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[Praefectus Screptum]

"Yes, it is quite useful indeed...but now we do have this other thing to worry about. And probably get moving as soon as possible, so we probably should get this out of the way already."
"So...shall we get moving and figure out who is the one in charge?"

[Aurorix]

"Hey, Traxesa, you really work for this guy? He's so uncool,"

"He's not so much a boss, more like a friend I made while being an 'honored guest' at the palace."

"Setsurou? Traxesa? Did you recruit an entire eatery to help us in this rescue?

"They kind of just... recruited themselves. Not really our fault." Not that he minded. Being reunited with Kazuki after being in that palace for so long was something he wished for. Never thought it would happen so soon either.

[mastermepp]

"Gods, If I knew that we'd be faced with a swarm of guards, I would've gotten less to drink earlier. Those practically mindless drones are nothing but trouble..." She sighs, muttering the last sentence under her breath before nodding. "Mm, Sounds like a plan. I got this." She casually strolls up to the group by Rin, and clears her throat.

"Alrighty, we helped you bunch out of that little mess. Some payment would be much appreciated, now that we're now gonna have some troubles with the whole outlaw thing looming over us."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"We can't pay you. However, if you would like to follow us to our destination, I'm sure you can work something out with our employer."

He indicated Miyako and Traxesa on 'our'.

"...Besides, I don't think you have much choice now. Whether you intended to or not, you've stood against the Empress. Your best chance of shelter or payment is with us."

"I'm sorry, but that is the situation."

Setsurou put away his spell tags and turned to Yusuke.

"Are you all right?"

[IcyTea31]

As Setsurou said that, it looked like Miyako's headache eased a bit.

"That's...a good idea. I'm sure our employer will agree to pay you folks, and-"

"The Sheep!"

Forgetting the important business for the moment, Miyako ran right up to the transformed Kaori. She stopped short of embracing her, but it was clear she was excited.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Miyako."

[Praefectus Screptum]

Nullstar made sure to follow Haru, only to raise an eyebrow at the answer.
"So no proper payment for now, huh? Unfortunate."
"We weren't expecting to be forced to take a specific direction either. Truly unfortunate."

[kj1225]

The battle over, Kaori seems to almost sag with relief.

"Oh, it's over..." Well, that was until that blonde woman made that remark that they were all fugitives now and her eyes widened.

"Ah, no, she's right. We fought against imperial guards! Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo? Whatdowedo?" Well, first off, she should really calm down before....

There was sudden puff of smoke and a small golden-tinged fluffy sheep was standing in her place.

"Um...don't look at me so closely?"

Daisuke pointed rather limply at Kaori, obviously about to say something before shaking his head and turning back to the two travelers.

"You're not getting away." Madoka stepped toward Daisuke, taking the bait and utterly ignoring the fact that one of the Cursed was in their midst.

"We're just traveling, um, to find good fights."

Daisuke chose instead to engage with the small swordsman, allowing a little smirk to cross his features.
"Well, if you insist. Talk to me when we have some time and we can try again."

Todoroki almost seems disappointed as the guards flee. Sighing, he leans against a nearby post, grabbing some of the healing herbs he'd been carrying with him to apply them to himself to soothe the aching, looking over at Daisuke and Madoka.
"Haven't had a fight like that in a while, huh, Madoka? She's got the right of it. We're here to find good fights, and hopefully one day, find my old Master. You ever heard of Tokiwa Hitoshi?"

Turning to the shirtless swordsman he thinks for a moment before shrugging.
"Like the Tokiwa school? I'm from Amatsu so I recognize the name but I can't say that I've heard of Tokiwa Hitoshi specifically."

[ctsun]

Forgetting the important business for the moment, Miyako ran right up to the transformed Kaori. She stopped short of embracing her, but it was clear she was excited.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Miyako."

She wasn't entirely sure what Miyako wanted her for exactly but, um, suppose it wouldn't hurt to be polite. Bending her forelegs slightly, she dipped her head down and offered Miyako a tiny bow.

"Oh. um, it's nice to meet you too, Miyako. My name is Kaori. I'm just, umm..." There was a brief pause. "Just your normal, everyday talking sheep! Nothing weird or suspicious about me, at all!" Turning her head towards her discarded clothes scattered on the ground, she gave them a little nudge with her snout and asked. "Um, if it wouldn't trouble you too much, can you help me pick up these clothes? It's for, um...." There was another pause there as if she didn't want to admit that they were hers. Or that she would be utterly mortified if she were to transform back with gentlemen present. "It's nothing. I'll just, um, need them later. Feel free to put them in my wool, if you must."

[IcyTea31]

"Sure. Would you like us to go behind that building, too?"

As she spoke, Miyako gathered the clothes into a bundle.

"And you don't need to lie to me, I'm in on it. Surely you can feel it?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Alice's eyes sparkle at the prospect of payment.
"So, I guess you guys are kinda the resistance, huh? I assume so, anyway. Evil empress, scrappy resistance, you know the plot, right? Seems pretty exciting."
Rin is about to speak, but then she notices, out of the corner of her eye, a poof of smoke, and then Kaori becoming a...
"Sheep?! Wait, Kaori....she became a sheep....have I been traveling with the Sheep the entire time?!"
She runs off, leaving Yusuke and Setsurou alone.

The young man sighs.
"I've been better. That Rengoku woman's completely crazy, but she can heal worth a damn. Good to see you, Setsurou; it's nice to see you, even if I've only been locked up for a week."
Todoroki seems slightly deflated.
"Well, slightly less famous. Master's the younger brother of Tokiwa Sarutobi. Taught me everythin' I know. I've been adventurin' to find him and challenge him to a fight, to show him how strong I am now."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"It's good to see you too, Yusuke, and better to see you walking free."

"Well, mostly free... Here."

Setsurou reached into the other side of his vest and pulled out the letter he had been tasked to deliver along with the rescue.

"I need to escort you to the Sangonomiya Estate. Doubtless so you can be part of the rebellion against the Empress. I'm sorry that this rescue had to come with strings attached, but I couldn't do it alone."

You have but to say the word and I'll abandon the mission and follow you wherever you wish to go.

[ctsun]

"Sure. Would you like us to go behind that building, too?"

As she spoke, Miyako gathered the clothes into a bundle.

"And you don't need to lie to me, I'm in on it. Surely you can feel it?"

Now that she'd mentioned it, she could still feel it. That weird, nostalgic feeling in her heart and that image of an animal solidifying in her mind.

Kaori opened her mouth a little as if to answer in the affirmative, before quickly snapping it shut again. This...didn't seem like the sort of thing she was entirely comfortable with discussing out in the open just yet. So, she opted to focus on Miyako's offer instead.

"Oh, yes, thank you. That would be, um, really helpful. Please come with me." Kaori mumbled, glancing in the direction of the building Miyako just pointed out before moving towards that direction, wagging her tail at Miyako as if asking for her to follow. The fact that Miyako still had her clothes was an additional reason. Well, her and Rin. She could still hear her running towards them. Well, if Rin really wants to listen, she wasn't going to stop her.


Once she felt she'd managed to get sufficiently secluded, Kaori quietly stops and turns around to face Miyako.

"Oh, um, sorry for the deception. A...lot of things happened the last time something like this happened. But, um, I'm sure you have a story of your own. Don't you, Miss Mouse?" She had felt three presences there in the eatery and had identified two when Yusuke had rushed in. It simply stood to reason that Miyako was the last image she had felt.

[IcyTea31]

"I do. And the Rat, more commonly. It's a long story, but I'm one of the Cursed who answered the Empress' invitation to join her at the Imperial Palace. I don't know if you've heard the stories, but the truth is that it was a gilded cage with little personal freedom, and the Empress is just as mad as they say. I went there already planning an escape, with support from a particular group.

"I had to improvise when Yusuke, the Cat, made his own escape attempt, but most of us got out. Yusuke didn't, and that's why we're here.

"But the reason I wanted to talk to you is that you were unaccounted for. The Empress wants to gather all of the Cursed for her madness, and I don't want that upon you. The others are talking about how they're fugitives now, but you already were, I'm sorry to say."

[Caellath]

"Ya know. Ain't it feel we've got gotten into somethin' waaaay biggar?"

Wild support-based powers from Alice, the Cursed popping up everywhere. It felt very much weird, like he'd gone from fisticuffs-based gang warfare into some weird fairy tale story.

"So the Cursed are real, an' tha Empress got 'em before... How 'bout those stories o' tha Empress tryin' to turn peeps into soup ta stay young?"

[Chevaleresse]

"We'll pick it up." Madoka nodded, her tone stern and serious, before she turned to respond to Todoroki as well.

"Ashigaru aren't usually, um, much of a fight. I didn't prove much."