Mitsuki watched as Suzu left, and didn't say another word. She felt as though they had bonded, if only slightly, though she still felt troubled within her own heart. She picked up the ginger tea, though it had already cooled beyond desire so she poured the rest of it onto the ground before retiring to her own bed roll she had set up beside a log. She closed her eyes, and for the first time in a few days, she slept.

While she slept her consciousness was stirred, slowly bringing her out of deep sleep, though she rolled to the side in an effort to fall back into the warm embrace of a restful sleep. It was then that her wrists began to burn, the marks of the Weh no Suh on her arms would not allow her to sleep and her eyes flashed open and in an instant she knew what was approaching. She could feel it in the air.

Immediately she got up to see if any of the others had begun to stir as well, she saw the newcomer Shu shaking Suzuki. She shook her head, not wanting to lose focus of priorities, with the toe of her foot she drew a circle into the ground and another symbol within the circle. Should there be any breaches in the spiritual barrier that she had raised around the camp, the smaller circle before her would reveal it to her.

A sunlit afternoon. The sky glowed a bright, cloudless blue above the endless rice field in which Isamu stood. A trio of corpses lay at his feet. They were dress-... a trio of corpses? The young warrior jumped back, startled. Where had they come from? Looking back at the macabre scene, he caught sight of his own hands; they were covered in blood. The gentle breeze that had been so peaceable but moments before turned to an accusatory tone. The rice stalks seemed to whisper as they swayed to and fro; “murderer... murderer...”

Isamu retreated slowly from the bodies, looking nervously around him. Without warning, the earth neath his feet began to tremble violently. A horn burst from the ground, followed by the most enormous Yure that he had ever seen. It towered above him at more than three times his height, scowling menacingly. Scowling indeed, for this ghost had not the face of an insect, but rather that of a man. It raised its many arms, its coat of fur billowing in the ever-stronger wind, as if to pronounce judgment on the pitiful creature that trembled before it. Opening its lips and baring its teeth, it spat; “It is... your turn to stand watch.”

Rising from the depths of subconsciousness at a breakneck pace, Isamu jolted awake, breathing heavily. Looking around, he was startled to see the foreign medicine man standing by not two steps from where Isamu lay. Pulling the fragmented pieces of his memory together, Isamu surmised that he had just been woken because it was his turn to watch. It wasn’t until this moment that he noticed that Shu had not moved. He was staring outside, unnerved. The man turned towards Isamu, clearly expecting some sort of reaction. To what, Isamu wasn’t sure. Until the hissing reached his ears. Glancing outside for the first time, he noticed a thick, pale blue mist on the outskirts of the camp. The sound of uneasy horses could be heard in the night, warning of some impending danger.

His mental capacities not yet fully restored, Isamu searched the darkness for his dôbuku, found it and slipped into it awkwardly. Grabbing his nagamaki from where it lay, he slung it over his shoulder and strode barefoot to the edge of the tent. Presently, the hissing stopped. It brought a momentary sense of peace, until the newborn silence was killed violently by the outburst of another sound, more terrible and unsettling than the first. Isamu glanced back at the medicine man, suddenly eager for some company. “You coming?” he asked before stepping out, letting the flap fall behind him.

After thinking for a moment, Shu replied with a single nod, though he had no idea what Isamu had in mind.
"We should wake the others, if this clamor hasn't already." He suggested. If whatever was causing this mist was a threat, it would be best if everyone was present.

The circle Sasaki drew with her toe erupted in a fountain of sand. There was something much more powerful than a normal Yure in these woods. In the ears of the Weh no Su in the camp, they could hear the whispers.

"Ah hah...I have found you...you...interlopers..."

To everyone else, it was the sound of wolves howling that they heard. The caravan master and the package were up but it would take a while to rouse the others.

Suffering from a nightmare, one of which involved the world devoid of treasure, Nari was sweating in his state of the art cotton tent he "obtained" from a group of hikers not long before he joined the caravan. Just as when Nari was about to open yet another drawer without any jewellery in it, he woke up from his dream state, woken by noises unheard of. "GAH!" Nari whipped out his blade, getting into a stance, yet fell, remembering he was recovering from a hangover. "What the... uuuuuuuuuaaaa..." Stumbling out of his tent, he shouted, "WHAT THE HELL MADE NOISES FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL?! WE GOT TO GET OUTTA HEREEEEEEE!" And shouted until he got everyone's attention. And then Nari started to fold his tent into a crude square to put into his satchel with other "possessions" of his. As he did this, he saw his money sacks lying there, which made his heart sink just a little, he picked them up, sighed and tried to see if he could help the others pack up.


I may be a thief, but I do care for others, sure, I steal, lie, and kill, but I care. I really do...


Do I?

ooc: i will post when my internet works again i promise maybe

Mitsuki recoiled as the circle erupted in a fountain of sand, truly this meant that something that was more powerful than a yure was lurking about. Her sacred barrier would be no match for whatever malevolent spirit that was stalking them. She snapped her neck in the direction of the drunken thief as he too noticed the approaching presence. He immediately began to panic, and began to pack up his things. However before she had the time to calm him, as panic in this situation would only lead to further chaos, she began to hear voices.

"Ah hah...I have found you...you...interlopers..."

The words sent a shiver down her spine, though there was nothing she could do. It would be foolish to cast any sort of spell if she knew not what she was up against. She briskly jogged towards the carriage where Akane had set herself up.

"Sensei! There are threatening spirits about, what should we do?"

Akane had always known her student Sasaki to be an excellent exorcist. No sooner had she stepped out of her carriage at Suzu's insistence, did she find Sasaki at the carriage.

"Listen to Suzu, I've explained the situation to her."

With that Akane left for where most of the other travelers were sleeping.

"GET UP! All of you get up. To arms men, to arms!"

The time for the guards to earn their keep was finally here.

Suzu for her part stepped out of the carriage with River God Peach drawn. Whimsical hurricane was sheathed and remained so by her side as she surveyed the area, quickly urging Sasaki, fellow exorcist with her to a clearing.

"Quick, sit down," Suzu instructed, drawing a circle in the sand around Sasaki, "I'm going to set up a protective ward. Come on sit down, I need you to recite the Sutras of s****."

They were simple ones, but there were many. They were meant to appease the incorporeal Yure. Why they were not exorcised was simply because they were the lesser of two evils. It also happened that they were bound to locations due to their massive power and were commonly known as Lords. This one was the lord of this particular forest.

"Yes, it's the Lord of the Forest, no I do know which verse it is, yes you will have to recite them all."

Each verse was specific to each spirit and thus it was the mark of the real exorcist to recite the correct verse for each location. There were many, hundreds of locations, but only twenty or so locations were deemed dangerous and well traveled enough for all exorcists to learn of them.

The edge of the encampment was being stared down by several dozen pairs of eyes. They were at around knee-height and it was soon apparent why. Spectral wolves started to emerge from the treeline. They stood still around the camp, silent, unmoving and looking for weakness.

Shu and Isamu were beat to the punch by Akane and Nari, who were quick to wake everyone in the camp. The former rallied the travelers with a call to arms, the latter with a proposal of retreat. What a cowardly idea. If the man did decide to run off, he'd probably be dead before he was fully concealed by the mist. From what he overheard Akane say, it would seem that the encampment was being assailed by the Lord of the Forest, a being more dangerous than even the Yure he'd heard so much about. Before long, the threat made itself known as dozens of wolf-like creatures stepped from the mist. Shu did not know what they were, but they made him uneasy. He mentally prepared himself for battle, but something was wrong. His limbs were becoming heavy, his sight blurred. Simply keeping his eyelids open had become difficult. The valerian root he had consumed was beginning to take effect as the sedative it was, slowly draining his energy. He had taken too much. If Shu passed out here, he would either die or become a burden to the others, neither of which were particularly appealing scenarios. This was not good.

As Nari was packing up, he realized something. Oh, yeah. I raided an warlock's tomb... With spirit warding items! He knew it warded of spirits because he had studied their customs before raiding it. You can only steal what you know. He shuffled through his bag,
tossing his things around until he found the glowing orb. Quickly running to Mitsuki, he yelled to her, "Mitsuki! You're... You're good at this witchcraft stuff or whatever it's called, I have this orb that is mean't to send away spirits, PLEASE! PLEASE USE IT!!" He knew only this item was a one use only. As long as this ward was near the flesh of an arcane, living or dead, it would activate, then flush the spirits out, burning it's ectoplasm while losing the insides of the orb, which was a special incense that was made for that very reason. But it would only work with a bit of magic...



Nari ran up to Mitsuki, handed her the orb, and hoped for the best.


If I die, at least I wasn't being a coward.

She nodded to Akane's command and followed Suzu and they walked towards a clearing.

"Quick, sit down," Suzu instructed, drawing a circle in the sand around Mitsuki, "I'm going to set up a protective ward. Come on sit down, I need you to recite the Sutras of s****."

Mitsuki's eyes widened, if she had to recite the Sutras of s**** it meant that they were presently dealing with a lord spirit.

"Yes, it's the Lord of the Forest, no I do know which verse it is, yes you will have to recite them all." continued Suzu.

Mitsuki nodded, this would take a while, though hopefully not long enough for the approaching spirits to find a weakness in her barrier and break through. Even now she could feel the spirits' presence around them growing stronger. She crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to enter a state of meditation. However before she could begin her thoughts were interrupted by the man who had been panicking earlier.

"Mitsuki! You're... You're good at this witchcraft stuff or whatever it's called, I have this orb that is mean't to send away spirits, PLEASE! PLEASE USE IT!!" yelled the man. Mitsuki blinked vacantly and looked at the orb that he thrust into her hands. She had seen them before, often used as training wheels for newer exorcists who were in over their heads. Of course Akane had never allowed any of her students to use such devices. She smiled at the man, and placed the orb outside of the circle so that its own energies wouldn't interfere with her own.

"I thank you for this device" she said with a bowing of her head while still sitting down "However this particular orb is primarily useful against lesser spirits. A lord of the forest, what we are dealing with presently, will not be affected in the slightest by this orb. Keep it for now, for in the future, its use may be needed." She closed her eyes once more not bothering to question where this man, who was clearly not an exorcist, had acquired such a device. She was beginning to paint a picture of this man and it was becoming more and more apparent that he was a thief. She solely hoped that he was a reformed thief, or violence will surely break out in their travels. Her mind drifted away from the noise and the clamour around them as she reached a state of higher thinking, a state that drew her closer to the One True God and all the spirits of the land.

Her mouth opened and she carefully and slowly spoke the first verse of the sutra...

Greeted by a rude awakening, Ryouichi quickly got up only to notice the situation at hand among the caravan. Glowing eyes slowly approaching the group from an eerie mist, few people panicking, and two other preparing some sort of ritual. Waking up abruptly is nothing new to Ryouichi from his experiences. He quickly grabbed his equipment and prepared for what may come. Ryouichi headed towards Shu and Isamu who seemed to be grouping up. With no time to waste, Ryouichi got in a battle stance, readying up for what may happen. He noticed Shu was acting drowsy.

"Hey, don't drop on me now!", Ryouichi shouted, tapping him on the side with the but of his Naginata.

Sourou was wise in his decision to hang back and observe the caravan. Not only did some of the more colorful tagalongs seem untrustworthy, but they appeared to be guarding something of great importance, and the bounty hunter wasn't sure if he wanted to get involved should anything happen. That being said, there was no way a lone man would be getting to the great eastern mountain range, so there wasn't really any other option but to follow them.

He gave a frustrated sigh as he drifted off to sleep, but was awakened a few minutes later by the sound of a voice that came from nowhere and made chills run down his spine.
"Ah hah...I have found you...you...interlopers..." It said with the slicing cold shrillness of sharp nails dragging against steel.

"Who... Who's there?!" Sourou shouted into the night.

The sight that greated the pair as they exited the tent stopped Isamu in his tracks. The camp was surrounded by blue mist, the sureal shrieking continued, and the drunk man from supper was running around every which way, much like a frightened hare. Thankfully, it looked as if other members of the caravan were responding to the situation more tactfully. The caravan head was busy waking the others, and the other two women - Isamu could not recall their names at the moment - seemed to be dealing with the spiritual nature of the threat. He had only half-heard Shu when the later suggested that they wake the others. It wasn’t until the warrior Ryouchi ran up to them that the younger man was snapped out of his daze. Ever the perfect image of a samurai, Ryouchi jumped into a battle-ready stance, prodding Shu with the but of his naginata.

Isamu, however, noticed that something was amiss. The medecine man faltered, and the young man dove in front of him, catching their drowsy companion and lifting him back up on his shoulder. If the menace that surrounded their camp was a spirit that could sap the very life out of their veins from where they stood, then everyone was in trouble. Starring warrily at the encroaching pairs of eyes, Isamu tried to keep the most respectful tone appropriate for the situation and addressed his elder: “Sir, I’ll help Shu. Might I suggest you go ask the caravan master what exactly it is that we’re up against?”

After Nari put the orb back into his satchel, he pulled out his knife, and coated it with embers, and took a torch.
Fire hurts all things, right?
He crawled his way to a group of rocks that were slightly elevated. He climbed up, silent as a cat. With his embers on the knife, he only needed some extra fire to light his knife up. His knife was also silver.
Silver hurts ghosts, right?
Fire? Silver? I'm all set!

He whispered to his fellow caravanner's, "Psst, Psssssst, hey, if this ghost has an actual form, one that which can be hit by a flaming silver knife." Nari waved his knife to show what he was talking about, "Keep it busy so I may jump and stab this spirit!"

Sometimes, being drunk is the best option for courage...


But sometimes, having courage isn't a good thing at all...



EDIT: ooc: Might I add, he is still drunk, so he doesn't know what he is talking about, that's why he thinks a silver knife with fire can kill this thing.