Bjërna, Koala and Boy. Hey, wait...

[Anonymous]

How once a small fishing village turned into this, Avane-Sïve couldn't begin to wonder. Riding the bjërna as if she was riding a horse, the girl watched the city with tired eyes. She had been travelling for two days without sleeping, and right now, Balunga's fur looked a very inviting bed and Sé's fluffy body, a comfortable little pillow. But the siofra just yawned widely and rubbed her forehead a little, and patted the beast's neck so he'd walk forth, in direction of the town. Stretching as the bjërna slowly walked to the town, Avane-Sïve yawned again and then let her shoulder slump down a bit. She was really tired. Getting some sleep right now wasn't that bad of an idea, but it wasn't a smart decision to wander around town asleep, mounted on a bjërna. Concious was already a little insane - at least, so was she told - so passed out was even worse. Avane watched the little koala-being curled up between the hump of muscles Balunga hand between his shoulders and scratched his pale rose mane. Sé stretched a little and rolled to his back, making a murr-like sound and keeping quiet.

Upon entering the town, the tomboy girl scratched her forehead a little and blinked twice to push the sleep away. She rubbed Balunga's head a little before slipping off the saddle and patting on his dorso, walking by the bjërna's side. He made a little happy growl - at least Avane knew it was happy - and shook his head a bit, before yawning with what sounded like a meanincing roar, but really wasn't. Avane rubbed his muzzle and looked around the town. She couldn't believe how hectic the town buzzed around her. It didn't make her feel uncomfortable, though. She actually like the buzz, she liked how it was so different from the forests and the quiet mountains. She liked to discover and learn about everything. Afterall, why would she become a wanderer if not because of the curiosity of learning.

The girl adjusted her hairpin a little and walked up to a booth where some jewelry made with seashells was being sold. This made her remember something, but she wasn't really sure what. Most of her memory of her childhood had been gone, as if there had been a reset button pressed when she embraced her druidic life. She watched them and smiled a bit, before looking at the bjërna, who seemed amused with the children pointing at him. Sure, it was a town that was used to unusual people and, most probably, mounts, but it was true too that bjernai were one of the most unreliable mount. Probably if she hadn't been together with Balunga ever since he was a small cub, he wouldn't be reliable either, but they were both more than used to each other, and even Sé made him comfortable. Not that he was domesticated, no. He was just unusually calm for such animal.

"Mommy, mommy! Look at the big bear!", a child spoke, pointing at the yawning beast.

"Quiet, Olihay!", the mother admonished her child, picking him up and walking away in fear. Only but normal for a mother to be overly protective of their child. Just like the man selling the sea jewelry was protective of his business.

"Boy, I believe your mount is scaring off some costumers. If you're not planning on buying anything, could you please... you know, take it away from here?"

Avane twitched lightly and gritted her teeth, "Girl. I am a girl!", she hissed, glaring up at the man, "Do all girls have to have big boobs to be noticed as girls?", Avane patted Balunga's dorso, "And he wouldn't be very unfriendly unless I told him to.", she muttered as she walked, rubbing the beast's muzzle. "Would you, Balunga?", she asked with a little tired sigh. If only people realized that animals weren't evil, everything would be much more simple.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, where was her foolish sister?!

Ayame sighed wearily, fiddling with the tassle on the end of her bamboo umbrella. The afternoon sun was bright today, shining its warmth over the people fortunate enough to be outside. Or, in Ayame's opinion, unfortunate. Her silk kimono, which normally felt light and soft, was beginning to feel stiff and uncomfortable, and a thin layer of perspiration was forming on her skin. She didn't like to sweat. And to make matters worse, the market was crowded with people and the air smelled faintly of fish.

If it were up to her, Ayame would be sitting in her room, reading or perhaps listening to some music and sipping some tea. But her twin sister, Tsubaki, had run off into the city the night before for some gambling and had failed to return in the morning. Typical. No matter how many times Ayame lectured Tsubaki about having more dignity and maturity about being a Hiroko, her sister always ended up pulling off rash and foolish stunts like this, and it was always Ayame who ended up chasing after her in case there was trouble. She knew Tsubaki was capable of taking care of herself but that didn't stop Ayame from worrying.

So now she was combing the markets of Cerenis for any sign of her fellow Hiroko and twin. She tried to ignore the pungent smell of fish and the people jostling by and the grunts of a bear. Wait, a bear? Turning, Ayame realized why there was a commotion at the stand of a merchant selling some pretty jewellery. There stood a most peculiar group: a boy arguing with the merchant, a bear-type creature, and a koala. Ayame raised an eyebrow but did not comment. All sorts passed by here in Cerenis. It was a port city and thus, many a traveler passed by from all over the world. Best to move on.

But before she could take another step forward, a shadow blocked out the sunlight and a figure stood in her path - a man, it seemed. He whipped out a knife and grinned, standing close enough to Ayame so that passer-bys could not see the blade in his hand. Ayame's eyes narrowed.

"Don' e'en try screamin' or I'll slip dis 'tween yer ribs," he muttered in her ear. "No sudden movements, now, an' pass me all yer money. Wit all those fancy clothes, I'm sure yeh gots plen'y."

Ayame stared at him, frozen. Did he honestly think he could threaten her? It was too bad she hadn't brought her katana with her that day, for she didn't think she would need it when she had left home. Well, she still had no need for it, but often enough, the sight of her katana strapped to her side kept thieves and other nasty people from even approaching her. She resisted the urge to sigh again. This foolish man was such a waste of time!

Still, she always kept her bladed fans with her. Slowly but surely, she began to reach into her wide sleeves...

[Anonymous]

And so, kicked out, the siofra sighed and walked by the bjërna quietly, hands by her side, as Sé turned on his belly and kept happily sleeping. Sleeping, right. She needed to find a place to sleep - not that she would mind going back to the forest and use Balunga as a bed. But, truth is, she did like beds. It was a thing she couldn't remember that well from her younger days, but ever since she began to explore the world, Avane did like to sleep on beds. Luxury was a bad, bad thing, she had come to a conclusion. But a nice bed would be very appreaciated, especially after of two days with no sleep to get to Cerenis as soon as she could.

Completely unaware of Ayame, the horned girl watched the various booths quietly, not lingering too long on them, except when she came to a food booth. She didn't have much money, but she could drool over the food. She hadn't eaten in some twelve hours because she didn't want to stop, and her food supply had ended. Good thing Balunga's saddle carried two water bottles, which had lasted until the end of the journey.

And even as the man came to Ayame, Avane continued unaware of everything, just like a regular person. She wouldn't be able to hear anything, really. The crowd was too lively, too loud, and her ears couldn't distinguish a thing from another, nor did her eyes. But she wasn't the only one there. As she lay her hand on Balunga's dorso, her sensitive palm and fingers felt him tense. As a siofra, she was able to sense things by touch that others wouldn't. And so, Avane turned her head to Balunga and petted his head softly.

"What is it?", she inquired in a whisper as they walked slowly through the crowd. He 'spoke' to her about the situation he had been observed. He was an animal, but he was also a curious one, and the scent and attire of the girl now in trouble had attracted his attention, and so did the assaultant's sudden appearance. Avane looked up to the two and frowned a little. She stood silently for a moment, before patting Balunga's head, "Come on, let's keep going.", and so they disappeared through the crowd.

Until the man was hurled back to where he came from by a powerful paw that hit him hard from behind. Really, the man seemed to wobble through the air. Avane-Sïve smirked and caressed the bjërna's head with affection, hugging his enormous neck. "Good Balunga!", she laughed and kissed his head, her face half-disappearing under the fur. It seemed that, because of this little rescue mission, so to speak, Sé had been forced to wake up and was now drozily attached to Avane's neck and shoulder, his long tail lazily swaying side to side like a slow pendulum.

The white-haired siofra turned to the Hiroko girl finally and rose a hand, smiling at her. "I hope I didn't scare you. Are you all right?", she tipped her head softly at the girl and gave a friendly smile.

[Anonymous]

Ayame's halted within her sleeve as her assaulter was thrown back into the air, landing on the ground with a loud thud and throwing up a small cloud of dry dust into the air. In his place stood the boy and his strange animals. Or rather...a girl? The way she carried herself and her feminine features - much more noticeable now that she was closer - became apparent on closer inspection, and her thoughts - completely open to Ayame's mind - gave her away.

Smiling faintly, Ayame removed her hand from her kimono sleeve and performed a small bow as best she could with her bamboo umbrella still in her other hand. She pointedly ignored the people who stared at their strange gathering, as well as the people gathering around the now-unconscious assaulter.

"I place my humble self in your debt," Ayame said, straightening. She didn't mention that she could have easily dispensed with the thief with a flick of her wrist, but even so, the strange girl and her beasts had saved her a world of trouble and time.

She sighed and reached into her obi, fishing out a folded silk handkerchief. Wiping off some of the sweat that had accumulated on her brow and tucking it back into her obi, she continued, "My name is Ayame. I would dearly love to pay you back for your brave deed, but I fear my time is currently being taken up by my search for my sister. But if you have a need for anything - anything at all - please ask."

[Anonymous]

Blinking at the politeness the Hiroko - even though she didn't know she was one - displayed and smiled a little embaressedly. "Ah, it's... it's okay. You'll have to thanks Balunga here, he's the one that noticed.", she smiled sweetly and rubbed the bjërna's big head. Avane then bowed in response, thinking that maybe it was a traditional way of greeting people in Cerenis.

Looking over Ayame's should to check on the man that was now wobbling standing up - Balunga had be careful enough, under Avane's command, to not to be too rough on the assaultant. Probably only with some bruises on his head, the druid let her smile grow a little and look at the girl again. She blinked again at the new information given to her and then stayed quiet for a bit, before speaking.

"Oh. Oh! Oh, no, no, it was nothing.", she laughed a bit and scratched the back of her neck with her index finger. She looked up at her and smiled, "Oh, right! Sorry, I keep forgetting to introduce myself. This is Balunga and this fellow here is Sé. Myself, I am Avane-Sïve. Just, call me Avane for short.", she kept forgetting to introduce herself to people per usual, as she had pointed out. Good thing Ayame did so before, or she'd probably be wandering with the siofra without knowing her name for a long time. Even though she explored the world ever since she was a young teen, the girl still forgot some basic polite manners; one could say that due to the druidic and isolate life she lived for some years would have never let its influence on her.

The girl shook her head to Ayame's question, but didn't go off to her mery way. Actually, she chose to offer her help. "Say, if you're looking for your sister, I can help you. And you seem a bit tired, if you want, Balunga can carry you.", she pointed to the bjërna. "He's a nice guy, even though people say bjernai aren't all that trustworthy.", Avane smiled wide, "You want some help?"

[Anonymous]

Ayame let out a small laugh as she watched the siofra introduce herself rather awkwardly. It was obvious that Avane was foreign, what with her appearance and her animal companions, but it was even more so when she muddled up her words in an attempt to be polite. Ayame, raised as a Hiroko since she was a child, was inclined to show the most respectful of manners. One had to be in order to be one of the closest servants and guardians of a goddess.

Leaning forward, Ayame reached out to pet the bjërna affectionately. Smiling, she looked straight into his eyes, connecting her mind with the bear's, and said out loud, "Thank you, Balunga, for your help. It was most appreciated."

Then straightening, she turned back to to Avane and replied, "Well, you are welcome to join me on my search. When we finish, we can return to the house I am staying at and you are welcome to stay and have dinner with us. You look like a weary traveler from far away, and I'm sure you could use a decent meal. It's the least I can do for your kindness.

"Now...I must warn you, my sister can be rather...wild," Ayame continued. "She goes where she wills, which most often brings her to some rather...how should I put this?...shady places. The next place I had hoped to search was the nearest tavern, The Ram's Head. You probably haven't had a chance to see or hear of it yet, but it's known for its strong drinks, gambling, and loose women. If you'd rather stay out of a place like that, then I won't force you, but I just wanted to let you know."

[Anonymous]

The bjërna stayed put when Ayame put her hand on his head and then bowed it a little, before shaking his body a little. Sé, on Avane's shoulder, made a little squeak-like sound and kind of jumped-floated to Balunga's head, sliding down to where he had been nesting before the sudden encounter.

Avane smiled widely at Ayame's offer of food - which made her innerly jig happily - and nodded, "All right, it's a deal.", the siofra turned a litle to the bjërna, and adjusted the saddle. Which, to tell the truth, wasn't really a saddle, more like a hand-made confortable support for Avane and, at least, one other person - after all, Balunga was long enough and much more than strong enough to carry two people on his dorso - as well as a kind of pouches that held supplies, objects she needed, and even a place for her sword and bow and arrows to rest.

As she adjusted said saddle, the siofra nodded to Ayame, so that she could understand that, even though she wasn't looking at her, Avane was paying attention to the older girl. She laughed a bit and turned her head slightly to her direction, "Ah, don't worry. Wild is not a foreign concept to me.", she stated, smiling at her, before returning to her job. She nodded and finished up some adjustments, "Yes, I've just arrived from a rather long trip. I'm trying to learn about the world. Knowledge is my motivation. And don't worry about said shady places, as you put it, I've been travelling for some years now, I know how shady some can get. I have no problems with that kind of places."

Avane, finished with her job, turned to Ayame and outstretched her hand to her, so she could help Ayame. "Come on, I'll help you mount. I'm guessing that dress doesn't offer much mobility.", she smiled.

[Anonymous]

Ayame could only stifle a laugh as Avane inwardly rejoiced at the offer of food. The siofra was obviously hungry and most likely out of supplies from her long journey. She was probably short on money, too, seeing as she hadn't bought anything at the market.

Taking Avane's offered hand and climbing onto Balunga's broad back with as much grace as she could muster, Ayame replied, "You'd be surprised how well you can learn to move around in a kimono, but I suppose there are other garments that do offer more mobility than this. But my clothes are a gift from the goddess Kimona herself, and it would be extremely rude and disrespectful if I chose not to wear them."

Ayame adjusted her kimono a bit and raised her umbrella above her head once more as she settled into the saddle. She was grateful for the ride, as she had been walking all day. Besides, the bjërna ensured that the crowds gave them a wide berth, which meant that Ayame didn't have to worry about people bumping into her or knocking her umbrella from her hand. It was a great relief.

"The tavern is further down this street, closer to the docks," Ayame said, gesturing in the general direction of The Ram's Head. As they set off towards the tavern, she continued. "So I take it you are a traveler? Where did you come from and why are you here in Cerenis? And I've never seen anyone like you or your animals. What are you?"

[Anonymous]

With Ayame set in front of her, Avane relaxed a little and let her legs hand from each side of the bjërna. She leaned back, her hands behind her body a little, completely at ease as the bear-like creature began walking calmly among the crowd. A smile and a nod came before her reply, "Well, the only clothes I've ever wore are mostly kind of what you're seeing me wearing right now.", she smiled, "But I think I understand what you mean. Disrespecting your belief, is disrespecting yourself.", she smiled and looked around the crowd, curious with all these new sort of people.

When directed towards The Ram's Head direction, Avane just smiled, but didn't say anything; she wouldn't have to, Balunga easily understood and turned to the appointed course, his large body effortlessly warning people to get out of the way.

Looking at Ayame with a rather naïve expression, the girl smiled then and laughed, nodding a bit, "Yes, I am a traveller. Well, I'm a druid, a Nature's daughter. But I am travelling around the world, to learn about everything I can. And to grow, as a person.", Avane seemed to gaze off to nowhere, before smiling calmly, turning back to the girl she was sat behind again. "Oh, right. I am a siofra.", she touched briefly on the tip of her horn with her index finger, to indicate that. As far as she knew, they were the only specie that proudly wore an ebony curled horn.

Avane then patted the mount's rear a little with a little laugh, making the bjërna roar softly, almost as if it was saying, 'hey, now!', which made the other little creature shuffle around in his sleep, twitching his big, round ears. "Balunga is obviously a bjërna and I have no idea what Sé is. The closest I've come to encounter of him is a specie called koala.", she shrugged softly.

"And, if you don't mind me asking, are you a human? Because you look like one", Avane carefully placed her fingertips on the girl's cheek, "but you don't feel like one.", she pulled her hand back and smiled softly, "You aren't human, are you?"

[Anonymous]

Hm, a siofra. Ayame thought hard, reaching far into the depths of her memory, turning the name in her mind and attempting to remember what she knew of them. Kimona had taught her and Tsubaki a lot of the world, and they had spent many years traveling and seeing all that the world had to offer. Siofra...ah, right, they were similar to elves but different enough to call themselves by another name, and although Ayame had never actually met a siofra, from what she knew, Avane fit the siofra image pretty well. But a Druid as well as a siofra? Now that was interesting. One didn't come across a Druid every day, especially one so young.

"Your goal is noble, indeed, and only a few in this world are courageous enough to pursue it," Ayame said. Absentmindedly, she reached out and stroked Sé's soft fur. "There is so much in this world that even I don't think it is possible to know everything about it. For example, even though I have traveled nearly the entire world, I've never encountered a creature like Sé before."

Ayame smiled faintly at Avane's question. "I was born human, but I am human no longer," she answered. She shifted in her seat so that she could push down the collar of her kimono until her entire left shoulder was exposed. There, on her upper left arm, were two tattoos: the first was that of a black panther, and the second was the symbol of the Hiroko. Ayame pulled up her collar again and adjusted it until it was perfect once again. "My twin sister, Tsubaki, is the same. We are Hiroko, guardians and servants of the goddess Kimona."

Before Ayame could explain any further, the bjërna halted. Sighing, Ayame carefully slid down from the bjërna's back and indicated the sign hanging above the building's door. Hanging off the sign was a pair of ram's horns surrounding the words The Ram's Head. Just beyond the door, one could hear boisterous laughter and smell strong ale and tobacco smoke.

"As you've probably guessed, we've reached our destination," Ayame said with a grimace. "Hopefully, this will be as quick and painless as possible. Unfortunately, Balunga and Sé will have to stay outside. The owner doesn't approve of animals inside his precious tavern."

The young Hiroko closed her umbrella and pushed open the tavern's heavy swinging doors. The pungent smell of alcohol and tobacco smoke instantly smote her nostrils, and it was made all the worse by the women's mixture of perfumes and...was that the scent of vomit? Ayame sighed again. Someone must have had one too many. Men laughed and women tittered as everyone drank and smoked and talked, and the place was rather gloomy despite the bright sun outside. How could anyone think anything good of this place?

"Hey, pretty lady," said a man, approaching Ayame and slinging his arm around her shoulders. Ayame tensed. The man only leered and waved dismissively at the siofra behind her. "Why don't you leave that little boy here and come lay down with a real man like me?"

Ayame frowned and, gripping her umbrella tightly, smacked him hard in the face, bowling him over and onto the floor. His glass of ale shattered on the dirty wooden floor, spilling its contents all over. Ayame forced the tip of her umbrella under the man's chin. "If you had eyes, you would see that I am hardly interested in the likes of you, and you'd also be able to see that my friend, here, is no little boy. And even if she was, she'd be more of a man than you ever could be."

Ayame released the man's chin and turned back to Avane. "You see what I mean? Honestly, I don't know why my sister comes here. Come, let's see if we can find her."

[Anonymous]

Sé seemed to appreaciate the little caresses, making a strange purring sound, barely audible, but could be felt through the fur the Hiroko was stroking. He shifted in his sleep and flapped his ears a little.

The girl blinked a little as Ayame shifted around and started to pull down the kimono. Blinking, she watched as the answer of why was she doing so was finally revealed when the tattooed skin was exposed to her. Avane tipped her head a little and then looked up, smiling at her. She didn't know what the Hiroko were, nor what did those tattoos mean, but she was smart enough to understand those two were related.

"I see.", she wanted to ask more questions about the Hiroko, but when Balunga stopped, she turned her head to look up to the sign, indicating their arrival. Avane's head turned again to Ayame and smiled, "Well, I'm glad to know we're looking for a twin.", she smiled and tipped her head, "It'll be easier to spot someone like you.", Avane complimented. She waited for Ayame to slide down, before jumping down herself, "Don't worry about them. They're used to be outside.", the siofra said, running her hands through Balunga's fur softly. She whispered affectionately to him and kissed his muzzle, which made him roar a little, before patting his head. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Walking behind Ayame, she looked around curiously. She didn't think it was that horrible, for she had been in worse taverns than the current one, but she kept observing it in a way as if she was actually learning something, before her attention snapped to the stentch of a very drunk man. Her fingers wrapped slowly around the hilt of the sword and frowned, followed by a groan when again mistaken by a boy. She knew her breasts were tiny, but they weren't that tiny! Or were they?

Just when Avane was about to draw her blade, she watched a little surprised Ayame's response to the man, before arching her eyebrows and smiling, not helping to let go of a short chuckle. She was pretty sure that, if she hadn't help Ayame earlier, she'd be just fine anyway. She relaxed her grip on the hilt, but did not go of the sword. Nodding to the Hiroko, Avane walked right behind her, careful to not to step on the fallen man, while her violet-coloured eyes scanned around the tavern for a sign of someone just like Ayame. To tell the truth, maybe she wouldn't spot her right away because she was expecting someone who was the perfect copy of the woman she was following right now.

[Anonymous]

Ayame let out a rare chuckle as she shook her head.

"I apologize, I should have told you earlier," she said. "Although Tsubaki and I are twins, we look quite different. I must admit, there is a sort of family resemblance. We have the same eyes and the same hair colour and I suppose we have similar body types, too. But Tsubaki, as I said earlier, is a bit wilder and more flamboyant, so she's more prone to lots of make-up and jewellery and hair ornaments. I wouldn't put it past her to wear some kind of outlandish clothing, either, but I believe she wore her black kimono when she went out last night. Even so, if you can get a glimpse of her left upper arm, you'll see the same tattoos that I have on mine. I would draw you a picture of her but I'm afraid I am no artist. Still, I hope that information helped you a little."

Smiling encouragingly at her siofra companion, Ayame began wandering between the tables in the tavern, surveying every face, trying to find any familiarity despite the poor lighting inside. She ignored the occasional jeers the men directed her way, as well as the snickers and whispers of the women, who sat with the men in their skimpy, loose clothing. Sighing in slight exasperation, Ayame rejoined Avane and whispered, "I haven't found her yet. Keep looking while I go ask the barman if he's seen my sister. He should be able to recognize her - she almost like a regular here..."

Ayame allowed her sentence to trail off as she left Avane for the barman at his counter. He was a rather beefy man with a ruddy face and straggly brown hair, and currently, he was wiping some tankards with a dirty rag. As he noticed Ayame approaching, he raised an eyebrow.

"You lookin' for Tsubaki again, eh?" he asked gruffly. When Ayame nodded, he went on. "She's up in one o' the private rooms upstairs." He flapped the dirty rag in the direction of the stairs. "You c'n go up there and fetch 'er yerself, if yeh want."

Ayame nodded again and muttered a thank you, leaving the barman and joining Avane again. She gently took the siofra's arm and led her away from the tables and the regular patrons of the tavern and said, "I spoke to the barman and he said Tsubaki is in one of the private rooms upstairs. I'm sorry, I should have asked the barman when we first came in since our last search was a waste of time. Still, perhaps we should go upstairs and search the private rooms?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The private room the party had booked was currently dark. All the lanterns had long been extinguished and all the shutters in the windows were closed tightly, letting in only the faintest slivers of afternoon light into the room. Several sleeping figures were sprawled about the floor, either on piles of cushions or cotton mats strewn on the straw-mat floor. A man snored in his sleep and a woman groaned and rolled over into a more comfortable position. In the center of the room was a low wooden table, on which several bottles of ale and whiskey sat alongside seven glasses and tankards. Also spread out on the table were several playing cards and gold coins.

Tsubaki rolled onto her back and raised a hand to rub her forehead. Her body was clearly protesting the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before. At the time, it had all seemed worth it. The laughter, the drinking, the gambling, the singing and dancing...It had been fun last night, but now it was all just a blurry memory.

She groaned as she stood up, doing her best not to fall over. Carefully stepping over her friends' sleeping forms, Tsubaki slowly made her way across the room and in the direction of the door. Her hair was a mess and the large orchid ornament in her hair was falling out, not to mention her black kimono - usually in pristine condition - was now wrinkled and a stain graced the hem by her right foot. Ayame would kill her when she found out. Yawning, Tsubaki carefully pried open the door and stumbled out into the hallway, shielding her bleary eyes from the harsh lantern light.

Speaking of Ayame...

[Anonymous]

"Oh.", Avane laughed a little at her own naiveté and nodded to her, as she explained of Tsubaki's physical appearance. "Thank you, it will help.", although the tattoo part was a little subjective, because many of the men (and women) that were around did have tattoos. Although, truth to be said, the symbol of the older girl's Goddess did not appear in any shoulders Avane took a look at.

A bit in the same situation of Ayame, she ignored, although slightly annoyed and twitching a little her brow, the invitations of the women, since they seemed to mistake her for an effiminated boy.

They were that tiny, apparently.

Which was enough by a woman to come behind the girl, wrap and arm around her neck and drunkly slobber some taunting proposal that made Avane arch an eyebrow and slowly peel the arm away from her shoulders. "Er, no. Thanks.", she pushed her off herself and gripped her hand a little tighter around the hilt of the sword, looking over her shoulder to watch the woman tumble over a man, laugh and forget about the siofra, who felt quite relieved to not to have to cause a hassle. She also took the chance to watch Balunga yawn and shake his head outside, quietly waiting for her to come back, ignoring a bunch of drunken mercenaries tripping their way out of the tavern, singing, hiccuping and laughing loudly. She rolled her eyes and yawned tiredly, rubbing an eye with her free index finger.

And so, disregarding those wolf whistles and proposals, Avane kept looking for the wild twin, before turning to Ayame when she told her that perhaps the barman would know of the missing girl's whereabouts. The siofra nodded simply and smiled, before looking around, trying to spot someone that would look like an exotic Ayame with a black kimono (which was pretty much as she pictured Tsubaki).

There was a slight problem, however. It was that, by being a siofra, Avane was rather sensitive to the sexual tension and warmth in the air and it made her slightly distracted. Not that she wanted to be, mind you, but it was just like the scorpion that killed the fish that helped it crossing the river: it was in her nature to be that way. Not only that, with two days in a row without sleeping, she was rather helpless to control her said nature. Thank goodness for Ayame's hand to pull her by the arm. With a sigh of relief and a shake of her head, she focused back on the task at hand and nodded. "All right."

Following Ayame up the stairs, Avane was careful to not to step on any of the people she was looking at that moment, passed out on the steps, with bottles at hands and women or man topping them. She tipped her head and then snickered a little. She found those situation funny, actually. She didn't know why exactly, but it was rather enjoyable to watch them.

Avane turned her eyes again to Ayame and then noticed a strange mirror at the end of the hallway they were currently in. No, wait. Not a mirror - it wasn't one because Avane wasn't behind Ayame in the reflexion and the replica of Ayame was not exactly like her, much more exotic, tired, and clearly with a hang over. That was probably Tsubaki. She poked the Hiroko in front of her on her shoulder and pointed in front of them.

"Tsubaki?", she guessed, pointing at the woman in front of them.

[Anonymous]

Ayame carefully stepped between the drunken people on the way upstairs, closely followed by Avane. Part of her dreaded the siofra's reaction to her sister. After all, weren't Hiroko supposed to be proud and looked up to by others as Kimona's chosen servants? Tsubaki, however, threw all that away for brief periods of foolishness. But, just behind her, Avane let out a laugh and Ayame relaxed somewhat. At least someone was finding some humour in the situation...

As they reached the top of the stairs, Avane was the first to fully make sense of the hallway before them. Ayame grimaced as she recognized the disheveled form of her twin, watching as Tsubaki stumbled out, half-asleep and very much hung over. In a flash, Ayame was by Tsubaki's side, catching her as Tsubaki keeled over, unable to keep balance.

Sighing, Ayame said, "Yes, Avane, this is my twin sister, Tsubaki. Tsubaki, meet Avane-Sïve, a siofra Druid I met in the marketplace and who has agreed to help me find you."

Tsubaki just groaned in response, leaning heavily on her sister for support. Ayame, in turn, adjusted Tsubaki's kimono so that it covered her shoulders and chest more decently and then secured the large orchid ornament in her dark hair. She then threw Tsubaki's arms over her shoulders and half supported and half dragged her across the hallway. Nodding to the siofra, she said, "I apologize on my sister's behalf for her appearance and conduct, and I thank you for your help. Could I ask you of a favour? Normally, carrying Tsubaki back home is a trying task but perhaps Balunga could help carry her? If it's too much, then I shall willingly carry Tsubaki on my own back. Our home isn't very far - it lies just on the outskirts of town, east of here and near the forest."

[Anonymous]

When Ayame lunged foward to support Tsubaki, Avane had done the same, holding her by her other arm. But, seeing as the Hiroko was taking care of the situation nicely, she slowly let her go, but still stood next to her, wouldn't Ayame need some help. Knowing that the girl was probably too hung over to even hear what her sister said, Avane just pulled the corner of her lips up and rubbed her neck a little, watching as the sister made the other a little more presentable.

She smiled at Ayame and shook her head, as she began talking, "Don't apologize. She's in her right to live a little, hey?", the siofra laughed softly and helped Ayame with Tsubaki, carefully placing an arm of the twin over her shoulders, her own arm pulling her up by wrapping around her waist and supporting her, so that she wouldn't carry all the weight. "And don't worry, Balunga can easily carry her, you and I. Although I'll use this as an excuse to stretch my legs a little.", the siofra smiled and Ayame with Tsubaki down the stairs, carefully taking notice of the people still asleep on the stairs.

Although as they began exiting, Avane seemed to suddently tense up and frown with a small quick and sudden intake of breath. She slipped off from Tsubaki's form and carefully handed her to Ayame, "Hold on, I need to see something.", were her last words before she shoved her way out through the crowd to outside.

The two drunken mercenaries seemed to think that Balunga would make a nice carpet. And since Avane had instructed him to not to respond to threats, he was just dodging and pawing away the scimitars their were poking him with. He and Avane had a strong connection and she had felt him in distress. Perhaps a cliché, but, as a druid, the siofra was practically obliged to have said connection with her long time friend. Arriving outside, the girl showed that, even though she was a small and rather slim creature, she had enough strenght to grab both men by their back and pulling them behind her harsh, making them fall on the ground.

"Hey!", slobbered a drunken man, "Thazz our carpeeet.", he sttod up dizzily.

Avane sneered and her hand gripped hard on the hilt of her sword, pulling it out a little from her scabbard, the slightly dirty metal of the blade hissing against it, "I swear by my horn, if you lay a finger on his fur, I will slice your head open faster than light before thunder.", she threatned, tense like an enraged cat, her jaw clenching hard.

[I hope it's okay throwing in a little, er, excitement? If not, just PM me or something and I'll change. :D Be my guest to control these NPCs too.]

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Nah, it's fine XD I like a little excitement to spice up RPs!)

Ayame was somewhat perplexed when Avane suddenly left, hurrying outside with a dark look on her face. Although she could bear Tsubaki's weight just fine on her own, she knew the siofra wouldn't have left her on her own unless something more important needed attending to. Avane didn't strike her as the lazy and rude type, after all.

So Ayame carefully set Tsubaki down in a relatively clean corner and rushed outside to join Avane to see what was going on. She was met with a crowd of drunken mercenaries, surrounding Avane, Sé, and Balunga with a ring of scimitars. Although Avane was the one with the sword, the mercenaries seemed to have their eyes fixed on Balunga, greed sparking in their eyes. Ayame tensed and wished for the second time that day that she had brought her katana with her, for although she didn't doubt for a second that Avane was strong and capable of defending herself, they were clearly outnumbered and even sheer number was sometimes enough to overcome the strongest of warriors.

One of the men behind Avane leapt forward suddenly, thrusting his blade in the siofra's direction, aiming it directly at her back. In a flash, Ayame drew one of her bladed fans out from within her kimono sleeve, whipped it open and hurled it in the attacker's direction in seemingly one fluid movement. It whistled through the air before connecting with his thigh. The man instantly dropped his scimitar and fell to his knees, howling in pain as dark blood spilled onto the ground. It was then that the men noticed Ayame's presence.

Drawing her other bladed fan and spreading it open before her face, Ayame said, "Don't you know it's bad form to attack someone from behind? It's terribly rude and very much dishonourable...although, I wouldn't expect low-lifes like yourselves to understand anything about honour." The, turning to Avane, she said, "Are you all right?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the tavern, the barman retreated from the window and went to pour out a cup of steaming hot tea. He bent down and raised the rim of the cup to Tsubaki's lips.

"Here, drink this, it'll help clear your head," he said. "You must hurry. Your sister and her friend are outside fighting off some dangerous men. I know them. They're pretty regular around here. What I know of them is that they're deadly and fearsome warriors and they greatly outnumber your sister and her friend. You should help them."

Tsubaki groaned aloud and then rubbed her head with one hand and took the cup of tea in her other, downing it quickly despite the scalding hot liquid. Although her head still hurt and her sight wasn't entirely clear yet, the tea did help. That barman is a miracle-worker, she thought absentmindedly. Sighing, she slowly and carefully stood up. After wobbling a bit, she managed to remain upright with a semblance of a grin on her face. Drawing her chakrams from underneath the folds of her kimono, she said, "It's about time some action has come around to this place. Time to have some fun, I think!"

[Anonymous]

The ears and extremely sensitive skin of Avane almost didn't pick up the sound and the vibrations the bladed fans caused as they quickly pierced through air, before a gurgle of pain sounded behind her. She turned her head back a little, watching the fallen man and then looked at Ayame. She really didn't see her before, too focused on the mercenaries that had positioned themselves in front of her. With a nod and a worried face, the girl answered the Hiroko, before pulling her whole sword out of the scabbard, which whispered in a metallic tongue as it was drawn. Balunga behind her roared, but Avane rose a hand, in warning. She didn't want her companion to get into troubles, knowing that he would have many more than she would, for he was a bjërna - he could easily be accused of typical violent behaviour and executed for 'safety of others' as once had happened.

"Filfthy, insolent little whore.", one of the less drunk mercenaries cursed at Ayame, raising his blade over his head, "Die!"

But before he could do anything, Avane proved that wearing pants was more than comfortable: it was also useful for flexibility issues. The lithe girl lunged foward and kicked high above her head, to the man's face, with a strenght that one wouldn't guess she had, throwing him to the ground. "Hands off!", she hissed, before jumping up high, evading an attempt to slide her in half by two men. She descended over the crossed blades, forcing the men to kneel or released them. As they picked the first option, Avane round kicked on, while stretching the other arm to hit on the man's face with the hilt of her sword.

"Are you all right?", Avane asked Ayame worried, before gasping in surprise as her leg was pulled down by the kicked man she thought she had knocked unconscious. "Agh!", the girl gasped as she hit the floor with torso, knees and chin.

[Anonymous]

As a second man raised his blade to strike the Ayame, the Hiroko tensed and readied her one fan to defend herself, but before the strike came, he immediately fell thanks to Avane. And, indeed, anger and alcohol did not mix, for at once, the men suddenly charged their small group and chaos ensued. Poor Balunga, powerful enough to attack but forced not to for his own good, roared and growled, attempting to scare off his attackers while Avane did her best to take down as many of the men as possible. Ayame had to admit that Avane was a force to be reckoned with, but even she could not fend off so many people at once with just four limbs and two blades.

Before Ayame could respond to the siofra's question, Avane was suddenly pulled downwards. Eyes flashing dangerously, Ayame leapt forward, kicking the man's hand away from the siofra's leg and then delivering yet another kick to his gut, forcing him to scream and curl up in pain. She bent downwards and pulled Avane back up onto her feet.

"I should be the one asking you that question, it seems," Ayame said with a faint smile. But then, just as suddenly, three men came charging forward, blades up in the air and ready to cut down anyone in their paths. "Actually, it seems we're both in a bit of a pinch..."

Ayame allowed her sentence to trail as her dark eyes flashed and - quite suddenly - she disappeared, her form being replaced in the form of a shadow on the ground. The shadow was a blur against the ground until it stopped beside Ayame's thrown fan from earlier. The Hiroko's true body then reappeared, stooping over to retrieve her second bladed fan.

However, before she could ready herself to help defend Avane from her three assailants, Ayame was taken by surprise as yet another man appeared, crashing into her and sending both of them onto the ground. She felt a shooting pain in her right shoulder as it hit the ground as she struggled to disentangle herself from her attacker. In the brief scuffle, she felt the man's blade swipe her left leg, causing warm blood to seep into the fabric of her kimono and trail down her leg. Hissing with pain, she smashed the dull end of one of her fans into his face and struggled to her feet, breathing hard.

"My, my, it's been a long time since I've seen action like this, but it's been even longer that I've seen my sister look so beaten up. Getting rusty, Ayame-neesan?"

[OOC: Not sure if you're familiar with Japanese, but in case you aren't, Neesan is Japanese for older sister ^^; ]

[Anonymous]

She smiled a little, pulled back into her feet, an eye closed in pain. Even though that for maybe a human it was just a little pain, being a siofra enhanced all of her feelings, pain being one for them. It felt a little worse than a mean punch, but Avane didn't complain much. Seeing the aprehension in Ayame's eyes, she turned to the three remaining attackers, taking a good, firm grip around the hilt. "I'm a serious trouble-magnet.", she sighed a little to herself.

She blinked and snapped head to the place where Ayame had been, confused by her sudden disappearance, but not noticing the shadow nor the blur. Her violet eyes set again on the three men and took a step back to assume a defense stance. She heard Ayame's shout then, though and it broken her focus for a moment.

"Ayame!", Avane shouted, but didn't get to rush over to the girl, because a small throwing ax was hurled in her direction.

She evaded just on time.

Turning her attention to the men, she didn't hear Tsubaki arriving, too busy parrying the swords of her attackers. Though three against one was not an easy task; wasn't she so fast, she would probably end up with a neck cut in half. A blade parted the skin of the throat a little, and the other nearly cut off her hand, didn't she leap on the last moment. However, as she did so, one of the men missed Avane's head by accident, but hit her ebony coloured horn, throwing a screaming siofra to the floor. Although it did not bleed nor got scratched, the nerve-covered horn was more than a sensitive place. The strong hit with the blade had felt like both an exploding headache combined to what million paper-cuts between your toes would feel like.

Dropping the sword as she hit the floor with a dry THUD!, Avane curled into a ball, holding her head between her hands while whimpering between clenched teeth, breathing fast and heavily. Balunga roared and shook its body in rage, not caring about the orders Avane gave him and quickly placing himself in front of the girl, hitting the three men like if they were ragged dolls with one of his massive forearms against the wall. He roared in a warning, not moving an inch from using himself as a shield to protect Avane, who was still writhing in pain.

[I'm not very familiar with Japanese, but I know some little things. Thank you for the attention, though! :) ]

[Anonymous]

Ayame gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore the stinging pain in her left leg while listening to Avane's cries and Balunga's deafening roars, unable to run to come to their aid. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a dark, lean figure - Tsubaki, in her loose black kimmono and her two chakrams drawn and in each hand. Yet her sister seemed quite relaxed, despite their situation, although Ayame attributed it to her sister's hang over. Still, Tsubaki seemed, for the most part, recovered somehow.

Gripping her fans tightly, Ayame cried out, "Tsubaki, don't just stand there! Avane! Help Avane!!"

Tsubaki lazily turned her gaze over to Avane, Balunga, and Sé, who were all being assaulted by the drunken mercenaries. As Avane began to scream in pain and the men began to overwhelm their tiny group, Tsubaki's black eyes suddenly brightened and glittered with a kind of excited madness.

"You mean them? As you wish, sister," she said with a grin and a little bow.

Then, in a flash, Tsubaki was in the midst of the clashing blades and flailing fists, swinging her bladed rings in every direction in a flurry of strikes, all the while grinning and taunting the drunken men as her chakrams connected with either their blades or their flesh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one particularly burly man coming her way, a large wooden club in his hands, and in an instant, one of her chakrams flew from her hand. It flew straight and true, slicing the man's side - painfully enough to inflict plenty of damage but not enough to kill him. The man fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Smirking, she turned back to the group of men. "Well? Anyone else want some more?"

From where she was, Ayame sighed as she hurriedly tried to wrap up her wound with some ripped pieces of cloth from her kimono in an effort to stop the bleeding. She had to get to Avane as quickly as possible, for even though she trusted her sister, Tsubaki was chaotic and who knew what she would do next? She knew from experience that Tsubaki sometimes became so wrapped up in what she was doing that she forgot about all others - in this case, the 'others' Ayame was most concerned about were Balunga and Avane.

Grimacing as she tightened her makeshift bandage, Ayame disappeared once again into a shadow on the ground, moving forward, past Balunga's massive figure, until she was beside the siofra on the ground. Ayame gasped when she finally saw Avane's writhing form, which also suffered from wounds from the attackers (although, thankfully, nothing major). Still, the siofra seemed to be in terrible pain so Ayame gently touched her shoulder.

"Avane! I'm so sorry for leaving you like that, but I'm here now," Ayame said. "What's wrong? What can I do to help you?"

[OOC: No problem =)]