To say Raijin’s schedule was packed would have been an understatement. His days were spent helping his cousin plant bamboo, crafting or mending fences, patrolling or training his students. In whatever little spare time he had left he was restoring the main house of a small complex on Rekaru island. It had certainly been a delight to hear about from Hattori, who’d offered it to him. Despite it being dilapidated, it was still salvageable with a labor of love and the style reminded him of the more pleasant memories of home. The man had employed his fox companion, Himi, to go to the mountains to recruit a troop of monkeys to help them, promising them dried fruits, nuts and shelter while they aided him. A dozen or so had returned with her, much to his pleasure, and they’d been spending the past few weeks making fairly good progress, weather permitting.

The few days before, mother nature had not been so generous and had, instead, dumped a few feet of snow at their paws. Thankfully, the first thing they’d patched in the main house was the roof for just this instance, so they were safe from above, but there were still holes in the walls and the floors and the house still needed a good cleaning. Spider webs clung to several corners and dust settled on most surfaces, but he had a comfortable tatami mat to sleep on and a functioning fireplace to keep warm, so he didn’t feel he had much to complain about.

The snow had finally let up and Raijin had set to work with his lackeys, their main goal of the day was to get the general skeleton up of one of the collapsed walls in the back. He’d borrowed a sled from Ashen’s storage and spent most of his time hauling lumber and plywood to and fro, working up a sweat as he did. It was certainly a good work out.

At that particular moment they were pulling a wall up. A rope and pulley system had been rigged from the inside and once the skeleton had been constructed, they needed to get it upright and secured. His teeth grasped onto the rope and a few monkeys behind him grabbed on as well. He planted his feet on the wooden floor to steady himself, taking a moment before he let out a deep growl as the signal to begin. Then, they were tugging, the pulley squeaking as it began to lift the heavy structure from the ground. His muscles grew taunt with the exertion, his pelt already glimmering with beads of sweat and he grunted. It rose higher and higher, so close to being upright…

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

It had been days since her encounter with the charming Raijin. The girl's thoughts had been filled with him. Perhaps he was the distraction that she needed to keep her sorrow over Indigo at bay. Even if she wouldn't sleep with him, maybe they could simply be friends. That wasn't to say that the urge wasn't there. No... Asla's hormones had been raging for months. She had bloomed early, so to speak. It would be an easy thing to seduce a male or two into giving her what she wanted, but she'd made a promise, so all of that was off of the table. Friendship was the name of the game although she probably wouldn't be able to keep herself from flirting just a little bit. As she entered Ashen lands, she'd asked after her spotted target and had been instructed to head to one of the islands. Very helpful... Only the tracks and scent of many passing paws had led her to the island in question. She wasn't the greatest hunter in the Armada for nothing. Picking her way across the various bridges, the cream and grey lady soon arrived at her destination. The first thing she noted was the abundance of monkeys. Monkeys were... creepy. She hadn't even hunted or killed any because their little grabby hands were just revolting. When used as they were now, however, Asla could see how they were useful. She still didn't want them touching her. Padding forward and into the dilapidated structure, Asla watched for a moment as Raijin and his band of creeps struggled to raise the beam with its rope. Deciding to be nice, the girl moved forward, latched her teeth in the rope just behind Raijin's position and put her back into it. She pulled just as they pulled, her claws sinking into the floor beneath her to provide extra stability. They would have this beam up in no time. "Speech"

There got to be a certain point where they began to stagnate, Raijin and his troop straining against the weight attached to the other end of the rope. He strained, his haunches flexing as he leaned even further backward to try and offset the weight in their favor. Just as he was about to have them give in, a familiar scent swept across the room along with the subtle sound of paw steps. The weight was suddenly eased and the wall began to rise further until, finally, it was upright. Two monkeys hurried forward with nails and hammers to secure it in space and he allowed the rope to drop to the floor with a ‘thump’.

The large man turned, a grin on his lips. Golden eyes met purple, albeit downcast in order to make up for their difference in height. “Well, this is certainly a welcome surprise. Thank you for the help. Shall I call you my knight in shining armor?”

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

With their powers combined, the wall was soon in place and the creepy monkeys were hammering away to keep it there. Releasing the rope from between her pearly whites, Asla stepped back, making room for those running back and forth working. Raijin approached and his words brought a soft laugh from her. The young woman's tail flicked back and forth at her hips as she raised one brow mischievously. "The stars must have known you'd need my help today." A soft huff ghosted through dusty brown nares. "And I'll gladly be your knight." Stepping away, Aslatiel inspected the dilapidated structure. She could see its potential and was quite used to buildings. Though most of the Armada lived in dens, not all did. As she looked about, she spoke to the sun spattered man. "This place will be nice when it's fixed up." Moving to a place where she felt she was out of the way, the cream and grey fae seated herself, tucking her tail around one hip. "If you like things like this, I should take you on a tour of the Armada lands some time. We have extensive gardens and a large stone structure that my aunt built." Though her aunt was gone, Asla was still rather impressed at the woman's ingenuity. "Speech"

Aslatiel said she’d gladly be his knight and he chuckled. Oh, he was sure she would. She struck him as the noble type despite her disagreement with titles, only cemented by her offering to kill his uncle for him. It had been a nice gesture, the willingness to right the wrong for him because of his obligation to not continue through with his plans, but at the end of the day it was his burden to bear and no one else’s. He was the one that had made the blunder. He didn’t regret trying to kill his uncle, he’d deserved it, but he did regret losing his head and not doing it the proper way.

He watched as the petite woman looked around, complimenting it before taking a seat. He grinned proudly at his find, his bobbed tail giving a little wiggle behind his frame. It wasn’t much yet, to be sure, but the image he had in his mind would certainly be worthy of her praise. “Thank you. It’ll be awhile before it’s up to snuff, but when I’m done it should be reminiscent of the more pleasant memories of home,” he said. “I’ll make you some tea to warm your bones,” the man offered before moving to pick up a heavy metal kettle set to the side. He pulled the lid off and moved to the back of the building where the flooring rose and there was a water pump that drew water up from a well beneath the house. He set the kettle down beneath the spigot and pressed down on the pump, giving it a few good pumps before water began to run. He filled the kettle mostly full before going to back to the fire place. Setting the kettle down, he picked up a block of wood to the side and tossed it in, using a fire poker to excite the flamed before setting hanging the kettle on a swivel hanger, pushing it over the fire to boil.

As he was doing so, his auds swiveled to catch Asla’s words, offering him a tour of the Armada lands and an apparently large stone structure created by her aunt. He gave her an appreciative nod and a deep, rumbling hum of approval. “I’d love to. I’m certainly a fan of architecture, I’m sure it’s beautiful.” He bustled about, pulling out two wooden cups, putting some sugar in a small bowl, and grabbing a small container of sencha leaves before placing them on a tray before barking at a monkey, who picked it up and carried it over to set it in front of the lady. Once that was done, he sat down on the other side of the tray to wait for the water to boil.

“I suppose a tour is in order, though it’s not much. This will be the living quarters. I plan on acquiring plenty of warm pelts for seating and a table or two for hosting gatherings. I’ve made myself a bed as best I can here by the fire, there’s a room for storage in the back and a place for preparing food. Over in that corner I’ll make a shrine for my brother. There’s a guest house, a building that I plan on making into a dojo, and a shed I plan on making a smokehouse for meats and other food, but those won’t be done for another year,” he rambled, pointing with his maw in the direction of each of the areas he mentioned.

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

Raijin seemed happy to see her and she believed that it was more than just the happiness at having extra help. The young lady's tail swished gently back and forth, both showing her pleasure and dusting the floor as a bonus. The toothy man offered her tea and Asla arched a brow. "Tea? I can't say that I've ever had tea." She knew that it was a drink, but other than that, nothing. She watched with interest as he drew the water into some strange contraption and placed it over the fire. No doubt they would have to wait for the water to boil, so in the mean time one of the monkeys skittered around doing Rai's bidding. It placed a cup before her and the woman wrinkled her nose a bit, casting a glance at her host. Did they often let these weird, grabby handed things touch their things where he was from? Aslatiel followed Raij's direction as he explained his vision for the space that he'd claimed as his. Living space, food space, shrine, dojo (whatever that was), guest house, smoke house. Out of them all, she was most interested in the smoke house. Though she enjoyed raw meat well enough, Asla enjoyed the flavor that came out of seasoned meats. "A lot of space for just one. Common where you're from?" The wolves of the Armada were less high maintenance. Yes, they made their dens as large as they wanted, but other than healers, they generally stuck to one space. Still, she graced him with a smile. "I'm very interested to see everything in its completion." Swirling purple orbs downcast for a moment. "I won't have much time to visit soon. I'm challenging a wolf for the rank of Reaper in my pack and I'm going to win." There was nothing but confidence in the tones of the young Fatalis. A few months short of being two and she would be the highest ranking wolf in the pack aside from the alphas. She would be incredibly busy. All of her time would be devoted to training the lazy wolves of the Armada and fortifying their ranks. The cream and grey lady shot the speckled man a smile. "So I guess we'd better make the best of today." "Speech"

The man’s auds had twisted back to hear her words, his brows quirking in surprise. How had she not had tea before? Did they not usually have tea in Boreas? Back in Iga it was served at practically every meal, as natural as water to him. He couldn’t imagine life without it. “You’ll like it, I imagine. The kind I’m making is very popular where I’m from. It’s called Sencha,” he mentioned, the Japanese rolling smoothly from his tongue. “It’s a type of green tea and it tastes sweet, but not too much so, with hints of fruit and nuts,” he explained.

She asked if this amount of space was common in Iga and he gave a light chuckle along with a shake of his head. “Homes like this are usually reserved for the higher ranking members of the pack, particularly the Chief and his relatives. This is the main house, so it’s bigger than the rest, but I anticipate it won’t be empty too often. After all, I have you for company,” he said with a good natured, teasing wink.

The man’s ears pitched forward as she mentioned actually not having as much time to visit soon, his grin pulling down a little at the edges in disappointment. He had to say, he liked her company, but he understood why. It sounded like she was moving up in the ranks which would require more commitment on her part, to which he gave an approving nod. “I don’t doubt it, you seem capable of whatever you put your mind to. What does being a Reaper entail?” he asked. He had the general idea of what the concept of a reaper was, but he wasn’t in the Armada and, therefore, didn’t know what it entailed in a rank.

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese