1 Unexpectedly, A Foreign World [Private | Training] Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:26 pm
Miyako
D-rank
"Miyako."
Someone was calling to her. Softly, but unmistakably uttering the words that made up her name. It was a familiar, comforting voice, tone gentle, caressing her like the pillow beneath her head as she dozed. A voice that belonged to ...
'Mother?'
Ryuzoji Miyako jolted awake, eyelids fluttering open as her mind began working in overdrive to snap itself out of its formerly unconscious state. Even before her gaze had fully focused on her immediate surroundings, her current perception switched on, registering that someone was making their way to her bedroom, closing the distance with every passing moment. The familiar electrical signals the figure was giving off informed her that it was her mother, but that wasn't a source of comfort. What had occurred that led up to this? For the past several weeks, she had only seen a shell of her mother, who would shut herself in her room for most of the day and only wandered out to the rest of the house to meet her basic needs. Weeks it had been since Miyako had last heard any form of communication be directed at her during the rare moments that she would see her mother around the house. But yet here she was, listening as she heard her name being called again, trying to decipher the tone. Was that anger? Resentment? Fear?
No ... it was not hostile at all. That gentleness that she had thought originated from her dreaming state was still present. Deftly removing the comforter that covered the lower half of her body, she swung her legs to the side of the bed and sat up in one fluid motion, feet slipping into the white house slippers that rested neatly by her bed. Running a hand through her dark hair and sorting out whatever knots she could with her fingers, she made it to the door and opened it before her mother had a chance to reach for the handle, daughter suddenly face to face with her mother. Ryuzoji Kaede still looked as beautiful as ever, as though the age that came with time had simply passed her by. It was the dark ringlets around her eyes that displayed the many sleepless nights, the eyes that had long since lost their shine. But still, they appeared to hold no sign of ill will - a fact that should have allowed Miyako to relax, but instead only made her increasingly tense.
"Yes, mother?" A soft reply, words chosen carefully. Years of practice allowed her to figure out what kinds of tone and body language would serve as triggers to her mother's emotional outbursts. And given that this situation was stranger than normal, she had to be on her toes, treading carefully as though walking on extremely thin ice.
"Were you asleep? I'm sorry to have awoken you." Miyako's breath caught her in throat. Her mother, apologizing to her? And for something as trivial as waking her up? Unable to come up with an immediate response, she let the silence linger for a bit before - to her relief - her mother simply continued on. "I have some great news for you! Your uncle just sent a messenger, he wanted to congratulate you on your promotion, and wants to give you some personal training." Her voice was almost giddy with joy, a happiness that was so foreign, so unlike anything Miyako had seen since her birth. But while it was clear that Kaede was expecting a similarly exhilarated response from her daughter, Miyako was struggling to contain her facial expression, to mask the shock that was threatening to make itself known. Her uncle? The one who had shunned them for so long, who was one of the worst people that never forgave them for what her dead father did? The loyalist who had been willing to scorn his younger sister to the point of nearly driving her mad?
Just the thought of her uncle and his family made her want to shrink into herself, a fear that was so deeply embedded into her consciousness that she wanted to just grab her mother by her thin shoulders and give the frailkk woman a rough shake. Why, why did her mother still seek the approval and acceptance of these people? All her life Miyako had been subjected to her mother's strict teaching, the violent moodswings, the constant demand that Miyako achieve nothing but perfection in everything that was expected of her. All that had been entrenched in her life solely for the purpose of amending the wrongs that her father had committed, the act of treason that had occurred before her birth. And now suddenly ... he wanted to congratulate her? To personally train her? Could it be because she was now a chuunin? Or because the Ryuzoji clan head had been her squad leader? No matter the reason, this sudden change of heart only spelled out an ill omen. And she couldn't help but be afraid of what it could mean.
Her mother was still waiting for a reply.
A small smile, tugging her lips into the beginnings of a positive expression. By not overdoing it, faking a smile wasn't a difficult feat at all. "That's great, mother. I'm going to go out a train for a bit so that I'll be in good shape when meeting uncle. I won't disappoint you."
She was out of the house within moments, having swapped her nightwear for more training-appropriate gear, katana in hand as she slipped out of the house. Her mother had since retired back into her bedroom, still in an unnaturally cheerful mood. This wouldn't end well. It couldn't end well. There was no reason that it would.
The ends of her scarf flew behind her as she ran, wind blowing against her as she made her way to her favorite place to train - a quiet corner in the Ryuzoji clan's private training grounds.
Training Katon C>B
996/2000
Someone was calling to her. Softly, but unmistakably uttering the words that made up her name. It was a familiar, comforting voice, tone gentle, caressing her like the pillow beneath her head as she dozed. A voice that belonged to ...
'Mother?'
Ryuzoji Miyako jolted awake, eyelids fluttering open as her mind began working in overdrive to snap itself out of its formerly unconscious state. Even before her gaze had fully focused on her immediate surroundings, her current perception switched on, registering that someone was making their way to her bedroom, closing the distance with every passing moment. The familiar electrical signals the figure was giving off informed her that it was her mother, but that wasn't a source of comfort. What had occurred that led up to this? For the past several weeks, she had only seen a shell of her mother, who would shut herself in her room for most of the day and only wandered out to the rest of the house to meet her basic needs. Weeks it had been since Miyako had last heard any form of communication be directed at her during the rare moments that she would see her mother around the house. But yet here she was, listening as she heard her name being called again, trying to decipher the tone. Was that anger? Resentment? Fear?
No ... it was not hostile at all. That gentleness that she had thought originated from her dreaming state was still present. Deftly removing the comforter that covered the lower half of her body, she swung her legs to the side of the bed and sat up in one fluid motion, feet slipping into the white house slippers that rested neatly by her bed. Running a hand through her dark hair and sorting out whatever knots she could with her fingers, she made it to the door and opened it before her mother had a chance to reach for the handle, daughter suddenly face to face with her mother. Ryuzoji Kaede still looked as beautiful as ever, as though the age that came with time had simply passed her by. It was the dark ringlets around her eyes that displayed the many sleepless nights, the eyes that had long since lost their shine. But still, they appeared to hold no sign of ill will - a fact that should have allowed Miyako to relax, but instead only made her increasingly tense.
"Yes, mother?" A soft reply, words chosen carefully. Years of practice allowed her to figure out what kinds of tone and body language would serve as triggers to her mother's emotional outbursts. And given that this situation was stranger than normal, she had to be on her toes, treading carefully as though walking on extremely thin ice.
"Were you asleep? I'm sorry to have awoken you." Miyako's breath caught her in throat. Her mother, apologizing to her? And for something as trivial as waking her up? Unable to come up with an immediate response, she let the silence linger for a bit before - to her relief - her mother simply continued on. "I have some great news for you! Your uncle just sent a messenger, he wanted to congratulate you on your promotion, and wants to give you some personal training." Her voice was almost giddy with joy, a happiness that was so foreign, so unlike anything Miyako had seen since her birth. But while it was clear that Kaede was expecting a similarly exhilarated response from her daughter, Miyako was struggling to contain her facial expression, to mask the shock that was threatening to make itself known. Her uncle? The one who had shunned them for so long, who was one of the worst people that never forgave them for what her dead father did? The loyalist who had been willing to scorn his younger sister to the point of nearly driving her mad?
Just the thought of her uncle and his family made her want to shrink into herself, a fear that was so deeply embedded into her consciousness that she wanted to just grab her mother by her thin shoulders and give the frailkk woman a rough shake. Why, why did her mother still seek the approval and acceptance of these people? All her life Miyako had been subjected to her mother's strict teaching, the violent moodswings, the constant demand that Miyako achieve nothing but perfection in everything that was expected of her. All that had been entrenched in her life solely for the purpose of amending the wrongs that her father had committed, the act of treason that had occurred before her birth. And now suddenly ... he wanted to congratulate her? To personally train her? Could it be because she was now a chuunin? Or because the Ryuzoji clan head had been her squad leader? No matter the reason, this sudden change of heart only spelled out an ill omen. And she couldn't help but be afraid of what it could mean.
Her mother was still waiting for a reply.
A small smile, tugging her lips into the beginnings of a positive expression. By not overdoing it, faking a smile wasn't a difficult feat at all. "That's great, mother. I'm going to go out a train for a bit so that I'll be in good shape when meeting uncle. I won't disappoint you."
She was out of the house within moments, having swapped her nightwear for more training-appropriate gear, katana in hand as she slipped out of the house. Her mother had since retired back into her bedroom, still in an unnaturally cheerful mood. This wouldn't end well. It couldn't end well. There was no reason that it would.
The ends of her scarf flew behind her as she ran, wind blowing against her as she made her way to her favorite place to train - a quiet corner in the Ryuzoji clan's private training grounds.
Training Katon C>B
996/2000