Out of all his children, Asahi was the quietest, the most unknown to him, he intended to change that. Moving through the long and winding corridors of the maze, it was easy for him to locate and follow her scent trail. A little meandering, her steps playful, as he'd expected. She was a good pup, he could not outwardly think of anything about her that rubbed him the wrong way, she was a child and behaved as you'd expect one to. Nothing wrong with that, even Hattori was reasonable enough to concede to that.

He was closer now, could hear her paws crunching against the leaf litter.What was she doing?

Asahi slunk between the thick bamboo poles, finding the smaller paths through the maze that others would easily miss. Her dainty white paws skittered over the leaf litter when suddenly a rodent squeak split the air. A moment later little Asahi appeared at the edge of the same path her father was padding with a bamboo rat dangling from her jaws. She was growing into a fine young girl, hard to believe they would be turning a year old in the next season.

As soon as she spotted him with her bright golden eyes she was startled! Without so much as a whisper, she quickly retreated back into the bamboo to hide from him, the rat still securely in her maw. Was she truly scared or perhaps decided to play a game of hide and seek?

She navigated the maze easier than most, it was all of their homes, but it was as though Asahi was an extension of it, like the breeze that rustled the leaves. Hattori paused then, catching the silence, the stillness of her steps. She was hiding from him? Perhaps she thought it a game, playful as she was but Hattori was not exactly a playful man, even as a child he had been taught- or rather forced- to be quiet and serious. Seen and not heard.

"Asahi, I want to talk." He told the bamboo, as if speaking to the reeds and stalks themselves. "You are not in trouble." Hattori amended, thinking perhaps that was a concern of hers.

She lingered within the thick walls watching him through the leaves. Talk? He wanted to speak with her? Not many sought her out, nevermind to speak to her. The way many of her interactions had gone so far was her instigating some mischief and her name being called out in annoyance...

Slinking between the thick poles she cautiously came forward toward her towering father. His imposing stature and serious nature had been enough to deter her from him causing mischief directly. Why would he want to talk if she weren't in trouble?

She weaved her way out of the walls and sat before him, slowly dropping her kill at his feet and looking up at him inquisitively but wary, her tail tucked tightly against her hip. Her golden eyes would search his features as he spoke, as if trying to peer behind the words and search his meaning or perhaps to focus on the way he spoke and his facial features conveyed each word. Regardless, she would observe intensely.

Hattori was not left waiting for long, he regarded her kill with silver eyes, before his gaze flitted back up to her face. She had sweet features, soft and gentle like her Mother, didn't have any of the harsh lines etched onto his. In many ways he was not a good father, couldn't be what children often needed, but to say he was cold and unfeeling, despite how he appeared was not true. He did care, and it had occurred to him, that her silence could very well be a sign that something was amiss, that she needed something she simply couldn't ask for herself.

"I have not seen you in some time, are you well?" If nothing else he needed to know, because Kiriko would worry and fuss. Her love for their children was far more fierce and vocal, it seemed."You have been practising hunting? Good."

He inquired upon her wellness! Oh! That was nice! She pulled her ears back for a moment while she thought, trying to push out a word or two through her mouth just like she practiced alone. Unfortunately her words did not want to come through so she nodded up at him somewhat emphatically with a joyful crinkle in her golden eyes. As far as she knew she was fine! She didn't really have much to complain about! No sores or discomfort, or sniffles. Nothing out of the ordinary!

When he remarked on her hunting she stood excitedly with a happy smile and a joyful wag. Yes! She loved hunting, especially with Jiro and Kai, and the long legged Jynn! But she still couldn't say all of it through the ephemeral sand between her mind and her mouth. Perhaps she could try some of the tea she tried making herself. Maybe that would help her... She looked around frenetically upon the ground for a moment, as if searchinh for something to say or trying to catch her quickly thinking thoughts. Ah!

She grabbed the rat and and bounded along the path, toward the healers. She looked over her shoulder at Hanzo and nodded her head for him to follow her. When she was sure he was following she would bound down the path. Slipping in and out among the bamboo at the edge. She quickly deposited her kill where the other hunters typically left theirs to be processed, and continued to skip toward the healers, making sure her father was following.

Her heart raced and she was mildly panting out of breath from quickly skipping and weaving to and fro. She disappeared into the bamboo for a moment, behind the stores of herbs and where the healers did most of their work.

After a few heartbeats she reappeared with a teakettle, sloshing with water, that she placed down on the fires where the other healers typically made their teas. The other healers may have wondered where the kettle had walked off to. Inside the kettle was some lemon balm and chamomile, it was old tea though that she had made several days ago and it was turning rancid in the kettle. The smell would be made evident as the water came to a boil. There was only so much a young healer could learn on her on her own.

She sat watching the kettle, excitedly turning back and forth between the warming tea and her father, her little white tail swishing back and forth, eager to display her capabilities.

She said nothing, though by this point Hattori was starting to suspect she simply couldn't. One might think his tight-lipped habit had passed on too strong with her, perhaps. Still he watched and took in her mannerisms, she seemed happy enough, tail wagging and posture relaxed, ease in her eyes. That was answer enough, he supposed, words could be lies but body language was far harder to fake. He followed her then, moving behind her at a laid back pace, keeping her in sight as she shouldered her way through the shorter bamboo reeds, but made no move to overtake or ask where she was taking him. All became clear soon enough anyway.

He settled as she moved to make the tea, something her mother had done for him countless times before, and likely many more times still. His nose twitched as he drew in the scents, working out what sort of tea she was making, chamomile, with a bit of lemon. A good choice, or it would have been if the smell was not quite so…off. Old. He rumbled slightly, pale brows furrowing,

"Asahi, when did you prepare this? Does it not smell off to you?"

Little Asahi was not immediately aware that the tea was rotten. She had not seen the careful ministrations of the healers cleaning the pots and dumping unused tea as yet.

She flattened her ears nervously as he rumbled and frowned. She hadn't prepared it that long ago, why?

She pushed her nose closer to the fire trying to get a whiff and pull the kettle away from the fire.
She pulled back suddenly with a sharp yip then a loud yark! As she was lifting the tea by its wooden handle she accidentally got too close to the coals and singed a toe then splashed a little of the hot water on her leg as she fumbled backward.

Tears of pain and shame sprang to her golden eyes cast at the ground, as it became evident she was only mildly hurt and the tea was bad.
"I'mmmnn sorry..." She pushed out, barely a soft lingering whisper.
If her father was close enough he would have heard her. She was hardly the graceful child, more clumsy than her sisters as they seemed to exude so much more grace and social tendencies than her.

Hattori exhaled, brows furrowing as he watched the girl fumble and spill the pot of tea. The coals catching her toe, which caused her act thoughtlessly, in turn the hot water scalded her leg. It was only tea at the end of the day, and ultimately, her well-being was more important. Hattori did care in his own way, he was certainly not abusive to the extent of which his own Father was. He was a lot of things, good and bad, but he wouldn't beat his children over spilled tea and rotten leaves.

"Breathe." He told her, sensing the panic rise up within her. Mixing together with the pain and shock, he imagined she would work herself up into a right state. Not entirely her fault, but not something he wanted to deal with, emotionally stunted as he was. "Are you hurt? Do you need to go see your mother?"

She tried to hold it together, to be as strong as her brothers and sisters against pain, at least as strong as she thought they were. He used their mother tongue to tell her to breathe, and she tried to focus bringing her breath in and letting it out slowly, the tears still welling up and spilling over her cheeks. She wanted to shake her head to say she didn't need her mother to deal with the pain but it *stung!* her leg hurt and her toe hurt and she made a complete fool of herself.

She finally nodded, she needed her Mama, she didn't know hurts could be this bad! It was the worst pain in her tiny short life! It was awful! Mild in comparison to an adult but she had never experienced this mild pain before. She sniffed and choked on a sob.

"Come then," he ushered, gesturing for her to follow. Kiriko was not particularly difficult to find, she stayed within the Bamboo for the most part and he had no qualms that she would tend to her daughter. He knew Asahi was young and no doubt this felt like a big deal to her, but she would learn and adapt, he was not overly concerned about her little cry here.

Following the winding path through the bamboo, Hattori kept a slow enough pace for the little one to keep up, perhaps once the injury was dealt with Kiriko would remake them a pot of tea and they could all drink together.