Checking on home

Jamie was seething. Jamie was on the edge of crying. Jamie was relieved.

It was hard to process all that. Locked up for something she didn't do. Placed on display in the public square. Forced to watch some of her oldest friends ceremoniously executed. Then let go. Exiled. Because they could no longer pull the wool over the people's eyes.

But it was too late. Jamie had no idea where her remaining friends were. Isolated. Cast out.

Abandoned.

Jamie was not sure where she was going. Well, she had an idea. She was walking in the direction of Tengakure, of her old home. It was ruins now, but she would still like to see it. On a good day, she'd have been able to see it on the horizon by now. Today, however, a light mist blocked her from seeing that far into the distance.

While just chilling with his boy's Ryal noticed a rather tall woman about five meters away from the group. He was mentally cursing himself for not noticing her sooner which is probably why he telepathically said, "I guess we know where Levi's height went." However, upon further inspection, he realized that that wouldn't have been possible as this person's chakra was extremely low. Hopefully, it also meant that her speed was also low although burly guys usually had decent speed to go along with their insane strength. The Shinkou also hoped that this person wasn't looking for a fight, that would be rather annoying but the blue haired male had to test the waters first. "That place is completely empty and in ruins." He said obviously talking about the former village that once stood behind them. "Any goods that were leftover have long since been stolen." He told the stranger in a neutral tone, now all that was left was to see how she would react.

WC: 166

Mist had filled the area in and around Moon Country. Not only did it used to be home of Tengakure no Sato, it was also the place where Levi and his crew were currently residing. Although technically they found themselves on the borders the short Nara still considered himself to be close to the ruins. "Guess I won't be needing those" he thought out loud while putting away the sunglasses he came upon back when the three of them were looking for treasures inside some of the old buildings which once belonged to those living in the village. Being so close to the neighbouring countries also meant they had to exercise extreme caution unless they wanted to run into trouble.

His vision hindered by the lingering mist caused Levi to be unaware of both Ryal and Taishi's whereabouts. He could still feel their presence so he wasn't all that worried but it was rather annoying having to walk around in such circumstances nonetheless. Suddenly the Nara picked up a chakra signature about five meters away from him, it was rather faint so if it wasn't for the fact that he was looking for his companions he could have easily missed it. But he didn't, which meant he had to check it out. Which he did. Carefully making his way over he noticed a silhouette, remaining on his guard before calling out for them. "You lost?" 

(WC: 235)

Jamie heard "you lost?" emerge from the mist. Turning towards the source, she saw someone. She had not noticed the person at first, they were nearing the edge of the misty vision and easily mistaken for an inanimate object.

Jamie began to respond, when another voice said "that place is completely empty", as well as some other words.

Jamie was admittedly somewhat worried. She was flanked by the two people. It felt almost like a setup. The mist was somewhat unusual for the land, but Jamie had just assumed the weather had taken a bad turn.

But Jamie held her ground. Just a random passing through. She thought this to herself before looking towards the one who spoke second. "Not lost, and not a looter. Used to live there, but left awhile before it got destroyed. Wanted to see it in person. Weather is making that a bit difficult, but I still want to see it."

Jamie considered taking a step forwards, but instead turned enough to see the other voice (Levi) out of the corner of her eye. "What brings you two out here? I've not been through here for a few years, but if memory serves, the closest town is still almost a day's walk out."

[354 words]

Ryal would be looking at Levi when he spoke his thoughts aloud, the sudden but thin mist did make his sunglasses less useful. It was at this time that the two noticed the woman who’d just appeared. Levi would take a few steps closer to her and speak first, a tad bit aggressive. The Shinkou would then swoop in and clean it up before she could respond. When she did reply she addressed both the men and added a little backstory. Ryal didn’t know if he believed it or not but so far she sounded sincere. The next thing she said appeared to be directed at Levi as she had looked at him before saying it but the blue haired male would answer first. It was obvious that she was letting her own suspicion of the two be known. “Well, I don’t know what drew this guy here.” He nodded to the Nara. “But I was on my way to Amegakure.” He admitted honestly not feeling the need to lie. Although the fact that he was headed to another former village that was now in ruins as well might look suspicious. However, this person might give him the benefit of the doubt by assuming he was visiting his home village as well.

WC: 212

From the corner of his eye Levi noticed he wasn't alone as Ryal showed up as well. "Hey buddy, how you doin'?" By then a woman had already appeared out of the mist as she started speaking. From what he could tell it seemed the stranger used to live there before it got destroyed, or so she explained. It must have been quite the shock to return to a place that no longer was. The woman had some suspicions of her own as she started asking what brought Levi and Ryal to where they were currently at. The short Nara wasn't too sure about it but he got a feeling Ryal was acting as if they didn't know each other, what a friend he was. Nonetheless Levi figured two could play this game and so he answered. "I'm simply a wandering traveler trying to visit as many places as possible. And for some reason I ended up here, not knowing where I'm at or where I'm heading." Only half of it was true, of course he was aware of his current location. But it wasn't a lie when he mentioned not knowing where he was headed. The entire time the crew decided where to go and what to do and Levi simply followed. What he didn't know was if the woman standing not that far from him would be satisfied by his answer. 

(WC: 233, TWC: 468)

Jame was... skeptical oh this situation. "So, three people just happen to meet in the middle of a foggy field, far from civilization, and nobody knows each other?" Jamie was tensing somewhat. She tried to stealthy reach for her mallet, only to be reminded, once again, that it was not there. She adjusted the hand to instead be moving to her hip, where her thumb passed through a single belt loop.

"How about we throw up a fire, then? I doubt this fog is gonna clear any time soon. I saw a tree not far from here, shouldn't take that long to dig out a fire pit. I could stand to cook some of the stuff I'm carrying." Jamie would use her other hand to point behind her over her shoulder, using her thumb and a curled, but not tight, fist. Jamie was figuring that, if this was happenstance, this would de-escalate the situation, at least somewhat. If they were about to gank her, well, they would do it anyways. At least offering cooked food might delay it, giving her a chance to persuade them otherwise.

[540]

Either Levi hadn’t caught the golden eyed god’s joke or he completely ignored it because the short male telepathically greeted him as if it hadn’t happened. Ryal’s eyebrow twitched a bit when Levi told the woman that he didn’t know where he was. If the woman was perceptive she’d notice it and possibly think that the little guy was going off script for some reason. When she spoke again she was rightfully skeptical, the blue haired male was going to respond to her rhetorical question but decided to let her finish. Her next real question was about making a fire and that made Ryal suspicious. She wanted to walk away from the path to a place where she could have allies waiting to ambush them. Though they could pop out anyway if the Misfiteers decided to attack first. Nothing about her movements seemed like signals and he knew the grey-ish brute wouldn’t turn down a meal. So the Shinkou spoke, “I didn’t say that but since introductions are in order, why don’t you start?” A sarcastic smile on his face, even if she planned to kill them she should at least have the decency to tell them her name. Hopefully, Levi wouldn't jump the gun making them look like amateurs just to save his own skin.

WC: 216

"Although I could go for a meal and never turn down a nice offer such as yours I'd have to agree with our blue haired friend over here." Levi had seen too many things to simply believe in the good of other people. If his years of traveling had shown him one thing it would be that no one ever does something from the good of their heart. They always had a hidden agenda somewhere. The short Nara had yet to meet the first person who offered something and didn't ask for anything in return. Which is why he figured not to accept the woman's invitation just like that. For all he knew she was simply scouting the area while her companions were laying in ambush where she would take Ryal and Levi. 

From what Levi could tell at first glance it didn't look like the woman was carrying anyting valuable, at least not in the form of cash. As usual his mindset would be the same: talk first, act later. No point in making the first move when the situation didn't call for it. If she was indeed just visiting her old home there would be nothing to worry about and they could simply go their own way. But again, the Nara had seen too many things in his life to just take someone for their word. "So, what do you say?" 

(WC: 233, TWC: 701)

"Alright so, you two DO know each other? Or not? Cause that's the only thing I can think you're talking about when you said 'I never said that'. So, in the name of being a decent person, I'll tell y'all my name. Name's Jamie, how do you do?" Jamie would raise her right hand up, and twirl it around at the last bit, giving the shallowest bow she possibly could to the two fellows, without seeming entirely rude. To break character and put it in perspective, it was much closer to a European bow, not a Japanese bow. That was simply Jamie's upbringing.

[645]