Izumi steered Dasshu slowly along a track to the agreed meeting point and looked across the farms. He was strangely quiet . . . for now.


--

/ooc The Great Data Loss of September ate this once, let's try again.

Chiruha had been been busy for most of her day running errands and making the final touches to the event she was indirectly taking part of tomorrow. She was dressed in her work clothes, her jump suit, and she also brought Aoi along. Aoi wasn't really being used as a mount as he had been wearing a set of 'saddle bags' that were stuffed with various mechanical parts and half-completed drones.

She smiled softly at Izumi when their paths intersected and she bowed formally as well, despite her state. "Good afternoon, Kitsune-sama!"

He was becoming much better at controlling Dasshu now, so he could safely make a brief seated bow without the bird racing off to the left. He appeared to cheer up immediately.

"Asako-san!! Hello, IhopeIhaven'tdraggedyouawayfromsomethingimportant?"

"Oh, not at all! I might be constantly doing something but I'm usually open to chat with anyone and especially a member of the Kitsune like yourself, Kitsune-sama," she bobbed her head with certainty.

She gave a few small pats for Aoi to stop, which he did easily enough. Aoi let out a low squawk and eyed the other otori then at the little fox afterwards, "Aoi and I were just roaming the outskirts to collect some drones for tomorrow's event. Some of the regional farms often happen upon some of our lost drones around here. Often they are damaged beyond service but they do make for good parts!"

Engineering was definitely not a strong point for even an Urban/Forest Fox like Izumi. Didn't stop him having an opinion.

"Rebuildwhatyoucan, salvagewhatyoucan't!"

Her Otori he was on firmer ground about.

"Aoiisit? That'sagreatlookingOtori."

Dasshu agreed and was somewhat in awe of the superior specimen of Birbdom.

"I feel that's the motto around here when it comes to technology," she giggled with an enthused nod.



Aoi, perhaps called that for the blue markings on his neck, stood proudly and looked wary at the same time. He certainly could have been maybe even a leader of a herd at some point in time.

"Thank you, Kitsune-sama. The credit probably goes more to my father, as he gifted him to me. I could only imagine he had the otori handlers go deep into the wilderness to find Aoi-san. Hopefully, nobody was injured in the process of fulfilling my father's demands."

Just another hint at how the local ecosystem had been . . . . pressured. Well it wasn't time to get to that yet.

"Welltheycertainlyfoundagoodoneforyou. Willheberacinglater?"

There was a slightly blank look from Chiruha as she tried to follow along the string of words before she nodded soundly.

"Yes, Kitsune-sama...No, I mean no," she quickly corrected herself and giggled off her embarrassment. "Unfortunately, ever since my return to the Shiro, I've found myself with a huge stack of backlog to attend to at the Robotics Rally, the Bring-Fan-Con-to-Asakaze committee and my board game. If I was going to compete, I think none of these things would be done. And Aoi-san here wouldn't get walks either."



"Mrrrrrlll."

If he was disappointed then it certainly didn't show.

"IthinkIwillthough. Dasshuherelikestorun."

The otori brought it's head up at the word 'run' but Izumi kept the dasher under control.

"IwantedtothankyouforthemedicalcareaftermyfallduringtheSentinel'sbiathlon. I'vebeenworkingonanewperfumewithyourscientistshereandwe'vemadeenoughprogressnow. Itriedtomeldnotesfromnativefloratogetherwithafew'R'notesfromtheHomeworld. Ithinkit'sworkedwell."

He produced a small phial from his pockets. It carried an Asakazan Lab motif on it, as he hadn't thought to bring any Kitsune ones with him.

"Haven'tthoughtofanameforityet. Perhapsyoucouldsampleitandgivesomesuggestions?"

"That's good! I hope it will be a great showing, although I do hope that the riders are easy on the otori too. The winds have an obvious smell to them as you and I can sense. Different breeds of otori respond differently to the scent and it could be more intense to them in some ways. It might make some onery as a result, especially when they aren't able to migrate where the local fauna hint less than subtly. I pray it goes well for you, Kitsune-sama," she smiled earnestly.

She knit her brows together at the string of words from the Kitsune and before she could decipher what he might have meant, he had produced the phial for show. Was it a gift? Right, a gift! "Oh, uhm...it's unnecessary for you to gift me anything, please, Kitsune-sama. You and I are actually both enjoying the wonderful hospitality brought by my father."

Ah yes, the gift ceremony . . . he (or the player) had forgotten this would be a thing. Luckily Foxeh brain works at the same speed he talks.

"Themedicalcaregivenwentabovewhatwasneeded, Asako-san. IthasbeenapleasuretoworkwithyourtechniciansandshowthemhowAsakazanfloracanbeused. Pleasetaketheresultsofmywork!"

Once again the small phial was offered.

"Oh," she took a pause as she attempted to decipher the Izumi-speak, "I believe what we've provided was merely the compassion of the Phoenix, which we would do the same for all of our guests. And especially you, Kitsune-sama."

"I'm glad..." she paused in thought to make sure what he was saying was what she though he was saying. "that you've managed to discover something from Asakaze and I believe that Asakaze is a place where discoveries are still made everyday, which you've proved. While I don't have ownership of the planet and I cannot claim to, what you've found and made is enough to make me happy."

"ThisisasymbolofworkbetweentheFoxandPhoenix. ThefirstfruitofmanyIhope. TheGovernor'sDaughtershouldbethefirsttowearit."

He offered the phial a third time.

Chiruha smiled softly at the third presentation, "In that case, it would be unfortunate if I were to deny such a symbol of a friend, especially between our Clans. While I Am the daughter of the governor, my position is a humble one. I accept your greater wisdom and authority on the matter, Kitsune-sama, and I do so greatly. Thank you for the gift."

She accepted the phial with a deep bow as she took it in her hands. With the phial in her ownership now, she curiously took a look at the contents and gave her wrist a faint spritz.

"Hmm..." she murmured as she took in the scent.

"BestofAsakazeandtheHomeworldmeldedtogether."

He grinned and nudged Dasshu into a slow stroll. The gifting done . . . time for the important things.

"Youhaveaveryvibrantplanethere. Sofulloflife,"

--

OOC - It's a TN 120 master crafted perfume. Izumi may be an image of Hyperactivity, but he's good at his actual job.

Chiruha caught a scent of it and gave a few blinks when she perhaps caught more than her share of it. She distanced herself from her wrist to take another whiff before nodding in appreciation. "You know, I think I could actually make out of these scents? Something like Yellow Horn after the rain."

She smiled softly and nodded in agreement, "I'm glad you think so, especially as someone from your Clan, Kitsune-sama. I've dedicated a lot of my studies to the life found here and it's unlikely I'll even discover everything by the time I get old. An endless source of fascination!"

"ThenperhapsasyouunderstandtheFoxitappears . . . youmightunderstandsomeconcernsIhave."

He didn't like doing this under the pretext he'd used, but it had to be done.

"Theecosystemisadelicatebalance, anditseemstherearesomethataretiltingthatbalance."

"Fllllrrrragh," huffed Aoi.

Chiruha reached up and gave Aoi a few soothing pets on his neck as it looked like her steed was getting restless, especially when carrying so many saddlebags and pouches of assorted drone parts.

She looked back to Izumi and gave a slow nod, understanding what he might be getting at. "I fully understand your concern, Kitsune-sama. The wilderness is very lovely and I think we do have a very wonderful balance made in Shiro Yaoke. The settlement does over a lot for the residents while we have all of the untamed wilderness in almost an arms reach. It does make things a bit worrisome but we haven't had too many great incidents. However, many would like to see the surrounding lands made civilized and even industrialized for its resources."

"Youriskpushingthenativesystemintoaresponse. WasthisworldconnectedtoChikushudoorpossiblySakkakubeforeitwaspacified?"

He used pacified in the loosest sense, as he didn't believe it had been at all.

Suddenly, Chiruha looked rather confused and it seemed pretty clear the Fox was not talking about that she was talking about. "Oh...my apologies, Kitsune-sama. Chikushudo or Sakkaku?"

She gave a slow shake of her head. "I wouldn't know for sure, I'd imagine that all animals here have some connection to Chikushudo, although there are some animals who call Sakkaku home as well. Many worlds are theorized to have some connection to the realms, that's what we've hypothesised when we ventured into the stars. However, I don't think this world is pacified. When the first settlers arrived, it is as you see now. Hopefully, it will remain that way."