Umiryūkoku is the traditional name of the Uminaga family’s home country, which they once ruled and later continued to rule once again. Dragomara is another name for this world; one that the family presented as an alternative but respectable name to the adventurer’s guild during their journey for unification.
While their history is complex, sometimes history isn’t always as complex as some make it out to be, just like the bonds between Hoshijiro and Orion, and the ones their parents formed.
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Soutaroku Uminaga was the Tenrolu no Ken of the time, the next in line for rule, and known to the people as “monsoon”. Tsukiko was only just his lover at the time since they weren’t officiated in marriage, nor did his father acknowledge her yet, but they both knew that there wasn’t anyone else they would ever open their hearts to.
Monsoon was prepared for everything it took to take over his father’s position, there was no question about that. He knew all traditions, the rules and the regulations, the order and structure, which made him all the more confident in handing out punishment befitting for crimes made against the family in his father's stead. There was no way his father would be able to conduct such punishments or judgement due to a great recline in his health.
In one of the family’s weakness did a new kind of problem arose that Monsoon had taken upon himself to investigate as well as sentence. He had heard that, while disruption amongst the lowest ranked criminals was an everyday common occurance, what wasn’t was losing loyal Ryūtsume. The faithful samurai of the family were highly skilled and well trained fighters so to be losing 1 to 3 of them each week was all more than he had patience for.
Intelligence officers had informed their young lord that there had also been a new organized group spotted in the area. They were known for strictly sticking riding pulse-rider bikes, every member and nothing other than those bikes specifically, even if they were slightly out-dated. They were easy to find, traces easily found, and whose small numbers were easily detained. With this intelligence, Monsoon decided to give their interrogation a visit personally.
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The confinement rooms beneath the muck under the ocean did not scream hospitality to the prisoners within its stomach. A total of 15 bike riders were forced on their knees for hours, the ones that put up the biggest fight had large heavy stones placed on their laps while the rest were simply bound and restrained to wait. One of those who were punished to sit with a stone on their lap was a woman with short blond hair, tied up in a bun and brilliantly shining stars gleaming with the fury in her eyes that neither the stone nor time waited could quell.
His own anger led Monsoon to speed through tedious formalities when he finally did arrive, slamming open the door to finally look down upon those who challenged thee family's authority.
Upon his entry, most in the room bowed their heads down interrogators and rebellious bike riders alike, but there were also some riders who did not bow or bend to his presence, following the leave of their blond leader.
“Identify yourself and your cause while you show your damn respect.” He snapped, barely spitting out at the defiance she showed. “I’ll show you some respect when you finally do something worth a damn.” She hissed back.
With his full attention on her now, two interrogators shifted to the leader to bow her head, holding her into the ground by the arms. They folded her body as best they could against her resistance and over the stone in her lap to press her face into the concrete floor to grovel in respect.
“Under whose orders do you work for?” he growled, having her in turn growl back. “I work for my damn self.” “So you decided to execute the Ryūtsume?” “Is that what they told you?” She snapped and he stopped for a moment to walk away. The informants hadn’t informed him that it was this group but that was their only suspicion. “If you’re claiming innocence, then who do you want to pin the blame on?” he asked, never even turning his back. “Well, you’re not as close with your brother as you assume you are, aren’t you?” her voice traveled over with a pompous arrogance that turned him back around.
The interrogators let her go and took steps back as he approached, grabbing her by the face and jaw, scraping the rock down her legs before it hit the ground with a firm thud. “Who do you think you are to question the Bloodline of the imperial family?” he asked first slamming her into the wall before asking again, with her being slammed down in a repeated process.
By the time his rage blew through the wall was severely cracked, she was bloodied, her body limp but still conscious, still defiant with an unquenchable resilience that never flickered once. The integrity of the room was compromised though and Monsoon was not willing to hold the room while the interrogation continued. He dismissed the rest to their individual confinements for interrogation or sit in isolation until their turns; all except the woman. He dragged her body with him to finish what he had started, pressing for answers.
“You think of yourself as some vigilante for the people?” he said as he planted a foot in her stomach “Does spreading rumors and killing my men get you and your small collection of runts by?” “Well, when was the last time you heard anything from your brother?” she asked in retort to only gain another kick in the stomach. “Do you even know if he is still within his providence? I don’t care for your stupid rules and order, your sense of justice or disrespect. I don’t care to sit in your crooked throne waiting to be thrown overboard when the next bastard thinks they can do a better job in fulfilling their own needs.”
She watched with intent rage as he circled back to land another back to have another blow. “No Imperial family, Democracy or Clan would ever change the fact that you will always have a people. I wouldn’t dare to speak for all the people. But I am YOUR people.”
By the time he reached her, the restraints on her ankles had been removed. Planting her foot down into the ground, she heaved her bodyweight into her lunge, bashing her head against his with the force of both their movements before he could even realize his surprise.
He cursed under his breath, staggered a bit but successfully dazed. For how much he pushed to conceal that fact, she was so much worse for wear much more noticeably. “I’ll leave it to the interrogators to get the answers out of you.”
She laid quietly on the ground, with everything needed to be said was now done, there wasn't a reason to argue if he was this ignorant and arrogant. No one could get her to say anything more, him nor interrogators, though the latter were far nicer than the young lord was. She would not say anything, not until she was proven right.
The blonde, rebellious, bike leader wouldn’t know when that would be. how long it would take or how long it has been as time ticks on. Neither would she know the hysteria her actions caused the future lady of the land, not a single soul could calm her fit of laughter. Upon hearing what happened in the interrogation, only after catching her breath did she say “If all I had to do was give you a solid headbutt every time I wanted to settle an argument with you, then I would have more brain damage than a battleship sunk to the ocean floor!” she snickered before falling back into one last fit of laughter.
Needless to say, the young lord did not enjoy the stalemate he and his prisoner had but Tsukiko finally talked him out of his sulking.
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In the end, she was right. Upon sending in a special unit of espionage and correspondences, his brother indeed had not been in his station for months at that point. The death of his samurai had continued to grow in numbers while he held his prisoners and only after official correspondence asking where exactly was his brother did the death stop. He couldn’t admit he was wrong, nor was she right but that started a long formed friendship that they maintained from a distance.
Mai Mitsuko had come to introduce herself eventually, formally, but due to their first meeting it was unpredictable to anyone else that they would become hard and fast friends. No one would believe that she had not only introduced the future lord to her group of bikers but she also showed them the slums in which she grew up and lived, the biker's paths, where they tracked and the corners of the city that were almost always forgotten about. He learned to give in more, not just to his inevitable wife, but also to the people, sometimes.
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Mai and Soutaroku learned to communicate better. He not only stopped trying to stand in her way, but helped her grow her band of riders so that they would not only help clean up what was hidden from the reigning family’s gaze but she was there for every occasion as well. She was in attendance for his coronation, his wedding and waited outside the room when her majesty gave Soutaroku his one and only son, Hoshijiro.
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There were very Rare occasions when Mai ever asked for anything specific or called upon any kind of favor from the imperial couple but on one storming night she had to.
Mai had been more careful than she has ever been in her life as she rode across and over the storming waters of the ocean below. She wasn’t alone when she came either, only enough to make sure the venture to the palace was safe, but the whole group waited for her on the mainland for her return. This time she didn’t have a scroll summoning her to the palace, no message or letter to deliver and no seal to approve of her entry; she could understand why the guards were going to be hostile towards her but she needed to see Soutaroku and Tsukiko.
News of the commotion at the front gates was called to their attention but hearing it was from Mai they were quick to come down and invite her in but she refused.
“I know it’s not often I ask anything of you but I beg for a favor I could not ask of anyone else. Please, if you’ll listen to me this one time.” she begged. She wore a heavy cloak, topped with leather to let the rain wash over her but inlined with a thick fur. Tsukiko noticed how her dear friend kept her arms crossed and tucked in the protective layer and tried reaching out to pull her in “Come inside please, Mai. Let’s talk about this where it’s warm.”
Mai shied away from the hand that reached out, but instead pulled out what she had been holding so precious and riding so safely for. Soutaroku tensed up while his wife choked on a gasp that pushed at her throat. “Is that-” “yes.” Mai interrupted her majesty. “This one is mine. Their name is Orion. It’s going to be a rough night tonight and I couldn’t bear the thought that they could be left alone with no one else around. Can you please look after her?”
Without hesitation Tsukiko took the baby in her arms, gently rocking while they slept. “What sort of business do you have to take care of to leave her with us? The weather isn’t good for riding.” “I know.” Mai smiled. “It’s just a meeting, I don’t expect it to be a quick one either, but I will return.” “Then I’ll send the ryūtsume with you.” “I’ll try not to kill them this time.” Mai laughed as she turned heading back to her bike, Soutaroku left immediately to gather his men.
Tsukiko watched as Mai got onto her bike and revved the engine back to life when she called out through the rain, not daring to step outside and endanger the infant in her arms. “Wait!” she called and Mai turned for a moment “What is it?” “You have to wait for-”
Something caught on the empress’s robes making her turn to her side. There stood Hoshijiro, cold and shivering but clinging onto his mother’s gown “What’s wrong?” “It’s nothing prince, I need you to go back inside but hold this.” She bent down and placed the baby within his arms, making sure he held her correctly. Behind her, she heard rubber tires screeching against the pavement and the muffled pulse from the bike’s engine as it was kicked into gear.
“Mai wait!” She screamed out into the storm as she chased after the bike, their soldiers waiting for no command as they pursued to stop her but it was too late. Tsukiko ran to the guard’s post instead, her only other option as she, with the guard inside, cranked down on the mechanism that released the bridge down. Only until the bridge was facing a considerable height did she look out the window in time to watch the tail light of the bikes streak into the night.
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Now, it was Soutaroku’s turn to wait, for word, any kind of sign, a message or for her to return as she said she would.
Back on the mainland, the rain whipped into the visor of Mai’s helmet as she led her riders through the twisting layered roads of the glowing neon night. It was all thanks to the external foreign relations that some unpleasant people had started appearing.
Not everyone was bad that came from distant lands but not every person came to the underbelly of the streets talked a big game. At first, this particular group of people would brag about accomplishments that meant nothing here, claimed of some grandeur reputation that never reached the ears of these streets, until recent. They had mostly been talking a big game out of nothing, with no proof, barely held up on their own against most fights but their excuse was they needed some kind of specific engineer.
Well now they’ve found one. Not only did they find their coveted engineer but that very same engineer has begun putting together bikes that were otherwise considered contraband, not just to Umiryūkoku but even in international waters and the adventurer’s guild. They hadn’t completed all their bikes yet but on this night in particular Mai heard that they made plans to make an example out of this city and prove their renown.
There wasn’t a lot of them, just like how she started out, but they also were going to have their engineer with them when they made their celebrity tour. That engineer is what she was after. They could run each other’s bikes off the road as many times as they would like but bikes can be repaired and replaced, that engineer they were looking for can’t be easily replaced.
Once the rubber hit the road, there was something to fear about these bikes. They only had 5, 4 were experienced riders, to call those monstrosities simply “bikes” was an understatement. They forced living creatures into the form of bikes to not only ride but tear others apart while at high speeds.
Mai’s goal in the end was met. Not only did they throw the engineer off the road but they destroyed all the tortured, living, vehicles he made but not without a cost.
In the final struggle between the guard rails of the overpass and the monstrous bike with the engineer, Mai was able to ram them over. The ape like machination, grabbed onto it’s master with its tail, a free hand onto Mai’s bike. She threw herself from the bike, leaving it to become fallen scrap, when two fingers wrapped themselves around her leg. The large hand clawed with a weakening grip but it was still too strong for Mai to free herself in time. Together the creature, it’s creator, the bike of infamy and it’s rider fell off the overpass of the neon city, so that she could appreciate the beauty for the last time in those 5 seconds it took to reach the end of their 300 foot fall.
-
The imperial family hadn’t heard from Mai or word that her bikers were anywhere to be seen for several days. They both feared the worst happened, unaware that it has, while still caring for the child that she had given them.
“We need to find out where Mai is.” “Of course, that’s what your men are doing are they not?” Tsukiko asked while she watched her husband pace around the warm brazier they all sat by. “Why not the father?” “If the father was in the picture, do you think she really would have asked us for this favor?”.
His pacing grew more agitated “Wouldn’t it be easier to fine or hire someone else to watch the child till she came back?” he said with heavier steps. “Well asking me the same questions repeatedly won’t get you an answer.” She snapped, trying her hardest not to yell but it was still enough to upset the baby in her arms to start crying.
“We can’t adopt Orion…” he sighed, ceasing his eternal walk. “I know.” she answered softly. No amount of soothing seemed to calm the child now. “Then we’ll have to look for somewhere to take them in.” he stated with a heavy heart. “But why?” she hushed to no avail. “Because adopting them will break the blood line.” “We don’t need to adopt.” His wife silenced him now as she watched Hoshijiro approach curiously at how his mother tried calming the infant who was much more receptive to his attempts.
“Take the brazier and head back to your room please” Tsukiko whispered to her son who nodded, fascinated by the faint flakes of starlight that shimmered through the baby’s small tuft of hair. His tail scooped up the handle of the warmed. She didn’t need to see with her own eyes, by the sound of the occasional tick from metal she called to him “Keep it UP off the floor.” There was no reply but no more tick of metal either. Either his attendant took it from him or he lifted it, but worrying about the palace burning down did not need to be on the list that night.
“Orion can stay here.” She said while giving her husband The look, the one he knew that if he interrupted that he would become the belated emperor. “We have plenty of spare rooms in the palace for her to stay in nor are we starved for any food, money or resources. When she’s old enough she can start training with the rest of the Ryūtsume and earn her keep. Once she’s an adult, she should be able to choose if she wants to stay. She will get her education from Hoshijiro’s old school books once he doesn’t need them anymore but only what’s necessary.”
“But why?” he asked softly, careful to make sure not to interrupt. “Because Hoshijiro is going to need a friend. Reality is cold and ruthless for anyone to handle alone… Think of Mai.” Tension suffocated through the room, consuming the air and making it harder for both of them to take that next breath. “Mai already knows that with each day, the favor she asked of us only grows heavier. If nothing was wrong, she would be back right now. If she didn’t leave alone and just waited for help…” “But she wasn’t alone, she had-” he started to interrupt before he caught his wife’s glare while standing up. “You both are too stubborn to acknowledge that what you have is, or isn’t, enough for what a situation calls for. For once, I think she knew that too.”
They stood face to face before she couldn’t bear to look into his tired, worried eyes, knowing that was the expression she carried as well. “Our son needs someone in his life he can trust and tell everything to. Until we can give him a little sibling, Orion is the only friend that he will have.” “But our boy tells me everything.” he said confidently while gently placing his wife’s hand in his palm. “Oh?” she asked shyly “Well then I'm glad to see you've forgiven our son about the candied fruits then.” she said pleasantly. They both knew, without it needing to be mentioned, that there was something about their son he actually did not know.