[center][h2][color=0072bc]Izumi[/color][/h2][/center]

The forest past the small farm cut a gap through the spreading fields, an incision that leapt far into the sky and from horizon to horizon. Izumi approached with great care, knowing that what laid inside would be an ever greater threat than what she had previously encountered. She heard from in front of her the faint, frequent tapping of footsteps approaching, and dove again into the rice fields, careful this time to avoid the shin-deep pools of water that covered the plants. Izumi heard heavy breathing and a faint whimper come from the figure as it zoomed past where she had once stood, and Izumi glanced up from behind the small dip in the hill. A peasant who looked to be in forestry clothing, probably a woodcutter, was dashing down the main road, arms raised and legs spread all the way out as he stepped. She giggled a bit at the sight, and figured he wasn't turning back any time soon, and clambered back up onto the road. She waved up to Kuro, calling the bird down from his flight, and the bird rested upon her right shoulder as she walked into the trees.

Faintly to her left, she heard the familiar call of a bird and turned - maybe a few hundred yards from her was the source of the sound, in what looked to be a bulge in a densely packed grove of bushes and low-hanging tree branches. Izumi looked up to the branches, and jumped. In a black whir her body disappeared into the thick green leaves that covered the forest's canopy, and Kuro flapped up just behind her. From up here, she could better survey the area and be sure of what the sound was before simply getting right up to it - though she figured it was the ninja she had paired with for this journey, she still felt a necessity for caution.

As she gracefully leapt from limb to limb of each massive tree, she noticed a small patch in the grove's cover slightly shift, which she quickly figured to be camouflage, and approached the spot. From about twenty yards away, she whistled slightly to produce a noise similar to a cricket, and waited for a response.

[@Lord of Evil][@13org]