Lore: Enter the feminine looking man

[Soran Nightblade]

Thread started by Kyosuke on August 17th, 2004.

Kyosuke:

A femine looking person approaches the outskirts of town. Kyosuke turns his head from side to side, looking at the scenery around him. He smiles seeing a small, cute dog running out of the town and yipping along the way. The smile quickly dies as the dog runs into the feet of a pirate who growls at the dog.

"'ey mates! This lil dog thinks it can leave town without being in our bellies! What do you think about that?" the pirate the dog ran into says.

Smiling or licking their lips, the others quickly show agreement to the idea. Only to have Kyosuke approach them.

Still looking highly cheerful, the ronin says, "I don't think the dog approves very much of the idea sirs. Maybe you should find a different source of food other than small animals that are often kept as pets." His voice, in addition to his looks, seem somewhat femine and lack the deepness an adult male normally has.

The first pirate, most likely the leader of the group, says, "Aye, maybe we should. After all, we have you now girlie!"

Kyosuke shifts his eyes from side to side, seeing the rest of the pirates approach him from all sides. There are about 5 men other than the pirate, in a stance that oddly looked like a predator ready to pounce their prey.

"Oh, you wouldn't want to do that! I'm all skin and bones!" Kyosuke cheerfully continues.

"Ah, that's okay," another pirate says.

"We can find another use for you!" a third one yells before all of them dogpiled on the poor ronin.

"Say," responded Kyosuke, muffled under the pile of bodies. "You boys do know that I'm a guy right?"

"WHAT!?" the surprised pirates yelled, all of them freezing in shock.

The pause in action gave the ronin enough time to squirm his way free, dog in hand, and run off at full speed crossing quite a distance in very little time.

Emora:

Shinobu was making her usual rounds at her usual time of the week, making sure everything was going well. She pulled her horse, which had been in a good gallop to a halt and quickly dismounted. Her usual followers who stayed with her for her own good dismounted along with her. Shinobu loved riding, the wind in her face and blowing her hair and clothing made her feel like she was flying and she was free.

Her long hair was down today... although it hadn't been when she left, but it was now. She wore a bright yellow Kimono jacket and white trousers with her sandals. At her waist was a Katana.

She looked around for a moment and took interest in some proceedings that were going on with a... well she thought it was a girl at first glace, but she knew by the way he held himself that it wasn't a girl... She smiled; they were so loud she could hear almost all of there conversation...

Well, he saved the dog... but he wouldn't get far, she figured and was right. Even though he had made it a good distance away... he must have forgot that pirates have friends and almost every one who was in the "bad" crowed was a friend around here.

One of the pirates managed to catch the slender boy by the back of his outfit. This is when she decided enough was enough, though she had planned on stopping it before this... but the boy had made a good escape at first.

Before the man could actually do any damage she and her loyal followers, two very large men, made it there. "I..." she said and he froze for a moment as she looked directly at him. "Would not do that if I were you..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke had ran through the town, avoiding stray barrels and hopping over other obstructions when he felt a hand grab the back of his clothing and pull him to a stop.

"Gah!" was the noise that came out of the ronin's mouth as he was pulled to an immediate stop. He suddenly felt his feet attempt to run in midair as he was lifted off of them and was turned around to face a man much larger than he was. "Um... thanks for not lifting me by my ponytail, sir," Kyosuke said nervously, his smile twitching slightly at the edges out of nervousness. He was now hugging the dog to his chest in an a way many children would hug a stuffed animal.

"Aye, well. Ye'll be a nice gift for the boss laddie," he likes young boys like ye." He froze as a female voice came from over at his side.

"I would not do that if I were you..." the new arrival, accompanied by two large men, said.

The pirate holding the smaller ronin sneered. "Ah, what can ye do woman? You're outnumbered."

With the man's words, several more large, burly pirates appeared, all armed and one of them flipping his weapon of choice, a knife, up and down.

"Ye'd be a nice addition to the whore house lady. But men, we should take care of her friends-" he was interrupted by a sandaled foot slamming into his face, knocking him back.

The ronin dropped to the ground, eyes narrowing. Losing his former cheerfulness and nervousness, his voice was now cold, "Maybe you should delay those orders. I don't take kindly to people who would take advantage of numbers to capture a woman and kill her companions just for entertainment's sake." His hands paused at the katana at each hip before reaching behind him and pulling forward the nodachi that was almost as tall as he was.

Emora:

Shinobu was not fazed by his words. He would die surely before even trying to make her a whore. Which he was clearly mistaken in his definition? WHORES slept with men willingly and she was no whore.

She looked at the small boy with her calm face as he stood up for her, but it was unneeded, not only could she take care of herself but...

"How dare you mistake Shinobu-Sama for a woman of ill-repute!?" And her to guardians jumped at them in defense of her honor.

There attacks were in a way, not as refined as one would think, but brutal... Still the job was getting done, but as more were taken down... more came... Her guardians stood in the way of the men and herself, willing to die for her if need be.

One managed to get around them and while some attacked her men, others attacked the boy and there were the futile attempts at her. The way she fought was more of like a dance and if they would have been more skilled... and less drunken she probably would have had a time with it. She spun around with her Katana drawn to deflect an attack and countered right after that....

Kyosuke:

Unsheathing his five foot long nodachi, the ronin prepared for an attack from all directions, not yet losing his focus to anger. Seeing the pirates charge in at him clumsily with weapons raised, he used the ma-ai his longer weapon had to his advantage and swiftly cut all down that came within his range, not a single move wasted.

Shifting his eyes slightly, he made sure that the woman and her companions were alright, and seeing that they were, approached the leader, who was cowering at seeing all his men defeated so easily be the four.

"Don't kill me!" the pirate squealed out.

Bringing his left arm up, a knife cut through the sleeve of his kendo jacket and bounced harmlessly off the bracer underneath it. Watching one of the men dispatch that foe, he turned his attention back to the cowering pirate.

"Too bad, you shoulda thought about that before you did what you did," Kyosuke said, bringing his nodachi up.

Emora:

Shinobu fought off her last enemy and turned to see the boy doing something that by her right she had to do. She walked quickly over holding her Katana with two hands and before he could even think about killing the man, she had sliced off the pirate’s head. It was so clean of a cut that his head didn't fall off until his shoulders slumped. Then, it rolled to the boy’s feet.

She looked at him for a moment and realized that he didn't look that much like a girl when you were closer to him. She looked away, bending and grabbing the head by the hair and lifted it up. It disgusted her, but she tolerated it, never having a weak stomach for blood.

She turned and it dripped blood across the ground. "Take it, please," she said and one of her loyal guardians took it for her and placed it in a sack he had found on the ground. She turned again to the boy.

"You fight well, boy. I thank you for fighting along side me..." she said and looked at him for a moment. "Do you have a name?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's cold glare turned back into his cheerful grin as he turned towards the lady. Bowing deeply, he said, "My name is Kyosuke Yamato, it's a pleasure to meet you." Facing back up again, the grinning ronin sighed. "Ah, it's been such a long time since anybody knew i was male at first glace. Thanks for your help by the way." Slashing the nodachi off to the side, he flicked the blood off the blade and resheathed it, putting it on his back. "May I have your name please?"

Emora:

((OOC: Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, usually I am not this slow I'll try and do better but things are getting hectic))

Shinobu knelt as she young boy spoke and dragged her blade across the clothing of the headless body until the blood was wiped away. Then she rose and sheathed her sword.

"Ayanami Shinobu, Master of the Ayanami Clan," she said to the boy sizing him up. "And you quite welcome for the help... It's the least I could do."

With that she turned and went to walk away. She paused though and looked back. "I must make my rounds around here... would you care to join me?" She would like to here more of how he became such a good fighter.

Kyosuke:

(OOC: Eh, it's okay, I generally take a while to reply sometimes anyway)

Shrugging, Kyosuke continued to grin. "Why not? I have nothing better to do anyway. It'd be nice to be able to go through this town with less harrassment anyway."

Looking down at the puppy still in his arms, Kyosuke put it down and scratched its head. "Be good and try not to get eaten okay?"

Watching the animal yip and run off, the ronin turned back to Shinobu and said, "Well Shinobu-dono, shall we go?"

Emora:

Shinobu nodded with her usual cool expression and began to walk the streets of Riffraffs's Resthouse. "Lately this place has become more lively..." she said absentmindedly when a man was thrown out on his butt from a tavern.

"I guess most of the trash from Arken is some how getting here... or people are just getting crueler." The whole while her bodyguards were following them, staying close to her and watching the movement of the boy and the people around them.

People seemed to stop what they were doing if they noticed her walk by... but they would resume it after a while. "What brings you here?"

((OOC: Writers block!!! If you want anything interesting to happen, like another fight, you might have to start it again... for the moment can't think of anything... sorry...))

Kyosuke:

(OOC: sorry I didn't reply sooner, I was in NY yesterday)

The feminine looking ronin shrugged. "I was just wandering around," he said. "I figured that if there was nothing better to do, I'd just stow away on a pirate ship and head for the main land and play around."

Smiling, the ronin was completely relaxed despite the fact that the two bodyguards were watching his every move. "I'm very hard pressed to find a job as a samurai under another daimyo now," he said. "I had... problems with my last one." Kyosuke had an innocent smile on his face.

Emora:

"If all pirates react to you the way those did I would consider seriously about not going on a ship with them..." she said and tried to keep from smiling. It wasn't really funny the thought of something like that happening to him, what was funny was the fact the boy hadn't thought of that sooner.

She became very interested when he spoke again of his former boss, if you would call it that. "And what sort of problems were these?" she asked and a soft smile came to her lips.

Kyosuke:

Blinking a few times, Kyosuke said, "You seem like you're in a pretty high classed position. I figure you would have heard about me." Shrugging again, Kyosuke thought for a second before starting his answer. For the second time that day, the ronin lost his smile.

"A couple of years ago I served a damiyo under the name of Iedono Masu. He wasn't a very kind man but he was the first daimyo to recognise my abilities despite my youth and hire me. I learned exactly how unkind he was when he ordered the execution of a prisoner that stole food to feed his family. I was assigned to deliver the message regarding the execution, but I refused and threw the letter out the window right next to Iedono. He of course demanded I commit seppuku for the outrage. I, however, do not believe in the act of ritual suicide and refused, then walked out of his manor. The other samurai that worked for him wished to avenge their master's honor and tried to slay me." Stopping to grip his double katanas lightly, he sighed. "I slaughtered them all with these blades."

Emora:

Shinobu listened quietly and when his hand reached for his sword her bodyguards drew there Katana's quickly and pointed them at him, thinking he meant to harm her. She raised a hand quickly before any blood could be shed and they halted their pursuit. "I sympathies with the face that you didn't feel that the man deserved death for such a simple crime."

She began to walk and slowly the bodyguards sheathed their swords. "If it is work you are looking for I can supply it." She smiled softly glancing at him and then at her bodyguards. "One little hint... as long as you are this close to me..." she looked to her bodyguards and nodded with her head. "and them... I wouldn't touch your weapon in a way that they will think you to draw it.... Just a suggestion of course, unless you welcome death so early in life."

Kyosuke:

Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, the ronin chuckled slightly. "Eh, sorry about that," he said. "I'm not very big on thinking actions through."

Continuing to walk alongside Shinobu's horse, he thought to think about the job offer. "Ah, Shinobu-dono are you sure you want to hire a wayward samurai like me? I would not mind so long as you allow me to leave without incident if I ever get a wanderlust again."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled noticing he was rather embarrassed. "I will not deny you your leave from duty. All you need is to ask and I'll grant it." She was about to say something else when a shout ran through the crowed.

"No! You can't!" It was the voice of an elderly man and he was trying to reach for his belongings that a few unruly boys were hanging high above his head. They looked to be around the age of the one she was with.

"I'm beginning to think all I do is settle fights..." she said with a lot of annoyance in her voice. She shook her head, her bodyguards already getting ready just in case. "Kids..."

Kyosuke:

Walking forward to meet the boys before Shinobu could, Kyosuke, smile not leaving his face, said, "You know, you boys should really respect your elders better."

"Ah, whatta you know," one of them asked. The other just spat at Kyosuke's face.

Wiping the spit off of his face, the ronin just replied, "Apparently more than you do about respect." His hand flashed out and grabbed the item, then turned to hand it to the elderly man.

Emora:

When he had come back to them she bowed her head. "I commend you," she spoke softly and looked at him. "You thought before you acted and were not rash in what you did."

They walked a ways further and four feet in front of them a body was thrown out the window of a bar. Shinobu rolled her eyes and growled, but cooled herself quickly. "If you'll excuse me." She turned and walked up the steps and inside the bar...

(OOC: Darn writers block!!!!!!)

Kyosuke:

Shrugging, Kyosuke decided to let Shinobu deal with this one. Actually it wasn't so much that he decided it as it was that the two young men were busy swiping with useless kicks and punches at him.

The ronin was light on his feet as he dodged and jumped over kicks, poking at undefended areas and sticking his tongue at them at random times. The old man they had robbed previously was watching in amusement as the boys got more and more angry.

Emora:

Shinobu stepped into the bar, which smelled heavily of alcohol and whatever the other stench was. She wrinkled her nose and looked around. The bar had grown quiet when she entered and it was just as well, she wouldn't have to shout over them.

"There was a man thrown out of here only seconds ago." She looked around, each of them in the eye. "What's the problem?"

One rose his seat. "No problem.... yet."

I'm beginning to think that every one loves a fight now days. "I didn't come to fight," she said and looked at the man in the eyes. "It was a simple question, all I need is a simple answer."

"And what if I don't want to give it?" he said with a smart smile on his face.

Shinobu sighed heavily and looked to the bodyguard to her right. He stepped forward and then things happened quickly... He fell to the floor gasping for air, an arrow from a cross bow stuck in his throat. Shinobu screamed.

Kyosuke:

Hearing Shinobu scream, Kyosuke turned his attention away from the two young men in front of him. Taking advantage of this lapse in attention, the larger one of the two drove a punch into the feminine looking man's face, sending him flying back.

"HA! Tease us willya?" he sneered.

Getting up, Kyosuke cracked his neck before replying, "Why yes, yes I will."

The small ronin rushed the two and hit them with two kicks in the face each, knocking the inexperienced fighters out. "I wonder what happened with Shinobu," he said before dashing into the bar.

Emora:

At the sight of the ronin coming in the door she pointed, having drown her Katana and held it with one hand, at the man laying on the floor, trying his best to breath. "Help him, please!" she said and turned to the group, now holding her Katana with both hands.

It was clear who the attacker was. For one he was the man who had been talking to them. For two... he had a cross bow in his hand... how he had managed to pull it in time with out her or the others noticing she had no idea.

She gripped the Katana tightly for a moment, but relaxed her grip and her body so she could move flexibly. She would not allow him time to reload; his head would hit the floor before his hand could move.

She eased forward and almost every one with the man in the bar drew their swords, many types of swords at that... Nothing registered on her face of this and she showed no emotion as to what she was thinking. No this would be a fight...

Kyosuke:

"Are you serious!?" Kyosuke yelled out! He rushed over to the female warrior and knelt down next to the injured man. "I'm no doctor! I have no idea how to treat something like this! Heck, I have a hard enough time wrapping bandages around my own wounds successfully.

He looked around, taking note of all the drawn swords. "If you can fix him up, you do it. I can hold them off for you. I can't do anything more for this man though."

Emora:

Shinobu gritted her teeth for a moment, torn between two decisions. "Fine!" she said and as quickly as possible knelt down and laid her katana next to her hand so she could reach it in time. "If it doesn't go against anything you believe in... save that man," She pointed towards the man still holding the cross bow. "for me."

There was nothing she could do for her friend... She knew this. All she could do was bring him comfort before death. "I'll avenge you..." she whispered.

Kyosuke:

Having lost his smile quite a while ago, it returned to his face. This time it was in the form of a sadistic, feral grin, almost not fitting on the face of the young ronin. "Sure, I'll leave that man for you."

All of the men around Kyosuke froze with fear as an invisible force clutched at their hearts. Waves of kenki were flooding off of the feminine looking man. Sighing a bit, Kyosuke said, "Y'know, injuring that man was a very bad mistake for you. But you can think of it this way: At least you'll die having faced the might of Nittou Ryu, my two sword technique."

One of the men, being of a stronger will than the others, broke free of the fear paralysis the immense waves of kenki created. "G-get him!" That man was the first to fall as Kyosuke charged forward at him and drew his swords out in a double battou jutsu technique, cutting him neatly into four pieces.

Emora:

The man sprawled out beside her tried to talk, but he couldn't form words. "Shhhh..." she said and looked at the arrow sticking out his neck. She wanted to pull it free... but if she did blood would floor to quickly. The arrow was acting as a stopper for the blood and the air...

Another arrow flew by and her head jerked in that direction. Who the hell is shooting now!? Before it registered that another one was coming it hit her in her arm. "Arghh....!" She grabbed the arrow and after a second pulled it free. She grabbed up her Katana and rose from her seat.

It would do no good to be a sitting duck. She held the Katana forward and tried to keep her emotions from getting to her, like her husband had taught her all those years ago.

Kyosuke:

Hearing the twang of a crossbow bolt being fired, Kyosuke turned his head towards the source of the noise. The man, like many more of the others, had broken free of his kenki now that he stopped consciously exerting it.

"Damn, I can't let that guy go," he muttered and charged towards that man. "Shinobu-dono! Take care of that man and yourself, I'll take care of them!" A storm of blood and gore rose up as Kyosuke slashed his two swords in quick and almost random patterns, killing all who got in his way, making sure he killed anyone who had a crossbow, except for the one he promised to leave for the female samurai.

Emora:

Shinobu glared at the man that she had asked to be saved for her. She looked down at her feet at the bodyguard who was probably on his last breath. She glared at the man deadly as her other body guard helped the young ronin. She reached behind her and pulled a dagger and before the man could even think about moving she through it and it hit him right between the eyes.

((OOC: Sorry, my samurai person who advises me on things that a samurai would do has gone byebye for a few weeks... I haven't got a clue on what to do...))

IC: She didn't have any one else the place was being cleared. She went back to her companion quickly and knelt down, holding his hand as he took his last breaths.

"I wish there was more I could do..."

Kyosuke:

Stopping his rush, Kyosuke looked around. Seeing that he no longer had anybody left to kill, he swiped his double swords, flicking the blood off. After taking a few deep breaths to calm down he used his hands to wipe the blood off his face.

Turning to Shinobu, the ronin asked, "Are you two okay?" and resheathed his swords.

Emora:

Shinobu looked up and at Kyosuke. "I'm fine..." she said and rose from her seat. Her other bodyguard gave a nod for his answer.

"Thank you," Shinobu said and bowed her head in respect to the young ronin. She looked down at her friend, her bodyguard. "We will take his body to his family." She sheathed her Katana and the other man with her lifted the body up, which he could barely hold for it was the same size as himself. She turned and walked out and to her horse.

For some reason seeing her bodyguard die in that fashion reminded her of the day her husband died...

Kyosuke:

Following the two outside, he saw one of the fallen men reach for one of the dropped crossbows. In one motion, Kyosuke drew one of his katanas and severed the man's head off. After cleaning the blade, he resheathed it and continued to follow Shinobu and her bodyguard to the horse.

"I'll accompany you to your destination then. And this may not be the best of times for this, but if your job offer is still valid, then I will accept it."

Emora:

Shinobu turned from her thoughts and walked to the middle of her horse preparing to mount it. "Like I said," She looked at him as she mounted her horse, putting her foot in the stirrup. "You fight well." She looked him in the eyes. "I would be very glad if you accept my offer as it stands as long as you would like to be with me... or as long as you hold a just heart."

"Do you have a ride?"

Kyosuke:

"Nope," Kyosuke replied. "I've always prefered to walk places than to ride horses." Stretching out his body, the ronin yawned. "Anyway, you don't have to take me with you just yet. Just tell me where to go and I'll get there. That's all I really need."

Emora:

"Just follow the North Road... It will lead you to my home," she said and looked at him, bowing her head and turning her horse in the direction of the North Road. A soft breeze blew, but it didn't lift her spirits much. She couldn't stop thinking of her husband.

"Take as long as you need." She looked to her bodyguard who gave a nod and she took off on her horse. Her hair wipped out behind her as she rode down the street.

Kyosuke:

(OOC: Sorry I couldn't post the last couple of days. I still needed to set up my stuff at college.)

Bowing back, Kyosuke looked towards the direction the female samurai rode off too. I guess I can relax for now and get there slowly.

Walking off, the ronin muttered to himself, "Guess I didn't need to stow away on a boat yet after all."

Emora:

Shinobu rode down the road, which was quiet, peaceful. She followed it until she came to an open green meadow with a small road leading to house built on the hill.

There in the front of the house Shinobu had the body cremated and ordered his ashes to be given to his family in an urn. She hated it... hated that he was gone and that she was responsible in a way. He died because of her.

When it was finished she walked to into her home and straight through it towards the middle where her garden was. There she sat for a while contemplating things in her head and becoming more at peace. She enjoyed her garden very much; it was where she and Kyosato, her husband had spent most of there time. She walked back inside after a while and changed into a comfortable kimono that went with the kind she wore around the house, it was nice with white and pink flowers. When she had changed she returned to the garden and planned only to stay for a little while.

Kyosuke:

Lying back in a meadow a while after leaving the Riffraff's Resthouse, Kyosuke stared off blankly at the sky. Sighing, the ronin got up.

"Man I'm bored now. Maybe I should start heading off to Shinobu-dono's house," he said and rose from his place on the grass. Looking down the road, Kyosuke followed the path that Shinobu had traveled down.

Emora:

Shinobu sat on the floor writing poetry. She had gone through many pieces of parchment, but this is the only thing she had written about that actually made since. It was a sort of memory thing... it was about the fragility of life, inspired from her now dead friend.

A servant came to her and stopped in her doorstep. "My lady... I man is here to see you...." She smiled and said softly. "I didn't even think he was until he spoke..."

Shinobu stood and walked through her house and to the main door, sliding it open. "Kyosuke..." she greeted with a bow, placing her hands in front of her on over the other.

Kyosuke:

Returning the bow, Kyosuke waited for Shinobu to straighten up before he did the same.

"Ah, Shinobu-dono, this isn't a bad time for me to stop by right?" he asked. "And also, whereas I am very grateful for this job. It is a bit strange that you would hire someone you do not know all that well."

Scratching his head a bit. "I mean, I can guarantee that I will not betray you, but I still find it strange that you can hire someone with so little experience with them."

Emora:

"No," Shinobu said and smiled warmly as she stepped a side. "it's not a bad time at all. I was actually running out of things to do."

"I'm pretty perceptive," she said as she walked through the house back to her garden. "I can sense that you're not any one trying to get on my good side and then try and assassinate me. If so you would have tried to kill me long before."

"And this job will give you the experience that you don't already have," she said and opened the door to the garden, sliding it open. "Call it... on the job training."

Kyosuke:

Still smiling, the no longer ronin walked along with the person he now served. "Ah, well it would seem that I am no longer a ronin," he said. "It has been a while since I could call myself a samurai again."

Humming softly, the samurai followed his new lord down the hall to the garden. As she opened the door, Kyosuke whistled. "Oooh, nice garden you have here."

Emora:

"Thank you," Shinobu said and smiled warmly as she looked around the garden in which her house was built around. A small fish pond was in the corner surrounded by stones, she looked at it for a moment, remembering the many times she and her husband had sat beside it listening to the water trickle from the underground spring.

"What do you think you could do to serve me best?" Shinobu asked as she turned towards him.

Kyosuke:

"Well, I'd love to say that I could serve as a court jester, but I'm not that amusing," Kyosuke said. "I'd probably serve best as a bodyguard of some sort, or at least some kind of proffession that involves fighting. Sad to say but I'm not good for very much else."

Jian looked around as the two continued to walk off. "Do you think I'd work better under another profession with you?" he asked.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled. "You might not see enough action as my bodyguard," she said softly as she clasped her hands in the front of her. "At least I don't think I've made many more enemies than what I already have!"

"Not to mention I don't like the fact when some one dies protecting me or trying to... I take it as my own fault." She sighed for a moment. "At the moment, I am willing to let you choose and if I need you to a specific job then I'll a sign it to you when the time comes. What do you think?”

Kyosuke:

With a cheerful smile still on his face, Kyosuke said, "Heh, Don't worry, I won't die. Anyway, those terms are nice and agreeable. I'll be your bodyguard for now under my own choice and if you find a more suitable job for me then you can assign me there."

Continuing to walk with Shinobu for a while, the samurai's movements stopped for a moment as a loud grumble came from his stomach. "Ah..." he said, blushing somewhat. "I'm kinda hungry, got anything to eat?"

Emora:

Shinobu led him into the dining room and she told the cook to bring them some food. She motioned from her new bodyguard to sit down with her and she sat on the tatami and waited for the food to be brought to them.

"So how long have you been here in this part of the Kingdom?" Shinobu asked as she drank some of her tea. With one hand she pushed a strand of black silk hair from her face. "I hope those people we met today weren't acquaintances of yours..."

Kyosuke:

Laughing at that, Kyosuke said, "Don't worry. I got just here today. Those people were just people who decided to mess with the wrong people."

Pausing, the samurai took a sip of his own tea. "Actually, I would, one way or the other, probably have gotten into a fight with them. I was planning on stowing away on a boat to head somewhere else. Had you not found me when you did and offered me this job, I would have."

Emora:

"I think you can protect yourself... but a whole ship of them would be a tad bit closer to suicide..." Shinobu said and smiled slightly. "I'm glad you took my offer."

The food was brought to them and Shinobu lifted her chopsticks. "I'm truly sorry if protecting me gets... boring. If you ever want a change, just tell me.”<br>
Shinobu would hate to see him get bored, he after all was so young and boredom was a painful thing to face when one was young. Shinobu had enemies... but lately it had grown quiet and she liked it quiet, but if news spread about the happenings of the day it would probably grow dangerous again.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke started to laugh. "You think I'm young? Hahaha! I'm probably not that much younger than you if you would believe so. You look around 25 or 26, maybe you're older than that but I don't know. You also seem to have gone through quite a bit in that life of yours. Anyway, I may look around 17, but I'm actually 25," Kyosuke still had a stupid looking grin on his face, leaving his tongue sticking out slightly.

Emora:

Shinobu studied him for a moment and to her he looked nothing close to the age he claimed. "The years have been kind to your features," she pointed out with a smile. "Let us hope that it continues to do so. I have known many people to look as young as you do at your age and they leave for a time, coming back with the wisdom and looks of grown warriors, the scars to prove it. My husband being one... he grew up far younger than I expected when I was smaller..." She faded off into thought before finally returning.

"How does it taste? Good I hope." She took several more bites. "After we eat I'll show you to a room so you can get settled in, you may do what you want with it... it is yours after all."

Kyosuke:

"Yeah, I've aged pretty well," Kyosuke said in between bites. "And this is very tasty. Actually, I haven't had anything this good in the longest time, considering I've been living off of mostly insects and plantlife ever since I pretty much spit in the face of my last daimyo and slaughtered his guards." Kyosuke paused for a second, pondering his last few words. "That isn't to say I'll do the same to you of course!" The ex-ronin quickly added. He quickly buried his face back into his meal.

"Anyway, you mentioned a husband. Will I meet him or is he... deceased now?"

Emora:

Shinobu paid him no mind, she didn't think she would give him cause to do such a thing and if he did... well, it would just have to wait until then.

"I had a husband... he died some years back... he was assassinated by someone from another clan," she said distantly as if she were remembering everything perfectly. "He was a good man and the world seems to despise good men these days."

She ate for a while more until she had finished her food and thought it polite not to rush him and so she waited for him to finish.

Kyosuke:

"I see..." the samurai said before burying his face into his food again. Quickly finishing his food, he sat back up. "Thank you for the meal," he said, bowing down. He then let out a large yawn, quickly stiffling it.

Still smiling slightly, Kyosuke apologised for it. "I'm quite exhausted from all that happened today. That room you mentioned before would be nice.

Emora:

"Ah yes," Shinobu said smiling once more as she rose from her seat. She led him through the house and to a sliding door. "Here you go... it's two rooms down from mine." She pointed to a door at the end of the hall.

The sun could be seen setting out side from a small window and she sighed, needing to get up early in the morning. She smiled. "Is there anything else you will need? If not I'd like to get my own sleep. If you need anything in the night Uma will be glad to help you, just ask some one in the house for her."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke bowed low. "Thank you very much for your help Shinobu-dono." Parting with the female samurai, Kyosuke walked down to his room. Sliding open the door, he looked inside and saw that it was quite plain. A sliding closet on one side of the room and a futon on the middle of the floor. He walked in, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Hmm, not bad. So much more than what I'm used to at least." The samurai took out his two katana and single nodachi and set them down next to the futon before slipping under the covers and drifting off into a comfortable sleep.

Emora:

Shinobu retired to her room changing out of her clothes and bathing, then dressing in her nightclothes and retiring to her bed, hoping to get a restful sleep. She fell into slumber quickly.

The house grew quiet as the servants began to sleep and the mid of night came.... Shinobu awoke with a start feeling as if something were about to happen. She looked around her room; the darkness made the corners shadowed and she hugged the covers tight to her. Seeing nothing she returned to lying down and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke opened one of his eyes open slightly. Normally a deep sleeper, neither sound nor physical contact would wake him easily. The only thing sure to wake him was the intent of malice, which he now felt strongly around him. The samurai slowly sat up in bed, quietly grabbing all of his weapons and putting them to their accustomed places on his body. His eyes noted a shadow run quickly but silently past his door in the direction of Shinobu's.

'Damn, ninjas...' Kyosuke thought before walking silently towards the door of his room, edging the door open slightly, and noting the presence of the first of possibly many outside Shinobu's room.

Emora:

Shinobu had rolled over and was lying one her stomach on hand slowly going for her katana lying by her side. She sensed something going on and as her had touched the hilt some one-stepped on her hand crushing it under heavy weight. She went to react quickly as the door to her room slid open and the person above her managed to get her hands more quickly than expected. She looked to the door with hopeful eyes hoping it was some one to help... these people didn't look like they were friendly...

As the came towards her began to kick violently to get away, but the managed to evade her struggles.

Kyosuke:

Hearing Shinobu's struggled, the bodyguard dashed down the hall and pulled out one katana, cutting down the first of many enemies with the motion. The motion made the other ninjas in the room start. Running into the room, the samurai first cut down the one that was pinning the person he now served. Kyosuke offered a hand down to help Shinobu up.

"You okay?" he asked, unsheathing his second katana partially to deflect a new slash going towards his ribs.

Emora:

"Just dandy..." Shinobu said and grabbed her own katana standing quickly, using the offer of his hand. "Behind you!" She shoved her bodyguard slightly and stabbed the one about to make a killer blow.

A glow started down the hall way as people filed out of the rooms, but one of the ninja enemies closed the door quickly and before she knew it they were surrounded by a good number to fit in her room and all blades were pointed at them.

Kyosuke:

(ooc: Sorry I haven't posted for a while, my computer's been down)

Kyosuke eyed as many enemies as he could at once, registering every movement that they would make. Any that made a motion towards him, even a feint, would receive a quick jab from a sword in return. He moved so that he and Shinobu were back to back so each would only need to take half the numbers.

The samurai was conscious of the presence of his employer behind him, knowing that as long as they remained back to back they would not be attacked from behind.

Noticing that the whole group of ninjas were reaching into pouches, his eyes widened, turning around to grab Shinobu, he jumped with her in his arms as high as he could to avoid a sudden barrage of throwing weapons.

Emora:

OOC: Aww... its alright, I can understand computer problems

IC:Shinobu was totally surprised because she hadn't seen them about to kill them with throwing weapons and she was even more surprised by how her new bodyguard had handled it. She had a feeling he knew these kinds of people's tactics more than she so maybe it would be best to follow this time and not lead?

When her feet hit the floor again even that second under he breath she said, "That was close."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded in reply. "Yeah." Turning back around he flung his two katanas in a very un-samurai-like manner and struck two ninja in the chest.

In the same moment the two katanas left his hands his nodachi was drawn and Kyosuke charged towards the surprised ninjas, seeing the "soul of the samurai" being flung at them in such a manner.

The samurai, with a mighty cut, cleaved through one of them and left it lodged halfway through the chest of another. Letting that ninja fall, he grabbed the two katana hilts that were sticking up, still in the chests of two ninja. He then stabbed them into the guts of two more.

Emora:

Shinobu deflected an attack from a ninja and just as she did another one came up from the side, she turned to him and deflected again another attack. She saw someone about to attack her new body guard from behind and she stopped her deflecting to warn him. "Kyosuke! Behind you!" she yelled the warning and felt a kick in the side. She slumped that way for a moment, sucking a breath and brought her katana around catching the ninja unprepared in the side, he must have thought that little kick would have sent her to her knees.

There were only about three or four left and even then there was still a chance for the ninja's to succeed. She wondered why so many had been sent... she hadn't had this many attack her before.

Kyosuke:

"Thanks!" Kyosuke called out as he stabbed backwards with a katana, catching the ninja in the stomach, then ripping the katana outwards in a slashing movement to cut the head off the next one.

Watching Shinobu finish the last few off, the bodyguard smiled before collapsing face first on the floor, a throwing needle, which had caught him as he covered Shinobu before the jump, sticking out of his back.

Emora:

Shinobu's eyes widened and ran towards her fallen bodyguard kneeling beside him. She pulled the dart out of his back and at that moment the servants finally seemed to come in after what felt like a long time. One helped flip him over.

"Is he alright?" she asked with a worried tone in her voice. She just knew that another bodyguard of hers had been killed, she just new it. She felt horrible.

Her servants ushered her away and took over as one stood with her in the background. Why they tended to treat her as if she were a fragile woman and couldn't do anything she would never know. One servant brought her a robe to put on over her night clothes.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke started to breathed in short, shallow breath. A doctor rushed into the room, and after checking Shinobu over, turned his attention to the fallen samurai.

Flipping the samurai back over to look at the wound, he muttered a bit as he saw some discoloration already forming around the wound. "This is a poison that ninjas generally use on their weapons. It's fairly common so I have an antidote for it already." He motioned for his assistant to come over and pulled a vial of liquid out that he poured into the wound. "However, the needle hit rather close to his heart and with the battle his heart rate must have sped up. There's a chance that it won't work. We'll find out in the morning."

Emora:

Shinobu swallowed hard and nodded to the doctor. Another person hurt because of her... and he might die as well. It burned her up inside and made her want to walk out and challenge who ever it was that wanted her dead so badly. She didn't do anything to any one, so who ever it was had to have some other reason to keep attacking her. But, why now, after such a long pause?

"Is it safe to move him?" she asked the doctor looking down at Kyosuke. "If it's not he can stay in here..." She just wanted to get him to a spot where it would be comfortable for him to rest so he wouldn’t die on her.

Kyosuke:

The doctor nodded. "It's completely safe to move him, but keep him on his back so his heart doesn't have the resistance of his breastbone pushing on it." The doctor stood up. "If anything changes then inform me, but right now there's nothing more that I can do." The doctor walked out of the room, his assistant following him.

Emora:

The male servants carried him carefully back into his room and onto his mat. She had blankets to cover him to keep him warm and she stayed in the room a while. She watched, hoping that he wouldn't die, praying he wouldn't. She felt utterly horrible about it and wished that she never would have offered him a job, then he wouldn't have gotten hurt. She made a note in her mind that if he lived she would give him leave so he could go before dying for no reason. Despite the protests of her servants she sat in the room with him during the night and at some point fell a sleep with her head leaning against the wall.

Kyosuke:

The sun started to rise on the horizon and Kyosuke's state remained unchanged. His constant short, shallow breaths were the only signs that the samurai was still alive. The bodyguard remained in that state for quite a while.

Suddenly, Kyosuke's eyelids began to twitch and his eyes opened to the world, he immidiately shut them as bright light entered them and he sat up in his futon, rubbing his head. "Ow, what happened?"

Emora:

Shinobu opened her eyes when she heard some one talk and she looked for a moment unaware what was happening and then she came to total alertness, standing and walking towards him, looking him over to see if he was alright. "You were hit with a poison dart," she said and shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

She wanted to know if he felt strange or anything, if he did she wanted to send for the doctor again and she planned on doing it any way to make sure he was okay. Shinobu had always been one to make sure than any one who worked for her was well taken care of, it might be why she was so liked by the people around her... well except for those who seemed to want to kill her, or what ever it was they wanted with her.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's grin returned to his face, though this time it seemed a bit more pained. "Really? Wow, I normally don't get hit by stuff like that. Anyway, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me or anything." His grin grew wider. "I told you before that I wouldn't die, didnt I?"

Emora:

Shinobu narrowed her eyes at him when he said, "I told you before that I wouldn't die, didnt I?" and a sigh escaped her lips. "Even so," she replied and stood up straight for a moment. "You could have and your lucky. I want you to rest, I don't think any one is going to show up during the day and if they do, you better still be resting..." She smiled kindly and walked towards the door to his room which was open and on the inside of the door way a guard was station who had been there all night to watch over them both.

"If your hungry I'll have some food brought to you," she said and looked back in for his reply. "And I'll have the doctor look you over one more time."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke opened his mouth to protest, but realized that he had worried her while he was out so he aquiesed and nodded. "I am kinda hungry," he said, knowing that though he agreed to what she said, it would quickly become a lie if there was an attack during the day.

The doctor came in and checked the samurai over. "You are very lucky young man. By all means with the wound being so close to your heart and the sped up heart rate, you should be dead. You must have a very strong will," the doctor said to Kyosuke. Kyosuke just continued smiling as his reply.

Emora:

Shinobu returned followed by a servant who carried a tray of food that made a small table when placed on the floor. She left the room to speak with the doctor to find out what he thought and then she returned.

"Well, I guess I was wrong about the boredom part..." she said after a moment of standing in silence. "I'm very sorry about last night... and thank you...." she said and grew quiet again, not even wanting to think of what could have happened... "You did a wonderful job last night..."

Shinobu wasn't very good with conversations when she didn't know what to talk about and in this situation she didn't know what to say besides "thank you." She knew she should say more, or at least she felt like she should say more.

"I owe you my life," she said and bowed her head to him.

Kyosuke:

"Don't worry about it," Kyosuke said. "It was part of my job." With that said, Kyosuke took a sip of Miso soup and ate some rice. "And even if I wasn't obliged to do it, this food is well worth getting hurt for." Kyosuke grin got wider as he continued to eat more.

Emora:

"If you get to bored you can walk around..." Shinobu said and smiled feeling rather guilty for telling him he had to rest all day. She got the feeling he wasn't the type that liked to do so.

"Well," she said and turned towards the door. "I'm going to see if there is anything I need to do." So she left him and went to talk to some her advisers and some of the officials that she knew.

They greeted her and told her how horrified they were to find she was attacked. She wondered if half of them even meant what they said. For the first part of the hour she couldn't help but wonder who had sent the ninjas and she had half a mind to go out looking for information on them. She had a plan though; she thought to wait until night when she could get away with out any one following her. She'd dress down in some ragged clothes and go back into the town. It bothered her that she didn't know who these people worked for. It bothered her even more though that Kyosuke had almost gotten killed and it was because of her.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke handed the empty tray to a smiling maid and thanked her. Smile fading slightly from his face, the samurai wondered exactly what Shinobu's reaction would be to the latest massive attempt on her life. Sighing, he lay back down and closed his eyes. Kyosuke decided he would find out about it later.

Emora:

When night fell Shinobu retired to her room like every night, extra guards had been placed at her door and she had it closed as she changed into a simple kimono jacket and pants that was a little ragged around the edges. She pulled her hair out of the elaborate thing it was in and back into a simple braid. She grabbed her katana and walked towards a window pulling it open and climbing out side dropping to the ground trying to make as little noise as possible. There was supposed to be a guard around somewhere...

He must be sleeping, she thought and began to run through the clearing before getting caught and towards the woods.

When she reached them she slowed down and began walking down the dark quiet road in the direction the town hoping there wouldn’t be that much trouble in what she was doing…

Kyosuke:

Waking up after a good day's rest, Kyosuke rose out of his futon quietly, sneaking onto the roof over Shinobu's room, he was spotted by a guard who happened to look up at the right time, or the wrong time he realized as Kyosuke quickly knocked him out silently and jumped back onto the roof without making a sound.

A half an hour after that, the samurai watched Shinobu sneak out of her room in ragged clothing. 'This girl is leaving without her bodyguard,' he thought to himself. 'Can't have that now can we?' Kyosuke proceeded to silently follow his employer.

Emora:

When she reached the town it was rather to full of drunken raging men. Every time she turned around one was getting thrown out of a bar somewhere and the number of whores on the street! So this was Riffraff's nightlife?

She dodged a man as he stumbled through the streets; a little too drunk to care where he was going. She hadn't got a clue on how she was going to do this... or whom she could get information from. Hopefully know one would recognize her in her out fit.

Her husband would have killed her... well not killed her, but he would have talked to her for a good while, for doing something like this. Then again, if her husband were alive he would be the one needing the protection... but she would have gone for him.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke continued to watch Shinobu as she traveled down the streets, traveling from rooftop to rooftop in the hopes that he would not need to protect his employer. Despite that hope, the bodyguard had his right hand loose on the nodachi strapped to his back. Stopping for a moment, he heard a scream behind him and saw that he had stopped in front of a window with a nice looking lady bathing in the room.

"Uh... sorry!" Kyosuke muttered before running completely out of site, hoping that Shinobu did not see him.

Emora:

Shinobu hadn't noticed Kyosuke, weather that was a good thing or a bad. She was busy trying to find her way through the streets. A group came out of a bar laughing there heads off about something and she was so distracted by them while she was walking she walked smack dab into some one. "I'm sorry..." she said turning her head back forward and she slowly began to continue on. She decided it wouldn't be to bad to get off the streets...

She turned and walked into a tavern, trying to stay back in the shadows and out of the way from the busy drunks. She slipped into a booth with a sigh of relief, glad to be out of there way and in a stable place where she could think.

She didn't know where she was going from here... who she could talk to. Maybe she could just mention something... or maybe this was a bad idea and she shouldn't have even come any way. She noticed that at the bar there was a group of men drinking, one of them was flirting with a... well she wasn't very pretty, but she was a whore. The other three were turned around and looking around the room... one was looking at her and then he nudged his friend and by the end of it all three were. She was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. When they got up to come over she quickly left the booth and walked out side onto the street again, mingling among the other people so it would be hard to find her...

She mustn’t have done a very good job because the three found her. She put her hand on the hilt of her katana waiting to see what would happen. “What do you want?”

Kyosuke:

Finally able to see Shinobu in a clear light, Kyosuke slapped his forehead as he saw that she did not make even the slightest attempt to hide the katana. 'Dammit Shinobu-dono, if you're gonna go undercover, at least do a good job of it. Not that many peasants, not to mention peasant girls carry katanas around!' Kyosuke yelled inwardly. However, he stayed quiet and watched the men start to flirt with Shinobu.

Emora:

Shinobu looked at the men with narrowed eyes as they held there mischievous grins. She didn’t like the situation much, but it wasn’t like they were stupid enough to try anything in the middle of a crowded street? “Well?” she asked, still not hearing a reply coming out of there mouths as she looked down at her katana for a second, maybe they didn’t notice she had it? Just in case she pushed it behind her slightly.

“Nothin’…” he said and tilted his head… “Well, you looked a little familiar that’s all…” He seemed to be the smartest out of the three. “Now, miss… why are you out here alone?”<br>
Shinobu smiled slightly. “If it were any of your business I’d have told you, no?” she asked and rolled her eyes when he chuckled. She turned and began walking away, passing a dark alley with a cat eating a rat on the inside.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke let out a sigh of relief from his place on the rooftops and released the grip he had on his nodachias he watched the men walk away from Shinobu. After watching for a few seconds longer, he saw the group of men turn back around and jump towards his employer and grab her, dragging her into the alley that she had just passed by.

Emora:

Shinobu let out a scream, but one covered her mouth as they drug her into the alley. She kicked and tried to get her arms loose to get to her Katana, but there was an iron grip grinding her bones together so bad that if she lived through this she'd surely have a bruise on her... probably after this a lot of bruises. She bit onto the hand of the person who was covering her mouth and when he couldn't take the pain any more and removed his hand she screamed.

Kyosuke:

The man with the bitten hand growled and slapped Shinobu hard, cutting the scream short. "Shut up woman. We're gonna have a good time with you," he said, a malicious smile on his as well as his companions' faces.

"I'd think not," a somewhat high pitched voice said from behind. The one holding Shinobu down suddenly found himself without arms as double katana cut each of them with one swipe each.

Emora:

Shinobu's heart was racing with fear and she was struggling to get free while having her scream cut off by a hard slap that busted her lip and she bit her tongue painfully.

When the body on her lost his arms he fell forward, blood splattering on her and his heavy body crushing her. She pushed against the man, who was still a live and slowly dying. The other three didn't seemed shaken by this... but it was becoming evident that they didn't want to have the same thing happen to them.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke dashed forward and cut the other three men down in the blink of an eye and looked back to make sure Shinobu, who was still struggling under the body, was alright, was alright. Assured that she was not harmed, Kyosuke quickly jumped back onto the roof and started to hide again.

Emora:

Shinobu managed to squirm out from under the body and when she was out she scooted backwards and leaned her back against the wall. She sighed shakily and rubbed the side of her face, not even realizing she had blood on her hand.

She was confused by what had just happened, because it had happened so fast. She didn't even remember hearing what who ever it was had said or even seeing them... She had been so concentrated on what was about to happen. She swallowed hard as she looked at the bodies and she rose from her seat.

I think it's time to go home... She stood up and walked through the back of the alley and out of the two and into the forest, still a bit shaken. First assassins and now perverts...

[Soran Nightblade]

Kyosuke:

Following Shinobu back, Kyosuke acted as her guardian spirit and made sure nothing happened to her. When she was well on her way home, Kyosuke, assured that she would not be attacked, as the house was already in sight again, dashed back and headed for his room. Making sure he wasn't spotted, the samurai slipped into his futon and lay back.

Emora:

Shinobu went back in the same way, not caring to here the fusses of her servants when she entered with blood stained clothing. When she was inside she stripped down and wiped herself, getting the blood off and practically scrubbing raw where the men had touched her hoping for that... Thinking of it made her nauseous. Sure, things like that happened... but not once had one come so close. She couldn't help but think what could have happened if who ever it was who stopped them wasn't there.

She wanted a bath, but guess she'd have to wait until morning so she wouldn't wake any one up. She changed into a sleeping kimono and flayed back down her bed like thing that she and her husband had shared, now only she was in it. The next morning she slept more than she wanted to bruises had formed on her face lightly, but very dark in other spots.…

Kyosuke:

Waiting for morning, he heard from the distressed servants about the state Shinobu came back in. Waiting for morning he calmly walked over to her room to make a fuss about her leaving alone. Upon arrival, he noticed that the guard he had knocked out the night before was kneeling in front of the door bowed on his hands.

"Shinobu-sama! I'm sorry for failing you last night but I was knocked out by an unknown assailant. If that had been an assassin then you may have been dead by now! I'm sorry, I am prepared to take my own life in forgiveness!" he said loudly.

Kyosuke felt a slight twinge of guilt for his actions the night before. He had not meant for a guard to offer his own life in ritual suicide for them. Kyosuke had forgotten about that aspect of samurai life, it was one of the aspects that this samurai did not believe in. The former ronin prepared himself to step in to stop the drastic action, but was almost sure that Shinobu would not demand seppuku from the guard.

Emora:

Shinobu slid open her door and looked down at the man kneeling. She wasn't in the mood, nor did she even want to go out, because of the attention it would bring... but she couldn't let the man do this. Her expression was soft and she knelt, bring herself level with the man, pushing her long black hair behind an ear, revealing a light bruise on her cheek. She was glad that her sleeves were long, it would cover the bruises on her arms.

She placed a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of kindness. "I won't let you do it... and there is no need for it..." she said softly, like her voice usually was, though it still held the same commanding tone. If an assassin had come in... he wouldn't have found me. she thought, but it was better to left that part unsaid. "Please..." she said and rose from her kneeling position looking down at the man. "Take the day off... you need it."

As the man walked away she looked towards Kyosuke and her eyes met his before she turned to go back into her room.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke blinked at Shinobu's reaction towards him. "Um... Shinobu-dono? I heard about the state you came back in last night. Are you alright?" he asked somewhat hesitantly. He wondered if Shinobu knew that he didn't listen to her request to rest for the day and had followed her into town.

Emora:

Shinobu hadn't meant anything by her reaction. She had a feeling that he wanted to talk to her... that's why she had turned away and walked back into her room. She didn't want to be hassled. Besides, how did every one know she had gone out? Couldn't she have been sleepwalking or something?

"I'm fine," she said softly. "Thank you for asking..." She looked up from staring at the floor. She had a feeling it had been him last night. But, she couldn't get on to him after all if it wasn't for him then she probably wouldn't be in as good of shape as she was. She sighed heavily... Might as well spill his beans. "And thank you again... for last night."

Kyosuke:

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Kyosuke asked, acting completely innocent. "I was in my room the whole night. I have no idea what you're talking about at all."

Kyosuke turned around and started to walk back to his room. "Say, do I go to ask for food anyway?" the samurai asked. "I'm kinda hungry."

Emora:

Shinobu smirked slightly as he denied it, she knew then it was him... by the way he said it. She would have said something like. "Sure you didn't." But, she kept her mouth closed and said nothing staying quiet.

"Go through the door passed where we ate the other day," she told him quietly ready to walk back into her room once he was gone, but not until then, incase he had more to say.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke knew he was a bad liar, but he decided to keep up the act anyway. It didn't matter to him whether he got the credit for saving her anyway, as long as he knew that he did his job well. He walked off, giving Shinobu a wave as he walked off.

Following the instructions he was given, the samurai found his way to the kitchen. Asking for a basic meal consisting of a bowl of rice, some fried fish, and miso soup, he finished it quickly and started to roam the house, figuring out where things were.

Emora:

After a while Shinobu had gotten bored and aggravated with her sulking. So she left her room and went to look for Kyosuke to see if he would like to go for a horse back ride. She wanted really wanted to go, but didn't want to go alone.

When she found him she smiled and walked over, having left her sulking and bad mood in her bed room where it belonged. "I'm in the mood for a little fresh air... would you join me for a ride?" she asked like he was a long time friend, which he was her friend even if she had only met him. She owed him her life.

Kyosuke:

Turning around to face Shinobu, Kyosuke still grinned as he normally did. "Why not?" he said, standing up from his cross legged position on the floor. Kyosuke had been sitting in the garden, enjoying the peace and serenity he felt when he was in it.

The samurai walked off with Shinobu towards the stables, wondering if he could actually ride a horse still. He hadn't done it in a while, and, in any case, prefered to walk.

Emora:

"You do know how to ride don't you?" she asked and smiled warmly. "Well, if you don't you seem to be a fast learner... you'll pick it up quickly..."

She walked into the stables when she came out she was leading to fine horses by a lead rope. One was pure white and the other was a mix of gray and black, equally beautiful. "Take your pick." she said and held out the lead ropes for him to take when he chose his horse, to her it didn't matter, she liked all horses.

She found freedom in riding, it was like the faster she went, the further her problems were and the faster she went... the more free she was. She remember riding with... but that had been some time ago. Shinobu was beginning to miss having a husband... or some one to love that passionately. Some one to hold you... to love you. She wanted to marry again some day... but always thought people would see her as a whore or something. But, she couldn't stay lonely forever... it would kill her spirit... Of course that part Shinobu never thought about, but it would, it really would. Loneliness has strange effects on people.

Kyosuke:

"I sorta know how to ride," Kyosuke said. "Haven't done it in a while though." Kyosuke shrugged and chose the gray and black one and, after hopping on it, immediately fell off as it moved.

"Ack!" Kyosuke yelled in surprised, falling on his back. Standing back up, he let out an embarrassed laugh and climbed back on.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and when he fell covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh... She noticed he was laughing so a soft giggle escaped her lips. "Well, I'll take it slow then..." she said with a grin, unhooking the lead rope and mounted the horse skillfully.

"I was thinking of staying close to the house... but what do you think? Would you like to go further?" she asked and walked her horse over to his, grabbing the bridal, unhooking the lead rope and holding the bridal so the horse would stay still for him to mount.

Kyosuke:

"Hmmm, we could go further from the house," Kyosuke said. "I don't really know the area as well as I'd like to anyway. This'll help a lot." Kyosuke shrugged. "But it doesn't matter, do what you want and I'll try to follow you."

Kicking the horse lightly on its sides, he struggled to stay on the horse, waving his arms around frantically at times to catch his balance. He didn't fall off... too many times.

Emora:

Shinobu rode smoothly and slowly, not wanting to make her bodyguard fall off his horse. The sun was bright and the sent of flowers was in the air as she rode towards the forest that surrounded the open feild in which her home was built.

"Did you sleep well... are you rested I mean... from what happened to you?" she asked lightly as they grew closer and the soft breeze blew her long black hair around her shoulders.

Kyosuke:

Still smiling, Kyosuke nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. His attention was directed towards the forest and staying on the horse. "You know, I remember why I never rode horses that much now," he mused. "I always had the hardest time staying on them, so I always walked everywhere."

Continuing to ride on, Kyosuke looked ahead and saw that they were approaching a lake. "How about you? I heard you came back with some blood on you last night. What happened?"

Emora:

Shinobu stiffened and swallowed hard at the mention of what happened last night, a short flash back going through her mind of how close it had come... "Oh... uh-I ran into some trouble... That’s all." She said and it was the truth... just with a little less detail and if she was right, which she probably wasn't after all he had been hurt the night before, he would have known.

She looked down at her wrists and pushed her sleeve up looking at the dark bruises in the shape of fingers. "That's all," she repeated absentmindedly and looked at the lake. "What do you say we take a break when we get there..." She pointed with a slight smile.

Kyosuke:

"Alright, I'll accept that explanation," Kyosuke replied. He already knew what happened anyway and knew that she was safe.

"And I was thinking the same thing about stopping there." Kyosuke's grin grew into a large smile again, and he promptly fell off the horse, his attention being somewhat distracted. "I think I'll walk the rest of the way."

Emora:

Shinobu giggled when she saw Kyosuke fall off his horse and she covered her mouth quickly trying not to laugh at it. To him it might not be funny and she didn't want to hurt his feelings or anything.

"Maybe that's a good idea," she said with a smile and when they reached the lake she dismounted and let made sure to put the reins on the horses saddle, the horn that stuck up so he wouldn't trip over them when he wondered around.

She reached a spot that looked to be very comfortable and was covered in soft green grass that made her brightly colored kimono jacket and pants stick out. She sat down gracefully and looked at the lake with a sigh. "It's beautiful and peaceful here..."

Kyosuke:

"Yeah, it is," Kyosuke replied, laying back and stretching his arms out. Kyosuke closed his eyes and continued to relax. "So do you ride horses a lot in your spare time?" he asked. "Or do you do other stuff too?"

Emora:

"No, I do other things," Shinobu said with a slight smile coming to her face. She looked towards where he lay and she thought for a moment.

"What are your interests?" she asked her smile growing and the mood she had been in after the mentioning of last night was starting to fade. The chill still went up her spine when she thought about it, but she tried not to and that helped.

If it wasn't him who had saved her... who was it? Could it have been the assassin who didn't like the fact they were taking his prey... Maybe it was just some good doer citizen... She really wanted to think though that it was the man she was with at the moment.

Kyosuke:

"Me? I mostly train to get stronger. When I don't feel like that, I admire nature and things of beauty," Kyosuke said. He sat up again, but still had his eyes closed. "Other than that I do things on the fly really."

He opened an eye up and looked into Shinobu's. He saw in them a hint of worry. "Are you worried about something Shinobu-dono?" he asked.

Emora:

Shinobu's head came back slightly. "Me?" she asked and through on a fake smile. "No..." She waved a hand and braced herself on her elbows. "I'm just thinking that's all..."

She wasn't really worried, just wondering. But, if it was some one that had saved her for a reason other than just to do a good deed... who was it? "I was wondering who it was that helped me last night, that's all... I owe them..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed. "If I knew it worried you this much to know who it was then I shoulda just told you it was me. I thought you already saw through my bad lying. It didn't matter that much if you knew but I figured you'd be happier if you thought that I had stayed in the residence like you told me to." Kyosuke let out a slight chuckle. "Ah well, I toldja now."

Emora:

"I knew it was you!" Shinobu said a smile coming to her face and if she would have had anything around her to throw she would have thrown it at him. "You saved me from a fate worst than death and you think I would have been happier to know you had stayed inside?!" She grinned, "You have got a lot to learn about me."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke scratched his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I think I do have a lot to learn. But you've got quite a bit to learn about going undercover. Most women don't carry swords around you know. Plus, if you expect to go places undercover, a hidden weapon like a knife would work better. A katana draws attention still, no matter who carries it, more attention is drawn when the carrier is female," Kyosuke explained. "Plus, a knife would be easier for one to draw than a katana, it's shorter."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled, not feeling embarrassed at all about her mistake. "Well, I wasn't quiet thinking when I left the house last night... I was mostly thinking on who it was that was trying to kill me. Your right, next time I'll leave the sword at home... But, I doubt there will be a next time. I think I've been scared out of my undercover work..."

She smiled slightly, turning her head away to look at the calm water on the lake that was surrounded by the sea of green grass. "Which I guess is the best after all... Don't need to make any more enemies than what I already have. I just wish I knew who these enemies were."

Kyosuke:

"Well, knowing your enemies is a good idea, but you have to be careful about doing it, I shoulda left some of those ninjas alive last time. Interrogation would have been useful. Ah well, nothing we can do about it now." Kyosuke shrugged. "Anyway, I haven't done my usual training today yet so I'll work on that for a while."

Standing up, Kyosuke walked off distance and get into a low stance with his hands on his two katana. Drawing them both in one motion, he started to do an advanced Nittou Ryu kata.

Emora:

Shinobu watched and after a while she slipped off her sandals and walked to the edge of the cool lake and put her feet in and walked into the water, pulling her pants legs up so they wouldn't get wet, but all the walking made the water rise and eventually she had water on the edges of her pants.

She could sea fish swimming around in the water and when she grew close they swam away. She sighed and closed her eyes as the wind blew softly and whistled in her ears. She listened to the sounds around her and tried to decipher them, dissect them and concentrate on one sound at a time to judge what it was.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke finished his kata and turned towards a medium sized tree in front of him. "Sanshi Ryu," he muttered and charged towards it. Cutting into it from both sides, he formed an x cut through the trunk and, sidestepping the tree now falling towards him, lodged the two katana into the stump that would be left behind and drew his nodachi, using it to cut the tree into another part. Letting the two halves fall he straightened up and resheathed the nodachi.

"Actually practicing this style kills too many things. I should really buy some practice dummies to use," he said to himself. Turning to Shinobu, he asked, "So whattaya think of that technique? I got the idea as I was fighting those ninja if you recall."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and looked thoughtful for a moment. "It looks... complicated..." she said walked back through the water towards the ground. She slipped her sandals on and stood there.

"If you'd like some practice dummies I could have it arranged for you," she said and smiled warmly. "After all, my body guard needs to stay in good shape, can't let you waste away on me." She knew he wouldn't and was only joking with him.

She looked behind him to the top of a hill where some one on a horse was and then behind him came two more people on a horse. She couldn't tell who they were yet, but she guessed they were only passing through.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke turned his head to turn at the newcomers. He grabbed his two katana and resheathed them, but kept his hands ready to grab them if necessary. After everything he had lived through, he had learned to never let his guard down. Calmly walking over to Shinobu, he whispered into her ear.

"Be careful, we don't know who they are. There's always the possibility that they're after you. They may not be but there's always the chance that they are."

Emora:

"They could very well be after you," she said with a smile so the mood wouldn't die just because of the looming threat watching them on the hill. Though, her heart was pounding because they didn't come down from the hill... they were just watching them she walked to her horse which hadn't gone far and grabbed the reins to keep him close by so just in case they could get away.

Then, they came down from the hill and Shinobu tightened her grip on the reins until her knuckles were white. Then they slowed to a stop just a head and trotted over. It was a main land looking man in the middle, with to other main land looking men, but these were dressed in odd robes. He looked very rich, very smug, and very confident.

"My, what a beautiful lady you are..." he said and smiled and Shinobu swallowed very hard. "Oh, forgive my boldness m'lady... I am not from around here. I'm from the main land here looking over things as an ambassador and I was told by your house that the Lady... was some where around here...." He looked around and his eyes fell back to her.

Was she too paranoid and thought that he was hiding something? She thought he was... he was to... arrogant... to confident. "And who is this with you?" he asked and his smile drifted to the one standing with her.

Kyosuke:

Bowing to the man, Kyosuke put a fake smile on. "Ah, I am but a lowly servant of a nearby manor house," he said. "I had some free time so I journeyed here a few days ago to admire the lake and I happened upon this lady standing next to me. We became... fast friends and have met each other here ever since."

Emora:

Shinobu arched an eyebrow and looked at him wondering why he would say such a thing and not mention he was her bodyguard. She didn't say anything about it... he had a plan she was sure. "How... sweet..." the noble said and smiled a fake smile that was clearly and almost naturally plastered to his face.

"I came to make a business deal m'lady..." He glanced toward Kyosuke as if it was his signal to be gone. "I'd like to speak the lady in private, servant, after all it's business and nothing that concerns you." It was almost like he was saying, your to stupid and low to understand what I have to say and really just too low to be before my presence.

Shinobu looked to Kyosuke quickly hoping he wouldn’t leave her.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke looked over at Shinobu and made a gesture with his eyes over to the trees and, making sure the noble didn't know, mouthed the words "I'll hide there" to her.

Facing the noble again he bowed again and said., "I shall take my leave then m'lord." He straightened up again and walked off in the directions of the tree and once he was well out of the range of sight, jumped into them and snuck over to a nearby tree, making sure the shadows hid him.

Emora:

When Kyosuke was gone the noble dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to one of the men who was dressed in the strange robes. They looked to be that of what a mage would where... but they didn't seem to be any mages from the Citadel in Ighten.

Shinobu didn't think she was breathing... it didn't feel like it. Why was she so nervous now? Why did she feel so… afraid? She had never been afraid of assassins until after last night and she didn't even know why.

"Milady... it's common knowledge to those in the main land... well those like myself... that the nobles of Ongoreth are under attack do to tribal feuds and because the 'evil' Witch Queen is trying to find a means of taking over this lovely land..." What is his point? "I have come to offer my services and protect you."

"Why?" Shinobu asked just now realizing he was right before her and he was tall... much taller than her... and broad in the shoulders, like he was some one from the army. She looked back up at his face, swallowing hard.

"My Lady... you seem a little distracted... or nervous... is there something wrong?" He put a hand on her arm and she pulled away.

"I'm fine... I don't think I'll be needing any more guardians than what I already have. I thank you for your concern... but I am fine as I am. Thank you again and I ask you to take your leave now I'll be taking mine back to my home." Shinobu rubbed her arm where he had grazed the painful bruise with what he must of thought was gentle touch.

"Well, I'll return my Lady and give you my offer again... maybe then you'll reconsider. I don't think it's wise to walk with servants alone, you never know, especially if you just met them, if there assassins or not..."

Did he not know he just told her not to trust him too?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke could hear everything that was said, despite the distance. His hands dropped very closely to both of his katana and he nearly jumped out of his hiding spot as he heard the veiled threat from the noble. Waiting for the noble and his group to leave, he dropped out of the tree and walked towards Shinobu.

"I don't like people like him," he said. "Nor do I trust them much."

Emora:

"Neither do I..." Shinobu said and rubbed her shoulder absentmindedly. "Neither do I. Do you think he'll... try anything to make me think I need his help?"

She looked at him and into his eyes. "I don't like him period..." She said and folded her arms getting very aggravated with the mood she was in. For one he was to over confidant and to... bold for her liking. Not to mention for some strange reason he made her feel very helpless and suffocated.

"Do you think we should be getting back now?"

Kyosuke:

"Tch, if he tries anything he'll die before it succeeds," Kyosuke guaranteed, eyes narrowing. "I kept my identity as your bodyguard secret from him so he would let his guard down more around me. He probably thinks I'm just a samurai serving another house now." Kyosuke went over to the horses and checked on them.

"I think we should go back for now, I have some useful connections we could use to get information on that man and to get any warning if he's plotting against you."

Emora:

Shinobu nodded and grabbed the saddle as she mounted her horse and waited on Kyosuke. "I'm glad your here..." she said softly and smiled lightly. "I really am... I just don't know how I'm going to do this. Maybe it's getting worst because of the war brewing... I don't know... maybe I was wrong and I can't do the job..."

She stopped herself and sighed. Her husband would have given her a talking if she would have expressed this much self- doubt. "Ignore me... I'm just too thoughtful at the moment..." She smiled slightly. "So who are these contacts?"

Kyosuke:

"They're a clan of ninja I'm friends with. They are extremely loyal to each other and their friends so I can easily trust them. They're about a day's walk from your house so we'll rest for today and leave tomorrow morning," Kyosuke explained. He hopped onto his horse and fell off again.

"Dammit!" he yelled, blushing slightly.

Emora:

Shinobu chuckled lightly and smiled at him as he blushed. "My father once told me that no one is a horseman until they've been thrown or have fallen off..." she said for encouragement. "I have to say that if it's true... I should be taking lessons from you."

Her mood had lifted quickly as they rode back to her home. Some of the women servants were out side working in a garden where some crops were growing. "Tell me... what do you think that man was up to?" She wanted to get his opinion because she couldn't put her finger on what it could be. If he wanted to kill her why not have just killed her there? Why ask to be employed and what would he want in return?

Kyosuke:

Shrugging, Kyosuke said off handedly, "Well, he could always be looking for a wife or something. I mean, the one of the first things he said to you refered to your beauty. And he wasn't wrong, you are beautiful enough." Blinking a few times, the samurai realized what he said and started to blush again.

Emora:

Shinobu blinked as well and blushed along with him. "A wife..." she said softly. "Well... he has a lot to learn about women... besides..." She smiled and looked to Kyosuke. "I don't think I'm his type... he seems like one of those guys who likes submissive people... and I bow to no one unless they have earned my respect. Not to mention I'm one of the few women who like to choose who they marry."

The whole idea of that man looking at her to be his future wife made her nauseous. She didn't know why, but everything about him repulsed her... even thought he wasn't that ugly he still made her sick. “He was probably just buttering me up in the hopes I’d except his proposal and I think he is suspicious of you… after all he did tell me I should be more careful on who I talk to.”

Kyosuke:

"Well, he didn't exactly know my true identity as your bodyguard," Kyosuke said. "I mean, that part could have been honest advice, considering I could have been from an enemy clan of yours and lied to you so I could get rid of you."

"Anyway, let's just worry about him if we get bad news about him... or if we're attacked by him." Kyosuke didn't let his bits of worry show in any of his features, always keeping his normal smile on him. 'I hope those robed people with him weren't magic users because I could have some trouble with that,' he thought to himself.

Emora:

"Your right," she said and nodded. "For all I know he could be a good man and my senses are going off for no reason. It's happened... well not really... but you never know."

She dismounted her horse when they reached the stables and the stableman took the creatures for them. Shinobu brushed a hand through her long silken raven hair and closed her eyes for a moment. "Would you like to go and get something to eat?"

She was letting her worry fade and her cheer hadn't gone anywhere that was for sure "I myself ran off with out eating anything!"

Kyosuke:

"Sure," Kyosuke said. "I'm kinda hungry now anyway, I haven't really eaten since this morning so c'mon! Let's go!" The grinning samurai walked off towards the direction of the kitchen to get some food.

Getting a meal consisting of rice, vegetables, and beef, he sat down and waited for Shinobu to get there with her food.

Emora:

Shinobu sat down with him with the same thing in her bowl and she ate quietly. Once again the sun was setting on another day. This time she wasn't going to sneak out in the night. Her lesson had been learned for sure.

Shinobu had always been a fast eater it was common knowledge around her home. She didn't know how she had started the habit, but she had. She didn't eat messy or anything... just fast.... but not so fast it looked like she was rushing. She usually just got finished before every one else.

"I'm going to retire early tonight..." she said softly to him. "I'm tired from not getting the rest I needed last night. You can do what you wish you know. If you feel up to going into town or something be my guest I don't want you to feel cooped up in this place."

Kyosuke:

Looking up, Kyosuke wiped some stray grains of rice from his mouth and ate them. "Ah, thanks," he said. "I'll keep that in mind. I don't think it'd be a very good idea for me to go out tonight anyway. We're gonna be busy tomorrow and I know I'm going to fall off the horse many times if we use them." Kyosuke stuck his tongue out slighly in a somewhat goofy look.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled as she rose from her seat on the floor and looked down at him. "Let's hope you won't fall to much... Good night..." She bowed and walked away to go to her room where she bathed and dressed in very comfortable silk sleeping kimono.

She laid down on her futon bed and covered up, closing her eyes and falling almost immediately into a deep sleep in which she had fitful dreams, but did not wake.

Kyosuke:

After Shinobu left the bathing room, Kyosuke walked in. Closing the doors, quickly took his clothing off and, rinsed his body off with cold water. Scrubbing his body with some soap, he finished washing and slipped into the hot water of the furo. Lying back into it, he let his muscles relax, letting the heat take care of the aches and pains he had gotten from the day of riding (and mostly falling off) the horse.

"Ah, I've really gotta wonder about what happened today," the samurai said to himself. "Was that man an enemy or just someone offering some help. If he's an enemy, it may be troublesome if those robed men with him were magic users also. Ugh." After he mused for a while, he fell asleep in the hot bath. Luckily, the servants had all gone to sleep so the fire that kept the bath hot eventually died down and the water temperature cooled so the samurai didn't die of heat exhaustion.

Emora:

Shinobu woke the next morning the sound of a servant screaming. She jumped out of her bed, wrapping the covers around her and flinging open the door. "What is it?" she asked and the servant was blushing something fierce and mumbling about a man in a bathtub.

Shinobu guessed that it was some one taking a bath and the young servant girl had just walked in by accident. She walked into the room and lay back on her bed covering her head lazily with the pillow. She had gone to sleep right when her head his the pillow yet she felt as if she hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

She heard one of the servants come through her door to annoy her or in other words do her day checking. She pretended to be a sleep... but wasn't very successful.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just slept through the high pitched scream of the servant girl. As long as he didn't sense any dangerous feelings he wouldn't wake up for a while.

A male servant walked in and tried to shake the near comatose samurai awake, but the grump samurai opened his eyes, grabbed the man's hand and slammed him bodily into the wall, then proceeded to go back to sleep inside the furo.

Seeing this happen, another servant decided to go get Shinobu to do something about her bodyguard. "Um... Shinobu-sama? Your bodyguard doesn't seem to be willing to get up. He even slammed Hiroshi-kun into a wall and went back to sleep. Can you do something about him? We need to wash the furo and put fresh water in there," the servant pleaded.

Emora:

Shinobu arched an eyebrow. "You want me to go in there? But... but... he hasn't got any clothes on!" she said sitting up in her bed and holding the covers to her. "Oh..." she said seeing that the servant had no other idea of what to do. "Alright..."

Shinobu rose, once again taking the covers with her. When she reached the wash room she didn't even look in. She turned her back to the door and backed in slowly making sure not to trip over anything. "Um... Kyosuke..." she said blushing furiously. "You fell a sleep in the bath tub and need to get out..." What was she supposed to do? Turn around reach in and pull him out?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke stirred slightly in his sleep, responding to Shinobu's voice. "Guh? Wha's happ'ning" he said sleepily. "Why 'm I all wet and stuff?" He blinked a few times and saw the servant he downed. "And why is there someone unconscious on the floor?"

Kyosuke looked up, only having one eye opened and saw Shinobu, who was blushing and facing away. Then it clicked. "OH! I fell asleep while I was in the bath. I get it now! Oops." The samurai let an embarrassed laugh escape his lips.

Emora:

"Well..." Shinobu said smiling and covering her mouth with her covers. "I'll leave you to get dressed." She walked to the door and closed it behind her and walked back to her room shaking her head.

When she reached her room she became lazy again and laid on the bed with a smile coming to her lips. She curled into a ball enjoying the warmth of the sun coming in through her window and the warmth of her covers and how cozy she felt. She didn't close the door to her room but left it open as she began to half doze off.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke quickly rushed to put his clothing on, apologizing to the servant he knocked out as well as the female servant that had walked in on him. After getting through that awkward situation, he walked out and took a breath of fresh air.

"Hmm, it's morning now, maybe I should get Shinobu up. We need to get going soon and I should figure out whether she wants to come with me or not." Kyosuke walked over to Shinobu's room and found the door open, grinning, he decided to mess around a little with her. Closing the door behind him, the samurai snuck in and lay down next to her and waited for her to wake up with him near her face.

Emora:

Shinobu opened her eyes slowly, sensing something odd that hadn't been felt in a while when she slept... She saw a face close to hers and her heart leaped and she pushed away quickly scrambling across the floor and towards her wall, loosing her blanket some where along the way. "Kyosuke!!" Shinobu yelled and put a hand to her chest.

Her heart was racing and she had a shocked and fearful expression that was fading now that she realized who it was. "What are you doing?!" She didn't mean to yell, but he had scared the living daylights out of her. Though, this situation was very uncomfortable for her…

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke was laughing, he knew he probably shouldn't have messed around with her, but he couldn't help it. "Well, I came here to wake you up, but when I saw you sleeping I figured that waking you up the normal way wouldn't work, seeing as you managed to go wake me up and then somehow fell asleep again, so I decided to mess around with you so you'd get a little scare. And I was right, I don't think you can get back to sleep now." Kyosuke continued to grin widely, and knew that if he got hit for his actions, he well deserved them.

Emora:

"Well you did a fine job of scaring me!" Shinobu said and stood up folding her arms. Though she had to admit it was getting funny now, it wasn't at first. The first thing that had come to her mind because when she first opened her eyes she had seen only a face and not the person it was and she thought it had been some one to kill her or... or be like the man from the other night. But, now that she knew it was Kyosuke she knew she was safe.

"Alright, I'm up and if you'll leave I'll get dressed so we can go..." Shinobu said bending to grab her blanket off the floor and looking back at him.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke was still grinning. "Sure," he said, walking out the door. "I'll wait outside for you." Kyosuke walked along for a bit and sat down on a rock in the garden, waiting patiently for Shinobu to arrive.

Emora:

Shinobu was looking through her clothes when she realized she didn't know how she was supposed to dress... Who were these contacts? Should she dress like she was the night before or should she dress normal? She guessed in between.

Shinobu came out dressed in a yellow kimono jacket and a light blue pare of pants with a light blue belt and regular sandals. "I'm ready..." she said when she finally found him in the garden. Her hair was pulled back in a lose braid. Her eyes seemed to have a redder tent to them today... it usually meant she was in a good mood or was happy.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke turned around and nodded to Shinobu. "Alright then, I'm assuming you'd prefer to ride the horse," he said. "It'd be faster anyway. It's a day walking but should take us to night if we ride horses... provided that I don't fall off too many times." Kyosuke laughed a few times, but knew that he would do exactly that.

Emora:

Shinobu had the horses pulled around for them and she wondered where they would stay when it got night. She had her servants informed of where they were going and when everything was in order stood out side, about to mount her horse and when she was mounted she wated for Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke walked up to the horses, one eyelid twitching. "I will not fall off. I will not fall off. I will not fall of," he chanted under his breath. Jumping onto the horse, he immediately fell off. "Ow! I think I'm beginning to bruise there."

Kyosuke managed to get on the horse after a few more tries. "Finally!" he yelled. The samurai turned towards Shinobu. "We're headed east, on that road," he said, pointing.

Emora:

Shinobu didn't laugh that much this time. She was starting to feel sorry for him. "I'm getting to the point where I think you should just ride with me... then you would have something to hold on to where you wouldn't fall off..." she said and smiled.

"Well... east it is..." She wanted to start her horse of in full gallop, but guessed it was a bad idea since Kyosuke was a bad rider... "By the way... where will we be staying the night?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke opened his mouth to answer Shinobu's question, then he closed it with a clack. "I didn't think that far ahead. I assumed we would make it there by nightfall. Maybe we should head back and grab some camping supplies." Kyosuke's grinned turned slightly embarrassed because he had forgotten about the possibility of not arriving before night.

Emora:

"No, it's alright. I have money and if we stop at a town I'll get us a place to stay and if we don't we can build a fire and sleep under the stars," she said and smiled to him. "If you don't mind. My husband and I used to do it all the time and it was fine."

Kyosuke:

"We aren't going to hit any towns on the way, so be prepared to sleep under the stars tonight," Kyosuke warned. The two rode on for a while before Kyosuke decided to ask, "So, what kind of man was your husband like anyway? He seems like he was a nice man."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled at the memory of them together... Her eyes grew misty for a moment. "Yes, he was a very nice man..." she said softly looking at the horses neck. "He was a strong man... not just physically... but in every aspect almost... He tried his best to help out those who needed it the most... and I guess that’s why they killed him. I loved him very much..." Very much.

"Any way," she said and smiled as she looked back at Kyosuke with slightly misted eyes. "He would have enjoyed your company as much as I do... I'm afraid I don't know the way... would you mind leading?"

Kyosuke:

"Sure, I'll lead," Kyosuke said. The samurai led his horse in front of Shinobu's and started down the road further.

"So who killed your husband?" Kyosuke asked cautiously, curious about the matter. "And it's really too bad that he was killed."

Emora:

"I don't know who killed him..." Shinobu said barely able for herself to here, much less any one else. "It happened so fast and the assailant wasn't even close to us... he used a poisoned arrow... and then one came out of no where in the confusion and finished him off..." A flash back came to her mind and she shook her head to force it away. "Our bodyguards killed him before he could be question for fear he would kill me..."

She grew very quiet and rode in silence for a very long time, smiling at found memories and then going expressionless at the bad ones. "I hope we don't run into that... man..." she said remember that he was supposed to come back at ask her again if she would take his proposition...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke said. "That's a sad story," he stated. "At least you killed the one who killed him. Anyway, there's a good chance that if anyone had him killed, that they're probably the ones that are now after you. In that case then we'll get to avenge your husband when we find out whoever's after you." Kyosuke continued to lead on, staring up at the sky, his grin actually not there anymore.

Emora:

"And they will rue the day they ever killed my husband..." she muttered under her breath as they entered the forest riding down the road. Down the road there was a curve and from around the curve three men came galloping, slowing down at the sight of them...

"Speak of the devil..." Shinobu said when she saw the Lord sitting on his horse riding towards them. He had a broad smile on his face as if he when he came closer to realize who they were.

“Good morning my lady…” he said bowing his head as the two hooded figured pulled along side him. “I was just coming to visit you…”

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke cursed quietly under his breath when he saw the noble from yesterday (OOC: at least that's who I'm assuming you meant when you said the Lord, if not then I'll change this post) approach them on horseback. Seeing no other way, he dove off of his horse, making it look like he had fallen off, and rolled down the hill that was by the side of the road. Upon reaching the bottom, he started a slow crawl up to the top of the hill.

Emora:

((OOC: Yep, that’s whom I meant))

Shinobu watched with surprise when Kyosuke went rolling down the hill to leave her all alone. "Not very graceful is he..." the noble said and smiled to Shinobu a cunning smile like a sly wolf that knew something you didn't and was happy about it. "You look radiant this morning... I trust you slept well... no... Accidents?"

Shinobu arched an eyebrow and she looked at him for a moment, noticing a slight flicker of color in his eyes. "No, it was a quiet night..." she said softly and sat up straight in her saddle. Her horse began to move nervously for some reason as she saw the flicker happen in his eyes again.

"Good... good," the noble said and the men to the sides of him smiled under their cloaks. "I thought I warned you Lady about servants you barely know..." He looked back to Kyosuke and Shinobu's horse moved more and more like an antsy man. "Might I ask where you both are going?"

“Just for a ride nothing more… if you would like a meeting with me it can wait until I get back from it,” Shinobu said and looked to Kyosuke for a moment.

“I’m afraid I don’t like waiting…” He smiled another wolfish smile.

Kyosuke:

"Bah, he noticed me," Kyosuke muttered. "I was hoping he wouldn't be able to tell it was me." The samurai continued to crawl up at a slow pace, ready to spring up and cut the man down if he tried to do anything. He narrowed his eyes further with the noble's reply of "I'm afraid I don't feel like waiting."

Emora:

"Excuse me?" Shinobu asked with a slight bit of confusion written in her voice.

His smile grew to a grin and she shifted slightly in her saddle, glancing at Kyosuke. "My, Lady..." he said looking down. "You seem a smart woman... I know you have already figured me a bad man... so I feel I shouldn't prolong my acting any longer... Neither should your bodyguard. Ah... stay down there...."

He pointed to the side of him where Kyosuke was and a one of the men sitting to the side of him shot a bolt of something towards Kyosuke hitting him in the chest.

Shinobu was knocked off her horse by some invisible force and she landed on the ground far from her horse... at the foot of the noble's horse. He dismounted and looked down at her with inquisitive eyes. "You might not have heard of my clan, my Lady... I am a Raith (see the races at the very bottom if you got questions) and when we see a woman we won't we take them..." He bent down next to her just as she was reaching for her katana to pull it free. He grabbed both her small hands in one of his. "I'm willing to give you a head start before I catch you..."

The magic user kept an eye on Kyosuke and every time he saw him move he shot something towards him.

"You're very pretty..." His gold eyes looked at her. He brushed her cheek. "I have nothing to do with the people trying to kill you... if I did I wouldn't be offering you a head start and I don't won't you dead... you'd be no use to me." He smiled and Shinobu was almost in a trace of fear for some reason. "Two days and no matter how strong you body guard thinks he is... he's not as strong as two Dark Mages." He got on his horse and then turned it quickly, skillfully maneuvering it over Shinobu so that the horse wouldn't crush her and he and his men road off, the mages through fire balls at Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

"Gah!" Kyosuke cried out in pain each time he was hit by a magic attack. Had he dodged the first one he would have been fine, but from his position crawling on the ground he was unable to do so. After a few more of the magic attacks hit him, his head was swimming from the pain he was under and he fell unconscious as the last few fireballs hit home and knocked him into a tree.

The samurai lay there, unmoving save for the low rise and fall of his chest from the soft breaths he took. Burns and abrasions covered his body and a large bruise was forming on where he hit the tree.

Emora:

Kyosuke! Shinobu got up as soon as they were out of her sight and had stopped there attack and she ran down the hill, slipping on the leaves and falling to her knees beside him. "Kyosuke..." Shinobu whispered softly sticking out a hand slowly to touch him.

She didn't won't to move him... she might hurt him worst. What if he was dying? She looked around, her eyes watering at the fact he looked dead already. "HELP!" She screamed, she wasn't too far from her home... some one could here her... wouldn't they?

"HELP!" she looked down at Kyosuke and then around at the quiet forest they were in. "Hold on..." she whispered and rose up quickly running up the hill and mounting her horse. She gave a hard kick and the horse reared before galloping towards the house. When she came back she had two men and a wagon with her. They carried Kyosuke's body back to her home and the doctor treated him.

When he came out he looked at Shinobu. "I think being your bodyguard is a hazard to any man..." Then he left her in the garden.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just lay there, breathing softly. His burns had been bandaged with burn salves on them to help heal it. The samurai lay there for many more hours and would not wake up. However, his breaths almost seemed to be getting shallower and shallower as time passed by.

Emora:

Shinobu went to visit him after a while and she sat beside him holding his hand. Though, she had not known him long he was like an old friend to her. She felt responsible and yes it was her fault. When he woke up and was better she was going to send him away before he died because of her.

"Kyosuke..." she said softly and felt a knot grow in her throat afraid he was going to die. "please... please don't die."

A tear ran down her cheek.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke struggled in his consciousness to stop his life from fading. Slowly, his will won over his body's urge to stop functioning and his breathing started to return to normal. His face started to show signs that he was in less pain also. After a few hours of battling within himself, his eyes cracked open slightly.

"Ugh, where am I?" the samurai asked.

Emora:

Shinobu woke up, she had fallen a sleep on the floor and when she heard Kyosuke's voice she rose up quickly and crawled to his futon. "In you room..." she said a little puzzled and wondering if he had amnesia or something...

"Are you feeling better?" it was a stupid question yes... but it was the only thing she could think of to say...

Kyosuke:

"Yeah, I'm feeling better than when I was being hit by that magic," Kyosuke said. His body was then racked with a multitude of hard coughs. He had to calm himself down slightly before they stopped. "Ugh, I think I'll lie down some more."

Emora:

"I'm sorry..." Shinobu said and looked down for a moment. "It was a stupid question... Rest... I'll have some warm food brought to you." She spoke very quietly, barely over a whisper. She looked tired, but it was from staying up to watch over him. She had only fallen a sleep an hour or so ago... she couldn't keep her eyes open any more.

She rose from the floor and left the room, closing the door behind her. She went to the kitchen and had some warm food made from him and took it to him herself. She didn't know if he had the strength to eat it himself, but she brought it none the less.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sat up slightly as Shinobu walked in with the food. "Thanks," he said, picking the chopsticks up weakly and putting food into his mouth. Just using the chopsticks seemed like they were a burden on the samurai's weakened arms.

Emora:

Shinobu was sitting on her legs in a kneeling position staring at the floor. She didn't know what to do or what to say. She didn't think anything she could do would help his pain. She swallowed hard. "Kyosuke..." she said very softly looking up. "I'll understand if you wish to leave when you are better..."

She didn't want him to get hurt any more because of her and she felt it would keep him safe if she left. Or maybe it was best if she left.... She was thinking seriously of going to the Shogun... even if he was in Ighten at the moment and asking for his help... She couldn't fight this noble or his mages... and Kyosuke would get hurt... or killed.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled weakly. "What the hell are you talking about?," Kyosuke asked. "I'm still gonna be your bodyguard, I said I would work for you until I felt like upping and leaving. I haven't felt like that yet."

The samurai propped himself up with his arm. "Besides, I want revenge on those magic using bastards. If anything I'll fight them again for myself if you don't want me to fight for you."

Emora:

"It's not that I don't want you fighting for me... actually I feel safer when your around... I just don't want you getting hurt any more..." she said the last part very, very quietly and her voice seemed choked slightly.

She rose from her seat quickly, her eyes growing slightly water and she walked to the door. "I'll leave you..." she left the room closing the door behind her and walking to hers. She closed the door behind her and fell down on her makeshift bed putting her head in her hands. She was scared... Why was she scared so much now...

She pulled back and her cheeks glistened as she looked down at the katana her husband had given her. Half the mind told her to take the katana, find that man, and slay him. The other side told her it was a foolish thing to try.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just lay back down, he couldn't go after the woman even if he wanted to. The samurai just concentrated on eating the rest of his food. After he finished it he closed his eyes and went back to sleep, hoping that it would restore his health and energy.

Emora:

Shinobu left her room and went to the garden and sat there trying to do something constructive. Finally she couldn't take her pretneding any longer and she through the paper she had been reading on the ground, scattering it every where.

What is wrong with me? she asked herself and nelt to pick up all the papers. She was worried about Kyosuke, wondering what she could do to get rid of assassins and an arrogant Raith... what ever that was.

Before she new it she would herself running from her own home and across the grassy meadow towards the place where the lake was. She didn't care any more she just wanted to get away from her house and every one in it.

Emora:

Shinobu left her room and went to the garden and sat there trying to do something constructive. Finally she couldn't take her pretneding any longer and she through the paper she had been reading on the ground, scattering it every where.

What is wrong with me? she asked herself and nelt to pick up all the papers. She was worried about Kyosuke, wondering what she could do to get rid of assasins and an arrogant Raith... what ever that was.

Before she new it she would herself running from her own home and across the grassy meadow towards the place where the lake was. She didn't care any more she just wanted to get away from her house and every one in it.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just lay there, sleeping to his hearts content. There was nothing more he could do except heal, and that was a difficult enough task all in itself. Kyosuke's strongest weakness was magic. Being more of a melee fighter, he would have to slay any magic user before they got to him. His new technique with throwing his two katana may help him now, but in the end, his speed mattered the most.

Emora:

Shinobu lay on the grass staring at the clouds in an elegant violet kimono with a fan in her hair. She closed her eyes sighing heavily. Being so close to that house was like it was suffocating her.

She felt so responsible fore Kyosuke's injuries. She wished it had been her... that way he wouldn't have gotten hurt. There was no use trying to change the past... After hours of lying there undisturbed and the sun began to set she stood and began to walk back to her home, not wanting to worry those that lived there.

[Soran Nightblade]

Kyosuke:

As the sun rose, Kyosuke started to stir again. The samurai sat up slowly, testing out his body. He found himself able to move again and he could breathe comfortably, though taking deep breaths hurt the burns somewhat. He walked out to the garden and took a breath of fresh air, turning to see Shinobu walk in at that point. "Hey," he said.

Emora:

Shinobu looked up quickly rather startled, she hadn't expected to see him up. "Hey..." she said, smiling slightly as she came further into the garden that her house surrounded. "How are you feeling?" Her eyes looked him over to see if there was anything out of place that she could fix, like a bandage... just to give her something to do...

Kyosuke:

The samurai stretched his arms out, then clutched the burn on his chest. "A lot better than yesterday, the burn still hurts somewhat though," he replied. "I think I'm mostly healed." Kyosuke smiled reassuredly at her.

"Anyway, what exactly did that guy say to you yesterday after I was hit with magic? I didn't get much of a chance to listen to that part."

Emora:

Shinobu's face and eyes shifted slightly her expression faltering. "Nothing much..." she said hastily and absentmindedly rubbed her arm... she usually did that when she got nervous.

"I'll give you two days..." his voice said in her head out of memory. She swallowed hard... It was two days... Two days had passed... She felt faint for a moment and didn't even know why. She'd have to go somewhere to make sure Kyosuke didn't get hurt again.

"Just flaunting his arrogance..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke didn't believe it. However, he put a fake smile on and said, "Alright then, if you say so," he said. He would make sure that she was watched at all times now. If she didn't tell him what was going on, he would have to find out himself.

Emora:

Shinobu nodded when he agreed with her, she couldn't tell if he believed her or not. She guessed she'd have to find out later. She grew quiet again and looked at the ground meekly in thought.

What was she going to do? Arghh... she hated being so weak these days. Nothing she seemed to do went right and every time she turned around something offal was happening.

"Is there anything you need?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke thought about it for a moment. 'The truth would be nice,' he thought to himself. "Nah, I'm fine, if I get hungry I'll go grab food from the kitchen." He yawned and stretched his arms out again, once again cringing in pain. "Actually, some burn salve would be nice."

Emora:

"I'll have some brought to you..." she said and turned to go look for her midwife that usually delt with her when she was ill. She had once had her for the baby she was to have... before she lost it. She came back with the salve and handed it to him. "Here you go.."

Kyosuke:

"Thanks," Kyosuke said, then started to unravel the bandages on his torso. He winced in pain as he tugged the end of the bandage off.

"I suppose my gi is in tatters now huh?" he asked before starting to apply the salve. "Ach, that stings a bit."

Emora:

She would have helped him, but she new absolutely nothing about burns or healing ro anything and she didn't want to hurt him more... "I'm sorry..." she said very softly when he told her that it stung. "I could see if we have anything to kill the pain..."

Kyosuke:

"Don't worry about it. I've taken worse that burns before," Kyosuke reassured her. "Do you have anything I can change in to? Another set of clothing maybe, i need to wash my hakama anyway. It's been a while since I have and it's starting to stink." The samurai finished applying the salve and sat back down.

Emora:

"Sure," Shinobu said and smiled warmly, disappearing and coming back with a black male kimono that had belonged to her husband. She didn't know if it would fit Kyosuke, but he was just going to where it until his clothes were clean.

"Here you are..." She sat it down on a stone bench and smiled. "I think it might fit you..." Though her husband had been a nice sized man. Not fat, just very muscular.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke slipped into his room to change into the clothing offered to him. After putting it on, he found that the kimono was a bit too long on him and hung low to the ground. Also, his skinny body didn't let him fill the kimono out. Shrugging, the samurai put his hakama back on and walked back out.

"Heh, these are a bit large on me," he said. "I'm a bit too short and scrawny to wear this. I'd probably actually fit your clothing better than these." The samurai stood only half an inch shorter than his employer and had a very similar build.

Emora:

"Would you like me to go find you something of mine?" she asked arching an eyebrow with a smile on her face. "I think I can find a servant of your size who is a male... the stable boy is about your size..."

She went to him and indeed he had clothes that would fit Kyosuke. She took them back to him and handed them to him. "I'm sorry the other ones didn't fit. She smiled and oulled her hands away. For the most part she had forgotten that some one would be paying her a very unpleasant visit today...

Kyosuke:

"Ah, it doesn't matter. It's not that cold out and I suppose I can continue wearing the hakama until I find something else to wear," Kyosuke shrugged. He had a feeling that he would need a new set of clothing after this day anyway.
Emora:

Shinobu nodded, setting the clothing down on something near by and she looked around. "I think you might need some more rest..." she said looking out the window at where the sun was. "Maybe you should lie down for a while."

Her voice didn't betray the fact she was trying to get him to go to sleep so she could go away before the noble arrived and he wouldn't get hurt any more. It didn't betray it to her ears at least. "I think I'm going to take a walk around the house and maybe do some more painting..."

Kyosuke:

"Alright, I'll stay in the garden for a while, you go ahead and paint. I don't have the patience to watch the process for something like that anyway," Kyosuke said and sat on a garden rock. He waited for the woman to leave and went into his room to grab his swords.

Emora:

Shinobu made her way skillfully, acting like she was just admiring the wild flowers growing around her home, glancing around to see if any one was watching her. One are two looked at her every now and then and she acted like was completely interested in the fact there was a purple flower growing next to a yellow one.

When they weren't looking however she made her way quickly towards the forest and onto a road. She sighed when she didn't hear any one calling her name or anything to tell her to come back. She walked a while on the quiet peaceful road enjoying the scenery and things. Listening to all that the lovely quiet nature had to offer...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke grabbed his swords and quickly followed Shinobu out at a distance. He watched her and hid whenever she looked back to seemingly admire the flowers. 'She's expecting someone to follow her. This could either mean she doesn't want me following no matter what, or someone else is after her. She sure isn't staying here to paint," he thought.

Emora:

Shinobu looked down sighing for a moment. How come in times of great stress could she not remember the slightest things... like change into something other than an elegant kimono before walking to her death... She still wore her violet kimono and her sandals, but she did have her katana... and some thing else that she had remembered from the lesson she had learned last time... A knife in a strap hidden in the sleeve of her kimono.

"I kind of figured you'd do something foolish..." How come they always got behind her? "Now, haven't you learned to not go any where with out a guard?" She turned around slowly and wanted to sigh, he was good distance away... which was good for her.

She turned and started running down the path. She had no plan at the moment, but one was starting to form in her head. She would lead them to a neighboring clan's house where she had friends there... he was a very powerful man and his sons were Nibu Wolves to the Shogun. She basically just wanted to get them as far as possible from Kyosuke where he wouldn't get killed.

"Stop her..." the noble said dully and a mage smiled holding his hand out and throwing a ball of energy that was blindingly white. It hit Shinobu with such force it sent her flying off her feet and landing on the ground, rolling a few times until she was on her side.

"I didn't say kill her!" The noble stabbed the man and fire erupted, but it healed quickly. He walked briskly to where Shinobu lay rather limply. She was breathing normally but the blast had seemed to knock her unconscious.

"I'm not in the mood to drag a half dead female around this idiotic province..." he touched her cheek and under her neck, checking her pulse. "You better be glad she is alive, Mircol... Well, I guess I can wait longer... Shea is planning to make her attack on Ongoreth and Ighten at some point and when she does she will give out land... I like this land very much... and this lady here will help me to get it... if I already have claim to it... then no one else can get it. I guess we can leave her here... as long as that dope following her," he smiled towards a place in the forest... he could since things like that. "is here... I don't think any one will harm her." He kissed the tip of his hand and put his hand on her cheek. "Until tonight..." Then they left quite quickly on horses...


Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's eyes widened as he saw Shinobu get hit by the energy ball, but decided to stay down, figuring out what he could do against these people.

His thoughts were interrupted as the noble turned towards Kyosuke's direction and mentioned that he kept following her. Kyosuke's eyes narrowed. 'How does he do that?' the samurai wondered. He has to have senses at least on par with mine.

The samurai cursed and looked back up, seeing that the noble and his magic using men were gone. He quickly ran over to Shinobu and checked her over. Finding that overall she was fine, Kyosuke picked her up and ran back to the house.

Emora:

When Kyosuke reached the house a man took Shinobu and put her in her room on her futon, lying on her stomach. The servant girls closed the door behind them and went to work taking Shinobu's clothes off to see if her wounds were serious. They covered her from the middle of her back down and brought in the doctor who made a summery and left the room.

The servants were more careful now and they dressed her again. After a while they left Shinobu and walked out of the room. She was lying on her back now a little scratched up from the tumble, but over all she was fine. The doctor said she would be a little sore, but that was about it.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sat on the roof above Shinobu's room, prepared to react from any direction to protect her. If someone attacked her through the main door, he would be there and if someone went through a window, he would be able to react to that also.

"Tch, she woulda been better protected if she just let me follow her," Kyosuke muttered to himself. "I coulda jumped in fronta that blast." The samurai sighed. "Ah well, no use thinking on it now."


Emora:

Shinobu woke during the night filling all icky and dirty. She wanted nothing more to than to take a bath. She stood up, feeling a bit sore, but getting use to it. She was more of tired than anything else. She walked to the washroom and closed the door behind her.

She looked at the floor rubbing her eyes and when she looked up she went to scream, because standing behind her was man who refused to leave her alone. He quickly covered her mouth and pulled her backwards towards him. He put his other arm around her waist and whispered, "Funny thing about us Raiths... we can open portals to any place we want." He turned her around to make her face him and he still covered her mouth. His eyes were yellow... and entrancing.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke watched Shinobu walk out of the room and into the washroom, following her on the roofs. When she closed the door, he waited for any signs of attack, and got one when he heard the noble's voice from inside the washroom. He heard the noble talk about opening a portal anywhere, ignored it, and swung himself into the room, crashing through the wooden door. In the same motion, he drew his double katana, and slashed it at the man, intending to cleave his head off.

Emora:

Shinobu was jerked around when the noble went to dodge Kyosuke’s attack. He did it in a graceful move and at the same time drew his own blade and using Shinobu as a shield.

"Now lets not be stupid Samurai... wouldn't want the Lady to get hurt..." He glared dangerously at Kyosuke with the eyes that could strike fear even into the strongest man. "Now, this is how it's going to go..."

He began to move around the room, Shinobu stumbled along fighting the grip, but trying to keep the blade of his long sword away. "We are going to go away for a while..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's cheerful grin turned cold. "If you're gonna kill her then do it. I thought you needed her help to get the land here. I think if you kill her that would make getting her help much more difficult," Kyosuke's voice matched his cold expression in every bit. "Besides, if you kill her now, nothing will stop me from killing you."

Emora:

The Raith looked directly into the eyes of the samurai and smiled just as coldly. "I never side I would kill her... hurt is a totally different thing..." He pushed the blade of his sword up to her neck, Shinobu pushed with all her might to try and get it to go away, but it didn't help at all. He drug the blade across the side of her neck painfully slow making a cut that made Shinobu show pain very clearly. Blood dripped down her neck...

"Unless you let us out of this house it will get worst than a scratch... I have healers that can heal her some what... but you wouldn't want her to go through to much pain... hu boy?" He was mocking Kyosuke and loving every minute of Shinobu's discomfort...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke grit his teeth together. He knew his choices. He could let the man go, or he could try to kill him. The second choice was out of the question since his bluff had already failed. 'I need to get Shinobu-dono away from him, but how do I do that?' he thought to himself. While he was in thought, he kept on a face of complete coldness, not letting any of his emotions show at all.

Emora:

Shinobu looked at Kyosuke through desperate eyes... she was deathly afraid of this man for some reason. She didn't know what a Raith was... but it seemed to be something that could make you afraid of it easily.

"Well, while your contemplating the fate of your charge we're going to be leaving..." he walked out the door, or backed out side ways, dragging Shinobu with him. "Take all the time you need, I'm sure by the time you finally decide I'll be well on my way back to Arken..."

ARKEN!?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke growled. He felt helpless to stop the man from taking the kind woman that was willing to employ him. Suddenly a thought came to him. 'Wait, he can't really block my two swords AND hurt Shinobu at the same time, so as long as I'm careful about it I may be able to stop him.'

Kyosuke still worried about Shinobu's safety, but the fear he saw in her eyes made his decision clear. The fearless samurai charged at the Raith as fast as he could, double swords flashing. He brought one katana down in a vertical slash at his head and his second sword was aimed towards the man's unguarded back.

Emora:

The Raith smiled at the challenge, but didn't feel like dying so soon. He opened a portal and dropped through it, barely missing the attack. When he came out Shinobu's face was very pale and she seemed to be in a great deal of pain. "Watch it little one... you see, the portals were designed for my people... humans can't take there matter being pulled apart... why do you think I'm getting out of the house the hard way?" he seemed mad about the fact he had to use the portal and use it with Shinobu so close to him.

"Now, lets not try something like that again..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's gaze remained cold. "Didn't I tell you before? If she dies, nothing will stop me from killing you. Nothing at all. Plus you lose your helper in taking these lands. So what do you think?" Kyosuke's grin turned into a smirk at this point.

Emora:

"You really don't listen do you boy?" the noble said and glared dangerously. "I don't have to have this whore to get what I want. I was sent to kill the nobles in Ongoreth to make unrest and to make the Shogun leave Ighten. I was sent to kill this woman and all other chiefs and leaders. You seem to really want her dead by the way you speak. I haven't killed her because I want the land and I thought this would be more profitable..." He looked at Shinobu with every bit of lust in his eyes. "And more pleasurable."

Shinobu was still pushing futilely against him, more numbly however since she had come through the torturous portal. She saw the glint of her knife in her wrist strap and she almost smiled with some hope... but didn't. The handmaids had forgotten to remove it. She froze, looking at Kyosuke and slowly pulling it out. "I can kill her and it won't bother me, though I'd very much enjoy her alive... wouldn't you?" Mean while her other guards were coming up from behind them to cut him off. "My lady... what happened a moment ago hurt you very much did it not? Call off your men or it will be worst next time..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke growled in frustration. He couldn't continue to bluff like that, it was getting too risky. The knuckles on the samurai's hands turned white with him clenching them so hard. For once in his life, he had no idea what he should do.

Emora:

Shinobu pulled her knife and used all her strength to turn herself around and try and kill the man. But, he grabbed her wrist before she could and he wrenched it from her hand. She tried to knock his legs from under him, but he was on a steady footing and they wouldn't budge. Then, she resorted to the last thing she thought she could do, but knew it would probably make things worst if he could recover quickly... she kicked him between the legs.

Finally she was free from his grasp and she pushed away. He didn't hit his knees and seemed to recover quickly with a deadly intent in his eyes. He held the dagger in his hand and struck with vengeance. Shinobu's eyes grew very wide and she froze, turning very stiff as she gazed up into the noble's eyes while he pulled her onto the blade of the knife. He seemed surprised by what he had done and he let the knife go after pulling it free. It fell to the floor.

Shinobu stood there for a moment, cupping the wound in the pit of her abdomen. She felt light headed and her knees grew weak and she began to fall to the ground. He caught her actually smiling now and as he held her up for a moment, hunched over, he looked into Kyosuke's eyes with triumph. "Unless you know of a healer boy... I really think the lady should come with me..."

The guards and every one froze, looking at Kyosuke for his reply.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's vision went red. He didn't register the fact that the man before him could find someone to heal Shinobu. All he knew was that the noble had dealt a fatal blow to the woman he became friends with. The only phrase that ran through his head was 'This man has to die.'

Kyosuke charged forward, his two swords off to the side, slicing through any material that came in his way. He attacked the man in the same way he did before, left katana at his head and the other at his back. This time he released the right katana to attempt to thwart a dodge forward and drew his nodachi as well.

Emora:

Shinobu was dropped to the floor limply as the noble was shocked from benig attacked. In his mind he had been sure that Kyosuke would give in and he could go free with Shinobu... but he had been wrong... and this had shaken him, giving Kyosuke a second opening from the nobles own delay...

Kyosuke:

With a loud roar of anger, the samurai brought his nodachi back and took advantage of the opening the noble left and slashed down as hard and fast as he could. Kyosuke's vision was still red with rage, and his eyes and eyebrows were twitching. The guards and servants stepped back in fear, despite the fact that the man was on their side.

Emora:

The noble fell to his knees and as he fell opened up a portal to escape through, so he could get to his healer and hopefully live to fight this man another day... He was gone.

Shinobu lay very still... She was still alive and conscious, but slowly fading from both. She was staring at the ceiling and her eyes moved to look at Kyosuke as she used what was left of her strength to sit up, failing she laid back down with a sad sigh. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of her mouth.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke's rage subsided as his target disappeared. The samurai quickly ran over to Shinobu and checked her pulse. Finding a weak one, he sighed in relief for a second before he ordered for a doctor to get there. Fortunately, a doctor had already came to watch over the fight and treat the wounded. Kyosuke carefully moved Shinobu into her room and let the doctor attempt to save her.

Emora:

After a long while the doctor opened the door to find quite a few people standing out side of it. He closed it behind him and those who looked in could see Shinobu lying no her back with her eyes closed and her head lying to the side facing them. She had no clothes on, they had been removed so the doctor could work. Her covers would pulled up to her shoulders.

"I did the best I could..." he said and looked at them. "She is sleeping now, I sewed up the wound, no arteries were hit and that was quite lucky... She'll live, but needs to take it easy so she won't open the wound again. Give her these..." he handed a handmaiden a small bag full of leaves. "They will kill the pain, but make her tired. I'm glad I was here... she was very close to the death..."

The doctor turned the Kyosuke. "How are your burns?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed in relief when he heard that Shinobu would live. "My burns are fine. Thanks doctor," Kyosuke said. He turned to a nearby servant. "Could you gather all the guards here? We need to figure out what to do." The servant nodded and ran off to do so.

A few minutes later, all the guards in the house were gathered. "We definitely need a few more people than usual to guard Shinobu-dono," Kyosuke started. He saw many a head nodding in agreement. "And many of you need much more training as well, but I'll meet with this house's swordmaster," Kyosuke nodded to the man which he identified as the swordmaster from the way the man carried himself "and discuss it later. We also need someone to stay in Shinobu's room and guard her. I think that position needs to go to any of the best fighters here. The extra guards don't need to be all that spectacular yet." Kyosuke went on assigning the positions to various people and made a rotation of 4 people, including himself, that would watch over Shinobu until she woke up.

Emora:

Shinobu woke in the morning slowly. At first things were spinning and when they stopped spinning they were blurry. She shook her head feeling a slight cold sensation run through her. She ran a hand over the wound lightly, figuring out she wasn't dressed. She barely touched it, not wanting to hurt it. Groaning she looked around before sitting up.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke looked up at the woman when he noticed movement. "Are you alright?" he asked. "You woke up much earlier than I expected you to." The samurai stood up from his position against the wall. He put the book he had been reading down and sat down next to Shinobu. "Do you need anything right now?"

Emora:

Shinobu looked at him for a moment through tired eyes and then she looked around noticing a few more people in the room. She held the covers to herself and sat up slowly. "My clothes..." she said in a dry scratchy voice, still able to taste the blood in her mouth.

She looked at him a moment longer. "Thank you..." she said to him, knowing she had said it quite frequently. This time her voice held a good deal of thankfulness in it. She had been very much afraid of that man.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke set Shinobu's clothing down next to the woman and walked out, bringing the next man that was supposed to rotate in with him out also. "I'll go get her some water," Kyosuke said and walked off towards the kitchen. He came back soon and called out, "Are you decent yet Shinobu-dono?" Receiving an affirmative answer, the man walked in and handed Shinobu the cup. "Here, drink some."

Emora:

Shinobu took the glass of water and drank it slowly. "Thank you..." she said quietly and smiled slightly.

"I don't know what I should do Kyosuke..." she said sadly and shook her head. "I don't know... Should I go to the Shogun and ask for his help... is it really this bad? I can't bother him with something so futile..."

She looked at him and slumped her shoulders slightly. "I just don't know..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "I have no idea what you should do. But I'll tell you what's going on now. You have 4 personal bodyguards now. I'm one of them and the 3 others are the strongest swordsmen here, and one of them includes your family swordsmaster. We'll each be taking 6 hour intervals to guard you. Also, we are now training the other guards in this place to make them more profficient. I need more men to help defend this place if that man comes back with his magic using buddies. We have the minimum amount of people guarding the residence and at nights we have added more guards around your room. You are the family head, we serve you," Kyosuke cracked his neck from side to side. "I'm off to help the swordsmaster train the guards now, cya." Kyosuke waved and then turned his eye towards a group of shadows where he noticed movement. The samurai smiled. He had sent a messanger pigeon to the ninja village he wanted to visit earlier and had two of his closest friends there come and watch over Shinobu in shifts.

Emora:

Shinobu's eyes were wide when she heard how many people would be watching over her now. It was a surprising thing.... She had only had that many people watching her when her husband was a live. She said bye to Kyosuke when he left and then she went back to her futon and fell a sleep again only to be woken up later by a maiden bringing her food. The food was sprinkled with leaves of some sort, but Shinobu didn't mind, thinking they were seasoning. The maiden would have told her what they were gladly, but she sort of forgot about it when Shinobu started a conversation with her out of nowhere on fabrics... Shinobu actually just wanted some female company for a while.

When the maid was gone she closed her eyes and fell back into slumber, sleeping more peacefully than ever...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed as he beat the last guard rather quickly. The samurai had a flat look in his eyes because of the boredom he was feeling as he fought all the guards the residence had. He had done it using only one bokken too, as opposed to the two bokken he'd had prefered to use, and he hadn't even moved from the spot that he had started in, save to turn around to face the next guard.

Kyosuke sighed again. "You all know how to look for openings in the enemy's defense, I'll give you that much. Most of you tried to take advantage of the openings I left in my stance. However, all of your basics are unperfected still. The basics are the foundation of any art, be it martial or artistic," he explained to the guards. He then turned to the family swordsmaster. "Oi, Yoshikawa-san. Let's show them huh?"

"Alright," was the swordsmaster's reply. The two samurai entered their stances and started their spar. When it ended, neither had won, and Kyosuke's grin grew.

"That was fun," he said. "I should take up my double swords on you next time." The two samurai smiled at each other. Their whole fight had consisted of nothing but the most basic techniques and yet it seemed much more advanced than any of the fights that Kyosuke had before with the guards, who had tried their more advanced techniques on the feminine looking samurai.

Emora:

It was only a day later and Shinobu with her stubbornness wanted to go out side. Her maidens refused that she go out side and continued to tell her she should rest or the stitches would come undone....

"Look... let me go into the garden and I promise not to move around a lot!" The maidens were standing in her way with there arms out so she couldn't leave her room. "Don't make me do this.... I order you to move out of my way..." All this arguing was tiring her. The moved though and she left her room to head to the garden.

The sun was beautiful and bright. She stood in the garden with her eyes closed enjoying the warmth of it...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke was walking around aimlessly as he saw or, rather, heard the arguement between Shinobu and her maiden. Sighing, the samurai walked over to the room and dismissed the last person that was guarding Shinobu. "Oi, it should be fine to just let her walk around. It's my turn to watch her so I'll make sure nothing happens alright?" the samurai had a large reassuring smile on his face as he said this. "Anyway, if she does pop her stitches out doing this, we won't let her go again."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled as she held her head back towards the sky and the sun shown down on her and the wind blew her long hair around her. The rays of the sun made her seem to glow if a strange light... but it was only the reflection of the sun. She sighed happily feeling much better now that she was out of her room.

When she opened her eyes to look behind her she saw a little girl watching her from the other side of the door, she was peaking her head around. Shinobu smiled to her and motioned the little girl to come forth. She sat on the stone bench and the little girl walked towards her. "Good morning, little one..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke watched Shinobu from the corner of his eyes. He sat near to her and had his three swords laying down next to him. The samurai almost looked like he was sleeping, but he had one eye cracked open slightly to observe his employer. If anything happened, he would be ready to react to it right away.

Emora:

Kaede smiled at Shinobu and Shinobu painfully pulled her up to sit in her lap. "I haven't seen you in forever!" the little girl giggled and grin broadly at Shinobu. "Is your mother here?" she asked and the little girl nodded.

"Momma came with father this time..." the little girl said cheerfully. "Momma says you got hurt."

"Momma says a lot doesn't she?" Shinobu asked with a kind smile on her face.

"Well, I usually am just talking to my husband, but little Kaede has a habit to over hear things... much like her aunt." In the door way to the garden a beautiful older woman that looked some what like Shinobu stood.

"What can I say, she's learning from the best." Shinobu smiled to her sister and it was a happy smile.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled and just sat where he was. 'Heh, family moment huh?' the samurai thought to himself. 'It must be nice. I haven't visited mine in a while. I can't remember where their graves are though. Ah well.' Kyosuke wished he could give them some more privacy, but he didn't trust the noble not to attack while he was away.

Emora:

"Kaede, get out of her lap," Shinobu's sister said and Kaede looked to Shinobu as if begging her to say she could stay.

"I don't mind really..." Shinobu said, hugging the child lightly. She was only about seven and had the strangest eyes of one child. They were a mix of brown and emerald green. It was a family trait she guessed to have a strange hint in the eyes. Shinobu herself had a hint of red in hers and it came out in high states of emotion.

"I bet I know some one you would really like to meet, Kaede... I bet you can find him to..." She smiled and whispered something in her ear. The little girl hopped down, causing Shinobu to flinch slightly, but she soon recovered.

Kaede ran to Kyosuke and sat down in front of him with a smile on her cute little face. "Hello."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled at the little girl. "Hello. My name's Kyosuke, and you are?" he asked.

"I'm Kaede," the young girl replied. "Say... are you a boy or a girl?"

Kyosuke laughed loudly at this question. "I'm a boy."

Emora:

Shinobu laughed when Kaede asked such a question. "Kaede, don't be so rude... I'm terribly sorry sir..." But, Shinobu's sister hadn't been able to tell either. Unlike Shinobu her sister knew about as much about fighting as poor Shinobu knew about flying.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just kept laughing. He didn't mind, he had been confused for a woman many a time and was glad that someone actually thought to ask him first. Kyosuke talked with the little girl for a while, leaving Shinobu and her mother to themselves.


Emora:

Kaede was tugging on Kyosuke's hand with a gleeful smile on her face when Shinobu looked at her. "Will you teach me to do a flip?!" she asked with a cheerful tone. "I want to be able to do flips like me dad! He can do all sorts of flips and Uncle---" She grew quiet when she was about to speak of Shinobu's husband. Kaede had been very found of him because when Shinobu and her husband couldn't have children he actually thought of Kaede has his child. "He did lots of cool things."

Shinobu smiled and the young girl smiled back. Rising from her seat Shinobu walked with her sister back into the house. "Will you?" She grinned still holding on to Kyosukes hand with both of her small ones.

Kyosuke:

(OOC: oops, you meant that THAT was the sister, I thought the little girl was ^^;;;)

Kyosuke's vision flashed to the side towards a group of shadows and he gave the silent command to the ninja hidden there to watch over her. He didn't want to upset Shinobu's family that someone may attack her at any moment. "Alright Kaede, I'll teach you how to do a flip." The samurai started to go through the steps in which one should do a flip and had the little girl attempt them, making sure that he caught her before she hurt herself.

Emora:

"Promise you'll catch me?" she asked and pointed her finger at him in warning, a cute "trying to be serious" expression on her face. She grinned and took a deep breath before yelling, "Weee" and trying to do a flip. Sadly she barely made it. "I'll get it right with practice won't I Kyosuke?" She asked and gave her new friend a hug.

Mean while Shinobu and her sister and her husband were sitting in a room on the floor. "I won't to keep some of my men here Shinobu..."

"I'm fine," Shinobu said and waved a hand.

"I want you to promise me you will go to the Shogun if something else happens..."

"I will only go if they threaten my house itself, with every one inside... I will not go running to the Shogun because of some hormone filled idiot." Shinobu said and lowered her head. "I will be fine. I have my guards and I have my own weapons and skills."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ruffled ruffled the young girl's hair and told her to try again. He continued to play with Kaede as the day went on. In the back of his mind he was somewhat worried about Shinobu, but he knew that his ninja friend would notify him if something happened.

Emora:

Kaede giggled and laughed and then when she finally got tired she sat down beside Kyosuke. "Wanna know something?" she asked and went on any way. "A man talked to me today when we were riding. He asked if I was going to visit my aunt. I don't even know how he knew I was doing... I think he was a mind reader. I wish I could read minds. He gave me this..." she pulled a wilted flower from her pocket. "It sort of dead now..." She looked at it sadly. "It was such a pretty flower...." She looked at Kyosuke and smiled. "Here..." she handed him the flower. "For you."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled again at the young girl. "Thank you Kaede-chan," he said. However, he worried about the man that she had met on the way here. "Let's go see how your aunt and parents are shall we?" Kyosuke gave the young girl a piggy back ride to the room where Shinobu was.

Emora:

"Kyosuke." Shinobu said and smiled warmly to him.

"I hope she hasn't annoyed you to much," Shinobu's sister said and went over to retrieve her daughter.

"Mommy can I stay with Aunt Shinobu?" she asked and wrapped arm arms around her mothers neck. "Please?"

"I don't think it's a good idea right now, Kaede..." Shinobu said and smiled to her. The little girls eyes seemed to lose some of there glow. "I don't think your mother would want you to right now."

"Momma please? I want to finish learned how to do a flip!" Kaede smiled to Kyosuke.

Shinobu really wanted her to stay because she loved spending time with the little girl. She just didn't want her getting hurt it some one attacked them. "Kyosuke... do you think you could protect the both of us?" she asked after a moment and she looked to him. In her heart she knew he could.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed. "Truthfully? It depends on how many people they bring. The higher the numbers the more difficult it is to protect. Also." Kyosuke leaned close to Shinobu's ear. "I don't think it would be a good idea. Whenever the conflict occurs, I don't think we should expose such a young child to the violence that will occur just yet."

Emora:

Shinobu nodded and said, "I agree..." She shuddered to think what the innocent eyes would see if they attacked again in higher numbers and what could happen to her while she was here.

"I have an idea..." Shinobu said and smiled to her little niece. "How about I come and stay with you one day?"

"You would?" Kaede asked and smiled and she jumped up hugging Shinobu's waist and holding on. Shinobu cringed, but ignored the pain because the girl let go soon enough, having seen the look on her face. "Aunt Shinobu?" she asked holding Shinobu's hand.

"Hmmm?" Shinobu asked smiling. "I think it's a good idea."

Shinobu didn't plan on going to her home any time soon... she didn't want to bring the noble or his friends along.

Kyosuke:

"Don't worry Kaede. I'll make sure that Aunty Shinobu can visit you for that day. In the meantime, I'm sure your father can teach you how to do flips right?" Kyosuke said and stood up from his kneeling position in front of the child.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and at Kyosuke. Kaede seemed a little disappointed about the fact Kyosuke couldn't teach her any more flips, but he did say her father could do it and she planned on getting Kyosuke to when he came with Shinobu.

Her family left a little reluctantly and she sighed when they were gone. She didn't want them around if anything were to happen. Upon looking at Kyosuke she smiled with a warm touch. "You will make some child a good father..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "Would I?" he asked. "I'd probably be too involved with making myself strong to settle down or even be a good father. I don't really know." Kyosuke shrugged and lay back.

"When do you think he'll attack?" Kyosuke asked. "Not to mention I'm kinda worried about the other people that seem to want your life. They haven't done anything since that day."

Emora:

"What do you mean?" Shinobu asked and knelt down on the floor, sitting on her legs. She was wondering why he would be worried about them if they hadn't shown up in... what ever day he was talking about. To her se figured it was a good thing, less for her to worry about.

Kyosuke:

"The ninjas who attacked you the other night. Whoever hired them hasn't made another move since then. Unless of course that noble was lying about not being affiliated with them, but he seems to tell the truth. Also, there is always the possibility that those ninjas attacked on their own accord, but I don't really think so," Kyosuke sighed.

Emora:

"I don't know either.... maybe who ever it was got bored of the same old routine?" she asked out loud and smiled slightly, trying to keep the fairly good mood she was in. "I know I'm getting bored of it..."

She looked at the floor for a moment and then back at Kyosuke... "Do I annoy you with how much I seem to get into trouble?" she asked softly wondering if she did. It felt like she was getting on peoples nerves with the fact she couldn't stay out of trouble. It wasn't her fault the world was full of monsters. "Does it annoy you that you always seem to have to rescue me?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled kindly at Shinobu. "Nah, I find it kinda fun. It gives me a chance to improve my skills and discover new ones. If it annoyed me I would have left by now remember? You've given me plenty of chances to." Kyosuke shrugged. "Anyway, I'm hungry, care to join me for a meal?"

Emora:

"I'm not that hungry, but I'll sit with you, I have nothing better to do..." Shinobu said and smiled as she walked with him to the dining area.

"I'm glad you haven't left, if it wasn't for you then I don't think things would have fared so well the other night." She said and sat down very slowly, the pain in her wound starting to come back. "Do you think he thinks I'm dead?" she asked in a rather hopeful tone. If he thought she was dead maybe he wouldn't come back...

Kyosuke:

"If I thought he did, then I wouldn't have started retraining the guards Shinobu-dono," Kyosuke said and walked off in the direction of the kitchen. Getting a meal he sat down with his employer and started eating. "Anyway, if he attacks, don't worry, I have more precautions set now after all."

Emora:

Shinobu nodded but couldn’t help the chills than ran up her spine. She didn’t want that man to be around her. He scared her and she didn’t even really know why. “He scares me…” she said with out even realizing it. She looked down for a moment and then sighed heavily. “It was a beautiful morning wasn’t it?” She decided to change the subject quickly.

“I enjoy watching the sunrise… but haven’t done it in a while. Maybe I will tomorrow…” she said and smiled slightly.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "I think I'll join you for that, that time's my shift tomorrow to guard you anyway," Kyosuke stood up and stretched. "Well, the next guard should be coming soon, I'll go sleep now. Good night Shinobu-dono," Kyosuke said, waving as he left.

EMora:

Shinobu bid him good night, or good afternoon and she sat there for many more minutes staring at a spot on the table in thought. She was brought out from her thoughts when a maiden asked her if she would like something to eat.

"No thank you..." Shinobu said and left the room, heading down the hall and to her sleeping quaters. She closed the door behind her and fell into sleep with out taking her medicen for that day.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke watched over the training a little bit before going back to his room to sleep. He was tired since he was up late into the night watching Shinobu and usually took more shifts watching her since he was her bodyguard (OOC: plus i got time confused and figured that Shinobu's family was there for longer and was already night by then)

Emora:

Shinobu lay sleeping unsteadily in the night, tossing and turning and talking in her sleep, nightmares were the clear cause. She came awake gasping and sweating cold as if she had seen something very horrible, but as soon as she did she lay back down and was asleep again... No more nightmares would come that night.

When morning came she woke with the sun and sat at her window on her knees, her arms propped up on the ceil looking out. Her head was lying on her arms and her long black hair spilled down her back almost touching the floor.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ignored Shinobu's tossing and turning throughout the night, figuring that it would be better to just let her sleep through the nightmares instead of having her lose sleep by waking her up. It had came up as his shift for that night and when Shinobu woke up to watch the sunrise, he joined her looking out the window.

"Wouldn't it be a better view to sit outside to watch it?" the samurai asked. "Better yet, it'd be a better view to sit on the roof huh?"

Emora:

"It would," she said and smiled as she still watched the sun crest over the trees and mountains. "But I don't think I can get on the roof..." she laughed lightly and looked at him, her head still lying on her arms. "I'm not one for jumping as high as you..." She gave him a soft smile. "It would be nice though..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke grinned larger. "I'll get ya up there," he said. He bent down and picked Shinobu up, then jumped up onto the roof. "Better right?" he asked.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and sat down on the roof gently with her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on them. "It's amazing how people take this for granted..." Shinobu said and smiled to him, then turning and staring back at the sun.


Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded silently and lay back on the roof. He hadn't watched a sunrise since he served the lord that he later betrayed. The samurai idly noted a flash of movement out of the corner of his eyes and shifted them over to where the source was. One of his ninja friends gave him an okay sign with his hand and Kyosuke nodded slightly to him, acknowledging that he knew that the ninja had what he wanted.

Emora:

Shinobu hadn't noticed what Kysouke had noticed. Her eyes were still looking over the clouds and the sun as it changed through many circles until it finally was finished and the sky was crystal blue and the sun was a bright beacon of hope. It was a new day.

"I'm rather hungry..." Shinobu said looking towards him. "Do you knw a way I can get off of this roof?"

Kyosuke:

"Here, I'll get you off," Kyosuke said, taking the woman in his arms again and jumping off. Once they were on the ground again, Kyosuke set her down. "Anyway, the next guard should be coming soon so I'll take my leave for now." Waving, the samurai walked off and turned a corner.

He found a ninja waiting for him when he got back to his room. "Hey, how're ya doing Hiroshi-kun?" Kyosuke asked cheerfully.

"I'm good," the ninja replied. "Here's the item you wanted. Remember, it's only effective a few times so be careful."

"Thanks," Kyosuke said. "These anti-magic pendants are really hard to come by." Kyosuke turned around and found that his friend was already gone. The samurai just shook his head and smiled.

Emora:

Shinobu walked into the house and sat down for a moment. What was there to do... She sighed softly feeling useless, not knowing what to do. Her wounds were feeling better and didn't hurt as much so she was thankful for that. But, she doubted any one would let her go off to the lake or some where, to tell the truth she would most definitely not go alone.

She walked to a servant and smiled for a moment. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked and looked at her. The woman shook her head no. Either there was nothing to do or she was lying and didn't want her to do anything.

Shinobu stepped outside and looked around for Kyosuke, maybe he would have something for her to do. She had no meetings with any one today, strangely she had noticed she hadn't had meetings with many people lately.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke left his room after receiving the charm from his friend. Slipping it around his neck, he kept it hidden under his gi, the samurai went over to where the guards were training. Over the last few days the guards had made much improvement and a few of them were now able to face Kyosuke at the level he had faced them with on the first day.

Much to their misfortune, Kyosuke just upped his level of experience and brought their hopes for a break in training crashing down. Kyosuke arrived at the training grounds and picked up his bokken againand gave a feral grin. "Let's see how much you guys have improved now." His reply was a chorus of groans. "Well, if any one of you hits me in any way, that person will get tomorrow off in addition to the day off you guys get from training at the end of the week." Kyosuke kept his grin and wondered if anybody would succeed.

Emora:

Shinobu found the training grounds and there she found Kyosuke. She waited for an opening in his training exercised with the ground and she walked up to him, taping lightly on his shoulder. "Do you need me to do anything?" she asked with a rather hopeful look in her eyes. She was so bored!

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke turned around to face Shinobu and saw the desperation to do something that was evident in her eyes. He scratched his head. "Well, if you want, you can join in the training. You can probably use some too. I know you have a decent skill with the sword, but one can never have too much practice." The samurai chuckled and jerks his thumb towards the pile of unconscious bodies that had formed behind him. "Well, maybe you can if you're these guys."

Emora:

"I'd very much like to learn more!" Shinobu said smiling at him and she looked over the unconscious bodies... "Just don't knock me out too..." She grinned and walked to get a weapon and then stood awaiting her turn for a lesson.

Kyosuke:

"Alright," Kyosuke said. "Just go through the basic slashes for now. And don't put that much power behind them for now or you may pop your stiches out." Kyosuke watched the woman practice and was throroughly satisfied with her technique.

"Your swordsmanship is good and you'll win most of your fights unless you're up against a swordsman more experienced than yourself. I'll teach you some weaponless fighting for now and then I'll work up your battle experience so you can be more adaptable to situations." Kyosuke set his bokken down to the side.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and did what he did. She wondered what he would teach her. She knew how to throw a punch, basically she had taught herself that... Her husband had known many techniques but he had never gotten the chance to teach her them fully. Sure he had showed them to her... but she had never learned them.

"I would very much like to know this... It will help for when I can't get to my Katana..." Shinobu said.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ran Shinobu through the basics. An effective stance, some basic punches, and some of the basic kicks. He planned on teaching her the more brutal styles of fighting when she learned those well enough. He had Shinobu practice them and corrected her technique a few times. "Alright, you've had enough of that kinda practice for now. Try attacking me," Kyosuke said, his grin growing again.

Emora:

Shinobu froze. Attack him? She couldn't attack him! He was to good and she would merely lose. Not to mention the fact she didn't know if she could. "You know what... I think I here one of the servants calling..." she said and smiled slightly.

She looked down a moment. She had to learn some time... and the best way was through practice. So she did as she was told and she attacked him by using what he had taught her.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke either dodged or deflected each of the attacks that were being thrown at him, after a few seconds, the samurai slipped in through a hole in her guard and flicked her forehead. "You leave too many holes in your guard when you attack, go for the quick stunning moves first, then you can go for a more powerful shot." This pattern repeated for a while, with Kyosuke randomly giving advice to help Shinobu out.

[Soran Nightblade]

Emora:

Shinobu wouldn't let any one know that her wound was hurting, she wanted to continue to learn what he was teaching. The other members of the guard seemed very interested in the fact she new so little about fighting. For all these years she had tried to make it seem she was some tough leader who could take on anything, even Shea herself.

A wise person once said, "Many things can be hidden behind a smile." True enough. She had hidden many, many things behind smiles or emotionless faces. Lately her emotionless had been coming out more and more. She was a kind woman and not cold enough to keep it up for to long.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke stopped Shinobu after a few more minutes of it. Watching her catch her breath, the samurai smiled kindly. "It's tough isn't it? It makes it tougher since I let you stay constantly on the offensive the whole time. It gets easier when you have blocking time to use for recovering stamina. Anyway, we'll stop now before your wound reopens. I probably shouldn't have had you doing this right now anyway. So rest, and if you start practicing on your own and you pop your stitches, I'd feel really bad for teaching you this stuff in the first place, alright?" Kyosuke walked off to help the rest of the guards out with their training.

Emora:

"I'm fine!" she called to him, but it was a little to late. heh ad already begun to go back and teach the others. She sat down on some soft grass and propped up on a hand to watch them as they worked.


Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ignored Shinobu's call about her being fine. He didn't really know if she was just lying, but he didn't want to take the risk of the stitches popping out. He stopped in front of one guard, a man that was actually smaller and skinnier than himself, but that at least looked like a man. He straightened the man's stance out and fixed his technique up, then walked off again.

Emora:

The day went on and Shinobu watched most of the lessons but at times her mind faded into thought. After a while she got up and walked into her home. "I'd like to get a bath," she told the guard following her... "A servant can come in with me."

Shinobu walked into the steam filled wash room.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke dismissed the guards from their training session, as one of them passed him, a bokken leaned on the man's shoulder hit him upside the head.

The man went white. "I'm sorry sensei! Please forgive me!" The guard had remembered the various beatings he had received at the hands of this samurai.

Kyosuke laughed. It was the skinny man he had assisted earlier that day. "Don't worry about it." He checked the man up and down, making the guard feel somewhat nervous. "Say, do you have any clothing I could borrow? A kimono or hakama and gi? I've been wearing this hakama for the last few weeks now and I need to get it washed."

The guard nodded. "Sure, I have a spare hakama and gi you can keep."

Kyosuke grinned happily. "Thanks. Oh and you don't need to practice tomorrow. You did hit me after all." The guard stared in shock as the two walked off to get Kyosuke some clothing.

Emora:

Shinobu took a long hot bath, soaking her muscles and bones. She sighed deeply feeling very comfortable in the hot water. A old woman was sitting on a step built into the side of the tub.

"Lady..." the woman said at first and grew silent again.

"Yes?" Shinobu asked dipping her head into the water and weting her hair. She washed her hair and by then the woman still hadn't replied. Shinobu stood and the woman drapped a robe over her shoulders. Shinobu stepped out of the water and down the step.

As if the woman could think of nothing to say she just smiled. "Nothing." Shinobu was a little confused, but she ignored it and pulled the robe tightly around her to walk to her room to change into her clothes.


Kyosuke:

Kyosuke lay in his room, napping. He was now wearing clean clothing and was tired from the day of training he had the guards go through. Sleep now became a very important thing for the samurai as he drifted off into a deeper one.

Emora:

Shinobu sat in her room combing her hair quietly. her hair could touch the floor when she was sitting and it was like long black silk strands. She looked to the guard standing by her door with his arms folded and looking tougher than anything in the world... or maybe he thought he did.

It was beginning to be a pain to be watched all the time. She sighed feeling tired.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke woke up a few hours later. "I'm kinda hungry," He said to himself. The samurai got up and walked to the kitchens, once again grabbing a meal.

'When is he going to attack?' the samurai wondered. 'Maybe the wound I gave him was a fatal one and he isn't coming back. I should lighten the guard on Shinobu-dono. She must be getting tired of it.'

Emora:

Shinobu sighed and looked at the man standing at the door. "Will you leave the room so I can change into my night clothes?" The man obliged and left her be. She changed into her sleeping kimono and climbed into bed. He came back in and stood by the door again.

Shinobu closed her eyes and fell a sleep. She didn't like being watched while she was sleeping, there was just something creepy about it...

Kyosuke:

At midnight, as usual, Kyosuke came by and relieved the guard of his duties. And, as usual, he sat against a wall and read. That was what he did every night when he watched over Shinobu. He relied on his senses to do the rest of the watching.

Emora:

During the night the woman from the wash room came back and woke Shinobu. "I'm sorry... you didn't take your medicine."

"Medicine..." Shinobu asked still half dazed from being woken from a deep slumber. She took the tea from the woman and drank it though.

While this was going on two men from the forest walk towards the house wielding fire from there hands. "We call out the samurai known as Kyosuke!" once called and they stood in the front of the house waiting for the challenge to be met.

"Kyosuke?" Shinobu said, for she could hear them even from in her room.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke looked up from the book he was reading. He stood up and yawned before walking outside, a bored look in his eyes. "What do you want?" he asked.

Emora:

The two magic users looked at him holding the fire in there hands. "We challenge you, fight us so that we may avenge our leaders death!!!" One said and took on a fighting stance. "Or are you a coward and choose to hide behind the woman inside?"

Shinobu went to get to her feet but felt a wave of dizziness that made her fall back on her futon. "What..." Shinobu said and looked to the old woman.

"What's wrong dear?" the old woman asked and looked concerned. "Oh... I forgot to mention...." she smiled kindly...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled. "Since you two took the time to actually challenge me," he started saying and put his hands on his katanas. "Then I'll formally introduce myself. I am Kyosuke Yamato from the Yamato clan. I serve under Shinobu Ayanami-dono. I use Nittou Ryu and Shiken Ryu as my styles of swordsmanship. I am prepared to fight." The samurai drew his sword and waited to see if the two magic users would introduce themselves or attack first. Either way he hoped that the anti magic charm his friend got him was authentic.

Emora:

"How nice of you to state your full name for your tomb stone boy," the other said and through a fire ball at him and then they began the barn bard meant of fireballs.

Shinobu felt strange... she was... well it just felt very strange. "I forgot to mention that..." the old woman wrapped her fragile looking arms, which seemed to be very strong because they were able to lift Shinobu to the her chest and the old woman leaned forward as Shinobu's breath came in slowly as if she was barely alive and her eyes were closing. "Raiths are changelings... we can look like any one we want..." and the old woman turned into that loathsome man.

"Miss me?" he whispered and put his other arm under Shinobu's knees. "Now, while my men are killing your friend I'll just leave with no one to notice..."

He dropped her on the ground out side and climbed out the back window, grabbing her up again and climbing onto one of Shinobu's horses from her stable.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke grinned, the anti magic charm was working perfectly, and the multitude of fireballs being thrown at him was acting as a perfect smokescreen to hide the fact that he was just charging through the bombardment. Clearing the fireballs, the two magic users gaped in shock as they saw him emerge from the supposed fiery death to cleave the two's heads off with a swing from each of his swords. In order to make sure they were dead, the samurai then let out a flurry of quick slashes and cut the two up into small bite sized pieces for the predators in the forest.

Kyosuke turned around just in time to dodge the horses galloping out through the gates, the noble, with a sneer on his face, riding on it with Shinobu immobile with him. Eyes, widening, Kyosuke took off dashing after it, actually matching the horses speed.

Emora:

"DAMN!" the noble yelled when he looked back at his magic users. "Can't you just die boy!" he kicked the horse hard in the sides and caused it to go faster heading for the dark forest.

"Nothing ever goes right..." he mumbled under his breath and entered the darkness to disappear...

Shinobu closed her eyes not even really aware of anything any more. In her mind she was still lying in her room sleeping. She didn't feel the bump of the galloping horse or the curses of the man who was holding her. She didn't even feel the slaps of limbs...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke looked to his side as his ninja friend appeared next to him and matched his speed. The two followed the noble into the darkness, following the sounds of gallops and pushing their nightvision to the limits. Kyosuke's was much worse than the ninjas, seeing that his eyes had adjusted to the bright lights of the fireballs and had not adjusted back to darkness yet. "Sorry I gotta do this Shinobu-dono..." he muttered then turned and nodded to his friend, who was pulling a ninja star out.

Emora:

"I think I lost them..." the noble said and pulled the horse to a stop for a moment looking around at the darkness of the forest. "To think I'd actually go through all this trouble for one stupid woman... You better be worth it, love..." He looked down at her half sleeping dazed form and caressed her cheek. "Looks like the drug took effect quick... No screaming or pleading and that stupid idiot followed any way. No matter, I've lost him." He turned with the reins. "And soon we'll be far away where no one can stop me from doing anything I want..." He sounded insane as he talked to himself...

Kyosuke:

A throwing star whizzed through the darkness and caught one of the horse's legs, sending it and the riders tumbling off the horse. Following the weapon came a ninja clad all in black and a furious samurai with two swords drawn. He looked for where the noble fell and drew a sword back to cut him in two.

Emora:

The noble scrambled onto his back and pulled Shinobu with him. "If your going to kill me she's coming!" the noble said but the shocked look was still on his face.

"So go on kill me and send her with me. Some great bodyguard you are, falling for such an easy trap!!! More will come, the Queen will take over Ongoreth and an army will come. More evil will come to Ongoreth and killing me won't stop it and it won't stop what will happen to her when Queen Shea takes over this land!"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke did not hesitate and brought his blade down, cutting the noble in two. He smiled and gave a thumbs up to Hiroshi, who now held Shinobu in his arms. What the Raith thought was Shinobu was actually a log that the ninja had used his replacement technique on to switch with Shinobu. "Thanks Hiroshi, nice thinking. I couldn't have killed him without you."

The ninja smiled through his mask. "Not a problem pal. I'm assuming me and Kana can go back to the village now right?" He disappeared without a word as Kyosuke nodded, having set Shinobu on the ground.

Emora:

From the hand of the noble fell an antidote to the drug he had given Shinobu. She was lying on the ground looking as if she was sleeping peacefully and having good dreams. When she woke she wouldn't remember anything at all, except for the old woman who had been the noble the whole time.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke carried Shinobu back to the residence and releasing her to the relieved members of the household, said, "She no longer needs to be so heavily guarded. The man we were guarding her from is dead now. However, those that are expected to be at training tomorrow are still to come." The samurai smiled weakly and went back to his room, collapsing into a deep sleep, having used up all of his energy reserves to run as fast as the horse.

Emora:

Shinobu woke in the morning with a cheerful smile on her face. She dressed quickly feeling actually better than she had in days. She didn't remember anything from the night only when she heard some one calling Kyosuke out. She guessed that he had handled it and she had fallen a sleep or something. She didn't know, but she want to Kyosuke's room to see how he was feeling.

'"Kysoke?" she asked and nocked on the door before walking in. "How are you this morning?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sat up, yawning. In a garbled voice with him still sleepy, he said, "Huh? I'm fine Shinobu-dono." The samurai yawned again. "How can you be so cheerful today after what happened yesterday?" he asked.

Emora:

Shinobu walked in and knelt on the floor beside him and arched an eye brow. "I don't remember anything happening," she said and looked at him carefully. "Oh... about who ever it was calling you out?"

"I had no doubt in my mind you couldn't handle them," Shinobu smiled to him and wondered why he was so tried. Didn't he get enough sleep at night?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke opened his mouth to say something, then shut it for a second. 'Should I really tell her what happened yesterday night?' he thought. 'Normally I wouldn't bother to in this situation, but she'll eventually notice that there's a horse missing from the stables. Might as well explain.' The sleepy samurai rushed out of his room to explain the events to Shinobu.

Emora:

Shinobu looked at him for a moment. "Something wrong?" she asked and folded her arms. "There is something wrong... Did he come last night? What happened?!" Shinobu was worried now that something dreadful had happened and she wanted to know what.

"Kyosuke..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed and explained what happened the night before to Shinobu. At the point where he explained how he stopped the noble, the samurai bowed down and apologised for harming the horse. He also informed Shinobu that the heavy guard on her is no longer needed.

Emora:

Shinobu who had risen from her seat sat back down and stared at the floor. She was relieved by the fact the noble was dead.... but horrified when she knew that more would come. "Tomorrow I leave to seek help from the Shogun... he needs to know what is happening to his kingdom and to his people. I ask that you come with me..."

Shinobu looked up at him. "I have a feeling that this is only going to get worst, but mostly for the nobles around us. If what he says is true then they are in danger to."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. "Alright, I'm fine with going with you. I am your bodyguard after all. Anyway, this means it's a good thing that I kept the guards here training," he said. His stomach then grumbled. "But I think I need to eat something before we go anywhere.Can't wage war on an empty stomach after all."

Emora:

"I don't plan on leaving now... I want to leave early in the morning so you can get whatever rest you need. Despite what happened last night I feel strangely... perky..." she smiled warmly to him. "Go and eat, I need to write a letter to send a head of us..."

Shinobu sat down and grabbed ink and paper and a brush and began to write...

Kitanai Shogun Sama,

My lord... and old friend I have grave news to tell you. Your kingdom is under attack, not by an army but by spies and Arken enemies. I have been told by a particular one that came for my land and I think my life that they are assassinating nobles of our land to drive it into chaos… I have been lucky, thanks to my new body guard Kyosuke... I am coming to you behind this letter to deliver more information in person. I do not feel safe any more, Kitanai-sama... I cannot even have my own servants to trust for what ever these demons are... these Raiths, can change into other people! I am afraid they are succeeding and that I have only been lucky. I am coming to seek your aid... and to give you more information. The man said that more would come and that Shea would attack our land... I am afraid of what might happen... but know that I will fight along side you if needed.

Ayanami, Shinobu


Shinobu rolled it and sealed it and handed it to a messenger, giving him a horse and sending him away.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke ate 3 people's worth of food, trying to restore his energy reserves that were drained from the night before. Finishing the meal, he thanked the cooks and walked off to observe the training session.

Emora:

Shinobu went to Kyosuke and sat down beside him. "I would like you to be in charge of giving the guard assignments. I think you know what will be needed while were gone and they seem to understand you since you've started this training with them. I think it will be best for you to do it. Besides, I wouldn't know what I was doing!" she said and smiled warmly to him as she rose from her seat.

"I'm going to pack a few peaces of clothing and as the cook to fix us some traveling food. I'll be you an extra pair of clothes in town to bring with you when those get dirty..." She turned to leave.

Kyosuke:

"Thanks," Kyosuke said. He walked off to where the guards were meeting that day. He explained the situation to the people gathered there and made sure someone told the guard he dismissed from training the day before about today. "Alright, while we're gone, you are all to keep up with the training. If what we were warned about is true, then you'll need every bit of improvement you can get. Of course, take the day off at the end of the week since overworking yourself is bad also. Everybody is to keep up with the regular guard shifts they have also. There is nothing else we can do for now."

Emora:

Shinobu put a kimono in her bag for when she reached Ighten and she might have to address the queen. She packed a change of clothes like the ones she would where tomorrow. The cook readied the food and in the morning she was pack her horse. The question was how were they going to get to Ighten. She didn't exactly have any friends who had a ship...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke went to look for Shinobu. He had left the swordmaster in charge of the training session. Upon finding her, the samurai waved cheerfully.

"So we're heading to Port Karelii right? We're looking for the shogun after all," he said.

Emora:

"Yes, we need a ship," Shinobu said and smiled slightly to him. "The last I heard the Shogun was in Ighten visiting the Queen and offering his assistance."

"I think we will travel to Ighten and address the Queen to find where he is... then we move from there. What do you think?" She really wanted to know his oppinion about it.

"Should I try and dress down... you know, pretend to be some one else?" She had been wondering that. But, the danger had passed right? Why should she?

Kyosuke:

"Well, dressing down would be a good idea. Dress more like a commoner. You don't exactly know where we're going to end up and it would be more of an irritation if you made yourself a target of every thief and brigand in the city by dressly richly," Kyosuke explained.

Emora:

"Great minds think alike," Shinobu said and gave him a warm smile. She had been thinking the same thing, but she had also been thinking that the danger had passed. She had almost forgot about those idiots that like to cause trouble for no reason.

"Well, I'm not sure what I can do with the rest of my day, I've done everything I needed to do..." she said and sighed for a moment. "It seems the more trouble I find myself in, the less work I have to do. It really annoys me."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just smiled and shrugged. "Go find something to do. You should relax a bit. Your wound should heal up soon." Kyosuke walked off with a wave.

After a bit, Kyosuke realized that he hadn't washed off in a while and that his body was starting to develop an odor. He walked towards the washroom and took off his clothing, then rinsed and washed his body off before sinking into the warm bath water.

Emora:

Shinobu sighed heavily. "Take it easy, take it easy..." she muttered. She knew Kyosuke meant well, but she couldn't help feeling bored out of her mind when she tried taking it easy.

"I think I'm just fine," she muttered again to herself and plopped down on her bed, lying back and staring at the ceiling. She started singing a soft song, it was a bored song, but pretty. The more she sang, the less bored it got.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke got out of the furo and put his clothing back on, letting them dry himself off. Walking off he went back to his room to read the book he was reading. There was nothing else for him to do that day other than that and to train.

Emora:

Shinobu got so bored she felt like hitting something. Boredom is the enemy of the world... She got up and walked into the guard with some of her paints and paper. She began to pain a picture of one of the flowers she was looking at.

Slowly but surely the painting took it's form and beside the flower she put a butterfly. She smiled as she did it, but she still felt slightly bored.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke put down his book, reading was nice but he couldn't handle doing too much of it. Walking outside, he stopped before he walked in front of his employer. Peeking at the painting he admired the artwork.

"You draw pretty well," he said. "I never could draw very well at all."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled, she had never thought she was that good. "I can only paint what I see and I can't even do it that well," she said and looked at him with a smile. "Thank you though."

"What are you going to do, it's only a few hours until sun set... this day has been soooo long..." She looked to the sky. "At least I can sleep in my room alone and not being watched though. That makes me happy."

Kyosuke:

"Sorry about all the watchfulness thing. But you understood the necessity of watching you I hope. We all didn't want you to get taken away," Kyosuke said. He sat down next to her and lay down, staring up at the sky. "And anyway, look what happened when I left you alone for that time to accept the challenge."

Emora:

"Well, he could have pretended to be the old woman, like you said he was, and then..." she faded off and looked at the ground for a moment. "He was the old woman the... the whole time?!!!!" She remembered that the old woman had sat in the bath room with her... Shinobu shivered, but the thought of that jackass being dead finally made her shivers and fears go away. She was so happy for that.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke chose not to comment on that. Instead, he just continued to lie down and closed his eyes. "If you want to, I'll continue to train you after you get your stitches removed. Aggrivating injuries mean that it takes longer to heal."

Emora:

"I'd like that," Shinobu said and smiled to him. "It's aggravating..." she said quietly and picked up her paint brush.

"You disserve a raise," she said sweetly and smiled again, but was looking at her painting. "You disserve a lot... You've saved my life so many times. If my husband were here he would have done anything in his power to reward you. I haven't got that much power... at least I don't think. You would have liked my husband..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "Don't worry. I don't need anything. Room and board is good enough really. And I get spare clothing once in a while too, that's nice. Anyway, you have my power than you think. I mean, the people working here wouldn't have stayed here if they didn't like you. Being liked is a power all in itself," Kyosuke said.

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and dipped her brush in another color. She was nice to people. She was a kind woman who was willing to help any one at all.

"I think I will turn in early tonight, to get a fair amount of rest before the journey tomorrow. I don't know how hard it will be. I've never been to Ighten... I hear it's a horrible place, about as bad as Arken... but then again, no place is like home..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke yawned. "Well, I can't tell you anything about it. That was where I was gonna head off to before I met you, when I was considering stowing away on the pirate's ship," he said.

The samurai sat up. "Anyway, we'll find out when we get there." Kyosuke briefly touched the anti magic charm under his gi. He knew he still had a few more uses on it, but the barrage of fireballs had largely drained it. The charm also restored it's power after a long while, but if it's used up it breaks and would no longer restore. He took it off and handed it to Shinobu.

"Here," he said. "It's the anti-magic charm that saved me from the spell casters. If we come into conflict with any more, it'll protect you." Kyosuke then proceeded to expain the limitations of the item.

Emora:

Shinobu took the amulet and smiled kindly. "Thank you," she said softly and put her brush in water. "Well, I think I'll retire early now..." she said and bowed to him as she left. "Good night."

She went to her room and fell a sleep slowly, feeling not very tired, but eager for morning to come.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded and just sat against a nearby post, staring up at the moon. He admired it for a while. 'So I'm finally going to the mainland,' he thought to himself. 'I wonder what'll happen there.'

Kyosuke sighed. 'No use thinking about it now.' The samurai stood up and walked to his room, intending to sleep.

Emora:

In the morning Shinobu dressed and walked out of her room with her bag. She had the horses brought around and put her bag to the saddle. She waited for Kysokue and was sure he had something he was doing that was important.

The servants tried to talk her out of going but she had made up her mind. She was going no matter what.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke actually wasn't doing anything important. He had just ended up sleeping in and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. He had gone to sleep late after reading some more of his book. When he woke up, he'd realize that there was going to be more pain in the morning when he had to ride the horses.

Emora:

Shinobu walked back into her house to find Kyosuke. She found him quickly. "Ready to go?" she asked with a bright smile on her face and she looked at him closely. "We're just riding to the port and there we will find a ship to board to head to Ighten."

Kyosuke:

"Ugh," Kyosuke moaned, getting up, he yawned and stood up slowly. "Morning." The samurai stumbled off and stuck his head in the garden pond, scaring the fish in it.

"Ahhhh, that woke me up," he said. "I suppose we should get going then, huh?"

Emora:

"Yep," Shinobu said and smiled as she left her house to go out back to the stables where her horse and Kyosuke's horse awaited departure.

"It won't take us long to get there," she said and mounted her horse looking down at Kyosuke. "I think this trip might actually go very well... It's a beautiful day."

Kyosuke:

"Well," Kyosuke started to say, eyebrow twitching. "You should add half the time that you think it'll take us to get there to your total. We gotta calculate the falls I'm going to take after all." The samurai sighed. He knew he was never going to learn to ride a horse.

Emora:

"We can take it slow," Shinobu said thinking about the fact Kyosuke couldn't ride very well. "I don't want you getting too sore falling off because we're rushing. It shouldn't take that long even if we take it slow."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke smiled in relief. "Ah, that's good then. So. shall we go?" he said. The two walked off towards the horses that were waiting for them in front of the manor. Hopping on one, he kicked the sides of the horse by accident and sent it running off somewhat, throwing Kyosuke off again.

The samurai sighed. "I think taking it slowly isn't going to help any at all." The samurai chuckled embarrasedly.

Emora:

Shinobu laughed and looked down at him. It wasn't because he was falling off but because he had such a good attitude about it. "Well, you could always ride with me. It's easier to hold on to me and stay on than the reins." She pointed out, brushing a strande of black out from in front of her face.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke laughed again. "I think I will do that, let's move the extra equipment we have on your horse onto the one I was going to ride then." Kyosuke quickly switched the luggage they had onto the horse he had just fallen off of. Afterwards, the samurai climbed onto the horse with Shinobu. "Let's go!"

Emora:

"Now that your on something stable..." Shinobu said and held the reins tight. "Hold on..." she nudged the horse and it took off, the rope tight to the other horse pulled it along with them.

Kyosuke:

"Gah!" Kyosuke yelled out. Clutching onto Shinobu's sides. The two made good time traveling now that Kyosuke wouldn't fall off as much. "Should we stop off at the capital first? I think it'd be a better idea to try to find out from them where the Shogun is."

Emora:

"Just what I was thinking," Shinobu said, turning her head slightly. She winced every now and then, but didn't let him know that one of his hands was rubbing against her wound. She nudged the horse to go faster. "If we don't make it to a small town any where close we might need to camp out..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. "Yeah, we may have to," he said. Kyosuke rode on in relative silence, after a few times, Kyosuke noticed that Shinobu was wincing, then he checked where his hands were gripping.

"Oh geez!" Kyosuke yelled out, realizing that he had been gripping onto Shinobu's wound. He pulled his hands away and the motion threw him off balance and he tumbled off of the horse. "Owww..." he muttered, rubbing his head.

Emora:

Shinobu stopped the horse and turned him around quickly. "Are you alright?" she asked and looked down at him, thinking he had hurt himself badly. She hoped not. "Why did you fall off?" she asked wondering if something had pulled him off or had he just simply... fallen off. She couldn't figure how he could do it by holding onto her.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed. "I noticed that I was aggrivating your wound, so I let go. Unfortuneately, I lost my balance by doing that too so I fell. Sorry about that. Both the wound and worrying you," the samurai said. He laughed lightly again and climbed back on the horse, being careful to avoid the wound this time.

Emora:

"It's alright really," Shinobu said and smiled. "You weren't hurting it to much. Just wrap an arm around my waist and you should be fine. Don't worry, I won't think anything of it other than the fact your trying to hold on." She grinned at him and kicked the horse lightly again.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke blushed at what she said but just did it. He wrapped his arms around her waist. He and Shinobu rode on in relative silence and Kyosuke remembered to keep his senses out just in case someone would attack them. He doubted anyone would, but there was always the chance that someone might.

Emora:

They rode on and on until it started to get dark and the forest always became darker quicker than open meadows. She looked around for a good place to stop. The main road was a bad idea, who knew what fools traveled it at night. "What do you think? Find a place to camp or go on a little further?"

She knew that by mid-afternoon of the next day they would make it to the capital.

Kyosuke:

"Well, if we continue to travel in the dark, the horses may get injured, so I think we should look for a place to camp out," Kyosuke suggested. "If we go further into the forest itself off the path, we'd probably come across a clearing where we can camp in. It'll keep us away from any bandits wandering the roads also." Kyosuke jumped off of the horse. Taking the reins of the other one. "Shall we go then?"

Emora:

Shinobu got off the horse and took the reins. "I think your reading my mind," Shinobu said and smiled to Kyosuke. "There should be a clearing some where up the road, it's not going to be on the road for sure so we might have to go for a slight walk off the path. What do you think?"

Kyosuke:

"I think it's a good idea, c'mon." Kyosuke led the horses on for a bit with Shinobu following them. After walking for a while, Kyosuke shrugged. "I say we should try looking off the road now anyway. If we camp in a clearing that's completely visible to the road, then any bandits that may pass by will see us." Kyosuke continued to lead on into the trees.

After a half an hour of walking, the two reached a clearing in the middle of the forest. Kyosuke sighed in relief. "Finally," he said.

Emora:

Shinobu laughed and tied her horses reins to the limb of a tree. She bent and started gathering limbs that had fallen from the trees and placing them in the center of the clearing for a fire.

When she had stacked what little wood there was, just enough to last until they fell a sleep, she dug through her bag to find a flint rock to light it with. With in minutes she had fire built. She piled leaves on top so it would catch the wood on the out side. After that she grabbed her bed role and laid it out on the ground.

"Well, if you want I'll take first watch..." she offered and sat down on her bed role.

Kyosuke:

"Sure, wake me up if trouble comes then," Kyosuke said. He slid into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, falling asleep fairly quickly. He had figured that it would be more irritating for Shinobu to have been woken up than to just stay awake.

Emora:

"Will do," Shinobu said and sat with her legs underneather, poking the fire with a stick. It was quite boring being on a watch when nothing was happening.

She looked around admiring the darkness. Anything could be behind it and she wouldn't be able to tell... She didn't think anything was though...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke actually didn't need to be woken up. If anything with a malicious intent came by, he would sense it and wake up. There was always the chance that something could attack and he wouldn't wake up thought, but Kyosuke wasn't expecting something like that.

Emora:

After a long while Shinobu grew very tired, but she could hold out a while longer. She was sitting close to the fire with a blanket wrapped around her. A breeze blew through, making what little tall grass there was wave around them. The gentle sound filled her ears and made her even more tired.

She didn't know what time it was and didn't know when she should wake Kyosuke for his shift. She could hold out until morning, at least she thought that. Which she probably could.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke continued to sleep on. He dreamt of nothing at all. It also didn't seem like he would wake up for anything other than being called awake. The samurai rolled over, waiting on before his shift came up.

Emora:

Shinobu was just sitting there and it had gotten very quiet. She saw a group of tall grass moving and something make a sound on the other side. She eased forward towards the grass and parted it. In the middle of the grass was a kitten. A KITTEN!! What in the world was kitten doing in the middle of the forest? Was there a house around or something?

Shinobu smiled and lifted the small white cat into her arms. She held it and walked back to the middle of the clearing. It was purring already and she found herself smiling. She had always liked cats...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just rolled over in his sleep again. He felt no malicious intent around him yet and nothing had disturbed his sleep. When he did wake up, he would be completely aware of his surroundings, but as of now, he was still out.

Emora:

After a while longer Shinobu could barely hold her eyes open. She walked over to Kyosuke as he slept, carrying the kitten in her hands. She nelt down and pushed on his arm lightly. "Kyosuke... do you mind taking over now? I'm very tired. If you're still tired I could hold on a little while longer..."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sat up when his arm was pushed. Yawning widely, he smiled at Shinobu. "My shift then I take it?" Noting her weary nod, Kyosuke stood up. "I'll let you wake up on your own in the morning. We're not in that much of a rush after all." The samurai walked stood up and stretched. Then sat nearby, facing away from the fire.

Emora:

Shinobu nodded to him and went back to her bed role, lying down on it and pulling the small blanket over her. She slept close the fire to keep warm and was unaware of anything that was happening. Only something big would wake her, or the morning...

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed, picking up a piece of wood, the samurai began to carve. Not knowing exactly what he should carve, he looked around for a subject. He saw the cat, sleeping in Shinobu's arms and decided that it would be the subject of his sculture. He ended up carving the figure of a sleeping cat until sun the rose.

Kyosuke waited a few more hours for his tired employer to wake up, and rummaged through the packs they had for some food and started to cook. Noticing that the horses were up, he led them to the water for a drink and brought them back to feed them and watched the food he was cooking.

Emora:

Shinobu woke up slowly, sitting up and yawning, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Good morning," she said with a sleepy look on her face that would leave as soon as she was good and woken up.

"I trust nothing happened in the night?" she asked sitting up and petting the kitten as it crawled into her lap. She stroked it's back, petting it lightly.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shook his head and handed Shinobu a bowl of rice and some meat and vegetables. "Nothing at all really happened.It's better that way though." Kyosuke smiled. Despite all the killing and fighting he had been doing the last few days, he didn't really enjoy doing it. However, it was part of the job.

Emora:

Shinobu took the bowl of rice and ate quietly. "Thank you," she said politely and smiled to him. The kitten made kitten noises (don't really know how to spell them) and purred lightly. He got up and walked towards Kyosuke, rubbing up against his legs.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke knelt down and scratched the kitten's head, then went back to eating some of his rice. "Here," Kyosuke said, and threw some meat to the cat. He smiled as he watched the cat eat the food, then finished his meal.

"Say, what do we do with the kitten anyway?" Kyosuke asked. "I mean, it'd be troublesome to take it with us wouldn't it? Not to mention, it's kinda strange to find a kitten wandering around in the middle of nowhere."

Emora:

"True," Shinobu said and looked at the kitten for a moment as it wandered back towards her. "But," she said smiling as she held up the kitten to where it was facing Kyosuke. "Do you want to leave this," She meant how cute the kitten was. "behind for something to eat?"

"I can let it's head poke out of one of the saddle bags on the other horse and it can stay in there... and when we reach the town I'll give it to some one who can take care of it." She looked at Kyosuke, setting the kitten down. "What do you think?"

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sighed. "I think that would be for the best," he agreed. The samurai finished his meal and put the fire out with a bucket of water. "Now, c'mon. We should hurry up and get to the capital. Can't waste too much time or Arken'll take over." Kyosuke stood up and walked towards the horses, waiting for Shinobu to take care of the kitten and to hop on first.

Emora:

Shinobu placed the kitten in a bag where it's head would poke out and then she mounted the stead. She held out her hand for Kysoke to climb on and when they were both on they took off.

"We should reach it by midday or afternoon," Shinobu said, turning her head slightly towards Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke took Shinobu's hand and hopped onto the horse. "Alright then," he said. "We're off to town then." Kyosuke looked up at the sky as the two rode on, just staring at the blue depths.

Emora:

Shinobu pulled her horse to a stop when they reached the edge of the great capital city. "I think we should head to the Shogun's Palace... (or what ever he calls it)" She kicked her horse lightly and road down the hill onto the road that led into the city.

It wasn't long before they reached where the Shogun did most of his business. "Coming in with me?" She asked waiting for him to get off first.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "You're well known enough at the palace to be able to just walk right in?" Kyosuke asked. "I'm assuming we still have to check our weapons in before we enter right?" Kyosuke sighed. "Ah well, it's not like I don't know how to fight barehanded."

Emora:

"You can wait here if you want, that way I'll know our stuff with still be here when I get back," she smiled and dismounted, walking towards the other horse and pulling the Kitten out of the bag.

She walked up the steps and inside...

Kyosuke:

"Alright then," Kyosuke called out to her, waving. The samurai pat the horses. "I bet you guys are tired aren't ya?" he asked.

Taking their reigns, he led the two to water and fed them. He then led the horses back and waited for Shinobu to return with whatever news she had.


Emora:

Shinobu finally came back with out a kitten in her hand but a peace of paper. She put it in her pocket and walked down the steps, heading towards Kyosuke. "They confirmed that the Shogun is in Ighten, they don't know where he could have gone after that or either there not wanting to tell. A man by the name of Jamus, a Ightenian has said he would give us passage to Ighten for free."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke sat up from his position lying on the ground. "And the kitten? Couldn't find anyone to take care of it?" the samurai asked. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. When do we set sail?" Kyosuke stood up, brushing his back off to make sure that no grass had stayed on him.

Emora:

"The captain also offered to take the kitten as well," Shinobu said and smiled at him, taking her horse by the reins. "We set sail as soon as we are ready. I for one am ready, is there anything you need to do before we leave?"

Kyosuke:

"Come to think of it, I should take care of my swords. I haven't oiled or cleaned them for a while now and I should. Problem is, the reason I never did was because I didn't have the supplies to do it, so I need to run out and get some. I can do the maintanence on the ship," Kyosuke replied. "The soul of the samurai needs to be taken care of better than I've been doing to it."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled and nodded. "You go on a head, I'll wait for you at the docks, that way you can find what you need by the time I find our ship."

She looked at him for a moment. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I can still handle myself even though I haven't been doing a very good job of it lately," Shinobu said and grinned. "I'll be fine."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke shrugged. "Alright then. I'll look for you at the docks when I'm done. I shouldn't be that long." The feminine looking man ran off in the direction of the town, looking for a supply shop.

After running around for a few minutes, he paused. "Wait, I may take a while," he said to himself. "I don't know where anything is." The samurai wandered around the town for about an hour before he found his way to a sword store. Buying the necessary supplies. It took him another hour to find his way to the docks.


Emora:

"There you are!" Shinobu said and walked quickly, but gracefully to him. "I was wondering where you had gone! See, I took very good care of myself, nothing at all happened to me." She smiled warmly and turned her head to see how everthing on the ship was going.

"So, did you find what you needed?" Shinobu asked with a smile and moved to stand by his side as they walked to the ship.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke held up the box of sword maintanence tools he picked up. "Got em. I just didn't know where to find the store for it, or where to find the docks neither. That's what took me so long. Anyway, is the ship ready yet?" he asked.

Emora:

"Sure is," Shinobu said and smiled. The smell of the sea was nice and the breeze was warm. The sun was shinning bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

When she reached the ship she walked up the gang plank and boarded it. "The crew may not look like they are the nicest... but the captain seems to be a good man. If we have any trouble we can go to him I suspect. He said we would be sleeping in a private quarters used for special guests. I've already put my things in there and had the ones you had on the horses back brought into your room, if that's alright. I guess the only thing for us to do now is enjoy the trip until we reach Ighten. That is to say if we do not run into any trouble."

Kyosuke:

As he walked onto the ship with Shinobu, he heard several wolf whistles from the ship's crew targetted towards both Shinobu and Kyosuke. Grinning mischiveously the man winked at one of the men and giggled, acting in a flirtatious manner. Kyosuke smiled innocently towards Shinobu. He would tell the crew that he was actually a guy after they got off the ship, unless it was already discovered before the ride was over.

Emora:

"Um... Kyosuke, should we not tell them that you are a male? I mean... remember how we first met..." Shinobu pointed out to him nicely. "Though, it is quite funny." She smiled and walked towards a door that led to the decks bellow.

"I do hope we won't have any trouble from them," she said as she opened the door and descended down the steps.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just smiled mischiveously towards Shinobu the whole time. He didn't intend to actually let his guard down on the trip, so he didn't have to worry about them trying anything. He suspected that a free ride to a woman and her bodyguard would be too good. There was always the chance that it was a completely honest offer, as Shinobu believed, but Kyosuke didn't like to leave things to chance. If they had stowed away on a pirate ship, the samurai would have at least known that they were at risk as opposed to only the possibility of it that they faced now. Kyosuke sighed, he would deal with things as they came.

Emora:

Shinobu shook her head. "I guess you know best," she said and walked to the end of the hall and opened a door. "I think this is my room..." she said and looked inside. "Yep," she turned and walked to that door. "This one is yours."

"I've never been on a boat before and the halls all look the same," she said and smiled.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. "Yeah, you just gotta memorize your way around the ship I suppose," he said. "I have a feeling that I'm going to get lost on the way around this ship quite often." The samurai laughed. "After all, I did wander around the country for a couple of years. I'm not used to watching where I'm going still. I actually travelled in a few circles on my way to the store and to the docks."

Emora:

Shinobu smiled. "Well, at least we will get to sleep on a bed tonight... I'm used to sleeping on something closer to the floor, but I can deal with this."

"I have no idea what I'm going to do to keep myself busy," she said and sighed. "I didn't bring any paints. I guess I could borrow some ink and parchment from the captain... The sooner we get to Ighten the better."

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke walked into his room and put his swords down. "Time for maintanence," Kyosuke said. He took the pins out of the hilt and gently popped the blade out of it. He carefully cleaned and oiled the blade before sliding the blade back into the hilt and using a small hammer that came with the set to put the nails back in. He repeated the process with his other two swords.

Emora:

Shinobu was standing in Kyosuke's door way when the captain came to visit them. "I trust you find your quarters to your liking?" he asked politely and had a gentle disposition about him that led nothing to be thought of as wrong.

"Oh, yes, thank you." Shinobu smiled and the older man smiled back. He had long black hair with a gray streak running through it and a beard growing. He held broad shoulders and his arms were marked with scars.

"I see you have your body guard with you," he said and nodded towards Kyosuke. "I did not know that Ongorethian's held the same views when it came to woman body guards. I see you have something of a Queen's Maiden..."

Shinobu grinned. She wanted to laugh in his face, but decided not and that it would be very rude for her to do so after he had been so nice to her. "H-she does her job well," Shinobu said and nodded, winking to Kyosuke.

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke nodded. Making his voice sound somewhat more feminine, he replied, "Thank you Shinobu-dono." Kyosuke was quite used to doing things like this, mostly for his personal entertainment, so his face was already trained to stay in a neutral emotion.

Emora:

"You're welcome," Shinobu said and smiled.

"Well, when we're setting out. I'd like it if you... and especially your bodyguard here... to join me for dinner," he said and Shinobu's smile grew. He liked Kyosuke. It was funny... but a little gross to her.

"We'd love to," Shinobu said and gave a nod. "At least I would, how about you...." What should she call him?

Kyosuke:

Kyosuke just smiled. "Sure, I'll eat with you captain," he replied. He got up from his seated position on the floor and put his swords back.

'I may be taking this too far for my own amusement,' he thought to himself. 'Ah well, if they do try to take it too far, I'll just tell 'im that I'm a guy.'

Emora:

((OOC: Alrighty, I'm going to move it on over to the Sea of Ongore))

To the Sea of Ongore...