[It's mid afternoon! Mikoto is riding (or walking, depending) with Alexis and a whole slew of former slaves to Redrock City. This trip looks to take days, but at least the food's good there.] [Unfortunately, this means that Alexis may want to talk, and want to talk with him. The horrors.] [Session Start!] * Mikoto is actually leading Nami by the bridle; the horse has been used in hour intervals for the seriously wounded to take turns riding. He hasn't said anything, however. * Alexis trots her horse along, towards the back of the slaves. She talking with a number of them, mostly Shomuran. (And so it continued for 2 or 3 days!) * Mikoto sighs and looks at the horizon, talking presumably to unnamed slave on his horse. "We're never going to make it to Redrock. It's a shame. John's a good man, if a bit simple." [The slave shares lamentations, even though he doesn't know who John is.] * Mikoto ponders things a moment, then looks at the horizon. (Okay. How long would it take to reach Redrock at a full gallop?) (Full gallop? You'll kill your horse, but you might get there by the following morning.) (Okay, that plan's scrapped.) (I don't mean "kill" figuratively.) (No, I know.) (Hm. Truth is, I think the slave caravan's just going to keep on trucking. I can't think of anything to DO that won't be too late.) (Truckin' truckin' truckin'...) * Alexis rides up to Mikoto. "Hiya! I got a question!" * Mikoto blinks and looks at Alexis. "I may have an answer. It depends on the question." He's at least calmed down a bit. How come you got blond hair? * Mikoto chuckles and looks back at the horizon. "I'm half Teckian." * Alexis nods. "Ooooh." * Mikoto smiles, a little tiredly. "I wonder if that means the Shomurans don't trust me. Did they ask you to ask me?" Hm? Oh, no, I was just wondering 'cause a Shomuran with your color hair killed my daddy a few years ago. * Mikoto mmms faintly. "Who knows? It might have been me." He looks at the horizon again. "There aren't many blonde Shomurans. And I've killed my share of men. As have you, I bet." Not that many. I only kill the really, REALLY bad ones. * Mikoto chuckles again. "It's a good policy. I'm sorry about your father. If it makes you feel any better, I can relate. I lost my birth parents when I was barely young enough to know them." * Alexis tilts her head. "But my daddy was murdered when I was old enough to know him. How does that relate?" * Mikoto pauses a moment, then takes a breath. "Because you got a chance to know him. It sounds like it would be easier to never know him than have him taken away, doesn't it?" Uh huh! * Mikoto looks at Alexis a moment, then back forward. "But he lives on in your memories of him. It's not fair that he was taken away from you. But for some of your life he was a part of you. I don't even have that. All I have is a name, and a date of death. I don't even know what he looked like." But then you can't miss him. * Mikoto shakes his head. "Yes I can, though... I want to know where I'm from. What kind of parents I had. I don't even know which one was blonde, though I can guess. Did they love me? I'll never know the answer to any of that." Well, I never got to say everything I wanted to, either. It's not fair that I could be happy once, and then someone takes that from me for no reason. Daddy wasn't a bad man, but someone murdered him anyhow. * Mikoto sighs. "I'm not saying my pain is worse than yours. They're different. It's different for everyone. But in my own way I understand how you feel." * Alexis thinks about that. "I guess..." So, did you kill my daddy? * Mikoto rubs his temples briefly. "I don't even know who your daddy is. There's no way for me to answer that." Well... He used to go to Shomura a lot and sell guns to Ki, and people really liked him over there, and maybe that's why they killed him, because he was so nice and they were jealous. * Mikoto blinks a moment, then hmms and gives the impression of thought. "I doubt it was me. I don't think I've killed anyone in Ki territory, ever, unless he died in the past three weeks." He pauses. "Ki territory can be dangerous for weapon treaders. Not all of the clans there are friendly to Westerners." It was maybe... three years ago? But either way, it was still one guy with your colored hair. * Mikoto hmms and blinks, genuinely curious. "How strange." He smiles a little. "And here I thought I had something a little unique." Well, it coulda been you! I didn't get a good look. * Mikoto shrugs and looks forward. "I don't think it was me. But if you find some proof someday, I won't run away if you come looking." Okay! * Mikoto pauses a moment, then asks, without turning to look: "You realize, John will probably be long dead by the time we get there." * Alexis nods. "Probably." * Mikoto pauses a moment. "So then, why come with me instead of to Garson with the others?" ( Yup, shoure is dead, ah reckon ) 'Cause they're gonna get killed! * Mikoto raises an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose that's as good a reason as any." I knew they shoulda just took the train. We'd be in time if we'd done that. * Mikoto shrugs and keeps walking. "Too late for regret now." Yep! * Mikoto strokes his horse's neck a bit. "It feels like I've been with them forever. Maybe this is a sign we should part ways." * Alexis hmms. "Well, John is a mean person anyhow. He acts nice, but they when you're not looking he runs away. And he's got a big ego. He doesn't like to admit when you beat him." She shakes her fists. "Ooooooh. Just thinking about it makes me sooooo mad!" * Mikoto can't stifle a chuckle. "You sound like Millie." I do not! I don't talk about guns constantly. I mean, EWWWW, you saw that ugly rifle. * Mikoto nods solemnly. "That I did." It was green! Green! Why on Thae would you paint a rifle green? * Mikoto shrugs and pats Nami again. "Perhaps she likes green." [It's getting later. The sun's setting, since the GMs are trying this whole "things are happening around the same time" deal.] * Alexis stops suddenly. "Oh. I didn't think of that." Then she continues on. Well, what about that crazy lady with the sword? She's a hippie-crit. * Mikoto furrows his brow. "She's not necessarily a hypocrite. She's just too Shomuran for her own good." She is NOT! Master Genpaku taught me never to kill needlessly. What kind of Shomuran is a bloodthirsty murderer? * Mikoto opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it and looks at Alexis. "...who?" * Alexis waves her arms. "The crazy lady with a sword who keeps calling me a bandit!" * Mikoto rubs his temples briefly, with a 'knew that was coming' expression. "Who's Master Genpaku?" Oh. He taught me jiujutsu. ( Gimme a mind roll, +1 ) [As it happens, the name sounds familiar, but you're not sure where you might have heard it.] (Hell, I don't even know what *my* master's name was. I don't think it was ever defined.) * Mikoto hmmms. "I may have heard of him. I didn't know you studied the art." ( Looks like Kensuke was responsible for his training, but I don't see a specific name for his masters. ) * Alexis waves her arms. "You SAW me do it at the supply depot!" (Kensuke trained him as an assassin. His martial arts training was separate.) * Mikoto chuckles. "I was otherwise occupied, actually. I couldn't keep much track of what was going on." Oh. Well, I did. And I could've sworn I said I knew jiujutsu later, too. * Mikoto sighs. "It's been a confusing day. I admit to not having a very good grasp on who has said what." Oh. Well, I said that. Hanomaru said some stuff about volume and enlightenment, and... I don't know how ANYONE could be heard over Hanomaru. * Alexis snickers. "I thought it was funny." * Mikoto shrugs his shoulders and helps the current rider out of Nami's saddle and another into it. "He proved useful, so I can't complain much." * Alexis grins. "Master Genpaku fought alongside Mr. Hanomaru in the war. He said he was really really good! They say he was ambushed by twenty expert Teckian riflemen, but he killed them all without a scratch! * Mikoto mmms distractedly, glancing at Alexis a moment, then at the horizon again. Then he pauses. (Nah. Red herring.) We might want to consider setting up camp, soon. There's no point in marching tired people through the night. Ok! That's a good idea. Do you have a map? We might want to see how much food I can afford for everyone if there's a town nearby. Probably not much, but it'll be better than nothing. * Alexis shakes her head. "Don't have one. I can find north, though." * Mikoto chuckles. "Probably not going to do us much good. Maybe we'll find something tomorrow." * Alexis nods. * Mikoto walks a bit, scanning for somewhere the most comfortable for 100+ people to sleep on, uh, rocks. Lack of cacti a plus. "You have a family name, yes?" * Alexis nods "Uh huh!" "Alexis Fairchild. That's me!" * Mikoto huhs briefly, then nods. "I see." How about you? * Mikoto looks at the horizon. "Ryuugen. My uncle on my father's side raised me, more or less, so I took his name." [Night's fallen right about now, yes. You're just at the edge of the grasslands, and the desert lies ahead of you.] Oooooh.... I dunno that name. * Mikoto nods, and looks back. "It's not a very big clan. We mostly work directly for the Emperor. Long on duty, short on prestige. I think we should stop in the grasslands. Better than trying to sleep on rocks." Oh. People still work for the Emperor? * Mikoto starts circling the wagons, so to speak. "I say 'Emperor' but mean 'government'. Still, in the old days the Ryuugen did serve the actual Emperor, yes. Or so I'm told." * Mikoto chuckles. "Perhaps my uncle was lying just to make me feel good." Well, they say Murakami fights in the name of the emperor. * Mikoto actually laughs at that. "Everyone says they fight in the name of the emperor, nowadays. But you have to wonder which ones are right and which aren't." [End in here. Brett gone.]