Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aoki nodded happily before dashing into one of the closest open shops. Aoki always had a fasination with new things. Treasure, clothes, even stuff that didn't matter, and stuff that did, like new thieves, friends, all of it amazed Aoki.

Aoki stepped into the first hummble shop and talked to the owner for a while before looking around at what they had.

'Hm... We really need to find a weapons shop. This place is, how do I put it, small.'

Simply buying some a new orange ribbon for her hair, Aoki pulled herself out of the small store. Looking around, she got quite a few stares. Probebly because they looked like a rich snob and her female body-guard.

"Oh Shinobu-onee... We should have worn something else into the village...." She said nervously, little street rats eyeing her malaciously. "Eh.. Uh... Eep."

((Need to post more often. Eep.))

Upon his arrival at the shallow puddle, Izumo scanned the murky water for any sign of his blades. Just as he had expected, both could be seen standing upright, almost near the center of the pool, where he had awakened earlier. He hoisted the chain above his head, and began to spin it furiously. Retrieving the blades was going to be much simpler than he could have hoped for. However...

Retrieving them this way was boring, and uninventive. It was most certainly not Izumo's style. And so, with no hesitation, he pulled the chain in check, and pondered a more creative way to retrieve the blades. He very well couldn't walk into the water to get them, and aside from that there were no apparent alternative routes. He would have to settle for his original, unexciting plan. Or would he?

Spying a large tree on one side of the pool gave Izumo an idea. Upon his arrival at its base, his appraisal was that it was sturdy, solid, and would suit his needs. His chain, too, appeared to be of a length just fitting his desire. Slowly, he wound a precise number of links around the tree's base, pinning it up and locking it in place with a kunai. Then, after fixing another kunai to the opposite end, he threw it with great effect at the theatre's side. The blade drove deep into the plastered wall, perfect; it wasn't as if someone would notice such a small hole in the plaster, the building was massive, and no one paid that much attention to it, anyways.

Testing the taughtness of his new tightrope - or tightchain, as it was - Izumo stomped and yanked, ensuring he would not fall. Poised upon it, he slowly made his way out to the centre of the line, with such grace as only one having trained and honed skills in such a field as he dealth with, could. Once nearing the first of his blades, he proceeded to invert his position; he was now hanging upsidedown from the chain, ready to grab hold of the nearest blade. The first came out quite easy, and as he had expected, was easily cleaned with a simply wipe. The second, however, seemed more of a problem. It was not only in a dip in the ground, but also buried deeper in the ground, as well. He couldn't reach it, even in his current position. Not wanting to give up on his ingenius plan, Izumo slackened his legs. He eased downward, and tightened up once again, holding his position. Still too high. He repeated the process, slowly, until he could reach the blade. He gave a tug at it, but it seemed persistant to stay where it was planted. He'd not enough leverage, only just being able to reach the hilt. He needed to be lower, still. As he lowered himself down, he noticed a slight cracking noise; not altogether a crack, but a peel as well. He was unsure of where such a noise was coming from; no tree was falling, and nothing else seemed wrong. Until the chain shifted slightly. Izumo glanced up; the plaster was peeling. His reasoning was turning on him. Sure, the building was old, and no one would notice such a small defect, but as he had stated, the building was old. The plaster, no doubt, was dried and wearing away. He'd not taken this into consideration.

He wasn't about to give up, but he wasn't about to get dirty again. With a quick move, he dipped down and, using both hands, pulled his blade upward. The mud in the murky pool made a loud sucking noise as he withdrew it, a sound Izumo had no time to pay attention to. Quickly stashing away his second blade in its sheath, Izumo reverted to his original position atop the chain. Instead of taking his time backward, however, he was in a hurry. He could hear more of the plaster cracking out. Nearing the end of the chain, he heard what he had assumed to be the final crack, and at that moment leapt toward safety. As he has surmised, the plaster wall had given way, and the kunai-chain slackened to the ground. Izumo was not worried; he has leapt before it collapsed. His landing was soft, graceful, and most importantly, not in the mud. A feeling of self-satisfaction filled Izumo, and at that moment nothing was more important. He decided, then, that perhaps another training session was in order, he would finish what, days ago, he had left unfinished. Stepping away, now, Izumo's foot did not land on solid ground. Granted what he's stepped on was solid, it was coated with a slick substance, mold or slime. As a result, Izumo fell on his backside, right into the mud he had put so much effort into avoiding. Sure, he was still clean, but the backside of his fresh clothing was now coated in a sheer coat of mud, which would cake on before he would get a chance to remove it.

"Perfect. And after all that work. Sheesh, what a waste."

Kagami took one last glance around her room before slowly closing the heavy wooden door. She smoothed her pale green tunic before slipping her hands into the pockets of her pants to retrieve the small silver key to lock her room up. The girl sauntered down the hall as gracefully as she could manage with her sore muscles. An enigmatic smile unfurled on her lips as she made her way outdoors to greet the sun. Kagami thought on how to properly spend the hours of the day as she stood out on the balcony. She flinched slightly as the light touched her face, remembering the minor sunburn that had marked itself across her cheeks. Her arms folded over the marble molding and she leaned agaisnt the stone work. A feeling of electric restlessness ran through her since she knew she had to take some time to not exert herself. Immediatly she straightened her posture and changed her direction toward the library to delve into some sort of study.

[Oh dearz. I hope you won't be leaving, VerdantOne. So many people have been leaving lately. It's very disappointing.]

[Good, we need some roleplayers around here, I don't know what's going on with Lifes, is he quitting? Is he staying? I'm gonna have to wait and see.]

As Shinobu poked about the marketplace, haggling with the odd merchant for whatever caught her eye, she felt someone... unique nearby, a different aura than the usual excited-hardworking, confused and joyful emotions that the towns people here portrayed, it was dark and pitiful, cold and sad, and nearby, very nearby.
She whipped around, half-expecting to see someone ready to attack her, but no one. Nothing more than bustling townsfolk hurrying by with their good, paying little more attention to her than a few dirty looks, for being such a fish out of water, nothing like what she felt from this other presence.
Shinobu sighed and paid for the basket she was carrying her rice bags in, and turned, going into the crowds swallowing the numinoichi and continuing on when someone brushed into her.
A chill ran thickly down her spine, she stopped in her tracks at the spot, where, from behind, she'd been shocked. She turned her head slowly, and far enough to see a dark robed figure retreating into the people.
She threw her basket unto a nearby table, and, sensing that this robe-clad person was clearly the one with the particular aura, took off after them, winding and turning around people, bumping into many as she went. Ignoring their startled shrieks.

[Well, there you go, a very special little encounter. It'll come up again later, if you all hang around, you'll get to see who that was. I bet you already have an idea too. wink But I'm not spilling.]