[IC] The Jade Stream

[VitaVitaAR]

"Hairpin, Kyang-dono?" Torako cocked her head to one side, appearing as if she had no idea why she'd been asked. In fairness, she didn't, for a few moments at least. After all, she did her best not to actually lie. The swordswoman in the ornate kimono mulled it over, and soon enough came to the realization as to what the other girl meant. She gave a firm, cheerful nod, and reached into the folds of her kimono. After what seemed like a remarkably long time(where was she even keeping a hairpin, and why was she keeping it down the front of her clothing?), the pale-haired girl withdrew a hairpin and offered it to Kyang.

"Here you go!" she declared.

[Muttonhawk]

Kyang assumed that Torako had misheard when she first responded. "Yeah, a hairpin," Kyang responded while staring at the keyhole.

As the awkward moment passed where Torako processed the information. Kyang raised an eyebrow and slowly turned her head toward Torako. The assumption came over Kyang's mind that Torako had not picked a lock before. Kyang breathed in to explain herself in the exact moment that Torako realised what was going on, causing Kyang to feel slightly jarred. It didn't help that Torako apparently had forgot where she kept hairpins on her person for a while. Kyang was starting to wonder if bashing down the door was a better idea.

"Thanks," Kyang said with a smile. With the hairpin in hand, Kyang turned to the keyhole again and began to gently compromise it. Kyang explained to her companions while she worked. "I, uh...used to sneak out of home a lot. I had a lot of practice to do stuff like this."

Barely a few moments more passed before a satisfying click sounded. Kyang grinned and handed the hairpin back to Torako. "There we go. No muss, no fuss," Kyang said proudly.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Liu watched Kyang pick the lock with mild interest, the sound of metal hitting metal becoming almost rhythmic in fashion. Her progress, however steady it was, felt quite slow to him; the most he could hope for was that they'd at least be able to enter unnoticed.

But really, though... Sneaking out often? What kind of family did Kyang come from?

Before the hunter could further indulge in his thoughts, though, he heard a click from the lock. Wow. That was... Faster than expected.

"Good job, Kyang. Let's hope there isn't an ambush waiting for us inside," he said, slowly opening the trapdoor to reveal a set of wooden stairs within. Slowly climbing down into the hideout, Liu took note of how... Open the space was. A few torches seemed to line the walls, giving an eerie atmosphere to the already a unsettling hideout. But, at the very least, nobody seemed to be lying in wait for them.

A single passageway stood at the end of the room, fancily marked by golden statues--no doubt robbed from some pitiable merchant. Was this boss an idiot or something?

"I think we're all clear. Be wary of any surprise attacks, though; we don't know what's waiting for us ahead. Keep close."

[Muttonhawk]

Despite the relative darkness beyond, Kyang narrowed her eyes as she peered down the stairs to the apparent hideout. Those gold statues were nothing if not ostentatious, especially in the home of bandits. Kyang figured they must either be too big to fence or secured to the floor so they don't get nabbed. It was the only way it made sense in Kyang's first impressions.

Regardless, it was just a straight corridor for now. Unless they would have their escape cut off by bandits behind them, it didn't seem especially risky to head forward. Taking the initiative ahead of the others, Kyang carefully stepped out in front and lead the way, glaive held forward for any enemies ahead.

"Seems a bit...fancier than I expected," Kyang commented quietly. "Just shout out if anyone comes up behind us, alright Torako?"

Kyang continued pacing onwards carefully until the next detail of note made itself apparent.

[VitaVitaAR]

Gold statues...? What kind of bandits were these that went around setting up gold statues? That was just silly! Torako prevented herself from giggling as she followed along with the other two. Really... bandits setting those sorts of things up, like they were something impressive? Oh well. She shuffled along behind the others carefully, wisely keeping her mouth shut as she did. So far, there wasn't any real disturbance... either the bandits were further in, or they were all out. Regardless, so far, nice, stealthy entrance!

... So far. Torako was feeling pretty confident, though...

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

Liu continued pacing forward, his hands primed to draw his weapon at the slightest provocation. To say it wasn't making him paranoid would be as false a claim as one could make; after all, he had no clue what was lying in wait for them up ahead. His concentration was broken, however, when a heavy, metallic smell met his nose. He knew it far too well from his own line of work, and needless to say, he wasn't quite happy about it making its appearance again in such a concentrated form here.

The smell of blood. Fresh, too.

The three bounty hunters eventually made their way into a much wider room, stacked with gold coins and barks and fancy silks and cloth sof all sorts. Despite the extravagance of the place, though, what stood out the most were the scattered bodies of dead bandits lying all over the floor, their hearts having long since stopped beating.

"...Was this... A power struggle that we missed here? Did the events of yesterday manage to cause this? Or was it something else...?" Liu wondered out loud as he carefully edged around the bodies in search of the writings that Xin had requested of him earlier that day.

"Can you guys help me out here? I'm kinda hoping that whatever Xin's looking for isn't drenched in blood by now..."

Though the outcome seemed too convenient to be true, in a way it seemed to have made sense. If fighters that could stand toe to toe with Xin had disappeared overnight, then a power vacuum would ensue...

"Hey, wait a moment," he said, pausing his search to turn to the dead bodies. "Shouldn't we check to make sure that their leader's among the bodies? If he isn't, then we might have a bigger problem than expected..."

[Muttonhawk]

Kyang wrinkled her nose when she wheeled around the corner. The bodies everywhere weren't exactly what she was expecting to find. Her immediate response was apparent relief as there didn't appear to be any live bandits left, but as Liu began rummaging through the loot, Kyang tensed and began scanning the room.

"Uhm..." She began, as if to advise Liu against letting his guard down yet, but didn't quite find the words. Liu eventually stopped and spoke, demonstrating lined up thoughts between them. Whoever killed these guys might still be here.

"The guys we ran into yesterday talked up the leader a lot," Kyang said, somewhat stilted, "How about we stick together while we search, hm?"

Kyang kept her glaive forward and her eyes peeled as she paced around slowly. "Hey, I don't suppose either of you have some kind of ki power for finding bandit ringleaders in caves, do you?"