---Sourfang
The girl and her faithful dog dash after the feathered fiend as it flies off through the streets. It flies high enough for the dog not to be able to grab it, but low enough so that Kohaku couldn?t launch a chain at its small body without hitting someone that was uninvolved. Fortunately for the girl, the crowd had begun to thin, and the crow wasn?t flying fast enough to lose them. As a matter of a fact, the crow seemed to be flying very steadily, so much so that it seemed mechanical. However, Kohaku was too worried about the ocarina to care, or even think about such things.
As the crow comes to the end of the street, Kohaku can see a large gate in the distance. At first she doesn?t think of it, but as she approaches, she realizes where it leads.
It?s the gate that leads out of the village.
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---GuyYouMetOnline
Despite Laresa?s negotiations, there was only silence. Nothing appeared before her, nor did anything sneak up on her from behind. If anyone had seen her shouting, they might have thought she had lost her mind. Would they be correct? Well, only time could reveal that.
---
Back at the center of the village, people had begun to spread out, leaving the crowd and going about their days as if nothing had happened at all. With the nagging gone, the villagers regained their free will and began to head to wherever they needed to go.
Just then, the mist began to retreat from the village, sneaking away as silently as it had come in.
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---Marou
The girl smiles and laughs a faint and weak laugh.
?I didn?t really expect to be here either? She says. ?Though after no one showed up, I was a little worried? not to mention something was urging me to close up the Dojo? She says, furrowing her brow slightly, puzzled by the urge she had that had now vanished without leaving a trail. After a few seconds of pondering, she shakes her thoughts away and brings her attention back onto the woman standing in front of her.
?Ah I?ve been fine. The Dojo is the same as you remember it, except people have come and gone just like yourself? the girl says with a faint smile.
As Sanaya asks her next question, the girl smiles and waves her hand in a gesture.
?No no, I just don?t like to bring it with me during errands. Carrying a sword at your side is rather intimidating don?t you think? Not to mention there?s a lot of thieves around these days?? The girl says.
With the next question, she gazed out over the crowd.
?Nah, I have no clue. And even if I did, all I have is this? She says, gesturing to her sheath. She seems to show hints of regret and envy, but they are soon overpowered by kindness. She smiles warmly as she turns back to Sanaya
?After all, I?m not lik-?
Just then a commotion starts a short distance away from the two girls. Instinctively they both look in the direction of the ruckus.
There they see two guys wielding swords and one apparently unarmed woman. In front of the trio stands a small girl.
As the girl hears their shouts, her eyes sharpen and her expression becomes dead serious. She places a hand on her sheath, pulling it out slightly. As she does so, Sanaya notices a handle on the sheath.
As two of the three draw their weapons towards the small red one, the girl begins to slink away from Sanaya. Before disappearing into the crowd she whispers to Sanaya.
?Don?t worry?I?ve got this one? She says with the faintest of grins.
With that she vanishes into the crowd, no one else but Sanaya knowing where she had gone.
As the red haired girl mocks the two before her, standing with their swords drawn, she fixates her gaze on the woman?s bag.
And in one smooth sprint, she launches herself towards the group, slipping past the guys before they could strike her down. She heads straight for the woman, slamming into her and forcing the bag out of her grasp.
The red haired grins smugly as she continues her dash into the crowd. As she slips through the first wave of people, she comes to a small clearing. Without paying it any mind, she steps out of the first wave of people and into the clearing.
!
Before the red haired can react, a brown haired girl leaps out into her path.
The girl spares no time. With her sheath in hand, she swings.
In one swift movement, the sheath slams into the red haired girl?s side, knocking her light body to the ground with ease.
The small girl hits the ground with a heavy thud, landing on her right side. The bag slides away from her, lying on the dusty ground a short distance away from her.
Villagers back away, fearing the tussle could cost them a few bruises. This clears the path for the woman to grab her bag.
The brown haired girl looks down at the thief, her eyes sharp and cold. Her expression is stern and unrelenting. She holds the sheath tightly in her right hand, ready to attack if the girl should retaliate.
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---Hanzo
As you parade your way into the village, you soon come to a large group of people gathered in the village center. You can see two people with swords drawn, and another standing before a downed girl. People keep their distance from the four, as if scared to stand close to them.
It seems like you?ve missed all the fun.
---------
With the influence of the mist no longer present, people begin to leave, returning to their business. Within a few minutes, the once dense crowd becomes no more than a sparse spread of people.
Now that the crowd has, for the most part, cleared, it is now possible to travel past them to your destinations.
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---Dorakyura and Kat
Suwako leaps up from the ground, bugged by the girl?s seeming lack of sense towards the possessions of others.
The goddess ignores the girl?s blunt comments, not paying them any mind.
As Amaya comes around the corner, Suwako glances at her, soon returning her attention back to the hat thief.
As the girl takes her attention off of Suwako, the goddess takes her chance and quietly dashes towards the girl.
Before the girl can turn to meet her, Suwako stops a short distance before her and leaps into the air. She does a half spin, ending upside down as she passes over the girl?s head. She reaches out, taking her hat off the stranger?s head and placing it on her own as she begins to descend to the ground.
Suwako spins the rest of the way around, landing on her feet as she hits the ground. She lands in a frog like position. After a moment she stands and dusts herself off. She lifts her hat off her head and shakes it a bit before dusting it off aswell.
?There? Suwako mutters to herself as she places her hat atop her head and adjusts it. As she finishes, she turns towards the so called visitor.
?I?m Suwako Moriya, the real god of this shrine? She says with a smile.
Upon hearing the girl had never been to a shrine before, Suwako speaks up.
?You?ve never been to a shrine!? Then you need to start praying right away! Don?t worry, we Japanese gods accept all kinds of followers! There?s over eight million of us after all, so we can?t really do any refusing?? Suwako finishes with a weak laugh.
Amaya introduces herself next. As she explains what one does at a shrine, Suwako nods energetically in agreement.
?Amaya makes good tea too! Though she?s still in training? Suwako says as she moves about.
?So we introduced ourselves? Suwako says, slowing down as she looks towards the girl with a smile. ?Now it?s your turn!?
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---Sourfang
Kohaku and her faithful mutt chase the crow relentlessly down the overgrown forest path, never giving up. Kohaku was determined to get that ocarina back, whether she had to take the crow down or not.
The crow kept a constant speed and height from the ground, making sure to be far enough off the ground so that Hyozan couldn?t leap into the air and snap onto the bird, and far enough ahead so that the pair wouldn?t lose sight of the feathery fiend.
As the chase dragged on, Kohaku began to notice something unusual about the bird, but before she could think deeper of it, a large staircase came into sight in the distance, and the crow was heading right for it.
As the bird approached the stair case, it swooped lower, giving Hyozan enough of a chance to snap at the bird. However the bird immediately began to rise up the stairs, flying up them with ease.
As it reached the top, it seemed to stop, as if glancing at its pursuers, before it dove off, heading to where the stairs lead.
At the top of the stairs, Kohaku could see a large red gate standing proudly. It was a gate she had never seen before, at least not one of that size and majesty.
As the crow flew on, it began to slow, eventually stopping and resting on a large box that stood on a veranda that was raised off the ground.
Like a crow would, it fidgeted slightly, looking about quickly. Eventually it began to nudge the ocarina with its small beak, attempting to shift its position. It slowly nudged it ever closer to the edge of the box, as if it was trying to drop it inside.
As it did so, it silently glanced towards the stairs, as if it was waiting for the girl to come after it.
