Aachen Rizen Compile - Kenno Matsuri [ In Character ]

[Ehb]

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This is the In Character Thread for Kenno Matsuri.
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[Love]

[fieldbox= Rizen, #00ffa5, solid]

[Month of Renewal, 15th - Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn Down Shrine]

So now the 6 of them stayed behind, with the rest of the party opting to scout ahead. It has been an awkward few minutes after the scouts went off, with the staying half totally silent. No one said anything, just fidgets and gestures.

No surprises though, everyone and their grandma can clearly see that it's an absolute mash of different personalities. Let's take another look at the cast of the staying party.
There's a pair of bodyguard and her slut- I mean, sultry employer, a housewife material, a half-pint boy who looks like a girl, a big guy who calls himself Black, and then there's Rizen.
And talking about Rizen, he himself has not moved an inch from the shrine steps, still half asleep hugging his own body, with occasional winces reflected on his face.

The awkward silence was broken soonthereafter, surprisingly by the slut- I mean, sultry dancer Runara.
She proposed for the staying party to gather resources, perhaps cook even, so that the scouting party can return to a comfortable environment.
While her idea seems simple, it would also serve for the staying party to bond together, look for vantage points, clear the nearby area, and numerous other useful things.

Rizen was about to stand up and volunteer, before seeing something that makes him jump back.
The way Runara asserted her opinion was so vigorous she created a massive up-and-down vertical wave in front of her ribcage.
Obviously Rizen was aroused disturbed with such a sight.

"C-can you not bounce around while talking?!"
shrieked Rizen while his body reactively leaned back, clearly flustered, half blushing, half holding-his-puke-in-his-mouth-with-a-blue-face-and-cold-sweat.

In a few minutes before he regained his composure, Tsubaki stood up and asked the others to contribute on their part, which is mostly guard work. Haruki got a vantage point on the tree while Black guarded the flank, somewhat mumbling to himself.
Utashou however, quipped something that caught Rizen's interest, that she would be cooking for the party. His eyes lit up afterwards with a big grin from ear to ear.

"I guess I'll go get some woods then."
Runara walked towards the south after hearing Haruki's suggestion about the ideal place to gather firewood,
"Some help would be appreciated you know."

For a split second that seems like an eternity, Rizen was stunned. On one hand, should he help Runara with gathering firewood? Surely that is not a job for a lady like her! But alone in the forest with such a slut- I mean, sultry dancer who has weapons of mass destruction installed on her chest? The thought is enough to make him puke upside down.
On the other hand, the faster they can chop them trees, the faster he can indulge himself in Utashou's cooking. A prospect that is for Rizen, a silver lining in all this mess.
That split second came to an end when Rizen jumped from the shrine steps, seemingly rejuvenated, and slowly, carefully approached Runara,

"*cough* W-well...! I'll help you out, miss... Runara! I can also help to forage for edibles from the forest, there should be plenty of mushrooms and fruits around this area.....

---

"B-but high priest, what exactly did you see?! What kind of future lies for this baby?!"​

---

A slight wince again adorned his face. This time however, Rizen shrugged it off with a smile,
"..... and I can use some fresh air, away from the shrine! Helps to cure this woozy head!"

and beamed a big grin at Utashou, pointing out to the excellent cooking skill of the inn worker.
"Also! The faster we can chop them down, the faster we can fill our stomach with big sis Uta's cooking!"

@LowDefinition
@teamshrine[/fieldbox]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[Fieldbox= Rumiko Mitsurugi, #b30000, solid]

Watching the others briefly, Yu Ri handed the bell over without incident, as funny as it may seem the three of them seemed to have their own brands of honor or at least a disinterest in the bell. Regardless of what the case may be, the Miko perks up slightly with mention of the River by Yu Ri.

"Ah yes, it's possible he was shot by the Shang Army. We could test out if the river is the border, but I'm not keen to do that. Either way be careful."

Nodding at Kei, it seemed his suggestion wasn't needed ultimately, or followed as far as she could tell, though it might could serve a purpose now...

"Hmm, do you still want gather water from here? That Elemental shield wall idea of Kei's could still come in handy. Though we should get moving.. We seen no other tracks or disturbances, well that we three could see at least."

Pausing to look at the Fallen man, Rumiko very well couldn't perform proper rites for everyone, it was the War all over again. While a potential enemy this man had clearly not wanted a part in all of this, paying the price of his life in forfeit. Though weren't these actions which shamed the Spirit and the Ancestors, that of a Coward? What was the fool thinking entering in the first place?

"May your soul go to the afterlife or be born again in more peaceful times, a proper prayer will be said for all of the dead when all is said and done. Know that your death was not yet pointless as your bell will fuel the righteousness of others. You were an enemy, but the fact you were left like this just doesn't sit well with me. Even a hated enemy have I prayed for, your battle is now over, nameless one wander not this world and be free."

Taking a paper slip out from her sleeve and touching it to the unknown man's head the Miko releases it to the wind, with as sudden deftness the Miko starts searching the nearby shrubbery before gawking in a surprised gasp. "Oh! Edible Mushrooms!"

@Anyone? @Karyra @Ehb @ripunknowncoward

[/fieldbox]

 

[Karyra]

[fieldbox=Kei Daidouji, #00ffff, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

While the other group retrieved the body Kei sneezed. Allergies, probably.

It had one bell. One bell closer to victory. Out of a willing ignorance of the number they'd all need to get to all win the festival.

Kei sighed at the amount that they no doubt would have to collect sooner or later.

Yu Ri had a theory. "No, why would they ignore the bell? Even if they had the amount needed, having extra in case of emergency isn't a bad idea. Plus, you're just setting adrift a resource for someone else to use. It's more likely Shang soldiers, they don't need bells in any capacity."

He could take the clothing for cloth strips for injuries... Well, if he has to play the bad guy, might as well take the shirt at least.

"I'll take some of his clothing for bandages. No point in wasting resources that we ran across. He won't be using this anytime soon."

He waited for the priestess to finish her rites before pulling out a knife and cutting off the shirt. He packed it away carefully and quickly.

This freaking sucked. When he signed up for all of this, he wasn't expecting to run across a dead body quite so soon. He poked at the bolt in the man carefully, trying to get over his nausea by brute force. Plus the prayers from before weren't helping. Would this man really want Kei to have any bells at all? They never even met this man, and yet here they were seeing the last rites. Ironic and morbid all at the same time.

"Let's move further upriver first. This corpse isn't exactly something I'd want in my drinking water, currently removed or not. There might be the source for the river further on, as well."

@Ehb @RedArmyShogun @ERode @YoScoutCrew
[/fieldbox]

 

[Accelerator]

[fieldbox= Noriko Amagawa, #99ccff, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

Noriko did not mind his suggestion being shot down by the rest of the group. If anything, he had been anticipating other people to pitch in their ideas and perhaps provide a better means of dealing with this situation. Yu Ri the assassin, Yuan the Bandit, and Rumiko the Priestess were all in agreement of a particular method of approach and so were dispatched to investigate the corpse. At the same time, Noriko was checking for any disturbances in the water to prevent anyone from setting up an amphibious ambush.

Once the group returned they were given the all clear and reported their findings to the group. Apparently, the deceased in question was shot not by an ordinary arrow but by a crossbow bolt. And based on the fact that the bell was still there, they had more or less come to the conclusion that this person was shot down by one of the Shang Soldiers patrolling the river. The river itself seems to be acting as some sort of boundary and any who dare cross it were executed by the patrols. Still, the possibility of this being some clever ruse by one of the participants still remain but at the moment, it seemed that the group was not too keen on testing these theories.

"Good work out there you three. We've learned a lot of things because of your efforts and we even managed to score not just some supplies but a bell as well. "

While Rumiko was performing some last rites for the dead, Noriko decided it was time to gather what they originally came here for. He counted the canteens he had on him and fortunately there seems to be enough for everyone in the group. However, Kei expressed his concern about drinking water contaminated by a dead body.

"We really don't need to move that far. This isn't a stagnant body of water so any contaminants that may have infected the water would have been washed away immediately. But if you're still having second thoughts then rest assured that I am perfectly capable of discerning the quality of this water. "

Since the area seemed to be safe for the meantime, Noriko took it upon himself to start the water collection process. Under normal circumstances, he would prefer using minimal effort and doing the collection by hand but the threat of other participants ambushing them as well as the Shang Patrols coming back forced the black haired samurai to do this as quickly as possible. Setting up all 16 canteens by the river bank, Noriko began channeling the power of water around him. The next moment, the group would see multiple tendrils of water rise up from the river. One of the tendrils touched Noriko's palm and after a moment of deliberation, he gave a contented nod towards the tendrils. As if understanding Noriko's intentions, the tendrils begin entering the canteens until all of them were filled with clean, potable drinking water.

After collecting all the canteens, Noriko paused for a second and stared intently at the river. With a single upward motion of his wrist, the tendrils sprang up once again but this time, each were wrapped around decently sized fish. He approached a nearby banana tree, cut off one of its large leaves, and used a portion of it as a container for the fishes he "caught". Normally he would not consider "cheating" when it comes to fishing but desperate times call for desperate measures. The group needed to replenish their energy reserves as soon as possible and a good meal should be a step in the right direction. He'll talk to Rumiko about preparing dinner using these later when they return to camp.

@Ehb
@Karyra
@RedArmyShogun
@Psyker Landshark
@ERode
@Akashi

[/fieldbox]

 

[Akashi]

[fieldbox= Nanami Houhou, #FFFF99]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

After some heap of discussion, the Miko, the little Assassin and Liwei got the answers they needed after investigating the body. While the rest stayed behind and kept an eye out, it seemed like the arrow in the corpse was actually a crossbow bolt. Curiosity caught her mind, listening to what else they had to say.

It seemed like there was something else they had to worry about, other than participants like themselves. The Shang Kingdom. The corpse by the water must've made the wrong mistake. "Was he trying to escape then? From the tournament?" Nanami looked at Rumiko, who mentioned the Shang Kingdom.

Honestly though, she would probably never put this past them. They very well could've been the one behind the bolt in the corpse's chest. A sigh escaped her lips, At the very least, her own opinion on the matter was quickly quenched with their return. There was archer out there. No one waiting for them to loot the body. They had also brought the bell back. "Hmm. Well, at least you guys brought the bell back. Good job."

Nanami was still suspicious of her surrounding after the poison incident from earlier. She never could be too sure what was around them. This way though, she would be prepared for an ambush, or she hoped she would. Noriko had his own say on the matter, while using his ability to manipulate water to fill the bottles.

"We could head upriver but what about the others at the Shrine?" Then there was that. Nanami was more or less wondering what the rest of them thought. Would it not be better to bring the rest from the Shrine? They had done some scouting thus far, but at now, they probably would have to move forward in some manner.

Giving Kei her attention, there was something else she had on her mind. "You're not willing to drink water from the river because of the corpse, but you're willing to cut off his shirt and use it for bandages and for injuries we, or you may sustain in the future? What about an infection?"

"Did you consider that the crossbow bolt could have been poisoned? Tainting the piece of cloth you cut off?" More or less, Nanami was referring to the bolt somehow tainting the shirt if it were poisoned. One could never be too sure with what may or may not have happened to this corpse. Despite the accusations towards the Shang Kingdom. And the fact that someone did not even consider taking the bell off of this corpse.

"Miko, cant you like speak to the spirit too, or something?" Nanami's question may have been silly, but who knew, perhaps Rumiko could do more than just send spirts off peacefully.

@Ehb
@ERode
@RedArmyShogun
@Psyker Landshark
@Accelerator
@Karyra
[/fieldbox]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[Fieldbox= Rumiko Mitsurugi, #b30000, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

As the various interactions unfolded, being addressed or having matters draw her attention well before their short leader could give her own reaction, turning towards Kei, his recommendation was a bit bothersome but sound. The river in her mind was still a dangerous border, one which the scouting team leader was fairly eager to ignore, claiming his magical power could sift the water, bringing canteens with him and some fish, rather impressively by most accounts.

"Ah Impressive. Though I think I would still boil it." (@Accelerator)

Then it was Nanami who was next to speak, nodding her head side to side, Rumiko seemed to disagree with more than a bit of what had been said.

"We have found nothing but one of the forty-eight bells we need. If the river is the boundary then I would doubt the Shang would let us simply follow it out and even if we could, I must stay and fight.. If anything, we need to cover more ground, we are on a time limit, going back and forth and asking all's opinion is well and good, when we have something to say to them.. Otherwise I think communication with them is needed but we have no leads."

Pausing to stare at the woman for a bit, Rumiko wasn't sure how to answer her last question, the only one really directly aimed at her, taking a deep breath it wouldn't hurt to explain

"Yes and no. It takes preparation and Ceremony to speak with the Divine Spirits most times and they are fickle beings, they can give blessings, provided respect is paid..but I'm getting off tract.. If you mean that man's soul, it would have to be lingering here as a specter. Such things will rarely speak to you and should be cleansed outright. Demons of various sorts can even take form around them, resentment being that strong, or they become malevolent forces haunting the living.

A Spirit as you mean it, or rather a Soul, unless they are deeply rooted to the world, even then the ones I do not cleanse outright are just lingering for a last message to be relayed, than for a conversation. This man had no connection to this region and was likely killed by surprise, a peaceful sudden strike. I just made sure he would not linger..

One of the principle jobs of the Kousen sect covers this, but I'll save it for another time."

@Akashi

[[/fieldbox]

 

[Ehb]

[fieldbox=Tsubaha Mori, Red, Solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

"...I don't know."
Tsubaha said plainly to Yu.

As Kei walked past her with the bandages... and before he was promptly lectured by Nanami, Tsubaha noticed something dropped off the rags he had cut.

The small charm made out of feathers. Probably put it on for good luck in this tournament.
Unfortunately for this nameless person, it didn't quite help out.
Maybe they were clueless about how to go about this for an entire week and got really unlucky, caught at the wrong place at the wrong time.

All the care and consideration. Seeing those in the scouting party working away was truly a sight to behold. Scavenging the body, Noriko getting water and fish, the discussion of the implications of finding the body here.A whole lot of it just went over Tsubaha's head.

She hadn't even considered if the bolt had been poisoned. Or getting fish from the river - even if it was plainly obvious as an afterthought.

Why were people asking her to lead, anyway? Noriko and Rumiko seemed to have things together better than she did. Gripping the bell she had caught in her hand from Yu Ri. It felt like a responsibility that she couldn't...
she just couldn't possibly...



Seeing all this, it finally dawned on her. The importance and advantage that they had banding together like this. Weeklong tournament like this. If she had gone out on her own, she might've ended up like the now deceased person being handled by the others. And being picked apart for supplies.

She simply shuddered at the thought. Finally, she turned to Yu once more.

"It looks like Noriko is already getting things going. I don't know exactly what Rumiko means about needing to boil water, but it is true that there is a Shang Encampment up north. Let's just gather up what supplies we need to get through the night. Then, let's try exploring somewhere else tomorrow."

In other words, get situated.
That would mean that they'd go two days with only one bell to their group.

"I'm also worried that the crossbowman might still be around, if we lead them back to the shrine, then it might be bad. I've decided."
"This is the point where I should split us off."

....

"Noriko, I'm going to entrust this one bell to you for now."

Tsubaha suddenly, and rather insistently put the scavenged bell onto Noriko's person. She had this purposeful and rather stubborn looking demeanor about her.

"I'm going to go after the crossbowman that got this person."

Dropping her hand, Noriko immediately noticed... in her other hand. A feather charm. It had a bit of sand on it.

"I believe that that person isn't attacking us right now because of the large group. But, I think that they'll opt to try picking us off now that the know that we're here. We can't lead them back to the shrine. Noriko, I need you to take this and the supplies we gathered back the the shrine. I'm going to take Yuan and Yu with me to track down and eliminate that person."

Just those two, making three of them.
With Tsubaha and the other two with her, they'd almost be enticing enough to take a shot at once they separated.
But, she was also risking Yuan and Yu's lives over it. But, she probably picked those two due to some sort of belief she had in them.

But, was that a good idea? Purposefully doing that, and going after someone like that?

@Accelerator
@ERode
@Psyker Landshark
@_Scouting Party
[/fieldbox]

 

[ERode]

[fieldbox=Yu Ri, #DDA0DD, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

Yu Ri regarded Kei for a moment, her blue eyes neutral.

Then she rolled her eyes, as if deigning the knife thrower as someone not worthy of the words it'd spend to further explain her thought process to, before watching Noriko at work, unconcerned about all the talk about upstream and bodies and religious crap and all. But she didn't miss that movement from Tsubaha, the charm she retrieved from the dead man, one of the baubles that Yuan dismissed.

Welp.

I'm going to take Yuan and Yu with me to track down and eliminate that person.

Then there's that, yes.

The assassin stifled a sigh, tried to imagine the optimistic scenario where they don't end up murdered by a hidden crossbowman, before nodding, shifting to the balls of her feet. Revenge was easy to understand, but it was also cumbersome, dangerous. Stubbornness was just another way to get oneself killed.

So, as casually as before, Yu Ri closed the distance between her and Tsubaha, before flicking the twin swordstress on her big, fat forehead.

"Don't forget your own objective, Tsubaha," Yu Ri said. "And don't be so quick to abandon your duty to the group for a moment's worth of self-righteousness. You're our leader, after all."

Her gaze shifted towards the red stain by the river then towards Noriko.

"Better to leave this type of work to your second-in-command."

@Ehb @Accelerator @Psyker Landshark @scoutingnerds
[/fieldbox]

 

[Psyker Landshark]

[fieldbox= Yuan Liwei, #4dff4d, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of Shrine ]

Yuan whistled, impressed as Noriko made use of his water manipulation abilities to provide the group with fresh water and fish without risk. Creative use of his Force Manipulation, to be sure.

Kei's concerns seemed overblown to him. Considering that the body had been long removed from the river, there wasn't really anything to worry about considering the water was still flowing. Any contaminated water would have been long downstream by now. Which brought up a question: how sheltered was this guy? Were city slickers all this bad outside their walls? Yuan shrugged it off. If he didn't want to drink, not his problem.

Yuan glanced to the side as he heard Tsubaha mention his name. Hunting down whatever crossbowman was around? Finally, some action?

"Chosen to hunt for first blood? If I were pompous, I'd say that's an honor." He grinned at Tsubaha before glancing to Yu Ri. "You want my opinion, if we're being watched, they've already seen us taking orders from Tsubaha. If they're smart, they'll go for her either way. Better to just get it over with."

@Ehb
@ERode
@scouting group
[/fieldbox]

 

[Luma]

[fieldbox=Lan Yiban, #4da6ff, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, "Somewhere" ]

Try as she might, the elusive butterfly evaded Lan's grasp again, and again, and again. At this point, it wasn't even so much about knowing what it felt like, as it was rising to the challenge the butterfly was now posing. It was legitimately kind of aggravating.

Preparing an ambitious lunge forward, Lan's up-facing eyesight was punished as a leaf-covered stick from below caught her foot and caused her to tumble down into the dirt. Her hope sank, as she looked up to find the butterfly nowhere to be seen. And even worse, with the trance-like fascination of the winged creature slowly fading away, another thought came to her mind...

WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE DOING!?

She had a responsibility now. A responsibility to be strong and not get distracted from the goal. If she'd gone much further, there was a good chance the both of them could've gotten lost.

"I'm sorry..." Lan apologized, standing up and dusting herself off. Shaking her head clear, she rejoined her sister, "I thought that would be quick and easy, but..." Lan gave her forehead a facepalm, "...if I get distracted again... just give me a whack or something. It's really important for me to stay focused... and I promise I'll try harder." Lan gave Ran a reassuring smile, grabbing the crossbow from her back and letting it rest in her hand.

"The cute little eyebrow girl was going this way, right...?"

---

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of Shrine ]

Lan walked as quickly as someone could walk without calling it something else, following the only set of footprints that resembled a small army rather than an individual or animal. All the while, she was quietly murmuring thoughts to herself: something she felt comfortable enough doing with none but her sister nearby.

"All you have to do is say 'hello.'"
"Hello and a smile."
"Friendly girl Lan!"
"...but not too friendly, or maybe they'll talk to me a bunch..."
"Just friendly enough to- cough -stay and get a few bells..."

These musings were quickly silenced once Lan picked out another voice from just ahead, and she quickly dived behind the nearby brush for cover. Adjusting herself on the ground with a quiet little rustle, Lan tried to shift herself into a good angle to aim her crossbow, before she realized it was the people she was actually looking for.

Lan sighed. Peeking through the plant matter at the scouting party, she allowed herself a few moments to build up the courage she needed to approach them.

"How do you do it, 'sis...? Being around strangers I mean... you make it look so easy..."

@Skyswimsky

@(Observant people in the Scouting Party)
@Ehb
@ERode
@Psyker Landshark
@Accelerator
@RedArmyShogun
@Akashi
@Karyra[/fieldbox]

 

[Rithas]

[fieldbox= Saburo, #FF00FF, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of Shrine ]

Saburo felt a little guilty for having some morbid curiosity on how the group went about looting the body while discussing the victim's death.

But the mundane talking about such a dark topic was getting ahold of him. So Saburo had himself going off to the side to the edge of the river. Once it had proven that area to be relatively safe of course. Making tiny little whirlpools in the slow running water, Saburo hummed gently as he waited for them to be done.

Turning his head to the side, He could see Noriko farther up the river collecting water. Using his water affinity to effortlessly pull water into the canteens for all of the party. "Huh." Seemingly not pleased with just collecting water. Noriko proceeded to catch fish using Akumagraphy. Saburo eyes lowered back to his small whirlpools. "I could do that." He mumbled under his breath. "The pirate lord just doesn't like those smelly things..."

Standing up from the little edge he was on, Saburo realised his footing wasn't so sure as he thought it was. As the ground underneath him crumbled, he found him and the river getting quite aqquainted with one another.

At least the water was warmer then he thought it would be.

Clawing his way back onto land. The Pirate King stood up for real this time. Stomping his way over to the rest of the group. Causing a squelching noise with every step, He crossed his soaking arms. Grinning in a fashion that gave off the aura of someone who was slowly edging towards the void. "Hohoho~ The water's so nice I thought it fit for a little dip. Alas, the stench of death seems to have sadly not been still in the water. A shame. But it is safe to drink Kei." Saburo declared, while trying to rinse some of the water from his silk sleeves.

His eyes caught the corpse again, and He held in another shudder. Maybe it was foolish of him to believe this quest to collect bells would require no deaths, but he had still hoped. Look how long that had lasted.

But now the group seemed to be dicussing chasing down the fiend who stole the poor man's life.

Just one murderer right? If a few of them were going to get justice. Then surely it would no harm would come to the Pirate King if he went along. It would be dealt with by the others.

What a cowardly way to feel as if he was serving justice.

"I-I req-" Saburo coughed. "I am going to find the killer. I, er, don't care how you guys sort how who want to come along. But I thirst for some blood. Less I get too bored."

The Pirate King sighed gently, "Though I doubt one killer with do it. Then again, just because there was one arrow doesn't mean it's just one person. Really could be any amount of murdering scum..."

He had already signed up for this hadn't he.

Saburo held in the urge to cry.

"I-it'll be easy. We just gotta look out for a person hiding in a bush or something." He pointed a finger towards the tree line while still looking at the group. "Like that person." His finger pointed towards the figure peeping through the vegatation. Obviously hiding from them.

He blinked.

"Huh"


Water surged from his waterlogged clothes. Forming a large ball as it hurtled towards the figure in the bush.

@Ehb @Accelerator @Luma[/fieldbox]

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

[fieldbox=Black Nightingale, #D3D3D3, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn Down Shrine ]
It was a simple gesture, but it didn't go unnoticed as Runara and all her parts bounced away into the forest to collect wood. Unraveling his hand to look down at the beef jerky in it, he sniffed it a bit, before taking chunks out of it. It was a lot of chewing, he'd almost forgotten jerky existed at this point, but man was he glad this girl had some. Runara yelled out for help, but Black pretended as if the air had rushed passed him and looked around for someone else to help. Luckily, Rizen was feeling up to the task and rushed out to help the girl.

"Thanks, guy." Black said with jerky hanging from his mouth and leaning against the shrine.

He watched Rizen and Runara fool around for a bit before his eyes started to feel heavy. He yawned and eventually, without any real attempt to stop himself, fell asleep. He was standing like a statue, it appeared as if he was able to stand upright while like this, but chose to slouch against the wall with his hands over his head. He began to dream.

Dreaming...

It was dark, he couldn't see anything, but a candlelit house in front of him. He just sat there eyeing the house from a tree. The house's exterior was humble, would mislead one into thinking it contained no valuables, but Black's angle showed its true nature. Inside was expertly decorated and littered with the stench of wealth. Casually, Black watched this house from a tree, slumped on its branches sorta like he was on this wall. He just watched.

As he sat there watching he noticed some people in the house, or rather, a person. It was him, but much nicer. He had nice azure robes with fine jewelry and a woman was with him. Obviously, surprised he ran to get a closer look but the tree broke and he fell into an abyss, a void of nothing, he could see the candlelight fading in the background and eventually he hit rock bottom with a thud. He could hear laughter starting up as shadows started to manifest into grainy bodies that he could just barely make out from the background. He fought them all off, eventually, even clearing out the darkness, and finding himself back in front of the cottage. Yet, each time he made a break for it he'd fall into the same trap, no matter what he did.

However, despite this Black stayed asleep. No nightmare would wake him up.
@Love
@LowDefinition
@PeopleAtTehShrine
[/fieldbox]

 

[Skyswimsky]

[fieldbox= Ran Yiban, #4da6ff, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, "Somewhere" ]
Just. What. Exactly. Was Lan doing!? Ran had just told her that- and she...UURRGGGHHH!?! At least, that was what should be supposed to happen. But Ran couldn't find herself getting mad at Lan. Had her little sister always been like that? They were in a serious situation! Not to mention, dangerous. In fact, dangerous enough that Ran wondered why she even tagged along instead of dragging the white-hair back to the shrine! Right. Sisterly love.

BUT! This couldn't go on. Maybe Ran hadn't been serious enough? Not pressing enough? Didn't make Lan realize that this wasn't a camping trip to watch butterflies and catch rhinoceros beetles. How was Ran supposed to tell her thou?

What if Lan wouldn't understand?
What if she'd get mad at Ran?
What... what if they would fight?!
They NEVER fought!

Ran shivered at the mere thought of what could happen if she'd be harsher, too harsh, with Lan. The little girl was too good for this world. She felt, after all, even sad about t-

"I'm sorry..."

It was Lan, not Ran, who actually started the sort-of conversation and interrupted Ran's train of thought. Oh! She started seeing sense. Good. "It's okay! Next time, I'll help you catch one! You were holed up quite a while, no?" No! Stupid. A whack! You are supposed to give Lan a smack! Not encourage her. But how could she ever possibly hit her cute little Lan!? Instead, Ran petted Lan.

Either way, they quickly found their way back, to a degree, as Lan suddenly started speaking about the cute little eyebrow person wandering off somewhere. Did...she say that? There was a possibility but.... Either way, unlike chasing butterflies, the scouting party that Ran was more-or-less unaware of left quite some tracks. Following those, Ran simply assumed they left the shrine without them but....

---

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of Shrine ]
They kept walking, and walking — wasn't there a river or something in that direction? — before coming to a quick halt. Any closer and Ran would have crashed straight into Lan albeit she was a tad behind her. "What's w-" The white-hair wanted to ask as she heard the voices, too, quickly hiding right next to Lan, which was honestly way harder to do with that giant beating stack on her back.

Grabbing a close stone Ran also realized only seconds after that those were her people.

"How I do it?" Ran asked. Honestly, she'd tell Lan to NOT talk with them at all. Some seemed alright, while others were just horrible. Like the pirate scum who would clearly exploit her cute little sister! Maybe, just maybe, it was time to give her one of many life lessons in how to get around others, or something? Ran answered Lan with a smile.

"So, I'd get nervous around a lot of people too. But the secret to that is to treat them like tra- trees. Imagine they're all just trees! Except for the few you're interacting with. Like, remember back then where you wanted to fluff that sl- fox person's ears? Everyone, except her and me, just trees! Trees are the answer. At least, that would be a start. Essentially, why are you so scared in the first place? Fear what others might think about you? It doesn't matter. I know you're awesome. You know yo-" It was in that moment that the Pirate King gave both of them a wet welcome.

"YOU!" Maybe, just maybe, Saburo thought it was Lan but instead it was Ran (for now) who walked out from the bushes into the open. A friendly smile on her face. "Some trees are not be trusted, though." She whispered only for Lan to hear before her smile widened. "That's quite a move you got there! I have one, too!"

With the rock still in her hand, Ran took a form, not unlike a Pitcher, and threw the rock at Saburo! Maybe she missed. Maybe it was on purpose. But the pirate-king could feel the force of the thrown object fly past him into, no, over the river. It was a thrown rock with the force to take out 1 EP bandits! But clearly, not the mighty Pirate Lord.

"Ooops, I think I missed?" She giggled, obviously unaware of the supposed-to-be-danger of the person who killed the now-corpse or maybe just guards that shot him down for attempting to flee.

@Luma
@Rithas
@_OthersInScoutingParty
[/fieldbox]

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[Fieldbox= Rumiko Mitsurugi, #b30000, solid]

"Hunt them down?" Arcing her eyes, it seemed the two volunteered also had thoughts on the matter, with the Assassin being against going at all and Yuan being more neutral, but Tsubaha was embarking down a deadly path.

"Tsubaha..while I understand your feelings, this man was not one of ours. I believe in showing kindness and service to others, you know why I am here...but if you embark on this quest, will you avenge every last person who dies? At what point does it end? I can accept you hunting the person or persons who did this if it is for the stated reason, but is it?"

At the mention of a Shang encampment and question of the water, the Miko nods thoughtfully but soon stammers over her words as if caught by surprise.

"Ah yes it helps to be safe by boiling water to kill impur- I wait?! You knew there is a guard encampment along the river and still are insistent on hunting down this archer?"

Sighing with a shake of her head and shrug of her large shoulders, what Yuan said held true enough. "It would help to know for sure who killed them, but none of us seem to be trackers or investigators, I'm just wary of picking a fight with the Shang Army in this contest.. Plus if whoever it was is in connection to our attackers, they already know where we are."

Watching with a detached stare as the Pirate Lord went on about his thirst for blood, soaking wet, while that set aside the worries on the river being safe, it did raise up other questions, such as why he wasn't shot.. Before she could say anything else the Pirate had soaked up the water from his person and shot it with reckless abandon towards a bush, while she understood needing to kill threats, it was also a good idea to see what the target was.

"I.." And just as suddenly one of the two twins, the all too close ones stood up and threw, or maybe fired a rock with enough force to have killed a person, with her giggle and remark, the Miko had little doubt the girl had in fact missed, it was not an accident or joke. Eyes wide open, the Miko adopts a fighting stance, staring at the pair briefly before relaxing to a more neutral pose.

"With allies like these who needs enemies.." She mumbles allowed, turning her attention back to their Bushy Eye browed enemy.

"Look.. I know what we all agreed to, but can we really afford another day with nothing to show for it? If we are going back we should at least have some sort of plan...also just who is going where in all of this? We already have volunteers all over the place.."

With everyone volunteering or disputing their chosen placements, at the same time depending solely on the youngest one of them just didn't sit well with the priestess. "I'm not expecting anyone to listen to me, but if we go back, I think ruins or the old village might be worth looking into, where I want to look anyways, what's your thoughts Noriko?"

For whatever reason Tsubaha seemed to listen to him. While she agreed the search team needed to split up to do actual searching the fact there group was already showing some signs of infighting was troublesome, the Bandit and Assassin at least had reasons to keep their word, just as the Miko did. If the situation were not so dire it would be comical.

@Ehb @Accelerator @others[/Fieldbox]

 

[Akashi]

[fieldbox= Nanami Houhou, #FFFF99]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

What was happening? One minute they were done looting the dead body, the next? Tsubaha was more than ready to go after the murderer? Lets also not forget that the Pirate Lord himself was soaking wet. It did seem like their leader had picked one or two in the group to join her in her quest to find the person behind the bolt.

Nanami just stood there, her arms folded before her chest, listening to her, Rumiko and the others. As much as she was eager to find something, or someone to cut down with her blade, she had to be smart in their current situation. She was hoping the others would feel the same way. At the very least, some did.

The decision to find the murderer did not sit well with her. There was still much they did not know. Not to mention the Shang Encampment up north. As much as she did not like the Shang Kingdom, Nanami knew that stirring up trouble with them would be to their disadvantage.

Her hand instinctively went for her blade when the supposed Pirate Lord pointed in a certain direction. 'Enemies?' The moment, however, was quick to deny such an outcome. It was one of the twins, and someone who was wet and annoyed. A sigh escaped her lips, giving Saburo a simple look. "Well.. I'm sure her twin would be right behind with another rock." A rhetoric response escaped her lips, though she would not be surprised if another rock was thrown him.

Honestly, despite the new addition to their scouting group, she was not eager to help out in finding the murderer, nor did Tsubaha ask. Nanami was concerned more than anything. "I thought this was all supposed to be about scouting up ahead... Now you're going up against a murderer? It could be more than just one person." Saying something similar to what the Priestess said, she stopped.

There was more for her to say, but the question Rumiko asked Noriko would likely give her some answers. Perhaps he could change Tsubaha's mind. Besides, they had stuck around the river for too long.

@RedArmyShogun
@Accelerator
@Ehb
@Others
[/fieldbox]

 

[Miya]

[fieldbox= Tsubaki Hanejima, lightgreen, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn Down Shrine ]

The surroundings around the abandoned shrine was quiet, aside from some environmental sounds. Too quiet for Tsubaki's taste perhaps, considering that she was now in a battle-prone area. Her left hand remained on her sword, strapped to her left side. The noble remained vigilant as she patrolled the perimeters, her eyes peeled for any sudden movements.

Then, one of the bushes suddenly rustled in front of her. Tsubaki did a surprised cry, before scrambling away and took cover behind a tree. With her hands on her sword, the noble was ready to move in and draw her weapon. As soon as she heard another rustle, Tsubaki immediately moved in, her weapon unsheathed to perform an attack...

... Only to witness a tanuki grabbing a berry from the ground nearby. Tsubaki immediately stopped her attack, and stared while it scurried away from her view. The noble sighed, before sheathing her weapon and continuing her patrol.

However, another tanuki decided to sniff around Black, as if it was trying to find food from him...

@ShiroKiyoshi

[/fieldbox]

 

[Karyra]

[fieldbox=Kei Daidouji, #00ffff, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

Everyone had decent points. The river was running steadily, and the body had been removed... Still, they didn't really know what else was in the river either. They'd probably still have to boil it. Sorry, Noriko. It was better safe than sorry, and Kei wasn't eager to drink more water that would put him out of comission for more time.

"Miss Sword lady... while I am cautious about poison on the arrow, I'll just cut that portion out and throw it away later. Plus, having bandages on hand, dirty or no, will be a nice option to bleeding out. Infection may suck, but having an open and bleeding wound is a more immediate harm. I'd rather cover short term issues first."

The preistess and the sword woman discussed spirits and Kei wandered closer to the tree line, looking for figures across the river. Maybe this was border for the festival? Kei wasn't sure, and ultimately Tsubaha swearing revenge for a person she barely knew.

Kei started to laugh. It was quiet enough at first, but he was doubled over in laughter before long.

"All right, then riddle me this oh so illustrious leader of ours... what makes you think you can even get to this person in the first place? What will you do if it's a guard? What use is revenge for someone you don't know? It's stupid and I'd rather spend our time doing something for the living. This guy won't care if there's revenge for him or not."

That was when the Pirate King went over the edge of the river and ended up soaking wet.

Kei suppressed his annoyance at yet another person reassuring that the water was safe to drink. He wasn't an idiot who needed to be told that this many times. Why was he even still with this group?

Then in a moment of competence to make up for falling into the river Saburo found... Ran. Kei held onto the five knives he'd gotten out as the rock sailed past his head. The idiot would have been killed by sneaking around and separating from the group.

"Holy crap are you all idiots? We've stood around discussing stupid things and all we've managed to do for our scouting party is claim revenge for some random guy, soak an ally because said ally decided to split from the group without telling anyone, and catch a bunch of fish!" Kei yelled. "That's it. I'm going back to the shrine, then going out to scout with someone from there. You guys have fun fishing and telling each other to drink strange water without questioning it, because I have better things to do with my time!"

He threw up his hands and started walking back the way that group had come. Splitting off was stupid, and yes he had just condemned doing such, but he was done with such a large group trying to accomplish something important, but apparently would just prefer standing in a circle discussing random, pointless drivel. He didn't have time or patience for people in his way. He had something he needed to accomplish, and he didn't have time to wait for anyone else.

@Akashi @Ehb @YoScoutCrew
[/fieldbox]

 

[Asuras]

[fieldbox=Utashou Hokoa, #fac9e9, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn Down Shrine ]

Utashou set up the pot set swiftly, digging the three bamboo struts into the dirt and tying a hempen string around them so as to form a tripod. The metal hooks hung from the struts at the center, under which she had begun to dig a small hole for the fire pit. From her own pouch, she poured in a bit of water, enough to cover two inches of the pot, despite the amount being a good percent of her total water. For the time being, it was unimportant; a passing consideration that others would share their own water with her later dissuaded any worries. If no one was keen on helping her out, even as she cooked for them, well... Then they'd just miss out from then on.

With the work that could be done now done, Utashou could only wait for the kindling materials she'd asked for. With everyone so eager to help, the spearwoman couldn't help but smile. Though she had the moment to speak, it had appeared everyone was elsewhere, carrying out their own duties. With no one to speak to, she searched for something to do in the meantime. Utashou stood up from her kneeling position and returned to her bagged belongings.

As her hand reached for the bag where she had stored some cooking materials, she hesitated. Even if the bells were their only significant targets, food was always something worth snatching up. Utashou bit her lip and drew in a deep breath. The bag looked smaller than she'd last remembered, but a twang of hope persisted. Hurriedly, she pulled open the bags to find...

Well... there was something left, at least. Utashou let out an audible sigh. Most of the foodstuff were gone, but the gods, perhaps, smiled somewhat favorably. A few heads of veggies were left, along with a jar of some thick sauce. Perhaps the thieves didn't want to take chances with what was inside, or it looked too unappetizing. Perhaps they simply didn't want the weight. Still, all of the salted meats were gone, along with the two packages of spices she'd carried, indeed the most valuable food materials she had.

Dinner, it appeared, would be light, and not particularly diverse.

With only a simple soup at her disposal, dinner would be quick to make but less exciting than she'd hoped for; a pleasant meal with everyone would surely lift moods and bring them closer together, but alas... Utashou brought the bag back to the yet-unkindled firepit and sat down once again, awaiting the wood.

[/fieldbox]

@ShrineClub

 

[Ehb]

[fieldbox=Tsubaha Mori, Red, Solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

Kei storming off, and his rant pretty much summed up everything entirely. After all the work that she had put in order to get these people to follow her. She was somewhat regretting it.

What was she to do with all of them?

The disorganization was so agonizing that... it almost seemed like it would be a good idea to just stage a pitched attack on the Shang Camp if it just meant thinning their numbers. But, even for these people, most of whom were criminal, that unthinkable of a thing to do - betraying them like that.

Some of them were appealing to Noriko for guidance. That was a reasonable thing to do. After all, he at least looked like he knew what to do moving forward.

But, more than anything else, this little farce by the river had to come to and end. Just being there they were going to attract attention.

"....Fine. For the time being, let's let the question of who took out this person here to the side. We'll need to get back to the camp with these supplies we've foraged and act on what we want to do for the rest of this festival."

...

"I'm going to head back to camp. Everyone else, do what you see fit."

---

"...And they're off."
"Going to lead us right to them, then? Very convenient."

---

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Midday / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, West of the Shrine ]

"W-we surrender!"
"Please don't hurt us!"

The fighter and the swordsman begged for their lives before the little girl. More specifically, the many varied and scary looking people festering behind the little girl like wolves. At least in their vision.

Tsubaha accepted the two bells they offered.

"As promised. We won't chase after you."

They ran. Off into the forest as if being chased by a banshee.

"WE WON'T FORGET THIIIIIIS!!!!"

Tsubaha turned back to the others of the scounting squad.

"They surrendered as soon as they saw all of us. Well, we have two more bells but I don't feel all that proud about it either."

[/fieldbox]


[fieldbox=Tsubaha Mori, Red, Solid]
[ Month of Renewal 15th, Evening / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn-Down Shrine ]

Tsubaha stared at the makeshift map of the area, and the names (or psuedoms that people went by) scribbled in the dirt. Along with a couple of bowls and scraps as well as foraged items, the food situation looked fine, at least for tonight. Even with the paltry an basic things they scavenged, one of the members of the team seemed to be very excellent with cooking. It wasn't the food from home, but it was still impressive given what simple things they had on hand.

What the person did cooking was impressive indeed.
As for Tsubaha, the supposed leader, however...

All they had to show for these couple of days was just the three bells, sitting on the map. One looted off a corpse, and another taken from a pair who were hopelessly outnumbered by her entourage returning from the river. Just five days left...

Tsubaha poked one of the bells, the bearing inside made the bell jingle a little.

It was a surprise no one else was drawn to their shrine. Considering the numbers. But, that was about to come to an end.




A commotion outside.
Everyone rushed to the call of someone who was approaching their base, the run-down temple.
Her brazen and casual walk up to that occupied building was only stopped after it's inhabitants circled around her.

"Ah... there's quite an amount of people you have gathered here. I'm really impressed."

A girl, surrounded. A single girl. Despite being vastly outnumbered, no one dared attack, however. Tsubaha, rusing out from the temple, immediately recognized the person. The hair, that peculiar sidetail... and the sword. Seeing Tsubaha, the intruder unfazed at her apparent disadvantage, waved modestly to this mob's so-called ringleader.

"Hi Tsubaha."
"...Tsukaha."
"I see you've made many, many friends with people of very questionable backgrounds to say the least, little sister."

This was Tsukaha Xu? The famed swordstress from the Wushu School?
A couple of awkward glances came from the crowd surrounding the girl.

"You do know this little arrangement you all have going on here isn't something that can be allowed to last. Considering none of them have any bells, they shouldn't even be here anymore. You losers remember these?" Tsukah held out her hand. From her fingers, a clamor of bells hollowly binged and bumped into one another, all clumped into each other as they hung off her hand.. "You need at least one of these things in order to even allowed here after all. Once you lose it, you've lost. Which means you leave. Or at least that's how it's supposed work."

The bells that Tsukaha had on her person now, however, was almost enough, maybe even more than what they originally had, altogether. From the way Tsukaha spoke, it sounded like she wasn't aware of what had happened to them, being poisoned and having their bells stolen. The amount of people she would've had to have defeated in order to get that many...

"A couple poor souls told me they got ambushed by a whole band of you. I'm surprised that the whole lot of you don't seem to have many bells at all, despite being such a large force."

To someone who could count all of them... some 19 different people had lost their bells to Tsukaha Xu in these past two days of the tournament. That immediate realization was enough to keep anyone from making any impulsive moves, over the danger of this girl counterattacking.

"In my hand here I've got about enough bells to ensure whoever wins it won't want for anything. You people wanna see if you can get these off me fair and square?"

@_Everyone's back together! Time for plot!
[/fieldbox]

 

[LowDefinition]

[fieldbox=Runara Blazeheart, #ffa64d, solid]

[ Month of Renewal 15th, Evening / Jiaojing Province, Maolan Forest, Worn-Down Shrine ]


Along with Rizen, Runara head to find some wood necessary to make campfire for the group to cook and relax with. Runara pointed out some parts of the wood that is easy to chop. With Rizen chopping and carrying most of the wood, though Runara did carry some on her own as well.And thus, they returned to the shrine with enough firewood to last a whole night or two. And Runara would continue to help Utashou in prepping food.

. . .

Certainly, the food was simple. It was the best they could do with what remains of their supplies. Even though it was simple, it was something that almost felt like home...

After dinner, Runara climbed up to the roof of the shrine. Looking up at the sky, wondering what comes next. This day they got 3 bells, a small step, she wondered if the group could get enough bells for everyone at the end of the festival. And then...

Tap
Tap
Tap...

Steps could be heard approaching the worn down shrine, though it seems to be just one person approaching. Runara jumped down of the roof and walk approaching this one person. She kept her distance, not attacking this female person that approached the shrine.

And soon enough, everyone surrounded the stranger. No one dared to attack, one could tell a strong aura emanating from this stranger. And then Tsubaha made a conversation with the stranger. It was revealed that the stranger is Tsukaha Xu, a famed swordstress from the Wushu school.

"You... do realize that not everyone joining this tournament is a goody two shoes right?" Runara spoke, stepping forward from the circle, approaching the strangers. She took out one of her blades and twirls it around as she circles Tsukaha.

"We technically never lost our bells according to the actual rules. After all, one takes the bell if they bested another in combat... no?" Runara turned another question to Tsukaha. Everyone here doesn't lose their bells in combat, it was what Runara tried to convey to Tsukaha.

"Since you're offering a fair match, I guess you're one of those people that is actually good and have a nice sportmanship, unlike some people that participated here..." Runara then took another step closer towards Tsukaha. And then...

Swooo---sh...

Runara swung her sword towards Tsukaha, only to stop midway. Runara then held her back in pain.

"Ow.... You know what, nevermind that challenge. My back hurts after all that logging." She said as she retreated back to the circle.

@_EveryonelookRunaraisdoingsomethingstupid

[/fieldbox]