Part One -- Outlet
Map
There was a place in the northwestern corner of Lilimundralle called the Outlet. It was where the northern most tip of Sthiss, the mountains of Luga, and southwestern Hashiba all converged. Lilimundralle had the official claim on the land, but really it was as its namesake. It was an outlet for all types of peoples to gather and trade. It was a city of tents that stretched from the River Kaosu to the Hashiban forests.
This was where Touma Hashiba had run. He looked over the expanse of colored tents and awnings, marveling at the sheer number of people about him. The plain clothed Lilimundrallians, the armored Lugans, the leathered Yang Shians, even the simple outfits of elves, both dark and light.
Of course, Touma was trying very hard to avoid the elaborately clothed Hashibans. Would any of them see him or even a glimpse of his blue hair, he would be whisked back to his uncle and forced to continue his education. The mere thought of seeing the look on his uncle's face made Touma shiver, and he made sure that his hood covered every bit of sky colored hair on his head
Touma moved about the tents, noting that some of the tents were color coded. Blue was for books and parchment, brown for weapons, green for herbs, and yellow for perishables. Cattle were not sold at the Outlet, it was too much of a journey from the plains of Yang Shi, but there was some horse trading and, at the western side, some horse racing. One could find anything in the Outlet. Just now Touma spied a jeweled necklace of sapphire that his mother would have flipped over. Inside a red woodworking tent was a small chest that would fetch a high price anywhere.
Wandering about, Touma felt secure in the atmosphere. The relaxed nature of the people, even the suspicious Yang Shians, spread over the young man as he perused through a garden tent. People haggled back and forth about prices, and many a tradesman shoved something into Touma's face, saying that this was the best of the known world, and the cheapest anywhere. Touma did not have the finances to buy anything other than supplies, however, if he wanted to make it to southern Yang Shi. Touma had thought that he had brought enough money, however dodging Hashibans proved to be more costly than he anticipated. He had already had to backtrack through mountainous Luga and even into the Sthiss jungle to make sure he ran across no Hashibans. The journey was significantly more costly than he had initially anticipated, so he had come to the Outlet to make enough money to further his journey.
However, Touma spied the jeweled capes and hoods of Hashiban officers. Quickly, the blue haired man ducked into the nearest tent, a food awning where the people would sit down and eat after a long day bargaining.
Said lunch awning was busier than he had thought. A crowd was gathering in the center of the awning, cheering and making bets. Curious, and certain that the attention would be drawn from himself, Touma made his way to the crowd, slowly making his way in to get a better vantage point.
"Get him! Get him! No, no! Get up ya loser!"
"My money's on the orange guy!"
"Double that on the redhead!"
"Naw way, the merc's gonna get it!"
Touma could gather the content of the display that was drawing the crowd, but he was still shocked when he finally did see it. A stout, ash haired man, no older than Touma himself, was going up against a redheaded, scared, mountain of muscle. Touma was no expert in brawls, but it looked as though the ash haired man was winning.
"Stupid," muttered someone in the crowd. Touma was surprised he could hear it over the deafening shouts and jeers. "No drunk's gonna beat a trained Lugan. Don't care how buzzed he is."
Touma looked on as the ash haired man, clad in an orange tunic, maneuvered the redheaded drunk into a headlock. A crack was heard and the redhead fell.
"Anybody else wanna try and take my seat when I'm sitting on it?" the man asked, a wide grin on his equally wide face.
"I'll take that challenge!" shouted a random voice.
"And me!"
"And me!"
"Three on one?" the orange clad man asked. "Don't you think you need better odds against me?"
"Arrogant little merc!" The three men, all burly and all just as drunk as the scarred redhead, dove at the ash haired fighter.
Touma just rolled his eyes. Nothing worth seeing here. Slowly slipping out of the crowd that continued to cheer the fight on, he made his way out the far side of the awning when he was sure that there were no Hashibans in sight. He walked for a few more minutes when he spied more of his countrymen. Were they everywhere? Rolling his eyes, Touma stopped a priest that was running towards him.
"Excuse me, monk-sir," he said politely. "Where's the temple tent?"
"Oh," said the brown haired priest. "It's three, uh, I guess blocks down and two to the left."
"Thank you."
"Of course. Sir, I heard that there was a fight going on. Do you know where?"
"Lunch awning. Just keep going this way, you can't miss it."
"Thank you, sir. Kaosu be with you."
Touma blinked. He hadn't heard a parting that old in a while. "Uh, and to you, I think." But his words were lost as the priest rushed down the way Touma had come. The blue haired man thought he heard the priest mumble something about Lugans, but could not ask a man who was no longer there to extrapolate. Besides, the Hashibans he had seen were now further down the path and looking away from him. Smiling to himself, Touma continued on.
The priest had brought up a point in wondering how locations were called in the tented Outlet. Touma knew that temples were called temple tents, because even they were not permanent structures. But were the paths called paths, roads, avenues, or streets? The collection of tents was set up into blocks, roughly coordinated in some places, but were the blocks called blocks? How did one know where a specific tent was without giving detailed instructions or maps?
Touma shrugged and decided to ask anyone who was in the temple tent. He quickened his pace and turned left where he was told.
The temple tent was hard to miss, and perhaps the most permanent place in the Outlet, as tents went. The awning that was the roof was at least two-dozen feet from the ground, supported by metal poles. The metal poles were supported with stone and mortar on either side. The walls were the heaviest lined cloth available. The temple tents were the only structures in the Outlet that had clearly defined boundaries, apparently a large problem in the Outlet. Because tents and awnings in particular could easily be adjusted and moved about so as to expand or utilize space more efficiently, many tradesmen would fight over whether another's establishment was moving in on their space. The temple tent did not have that problem. With the stone corners and heavy lining, there was no doubt about where the structure started and stopped.
Touma looked around, and, making sure that there was no Hashiban in sight, removed his hood in respect to the temple and headed in.
Inside the temple were several rows of benches, meant to be pews. The only other person inside was a blond man clad in a simple green tunic. Touma sat well behind him and looked around. Kaosan temples by their very nature were simple. On the cloth walls were a few small paintings depicting some of the miracles the god Kaosu had made. So small were the paintings that Touma could only make out the one on the wall nearest him. It was of a black haired man wielding the fabled Go Retsu Ken against the western army of the Fifty Year War. The western army was blackened and bloody, supposedly because of one swipe of the twin swords. Touma rolled his eyes at the impossibility of it and looked ahead, instead studying the altar.
The altar was also simple, in keeping with Kaosan tradition. It consisted of a tall table, covered in a rich blue cloth, with two rows of candles on either side of an elegant flower arrangement. The flowers were fresh and the candles only recently lit. Obviously, the priest took good care of the altar and his temple.
Suddenly, the blond man in front of him stood. He turned, revealing himself to be a light elf, his fair skin and slightly pointed ears a dead give away. The elf stared at Touma before walking back to his pew and sitting next to him, adjusting his long sword.
"What are you doing here, Touma-sama?" he asked.
"W-w-w-w-what? You must have me mistaken for someone else!" Touma laughed nervously and started to edge away.
"You are wrong, Prince Touma. You forget that you hair gives you away as much as my ears give me way."
Touma's shoulders slumped and his head dropped in defeat. He had forgotten that he had taken his hood off when entering the temple tent. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"
The elf's face did not change as he said, "You seem to have forgotten me. We were introduced the day before you ran away. I am Date Seiji, your emissary."
"My WHAT!"
"Many were assigned to you; I should not be surprised that you do not remember me. I have been waiting for over two weeks for you to arrive here in the Outlet."
"How did you know I was going to be here?"
"This is not the first time you have run away. Even in the Korin Forrest, tales of your attempts to escape the crown are well known and often spoken of."
Touma's head dropped lower. "I'm that predictable?"
"This was the only place you had not tried yet. Had you waited another day before entering, I would have left and this would never have happened."
"Don't try to make this my fault!"
"You did run, did you not?"
"I was given over thirty emissaries in one day! That was like saying, 'Here, since you don't want to be king, we'll give you all these little helpers to force you to be king!' How unfair is that?"
"I am hardly one to judge. I know that I consider it unfair that I am forced to be your emissary just to learn your ways and become a better elder."
"You're going to be an elder?"
"When my training is over, yes."
"Do you want to be one?"
"It is a great honor to be one, Touma-sama. But I hate learning how to be one."
"Heh, then I guess we have a bit in common."
They were interrupted by a resounding crash.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! It was just getting good!"
"Shuu! I can't believe you were brawling! That is so beneath you! What would your parents say? What would your Kayura-sama say?"
"Both would cheer me on to win!"
"Shuuuuuuuuuu!"
"Aw, come on, Shin! You're a priest, right? Priests learn to fight!"
"That-that's entirely beside the point! I-huh?" The brown haired priest from before looked up from his shaking of the orange clad mercenary to see Seiji and Touma gaping at them. "A-ahahahaha," the priest laughed nervously. "May I help you with something?"
"Aw, come on, Shin!" the ash haired mercenary said, another grin on his face. "What were you gonna say? I bet something about 'following the virtues of the righteous Kaosu-sama'?"
"If he were, I believe that is where I come in."
The four young men looked over to the altar to see a black haired, blue-eyed man in a red tunic with a pair of swords on his back. His clothing was vaguely like that of a priest.
"I'm glad you're all finally made it," the unnamed stranger smiled.
A white haired one-eyed man skulked around the Outlet, cursing his boss for sending him to this side of the mountains. Things were going just fine back home, so why did he have to cross the Yuuki Salt Dessert and then the Lugan Mountains to come to this unfriendly herd of sheep? To find five people who would oppose them? Unheard of. What was that blue-skinned idiot of a boss thinking!
He let out a long sigh. "Get a hold of yourself Rajura. You aren't the only one on assignment." At least he could take pleasure in the fact that his cohorts didn't like being on this side of the mountains any more than he did. Unfortunately, he had the most difficult assignment of the four of them. The damn Kitsune Shuten was getting a surprise ready in the capital of Hashiba. Since Rajura was looking for a group of five and one had to be of Tenkuu decent, it had to be that brat of a prince. Playing lackey to that perverted king couldn't be pleasant so that at least was comforting. Meanwhile, that two-tongued Naaza and that dark elf Anubisu were in Sthiss, preparing something for the High Kamek.
But no, Rajura couldn't plot against the emperor of Yang Shi, or the king of Lilimundralle. No, he was stuck with the enjoyable task of just finding these five people that were going to oppose them with only vague ideas of what they should be.
The one-eyed man let out a low growl, ignoring the stare that a brown-haired Kaosan priest gave him. Why did this side of the mountains follow Kaosu? They could never win against Arago-sama.
Rajura paused to orient himself in the crowded paths of the Outlet. He was near a temple tent. He'd been around here a few days ago. Considering his options, Rajura decided to see exactly what was so special about a Kaosan temple. So what if his boss Badamon had words with him. It wasn't like that sniveling wimp of a man could actually do anything, now matter how long he'd been alive. If that was really true of course. Rajura doubted that Badamon was really immortal. Besides, he hadn't seen a Kaosan temple since his childhood in Yang Shi. Something he'd rather forget.
The white haired, yet young man walked along the tents and awnings until he was finally in sight of the temple tent. Quickening towards it, he saw a figure in front of the opening with a hood drawn over his head, down almost to his eyes. How unusual. Rajura slowed his pace for a moment. Something felt different. It had to do with that strange hooded person. Something resonated deep inside him, down to his very bones. That person!
Rajura ducked into a tent-alley and observed. Observing was his specialty after all. When running from horsemen on foot as a child simply for being part of a Gen tribe, one learned very quickly how to observe hiding places and chances to run. Those skills had since been refined when Badamon recruited him to follow Arago-sama. It wasn't like Kaosu had done him any great favors.
The hooded man was looking around carefully, trying not to be observed.
Too late for that, stupid. Don't wear a hood so low if you don't want to be seen. Sometimes the idiocy of people surprised Rajura. Still, the hooded imbecile seemed satisfied that no one was looking and removed his hood in order to go into the tent. With the hood off, Rajura understood why the hood was so low. His hair was a dead giveaway. It was blue. He was the Hashiban prince and Tenkuu descendant. Prince Touma, named after the capital of Hashiba. Forget what Rajura was thinking before. This assignment from Badamon had been easier than he thought. He just had the object of his search dropped into his lap.
Oh life just couldn't get much better than this. Concentrating for a brief moment, Rajura cast an illusion, letting himself be viewed as an old beggar. Illusion in place, he sat down by the entrance to the temple-tent and started to quietly beg, mainly because he wanted a chance to look inside the tent. Rajura started to turn towards the entrance when he saw a priest coming down the street, dragging an armored Lugan. Curse it. He went back to begging.
"Shin! You can stop dragging me now!" the Lugan protested.
"Shuu, you should be ashamed of yourself," the monk retorted, as he slowed down. Turning to the Lugan, he lifted his staff and gently knocked the armored brute on the head. "You should know better than that!"
"Come on, Shin! You can do better in a fight!"
"Shuu!" The large Lugan got up and tried to grab the slender priest, who hastily tried to dodge. Unfortunately, that left the large Lugan falling forward with nowhere to go but the dirt with a very loud crash.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer mercenary, Rajura thought to himself.
Now furious, the priest, who was picking up the chuckling Lugan, started to yell at him. However, the ruckus had given the one-eyed man the opportunity he needed. With a nice display like that, no one would question an old beggar from looking into the Kaosan temple-tent. After all, that made three inside the temple-tent now. Fate was certainly being nice to him today. Peering inside, he saw Touma was sitting next to a light elf and looking rather shocked at the priest and Lugan going at it. That made four. A Tenkuu descendant, a follower of Kaosu, a fighter, and a light long-ear. All Rajura needed now was some sort of unknown and he'd offer up a hundred prayers to Arago-sama in thanks for such luck.
"If he were, I believe that is where I come in."
A man came from the shadows. Rajura smiled. Today was most certainly a good day. Moving around like an old man, he slowly made his way to a secluded tent-alley. Sitting down, he concentrated, reaching out to his cohorts.
What do you want? I'm busy!
I'm in a difficult situation!
Human! Don't contact me like this!
Rajura didn't let the insults reach him. He was just too happy.
Dolts! he mentally shouted. I just found all five of them.
WHAT! came three voices.
Very good, I'm all set here it Tou Hashiba, Shuten answered.
Not good, it would take us too long to get there from Sthiss, relied Naaza since Anubisu refused to talk to them like this.
Badamon, however, interrupted their conversation. Rajura, get those five to Shuten now! Naaza, Anubisu, try to get to Hashiba. We must not fail now. Arago-sama must be pleased. Do you all understand?
Yessir! came four sarcastic replies.
Coming out of the conversation, Rajura let the illusion slide to one of a young girl, with moderate earnings. He walked out into the paths of the Outlet, heading for the northern side where there would be more Hashibans. It only took a few minutes to find a Hashiban officer of some standing. Rajura walked right up to him, trying very hard to walk like a girl might.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, his voice coming out high in his illusion.
"Yes, ma'am, how may I help you?" the officer, no more than a captain, said with a smile.
"Sir, do you know where I can get some blue hair die?" What better way to bait the Hashiban.
"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't follow you."
"Well, sir, I was walking by the temple-tent near the middle of the outlet," he said, wanting to wince at the innocence he was pouring on. "Inside there was this guy, I think he was a Hashiban, and he had blue hair. I think I might like to try that for my boyfriend, y'know? Make him look at me in a new light."
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you, ma'am," the captain said, rushing off.
Rajura let the illusion drop and smiled. Now all he needed to do was to find some good mercenaries. They'd get to Tou Hashiba all right. But just not the way they might have expected.
"Who are you?" Touma asked.
"My name is Sanada Ryo. You are Hashiba Touma, Date Seiji, Mouri Shin, and Rei Fuan Shuu."
Everybody in the temple tent stiffened.
"It would appear that you have the upper hand," the light elf Seiji said. "Please inform us as to what you want."
"Well put, Seiji," the dark haired Ryo answered. "I'm not sure if I'd say that I have the upper hand, but I do have a favor to ask all of you." Ryo stepped out in front of the altar, pausing for a moment to admire it. "You are very talented, Shin-sir. You all are talented. You all have special abilities and techniques and talents that make you unique. With the five of us together, we can put our talents together to do something."
"Please don't say that you want to take over the world," Shuu said with a yawn. "That's old for one thing and totally against my morals!"
Shin looked to the armored Lugan. "After getting into a brawl willingly you say that you have morals?"
Shuu grinned sheepishly.
"Well, you'll all be reassured that I don't want to take over the world. I'm hardly that stupid," Ryo said; a smile on his face. "What I need for us to do is to retrieve an item that was stolen."
"Item?" Touma asked.
"I'd rather not get into details just yet," said Ryo. "But I can say that it is something of high value; a world treasure if you will. Finding it will not be easy, and we will need all five of us to find it."
"Wait. Wait." Seiji stepped forward. "A Korin elf, a Kaosan priest, a Lugan mercenary, and a misplaced prince need to find a world treasure? Do you wish us to partake on a quest of some sort? A child's fairy tale?"
"Yes, yes, and if you put it that way, yes." Ryo grinned.
"EH?"
"You're a prince?"
"From where?"
"What possible talent could I have?"
"What does flower arrangement have to do with talent?"
"I'm glad someone finally saw how good I am!"
"Shuu!"
"I want nothing to do with this."
"What item could be a world treasure?"
"I don't understand any of this . . ."
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Ryo held up his hands to get everyone's attention. "One at a time, please! Slow down!" Ryo took a deep breathe. "If you really want me to explain, then I will. It will take a while, though. I would suggest that you all sit down."
Touma and Seiji reseated themselves, and Shin and Shuu took the bench next to them. Ryo stood in front of the altar, its rich blue in contrast to his deep but well worn red. The two rows of candles on the altar glowed behind Ryo, making him look suddenly very holy.
"It is a very long story; and one well routed in history. I was hoping to wait until you had met my master."
"People still have masters nowadays?" the priest Shin asked. "Kaosu-sama has made it very clear that such things are looked down upon."
"They are," Ryo replied. "But I'm a special case. Please, let me get through this, it will easily take us the rest of the day and well into the night for me to finish everything."
"But-"
"Touma-sama?"
The five in the temple tent looked behind them to see a Hashiban captain standing in the doorway. The blue haired Touma paled; his face that of a deer caught along the site of an arrow.
"Prince, you are to come with us. We have been looking for you for near a month now."
Shin and Shuu turned to Touma. "You've been missing?"
"Were you kidnapped and just now escaped?"
"Were you engaged to some old hag, or maybe your cousin or something and you ran away with the woman that you really love?"
"Actually . . ." Touma said, a hand moving sheepishly behind his head.
"He ran away from the crown," the captain offered.
"Ano, ne!" Touma cried. "Don't make it sound like I'm irresponsible or something!"
"You did, did you not?" Seiji asked.
"You're missing the point! I'm not going back!"
"You are, Touma-sama," the captain said. "You king and uncle has ordered your immediate return." The captain made a face. "Our king is not the most normal of men, of that I can understand, but it is your duty to follow his commands. It was by his decree that you became the next in line for the throne, and you must live up to everyone's expectations. One would think that it was an honored to be selected from the many branch families of the Hashiban name. I personally think that-" The captain paused when he realized that there were only four people in the temple tent other than himself. Touma had left.
"Touma-sama!" the captain yelled as he ran out of the tent in pursuit.
"Hey, wait!" Ryo called after him. "I was about to say something really important! WAIT!" With that, the red clad Ryo took off after the captain.
Seiji, Shin, and Shuu, were left standing, dumbstruck, and uncertain what to do.
"I am the Korin emissary for Touma-sama," Seiji stated. "I must follow."
"Besides," Shuu added. "How will we know what they guy, Ryo-whatever, wanted with us?"
"Then, I suppose we'll have to go," finished Shin.
The three left the temple tent.
So it was that Shin, Shuu, and Seiji chased after Ryo, who was chasing after the captain, who was chasing Touma the Prince of Hashiba through the paths and alleys of the Outlet.
When the three had finally caught up, Ryo was talking fluidly with the captain, who had a very firm grip on the now resigned Touma.
"Ah, here are my companions now," Ryo said. "Captain, these are my associates, Korin no Date Seiji, Mouri Shin-sir, and Rei Fuan Shuu. Everyone, this is Captain Watanabe. He and his men will be escorting us as we make our journey to Tou Hashiba."
"Tou Hashiba?" Shin asked.
"Yes," Ryo said, suddenly smiling widely. "Because of your concerns, I thought it best for us to travel a little more and get to know each other."
"More?" Shin asked again.
Shuu jabbed his elbow softly into the priest ribs. Then the mercenary said, "Of course. We appreciate your consideration. I hope the Captain doesn't mind?"
"I was just about to find out," Ryo replied. "Captain Watanabe?"
"I suppose more in our party would not hurt. The roads in Hashiba have been getting a little more dangerous than usual, and an increase in company would not harm our chances. I accept your offer, Sanada-san."
"Very good," Ryo said a satisfied grin only barely concealed from his face. Touma groaned loudly, muttering about something.
"If it is alright with everyone, I will stay here with Touma-sama," Seiji said.
"Don't you need to pack?" Shin asked.
"What items would I pack?"
" . . . Oh. I forgot that elves travel light."
"Of course," Shuu said "That's why their called 'light' elves. Get it?"
Everyone stared at him.
"Hey, it was only a joke! Anyway, I'm off to say bye to my friends and grab my pack."
"I have to leave word at the temple tent that I will be going on a journey. I also need to pack a few items. Sanada-san, how long may I expect to be gone?"
"Aa . . . we'll talk about that on the ride. I will procure some horses."
Seiji sat down on the ground with the dejected Touma as the others went their separate ways.
"You got me into a fine mess," the blue haired prince accused Seiji.
"How do you imagine that?"
"I was doing perfectly fine until you stopped me at the temple tent. I would have made a clean get away."
The Captain snorted but said nothing.
"If I had not stopped you," Seiji said, "then what would have happened?"
"I would have made it to safety."
"Then, what?"
"I would be free."
"But what would you do? What trade would you enter?"
"I don't know."
"Then how would you survive?"
"I don't know. But at least I'd be free."
"You forget, Touma-sama-"
"PLEASE drop the -sama! I'm not going to be king."
"But you are a prince, Touma-sama."
"Fine; but as long as we're going to be traveling with each other, can't we at least be a little more familiar with each other? You have no idea how much -sama grates my nerves."
"As you wish, Touma."
There was a long pause as the two of them sat on the ground by the Captain.
"What were you going to say?" Touma finally asked, his tone a little more reserved.
"Only that you forget how large your uncle's information network is. Awaiting your capture never takes more than a month, and after repeated escapes from the crown, you have merely become more predictable. I knew immediately where to look, and it did not take long for Captain Watanabe to find you. The Hashiban ohash currency goes very far, and your uncle certainly has a lot of money."
That much was true. The country of Hashiba was often jokingly referred to as the world's bank. The ohash was the most valuable currency and was the basis for all monetary standards. Hashibans were money grabbers by nature, and anything they earned went straight to the Tou Hashiba vaults. It was reputed that many kings in the past would often live in those vaults; so much was the money in there.
"Your point?" Touma asked, even though he knew the answer.
"You uncle would find you whenever he wanted, if he so chose."
"Shut up."
"I hope I didn't take to long!" The monk Shin appeared, his robe exchanged to a shirt and trousers under his mantle. He carried a priest's deadly looking staff and a full pack on his back. Seiji and Touma stood to greet him.
"Tell me, what is Tou Hashiba like?" the priest asked. "I have never been there before."
"Confining," Touma offered sardonically.
"Crowded," Seiji replied. "There are many buildings, and people live on top of each other on those buildings. The roads are wide and paved, but dirty and smelly. The people are almost all Kitsune in heritage, and what they do not gamble away they will use to get you to pay more money."
"You make it sound like an ugly place," Touma said. "Tou Hashiba is probably one of the biggest cities that aren't by a port," he explained to Shin, who nodded in reply. "To economize the space, the buildings are built several stories tall. They have tile roofs and reinforced walls, so that they will not fall. The roads are wide enough for three carts, and we have workers who clean the streets every night. The people are NOT gamblers, as Seiji would have you believe; most of them are just good honest Hashibans."
"That classifies them as gamblers."
"Hmph, then I guess all elves are the same, light or dark?"
Seiji stiffened; his hand reaching for sword at his belt. He did not draw however.
"Perhaps now you see how insulting it was to call all Hashibans gamblers," Touma said lightly. "Try to keep that in mind in the future."
Shin stepped forward. "Where are the others?" he asked in hopes to change the subject.
"Right here!" Shuu called, as he and Ryo came up to meet the other three and the Captain. The mercenary waved his plain staff to Ryo, explaining, "I ran into Ryo on my way to you guys. He's got some horses, so we can get going any time."
The Captain nodded. "It is still light enough in the day that we can make our way well into Hashiba before night. Let us depart."
The group of six followed Ryo to the western edge of the Outlet. As the tents and awnings faded away, a large set of corrals appeared to take their place. Ryo led the way, navigating around the fences, horse droppings, and leather bound Yang Shians.
"There you are, boy!" A round faced man in a leather vest waved the small group over. "Got the horses you wanted. Don't see as why you need the like as specific as you asked, but they're here."
"Thanks, old man." Ryo pulled out a purse and handed the man a handful of ohash. "Keep the change. I know it was an odd request."
"Why, thank you young master! I look forward to any future business with you."
Ryo nodded. "The picks should be obvious, so mount up."
The corral by which Ryo and the old man were standing had four horses. Each was a distinctly different breed.
Seiji stepped up to the white and gold pinto. "There is neither saddle nor bridle," he remarked, looking at the red clad Ryo. "You know more than most." Seiji easily hopped onto the blanket mare and sat cross legged.
"I have dibs on the roan!" Shuu said as he looked at the large red animal. "This is an out and out war horse, a charger. I can almost never find one that's in my price range."
"That's because you are always spending your money," Touma theorized as he mounted a white stallion. From inside his cloak, he pulled out an unstrung bow and placed it with his pack on the back of the saddle. "At least it suits you."
"And the stallion suits you," Shuu replied. "It's real princely."
"Shut up."
"I'm sorry," Shin said softly. "But I've never ridden before." He stood beside a palomino mare who stared at him placidly.
"Here," Ryo said. "I'll help you up." With a helping hand, Shin was on his horse and swaying slightly.
"It's strange having four legs under me and not two."
"So long as you do not bounce, you will be fine," Seiji said. He looked to the red clad man who had gotten them the horses. "Where is yours?"
"I prefer walking. Don't worry. It's not like we're going to gallop all the way to Tou Hashiba."
Go to Part Two