Faith (Arashi)

The Kumo delegation had arrived safely, been housed and watched. Senshi and Max were in the palace, being fed and given the treatment they allowed themselves. Hoshi forces were on edge at the presence of all these foreign shinobi, those who knew a little about Kumo even more so. And to top it all off, a steady stream of civilians had started lodging complains not only about the foreigners but also a man they only called "The Deadly Shriek" in object horror. No one knew this murderer's name nor where he came from but all eyewitness accounts stated he carried some kind of weapon that shrieked like the screams of banshees and rained God's ire down upon His people.

Akihana had yet to hear this sound herself but she supposed everyone was on edge. It was easy to misinterpret a scream in the middle of the night as the sound of a dying animal, nevertheless, she had assigned some Queensmen to investigate the source of this mysterious sound torturing device and the man who wielded it.

Leaving her library office, the blonde made her way quietly to the Prince's wing of the palace, for once unaccompanied by Ser Kyousuke who was likely busy shouldering his new duties as Deputy. The medic didn't need protection, not in her own home and with her own son present. Besides, she had promised Arashi an answer and the woman always tried to keep her word.

Reaching the door, the golden eyed kunoichi stopped for a brief moment, composing herself before she knocked. It was near the end of the day and it showed on her tired face. Her periwinkle blue gown dotted with silver and edged with lace may be pristine and smooth but her face looked worn out, as if she had fought a thousand battles that day and knew she had to fight a thousand more. Injecting a small amount of chakra into her body via a simple reroute, Akihana felt the energy release inside her. It would have to do for now. She couldn't make her son worry by looking as sick as she felt most days.

Reaching out, she knocked on the door softly. "Arashi, sweetheart, may I come in?" The Queen's persona left behind, she was just a mother now, a mother who needed to talk to the only son who would listen to her.

The armor was hung up in a wardrobe, where in his opinion is belonged.  He hated it... most of the ninja queensguard did, but the armor, like the position, was a symbol.  In time the need for it would fade, but until then... the closest that Hoshi got to ANBU special forces was the Queensguard.  He wore it when he needed to, and not a minute more.

It was a particularly calm day after his 'mission', and this time, Tsuji was not around.  They were still young, after all, and she had a family.  Arashi was fine with it, it gave him the time he needed.  Around his room, despite the tidiness, his family relic laid open, the scroll unfurled.  He had been getting frustrated as the oppressive air that settled on Hoshi.  The atmosphere he used to move freely about like a bird seemed more like soup, and he had to struggle to feel around it.  And the absolute worst thing was that he couldn't explain it.  Not only that, but the scroll said nothing about suffocating presence.  The only possible option was not possible... someone would have to know and be able to use the Kumonikutai in order to interfere with him.  The poor boy was stuck at his desk under a lamp, looking over traditions and techniques that he's run through a dozen times already.  A kunai held one side of the section he was reading, and his kumo headband held the other.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his frustrated thought process, and he gripped a kunai on his desk for a moment, until the familiar soft voice of his mother seeped through.  He relaxed and left the weapon where it was.  Rubbing his face to get the stiffness out.

"Come in." he finally said, allowing his mother and current ruler of the county entrance the last refuge of his clan.