A Violinist's Day [Open]

A brand new day. It wasn’t quite noon yet but it was fairly warm out; and extremely humid. Still, that did nothing to dampen Michie’s spirits. She had been meaning for quite some time now to find a violin that would be strong enough to withstand battle: something she could flow chakra through without worrying about destroying, and which could take a hit or two if she was too slow to dodge an attack. She had the violin in the case she was carrying but she doubted it was up for the task. She also had to pick up some new strings for her current violin; they hadn’t broken, but it just didn’t sound quite right to her ears anymore and that simply wasn’t going to do.

Even though it was humid out the young girl was wearing her usual black leggings tucked into black leather boots with a nearly knee length white dress over top and her blonde hair was down, bangs falling into bright blue eyes that seemed to shine through regardless as if they had a light of their own. Even now Michie reached up and pushed some of the bangs out of her face before continuing on down the street with her violin case in hand.

She wasn’t quite to the market yet and she found herself pausing along the sidewalk and sitting her case down so that she could push her blond hair back and behind her shoulders; the nape of her neck already soaked from the humidity. ”Bleah.”, she commented to herself as with a sigh she picked her case up once more and continued on about her way: drawing the attention of several more shady looking individuals whom were quite curious as to why a little girl wandered the streets alone with something as expensive as a musical instrument.

Word Count: 308

Myuto, Sakana and Same were on their way back from the docks, each carrying a box of supplies. Myuto was obviously stronger than Sakana and Same, carrying 3 boxes, while his siblings both carried one each. Sakana and Same both looked like they were struggling with their one boxes, while Myuto wore his usual plain expression, having no trouble with his three.

It was a humid day. Same wore a wife beater, shorts and sandals. Sakana wore a small shirt and even smaller shorts, leaving little to the imagination. Myuto was dressed as he usually was, in his dark colored hoodie, jacket and loose fitting pants, looking as if the humidity didn't bother him at all. Sakana's voluptuous body several times garnered them followers, causing Myuto to scare them off several times while making their way back to the restaurant.

The siblings all stopped for a while to take a break and re-hydrate themselves from their bottles. Myuto demonstrated his fast speed, causing their horny followers to yelp and go running off. Same laughed and Sakana simply looked in another direction making a "hmmph" noise.

"Don't act like you don't like the attention Sakana, you wouldn't have dressed like that if you didn't," said Same.

"Shut up you little twerp, what do you know," replied Sakana. Myuto took a long drink from one of his bottles, shaking his head...

4,224 words

The arrival to Kirigakure was without fanfare which told Demitria that news of their crime had not yet spread this far. The violence that had happened back in Yokuchigakure had yet to be reported: Demitria could only help but wonder if the dead bodies had even been cleaned up yet considering how fast her and Konran had traveled. For now though her thoughts shifted back onto finding her father and sister. What would be the best place to look for them? Demitria couldn’t help but think that maybe the market would be the best place… even if they were here and left if something had happened surely there would be gossip spreading everywhere about it.

”Let’s start with the market… if nothing else there will be rumors if they were here.”, Demitria would comment to Konran as she began to make her way in that general direction: once again drawing stares due to her colorful and albeit slightly indecent appearance. As before she ignored the stares and simply blew bubbles with the gum in her mouth while her bat rested on her right shoulder.

It seemed the market was a fairly busy place; there was a lot of hustle and bustle nearby along with several shady looking individuals. Demitria could have probed into their minds to see what they were up to but she didn’t bother wasting her time: if anything they likely were the type to try and rob those who passed by unawares. In fact, as Demitria focused on them more it seemed their attention was on a little girl who looked as if she were all alone. The girl was definitely young, and carried a case that looked like it held a small muscle instrument in it: perhaps a violin? A frown formed on her face as she looked around in search for anyone who looked like they might be with the girl. ”Who the hell lets their child wander through the streets like this alone?”, she commented as her frown deepened. Demi herself might have been a killer and many other terrible things but there were certain morals and codes she kept to when it came to children.

Even though this situation wasn’t sitting right with her for the moment she decided to hang back and just watch: she could have just continued on about her day but there was something about this situation that she simply didn’t like. She had a bad feeling about what might happen next…

WC: 394

Kirigakure. It was a large village with buildings made of metal. There was a lot of water, leading Konran to believe that the Shinobi here specialized in Suiton Jutsu. Were there Shinobi here, for that matter? Or would this village be just like Yokuchigakure? If drama happened, and Demi was forced to bash someone's brains in again, would someone come to intervene?

Speaking of drama... It seemed Demi had already spotted something, after suggesting they try looking around the marketplace. The air here was very humid; it was like being inside of a sauna. Konran took off his hood and switched hands holding the Shift Blade, exercising his fingers from holding on to it for so long. Eyes were on them, but most of them were on Demi, for obvious reasons. She stood out where ever she went...

Ahead of them among the hustle and bustle of a busy place such as this one was a small girl. She had a case with her that looked like it housed a musical instrument he'd seen in a book once, but forgotten the name of. Demi wondered out loud who would leave a girl as young as she was alone in a place like this. Almost the same time that Demi noticed, Konran also noticed a group of questionable looking individuals nearby, all on the little girl.

As they were pretty much villains now with what they'd done back in Yokuchi, it seemed like they were going to have to play the hero role soon too. From the looks of things, a child alone in a shady place like this wasn't sitting right with Demi. Perhaps it was because she had a small sister of her own, but Artemis wasn't exactly small and helpless. If Konran was being honest, it scared him how strong such a little girl like Artemis was.

Demi wasn't becoming immediately involved just yet, she was only watching. So for the time being, Konran watched too. He reached into one pocket to fetch his bag of "green," and into another pocket to fetch rolling papers. He wondered what Demi was planning while rolling up his next "cigar..."

2,855 + 359 = 3,214

As Michie continued to make her way down the street it didn’t exactly escape her notice that people were looking at her: nor the type of people they were. Her grip on her violin case tightened and she felt her heart rate accelerate quite a bit. She was no stranger to conflict but fighting with an adult? Let alone more than one? It just didn’t seem like a good idea. She stepped faster, trying to get into the proper market before anyone could try anything.

Of course… her increased speed only drew more attention to herself. Sure enough several of the scum bags who had been watching her began to hurry their way across the street while ignoring all others around. “Wait up, lil girl...”

“Yeah, maybe we can help you with your case...”

“What’s in there anyway?”

“Yeah, what’ve you got in there?”

Michie didn’t respond, and instead just continued to move faster – attempting her best to ignore the four people now following after her. She didn’t know exactly what they wanted – outside of wanting to know what was inside of her violin case – but she had no intentions of wanting to find out. ”Leave me alone!”, she called out without bothering to look back.

WC: 207 | 515

Myuto wanted to start back training. He wanted to start back doing missions to sharpen his skills. it seemed like every since the Mizukage came to the restaurant that time, some like his sister kept coming up with things and tasks and errands to keep him busy. Myuto normally didn't let things get beneath his skin, but if he was being honest it was starting to get on his nerves.

A small girl caught Myuto's eye. From the hurried way she was walking, it looked like she was tin a rush to get somewhere... or away from someone. He tuned his ears to the sound and could hear footsteps behind her, and voices asking her to wait up, and what was in the case. She said "leave me alone" which mean that trouble could be coming next...

Myuto finished his swig and put his bottle back into his pack and turned to start heading towards the situation. "Hey Myuto, what are you doing? We still have to get this back to the restaurant," Sakana said, sensing that her younger brother was about to get caught up in "bothersome Shinobi stuff" as she called it, something that she'd been trying her best to keep him out of with lots of randomness. Myuto ignored her and kept walking. "Myuto don't you hear me talking to you?"

"Hey that girl looks like she's in trouble," Same said.

"So what? That has nothing to do with us, we have a job to finish."

"...There's a bunch of guys after that girl, what if it was you? You really expect bro to sit out if someone's in trouble?" Sakana frowned and grumbled under her breath...

4,505 words

Just as Demitria had been expecting several individuals began to follow after the little girl as she began to move faster – apparently she too had noticed the looks she was getting. The little girl seemed to have no interesting in answering the questions of those who were following her and even told them to leave her alone. Of course they weren’t going to listen.

Which was precisely why Demi was going to intervene. It probably wasn’t her place but she didn’t care: the little girl was alone, no parent or older sibling in sight to help the child out. Demi couldn’t just stand back and watch something happen to the child when she could have prevented it. ”Time to go kill people!”, she would exclaim, loud enough to be heard. Her words would cause the four who had been following the girl to glance backward at Demi who had begun to make her way over to them. ”Why don’t you guys pick on someone a little closer to your size, eh? Leave the girl alone...”

“Whats it to you bitch?”

“You’re making a big mistake!”

Demitria laughed and grinned. ”A big mistake, eh? Against the four of you? You guys don’t look very tough. I bet you I won’t even break a sweat handling you four.”

“You think you can handle us, lady? You’re welcome to try...” The one who spoke came rushing over and Demi as per usual was ready and waiting. Before the man even begun to unsheath the rusty sword at his side and swing it Demi was already stepping and ducking out of the way; keeping even a single hair on her head from being touched as the blade passed through a gap in her hair and completely avoided her all together. Another of his friends rushed toward her and with the same kind of pre-thought she dodged an attack aimed at her kidney, moving away before the man could even fully move to strike: all of her actions happening as if she was seeing them before they even happened.

Demi simply laughed, not even breathless. ”You’ve got to try a little harder than that if you want to get me...” The first man to try and attack her tried again and once more Demi danced out of the way, though this time around she aimed an attack with her bat at the back of his head which hit with a resounding crack before leaving a nasty indent that had the man hitting the ground and going straight into a violent seizure.

Word Count: 420 | 814

Konran finished rolling his "cigar" but didn't get the chance to light it. The girl was off, and the shady looking dudes who looked like they were plotting something devious were all after her. Demi yelled that it was time to kill, and Konran wanted to facepalm. Sometimes he forgot that Demi wasn't a normal girly girl but a total psychopath. Many heads turned to face them, and with what she'd already yelled Konran figured it was no use playing the tourist anymore.

She was going to get into it with these four guys. They turned and the usual shit talk went back and fourth, before it came to blows. A couple of them tried hitting Demi, only for her to start demonstrating her ability to perceive attacks. With the way she dodged, it was as if she knew what was coming before it came. Konran put his "cigar" behind his left ear and figured he may as well join in. At this rate they were going to have a bad rep in every village, and if Demi was going to be labeled as a criminal and a terrorist, he couldn't let her be alone in that.

Konran dashed forward. He jumped in between 2 of the four; one of them being the one holding the sword. He executed a punch and a kick at the same time while between them, hitting both in the face. Both fell and rolled several times. The one with the sword jumped back up, and Konran took a stance, crouched, with the Shift Blade at his side, and his right hand hovering above the handle, ready to draw it out. the rusty sword goon rushed at Konran and made a wild swing. Konran drew and blocked; the force of the block sending his sword from his grasp.

Konran made several blinding slashes. In the end, he sheathed the Shift Blade. When the sword was fully within the sheath and the handle touched wood, the goon before him fell to bloody pieces. An eruption of screams began from the crowd that was watching. the other goon looked a mix of scared/angry. Konran turned to face him next...

3,214 + 363 = 3,577

Michie risked a glance backward as she heard a female voice speak up. It seemed that those following her had suddenly come a stop and shifted their attention onto the oddly dressed female: her outfit and her hair told Michie that she wasn’t from around here. There also seemed to be someone else with her, someone who had a funny looking sword. While she probably should have been running away she found herself rooted to the spot: watching as if she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

One of the men after her attempted to attack the odd female only for the female to dodge and maneuver around her attacks as if they were nothing. It was odd the way the girl was never hit no matter how they tried to hit her. The guy with her also jumped in, executing his own hits that were delivered with the type of skill that told Michie these two were well trained and likely high ranking shinobi – or fighters of some kind since they definitely weren’t dressed like the typical shinobi would be.

As if in a trance Michie kept watching, her grip on her violin case never slipping or loosening as she did so. Who were these people? Where had they come from?

WC: 211 | 726

There was definitely some trouble. The guys chasing the little girl suddenly encountered others... others that he hadn't seen before. The reading he got from Echolocation told him that these 2 were no ordinary fish in the sea. These were sharks...

The female... She was dodging attacks before they were even fully launched. It was like she could see the future. She was armed with a blunt wooden weapon, but there was more to it than met the eye, he was sure of it. After she hit one of the guys, he went down and began to seize.

The male... He didn't look like anything special, but he demonstrated combat skill of his own. After punching and kicking 2 of the guys, he demonstrated extreme skill with his sword. Myuto could barely follow the speed in which he cut one of the guys up, causing him to fall to pieces.

Screams began, and people started running away. Myuto seemed torn. Would he be able to take both of them by himself? There was also the matter of his brother and sister; they weren't going to just leave him here no matter how much he insisted that they did. They could get dragged in, and those 2 could use them as leverage. Myuto didn't want to just run off; he felt compelled to confront those 2.

Same and Sakana both grabbed Myuto, attempting to drag him from the scene. "Come on, we need to get out of here while we can," Sakana said, looking and sounding scared. "You're strong Myuto, but you can't take on 2 monsters like that on your own... Come on, i'm sure the Mizukage is getting wind of this, leave it to her..."

"Yeah bro, come on, let's bail," added Same. Myuto wouldn't be able to live this down if he just ran away...

4,812 words

Konran dispatched of the goon with the rusty sword with ease and it began to cause a panic from the crowd, evident from their screams. While Konran went to face off with his second goon Demitria turned her attention to her own. A sickly sweet smile formed on her face as she lifted her left hand and made a ‘bring it’ gesture. The goon looked around, scared and seeming to be hoping she was gesturing to someone else. But, there was only him. He reached to his belt and pulled out what looked to be some kind of hammer: a weapon he had likely picked up or stolen off of someone.

Demi suddenly rolled her eyes and then laughed, causing the goon who had been about to rush toward her to pause. ”That’s all? You might as well hit yourself in the head… You’re not going to get me with that little toy.”

The goon was embarrassed, and this embarrassment led to rage. Without thinking about what he was about to do, or the consequences of it, he rushed toward Demi suddenly as he raised the weapon by the handle high over his head with both hands. As he neared he began to bring it down but once more Demi was already moving and already out of the way. With the hammer in the midst of being brought down he ran past her and right into a wall; the pull side of the hammer which had been sharpened impaling him in the gut and causing him to immediately spew blood.

It was then that Demitria’s attention shifted back to the little girl – the goon would be dead within twenty or so seconds considering his wound – and noticed that still no one had rushed to her aide. There still didn’t seem to be a parent around or even an older sibling or cousin for that matter. She was still all alone in what could have been a very horrible situation for her had Demi and Konran not stepped in to help out. Thinking quickly she made her way over to the little girl casually, her bat resting once more on her right shoulder. When she neared, were the little girl not to run away, she would kneel down so that she was eye level with her. ”Hello, little one. Are you alright?”, the words were spoken in a calm voice, as to not scare the child. ”Why are you out here all by yourself? Where are your parents? Isn’t someone looking after you?” Depending on the child’s answers would depend on Demitria’s next course of action… an action that might make several people very, very angry with her.

WC: 448 | 1,262

The last goon standing - since Demi out smarted her last opponent, making him stab himself - ran towards Konran looking pissed off and terrified. It was the typical move of idiots; rushing towards a highly trained opponent head on. Konran didn't take any action and just watched him, looking calm. The last goon began to launch a barrage of attacks at Konran in desperation and fear of his life; attacks that Konran dodged with ease.

Konran returned fire. A right hand slammed into his jaw. A left kick impacted his mid-section. A left, then a right hand slammed into his jaw. He was swept from his feet, then hit while in the air, sending him slamming to the ground on his back. Them a boot raised up and came down in his head. This happened twice more, the goon screaming in the meantime, but the second stomp brought silence with a disturbing crunch sound.

Using his head a s step stool, Konran took his "cigar" from his left ear and lit it, taking several large drags. Demi went to the girl - if she didn't run- asking if she was alright. She asked why she was out here alone, where her parents were, and if someone was looking after her. It dawned on Konran what she was about to do, after hearing several stories from her father Alec.

In one of his rare moments of speaking, Konran voiced his concern. "Hey, hold on... You're not about to do what I think you are, are you? Stealing a page from your father's play book?... Murder is one thing, but kidnapping..."

Someone would be after them. Konran didn't mind killing but taking a girl from her village, her parents, her family... Konran was sure they would walk the fires of hell to get her back. He wasn't sure about having something like this on his conscience.

3,577 + 313 = 3,890

The next individual the strangely dressed female went up against attempted to attack her with some kind of hammer. The guy raised it high above his head and rushed at her just for her to dodge out of the way. In the end he ended up attacking himself as he ran into a wall and drove the pointed end of the hammer straight into his own gut. As he spewed blood Michie raised her free hand and covered her mouth with a wince: that had to hurt. The last of the goons who had been after her went up against the guy with the sword and rushed toward him while launching a barrage of attacks. The guy with the sword managed to dodge all of the attacks with what looked to be ease before attacking back.

Before she could see what happened to the guy she noticed the female approaching her. While Michie remained where she was the female knelt down in front of her so that she was eye level. She asked several questions which caused Michie to look at the ground, kicking the toe of her left shoe in the dirt. ”I’m okay.. I don’t know where my dad is. I think he’s busy with my brother… I needed to go to the market and I didn’t want to wait.”, she would respond softly.

Her attention then would shift to the male as he asked Demi something that confused her: was she planning something? The word kidnapping came up and Michie found herself looking from the man to the strange female. What was going on? Kidnapping? She knew what the word meant, but who were they going to kidnap?

WC: 282 | 1,008

Myuto decided he couldn't just stand here, he had to do something.

Same began to tremble as he looked at the 2 powerful strangers. A terrified expression was on his face. As the guys chasing the girl began to be dispatched, Myuto pushed Sakana and Same off of him and prepared to join the fray, until Same yelled loudly.

Same didn't look like he was going to be much of a fighter because of his weak constitution, but he had a strange ability. Sometimes he would have visions. It was rare, but these visions that he had were frighteningly accurate. Same ran to grab Myuto again, his eyes already spilling tears into his face. This gave Sakana the chance to grab him again too, this time in a headlock.

"Bro no! Don't!" Same cried. "I...I saw what'll happen!... If you fight them, that girl is gonna kill you! You're gonna die!" Myuto looked down at him in surprise. Was she really that strong? That dangerous?... Myuto still found himself wanting to do something anyway, seeing the female kneel in front of the girl to begin asking her questions.

"Myuto you know how it is when Same does that sight thing of his! He's never wrong!" added Sakana. "Think about it! Don't be stupid! What will we do without you!?" Even Sakana sounded like she was going to cry. Myuto was forced to stare towards the guy with the sword and the female in silence.

5,056 words

The little girl responded that her father and brother were off busy somewhere: a mother wasn’t mentioned at all which made Demi think she didn’t have one. A frown formed back on Demi’s face: the girl wanted to do some shopping but apparently hadn’t had anyone to go with which had led to her attempting to go by herself. Demi didn’t like thinking about what might have had happened to her had Demi and Konran not come along when they did.

Konran inquired as to what she was going to do; his assumption of her kidnapping the little girl was correct of course. She was indeed planning on doing just that considering the girls response. ”Come now, Konran.. I can’t very well just let her roam the streets by herself now can I?”

It was then she noticed several individuals nearby, two of the three looking quite distressed. They seemed to be stopping a third from intervening which caused Demi to grin somewhat. She then focused her attention back to the little girl while thinking quickly. She held her hand out to the little girl, her left free hand. ”Come with me… you’ll never have to worry about people like those men trying to hurt you ever again.”, she spoke softly to the girl, not wanting her voice to carry too far. This was no attempt at Genjutsu as she kept her usual voice – though she did keep eye contact with the child if Michie didn’t look away. Sure, Demitria could have just snatched the child up and taken off with her, but she preferred to try this method first. The little girl coming willingly would be a lot easier to deal with then having to cart around a while who might try and escape at any moment. Demi had no intentions of harming her or doing anything wrong or evil to her of course – she simply found the child fascinating in a way Malkavian’s sometimes did – which would likely make little to no sense to anyone else.

Were the child to take her hand Demi would begin to make her way toward the busy market with the child and likely Konran if he followed – the hope of course to get lost in the crowd before any village security could show up.

WC: 383 | 1,645

Konran looked around for others who may have jumped in, or village ninja. At first, it started to seem like Yokuchi all over again, until noticing someone else. From the looks of things, a girl and a little boy were trying to hold him back. Konran could sense that the girl and the little boy were nothing to worry about, but the guy they held back was no ordinary guy. Finally. Something other than riff raff and thugs?

Demi seemed to notice him too, after saying she couldn't just let the girl roam the streets alone. She only grinned at the other guy, and attempted to have the girl leave with her. She said she wouldn't have to worry about people like those guys trying to hurt her again. Konran gave a sigh. "I'm thinking this is gonna be a bad idea..." Konran said. Demi didn't look like she would attack the guy and what had to be his brother and sister. He didn't look like he'd attack either. They didn't seem to be any relation to this girl, seeing as the girl and the little boy were trying to prevent the guy from becoming involved, but from the look on his face, Konran knew he'd probably be seeing that guy again.

He was sort of curious as to what a real fighter on this continent could do, and they'd finally run into one. But Demi was choosing to run off with this girl instead of fight. Konran had sworn to follow Demi at least until they found Alec and Artemis, so for now, Konran began to back off. He took a drag of his "cigar," keeping an eye on the guy and his siblings. For the moment, no one else looked to be coming...

3,890 + 296 = 4,186

There seemed to be some kind of commotion going on nearby but she couldn’t focus on it; all she could focus on was Demitria. The woman had her hand out to her but she barely noticed – her gaze was locked onto the woman’s eyes. Out of everything that stood out about the woman she had the strangest stare – as if she could do so much damage with it and yet she wasn’t all at the same time. The woman spoke then: she wanted Michie to come with her, she was promising to keep Michie safe and away from situations like this. Her hand was held out and yet Michie hesitated to take it.

What about her father? What about her brother? Would they be sad that she was gone? Would they be angry with her? But what if she didn’t go? Did she honestly have the choice to refuse? She had just saw the pair in action, they could kill with ease and what was worse it didn’t seem to bother them. What would happen to her, or to her family, if she refused to go with this woman? She was afraid to find out.

So, she slowly reached out her free hand and took the other females, allowing herself to be taken toward the market while keeping her violin case grasped tightly in her hand. She had no idea where this woman was taking her, or what would happen to her when she got there. The woman made it sound like she wouldn’t be harmed – like she wanted to protect her – and Michie could only hope that that was the truth. But, time would certainly tell if it was. Regardless, there was little she felt she could do – she didn’t want to risk her own life, let alone the lives of her family by attempting to resist.

WC: 310 | 1,318

The girl looked in his direction and grinned... Was this all a game to her? They were assholes, sure, but they slaughtered people in broad daylight, and she was grinning about it? Myuto wasn't one to show a lot of emotion, but at that moment he was frowning. He was angry.... angry at them for coming in here and doing as they pleased, and angry at himself for not being strong enough to stop them.

Again, he shoved Sanaka off of him and shook out of the grasp of Same. He was breathing harder, his fury obvious. Myuto snatched out his notebook and pen, opening to began drawing a picture. Myuto drew it very fast; a picture of the male, the female and the little girl with the instrument case. He didn't even look at the page, keeping his red eyes trained on them both, but the picture came out very accurate. Myuto turned a page and drew another picture of them, coming out as accurate as the first.

They were leaving... and there was nothing he could do to stop them. His fists were tight next to him, and he was about as mad as he'd ever been. Both Sakana and Same had never seen Myuto in this state before, and both looked scared and shocked at the same time. Myuto became determined to train his hardest, so that next time he would be ready for threats such as these. It seemed with all of the training he'd already done, it still wasn't enough. If what was Same was saying was true, this was what it was like to face true monsters...

5,329 Words

The young girl seemed to take a moment in deciding what she wanted to do. Demitria likely could have tried to get it out of the girl what she was thinking but thought better. In the end the girl did exactly what Demi had been hoping she would: she took her hand and allowed herself to be led into the busy market without making any kind of scene. As Demi went, moving them deeper into the market itself she didn’t bother looking back to the three individuals who had watched it all. Demitria knew the little girl had wanted to purchase something but she figured they could just as easily grab it in another village where their faces weren’t yet known.

”I know you wanted to do some shopping, little one, but we’ll do that in another village. I’d like to get you out of here before company shows up: not that I think anyone will try anything around all of these innocent civilians.”, she would comment softly, trying to keep anyone who was nearby outside of Konran and the child from hearing what she said. While she couldn’t talk freely the idea of going into the market had a purpose behind it: the more people who were around such as innocent civilians the less likely a chance of an open attack. It was a tough choice for any village leader to make: your entire village, or a single child?

Where they to meet no resistance Demitria would keep moving through the populated areas, even after passing through the market. The busier streets, the places where people frequented most, was the route Demi would choose. In the end it would lead them straight to another village entrance where they would be able to pass through and leave should someone not show up at the last minute to stop them: her hand never leaving Michie’s with her firm and yet gentle grip.

WC: 318 | 1,963

So Demi was seriously taking this girl... For the first time his calm was being shaken, even with all the green he was smoking. This just wasn't settling with him. Killing people? Sure. He'd been training to fight his whole life, for as long as he could remember. When he was set loose from that basement lab, killing came easy... but kidnapping? He'd never done it before, and now that he was, it felt... wrong.

Was Demi seriously going to take responsibility for this girl? Did she have family here somewhere? Would they mount up and attempt a rescue? They would fight hard to get their family member back, meaning they would have to be on their toes. Human cargo.... this wasn't going to end well.

The guy opened a book and looked to be writing something. Besides that, he didn't look to be taking any action. Konran was all for fighting another formidable foe, but that wasn't going to happen at the moment. This new group of 3 now blended into the crowds that didn't see what happened back there while heading towards a village exit.

Well, this was going to ruin his chances of getting close to Demi now. Honestly, Konran began to think he was just fooling himself. All she seemed to like was bashing people's heads in with that strange bat, and now she had a kid to look after. Demi didn't look like the type to be taking on boyfriend type material. Konran began to let the thought of he and her together slip from his mind... Where would they head next? There were other villages out there. How were things going to turn out now that they had this kid with them? Konran pulled his hood on and took another drag of his "cigar" while walking out of Kiri...

-Unless prevented, Exit-

4,186 + 308 = 4,494

The woman holding her hand mentioned that she knew Michie had wanted to do some shopping but that they would have to do it in another village. She mentioned wanting to get her out of here before company showed up – she had a feeling company meant village shinobi. Yet, despite all of this the woman still led her through very public and very populated areas. Was there a reason behind this? Michie couldn’t see one at the moment…

Regardless of the populated route they took they met no resistance as they reached the village gates. No one stopped them, no one got in their way. Michie glanced back once more toward the village as she found herself wondering if she would ever see it again. Would she see her father Strafe or her brother Iro anymore? Would they miss her terribly?

Even with those thoughts in her head she couldn’t bring herself to stop or to tug away. Instead, she kept following the woman and her friend, keeping her hand within the woman’s grasp. She felt a bit rattled: or rather that was what she was feeling now since she was still mostly in shock: and couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen to her now. Would she be interrogated and murdered? Or would life go on as normally as this woman was making it seem – or as normal as life would for a kidnap victim.

WC: 240 | 1,558