Thread: The Age of War (DudeMeister and Evette)

Fire. They all lived in a house of fire, with no one to call out to, and in many ways - no way out. The okiya had burned in the year of the dragon, and Korin had just been named atotori, the new daughter of the okiya. Like some great beast, it would no longer follow her, but finally digest her debt-- freeing her in ways, while trapping her as it's master. The year had not been a lucky one for the geisha for Okaa-san did not bind her as daughter in any legal way, but instead sold her contract all together. Her's and the rest of her sisters'. And when the final salvaged kimono sold and the last of the gold koban changed hands-- their mother disappeared. And Korin faced the ravages of the Yoshiwara district, or the sweet song of an honorable death. The hanamachi of her childhood faded into distant dreaming ghosts, and Korin had found her dagger in the folds of her old maiko nagajuban the thin red robe a last vestige of what she was, and no longer could be. That was before Ichij-dono returned. A prosperous client of her's and friend of the okiya. He had found Korin at her twin brother's house, under the eye of a singularly omnipotent moon, and the general Ichij brought news of his older brother-- Takeda Shingen. -- Korin stole a selfish moment to run the her hand along the length of a Takeda silk kimono. The soft texture beneath her unworthy palms was a stolen slice of paradise. A small kernal of happiness nestled between her ribs, keeping her warm in the coming trials that seemed so very impossible. Akagi Korin was the last daughter of the house of the Katsumi Okiya in a beautiful, but dying hanamachi west of Edo. She was a senior Geisha at the age of twenty-four, shown by her muted white make up, and full red lips. The paths of her sisters had been woven in tragedy, where Korin had been saved. She had met the heralded daimyo Takeda and his family in the secluded mountains of the Kai Province. He had bought her contract, and gave her her the the most arduous assignment yet-- too gather intel on the Tiger of Kai's enemy Honda Tadakatsu. Takeda had been a seemingly underwhelming and busy man, but Korin had known better than to judge the man's layers by the first. She had gently cajoled a conversation with the daimyo, conversed with him about his fragile but passionate love affair of poetry, and even saw one of his beautiful war fans. They spoke for a long time, about other things such as his love of his son and even briefly about his well known rivalry and enemy-- the Dragon Uesugi Kenshin. She had left the conversation with a warmth kind of loyalty in her bones, the promise of honor at her fingertips and a new purpose. She left for Otaki not soon after that. Now, she arrived at the Honda castle. There has been a strange cacophony of sound that bounced off the tall walls, and froze the heart of the geisha in her chest. What they were, she did not dare ask, only seeing glimpses of men in the fields and small fiery explosions that reminded the geisha of the summer hanabi she'd seen in Edo once before. She did her best to be demure within the walls of this enemy, not show a sign of fright that crawled up her veins like insects. The geisha instead focused her attention on the her 'maiko' Komihiro. The beautiful girl was no older than eighteen, but was older for a maiko. She had started only when she was fifteen, and had been under the Takeda wing since. She was to make her debut here, at the Honda estate to show case and eventually bid her mizuage. She would catch the eye of one of the generals, or if luck would have it-- the daimyo himself. The only problem was, of the night if the debut, she had seemed to come across a bad case of chills and vomiting. Korin placed her cool hands on the back of the naked neck of the maiko, rubbing her gently and taking out her hair pins so that she would not ruin them. I told you not to eat today, Korin said soothingly, her face immaculately made, donning the delicate flowers of gold in her hair, and dark red lips. Her eyes were clever, and her cheek bones sharp, but her beauty was an understated one-- one caught in the nakedness of her white jawline, or the smoothness of her step. She wore a black and white stripped kimono with a blood-red obi and gold leaf. Summery and practical, and very much to Takeda-sama's taste. Komi did not stop her vomiting behind the shoji of the entertainer's quarters and Korin looked at her destroyed nihongami-styled hair, finding it to be a lost cause now. She could not fix it in time for tonight's debut, and so she called upon a servant woman to attend her maiko, while she had to deduce a plan for the next coming hours. While walking to her room, she dashed, taking off her shoes in a very non-graceful manner only to walk swiftly. The geisha had thoughts curled on that of her shamisen, thinking of a song she could play-- or perhaps a favored dance with her fans when she ran unabashedly into a man that was more akin to hitting a rock than an actual person. Korin did not collapse, but tripped to one knee, thankful to not hear a rip of thread or the shatter of a comb on the floor. She gathered herself quickly, bowing her head in apology to whomever general she had just rudely bumped into, lifting her head to catch the deep color of eyes and the flicker of a scar she did not recognize. Her heart shuttered a moment at the raw handsomeness of the man, but she did not dare let her eyes linger too long. Bowing demurely, the geisha offered profuse apologies. Sumi masen , I was not looking where I was going. Please forgive me, she breathed. Heart racing in her ears, a warmth in her cheeks he could not see.