Tales of the Exalted

"Seven hells boy, leave me alone!" For the second time in an hour, Ruby jumped down from the palace rooftop. The deathguard assigned to her, this obnoxiously persistent Air Dragon, floated down behind her like a feather in the breeze. "Afraid I can't do that miss, I..."
"am assigned my protective duty so that no harm befalls me or anyone else, blah, blah, blah. Go jack off somewhere. I don't care." She was beyond fed up with this whole 'having a shadow' thing, and it was only a couple days in. Noone would spar her with his watching, she couldn't get time in the archery field to save her life, even her personal relief time had someone right outside the damn door!
"Couldn't you, I don't know, carry something, or get me food, or just let me think?"
"That would be irresponsible of me miss, I have a duty to uphold. Feel free to ask a servant if you need something, though." The asshole was enjoying himself too much, if you asked her. Well, she may have deserved it asked deserting the last two while they were busy. But still!

Ruby stalked her way up the palace steps again, if she couldn't get rid of him, maybe food would be enough to ignore him for a while. She headed for the kitchen thinking of roast meats.

Kamoko sat across from Gaheris as she ate. Though he was the Great Khal's son, she never felt she had to be so professional around him.
She knew she wasn't the only of the palace guards who enjoyed time around Gaheris. It was a shame his half-brothers were their father's heirs. They grew up knowing so and had an air of superiority bout them that they couldn't suppress. Gaheris was just happy for recognition and a role in his father's world.
"No one will notice if you drink some of this ale with me, Kammy." he said, knocking back a long drink. Kamoko rolled her eyes.
"Sanjuro is probably in the shadows watching me right now. He's been acting stranger than usual since you brought these... since you brought the Princess back." she wasn't sure what to make of the supposed Solar Exalted, but it was not her duty to question orders so she made sure her men took their task seriously.
Gaheris laughed and looked around at the shadows, waving the bottle of alcohol as if to offer it to the Azuma.
"If you're here you may as well share a drink t-"
What he hadn't expected was to see one of the Death guard's charges walking in. The woman with firey hair from Lookshy.
"Too." he finished.

Storming in, Ruby only caught the last bit of gaheris' conversation. See the bottle held up, she snatched from his hand and took a long pull. "Thanks for that, Gaheris, I needed that. Hey miss..." she stopped as she saw a guard's insignia. Shrugging, she tossed the bottle back to the man.

"Could you tell this wisp... the death guard smiled, "that I don't need him around?

Jaroko the dragon began to speak again when Ruby held up her hand. "I don't want to hear it!" She walked around everyone, putting a slab of juicy meat on some bread so she could hold it while she ate.

Kamoko waved of Jaroko and laughed at the embarrassed look on Gaheris's face. The man threw a grape in her direction and scooted over to give the Solar some room.
"Ruby, Kamoko, Kamoko, Ruby." Gaheris introduced the women. Kamoko smiled.
"A pleasure I'm sure. You know, most of my guards are content to be silent if you just let them do their job." she said with a grin, eating the grape Gaheris had thrown her way.
"She's not wrong. You could have Sanjuro's men following you. You ever hear an Azuma joke?.... that's because they don't have any." he laughed when both women realized they hadn't. Kamoko covered her face with her palm at his stupid joke. Though it was hard to prove him wrong.
"So you're from Lookshy?" she asked. Gaheris turned to listen apparently curious as well.

"Sure, fine, but their job shouldn't be to be some awkward stalker, I'm not here as some monster or assassin, I'm a blasted engineer!" Ruby made a face at the air dragon as he left. She looked over at Gaheris and shook her head, "That was terrible. but at least i wouldn't see them."

She sat down on a stool and bit down into the roast. She could never say these people didn't do their job right, it was just annoying.

Swallowing, Ruby shook her head at the question. "I'm as much from Lookshy as I am from Nexus or Chiascuro, that just happens to be where my rank was from. Living on a ship, roots never really grew for me.

The two Temujin looked at one another, then back at Ruby. Then proceeded asking every question they could think of and likely overwhelming the woman. The idea of living on a ship was foreign to them, and every answer seemed to spark new questions.
The ale flowed and more food was brought to the table. They asked about the land's she'd visited and the might of the Lookshy armies.

Ruby held up her hands to slow down the onslaught that came forth. She began with simple stories of life on the ocean, leaving out the more...intimate...details that she endured. The passing of land to land, living in each people's culture for only weeks at a time before moving on. "...and just like that, I found myself stranded in a desert port, unable to speak to anyone, because, let's face it, I'm not that good at languages." The story seemed to hold their attention, and for a while, Ruby forgot where she was.

"Turns out, that port was a legend in itself. Chiaroscuro, the City of Glass. Spires that reached up to the clouds spun of crystalline materials that shone in the day, and glittered like the night sky itself. I spent weeks there alone, living off of the good will of the city. My teacher was one of those. Invited me into his house though we spoke nothing in common, gave me a bed to sleep on, and food to put in my belly. I spent years there learning what I eventually put into practice. All the science behind firedust and its creation, medicines, weapons. It wasn't until Lookshy that I figured out the large scale equipment, but still." She appreciated the company. Gaheris was nothing like his father, and this woman he spent his time with wasn't...entirely terrible, even if she was in charge of the asshole on the other side of that kitchen door.

"What about you two?"

Both of them seemed in awe of the idea of Chiarosuro, envious of how well traveled Rebekah was, despite they being Nomadic conquerors who'd witnessed a dozen cultures themselves.
"I'm a bastard of little note, but Kamoko here is the first woman, and youngest Temujin to ever be promoted leader of the Deathguard." he said with a wink in her direction. Kamoko gave the man a rude gesture and then explained herself to Ruby.
"I'm only the second captain they've ever had, ass, though he's right that my selection was controversial to many. But Khal Shono can see into the heart of a person, and he judged me worthy above all others." she sounded at once proud and embarrassed.
"Most worthy, least ugly, whichever." Gaheris said with a laugh. Kamoko threw a piece of bread at him and shook her head at Ruby.
"So, assuming we return triumphant over that traitor Chagatai, are you going to stick around? If the stories those Immaculate cowards tell are true, you're powerful enough to earn yourself an even more valuable position to the Empire than you do now. Just think of all you could do with the treasures of Shu Han. Being Exalted will open up wonders you never could have as a mortal."

The two of them shared something special between them, their carefree attitude was refreshing, especially considering Kamoko was head of the Deathguard. SHe wouldn't be surprised if the two of them were in bed together. "Stick around? For now, count on it. That wall is still standing. A hole isn't enough to satisfy me. Besides, I have some men that would want me to teach them what we should have been able to do."

Ruby thought on his words some, "What do you mean more valuable position? I'm already granted access to most anything I want, and have been welcomed to the circle of generals even though I'm not much of a leader. I don't know what else he could find that I want. I'm not here to lead and I don't want people waiting on me at every turn."

"The Shining Prince's favor is a great start. But that hole in the wall might just earn you the Great Khal's favor if you can do it again. You think he's acquired wonders for a mortal? You've never seen the Ogun's forge. It's said their techniques come from the first age, long forgotten knowledge that was scavenged by a God and is only known to the Sorcerer-Smiths. The Khal's own Jade eye is such a relic." she said, she knew seeing was believing though.
"And the wonders within Shu Han... depending on how valuable your efforts are to it's conquest you could end up with riches beyond your wildest imagination. And yes, I am aware you've been to Chiaroscuro and wield a fireawand. Imagine what a supposedly Immortal Emperor, said to have ruled Shu Han for over three hundred years, has in his treasury. Some explosive powders is nothing compared to what the Great Khal gives those he trusts." Gaheris added. He wanted to see Shu Han fall more and more each passing day, but knew the return of Guan Yu would see that plan pushed off until Cao Wei and Sun Wu were more secure.
"But besides that, what we're doing here is something that may not happen again for a hundred years. More even! And if you are truly chosen of the Unconquered Sun, isn't it your calling to help create an empire to rival those Scarlet Dynasts who brought your kind to extinction for what? Thousands of years, so their story goes. My father's goals are the same." he shrugged.