<div class="floatright">(http://i58.tinypic.com/97m96r.jpg)</div><br/>It had finally come.  Her last day as a Lion.  As a Matsu.<br/><br/>Shiori sighs as a servant leads her down the corridors.  Quietly, of course; it would not befit her to display any more.  It seemed entirely fitting how much more difficult the journey had gotten towards the end.  All uphill, making each step seem heavier, even with her long athletic legs.  As they walk, Shiori cannot help but glance from side to side, less at the various courtiers that pass by, and more at the walls of the fortress.  As a Lion, Shiori had both taken strength from her ancestors, and felt them as a weight, their legendary deeds pressing down on her.  Could there be any place in the Empire where that weight would be felt more than in Kyuden Ikoma, where all those deeds were recorded?  Shiori's eyes briefly press closed, shutting it out.<br/><br/>Even among the varied visitors, Shiori does stand out.  She is dressed in Lion colors, in a well-made but practical kimono of an older Matsu style.  The collar is cut wider than is currently in fashion, displaying pale gold flesh, and just a hint of her bountiful cleavage.  As she steps, slowly but purposefully down the corridor, her toned legs can be seen through a slit in the kimono's side, made to allow her freedom of motion, some would say at the expense of propriety.  As a fellow samurai passes, Shiori can almost sense his eyes on her, flicking from one area of exposed skin to the next.  Shiori's elegant chin tilts up, her lovely delicate features cold.  Her eyes, deep brown, but lightly flecked with gold, making them appear almost amber, do not even glance towards him, staying resolutely forward.  Her long black hair tumbles down her back with the motion of her head, spilling down to the curve of her rounded backside, her daisho bouncing lightly on her curving hip as she moves.  She pays the passing samurai no further attention as she walks on.<br/><br/>Just as every journey begins with a single step, so does it end with one.  Shiori enters the small waiting room, her heels coming together, standing at attention, her long legs making her noticeable taller than the two other women she sees in the room.  While she does do her best to keep her gaze forward, Shiori was a scout, and as much Akodo as Matsu, trained to notice.  Her amber-eyed gaze passes over her fellows.  Her eyes pause on the small, curvy Unicorn, flickering from scroll case to daisho, then over to the Scorpion.  Her lips twist ever so slightly, scarcely noticeable.<br/><br/>And then she spots the other Lion.<br/><br/>Shiori's impassive gaze falters, her delicate features softening.  "K... Matsu Keitaro-san."  She says, voice alto, her words stumbling ever so slightly.  Their last meeting had been all too memorable.  Another journey that had grown more difficult with each step.  Shiori blinks, suddenly uncertain.  "It... that is, I hope you have been well."  She says, recovering her equilibrium slightly, bowing as to an equal, her alto voice growing stronger.  Still, her amber eyes are softer than they had been when regarding the two samurai-ko.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">mechanics</div><div class="spoiler_body">Heraldry roll = 11 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=78916)</div></div>