Tidal Florette - A Painted Soul I

Yumi - 5

If Yumi is not following Kaiya around, training with her mother, or granting someone their grave in the Sakuhin Wakare; then it's safe to assume she can be found somewhere along the coast with her blood paint vials strewn around her with little to no sense of coordination and a canvas scroll rolled out in front of her on the sand. The way she handles her brush, swiping gracefully with precisely guided strokes is not unlike how she handles her katana, which as always sits right beside her fastened to her waist. This painting isn't intended for the labyrinth, just done out of the joy of the craft, likely to be given away during one of the village's festivals.

A small, black seagull hops over, curious about her presence on the beach. Oh hello there, I knew I forgot something... didn't bring any snacks for you cuties... She reaches out a hand gently and the bird excitedly checks for a cracker of sorts, dejected by receiving nothing but a pet the bird hops off and flies away. Yeah, I figured most of you don't really care if I don't bribe you to hang around. She giggles as the little bird seems to tip off the others and they all fly off over the waves.

As she returns to the painting, a figure up the coast coming from home catches her eye. Looking closer she realizes it's Jin, approaching her rather slowly even for how carefully elegant her sensei has always moved. Did the time get away from me? No, that doesn't make sense, the sun is still high. Maybe she just wanted some time together! Once Jin is closer, Yumi notices the deep sadness washed over her sensei's face, so she stands and bows, "I didn't expect you to join me, sensei, is everything all right?"

Jin is struggling to answer, just looking down at Yumi with more pain in her eyes than Yumi can ever remember seeing. Something is so wrong, "Sensei? What's going on?"

Walking closer to where the tide is rolling in, Jin kneels down in the sand. Yumi abandons her work to do the same by her sensei's right side. JIn pulls a small satchel from her robe, holding it over to Yumi, seemingly forcing herself to speak, "You forgot these this morning." The bag holds the broken down grain scraps Yumi usually brings along. I highly doubt the birds would cause her this much distress, "Thank you, I'm sure they'll fly back around when they forget I didn't have any earlier."

Jin smiles with a loving amusement, still gazing sadly out over the ocean. "You're the only one I know that puts up with those demanding little monsters."

Yumi shrugs, "They're not that bad, unless you try to feed them all at once. They tend to get a bit competitive. I didn't bring anything for a week after I made that mistake." You're babbling, shut up.

Jin sighs, her fists tightened on her lap, "Yumi, do you remember all the stories of dragons I used to tell you when you were younger?"

Every single one of them, word for word, but let's play along. "Sure, what about them?"

"There's one I only ever told you once, it upset you too much to tell you again. Wouldn't have been very helpful in getting you to wind down to sleep."

I actually don't remember that... "You might have to remind me how it went, sensei."

Jin nods, "It was about a dragon that could grant any wish in the world. People came from all over asking for anything they could imagine and the dragon would freely give and give. No matter what, whether you'd think the wish was good or bad, the dragon always said yes with enthusiastic glee."

I recognize this now, stupid dragon... Yumi keeps listening patiently.

"The world relied on the dragon so much, they did nothing for themselves. And one man decided he preferred the old ways, where man grew his own food and made lives for themselves through hard work. He went to the dragon and wished.."