Shio

"Yes," Shio responded to Kasumi's only question, sitting at the table with her in the directed seat. She mentally communicated for her Kujaku to carry her to safety should the drink be inexplicably laced with something, a habit she had picked up from her father. He had ingrained it well into her to not trust food items that you didn't prepare. When they did eat out at restaurants, only two people in the family could eat at a time, to ensure that if there was a poison, that it wouldn't all take effect at the same time. Of course, in no instance had they actually ever been poisoned, but they, as a family, made the atmosphere of the restaurant sufficiently awkward.

Thankfully the waiter arrived with Shio's order, noting that she had switched tables. She nodded to him in thanks before beginning to take a large bite of the noodle dish, after placing the bowl of fresh Omu berries in from of the her Kujaku. The psychic peacock Natrelmon began pecking at the place rapidly, gobbling down as many of the berries as possible. The advantage to Omu berries as an order, was that it was clear if they had been tampered by anything, as the specific secretions from the berry changed colors when affected by most other compounds, so Shio was comfortable with her Kujaku eating at the same time as her. Out of habit, she grabbed one of the berries and dropped it into the drink Kasumi had offered her, observing the color change before taking a drink.

Shio did pause after her fight for an abnormal amount of time, bits of the noddles still in her mouth as she examined the food. It wasn't so much as savoring it, but dual purpose checking it for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Having known the dish well, another habit her father had taught her, she could easily pick up on extra additions to the dish - likely even if they were flavorless due to the change in texture or weight. After determining that her food was likely not poisoned, she took another bite and swallowed much more swiftly.

"You're supposed to add things to the conversation. Things that you think might be relevant." Kasumi opined, not exactly chastising Shio, but offering a constructive criticism. Kasumi had never really seen the point of being offended when people pointed out your shortcomings - if you knew what you were bad at, you could improve and stop being bad. In her line of work, a single mistake had massive repercussions, so she had always been particularly critical of herself and her technique when training. It was a practice that had served her well, but other people seemed to be offended whenever she commented on their lack of grace, or the fact that they obviously not showered and the smell was putting people off from talking to them, or even they were just plain ugly, and none of the boys were interested because they were vapid and unattractive. Surprising as it may have seemed, Kasumi had very few friends growing up, and that was a habit that she'd retained in adulthood.

"You're also checking for poison incorrectly. Far too obvious. Try distracting the person you're with before you do it. Make sure that you're more discreet. If they were trying to poison you, they had a contingency plan. At least, they did if they were competent. You should assume that they are competent. If you don't, you could end up dead. Or worse. A lot of poisons aren't even meant to kill. Do you know much about poison?" Kasumi stated, pausing briefly between each sentence to ensure that Shio had at least a little time to register what she was saying. She seemed to be completely at peace with the fact that Shio was checking the food for poison - her only gripe was that she was doing it incorrectly. The entire aura of awkwardness that was emanating from the table - visibly causing certain patrons to get up and move to other tables - didn't even factor in to either of them. It was, honestly, quite a spectacle to behold.

One of the couples that had decided to leave passed by Kasumi, scowling as they did so, and in an impressive display of lightning-fast reflexes, she lifted the wallet from the male's pocket as he turned and brushed past her.

"Dinner's on him, by the way."

Shio

"Okay." Shio responded to her commentary on social interaction.

"I have a contingency to my poison check. Omu berries catch most poisons, even non-lethal ones. Hiding it would not be worth the effort."

Shio's response was one of the few subtle implications she was making, but it was entirely inadvertent and due to her inability to articulate her comfort at dealing with scenarios that didn't involve poison - either because they were likely not able to be prepared for, or because they fell within a scope of her talents that she was confident enough in to handle at a critical moment. If someone was trying to do something to her, and poison was eliminated, that would leave few options. An explosive was already handled by the aura from her Kujaku. Long range weaponry was also handled, for the most part, by the multiple ranges of vision. Spells and physical assault she was comfortable handling as they came, due to her training.

Shio also said nothing about Kasumi pickpocketing the man. He family was not on the same status as Kasumi's, so unless there was some transgression against herself personally, it was not her place to comment on the matter.

In an effort to 'add to the conversation', Shio let loose the first synaptic firing, "What do you think about lasers?"

"Discretion becomes automatic. It stops requiring effort very quickly." She replied, taking a large gulp of her own drink and eating some more of her noodles before they got cold. The food really was excellent here - it would be her sole port of call for food in the coming few days or weeks as she endeavoured to take on the challenge of facing Anastasia, the first Arena Leader that those on their Rites came across.

"The last time I saw a laser, it killed about fifteen people. I like them." came the reply, along with a little chuckle. At least Shio had followed the advice and done something on her own initiative - that alone was a positive indicator.

"Do you think stealing is wrong? I'm afraid I have a habit of doing it. Except I'm not afraid. And it's more of an obsession than a habit. My last therapist diagnosed me a kleptomaniac. I stole his keys, wallet and PDA. You can have the PDA if you want it." Kasumi offered, reaching down into a bag next to her and pulling the PDA out. It was clearly stamped with the logo of a small-time doctors' clinic in Lifan, and it seemed ornate enough to be more than a standard work PDA - perhaps a birthday gift or something of similar sentimental value. It was too risky to sell it in Lifan, so she'd sort of just accumulated it and left it.

"You seem prepared enough to have more plans than potential killers. That's good. Especially if they have lasers. You should be prepared for lasers." She nodded sagely.

Shio

"My method also doubles as a psychological counter tactic. Openness about my testing for poison is to show I am prepared for such a tactic."

Shio took a few bites of her food, absorbing what Kasumi had said about lasers. It was indeed an experience to learn from. The clear takeaway was that lasers were quite a formidable weapon and should be avoided if you are likely to have one directed at you.

"I would not steal myself," was all Shio said about Kasumi's wallet theft. It was not her place to comment on someone's behavior from the Touhou family, so she only said what she would do, even if it left the wrong assumption that she disapproved, when she in fact, was completely ambivalent. Her training had done more than allowed her to follow protocol, but truly believe it. She gestured to indicate she was not interested in the PDA.

"If I had killers, I would likely suspect there would be more than two of them, unless you count tentative plans," Shio responded, unsure of how to handle the comment. "I do not know if there is a way for me to prepare for lasers."

"As an assassin, I can tell you that that doesn't work." Kasumi retorted, eating from her food as she did so. The quality of the speech perhaps suffered a little, but it had already been established that neither of them followed social convention. Others might have been offended, but the very concept of being offended had largely lost its meaning to the unlikely duo. With a shrug, Kasumi shoved the PDA back into her bag and left it there before raising a hand to call the waiter over for the bill. It made no sense to not pay now, especially seeing as she was almost finished eating her food, and it seemed like Shio would also be done soon.

"You should find a way to prepare for lasers. If I need to assassinate you, I'll use lasers first. That should be a sufficient test of your skills in preparation." Kasumi added, flicking the credit card out from the stolen wallet with a remarkable dexterity and flair in order to pay for the meal. The payment was accepted swiftly, and as Kasumi finished, she stood up to stretch her legs a little and finish her drink. She figured that she would let her Mythin and Albion breathe a little, bringing them out of their relics.

"Natrelmon are probably a good way to prepare for lasers."

Shio

"There seem to be many Natrelmon that are equally vulnerable to lasers," Shio responded, not bothering to explain her position on her previous matters any further. Kasumi's opinion in the discussion was the trump opinion due to her family's status.

Shio placed her utensils down on the plate, having finished her last bite, her Kujaku having finished its plate of Omu berries as well. Her drink was also gone, timed perfectly with the final bite of her meal.

"Thank you," she added in reference to Kasumi paying for her meal. With that, she slid her chair out and stood, preparing to leave the table with a short bow to Kasumi. The Kujaku continued to perch on the railing, waiting for Shio to gain some distance before following in tow. It was still observing the situation with great interested, also due to the standing orders that the Kujaku had in regards to Shio being in danger.

"You wanna prepare for the Arena? You sound like you could use some preparation." Kasumi offered as her Mythin and Albion lazily flew in circles around her. The Albion made a playful sound as it tried to catch the Mythin, which quickly darted away, and the two hovered over the square briefly before darting around in a makeshift game of tag. It was an amusing sight to behold if nothing else.

Kasumi prepared herself for the prospect of a battle, allowing a little water to form in her hand and drip down into the ground. It was mostly a subconscious warm-up exercise, as she prepared herself for an escape, but she didn't act on the impulse to flee like she normally would have if she needed to use her Hydromancy. There were certainly other uses for it, but a momentary diversion until she could escape using her Invisibility had always seemed to do the trick in the past.

"If you're interested, we could probably challenge Toran together. You know, if the battle's interesting." She added, calling Mythin over with a simple hand gesture.

Shio

Initially Shio didn't understand what kind of preparation Kasumi was referring to. Once Kasumi explained 'if the battle is interesting' she was able to grasp that it was a challenge.

Shio took note of the formed water before replying, "I will battle you."

There wasn't much of an opportunity for Shio to refuse. Kasumi's stature as a Touhou would make it a possible offense to refuse, even if Shio didn't want to. On the matter she was mostly ambivalent, not really caring either way if she got into combat. There were some practical advantages to doing so - mostly that it was a chance for her to solidify the bond between her Kujaku and herself. As well, it provided Shio some of her physical exercise for the day.

There was direction needed as to where to fight. Kasumi likely already picked up that this would be one of the matters that Shio would defer to her on, thus i was on Kasumi to pick the location of combat. There were many options, but likely not within the Red Nakumo's outdoor patio - one of the many 'town squares' would likely be used - a historical convention for most trainers.

After a few moments of thought, Kasumi directed the pair and their Natrelmon to one of the various town squares that was an appropriately sufficient distance away from the restaurant given her fraudulent method of payment, and she begun her preparations to fight. Mythin would take the lead for the fight, fluttering demurely in front of Kasumi as she whispered instructions to it. Shio had the advantage of not needing to speak with her Natrelmon due to its psychic typing (and her telepathy, though that was not something that Kasumi was aware of). She could have used Albion in order to have the same advantage, but the more quickly she got Mythin evolved, the more quickly she could improve her magic. Despite being ambivalent towards the concept of being a trainer, Kasumi was more than happy to engage in the activity of actually battling - though she was quickly changing her mind on the merits of having Natrelmon. They could be extremely valuable assets for her little hobby, she dryly noted to herself, before nodding to Shio to indicate that she was ready.

The first step was to use the Veil of Mists in order to obscure Shio's vision of the area - it would be a matter of reacting to Shio's moves after that, and striking wherever she saw opportunities.

Drane gently patted Mudball on his hard earthy shell, and started backing away from the clearing, his Kaiguard following close behind. When the stranger and his Natrelmon got out of sight, Drane quickened his pace and soon got back to where he left his bag and his other Natrelmon. Looking at them, he realised how Pyro was smaller than the rest, even if full of energy, he needed to train him first, before the rest.

Sitting down and getting a bit of food from his bag, Drane started thinking about where he should head now. He initially set out to challenge the Toran Arena. He thought about it further, looking at his eating Natrelmon.
"We can do it right? Yes! We have to try!" Whispered to his Natrelmon, it was beginning to get dark which gave Drane an idea. Finishing his meal of different berries and other fruit collected by him and his Omutiel, he walked to a bush big enough so he could fit right under it. He gathered his stuff and put them under the bush before lying down under it himself. As he lay down to rest, his Natrelmon snuggled up close to take advantage of Drane's body heat even if it wasn't too cold. That is how Drane liked sleeping, under the canopy of trees, surrounded by his Natrelmon, with the sounds of the forest and its emanating power.

---

It was still dark when Drane opened his eyes, which quickly adjusted to the dim light of the stars that managed to get through the leaves of the trees. He sat up and gently woke up his sleeping Natrelmon. His plan was to get into the city under cover of darkness while no one was looking so he could get to the Arena and challenge it. He had a quick breakfast of cooked roots and immediately set off for Toran.

This time the journey wasn't made on the train tracks, but through the crop fields, which made Drane feel as is if he was a bit more out of sight, more stealthy. The moon and starts showed him the path, he was not afraid of the dark. It was his friend just as sunlight and forests were. He looked east and noticed the sky getting slightly brighter, it was beginning to get morning. Doesn't matter, the city was close now anyways.

---

When Drane and his Natrelmon arrived, the street lights were still on, the sky got even brighter now and the sun would rise in minutes but be covered by buildings. Drane walked on the streets, avoiding the pool of light coming from the lamp posts, this way, his eyes would stay accustomed to the dark and others wouldn't see him very easily. The town was quiet and deserted, save for a few people walking usually in pairs and sounds coming from across the walls or an open window from which light was coming out. There were also a couple of people singing a song, very badly, while almost tripping over each other.

Toran was like a maze. Right, left, right, forward, left, left, right. Every turn of the road looked exactly the same as the next one, every lamp post, every building. Drane would never get lost in any forest, but here he completely lost his sense of direction. This last road was different though, it widened until it got to a clearing. Well, it would be a clearing if it was in the forest. It's called a town square, Drane seemed to remember. Just as Drane stopped to look around, a ray of light that was until now covered by the buildings, came over the roofs and shone unto a majestic building.

The predominant colour was red. There was bright red, blood red, vibrant red, orange red. Only Drane's Volcan and certain berries were as red as this building. There was a little path out of smooth cobble that lead to the entrance. Along the sides of the path were flowerbeds of red flowers. They were weird though, they looked, dead, although the vivid colours. Drane stepped closer and realised that they weren't real flowers, they were fake. Slightly puzzled, he stepped back to continue to examine the building as the sun rose higher.
There were flagpoles attached to the side of the building. As a slight breeze hit the flags, Drane could see there were flame emblems on them. What caught Drane's attention the most however, was not the stunning colours, shape, and size of the building. On each size of the small cobble path stood two red pillars. Arching from the top of one pillar to the other were symbols which Drane realised he could read. The words' meanings sank into him as he, with some difficulty, formed coherent words out of the letters, It said "Toran Arena".
Suddenly, Drane was not so sure about entering in there yet. He thought it would be wiser to battle someone else first...

Shio

Shio took her position a solid forty feet away from Kasumi's initial location. It was a very standard start for most Natrelmon battles. Her Kujaku was her chosen Natrelmon and was in position 3 feet in front of her, about 4 feet off the ground. There was significant challenge in dealing with Kasumi, given her now noted abilities as a hydromancer. It almost dictated that Shio engage on the Mythin, rather than her more normal tactic of dealing with the trainer herself. Thankfully, Shio knew she had the advantage due the her opponent's Natrelmon being the first stage, rather than an evolved form, which would have given her a lot of difficulty with its variable typing.

Without any motion or vocalization from her, Shio commanded her Kujaku to begin on a right arc around the mist, moving only slightly closer to the mist. Shio had the advantage in the aspect that Shio was unable to sense Kasumi providing she remained still. However, for the Natrelmon, that wouldn't be the case and there were methods of sensing that. It would be easier, however, if she could remove the Mythin from the confines of the mist.

The advantage that Kasumi had at this point was, unfortunately, tentative at best. The fact that the Kujaku offered Shio a telepathic connection which could locate her Mythin within the mist was troublesome. While she was fine due to her Hydromancy, the focus of the battle was her Mythin, and he did not gain the same protection from Hydromancy as she did. The loose arc that the Kujaku began travelling in was likely not going to be an issue - while its psychic aura was still far away enough from her and the mist, Kasumi lobbed a single Hazeborn Tears directly in front of her so that the sphere of mist created by it would intersect with her Veil of Mists enough to allow someone of her size entry and exit, but be far enough to maximise the area of the mist that she had.

Given the flight path of the Kujaku, as she lobbed the spell forwards, she whispered "Mark II, Mark I." in a tone loud enough for her Mythin to hear, but not so loud as to be able to be heard outside the volume of the mist. The Mythin responded immediately, lobbing two Mark Is directly in line with the Kujaku's flight path, and another just above the others to hit it if it moved upwards to try and avoid them. The Mark II would be positioned within the middle of the three to offer its constant speed boost two them. Kasumi kept a close eye on the Kujaku as well as Shio herself - it was good practice for an assassin to know the location of all of her targets at all possible times, and she she remained ready to react to any strategies that Shio could come up with. It would be an interesting experience for them both to see how the other fought.

Shio

Careful to avoid the attacks, Kujaku dipped below the offensive barrage, even though it was quite low to the ground to start. However, there was enough room for the move to be executed, her Kujaku could nearly run on the cobblestones if it so chose, but for now, opted to stay in a flight formation, now moving outwards from the mist within the same arc, ascending sharply to regain height from its previous move.

However, Kasumi's move gave a general location for the Mythin, for which Shio launched one of her Kuji-kiri out at it. It was unlikely she would hit with the maneuver, since it was easily dodged, but it would at least show that there was an offensive she could execute.

Given that Kujaku was still not in range to sense Kasumi or Mythin with the psychic aura it possessed, Kasumi rolled briefly forwards through the mist, dodging the Kuji-Kiri beneath her Mythin, and pointed to the far end of the Veil of Mists to direct her Mythin. The Mythin moved simultaneously, swooping down to mimic her roll in order to avoid the projectile. Firmly within the sphere of mist she'd created earlier, and before Kujaku could get close enough to sense her and relay the information to Shio. At this point, the Mythin was only a foot above the ground.

"Again, shift." Kasumi repeated, in the same tone as last time, though with simple flicks of her wrist she indicated new positions for the attacks to coincide with its steeply inclining flight path The spread of Mark Is would be evenly spaced around it to force it to take an awkward angle in order to avoid them, but the attacks were nonetheless easy to avoid. As a follow-up, the Mythin would circle around the edge of the cylinder of mist in order to gain as much distance from Kujaku as possible. At this point, Kasumi was slightly to the left of the centre of the sphere of mist she'd created, roughly 25 feet away from Shio, and she loosed a Deceptive Bolt directly at Shio's midriff that would take the appearance of Glaciate. At this point, it would pose an awkward situation to Shio - as one who was aware of magic, she would not know whether or not to assume the bolt was from a Cryomancer or an Invocation Mage - and that decision could be important in the near future.

Shio

Shio reacted swiftly, slipping to the left of the bolt, not really caring what it was. The smartest move was to avoid it. It did indicate that Kasumi was a Cryomancer or an Invocation Mage, important information to take note of. It was also equally important to ensure the mist stayed away from herself and her Kujaku.

For her Kujaku, she commanded immediately for it to accelerate rapidly, surging forward along its flight path to avoid collision with the assault from the Mythin. It would take the Kujaku outwards from the mist more rapidly, as well as hopefully provide significant height for her Kujaku, an advantage she wanted very much at this stage. The problem is despite likely being able to avoid all of the Mythin's attacks, there was no reliable way to wear it down. With limitless uses on its basic Wind moves, it made Shio's options even more limited. However, the same held true for Shio's Kujaku and she was going to make use of that.

Due to the Kujaku's rapid acceleration, Kasumi elected to fire another Hazeborn Tears - this time directly at Shio - and followed it up with a Deceptive Bolt, also mimicking Hazeborn Tears. The orbs would be separately spaced in order to maximise the amount of mist that was on the field. The real version would be aimed directly for Shio, while the illusory version would bridge the gap between the two in order to create as large an area of mist as possible. Depending on Shio's movement, Kasumi would react in kind, potentially using the cover offered by the mists in order to become invisible to strike at her. It seemed that the battle would be decided by which trainer was forced to forfeit rather than whose Natrelmon got hit - at the lower levels of experience for Natrelmon, especially those of the Wind-type, there was very little that could be achieved. It was a much more efficient and effective strategy to go for the trainer directly until the Natrelmon got real offensive power.

Mythin would again fire three Mark Is at the Kujaku at various points along its flight path and change its location within the mists - though it was mostly for show, as the two of them knew. The Mythin would move further away from the Kujaku this time, retreating halfway into the cylinder of mist to provide itself with a better vantage point.

Shio

Shio immediately moved further to her left, in an arcing path similar to her Kujaku the moment the two spells showed themselves. The small diameters of the mist produced by them would allow her to stay safely out of its confines. Wary of potential counter assault, she was ready at a moment to utilize one of her other abilities, should that become necessary. Shio had a potential gamble that she could execute, but it was extremely risky, especially given Kasumi's abilities as a Hydromancer, something she wasn't able to easily combat with her current skillset.

Kujaku's orders were to continue on the large arc, avoiding the Mark Is and retaliating with Mark Is of its own.Taking out the one most threatening with one of its own attacks, the Kujaku's movements at its maximum movement put it on a fast path. The other two moves would move past harmlessly, designed to prevent particular patterns. The remaining two Mark Is from Kujaku were launched from the point the Mythin had fired it's Mark Is at. It was unlikely that it was still there, but it was better than utilizing no target. At the moment, there was about 30 feet from Kujaku and the outer edges of the main mist patch.

As Shio started her movements, Kasumi vaulted forwards through the mist, rolling in order to cover as much distance as possible in as short a time as possible, and quickly achieved her maximum running speed as she emerged from the mist. Shio's movements would put her, as she carried along through the arc, about ten feet away from the illusory patch of mist (which was about to dissipate), and in a surprising display of agility, Kasumi rolled forwards towards Shio. Just after she begun the leap, putting her approximately seven feet away from Shio, she prepared to use her Veil of Mists in order to trap Shio and herself in the mist. She was highly aware of the entire situation, and ready to react as soon as she saw Shio even begin to make her move as soon as she saw Kasumi.

The roll that Kasumi performed was fairly low and only ever took her a foot and a half above the ground, so her final destination upon hitting the ground would be towards where she was moving along the arc - this would put her in a risky position, but as soon as Shio went to cast a spell or otherwise take an action, Kasumi would be prepared to use a Veil of Mists and Break One's Word to defend herself.

Mythin performed its obligatory moves and then moved again.

[13 Momentum]

Shio

Not a stranger to combat, Shio reacted swiftly, catching Kasumi's move out of the side of her vision. Pushing her right foot in, she continued forwards, straightening briefly from her arc. To deter Kasumi, she unleashed a Word of Conviction: Blind near her in time with her push, near the point where Kasumi had revealed herself from the mist. Slipping her hand down, she grabbed her pocket knife, halting her movement with a pivot and using the momentum to fling the open knife at Kasumi's location, ready to chain another Word of Conviction: Blind between the two should it be necessary. Should she need, defenses were ready to block any projectile spell from Kasumi that may be needed. Shio, a runner by necessity, would leave her pivot point about 16 feet from Kasumi's current location, her feet dug in, ready to spring. Staying out of the mist was incredibly important.

Kujaku executed the same maneuver against the Mythin, moving to loop around near its trainer, the arcing path having continued to put it on that intercept course.

[12 Momentum]