[RP]Obake Blade

[JasraLantill]

Kyo was right. Aya couldn't look him in the eye, not only because she was embarrassed to admit that Carwyn was the first man she had intentionally, kissed on the lips, but her fiddling with the bridle had also gotten her fingers of her right hand trapped between the straps.

 

"So?" she snapped at Kyo, as she tried to release them without making a big scene. "What are you saying that it was wrong to kiss him? That somehow, it's ruined me for life? That I'm not..." She tugged harder. "....I'm not pure..." She pulled even harder and her fingers suddenly came loose, her hand flinging out suddenly and very nearly missing Kyo's cheek. "...anymore?"

 

She bit her lip as she rubbed her reddened fingers. "Sorry," she apologised with a sheepish grin. "Sticky straps." She wiggled her fingers, returning the wave that Carwyn had given her and Kyo, and as she did so she couldn't help but feel a silly smile grace her lips. "You're not my father. You don't have to keep watch on me to make sure I stay 'pure' for some 'great purpose' I'm supposed to have, you know. I'm an adult. I mean, most girls my age are already married. And here's me... not even engaged, or... or even dating anyone."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo flinched back as her hand came sailing his way. His smile grew.

 

"I never said anything about remaining 'pure', or that it was a bad thing. Nor did I mean to discourage any...erm...'potential dating', but I simply found the fact amusing." the swordsman shrugged, using his gloved fingers to tighten the leather strap one more notch before turning to look back at Aya with laugher in his green eyes. "Truth be told, it's rather fascinating. I've never been around the same group of people long enough to witness the growth of a relationship."

 

And with that, he backed away from her, the smirk still in place on his lips as he turned to go back into the inn.

[Grace]

Takara and Katsuro were seated alone now, having withdrawn from the table where everyone had been. It had been Katsuro's idea, as he determined they needed to have a little chat... away from other ears.

 

"You know why you can't tell people what I can do," he said quietly. Takara laughed softly at her son.

 

"You worry too much," she answered. "You know why I will always let you do the telling of your gift."

 

Katsuro sighed and nodded. "Right," he mumbled. "Why am I not convinced?"

 

"You worry too much," Takara repeated. "That's why. Now, come on. We ought to get ourselves ready to go."

[JasraLantill]

Aya's mouth hung open. "You're laughing at me?" she asked incredulously as Kyo started to walk away. "Studying me and...and Carwyn like... like we're some sort of... experiment?"

 

Her eyes narrrowed and she darted forward to get in front of him. Hands on hips in a confrontational stance she stared him down. "Okay Mr. I'm-spritually-above-everyone-else-so-I'm-going-on-an-impossible-quest! How many times have you kissed a girl? Huh?!"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo had been smiling and laughing up to that point. While it was true that he didn't mean to use Carwyn and Aya as an experiment - not in any sense of the word - he still couldn't help himself from watching them, fascinated by the human nature and interractions at work between the two of them. However, Aya's words struck something inside him - something he thought he had burried long ago.

 

How many times have you kissed a girl? Huh?!

 

In a split second, the smile had dropped from his lips and his eyes flashed dangerously.

 

"Don't ask me that question." he said. His voice was soft, but the menace was there. It wasn't intentionally directed at Aya - or at anyone, for that matter. But it was there.

 

Kyo raised a hand to gently move the merchant from his path, but his grip was strong, discouraging any disobedience.

[Jason Skywalker]

Akira walked back at the inn, making his way by the front entrance, passing through Kyo and Aya, making no eye contact but giving a slight smile. He opened the door then put his hands on his pockets, ignoring everyone in the room and making his way to his room, taking out his weapons. He hid his daggers on his sleeves, locked the sword and his quiver on his scabbard and the bow on his back, then putting the cloak over his body and closing it at his neck. He then closed the door and made his way back to the table where Carwyn was stuffing himself with cookies.

 

"I admit that i have to apologize," Akira told him.

[Master_Archon]

As people began to depart from the table, Xan himself got up, he bowed to all who remained at the table, then said a nervous excuse me, and departed post haste.

 

He went back to the room, walking around to his remaining weapons, he knelt down, picking up his gauntlets, putting them on. He hefted his warhammer, slipping it on the back of his belt, it's handle dangling at an angle near the floor. He lifted the great sword, the enormous weapon glinting, he studied it for a moment, then slipped it onto his back, tugging on the sling that held it to his back, making sure it wouldn't fall off.

 

He checked the room, seeing if he forgot anything, he saw the bandana from the night before that had fallen off. He picked it up, staring at it, he slipped it in his pack of stuff. He made sure he had everything, his tent gear, other gear, tap hammer, armor, weapons, lute, pan pipes, rucsac with Akkan...he thought to himself...yeah, he was wearing his clothes, at least he hoped so.

 

He didn't want to take off his armor just to chek, but it also wasn't pleasant wearing armor without clothing...it chafed....painfully! He would have to trust himself on that one.

 

He exited the room, going back downstairs, he walked towards the door of the inn, he ruffled Katsuro's hair as he passed by. "I'll be waiting for you two and the group outside," he told them, walking out the door.

 

As soon as Xan exited the inn, he had to avoid a rather perturbed swordsman, who didn't seem to be very pleased. He paused as he let him pass, looking at the swordsman, then the merchant, Aya, he remembered her name was, with a bit of confusion.

 

"Something wrong, ma'am?" He asked Aya, kindly, though rather confused.

******

Yuri was left at the table with two people who didn't like him, one of those two he didn't like, and a woman who didn't even talk to him at all, and a hungry pyromancer. He retrieved his origami frog, then the rest of his origami figures, and got up, sliding past the pyromancer, the only one blocking his exit from the table in that direction. He went past the mancer with great care not to disturb his injury, then he turned to the table, doing the common practice of excusing himself.

 

He turned towards Katsuro and his mother, approaching, he smiled at them.

 

"I see that my remedy worked. So, Kat, old boy, ye never introduced yor lovely mother to me, very impolite, wouldn't you say?" He asked, giving a scolding stare, though he couldn't hold it, and his face burst wide with a smile.

 

He bent down towards Katsuro, so as to speak to him more directly.

 

"Ah, but yer getting ready to leave. Well, you can introduce me later, I've just come to say goodbye dear boy, I'll be going soon, just as you will be too. But fret not, our paths may cross sooner than you think Katsuro, sooner than you think...." he told him, his words trailing off.

 

He got back up, smiling at him. "Well, I bid you two farewell, be good Katsuro, you were a great companion to have with my return to Ryuu-Tokai. A fine respectable boy you are, much more curtious and mature than, some other people," he said, his words neither hushed, nor hidden from hearing to the group at the table. "You'll grow up to be a great man, I can assure you of that," he winked at Katsuro.

 

"Well, my goodbye has been long-winded enough, I must be off," at that he turned, heading towards the door, but before he went much further he paused. "Oh, and one more thing," he said, turning back to Katsuro. "Here," he reached inside his robes, pulling out a well decorated horn, it was ivory, having beautiful carvings and etchings all over it, and the rim of the bell, and the mouth piece had silver on them, and it finished off with a leather thong so it could be attached to belts and such.

 

"A parting....gift," he told him with a wink, handing him the horn. "If you don't want it, I would understand, you can give it back," he told Katsuro. 'It's for dangerous situations boy, if you take it, then you must be responsible,' he thought to the boy.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn looked up as Akira approached. The warrior had a repentant look on his face and when he tried to apologize, Carwyn waved him off. "Don't worry about it Akira, it was a bad joke on my part anyway."He tossed the swordsman a cookie. "No point in having things go pear-shaped from the start, so let's just forget it."

[Jason Skywalker]

"Thanks," Akira told him, his face smiling again as he caught the cookie and ate it in one bite, "What were we even talking about?" His smile turning to a grin.

[Grace]

"A parting....gift," he told him with a wink, handing him the horn. "If you don't want it, I would understand, you can give it back," he told Katsuro. 'It's for dangerous situations boy, if you take it, then you must be responsible,' he thought to the boy.

 

 

"Thank you," Katsuro said, taking the horn. And though he nodded at 'Yuri's' mental message, he said nothing but, "I shall look forward to seeing you again."

[JasraLantill]

"Something wrong, ma'am?" Xan asked Aya, kindly, though rather confused.

 

Aya was rather confused as well as she watched Kyo stride back inside the inn. "I'm not sure," she replied to Xan, sounding rather remote as her eyes watched the broody warrior through the window of the inn.

 

She frowned, then shivered with disbelief at the unexpected coldness she had felt radiating from Kyo.

 

"Xan...," Aya asked the old warrior, "if someone asked you how old you were when you had your first kiss, would you be offended or angry?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo strode into the inn, moving directly to the seat he had occupied before. Across the back, a pack with his personal effects was strapped. It was buldging with all sorts of items - food, a canteen, oil and flint, etc. - and a bed roll was tied on top of it. Grabbing it, he slung the pack over his shoulder before turning to the others.

 

"Alright, it appears that Bob is packed and we're ready to go." he said, looking from one person to the next, "If you all could get your things together, we can be off in a few minutes."

[Rexraptor2000]

Toa didn't know what to think at the moment.Tellis's comment made Toa wonder if she had seen the tattoos, but he doubted it from her grin. The tonic would be an offer that he could refuse, since this set of robes had been woven by his mother. Those were not what had Toa's thoughts cluttered right now though. It was the extra emotions.

 

One moment, he was feeling fine and starving. The next he was feeling a bit irritated, embarrassed, defiant, and now disbelieving. He didn't know why he felt these, when nothing he was doing triggered these, and it was starting to make him a bit angry. Angery Pyromacers were usually accompanied by all fires going on in the general area increasing by ten-fold.

 

So Toa found it a bit of a relief to focus on leaving as Kyo had just spoken, though a bit too cold for Toa's tastes, and said with a hearty chuckle "Good. Note-to-Self: Don't comeback unless life depends on it. Oh, could someone also pick up something to eat for me? I've got to make a quick stop by the library. My last attempt to go there was interrupted by a lighting-fast Hydromacer."

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn stuffed one last cookie into his mouth, then wrapped a few more in a piece of cloth. He placed the cookies into a secure pouch in his rucksack, then hefted it over his shoulder. Grabbing his bows, he slung them over his other shoulder, then stood up and made his way to the door. Pushing it open, he squinted into the bright sunlight and managed to make out the hulking shape of Xan the guard standing next to Aya and Bob. Putting a hand to his brow, he trotted towards them.

 

****

 

Tellis finished off her glass of water, then slid easily from the booth seat and stood up. She reached down and took her medicinal kit by both hands and hefted it up. Since they were going on a prolonged journey, she had added to her pharmacopeia in anticipation of wounds that would be tending. And since they were going up North, she was sure there would definitely be wounds that needed to be tended to.

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Allow me." Kyo said, striding to Tellis and gently taking the medical kit from her hands. It was heavier than it looked - the swordsman couldn't help but wonder what in the world she had packed away in there.

 

He hefted the kit onto his right shoulder, avoiding straining his left shoulder as much as possible. He then turned to walk out the door, Tellis following after.

 

The swordsman strode around the group of Aya, Xan, and Carwyn to Bob, loosening another strap for the medical kit.

 

"The others should be out momentarily." he said, not looking up from what he was doing. "Toa wanted to make a stop at the library - he should be able to catch up to us afterwards."

[Master_Archon]

"Xan...," Aya asked the old warrior, "if someone asked you how old you were when you had your first kiss, would you be offended or angry?"

 

Xan huffed for a moment, he looked up thinking on this question.

 

"Well, I wouldn't recommend asking me, but I suppose I'm old enough that life has tought me something," he told her, looking back down at her.

 

"I would be...offended, why, well that's easy, we warrior types often have difficult pasts, we don't enjoy our pasts being brought up, and we certainly don't enjoy reliving those sorrowful moments," he told her the best he could.

 

Xan would have spoken further on this issue, but the group was exiting the inn. "I would not worry Miss Aya, the swordsman is not upset with you, only himself," he whispered to her in her ear, with that he grew silent, patting her on the shoulder gently he stood up straight, waiting for the rest of the group to get there, and for the journey to start.

******

"I shall look forward to seeing you again." Katsuro said to Old Yuri.

 

"And I, you," he replied, bowing slightly, he turned and headed out the door with more speed than most would think he could go. As he exited the building, a boy with two weapons and a decent sized sack of something approached.

 

"Are you Xan, and, or, Old Yuri?" The boy asked him.

 

"I am Old Yuri," he told him, taking the sack, smiling at the boy.

 

The boy walked off, asking where Xan was, until he was finally pointed in the right direction, the boy giving the weapons to Xan.

 

"Can't even come to see me personally," Yuri muttered, heading off. "Well, atleast he got me what I needed," he retorted to himself.

[Jason Skywalker]

Akira grabbed some more cookies for the trip, put one on his mouth and put the others on his pockets, coming out of the inn.

 

"So, i guess we're all packed up."

[Grace]

"So that was the man who gave you... whatever it was you gave me?" Takara asked as she and her son descended the stairs, having gathered their things. "Old Yuri?"

 

"His name isn't Yuri," Katsuro answered softly. "But yes, that was him."

 

"Perhaps he's not so bad as all the stories of this area tell," Takara murmured thoughtfully. She reached down and took the horn 'Yuri' had given Katsuro and examined it... and nearly dropped it.

 

"Mother?" Katsuro asked, concerned. "What is it?"

 

Takara handed the horn back to her son and shook her head. "You'll see him sooner than you think, eh? Well, I want to have a long chat with him when he comes back."

 

"Mom, what's wrong?" Katsuro demanded urgently. His mother turned, staring him in the eyes. After a moment of silence, the boy's eyes widened.

 

"Oh..." he mumbled. Not another word was spoken as mother and son joined the assembling group.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo looked at each of those that had gathered, smiling faintly. Aya, Carwyn, Tellis, Takara, Katsuro, Xan, Akira, Kai, and Toa would be joining them later. It was so strange...if someone had told him a week ago that he would have met all of these people, and would be traveling north with them, he would have called the person crazy. But now...

 

"Alright, Bob." he murmured to the pony, petting his nose lightly. "Ready to go?"

 

The horse snorted and nudged Kyo's shoulder, stomping his hoof as if to say 'let's go already!'. The swordsman smiled, taking his lead.

 

"Well then, everyone." he said, looking to them, "Shall we?"

 

((Alright, this is a bit better of a post. Sorry for teh crappiness of the last one >.>))

[Rogue Nine]

"Lead on, o fearless leader," Carwyn quipped as they started walking through the town, which was still in shambles. He wrinkled his nose as he noticed the path they tread was still littered with debris from the night before. The townsfolk looked at the small band of people curiously, then turned back to trying to recover what was left of their homes and livelihoods. Carwyn stalked up next to Kyo. "Pity we couldn't help these people."

[ForceFightWMe12]

The swordsman nodded. "Indeed. But I'm not sure that there would be much that we could do. Who would trust a band of strangers?"

 

He shrugged. "They should recieve some help from other city states once the word has spread. The Merchant's and Artisan's guilds will most definately be up here as well. Ryuu-Tokai is their feeding ground - they'll want it to be rebuilt and functional again as soon as possible."

[Rogue Nine]

Tellis appeared at Carwyn's shoulder, sidling between him and Kyo. "A few good-meaning philanthropists, like Doctor Waverly, will also provide whatever they can spare out of their pockets," she said, her voice carrying a passionate undertone.

 

The ranger looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't know Doc Waverly was so wealthy," he said. "He looked just like a common country doctor."

 

Tellis shook her head. "He wishes to be treated as such, for that is how he sees himself. He is a good man." She said these words with such compunction that even if what she spoke was completely false, Carwyn would have been inclined to believe her anyway.

 

"You'll get no argument from me there, Tel," Carwyn replied as he kicked a stray bit of debris out of the way. "Hope he's got enough to help everyone."

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo gazed around him, watching the people and studying the debris and the wreckage. "I'm sure that they'll get all they need." he said, "Now, if it was a town up north, on the other hand..."

 

Kyo's eyes came to gaze upon a house that was destroyed by fire, having been hit by Toa's fire dragon. The swordsman stopped dead in his tracks - the scene al; too familiar to him. The scortched timber, the ash, the hopeless feeling of not being able to do a thing....

 

Grandfather...

[Grace]

Takara and Katsuro walked with the group in silence, turning their heads to examine the damage as they went. Katsuro shook his head sadly, slipping his hand into his mother's hand as they walked.

 

"So much pain," he murmured softly. "Loss of life, loss of hope... loss of something to care about."

 

Takara tensed ever so slightly, but said nothing. Katsuro again fell into silence. Finally, Takara broke her silence, moving forward next to Kyo and asking in his ear, "Beyond going in a general northward direction, do you have any plan?"

[Jason Skywalker]

"Hey, let me ask a question," Akira started, "Who here as actually traveled to the North?"