Private Mist at First Light

[Niijima Izumi]

The hour before sunrise belonged to ghosts.

Mist curled through the narrow streets of Jar’kai, soft and silver in the dim light. Roof tiles glistened with dew, and paper lanterns still burned low from the night before, their glow flickering in the breeze. The city hadn’t yet woken, only the quiet rush of the river and the drip of rain from the eaves filled the silence.

Niijima Izumi moved through it with calm, unhurried steps. Her geta clicked softly against the stone, steady and measured. She wore a travel-worn indigo kimono, the edges darkened slightly by the damp. Beneath its folds rested the twin blades of her daishō, one long, one short, hidden from sight but close enough to draw if needed.

No one looking at her would have guessed where she’d spent the night. The white powder, the painted lips, the graceful poise of the geisha, all of it had been washed away hours ago. Her face was bare now, her hair tied loosely, and her expression unreadable. Only her eyes showed the fatigue she carried, the quiet kind that sank deeper than sleep.

She had been walking for a while, cutting through empty alleys and silent streets, until she found it; an old ryokan tucked between two narrow lanes.

A wooden sign hung from a beam, swaying gently in the wind. Faded lanterns glowed above the doorway, casting soft amber light across the entrance. The noren curtains were marked with a single white character “rest”; its ink cracked from years of weather.

Izumi stopped at the threshold, letting her eyes take in the scene. A stone basin sat nearby, water dripping rhythmically from a bamboo spout. The air smelled of cedar and rain. She slid the door open.

Inside was stillness.

The floor was laid with smooth tatami, cool beneath her feet as she stepped out of her sandals and placed them neatly by the door. Paper shōji screens glowed faintly in the lantern light, blurring the outlines of the rooms beyond. Somewhere deeper inside, she heard the soft sweep of a broom.

The innkeeper appeared soon after, an older woman, small and quiet, with kind eyes and careful hands. Izumi bowed politely and asked for a room, her voice low. The woman nodded, no questions asked. Travelers came and went at strange hours in Jar’kai. Some preferred to remain unseen.

The room she was given was simple. A futon laid neatly on the tatami. A folded blanket. A single lantern hanging from the beam, its paper trembling in the faint draft. A clay cup sat on a low table, steam curling from the tea the innkeeper had left for her.
​

 

[Junko Ike]

Niijima Izumi

The sounds of Jar'Kai were always something wonderful. The kazue stone streets, the jade paneling and glass on the buildings. Designed to give a traditional yet sophisticated design. The large mountain spire the city sat on with its high walls was beautiful but the expansion districts across the bridge was her destination. The attack had been something and Miyoung had developed a reverse entrophy field they would be able to use. The massive expansion bridge under foot was beautifully repaired. Guards on the sides of the large bridge allowing heavy traffic as the citizens stirring in the morning were going to their various jobs. Atrisia itself had many reforms and there were many more going as she approached the large gates.

The thick doors were opened for the people moving in the morning and the near silent movement of the train as it moved under the bridge. The high speed rail lines of the smart roads connected areas of the city to the outer villages, towns, walls and beyond that they went to the other cities. Working to develop many of the areas of the city as she walked through. her handmaidens were limited only two following with her here. Miyoung waving to a few while she had her jaade robes on and twin makie drones. THey had been distributing across the cities now the newest things. New defenses and offensive measures but also kits for the buildings to just solidify the work that they had been doing. The strreets of the expansion wards were beautiful and the waterways gleamed.

Channels carved in the kazue stone with it changing the depth in some places where they had parks built that others would sit in. Citizens of the Commonwealth moving around as some had children and some had the more beautiful works being done. "Princess." There were voices as some of the people were there. Offering praise and fruit. Homegrown as the newest self sustaining modules were made to give them all their own gardens and farms. The morning scents of early foods were amazing as always. She moved over and embraced them. "It looks better, I know the rebuilding efforts have been... different." A small smile was on her face as the woman spoke. The blue veins visible for a moment but she thought about it. "A little but the city stood and we defended ourselves much better."

There were trade off and the woman finished with a look. "The older districts I know have been working on things. THey are repaneling the buildings. If you are going to do anything here they would likely love to see you." Junko gave a nod of her head to that as she spoke. "Well we have someplace we could go instead of wandering around aimlessly." Junko said it with a smile on her face while she walked. The fruit trees dropping as they were being collected by the droids. The stone streets leading the way through carefully carved and crafted streets. Designed for security and fighting that always came when the walls of the districts themselves were coming up. She could see them and the wards were beautiful as each one served a purpose.

"Welcome princess." The Royal army guards were there with the yovshin as they are patrolling and aiding where needed. The Imperial palace was still protected. Chitai and the areas between it and the various cities allowed the emperor and empress to be safe. The planetary power grid served them well enough before she entered the street of shops. Inns and springs. Carefully cultivated as the pumps brought the water up from the underwater channels and sea below. The geothermal vents were channeled allowing the water to be heated while she walked. The Lady Wisteria had a tea shop out here but she was looking at several of the buildings as the jade wood was being put over the kazue stone with the kitsugi weave under it for reinforcement in the event of an attack.

She stepped into the ryokan as she looked in. The byo screens were there when she entered with a smile on her face for them. "Princess." The woman said it when she was coming in leading the way towards an area behind several of the screens. THe cushions there so she could sit at a table behind the screens with a small look around.

 

[Niijima Izumi]

The ryokan had been quiet, the kind of stillness that felt earned after a long night. The rain had eased, leaving behind the faint scent of cedar and wet stone, and Izumi had almost drifted toward rest when new sounds reached her ears.

Footsteps. Soft, deliberate. Voices kept low, measured. Not the weary shuffle of travelers but something more practiced, accompanied by the quiet rustle of silk.

Izumi sat up, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. Her hand found the shorter of her two blades, fingertips resting lightly against the sheath, not in threat, just instinct. When she had been certain her pulse was calm, she rose and slid open the shōji.

A small procession moved through the hall, a woman in jade robes at the center, her bearing serene and certain, flanked by two attendants who carried themselves with quiet precision. They were not merchants. Not pilgrims either. People of station, perhaps. But Izumi had learned not to ask.

Curiosity was a dangerous habit in her line of work.

She stepped aside from her doorway, bowing low enough for courtesy but not presumption. "Good morning," she said softly, her voice smooth but subdued. "You've come early, the ryokan's halls are rarely this alive at dawn."

Her eyes flicked briefly toward the innkeeper, who hurried to greet the group, fussing over the jade-robed woman with a respect that spoke volumes. Izumi didn't linger on it. Titles, power, family lines, those belonged to another world. She was only passing through it.

She straightened again, offering a faint smile. "The air outside's still cool. The mist hasn't burned off yet, it's a good time to arrive."

Her tone carried the unspoken rhythm of a geisha's grace: careful, measured, offering welcome without intrusion.

"If you've traveled far," she added, "the tea here is worth your time. The water comes straight from the springs below. Clear and steady, like the morning."

She gave a small, polite nod and stepped back toward her room, intending to let them pass. Still, her gaze lingered a moment on the woman's poise; the calm in her movements, the quiet authority that filled the space around her without a single word.

Izumi didn't know her name. She didn't need to.

In her world, faces like that came and went, nobles, envoys, officials, people who lived by command. She, by contrast, lived by silence.

As she turned back toward her room, she murmured just loud enough to be heard, her tone warm but distant:

"If you seek calm, this ryokan keeps it well. Few places in Jar'kai do."

Then she bowed once more, the perfect balance of respect and withdrawal, before sliding the shōji closed, letting the paper door's gentle sound fold the silence back into place.
​

 

[Junko Ike]

Niijima Izumi

The walk though was beautiful and the guest was interesting. Junko stood there and listened to her as she was speaking. Giving her as much information as she could with a small suppressed humor. The jedi princess nodded her head while she was listening intently. THen the woman was walking away and she continued going forward with a grin on her face. "That was interesting." Miyoung said it as she was looking at the princess in the room. "I want to be serious and tell her but at the same time... kind of refreshing." Junko gave her a look when she was continuing to a place to sit. The table laid out with food that was being brought to her.

"Delicious as always." The dishes were benefitted from the resource production stations in the various buildings. THey had developed the self sustaining systems and moved Atrisia with the Commonwealth into post scarcity. The attack only served to showed them what they needed to work on more and they had some new technologies for just that. Junko sat there are teas were brought out. The red, white, black, yellow and greens were the most popular but they had from the colonies the kyberite sugar that could be added as Miyoung ground it with a small device. To sprinkle within the tea.

"Delicious as always." The owner coming there while she smiled at her. "Always nice to see a friendly face." Junko said it while lounging on cushions for a moment. The small cup of tea in her hand while Miyoung found a place to sit with a smile. Adjusting her glasses while the kirano interface overlaid it. Beautifully seated behind the screens while there were a few other guests who came into the dining area. Finding a place to sit while offering compliments. "Princess you honor us with your beauty." The practice something done as the screen allowed them not to see but just hear each other and the words.