[Day 5 Mid-Evening] Looking out

[Amaya]

Walking up towards the city's edge, Amaya looked amongst the city's defenders, trying to get a feel for the various guards. Swimming hadn't done anything this afternoon. However, she was past the tourist stage. If others wanted to wander around the city like it was a holiday, they could. These monkey-faced heathen bastards knew something was up, and there were more ships out and about.

Looking at her translator, she nodded and asked them to introduce her to one of the guards if they were off duty. At least these apes don't smell TOO bad. And they think of me as mostly the same as the rest of the crew.

[Rixy]

Yuo, the young teenager who was Amaya's chosen companion today, grew more and more nervous as they drew near the outer wall. "Something's happened...there're too many of them around." Indeed, there were dozens of warriors of the Ivory kingdoms milling about, muttering to each other in low tones and giving the two obviously foreign women markedly unfriendly stares.

[Amaya]

"Yeah," she muttered in a low tone. "Even I can see there's too many monkeys chatterin bout. It's like somethin happened. Any'f them look like they're willin t'talk to us, or they gonna glare like those damned bulls they got carryin shit round? I can't tell when they're smilin r pissed off, but half'f them look constipated."

[Rixy]

The girl snickered a little. "It's worse when they try to flirt...why, they seem to think pawing is romantic. Even cats in heat have better manners. Let's find a young one...they're prone to flattery." So saying, she started off toward the right, toward a smaller cluster of people gathered near a stand that sold some sort of fried meat on sticks.

[Amaya]

Making a note not to touch... whatever the hell it was they were eating as long as it wasn't strictly necessary for 'bonding' purposes, Amaya focused her attention on those there. She gave a simple bow to them, or at least what she'd seen the other peasants do in the past before glancing over at the translator and nodding.

"I'd like to see if w'can figur out what th'hell's goin on. Was gonna ask bout th'new boats n th'storm, but that can wait."

[Rixy]

There were four people here: the woman who was running the cart, a young boy who was probably her son who was helping, and two young men dressed in the same uniform as most of the city guard, though without the fancy gilding at the belt. Under her breath, Yuo murmure, 'Trainees...they should do nicely."

Approaching, the young lady put on a smile that would be stunning in a few more years and which was none-too-shabby even now. The eyes of the young men were caught at once and though one scowled, the other smiled in a like fashion and stepped closer, offering the peculiar bow with hands pressed together that was the local custom. Amaya's guide spent a few moments in what at least appeared to be wild flirtations before she turned to Amaya again, the smile on her lips never fading despite the grim news she had.

"He says that one of our brahmin cursed a Tower today. That's why there are so many of the guard about and why he and his fellow, here, are going to be put on watch despite not yet having earned their blades."

[Amaya]

"What the hell's a Broomeen?" she said, very clearly mispronouncing the word and scratching her head with a confused look. "Cursed a tower? That mean one'f th'shugies did somethin? Kami-besotten crazed ... those things're more trouble than they're worth, 'tween you, me, an that ape y'er giving th'doe eyes to. Half'f them are completely crazy, but samurai's a samurai, an it ain't my job t'tell em what's what. Me, I'd prefer talking t'as few spirits as I can."

She had enough troubles on her own.

"Ask him of a Broomeeen's a shugenja, oh...n what exactly that fool did," she added after a minute. "If ya can apologize without't gettin back t'the all holy samurai, might not be a bad idea. Probably make the monkeys a little less pissed't us when they're talkin."

She smiled at him and bobbed her head, using the most shit-eating grin she could remember under other circumstances. She really wasn't good at talking to people. Thank god for intelligent socialites as translators. she just had to listen to teh chittering, not actually make her throat make those disgusting sounds. The smell of the meat on the stick was making her a little ill.

[Rixy]

Yuo's smile grew more forced as the vitriol poured out of Amaya but she, good little handmaid in training that she was, held it long enough to turn and peer up becoming through her lashes at the boy again, even managing to work in a few giggles. A few more minutes passed during which the other young man grew more annoyed and, at one point, turned and spat in disgust before making a warding sign. Yuo flinched and stepped back a bit and the friendlier of the two turned and spoke quite sharply to his companion before trying to reassure the Rokugani women with a weak smile.

This time, Yuo wasn't smiling when she turned again to Amaya. "A brahmin is a shugenja, yes. He says that one of them called down such a curse that it dropped five vetarans to their knees and then called up an evil storm. He said that the one that did it must be a powerful demon because he flew away on the demon winds and left the others to fight or die alone without looking back. He said that one of the soldiers injured it and it's blood was red, which apparently means it can't be one of a handful of very nasty demons, but that their all going to kill it on sight if they see it again, orders or no orders."

[Amaya]

In the middle of the explanation of what had happened, Amaya spat as well, avoiding all of them. The look on her face mimicked the other man's identically. "Ya can tell haggard chimp boy number two I won't shed no tears over that," she muttered. "That answers th'question of why th'hell my neck weren't throbbin t'day with the storm comin in. Hope t'god weren't O-Shiba-sama doin a fool thin like that. I almost like that crazed witch."

She muttered something and shook her head. "Well, that explains th'guard. Ya know if that fetid swill they got skewered on a stick's edible? They'd probably prefer'f I bought somethin what with all this talkin," she said. "Hell... what do these things use fer money'n th'first place? Strike that. It can waittaminut. Ask th'one what's not spittin like a donkey if'n mebbe he knows much bout all th'extra ships comin'n. Heard there's been funny traffic lately."

[Rixy]

Obediently, the young woman turned and spent a few more minutes in conversation with the young guard. He brightened, visibly, at something she said and with a few words to the woman at the cart and an exchange of some odd looking coin, two skewers were soon in Yuo's possession. Further questions had the first young man turning as grim as the second and the second visibly fuming and caressing the hilt of his knife.

As she turned to give one stick of grilled meat to Amaya, she murmured, "It's just chicken, Kami be praised. They have goat too but I refused that straight off. He said that the ships are fleeing other cities that have been taken by what sounds like some sort of army or something....he won't name it, though he did curse about the fallen House."

[Amaya]

"Ok. I can eat chicken. what th'hells a goat an why would ya eat't?" she said, taking a tentative bite and putting that shit-eating grin on her face again while nodding to the one selling them and then to the one who was paying. Giving an attempt at thanks. "Never mind. I ain't dumb, so they probably won't talk much bout't, but ya know anythin bout this ... fallen house thing? It's soundin frightful close t'a clan r some such. If ya don' feel safe askin bout't, ask'm where the folks fleein are stayin. I can ask'm more tomorrow."

[Rixy]

"I know about one house the Mantis helped put down, though not as much as the older ones who were here could tell you...I won't name it here though, they might think we're sympathizers and gut us on the spot."

Yuo,too, nibbled her meal and smiled, then turned to get more answers from the guard, who obligingly pointed southerwesterly and gabbled at her a bit more. Yuo giggled a bit and even managed a blush, then turned to Amaya with her eyes already rolling. "He said there's a camp outside the wall. He offered us escort when he's off duty tomorrow to make sure such 'delicate beauty isn't sullied by ill-mannered desperate louts'."