A Cold Summons (Arashi/Suzume)

The freezing gales of the Land of Snow bit deeply into Arashi's skin as he sniffled and adjusted his scarf. He hated coming here, not due to the cold itself but the wind that caused the most problems. Arashi spent a lot of time in the deep oceans, where the cold settled and wrapped around you. Where the frigidness of the water seeped into your bones. Here, however; the cold nipped and bit at your skin. Each howl of wind shaving away a little more of your body heat, and being in a blizzard could feel like an icy blender.

So why was Arashi, famed warrior and now retired war hero all the way out here? An old war buddy had called on him, and this was one "invitation" he couldn't refuse. Suzume had been the leader of the resistance during the civil war and acted as their fearless general throughout the conflict. After the war, she had occupied the seat of Kage for a time before stepping down and retiring to a quiet locale of her choice like Arashi had been doing for a little while now.

With a groan, the heavily-clothed surfer ninja grumbled under his breath as he knocked on the door to Suzume's abode with a katana belted to his waist and a heavy coat along with a thick scarf. While she was officially retired, Suzume's word was still heavily respected in the region due to her own war hero status. Not to mention she was a deadly fighter, needless to say pissing her off was a bad idea.

Suzume had been trouble as of late, less than ideal news had made its way through her network of informants and spies. It was the reason she had summoned one of the remaining, if retired, senior shinobi of the Storm Village to meet with her. She had never been too familiar with Arashi, having largely missed any opportunity outside the last days of the rebellion to even meet him. History had been muddled in the short few years since that time, Suzume was considered the leader of the rebellion forces when really, they had been picking at her scraps in the cold wake of her destruction.

She had made her residence in the land of snow a little more comfortable considering she was seeing guests. Suzume had always preferred the cold but had come to realize that this wasn’t the norm. So, the roaring fire in the mantle was finally getting some use, warming the place when the knock at the door rang down the hall.

She answered briskly, quickly stepping aside to let the surfer inside. “Thank you for coming on such short notice, I’m sorry I couldn’t be specific in my message, but it’s important that the wrong people don’t hear what I’m about to say.” Suzume motioned down into the central room of the small abode.  

Suzume was no easier to read now than she had been as kage, her icy blue gaze as piercing as ever. “Please, sit.” She took a moment to place a kettle over the fire, giving it time to heat up as they spoke.

“Aokawa is dead.” Suzume was right to the point, her expression finally cracking to reveal the trouble she felt at recounting this knowledge. She let Arashi have some time to process this information.

Arashi grinned upon seeing Suzume crack the door open. Finally, he could get inside and out of this cold. The Hoshigaki stepped into the Yuki woman's abode upon her invitation, knocking snow off his swaddled form and unwrapping his protections against the elements. Once Arashi was comfortable, he took a seat across from Suzume and pulled out a bottle along with a square cyprus wood cup which he set aside for now, since the bottle was still cold from the journey. "No problem, Lady Suze'," said Arashi as he settled into his chair, not even bothering to try and guess why Suzume had called him out here. The woman was an enigma at the best of times, but if she had called him here it was definitely super important.

Of course, the news that Suzume had to share left Arashi reeling in shock. His eyes widened in surprise as he recalled the officious woman he'd interacted with. "That's a damn shame, and I'm sorry to hear that." Arashi shook his head before glancing around the humble abode. "Real quick Lady Suze, you wouldn't happen to have a ceramic carafe would you? Very important for warming the sake properly." Arashi said this while lazily motioning with a hand over to the bottle he'd pulled out of his jacket. "Now, I doubt you called an old soldier like me out here just to tell me that. Looking for advice on who to fill the seat? I could probably point you to some hopefuls I've met on my travels. Lots of good seedlings running around the country right now." With a satisfied expression, the Hoshigaki swordsman flashed a toothy grin at Suzume while stroking his chin in a sage-like manner.

Suzume raised a brow at ‘Lady Suze’ but quickly set it aside, she had no time to be bickering about silly nicknames. She frowned; not exactly used to these sorts of meetings. While loss was all too familiar, Suzume had never been one to pass on the news. “It is… I had great hopes for Aokawa.” She thought back the passing of the torch, how she saw the Hozuki as the person who could heal their wounded country. Perhaps she had acted too swiftly. Try as they might, the Empire hadn’t come close to enacting their true revenge.

“Oh, uh.” Suzume seemed a little stunned at the sudden shift but turned to rifle through her storage to retrieve the ceramic vessel to place upon the table. The former kage turned it idly along. It didn’t sound like Arashi considered himself one of the potential replacements. “No, actually. I think you might be what we need right now.” Suzume’s expression sank just a little grimly “Right now, the Storm will need us both.” She added.

She released the carafe while giving Arashi some more time to consider this. “I would take up the mantle myself, but I’m afraid I’ve grown a little dull. But, it doesn’t seem to me like you’ve taken much of a break.”

Suzume seemed to consider Arashi fit for the task at the very least, from what she had heard during her investigations there was more to him that met the eye.

Arashi hung his head and held a moment of silence over the loss of Aokawa before Suzume passed him a carafe which he promptly filled with sake. As the Yuki woman made her intentions for his retirement known, Arashi stopped and stared fir a good five seconds before leaning his head back and laughing uproariously. As the good humor trickled off, Arashi caught a glimpse at Suzume's expression and winced.

"Wait... You're serious? Me?" Arashi raised an eyebrow before pulling out a square cyprus cup and filling it halfway with wine before taking a thoughtful swig. "Well, you've got me there. Zappy's fight wasn't too much trouble, but I had lost heart. Speaking as warriors lit the passion in me again." Arashi paused and took a small sip of booze before continuing, "Been training at one of my hidden resort beaches. Just need couple's counseling with Samehada and I'll probably be back to my prime." Flashing his shark-toothed signature grin, Arashi threw out another joke. That was the thing with him and Suzume, they were practically opposites in every regard. However, for old soldiers like them work was never over, now was it?

Suzume wasn’t sure what to make of the stare, it was a rather sudden request, so it made some sense. Though she would never have guessed that ‘uproarious laughter’ would follow. Her confusion was clear, but she wasn’t going to deny the man whatever emotion he might need to process the request. By the time she had retrieved her tea, Arashi had come to terms with how serious she was about the assignment.

“I’m afraid so.” Suzume responded, pouring herself out a carefully measured portion of tea as he continued. She was surprised again at how quickly he came around to the idea. She took an extended moment to figure out if he was serious or not before curtly nodding.

“That’s good to hear. My expectations are no smaller for you than they were for Aokawa. Our country needs to heal, Arashi.” Suzume seemed to get serious again. Unsure of who ‘Zappy’ might be, but happy that someone out there was doing some good for their Village. “I will be returning with you. As much as I’d like to stay, I’ve done all I can here.” She took a first testing sip of tea, not something she was all too used too either.

“I’ve found some of the missing number in my clan, I think I’ve convinced them to return home. They just need some time.” Suzume explained her absence from the Storm easily enough, the number of Yuki had dropped significantly during the war, bringing them back from exile seemed right. The thought was enough to bring a fleeting smile to her face, which was a rare sight indeed. Things had gone quite well so far, all things considered.

“If I had the fancy hat, this is where I’d give it to you.” She sighed, the original had been lost and there simply wasn’t time to get a new one created. They were breaking new ground though, Suzume had, perhaps by accident, made a bit of a joke. She was mostly disappointed with the lack of hat-based symbolism.

Arashi turned his head to the side and clicked his tongue in irritation before taking another sip of his wine. An apt drink to have, considering his current feelings. "What? No hat? But that's the best part! I've always thought it looked super comfortable and cool to wear with the shade it provided." Arashi paused to let out a sigh of exaggerated exasperation. "Symbolic weight notwithstanding, you gotta admit it's a nice hat. Oh well, I'm glad to hear you've got your clan stuff sorted out."

Hearing that Suzume was coming back was equally surprising and mollifying. He'd gotten the firm impression she had washed her hands of village leadership and was more focused on personal projects. Seems he wasn't the only one who wasn't going to enjoy their peaceful retirement. "Well, I'm no medical-nin but I'll do my damnedest. Not a huge fan of such a big and personal threat next door the way the Loyalists are. We'll need to rebuild the Seven Swordsmen too. I better meet with Zappy soon, he'll be shocked!" Arashi grinned at his little joke with an amused glint in his eye. "So, how we getting back? Snowboarding? It's not as exciting as surfing, but I'm sure I'll manage." As he waited for Suzume's answer, Arashi noticed his cup was empty and quickly fixed that with more sake. His preferred sweet and cloudy nigori was one creature comfort he never went anywhere without.

Suzume figured he was joking, it didn't 'seem' like genuine irritation. It was disappointing, even if this place wasn't as grand as the palace back in the Capitol, it would have been nice to pass on the torch again. "We'll get a new one made, and a proper bestowing ceremony. Once we've got our plans in motion." She added, finishing off her first portion of tea in short order. Saya seemed to know her stuff, considering the girl had been in constant contact with letters and other bits and pieces. Arashi went on to agree with the proposal and even add something himself. "Good, I'm glad we've already got a direction in mind."

"Snowboarding?" Suzume seriously pondered that as an idea, she hadn't ever tried but quickly decided she would do just fine. "Maybe... I prefer skating myself." She admitted, apparently taking this suggestion seriously."Better to leave sooner rather than later, but I'm sure you're tired from the road. Take some rest, I have some preparations left before we head back." That seemed like the easiest idea, it wasn't like this place had enough room for them both. Suzume went about filling her cup once more as first order of business, no need to waste it now.

Internally, Arashi was a little surprised that Suzume offered to have hat replaced so easily. Based on the current climate and Aokawa's fate, he'd assumed the Loyalists had assassinated her and taken the hat as a symbolic fuck you to Arashigakure. Couple that with them having at least two of the Seven Swords last time Arashi checked meant the last vestiges of his former brothers in arms had a lot to answer for. The Swords were symbols of strength throughout the world, not just incredibly powerful artifacts. Having them all together was an important step in the healing process. But to extract the Swords and heal the wounds left behind by the war, they'd need to cut away the rotted flesh and clean out the pus.

Taking another sip of his nigori sake as Suzume filled up her cup with more tea, Arashi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the Yuki woman's declaration that she ice skated. On one hand, she was a Yuki so of course she could. It was good balance training in any case, something the Hoshigaki surfer dude could totally get behind. On the other... The image of Suzume frolicking about on ice skates just seemed... off. No matter, there were plenty of oddballs out in the world with strange preferences. He couldn't exactly throw stones while sitting and drinking unfiltered sake. "Sounds good, I'm gonna hang ten here and catch some Zs. Wake me up when it's time to go, Suze." With that, Arashi stretched before crossing his arms in front of him and closing his eyes to meditate. Something likely surprising considering his famed impulsiveness.

While she wanted to retrieve the old hat, there was no way to even confirm it was still in one piece. Suzume wasn’t going to waste anyone’s life to try and hunt it down either. If they came across it during this new mission, then all the better. It simply couldn’t be the focus. Arashi was quick to approve of her plan, so Suzume swifty down what was left of her cup. “Thank you again, Arashi.” The Yuki nodded and made her exit out into the cold.

- Some Time Passes –

Suzume returned with a brisk knock at the door before entering. If the darkness out the frosted windows were any indication, night had already fallen. “It’s time to leave, the clan are going to be heading out in the following days. We’ll use the night as cover. Whenever you’re ready.”

She retreated back outside, the nights in the Land of Snow bringing in the true chill of winter. Not that Suzume seemed to care. There was little to do but head out, with Suzume taking the lead while lazily skating across the fresh snow. It was hardly ‘frolicking’, but there was a certain grace to it. It made for easy travel through the snowy hills and frostbitten roads they had to cross to reach the seas edge.

From there, directly towards the Land of Water, and back home.