"I-- I'd like that," Mayako said with a smile, "I-it's going to be really hard to read, otherwise."

And there were few things more calming for her than reading. It'd been so long since Mayako lost herself in a good piece of fiction. She really needed to do that again sometime soon. That probably would be all the emotional therapy she'd need to keep going.

Seeing another pair enter the church and head this way, Emma perked her head up. Really, though, it wasn't that they themselves looked interesting. Sure, one of them was huge and missing an arm, but what really mattered was that he was previously carrying swords--and also that he looked like a Cizokian warrior of some sort. Actually, that was interesting, too. When Mayako caught the image of him (before he sat down next to Fenix), she and Emma practically had the same question: why would a Cizokian warrior be this far north? They weren't even in Algeroth anymore!

Mayako and Emma were both silent as the man, Juto, and Fenix spoke. Both for different reasons. Mayako didn't want to address someone of his stature without being introduced first, while Emma wanted to listen in on the conversation to get a better understanding of who she'd be talking to if she so decided to speak with him.

"It'll take more than losing an arm to keep me down," Juto stated with a hearty laugh. At that point her turned his attention to across the table where the two newcomers were; Mayako, at least, was immediately recognizable as someone new, while for a moment the thought Emma was just one of the kids being bratty and trying to sit with the adults. On closer inspection, though, she was new too.

"So there are the ladies Seth was talking about," he observed.

Fenix nodded. "Mayako Takamine and Emma Vaerbond." He addressed the girls next. "This is Juto Sazaki."

Though the large samurai wasn't much on formalities (a fact which was clearly evident), he did bow at the presence of a Cizokian lady, even a young one. "A pleasure to meet you girls. What brings you all the way up here?"

Mayako bowed with her head and shoulders (as she was currently seated), returning the show of respect that was given to her. Emma, on the other hand, merely nodded her head. She was still quiet, leaving all conversation up to Mayako if she so opted to speak. By the look of him, he was an interesting man--especially as he possessed weapons, and a younger boy with him appeared to have weapons, too.

"I-it is very nice to meet you, Sazaki-san," Mayako said with a smile. Whatever sincerity and respect Emma lacked, Mayako made up for tenfold. "W-we've just been traveling with Fenix so far. Emma and I were going north, and so was Fenix, so i-it was better that we all just travel together."

She left out the part about Fenix being really injured and needed help walking, and how they were new to traveling and needed Fenix's help to leave Hillcrest.

"What of you?" Mayako said, "I-if you don't mind me asking, that is. Um, i-it's very strange to see someone of your c-class this far from Cizok."

"Class?" Juto laughed loudly. "I'm afraid you're a bit mistaken there; I'm just a runt who knows how to swing a sword. My family's nothing special, but I belong to a dojo...or I used to, I suppose."

He paused for a moment and looked to Fenix. "Mind if I tell them the story?"

Fenix shrugged, wondering why he would possibly care. "Go right ahead." He'd heard it recently...well, it seemed like recently. He supposed in reality it had been most of a year now. It was a fact that still snuck up on him from time to time.

"Alright then." Juto cleared his throat in preparation. "It used to be my dream to become a samurai, but my family never had the social standing for it. But I was a tough kid, and persistent, and after a long time of training on my own managed to worm my way into a dojo. Worked my ass off every day for years, figuring that if I got good enough they wouldn't be able to ignore me. And I got pretty damn good too. It got to the point where I was regularly beating most of my fellow students, and even people from rival dojos."

"People started recognizing me, praising me...and I liked it. Liked it a lot. And I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a bright guy; I let it all go to my head. I figured I was one step away from being a samurai...hell, I thought I'd get invited to the Kensai! All I needed was an accomplishment. Something big that would bring honor to my family, and then I'd be set. Might even improve life for my family, too."

"Of course, I wasn't any smarter about that. I figured my best chance was to beat someone famous in a duel, but most wouldn't give me the time of day. They'd say I'm beneath them, and as far as skill went it was probably true, though I didn't know it. So instead I decided to find a guy who was not only famous, but known for never turning down a duel, no matter who challenged him. Looking back, I doubt I could've picked a worse target."

Juto then leaned over the table, lowering his voice as though the name he was about to speak was either sacred...or cursed.

"You girls ever heard of Shin Shiden the Tenken?"

Hearing about this man's life story actually made Mayako respect him more than she had before--the latter being a fairly high deal, even after he said he was no samurai.

"Tenken?" Mayako asked. She paused a second to think it over. Shin Shiden didn't sound like a name she'd ever heard. It was a memorable name, though. If this guy did anything news worthy, it hadn't reached her--or it just wasn't important enough for people in Algeroth to know about. Mayako shook her head. "No, sir, I haven't heard of him. W-was that the person you challenged . . .?"

"Hope you weren't counting on a rematch," Emma remarked offhandedly, "Last I heard, Blueberry's in worse shape than you are."

Mayako turned her gaze to Emma, lifting a brow. She'd never heard of the Tenken before--so how did Emma? Well, maybe Emma was a bit more in tune with news outside of Hillcrest? Nevertheless, it didn't look like she was going to elaborate without prompt.

Fenix was a bit surprised Emma mentioned that; she tended to avoid talking about anything related to that night in front of Mayako. Then again, perhaps Mayako still remembered that part? Though if that was the case he wondered why she didn't remember him.

Well, he supposed his wings hadn't come out yet then either; he wouldn't have been that memorable.

"Nooooo, not exactly," Juto said with a small laugh and pointed to the stump of his right arm. "It didn't go well for me. If it weren't for Fenix here and his mentor, I probably would've died. The Tenken was better--and more ruthless--then I'd ever imagined."

"Zach was the one that saved you," Fenix pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're the one who patched all three of us up afterward."

"I had help." He stared intently at his meal, his cheeks slightly flushed from the earnest gratitude.

"Anyway, about that...what happened, anyway?"

"It's...a long story. We got caught up in something, Shin was hurt bad, and I was hurt so bad I didn't wake up for nine months," Fenix replied dryly. "Haven't heard so much of a whisper about Zach, and while there's a lot of rumors surrounding Shin it's a bit hard to sort fact from fiction...and most of it's old news anyway."

"Mn," Emma nodded her head, "Back in Galaens. There's a warlord, a guy that goes by the name Theleaus. He attacked Galaens and Hillcrest, two towns on the south end of Algeroth. My brother was there, met Fenix, his mentor, and the guy you were talking about. Called him Blueberry," Emma stated frankly, "If what Remmy said was true, then Blueberry's back south, six feet under an unmarked grave. Apparently Fenix here put on a better performance than Blueberry, who was practically put up in front of a firing squad--or something like that. I can't remember all the details."

Mayako furrowed her brow. "I . . . I never heard anything about . . . a-about . . . about a-any of this. I-- I mean-- I knew about Galaens a-and Theleaus a-and-- I just-- I didn't know Remington was there. O-or Fenix, or . . ."

Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Only way you'd know was Remmy telling you. He didn't look it, but he was a pretty mysterious guy. Kept a wealth of info stored away on a need-to-know basis."

"Th-then how do you know?"

"He voluntarily told me a lot," Emma shrugged again.

". . . b-but you said he was secretive," Mayako gave Emma a doubtful look.

"Caught me looking through his journal. I guess he figured it was better to volunteer information like that than have me snoop around for it behind his back. We had a lot of good times talking about his adventures and skirmishes," Emma replied bluntly, only to pause, clear her throat, and switch courses, "Anyways, the only stories I ever heard about a Tenken were pretty bad. Killed a lot of innocent people, took jobs from ye olde murderers, rapists, and thieves, and even fought a pregnant woman--made her lose her child and everything. The world'll be better off without him."

Fenix nodded. "Not sure how much of is true, but he wasn't a nice man. Though..." He trailed off; he didn't particularly like speculating about people's motivations, as it was impossible to know them for certain.

"Though?" Juto prodded, not willing to let it drop just like that. He may have given up on a rematch with the Tenken but he was still interested in hearing what happened to him.

"...I think he wanted to be. A nice man, that is. He was very interested in learning from Zach, but my mentor wasn't a better swordsman and Shin couldn't use magic." Which begged the question what Shin hoped to learn from him and why he was so interested in following Zach around.

Juto shrugged. "People change. A year ago I'd be challenging anyone who looked good with a sword to a duel just to prove how tough I am. Losing my arm forced me to think about things. Maybe losing to Zach forced the Tenken to do the same."

"Some don't deserve that opportunity," Emma stated bluntly, throwing tact to the wayside, "You might've deserved the chance, but a guy like Blueberry didn't."

Not that it mattered, really. This was all hypothetical. Shin Shiden was dead. She'd reported this much, and provided the most evidence anyone could ever need to believe it. Her brother indicated that he didn't make it, and seeings how Remmy fought alongside Shin during that event, Emma had every reason to believe that Remmy was right about Shiden's fate. Fenix, too, would probably have reason enough to believe it, considering the source.

"Karma's a bitch sometimes," Emma concluded, before getting up to retrieve herself a bowl of soup, leaving Mayako alone with Fenix and Juto.

Mayako, who had her head dipped down sheepishly, taking to eating quietly rather than try to excuse what she perceived as Emma being far too blunt about something that required a bit more tact. Mayako didn't know how well Juto or Fenix thought of this Shiden fellow, but if they believed he somewhat deserved a chance to change, then Emma was stepping on their beliefs without a care.

Fenix bit back a retort; Emma of all people should've been a little more willing to give people second chances. Whether or not Shin truly deserved one, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to pass judgment on someone who was at least putting some effort into changing.

But he didn't feel cruel enough to remind her of how she'd been given a second chance herself.

"So, the Tenken's dead, huh? Wonder what it took to do that guy in..." Juto pondered aloud.

"Not sure he really is." Remmy was certainly a trustworthy guy, but even trustworthy people could get the wrong information. "I've been trying to find out about the people involved in the incident on the way up, and there's a lot of rumors about Shin. Too many for them all to be true, if any of them are, but the talk suggests he's still around."

"Maybe it's someone else from the Hikane family?" Juto suggested.

"The Hikane family?"

"They're pretty famous in Cizok for being, uh, unique. The Tenken's mother was a Hikane; that's where he gets that blue hair from. Most of the Hikanes have blue hair and red eyes. Some of 'em are...pretty interesting, from what I've heard." Of course, not having been in Cizok's upper class, for the most part he only knew them by reputation.

"Huh?" Mayako perked her head up.

She'd been trying to disappear since Emma got up--still stay seated with Fenix and Juto, but say nothing for long enough that she could be effectively ignored for the rest of the meal, or anything at all to that effect. But now, hearing the name Hikane dropped, she couldn't not get involved in the conversation.

"I-it's true," Mayako said, "W-we knew a Hikane once. Um, a girl named Etsu. Sh-she was . . . she was a really good friend. B-but yes, sh-she had blue hair a-and k-kind of, um, reddish brown eyes. Sh-she was k-kind of scary, actually, when she first showed up in Hillcrest."

Mayako paused to think about it. If this Tenken fellow was dead, then there was a fair chance he was hearing about someone else from Etsu's family.

"Wh-what are the rumors you heard, a-anyways?" Mayako asked, "A-and, um, d-do they mention anyone by name? O-or description?"

Fenix stopped to think for a moment; trying to sort through everything he'd heard was a little difficult. Someone as famous as Shin seemed to inspire people to talk about him quite a bit, but whether any of it was true was another matter.

"Some mention him by name, some just by description; most of them are pretty mundane, people saying he was in a town or that they passed him on the road. Others are a little...harder to swallow."

He recalled one of the more outlandish rumors. "There was one I heard about a azure-haired, feminine Cizokian wielding a foreign weapon, apparently battling some kind of soul-stealing apparitions."

"O-oh. I-- . . . huh," Mayako looked dumbfounded.

Mayako wasn't about to confirm that she recognized the concept of soul stealing entities, but she did know for a fact that Etsu Hikane happened to track such entities down and kill them where they stood. Or sat. Or slept. Or ran. Really, she just murdered them wherever she found them. Which was for the best. They were like roaches and other pests, only much more dangerous. Additionally, according to Etsu, she had no family members in her job, which meant if there were any azure haired folk fighting the aforementioned pests, it was her.

"Th-that-- y-yeah. Huh," She said again, "I-- I never knew Etsu went back to Cizok. Sh-she always said she tended t-to avoid it. M-maybe her job? I-it kind of sounds like it. Um-- oh! Well, okay, y-you didn't know her, but she was my age, wore guy's clothes most of the time, a-and carried a weapon with her almost everywhere she went. I-I mean-- i-it . . . it kind of sounds like these rumors are about her, honestly."

"Toushin's daughter? I didn't know she left Cizok. Then again, it's not like you hear much about that end of the family any more." Toushin Hikane was something of a recluse ever since he stopped being a daimyo, and his name (as well as his family's) didn't pop up much.

Juto latched onto the name; Fenix also recognized the name, but rather than from Cizok he recognized it as one of the friends Mayako had mentioned had left Hillcrest recently. More importantly, there was another thing that bothered Fenix.

"Wait...are you saying your friend Etsu goes around fighting soul-sucking demons?" As that was the only part of the rumor that possibly differentiated Shin from Etsu, and Mayako sounded pretty sure that rumor was about the latter, he could only assume.

"S-- something like that," Mayako replied hesitantly.

Suddenly, she found herself in a really bad place. A slip of the tongue had her on the precipice of being watched by the last people she wanted watching her. If they even cared. Though, they probably would, assuming she said a bit too much. According to Etsu, people tended to disappear when they advertised what Etsu was, and what they did. Mayako had to think quick. Draw on the past a little. She looked across the room, where Emma stood with a bowl of soup, sharing some sort of halfhearted discussion with Alicia. What would Emma do in this situation?

Spin the truth.

"I-it's not s-so much that they, um, take your soul," that was the lying part--she got that out of the way as quickly as she could, "A-as it is they, um, take your . . . y-you know . . . your conscious . . . o-or, um . . . oh, I don't know the name for it. Y-your ability t-to be you. A-anyway, they take that, a-and she fights them. P-people call them soul sucking demons b-because they think that's what happens if something takes your soul. B-but yes, Etsu talked about them a lot, a-and apparently she hunted them down a lot, too."