5tar
Active Member
ON: Kyoto; Military Sector - Star Army Space Port
The shuttle carrying the two commanding officers of the Senbu had just cleared entry, but even the subtle rumble of the vessel descending through the atmosphere didn't wake the sleeping Lioness. After such a long and exciting few days, she was so dead tired that a torpedo connecting with the ship couldn't wake her. "We're making our approach now." That was the only thing that came from the cockpit as they slowly descended towards the mighty space port in the capital.
Nicholas Saiga hadn’t used the short trip from Aries to Yamatai for rest as his Taisa had. He was tired himself—at least as tired as she was—but watched the twinkling void pass, and then the fiery atmosphere fall around the shuttle as the shuttle crept towards its destination. The Geshrin had many thoughts burdening his mind Yamataian soil grew closer with each passing moment; he’d already decided to make a trip to his family’s ancestral estate, mostly unoccupied since their exodus to Tatiana, but still contemplated bringing the Nekovalkyrja whom shared his company. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the commute for no other reason than Shizuka’s silent presence, and that fact alone helped to ease the nervousness he felt.
The small craft touched down, and then a few moments later an icon above the seats displayed that it was clear for them to make their exit. Outside, it was a very dreary Friday night; dark clouds seemed to be rolling in to hang dauntingly high up over the city. The lull of the never-sleeping city was emanating a relaxed aura, with slow tempo’d lights twinkling all over the place from the sky grasping metropolis.
“Shizuka. Shizuka-san,” Nicholas said softly as he nudged the Taisa, still laying fast asleep against his arm. When the shuttle’s airlock opened to reveal the planet’s pressure, the invigoration one always gets when completing a long journey filled his body, erasing, at least momentarily, any fatigue that was in him. It was good—relieving—to be on Yamatai now that they’d arrived. The cool, natural air that rushed into the craft’s cabin seemed foreign to the Geshrin after so long in space, but remained somehow familiar in an innate way. “Wake up, Shizuka,” he continued, suddenly wishing that there was an archaic alarm clock within reach.
Had it been any other day, or if she had still been deep asleep in her quarters, there would be no way this would have worked. But as the planet's cool brisk air entered her artificially created lungs, Shizuka’s eyes slowly drifted open to the world around her. "I... I'm not dreaming, am I?" Shizuka's sleepy voice asked cutely as she rubbed at one eye, glancing outside the window with the other. This was it, if she wasn't imaging it; the Lioness had indeed awoken up to somewhere she had only known in memories placed there by her creators... She was in the home world she had fought all her life to preserve, to her. It was an honor for such an unworthy servant.
The Shosa stood after Shizuka had woken up and he was free to move without disturbing her. “You could be, but I don’t think so,” Nicholas remarked as he looked out towards the relatively unadulterated openness that awaited them. Being able to walk in places unmarked by corridors and bulkheads again would be amazing for the Geshrin. “I doubt that, as much as I love it myself, you’d be dreaming about this kind of weather for Yamatai.” He turned back to her, the eagerness to get out suddenly flooding through him as he offered a hand to the Neko commander. “Shall we, Shizuka-denka?” he asked.
"Weather..." Shizuka said, still awestruck, her tone making it ever-so-evident. Subtle things that most of the population took for granted were so new and foreign to her that she felt like a youngling again. "Yes, Koibito... we shall," she said with a smile, a kind that she never had the ability to show before as she took his hand. That smile was of contentment and relaxation. With her hand in his, the two exited the shuttle and stepped out into the cool Yamataian air. The wind kissed her face and caught her hair, it was all so surreal. She just let herself drift along with steady steps, following Nick's lead.
Nicholas lead the way out of the small shuttle with Shizuka in tow, making his way across the tarmac towards the terminal bay. They’d landed in an out of the way section of the doubtlessly vast port, away from much of the commotion associated with a major Star Army transit point that it was. If the Geshrin Shosa realized how short his stay on Yamatai would be, he probably would have been lost in planning every second of the visit to the Empire’s throne world. But luckily, the thought didn’t occur to him and he basked in each step that he took on terrestrial ground, every breath and every irksome gust of wind that whipped through his already unruly hair.
After they had made it through the necessary gates, with very little baggage in hand, Shizuka paused in step with a very grave look on her face. "Oh no..." she said as she franticly made her way to a tabletop close by to search through her things, leaving Nick behind as she did so. "Great—just great..." She seemed rather distressed and disappointed about something, then the next thing hit soon after and Shizuka slumped her shoulders with a depressed murmur.
The Geshrin stepped closer to Shizuka from where she’d left him, nudging and sidestepping through the surprisingly busy interior of the small craft terminal. “Is there something wrong, Sh—Endo-taisa?” he said, fully aware that they were both still in uniform and in an exceedingly public place. “If there is something that you may have forgotten in the shuttle, I will go and retrieve it on your order.” Although his words carried a more formal structure, his tone remained familiar and concerned. It wasn’t as if any passersby were paying that close attention anyway, much less that they’d be recognized by anybody who knew them.
The Neko commander, still dressed in her skirted uniform, scratched at the back of her head nervously. "I... left my data pad in my quarters and didn't get to transfer the data. So all the work I had tasked and set aside is left on the ship." Shizuka took a few moments of worried thought, not too sure if she should really send him back to get it or count her blessings that she was free from more work. "I... also," she paused sinking her head into her shoulders as she looked up at him cutely, "in the mess of things and rush to get out, forgot to make arrangements to where we would be staying."
“Oh,” Nicholas stated dryly, his mind instantly pursuing solutions to their problem. Not that it was a particularly insurmountable quandary—he had quite a bit of Kikyô Satsu saved up, for a soldier at least, and still had access to family funds if he really needed them. The inconvenience of the situation was the Geshrin’s main point of vexation, especially because the quickest fix that kept presenting itself to him was also the most personally difficult. “Did you have anything that you planned to see in the city?” he questioned, leaning in close to Shizuka, his voice lowering to a near-whisper.
Shizuka thought for a moment, though there was a thousand things she wanted to do in the city, there was nothing really made into a plan. So with that, she answered him with a simple shake of her head. But his whispering caused her feline curiosity to perk, and a sly smirk form on her face. She leaned against him, her amber eyes shifting side to side as if she was about to take part on a secret rendezvous. "Why, what exactly do you have in mind?" she asked, a playful tone on her voice.
It would be a few, long seconds before Nicholas to answer her question; he’d thought about this moment since he was told that they’d be going to Yamatai, and even before that, going back and forth on what he’d say in the end. “I… I know of a place we could stay,” he responded, far less playfully. “It’s… ah… up in the mountains to the northeast of Ketsurui no Iori, which is nearly half of the prefecture away.” He stopped there, waiting for the Nekovalkyrja’s answer, but just before she could speak, he continued. “Perhaps somewhere here in the capital is easier, though. I’ve got enough money saved so that we could stay nearly anywhere other than the Imperial Palace, and I’m sure your reputation precedes you here anyway.”
Shizuka's attitude changed with the answer she was given. She felt even more curious about the first place, and as there was only really one big stop she wanted to make, she was quite interested in the idea of spending her time here on a mountain. Maybe she'd even get to see real wild life, like a bird and maybe even spend some time in a forested area. "I think that first place sounds nice actually, we spend so much time around technology, being in the open air of the planet sounds... just magnificent," she said turning around and smiling pleasantly up at her XO and then picked up her things. "The only things I really want to do we can do on our way back here. So, lead the way, planetoid!" she said with a turn and a nudge. She just wanted to get away from the military complex to a new world she had only seen in implanted memories.
END
The shuttle carrying the two commanding officers of the Senbu had just cleared entry, but even the subtle rumble of the vessel descending through the atmosphere didn't wake the sleeping Lioness. After such a long and exciting few days, she was so dead tired that a torpedo connecting with the ship couldn't wake her. "We're making our approach now." That was the only thing that came from the cockpit as they slowly descended towards the mighty space port in the capital.
Nicholas Saiga hadn’t used the short trip from Aries to Yamatai for rest as his Taisa had. He was tired himself—at least as tired as she was—but watched the twinkling void pass, and then the fiery atmosphere fall around the shuttle as the shuttle crept towards its destination. The Geshrin had many thoughts burdening his mind Yamataian soil grew closer with each passing moment; he’d already decided to make a trip to his family’s ancestral estate, mostly unoccupied since their exodus to Tatiana, but still contemplated bringing the Nekovalkyrja whom shared his company. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the commute for no other reason than Shizuka’s silent presence, and that fact alone helped to ease the nervousness he felt.
The small craft touched down, and then a few moments later an icon above the seats displayed that it was clear for them to make their exit. Outside, it was a very dreary Friday night; dark clouds seemed to be rolling in to hang dauntingly high up over the city. The lull of the never-sleeping city was emanating a relaxed aura, with slow tempo’d lights twinkling all over the place from the sky grasping metropolis.
“Shizuka. Shizuka-san,” Nicholas said softly as he nudged the Taisa, still laying fast asleep against his arm. When the shuttle’s airlock opened to reveal the planet’s pressure, the invigoration one always gets when completing a long journey filled his body, erasing, at least momentarily, any fatigue that was in him. It was good—relieving—to be on Yamatai now that they’d arrived. The cool, natural air that rushed into the craft’s cabin seemed foreign to the Geshrin after so long in space, but remained somehow familiar in an innate way. “Wake up, Shizuka,” he continued, suddenly wishing that there was an archaic alarm clock within reach.
Had it been any other day, or if she had still been deep asleep in her quarters, there would be no way this would have worked. But as the planet's cool brisk air entered her artificially created lungs, Shizuka’s eyes slowly drifted open to the world around her. "I... I'm not dreaming, am I?" Shizuka's sleepy voice asked cutely as she rubbed at one eye, glancing outside the window with the other. This was it, if she wasn't imaging it; the Lioness had indeed awoken up to somewhere she had only known in memories placed there by her creators... She was in the home world she had fought all her life to preserve, to her. It was an honor for such an unworthy servant.
The Shosa stood after Shizuka had woken up and he was free to move without disturbing her. “You could be, but I don’t think so,” Nicholas remarked as he looked out towards the relatively unadulterated openness that awaited them. Being able to walk in places unmarked by corridors and bulkheads again would be amazing for the Geshrin. “I doubt that, as much as I love it myself, you’d be dreaming about this kind of weather for Yamatai.” He turned back to her, the eagerness to get out suddenly flooding through him as he offered a hand to the Neko commander. “Shall we, Shizuka-denka?” he asked.
"Weather..." Shizuka said, still awestruck, her tone making it ever-so-evident. Subtle things that most of the population took for granted were so new and foreign to her that she felt like a youngling again. "Yes, Koibito... we shall," she said with a smile, a kind that she never had the ability to show before as she took his hand. That smile was of contentment and relaxation. With her hand in his, the two exited the shuttle and stepped out into the cool Yamataian air. The wind kissed her face and caught her hair, it was all so surreal. She just let herself drift along with steady steps, following Nick's lead.
Nicholas lead the way out of the small shuttle with Shizuka in tow, making his way across the tarmac towards the terminal bay. They’d landed in an out of the way section of the doubtlessly vast port, away from much of the commotion associated with a major Star Army transit point that it was. If the Geshrin Shosa realized how short his stay on Yamatai would be, he probably would have been lost in planning every second of the visit to the Empire’s throne world. But luckily, the thought didn’t occur to him and he basked in each step that he took on terrestrial ground, every breath and every irksome gust of wind that whipped through his already unruly hair.
After they had made it through the necessary gates, with very little baggage in hand, Shizuka paused in step with a very grave look on her face. "Oh no..." she said as she franticly made her way to a tabletop close by to search through her things, leaving Nick behind as she did so. "Great—just great..." She seemed rather distressed and disappointed about something, then the next thing hit soon after and Shizuka slumped her shoulders with a depressed murmur.
The Geshrin stepped closer to Shizuka from where she’d left him, nudging and sidestepping through the surprisingly busy interior of the small craft terminal. “Is there something wrong, Sh—Endo-taisa?” he said, fully aware that they were both still in uniform and in an exceedingly public place. “If there is something that you may have forgotten in the shuttle, I will go and retrieve it on your order.” Although his words carried a more formal structure, his tone remained familiar and concerned. It wasn’t as if any passersby were paying that close attention anyway, much less that they’d be recognized by anybody who knew them.
The Neko commander, still dressed in her skirted uniform, scratched at the back of her head nervously. "I... left my data pad in my quarters and didn't get to transfer the data. So all the work I had tasked and set aside is left on the ship." Shizuka took a few moments of worried thought, not too sure if she should really send him back to get it or count her blessings that she was free from more work. "I... also," she paused sinking her head into her shoulders as she looked up at him cutely, "in the mess of things and rush to get out, forgot to make arrangements to where we would be staying."
“Oh,” Nicholas stated dryly, his mind instantly pursuing solutions to their problem. Not that it was a particularly insurmountable quandary—he had quite a bit of Kikyô Satsu saved up, for a soldier at least, and still had access to family funds if he really needed them. The inconvenience of the situation was the Geshrin’s main point of vexation, especially because the quickest fix that kept presenting itself to him was also the most personally difficult. “Did you have anything that you planned to see in the city?” he questioned, leaning in close to Shizuka, his voice lowering to a near-whisper.
Shizuka thought for a moment, though there was a thousand things she wanted to do in the city, there was nothing really made into a plan. So with that, she answered him with a simple shake of her head. But his whispering caused her feline curiosity to perk, and a sly smirk form on her face. She leaned against him, her amber eyes shifting side to side as if she was about to take part on a secret rendezvous. "Why, what exactly do you have in mind?" she asked, a playful tone on her voice.
It would be a few, long seconds before Nicholas to answer her question; he’d thought about this moment since he was told that they’d be going to Yamatai, and even before that, going back and forth on what he’d say in the end. “I… I know of a place we could stay,” he responded, far less playfully. “It’s… ah… up in the mountains to the northeast of Ketsurui no Iori, which is nearly half of the prefecture away.” He stopped there, waiting for the Nekovalkyrja’s answer, but just before she could speak, he continued. “Perhaps somewhere here in the capital is easier, though. I’ve got enough money saved so that we could stay nearly anywhere other than the Imperial Palace, and I’m sure your reputation precedes you here anyway.”
Shizuka's attitude changed with the answer she was given. She felt even more curious about the first place, and as there was only really one big stop she wanted to make, she was quite interested in the idea of spending her time here on a mountain. Maybe she'd even get to see real wild life, like a bird and maybe even spend some time in a forested area. "I think that first place sounds nice actually, we spend so much time around technology, being in the open air of the planet sounds... just magnificent," she said turning around and smiling pleasantly up at her XO and then picked up her things. "The only things I really want to do we can do on our way back here. So, lead the way, planetoid!" she said with a turn and a nudge. She just wanted to get away from the military complex to a new world she had only seen in implanted memories.
END
