Tori hums to herself as she flits about her kitchen, putting a few finishing touches on breakfast. A bit heavy, but it'll be good.

One last check in the mirror... hair's the usual free-flowing self, and in order. Nothing in her teeth... good!

She should be here any time now.

((Craft: Cooking, Soul of Artistry: 5d10o10k4 31))

The Kakita let her presence be known as she reached the door. She waited politely smoothing out her kimono and making sure shewas presentable. Younger than me and a sensei. This could be Interesting~.

Tori answers the door, and looks up to her guest with a grin. "Kakita Otsuka-san, I presume? Come in, come in! Please, call me Tori."

She makes an open gesture toward her main room; a warm, bright, inviting place, largely decorated in Tori's own works, the paper screens covered in sketches of a vast variety of different birds from all over the empire, each quite accurate.

"Welcome to Dragon's Guard City; I hope your travels were peaceful?"

"Hai, I am," she smiled and gave a bow, "A pleasure to meet you Tori-sama." She said running the protocol calculus in her head and deciding that was the safest call. "This looks lovely," she commented as she followed the gesture into the room, "You seem quite intrigued by birds."

She nodded in answer to the question, "Thank you. My travels were only from the hub villages. Truthfully, the worst I have seen in over a month is a stack of Otomo paperwork about the voyage."

Close enough. It's still so strange to be called 'sama' by people she would have considered of equal, even superior standing not that long ago.

"The Otomo can craft some truly formidable piles of paperwork," she nods with a moment's mock solemnity, before resuming her lighter tone.

"Please, have a seat; breakfast will be right out."

She slips into the kitchen one final mix, and... done! A moment and Tori returns with a tray, with two bowls of rice mixed in with a shrimp stew cooked in a thickened, reduced seafood broth, of enough mixed flavors that the exact composition is hard to place.

The tea is a light green tea, appropriate to the hour, and a counterpoint to the richness of the broth. As host, Tori pours for her guest, before Otsuka has time to fret over whether she should be pouring for her 'superior.'

"The voyage is quite the commitment," she comments idly, as the Kakita has already broached her purpose for the invitation. "One that for many stems from quite the ambition."

"It smells delicious. Although I am surprised you cook yourself. I suppose this is something I might need to prepare myself for on board then?" she asked somewhat skeptically as she pulled out her chopsticks. Cheerfully she added, "Itadakimasu!" before plucking up the first morsel from the soup.

She hid her expression behind a teacup as the commitment and ambition of the voyage came up. Finishing her sip she nodded. "It seems... the right thing for me to pursue at this moment," she said somewhat cryptically, "A lengthy commitment is most welcome honestly."

Tori repeats the prayer, and enjoys a bite herself. "Life at sea offers a number of changes," she explains. Though the fact that she has to explain is a bad sign. "A crew is limited, and everyone has to carry their weight, whether that means cooking a meal, or hefting a hammer. A sword is of use against the occasional pirate, true, but far more often, we bet our lives against ship, sea, and storm, not against an enemy sword."

"I presume, from your statement, that you have not been to sea before. So I ask, what do you bring the explorers, and what do you expect in return?"

"I am also a capable archer and have a somewhat trained eye. I am willing to learn what is necessary. I am interested in a way to serve the Empire that allows me a change of surroundings and at least a few months to think," she set her food aside and bowed fairly low, "My options seemed the Imperial explorers or the monastery. I pray I did not choose unwisely?"

Oh, dear, oh, dear, these are not very good answers.

“That remains to be seen,” Tori answers, and contemplates this problem over her tea for a time.

“We explorers are called to serve in a way no samurai has before. A way that changes the meaning of duty and glory. How is for us to decide, and in two hundred years, we will be looked upon as either the founding ancestors of a proud and noble institution, or a band of failures.”

She lets the weight of her words hang for a moment before she continues.

“I may not like it, but politics and appearances have their hands in everything. Given my position, I have a responsibility to uphold our clan’s name in a realm that doesn’t exist yet, one that seeks to create and discover, not kill and destroy. I cannot afford a woman who is clearly just using us to run away from something. I need someone who can look to tomorrow. So I ask again, what do you bring, and what do you seek?”

Ah little bird,
You push everyone away,
Mother, father, nurse

You try to stand on wobbly legs,
only to finally see the cat.

She leveled the courtier with a look, pushed aside the bowl and tea cup and began cleaning her chopsticks. "I offer the gift of my sword and an open mind and I am called an unfit coward," she stands making to leave, "Your contempt for my school is noted and shall be passed along. I would not get into any duels Asahina-sama."

Tori’s glare turns to ice. “Sit. Down.” There is the weight of authority in her voice she couldn’t have mustered a year ago.

“I have many dear friends and colleagues from the House of Shining Light, who have achieved great and wondrous feats. I know they have armed you with more than death and a hole in your head. I need to know what.”

She raises a hand and points beyond her walls to the docks, “Right now, the three greatest ships ever created within our borders stand ready to sail. They each need a captain, though you clearly have a long way to go before you are ready for command. They also need a command staff. The Walrus needs a command staff. My Stingray needs a command staff. Should I trust the life of Captain Gusai to you? If you were in my position, hearing what I have heard, would you?

“In all of this, you forget our founder. You put forth the greatness of your blade, but at sea, we live or die together not by one great feat, but a thousand little things; good actions, not great ones. I do not care what demons chase you; we all have them, and we all deal with them in our own way. I need to know what foundation we have on which to build, before I can look to my peers and put my good name behind yours. Because I assure you, right now, you need me far more than I need you. You are Crane. You are family. I would much rather help you, but if you force me, I will bury you.”

She sighs. "I see the ocean is not the escape I had hoped for. The plague I seek solstice from already has full sway even there."

She turned and left to contemplate her next move.

/exits