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"Woo! Camp out!" Aoki cheered following her sister and listening intently to the noises around her. Despite being a more childish and unresponsible thief, Aoki still knew the basics. Always be on guard. Crowded places are both good to hide, but bad for detection. Distant and isolated places are best to hide, but worst for battles in which you might need help...

Sorting through everything she had learned as a thief, Aoki's eyes glazed over as she pulled out her friend's scarf. She smilled lightly and hugged it. It would be a long while before she saw any of them again. Aoki could easily tell. It wasn't hard to figure out.

"So, Ane-chan. What are we going to do tomorow? Is it still some way before we get to where we need to be?" Aoki asked, boredly playing with a strand of her hair. " 'Cause the only mission we would have if we never got there is walk to a small town and get groceries. Nice."

Aoki laughed and caught up to her sister, who strode quickly and with loger legs, it was hard for Aoki to keep up.

"Wait up Ane-chan!"

((Yep, yep. But only 700k worth of items biggrin ))

(( Guess who's back... ))

Melora's words lashed out in anger, yet Izumo stood still. It wasn't much of a punishment, but then again, there wasn't much else she could do to him.

"Melora, I understand how you feel right now, and I'm not going to argue with you about your hatred of, well, me. I deserve it, at the least, for being the root of the transferring of our curse to you." He turned, as if to leave, but stood in place, thinking.

"What I am concerned about, though, is what you just said: Shinobu... It's not her fault you're like this, Melora, leave her out of it," Izumo turned his head over his shoulder, sending his own steely gaze in Melora's direction. "She is in no way responsible for what has happened to you. You know just as well as I that when Shinobu saw you injured and dying, from my own attack, that she did all she could to keep you alive. How you become immortal, whether she played any part in it... is unseen. You can't blame her simply as a way out; if you must blame someone, point your finger at me, not her. I saw her after I talked about you, about what I'd done; no doubt you've talked to her prior, she was crushed simply talking about it. You should apologize to her. You can't blame her for being good-natured and kind, but you can blame me for being cruel and violent."

Izumo turned away again. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" It was a lofty question, and he wasn't sure he'd get a simple answer, but it needed to be asked.

(( That's right, it's me! I'm back! Muahaha! ))

((Vending.))

"What? No, wait -- uh." Izumo pounded his hand against the wall in frustration. "She doesn't get it, and now... now she's probably heading off to find Shinobu and pester her during... the mission! No, if Melora interferes while Shinobu and Aoki are still on their mission, she could wreck all their plans. She's going to be a pain in everyone's side until, until... she dies. But why does she want death, anyways?"

"Ah, there's no time for that now, she's getting away." Izumo turned and broke into a quick sprint. She was fast for a kid, he'd give her that much, but there was no way she could outpace him. He'd catch up to her, he just hoped it would be before she could ruin anything.

Running with blinding speed, Izumo noticed a fleeting figure ahead in the distance. It had to be Melora; no other person would be fleeing in this direction with such speed. It would be a matter of moments before he reached. And then...

What was that? Still running, Izumo reached for his neck. It was sore; very sore. It felt as though someone had just hit him, hard. He did his best to keep pace, trying to put the feeling out of mind. Suddenly, he felt out of breath. Had he not still been lurching forward, he would have swore that he ran into something. It was as though someone had wrenched a fist into his gut, and just kept driving it in and twisting. But his current mission was more important. Melora was getting a little further, now, but if he could put the pain out of mind, Izumo was sure he could easily make up the time he's lost. He pushed on through the pain, which was odd, considering his physical status. He ran hard and fast, perhaps too fast. The muscles in his upper thigh tightened spasmodically; Izumo wasn't ready for it and hit the ground hard. Melora's voice could be heard up ahead, muttering something incoherent, at least from such a distance. The pain he'd been feeling, surely it must've been caused by the girl and her mysterious magic.

Izumo has seen it before, seen her use it on some of the others. Never anything to extreme, but he was sure it was capable of much worse. And if she'd been saving all her anger to extort on just one person... he was sure she'd make it worse. He'd have to rely on his training, now. Simply chasing after her in a blatant manner was too obvious, she'd seen and heard him coming, had enough time to prepare a counter-measure. He'd have to act stealthily, give silent chase and use the treetops to his advantage. Although many of the trees were young and unstable, the frequency of a sturdy trunk was enough that he could make due, since he needed to. As for the pains...

They were fading. He hadn't much paid attention to them after falling, and it was as though ignoring them had somehow eased it away, which made some sense. The pain was inflicted by some magical source, if one focused on it, surely it would be more severe; of course the advantage was that most anyone has a hard time not focusing on pain. Izumo rose to his feet, stretched out to ensure whatever injury he may have acquired had passed, then looked for the nearest sturdy tree.

"Melora," Izumo spoke quietly, "you're not getting away from me that easily." With that, Izumo was off. Taking a few quick steps forward, he used his momentum to throw himself upward to a low branch, and with aerobic skill, kept his momentum up to continue propelling himself upward through the branches before continuing on. If he could stop, he knew, he would. Shinobu's safety depended on it, and there was no doubt that he was the only person who knew that it was even endangered.

Shinobu sat, her legs folded beneath her, on a piece of cloth lain out on the ground, as she watched her sister try and try again, unsuccessfully, to set up a shelter.
Normally Shinobu would've felt a bit more hasty bout setting up an acceptable shelter and getting on with it, but she had to admit that watching her sister fail continuously at so many shelter was almost entertaining. First a leanto, which leaned a little bit too far to the left, and flattened, then a tent, which couldn't become stable, and now, for some reason, a wigwam, which her sister had no hope of accomplishing in a few short hours before nightfal.
Shinobu stood up, smiling softly at her sister. "We can try something a bit more simple, let's try the leanto again, except against a larger tree than before."
She reached down and grabbed a few of the leftove sticks and sprigs, and pointed to a particularily large oak about 7 feet away, standing there.
She had taken off into the direction of the tree to begin on the new shelter, when she stopped in her tracks. Shinobu wasn't syre of what she felt, but it was an unfriendly arua, different than the one of the cloaked stranger in the marketplace, someone else, and they were closing in, fast.
She shifted uneasily, hoping that it was nothing.