Yukari nods to Nagatsuna before moving to follow the other hoofprints. Every moment they delayed, the Crane would get further away.
Intent on Utaku Yukari and the trail of the fleeing Kakita, Nagatsuna notices little else.
Yukari, Ume, Nagatsune, Heihachi:
Megumi, Daichi:
Walking towards and kneeling at the body of the fallen bloodspeaker, she calls for one of the eta to follow her. After having the body turned face up, she nods to herself and stands. "This man matches the description of a cultist who escaped a raid that my Uncle lead several years ago."
Megumi:
"That is certainly more straightforward and elegant then I put it but essentially I believed the same thing as you, Asako-san. I plan on seeing to it that he gets the proper treatment as a samurai, if I can but the Lions and Dragons aren't necessarily on good terms." He looks to the Ashigaru, "I will be accompanying the Tonbo to the magistrate."
"If that is what you wish Asako-san, I am willing to leave the decision to you." She turns to watch Daichi as he reveals his willingness to take the Tonbo to the magistrate.
"I trust that trip won't delay you too much Mirumoto-san? Should you require company I might be able to join you."
"I will be greatful for the company, Kakita-san. I hope the trip will not delay me any longer then it will take the others to find your clansman. Perhaps you would rather pursue them because Matsu-san seems overly eager for vengence for this insult." He gestures wide indicating the Bloodspeaker incident.
Yukari, Ume, Edonichi, Heihachi:
The Hida does not speak as they track the missing Kakita, only nodding occasionally to Heihachi-san as he points something out.
Raw Perception:2d10.open(10)=14
Heihachi examines the clues that Nagatsuna is pointing out. Heihachi is still holding his wakizashi in hand, ready for anything.
Daichi, Megumi:
"I will be accompanying the Tonbo to the magistrate."
"I trust that trip won't delay you too much Mirumoto-san? Should you require company I might be able to join you."
The guard bows, "Hai, Samurai-Samas. The closest magistrate is in Toi Koku, a half-day's journey along the road." This is, incidentally, where you were headed before the ambush took place.
Megumi:
"That may be Mirumoto-san but I believe Matsu-san is capable of restraint. Besides, I do not think-" The Crane pauses for a long moment, taking a deep breath. "That is I doubt that Kakita-san would, err. I hope not anyway."
After some uneasy shifting Megumi turns to Ryoko.
"Asako-san what is it you are searching for? I am fairly certain whatever it is will not be found on the bridge."
Ume, in her haste to follow the trail, proved remarkably oblivious to her surroundings.
"You seem to know Matsu-san better then me so I will take your word on it. It appears that after this tragic event the Fortune will favor us with a speedy end to this foul business." He watches Megumi for a moment before turning his attention to Ryoko, "Did you lose something Asako-san?"
Yukari pauses as she sees Umasu's mount left in the clearing. There had to be some sign of where the Crane had passed.. The Unicorn smoothly dismounts from Arashi, landing down beside him. If there was anything to find, it would be easier to see if she was closer to the ground.
Megumi, Daichi:
Ume, Nagatsuna, Heihachi, Yukari:
Ume cursed under her breath - the river would disrupt any trail, so much even she could tell. Beyond that, she was still not able to provide much.
Giving Arashi a pat and asking him to stay where he is for now, Yukari motions the others over to the trail down to the river side. Carefully, she follows the path down, searching for any further signs of the Kakita.
Megumi takes some time to look over the edge of the bridge, hoping to see something despite the unlikely chances.
"If you think the letter was taken and not lost, Kakita-san, then we must look at who had access to Asako-san's person. As far as I am aware during the battle there was the battle between the Tonbo and Hida-san. Do you remember if Hida-san said whether or not your clansman who attacked him in the fog had made a grab for Asako-san?"
The Mirumoto thinks for a moment, "Either way we can't very well search Hida-san and the other Kakita, but we can have the Tonbo searched."
Nagatsuna recalls his patrols along the banks of the River of Gold and how easy it was to find tracks through the mud and reeds. Putting into practice his past experiences he points out to the rest of the group, "See here where the reeds are bent in this direction? It should be easy to track our quarry through this."
Daichi, Megumi:
Under the watchful eye of the Lion ashigaru, one of the eta enables you to search the Tonbo. Sadly, the report is not on him, nor can you tell if it has fallen the 75-80ft to the river below.
Nagatsuna, Yukari, Heihachi, Ume:
"Yip! yip! yip!" you hear from behind as Heihachi's little dog Kanbe bounds out from a stand of bamboo. Once he has someone's attention, he quickly leads your eyes to a crumpled pile of mud-soaked blue and white silk.
Turning back to the trail, Nagatsuna picks out a piece of torn black fabric caught in a particularly dense patch of reeds.
Daichi gives an old armed shrug, "I didn't expect to find it but I wanted to cover all the possibilities, Asako-san. I also doubt finding it on Hida-san but these are the two that had the most access to your person when Ukiyo was trying to take you. It doesn't make sense for either of these two to have it which is exactly why I also asked Kakita-san if she remembers of Hida-san mentioned anything about her clansmen having contact with you while he attacked him. The possibility that it fell is also likely but you and Kakita-san have now been looking into that possibility."
Throughout Megumi looks more toward Ryoko than Daichi, knowing the Inquisitor's personal knowledge on the cultists to be far superior.
Nagatsuna gathers the discarded clothing and with a grim tone, "Perhaps the original owner of these was a Crane and they will give clues as to who he was." Looking back over the river with a deep frown, "Perhaps a water oni of some sort. Not sure why it would come all the way here before entering the river. It could have just jumped in while it had cover of the fog. Maybe there is something more about this location or it was trying to lead us away while it doubled back." As the last words leave his mouth a cloud of anger crosses his features, "Some of us must return at once to warn the others. We stopped them from achieving their goals and they will be sure to try again. Yukari-san and I will return while Ume-san and Heihachi-san stay here and see if the water kami can help further. Acceptable?" The fact that a Crab will be involved at both places puts him a bit at ease but only just barely.
Nagatsuna, Yukari, Heihachi, Ume:
Megumi, Daichi:
2d10=11
Nagatsuna takes out his workout gi, carefully lies it over the clothing and black cloth, and without touching the tainted textiles directly wraps them in a bundle. Having nothing immediately come to mind as to the clothings origin he thinks to himself, Perhaps Megumi will recognize where this comes from. He immediately stands his task done, "Quickly Yukari-san, we must warn the others." He sets a fast pace back to the bridge.
bump
Awareness/Courtier: 3k2 = 10
Yukari nods to Nagatsuna and heads back to where Arashi is waiting. Deftly mounting back up again, the Unicorn looks to the Crab as the horse prances forward eagerly. "Arashi can make the fastest pace of us all. If you wish to stay here, I can return to the others as fast as possible? Or do you feel it best for us to remain in groups?"
The Crane's voice trails off toward the end as she motions to the others to follow her off the bridge.
Ume's group:
"If you feel confident to beat any ambush that may lie in wait, we should warn them as swiftly as possible. The two of us should be fine." Ume replied, in a snap reaction. She was eager to get something done, even if by proxy.
Yukari nods to Nagatsuna and Ume before urging Arashi forwards to a fast pace. She was all too aware that time was marching on.
Should give it a *KICK* start
Yukari, Nagatsuna, Ume, Heihachi:
Daichi, Megumi:
Heihachi stares in wonder at the Kami-touched monk...and thinks to himself, what knowledge lies hidden within his touched mind
"Come Kambei" Heihachi says to his little Shiba...
The noise breaks Megumi's silent reverie and she begins seeking out the source of the hooves. Quietly the Crane picks up her pace in order to meet the horsemen earlier. After a brief pause to she turns to her Dragon companion.
"Do you suppose Utaku-san and the others could have found Kakita-san so soon?"
Ume shared similar concerns to Heitachi for the first time. It occurred to her that, had she seen through his ramblings, she might have deciphered some kind of warning off the situation - but then again, she might also have deciphered the true meaning of honor, the lost secrets of Otosan Uchi and any number of great poems.
Daichi has been in a state of quiet thought when the hooves alerted him. He frowned and loosened his daisho set as he peered in the direction of the noise. He glanced at Megumi and almost shrugged.
"With the way this journey has been going I would not be surprised by another ambush. I pray that it is Utaku-san but I fear we should be prepared for the worse."
** spoiler omitted **
Heihachi, Ume:
Megumi, Daichi:
Yukari, Nagatsuna:
Not sure, I'm a bit lost as to where we are at the moment, did we find tracks or not?