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Post by Jenny on Jul 6, 2012 23:46:11 GMT -5
Lei shook water drops from the sacred branch and smiled at Thrade as she approached. He took the canteen with thanks and drank deeply before surveying her part in healing the area. "You have a great gift, Thrade. I am sure the local people will find hope in what has been done. Perhaps they saw the spirits of the dead rising to heaven and find peace in this."
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 0:44:25 GMT -5
"No less great than yours." She looked up at the sky, breathing a soft sigh of relief and wishing the poor people peace in the afterlife. She studied Lei, worried about the shadows under his eyes. "You need to rest..."
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 0:50:56 GMT -5
Lei did not disagree. Drawing spiritual power from his own body to aid the living and the dead was a great strain but well rewarding. "We'll rejoin the others, I am sure there is hot food and a dry bed awaiting us. I am glad that I will get some sleep tonight." He grinned at her and shook off the tatami mat and rolled it up for now, he'd allow it to dry as they slept to prevent it from moulding. The sacred branch would need care as well. The energy that traveled through it during prayer was embedded into it's core, and with age and use it became all the more powerful tool. He mounted his horse and brought it around to follow the trail left by Huo Ting and the soldiers. He knew Thrade would follow in her own way.
The camp was silent, the men beneath the tarp tents to ward off the rain. All eyes were on Lei as he approached, and they nodded in great respect, for they had seen his handiwork from afar.
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 1:00:02 GMT -5
There was food ready, much to Thrade's relief. She tended to Lei like an overprotective mother bear, making sure he was dry and settled in one of the tents and bringing them both food. Cezir stood watch over the camp, wings tucked in tight to his body against the rain.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 1:09:40 GMT -5
Before he allowed Thrade to tend to him, he carefully cleaned the tatami mat of mud and saw that the tamagushi branch was set in a place to dry, for he prized these instruments above everyday things, just as he valued many souls beside his own. After these things were seen to, he allowed Thrade to fuss over him, for which he was glad for he barely had a reserve of energy left for himself. The food warmed his body touched by the cold rain and took away some of the fatigue. Lei barely moved as he was sleeping, his arm tucked around Thrade, and slept deeply.
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 1:15:27 GMT -5
She was aware he let her do it not only out of exhaustion but because he knew it made her feel better. It was one of those things that came from being together for so long, she thought sleepily, curling around him. She let herself drift off once she was sure he was sleeping peacefully, pressing a soft kiss to his brow before settling down.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 1:38:02 GMT -5
While Lei and his wife slept, Hiroshi Ishikawa waited inside a run down tavern in the poor district of Shimabara, blending in well among the tattered, ill mannered and downright despicable populace in that part of the sprawling city. It was not that he shared the same disposition, but the look of him was that of a ronin rather than well respected samurai. He sipped the poor excuse for a cup of tea calmly, ignoring the patrons completely rather than the occasional dismissive grunt to stay out of a brewing brawl. He expected Shade to make herself known to him and would slip out of the tavern to speak with her. It had been a very long time since the two of them had been together, and he found himself looking forward to the rendezvous. He had barely a coin to worry about pickpockets, and his swords were not of noble making but wicked enough to warrant a man to steer clear of him. So he was not troubled.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 1:38:20 GMT -5
Back at the soldier’s camp, night watch was uneventful, it seemed that trouble had come and gone as the ashes had cooled in the tragedy, well before they had arrived. A line of farmers did pass by in the early morning, their backs weighed down by harvested crops ready to trade, on the well worn road to Shimabara in the Kyushu province, their destination. Soon Lei and his wife would diverge from the group, and Huo Ting would alone lead the soldiers to the mountains west, those that hugged the Kyushu border, as planned. From then Lei and Thrade would travel to Shimabara alone, on horseback after changing into clothes worn by the region rather than looking like tourists to blend in. Shade and her friend were no doubt already scouting the city. Undoubtedly she already had useful information for them on where to begin.
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 2:07:02 GMT -5
A full out brawl broke out on the other side of the tavern, shouts and fighting and crashing wood filling the room. "That'll keep them busy," an amused voice said from the shadows behind him. There was a flicker of movement indicating the shadowdancer had moved out of the tavern only he could see. She was waiting in an alley across the street as agreed, a woman with hair so black it looked blue in the right light and fathomless eyes, her skin carrying a strange undertone, like shadows moved beneath the skin. She turned as he came into the alley, her dark lips curving into a familiar, lazy smile of hers. "Ah, there you are." Thrade kept a pair of clothes from the region just in case, but as she was clearly a foreigner, there was little she could do to actually blend in. Instead, she took the form of a mouse, hiding in Lei's satchel where she could remain unseen yet communicate and observe. Cezir flew high overhead, trying to remain unobtrusive but keeping pace with them.
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 2:19:43 GMT -5
Hiroshi chuckled and did not bother to drain his cup, for it was very bad tea. He had just sipped it enough to keep a low profile. If he had sat there looking around and drumming his fingers on the rough countertop he would have stood out like a sore thumb. He had already paid for it, the tavernsman wouldn't let a drop pass without payment first in case the imbiber chose to flee after coiffing the beverage, so he simply walked out while half of the tavern was flaying about in a series of punches and broken teeth which he left behind.
“Hello, Shade,” he replied. “You are looking well.” A compliment not meant to be flattery but mere observation. She was, after all, pleasing to look at, for those that lived long enough to get a glimpse. He smiled for her and rarely for anyone else. Respect had to be earned, and trust was even harder to gain. He had no reason to doubt her loyalty, roguish though she may be. “It is good to see you again.”
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 2:25:03 GMT -5
They were, by all accounts, a truly strange pair. They almost seemed to be complete opposites. Stalwart Hiroshi with his calm, unflappable demeanor and immovable strength; and beautiful, silver tongued Shade with her shadow touched skin bedecked with twining tattoos, strange abilities, and wild personality.
She gestured with one slender hand, smiling back. "Learn anything interesting?"
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 2:50:03 GMT -5
"I was able to trail the elder of the two brothers, Shigeru, governs the east side of Kyushu and has a foothold here in the city, leaves the younger to a disadvantage. He moved in when his father became too ill to govern the city by himself, and has become senile in his old years. I don't think the father even knows what goes on beneath his roof. The younger, Shinji, governs west Kyushu, which includes much of the farming community, so in this one instance, resources may be cut off from the city entirely if he can strong arm his influence over the rural populace. The two brothers are constantly fighting along the borderlines of their district, for which the people suffer greatly in the wake. I have wisely stayed away from the internal struggle in Kyushu ever since I stumbled across Shigeru militia. That was a mess, they were close to claiming me as a recruit by force before I shook them off.”
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 3:06:00 GMT -5
"Recruits aren't the only thing the eldest likes to take off the street," Shade said, her eyes narrowed slightly. "He tends to take what he wants, women included. He also has a taste for the exotic in everything, which is why he's so focused on getting trade going to other places." Her lips quirked into a smile. "He must have been very frustrated when he caught a glimpse of me earlier and couldn't follow it up with a kidnapping."
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Post by Jenny on Jul 7, 2012 22:51:09 GMT -5
“That does not bode well for Shen’s wife,” he replied to the exotic remark. One look at her and any of Shigeru’s men will whisk her away to his manor. “It would be difficult for us all, for the elder’s mansion is practically a stronghold. He has no need to worry about his brother seizing the trade routes to the city, other than earning his gold, because he’s got enough food in there to last for at least one month if need be, but it seems nigh impossible with what Shinji has to work with as far as taking the city by force. It is the people that suffer from the malcontent between them. I am not sure how the priest is going to solve this, but he’d better think of something before all of Kyushu are in their graves.”
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Post by KD on Jul 7, 2012 22:57:02 GMT -5
"Which is why I have been thinking it would be best to have someone on the inside," she commented.
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