OOC:  you still have your weapons, no attempt has been made to take them.  Besides, you'll need them soon ^_^

Standing up, Miya smiled. Four ashigaru warriors? How dare they! "Gentlemen, I would like to retrive my sword. May you please take me to where it is held. I would... feel better with it beside me." she said, giving a look to Kenshin. So, four assassins, and not one of them even the status of a ronin!

She walked to the door that they had entered by, obviously meaning to go find her sword - the question had been an order really, and if the hemin refused, she was going to have Kenshin's support she hoped.

[I thought you left your Katana behind?]

Kenshin was right by Momoko's side, though far from complacent. This was, after all, a Yojimbo's duty. Somewhere in the back of Kenshin's mind lay an understanding of the distinct differences between a Duelist and a Yojimbo.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Bayushi Kenshin was starting to understand the difference between Warrior and a Duelist.

Kenshin's right hand was available to draw his sword, but his left hand rested on his charge. A Yojimbo was willing to throw himself between his charge and a blade, that was true enough; but Yojimbo was also willing to direct his charge away from the blade.

Even if it meant his life.

OOC:  the Lion ashigaru would have delivered it to her, if she hadn't left it in the care of her yojimbo ^_^

"Ah! You have delivered it? Well, I will forgo sneering at hemin touching my blade, and smile upon the bounty of fate." she smiled dramatically. She felt the touch of Kenshin on her shoulder as she took the blade, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

If he is touching me, it is because he feels he might need to move me - and that can only be because he expects an attack!

"Ashigaru-san, can you take us to view the battle between the Phoenix and the Lion. I would see how a preditor and a pacifist fight." She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but she knew Kenshin was behind her, she was condifdent in her own ability to prevent being harmed, though possibly not in defeating two, well trained, ashigaru if it came to that.

Kenshin stayed with his charge. There was no time to dawdle ...

Once outside of the building, you are surrounded by chaos.  Lion samurai and ashigaru are running to and fro carrying water buckets.  From your position, you can see the pillar of smoke rising from one of the city's graineries, Ikoma Gendo directing the firefighting measures, and a squad of Phoenix samurai making a strategic retreat.

OOC: make a Perception/Investigation (notice) roll

I'm definitely going to have to consider honor gains and losses for you two since honor actually affects your school techniques ^_^;;;
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:59, Fri 22 Jan 2010.

Walking up to Ikoma Gendo, Mimoko stood and bowed. "We will help." she said. She took a bucket from a hemin walking past and bent to the task with the Lion.

What are you doing? During the confusion, you should be cutting down the army General, or signalling the Crane to attack... but the Granary isn't only used by Ikoma Gendo, its used to support the entire town - and that means more lives than you can shake a sword at. I don't know whay the Phoenix did this, but they had better have a damned good reason.


She moved through the jostling, paniced people as she tried to help with the fire fighting efforts. She was sure that she was safe now - should the ashigaru have been ment to kill her, they would have to do so in front of all the Lion Bushi gathered around, and they would paradoxically be forced to fight on her behalf.

The building blaze heat made her flinch as she approached it - still several yards away, and she readied her bucket to throw onto the fire.

Kenshin surveyed the scene. There was something that was just "not quite right" about this. The pacifistic Phoenix would never do such a thing, especially not while wearing their own colors.

[Per/Inv(w/ void): 31! Very lucky roll!
 You rolled 31 using 4d10, dropping the lowest dice only, rerolling max ((7,(10+4)14,8,9)).]

The Shiba samurai swing their nagiata in a veritable curtain of steel, not doing much damage to their pursuers, but preventing them from causing injury.  Meanwhile, most of the Lion are busy attempting to extinguish the flames, wordlessly accepting the presence of Miya Momoko, despite the presence of the Kakita mon on her shoulder.

[Private to Bayushi Kenshin: Through the smoke and haze and chaos, you notice two samurai in Phoenix red with bows.  One appears to be aiming a flame tipped arrow towards the area of the burning granary--though a single arrow would do little damage and the head of the arrow seems far too bulky...
The other is not aiming for the granary's at all, rather towards the crowd of Lion samurai where Ikoma Gendo is directing the relief efforts.]

[Private to Kaze no Kage; Miya Momoko: Momoko -- I figured that since you cooperated before you'll cooperate again so I posted this way to save time. If you'd rather not, just let me know and I'll change it; it may feel way too much like me controlling your character ...]
[*bows* please forgive the odd posting; *'s are places where I'm assuming (I'm guessing that we all know how that word breaks down) that Momoko's player cooperates. If not, I'll rewrite. *bows again*]

Kenshin took a sharp breath. Turning quickly, he grabbed his charge* with one hand and used the other to help his words carry over the din.

"Gendo-Dono! ..." he shouted. There were undoubtedly too many Ikoma to use the previous title, and not enough time to be properly formal. "... Incoming Thunder!"

It was an odd irony, but Kenshin was probably the only Scorpion in the area that knew nothing of Gaijin Pepper. So it was that the Honorable Scorpion had only one way to explain himself. And while Kenshin had no particular Duty to warn the Governor of his impending doom, if the treaty was to stand even a small chance of coming into existence the one that accepted its logic -- Ikoma Gendo -- must be permitted to survive this skirmish.

Though this seemed to be forever in Kenshin's mind, it could not have taken any longer than half a heartbeat for Miya Momoko was not yet being carried* by her Scorpion Yojimbo. Once Momoko was properly secured*, he led by example -- running hard to get his charge out of range of whatever odd magics these "Phoenix" were using. He had no authority to order the Lion away from the granary, and would not dishonor the Lion Leadership by assuming it. Nonetheless, the words "Incoming Thunder" and two rapidly withdrawing samurai would provide compelling arguments for they and their Ashigaru to do the same.

Forewarned by Bayushi Kenshin's insistent, if surprising, warning, Ikoma Gendo manages to swat the incoming arrow out of the air with his tessen.  The granary, however, is not so lucky.  A loud crashing sound and a small burst of wood indicates that another of the Lion's storehouses has fallen victim to the Phoenix's powerful magics, and a flight of burning arrows all but guarantees their loss.

"Let the silos burn!" you hear Ikoma Gendo orders over the ringing in your ears, "get rid of those raiders!"

"Cowards..." muttered the Miya, shaking her head as the arrow wizzed past the Lion. War... she supposed this was war... was messy and chaotic. How could one duel in the swirling melee? How could someone kill from a distance with such impersonal glee? Momoko there and then condemed any man or woman who would rather shoot an unarmed man than draw swords and fight them face to face.

Kenshin released his charge and positioned himself between her and the archers. He doubted they would actually attack them -- just as he doubted that they were actually Phoenix -- but, he would do so nonetheless. He left his blade in its sheath and took a neutral posture, simply observing and protecting.

If he was to be perceived as neutral, he would need to act neutral.

"There are many Samurai who would disagree" he whispered in response to his charge. Most of his kin felt quite strongly that he was the coward for "hiding behind the mask of honor". Still, this was no time for debate. Given his druthers, he would simply stand and wait until the situation was under control.

He would, of course, have to report this to his superiors ...

"Yes... there might be. But the fact is not changed. Those who attack a target in such a manner..." She left the sentence hang in the air. It was quite plain as to what she thought of archery - not a honorable skill at all.
"I have much more time for a samurai that faces his opponents face to face. An arrow from the distance is too much like the fabled ninja that they have in the pillow books. Anyone can weild a bow, notch and arrow and point it in the right direction, but a sword - well, that takes skill."

"Be wary of speaking such views aloud" Kenshin replied even more quietly. "All clans use Archers -- even Akodo One-Eye used archers. Some do use them to better effect than others ..."

Especially the Scorpion Clan. The Honorable Kenshin could easily withstand an insult to his person, but an insult to his clan could not be taken without protest.

"... though none use Archers as effectively as the Wasp, the Scorpion have often come a close second ..."

A subtle reminder to Momoko to avoid insulting his clan. Bayushi Kenshin was Honorable -- but he was still Scorpion.

"... I must admit, however, that I have rarely heard of such tactics as these."

The Honorable Kenshin would not, of course, mention where he heard of these kinds of tactics before. That list was very short, and one name was likely to stand out.

And that would compromise the mission if it were overheard.

OOC:  I'll make a real post by Wednesday, when things are less hectic, but in the meantime, something to consider:  the Phoenix, despite their 'cowardly' tactics, attacked an entire Lion army encampment (hundreds, if not thousands, of samurai) with only twelve men--how cowardly can they be?

A soot marked ashigaru approaches, standing just outside hearing range until the two of you finish conversing.

"Miya-sama, Bayushi-sama," she bows, "please, follow me outside of the danger zone.  It would reflect poorly upon the Lion if such honored guests were to be injured under our care."

Kenshin nodded and moved closer to his charge. The attackers were most likely not interested in them anyway, so getting the pair farther way would be a good idea.

"After you ..."

The ashigaru leads you away from the burning area, deeper into the town.  After several turns, he takes you into a large, fortified building.  Within one of the sitting rooms is an ash coated Ikoma Gendo and another samurai wearing the mon of the Ikoma, but clearly of a more martial bent than Gendo.

"So what do you think of this attack by the Phoenix, Miya-san?" the stranger asks.

Kenshin stayed close to his charge, knowing that the danger was not over. He could not quite shake the feeling that they were about to be ambushed,but he said nothing -- for now.

He was Yojimbo. He would guard Body, Soul, and Honor.

"And you, Bayushi-san," the Lion says, turning his attention to Kenshin while waiting for Momoko's answer, "your presence, confuses the issue further.  What is your purpose here, at this time, in this place?"

"I am Yojimbo to the Imperial Envoy" Kenshin replied calmly, "It is my job to protect the Envoy and her mission."

It was a simple enough response, both sincere and accurate. The as yet unnamed Ikoma undoubtedly had other questions as well ...

Momoko bowed and smiled as Gendo talked, thinking of her reply while Kenshin made a comment.

"It would be impoite to pretend I saw anything, -sama. I only witnessed the fire, and tried to help to put it out."

"Besides, I am told the attack was carried out by the Phoenix, but I find it hard to belive - they are a clan of celebates and Priests, are they not? Unless they have a secret cadre of warlike bushi..."  She was not mocking, and showed genuine concern about Phoenix ninja-like warriors in her voice and in her facial expression.

"They do seem to have caused quite some damage to your grain... Will there be enough to sustain your town?"

"And your presence, Bayushi-san, has nothing to do with the Scorpion army even now approaching from the west?" he replies, raising a single eyebrow while Ikoma Gendo looks at him in shock and then with narrowed eyes at Bayushi Kenshin, "forgive me, but I find the possibility of coincidence too fantastic to believe.  I do not question the truth of your words, only the entirety of that truth.

The attack, Miya-san, was carried out by bushi wearing the colors and mon of the Phoenix," the still unnamed Ikoma replies to Miya Momoko, "that fact is not in question.  Nor is the fact that the Phoenix have never made any secret that they are as capable of warlike action as any other Clan--as proven by the Five Nights of Shame--and the Shiba are a family dedicated entirely to the study of warfare and tactics.  Further, the Phoenix's traditional alliance with the Crane made an event such as this a distinct possibility.  This particular strategy of attack is more reminiscent of the Daidoji tactics that I have observed rather than the Phoenix, but the approaching presence of the Scorpion has clouded the issue."

"The needs of Ninkatoshi are not your concern, Miya-san," Ikoma Gendo bows, "though I thank you for your concern.  We are Lion.  We will manage."