Exotic as they were striking, beautiful, and memorizing, Daremo's dark purple eyes shine with mirth and amusement that reached the rest of his face. Lips curl into a smile, a soft joyous laughter escaping them in response to joke thrown his way. Not the funniest thing ever heard, it was dark and slightly morbid, yet, it still rose a chuckle out of him. Black hair, in a pony-tail, held together with a silver ornate hair clip, with the kanji for 'Kobayashi' inscribed on both sides, swished side to side as he shook his head in disbelief at the double meaning of the joke told.

Who would have thought the woman would have said something like that? He surely didn't, something he expressed, but not before taking a sip of the sauce that his right hand cupped protectively and savoring the beverage's burn, "Never thought someone would have a similar humor as my own." The response being met with a snort of bemusement from his companion, "I have lived long enough to expect the unexpected from everybody.", he didn't make any comment on the statement, having found it ringing true in his current profession, Although, thinking about it, said profession was no longer a part of him, instead having shifted towards being a wandering medic in similar veins as the legendary Sannin Senju Tsunade, except without all the emotional baggage. The complete opposite of his former profession, healing and helping others over the past the past month. It bringing about a sense of accomplishment and a higher purpose than he initially thought.

His companion's words brought him out of his inner muse and focused back on the woman beside him. Who had started making comments about the patrons of the bar they were in. The bar itself was on the outer fringes of Kaze no Kuni in a small village that's one of the furthest ones from Sunagakure no Sato. The village seemed to be some resting point for weary travels of all sorts with him having seen many coming and exiting on an almost daily basis. Speaking of leaving, it's about time he got a move on.


Finishing the rest of his drink, hand reaching for money on his person and placing it on the table, it being enough to cover his and his companion's charges as well. "Well, it was a pleasure talking to you.", his hand reaching out to grasp hers, bringing it up to his lips, and kissing the back of it. A blush coloring in her slightly wrinkled face as the gesture did. "It's a pity you have to go.", she admitted, standing up, having downed her drink as well, bring just under an inch shorter than him, and brought him into a hug, not caring about the looks she might be from the onlookers, "Take care of yourself, Daremo. You know where to find me if you are looking for any type of work.", she whispered, stepping back from the hug and back to her stool and awaiting drink.

He didn't need to say anything else, only nodding in affirmative. Throwing one more look at his companion, who was already going back to drinking as if nothing had happened, Daremo left the bar. Wrapping a loose-fitting brown wrap around his head, and pulling on a matching hoodie, he trekked out of the village. The guards at post doing nothing to stop the man from venturing into the desert. As the place he had called him for a month became smaller in the distance, Daremo couldn't bring himself to feel any attachment to the place. It having served its purpose in allowing him to disappear.

Now though, it was time to move on, and head to his original destination all those months ago: Hi no Kuni. There had been whispers of the kage being quite tolerant towards anyone so long as they didn't do anything to disturb the peace. And, as he reached the border which separates them, it was time to see how true that settlement truly is.

---

687


Travel Completed
600/600 words