hoplitejoe
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Needs more Korea.
Honor and Glory
- Thread starter Tycho
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Tycho
AFK Forum Warrior
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Brothers Above the World
"Daisuke, wait up!" Shinji reached upwards for the next ledge in the tall rocky face of the cloudy mountain which they climbed. Daisuke, many lengths ahead of him, casually hung off of the face of the cliff and waved to him and laughed from above. "Hurry up brother, it's almost noon time! I thought you said you could beat me to the summit?"
Shinji pulled himself up another ledge, despite his slight frame. They'd been climbing for most of the morning, and he would give anything to rest right now, but as with everything, this was a competition, a battle of wills to see who was the better sibling. To see who was the very best, and beat the other at everything. Daisuke was that person more often than not, sparring better, running faster, and generally being more athletic; Shinji had his musty scrolls and blocks of chiseled stone to read and analyze and examine, but that was nothing compared to what Daisuke and his friends like Tohaku were capable of. Who needed books anyways?
"I'm on my way!"
"Well hurry up then, we don't have all day! This is the perfect part of the day you said, to see the entire country before us, spread out and beautiful! You told me you could see Kyoto from one direction, and Tokyo from the other!"
"I know what I said!"
"Well hurry up then, I want to see it!" Even from here Daisuke's smile gleamed as the sun caught it, as well as his shaggy hair that covered his ears. Handsome, the more handsome of the two of them, Shinji knew, as he was rather ordinary, almost indistinguishable from one of the peasants who farmed the fields and caught the fish of the ocean, and paid their taxes to the daimyos, and from there to the Shogun. He struggled up the cliff side for another half an hour wrapped in his thoughts, and finally pulled himself up over the ledge onto the cliff platform where Daisuke sat with a smile on his lips as Shinji flopped over and panted hard. It would take another quarter of an hour till they got to the point where they could see the sights that Shinji enjoyed so much and Daisuke had demanded to see.
"Getting tired of all of this climbing brother?"
Shinji mumbled a half hearted response to Daisuke's question. For an autumn day, it was quite warm, and the breeze wasn't nearly what Shinji had been expecting, and the physical exertions to get merely to this point was making his shirt cling to his chest. As always, his older sibling was unfazed by it all, sitting there with his legs over the edge and his head tilted back into the shade of a rock outcropping and a thin smirk across his face.
"What was that Shinji? Didn't quite catch that right there."
"I said I wished I was like Suzaku, who could climb a mountain in an hour and kneel atop the world and touch the stars sometimes. That would be better than this right now."
"Yes, I must admit there is not at all a good breeze int eh sky today." He covered his eyebrows with his hand and peered out towards the direction Kyoto would be. "I can see the cookfires from here, and what looks like the hill for the palace."
"Can you actually see some detail with it?"
"I have to squint, but otherwise, yes, I can see little people moving around out there, tiny as ants or minnows in the tide." One motion, that's all it took, and Daisuke was on his feet again. He helped Shinji to his feet, grinned at him, and raised his eyebrows up. "Race you to the top little brother. Bet I can beat you."
That irked Shinji, so when Daisuke moved to start climbing, he bolted past him and scrabbled up the wall like a spider up a column. Daisuke shouted in surprise, but Shinji laughed at him and ascended as fast as he could go, climbing, ripping out loose chunks of brittle stone that cascaded behind him as fine particles. The wind picked up a bit, blowing some of the cookfire smoke from Kyoto into his face, smelling of cooking meat and mutton and stews and such. He grinned with the summit right before him, reaching up and up and up....
Daisuke was rather perplexed when he arrived at the summit to see Shinji standing their triumphantly, with a hand to help him up. He cracked a weary smile and thanked his brother before turning to stand side by side with him and gaze out one direction towards Tokyo.
The distant city was much smaller than Kyoto, with about a third or a quarter of the population, but it was a bustling enough metropolis that plyed the waters for fish and farmed rice and raised swine for the markets in Tokyo and butchers stalls, and the grand market plaza of Kyoto, where almost all of the main business of Japan took place, with it's far reaching influence all along the settled and inhabited areas of Honshu. Rough spun clouds of wool hung over the city, shielding most of it from view, but they could see little boats heading out into the tossing waves, people heading to their fields and herds to tend them, and conduct their day to day business like it was any other day.
"Beautiful isn't it, Daisuke?"
"Indeed." Shinji could see the amazement in his sibling's eyes as he looked out across the green and fertile lands and hills that were stretched out before them.
"What do you think, Dai?"
Daisuke was quiet for several minutes as the sun climbed above them, before he finally spoke with a furrowed brow and a contemplative look on his face.
"It's a wonderful life we lead, isn't it brother?"
Shinji smiled. "It sure is."
Daisuke patted him on the head and looked out towards Kyoto. "May it never change us at all."
"Daisuke, wait up!" Shinji reached upwards for the next ledge in the tall rocky face of the cloudy mountain which they climbed. Daisuke, many lengths ahead of him, casually hung off of the face of the cliff and waved to him and laughed from above. "Hurry up brother, it's almost noon time! I thought you said you could beat me to the summit?"
Shinji pulled himself up another ledge, despite his slight frame. They'd been climbing for most of the morning, and he would give anything to rest right now, but as with everything, this was a competition, a battle of wills to see who was the better sibling. To see who was the very best, and beat the other at everything. Daisuke was that person more often than not, sparring better, running faster, and generally being more athletic; Shinji had his musty scrolls and blocks of chiseled stone to read and analyze and examine, but that was nothing compared to what Daisuke and his friends like Tohaku were capable of. Who needed books anyways?
"I'm on my way!"
"Well hurry up then, we don't have all day! This is the perfect part of the day you said, to see the entire country before us, spread out and beautiful! You told me you could see Kyoto from one direction, and Tokyo from the other!"
"I know what I said!"
"Well hurry up then, I want to see it!" Even from here Daisuke's smile gleamed as the sun caught it, as well as his shaggy hair that covered his ears. Handsome, the more handsome of the two of them, Shinji knew, as he was rather ordinary, almost indistinguishable from one of the peasants who farmed the fields and caught the fish of the ocean, and paid their taxes to the daimyos, and from there to the Shogun. He struggled up the cliff side for another half an hour wrapped in his thoughts, and finally pulled himself up over the ledge onto the cliff platform where Daisuke sat with a smile on his lips as Shinji flopped over and panted hard. It would take another quarter of an hour till they got to the point where they could see the sights that Shinji enjoyed so much and Daisuke had demanded to see.
"Getting tired of all of this climbing brother?"
Shinji mumbled a half hearted response to Daisuke's question. For an autumn day, it was quite warm, and the breeze wasn't nearly what Shinji had been expecting, and the physical exertions to get merely to this point was making his shirt cling to his chest. As always, his older sibling was unfazed by it all, sitting there with his legs over the edge and his head tilted back into the shade of a rock outcropping and a thin smirk across his face.
"What was that Shinji? Didn't quite catch that right there."
"I said I wished I was like Suzaku, who could climb a mountain in an hour and kneel atop the world and touch the stars sometimes. That would be better than this right now."
"Yes, I must admit there is not at all a good breeze int eh sky today." He covered his eyebrows with his hand and peered out towards the direction Kyoto would be. "I can see the cookfires from here, and what looks like the hill for the palace."
"Can you actually see some detail with it?"
"I have to squint, but otherwise, yes, I can see little people moving around out there, tiny as ants or minnows in the tide." One motion, that's all it took, and Daisuke was on his feet again. He helped Shinji to his feet, grinned at him, and raised his eyebrows up. "Race you to the top little brother. Bet I can beat you."
That irked Shinji, so when Daisuke moved to start climbing, he bolted past him and scrabbled up the wall like a spider up a column. Daisuke shouted in surprise, but Shinji laughed at him and ascended as fast as he could go, climbing, ripping out loose chunks of brittle stone that cascaded behind him as fine particles. The wind picked up a bit, blowing some of the cookfire smoke from Kyoto into his face, smelling of cooking meat and mutton and stews and such. He grinned with the summit right before him, reaching up and up and up....
Daisuke was rather perplexed when he arrived at the summit to see Shinji standing their triumphantly, with a hand to help him up. He cracked a weary smile and thanked his brother before turning to stand side by side with him and gaze out one direction towards Tokyo.
The distant city was much smaller than Kyoto, with about a third or a quarter of the population, but it was a bustling enough metropolis that plyed the waters for fish and farmed rice and raised swine for the markets in Tokyo and butchers stalls, and the grand market plaza of Kyoto, where almost all of the main business of Japan took place, with it's far reaching influence all along the settled and inhabited areas of Honshu. Rough spun clouds of wool hung over the city, shielding most of it from view, but they could see little boats heading out into the tossing waves, people heading to their fields and herds to tend them, and conduct their day to day business like it was any other day.
"Beautiful isn't it, Daisuke?"
"Indeed." Shinji could see the amazement in his sibling's eyes as he looked out across the green and fertile lands and hills that were stretched out before them.
"What do you think, Dai?"
Daisuke was quiet for several minutes as the sun climbed above them, before he finally spoke with a furrowed brow and a contemplative look on his face.
"It's a wonderful life we lead, isn't it brother?"
Shinji smiled. "It sure is."
Daisuke patted him on the head and looked out towards Kyoto. "May it never change us at all."
Bair_the_Normal
転輪聖王
;D Great update Tycho! And, at a certain name... Did you use the name of the Vermillion Bird on purpose, or am I just thinking too much?
~Bair
~Bair
Tycho
AFK Forum Warrior
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