[D5 EE] Never Lost Near a River (Open, Expecting)

[Nozomi]

Phi was doing a patrol along the river and at the same time collecting more water to be boiled and purified, added to the convoy's supplies. What little good this would do needed to be taken advantage of while she had the opportunity. The deeper they got into this, the less likely there would be fresh water or food to work with. So, at the moment, she had a vessel that she was filling to set on the rock nearby, keeping an eye out in the gloom of the haze and night, Lord Moon shining down over it all in his pale glow.

They weren't far from the camp, so getting back wouldn't be hard, but she wanted to be certain nobody got themselves into trouble or a late night drink or wash. Even with no bandits in sight, you could never be sure.

[Shoji Haka]

Haka was already at the stream, hunched over and filling a small clay jar with water. "No, not you," she says, reaching into the pot and pulling out a small fish. "That is very rude."

The fish gets tossed back into the river with a small splash.

[Nozomi]

The splash got her attention. Phi whirled, only to see... the blind girl. She had seen her from a distance, speaking about creepy things like ghosts with that man who spoke about himself loudly in the third person. It made her blink, not to see her when she had heard there were two blind shaman in the crew and Reiko herself, but because she was out here at the river, unattended. It just screamed 'security risk' in ways that she could not even begin to describe.

Yet, at the same time, maybe she could handle herself a little. They weren't in the depths of the marshes. There weren't ogres, whatever those actually looked like, and no bandits... So maybe she knew how to take care of herself. She wasn't Seidou like the other blind girl, so she'd obviously gotten here somehow, even if Phi didn't know if she was usually attended.

She drew closer to the girl, stepping with the wraith-like steps of someone who knew exactly how to move around the marshes quietly. She was curious. Was she really blind? She got up as close as she could get away with without Haka noticing and leaned forward to speak softly. "It's dangerous to be out here alone, you know." Said the solo scout.

[Shoji Haka]

Haka jumps a bit as Phi speaks. "It is dangerous to be anywhere," she points out, before leaning back down to fill up her jug. "This one could be luring you into a trap. She makes for good bait, she has been told."

[Nozomi]

She had a look around and grunted to herself. Well, it wasn't like the girl didn't have a point. Putting her gaze back on her, she moved just out of arm's reach and settled onto a rock, crouching there. "Would that be because people assume you're blind so you're defenseless and therefore foolish types will protect you?" she hazarded. "Or because people think you're cute? I'll admit that bait that does nothing more than wriggle helplessly on the line usually works better as bait."

... let it not be said that Phi was incapable of continuing a morbid conversation well beyond appropriate points. "Just how defenseless are you? Truly?" Another way to get at 'you realize we're going to the mouth of hell right?'

[Shoji Haka]

Haka laughs. "It would be a failure of the worm to let the hook be seen, would it not?"

She finishes filling the jar and stands up. "This one does not like to boast, but she could crush you between two rocks like a bug," she says, lifting her fingers and bringing them together to emphasize her point. "The spirits are very attentive to this one's requests."

[Nozomi]

She stayed squatted there, looking up at the blind woman. Her gaze was gauging where those milky white eyes tracked. How accurately was she following Phi's movements, with as quiet as the little sneak could be. It was her job to keep these fools on their errand safe, and she wanted to know the liabilities.

"I'm glad to hear that they did not bring you along as eye candy. I would be sorely disappointed in a few of them, had they done so," she rumbled out. "So, you are a shaman then, I take it? And hopefully you can tell the rocks to find me, even if you cannot? You may be called to use that trick. We've already fought bandits and this swamp... is not safe to wander, even when everywhere has danger. How do you not get lost?"

[Shoji Haka]

"The spirits can find you very easily," she confirms, not even turning toward Phi's voice as she starts following the river back toward the camp, jar in her hands. "This one can draw upon the Great Emptiness to see the souls in all things, from humans to animals to the tiniest of insects. In places like this, where there are many insects in the ground and on the trees, it makes navigation very easy."

She pauses, shifting the jar to one hand as she lifts her other arm to her mouth and bites down hard, drawing blood. Lips still red, she chants a brief prayer, then closes her eyes.

"The quiet one is twelve feet back, in that direction," she says, pointing directly at Phi. "See?" Her lips turned up in a faint smirk at her word choice.

[Nozomi]

That was... ok, Phi wasn't easily impressed. Seeing an absolutely blind woman bite herself and, in the next second point her out. If the sense was clear enough, stealth would be meaningless, though she wondered at the range of it. Probably not bow range. Rising to her feet, she walked slowly around, moving herself in front of Haka, leaning forward and looking at her closely. Even without the Void to help her, it would be hard to miss someone close enough that you could hear her breathing.

"I've never heard of a shaman able to do that. I stand corrected. You belong with the crazy strange camped things here," she growled. "I assume you know your life and soul are at risk being here, yes?" She couldn't help but assume that, but Reiko had told them to be more blunt, and she was a blunt person.

A pause. "Phi."

[Shoji Haka]

"It eventually got mentioned." Haka smirks, turning to face Phi as she moves. "But lives and souls are always in danger. Little has changed from further north on this one's estimation."

[Nozomi]

She narrowed her eyes, squinting at the woman. She did seem to think everything here was the same as out there, in a way, didn't she? What the hell kind of place had she lived in? Then again... her thoughts went back to earlier in the day and she grunted. It was a bit of a sour admission to make but...

"I suppose there is a small truth to that. But usually the poison trying to seep into your soul isn't quite so literal," she said. Her grunt followed. "I don't suppose your tricks told you to bring jade along with you? Most didn't know to do that." There wasn't a glimmer of pride there. she'd gotten lucky to learn the fragments she had before coming to this place, and she knew it. But she did wonder if the blind woman knew.

Of course, unknown to her... a strong affinity to the earth might not have been a substitute but it sure didn't suck in resisting Jigoku's call.

[Shoji Haka]

"This one has some jade," Haka says. "She suspects it is more likely that we will be ripped apart by a monster or devoured by ghosts, maybe. A slow, seeping death seems unlikely."

[Nozomi]

"Good." The jade part, not the ripped apart by monsters part. She didn't bother to clarify that, assuming that it was clear enough to begin with. Her head cocked some and she stepped to the side, taking an escort position. She didn't know how long the woman could do this, and she wasn't really inclined to check. As miraculous as it was, didn't shaman have limits to their power?

"You... have a dark sense of humor, even by my standards. Do you dream of being torn apart by monsters often?" she asked, not really disturbed, just ... surprised. "And what should I call you? I kind of remember overhearing you... a few days ago. Talking to that strange man who talks about himself very loudly in the third person everywhere he goes. You do not seem to use your name much." Or 'I' for that matter.

[Shoji Haka]

"Using names in the company of the named invites malicious spirits to haunt one. It is how this one ended up haunted." Haka hops over a rock as she heads back towards the camp.

"Has this one told a joke?" She thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "Perhaps it comes with living alongside a ghost. Or being blind. Who can say?"

[Nozomi]

"Then you may call 'this one' Phi. It is not my name. Only the name I took long ago. I don't actually remember the name my parents gave me," she said, shrugging. "But if you don't give me something to use when I speak to you, I will call you blind girl. Don't have any problem with you being paranoid about ghosts... just saying. Have to have something to say when I'm speaking to you."

...

"You did say you're haunted by a ghost, though? Where is it?" Her eyes narrowed, looking for a thing that could not be felt, could not be touched. She frowned. "And is that why you talk like that? Does it talk about that often?" Ok, seriously, Haka was starting to actually freak her out a little. Between some of her nightmares lately and the talk with Shinsei, that was not helping at all.

[Shoji Haka]

"Blind girl is fine," Haka says with a shrug. "And yes, the ghost is around here..."

Haka's voice trails off as she turns in a slow circle, then points to a space just to Phi's left. "Right there."

[Nozomi]

FUCK! She managed not to jump. She stepped a little to the other side and glared at what looked like absolutely nothing. Whatever it was, it wasn't hurting her, or this blind woman was fucking with her. She wasn't entirely sure which was more likely and that was a little irritating. This woman is doing that on purpose just because she seems to be able to see me in the dark without freaking seeing me. Are there even Void spirits? What the hell is a Void anyway?

She stared at the woman with narrowed eyes, right down to a squint, but all she was seeing was a blind girl who looked perfectly calm. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" She was not going to punch a blind woman, especially if that woman could just bite her hand and make rocks fall on her. But oh, she was a little tempted to punch a blind girl right now.

[Shoji Haka]

"Enjoying it?" Haka tilts her head a bit to one side. "Phi asked about the ghost and this one pointed it out. Do not worry, though, it is harmless."

There's a pause. "Well, not harmless, but it will not harm you while it is full."

Another pause as Haka frowns. "Though actually, this one has not fed it in a few days, so yes, maybe just... move a bit further away from it. Just in case?"

[Nozomi]

She was definitely doing this on purpose. Breathe in. Breathe out. Phi stilled her mind a little and got her mind back 'in the game' after a second, choosing to keep on the other side of Haka from where she thought this gaki was supposed to be. It wasn't attacking, so that was... a good thing? "And what, pray tell, do you feed a ghost that follows you around like a hungry, angry puppy dog?" she asked, staring in its direction and squinting again.

"And yes. Enjoying it. You are a little spooky, a little weird. I'm here, in a camp with horned people, led by rat people and gods to the gates of hell and now I am talking to a blind girl who can see. You are enjoying teasing me a little, aren't you?"

[Shoji Haka]

"Blood. Lots and lots of blood."

Haka shrugs. "This one is not teasing. The ghost might rip out someone's insides through their mouth if it is not kept fed. This one usually remembers to do so, but the marching must have distracted her."

She resumes her walk back towards camp. "If Phi does not wish for this one to speak of the ghost, she will be quiet. That will not make it go away, however."