Hello darlings,
After the long wait...we have another chapter!
I was suffering from writer's block for awhile, but then when I checked my notifications I saw just how much follows, favourites, and reviews the series got recently and that alone was enough to draw me out from the abyss. So this is just another example of how something as basic and simple as leaving a comment just saying how well a writer did on their previous chapter could encourage them to update just so much faster.
Once again, thank you to all of you wondering gals who supported me in my dire times. Also welcome to anyone who is new to the series!
Without further delay, please enjoy this chapter!
Love,
Blissful Illusions~
The musicians played their soft melody as the girls rehearsed their dance along to the harmonious tune. It was a marvelous sight to behold as the subtle but yet prevailing movements behind the gentle swaying of the fabrics the dancers clothed.
Being true to the season, the colours were beautifully coordinated to tell a wholesome tale of the year-end harvest.
Most of the maidens were decorated by mild fall hues which greatly complemented the softer aspects of autumn. The most predominant colour would be their vermilion red overcoats which overlapped the dark olive green robe underneath. Their sleeves were as long as twice their arms' length and nearly translucent if not for their faint wheat tinted shade. All of their ensembles were neatly secured with a lion brown sash around their high waistline. Simple, but nonetheless beautiful.
Amongst all of the dancers surrounding, in the direct centre was a rather captivating maiden. It was evident that she was the lead role given her extravagant costume. She had on more layers of much more vibrant and rich colours in details when compared to the rest. The brilliant red outer robe in contrast with the crispness of her forest green gown was hard to miss even for those of wandering eyes. Her pure white sleeves with elaborate embroideries of the autumn leaves in their wondrous respective colours were as long as her person. Bright orange bordered the outlines of her robes to add to their effect. The details sewn with gold thread decorated the back trailing of her costume which if examined closely would illustrate the plot behind their dance. To be brief and concise, she was absolutely breathtaking.
Like a collection of celestial fairies, the maidens all danced in unison.
One by one they twirled in an orderly fashion until the lead fell on her side and away from the group. Given the sudden disturbance the dancers stopped their dance mid track and gathered around the fallen individual.
"Oh no, did you trip over your costume?" A sarcastic voice spoke out directed towards the girl on the ground. Even a fool would realise that the owner of the voice harboured no actual sympathy towards the injured girl.
"I always told the Head Coordinator that her skills were never on par with the Lady Aiko. It would be no wonder that a costume with its length and weight such as this would a further issue for her." Another cruel voice called out loud purposely enough for everyone surrounding to hear.
A pair of clear blue eyes looked away bashfully onto the ground as her strawberry-blonde haired friend helped her up. She was wronged, but she did not want to make a scene for it would be what they would have wanted.
"Did you think that we are all just as dumb as your incestuous roots? It was clear that you stepped on her costume's trailing and then you took the opportunity to bump and then shove her onto the ground!" Her enraged friend yelled while pointing her fingers at the perpetrators.
The other bystanders took a step back and scattered when they had realised the bubbling fury of Yuri.
"Why you!" The girl who had just been insulted due to her family's questionable roots growled under her breath. Her roots was something she did not want to announce to the world. How dare she call her out on it!
Then, a sinister snicker from another silenced the bunch.
"I guess the rumours were not wrongly placed regarding your loyalty surpassing even that of a dog's." The voice spoke out in a demeaning tone as she emerged from the back of the crowd.
"Now there is the rightful dancer who should have been bestowed the lead." Her accomplice spoke out to add to the effect.
Yuri's eyes continued to glare at the emerging figure. She did not like her one bit, and she was not embarrassed to show it. In fact, Yuri had always embraced it!
"But it seems that the weaker the mistress is, the more rabid the beast that accompanies it." Her words were like daggers as she challenged the two girls before her. She smiled seeing just how worked up Yuri had become after just one sentence.
Naomi knew that the Lady Aiko wished for nothing more than to provoke Yuri's angry to be enough for her to do something that would result in a severe punishment. She placed her hand on her friend's shoulder attempting to calm her down, while she looked to Yuri's eyes and gently shook her head wishing that Yuri would get her message.
"Nana!" Yuri pleaded to Naomi to stand up for herself against this harassment. There has to be a final straw to all of this constant harassment.
"I apologize to everyone for my accident. It is not of my intentions to disturb our rehearsal." Naomi bowed to the rest of the girls. Although she was a victim in this, but she had still disturbed their rehearsal and now everyone must start over from the top once more.
The four girls behind those harsh and falsely placed remarks smirked at their sight. Once again their target was a push-over.
"However, I am sure that the Lady Aiko and her entourage were just ill-natured towards the results of a fairly conducted audition. I do trust that our Lady Head Coordinator would not be so shallow as to succumb to devious briberies or other outwardly influences on her selection. I assure to the rest of you ladies that I was chosen on regards to my skills rather than my status." Naomi's smoothly expressed herself.
"-!" The Lady Aiko was interrupted before she could even mouth her first word.
"I am sure that given the position of the Lady Aiko and her family, she would have easily outranked me in terms of influence." Naomi finished her sentence thus causing the Lady Aiko from even starting hers.
A round of applause from the Head of Arts sounded as she walked towards the centre of the assembly.
"Not only fair in appearance but her words are just as refined." The Lady Masumi complemented her lead.
In unison, the girls all bowed to her. No one dared to challenge this woman's authority, it would be known as a social suicide.
Being the Head of Arts has given the Lady Masumi immense authority over all the maidens who were allowed the privilege to indulge such refinery. In other words, she held much influence over the noble ladies of the household. Despite she was a few years over her prime and around the age where women were already long wed and had birthed plenty of children, she still held the charms of elegance and vitality.
The Lady Masumi was a beauty by many standards with her lengthy plum coloured tresses which illuminated under the moonlight and piercing dark grey eyes. Her mysterious beauty had even rivaled that of the late Lady Miyabi at some point.
The Lady Masumi was of ordinary beginnings with pleasant parents who farmed on outside Ōtsutsuki lands. She pursued her passion in the arts and especially in that of dance when she willingly entered a courtesan house to allow for her to continue in her desired path. There she soon made a name for herself which allowed for the fame of her talents to travel across the land.
It may have been jealousy which had fuelled the gossip amongst the older noble ladies, but there was a rumour that the Lady Masumi was actually an offering by the Lord Hisao to appease the Lord Hagoromo. The idea was that a lovely concubine would be able to suffice the desires of the Lord Hagoromo when the fragile and weakly Lady Miyabi could not. With her natural gifts in both appearance and talents, many thought that the Lady Masumi was a pawn of the Lord Hisao to sustain his position in the clan.
As absurd as the rumour might have been, it does explain quite well on the lack of a husband but yet a high position for a woman with a rather humble origin. But of course, it would always remain only a rumour until proven valid otherwise.
"I do not wish for you to strain your ankles further than it already is. The lead must be in perfect condition in order to perform. Without a lead, this whole dance would be nothing." The Lady Masumi spoke as she eyed daringly at the Lady Aiko and her entourage. It was not womanly to be upfront about her emotions, but instead she must express it in poetic terms. Lady Masumi was well aware of the harassment of the Lady Aiko on the Lady Naomi, but there was not much she could do but to separate the two of them on given occasions.
"You are dismissed for the day to rest. I will check on your condition again in the morning." The Lady Masumi gestured for Naomi to head back to her chambers to rest her swollen ankle.
Naomi bowed and thanked the Lady Masumi before exiting the area with Yuri faithfully following behind.
"That bitch!" Yuri cursed loudly and just as proudly as they walked back to Naomi's chambers.
Naomi sighed in defeat. It was impossible to refine her hotheaded friend.
"We all know that they are just jealous that you got the lead despite everything she made her father do to persuade the Head Coordinator." Yuri threw her fists up in the air as if imaging that she was beating her arch nemesis.
"It cannot be helped that she reacted badly to a situation such as this. Any sensible maiden would be discomforted that she no longer held the spotlight in which had always shone on her after all those years." Naomi explained.
"Will you stop it with all of your fancy talk? We all know that she is just greedy that she couldn't hog everything." Yuri refuted.
"Well, her father did manage to pull some strings to allow for her own solo-"
"You also have one, but just without having to pull strings because people actually like you and they request it themselves to see you perform more. We could only guess that she would choose a more vibrant dance in an attempt to outshine your softer ones."
It was no well-kept secret that the Lady Aiko was jealous of the Lady Naomi. Everything she had once thought she was, others would say that the Lady Naomi was better. Before Naomi had so magically appeared into their lives, the young Lady Aiko was held in high regards. There was just no comparison to someone so perfect as if they were not even human to begin with. Ever since Naomi was named a Lady and deemed a ward of the Lord Hagoromo, the Lady Aiko made it her own personal vendetta to make Naomi suffer as much as possible.
"The Lady Aiko does fair well when it comes to fast movement dances." It was something Naomi had to agree with. The Lady Aiko was splendid at such vigorous dances like the war-favouring lord her father is known to be.
"If she insists on always dancing like she is charging into a battlefield than I would be more than gladly to actually push her into one." Yuri scoffed before both girls sang together in joyous laughter.
"If the Lady Aiko were a warrior then which one would she be?" Naomi asked with a joy.
"The coward?" Yuri joked.
"But I must confess that you should be at least be thankful of her."
"Why would I be?" Yuri frowned at her friend's remark.
"At least she managed to get us out of the rehearsal. You seemed like you were dying in there!" Naomi commented before she giggled at Yuri's relief.
Now looking back at it, Yuri was somewhat thankful of that person. She had never been good at being graceful or womanly for all that would matter. Her parents even went as far as to send her to accompany Naomi as a handmaiden despite their noble status in hopes that Yuri would learn a thing or two from her. So, there was no surprise that Yuri did not do well in dance as well.
The girls twirled around in bliss at their happiness of this moment. They were finally free of the torments of the Lady Aiko and her crew as well as out of sight from the unattainable levels of perfection of the Lady Masumi's high expectation.
From afar the two brothers looked down at the girls in amusement.
"Nana sure looks pretty in her costume today, and Yuri surprisingly looks cute as well in hers! I can't wait for the harvest celebration." Ashura mused as his eyes trailed the two girls who were unaware that they were being watched from afar.
Indra scoffed at his brother.
"What brother? That is the girl you proclaimed to be so deeply infatuated with at last year's celebration. Don't be so shy! Come take a look at our lovely Nana!" Ashura gleamed like a fool.
"I am amused that you think so light of our ceremonies to call it celebrations." Indra groaned at his brother's immaturity.
Ashura frowned. Not the lectures again...
"Is it not also a celebration since we are taught to be merry when we attend them? Sure the correct terminology is ceremony but I do think that celebration is quite befitting as well." He defended himself.
Having enough of this nonsense, Indra jumped off of the great height of the tree before landing effortlessly on his feet when he had reached the ground.
"It is amazing how Father was so forgiving after the whole fiasco with disobeying his commands from last time." Ashura noted how upset and angered their father was when he realised that Indra had ignored his command and allowed for the victim guard to be treated before they could trace the attacker's chakra.
Normally, the two would be grounded with heavy supervision at best scenario. But here they were wandering freely. What could have possibly caused their father contain his fury?
There was silence between the two brothers before Indra spoke.
"Father was going to toughen his punishment of me more, but then you kneeled outside in the attendance hall restlessly for days to beg for his forgiveness."
"If I knew sooner that I had such an effect then I would have begged and kneeled my way out of all my punishments before." Ashura joked.
"No."
Indra's comment was silencing. It had left Ashura wanting to know the rest of his answers.
"The way you kneeled and begged for forgiveness was much like mother before father sent her away shortly before she passed." Indra spoke in a low voice as his fists tightened with anger.
"Mother…" Ashura felt a stinging sensation of pain upon the mention of that word.
"He sent her away knowing that her days were numbered. He was and still is a cruel man." Indra grunted in frustration as the blood in him rushed with fury.
"I am sure father felt the same way as her. They loved each other dearly, so there would be no way that they didn't feel the same towards each other. The Elders had always told us that when people were in love they were in sync, whatever one feels the other experiences too." Ashura tried to make light of the situation before Indra's mood turned for the worse. He knew where this was headed, and it was not a desirable situation.
"How could you even say that?!" Indra yelled at the bewildered Ashura.
"She died alone up in that treacherous mountain in bitterness. That man refused a mother her sons and his sons a mother! She was removed from the records and only the Elders who doesn't suffer from dementia remembers her somewhat clearly."
"Father must have his reasons-" Ashura attempted to defend his father's sometimes questionable intentions.
"Of course he does. I just wonder how intense the hatred must have been to make a person want to erase another individual's existence entirely." Indra growled before he walked away from his younger brother to cool down.
Ashura could only be thankful that Indra's anger was somewhat continued this time around. The word "mother" was like a trigger word for Indra. Indra had already ventured into the bad graces of their father. The first time was when he interrupted last year's banquet and had almost ruined a possible and highly desired alliance with the Ryo Clan. The second being his confrontation with the young successor of the Ryo. Then the third finally being how he disobeyed their father's orders on the recent attack situation. Indra could not afford to and must not have another slip-up. It was amazing at how forgiving their father had been with them in this following year.
In regards with the situation mentioned previously, Ashura was too young to remember what had happened and Indra surely must have been too young to fully understand what was happening. He was sure that the Elders stand corrected that their father loved and adored their mother very much and that he must have had his own valid reasons for sending her away.
Sure, it left a vacancy in the brothers' psyche having to grow up without a mother and an often distanced father. But Ashura always remembers how their father tried to make as much time for the two of them as possible given his duties as clan head in an era of warring states. He just wished that Indra would view their father in less of a villainous light.
Ashura believed in the better of all humanity. He believes that even those who seem to be hopeless still had at least an ounce of goodness and retribution left in them. No matter what, there was always salvation. That was Ashura's way of life.
Drama...
It seems that even the founding family of the series had their issues too. Plus being a single dad is never a feat that is easily achieved.
Am I doing well on slowly revealing the plot and mysteries?
So we have another mysterious supporting character along with minor antagonists as well as more light on the whole Lady Miyabi lack of clarity issue. What is next?
Love,
Blissful Illusions~
P.S.
I just want to confirm that by "prime" in age I had meant like the ages between 20 to 26. Also, I gather many of my inspirations on customs and costumes from ancient China's Tang dynasty. So if I don"t say kimono or the correct Japanese term for something, then I am referring to something else most likely drawn from the Tang dynasty. Even though Naruto is Japanese, if you look closely, most character designs are rather multicultural. The designs in clothing for Indra and Ashura could be mistaken for something from ancient China as well. Just an FYI.