Beads of water dripped from Hattori's stomach as he ventured from the waves and pushed deeper inland, his eyes greedily taking in the sight of the autumn leaves. There was something almost soft and nostalgic about this time of year, so close to Nippon's aesthetic whilst maintaining its own. Undeniably so far from his old home, a past long left behind. And he was alright with that, it was easy for him to split the then from the now, neat divisions that had him constantly looking forward whilst the past rotted in his wake. Ashen was thriving, his children grew well and Venom was well on her way to getting all she deserved and more. In time the Empire would rise to even greater heights, till then the Shogun had much work to do and he was willing to rise to the occasion.

A blanket of dry, fallen leaves coated the floor, crunching under paw as Hattori pressed his way deeper into Grove. It was quiet here, and despite the bounty of berries and fruits on display there were no creatures about to have their fill. Having no doubt scampered away at Hattori's arrival.  

Location: Wildberry Grove

Duchess had been spending more time away from the band, and it had resorted to spending nights away from them and more. She was straining her relationship with almost all of them. Or maybe it was already strained before. She had a big issue with the wolves who shared Indigo's life, but she chose to suffocate those feelings as they moved on to bigger things. Indigo was living his dream, or maybe moving towards something he wanted. She ruined it all. It was her fault that he was in the condition he was in and the rest of the band was suffering somehow emotionally from it. Maybe not as bad as her and Indigo though.

She tried to take trips down here to the grove to collect the berries, but it also gave her her own free time and her own space. It felt like it was what she needed, or she thought. She was getting over the sickness feeling of being pregnant, but she still wasn't so completely noticeable. Maybe a little, it was another one of those things she just chose to ignore.

While she wandered the the grove, picking vines of berries and storing them in a basket she had with her, she nearly didn't notice the dark and orange man in front of her from the shine of the golden trees and the fallen leaves that had been what really announced his presence. She was in a close proximity to him, but only smiled gently before going back to picking the berries from the bush she was at. Some didn't want company, but if she was honest with herself, she did. Because she was feeling so out of place now a days among who she created this family with. But time would only tell how desperate she was for a friend.

"Duchess"

Duchess is an !M rated! character for themes of Depression. Please Discord me if you have concerns.

It wasn't difficult to spot the newcomer, with her dappled black and purple coat she stood out as clear as could be. Seemingly alien in this autumn embraced grove. Hattori's nose twitched, noting the various scents that clung to her coat and concluded that whilst he could not put a name to it,  it was obvious she belonged to a collective. Whether it was a pack or a band he could not say, nor did he really care, to be honest. She offered him a smile which did not reach her eyes, no doubt as a form of wordless greeting. In turn, Hattori stared back, unblinking, as he watched her pick the seasonal berries.

Hattori had never been much of a gatherer as he simply did not care for it, but in her condition it made sense that she stick to less risky endeavours. Still, he didn't really believe a pregnant woman should venture far from home at all, but it wasn't really his business and he didn't know her. Or care too. Simply put, a shinobi did not stick his nose where it wasn't needed and though his rank had changed his mantra had not.

He turned, eying one of the larger trees that resided in the grove and noted the massive claw like slashes that had been made in its bark.

The male seemed to mind his own business, moving off away from Duchess slightly and observing one of the trees. She let him be if only a few moments, finishing picking the berries from her current bush before she carefully approached him. The sun flashed in shadows of the trees above them and a few clouds that dimmed the light, but it didn't look like rain anytime soon at least. She peered over at what he was observing, the slashes on the tree's bark. She wasn't really sure what they were from, but she had wondered if it was marked by the saber cats that had fled back home.

"You are one of the Alphas from Ashen?" She questioned quietly, it took her a moment to recognize him while she had wandered through her mind where she knew him from. He wasn't very bland at least, his colors and markings were much more unique just like her own. "I saw you at the Ashen festival." She had greeted Venom specifically with Indigo and the rest of the band, the orange man was nearby. But there was so many wolves at the festival, probably enough that he didn't have to note her or anyone for that matter. "A little far from home?" She smiled gently, if only trying to make some conversation.

"Duchess"

Hattori shot her a side glance, wondering what she wanted. Her attempt at small talk was a little deeper than most, no idle comments about the weather or the approaching winter, instead she simply pointed out that she'd seen him before at the festival. There had been so many wolves present it was hard to recall all their names and faces, it took the Shogun longer than he would have liked to finally dig up his old memories and sure enough she'd been there, standing alongside one of Sirius' older sons. He turned to face her properly and offered a solemn nod.

"I am." And then he pursed his lips, the silver of his eyes seemingly orange thanks to the reflection of the surrounding trees and their leaves. It felt double-edged, even though she couldn't know how far from home he truly was. "I would not say so. The journey is not long if you use the archipelago to cross."

The festival had taken place on the mainland, but the islands were large enough and spread far apart for his path to be fairly self-explanatory, even to someone who did not know the lay of the land.

"Where are you from?" He had his suspicions but sought a confirmation.

He mentioned that the journey wasn't too bad if he used the islands to cross. "I had seen Obsidian Beach from the shores, I didn't know you could get to Auster from there though." Ikagi had given her a quick tour but they didn't actually wander the islands of the Archipelago. She didn't want to extend her stay and make herself too comfortable.

He asked where she was from and she almost returned with a joking manner, "Well, originally south of here." She offered a gentle smile as well, though she was sure he wasn't asking about where she was born. "I was part of The Hallows for a bit, but now I travel with a band. We are camped closer to the Armada than Ashen for now." Her tone turned a little more down as she spoke of the Armada. And maybe she was coming to realize that Indigo had put them so close to the Armada to be with Aslatiel. In fact, she was probably starting to get lost in her thoughts, happy just a few seconds ago to a lot more stale in her expression. She tended to be more flat in general, or at least now a days.

"Duchess"

Hattori wasn't entirely sure what to make of the Hallows, they seemed mostly content to keep to themselves and he respected them for this. If their members were branching off and forming their own bands then he assumed they were of similar ilk, people who were simply just trying to get by. Or perhaps there was some contention within the Hallows, to the point where members were going their own way rather than grouping together as they once did. Either way, Hattori supposed it was none of his business. They could do whatever they liked as long as they didn't get his way, he wasn't asking for much.

"I see." He said, storing the information away for later. "You travel for the sake of it?" With winter inching closer such a way of life seemed difficult, more than it was worth.

Her eyes rose back up to him when he spoke, in question again. There wasn't much to hide about the band. Other than maybe their numbers or means of protection. They had Indigo and Emersyn as well tuned fighters, but Duchess knew that she and Segin would fight if they had to protect each other. Well, maybe not her so much now with her pregnant condition. But they weren't out to fight and raid really, not unless they needed resources maybe.

"We mostly scout to collect herbs and other unique items for trading. Whatever we can carry. We will probably move south for the winter time." They had a cart, they had pack goats. Mostly it wasn't them doing the carrying, ever since Indigo was able to gather the goats.

"You seem like a pretty private man yourself." Duchess hinted a small smile his way, though maybe she was attempting a hidden flirting method with him. She wasn't going to pry information from him. She had visited Ashen, maybe didn't discover the inner makings of their pack or anything. But she was simply happy to just observe the terrain they had. She had never been to Boreas until then, and the lands there even just right off of Auster seemed incredibly different than where she grew up.

"Duchess"

Hattori had never been the sort of man to pry too far, to stick his muzzle where it did not belong. She had laid the path to his question and thus it felt like a fair one to ask, not overstepping any boundaries that would put the Nomad's livelihood at risk. It seemed as though the band was out to simply live up to the nature of its name, roaming and gathering goods instead of raiding as most seemed to do. Perhaps at some point it would be pertinent to make contact with their leader, see if there would be anything to be gained from setting up a network of sorts.

Any and all attempts at subtle flirting went over Hattori's head, he didn't even note the way her lips curled up in a smile or even take the time to note she was pretty. He had his wife, why would his gaze wander? Instead, he shifted a little, not really sure what she was getting at.

"I suppose."