"Ah, Ananias, how glad I am to see you!" Tan'bay cried heartily, raising one hand to further gain his crimson companion's attention and fanning himself regally with his own, personal, Chon'sin styled hand fan. Once Ananias stopped and turned to properly give the young, time-hopping prince the attention he desired, Tan'bay ardently slapped a hand onto one of Ananias' shoulders and gave it an amiable and enthusiastic shake. "Just the man whom with I wished to speak to!" Before Ananias could say anything in response to such a statement, Tan'bay wrapped an arm around Ananias' shoulders and pulled him in, earning him a small, surprised yelp from his usually emotionless comrade. "For you see, I have a special proposition for you! No doubt one unlike any other you have ever had, or are going to have, in your entire life!"
Ananias gently, but firmly, released himself from Tan'bay's grasp and casually dusted himself off a bit before frankly and emotionlessly asking, "Does it have anything to do with anything Chon'sin related?" Though quite frankly, since this was Tan'bay he was talking to, he probably should have saved his breath and frankly shouldn't have asked in the first place.
Tan'bay smiled widely from his friend's response, closing his hand fan with a flick of his wrist and pointing it delightfully at Ananias. "You are as sharp as always my friend!" he cried. "Which is exactly why I have decided to offer this unique proposition to you and to you alone!"
Ananias cocked an eyebrow in surprise and impressed by just how much his friend was hyping this supposed proposition up. Sure, whenever it was Tan'bay, whenever something even remotely related to Chon'sin entered into a conversation, he would promote the said "something" to the heavens and back, but to have him mention that whatever proposition he was offering to Ananias was solely exclusive to him was something a bit unheard of. Usually Tan'bay would be more than willing to share all of Chon'sin's genius and treasures with everyone within sharing distance, so whatever Tan'bay was offering him must have some semblance of importance or grandeur. Either that, or Ananias was simply getting his hopes up over nothing. Ananias crossed his arms solemnly, mentally preparing himself for whatever pitfall, disappointment, or responsibility Tan'bay was going to bestow upon him. "Well, what is it then?" Ananias asked cautiously.
Tan'bay smiled smugly as he opened up his hand fan with a flick of his wrist and haughtily fanned himself a bit before answering, "Ananias, my dear and loyal friend," he began dramatically, "I am here to offer you a position, a position that no one other than Chon'sin royalty could honor you with."
A dramatic pause came between the two of them, causing Ananias to heave an exasperated sigh and flatly ask, "Which is?"
Tan'bay stretched his arms out wide before dramatically answering, "As prince of Chon'sin, I, Tan'bay, wish for you, Ananias, to become my personal samurai!"
An awkward pause came between the two of them before Ananias raised an eyebrow in confusion and asked, "You want me to be a what now?"
Tan'bay let out a gasp of surprise before quickly recomposing himself, letting out a hearty chuckle, wrapping his arm around Ananias' shoulder once more, and saying, "But of course! How could one outside of Chon'sin possibly know what a samurai warrior was?" He wagged his index finger knowingly at Ananias. "Chon'sin is very good at keeping secrets," he said matter-of-factly.
Ananias heaved out a heavy sigh before saying, "Well then why don't you tell me what this 'samurai warrior' is then? Can't expect me to be honored by the honor if I don't know what the honor I'm being honored with means in the first place, right?"
"Of course, of course." Tan'bay cleared his throat before explaining, "Well, in layman's terms, a samurai warrior accompanies and protects those of nobility."
Ananias contemplated over Tan'bay's simple explanation for a moment before innocently asking, "So… samurai warriors are basically like the Chon'sin version of knights than, right?"
Tan'bay let out a horrified gasp upon hearing his friend's ignorant comparison. "No!" he cried, shaking his head at Ananias in disgust. "Absolutely not!" He then closed his fan and gave Ananias a soft whack on the head with it, which Ananias barely reacted to. "For shame! Chon'sin samurai warriors outrank mere knights in every possible, conceivable way!" He opened his hand fan, fanning himself off as he shook his head at Ananias' audacity. "'Samurai warriors are basically like the Chon'sin version of knights'," he repeated with disgust. "Chon'sin samurai warriors are far more sophisticated and skilled than any knight could ever be!"
"Really?" Ananias asked. "Why's that?"
Upon hearing that his friend was interested to learn more about Chon'sin's great warriors, Tan'bay's anger quelled a bit. Yes, this was one of the reasons why Tan'bay had decided to offer Ananias to become his own, personal samurai. Being disciplined and possessing the will and desire to learn were just two of the qualities that made up such an honorable warrior. In due time, and under Tan'bay's tutelage, Ananias would come to possess the other qualities, and upon possessing such qualities, Ananias would be forever grateful to his friend for granting him such an honor.
Tan'bay took a deep breath to compose himself before calmly answering, "Well, for starters, samurai warriors follow a code of honor known as bushido."
Ananias gave his friend a funny look (or, at least, as funny as a look as Ananias could muster). "A code of honor?" he repeated monotonously. "No offense, but that sounds a lot like chivalry."
"No!" Tan'bay whined, slapping his closed fan against the palm of his hand angrily. "Bushido and chivalry are completely different!"
Ananias leaned back warily as he raised his hands up in an attempt to calm the sword master down. "Well, no offense, but at face value, they sound a bit alike, that's all I'm saying."
"Hmph," Tan'bay fumed, opening up his fan and fanning himself off in an attempt to cool himself down from his admittedly embarrassing outburst. "It seems to me that knights have been copying the obviously superior ways of the Chon'sin samurai warriors for years now," he grumbled. "A heinous and despicable crime deserving of death if I had any say in it."
Ananias simply shrugged, and said, "If that's what you feel, then sure, why not? But if you ask me, even if knights DID take all of their inspiration from Chon'sin samurai warriors, if they did a lot of good with it, then who care, you know? Everybody wins in some way, yeah?"
After a few moments of looking away and folding his arms stubbornly, the Chon'sin sword master eventually relented to his comrade's sense, letting out a defeated sigh before saying, "And this," he smiled, "is why I have chosen you to become my samurai warrior. Bear in mind, you still have much to learn in the ways of the samurai, and you would most likely not be able to match up to the proud samurai of the past, but, in due time, I have absolute confidence that you will be heralded as a respectable samurai of your own right. So what do you say my friend?" He extended his hand out for Ananias to shake. "Will you accept this honor that is so rarely ever given to those foreign to Chon'sin?"
"That depends," Ananias said. "Will I be still allowed to perform my old responsibilities alongside my new ones?"
Tan'bay frowned before giving Ananias a small, though hesitant, nod. "Yes, I do not see why not. You are not originally from Chon'sin, after all. It would only make sense that the rules be stretched a bit for this particular case."
"Good," Ananias said as he was beginning to back away from him. "Because it's my turn to cook dinner today, and I'm already late, so…." He then turned around and rushed to perform his chore.
Tan'bay sighed, fanning himself with his hand fan as he watched the newly inducted samurai take his leave. "Though I'd prefer it if you set aside your old responsibilities for your new ones," Tan'bay murmured to himself, shaking his head disapprovingly. "A man who is stretched too thin can only end up ripping himself apart, after all."
Author's Note: So, what do you guys think of Tan'bay so far? I'd like to hear your first impressions of him. Leave a review and tell me what you think of him so far.
