[D7 LN] Ox Hour Samba (Closed)

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora glanced at Phi and Koyama.

"The other two. But quietly."

[Nozomi]

Phi was keeping her cool after a second when it finished coughing up blood and turned, stepping away from the creature and clutching herself, unstringing her bow in a methodical way and putting it back on her back. She was in control, but it was very obvious that the first sight of a bog hag had rattled her more than her usual stoic demeanor permitted.

They have a face. They have a face. They have a face. Get a grip on yourself, Phi. They have a face. they took our skins and wore them. They have a face. They have a face.... get a grip. It's not...

Breathe. Breathe. She steadied herself and put the jade back into her clothes, turning to look over her shoulder. "We know who they are. Yes, the other two, tonight. We bring their filthy bodies for proof." she said in a cold, dead tone. "I have an answer for your wife, as to why the guard did not report back properly in the dead of night in the swamp. It is worse than I feared, but we will make an end of this tonight, and we will make dead certain that we keep this place secure from here on out. Burn the supplies that we need to, check them all."

A shake of her head. She was not going to vomit in front of them. She was not a child. "Would... one of you help the girl, please?"

(OOC: Demuring on the Servant award. She wouldn't request that, and given her backstory I think it's better with one of the two higher status characters. ^.~)

[Jiyo Sora]

[Sora would conditionally accept a follower, but since everyone here is Hikaru in upbringing, I see her ending up with pretty undefined duties]

[Bakuriel]

[Sora would conditionally accept a follower, but since everyone here is Hikaru in upbringing, I see her ending up with pretty undefined duties]

[If Koyama declines then you just end up with a pretty gofer. Hags always prefer to take beautiful women]

[Shinjo Koyama]

Koyama was largely unperturbed by the monstrosities. Sure, they were vile, parasitic and disgusting and sort of alien, but he had crossed certain mental boundary as far as transhuman taboos were concerned a while ago... realising that he was a dragon and his wife was a flaming horse. What concerned him were the practicalities of infiltration, and the need to remove the threat to Shinjo and her endeavour. Once the haze of the situation receded and he had a moment to digest the answers the bog hag had given, he looked at the one he had decapitated to see if the face was familiar.

""Ye ken Sora, wance this lassie wakes up, ah think ye'r best-suited tae bein' her saviour." He chuckled, then looked at Phi. ""I say we burn thae corpses. Oor word is proof enough, 'n' we dinnae ken whither th' disease insae something thay spill themselves."

He judiciously cleaned the hatchet and the spear head on the surrounding grass. ""I kin remove th' ither twa, bit oan th' disease Jin haes tae be alerted."

[Jiyo Sora]

"We should leave one unburnt until we can ask the Nezumi if they know anything about creatures like this. Maybe get Shinsei. And for the love of fuck, kill the other two before alerting anyone else. I get the feeling these things can be damned hard to track down if they give you the slip. Once you've dealt with them... might as well tell everyone we can. They mentioned Reiko by name. That means she's a threat to whatever Jigoku is doing. That means we keep her safe."

He wrenched his dagger-axe out of the monstrosity's back and likewise wiped it down.

"I marked the wagon they hit tonight, so whatever they did should still be... fresh."

He hunkered down beside the woman, trying to place her name.

[Nozomi]

"You can, Koyama, but let's not take chances. Two at a time on each. Quiet. Thorough. Either way, they will not see the sun." That much she was certain of. these creatures relied on their ability to remain hidden, not their individual, personal power. They were all very lucky this had been caught when it had. Hell, she thought back to the swamp and Miuna nearly drowning in the waters and shuddered. They might have personally known those faces, had they not been more careful that night.

A breath, a second breath and she started to calm, visibly returning to her old self. The quip that came out of her wasn't as heart felt as usual, but she still managed it with a wry grin. "Agreeing with Koyama. I can think of worse faces for that girl to wake up to than your ugly mug, Sora." It was a wooden tease, but she needed it. After a second, she nodded and her hands were on her tonfa. "Alright. Enough gawking. We've got the girl.... let's make sure she's alright and get to it. Can't take a chance of a single one of these getting away. The bodies can be burned now instead of later, but your wife will trust your word if it comes down to it. If we keep one... we keep it away from the camp. Burn it in daylight."

She took the jade out to gently check the girl's skin with it and then nodded to the others. "Glad was with you two. Least I know you know your shit. Once a Hikaru, always a Hikaru."

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora just nodded at Phi's closing words.

There was something to be said for knowing that neither person with him would object to the stealth and brutality that had carried the day.

He pointed to the one that had burst from its stolen skin.

"Once I've made sure this woman's not going to scream her damn head off, I'll drag that one off with my dagger-axe. Should let me keep my distance, and it'll give us something to show the Nezumi, and Shinsei, and... Reiko."

He frowned.

"We'll need to check all of the supplies, not just the wagon they were dicking with tonight."

[Shinjo Koyama]

"'Twas hackit. Bit 'twas good." Koyama commented, expressing his feelings on the Hikaru reunion through raiding. "Pure, wance a Hikaru ever a Hikaru."

On the suggestions what to do with the bodies. ""Dae whit ye need tae dae. Juist dinnae git infected wi' thair shit."

On Reiko, he didn't have advanced thoughts. But something occurred to him. "Theire seems tae be a wull whilk wants tae subvert oor mission." He frowned. "It kin be preying oan oor weakest links. If this a' wis juist aboot stealing bodies, thay widnae be spoiling th' food."

[Nozomi]

She swallowed and looked at the two of them, nodding when Sora offered to begin that grisly work. "I do not understand it, other than that it is, but it is Jigoku, this realm of evil the..." Don't call her the half-blind hag just because some of the folks back home did. "Reiko told me about before. I've spoken with Shinsei. And with the one called Saruko. They're all sure that the 'place' we're going to is alive, has a will, that things like ... these things serve it. It's holding her husband. We know this because of her. We're going because she begged and the kami listened."

"Jigoku knows she is coming, and she should be aware, if she is not already. I will speak to her bodyguard personally in the coming days."

[Jiyo Sora]

"I would suggest speaking to her the very second you've cleaned up the current infestation. Tonight. We can all sleep in a little tomorrow if we're in this city- the Nezumi have been fighting this mess a lot longer than we have."

[Shinjo Koyama]

"Soonds lik' a lot tae cleave thro' ahead o' us. Guid we've juist hud some practice." Koyama quipped despite his uncertainties. "Let's dae whit we mist 'n' nae tarry here. Then ye kin dae a' th' speaking."

[Nozomi]

"Agreed. Let's do this," she said, nodding once and getting her tonfa out. Nodding to Koyama, she started down the paths. They had miles to go before they slept, and promises to keep. they'd get to Reiko in the morning.

/exit or scene?

[Jiyo Sora]

[/Given the water under the bridge since, I'm gonna say /scene, barring a GM having other ideas]

[Shinjo Koyama]

/Scene; sorry for not being able to keep up with the thread before day change; RL has put hard limits on how much posting I can do within one IC day.

[Nozomi]

(hakuna matata. We got the rolls out of the way within day, and all's good in the end. great scene guys. Go team Hikaru!)