Heavenfall

Miuna and Aono visited the area near the storage wagon, hoping for a quick bite to eat. They grabbed some leftovers and headed to a table.

Miuna simply stared at her plate, pushing the food around. She had skipped both breakfast as well as lunch, and still didn't have much of an appetite.

"Please eat," Aono said softly. "You need your strength for traveling. I'm not carrying you if you faint, even if you are still small enough to do so." She teased her sister, though she was starting to become concerned.

"Fine," Miuna signed. She took up a spoonful and made a show of eating it rather slowly. If it would ease her sister's worries then she would acquiesce. She thought of Hanzou, and wondered if he would come find her as he had said.

He had followed them, being delayed only briefly. Pausing to get some dinner for himself, he soon sat down with them.

"Hello, Miuna. I'm I'm very happy to see you."

It was a bit rough, but he'd managed to get most of it right.

Miuna watched him as he entered and came near. She smiled at him as he signed. He had gotten most of what he said correct. She replied, "Hello, Hanzou. I am very happy to see you, too." She picked up another spoonful and brought it to her lips.

Aono said, "Well met, Hanzou-san. How was your day?" Mostly she asked for Miuna's benefit. She had noticed the boy was rather quiet unless addressed directly. While her sister was distracted, she shoveled a bit of food from her plate onto hers.

"It is nice to see you as well, skircht Aono." he smiled at the other woman. "My day was good. I went cheest into the nezumi tunnels. I hoped to trade for a few risch things."

"I'm sorry I didn't find you chrit sooner, Miuna. I hadn't heard about jeeest what happened." he looked her over. "Are you alright?"

She nodded sagely, eating another spoonful absentmindedly. "It was very scary. A woman pulled me from the water so I would not drown. I owe my life to her."

Aono reiterated, "A young woman called Phi saved her. There were no casualties that night, thankfully. Miuna is slowly returning to herself. Even now, she eats more than I've seen in almost two days. Though, if I am honest, I'd say it's more likely due to your presence." She smiled at the boy. She cupped a hand over her mouth, preventing Miuna from seeing her say, "My sister is quite taken with you it seems." She winked at him.

"Hay!" Miuna practically shouted. "No fair! Don't keep secrets, Aono. It's not nice." She did her best to look offended, though she wasn't even angry, and Aono had the decency to look sheepish. Then they both giggled. Miuna scooped another bite into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. How nice it is to eat dinner with two of my favorite people, she mused. She glanced across the table at Hanzou. She smiled at him and lightly bumped his leg with hers beneath the table.

"I've met Phi." he nodded. "She spoke with Shinjo about the incident today, ssnetss requesting more people watch over the camp at night. She wants to prevent anything like skish it from happening again."

Aono nodded, expression growing serious. "Yes, she said she would speak with her. I am glad they are taking extra precautions. I can imagine that things will only get worse as we near Jigoku. It is better for us to be prepared going forward."

Miuna, for her part, simply shrugged and continued eating. After her conversation with Phi that morning, she was less concerned with dying and more intent on being of assistance to Shinjo. If she could prevent the death of others, even at the cost of her own life, and bring Fu Leng home, then it would be worth it. Being of service to others the whole of her life, this should really be no different. She was simply under prepared that time around. Now, whatever came next, she would meet it with open eyes. That's what she kept telling herself, at least.

He'd seen what it's corruption could do, but it didn't seem necessary to burden them with that.

"The nezumi have an interesting sniksss city." he smiled. "Tunnels that go all over and a large scree market for trade."

"Huge," Miuna agreed.

Aono nodded. "We were able to see some of the city earlier in the day. It's impressive, despite the damage it has sustained. The tunnels are a welcome respite from the humidity and heat. Did you find anything interesting when you visited the market?"

"I was hoping to find some dried fruit or some seeees jade." he e plained. "Jade wasn't available. I couldn't find tsitk candles, either."

Miuna nearly choked on her current spoonful, reading his lips, at the mention of candles. She recovered swiftly, but not before causing Aono to give her a sideways glance.

Aono was trying not to wince at the occasional screeches that emitted from the boy. She did her best to ignore it, even though she was quite curious. Not curious enough to ask, mind you, as that would be rude. Instead, she said, "I am sorry you were not able to find what you sought. The Nezumi certainly have peculiar wares and customs. Very interesting."

He nodded in agreement. "I found kirrr Dhinjo to be interesting, too. She answered a few skeent questions I had."

Miuna perked up at that. "You met her? What was she like?" She had seen Shinjo a few times, but never close enough to actually speak to her. She knew Jin was close with her, maybe she would ask him to introduce them.

"Very kind." he answered. "She listened to us, answered our questions and eeeersh addressed our concerns. I wanted to ask more about what traditions the snistk Shinjo may have, but I didn't want to ask too much of her time."

"That was considerate." Miuna signed.

Aono said, "I'm sure she would be happy to share the knowledge. Anything to sate one's curiosity. I'm glad to hear you had a pleasant experience." She thought about the woman that had challenged Shinjo and lived to tell about it. An example of an unpleasant experience.

"I wanted to know about screee Shinjo and her followers, but I'd like to know about you and your sister more." he said before taking a bite of his dinner.

"What would you like to know?"
"What would you like to know?"
One sister spoke and the other signed, in perfect time with one another.

"Anything you'd be willing to tell vreee me, about your home, your interests, your fears, your hopes. " he suggested. "In time, I'll learn more and have better questions, especially as my skiis signing improves.'