Returning Home (travel)

Greed -> Haka: Req. 1250

Himiko was days late leaving the Land of Greed, a place that overtime she had learned well and truly what that sort of place was and how it got its name. The place was truly magnificent, she felt she hadn’t even gotten to see everything that she wanted to. And the onsen she visited on the first day. Oh how she loved that place. She just found herself so relaxed and at home surrounded by water, making her miss her days of living in Dipu, wondering to herself if she should make the journey to visit her old home and her old Temple once more some day real soon. It was odd, she felt a new sense of self after the little visit to Greed. Her worries for her clan weren’t going anywhere, neither was her confidence as a leader, but the journey to Greed with her team had gone smoothly enough for a decently high level of rank. She still wasn’t sure how good she could be at teaching them new things, she felt she was more just an overbearing mother than anything, but she hoped they would know they could always count on her for support in any way. She just didn’t know what to offer them. Enzo’s Morpher ability reminded her much of her Aquarius Style in terms of using materia for abilities, but there was little in the way of overlap to help him with that, and the only reason she could do such a feat with ease was going way back in her ancestry. Most of the time even Himiko and her old tutors couldn’t explain how the Style was done. It was one of those Zakiyoshi mysteries. When she really thought about it though, there were a lot of Zakiyoshi mysteries.

As she made her way home through the Land of Greed she was approaching the border to Land of Souls, marking her first border crossing on her return journey. As a simple precaution she had taken to adopting her Aquarius Style Disguise to change in to her Kikiru Priestess robes to avoid attracting attention for being a shinobi of the ASN, especially as she was accompanied by her guest. The guest she in no way ever expected, but damn was she just… perfect. It had been days since Himiko ‘bought’ her, or ‘freed her’ as Himiko preferred to think. She had offered the other woman a home to look after herself, and she had likewise made it rather clear that… she had a serious crush on the woman. A rare commodity for the Zakiyoshi’s, especially those so close to the lineage Himiko followed. There was only ever the one; it was why so often it wasn’t unusual that the partner, or the Zakiyoshi themselves, had Zireh heritage in order to be capable of producing offspring no matter the sex. It was only when she was passing by a small little village that she was really thinking about this. Trying to explain how the Zakiyoshi find their partners, those who still held the strong bond to the clan still that was, it was incredibly difficult. Promiscuity nearly didn’t exist. Or if it did, it was… odd. It was to serve a purpose. Heck, Himiko herself had only been with one other person, not that she often liked to think about how things went, she had used someone to trigger the change in her dojutsu and pass a vital mission. As they stopped in the village she felt herself turn a little sick at the memory. She was not proud of it. It did however give her a good excuse to treat her new friend and crush to a simple dinner and a nights rest. In separate beds of course. Separate rooms too if she preferred but… well they’d already shared a room back in Greed at least. She would make the offer of course. A gentle-woman to the end.

The night came and went without much event. As far as anybody was aware Himiko was just a travelling Priestess, and as such she wasn’t expected for anything, and whilst she had no proof behind it she was sure it was a good cause for no high way men decending down upon them as the pair didn’t exactly look like they were caring anything at all of value. Once on the road once again, the pair were growing closer, especially compared to the day before. Things were still very awkward between the two of them, but Himiko’s crush was getting more and more obvious. The way she spoke with other people, it was like two different people. Even when she told stories of her exploits. She commanded such confidence, and faith in others. She would share the stories of the events around the chuunin exams, how she had near single handedly took her team in to the finals without realising, but having told it in a way her thought process was what she really thought about during that time, that she went first and would sweep through the fights only because she intended to give her team mates time to form a strategy from overlooking. Instead they gave her the encouragement to fight and win.

By the time the story came to an end, the duo were walking back in to Hakagakure, and back to Himiko’s current home. The whole journey had brought a few things to mind, namely that she didn’t think she would stay too long. Unless something held her there, or new plans would be set in to motion, she planned to move back to Dipu once more. Back somewhere she felt more comfortable and near more ocean. With a sigh at the front door, Himiko would unlock and pick up any mail she got whilst her guest would step inside. She would remain frozen as she overheard some talking.

“I swear it better not be that weird kid.”

“I thought he didn’t live here. Why would that brat even come back here?”

“Didn’t you know? The girl he was with lives here. Actually somewhere pretty closeby. Sweet girl too actually. Helps me with my groceries when I can’t avoid her,” The particular woman was an older widow, joking about Himiko’s willingness to help her neighbours.

“Well, hopefully she has a good influence and he isn’t causing trouble again,”

It didn’t take a genius for Himiko to realise who they were talking about. The only ‘annoyance’ she had ever really known was her old, old team mate. Just the thought Armen might be here actually filled her with joy. Rushing back in to her home, she would tell her guest to make herself comfortable, that she would be back later, and where to find the snacks and such. And she was out the door.

Despite what she overheard it was actually difficult to work out whether Armen was actually here in town or not. She began to think over what she could do to try and track him down, where he might go. He hadn’t come to her home, or if he had he’d broken in and locked back up again. Somehow she didn’t doubt it was actually possible. “Perhaps…” She muttered to herself and began making her way towards the nearby training spot. She figured if he was still so indepth with his combat skills and the complexity of what he did, she wouldn’t put it past him to by in the local training fields seeing if she might just turn back up again. She wanted to spend some more time with her new guest, but the thought of seeing her old friend again was too much to pass up.