Amidst Xingcha's Embrace

[King of Cats]

The city of Xingcha was the bustling capital of The Heart Empire and Roku had lived there for nearly twenty long years of his life as a samurai. While he had spent much of his time traveling Heart's conglomerate countries he had spent plenty of time in Xingcha to be familiar with the city. Namely Roku knew where all of the best fishing spots were in the capital. There were a notable few areas of interest for the blue tailed fisherman to cast his line and he had religiously visited a certain bridge every new years.

The carp of Tea swarmed the Long River on the western hemisphere of Xingcha, eventually trapped by the narrowing loch into the heart of the city. As a dedicated fisherman no matter where he was, Roku discovered this little fact early on when he moved to Xingcha from his little village.

Standing at the bridge Roku was wearing his usual light blue, linen robes. His shins and fore arms were exposed, revealing his smooth shark skin that was comprised of and even lighter blue scale work. Roku's robe was open at the chest and he looked to be incredibly strong. He had his bright red sandals off and was standing barefoot next to them. The fisherman was wielding a bright, glowing, golden bamboo fishing pole. The line was remarkably thick and Roku had it casted far off of the bridge. He was holding the pole with one hand and the fishing line in his other. Roku had caught a bite and he was reeling his line in to check what it was. Something told the fisherman he had a lucky catch.

In fact that something was his fishing pole. Hideoyoshi was the Soldier of Fortune and had bonded to Roku for years now. The two had quietly led the simple life in Xingcha, using Hideoyoshi's good luck for valor. The spirit screamed at Roky, "Hurry up! It's a big one! Fool! Don't you have a technique for this!" Hideoyoshi was shouting pretty loud. The spirit was annoyed by Roku's constant habit to use his fortune for "a good meal." Hideoyoshi sought to change the world, make a fortune, marry a princess; Roku was less than underwhelming to him.

The fisherman sought a life of peace, he didn't like going over the top and using Hideoyoshi's Yoshijutsu for violent ends when he could avoid it. "Of course I do!" Roku let go of the line with his one hand and formed a single hand seal. The Blue Tailed Beast channeled chakra into Hideoyoshi and the line began winding in rapidly. Roku sighed, "You know I like to feel the string of fate." That was what Roku called Hideoyoshi's lucky fishing line. As a fisherman he felt more classy when he piulled in the big fish by hand. "Yanno Hideoyoshi, keep it down. We don't need someone hearing you and I fighting over a fish." Roku always had fish on his mind.

[Texas]

Akihiko conveniently was heading towards heart to visit his friends. The boy wanted to go on a little expedition himself before being sent off to a cold frigid land in isolation. How could someone who relies on the attention of others be sent to a land where little to no people resided in? He also had to be serious since it would be a mission amongst his peers that would establish his foothold within the annals of history within the Lightning Empire.

The child was walking with hidden ninja hiding and following him. Unfortunately, because he was a high valued village asset, when he left the village.... the child was never alone. Although Aki usually acted like they didn't exist because for his life, they basically didn't. They never interacted unless Aki was directly put into danger. Or at least danger he couldn't handle.

The pink hair on his head bobbed as he walked through the city of Xingcha. During his passing he witnessed a weird looking blue man talking to himself near a body of water. Within that moment, Aki heard the Genma Ryeunso within the confines of his mind. "Boy, I sense another near us... don't make it obvious but you should probably poke him to make sure he is real." An obvious prank by his Genma counterpart. A tempting idea, and one he was going to pursue. The child took a direct 90 degree turn and started walking towards the blue man. He scuffed his feet a little bit, so he was heard. Aki would walk up to the blue man and his head would tilt sideways as he blankly spoke out. "Excuse me Mr.Blue, were you just talking to yourself?"

[King of Cats]

Roku was holding the fish high up the air when the pink-haired young man approached him. He had just got done muttering to Hideoyoshi, to keep quiet. Roku was frustrated lately with Hideyoshi. The spirit didn't respect him as a vessel and Roku was constantly battling with him to get his way. Hideyoshi wanted to be a spirit of renown, fame, and glory. Roku simply didn't want that life for himself.

Of course, the Blue-Tailed Beast had little choice in what fate held in store for him. Roku was destined for greatness, and no matter what he wanted that fortune would follow him. Follow him until it caught up with him, and it seemed in this very moment it would. Roku turned to face the one who was talking to him.

"Watch this one. I sense great spirit among us."Hideoyoshi spoke in Roku's mind, and there was a sense of awe behind his words that suggested that Roku heed the Soldier of Fortune's words. Roku pretended to ignore what Hideoyoshi said to him and smiled at the young one talking to him. He held up his fish, it was a large rock bass. Roku had it still on Hideoyoshi's fishing line and the river fish was flopping about.

Roku spoke to Ai in a friendly tone. The large caled man was imposing but his smile was welcoming. His large, dagger-shaped shark teeth gave him the sort of face you wouldn't want to see in the dark, but on a clear day, he simply looked unusual. There weren't many Shuryo around anymore, but Roku was a fine example of one. Standing there talking to Aki it was clear that Roku was a samurai. His attire didn't say it, instead, he looked like a fishing bum. Instead, it was the way Roku held himself, his thoughtful gestures, and his careful placement of words.

"Hiya, call me Roku I was, uhm, talking to myself. Yes..indeed.You heard me right. Not anyone around me, so I must be talking to myself." Roku looked like he was about to bust out in a cascade of sweat, and maybe tears. He did not want to be known as the sole vessel of Heart's Soldier of Fortune. "It's a beautiful day to fish, and ramble on at the ater side." Roku felt awkward after the stumbling of words he just presented. He tried to gather together his dignity and said to the boy,"You wanna eat?"

Roku unhooked the fish from Hiedeoyoshi's hook and held it out. The fish was at least twelve inches long, a real monster. There was enough for the two to eat and share a conversation.

While he was of course being friendly, Roku was also curious about what Hideoyoshi had warned him of. He hoped to lure the boy in and learn something of him, or the spirit Hideoyoshi's words loomed over.