a katana and a set of ō-yoroi.
 
Ordinarily, Yuzuki wouldn't have looked twice at the wealth on display around them, after all, she had spent her formative years amid a civilization capable of feats and wealth that made that which existed around her presently seem quaint and dull. Thinking in relative terms, however, Yuzuki was quick to notice that she was among the most wealth that she had seen on the entire planet. After the rough stonework, laboriously worked wood, dim lighting, and stink of unrefined lamp oils, the sights around the group were quite notably out of place. The knowledge that she had seen other less developed cities only helped to reinforce the anomalous impression while simultaneously serving to remind of the difference between core and colony worlds within their own empire. Where ever they had ended up it had history and prestige beyond that which they had encountered before... Or perhaps it was simply the result of a recent windfall.

As they traveled deeper into the city Yuzuki's gaze wandered idly, keeping her mind busy and away from subjects that nagged at her mind such as her quiet lust to further delve into the mysteries of the world's magic-like phenomena, and the much more auspicious distraction of Coco's new round of attention toward Sif. This latest development had quickly sown, cultivated, and matured a vicious snarl of envy and jealousy that would have served to defend a story-book castle from meddling princes with its sea of stubborn tangles of tough unyielding wood adorned with a million toxic thorns all too eager to catch and bite into flesh. For the moment, Yuzuki was forced to simply content herself with the life of a voyeur not willing to give up the closest she could come to her own indulgence short of a court-martial something that Coco did not have to worry about, while knowing that very likely another member of the squad would likely intervene on Sif's behalf soon enough.

Turning her hungry eyes, set as they were in a mask of boredom away from Sif's plight for the moment Yuzuki once again let her gaze wander the wares and culture on display around them as they passed deeper into the heart of the city and closer toward their waiting patron and host. Here Yuzuki was finding familiarity of a different sort nested in a style of equipment that so far had not been witnessed in her relatively brief travels across the countryside, leading her to wonder whether the similarities between this place and Elysia were coincidental, convergent development, or intentional. A trio of options that were for the moment equally likely.
 
Dimitri was taken aback by the sights around him. He suspected sophistication from elves but this was far beyond his expectations. Compared to the other places they had visited it was night and day, even the mansions he visited while working as a carriage driver were not as refined. There was still many questions left unanswered but he wasn't sure there would be a satisfactory answer. However he didn't like the focus the guard was giving Coco so he decided to try and deflect the conversation. "Are those common goods here? Where did they come from?" He spoke to the guard and then pointed in the direction katana and armor.
 
No rescue came. Instead, Coco sighed and reached over to hand the limp, beleaguered Mini-Neko to Yuzuki.

"Here you go! I can't find anything wrong with her, and you look really, really bored!" The little girl's words were innocently good natured, but looking at Sif? The short haired brunette in Yuzuki's hands struggled to barely keep her green eyes open, her chest rising and falling as she took in one ragged breath after another. Even her clothing, despite being pristine, almost seemed raggedy simply due to the handling she had moments ago. It seemed that Sif couldn't even speak with how sweaty and warm she felt in the Nekovalkyrja's hand.

The Centurion however, simply looked annoyed.

"Does it look like it's common?" the soldier asked, furrowing his brow ever so slightly. The question was practically rhetorical of course. However, despite his irritation, he walked right on over to the merchant stall and stomped his caligae clad feet. "Merchant! Where do these foreign arms and armor come from?" They soon heard a woman yawn, and in moments, a person who would have fit right into the crowds of Kyoto came up to the counter.

"Are?" they heard an all too familiar word be uttered. "Someone who's interested?" A woman with red-orange hair and seemingly feline ears came forward, but when she fully came into their view, it was clear she was no Nekovalkyrja. Her three vulpine tails, ones that slowly moved of their own accord, told them all they needed to know. She was something out of Yamataian legend. "Well! If you must know, they came from an exotic land far to the east. I brought them here myself; the blade's cutting edge is superb, and the armor is strong against projectiles while making it particularly easy to shoot back with," she explained. The fox-woman tilted her head however. "Why would you be interested Centurion? I did not think it would be to your taste."

The man gestured to the team behind him, and the moment her eyes fell on them, they lit up.

"Ara-ara!~" she exclaimed in surprise. Rushing out of her stall, she came to greet them. "Are you Bakeneko? Or perhaps Nekomata? I haven't seen anyone from home in decades!"

"So that's what they're called? I see." The voice of a young man, the one they felt in their minds at the gates, spoke up from behind them as its owner approached. As handsome as a Nekovalkyrja was beautiful, the golden haired youth was ageless, and wearing purple over his white toga, held a regal air of command. The two heavily armored soldiers accompanying the elf were even more heavily armored than the Centurion that guided them, sporting manica on their arms and steel plate greaves under the purple they wore. "I am Consul of this fair city, and though I go by many names, you may refer to me as Faustus. Though I will allow you time within our great markets, I am a busy man. You will follow my guards the moment you are done here," the Elf commanded them.

Just as quickly as he came, he left.

"Hmph. Tunnel vision. Didn't even say hi to me," Coco pouted, crossing her arms. The two royal guards looked at her with discomfort. They knew who she was.
 
Aya felt sympathy for Sif's plight; hopefully she would recover soon. To be blunt, she wasn't sure that the squad would manage to work their way through this mission without their superior's guidance. The jarring surrealism of their situation only heightened when the merchant selling the familiar arms and armour revealed herself. The merchant's utterance of "Ara-ara!" didn't help matters. However, Aya forced herself to focus. She was helped in this particular endeavour by the sudden sound of a familiar voice. She twisted around to get a better look as Faustus spoke.

He was striking in appearance, to say the least. Even if he hadn't spoken, Aya would have recognised the air of authority in a heartbeat. She wasn't sure what to make of the young man yet, except that he seemed very abrupt. She noticed the looks the royal guards gave Coco, but the poor Neko wasn't sure how to respond. Or, for that matter, how to react to the merchant's own queries. She just knew that with their rotten luck the merchant would ask about some highly obscure quirk of her home country, and how would they extricate themselves from that one?
 
The inquiry made by Dimitri as to the origin of the supposedly Yamataian weapons engaged Yuzuki's curiosity just in time for her to be blindsided by the unexpected gift of the exhausted Sif. Looking between Coco, and Sif carefully cradled in her hands, Yuzuki could only blink at Coco in response before her ears twitched and pivoted as their minder spoke up calling out to the proprietor of the shop.

Feigning disinterest toward Sif's exhausted form carefully cradled in her her hands, Yuzuki instead looked with the others toward the shop and felt a brief twinge of familiarity as a red-haired, animal-eared woman appeared followed by a second half memory at the appearance of tails. What exactly her mind had tried to bring up was placed on hold as a creeping sense of worry overcame her thoughts as the merchant spoke up.

If anyone was likely to undermine their cover, it was oddly enough the woman tending the shop, as if Yuzuki's assumption was correct her party was supposed to hail from the lands that had provided these weapons. At least that was the general assumption.

The exclamation and the focus of attention only intensified her private dread, and it was punctuated by the voice of what her mind casually slotted into the pompous prince trope, as her perception swivelled tracing the new arrival who by all means could have been an Elysian patriarch without the wings, though he named himself Consul or Faustus.

That this was someone that Coco also knew was simultaneously a surprise and accepted fact, further reinforced by the reaction of the Pompous Prince's guards, all of which left Yuzuki with the task of keeping things from getting distracted and awkward. With a casual motion, Yuzuki tucked Sif under the bottom edge of her tunic and against Yuzuki's stomach, putting the tiny Nekovalkyrja out of sight and hopefully away from scrutiny of the merchant while the CO recovered, while in step, Yuzuki replied to the merchant with a smile, "Bakeneko," remembering that Nekomata had distinctive split tails and that a 'monster cat' could be a loose interpretation of what they were, more bashfully she replied "Admittedly I've gotten used to our anonymity and exotic status, so it's a bit of a surprise to have someone recognize us."

"Though, really I think you should indulge my companion here," Yuzuki pointed at Dimitri, "Your wares caught his eye, and I fear he may feel wrongfully neglected should he go without proper attentions." Yuzuki ended her assertion at Dimitri's expense with a playful wink, hoping that the Merchant would be more interested in a potential buyer than catching up with visitors from 'back home.'
 
Dimitri decided it was best to just pretend like he did not see Sif's disheveled state and let the others handle it. He had to deal with the excited shopkeeper or at least he thought, but their attention was mainly directed at the Neko. At least they were until the Consul showed themselves and spoke. He was the kind of person Dimitri did not trust, such a refined appearance far too often meant they were up to no good. Of course he didn't speak his mind about it and just watched the man leave.

When he heard his named called he directed his attention back to the group, noticing that Yuzuki was sending the merchant his way. He chuckled lightly and gestured towards the weapons. "I've seen things of similar design before, and they were all of great quality." Seeing that they weren't moving at the moment he stepped down from the carriage. "I was even told that you could cut through two pigs at the same time with one, is that really true?" He just tried keep the woman's attention for a bit, he didn't want their cover blown if this person really knew who they were.
 
"Oh yeah, definitely! We're real head turners, so nobody is going to ever forget seeing one of us. To be honest, it's almost a little annoying at times," the Kitsune's tails animatedly moved about with excitement. The moment Yuzuki suggested she talk to Dimitri however, she blinked. "Are?" The young man was more or less put up on the chopping block in front of the creature of folklore, and as her initial surprise wore off, her expression became scrutinizing. Listening, looking him over from head to toe as he spoke, she finally took a seat when he finished talking. "You can, but it's prisoners, and not pigs. Plus, that's only with a special handle specifically used to test the blade, and the blade alone. It gives far more leverage you see." Glancing over at the others as they remained silent, she leaned in towards him, just a little.

"There's nothing special about you huh? I know the Consul said you could do a bit of shopping before you see him, but he really means, 'Come before me now,' when he says that." She explained to Dimitri. "If you guys are still in one piece afterwards, come back, ok? I wouldn't mind having guests for once, and it'd save you the pretty penny too," the Kitsune suggested. Suddenly, her ears perked up as she realized something. "Oh, how silly of me! I forgot to introduce myself - you may call me Aiko, by the way."

Meanwhile, Sif fell silent as she was placed against Yuzuki's soft, warm belly.
 
Rin glanced at her teammates.

"So...we should probably go see the Consul then, right? We probably should not keep him waiting."

Rin kept glancing at Aiko and her tails, curious as to why something out of Yamatai legend would be here, and why she would have ancient weapons of nearly Yamataian design.
 
Dimitri nodded to Aiko "Yeah I'll have to visit later, the weapons are really interesting." and then turned to Rin as she spoke up "Yeah...probably best we get moving quickly." He then turned towards the direction the Consul went and got the carriage turned that way. "All aboard." He chuckled and stretched his arms
 
For her part, Yuzuki found that she was really quite glad that further inquiries had been dropped in favor of worrying about the whims and moods of an important political figure. With the suggestion to move along with haste made, Yuzuki nodded her assent mutely for the moment trusting that anything that needed to be said had already been said. Looking over her companions, however, Yuzuki found that she had some questions about what their fate would be after all none of their group were overly confident in this new setting and for the most part the drive that had kept them going had been the simple hope that they would catch up to their lost companion Kuroneko.

With the group rapidly approaching what would likely be an official interaction with someone of import in the lands that they had found themselves in it seemed that their small band of simple soldiers on a recon mission would be entering into a realm that was well above any of their pay grades. Politics.

For this reason, more than any other that had come before be it strange beasts, well coordinated (but ugly) enemy soldiers, or mysterious children taking care of buxom princesses, Yuzuki was worried. Worried enough to make any attempt at encouragement or reassurance die on her tongue before it could be spoken. For the moment Yuzuki could only content herself that if things did go badly that they would be able to do what they did best and fight their way to freedom, a prospect that was less favorable than usual given their current position in the heart of a developed location.

Taking a breath to steady and calm herself, Yuzuki forced herself to avoid touching the concealed form of Sif as she waited for their escort to move them along toward their goal and whatever may lie ahead.
 
"Mata ashita ne?" Aiko waved to them, hoping they'd all visit her again. With a longing sigh, she rested her chin in both hands, just wondering what that group of travelers had gotten themselves into.

"Finally, maybe we can figure this out - it'll be good, I'm sure of it!" Coco happily encouraged them all. With more and more questions springing up around them, the squad was left dumbfounded as to what was going on it seemed. This land was one akin to Yamatai's history of magic, monsters and elves, all starting from a mere three decades prior. Yet, they knew little, and were seemingly lost, overwhelmed by how alien it all was in contrast to their high tech, modern lives. Nevermind that they were soldiers. Soldiers who fought against horrors that could consume entire worlds. No. This shit was confusing as hell.

"Why? Why me?" Adelaide moaned, refusing to open here eyes. The princess was amongst elves, with an ancient artifact of power, going the wrong way, had all her guards killed, and found out her handmaiden was a magical powerhouse.

What did she do to deserve this?
 
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