Chapter 39 Rulu's Preparations

After leaving the throne room, Yashimu hurried to find Rulu to ensure that she was ready for her trip to Shisayama.

Rulu was the youngest daughter of their family and had a weak constitution during her childhood which left her bedridden for the most part of her life.

Only in recent years has Rulu been able to move more freely out of her sick bed as her internal magic energy began to mature and allowed her to sustain a healthier body.

All people in the world have internal magical energy, it is less developed during childhood but matures when children reach their adolescence at about age 15.

Unfortunately, some people on rare occasions lose their internal magical energy. This affliction was what Rulu's mother suffered which caused her to develop an illness that eventually took her life. Ozen took the loss of his wife the hardest and changed the most from her passing.

He used to have a laxed and outgoing appearance, but in the years after his wife's death he turned into a serious and stern ruler. While his mannerism was still friendly and laxed, he acted as if he were always carrying a weight on his shoulder.

He still showed care and attention to his family, but it came across as overbearing.

The very day after the funeral concluded, Ozen ordered Rulu to only stay in Kujyuri until further notice. While the capital was quite large, it only took a few years of staying in the same place for it to feel more like a prison.

Rulu believed that this was unfair as her other brothers and sister were given the opportunity to go abroad and travel for their work, while she was left in the capital.

To placate Rulu, Ozen had her siblings bring her gifts from their travels as a way for her to learn about the outside world.

This backfired since this instead stoked Rulu's curiosity of the outside world and she felt motivated to one day travel across the empire.

This was compounded by the fantastical stories her siblings would tell her about when they mentioned the battles they faced against monsters and the people they helped when abroad.

Being children of the King of Kujyuri, all of Ozen's children were instilled with a sense of responsibility to the nation. This was compounded by how loving their mother raised them.

While Ozen taught them the value and importance of responsibility, his wife had taught them to be compassionate of others. Yashimu and Shizu took up arms and trained as warriors to express their compassion for others.

They wanted to be on the frontlines, shoulder to shoulder with the peasants, and doing so all for the sake of protecting the citizens of the nation.

Rulu's other siblings all followed behind Yashimu and Shizu. They too endeavored to train as warriors but some became diplomats to strengthen the nation's ties to the other nations of the Empire of Yamato.

Rulu was no exception as she did what she could for the people in Kujyuri. She was a skilled cook as she had plenty of time to herself and would always cook meals for the hardworking farmers and training soldiers in the capital.

As Yashimu was roaming the halls he saw a group of 4 familiar faces approach him, confused by their presence here he called out to them.

"Brothers, do you need something?"

"Not to worry, we just needed you to deliver this to Rulu." Said one of the brothers as they handed a small wooden box to Yashimu.

"It's some lightweight armor we received from Shizu. It came with the letter addressed to Father but it got mixed up while being transported here." Chimed another brother.

"We were able to catch it before it got lost due to how we saw the letter peeking out of the box. Turns out Shizu wanted to gift Rulu a present from her time in Shisayama." Added another brother.

"In any case, give that to Rulu for us, our preparations for the trip are complete. We'll be the first ones off to bed *yawn* Good night." Said the last brother, who waved goodbye as he yawned and walked away to his quarters.

The other three brothers did the same and left Yashimu standing alone in the corridor with a small box in his hand. He sighed at the sudden turn of events but was grateful to them as they gave him another good reason to go see Rulu.

Navigating his way through the palace, Yashimu entered Rulu's quarters in a hurry and asked in an excited tone of voice.

"Rulu!! Are you here?"

Spooked by the sudden call of her name, a young girl with fluffy ears and dressed in red-white feathery dress turned to face Yashimu.

"Yashimu, you spooked me. Please knock the next time you enter a lady's room." Scolded Rulu.

"Oh no I'm sorry! Are you hurt?! Someone, get the apothecary! NOW!"

Since Rulu was known for her poor health for most of her life, Yashimu panicked and worried that Rulu was injured by his actions. The amount of overbearing protection was shared amongst Rulu's family which to her dismay made it embarrassing for her to see her family dote over her.

Embarrassed. Rulu placated Yashimu in a soft tone.

"Yashimu... Ummm Stop I'm fine. SEE!" She said as she twirled around in her feathery dress.

Seeing that Rulu was alright the concern on his face turned into relief.

"*Sigh* Oh thank god." Said a now calmer Yashimu. "In any case, are you ready for your trip Rulu?"

"Yes, my bags are packed, and Kokona had been readied as well, she should be resting in the stables tonight."

"I see, be sure to rest well tonight as the journey will take us a week to get there. You will be fatigued by the end of the trip so be sure to let me know if you feel sick."

"I understand Yashimu, but please I will be fine. My health has gotten much better when compared to when I was a child and I have you at my side and our 4 other brothers as well."

"You have a point. I was irked at first, by how they all asked me to accept them as my apprentices when they found out I was going with you to Shisayama, but I am glad they did. With all of us with you, your safety is assured." Said Yashimu as he laughed wryly.

He was still irked by how his brothers begged him to become his temporary apprentices so that they could avoid the work that had piled up in the past couple of weeks. While they were taught responsibility they still procrastinated when they could, which always got Shizu's iron fist to their heads.

With the increasing number of monsters in the nation's territory, all the brothers had their work cut out for them.

"Speaking of protection, Shizu sent you a gift from Shisayama. Our brothers tell me it is some armor Shizu picked out for you." Added Yashimu as he handed the small wooden box to Rulu.

With excitement in her eye Rulu quickly removed the lid from the box. Inside was a small black breastplate that was made to fit Rulu's upper chest, as well as a second letter.

Rulu opened up the letter and read it.

*

To my Dearest sister Rulu,

I hope my absence has not taken a toll on you as I understand how lonely it can be to be away from family. But your big sister will do her best to come see you when I get the chance. So for now this breastplate will help protect you when I am not able to be at your side. I had a friend of mine make it to fit you exactly. I hope that this gift will protect you in your time of need.

From,

Your Big Sister Shizu.

*

"Quite an impressive piece of armor, it appears to be made from a gengiri carapace. I wonder what these red lines are for?" Commented Yashimu who was inspecting the breastplate with his hands.

"It seems a friend of Shizu's made it for her at her request. Maybe when we get to Shisayama you can ask him yourself. Do you think we'll be able to meet her friend when we get there?" Said Shizu.

"I believe so and I think I know who she is talking about. Shizu's letters to father tell us that they get along quite nicely." Answered Yashimu who returned the breastplate to the box.

"I wonder what this friend is like, I hope she is kind when I meet her." Said Rulu with an expectant smile on her face.

"Umm Rulu, Shizu's friend is a boy." Interrupted Yashimu.

"EH!? Come on Yashimu you must be joking. Shizu doesn't have any male friends."

Rulu was waving her hand in joking admonishment, she thought that Yashimu was only making a bad joke, but Yashimu wryly smiled and said to her.

"Apparently she met a boy who gets along with her."

"I find that hard to believe, Shizu has always been harsh with men. So I find it hard to believe that she could be friends with a man." Rebutted Rulu.

Not wanting to get into the topic of Shizu's issue with men, Yashimu opted to change course.

"We'll just have to see it for ourselves when we get there. In any case, today's final preparation have been completed. So, get some sleep. We leave at first light." Said Yashimu as he began to walk out of Rulu's room waving goodbye.

To that, Rulu responded in kind.

After Yashimu left the room, Rulu moved to lay in her bed. She had set the box down on a nearby table and was now clutching a wooden flute in her hand to get her mind off of Shizu's friend and began thinking about her mother and family.

Rulu wanted to reminisce on the past before she took her first steps out of Kujyuri. She missed the times when her mother was still alive, it was when she was able to laugh and play as much as she wanted with her older brothers and sister.

But her thoughts turned to the day she found out about her mother's death. She remembered how deathly ill she became from the news and while she was able to recover in time for the funeral.

She had the unfortunate fate of being ordered by her father Ozen to never leave the capital of Kujyuri for her protection.

She felt that Ozen's order was unfair so Rulu frequently attempted to convince her father to let her visit nearby villages, but Ozen did not budge on the matter for years. It was only until recently that Ozen had allowed Rulu to leave the capital to visit her sister Shizu in Shisayama.

The reason was unknown to Rulu on why Ozen gave his permission this time, but this was an afterthought as Rulu's excitement had overshadowed her need to understand Ozen's reasoning.

Ecstatic over the prospect of going to Shisayama, she had packed her bags too early. Which, to her embarrassment, was found out by her father and brother who got a good laugh at her childish excitement.

In a soft tone of voice Rulu stated in an expecting and concerned tone.

"I'm coming to see you sister. I can't wait to see you again. But do you really have a male friend?"

This last thought hung in Rulu's mind as she drifted off to sleep while clutching the wooden flute that was from her older sister.

*****

In the village of Shisayama, Shizu suddenly sneezed in bed which startled Azi awake.

"What's wrong, *Yawn* Are you cold?" Said a sleepy Azi.

"No, I just sneezed, that's all." Responded Shizu.

Azi sighed at Shizu's response and took it upon himself to ensure Shizu was properly tucked in bed. He turned over to face Shizu and moved closer to her. With the two of them so close together, Azi moved more of the blanket over to Shizu's side of the futon bed to ensure that she was properly covered.

He then hugged her waist and nestled close to allow his body's warmth to spread to her's. Giggling in glee at Azi's actions she hugged him back and they soon drifted off into sleep.