Xu Jiang follows Kwan's lead, being sure to note the family's reaction to being relieved of the stolen goods.
'Well, if you say so, though I think we should go at least help the locked up people as soon as possible" though she was happy to see the children were safe
Yuli and Hu froze mid-step as Ayane began gathering strewn supplies with the earnest confidence of someone who believed in doing the polite thing, even if it made others squirm.
“O–Oh, that’s really not necessary,” Yuli blurted, her voice a little too high. She rushed forward, waving her hands as though trying to herd geese. “Really, you’ve done so much already,"
Hu tried to back her up, "Yes, yes! Don’t worry about us. We can handle the uh mess. We’re very good with cleaning up."
Persisting though, Kwan, Ayane, Xu help clean the small house quickly, gathering the supplies and the stolen jewelry, though Suli and Hu are able to secure a couple of pieces, including a fine necklace. Hu steps up, brushing dust of his hands, "Alright well, that's it, if you guys want to go save the rest of the family, out back, we'll stay here, keep on the lookout for any more Gremlins,"
Stepping out back, you see built almost like a bank vault with its cast-iron doors, this backyard storage has only a single round window that allows in air from the outside. The small vegetable garden in the backyard has an abundance of cucumbers. It isn't locked, and it swings open easily enough where you find the rest of the Sanmi family and matriarch Nadoya. The family is dirty and it smells like sweat in the room, as it finally airs out.
At their head stood Nadoya Sanmi, the family matriarch. Her back was bent but not broken, a cane gripped in one weathered hand like a weapon of principle. The moment she saw Kwan, she stomped forward—fast for someone her age—and jabbed him sharply in the shin with her cane.
Thwack.
“About time!” Nadoya barked, eyes flashing like hot coals. “What good is a guard if he needs a day and a half to do his job? Hmph! Town falls apart the moment you children are put in charge!”
Behind her, the rest of the Sanmi family stared anxiously—sons, daughters-in-law, and a few younger siblings. Relief softened their faces when they saw the others behind Kwan.
Nadoya squinted past him. “Are the jinkins still in the house? And where is my granddaughter? Where is Yuli—and that useless boy she was with, you better not have let them run off?”
Amused at the old woman's antics, Xu Jiang grows serious at her last comment. He looks at the assembled children. "Who knows whee Yuli and her friend have gone?"
Bowing in greeting to Nadoya Ayane pipes up " Yuli and Hu are still in the house! We just helped them clean up the mess of jewlery, and camping supplies and food.." she trails off as she lists all the things they helped clean up. "OH! OH and I helped to scare off the Jinkins! they arent here anymore!" She says with a clap of her hands and a big grin on her little face.
Kwan smiles in frustration at Nadoya's remarks. "I hardly think I count as a child. I'm not much younger than you, Nadoya, but point taken. We are sorry that we couldn't help you and your family sooner."
Then, he bends down to speak to her more quietly. "Yuli and her friend were acting strangely. Too eager to acquire pieces of jewelry that the jinkins stole elsewhere. Would you help ensure they end up back with their owners?"
Kwan then helps Nadoya walk back to the main house to discuss the jewelry with Yuli and Hu.
When the group returned through the back door of the house, the first thing they noticed was the silence. Half the jewelry that had been gathered was gone, and so were all the camping supplies stacked near the door. A few empty shelves and a tipped-over basket made it obvious someone had left in a hurry.
Looking around, there is a scrap of paper held down on the table by an empty bowl, something has been hastily scrawled on it "Had to run. More monsters coming. Sorry. – Y & H"
Nadoya Sanmi stood in the doorway behind them, cane tapping irritably as she surveyed the scene. Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t look surprised—only disappointed.
Her eyes narrowed. “Monsters, my wrinkled foot," she muttered. "Those two witless eels ran off to play house together. Probably halfway to the woods by now."
Looking around outside, there doesn't appear to be any signs of monsters approaching.
She jabbed her cane toward the door. “Well don’t just stand there like garden statues! Go bring back my granddaughter before she does something foolish or worse, gets herself killed,"
Looking back and forth at the missing teens and gear, "Nadoya, they were just here..."
"Oh. The kids are gone. Bad timing. Lots of bad and spooky things happening. We should go get them, yes?" she looks hopefully at the rest of the group
Grim-faced, Xu Jiang nods assent and immediately begins following the tracks. "They shall not meet my mistress this day."
Knowing a few things about tracking, she tries her best to try and follow their trail. She was more versed when it came to boats and fish, but she was taught a few things about land based tracking by her father
Deciding the immediate threat of two young teenagers eloping during a dangerous time was the more present threat, Shandari quickly takes to tracking them down.
Shandari finds they've run across the street, cutting through a neighbor's backyard, the trail leads through another overgrown garden, looks like they clambered over a fence.
Round 1 - Get them Kids, Chase Edition
Ayane
Kwan
Shandari
Xu Jiang
Yuranosuke
The sylph blooded girl envokes the winds around her to give her friends a much needed boost before she too tries to hop the fence
Ayane feels the wind from Shandari beneath her feet and climbs the fence.
Determined to save the young couple, Xu Jiang doesn't even stop to consider that he has no training. He's reasonably dexterous and manages to jump the fence easily.
Shandari, Ayane and Xu Jiang all barrel past the fence, easily clearing its only 3ft high barricade, with Yuranosuke and Kwan catching up as your group bounds fence over fence trying to catch up with the kids. As your group leaps the last fence, landing back on a narrow dirt road, you can see the kids up ahead, crossing an intersection.
Quickly giving chase, you reach the intersection just as a small herd of oxen start trampling through blocking your way. You can see the kids just up ahead and it looks like they are trying to decide if they are going to go right through a rice field and into the woods or left towards the docks.
Round 1 - Get them Kids, Chase Edition
Ayane
Kwan
Shandari
Xu Jiang
Yuranosuke
Kwan follows closely behind Ayane, Shandari, and Xu Jiang as they are quicker over the fence, which isn't surprising given Kwan has reached middle age.
With indecision from Yuli and Hu providing an opportunity, Kwan approaches and attempts to talk them into reconsidering.
"Let's not add to the town's suffering from the two of you leaving town, all alone in the middle of invasion. Who knows what's out in the forests and fields lingering. Come back with us and we can sort out whatever is going on. We'll consider the jewelry to be a misunderstanding."
The young couple freeze. Yuli’s grip on Hu’s hand tightens. The boy looks away, jaw clenched, but her eyes flicker with guilt and fear in equal measure. Then, as Kwan’s words settle over them, she exhales shakily and lowers her gaze.
“We. .. we just wanted to go somewhere safe,” she says softly. “I didn’t think anyone would even notice."
Hu nods, deflated. “We weren’t trying to steal, we were going to pay it all back one day, the jewelry was stolen by the gremlins not us, it seemed a waste though, it could have given us a head start on a new life outside of this tiny village.”
"An understandable desire," says Xu Jiang, sympathetic to the lovers' intentions. "But people are dying, both in and out of town. It is incredibly dangerous to be out of your homes right now. We've come to take you back home to safety until this invasion is overcome. Please come back with us."
Yuranosuke joins in tracking the group, his skill effortlessly helping lead them to their "quarry." When he hears their side of the story, he pinches the bridge of his nose.
"You were going to elope."
He sighs.
"Love is a powerful force. It can even revive the dead, as Shizuru revived Tsukiyo. But your love is not that strong yet. And you can't survive alone, not with monsters roving the town."