<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Keitaro.jpg)</div>Keitaro carried his pack awkwardly on one shoulder - evidently he intended to change before they left. He paused for a moment at Liang's question. "Let's carry ten days' worth of rice. That's a compromise between being self-sufficient and over-prepared. I'll meet you all at the gate."<br/><br/>He ducked into a side room to change, divesting himself of his courtly Lion kimono for the last time. He briefly found himself overwhelmed with sorrow and regret, at abandoning the line of his ancestors that stretched all the way back to Matsu the Thunder. But he was not abandoning them, he was moving on to something new, and pursuing a new duty, by the word of the Emperor, no less. He had not been cast out of his family, and his parents were still his parents, and he would still offer incense at the shrines of Akodo and the revered Lion ancestors.<br/><br/>In fact, now was the time to do that. He shrugged into his travelling kimono, a sturdy brown garment with some yellow flourishes, and set out for one of the shrines within the castle. There he knelt and burnt a stick of incense as he prayed to Akodo and Matsu, thanking them for their guidance in his life as a Lion, and asking for their blessing in his new path.<br/><br/>Having performed his last duty to his clan, he folded his courtly kimono neatly and placed it in a storeroom on his way out of the castle. No doubt some servant would find it, and it would eventually find its way into the wardrobe of a samurai who needed it.<br/><br/>Soon, he was striding forth towards the gate, with his daisho at his left hip and tessen at his right, clad in heavy armour lacquered in yellow. His bow was slung across his back alongside his travelling pack, which was now quite light, waiting to be laden with supplies for the journey. He bowed to Shiori, Maseko and Liang, casting his experienced military eye over their travelling accoutrements. Shiori showed him no surprises, and he gave her a polite nod of approval, from one experienced soldier to another. Likewise, Liang presented himself as a straightforward bushi, and he nodded to him as well.<br/><br/>Maseko was another matter, and it took two or three glances for him to take in her appearance completely. His gaze flicked between the red sash, the harem pants in almost a gaijin style, the spiked tetsubo over her shoulder, and - despite his best efforts - the cut of her vest. After a moment, he realised he was staring, and bowed to her in apology. "Maseko-san. You are... well-prepared to travel, then?" His gaze came to rest on the tetsubo as the most outlandish part of her appearance, and he seemed surprised that she could carry it so easily.