[D1EE] Blast From The Past (Expecting)

[Doji Hikaru]

A wedding was supposed to be a happy occasion. And when Hikaru played his flute, standing in the garden in the shelter of a tree, he did his best to pick a happy tune. And yet, there was something about a solitary flute that always sounded mournful. Or is it just me?

The weather certainly wasn't helping. The sunny skies of the day had given way to dark clouds, once on the horizon, now looming overhead. Hikaru could feel the chill even through his cloak, and his knuckles where white as he held the flute, only the motion of his fingers saving them from growing stiff. Still, he played on, his focus overcoming the chill creeping into his joints.

The notes of the flute were clear and crisp, unlike the heaviness of the atmosphere. Even now, Hikaru knew, the couple would be getting married. In some ways, the joining of Hadananzi and Ananzihime mirrored that of their parents, thankfully adoptive in his case. Doji and Nanzi... a grimace as a note hit slightly off. Hmmm.

Taking a breath, Hikaru resumed his playing. Perhaps it was just the weather...

[Kakita]

As if called by the somber tune of the lonely flute a visage of the past floated into the garden. As the flute painted its melody on the impressionable air kami, they subtly whispered toward a man not far away.

The sound was familiar and strange... but much of his current existence reflected this contradiction. A melody of fondness and estrangement.

As he came into the clearing from which the notes emanated the wind carried a bit of a mix of early dusting and mist behind him. He stood for a moment taking in the scene of a face he knew... playing that contradiction reflected in the mysterious stranger’s very existence.

[Doji Hikaru]

It was difficult for Hikaru to begin a verse of a song and not complete it. And indeed, even seeing a face come out of the fog, he continued to play for several seconds. But then the melody faltered and faded as recognition grew.

Slowly, Hikaru lowered his flute. Tucked it carefully away in his cloak. For a moment, it looked as though he were about to step forward, his weight shifting, but he didn't. Instead he stood, unmoving.

"Are you a ghost?" He asked in his low voice. It was a real question, without a trace of irony.

[Kakita]

He took a few steps forward before stopping gently a few feet away. His footsteps had physical resonance. His body fully formed...

“I am... in one sense. The man you knew is no more.”

The mysterious stranger looked intently into the other man’s eyes as if looking for something not visible in the world of the living.

After a moment a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips, “It is good to see you.”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's lips curled up, just a little, scarcely a smile. "I'm not sure that answers my question." He said dryly. His pale eyes held confusion almost exclusively, plus a smattering of other things. Worry, perhaps? That one was always there

Still he stepped closer. "By the Kami, it really is you." Hikaru's lips parted, and then pressed together. And then again, parting and pressed together.

Finally, he shook his head, frowning, his white lock of hair falling down over the side of his face. "I don't know where to begin. I have ten-thousand questions."

[Kakita]

Kakita bowed his head in warm greeting with a smile still on his lips, “And I will answer what I can.”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's barely there smile was almost as much as he ever gave, as a friend from long ago would recognize.

Despite the invitation, Hikaru hesitated. After a moment he spread his hands. "What happened? I thought you were dead. We all did."

[Kakita]

He nodded, “There were rumors of a troll terrorizing people in the western part of our lands. I traveled to the region, letting my father and Nanzi-dono know of my quest...”

He paused, “I found the troll attacking the hamlet of an old woman and her husband. After I dispatched the troll... the woman invited me in to repay my service for her and her husband. She showed me a blade that she and her husband had crafted... the kind I had never seen in this world. They told me they could teach me how to make it... and to make myself like the blade.”

He let out a meaningful breath, “They spoke to me of an illness within the hearts of my kinsmen... and to be honest it was something I had become aware of as well... a change in the years before my gempukku. A change in the hearts of those around me. They took me to their hidden dojo deep in the mountains where I trained to become the kind of man who could help my kin...”

He looked down at his hands, “Time is a ethereal thing in the realm I went to... but I knew I could not return until my training was complete... It took years, but I returned... I had promised my father I would. And I kept my promise...”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru took a deep breath, and then another as Hayaku spoke, the cold air chilling his lungs. It was a good thing, he decided. A reminder that this was not a dream.

"I see." He said. Sorrow flashed in his eyes. "I hope you know, then, that your father passed, years ago." A bow, apology and sympathy alike for delivering the sad news.

[Kakita]

He nodded, “I returned home to find my house empty... The local watchman told me how My father, last chief of the Kakita, had taken his life in sorrow at my passing... and my sister... disappeared off the face of the earth the day after my father’s death.”

He seemed to have not been torn down by this tragedy as one might expect... or maybe he had and now there was something else built upon the wreckage.

“I spoke with the local official; one of Lord Nanzi’s relatives from far away. He sent word of my story... and was told that I should be sent away. ‘Nanzi Hayaku is dead’. I tried to implore my case but... in the end had nowhere to turn.”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru's forehead creased. "A misunderstanding. So much is changing..." He made a vague gesture with his hand.

And then his pale eyes settled on his old friend again. In truth, he wondered if he might still be a ghost. But, well, perhaps if he had died before his time, it was right that he be returned. But to face what destiny?

"Hayaku-san..." The crease deepened, Hikaru's expression becoming a frown. "What did you mean before, about an illness?" He stepped closer, his low voice dropping even lower.

[Kakita]

“That name is no longer mine. It was granted by Lord Nanzi and it has been retired by the same authority. I am Kakita now... the remnants of a dying legacy.” He replied with a tone of acceptance and acknowledgement of new found purpose.

He then looked deeply into Hikaru’s eyes again like he had done before. “I was joyous to see you... for your eyes do not hold the same echo of others I have seen.”

He paused, “There is a malice that has taken hold in the hearts of many of my kin... Something tears at us like a plague. I do not know how to describe it any better than that... it is something that is sensed... not observed.”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru gave a slow nod. "Kakita, then. As you once were." Again, that soft smile, scarcely there. "I am glad that you have returned, old friend." Hikaru's eyes were indeed clear and honest, and a better sign of his joy at seeing him than his expression.

But then any trace of a smile faded. "H... Kakita-san. I do not know about this plague you have seen. But have you heard..." Hikaru's lips peeled back into a grimace. "Lady Doji has been unwell lately. Unwell enough to keep her from travelling here to her daughter's wedding. Could that be related to this... this plague that you sense?" Down at his side, Hikaru's hands clenched, a sign of greater emotion than usual.

[Kakita]

“I do not know of many illnesses which can affect a god... It would not surprise me if this malice which pits itself against our people also would seek to harm the clan’s greatest exemplar.” He stopped for a moment.

“Have you seen her since this malady has befallen her?”

[Doji Hikaru]

"I have, but only in brief." Hikaru's voice was still low, as they spoke of dark things. "When it strikes her, she secludes herself. To my eyes, she merely looks pale..." His eyes went briefly distant in reminiscence...

He shook his head, his white lock dancing about. "But I had much the same thought as you. What illness could affect a god? It must be something beyond the natural world."

Hikaru's lips pressed together firmly. "You have returned with a purpose, friend. To look upon you is to see it. Curing Lady Doji of this malady is mine. If Fate has returned you, and led to us meeting her, I must think that our purposes are the same, or at least related."

[Kakita]

Kakita nodded, “I swore an oath to defend the Lady Doji when I was but a child... though others may have released me from that oath; I do not release myself. I will do anything in my power to help you. I am strengthened by knowing that there is still honor like yours in the clan... It is not too late my friend. It is not too late.”

[Doji Hikaru]

Hikaru let out a relieved breath. "I pray that you are right." Another almost smile. "Had I known you yet lived, I would have known you would say that."

The smile turned into a thoughtful frown. "But I do not know where to begin. I have spent the last year searching, to no avail. I know Lady Doji would wish us to be discrete, and yet, the thought of asking Shiba for his wisdom occurs to me."

[Kakita]

“If the forces of destiny have drawn us together, undoubtedly they will have brought others who could be of use as well. There are many in the north with means of finding that which seeks not to be found...” He replied.

“If we can find people worthy of trust... I’m sure there will be a way.”

[Doji Hikaru]

"Than we shall find them." Hikaru nodded firmly. "This, I pledge."

A moment, and then he drew a deep breath, some of the tension leaving his form. "Would you tell me more of your return? Of your sword, and your new life?"

[Kakita]

“Each a tale in an of itself...” He replied with a nod.

“My blade is of my own make. It is the result of the tutelage by ‘Grandmother’ and ‘Grandfather’. To make such a blade required years of internal reforging... To be folded, heated, and struck until that which weakened my spirit was cast aside. They trained me to be a warrior worthy of such a blade... Something I must strive to become each day.”

He withdrew the sword from his obi and extended it horizontally out towards Hikaru. The saya was smooth, the color of obsidian but with design of crow feathers subtly hinted in a darkened gray. The hand guard was jet black with circling crows forming the protective barrier of the hands.

“Once I completed it I came down from the mountains to return to my home as I said... But after I was sent away I had nowhere to go. I attempted to return to the mountains where I was trained but was stopped by the followers of Lord Ryoshun. They had been sent in a vision to find me they proclaimed... So I traveled with them to their castle.” He continued.

“The lady Nazo told me of her husband’s desire to offer me welcome among their people. I was honored by their invitation and have served to protect their daughter for these past few months... It is she who brings me here. Princess Rei has come to attend the wedding of her cousin... I attended her on the road to ensure that no trouble beset her. And now I am here... floating along the winds of destiny.”