[RP]Obake Blade

[Quanon]

"Maybe, theres a chance we run into interesting trouble... uh I mean articles."

 

" Troubles ? Is that why you and Akira where in such a hassle ? "

 

Bora Cho looked carefully at Istengard , this was an interesting character , most people would stick a tag with " Evil" on him , still he didn't feel as a threat or a dangerous person .

 

Infact Istengard had been a pleasant friend to travel with .

 

"I'm packed, you ready?"

 

" Yep , lets have a walk around this town , never now when if we'll meet some of those friendly chaps from last night at the docks . "

 

Bora Cho got up and walked to the outside with Istengard .

[Jason Skywalker]

"Well, alright," Akira replied. She? Who was he talking about?

"Well whaddaya know," he muttered. "At least I know you jump away from all Stormchilds."

 

Akira decided to go silent, for Carwyn seemed a bit off and, well, disappointed or sad.

 

"Well, let's go then. Also, you mind if i ask you what happened here?"

[Darth_Velrogh]

Istergard walked with Bora Cho, heading to the market square. It was a rather quiet morning, well that is unless you count the noise coming from the market a little up ahead.

 

But Isteragard was just looking to the dark or dirty alleys, seeing if any of the thugs would dare mess with them. And if we find the fat guy that had us kidnapped, even better he thought, imagining the many ways to kill him. The one that attracted him most was the one where he would open his stomach with the sword and decapitate him, then sticking the head inside the guys own entrails.

 

He smiled cunningly and rubbed his hands.

[Rogue Nine]

"You already asked that," Carwyn replied as he and Akira walked back into town. "But I suppose I could explain it better. I just saw my sister, whom I have not seen or heard from in three years since she left home." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Seems she was part of those ninjas or whatever they were last night who attacked us at the docks. She went for me, which is why she isn't dead like most of them. I just have to figure out why she would do such a thing and how to find her again."

[Jason Skywalker]

"You already asked that," Carwyn replied as he and Akira walked back into town.

 

"Yeah, i know, but,"

 

"But I suppose I could explain it better. I just saw my sister, whom I have not seen or heard from in three years since she left home."

 

"Ouch."

 

"Seems she was part of those ninjas or whatever they were last night who attacked us at the docks.

 

"Double ouch. This is a shocking revealance. And don't worry, if you don't want this divulged, i won't tell anybody. I know how hard it is..." He said, looking at his chest, pulling out an amulet.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn snorted lightly. "Don't tell me you've misplaced a sibling too," he said half-jokingly as they made their way back into the town proper, which was bustling with people as it took on the typical market day atmosphere.

[Jason Skywalker]

"I guess you could say so," Akira replied, looking intensely at the amulet. The story would have to be told another time. Or never.

[JasraLantill]

With her goods retrieved and packed onto Bob, and with Kyo following, Aya led the way to the market square. It was already bustling with activity, and Aya mentally kicked herself for not getting here earlier.

 

There was a crowd gathering in the middle of the square, including the Lord Mayor, who looked traditionally festive in his brightly-coloured Ryuu-Tokai mayoral robes and holding his mayoral sceptre which glittered with all gilded gold in the bright sunlight, all readying themselves for the sound of the noon bell and the start of the parade that would soon take place. It was a small parade-- decorated wagons that were filled with the first summer produce; some of the more ‘mobile’ merchants, like the hat vendor that actually ‘wore’ all his inventory by balancing the huge stack of hats on his head; magicians, jugglers, and other entertainers that were trying to gather the crowd’s patronage to see their respective shows that they would put on later on in the day; and of course, the marching of the Royal Guards of the city, complete with marching music from a brass band.

 

And then Aya spotted it. Her stall. Or what should have been her stall. It stood on the side of the square, nestled amongst the line of other permanent merchant stalls that were normally set up for market day events. But today, instead of a S’Ornaku standing behind the counter, there was someone else. Someone that decidedly looked like a ‘Wolf’ thug than a merchant, attempting to sell a variety of cheap worthless trinkets. Her mouth dropped.

 

“That…that beast!” she said regarding Wolf. “That totally unscrupulous, untrustworthy, un… un… un-everything beast!” Her mouth opened even more as she noticed that her family’s name had even been scratched out on the wooden placard. She turned to Kyo and pointed. “He’s even scratched out my name!”

 

Bob snorted, and began to tug at his lead, trying to take her to the right of where they stood.

 

Aya merely tugged him back into place, her eyes still focused on Kyo. “Argh!” she uttered in frustration. “It’s bad enough that Wolf took my stall, but that….” She emphatically pointed to the damaged placard. “… is just taking things too far.” She frowned. “I painted that sign when I was ten, you know.”

 

Bob stamped his foot, then tugged at his lead again--this time with enough force to actually sway Aya.

 

“Stop it, Bob,” she said without looking at him. Continuing in her rant to Kyo, who was staring at her bemusedly, she said, “That really burns me up. Wolf didn’t have to destroy our sign. He could have just removed it.” Her brow wrinkled with deep concern. “What am I going to do, Kyo?” she asked with despair hinting in her voice. “I’ve got to sell these goods of mine, I’ve just got to!”

 

At this point, Bob let out a large, heavy snort, almost a sigh one might say, and then he whinnied and tugged Aya so hard that she was nearly lifted off the ground.

 

Aya turned to Bob and looked him in the eye. “What?!”

 

Bob swung his head and looked towards the right.

 

Aya slowly peeked around Bob’s head, then a slow smile began to brighten her face. “Oh, Bob!” She kissed Bob on his velvety nose. “If you weren’t a horse, I’d call you a genius!”

 

She whirled around to Kyo. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

 

She handed Bob’s lead to Kyo, then darted off in the direction of where the parade would start from.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Anyways, i would prefer not to talk about it," Akira said, putting the amulet back in. Akira and Carwyn then spotted Kyo holding Bob's reins.

 

"Heya," He said, motioning his hand up, "Hm. Never thought i'd see a real market day."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn raised an eyebrow at Akira. Why call attention to it if you don't want to talk about it?. He shrugged inwardly and focused his attention ahead, where Kyo was, holding Bob's lead. Carwyn walked up to the pony and rubbed Bob's shaggy mane. To Kyo he asked, "Hey, where's Aya? I thought you weren't going to let her out of your sight."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked completely dumbfounded as Carwyn approached, Bob's lead resting in his open palm. He looked from the rope, to where Aya had disappeared, to the rope, and finally up to the ranger as he spoke.

 

"I'm not - well, I mean I wasn't - I really haven't let her out of my sight. She just kinda...darted."

[Rogue Nine]

"Heh, good job," Carwyn teased, then looked around at all the people milling around. "And it's not like you can go traipsing around to find her in this crazy place." He clapped Kyo on the shoulder. "Did you get what you wanted from her?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

He shook his head, frowning a bit. "She's being stubborn and keeps ignoring my question..."

[Dark_Lady]

((I know I haven't been posting much. I had a bunch of quizzes and had to write out something for all the people that missed biology lab so they would know what we learned.))

 

Toa eyed all the food being sold along with merchandise and asked "So do you have anything in mind about what you want to eat? I personally can't choose."

 

"I really don't care either," Hoshiko said, looking down the stalls for a while, and finally buying a bunch of grapes. "Haven't had these in a while, though," she said, popping one into her mouth.

[Rogue Nine]

((No worries, D_L. Good to have to back aboard. The action should ramp up soon enough, so feel free to jump back into the flow. :3))

 

"Maybe you should stop seeming so pushy," Carwyn suggested, his voice still light. "The more you push, the harder they resist." He adjusted his rucksack, hearing his locket jingle reassuringly inside. "What's so important about what you want from her anyway?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"She has what I need to finish something I've been trying to do for years." Kyo answered, looking at Carwyn with a raised eyebrow. "Not be so pushy? I wasn't really aware I was being pushy. And how is it that you became an expert on women?"

[Rogue Nine]

"Well, if you've been waiting years, then what's a few more days?" Carwyn replied. "And I've had a few ladyfriends in my many years in this mortal coil, not to mention I was raised by my mother and two sisters." His voice lingered slightly when he mentioned his sisters, but he continued on. "So I know a thing or two about women."

[Rexraptor2000]

"Do they have any red ones? They're red like cherries, but they're grapes and they're grown on the outskirts of the volcanoes where plants thrive." Toa said, remembering the spicy but delicious grapes could only be grown once every four years due to the environment they were grown in. This made them an expensive delicacy, although Toa had them a few times since the ones who grew them were Westerns. And Westerns normally weren't entirely money influenced.

[JasraLantill]

Having left Kyo with Bob, Aya had weaved her way through the crowd to the side street where the parade was in preparation to start. She had seen what Bob had spotted. Behind the reins of the very first, and most decorated, produce-carrying wagon was an old friend of her fathers.

 

“Hi, Gabe!” she called up to him cheerily. “I see you got the most coveted spot in the parade. You must have done well this year!”

 

The grizzled farmer’s eyes crinkled with joyful recognition. “Aya!” he greeted her. “Nice to see you again!” His expression darkened. “Very sorry to hear about your father. He was a good and honourable man.”

 

Aya nodded grimly.

 

Gabe looked over to her ‘confiscated’ stall. “And I see you’ve sort of ‘lost’ your usual place of business,” he said bitterly. He shook his head with disappointment. “You know, most all of the merchants are still on your side about that,” he told her. “Though most are too scared to say so.” He winked. “Not me though. I’m too old and set in my ways. Besides, Wolf don’t bother much with us farm folk. Says we’re too ‘common’.”

 

Aya smiled up at him. “There’s nothing ‘common’ about you, Gabe, and you know it.”

 

Gabe smiled at the compliment, then gazed at her critically. “I know that look,” he said. “You’re scheming.”

 

“Scheming? Me?” Aya fluttered her eyes with feigned innocence. “Actually, I was thinking about something….”

 

“Uh huh…” Gabe nodded. “Thought so.”

 

“Is it still tradition for you to unload all of the produce after the parade and place it in the centre of the market?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“And, so, that means your wagon, which by the way is far the best I’ve seen in all the parades I’ve ever watched….”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Your welcome. But your wagon... it’ll be completely empty, right?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Aya looked over towards the stall, and then back to Gabe’s brightly decorated wagon. “You, erm, reckon that my old stall and your wagon might be about the same size?”

 

Gabe laughed out loud. “Tell you what,” he said. “You hop up here with me so I can have a pretty girl to go with my pretty wagon for the parade, then help me unload it at the square, and I’ll let you do whatever you want to do with it until I have to leave. Deal?”

 

Aya smiled. “Deal.” She hopped up next to Gabe, and surveyed the crowd for Kyo and Bob. Thanks to Bob, she had found herself a beautifully decorated ‘mobile’ stall. And once more, it would be legally parked right in the middle of the square. She wondered why no other merchant had thought of this before, and was suddenly feeling rather pleased with herself.

 

The noon bell rang, and after the last chime had sounded, the Lord Mayor commenced the Quarter Market parade. As the band began to play, and the wagons jolted forward, Aya couldn’t help but think that maybe this wasn’t going to be a bad day after all.

 

She finally spotted Bob and Kyo, and to her surprise, Carwyn and Akira, standing in the sidelines. “I’ll be back after I help Gabe unload!” she called out to Kyo, waving to all of them from her perch beside the old farmer as the wagon passed by them. “Just keep hold of Bob!”

[Jason Skywalker]

"You don't want any help?" He asked the young merchant, looking at her and the old man.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked as if he were about to say something as Aya rolled past, but his lips simply worked soundlessly. Once she was out of sight, he looked to Carwyn, still seeming rather bewildered.

 

"What the hell just happened?"

 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

It was perhaps about half an hour later that Kyo had finally made his way to the center of the square, the parade finished. Tugging on Bob's lead, he slipped between the crowds of people as he made his way to where Aya was busy converting the now-empty wagon into a stall for her goods.

 

"I think you're going to need some help from a friend of yours." Kyo called to her, nudging Bob closer to her.

[Rogue Nine]

A wide grin split the ranger's jovial face when he saw Kyo's flabbergasted look as Aya passed, riding a brightly colored parade wagon. Throwing his arm around the warrior's shoulders, he proceeded to walk forward, following the wagon through the crowd. "I don't quite know, Kyo," he replied. "But it looks to me like Aya found herself a place to set up and show off her goodies." And boy am I glad she's not around to hear me say that.

 

*****

 

They made their way into the center of the square to where Aya was. Curiously, Bob had led them most of the way, as if he'd done it before. Carwyn didn't put it past the pony, since he'd concluded quite some time ago that Bob wasn't your average beast of burden.

 

He waved to Aya as they approached.

[JasraLantill]

Aya smiled at Kyo, her anger from her encounter with Wolf forgotten and her focus now on setting up her stall. And she was very pleased to see that along with the old farmer Gabe, she had him to help her set up for business.

 

And when Carwyn approached, waving and with Akira in tow, her smile broadened.

 

“Thanks for looking after Bob,” Aya said gratefully. “You’ve been a huge help today.” Her smile faded a bit, as another pang of guilt about not yet helping him warped through her. “Erm…here. Hold this.” She exchanged Bob’s reins in his hand for the end of a cloth banner, then tied Bob to the back of the wagon. “Now, if you could hook that end of this banner over there,” she pointed to nail head sticking out near the front of the wagon, “I’ll hook my bit on this. Then we can get started unloading Bob.”

 

The banner, which would have normally hung in front of the counter area at her stall, fit perfectly across the length of the wagon. ‘Handy households, fabrics, novelties, (and other useful items),’ the banner proclaimed in bright red lettering.

 

Aya stood back and looked at it. “There. That’s better.” She turned her attention back to Bob, then gave a sideways glance at Carwyn, Akira, and Kyo. “You all mind unloading this stuff and then passing it up to me and Gabe in the wagon?”

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Sure." Kyo said, moving to where Bob stood and began to loosen straps. The swordsman lifted three bolts of cloth over his shoulder and brought them all over to the stand, offering it to Aya and Gabe. After he had been relieved of his burden, he took Gabe aside.

 

"Can I speak with you?"

 

"Sure, son." Gabe cast a glance over at Aya. "She's quite a girl, our Aya."

 

He nodded, also looking at the merchant before turning back to the farmer. "That she is. I was actually wondering if you would be able to cover her stall for a time, later on today? It'd be no more than an hour or two.

 

Gabe shrugged. "I don't see why not. I've known her ever since she was knee high. And me and the missus, Gods rest her soul, have always bought things from the S'Ornaku's." He nodded. "I think I might be able to handle things for a couple of hours." He gave Kyo a stern look then. "You 'are' a gentleman, aren't you? 'Cause I won't take kindly to anyone who has any of those 'exterior' motives, if you know what I mean. Aya's got a lot of friends here, even in spite of that 'ol Wolf lurking about."

 

Kyo held his hands palm up. Why did everyone seem to think that he had 'other' motives for being with Aya? "You can trust me, sir." he reassured.

 

Gabe grinned and patted Kyo on the shoulder. "I believe I can, lad. You gots one of them 'ohrahs' around you."

 

"You mean auras, sir?"

 

Gabe frowned. "That's what I said, ain't it?" He shook his head, and walked away, muttering something about wasted youth.

 

Kyo sighed. Whoops. He turned back to Bob, lifting different bags and goods off the horse.

[JasraLantill]

With everyone’s help, Aya’s stall was set up and running in no time. And a queue of ‘auld farmer’s wifeys’ and townspeople began to form near the wagon. To Aya’s pleasant surprise, Gabe had taken it upon himself to help Aya out with her sales. Business started out briskly, and then as the entertainers began to arrive in the square, the frantic start evolved into a steady stream.

 

Aya had all sorts of items displayed, mostly household goods—pans, pots, tableware, cooking utensils and the like—and a good variety of fabrics, though not any more of the really expensive bolts like she had sold to the tailors earlier. And then there were her ‘novelites’—artefacts, weapons, small curios, and even some ‘inventions’ of the slightly odd variety.

 

“What’s this?” a female customer asked her, holding up one such item in her hands for Aya to see.

 

Aya frowned as she examined it. It looked like some sort of a U-clamp, but with a long threaded bit of metal in the middle and with a crank handle at the end. She turned it one way, and then the other, trying to remember exactly what the tool was for.

 

“Erm…”

 

Finally, Gabe took it from her and set it down on the edge of the wagon. “Never know why your father bothered with such silly gadgets. Derned monks. Make all sorts of odd thing-a-ma-jigs. Your father could never refuse them the trade though.”

 

“What is it?” Aya whispered, slightly embarrassed that she didn’t know.

 

“New fangled potato peeler,” Gabe said, to Aya and to the customer. But then he frowned a bit more, then turned it the other way around. “I think.”

 

“Looks like some sort of torture device,” the woman customer commented. She gave a backwards glance at a man, which Aya supposed was the woman’s husband, who was chatting up one of the serving girls at the beer stall nearby. The woman grinned malevolently. “I’ll take it.”