Heavenfall

"You're right Mizuki-chan. Stealing is not proper. Well, at least you recognize it. That's a very good sign. Now, come here. Hiding is not a good thing either. Let us get a good look at you and see what else you might need. There's no shame in making things right, if you want to."

Kinsen motherly instincts kick in, and she waves for the little cute girl to come out.

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Etiquette/Awareness + Benten: 4d10o10k3 31

Kinsen's words seem to soothe much of the little child's fears as she exits the wagon. The girl is small and on the thing side for a child her age but not quite malnourished. She is strangely not very dirty for a child hidden in a supply wagon for days her simple clothes have some stains on them but are less tattered than one might expect.

""My..my tribe got attacked by some monsters a while ago and I got separated from them and then lost in the woods. I ended up in that place full of those giant scary rats! I saw you all come into town and i wanted to get out of there but i didn't know if you were good or bad people so i hid. i hoped you might go by more people and maybe i..i could find someone i knew." the girl told her tale mostly calm but seemed a little upset by her ordeal and her eyes looked wet as if to fill with tears.

"Well, we are going somewhere very dangerous, but we'll protect you." After a moment... of course, it had to be a little Ninube. She pulls out one of her fingers of jade. "Here. Take this. It will protect you."

Nanzi approached shaking his head at Crowfest 0005, he would give it 1 stars on Yelp if such a thing existed.

"What's on the menu?" he said to those gathered.

"Good morning, everyone. Nanzi-sama, this is Mizuki-chan." She beams up as the little girl comes out. Kinsen pats the child's head and looks at Ninube with a nod, noticing she would take care of entertaining the small girl while she prepared something out to eat.

Not really having planned to cook this morning, Kinsen tries something completely new with the things she had a hand. Surprise flavor vegetable noodles.

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Craft: Cooking/Void + VP for skill TN 15?: 4d10o10k3 20

Nanzi smirked and said, "Did someone grow a potato and it sprouted into a child?"

Miuna and Aono arrived for a late breakfast after their morning swim. Dried and dressed in fresh clothes, they headed to the eating area. Spotting the little girl, Miuna went right up to her, beaming the biggest smile, crouching down in front of her. Aono looked to Kinsen cooking and then the others. "Where did this little one come from? Surely I would have noticed a face this cute before," she said with a chuckle.

Nanzi said aloud and with narrowed eyes, "No... someone tell me where this child... thing came from?"

"Oh!" Kinsen says, still waiting for the food to cook up while stirring. "She was inside into the wagon since... the ratling's city, if I remember correctly. Nobody saw her, though."

"Isn't that right, Mizuko-chan?" Kinsen smiles back at the small girl.

"You mean around the time that Jiyo-san and the others killed that face stealing creature?" he said not smiling.

Miuna did not like Nanzi's body language or his words. She hovered protectively near the young girl.

Aono paled slightly. "Nanzi-sama, surely you're not suggesting..."
The thought that one of those things would take a child turned her stomach. The creatures had all been dispatched though, hadn't they?

“I do not wish to think about it but the swamp we passed through, it did not exist until we were there, it was not on any map and yet there it was. Then we had those creatures… and now some little girl just happened to be stowed away for days and no one noticed. It either says our guards, including myself are shit, or this situation is more than it seems. Even so, we are not here to babysit children, we are going into hell,” he said honestly.

“This is a place that plays on our fears, our wants, and our weaknesses.”

Kinsen swallows dry looking to Nanzi with some serious frown. She had been thinking on having a daughter for quite a while. Was that really something related?

The Stag wife remains frozen for a moment, knowing all but nothing about the swamp of face-swapping hags. She had seen the tentacle-dog, though. It was enough to make her, at least, worried.

"Well, wouldn't it be simple to find out. Doesn't jade hurt them?" She hands her one of her jade fingers to the girl and waits for a reaction.

"One can hope, we know very little about this enemy," he said grimly.

Aono nodded, brows knit with concern. She understood where Nanzi was coming from, but this was a child. Helpless and dependent. "I understand your concerns, Nanzi-sama. Surely we cannot take her into Jigoku, but neither can we simply leave her here to fend for herself. Is there nowhere we can take her?"

Miuna stood, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Seeing the pain and uncertainty in Kinen's eyes broke her heart. She signed, "I think we should ask the Kami what can be done. They will know what to do." Aono relayed the idea to the group, waiting to see what they thought.

(I have an EA open and can bring her to the Kami if that's an option)

"If nothing else, perhaps they can detect the truth better than us - after all, they're gods, are they not?"

Ryoko didn't sound as skeptical as she once had, though there was still a certain tinge of doubt.

"I do not wish us to do anything we regret... even though I understand your caution, wise... Nanzi, was it?"

Mizuki had been looking at the jade when Nanzi approached and as they talked Mizuki exhibited more and more fear. Everyone had been so nice and kind until he showed up, her eyes glued to the dark skinned man and she retreated behind Ninube clutching the woman's leg as she placed Ninube between Nanzi and herself and peered from behind the leg fearfully.

"They have keen insight but they are mortal, and they know as much about Jigoku as we do. We must not lean on them to decide for us in all things; the Kami value those who can act on their own," he said with experience on the subject.

"See to her if you wish but do not let sentiment cloud your judgment if this turns to the worse. That is what the darkness wants, to catch you off guard."

He looked at the girl and said, "I want to believe and see only a scared child but if we are wrong, we could jeopardize the whole mission."

"You are right." She didn't like it, but he was. "The quickest way is to bring her into contact with the stone, is it not?" She could not understand why they had not done that yet. "Would that be sufficient enough proof for you, Nanzi-sama?"

Miuna, standing nearest to the girl, aside from Ninube, produced her own finger of Jade from her robes. Gingerly, she held it out to the young girl.

Aono spoke softly, trying not to frighten the young girl any further. "Mizuki, would you mind? I know everything is quite scary right now. We wish only to help you, but we must also protect ourselves as well. Please?" She smiled at the girl, and Miuna crouched down again for the girl to reach her more easily.