The Lords, the Ladies and the Line

[Takahashi Aki]

Ice fishing. This was a hobby that people did. The concept of it was simple. Cut a hole in ice, and pull out the circle made. Then proceed to fish. It seemed simple enough. There were hundreds of little huts on the ice. The Lord Steward did not occupy a hut. He sat on a wooden chair and sat out in the elements. He sat and patiently waited for the fish to bite. He was catching the fish ... as sport? Yes. That was what these people called it. Ice fishing was a sport. A curious one at that. The man had to wonder what was so very different between this ice fishing and normal fishing. As he sat there the snow gathered on his cloak. He was not bothered by it. He sat there still as stone, as if he was a statue from some forgotten age. The eye lenses glowed a low white as he awaited the fish to bite. It had been some time since he had caught something. Exactly thirty-four minutes and seven seconds ago.



The Lord Steward was a patient man. He was known for his patience considering what he had endured in his twenty-five years of politics. He knew how to court noble's agendas and ideas. He knew that timing was everything. This ice fishing was no different. He would incline his head slightly. Snow fell from his hood down. He watched his line. He watched it intently as the line then grew taught. With an impressive speed, the man pulled back on the line and with it came the fish. He stared at it. The fish he had caught was of middling proportions. No doubt it would make an impressive meal for someone. There was this fish fry that was to occur later. Not that the Steward was going to partake in the mass consumption of dead aquatic animals, but there was some sort of social element to it. That social gathering was to occur in a number of hours from now. He had more fish to catch. The Lord Steward place his prize in the container and again would place a worm on the hook. He would turn to the hole in the ice and he would lower his hook. Indeed. The waiting game would begin. Once more, and so the snow would gather on his statue like being.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Being someone very used to snow and all that, one thing Kitsune wasn’t used to, was ice fishing. Or fishing in general. So, it was something that had her interest and as such she found herself wandering this veritable winter wonderland, that unlike Lightning Country that was mostly windy and cold, was delightful and cheery. Eventually she spotted a shape by an iced over lake. It looked vaguely humanoid but at the same time a lot of snow had been covering it, so it might just be a statue. Strange place to put a statue, I’d say… she decided and walked over towards it.

When getting close, she could see that it wasn’t a statue but a person. Or. Kitsune assumed it was a person at least because it looked like one, sitting there and fishing, covered in a hooded cloak. ”Having any luck with the fish?” she inquired, entirely unknowing that it was Sousuke, the former Kazekage-Steward, a person she’s met before when trade routes were established between Sunagakure and her provinces. She probably wouldn’t realize it was him until he spoke, and even then it’d be unlikely she recognized him right away.

In case Sousuke looked up at her, he’d see that she was wearing a thick black coat, black pants and with her red hair hanging loose, waving around in the wind. It wasn’t too bad, compared to Lightning Country, and especially the heights of Kumogakure, but it was still somewhat cold for a warm-blooded person like herself.

[MFT; WC: 251]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

How much time had passed? The Steward lost track. He spent his time doing calculations for the budget. He was also toying with imaginary numbers. Sousuke had worked hard to try and teach young Lord Raizo the importance of the budget. Whether or not he was successful was another matter entirely. Teaching Raizo numbers and the importance of them was ... difficult, but the Lord Steward was used to it. Teaching Raizo was like teaching Katsuo. Both of them were more inclined to punching people rather than trying to figure out the limits of money and how to properly spend it, and how to reinvest money. Raizo was quite a few years younger than Katuso when he became Kazekage. There was hope. There was lots of hope there. Sousuke was taking a positive mindset to making the new young Kazekage a savant of numeric. Raizo had many years ahead of him... and he seemed to be a quick study.

Sousuke seemed to phase out for a moment as he was lost in his thoughts. No fish had been biting. He had been asked if he had any luck. The Lord Steward would turn, he would look to see who had been inquiring. To his surprise it was the Duchess, one Shinrya Kitsune. A woman he had not seen in several, several years."Moderate luck." spoke a familiar voice for Kitsune. The voice carried with it an age, and a new tone to it. This was an older Takahashi Sousuke who had been weathered. He had experienced quite a bit and had been put through a metaphorical meat grinder."Now this is a visit long overdue Duchess Kitsune of the house Shinrya." He raised a hand to wave at her. He would make a hand gesture and an additional seat would appear beside him. He would look back to his fishing hole. "Please have a seat. We have some catching up to do. You'll be pleased to knowing that seed you gave me has grown into a most curious tree. I think it might come close to bearing fruit in the future. It's taken its time growing, but all good things that grow require time. I am most curious to the fruit that it was bear... and as such if such fruit will have seeds to thus create more trees." The line would tug as he finished his sentence. The Steward would pull the line up and indeed he would reveal that he caught another fish. "Ah. Another one." He would pull the fish to himself and he would remove the fish from the hook. "My shipments into Cloud have been coming to your attention?"

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Now this was a surprise to be sure. Kitsune had not expected to find Takahashi Sousuke sitting here and ice fishing all by his lonesome. When he not only made a spare seat for her to sit upon, but asked her to have a seat, she obliged and sat down, the rustle of metal being heard though dampened by her clothes and outer coat. ”It has indeed been a long time, Takahashi-san” she said with a chuckle ”I’m glad to hear the seed has become a tree. Though for you to call it curious would mean it’s truly something extraordinary, I’d say. And yes, the shipments have been arriving as planned and I also received your generous gift.”

As she said those words, she undid the top button of her coat and tugged clothing aside to reveal the glittering metal beneath, as pure and glistening as when it was first made. ”A lot of things have happened since that visit to Sunagakure. I’m not sure how much you’ve heard, so I figure I’d better start from the beginning.” she began, running a hand through her mane of hair to move some wayward locks away and back to their proper place, ”A few years ago, a strange calamity befell Kumogakure, and a lot of our numbers disappeared, including the Raikage and the Sennin. So, we had to pick a new one, and the Council of Elders of Kumogakure opted to elect me.”

Quite the bombshell to drop, surely, but there was more. ”In between those two events, we had some diplomatic issues with Konoha, over the previous Raikage having lied about some things, but I’m working to restore the bond there. However! I’ve been meaning to send an envoy to Suna to discuss diplomatic relations. I don’t suppose you’d be one for hammering out something along those lines with me here, would you?” she asked, at the end.

[MFT; WC: 317]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Being the Lord Steward and one of the ... older politicians in the world of Shinobi had its perks. Those perks only worked when you were not being censored, which had in fact been happening for some amount of time. Sooner or later Sousuke learned what he needed, because given enough time all things would be revealed given being in the right place at the right time. The Ryuzaki clan had been censoring the Steward, but even Sousuke had learned of it. Trading routes in Wind Country had become dangerous and as such the Daimyo had for a time controlled them. Things were changing in Wind Country, and while the Daimyo was not in a position to censor Sousuke, there were dangers that proved to be more of a concern than the Daimyo. Suffice it to say, Sousuke was content that his shipments were making it into Kumogakure, and contents reaching the intended. Sousuke would turn his head slightly to see the mesh dress he had made for Kitsune some time ago. A gift for a gift.

The line tugged, and the Steward would pull the line. He would reveal another fish. He would remove the fish from the hook. Kitsune spoke of change and things had occurred. "I've got time, and I'm on holiday. I'm not sure if I've ever considered myself on holiday, but even then a working holiday isn't that bad." Sousuke would acquire another work to apply it to the hook as he began to listen to her narrative. Politics changed in Kumogakure. Sousuke knew that the mantle of Raikage belonged to a man named Ayumu of the house Kogami. There was very little he knew except for the name. Fact finding details came to him rarely as he had spent most of his resources on dealing with the Daimyo in Wind Country. This meeting with Kitsune would indeed be fruitful as it would give him the necessary knowledge of much needed news. There was nothing sinister in gaining knowledge of the comings and goings outside of Sungakure. So seemingly people had vanished in Kumogakure. Just up and gone. Disappeared. The Steward was not a stranger to having people disappear in his life. Over his many years he had seen people promptly retire and walk off into the sunset. The Lord Steward was not permitted to do such. Too many people counted on him to do the necessary. He was expected to endure and to keep going.

The narrative concluded, and thus the Steward learned what he needed. It had seemed that Kitsune had a lot on her plate. She was trying to restore a friendship with Konoha which had been damaged by the former Raikage. Kitsune had revealed to him openly that their former leige lord had lied. There was a number of things to speculate from that and to figure it out. Sungakure due to its isolationist ways was host to people wanting to make treaties with them, which Sousuke always found curious. It was somewhat amusing in terms of power dynamics. "I told the young lord Raizo that I would be engaging in a working holiday... but in a word, yes. I would be happy to hammer something out. I'm certain there are some precious ore, lumber, and general resources we can make trade of. We are a manufacturing state for the most part. We empower metals and build them into goods to improve quality of life."

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”So you’ve got a new Kazekage as well? I recall you were the Steward-Kazekage when we last spoke.” Kitsune asked, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side ”What number in line would they happen to be, just out of curiousity?” she continued. It’d be quite the coincidence if the new Kazekage turned out to be 11th in line, just like Kitsune herself was in the line of Raikages. It’d be great if it was possible to establish a bond with the new Kazekage early on, before anyone could get to color opinions against Kumogakure. Luckily, the relationship between Kumo and Suna hadn’t been marred by a lying politician like the one between Kumo and Konoha.

”Craftsmen, eh? Well, we do have a lot of raw materials available in Kumogakure for crafting, including lumber and various ores. We have one kind of ore that’s got incredible potential for storing energy. I, myself, have used it to create a battery of sorts. But one that recharges itself infinitely. It’s powering an artificial construct I built. With a sort of artificial intelligence, that allows it to learn on its own as well as store incredible amounts of information.” Kitsune said, going into details about her assistant Hisako.

It was quite funny really. No matter how much she’d tried to teach Hisako in how to behave more like a person, it never quite clicked. It was probably because she was a machine and did things in set ways unlike people that were very imperfect, and each process would always have deviations from the set procedure. Ah, the wonders of human versus machine.

[MFT; WC: 270]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke would nod his head. "Yes you are correct, and then for a time I served as Kazekage proper. It was a for a few years. Then a member of the Sunahoshi clan had taken over as our tradition demands. Suffice to say... my responsibilities really did not change much. Only did my title change." Sousuke explained. His eyes glowed a low white for a moment. He was thinking deeply about old history. "I was referred to as the ninth Kazekage. Lord Sunahoshi Katuso was the tenth, and Lord Ryuzaki Raizo would be the eleventh. I serve Lord Raizo as Steward. He is a young man who... I find refreshing to work with, it's something to see the spark of concieving something going off. He has learned and learned quickly while under my tutelage." Sousuke spoke with what sounded like pride in his voice. Yes, there were few things that Sousuke had taken pride in, and this was one of them.

Kitsune would speak of her country's trade. It seemed that they were plentiful in terms of resources. He listened intently when he heard her speak of ore that could store energy. It reminded him of chakra crystals which in a way worked in a similar way. Light was stored in the crystal and could be turned on and off. It was good to know that there were other materials that could store energy like this. He was given pause when he considered the concept of the artificial intelligence. "Storing knowledge like that could be very helpful, so long that it does not fall into the wrong hands. I used to have a construct for a pet but ... things happened ... and that construct is now a dog." Sousuke explained. "Canine companions are... a particular joy that cannot be replicated." Sousuke admitted. Most people could be divided into three categories. Dog people, cat people, and neither. Sousuke didn't have anything against cats, most of the cats he had been interacted with were not typical house pets, as they were capable of speaking in the common tongue. "We do have some resources, we have diamond sand which ... is quite durable on its own. Some nobles have taken to a trend of trying to make it a jewelry trend. Personally I don't get it, but at the same time I wouldn't dissuade an individual from trying something exotic."