Kouka's Crowned Prince | oc insert

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After we'd finished eating, I went back to the river, reclaimed my shoes, and disguised katana and then returned to Ik-Soo's shack. He was a bit embarrassed about the state of the inside, there weren't any developed rooms, no furniture but a worn-down bag and some holey blankets, and it was dusty as all hell. The fact this man was healthy at all was absolutely baffling to me. I ended up spending a good five or ten minutes telling him that it was ok, and he didn't need to worry while also thinking about things I could do to possibly make living here easier for both of us and for Ik-Soo when I leave.

After that, I went on a walk into the surrounding forest and sent a message to Hiryuu Castle with Uncle's hawk informing them that I'd found a place to hide, no— stay at where I wouldn't be found. I did of course leave out the part about Ik-Soo because my Uncle really doesn't like priests and the guy isn't all that bad, so I'd prefer to not to get the poor guy killed.

It'd probably end awkwardly and when I returned I'd be hounded for his location because he was a known priest. Ik-Soo would definitely suffer from my words.

I also realised that this area was the perfect place to do some training. There was a huge waterfall in one section, in another a thick area of trees, then there were the actual cliffs and narrow passages literally all around us, so I started to figure out just how to train down here. I couldn't train in my combat but keeping up with my physical training would be good enough for now. When I first started to train this way, I had a few embarrassing run ins with the trees and I fell from the cliffs I was climbing up many, many times (also almost drowned myself under the waterfall) but now after these experiences, I've figured out just what to do without killing myself.

Weeks passed and nothing happened. I had no word from them.

Ik-Soo would leave for days on end and then return in worse state than he left. Something about him helping out the fire tribes villages as much as he could. Apparently before I came, his master had given him a lot of gold beads so he's going around to try and do things. Actually, he was planning to leave this tiny little hut to travel until he couldn't go out into the public again, but I appeared, so he decided to hold off on it.

I feel like I got in the way of his plans and told him I'd be fine alone, but he said he'd like to keep me company still.

He's a good man, but... he falls over way too easily. So his clothes are always a mess and he's always injured. How does he even function alone?

Even during the time that he was travelling, I managed to figure out quite a bit in terms of building? I don't think building is the right word for what I was doing but I did manage to make Ik-Soo's hut feel a bit more like there were people living in there. I also disguised myself and traded a pretty expensive bracelet my Mother had gifted me a while go that I brought with me for sentimentality reasons for a small crappy stove which meant fireproofing the area inside the hut I was going to be putting them (I had to stop by some builders to learn just what the hell I needed to do exactly. They were reluctant to tell me since it is their trade, so I ended up giving away yet another piece of sentimental jewellery that my Mother had given me—now I know why I brought them).

When Ik-Soo came back from one of his trips to this progress he was a mix of grateful, surprised, and possibly burdened? Honestly, he didn't need to feel any of that, I was just bored so this was a good time killer for me. It also required a lot more effort than I thought it was going to so now I have a lot more appreciation for our building class citizens.

I wonder... should I form a builders union? Actually, there's a lot of unions we could create.

As you can tell, I've had a lot of time to think.

"Still no word from your Uncle?" Ik-Soo asked as I passed him his shirt back.

After being here for a while, I've learned how to sew, make some medicines, and wrap wounds up... all thanks to his clumsiness. My Mother would be proud of me.