#I really do love roes work and the drawing she did and was very excited to be working together on something

[byrdstrolls]

so what part of weaver's design was a collab exactly?

The hair and facial features! I only changed the veil and horns. its difficult to see under the veil, but the spider trils are still under the ears too. I understand that doesn't feel like much, but I like to er on the side of better safe than sorry when it comes to crediting people for their art. I just would feel weird not crediting a design I took several elements from if that makes sense? regardless of how many of those came through in the final piece.

[with-fists-and-folded-steel]

Himiko

If there were a man more insufferable in all of Kugane (more like all of Othard, if she were being honest with herself), Azumi had yet to meet him in her thirty years on this Star. How she’d love nothing more than to put a permanent end to his ceaseless prattle about his fishing techniques, his family (She doesn’t know whether to pity them for having that coming home to them every night, or be very concerned about what sort of people could stand him for more than a single night), and his utterly unimpressive collection of antique swords, or whatever the hells else happens to cross his mind. Unfortunately, for as maddeningly bored as she was, killing off one of your most important suppliers was generally considered to be bad for business. That, and her boss would have her hide. And Azumi was rather fond of her hide. It’s a nice hide. She opted for the friendliest smile she could manage to fake instead as she took a sip of her tea.

… He just. Would not. Shut. Up. It would be fine if she could convince him to just skip to the business at hand, but no! She thought her boss was joking, but the horror stories were true. He needs to ramble for what feels like bells before finally getting around to any important matters! And it’s everything Azumi can do to stop herself from clawing her eyes out. Or better yet, his. She glanced down at the remains of her meal, and frowned. There were barely scraps left, and she couldn’t even begin to remember when she’d finished it. She needed something. Any excuse to get away from him. Even for just a bell or two.

“—Oh! Have I mentioned that my son has begun to take an interest in the family business of late?” He had. At least… three times, last she paid him any mind? “He’s already shown remarkable talent with customer relations! Why, he’s almost as good as his own fath—“

His words were thankfully cut off by sudden angry shouting in the nearby markets. People flocked over to see what all the fuss was about, and crowds quickly formed. Azumi silently thanked the Kami for the distraction, and seized her chance, springing to her feet. “What in the hells is going on? We should go check it out.”

“But what about my food? I haven’t finished yet! And what of our discussion?”

“Why don’t you stay here and finish eating, and we can conclude our talks another time? Sound good?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond, already rushing off to the source of the commotion.

She sighed in relief, having rid herself of the man, and began weaving through the crowd, quickly making her way to the front. Upon arriving at the scene, she finds an irate shopkeeper muttering curses, as a samurai grips a young roegadyn child’s wrist tightly, and wrenches a large melon out of their hand. The child is of no more than… eight? Nine years? Almost alarmingly thin, covered in dirt and grime, with long, unkempt black hair. Probably a girl, by Azumi’s reckoning.

“Let me— Let. Me. GO!” The girl grit her teeth, struggling in vain to yank her arm free of the Sekiseigumi’s grasp.

“Shut up, you mangy little thief. You’ll get what you deserve soon enough.” The merchant spat at her.

The little girl growled at him, baring her teeth, and the samurai sighed as he turned to hand the melon back to the shopkeeper, “Here. This little one will be dealt with in accordance with the law. Thievery will not be tolerated.”

Azumi's interest had begun to fade. She'd started turning to leave, but the way the roe's eyes widened before flashing dangerously, her expression darkening, made Azumi pause. The roe girl stopped struggling, glancing between the samurai restraining her, and the smug merchant holding her prize.

She stomped on the merchant’s foot as hard as she could, before turning her hand to grab the Sekiseigumi’s wrist, twisting roughly and forcing him to release her hand as she wrenched his arm behind his back, and shoved him into the shopkeeper. In the confusion, she made a dash for the melon, and ran off into a stunned crowd, shoving onlookers out of her way.

Azumi blinked in astonishment at what she’d just witnessed. That scrawny little girl had just successfully escaped a trained samurai and slipped through their grasp. That? That, she could work with. There was definitely potential there. She had to find her. Before the samurai could finish helping the merchant to his feet, Azumi rushed to pursue the roegadyn, weaving her way out of the mass of people as quickly as she could.

She just managed to catch a glimpse of her already half-way across the bridge, barely visible. By the time she made it to the bridge, the Sekiseigumi and the angry merchant had just barely shoved their way past the crowd, and the girl was seemingly nowhere to be found.

Best bet, she’d have cut under the bridge and either double back around to the market back alleys, or head for the docks. Were it just the merchant after the girl, she’d guess one of those. But with a samurai giving chase? Those would likely be the first places checked, and Azumi had a feeling the girl was smart enough to have taken him into account. There’s… the Rakuza District, but… a street rat barreling in there with a large melon was going to draw some attention. Unless…

Azumi spotted a large group of ijin being led by a guide across the district bridge. There were so many new, exciting sights for them all to take in, they probably wouldn’t have noticed her slipping among them. And the place may be a fancy tourist trap, but there were plenty of alleyways for a small child to go unnoticed. She followed the group into the district, keeping a respectable distance to watch out for the girl splitting off.

After about ten minutes of the group wandering the streets, she spotted the girl trying to slink away from the ijin. She barely waited until she rounded the corner into a nearly-deserted alleyway to start jabbing into the melon, digging in as soon as she could manage to secure a chunk of it as she continued making her way to wherever she planned to hide out.

Azumi stalked after her, slowing her pace down to keep the roe from noticing her. To anyone else, she was taking a leisurely stroll. After a few minutes, the girl froze suddenly, and quickly scanned her surroundings. Azumi maintained her pace, avoiding making any sort of eye contact. After a few moments, the roe girl seemed satisfied there were no immediate threats, and resumed her journey.

She finally came to a stop at what appeared to be a makeshift shelter, cobbled together with bits of broken crates, and barrels, and suchlike. Not content to live entirely inconspicuously, there were obviously stolen paints littered outside, and drawings of cute animals adorning the outer walls of the shelter. Azumi sighed at that. Clearly, stealth was not this child’s expertise.  Still, what she lacked in that department, she could absolutely make up for with her fighting capabilities, if nurtured properly.

The little roe sat the remainder of the melon on the ground next to the entrance of the shelter before flopping dramatically down next to it and breathing a deep sigh of relief. She glanced down at her wrist, angry, dark marks marring her reddish-purple skin having been left by the Sekiseigumi’s treatment, and pouted as she began rubbing gently at it. The girl reached back into the shelter to grab a couple long strips of cloth, and tenderly wrapped them around her wrist and hand.

As much as she would have liked to continue observing, Azumi came here with a purpose, and with the sun’s light beginning to die out, she was reminded of all the time her business associate had wasted already. She strode confidently towards the girl’s hideout.

“So, how does a little girl get the better of a warrior more than thrice her years?”

The child snapped towards the sound of Azumi’s voice, and her face flashed with a mix of surprise, fear, and confusion. “I’m not a-…” She stalled for a second, seeming to reconsider, “I am NOT little.”

“Uh-huh. You’re, what? Six years? Seven?” Azumi smirked as the girl bristled at that, “You’re entirely skin and bones. And I’ve seen roe girls your age. You’re a full head shorter than they are. You. Are. Little.”

She turned her head away from Azumi and grumbled quietly.

“But we’re getting off topic. You didn’t answer my question: However did a child like you pull off such a feat?”

The child regarded her warily before responding, “Why d’you care?”

“Because I am impressed. That trick of yours isn’t exactly common, and for a scrawny little thing like you to make it work against a Sekiseigumi warrior while retaining your prize suggests talent. Talent I’d like to help see transformed into skill.” A thoughtful expression formed on Azumi’s face, “And by the way, next time? A solid punch to the kidney’ll buy you more time.”

Eyes-wide, the girl slowly nodded her head, trying to process everything Azumi said. She looked away and sucked in a shaky breath, “Mmmthrttme.”

“Pardon me?”

“M-my… My mother taught me. Just in case.”

Huh. Not quite the response Azumi expected. “And where is your mother now, little one?”

The roe girl hugged her knees to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. “I-I… I don’t want to talk about it.”

Okay. Sensitive topic. The world being what it is, Azumi couldn't help but suspect the girl's parents were dead. Accident or otherwise, it was clearly the wrong thing to inquire about. She didn’t have much experience with comforting children (And to be honest, she wasn’t overly fond of them to begin with), but if she was going to take this child under her wing, she had to figure it out fast. She slowly lowered herself to the ground next to her, and tentatively placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder, hoping to calm her down. “No, no. You don’t have to. It’s okay. Really.”

The roe girl sniffled a bit, and nodded, arms still wrapped around her knees. A ray of light from the setting sun caught her hair. It wasn’t quite black, like Azumi had initially assumed, but more of a darker purple. It suited her.

Azumi slowly withdrew her hand, thankful that she seemed to avoid causing outright sobbing. “How about this instead? Why don’t you tell me your name?”

She hesitated before replying shakily, “I, um… H-Himiko?”

“Himiko, huh? Are you sure? You don’t sound very certain of that.” Azumi hoped the gentle teasing would help the poor girl relax a bit.

“Y-Yes.” That doesn’t seem to have quite relaxed her, but she appeared a bit calmer. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, speaking more confidently, “My name is Himiko.”

“Well, Himiko, my name is Azumi. And as I was saying before, I’d very much like to help you develop those talents of yours.”

Himiko’s brow furrowed in confusion, “But… why would ya wanna help me?”

Azumi took a moment to consider, “I think you have potential. And I am none too keen on letting that go to waste. I’ve seen far too much potential squandered in mine own time. I want to see what you could become.”

“And… how’d ya do that?”

“We’d work on building upon what you’re good at. You’ve clearly no head for the art of stealth—“

  “—Hey!” Himiko loudly protested.

Azumi raised an eyebrow at her, “… You were caught because you tried to steal a melon, little one. The largest one that merchant had, in fact. Not the most inconspicuous of targets. And you’ve made no attempt whatsoever to hide those expensive paints.”

The roe girl briefly opened her mouth to argue that, but couldn’t think of a response, and settled for crossing her arms and pouting.

“A master thief, you are clearly not to be. No, your talents lie elsewhere.” Azumi reached over, gently taking Himiko’s injured wrist in her hands. She took the ends of the cloths between her fingertips, and looked in the girl’s eyes as though asking permission. When she nodded, Azumi idly undid the loose wrappings, and began fixing up the bandaging. “What I saw was a young girl who analyzed her situation. Who recognized that she could not defeat her opponents with simply brute force and determination. That would not be enough.” Azumi began wrapping the cloth around Himiko’s hand, threading the cloth between each of her fingers. “A girl who knew she was being underestimated, and turned the situation on her captors. Now, imagine taking that same person, and giving her the benefit of proper training, and experience,” Azumi paused to poke Himiko’s shoulder, before finishing wrapping her hand and wrist up securely, “and maybe a bit of meat on her bones. Imagine what she could do with that.”

Himiko stared at her hand in wonder as Azumi delicately took her hand in her own, and closed Himiko’s hand into a fist. “What. Do ya want me t’be your soldier or somethin’?”

Azumi frowned, trying to decide how best to respond, “It’s… not really about what I want you to be. If I wanted, I’m certain I could groom you into an excellent henchman or bodyguard or something. Or even hand you over to my boss and see what she’d make of you. But… think of it like a kind of experiment, of sorts. I want to give you the tools you need to choose your own path, and I want to see what you do with that. The choice is yours.”

Himiko glanced up from her hand thoughtfully at Azumi, “And what if I refused yer help?”

“I’d be dreadfully disappointed, but… I would respect your wishes, and not press you on the matter.” The older woman pouted dramatically. “But yes. You could be anything you wanted. A soldier, a mercenary, my personal Enforcer— I hear they’re making good coin these days— even,” she glanced briefly at the paintings on the young girl’s shelter, “an artist, if the life of a fighter is not the life you desire.”

“I’m not… I don’t... kn—” Himiko stared hard at her wrapped-up hand, biting her lip as she considered the older woman’s words. Azumi half-expected to see smoke rising from the cloth.

Laughing, she patted Himiko’s shoulder, and rose to her feet. “Don’t worry, little girl. You are not expected to come to a decision this very eve.”

“I-I’m not?” A wave of relief washed over her. Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a sigh. She muttered what sounded suspiciously like, “Oh, thank the Kami” under her breath.

“The day has been eventful enough without my burdening you with life-altering choices out of the blue.” Azumi reached behind her, and took out a pouch of koban, tossing it at Himiko’s feet. “In the meantime, take this.”

Himiko picked up the pouch, and opened it. She gasped softly and then looked towards Azumi, narrowing her eyes suspiciously, “I mean, thanks, but what’s all this for?”

“Something to keep you out of trouble while you decide. Think of it as… an investment in your future.” Azumi turned to walk away, as the roe girl held the pouch to her chest in both hands. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

Azumi had a feeling she needn't worry about being bored in the days to come.