Tahra's Story

Tahra peered over the side of the well, staring at the four people that had just climbed out of it wearing very strange clothing. Ears twitching as she stared, curiosity overcame her and she poked her head up farther.
"What strange people!" she bounced around the well and peered up at the odd people that had just appeared.
Jumping very ungracefully up onto the edge of the well, she put her hands on her hips. "Hey! You really don't look like you're from around here!" tail swishing behind her as she waited for one of the four people to say something, Tahra tilted her head to the side, her curiosity evident.

"Oh! I should go get the others!" already forgetting that she had asked a question, Tahra grinned at the group, "C'mon! You've got to come meet them!"
Bouncing down from the well, Tahra took off toward the village, pausing at the treeline to smile back at the group. "I'll go on ahead and get the others. I'll meet you at the village!"
It obviously didn't occur to the fox girl that they might not know where the village was. Racing to the village, Tahra went in search of her comrades, calling their names very loudly. Sitting on the ground in the middle of the village, she waited for her friends to show up so that she could drag them out to the well and show them the people she'd discovered. It wouldn't take long for the friends to find their way to the village after all, they could just follow the sound of Tahra's yelling. Anyway, the village was just on the other side of the trees; not far at all from the well.

Tahra glanced over her shoulder as Jin approached, pausing in her continuous call to offer him a wave of greeting. She did a double-take as she realized that he was shirtless.
"Well, I could probably yell a lot louder, but I figured that might scare off the weird people. You know, you could walk around like that a lot more often." she was still a bit distracted by the fact that there was a very well muscled guy standing there.
"Er. Anyway," she started talking faster, "there were these really strange people that came out of the old well. I was over there looking for acorns, since that's the best place to find them, and all the sudden I heard these weird noises coming from in the well and then these people climbed out and the girls were wearing these really tiny outfits and there's no way they'd been in the well a minute before 'cause I'd been there all along and I would've smelled them, right? So they climbed out and this one girl looked really freaked out when she saw me, so I asked them where they were from and one girl said some place. Ameri-something-or-other. Then I had them follow me but I went ahead to come get you guys and they haven't come yet, and you should really walk around shirtless more often. It really works for you, so you should 'cause you know, there are girls and you don't have one and I'm pretty sure everyone would appreciate it. Oh look, one of the strange people! Hi well-person!" she waved at Deirdre, who she had spotted walking into the village.
"And see, I'm not crazy, that's one of the well-people!" she bounced to her feet and ran over to the girl, who was already being talked about by the villagers, whom had come out of their huts to find out why Tahra was yelling.

Grabbing the girl's hand, she led her over to Jin. "Jin, meet one of the well-people. Well-person, meet Jin."

Tahra watched things unfolding, confused by most of the proceedings. Why were the strange people from the well afraid of them when they were obviously trying to help?

"Haven't you ever seen a demon before?" slipped out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying.

Noting that one of the girls was bleeding, she was about to dash off to get a damp cloth, but Katsu chose that moment to make his appearance.

"But Katsu, they came from in the well and there was no scent around it, so they had to have appeared in the well, but how could they do that if they're just humans?" the little fox demon was thoroughly confused.

Turning back to the humans, the corner of her mouth turned down in a frown, but only for a moment. "Why are you so scared of us? We aren't going to hurt you. I brought you here to help. Don't worry, we won't eat you. Well, actually, I can't say much for Katsu, but still. Jin's human like you, Katsu is a half-demon, and I'm a fox demon. There's nothing to fear here." noting the blood once more, Tahra turned and scampered off.

Returning a minute later with a damp cloth, Tahra jumped up onto Molly's shoulder, not bothering to think how she might react, and began dabbing at the blood on Deirdre's forehead.

.

The half-blood bristled; visibly upset that Bishamon had yet to respond. A thought crossed his mind, and he wondered if his brother had actually just run off and his scent was simply lingering among the trees. If his elder sibling decided to fight and cause trouble, Katsu wasn’t entirely sure how it would end. Lord Bishamon was considerably stronger, faster, and better with his weapons than he was. The only thing Katsu really had going for him in a fight was his ability to keep a level head on most days of the month. His brother, however, was relatively hot-headed, where most of the mistakes in battle were made. Out of the few encounters the two of them had, few of them had been violent, and none of them Katsu actually won on his own. Granted, at this time he had the demon slayer Jin with him. The two were tentative allies for the time being, although Katsu was not sure how long that would last. They had few reasons to work together, aside from the fact that Katsu generally didn’t cause trouble for humans and preferred to be left alone. That and he had recently developed a ‘helpful’ reputation among the local human villages. It wasn’t that he went out of his way to help; it was simply more troublesome to have the people around him suffer while he was around. It made his stays in villages much more comfortable, considering that despite his demonic appearance, those he helped were more than happy to provide him with a little bit of food and shelter. Although, as often as someone was happy to help, there was an equal amount of people who were displeased with his methods or still quite perturbed that a demon—even if it was only a half-breed—was anywhere near their village.

He drew the onyx blade from his back and drove it into the soft earth before him. It would simply slow him down as it was and it wasn’t like it was particularly sharp or worthwhile as a weapon at the moment. Eventually he intended to find the name of the blade to bend its sealed power to his will. But until then, it was mostly dead weight. His claws could handle most adversaries. With the silence from his brother, his attention was drawn once more to the cluster of strange people. Tahra was busy attempting to tend to the wounded one, whose blood was toying with his sense of smell. When she addressed the fact that they had seemingly appeared from the bottom of the well with no previous scent, he scoffed, shaking his head. Obviously humans couldn’t do that. He took the lull in his ‘conversation’ with his sibling to examine the group more closely. He didn’t move from his spot as the male lashed out at Jin, holding back a laugh of amusement. To think the strangely dressed human could even touch the demon slayer. From what Katsu had observed, he would have trouble hitting Jin if he tried. And he was a half-demon. Then again, Katsu was more than capable of ripping through the demon slayer apart if he really wanted to. He was unable to keep back a chortle as Jin put the human in his place, on the ground. One of the human girls seemed to freak out, which caught Katsu off guard. The male on the ground pleaded for space and he gave the lot of them a skeptical look.

Troublesome. How very troublesome they are. What have you done, fox? He thought, frowning as he sighed heavily. He gave Jin a bitter look, but managed to hold his tongue. The monk approaching was a strange development. What is this? A show? How many more humans are going to disturb my lovely day? He tilted his head, remaining silent for the time being. It was becoming less and less amusing, this day. The monk seemed to be more interested in the ladies than the others around, leaving Katsu with a bad taste in his mouth. Not that he cared all too much. He wanted to lie down and go back to his vivid nightmares. They seemed more preferable than the panicked humans that stank of strange smells. He blinked slowly as the monk offered to take the lot of them away from the half-breed and his two ‘companions.’

“Tch. They’ve got even less of a reason to trust you than us. Not that I care much. Go with him if you want. Less trouble for me.” He scoffed, turning his attention back to the tree line. “They’re too jumpy anyway. The fox should have left them in the forest where they came from.”

Tahra was startled when Molly panicked about her being on her shoulder. Eyes wide and ears back, Tahra definitely wasn't pleased when Saeko lifted her off of Molly's shoulder and took the cloth she had been using to clean Deirdre's wound.
Listening to Jin when he talked, Tahra turned and glared at him when he mentioned that Katsu or Bishamon could easily catch up with the group if they decided to run. "Hey! I could catch up with them too, you know! I'm not just a pair of fluffy ears, I am actually useful!"
Stumbling back a few steps when Jin was attacked by the human boy and a lot of yelling started, Tahra's ears flattened against her head. She had an obvious aversion to fighting and yelling.

Nodding when Jin put the container of medicine upon her head, Tahra timidly approached the group. Of course, just then a monk decided to make his entrance and flirt with the girls.
"S'cuse me, monk, but I'm not your 'dear' anything. Isn't it against your monk code to flirt like this or something?" she glared at Kiske, but it quickly became obvious that Tahra certainly couldn't conjure up a particularly threatening face.
She shook her head at the proceedings and frowned as the monk left. "I wouldn't follow him. He may be a monk, but he's a lecherous one."

Shaking her head once more and turning her head to stick her tongue out at Katsu following his last remark, Tahra approached the group of humans timidly. She had become wary of them after the series of violent displays, though most were rather minor.
"I-I'm just going to put medicine on her injury so it doesn't get infected. No need to yell or fight anymore, okay?" taking the container of medicine off of the top of her head, Tahra offered a timid smile to the group and hurried over to Deirdre.

Jumping up on Deirdre's shoulder, Tahra took a moment to steady herself before she opened the jar and scooped a little of the medicine onto her hand, quickly applying it to the dark haired girl's wound before someone would have much of a chance to put her back on the ground.
"There. See? Nothing to fear. Your injury should heal up just fine." closing the container, Tahra jumped off the girl's shoulder and ran over to Jin, depositing the medicine at his feet before she returned to where the humans were.

"I'm Tahra, by the way- I'm not really sure if I said that before. I'm a fox demon, hence the fluffy ears and tail. I have a quick question- do all humans yell that much? I mean, Jin doesn't usually yell, so is it just him?" Tahra's timidness was quickly dissipating, though it was still apparent.

Kiske’s words stabbed straight through Katsu’s pride. He bit his tongue, holding back what could have been a long string of poorly chosen insults. While he prided himself on his patience, this monk seemed to know exactly where to strike to make it hurt. It was true that he had absolutely no idea how to use the blade and it was his personal mission to wield it for his own means. He hadn’t considered for what end he would use the sword of legend, however. He didn’t much care for helping people out, nor did he wish to ruffle the feathers of powerful demons. However, he held little malice for humans and didn’t see himself bringing it down upon innocent people. He couldn’t even recall why he wanted to find it so badly in the first place. He had spent over a year trying to find the damn blade, and even heard rumors that someone had already robbed the grave and was wielding it to butcher people where they stood. While the crypt had shown signs of previous intrusion, Katsu had assumed that the undead creatures had overwhelmed the last robber and it was returned to its rightful place.

“My bare hands could tear you limb from limb if you don’t watch your mouth.” He scowled, visibly upset at the monk’s words. It was bad enough to have his brother think he was worthless and incapable of handling simple tasks, such as wielding a demonic sword, but a mere human monk was just too insulting. He may have only been a half-breed, but he still maintained the pride of a full-blooded youkai. “And I don’t even bother to wield the worthless piece of junk. I know what I’m missing to command the sword. I don’t need any help from you.” He caught himself a moment¸ trying to figure out how to recover from the lie his pride had pushed through his mouth. The name of the sword was scratched out of every version of the legend he could find—though not being able to read made that considerably more difficult to discern—and any assistance he could find regarding the blade’s true nature would have been more helpful than following around a fox and a demon slayer in hopes that they stumble across it in their journeys. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, pressing back everything in his body that screamed to punch the monk into the next town.

“However…” He began, his face returning to his standard look of mild annoyance. “If you would like to look at it or whatever, be my guest. I doubt you can hurt it any more than I have. Let’s sort these morons out first, though. I’m getting sick of looking at that panicked look on their faces.” He huffed, returning his gaze to the four strange humans. His eyes darted to the treeline and back again. “It appears my dear brother isn’t going to bother with us. He’s not the type to attack us while we’re sleeping either.” He mused, pulling the onyx blade up from the earth and strapping it to his back. He frowned at the cluster of people, and then exhaled another heavy sigh. “I suppose we should feed you or something. The Fox seems hell-bent on keeping you around.” He paused and bristled at the appearance of yet another human. I need to stop hanging around human villages. It’s getting tedious. Do I have to accommodate her as well? He thought bitterly. As the two of them talked, he fidgeted, smelling something strange in the air. He considered going to investigate it when Jin hopped aboard his over-sized cat, the new girl perched atop it as well.

"My friends......need me back home. I have appreciated your companionship, and occasional help in battle, on my journey........but i must leave now. Good luck with your further travels.........be safe."

Katsu blinked as they took off. “H-hey! Don’t just leave me with this mess!” He barked into the night sky. “What am I supposed to do with them?” He was counting on Jin to take care of the excitable humans if they were going to stay. He didn’t particularly trust Tahra to make good decisions on a whole and he wasn’t good at handling human problems that didn’t involve killing something. Did he call me a friend? He was likely just being polite. He turned to the others and heaved a third heavy sigh. “My beautiful day... I knew it would be ruined. Fine, let’s get you lot inside. The local youkai like to eat stray humans after dark.”

The half-demon was taken aback by the young male human’s willingness to trust him over the monk. While neither of them had done anything that would earn a great amount of trust, the typical response was ‘die, demon, die,’ and ‘save us, holy man.’ Not a polite, ‘I’d rather follow the demon, thanks.’ Not one person he’d ever met had essentially complimented him on his honesty. He was greeted more with malice and sarcasm for it. He blinked, confused a moment, and then shook it off, addressing something that had been grinding upon his nerves for quite some time. “Tsk. Half-youkai, youkai, canine-man, I have a name you know. I’d appreciate it if you lot’d use it for once.” Katsu scowled. It took him a moment to realize that he had not introduced himself properly to the group, as he was more concerned with his brother’s presence and the Tahra’s jabbering mouth. He ran a hand through his hair and let it rest upon his neck for a moment. “My name is Katsu. Nothing more, nothing less.” He said simply, not caring much to find out what the others were called. Although he knew their names, he still addressed Tahra as ‘Fox’ and Jin as ‘Demon Slayer.’ He was uncomfortable being familiar enough with a person to refer to them by name. It meant being attached, and being attached often meant weakness or coming despair. This he learned the hard way many times in his early years. Keeping them at an arms length was much easier to deal with than having to suffer someone he was fond of. Why he felt obligated to keep them out of trouble at this point was beyond his comprehension.

“There is a small shack you all can stay in. I think the demon slayer left some food behind, it should be enough to hold you off until tomorrow.” He stated simply, turning heel and expecting the others to follow. “I’ve traded one human for five. Bisha-nii will surely believe I’ve gone soft.” He muttered under his breath. “We won’t all fit in there comfortably, but I prefer sleeping outside anyway. It’s really only built for two or three people.” He paused, mulling over his options and what the monk had said earlier. “I’m not going to baby-sit you all. If you wander off, I will let you die. If you’re not happy with that, I suggest you go look for someone else to cry to.” He slid the door open to the small shack-like house, revealing it to be mostly empty, save for a fire pit and a bit of travelling food. Katsu frowned, and looked over the group of six. “You can fight over the space yourselves. I’ll be on the roof if you need me. But I suggest not needing me.”

Tahra bounced after the humans cheerfully and headed into the hut without a thought. Having seen that Deirdre was still in the doorway, she ran over and reached up, grabbing the human girl's hand and pulling her the rest of the way into the hut.
"C'mon, Dei-dei! You can't stand out there all night, 'cause you'll get sick." Tahra released the girl's hand so that she could climb up onto her shoulder.
Tugging lightly on a strand of the girl's hair, the little fox demon grinned. "Onward bound, human!"

Already impatient with waiting for Deirdre to go inside, Tahra jumped off her shoulder, landing lightly on the ground, and flounced into the hut. Hopping up the steps to the main platform, she stretched out on the floor and snuggled against Keisuke's leg, much like a pet dog might do. Although she would have been perfectly happy to fall asleep right then, Tahra kept her dark blue eyes wide open, watching the screen that covered the entryway. Suddenly realizing exactly who she had thoughtlessly laid against, Tahra shook her head and sat up. Scooting away from Keisuke, she turned to look at him, not really sure what to say.

"Um. You can go to sleep if you want. I'll keep watch and wake you up if I sense anything odd." she smiled up at the boy before returning her gaze to the door and sniffing the air for any strange scents.

“I haven’t ‘taken in’ anyone, Holy man.” Katsu barked over his shoulder, refusing to roll over to face the monk as he left the half-demon to sleep on the rooftop. “They’ve intruded upon my little world, I haven’t adopted their troubles. And I won’t make any promises to keep you safe.” His ears swiveled, picking up the sounds from within the small shack. He sighed slightly as he listened to Tahra chat with the humans within. So long as he let the fox follow him about, he had pretty much taken in the lost souls. He could simply abandon them all, leave and find somewhere else to go. However, it seemed more troublesome to have to sneak off in the middle of the night than to stick around and suffer the company of the strange people. Then again, suffering their company was already beginning to try his patience. Six humans and a fox, perfect company for a lazy half-youkai. He sighed heavily, rolling over onto his back and closing his eyes. “Forget it, Fox. Go to sleep. Nothing will get you while I’m on the roof anyway.” He remarked loudly, talking toward the sky, though the thin walls of the shack would allow his voice inside. “I don’t want you tired and cranky in the morning. You’re insufferable when you’re tired.” He glanced upward at the waning moon and closed his eyes. He still had several days before the new moon. Keeping the humans around wouldn’t be a problem until then. Perhaps they could read. That would surely give him reason to keep them around. His eyes snapped open at the strange scent returning to the wind. He sat upright, glancing around in the dark. A figure wandered into town from the forest, a strange low jingling emanating from it each time it took a step. He hopped up to his feet to get a better look. The figure was small for an adult human, although not nearly to Tahra’s scale, which was sized like a small child. The scent drifted across the breeze once more and he recognized the scent.

“That person… smells like a corpse.” He muttered under his breath, watching the figure pause at a doorway. The door opened and the figure and the occupant seemed to speak for a moment before the occupant disappeared inside, returning with a small bundle. The figure bowed repeatedly and turned to return to the forest. “Strange…” He hopped down from the rooftop as the jingling figure vanished among the trees. He tapped his fingers against the doorway of the house and the occupant opened the door once more. “What did that person want?” He questioned.

“Ah, Youkai.” The elderly man who answered the door mused, smiling gently. “The young lass wished for some food is all. I gave her a bit I could spare.” Katsu was regarded as an unofficial resident of the village by several of the locals, including this particular old man and his three granddaughters. The half-demon had once saved the youngest from a vermin Youkai, earning the trust of the man. He had only done so because her screams had interrupted his nap, but he wouldn’t actively admit that to what could be a friendly face.

“Have you ever seen her before?” Katsu questioned, sniffing the air before him. The smell of a dead body lingered, but the scent of an unfamiliar live human over-powered it greatly. Was she carrying something on her?

“No, Youkai.” He replied. “But she was strange. Poor child had shackles on her wrists, like she escaped from some place. Her cloak was covered in dirt and blood as well.”

“Don’t open your door for strangers anymore.” Katsu huffed, shaking his head. “Go to sleep.”

“You too, Youkai.” Katsu paced a moment, unsure of what to do. When it seemed that the strange figure wasn’t to return, he walked back to the shack, hopping up onto the rooftop once more.

“Too many strange humans at once. This is bothersome. Now I’ll never get to sleep.”

Tahra yawned, her dark blue eyes blinking as was assaulted by the gentle early morning sunlight that found its way between bits of the roof. Stretching, she glanced around to see if anyone else was up and it took her a second to realize that the sun was just coming up, so of course no one else would be awake yet. Bouncing to her feet, she brushed a bit of dirt off her kimono and went outside to get the day started. Already her energy was building up, but Tahra was still calm enough to remember that she'd have to go get her own food if she wanted any, not to mention the fact that the humans would be hungry as well.

Running down to the stream, Tahra hesitated on the edge for a moment before she stepped into a shallow portion of the icy water. Tail fluffed up behind her, the little fox demon waited impatiently for a fish to get close enough to her. That didn't last long before she was flailing after the closest fish trying to convince it to come back, even though she knew it was just a fish and it couldn't understand her.

Giving up on that mode of finding breakfast, Tahra stepped out of the water and shook most of the water off of her, having gotten completely soaked when she was chasing after the fish. She paused for a moment, ears perked as she sniffed the air. A tiny smile crept over her lips as she stepped silently through the trees, pausing every now and then to listen. Finally she stopped, watching something in front of her very intently before she took off at it. The squirrel dropped the seed it had been munching on and took off as well, but not fast enough. Tahra was already up to speed, and although she had a body that was human in appearance, she ran just as fast as any fox.

At around seven, Tahra returned back to the shack bearing the fruits of her hunt. She had plenty of squirrels, some mice, and a few rabbits piled in her little arms.
"Time to wake up, everyone! Breakfast has arrived!" Tahra grinned, carefully setting down her catches by the fire.
Her pent-up energy seemed to hit her all at once as she looked around for Deirdre, didn't see her, remembered that she had gone up on the roof, and ran outside to go wake her. Scurrying up onto the roof, she practically tackled the dark-haired girl in an attempt to wake her up.
"Dei-Dei! Food! Wake up!" Tahra grinned, bouncing up and down.

"Jin!" Tahra turned, wide-eyed, and jumped up onto Kirara's back to hug the Demon Slayer. "You're back!"
She was grinning, as usual, "Well, I figured that there wasn't really anyone here that was going to go get all of us food, so I went hunting!" her smile displayed her slightly elongated canine teeth. "And as it turns out I'm not really good at fishing, but I've certainly got fluffier ears that any of the animals out there!" her tone was proud as she boasted a bit about her ears.
"But anyway, where have you been? You weren't gone that long. Was it just a weak little demon? You could've sent me to kick their butt!" Tahra tried her best to look fearsome, but she really only succeeded in making herself look like a dorky little kid.
She shifted from foot to foot, obviously in an especially impatient mood. "Oh! We should go start cooking the food before anything starts following the smell of blood or anything." without a pause, she jumped down from the roof and ran inside the shack once more.

Kiske climbed out of the river in nothing but his undergarments and laid down on the bank next to his pile of clothes, letting the newly risen sun begin to dry him off. With a sigh he sat up and looked around the clearing he was in, enjoying the last few minutes of relaxation before he put his clothes back on and stretched himself before heading back towards the shack.

As he arrived he noticed the fox demon jumping around on the roof, climbing up a human figure. With a questioning look on his face Kiske approached the pair until he recognized the human as the demon slayer that had disappeared some time ago. As the fox demon returned inside Kiske grinned and sent Jin a wave, "Well hello there my good slayer. Where have you been all this time?"

Keisuke just shook his head knowing what his friend was talking about as he held the door open for her then following her inside and retaking his seat in the corner to set himself into a light doze.

Hours later he was startled awake when he heard movement and when he opened his eyes he saw that it was just the fox girl leaving the hut. Instead of going back to sleep he stretched his tired body, looseneing up his tired muscles and waited for his friends to wake up, but before they could the fox girl returned with her spoils of hunting and srted shouting for everyone to wake up. Before he could protest her loudness she had already dropped her prizes and left once more and instead sighed when he saw that Molly-chan had been woken up. Seeing no use in complaining he simply looked around the hut until he found a knife and started cleaning and skinning the fresh kill before placing them in a pot so that they would stay clean until he figured out what to do with them.

He hated any blade with a passion, even if it was being used by himself, but he knew that that hate was just a cover-up for his fear of them, a fear that he knew that he may never get over. However he also knew that he couldn't avoid them forever, so he'd trained himself to be able to suppress that fear whenever he had to hold one, but he still had to just stop and drop it every ten minutes or so that he could relax his nerves again. That wasn't a problem this time though because he hadn't needed to pause once before he deemed that he'd readied enough of the kill and looked at the pot wondering how he should cook it.

That was when he heard it, the fox girl had shouted from outside that someone was back and he knew that it couldn't have been the monk because the names didn't match. Instantly the image of the guy who'd taken him down so easily came to mind, the guy with all the blades and suddenly he felt trapped in the small hut rooted in his place. He looked up to see the fox girl re-enter and he gave her a small smile that seemed genuine, wiping all traces of his anxiousness and fear from his face and body language.

Kiske rubbed the back of his head with his gauntleted hand and grinned sheepishly at the slayer. "Yeah well these people are interesting, what can I say. My curiosity was piqued and thus I decided to hang around for a bit. And besides, not like I have anything better to do at this current moment." he said with a chuckle as he followed Jin inside, grabbing a seat a few feet away from the slayer. "Last I knew Katsu was on the roof talking with one of the new arrivals. Maybe he ran off during the night? He did seem rather impulsive after all..."

Kiske ponders where the demon could have run off too. The assumption that something happened with Bishamon was immediately discarded since a confrontation of that magnitude would have woken half the country. The more likely explanation was that something to do with that sword had appeared considering just how obsessed the creature seemed to be with that lump of rock. "I would assume it had something to do with that sword of his though. When we talked last night it seemed to be the only thing that really held his interest for more than a few moments and its one of the few things I think that could drag him away without a word at the very least."

Immediatly he looked away as soon as his suspicions were confirmed, forcing himself to relax as he once more picked up the knife and began to cut the meat into sizeable chunks removing bone at the same time. Even tough he didn't look up at the now identified Jin or acknowledge either of the men's entrence he was aware of every move they made but for different reasons for each of them. He kept tabs on Kiske to make sure that he didn't get too close to his friends and he was tracking Jin, so that he wouldn't be caught off guard, in case he did anything, though he admitted that he himself was more likely to do something. Keisuke just moved from the meat to cutting up some veggetables for the stew he was prepareing, his hand shaking only the slightest amount. When he was done with that he put the knife down as fast as he could without attracting attention to himself then added in most of what was left of the drinking water and put in some hebs before lifting it and settleing it on the the hanging hook to boil above the fire. He shook Saeko awake so that she could watch over things for him while he was gone then grabbed the bucket and left for the river to refill it, nodding to Deirdre as he passed her.