It wasn't overly late when Makoto returned to the bar with the twins and returned them to their parents. This was, however, now the second time he had brought rescued children to a bar, and the parents had been perfectly all right with it.
Well, whatever.
He was looking forward to just sitting down and having a drink, when he noticed there was a bit of a commotion in the corner. As he got a bit nearer, he realized it was mostly made up of waitresses, and out of the corner of his eye he noted Emiko's attention kept shifting that way too.
Suppose I might as well.
He reached the group and cleared his throat to get their attention. The group of waitresses, clustered around one rather elegant white-haired woman with a twisted braid hanging down her back, turned to him.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked.
The waitresses parted, which seemed to give the woman the indication it was all right to talk to him. He didn't recognize her as a regular, but they were certainly treating her with deference and a bit of awe.
"I take it you are a shinobi of some manner?" she asked, and when he inclined his head, she nodded in return. "Very well. Then I shall entrust you with this mission, since the people here seem to trust you."
Her bearing and crisp way of speaking almost made him want to act deferential, and he was a nobleman. Just who was this? But the woman did not introduce herself, in a way that seemed deliberate.
"It is like this," she said, clearly set to begin a tale. "I came into possession some time ago of a supposed relic of my family's, handed down from one of our ancestors, who assisted a hero in recovering it from a rather unpleasant man. However, much to my surprise, when I examined the trinket, it was a fake! At some point, it had been swapped out for one of the several duplicates that have been made over the centuries. I have reason to believe there are five copies of this statue in the world, and only one of them is in any way genuine."
He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask her to go on. She gave him a wry look and took a sip of her drink--soda water, by the looks of it--before continuing.
"I decided to take the fake in hand and use it to search out the real one. Neither I nor anyone I have hired has managed to locate the real thing, though I have found two more of the imitations." Her neutral expression abruptly shifted to a slight frown. "However, shortly after I entered this country, I was accosted and robbed! It seemed that the bandits who came after me had heard I had one of the statues, although they did not realize it was not the true version. Although it is not worth much, I would like to have it back so I may continue my search for the genuine article."
Makoto nodded slowly. He was not much fond of bandits, so a mission like this was no real trouble.
"I'd be happy to," he said. "Might I know what it looks like, and where you were attacked?"
The waitresses seemed to relax at that. As if he'd ever turned down a request for help! Maybe they thought he would be intimidated by the woman? (Come to think of it, did any of his acquaintances in Wind Country know he was a sort of noble? Hm.)
"Certainly," she replied, after another sip of soda water. "I was coming in from the northeast, from the direction of my homeland. The statue itself is not overly large, perhaps two feet high. It is pure black, in the shape of a raven. The original is known as the Black Bird, or the Black Falcon. I am told that it would be a prize treasure for any thief--the real one, at least."
It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place exactly how. Still, it was a bird--it was probably fate or something that made him be the one available to handle this quest. "All right. Are you staying here, so I know where to return it to you?"
"I am, thank you," she said. "Thank you for your willingness to assist."
She hadn't asked his name either. Perhaps she thought him a shady mercenary. Oh well. He didn't need to exchange pleasantries.
There were a lot of bandits running around the deserts of Wind Country. One would think there wouldn't be, since there was a large amount of flat open space, and one would be entirely wrong. There were indeed a lot of hiding places and cubbyholes for them to store their loot in. Some probably even had the audacity to live in one of the cities, although probably none in Sand itself.
The trick was finding the right set of bandits, and that meant hitting the ones probably nearest the northeastern border.
There were mountains in places around Wind Country, and he had never been sure if they were actually in Wind Country of if starting to climb them meant you were in one of the neighboring countries now. It was hard to tell; he didn't exactly carry a map on him. Still, he was tracking, not drafting a map, so it didn't much matter for his purposes.
He did hope he was tracking the right bandits, but these were the only ones he'd found a trail for in his skimming of the northeast. So, presuming that woman had her cardinal directions right, these had to be them.
They were holed up in a cave when he found them, and he kept himself out of sight and sent a discreet crystal eye in to scan the area to get an idea of their capabilities. Fortunately, they were seated around a crude wooden table playing some variant of poker, at which two of the six were cheating successfully and the rest extremely unsuccessfully. He snorted quietly to himself.
A scan around the area proved no one else was in sight, and he wasn't detecting any watchmen either. Normally he would summon Hitomi and send her out, but this mission required quiet and discretion, since he didn't exactly feel like confronting probably more than the visible bandits. Neither of those were things she was capable of. So, he'd have to do this entirely on his own, without any feathered assistance of any kind, when he was retrieving...a bird.
How funny.
The statuette had been taken previously, so it was possible it was--aha! Yes, the eye had spotted it there, sitting with some jewelry and a couple of bags of money. A point to these bandits in that they at least seemed interested only in stealing non-living things. So he would only steal them back. And, for that matter, only the statue--if the woman had lost any money or anything else she had been concerned over, she would have mentioned it.
So just the bird.
He mentally made a map of the cave and dispelled the eye. Sneaking in bodily himself didn't seem like a grand idea; the bandits were in the way even if they were preoccupied. He wasn't that thin. He would have to send a creation or construct or-
Oh.
Right.
He was a ninja.
How silly to forget.
He flicked his hand absentmindedly through a series of seals, and dropped underground. After that, it was only a matter of remembering where in the cave the bird was, grabbing it without fully surfacing, and retreating. The jutsu wouldn't even leave permanent marks on rock, nor did it make much sound (or it would be useless at its intended purpose of stealth), so he was out and away back in the desert in a matter of minutes, a black bird statue tucked under his arm.
It was...lighter, than he'd expect a statue of this kind to be. Proof it was a fake, he supposed.
He was back at Soon's Haven and the Birdhouse bar not long after, since he no longer had to go slowly while tracking, and was escorted to the woman's room upstairs by one of the maids of the semi-hotel above it. To the same room he'd spent a night or two in before, in fact. When he knocked, she simply said, "Come," so he pushed the door open and wordlessly presented the statue.
"What is the original made of, I might ask?" he added, after she verified it was indeed the one she'd entered the country with. "Obsidian, onyx?"
"I'm not quite sure," she admitted. "I'm told the original is quite heavy for its size. It's possible it was made of ebony, even--supposedly it was wooden, although I find myself skeptical of that. Still, this is the one I was given back home, there can be no doubt. Thank you."
"You're quite welcome," he said, and sketched a light bow. She gave a light smile.
"I don't suppose many Sand nin are trained such as you, from what I have heard," she murmured.
"I am not from Sand," he said, deciding not to say anything there. It was true it didn't seem like they rested much on formalities. "Actually, I'm from Moon Country."
Her snow white eyebrow went up, and she seemed to relax infinitesimally. "My apologies, then. You were so familiar with the people here, I thought you a native. I am from Grass Country, myself."
A mental map told him that Grass was indeed due northeast of Wind. "Ah, I see. Our countries have been on friendly terms in the past."
"Yours is with everyone, I am told," she said. "What is your name?"
He didn't hesitate; the mission was done, so pleasantries were possible now. "Shiruko Makoto."
Her eyebrow lifted again in surprise. "I have heard of your family." To his surprise, she rose and extended a hand. "If you are ever in Grass Country, speak your name to those in power there. They will consider you a friend for this."
She can't mean--
He accepted her hand and shook it slowly, since that seemed to be what she would prefer--most noblewomen from her country would have rather he kissed the back of it, but that was not how she had held it out. "...I will take you up on that. For now, it is late, and I will bid you good night."
"Indeed," she said, releasing him, the ghost of a smile on her face. "Your assistance was most appreciated, Shiruko-san."
As he was leaving, he turned over the encounter in his head slowly. Then he shook his head, slightly amazed.
Well. There's no way--but is there? Because I'm fairly certain now that I just met the princess of Grass Country.
Well, whatever.
He was looking forward to just sitting down and having a drink, when he noticed there was a bit of a commotion in the corner. As he got a bit nearer, he realized it was mostly made up of waitresses, and out of the corner of his eye he noted Emiko's attention kept shifting that way too.
Suppose I might as well.
He reached the group and cleared his throat to get their attention. The group of waitresses, clustered around one rather elegant white-haired woman with a twisted braid hanging down her back, turned to him.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked.
The waitresses parted, which seemed to give the woman the indication it was all right to talk to him. He didn't recognize her as a regular, but they were certainly treating her with deference and a bit of awe.
"I take it you are a shinobi of some manner?" she asked, and when he inclined his head, she nodded in return. "Very well. Then I shall entrust you with this mission, since the people here seem to trust you."
Her bearing and crisp way of speaking almost made him want to act deferential, and he was a nobleman. Just who was this? But the woman did not introduce herself, in a way that seemed deliberate.
"It is like this," she said, clearly set to begin a tale. "I came into possession some time ago of a supposed relic of my family's, handed down from one of our ancestors, who assisted a hero in recovering it from a rather unpleasant man. However, much to my surprise, when I examined the trinket, it was a fake! At some point, it had been swapped out for one of the several duplicates that have been made over the centuries. I have reason to believe there are five copies of this statue in the world, and only one of them is in any way genuine."
He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask her to go on. She gave him a wry look and took a sip of her drink--soda water, by the looks of it--before continuing.
"I decided to take the fake in hand and use it to search out the real one. Neither I nor anyone I have hired has managed to locate the real thing, though I have found two more of the imitations." Her neutral expression abruptly shifted to a slight frown. "However, shortly after I entered this country, I was accosted and robbed! It seemed that the bandits who came after me had heard I had one of the statues, although they did not realize it was not the true version. Although it is not worth much, I would like to have it back so I may continue my search for the genuine article."
Makoto nodded slowly. He was not much fond of bandits, so a mission like this was no real trouble.
"I'd be happy to," he said. "Might I know what it looks like, and where you were attacked?"
The waitresses seemed to relax at that. As if he'd ever turned down a request for help! Maybe they thought he would be intimidated by the woman? (Come to think of it, did any of his acquaintances in Wind Country know he was a sort of noble? Hm.)
"Certainly," she replied, after another sip of soda water. "I was coming in from the northeast, from the direction of my homeland. The statue itself is not overly large, perhaps two feet high. It is pure black, in the shape of a raven. The original is known as the Black Bird, or the Black Falcon. I am told that it would be a prize treasure for any thief--the real one, at least."
It sounded familiar, but he couldn't place exactly how. Still, it was a bird--it was probably fate or something that made him be the one available to handle this quest. "All right. Are you staying here, so I know where to return it to you?"
"I am, thank you," she said. "Thank you for your willingness to assist."
She hadn't asked his name either. Perhaps she thought him a shady mercenary. Oh well. He didn't need to exchange pleasantries.
There were a lot of bandits running around the deserts of Wind Country. One would think there wouldn't be, since there was a large amount of flat open space, and one would be entirely wrong. There were indeed a lot of hiding places and cubbyholes for them to store their loot in. Some probably even had the audacity to live in one of the cities, although probably none in Sand itself.
The trick was finding the right set of bandits, and that meant hitting the ones probably nearest the northeastern border.
There were mountains in places around Wind Country, and he had never been sure if they were actually in Wind Country of if starting to climb them meant you were in one of the neighboring countries now. It was hard to tell; he didn't exactly carry a map on him. Still, he was tracking, not drafting a map, so it didn't much matter for his purposes.
He did hope he was tracking the right bandits, but these were the only ones he'd found a trail for in his skimming of the northeast. So, presuming that woman had her cardinal directions right, these had to be them.
They were holed up in a cave when he found them, and he kept himself out of sight and sent a discreet crystal eye in to scan the area to get an idea of their capabilities. Fortunately, they were seated around a crude wooden table playing some variant of poker, at which two of the six were cheating successfully and the rest extremely unsuccessfully. He snorted quietly to himself.
A scan around the area proved no one else was in sight, and he wasn't detecting any watchmen either. Normally he would summon Hitomi and send her out, but this mission required quiet and discretion, since he didn't exactly feel like confronting probably more than the visible bandits. Neither of those were things she was capable of. So, he'd have to do this entirely on his own, without any feathered assistance of any kind, when he was retrieving...a bird.
How funny.
The statuette had been taken previously, so it was possible it was--aha! Yes, the eye had spotted it there, sitting with some jewelry and a couple of bags of money. A point to these bandits in that they at least seemed interested only in stealing non-living things. So he would only steal them back. And, for that matter, only the statue--if the woman had lost any money or anything else she had been concerned over, she would have mentioned it.
So just the bird.
He mentally made a map of the cave and dispelled the eye. Sneaking in bodily himself didn't seem like a grand idea; the bandits were in the way even if they were preoccupied. He wasn't that thin. He would have to send a creation or construct or-
Oh.
Right.
He was a ninja.
How silly to forget.
He flicked his hand absentmindedly through a series of seals, and dropped underground. After that, it was only a matter of remembering where in the cave the bird was, grabbing it without fully surfacing, and retreating. The jutsu wouldn't even leave permanent marks on rock, nor did it make much sound (or it would be useless at its intended purpose of stealth), so he was out and away back in the desert in a matter of minutes, a black bird statue tucked under his arm.
It was...lighter, than he'd expect a statue of this kind to be. Proof it was a fake, he supposed.
He was back at Soon's Haven and the Birdhouse bar not long after, since he no longer had to go slowly while tracking, and was escorted to the woman's room upstairs by one of the maids of the semi-hotel above it. To the same room he'd spent a night or two in before, in fact. When he knocked, she simply said, "Come," so he pushed the door open and wordlessly presented the statue.
"What is the original made of, I might ask?" he added, after she verified it was indeed the one she'd entered the country with. "Obsidian, onyx?"
"I'm not quite sure," she admitted. "I'm told the original is quite heavy for its size. It's possible it was made of ebony, even--supposedly it was wooden, although I find myself skeptical of that. Still, this is the one I was given back home, there can be no doubt. Thank you."
"You're quite welcome," he said, and sketched a light bow. She gave a light smile.
"I don't suppose many Sand nin are trained such as you, from what I have heard," she murmured.
"I am not from Sand," he said, deciding not to say anything there. It was true it didn't seem like they rested much on formalities. "Actually, I'm from Moon Country."
Her snow white eyebrow went up, and she seemed to relax infinitesimally. "My apologies, then. You were so familiar with the people here, I thought you a native. I am from Grass Country, myself."
A mental map told him that Grass was indeed due northeast of Wind. "Ah, I see. Our countries have been on friendly terms in the past."
"Yours is with everyone, I am told," she said. "What is your name?"
He didn't hesitate; the mission was done, so pleasantries were possible now. "Shiruko Makoto."
Her eyebrow lifted again in surprise. "I have heard of your family." To his surprise, she rose and extended a hand. "If you are ever in Grass Country, speak your name to those in power there. They will consider you a friend for this."
She can't mean--
He accepted her hand and shook it slowly, since that seemed to be what she would prefer--most noblewomen from her country would have rather he kissed the back of it, but that was not how she had held it out. "...I will take you up on that. For now, it is late, and I will bid you good night."
"Indeed," she said, releasing him, the ghost of a smile on her face. "Your assistance was most appreciated, Shiruko-san."
As he was leaving, he turned over the encounter in his head slowly. Then he shook his head, slightly amazed.
Well. There's no way--but is there? Because I'm fairly certain now that I just met the princess of Grass Country.