The clangs of steel reverberated throughout the area as the two swordsman clashed in the center of the arena. “Every year it’s the same,” Bokuden thought to himself as he and the rest of the spectators watched the match continue. The annual tourney hosted by the Ryuzoji clan had begun and this year’s turnout was even greater than last’s. What originally began as a kenjutsu tournament with the purpose of proving one’s skill amongst the best the lightning country had to offer in celebration of the clan’s samurai origins had slowly changed into something far less honorable. Ever since Bokuden’s grandfather ascended to the position of clan head over fifty years ago the tourney had become a political affair with invitations extended to any swordsman who wished to participate regardless of their allegiances and influential people, from wealthy traders to daimyo’s attending to watch the spectacle and politic. In order to attract reputable swordsman from every corner of the world, enormous sums of ryo were dangled out as prize money and eventually the fame of the event grew to the point that those who were not enticed by the money would be drawn in by the fame that winning such a tournament would bring. To further add to the pageantry of the event, the tournament was extended to a week long affair and accompanied by a weeklong festival which attracted revelers and tourists from all of the surrounding nations. A deal had even been struck with the daimyo of the lightning country to allow the use of the greater Kumogakure area for the festival grounds citing the enormous profit and political opportunities that such a gathering of people could produce.

The fights in this particular pool were being held in a makeshift arena by the city gates. Bokuden was entered in the tournament as well, but as heir to the Ryuzoji clan he did not have to fight to qualify. He would automatically be registered to fight in the final rounds of competition in the Ryuzoji clan's private Kenjutsu dojo, usually off limits to all but the main branch of the Ryuzoji clan. Since he did not have to concern himself with qualifying, Bokuden often used the days before the finals to observe matches and enjoy the festivities.

As crowds of civilians and spectators gathered around the fighting area to watch the combatants the noise of the crowd began to drown out the clangs of clashing blades. All that could be heard clearly now was the yelling of the vendors who had set up shop for the festival peddling their wares. Bokuden observed from the rooftops, as he had grown accustomed to over the years. The politicking of his father and grandfather had made it troublesome to get too close to the qualifying matches. There would always be some idiot who recognized the clan's members and wanted to flex in front of the crowd by challenging a member of the clan that organized the event. Bokuden preferred a bird's eye view anyway. Rooftops had become his and Satomi's primary mode of transportation through the village and today would be no different.

As Bokuden and Satomi looked down from atop the highest building near the gate, Bokuden noticed two figures walking towards the village. It would normally have been absolutely nothing as spectators came to the village from all over during the week of the tournament, but these were no spectators. Bokuden has excellent eyes and who he saw walking towards the village was none other than Horui and his twin. It had been a few weeks since the incident at the baseball field and he did not know that the two had left the village. He and Satomi leaped over to the top of the city walls and waited for the duo to get closer to the gate. As they approached the gate Bokuden threw the skewer from the kabob he had just finished down in front of their feet like a senbon and waved down at the from the top of the wall.

Nagare and Horui passed through Kumo, a casual walk the day after their return. It seemed that some sort of commotion was happening today, some sort of festival. There were some swordsmen fighting and many people surrounded them, only a fraction of a massive crowd. It was actually very nice being back home, although Nagare did hate crowds. He looked around, and soon noticed a familiar face waving to him with a grin. It's Bokuden! The guy from the baseball game! Nagare smirked and gave a cool wave back. He took a moment to decide whether or not to meet up with Bokuden, but Horui had already jumped the gun and hopped up to where Bokuden was sitting, and gave him a warm hug. Nagare coughed and fixed his glasses before walking over, and greeting Bokuden formally. "I didn't exactly give you my name last time we met. I'm Nagare Sōseiji, and that guy who just hugged you is my twin, Horui. He's actually only..." Horui turned and kicked Nagare before he could finish his sentence, and smiled at Bokuden again.

Combat competition had always intrigued her, men attempting to test their mettle in a duel with another. In this particular case a test of one's Kenjutsu skills, something which she was somewhat familiar with, still she had little interest in joining such a competition. Most of the combatants seemed to fight for glory and material gains, such prizes hindered their true ability to fight, as did the mass of people that crowded around the fighters, something of which she was presently guilty of doing. Quickly analyzing those battling at that particular moment she surmised that it would've been easy to disarm and dispatch them, such a reason was why she found Taijutsu better in itself. Much more difficult to disarm someone's fist rather than a blade. Moving away from the crowd she picked a spot that wasn't too horribly crowded spying on the fighters from a fair distance.

While observing the fights she recollected that the battles had originally been started by a much more distinguished group of blades, the Ryuzoji or something of that nature, noted to be great and honorable swordsmen. Jishin couldn't help but wonder why such a people had allowed one of their traditions to be marred in such a way as it was in that day. Her thoughts then transferred to her own clone, they had similar tournaments, two in particular. One tested the Taijutsu skills of the Don'yokuna Puredetā, the other tested the Genjutsu of the Kurai Torikkusutā. Needless to say they were far less flashy than what she was witnessing.

Her focus shifted from the competition unto the crowd, near immediately she noticed Nagare and Horui, who she hadn't seen in a week now, and Bokuden who she hadn't seen in a similar amount of time. A concise smile fell onto her face, evidently she was rather happy to see him again, of course her natural persona forced the smile from her face. Quickly she stood and began to walk over to the three, holding back the smile she had just forced away.

After seeing Bokuden wave down to them, Horui quickly jumped to the top of the wall where Bokuden was located and gave him a hug. "Hahah, it's nice to see you again too, Horui," Bokuden said, surprised by the show of affection from a person he had only met once previously. Afterwards Horui's twin approached as well and introduced himself as Nagare, but before he could finish his next sentence Horui delivered a swift kick to silence him. This display amused Bokuden who let out a slight chuckle.

From the corner of his eye Bokuden noticed another familiar face approaching their location. It was Jishin, the woman who had participated in the baseball game with Bokuden and Horui. She seemed a bit hesitant at first, but was definitely walking towards them. The look on her face was a bit awkward. The signs of it were minor, but Bokuden could tell she was trying to hold back a smile. "I guess she is not as unfeminine as she tries to appear," Bokuden thought to himslef before turning back to Nagare, "It looks like someone is happy to see you again." Bokuden then motioned toward the direction of Jishin with his head without ever turning around to look at her.

Nagare smiled as Bokuden gestured to the now-approaching Jishin. Horui smiled at her, although not as widely, and continued looking at Bokuden. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, that he always carried, and he wrote, "It's good to see you again. Nagare and I have been in Kirigakure for the past week." Horui handed the note to Boku, when Nagare approached Jishin with a grin and said the near same thing. "Hello, Jishin. It's been a while, or at least it feels like it. I've been in Kirigakure for the past week, on a mission." he stood with a half-blush, half-grin as he basked in her masculine yet feminine presence. The two combatants nearby clashed swords again, and the echo of the metal slamming shot through the area, followed by excited cheers and cries from small children.

"Had assumed you were out doing something or another, congratulations on coming back." She had known far too many people to go out on missions outside of the country, most ended up decomposing in a foreign ditch. Not the best way to die. She managed to withhold her joy rather well, maintaining her seemingly enigmatic nature, there would be no warm embrace from her, nor would there be any mushy sentiments. Openly, anyway. She figured he had known her for long enough to grasp that her words meant much more than those of another being, something minor such as a 'congratulations on coming back alive' was fairly major. "Unfortunate you didn't tell me that you were going out of town." She stated nonchalantly, what she really meant was something like this: 'Oh God, why didn't you alert me you were leaving? I've missed you ever so much...', or something like that anyway.

Removing her focus from Nagare she briefly waved to Bokuden and Horui, it seemed rather rude, even for her, to not even acknowledge the other two's presence

As Jishin approached, Horui grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote that he and Nagare had been in Kirigakure for the past week. It was a message that would soon be confirmed by a similar statement by Nagare, although directed towards Jishin, adding that it had been for a mission. "I'm pleased to see the two of you made it back here in one piece... so to speak," Bokuden said knowing that it would fall on deaf ears, at least to Nagare. Nagare was far too preoccupied with Jishin at this point to be listening. As Bokuden observed the interaction between the two the situation became clear. "So THAT's how it is with them," Bokuden thought to himself, "Well, I guess she is off limits then."

As the thought finished Bokuden felt something hitting the back of his leg. It was the tail of Satomi whipping against the back of his leg in order to make her presence known. "Ah, sorry about that. How rude of me," Bokuden said, interrupting the awkwardness of all the sexual tension, "This is my partner Satomi. Satomi, this is Nagare and his Soseiji twin Horui and this is Dakuchairudo Jishin."

"Pleasure to meet you all," Satomi replied, bowing her head slightly to the group.

Nagare looked down at the cute little dog. Well, dog couldn't be the right word, its features were far more canine and sharp than those of a dog. It was a wolf, now identified by the name of Satomi, according to Bokuden. Nagare took a seat next to Bokuden, and to Satomi, "The pleasure is mine." Horui was overcome with adorable, and couldn't help but pet the crap out of Satomi. She was so cute, he couldn't resist.

Nagare took a moment to observe the two fighters as they stopped and took an intermission before their next round. "So what exactly is this, Bokuden? A festival or something?" Horui grew even more excited at the sound of the word festivals. Something about festivals and parties and other celebrations or festivities just made Horui plain giddy. He loved parties, and it saddened him that he couldn't express his joy vocally. He turned a moment to look around at the various booths and activities before looking back at Nagare.

I'm gonna go get some Gyoza and play games!

Nagare nodded and watched as Horui ran off with joy. It was like Horui was innocent and youthful, but stable and mature at the same time. The youth was refreshing, if anything, seeing as Nagare constantly felt that he had to age beyond his years just to survive. He fixed his glasses again, and focused on the commotion around him, although he didn't want to join in on all of the fun. He was fine observing from the sidelines.

Jishin stared at the newly introduced Satomi, from first glance she seemed to belong to the Lupus Articulus breed, but such animals did not speak in the tongues of people. She knew that there were several breeds of speaking animals throughout the kingdom, but had yet to see one outside of the human species, listening to the wolf was a first, "Indeed." she replied as her view moved back to Bokuden, "Quite the partner." she watched as everyone sat leaving her standing, there was little inclination to take a seat with the group.

The sounds of steel meeting steel reverberated throughout the background, along with the gasps and shouts of the crowds verbalizing the highs and lows of the battles which encompassed the festival, she still felt it all to be a little overdramatic, "They're testing their mettle." looking toward the battles which seemed to be the central draw of the festival, she would leave the rest for Bokuden to explain as he was the one who had actually been given the question, taking it on her own would be rather rude. "Bit too dramatic for my tastes." Vocalizing her 'two cents' on the whole ordeal, all the pageantry was nonsense from her view.

Still, Horui seemed to be having a good time as by that point he had meandered off into the crowd, the stark contrast between he and his twin was rather fascinating.

Bokuden left the group to get acquainted with Satomi on their own. Seeing as she could speak it only seemed fitting to let Satomi greet them on her own terms. The reactions to Satomi varied between the group with Horui being the most excited to see her. Nagare remained calm throughout the whole process and Jishin seemed to be analyzing Satomi. They had likely never encountered a talking wolf before, but Bokuden did not feel compelled to share any more information about Satomi than she felt was appropriate to share herself.

Soon Nagare faced the group and seemed to wonder what was going on in the village. Jishin gave a brief answer which more or less summed up the competition, but it seemed that it would fall upon Bokuden to elaborate. "Did you leave your memory in Kiri as well Nagare," Bokuden mused, "This kenjutsu competition and the festivities that accompany it occur on an annual basis. It is a swordsmanship tournament held by the Ryuzoji clan. Swordsman from every country gather to fight each other. What you are seeing below us are qualifying matches to earn a spot in the final rounds at the end of the week. It is a competition for great warriors prove their honor and cement their legacy as masters of their field."

The smile on Bokuden's face faded into a much more serious scowl as he continued his explanation. "At least... that's what is was..." Bokuden muttered in a harsh tone. Now turned away from the group and glaring down at the crowd and the arena.

"What it is now is an embarassment," Satomi growled.

Nagare looked closely at Bokuden's changing expressions whilst he was explaining the competition and its connection to the Ryuzoji clan. Satomi chimed in that it was an embarassment, and Nagare nodded slowly. "You seem to know a lot about the Ryuzoji clan; I was never really one to go to parties and 'fun' crowd-gathering things. Crowds repel me." his eyes shifted to the blade Bokuden carried...he figured the connection was nothing, maybe Bokuden had a friend in the Ryuzoji clan. He moved on to a new focus.

"What have you two been up to since I left? I know it's only been a week, but I'd like updates on anything significant that's happened in your lives, or in Kumogakure." he said with a half-forced grin. True, he did enjoy the company of Bokuden and Jishin, but he still had a hard time smiling when he was trying to be kind.

Horui returned sooner than expected with a little platter of Gyoza (some of which were already stuffed in his mouth) and a stuffed animal tucked under his arm. He was smiling between bites of the savory dumplings. He casually stood next to everyone, turning to watch the clansmen every few seconds.

Bokuden explained the ceremony and his pet chimed in stating that the only thing it was now was an embarrassment, a black mark on the clan who had started it those many years ago, and she couldn't help but agree. The only thing she saw now were greedy fools pandering to a crowd, rather than the skilled swordsmen passed "Pageantry, all this is now. My people have several competitions such as this, but the integrity and spirit behind them remain intact, less crowds more skill. No prizes, little glory, for those who truly wish to test their worth." it was truly unfortunate that such a tradition had been marred by the culture of recent times.

Nag had at this point forced a rather awkward looking grin upon his face, obviously he wasn't prone to doing such things, suppressing the urge to laugh at the poor fellow she answered his question, "Can't say I've done a lot, dealt with a few bandits, but aside from that I've got little to tell.", she wasn't exactly the exciting type, wasn't like she was out and about battling dragons or killing Daimyos.

Bokuden listened as Jishin explained similar customary competitions within her clan, competitions without the pageantry and politicking. He couldn't help but think that it must have been nice. If he were to be honest, he would not even compete in the tournament if it wasn't required of him. To Bokuden there was a clear difference between defending your honor in battle and mocking the art of war by play fighting in some tournament in order to gain praise. In his mind there was little distinction between those who would sell their honor for wealth and fame and prostitutes.

Nagare then inquired about the happenings throughout the village in his absence."The majority of the village has enthralled by preparations for the festivities the past week. It's an extremely profitable time for most of the village's businesses. It has however, slowed down actual shinobi activity within the village, too many people. Other than some dead end D-rank missions I haven't really had time to do much. What with preparations for the tournament going on and all. I'm not one for crowds to begin with, which is why I was up here in the first place. Hell, I usually travel by rooftop anyway, away from prying eyes. The less I have to deal with people the better," Bokuden answered, "You're trip to Kiri sounds like a far more interesting story. What kind of mission sent you there?"

Jishin claimed to have done little, and Bokuden expounded on how this festival of sorts was impeding village shinobi activity, which explained Jishin's claim. He talked a moment about his habits to avoid such commotion, then asked about Nagare's doings throughout the week. Disdain rose to his countenance for a moment with remembrance of Gakuto. His hate for the traitor grew stronger daily, and his lost love for the man fell further exponentially. "An old friend of mine defected from the village in hopes of becoming some sort of deity. He stole a sacred blade and two Uchihas' eyes, and went to Mizu no Kuni to destroy Kirigakure. I stopped him, thanks to the command to give chase from Reika."

The image of Gakuto's Mangekyou Sharingan still haunted Nagare to this day, but it only magnified his emotions rather than leaving him in terror. His despise for traitors was unbelievable, and he now held a fierce loyalty to Kumogakure. At least, that's what it felt like. Maybe it wasn't loyalty to Kumogakure, per se, but to the moral "good side". Or maybe not even that. He didn't know what he felt anymore, he just didn't want to be betrayed or become a treasonist himself.

Nagare realized that he had been silent for a few minutes now, staring off into the distance. He looked back at Bokuden. "So I completed the mission and killed him, and successfully recovered the stolen items. Well, not the Sharingan; they were both blind and useless by the end of our battle. Honestly, I should've been back sooner, but I decided to train a bit while I was there."

Horui was enthralled by the fighting Kenjutsu users in the middle of the audience, who were similarly hypnotized. He wasn't hypnotized by watching, however, but by the desire to partake in the fighting. Too bad he didn't have a sword of his own, let alone know how to use one. Well, there was Shougeki, the blade Gakuto had stolen, but still.

Jishin nodded as Bokuden told Nagare of how the village had been preparing for the festival, the streets had been absolutely packed with people setting up shops or putting up decorations. She had seen a few men the day before setting up for some sort of fireworks display, or so she assumed, really all she had seen were a few men putting out massive kegs of explosive-powders. What they were using it for she truly did not know, but had assumed as much to say that if they were doing something not sanctioned by the Raikage that someone would have dealt with them by that point, whatever they were doing seemed benign enough.

Her eyes moved to Nagare as he told the story of his mission, seemed like he had finally killed the fellow they had spoken with before. Certainly a burdensome task, but from what he had told her of the man, a necessary task. "Another one bites the dust I suppose. She shrugged, the man was dangerous and his death was more than needed, yet she couldn't help but feel a tad bit bad for Nagare, despite his strong words it couldn't have been easy doing what he had done.

As Nagare explained the situation regarding his mission, Bokuden merely listened in silence. He didn't really know how to feel about Nagare being so open about his troubles. Bokuden certainly wouldn't have volunteered so much information if the roles had been reversed, but he felt strangely happy that Nagare seemed to trust him enough to divulge information on such a personal matter, even if just a small amount. This clearly was not just a seek & destroy mission to Nagare as evidenced by his tone of voice and the long pauses he seemed to take during his explanation.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Bokuden said after Nagare had finished, "I am not unfamiliar with the act of taking the life of someone who you once called friend, or... several lives." Bokuden quickly realized that he had already said to much and cut himself off.

Bokuden then walked over to Horui who seemed to be entranced by the sword fighting going on. "You don't want to get involved in all of this, Horui. Do you even have any experience with a kenjutsu discipline?" Bokuden inquired.

Nagare zoned out after, hearing a few consoling words from Bokuden. Horui continued staring out into the fight, and Bokuden said, "You don't want to get involved in all of this, Horui. Do you even have any experience with a kenjutsu discipline?" Horui took a moment to think. He scribbled on a new piece of paper, "not really, but I'd like to learn someday." Swords fascinated him. Maybe it was just the pointy aspect of them. Suddenly, his stomach grumbled, and he felt his guts jump. Looked like the gyoza wasn't agreeing with him...what the hell was in those things....? He stepped away from his friends and Naga for a moment, turning a corner to run to the nearest puke-worthy location. Nagare finally returned to reality, and blinked a few times. "Wait, so Bokuden. You have a sword, and you practice Kenjutsu. Will you be participating in this tournament? Even though you don't seem too interested...."

[Hey, I hope it's alright to join :) ]

I'm finally here, huh?
A wave of relief washed over her as she walked through the gate. For one moment there, all worries and doubts had vanished from her mind as though Kumo was the solution to the issues she'd been dealing with.
Of course it wasn't. She had not yet found a way to lessen this burden placed on her shoulders. And these questions kept coming back: Like, what was the right thing to do? Let herself get caught, but have the chance to check on her friends and family? Go on playing hide and seek?
Would they ever give up?

With a quiet sigh, she shook her head. What had she been telling herself all over the last week? 'Don't whine, do something.'
A much more determined look in her eyes, now, she searched the area for someone who could help her out. She must find a market to buy food and most importantly, a place to stay at.

A couple of hours ago, she had washed herself in a small river, especially to get rid of the blood from that last fight in Iwa. Misoka was more than happy she had remembered to do so. No point in scaring people off with her smell.

"Okay... ask someone..."
In the distance, she could make out people apparently gathering around someone or something.
Misoka got a bit closer and heard swords clashing. Wow, a sword fight in the streets. She stopped, watching from a short distance.
Wouldn't it be rude to distract someone of the audience and ask for something so insignificant as where to find a market?

Good, she would just wait then. For a while. She guessed. Too bad she hadn't eaten in almost a day.

(OOC: It's all good.)


Jishin listened as Bokuden stated that he had taken lives of enemies before, most Shinobi had "I suppose we all have a fair amount of blood on our hands, such is the life of the Shinobi.", shrugging in a show of solidarity. Her thoughts remained upon the subject of removing another being from the earthly world for several moments, she had forgotten the faces of many the men she had done away with leaving but an odd sense of numbness toward them, rationalizing more and more that she was dealing with the proverbial bad men of the world. Such a thing wasn't entirely true...

She was brought back to reality as Nagare asked if their acquaintance intended on battling in the tournament, a question which she was rather interested in. From what he had stated over the past few minutes it seemed fairly unlikely, but what someone says and what someone does are two entirely different things.

Her gaze meandered back to the crowd which was still enamored by the clanging of steel, near immediately she noticed a rather peculiar looking person had joined the crowd, they looked rather suspect to Jishin evident that they didn't belong. "Hate vagrants..." Her eyes still locked upon the newest member of the crowd, wondering what they were up to.

(Of course it is Misoka.)

In response to Bokuden's question Horui pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled his reply on it. He then handed it to Bokuden, it read "not really, but I'd like to learn someday."

"You want to learn kenjutsu, huh?" Bokuden said with a grin, "Maybe you have the spirit of a samurai then." Immediately after he said that Borui ran off somewhere in a hurry. "I didn't think that was such a bad thing," Bokuden mumbled.

Nagare then asked Bokuden if he would be competing in the kenjutsu tourney. "Who me? Nah, this kind of event isn't really my thing. I don't fight for praise."

Bokuden then walked over to the edge of the rooftop and stared down towards the crowds below. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, mostly he just wanted something to change the topic. He preferred to keep which clan he hailed from a secret, especially with this event going on, and he didn't want Jishin or Nagare connecting the dots.

He saw Jishin glaring harshly at someone down below and mutter the words "Hate vagrants...". He then noticed the girl that Jishin seemed to be speaking of.

"Whoa, she's beautiful," Bokuden thought to himself. "Now, now Jishin. This tournament brings in people from all over. For all we know she could just be here to enjoy the festivities," He turned and said to Jishin with a grin on his face, "But where are our manners? She looks lost, it would just be barbaric of us not to go meet her and offer her our assistance." Bokuden then flipped off the roof of the building jumping down to approach the woman.

"Always the knight in shining armor..." Satomi said while letting out a deep sigh, "I suppose we better go after him to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." She then jumped off the roof in pursuit of Bokuden.

Nagare noticed Horui had run off somewhere, and processing Bokuden's response, settled back into a slouched stance. He was a little sleepy, after all the traveling, even after a full night of sleep. Jishin mumbled something about vagrants, not in the kindest tone, and Bokuden started lecturing her. Nagare figured it was because of the sheer beauty of the woman; she walked by with golden hair and ocean blue eyes, still not as beautiful as those of Jishin, but a close second. She wasn't his type, but she sure seemed to be Bokuden's type. Satoshi commented on Bokuden's sudden interest in the girl, suggesting they follow him as he ran off after her.

"Someone has a crush." Nagare said jokingly. He turned to look for Horui, peering around the corner and down a block or so, but no signs of the character could be found. "Horui can catch up later. C'mon, Jishin. Let's embarass Boku a bit, shall we?"

The sound of footsteps behind her made Misoka whirl around at once. After two months of being followed by her enemies, it didn't take much to alert her.
She saw a tall, young man approaching and if it wasn't for his eyes locked on her, she would've expected him to join the crowd. Or he could've easily participated himself in that sword-fight, she guessed, throwing a glance at his own sword.

Then he stopped in front of her, the smile on his lips suggesting he didn't mean any harm.
It didn't chase away her wariness, though. After that disaster in Iwa, she couldn't afford putting trust in people too easily.
Misoka used the short silence between them to examine the man a bit further. He seemed to be her age, maybe one, two years older. His tallness and broad shoulders gave him an almost intimidating look, not to forget his knight-like and expensive coat. An imposing man, overall. Who knew which clan he might belong to?

Quickly, Misoka bowed her head. She didn't dare to look him in the eyes. "Good afternoon, Sir."
It was better to assume he was someone superior to her as to not offend the first person she met in Kumo.

While looking up, Misoka could see a small wolf running to the man's side and a bit farther away, two other people approaching them.
She bit her lower lip nervously. Had she done something wrong? Perhaps they only wanted to check whether she was an intruder or not. Well, she hoped that she could show them her good intentions, then.

She was far too interested in staring at the vagrant to say anything about Bokuden not prostituting his swordsmanship out, though at that moment she did feel a bit of respect for him, not much, but just a bit from her was one hell of a thing.

"Doesn't exactly disqualify her from being a vagrant." She replied as Bokuden exclaimed her beauty, and stated that she may have been there to enjoy the festivities. As far as acting like a barbarian went, she had no qualms in doing such things, but it seemed Bokuden was going to end up dragging the three to meet the young lass regardless. She watched with a slight scowl as he decided to hop from the rooftop to engage the young lady. Son of a bitch, guess we have to go now... She speculated that he would have informed the woman that the two were up upon the roof once they spoke, virtually forcing her into awkward conversation with the vagrant.

Nagare seemed less apprehensive about the situation, jokingly stating that it seemed Bokuden had a crush, from her time around him the man seemed to have a crush on anything with a pair of long legs and feminine figure..."I suppose a bit of embarrassment is in order." She quipped, only half jokingly. With a quick hop from the roof Jishin found herself on the ground, a small thud reverberated throughout the area as she did so.

Almost immediately she could see why Bokuden found himself drawn to the woman, she was beautiful in the traditional sense of the word, long blonde hair, aquamarine eyes, effeminate figure... Jishin did find her to look a bit thin, almost emaciated to Jishin, but not everyone had the ability to develop the athletic tone she carried, nor did many have her metabolism.

She couldn't help but shoot a quick gaze toward Nagare, wondering what he found to be attractive in a woman, which of course lead her to ask what she found attractive in a man. Jishin quickly pushed her inopportune thoughts away as they came closer to the rather beautiful vagrant.

Immediately upon his approach the foreign woman bowed her head hastily and blurted out, "Good afternoon, sir." In reaction to this Bokuden could only raise an eyebrow while wearing a confused look on his face and wonder what had provoked this demonstration. He didn't think he approached in a threatening manner. As she slowly lifted her head from the bow Bokuden could see her eyes darting about, deliberately trying to avoid making eye contact, and her slightly biting her lower lip.

"She's nervous," Bokuden thought to himself, "Could she be afraid?" A slight frown appeared on Bokuden's face as he dreaded the thought of him possibly being the cause of this reaction. He quickly replaced that frown with as friendly a smile as he could muster . "I'm sorry if I frightened you, that wasn't my intention," Bokuden said in a softer tone than he usually speaks, he thought it best not to worry this woman any further, "I noticed you walking through the gates and could tell you weren't from the village. You looked lost, so I thought you could use some help. Please don't be nervous, you're more than welcome here. My name is Bokuden." Bokuden hoped that his words could provide this girl some measure of comfort and offered his outstretched hand with a smile.

Looked like Bokuden was already talking to the girl, who reacted a bit anxiously. She seemed to be frightened. Nagare considered getting closer and talking to her with Boku, but he decided against it. Horui still wasn't near, so he turned to Jishin. "I'm gonna go look for Horui, I'll be back when...Bokuden has sufficiently 'put the moves' on the vagrant girl."

He stepped off into the crowd, assuming Horui was headed closer to the swordfighters. Suddenly, his mind boomed with thoughts. Ughh...my stomach...

Horui? Did you really just run off to throw up?

Horui didn't mentally reply. Instead, his figure came into view from behind a building, holding his stomach. Nagare pushed his way back out of the crowd and helped Horui keep his balance, throwing Horui's arm over his shoulder. He came back to Jishin. "Found him." He waited for what she would do, rather than making his own decision on whether or not to 'interrupt' Bokuden and the girl.