Wish someone would win the game already so my tables stop getting effed up :| 500+

Shawchert was clearly surprised at how long it had taken her to reach this continent by boat, his blue eyes widening as she gave the account. It had been a horribly long journey, especially for one who had never traveled by sea before. Thankfully she had quickly adjusted to ship life and had not been plagued be seasickness. "It was very long. A voyage to take only if you must." Tsukiko had had little choice. It was either flee or submit to her uncle's providence. The latter of which had been no option at all, as far as she was concerned. "Japan is a wonderful place. I would not have left if I had not needed to." Inadvertently the man was drawing some hints of her past out into the open. Of course the Shimazu was aware of what she said, but she was still careful to stay away from details. She did not wish to revisit all the pain, as she had with Conor.

The multi-talented man continued his song for a bit before he stopped. Tsukiko almost spoke, asking him to please continue, but reigned in her tongue. It would have sounded far too much like begging and she refused to ever stoop to that level. She may have left nearly everything behind but she was no beggar. Now that his lips were no longer occupied he replied to her earlier statement about him. What he said actually had a good point, she surprisingly found. That was one thing she often found herself being these days: bored. When she wasn't brooding over her situation she was usually just sitting around doing nothing. The woman had yet to make any true friends and she honestly wondered if she would ever be able to.

Shawchert's compliment about her smile hit her harder than his other flatteries had. It seemed the most honest of all, the most sincere. She could feel the color seeping into her cheeks again, but thankfully he started to play his flute again so she had something external to focus on. This time though, he began to dance around her. There was nothing particularly elegant about his movements and yet somehow they seemed to fit the tall man perfectly. The corners of her lips lifted even more, despite herself. What was it about this odd man that could so easily make her feel better?

When he stopped his playing and dancing, he asked her about her home, if it were different than here. "It is very different from here." She could think of few other ways that could make it any more different than her homeland. "Japan is more civilized. We do not have these packs, but the country is split up into provinces that are ruled by the noble clans. My family, the Shimazu, is one of these clans." For some reason, she did not hesitate to reveal this fact about her to him. "It is hard to explain all the differences, there are so many. This place seems as if another world to me."

It's okay, Tsuki's a little full of herself too XD 300+

Tsukiko's small shoulders shrugged slightly at his comment about boats. "It is not particularly pleasant, but you get used to it." It was either that or just be miserable for the whole time. Morale on a ship, just as in a province, was crucially important to keep everything running smooth as the merchant captain had told her. If she had moped around her depression could have easily spread to the rest of the crew and it would have made things much harder. Heading off into exile was nothing to be happy about, but she had focused her energy into learning the English tongue and culture and that had helped her melancholy.

Unlike Shawchert, who had recently jumped from the bottom of the pecking order to the top, it was the complete opposite for the Shimazu fey. Her whole life she had been bread for nobility and leadership and now that had all been stripped away from here. Now she was in a place that she was a nobody. She had no status, no standing, no influence, nothing. If things were not difficult enough, such feelings of worthlessness only compounded her issues. The tall man talked of his own experiences and of the places he had seen. He may have liked this way of life more, but it seemed so unanchored to her. "It is a hard adjustment to make, living such as this. I am used to structure. This is all so strange to me." She liked Conor, he was a kind man, but she did not understand his style of leadership. It had undoubtedly worked to her advantage in gaining acceptance here, but to the noble woman it seemed dangerously lax.

She couldn't help the sadness that swept over her face when the man said he was glad she was here. It was nice of him to say, but it only reminded her how very lonely she was and how she wanted nothing more than to return home. Tsukiko would give all she could to turn back the clock and have her life be as it had been. "It is nice..." but it is not home. It would never be home, no matter how accustomed she became to all the differences. "You started your own pack? Just recently?" Did that mean that anyone who wished to could just make their own settlement and be the leader? That seemed a recipe for strife and chaos to the Shimazu.

Ridiculous wait is ridiculous : / Sorry Shaw 300+

Tsukiko was not the type to lay her sob story at someone's feet. It was her burden to bare, and the fewer that knew the whole of her history, the better. She had been raised to keep her troubles and concerns close to her, for if such information fell into the wrong hands it could be irreversibly devastating. A leader had to seem larger than life, had to be more controlled and without weakness. Japan was not in a constant state of war, but the fewer problems one invited, the fewer problems one would have. Shawchert's words were meant as another flattery, she knew, but despite being noble born, she was not so pompous to think that she were the gem of all Japan. She was not the Empress, after all. "There is much more to my home than myself, Shawchert-san. Though I suppose it is kind of you say so."

He did not seem to find the same concerns as she did in the ways the wolves lived their lives here. Though why should he? Even if he were not from here, she supposed things would not be handled very differently anywhere else nearby on this continent. His words did hold some truth to them though. There likely was a structure here, it was just not so easy to spot as she was accustomed to. "I suppose. Things were just much more clear in Japan," she said somewhat wistfully. Though when he spoke of each member having their place and duty, her soft expression nearly faded into a frown. What was her place? What was her duty? Whatever it was, she knew that it would not be pleasing to her own personal sense of honor and duty. What had she gotten herself into? Had she set herself up for embarrassment and degradation?

So making a pack was not easy, according to Shawchert, but it had still been done. How very odd. Tsukiko was a little curious as to how that worked, but kept her questions to herself. "This place is not nearly so populated as Japan. There really is not much land that is not put to use, or already claimed." She had barely seen another soul while she had trekked here from Freetown. It had seemed a land only populated by ghosts. The man tried to give some positive viewpoints, and give her advice on to how to leave her melancholy behind, but it was no so easy. Loosening up was not something a Shimazu did. They were wound tight and polished from their earliest moments of life. "I cannot forget. I may be exiled now, but I will return, and my people will depend on me. Letting go...it is not an option." This was not her new home, it was a necessary evil that she must endure.

If Tsukiko could/would emote more, she would make this face: D8< SoSuWriMo 427

Tsukiko wondered why this man was so intent on giving her praise and flattery. It was not as if they were in Japan, where when she returned she would wield great power. Here she had no power, no influence. The Shimazu had been too young to have met any suitors before her parents had died, and her uncle had not had the opportunity to introduce any of his rich men to her before she escaped. He had been too concerned about negotiating prices than following what was socially expected and considered right. So really, she was rather baffled by the way Shawchert was treating her. It was nice, she guessed, but the moonlit fey had no inkling of how to react to such things since they were clearly not for the kind of personal gain she was used to expecting.

Japan had never appeared overpopulated or crowded to her. Of course this was partly due to the fact that it was what she had always known; having so much open space and so few canines, it was somewhat unnerving to her. Also though, she personally had never felt stifled for she did not live among "the masses". There was plenty of room on the personal Shimazu estates. If you wanted to be alone, you had no problem finding someplace to keep to yourself. Even if she were not nobility though, she could not imagine it was really all that cluttered. Japanese society was a very private society after all.

When Shawchert spoke in response to her last words, their conversation took a serious turn towards the negative. A dangerous spark flashed in her cerulean orbs and her face took on a somewhat stony appearance. Was he scolding her? Her, who when she was restored to her rightful place would have more influence than he could ever dream of? Did he think her some ignorant little pup? Tsukiko's jaws pressed tightly together as she stared at him unnervingly. When he finally finished his insulting little speech, it was her turn to tell him something. "You know nothing." Her voice, while soft in volume, was hot steel in tone. "You think I do not know I am not home? I am reminded every second of every day. Do not assume the right to preach to me when you know nothing of what I have gone through and continue to endure." Even if he knew, he could not fully understand. Giving him one last unsettling stare, the woman turned and walked briskly away from the borders and back towards Wolfville.