His meeting with Hikaru had left him feeling surprised in more ways than one. Of course there were plenty of koi wolves in the world, but he hadn’t expected to see more migrate this way. Raijin had discovered these lands offhandedly. He’d given his boat escort the necessary funding and told them to drop him off wherever they thought fit, which had just so happened to be this unknown continent. Of course, the shinobi koi were vessels of information in most cases so they tended to travel far and wide and to be gone for several months at a time and as much as he knew, not all information passed through him. He sorted through his head all the information he knew about the Iga Clan’s most recent information seeking missions, his paws breaking through thin layers of ice on top of the sand he stepped on.

"And who might you be?" The small but slender form of the cream and grey fae came up behind a big, spotted brute. She'd never seen him before but he stank of Ashen. Since Ashen wolves were allowed in Armada lands and vice versa, the young lady didn't attack him outright. She could have taken him though. There was no doubt about that. Aslatiel was a ruthless little thing and quite skilled to boot.

Asla, having recently returned home from her time in The Hallows with Indigo, was feeling... empty. There was a hole within her that only Indigo could fill. Now he was miles and miles away. The Hallows had moved and she'd traveled with them halfway. Goodbyes were hard. Even more so when you said goodbye to one that you loved so deeply. As such, Asla was on the lookout for some entertainment. She could have gone and bothered Bas or Kaizer, but this brute didn't know her. Not yet. He would though. She was sure of that.

A question called out to him from a light and airy voice and the man paused, turning in the direction from where it had come. His eyes had to lower significantly to see the young girl who barely came up past his chest and, if it weren’t for her more defined features, he might have thought she was a pup. Her pelt was an interesting array of stripping over a tan pelt, with bright purple doe eyes that he had to admit were rather adorable. All in all, she looked like a walking doll.

“Hello my lady,” he began with a cordial dip of his head. “My name is Genji Raijin, though Raijin is fine. I joined Ashen a few weeks ago and thought it high time I meet some of the neighbors, seeing as we’re allies,” he explained, his charismatic grin slipping onto his dappled face. What would he learn from this one?

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

Oh, he was going to be a smooth one, wasn't he? 'My lady,' indeed. Large grey ears perked as he spoke and Asla chuckled lightly. "Aslatiel will do just fine. No need for formalities." She was a princess, sure, but weren't they all? At one point her title had meant something, now she was turning into her grandmother. Titles didn't mean much. It was your actions that made you. "A new member of Ashen, are you? Quite a lot of change going on over that way." She wasn't sure all of what was going on, but she'd simply heard that the 'empress' had been overthrown and one of her children had taken her place. Asla supposed that that's what happened when you shirked your duties as ruler. Deathbelle had really fucked up, too. A disgrace, really. Moving a bit closer, Aslatiel inspected the mans speckled coat. He looked a bit like the fish girl, only much more handsome. On a somewhat bored sigh, the young woman continued to speak. "So what would you like to know about the Armada? Things aren't terribly interesting here at the moment. Downright boring, really." Things had been fun when she'd been in The Hallows visiting her grandmother and Indigo. Now that she was back in the Armada, things were just bleak. "Speech"

The petite woman introduced herself as Aslatiel, a pretty name for a pretty lady. She mentioned a lot having changed at Ashen and his auds perked curiously. He was curious as to what she was referring to. Hattori had told him some things and Venom some others, but what were the perspectives of those outside? Most rumors had a little spark of truth to them, and maybe he could decipher just what that truth was. “Changed? I suppose I wouldn’t know much. My cousin Hattori can be quite...tight lipped, I suppose you could say,” he said with a wry chuckle. It was true, you didn’t know something if Hattori didn’t want you to know it, and for someone who prided himself on intelligence acquisition, it pissed Raijin off to no end.

She asked him what he wanted to know about the Armada and his head tilted curiously. “Hm, I don’t suppose it’s the Armada that I want to know about, rather the wolves that live here. I’m a diplomat, you see, in the business of getting to know others. Wolves are interesting creatures, most are not quite what they appear to be on the outside compared to the inside,” he replied with a wink. “If you really stop to pay attention to another and their mannerisms, you may find yourself never bored in company.”

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

Raijin mentioned Hattori being his cousin and Aslatiel visibly winced in a dramatic fashion, lips peeling back from pearly whites and one eye closing momentarily. "Oof, I'm sorry. That Hattori is definitely a stick in the mud." The young lady's white tipped tail flicked back and forth lightly. "I'm glad to see that you aren't as severely serious as he is or this interaction wouldn't be quite so pleasant." Asla grinned and, with a pull of one teal striped shoulder, motioned for the man to follow and walk with her. Asla listened as Raijin went about explaining his position in Ashen. A diplomat. It was his duty to learn wolves, packs and to promote the name of Ashen. Interesting work. Pity their diplomat was a little speckled idiot. Raijins last statement of wolves being different outside than inside hit close to home and the cream and grey girl laughed aloud, purple galaxy gaze drifting closed with mirth. "Oh, I know that all too well. Some struggle to build their masks. Others sink into it like a pile of furs on a cold winter's night." She had struggled initially, but now very few outsiders would be able to see what she was inside. Adjusting their course, Aslatiel led the big man around the edge of the training platform where the straw and wood training dummies rested. There were various weapons and tools in baskets behind. This was obviously where the warriors trained. Ashen was free to use this place as well, and so she was kind enough to show it to the newcomer. "Sirius Fatalis is the warlord of the Armada. A hard, stern wolf. Very few have bested him in battle. His wife is Zee. She's not much of anything other than a baby factory." Of which Aslatiel was not happy. "Azure and Mortis are the heirs to the Armada, though Azure will be the one to lead, no doubt." Coming to the edge of the platform, Aslatiel's haunches folded and she seated herself upon the slab of stone, staring out towards the sea that was slowly creeping inward with the tide. "There are two other first born children. Indigo Fatalis, a fighter and healer." Asla grinned faintly. "And then there's me." She didn't list her skills or position. It wasn't necessary. She did wave one grey and white paw, kitten claws extending the tiniest bit. "There's a whole slew of second generation rodents, but they won't amount to anything." Canting her head slightly, Aslatiel fixed the spotted man with a sidelong glance. "Questions?" She then added, "You could have learned all of this from Venom, you know. Or you could reach out to our diplomat, but she's a complete moron. You probably know her. Looks like you only much less handsome and much more annoying." Would the man defend his fishy kin or would he agree that Hanako was a waste of air? "Speech"

A single “HA” passed through the koi man’s grinning lips when Aslatiel commented on Hattori’s outward sour demeanor. She didn’t say anything untrue in his opinion, he’d told his cousin time and time again that he needed to lighten up but he seemed determined to keep his ‘cold and steely’ impression. Whatever floated his boat, it seemed Venom was buying into it anyways. He wondered briefly if he was going to become an honorary uncle soon.

He noted her comment on the disposition of wolves and wondered which kind she was. So far she’d seemed pretty open, but the man had been fooled before by a pretty face. It was always the petite and alluring ones, he supposed, that were likely to do that most damage from his experience. They often caught others unawares, using their charms to reel in for the kill. They were often best used for one of two things; a diplomat or an assassin. He glanced at her briefly before looking forward again as they walked.

An aud turned in her direction as she began to speak of the pack relations around them, his golden gaze taking in the training area she’d led them to. It reminded him a lot of the training area they had back at Ashen, complete with weapons and practice dummies. He gave a small rumble of approval. He noted the names she doled out and the placements they were in. Though he didn’t have a face to match to them yet, he was sure he’d weasel his way to it at some point. After all, weasling and nosing was what he did best, it was literally in the job description. When she finished and mentioned that Sirius was her father he gave her a surprised glance. He hadn’t been aware he was in the presence of ‘royalty’.

“Are you sure you don’t want me calling you my lady? Or would your highness be better? Perhaps even princess?” he said, his voice lilting to show he was clearly teasing her. Those in Iga had frequently called him ‘my lord’ because of him placement in the line of succession, though he himself had usually told them to ditch the honorifics. Raijin was just a man, after all. A handsome, dazzlingly charming and intelligent man, but a man all the same.

The heir asked if he had questions, telling him he could have learned from Venom, or possibly even from the Armada diplomat who apparently had markings like his. This surprised him and he instantly knew that they had to have been from the same area he’d been born in. “I think you’ve summed everything up quite well. I did talk to Venom about Ashen’s relations with the other packs, but I’ve always found it better to get different perspectives. There is truth in rumors and lies,” he said with a wink. “Where I come from it’s not terribly uncommon to have these markings if you’re nobility, though the more markings you have the ‘purer’ your lineage and the higher up the totem pole you are. What’s her name?” there was a possibility he knew her, but it wasn’t like he knew everyone in that area and certainly not everyone he had an in depth knowledge of.

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

At Raijin's mention of calling her by lofty titles, Aslatiel scoffed, lips pulling back from pristine white teeth as her liver colored nose wrinkled. "I'd like you a lot less if you did. And we're getting off to such a nice start." Once upon a time she'd been proud of her title and had thrust it in the face of every new wolf that she met. Now that she was older, she barely mentioned it. It was rare that she even shared her surname when speaking these days. It didn't matter. She was all that mattered. The things that she did were all that mattered. The only reason she'd shared her lineage with Raijin was because he wished to learn of the Armada. Simple as that. Asla listened as he spoke of the wolves of his homeland and their strange markings. Nobles were more spotty, eh? Arching the brow above her marked eye, the girl gave a soft breath of amusement. "I've found that nobility is a silly thing. Anyone can claim to be of some fancy bloodline, but does it really mean anything?" The slender fae gave a stretch and slid down to lay upon her belly, paws hanging over the stone platform. "The Armada koi is called Hanako. She's one of those wolves with a title but nothing within her to back it up." Other than weedling presents and attention out of her brother and father, Aslatiel didn't see Hanako possessing any skills. Nothing worthwhile, anyway. "Enough about that though. Tell me about yourself, Raijin. Why are you here?" Her tones indicated that she didn't mean the Armada. Why was he here in this land so far away from his own home? She'd instantly taken a liking to the brute. His mannerisms and sense of humor were incredibly appealing to the striped fae. The older she got, the more she was aware of these attractions to others. It wasn't just men either. Females were just as attractive at times. For the time being, the spotted brute had Aslatiel's complete attention. She wanted to know everything that he wished to give up and maybe a few things that he didn't as well. "Speech"

Aslatiel showed him her pearly whites, though not in a smile like he’d preferred, more like a mixture between a snarl and a grimace. He chuckled at her comment, offering a bow of his head to show his apology and to let her know he got the message loud and clear. Truthfully, he’d gotten the message the first time, but he’d wanted to push her buttons a little to see how she’d react. What good was a conversation without a little teasing?

Raijin was a bit surprised by her next declaration, both of her thoughts on nobility and her introduction of Hanako. He did know the spotted woman, he’d met her a handful of times and had certainly been charmed by them each time. But, he didn’t know her quite well and certainly didn’t know why she’d come here all the way from his homelands. “I suppose everywhere is different. In my homeland, nobility was made to matter in one way or another. Heirs started rigorous training practically from the time we could manage to crawl and had to pick a specialty by the time we were 6 months of age. Female heirs were sold off to arranged marriages after barely a year of age to satiate deals and treaties to wolves who could have been their grandfathers. Even if you amounted to nothing, your name itself made you a pawn to your clan, and they’d use you however they saw fit. I’ve done some...unspeakable things because of this.” Behind his mind’s eye, Raijin could hear the screams of the wolves he’d tortured, smell the horrible perfume of the high ranking officials he’d bedded to charm, feel his uncle’s teeth ripping into his flesh and see his brother’s broken body on the ground. He stifled a shudder.

“As for Hanako, I’ve met her before, but I can’t say I know her well. She’s pretty, to be sure, but pretty and brains don’t always go paw-in-paw,” he said with a shrug, allowing himself to settle onto his haunches as the woman laid on the slab of stone.

Suddenly, she asked about him and he struggled to not freeze. He wasn’t altogether used to others asking him about himself, he always did the inquiring and the kneading. It left him...uncomfortable. “Hmmm,” he rumbled, his baritone voice vibrating his chest. “It’s no significant reason, I’m sorry to disappoint. Several months ago, some wolves and I were on our way to a meeting when we were ambushed. Two of my kin and a few friends were killed and I...didn’t take it well, suffice to say. I investigated the incident, made a stupid decision here and there, and wound up putting myself in a situation that almost got me killed. That’s how I got my pretty new smile,” he said, tilting his head to give a better view of the ugly gash that took up the better part of his left cheek, stretching across his lips and over his muzzle.

“Afterwards I just...wandered. I didn’t have anywhere in particular to go or anyone to go to, so I paid a boatman to drop me off where he saw fit. He dumped me north-east of here, where I happened to run into Hattori. Thus, I stand here before you,” there was a lot he’d left out because, well, if he went into depth they’d surely be there for the next few days and it wasn’t likely Aslatiel would even understand most of it. There was too much backstory that needed to be known, too much knowledge of the inner workings of Iga that had to be taught, it was the best he could give while playing his cards a little close to his chest.

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

A second grimace tugged at her maw when Raijin spoke of the machinations of the nobles in his land. Selling their children off for money and power? It was a pretty disgusting thought, but one that she could understand. However... "It's a good thing that I was born here rather than there. I have a tendency to do what I want rather than what others want of me." Forced to give herself to some old man just so the Armada could forge ties? She'd end up killing him, no doubt. Oops. Raijin spoke of Hanako and Asla huffed softly through her nose. "You aren't missing much. Unfortunately she has my brother right under her paw. It's a pretty disgusting sight, but if he's happy..." The young woman gestured with one grey and white paw and shook her head. She would never understand why Azure had allowed himself to become so weak when it came to Hanako. It was one major fault in her sibling. One that she had a hard time ignoring. Though she imagined he tried to hide it, Aslatiel was incredibly observant of others. She could tell simply by the way that his spotted body stilled that Raijin hadn't been expecting to be questioned in turn. She wouldn't rescind that questioning, she would simply wait until he figured out what to tell her. Once he began to speak, Grey ears swiveled to catch his every word. The brute spoke of his scarred face and Asla looked upon the proud, story telling wounds. "You aren't ashamed of those, are you?" She thought they were rather dashing and had always felt a draw towards rugged looking men. Shifting, Asla showed him a set of heavy scars that sliced through the fur and flesh on her left shoulder. "Scars are stories. Situations where we've persevered and triumphed." Every battle where you didn't die was triumph. One brow lifted as she questioned him again. "Did you kill the one that gave you those scars?" She was genuinely curious. He ended his story by saying that his presence here had all been by chance. Funny how things worked out. Of course he wouldn't have told her everything, but they'd just met so that was understandable. She hadn't told him everything either. Just the things that he could discover on his own with a little bit of conversation to various members of the packs that he had access to. Asla gave a little stretch, kitten claws extending to wrap over the edge of the platform before retracting again. "Well I'm glad to have someone a little less boring around. The wolves of Ashen and the Armada can get so stuffy." "Speech"

Her comment about doing what she wanted other than what others wanted her to do left a mixture of jealousy and appreciation in his chest. He’d done much of what he’d wanted, to be sure, but it had mostly been out of rebellion than his true personality. So much of his life had been controlled by his birth and line of succession and he’d always been under the scrutinous eye of the clan head and the elders because of it. Hattori and his brother had always been content to go along with it, they’d even thrived under the supervision and expectation, but he’d struggled internally to live up to their expectations of perfection. He didn’t want to be perfect, he just wanted to be Raijin. “I can promise you’re all the more charming for it,” he replied with a smirk.

The small woman went on to ask him about his scar and, absently, his jaw muscles worked to wriggle it around. It would likely be several more months before the disfigurement would fully heal, and even then he knew that it would always be sensitive as it was now if his other scars were any indication. He wished his aunt Kiyo were around to apply one of her soothing balms, but she was still hidden away in Iga where she’d be a prisoner the rest of her life like he’d once thought he would be. “I have mixed feelings I suppose. It’s a reminder of a dark point in my life, one that I’ll now have to live with the memory of for the rest of it...but it’s also a reminder that I didn’t sit back on the sidelines and let a grave injustice go unpunished. I didn’t kill them, unfortunately, and if you had asked me several weeks ago I might have said I’d be inclined to make sure that outcome changed...but the situation has become much more complicated now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get the revenge that my kin deserves, but it’s a burden I must bear,” gods, when was the last time he’d been this honest and unguarded? But, Aslatiel felt like she was someone who wouldn’t judge him for what his intentions had been...in fact, she felt like she might even understand.

The man watched as she stretched, her intriguing retractable claws flashing before she gave him a compliment of not being boring. He flashed an amused grin, “Well I do appreciate that, I try my best to be...ah...that word you used, stuffy. It’s always nice to have someone around to match wits.” Raijin, while fluent in Common Tongue, didn’t always know the slang terms that were used by natives. He was able to use context clues, but sometimes even that wasn’t enough.

Talking, Talking in Italics means he's speaking Japanese

Wow. Had anyone ever called her charming before? Aside from Indigo telling her nice, sweet things, there weren't many wolves around that would bestow such words upon her. Normally it was something along the lines of 'you're creepy', 'how could you do that.' She was too intense for some wolves and her passtimes were even less acceptable. Give it time... Raijin would probably think the same. They always did. For now, she'd take his compliment. The speckled man explained his injury and some reasons as to why he couldn't exact his revenge. She could understand his viewpoint, but it wasn't her own. After her stretch, Aslatiel approached, getting right up in Raijin's space. Lifting one small paw, she gently placed it upon his injured cheek, touching him lightly like he was a baby bird. Swirling, galaxy eyes inspected the wound up close. It was healing, but it wasn't fully healed just yet. No doubt it had been a nasty piece of work when fresh. How dare someone harm such a handsome face? Though he was a koi, Asla couldn't deny that he was exceedingly handsome. Much more so than Hanako or Hattori. The young woman's paw dropped and she moved away, giving Raijin his space once more. Her back now to him, she stared out over the water that had crept in with the tide. "Would you like me to kill them for you?" The offer was partly joking, but if he said yes and if she had access, it could be done. Then she answered her own question aloud. "Mmm, probably not. You men and your honor, right?" She could understand honor to an extent, but revenge was important as well. An eye for an eye, a fang for a fang, a cheek scar for a cheek scar. Deciding that she'd better be getting along, Asla looked over her shoulder at the man, a grin on her features. "Well, Raijin," she enjoyed the way his name sounded on her tongue, "Our meeting has been... enjoyable." Turning, she began to walk off, flicking his hip with her tail as she passed. "Hopefully our next meeting will be just as enjoyable." Away she went. There was a lot to think about. Most of it had to do with just how charming the big man had been, the pull of attraction that she'd felt, and her great desire to see him again soon. "Speech"