"Yeah, I definitely thought so. So did almost everyone, I'm pretty sure." Yul flashed a quick edged grin towards Wasp.

"What did you name yours? I assume you kept one, right?" He asked, smiling. "Mine's Maverick. It fit." He didn't clarify whether it fit the bird, him, or both.

"Oh...Uguisu," She replied and sipped her tea, "Why Maverick?" The Crane asked, though she suspected the answer already or at least why the Shinjo liked the name Maverick....

Yul shrugged. "It seemed like it suited him. But also it suits me. So I figured hey, why not?"

He sighed, not unpleasantly, poking at the cheesecake without taking any. "We Unicorn have switched from horses to vehicles, but in at least one aspect, the principle is the same. Just as the pilot is one with his fighter, the rider is one with his steed."

He shrugged. "Or so I understand, anyway. I'm not nearly as good a rider as I am a pilot."

Hyeon-ju only narrowed her eyes as she sipped the tea.

"They're nothing like the Blessed Herd... horses are much more noble animals than those... birds."

"Right." Yul gave her a sidelong glance, his lips twisting. "They're probably beneath you, huh?" He stabbed aggressively at the cheesecake with his fork, fiercely taking a bite of the sweet dessert.

After a moment, Yul took a deep breath. "So... how are you and the rest of the Crane finding the miai so far?" Yul asked casually, looking at Ishiyo.

Ishiyo blinked at that and blushed in embarrassment, "I of course did not mean to imply in parity between you-eh family's sacred animals and the otori."

The Crane suddenly remembered the Utaku's on performance this morning and smiled nervously...just now realizing she had given the Shinjo a new chance to barb his wingmate.

She was about to redirect the conversation when Yul did it on his own.

"Oh well I am fine, I was a bit surprised at the living arrangements but I mean I just got finished living on a light carrieh...so even a fouh man room is a bit of a luxury. All my kin seem to have settled in fine, but I have not spoken with them much out of an initial meeting. Seems a waste to focus on one's own cousins."

"They're animals, Cricket," she said simply to Yul. Really, of course animals were below them. They were samurai and birds were not samurai!

"Yeah... the four-man rooms are practically luxury from the bunks at the carriers." Hyeon-ju easily agreed on that, pausing to chew a bit on her straw.

"There does seem to be a lot of Crane here for the miai though. Only missing someone from the Kakita, I think?"

"I suppose I could qualify," Ishiyo answered, smiling again, "I mean...I am hardly what one thinks of when they think Daidoji, and I am Kakita trained. Both in the traditional sense and as a flyeh."

She held up a hand, palm up with fingers curled with the arm crossing her chest. The classic gift offering position that any who had studied Iaijutsu knew...the trademark of the Kakita family. After a moment she drops her hand back to the table and takes a sip of tea.

Yul just grimaced in response to his wingmate's comment.

"All the Crane I've met here have been very..." Yul pursed his lips a moment, "-impressive. Kind, intelligent, beautiful, of course. It's unfortunate that things between our clans haven't been ideal lately. Maybe there's still time to reverse that course, though." He gave Ishiyo a sidelong glance.

And then a more direct glance as she performed her stance, in brief. "Kakita-trained. So you must be a pretty good duelist, huh?"

"I can do so if necessary, but my skill has sadly atrophied in preference to my piloting and gunnery," Ishiyo responds a bit sheepishly, "I had intended to use the time here to practice it again. It helps clear the mind as well."

"Would be fun to practice together some time then. I wasn't all bad at the iaijutsu lessons myself back at the academy." Not that iaijutsu was a highly valued skill for most pilots, but it was a valued skill amongst the more traditional families. And the Utaku were rather traditional in their ways.

And she'd never tried it against a Kakita-trained warrior before.

"Haven't had the time to hit the dojo yet here..."

"I'm pretty good myself. And that sounds like a good idea." Yul smiled wryly. "I'm not too proud to admit that Wasp is probably a little better than I am. But it's close. Really, really close."

He nodded to Ishiyo. "So, yeah. If you want to get some practice in, we'd be happy to give it a try sometime. Or... maybe just one or the other of us." He shot Wasp a quick glance, one eyebrow slightly raised, trying to judge her interest.

"I..." Ishiyo laughs nervously and reaches up to rub her cheek. "Well, that would make you two the third and fourth that wishes to train iaijutsu with me. My kin Daidoji Kamui and Daigotsu Ryuu being the first two."

"I was not expecting the old art to be quite so populah...but I guess it is no surprise that since it is, everyone wants to test themselves against a Kakita. Pity I had not studied it more, then perhaps you would get the true experience."

"It is still a tradition of the Empire. The way to settle matters as approved by the Heavens, and the Imperial Houses." And Hyeon-ju was a stickler for tradition.

"I expect any warrior I meet to be capable of handling themselves in a duel. There is a reason samurai still carry swords, even in the age of radiant weapons."

"True enough..." Ishiyo concedes, then rests her head on the hand rubbing her cheek. "But...everything is so different from the old stories. It is all radiant weaponry, artillery, and massed ashigaru led attacks. It's like we lost something. I think that is one thing we...I mean pilots...have oveh ouh terrestrial kin. There is something in the old ways in ouh duels above the industrialized wah below."

She blushed and looked down, "Sorry that was some romanticized triteness. I did not mean to demean othehs."

Yul shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I know the Moto marines I've met are all tough as heck. But what we do is damn important, and we're damn good at it, too. I don't think we're dishonoring anyone to say that."

He frowned, his gaze going distant. "With Unicorn, I think it's different, too. Since the beginning, we've been explorers. Being pilots was our destiny." He shrugged. "That's how I see it, anyway."

"Hmm..." the Utaku's brow furrowed, making it hard to read what her opinion was.

"Well, piloting is superior, but yes, Cricket's got the right of it that battles wouldn't be won if not for the work of the bushi who do the boarding, or who are on the ground. Even in the past, before flight, superior numbers - even ashigaru - dominated who the victors were. It is one of those things that made the Lion master of warfare."

She idly toyed with the straw of her tea, having mostly finished it now and it was just the tapioca pearls left. "But the Unicorn were always looking for innovations in warfare - new horizons. Those are our traditions. The revolutionized cavalry warfare when we returned to Rokugan in the distant past, and in more modern times we've pushed the boundaries of flight and exploration."

"It really is in our destiny to reach for the stars."

"I did not mean to imply..." Ishiyo chews her lip, "I understand the importance of all the warriohs in the clan's armies. But...well it does not matteh. It was silly of me to voice such views."

She went back to her tea, feeling distinctly like she was making a poor impression.

"Hey," Yul said, smiling gently. "Don't worry about it. Compassion may be our clan's favored virtue, but Honesty isn't far behind. Don't worry about voicing your views with us. Nothing silly about it."

He finished the last bite of cheesecake with a flourish. "I feel like when all the cheesecake's gone, that's a good time to wrap things up, huh? Usually I'd say the drinks, but..." Yul smiled, waving his empty container, "I finished mine a while ago.

Ishiyo smiled at the Shinjo's comment, "Thanks..."

She dipped her head to both of them, "To both of you, for indulging my curiosity. It was fun." Her smile turned back to a grin, "I hope I did not talk you-eh eahs off oh anything."