> "Great, thanks. Back in a bit."
> Hurry back to following Iku wherever.
>Kasen nods, and you move to follow Iku, who sets off southward without waiting for you to catch up! Thankfully, she is not a very speedy flyer, and you manage to close the gap as she leaves town and angles toward the forest. The trip is a silent one, Iku doesn't say a word, though periodically she looks over and offers you a small smile. The bird in your hands continues to struggle, and it's a little amazing that it hasn't worn itself out yet, but you have no problem keeping a hold on it. You'd have to be in really awful shape for it to ever have a prayer of getting away from you like this. The plains are quiet and grassy as always, though you note some moles in a place where the grass is thin at one point. There are a few ghosts along the way, floating over the fields like dandelion seeds, not seeming to be doing anything
>Iku flies toward the house near the edge of the woods with the odd paintings on its walls. You expect her to stop there, but she does not slow down, and instead continues into the forest, following a path worn into the dirt. Soon, you reach a broad, somewhat shallow stream flowing between the trees. The area looks reasonably familiar, you think that you passed through it earlier today, though it is not where you heard the voice. Iku lands, and looks around. After a moment, she frowns and stoops down to pick up a pebble, which she tosses against a nearby tree.
>"I don't want to come out," says the voice that you head before.
>Iku frowns again, then gestures toward the struggling bird in your hands, and makes a come hither wave with her other hand in the general direction of the voice.
>After a moment, you see a ceramic noh mask, depicting an ugly oni, peek around one of the trees; being worn by a small woman with shock white hair.
>_
