Kyo Takeuchi's Story

The lecherous little pest was practically drooling at that offer as he released his grip on the tree roots and glided forward through the reeds, oblivious to the net that had been lain.

With a grunt, Meke gave the rope a tug as he dropped down from the tree, causing the net to rise up out of the water, with a very startled kappa flailing within it.

Water dripped everywhere, and the commotion had sent waves out across the lake, no doubt drawing the notice of the rest of the kappa that inhabited the lake.

"Quickly," Meke barked as the netted kappa continued to flail about and croak out guttural curses at the pair of them.

He was quickly tying off the rope around the base of the tree.

Kyo didn't need telling twice. As soon as the net was out of the water, Kyo was making her way back towards the shore. The splashes and ripples of movement further out in the lake was all the motivation she needed to be scrambling back up onto the beach in an impressively short time.

She cast a dirty look back at the kappa, reaching for a blanket she'd left with her bow to wrap it around her body to quell the shivering from the water. "I feel dirtied by that." she muttered, "But it worked. So that's all that matters."

"It will be best if we wait until morning," Meke said. "The night is not your friend as it is mine," he mused.

The captured kappa was disgruntled, but appeared unharmed as it swung back and forth up there. With the movement of the larger kappa in the water below, it quickly stopped its efforts of gnawing through the rope - lest it drop itself down onto the aggressive animals.

"Hey, you can't leave me up here all night!" he croaked indignantly.

Kyo turned to give the creature a disdainful smirk, "Can you give me one good reason why not?" she challenged, glancing down at the kappa below it. It seemed even their close kin weren't safe from their aggression.

She nodded to Meke. "A warm fire and a bed sound far more inviting than interrogating that thing right now." she said, grimacing.

As the train approached Tianshi City, Kyo let out a gasp, staring out the window at the approaching sight. The city was vast, far vaster than any township, and from the vantage point of a hill several miles away, they could see almost all of its sprawling majesty. The fact that they could only almost see all of it spoke of its size. Whilst the majority of the city was open, forming steadily from sparse neighbourhoods on the roads leading out, into busier criss-crossing streets as you progressed inwards, the inner city was walled off from the outside by a large wall standing high over the rooftops. Though Tianshi was the most modern of Losenji's settlements, no skyscrapers were visible. It seemed even here, modern architecture had yet to lay a solid foothold.

"It's incredible!" Kyo exclaimed excitedly, "There must be thousands... no, millions of people living here!"

The train sped closer to the city, and the panorama was lost to the closer proximity. Before long they were trundling above the city's outer neighbourhoods, and the train as stopping more regularly at local stations.

Kyo frowned, as people began to get off the train at various points. "Ah... do either of you know which stop we should get off? Where are the guilds?"

Zhiya had a smile pasted on her face as she looked out the window. "It certainly is a sight!" she gasped, pressing one hand up against the window.

Masaeyu swayed in place and got up abruptly. "Walking will be better..." he mumbled. "Get off at the first stop... very first stop..."

"We've already been past three stops, genius." Kyo replied with a laugh.

"I'm sorry," a voice interrupted, "But I overheard you talking. Are you looking for a guild?"

The man that spoke was an odd sight. He had boarded the train at the last stop, but at the opposite end of the carriage to them. Only now had he drawn Kyo's attention. His skin was an unnatural pale grey, his eyes were bright, solid red, and his clothes stood out in bright colours. The other passengers gave him a wide berth.

Kyo fixed him with a suspicious stare, "Ah, yes. We are." she replied shortly. Her eyes wandered to the bo-staff on his back.

He smiled. "Well, you're in luck. I'm with Golden Phoenix, the best guild in the city. Whatever your problem, I'm sure we'll be able to help. You'll want to get off on the last stop, though - at the docks. I hope your friend can manage."

"I'm sure Masa has it in him." she remarked with a smirk, "He's lasted this long, after all."

"You are a demon, Kyo," Masaeyu moaned, resting his forehead on the table. He hadn't looked up once at the stranger.

Zhiya, however, had a hard time ripping her eyes away from the young man. Her lids pulled back just a little bit farther than normal in a bit of puzzlement. Her fingers drummed onto her knees- oh, stop staring, she chided herself, looking just past him.

"That's very nice of you to help us. Ah, thank you," she said to him.

Poor choice of words, Masa. Kyo thought as she shot him a glare. What if this stranger was a demon? He seemed nice enough, but he certainly looked like something ... well, evil. She mentally scolded herself for judging by appearances. If he was with Golden Phoenix, he was probably fine.

Kurai smiled and nodded. "It's no trouble. I'm on my way there now anyway, and helping you out means bringing business to my guild. It's a win win." he said, chuckling.

The train journey lasted another thirty minutes, but before too long, they pulled in at the final station - the docks. The doors opened and attendants began to walk down the carriages shooing any sleeping passengers or homeless people off. "Come on, Masa," Kyo said, hooking an arm under the man to help him up and towards the doors.

"Need a hand?" Kurai offered, grinning.

Kyo shook her head, "Nah, once I get him off this thing he can walk on his own. Whoever knew you were such a drama queen, Masa?"

Masa's forehead was pasted on Kyo's neck. "I'm not a drama queen..." he whined, squeezing her shoulder.

Zhiya rolled her eyes and shuffled along behind them, nudging Masaeyu with her foot. "Come on, now. The train's not even moving." She turned to Kurai and shook her head. "I'm sorry for his behavior. Completely unacceptable, I know."

"No need to apologise." Kurai shook his head, "It's not far from here, we're the building just over there." he pointed a short way down the docks, at a large three-storey building with a phoenix insignia displayed proudly at its front. "I can ask if anyone has any nausea medicine inside, as well." he chuckled.

Kyo nodded her head. "Thanks... though I'm not sure if it'll help. Maybe we can put him on a drip of it for the journey back. Or just knock him out."

"Is it just trains, or..?" Kurai raised a questioning eyebrow.

Kyo rolled her eyes. "I'm fairly sure I once saw him accidentally step on a wheeled pallet for carrying boxes of fish, roll three feet, and then get sick from it. So no..."

"... wasn't my fault," wept Masa. "It's a curse."

Zhiya's expression was fairly flat as she walked off the train. She clasped her hands behind her back and sighed. She just couldn't deal with the man the same Kyo could.

Instead, she leveled her sights on the guild building, expression once again turning to one of amazement. "That's quite nice," she expressed, lips pursed together.

Kurai led the group from Yosai Village into the Golden Phoenix Guild Hall only a minute or two after Nao had arrived with Tugark. He turned to them with a smile, "Wait here one moment, I'll get Shiori for you. She deals with incoming jobs."

He left them standing in the entrance-way to look over the bustling hall. Kyo's eyes widened at the sight - so many people of different creeds and talents in one place was astounding. "This place is amazing," she murmured, "It must be so exciting to be a member of a guild like this."