Hikaru managed to live through the snow storm that welcomed him into Boreas but the young man wasn’t sure that he was a creature of the wind and storm. His coat was fluffy and warm, but he couldn’t wait for Spring. He was ready for cherry blossoms and flowers and most of all warmth. However long that might be. Kaiyo was in for the long haul it seemed, he certainly couldn’t return to Nippon after his disaster schooling. He clung to what honor he had left, but he couldn’t face his family ever again.

That fact often saddened him, but Hikaru wouldn’t let it drag him down. There were opportunities and paths into the future that he could take now. He would find a place that he was much better suited for. Though he’d dreamed of being a Shinobi Kaiyo knew now that he was not cut out for that kind of life. He was far too in tune with his and more importantly, others emotions. He put himself into their position a little too well.

There was a light snow coming down, but it was easy enough to navigate through. Kaiyo could almost say that it was beautiful out. Peace and quiet blanketed over the land and the tri colored wolf was forced to stop an take in the beauty around him. Bright stormy eyes scanned the white landscape, the perfect layer of snow a wonderful analogy of his future. He was a blank slate and the world was his oyster.

Winter had arrived and the cold with it. He knew the weather was milder to the south, but nonetheless the breath clouded from his lips as he picked his way over the rocky terrain of the hills. Slow and steady, his wide paws leaving prints in the dusting of snow. As the new Shogun of Ashen there was much to do, mountains of preparations and changes to be made, but he strayed from the borders all the same. Even if only for a little while.

He’d been feeling a bit stiff as of late, his old injuries had long since healed and thus he was left wondering what it could be. The feeling was hard to describe though if pressed he’d say it was a  dull and achy throbbing, like something was happening to his bones. It wasn’t an issue and he wasn’t worried enough to talk to a healer about it, but he kept an eye on it nonetheless. Just in case.

Mounting the hill, Hattori dragged in a lungful of air as the breeze tousled his winter coat. From up there he could see all of the hills, miles upon miles of barren, empty land. Full of rocks and not much else. Movement from down below caught his eye and his gaze snapped to the pale, if not familiar koi wolf. He had no idea how things fared in Nippon but the fact that this wolf had wandered his way to this part of the world wasn’t all that surprising. Hattori had always thought he’d been too soft, velvet around the edges, unwilling to do what had to be done for the good of the clan.

With practiced ease, Hattori scaled down the hill, over the rocks till his paws rested on level terrain. Another issue; Hikaru didn’t have his wits about him, if he had he would have at least heard Hattori coming.

He wouldn’t let himself be ashamed of his failure. Maybe he’d been forced from his family’s home and brought dishonor on their heads, but he’d made his peace with everything. He wasn’t that kind of wolf, and once he’d more fully embraced his differences it seemed like the better his life had become. He had to admit that everyone from ‘home’ had seen the differences in him long before he had, and he didn’t miss any of them. What he did miss was the warm drink and food, and the relative luxury he lived in previously. This cold winter wonderland was desolate and void of much more than snow.

That may have been one reason he wasn’t paying as much attention as he might have otherwise. Sound was muffled and the air was too cold to take in a deep enough breath to smell much. His only saving grace was his pause to look around. Before Hattori spoke Kaiyo managed to catch the sight of the full fledged shinobi. Stormy eyes widened in surprise even as he was greeted. Was he seeing a ghost? Hadn’t his cousin a thousand times removed died recently?

Hikaru squinted slightly, but he didn’t leave. Even if he was facing a ghost chasing the young koi off was a difficult challenge. ”Hattori?” Kaiyo didn’t hide the surprise in his voice as he spoke their maiden tongue, ”Aren’t you dead?” He asked bluntly, giving the shinobi a glimpse at the world he left.

Hattori’s eyes narrowed into a thin sliver of steel. By no means had he expected to be greeted like an old friend-nor would he have appreciated that- but he didn’t like Hikaru’s tone. It rubbed him entirely the wrong way, almost accusatory as though he was disappointed to learn that he was indeed very much alive. More than that, in his surprise, Hikaru no doubt had forgotten his manners, talking to the Lord as though they were of equal standing. They were most certainly not. But there were more pressing matters at paw, he would correct him later if Hikaru didn’t catch on of his own accord.

The shinobi shifted his weight, wondering how best to approach this situation. He had always been careful with his words, only tending to speak freely around Venom, but Iga wolves were like sharks with a drop of blood in the water: give them one pin prick chance and they’d rip it wide open. Except that Hattori had never seen much, or any, potential in him. If he was here then it most certainly wasn’t because he’d been sent on some top secret mission, and from the way he was glancing around Hattori felt safe to assume he’d somehow wandered here on his own accord. But  what were the chances of that?

“No.”  Hattori rumbled, seemingly unphased by the question. “Is that a problem?”

”Of course not,” Hikaru returned with more relief than he intended to show. ”Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t dealing with a ghost.” He added with a grin as his stormy eyes took the once heir in. He looked to be well fed, and had the scent of pack on him. It didn’t seem like he’d let his… almost murder get him down. That was good though right? Hikaru hadn’t really been a fan of the direction the Iga were taking after he was declared dead anyway.

Hattori was just as stoic and unrelenting as ever, with the way he so easily approached Kaiyo wondered if there were more koi here. So many of their ranks had been lost in the disruption, he really shouldn’t have been surprised. ”You seem well?” He questioned softly, wondering what Hattori of all wolves could possibly want from him. He shifted slightly on his paws, making obvious the reason he’d never completed his training.

Hattori was silent, his expression tight and judgmental as he stared right at Hikaru. Unless he'd suddenly learned how to lie in the past few months then Hattori was about certain that he was telling the truth. His assumption was a bit presumptuous though, as if ghost Hattori would deem him worthy of haunting, surely Hikaru knew he'd have more deserving wolves to torment. Even an idiot could come to that conclusion, but that was neither here nor there really. Hattori wasn't the sort to linger on tangent strings. Rather he focused on the uncertainty of his posture, the way he aired it all like an open book, the longer Hattori shared his company the clear it became that his initial judgement was correct. Hikaru wasn't an Iga wolf, he just couldn't make the cut.

Though many Iga wolves would spit such a thing as an insult, Hattori knew the truth of the matter. Not all wolves were made for this life, there was no shame in acknowledging that and the sooner they came to terms with it the better. Some pack around here could no doubt make good use of his skills, he simply had to seek them out if he wished.

“I am well.”  He assumed the same could be said for Hikaru, he was alive after all. That was more than could be said for some. Hattori surprised a grimace."Tell me, what brings you to Boreas?”

Kaiyo Hikaru was not cut of the right cloth to be of the Iga, and he’d taken far too long to come to that conclusion. Even if it was partially forced. The young koi accepted the inevitable, and now he was here to try and hope he could find another path. For now, he was just content with still being alive. He’d been trained thoroughly even if he couldn’t quite boast Hattori’s skill. The heir and his cousins had always outperformed most of the students. Hikaru tried his hardest to rise to that level, but had fallen so far short. Maybe it was for the better.

Hattori confirmed his suspicion and followed up with a question of his own. Why was he here on this continent. Why wasn’t he at home? This would have been about the time he was set to complete his training after all. Surely he wasn’t anywhere near fooling the shinobi.

”Well, I couldn’t exactly stay after being unable to finish training.” He explained, eyes darting away as he poorly hid his disdain for himself. ”Trying to find my place, I suppose.” He tried to hold Hattori’s similar gray gaze, but couldn’t quite force himself. ”You seem to have found yours?” It was half question and half statement, not that Kaiyo had any desire to follow Hattori back.

Hattori supposed that perhaps his question was a little too on the nose, too prying. Since he wasn't Iga anymore-the same could be argued for Hattori as well- he had no right to pry into his personal matters. But the question had already been uttered and could no longer be taken back, even if the Shogun wanted to. In a sense he could see where Hikaru was coming from, he'd been left adrift and thus it was only natural he'd want to escape to somewhere that was nothing like the place that cast him out. For better or for worse, Boreas was a lot of things but it was nothing like Nippon. Hattori's gaze softened just a hint, barely perceptible, as he nodded his head in understanding. It seemed as though for once Hikaru had made a choice and thus Hattori would respect his wishes, it was his life to lead after all.

“Yes. I was hired by the Empress of Ashen. I currently serve as her shinobi and Shogun. ” He explained, it wasn't a secret and even if it was the scents that clung to his fur easily gave it way.

Hikaru was learning swiftly the differences between their homeland and this place. The wolves, the land, the culture, it was all so different and nearly unrecognizable. Sometime he felt like he was in a whole different world, but he welcomed the fact. He didn’t fit back home, out here Hikaru felt free to carve out his own existence and purpose. Hattori replied with an answer that Hikaru very much expected. Serving an Empress in these lands as her warrior. Kaiyo didn’t look surprised, ”The perfect place for the once heir.” Hika mumbled, doing a poor job of hiding the awe in his voice. ”Funny though, I’ll be joining the Armada.” Mortis warned there was another shinobi (or not in Hika’s case) nearby. Hattori was probably the wolf he’d been speaking of, but what other once Iga had fled here? ”Are you alone here? How many have you seen?” He pried a little harder, curious if his own kin had made it through, however much he didn’t want his mind to travel down that road.

Had he no self restraint Hattori would have flinched. It was true he was no longer Iga's heir but to have the prospect dangled in front of his face like that was in very poor taste. His own actions had led him down this path and thus he had no one to blame but the situation soon spiralled out of control, long before he had the means to rectify it. If only he'd been given a chance to, he could have made it right. But it was neither here nor there, and he tried not to dwell on such matters for now, lest they cloud his judgment. Pushing that matter aside Hikaru admitted that he was to join the Armada, adding koi wolf to the empire's roster. Perhaps it was a biased line of thought but he believed that it was for the best, given that they were ultimately outsiders in this new land.

“I see. From what I know it is a good place to hone your skills, you will do well there. ” It was meant to be approving but his flat tone and indifferent way of speaking no doubt made it seem as though he was poking fun at Hikaru's lack of prowess as a shinobi. But the former Iga wolf no doubt knew him better than that, as though he'd beat around the bush when it came down to insults.  He then nodded. “Izanami resides in Habari, also part of the Empire. Raijin joined me in Ashen. As for the rest...  ” He trailed off. His silence spoke volumes, he knew not of whether they were alive or dead. “If you see anyone tell me.”

Hikaru really couldn’t lie, and sometimes that led him to be overly honest and open about his inner thoughts. Hattori was much too polite to ignore such a slight, but it was easily drifted past. Talk about the Armada, and being taken in to their ranks. Rather quickly, but he wondered if the shinobi had fallen into his place similarly. Of course his high rank would have been earned, as Kaiyo would seek to do.

Much like his own words Hattori’s bit to the bone. Likely he was right, but what did that mean about who he was before. Stormy eyes looked away from Hattori as the boy took in the snowy landscape, wary not to get caught in another storm. ”It’ll be good for me.” He agreed, and drug his gaze back to the Shogun as he mentioned the others who found him. Kaiyo perked, but quickly deflated as the list came to conclusion. He hadn’t heard the name he searched for.

He couldn’t help the wistful sigh before agreeing to Hattori’s terms. ”I will be sure to let you know. Anything else I can do for you, Shogun?”

Hattori nodded, again more out of politeness than anything else. Even if his mannerism made him seem stiff and overly formal Hattori was only sticking to what he knew, old habits were hard to break especially when Hattori's heart wasn't in it. He then paused, his head slanting a little as he considered Hikaru's next question. The yearling hadn't finished his training and thus had never directly served beneath Hattori, making it feel somewhat inappropriate to ask anything else of him. It was one thing to put Izanami to work in Habari but another to even consider doing the same to Hikaru.

“No. You have done enough. Call on me if you need anything and send the Warlord my regards. ” Hattori dipped his head once more and took his leave, his paws crunching down against the mounting snow.