All trademarked items in this fanfiction is owned by their respective copyright holders (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio by Ark Performance, etc). The ones owned by me are past and future OCs, plot, and author's thoughts. This fanfiction is made solely for entertainment purposes and not intended for any material gain.

A Capriccio of Winds and Earths

Kobushi 5

"Well then, progress report?" Yamato opened the meeting in the White Room. It was sparsely decorated as always, however a round table dominated the scene.

"Macadam-style roads are in construction in Clegane lands. While procurement of the stone had been a bit delayed, the rocks quarried in Cairngrove are suitable for our purposes," Hyuuga said. "The sweet potato field has borne its first harvest, a sum of a thousand and six hundred kilograms in raw total harvest. A little under Chikyuu baseline, but still a significant sum in itself even after setting aside seeds."

"That's… a whole lot of food," Kirishima commented. "Anything being done for preservation?"

"I've directed the natives to two main preservation avenues, namely making flour and alcohol. Aside from that, I only introduced steaming," Hyuuga said.

"They are starting to make bread with the flour," Haruna said. "Should we try and apply the craft of noodle-making?"

"Sure, try it," Yamato replied to the question. "Anything more from the west?"

"I believe I detected a significant presence of ilmenite in the sediment of the flood-prone Lanbrook section," Hyuuga said. "If we can trace where it originated, we can have an easily mined terrestrial source of titanium."

"That is very nice indeed… so Tival armor is a near-future possibility then?" Yamato asked, leaning to the front.

"Within maybe two years. Reinforced plates for existing armor in one," Hyuuga replied to the question.

"Excellent," Yamato said before turning her attention to Shiomaru. "Shiomaru, how about your journey to The Neck?"

"We are currently encamped in Moat Cailin," Shiomaru reported. "The castle is nominally abandoned, though there is a hamlet of people who maintained what remains of the ruined fort. We arrived earlier than the monthly crannogmen traders, and we have plenty of supplies to wait them out."

"Jon Snow is with you, is it not?" Yamato asked.

"Correct. He was attached to our retinue with hopes of gaining experience or apprenticeship along the way," Shiomaru answered. "We might swing by Stoney Sept and Riverrun to that end, Fleet Flagship."

"Mm, but Jon is well-regarded with Northmen and he could be a key there, no?" Yamato said. "We could offer him an apprenticeship ourselves."

"We could indeed… maybe here in Clegane lands?" Hyuuga offered. "After the road to Lannisport is done I intend to work on the road network around Hondton, also the sweet potato fields need supervision… among others. Skilled supervisors would be quite appreciated."

"I'm not quite sure if Jon would be well-regarded in the North in general, but having the ear of the ruler and at least one heir in The North's line of succession does seem to be worth the effort," Shiomaru opined.

"Then that's for the best. The capital end of our business is still being built, so there isn't much to be done here," Yamato said. "Was he given a lordly education in Winterfell?"

"Yes, but he did show a marked predilection to swordsmanship and martial arts in general," Shiomaru replied to the question.

"Well perfect then, I'm sure Sandor can appreciate a squire," Hyuuga commented. "He's in a bit of a hot water due to his lack of squires and pages, but I guess the life of a landed knight hasn't quite sank in for him."

"Still, try and discern what Jon wants more, a knighthood or an apprenticeship," Yamato suggested. "We can provide avenues to either."

"Yes Fleet Flagship," Hyuuga said, bowing a little.

"Yahagi, how about the moods at court? Would any more donations be forthcoming?" Yamato asked, turning her attention to Yahagi.

"I think no more donations are forthcoming after Lord Sunglass' pledge last month," Yahagi said. "We might as well set out to Eastwatch soon to outrun the Northern efforts."

"The Northern convoy from Winterfell should be at the vicinity of Long Lake at this time," Shiomaru stated her observations. "We can easily outrun them to Eastwatch."

"Perhaps a ten-day journey from King's Landing, accounting for supplies and extra personnel we're transporting from the dungeons. Yoren of The Night's Watch entered the city last week with a few volunteers already in tow," Yahagi said.

"We probably should come and bring presents for Lord Stark's newborn, too. How'd you like to be our courier, Yahagi?" Yamato said, rubbing her chin. "You might also pick up Lord Manderly's pledged men and resources."

"I shall have to ask leave from our king and Hand, but I suspect King Robert would readily agree since it involves his dearest friend," Yahagi said, nodding. "Anyways, I also owe my underlings a ship cruise so that's that."

"Excellent. Try and ask for a leave from King Robert and Lord Arryn, and if you're granted that we'll set sail in three days," Yamato rattled out her command. "We already had the stockpile we earmarked in the warehouse and pulling the deal with the merchants should take no more than two days. Kirishima, you'll be in charge of the capital operations for the duration of my absence."

"Understood Fleet Flagship," Kirishima said.

"Good. Anything else needed addressing?" Yamato said.

"Fleet Flagship, can a swift extraction be arranged for us? If we don't need to find gainful employment for Jon Snow in the Riverlands, we might gain extra time to experiment with sweet potato dishes if we don't have to traverse the region. We could even debut it at Tyrion's wedding," Shiomaru said. "I calculated that an overland trek through the Riverlands might take two months or more, compared to the two weeks max of a sea journey."

"Mm, it's possible, especially if Lord Lannister's mood pushed him to issue the invitations early," Yamato mused. "Any marine points of exit from the Neck?"

"The Fever River opens to Ironman's Bay, but there's also a chance that there's an uncharted river opening towards The Bite," Shiomaru said. "However, exiting The Neck via the Fever River requires us to backtrack from The Neck's depths towards Moat Cailin and that might take extra time. I'll have to ask Lord Reed about the route towards the east."

"Very well, we'll discretely put the hull of Kasumi in the seas east of The Neck and Suzutsuki in the west," Yamato said. "Whichever route you end up taking, you'd be covered."

"Much appreciated, Fleet Flagship," Shiomaru said, nodding her head.

"Well then, we all have our tasks!" Yamato said as she clapped once.

...

"Lady Yamato?" Nymeria Sand asked as she opened the door. "I have your…"

Only soft snoring replied to Nymeria. The foreign lady was asleep on the long sofa that served as a guest seating. Nymeria sighed softly.

"No defense at all…" Nymeria said under her breath. "I'd thought someone of your caliber would be more guarded…"

The Dornish girl peered closer to the head of house after she put her report on the table, putting Yamato's sleeping face to scrutiny.

Nymeria had met a lot of foreigners in her time working in the customs house of Sunspear, mostly those from the Summer Isles and southern Essos. Those from Volantis and Lys tend to have sharp features, fair skin, and slender build, while those from the Summer Isles tend to be muscled, dark, and stout. The occasional Qartheen and Slaver Bay merchants would look like what she'd call a Old Ghiscar look: moderately fair skin tone, jet-black curly hair, and medium height. Yamato and the rest of the Kirino clan were nothing like that.

The unifying theme with the clan seemed to be their build, eyes, and skin tone. They're all seemed to be of a slender build. Even the stoutest of them all, Owari Kirino, was quite a bit less bulky when compared to her disciple from Tarth, Brienne. Their skin tone was also quite light, perhaps just a sliver or two darker than those of the notoriously pale Valemen.

The Kirino's slanted, narrow eyes are perhaps the feature that tied the theme together for Nymeria. All of them had eyes that conform to the shape, even if their eye color ranged from the slate blue-gray of Lady Hamakaze to the warm brown of Lady Kirishima. Nymeria had heard that travelers from Yi Ti has those features, but such travelers are about as common in Sunspear as a plank of newly cured weirwood.

A knock sounded at the door, rudely snapping Nymeria from her musings. She quickly got up and opened it.

"Ah, Meria-kun. Is Yamato-dono available?" the tall form of Owari loomed at the door. "A grain merchant is looking to finalize the deal."

"I'm not sleeping on the job, no, you're mistaken," Yamato's voice said from direction of the sofa.

"She'll be ready in a few minutes," Nymeria said, suppressing a giggle.

"Right. I'll escort him up," Owari replied, smiling.

A/N: A rather quick 'recap' chapter acting on the idea given to me by a regular reviewer. My quarantine continues. Enjoy!