Umiko wiped her eyes to see three people stand before her. The little girl turned around with her new head to examine her surroundings. She was dead, and apparently her spirit was released from her body in the form of a young girl. Why the gods would ever choose to do something of such nature is beyond Umiko's comprehension. Next to her was a running river, salmon swimming up stream, some of them Umiko recognized. Another slow tear ran down her face. Umiko was not having the best of days.

She turned first to the red head with the hood, staring at the hooded woman's legs. "I-I dunno" Umiko sniffled, replying to the woman's question. The two bigger men appeared very intimidating to her and so she tried her best not to pay attention to them. Instead, she looked toward her corpse- the body of the fish which smelled slightly of pee. Umiko crawled towards her fish body, picking it up before releasing another wave of tears.

"Oh my god I know what happened." Kiryu pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to the woman next to him. "That girl's pet fish died. We should do something about it. Look at her, she's crying too hard to speak.... and she smells like urine." he squinted, rubbing his chin. "That's odd."

Alessia 's eyes flickered towards the next man to appear, her hand gently gliding to rest upon the hilt of her sword beneath her cloak. She once again returned her attention to the young girl, feeling her upset tug at her empathy. She once again looked to the two men before she slowly and calmly walked over to the girl, taking a knee to crouch beside her. The girl held a fish in her hands, one that didn't look nor smell in good condition. Perhaps it had been a pet, or perhaps the young girl was still attempting to come to terms with the way of life and death, neither was a favourable option for the young girl to deal with. Alessia reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing her red hair and amethyst eyes as she smiled softly to the young girl, "Was this a friend of yours?" she asked curiously, approaching the subject gently. She ignored the man's brazen comment, instead placing a hand upon the girls shoulder to reassure her against his blatant disregard for her feelings.

Vosswald let go off his sword. He was reliefed that the situation seemed to be normal. However, he still wondered what exactly transpired here. Why was the girl holding a dead fish? Why did that man looks so ragged? And why did that women have red hair? Maybe these were her parents? Unlikely. It could be that the fish had been a pet and now they were holding some kind of funeral for it. It would not surprise him considering how different the customs of this land were to his own.

Vosswald remembered when his pet hamster Roland died. Bitten to death by those vile, naked-tailed rodents! He tried to give him a proper funeral, carefully preparing a miniature funeral pyre. It had been a moment of great significance in his life. To this day he still feels the reassuring presence of Roland whenever he looks at a flame.

He noticed that he had been lost in thought and snapped out of it. Hopefully nobody noticed.

.

Orion - daycamp off the beaten path

In his daylight camp, off the beaten path Orion lazed about as many of the demons around him did the same. He recalled how he had come to such a awkward position.

It all began with a letter, an invitation to a private event at a lords estate. as Orion was a simple wanderer then the invitation was clearly meant for everyone. it was the Promise of food that lured him in, as he normally avoided such things. The estate was modest and smelled heavily of jasmine. Underneath that scent however Orion could smell the stench of blood. As he and a dozen others sat around the table the lord of the manor entered and addressed them. While he looked normal Orion could smell that it was something wearing the face and skin of the lord. the scent of decay giving it away. So when the man declared dinner served Orion was already prepared for the worse. Demons, while it was his first encounter with them he was confident that everything died if stabbed in the head. There were only two survivors that night Orion being one of them. soon after a messenger was sent for him, in regards to a job. The carrier was a terrified child. When he responded to the letter and answered the summons he was greeted by a man who gave no name. He spoke of a war that was ravaging the land. he spoke of kings and demons. Orion didnt care until the man spoke of him. the man knew about his ability and wanted to pay him to put it to use. the price offered "anything his heart desired" In time Orion agreed but setting his own conditions, namely that he would ask for his desire at the close of this conflict and that he would answer to no one. He was introduced to the darkside of the war. the side which harbored demons and chaos and destruction. From that he selected 9 demons of varying skill, race and intelligence and set them apart from the group. They were to be assassins, avoiding the major conflicts, spreading the fruits of destruction by the moonlight.

The smell of blood in the distance drew him from his memories. the blood was rank, a demon was dead, most likely the idiot Oni on guard duty. He honestly didnt care but he was concerned about who had been the one to kill it. his traveling part also seemed alerted to the smell but didnt move or do anything stupid. Orion was the only one to investigate heading in the direction of the blood. he traveled curiously but casually, holding fast to his training in deception. With his sword at his side he kept his hands behind his head, to create the image of an idle traveler along for a journey and not one of a deadly assassin accompanied by demons.

Ayame heard a commotion coming from the riverside but didn't want any part of it. She was still shaking from seeing the headless body of a woman she had known being dragged away and likely consumed.
She cautiously made her way back towards the village. They were hoping to have the first of the warriors that had sent for arrive before nightfall. Everyone in the village was supposed to dress in their best clothes and prepare a banquet of their best food. Ayame had been ordered by her grandfather, as one of the village's prettiest young women, to smile and parade around like peacocks.
It made her ill to think about it.

Ayame had been engaged at one time, but he had died in the war. She hadn't been too upset, she hadn't known him that well. He had been the son of an elder in another village. She supposed that made her a terrible person, but how were you supposed to mourn a person you had only met once?

Holding her basket tightly, ready to throw if needed, Ayame moved cautiously up the path towards the village.

Umiko stood fully upward, standing a little less than 3'8". The girl was in fact naked, her long blue hair reached down to her waist, covering her chest and crotch. Being a ghost and a ghost of a fish, her stark nudity did not bother her nor did the smell, as she was always accustomed to the smell of fish having been one. Though, she wasn't so much bothered by a lack of clothes as much as that she was in fact dead. Umiko puffed up her cheeks and brought her lips to a pout. She had more of an angry expression. It seemed nobody knew what was going on, frustrating the girl even further. Umiko crossed her arms and stared at Alessia.

"Wait, I was half right." Kiryu corrected himself, snapping his fingers. "She was crying because she's embarrassed. Here." he removed his upper shirt. It was gray, had a melon sized hole in the back, and reeked of sweat. "You can cover yourself up with this."
Looking at Alessia, he asked, "I think there's a village up the river. Maybe her parents live there?"

Alessia blinked as she simply didn't understand and the lack of response from the little girl hadn't made her any wiser to the situation. She exhaled deeply before standing, looking to the man as he offered the girl a shirt. Alessia would have offered her cloak, but if the girl accepted the shirt then there wouldn't be any need for it. She gave a simple nod, "That would be the best bet, I'll gladly take her myself and see if I can find them" she replied before once again looking to the little girl. She looked unhappy and frustrated with something, which made Alessia ever more curious to how and why she ended up here with no clothes on, and with a dead fish. Alessia offered another smile, "Ordinarily I would say you shouldn't trust strangers, but we need to find your parents. My name is Alessia, I'm a Knight from a place far from here and I'd like to help you, ok?" she said softly, keeping her tone calm and clear. She offered the little girl her hand, "Will you come with me?" she asked. Maybe if she could gain the girls trust, she might be able to get some more information from her about how she ended up here and where she came from.

The youkai reached her tiny hands out to Kiryu's filthy shirt and put it on, assuming it must have been a custom to cover yourself. Umiko tied the arms of the cloth tightly around her neck before wrapping the rest of the shirt around her body in an elaborate way. She didn't know how she was doing, nor did she no how to wear a shirt. Nor did she know how to use her hands. Strange as it may be, however, Umiko managed to cover herself- or at least what mattered.

Umiko stared at Alessia, looking almost deeply perplexed in thought for a second before nodding in agreement. "Okay" she responded.

"It's settled then." Kiryu said, placing his sword over his shoulder. "The village is upstream. Probably. It's where I've been walking, at least."
He turned, only to face some man with an odd face and clothes. Everything about him, even his sword looked... foreign.

"Good evening." he slowly said, raising his palm in greeting, taking a few scuttling steps upstream.

Vosswald noticed the now shirtless man greeting him and quickly responded with a short but somewhat sloppy salute as he walked past him. Whatever happened here has been settled as it seems. He was even decent enough to give the girl his shirt.

Having nothing better to do, Vosswald simply shrugged at the two other figures, wondering for a moment if they were familiar with this gesture, before deciding to follow the shirtless man to whatever destination he has chosen.

.

The foreign man gave a short salute, prompting Kiryu to believe he was harmless. All was well as he led the walk. Fortunately for him, there was in fact a village. It seemed to be in proper order. There were huts and a well, a few depressed, scared looking people, and even a Miko with a basket coming up. Just the kind where a girl would have to keep a pet fish for company. And that fish-girl had parents here. Unless she was an orphan, he mused. "But on the other hand, she never said she was... but she never had clothes, either." he muttered to himself.

Alessia smiled at the young girls creativity with the shift before watching as the two men disappeared, easing her doubts about who they were and what they were up to. Perhaps the two were travellers, or maybe even something more. Either way it didn't matter now. She took the young girls hand before leading her away from the river and back onto the road towards the village. While they walked Alessia decided to ask an important question, "So, what is your name?" she asked, looking down to her side at her.

As Orion traveled toward the road, he whistled a a soft tune and made noises by stepping on leaved and twigs and such. When he 'stumbled' on to the road his eyes widened as he look each way. He noticed a rather tall female walking away from his position but seemed to pay her little mind as he attempted to get his baring. Idly he scratched the back oh his head in thought before facing and walking after the female warrior. "excuse me miss. By chance did you pass a town or village on your way. I believe one is near by but.... well I tried to find a short cut and it turned out to be no so short" he folded his left hand over his right hand in front of him as he spoke to her. Even though he was looking at her face his eyes took in enough of her details. obviously she was tall, and a swords-woman. The likely hood of her being the one who killed the idiot oni was high which meant she was good. While Orion honestly expected a couple men the idea of a strong woman was enticing. He decided to keep a comfortable distance, gauging that long legs mean long arms, added to that the length of a blade she would have quite the range.

"I-I'm um..." the little girl turned her head down blushing. As a fish, she never had a real name. Where did she come from? The sea of course! So maybe she would be from the sea. And her family name... she's a fish! So she's from the fish family. "I'm..." Umiko's tone shifted from timidness to slight confidence "I'm Umiko Gyorui!" She stood still boldly, still holding onto Alessia's hand.

.

Orion and Sunōrirī outside the village

Orion nodded with a grateful smile. "Thank you. In fact it is very helpful. well its informative anyway. Gion village you say" he thought for a moment, or rather appeared to be thinking. "i believe that was where I was supposed to be going to meet an old acquaintance. hmm. If you dont mind the company might I travel with you to this village? seems wiser for me to rest there first before i take a proper route"

This woman's blue eyes were almost hypnotic but more was required to bewitch Orion. The wind blew his hair back and he reached back to fix it so that it hung down his back without actually touching the back of his neck. As he awaited the woman's response he had to reform his plan in his head. Attacking while she was in the village might not be wise, it would be better to wait for her to pass through and be on her way. She was a wrench in his plan, a beautiful wrench but still a wrench. His amber gaze wondered past her to the road ahead before looking back at her once more. For now he would simply go to the village, a dwell there for the rest of the day and over night. hopefully this pan worked