Festival Hidden in the Mist [Open]

Catching the boy’s eye for the first time, Asami’s heart skipped a beat and her gaze quickly shifted to the left as if she were looking past him, not at him. Strange how interesting the backs of passersby became in such a short period of time. Yes, very strange.

“Hmm…” the young girl brought a contemplative finger to her chin and reluctantly returned her gaze to the boy. “It’s not too far; don’t worry you’ll definitely be back in time for the fireworks.”

She dropped her finger and affirmed her estimation of time the best way she knew how.

“I promise!”

Once more smiling softly at the boy’s introduction she nodded politely. Hayate Seiteki, she hadn’t heard the name before, perhaps he was still an academy student? Or maybe a civilian? She couldn’t be sure one way or the other, but she resolved to find out. That, however, would have to come later as they had a shrine to get to.

“It’s nice to meet you Hayate. You can call me Asami,” she chirped. “Asami Miyamoto, now follow me, we’re heading down to the docks.”

Calling out the last of her words over her shoulder, Asami turned back into the oncoming crowd and pushed onwards. In no time at all, she again found herself bobbing and weaving through the crowd all the while taking special care to not go so fast as to leave Hayate in the dust. After all, it would be in exceedingly poor taste to leave someone behind, right?

Right.

As the pair progressed the crowds began to thin and thin until the gentle slosh of the sea replaced the dull murmur of festival goers. A few lanterns shone dimly on the varying ships in the harbor, but otherwise, the only source of light came from the larger than life moon which bathed the landscape in a cool white light. However, instead of going further into the familiar shipyard, Asami took a sharp turn and cast a backward glance to make sure Hayate was still with her.

Assuming the boy was still following, she continued on and away from the village. The wooden docks and other constructs of humanity soon gave way to the majesty of nature. The dark sea to their right seemed to stretch on to infinity and the low-lying foliage to their left bent and swayed in the breeze. They had well and truly left the hustle and bustle of Kirigakure far behind and now had only a rarely traveled path to follow.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” she reassured Hayate as the shrine came into view. “See?”

She pointed out the silhouette of the small building by the seaside before picking up her pace.

As she drew nearer, Asami could not help but notice the mismatched pair of figures looking down on the water. One would have no doubt towered over her and the other, amazing although it may be, seemed to be shorter than herself. For now, however, she put the figures out of her mind. After all, they probably had their own reasons for being there and far be it from her to put her nose in another person’s business—she knew better than that now.

Coming to an abrupt halt in front of the small torii that marked the entrance to the shrine, the young genin gazed nervously at the small yet imposing building. It felt different than it did during the day. Normally, it looked to be a homey shack adorned with wave motifs and draped in rigging, but the moonlight gave it an almost sinister appearance. Casting a long-jagged shadow onto both Asami and Hayate the shrine seemed to glow as the moon illuminated it from behind. It was here that the daughter of Ai and Kenchi came to understand why there were rumors that the shrine was haunted, a chill ran down her spine.

“Um, you can go first,” She offered sheepishly.

She was a shinobi; she wasn’t afraid of ghosts. That would be silly. She was trained to rip out a man’s throat, shoot fire from her mouth, and die for her village. No, she wasn’t afraid of ghosts, not one bit. Nope, the concept of being gobbled up by Shou’s vengeful soul did not scare her at all. The hair standing up on the back of her neck? That was due to the light breeze.

Yeah, that’s what it was, the breeze.

Absolutely not the spirits of the damned…

TWC: 2098

Asami.  Asami Miyamoto.  Asami.  Asami Miyamoto.  Hayate repeated the name a few more times in his head while watching the kounchi speak, committing the name to the face.  Her eyes found his his to make sure he was listening then darted away again when they met.  After she finished, he nodded his assent, and watched as she smoothly turned and dove through the crowd.

She was definitely fast.  At the time he made it, Hayate didn't think his claim he could keep up was an empty boast.  After all, the other academy students usually had trouble keeping up with him.  and even though normally he would consider his pace to be fast and his movements smooth, he felt clumsy and slow following Asami.   Her small frame slipped easily between two slightly inebriated men in brown yukata, disappearing for a moment before he made his way though as well, though he had to actually slow down and turn sideways, brushing one of the two.  He found her again as he emerged from between them.  He could tell this pace was easy for her, and she was even slowing down for him.  I guess I should expect that from someone already a genin. 

An odd though popped into his head that amused him.  With the black pants and white shirt, it must almost be like watching a genderbent version of himself, from the other students perspectives, right down to what colors were where on his clothes.   Admittedly, his were usually much looser, but still.... 

He tried his best to weave through the crowd as she did, losing her momentarily but catching her again when she slowed down for him a few times.  As they moved further and further from the latern lit main street and the night dimmed, the crowd thinned drastically.  Soon they were traveling by only the light of the moon, the pair becoming swift shadows dancing over the border between the foliage and the beach.  The murmur of the city dead and their footsteps silent, the only sounds were the lapping of the waves and the occasional call of a sea bird.  He looked out upon the reflection of the moon onto the sea, until Asami called his attention to the buildingahead.

As they arrived at the shrine, he noticed the same figures she did in the shade.  A tall man and a short woman, talking.  Other shrine patrons?  Lovers on a moonlight rendezvous?  The thought was almost comical with the height difference.  Wait.  Was that Kether?  No, it couldn't be.  The somewhat... distant... fellow student was the last person Hayate thought would bring a girl to a dark shrine on a festival night.  Still, it did look like him.
 
He didn't have time to peer too closely, as Asami has stopped beside the entrance, and an expression briefly flashed over he face.  He looked between her and the shack as she offered for him to go first.

He simply said "OK, thanks."  and went in, clearly not seeing what she did.  It was just as simple on the inside as the outside, with the same decorations on the walls, but they were barely visible this late.  The small room had a statue at the back, a representation of and elemental water force on the right spitting water from its mouth, swooping low in the center to form a large wave on the left, in the process of impacting on a small fishing boat holding the shine's namesake, who was shown standing in the boat without fear.  In front of the statue was an offering tray, and if front of that were two small side by side mats to kneel on.  There was nothing else.  They were a bit ragged and had seen better days, but Hayate knelt on one, the scratchy surface against his bare knees, and placed his ryo in the tray.  He put his hands together and close his eyes as he had been taught so many times before, and gave his silent gratitude for the good luck he felt was upon him.  He then rose.  If asami had entered as well, he would wait till she was standing (if she knelt) then nod to her and exit, otherwise he would just exit.

Once they were both outside together again, he spoke.  "Thanks again.  I dont really believe in that stuff, but my grandpa really does, so it's kinda become a tradition, and I feel a lot better if I do it.  Still, they really put this out of the way, didn't they?  I feel bad making you come out here...and i'm kind of surprised other people were here too, instead of at the festival."

He glanced in the direction of where the two figures were earlier, but the shack was between him and that spot.  Were those faint murmurs of low conversation, or a trick of the wind and the sea?

WC 816 TWC 2056

The owner of the footsteps was a rather tall, at least a foot above herself, ashen haired boy, a little bit younger than she it seemed based on his softened, child-like features. His eyes were still innocent and naive, unaware of the rugged truth the cruel world kept hidden under the surface. She hoped he wouldn’t ever have to face the same harsh reality she had, but it was a rather hopeless desire for she knew of the Blood Games they partook in. How they were pitted against one another, fighting to the death until a lone survivor, the one deemed the strongest, remained. When that time came, he wouldn’t be able to escape the horror of their world as shinobi of Kirigakure, unless he was unable to stand above the rest of the Genin and succumbed to the warm embrace of death at such a young age.

His gentle tone broke through her analysis of him as he moved a few steps closer and looked down into her lilac hued eyes. Surprisingly so, he greeted her with more warmth than she would have thought given how cold the shinobi of Kirigakure had described it to be, yet it was pleasant that he didn’t immediately speak with harsh, poison laced words. Although she wondered if he would have been as open if he knew she was from Konohagakure, and that perhaps his willingness to converse with her came from his unknowing mistake of believing she was a fellow Kiri ninja. In his defense, though, he had no reason to believe she didn’t belong to his village, afterall she was roaming the streets freely as if she had grown up there her entire life.

“Hello.” Her short and simple reply came to his first greeting, her tone even and monotonous, “It truly is a beautiful sight, mesmerizing even.” A small smile graced her lips, more so at the melancholy thought that Salzem would have loved to witness the view she had just seen, with the moon as full and ivory as his lycan fur. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kether. I am Hikari Hyuuga.” She gingerly outstretched her hand to meet his, clasping her fingers firmly around his hand and giving two shakes of their intertwined appendages before releasing her grip. She would then return her hand to her side, having no use for it at the current moment. It was then that he moved the conversation onward, asking why she was wandering away from the crowd and near Shou’s Shrine.

Hikari hadn’t noticed it before, but at the mention of a shrine being nearby she saw the towering torii gates a little ways down the shore to her right. Walking towards the gates were two people, one wearing what appeared to be traditional clothing while the other donned a far more casual outfit, although she couldn’t make out any defining features on either of them. She wondered why people deemed it was shrouded with bad luck, and if it truly brought only misfortune why anyone would still go to give praise and prayer to it. It was a peculiar custom for them to follow, but she wasn’t one to judge others or how they went about their lives.

“The crowd got a little too much for me, so I came here to get some air and room to breathe.” She answered in the same, emotionless tone, for she rarely felt the motivation to express her emotions nowadays- and showing emotions could potentially end with her death regardless, so it was best to travel down the safer path, keeping everything about how she felt under lock and key. Her eyes traveled to the two who had briefly stopped at the gates to the shrine as she voiced her inquires, “Why do they say that Shou’s shrine is surrounded with bad luck, and why do people still visit it despite knowing it might bring misfortune?”

The fact that she wasn’t from Kiri might have been given away with her lack of knowledge behind Shou and his shrine, but Hikari didn’t entirely care for she knew she could easily defend herself against Kether, whose chara signature was incredibly low. Of course, she only knew that because of her Chakra Sensory skill. Had she not mastered the technique, she would not have been able to gauge his ability as a shinobi, or even determine if he was one or not.

(WC: 1,760)

Kether breathed a sigh of relief as the girl took his hand and responded with her own name. Hikari Hyuuga, he repeated in his head, committing the name to memory. He tilted his head slightly as he fully registered the name. Wasn’t the Hyuuga clan based out of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire? The same village that the entirety of Kirigakure was celebrating a victory over? Did that make her an enemy?
 
At her glance toward the shrine, Kether looked as well and was able to make out the same two figures making their way to the shrine. Four people here at Shou’s shrine in the same evening, and during a festival, no less? What an unexpected turn of events. His attention snapped back to Hikari as she explained that she had come here to get away from the crowds. He nodded his understanding since that was the exact same reason that he found himself here. Her tone seemed very strange as she spoke, however, almost reminding him of his own sort of awkward and emotionless tone. While his was born out of a simple social and emotional ineptness, hers seemed like it was actually intentional.
 
”Well,” he began in response to her question about the shrine, still not sure how much information he should be sharing with someone who was not from the village and was trying to hide her own emotions so completely. ”Supposedly Shou, a fisherman, went out on a fishing expedition on one of the nights of King’s Tide when the rest of the village was honoring the festival. He never returned and people speculate what the cause of his disappearance was, some concluding that it was the spirit of the sea itself.” The story didn’t give any real information about the village, so there wasn’t any real harm in doing telling it. ”I’m not sure why people visit it, other than the fact that it is still a shrine and people who believe in such things will always be willing to make their offerings.”
 
Kether himself had never really been much for the idea of the worship that many people in the city, including his parents, partook in. To him, knowledge was power and it was up to an individual to forge their own successes and failures. That being said, a majority of the people in the village still held to that belief system so it wasn’t in his interest to put himself at odds with the entire village. The girl glanced over at the pair of newcomers who were visiting the shrine again, but this time Kether didn’t follow her gaze. He was too busy trying to determine his opinion about her to worry about other people just now.
 
”Tell me, Hikari. What are you really doing here in Kirigakure?” His voice had taken a more serious tone as he realized that this girl could potentially be a threat to the village. He might not be a full shinobi just yet, but it was still his duty to protect the village. If nothing else, he’d be able to attract enough attention if her intentions were less than favorable. ”I’ve read the name Hyuuga before in my studies and it has invariably been related to Konohagakure. Your village, if I’m correct in my assumption, lost much to the Mizukage. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched assumption that a shinobi from a notable clan in that village would attempt to take revenge on our own village in response.”
 
He heard a faint sound that might have been conversation coming from the direction of the shrine, which meant it might be those two people he had seen earlier. There wasn’t anything he could really do to get their attention without escalating the situation with Hikari, however, so he decided he would simply bide his time for now. ”I apologize if my assumptions are hasty, but I’m sure that a shinobi like yourself understands the value of being on your guard.”
 
What a turn this night had taken. He hadn’t expected to end up running into an enemy infiltrator when he came to this shrine. Then again, there was still a chance that she wasn’t actually here to cause harm to the village. It was difficult to say, but he knew he’d have to keep a close eye on her for the rest of the night. Gaining information was the most important thing he could do in this situation other than simply staying alive. All things considered, he’d place his own survival above stopping the enemy at this point. A fight would be pointless for him with the level of skill that he currently possessed. He’d just end up getting himself killed.

WC: 784
TWC: 1,546

The young genin hesitated for a few fear-filled moments before trailing behind Hayate a good distance. If there was one thing she knew about angry spirits it was that they preyed on the isolated individual. So, in theory, if she stayed close to Hayate she would be fine. Well, she would be fine assuming the shrine did not house more than one entity; if it played host to more than one denizen of the demon world then all bets were off. But what if there was a good spirit there? Hmm...

Asami's superstitious—and some might say childish—calculus continued further and further down the rabbit hole as the pair drew nearer and nearer to the small building. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the buildings appeared to have grown in size. It looked like some malevolent being with a gaping mouth waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to enter or, worse yet, two unwitting teens. The squeal of the floorboards as they first stepped into the shrine set the young girl's teeth on edge and invited a cold sweat onto her brow. Hayate, however, seemed deadset on showing his devotion, so Asami remained by his side and kneeled shortly after he did.

That said, Asami did not feel comfortable enough to close her eyes—that's when they get you, after all. No, she didn't plan to play the part of an Asami-sized appetizer thank you very much. Instead, she remained stock still taking shallow breaths waiting for Hayate to finish with what he had come to do. While she waited, however, and in spite of her fast beating heart, she came to admire the small representation of Shou, the artistry and care were hard not to notice. His fearless expression brought the statue to life and lent the shrine a touch of the heroic. In a strange way, it allayed a large portion of the black-haired girl's fear, though she couldn't understand exactly why.

Nonetheless, standing a moment after Hayate himself rose, she did feel relieved to be leaving the shrine. After having been inside, it no longer necessarily scared her, but it was, well, off-putting to say the least. Maybe it had something to do with the moonlight?

She couldn't be sure one way or the other.

"Don't worry about it," she waved off Hayate's good-natured attempts to apologize. "I haven't actually been out here in a while; it's nice to get away from it all, ya know?"

She, of course, meant the village.

"Though you're right, it's strange seeing people out here at this time of night...I wonder what they're up to," a mischevious glint lit up in Asami's eyes as she continued to speak. "Here's an idea, how about we walk back on the beach?"

She gave a curt nod to the distant sliver of white sand not yet swallowed up by the sea. The implication, which she hoped Hayate would understand, was that they would have to walk right by the other mismatched pair to get to the sea and thus get a chance to figure out what exactly they were doing so far away from the festivities.

Ok, so maybe Asami's curiosity still got the better of her from time to time.

Happens to the best of us.

Oh well.

TWC: 2643

The blonde teenager in the dark blue festival clothes smiled a big grin when Asami suggested walking back on the beach.  He could see the glint flash through Asamis eyes as she said it, almost seeming to lend color to the dark grey.  For a moment it felt like they weren't new acquaintances, but instead they were old co-conspirators planning another daring heist that was sure to double as a fun adventure.

"You read my mind." he said with mirth in his voice.  Hayate hooked a thumb back in the direction of the shadowy pair that the dark haired girl had nodded toward.   "When we passed by, I thought I recognized that guy.  If it's who i think it is, and he'd with a girl, I dont think we're gonna want to miss this."

Hayate indicated an 'after you' gesture in the direction of the beach, and they began to walk.

When noticed approaching, Hayate will stroll up with hands in his front jinbei pockets and a big, what they call colloquially, "Shit-Eating Grin"

WC 174 (ugh so bad) TWC 2230

You guys (HIKARI and KETHER) can keep chatting as much as you want, and you can decide when we get close/pass you (unless asami decides to do otherwise, but thats my intent).

The snowy haired woman listened intently to the tale Kether retold, her curiosity becoming satiated through the woven story that Shou was a fisherman who decided to venture out into the ocean during the festival one night and never came back. The dots connected like a finished puzzle in her mind as he finished explaining the origins of the shrine; it was rumored to be followed with bad luck because Shou had upset the spirit of the ocean, whose festival had been taking place when he departed. However, it still didn’t answer her question as to why they built a shrine for Shou when he had angered such an important spirit to their village, although Hikari didn’t voice her thoughts for she doubted that Kether had an answer. Kirigakure’s ancestors must have had some reason to erect a shrine for Shou, maybe out of respect for his death or in an attempt to appease the ocean spirit, and it would have been in poor taste for them to have torn down the structure after it was built, since it was still a shrine no matter who it was for.

She gave a slight nod as he finished in acknowledgement before politely offer her appreciation, for he could have easily ignored her questions like the Kiri man she had spoken to during the war had done. “Thank you for explaining, I think I have a better understanding of it now.“ Hikari offered a small smile of gratitude, but soft smiles were the only thing she was able to express and only because they weren’t out of happiness, they were out of cordiality.

Not long after she went silent the man before her became sharpened, more on edge than he had been previously. Her curiosity, it seemed, blew the cover she wasn’t entirely trying to conceal as Kether’s pointed voice asked what she was actually doing in Kirigakure. Her previous hypothesis that he would change when he found out she was not from Kiri proved to be correct as he accused her of having snuck into the village and planning to extract revenge against them for what they had done to Konoha. It was rather comical how completely wrong Kether was about his assumption, and she wondered if she should take this time to teach him a potentially useful lesson about shinobi.

“The Hyuuga clan is not bound to one village just because we originated from Konohagakure. No, instead we are spread out across the world, to the point where even more Hyuuga might live outside of Konoha rather than inside. I do know, however, that even the Hyuuga heiress does not reside in Konoha, she lives here in Kirigakure.” She kept the soft smile across her lips as her tone leveled with Kether’s, just as serious and sharp as the young shinobi’s, while she challenged him, narrowing her eyes,  “Tell me, Kether, if I was a Konoha shinobi, do you really think I would have been able to sneak into the village by myself, when there are defenses keeping outsiders at bay? Or is it that you do not trust your fellow ninja, or the Mizukage himself, to have been able to detect an unknown presence aboard their ships when they left the war?”

Hikari paused briefly for his reply, wondering if he would take the bait she laid about the doubt he had for his village, “Also, Kether, if I were a spy for Konoha, do you really think it was in your best interest to confront me alone? Sure there are those two walking along the beach, but do you think the three of you would be enough to take on someone who either was able to hid from the armed forces and the Mizukage on the war ships or was able to break through what would otherwise be impenetrable defenses?” She took another brief pause, letting her words sink in before continuing, “Another thing is that you don’t know what I am capable of, nor are you close enough to the rest of the village to alert anyone in time. If I was a spy and wanted to, all three of you could be dead.” Her eyes hardened even more, a cold glint in them. She wholeheartedly felt he needed to learn the hard way the consequences of careless actions. “As a fellow shinobi, I hope you learned your lesson and think before you act...because next time, you might accuse a dangerous person who wouldn’t think twice about hurting you.”

Her words, albeit harsh, held truth within them, and she wanted Kether to realize before it was too late that not everyone was kind. Some people killed just to kill, with no regard for human life. If she had been one of those people, his accusation would have been enough for her to seek bloodshed and it wouldn’t have just been his blood atoning for his 'sins'.

If the two shinobi should approach sooner than Hikari finished talking, they would most likely be both very confused and feel threatened at the severity of what she was implying. Although they would be mistaken in thinking she meant them any harm, unless of course they chose to try and strike her for then she would react accordingly.

(WC: 2,638)

Kether was actually surprised as he listened to Hikari’s explanation about the Hyuuga Clan not being relegated to simply Konohagakure. How could the studying he had done have been so wrong? Or was she simply lying to him now in order to throw him off guard? Everything he had read had only ever mentioned Konohagakure when talking about the Hyuuga Clan, but she was claiming that the Hyuuga were so spread out that there might actually be a minority of the Clan still living inside the Leaf Village. If the heiress of the Clan really did live here in Kirigakure, he felt like he would’ve run into her before now. Then again… he WAS still only an Academy Student. It wasn’t incredibly unlikely that he wouldn’t have run into such an important person yet since he wasn’t even a full-fledged shinobi.
 
Hikari’s voice turned sharper as she continued, causing Kether’s eyes to narrow in response as well. The point she was making about being able to detect an infiltrator such as herself wasn’t entirely convincing to the silver-haired teen, but it did still give him something to think about. The fact that the war party was successful could easily result in a lack of proper protocol when returning, especially if any prisoners were brought back from Konohagakure. The festival itself offered plenty of opportunities for someone to infiltrate the village for someone who was skilled as well, so that was a more likely scenario. Still, her quip about not trusting the Kiri shinobi or the Mizukage to detect her struck somewhat close to home for Kether. He generally did believe that the shinobi of his village were superior to others, but now that it was said out loud he realized that perhaps he didn’t entirely trust them. That’s why he had to train and become stronger. He had to ensure he could take care of himself.
 
It was the next piece of her little speech that caused Kether’s eyes to widen and clench his fists in frustration. While it was true that he had originally planned to call her out in order to possibly discourage her from acting due to the added risk of him being able to sound some form of alarm, it had been an extremely stupid move for him to try and confront her alone. While he felt confident enough to at least warn someone if it came down to it, there was a higher than 75% chance that he would get killed in the attempt and his quest for knowledge would be ended right then and there. How could he have been so foolish?
 
Before he could respond, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, causing him to turn his attention to the side. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized that he recognized one of the two strangers who had finally decided to approach them. ”Hayate?” he asked in disbelief. His new training partner was walking toward them with a strange expression on his face, one which Kether didn’t really know what to make of. ”Why are you smiling like that?” he asked in confusion. He glanced over at his companion, another girl who he didn’t recognize. ”And who is your new companion?”
 
With a glance at Hikari to ensure she wasn’t going to try anything, although he felt as though she was truly sincere and he had been wrong with his accusations, he gave a slight bow out of respect to the new girl. ”Hello, my name is Kether. It is a pleasure to meet you. If I may,” he said as he returned to standing straight up. ”What brings the two of you this far out from the festival? Were you visiting Shou’s shrine?”
 
 

He certainly hadn’t figured Hayate for the spiritual type, although he supposed they hadn’t really gotten to know each other much. The two of them were up for their Genin Exam fairly soon, however, and he was actually somewhat hoping that the two of them might even end up on a team together as Genin. If he was fortunate enough for that to happen, the two of them would most likely end up getting to know each other much more. At any rate, he turned back to Hikari and gave her a quick nod. ”I understand and I will take your lesson to heart. I apologize for my hasty accusations, as well as the foolhardiness I displayed in challenging you so straightforwardly. It shames me as a future Kiri shinobi.”

WC: 755
TWC: 2,301

The twilight was beginning to turn dark for real, and the city, lit up for the festival, seemed all the brighter for it.  The only light that reached this far was the pale moon, it's reflection seeming to stretch out toward them over the sea.  The dim light seemed to wash out the colors of the the four figure on the beach a bit, lending an almost not real quality to the gathering.

As they approached, Hayate glanced up at that moon, and saw the sky was absolutely filled with the contrast of impossibly dark space and bright stars.  The vastness of it, combined with the cool night breeze rolling over the shore, made Hayate shiver through the light material of his jinbei.  This was festival wear, meant for warm city crowds - and he was someone who wore long pants and a light sweatshirt during most days, when it was warmer. 

When Asami and Hayate got close enough, he saw the two in front of him were exchanging tough words, some sort of rebuke or fight?  He couldn't quite hear it beyond a jumbled word or two scattered over the night air, but he got the tone and saw the body language.

He didn't have much time to speculate, though, as kether caught sight of them.  He looked surprised, and called out Hayates name.  The blonde teenager gave a short wave of acknowledgement as he approached, and getting within normal conversation range, kether began introducing himself to Asami and asking a bunch of questions before continuing his apology to the girl.  He noticed that up close the girl actually looked much older than her small shadowy outline seemed from afar, but that still might be the shadows and the moon playing tricks. 

"Yo Kether." he began, in a good mood.  "Asami here" he gestured to the girl in black tights and a white tank top, with her kiri headband around her neck (goodness, she must be a bit cold too, he thought, not considering others might indeed be less sensitive to the chill) "was just showing me the way to the shrine.  I never come out this side of town, but the ones in the city are PACKED, as you can imagine.  I don't even believe in the stuff," he was quick to add "but my grandfather would have my hide if he found out I didn't stop by one."  maybe it was a bit of an exaggeration, but he didn't want to seem like he cared about such things. 

"Anyways" his grin returned "what are you doing out here all alone with a lovely lady, and not even at the shrine, ay?" he nudged kether in the ribs with his elbow. "You guys shouldn't quarrel when there's a festival on.  I'm sure it was all his fault" Hayate teased "but the fireworks will be on soon, that's the best part.  You guys can fight about.... Whatever.... tomorrow."


Wc 488  twc 2713

Following Hayate's gesture, Asami took the lead sporting a self-satisfied grin. Moving neither too fast nor too slowly, the young girl wove her way towards the other pair. She took care not to tread on the surprisingly resilient bed of ferns and avoided the remains of what looked like a small child's sandcastle before finally approaching the strangers with Hayate in tow.

The plan, at least in Asami's mind, had been to buzz by the two others, maybe wish them a good evening, and then continue on back to the village. This unvoiced plan, however, quickly dissolved into nothingness when the taller of the two strangers recognized Hayate—and, yes, the shorter of the two strangers was indeed shorter than her, go figure. More to the point, Asami could not help but feel a bit out of place, because, although the nip of the cool night air and omnipresent mist still hung in the air, the atmosphere felt tense, almost standoffish.

Perhaps it had something to do with the sharp yet ambiguous tones the strangers had been speaking in before?

She couldn't be sure and did not have time to consider it further as Hayate was introducing her, manners are important. She returned the tall one's bow with a shallow bow of her own and then gave the shorter girl one for good measure.

"It's nice to meet you both. I hope you're enjoying the evening."

Normally, she would have included an introduction as well, but Hayate seemed intent on doing the talking, which, for once, she didn't mind—the adrenaline of braving the haunted shrine was fast ebbing and in its place came the chill of the evening. This time it wasn't the prospect of hungry ghosts that sent a chill down her spine. Though, on the bright side, at least her teeth weren't chattering...yet.

TWC: 2949