cursebound. (Earinor & Akira)

"You already misplaced your trust in me before.", Genji reminded Mikuni. He seemed so young, but that was easy to say for someone who lived multiple lives, even though he could barely remember them. "I should be okay for a while. The curse seems dormant right now." Sated was probably a better word, or maybe tired and defeated. It's already been days since Genji killed, but he felt fine. There wasn't an urge to kill, even when he fought those soldiers by the monestary. He had no problem with letting them live, usually even when he felt fine, once he held his weapon in his hand, it became more of a struggle to let go of it again. "Otoha can't fix everything though. Using her power seems to take enough out of her already." She only awoke when all the others were already dead and when Mikuni had already given up crying for help. Genji couldn't rely on her stopping him from killing any more people.

Genji trailed after Mikuni, the town inching closer and closer. "What is she known for?", he asked the priest. He thought to remember her being a fighter, not too bad with a sword herself and Genji believed he joined her in fighting for her cause, whatever it was. He still couldn't believe he did. It undoubtedly made his live easier if he killed to stay himself, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. There had been too many already and their souls were lost forever, eaten up by whatever slept inside of him. "Yeah that's it. I feel like certain things are true, I think I know Otoha used to be good with a sword for example, but I can't recall a single memory that would prove it to me. I'm not annoyed by it. I think I am too old to be annoyed or angry. Not for my own sake anyway. I don't feel any specific way about it, I know I trusted her and she trusted me. That's enough." Even though he felt like there was something off, something that didn't fit, but he couldn't be sure if he was different or Otoha was.

“And yet you haven’t hurt me since… just an observation, of sorts.”, Mikuni recalled, not trying to make a fool of himself or the situation in the slightest. If anything, he wanted for Genji to feel comfortable around him, as much as any of that was possible. What good was it if the two of them were not able to put the slightest bit of trust in one another? There was simply no merit in continuing onward if it were so, nor were there any sort of gratification from words left unspoken, to avoid nothing but awkwardness. “See? I hope we will be right as rain.” Not that either of them could really know. What if the curse felt agitated by whatever was going on in a place as lively as a town? Mikuni knew there’d be hell to pay for it, remaining hopeful the least of his concerns as his heart went pitter-patter. “Maybe so. She knows when to give it a rest by herself, still.” Which meant that relying on her simply had never been an option, not to an extent like this anyhow. Grim tidings awaited them just about anywhere, even if they traversed onward, even if Mikuni finally grew a spine.

“What? You … don’t know?” His voice had long since turned into a thin strip of silk, torn and broken, mangled and anything but ironed. With Genjis age came issues, that he was well aware of now, thanks to confessions that bubbled from his mouth to the surface by their lonesome. Mikuni felt no less cheated by fate for it, although he was sure that there were things that even a goddess like his own was incapable of influencing. “See, that’s easy, she’s known for-“, the priest cut himself off, rather abruptly, his voice failing him, thinning out until all of it was but gone, fizzled out not unlike the last sparks of a flame, hot coals being doused in freezing water, sizzling and smoking for but a scant few seconds longer. He coughed, once, then twice. “She’s known for-“ Again, his voice died in his throat and dread crawled about instead, deep dark hands clinging to the corners of his vision like manacles, ensnaring him. “Seems like she wants to tell you herself … whenever that is.” With a sigh, Mikuni waltzed onward, his shoulders left hanging, the bridge of his nose pressed between his forefinger and thumb. That hadn’t happened before; had it? What was she on about now? Genji had every right to know. “That sounds sweet, almost like in one of those retellings of some mythical stories about fated love, no? To not remember, but to still know, deep down, like it’s naturalized, it’s somewhat bittersweet.”

"I can't promise it will stay that way. I just want to bring you two somewhere save. Whatever Otoha needs me to do then, I can do on my own." She could help him, right? He couldn't recall why she became a goddess in the first place, but he had the feeling it had been a plan of hers even when theylived together. Something that happened on purpose, but he couldn't remember how to achieve such a high goal either and again, something was off, not about her this time however. A shiver ran down Genjis spine and he couldn't tell why. He simply nodded, they should be alright if they just stayed for a day. He didn't want to stay the night if he could help it. Mikuni surely wanted a nice, soft bed to sleep in after last night, but Genji rather moved on for multiple reasons. Even if those people were welcoming and nice, the paladins would not be, despite what Mikuni believed. They lost their goddess, they wouldn't be very nice to get her back.

"No. I knew her as human... I don't know how we parted ways." He didn't know what became of her once she left her mortal coil behind, even though he felt like he should know. Wasn't this odd? Wouldn't he have been around for her end if they lived together, had children together even? Genji felt off, he felt cold and his fingertips hurt. It wasn't the curse, it was his body recoiling because he tried to remember. Mikuni meanwhile struggled to give Genji more information. Otohas doing then? Did she have a reason for keeping him in the dark about any and all details? All she told him were the pleasent things, things Genji didn't remember vividly but felt were true. Genji swallowed down his next comment. If he was in a fairytale, he was the monster. Meanwhile they arrived at the entrance of the town and Genji was glad about it, he rather stopped thinking about his past, his body clearly against it and he feared if he pushed it, he'd also push the curse. "We're here. What now?", he asked Mikuni.

"It's alright.", Mikuni told Genji, not even sure what it was that was so right to him. Being brought somewhere he could spend the rest of his days, or him listening to everything Otoha would ever throw at his head? If he could figure that out, he thought, maybe it would be easier to help Genji out of the pinch he found himself in. "But aren't you looking to help yourself? I'm sure she knows how to help you, maybe?", he suggested, not knowing what he was actually proposing. Was it stupid of him to think about it like that? That his goddess would fix everyone, always, out of the goodness of her heart when it was pretty much obvious that she recquired a sacrifice few were willing and able to provide? Genji could be an exception to the rule, then, something that made Mikuni smile as he just thought about it. She loved him a lot, he could feel it, even if it sounded insane. "I wonder if she ever looked for you when she turned into a goddess, but ... it's not really my place to get into all of that." All he was was a servant, getting tangled up in a lovestory that was grander than his own lifespan and purpose would ever be. To be a vessel, to be trapped within the machinations of a world unkind and brittle, Mikuni already knew that even just hoping to escape it was blasphemous.

As they strode over the beaten path, then waded through high grass, the noise of the windmill got louder and the buzzing of the insects were almost drowned out, save for lone crickets that were undoubtedly hiding from their eyes, though not their ears. However could they? The soft glow of the sun, in motion to dip beneath the mountains anytime soon and the painterly landscape itself made the journey they had undertaken worth it, at the very least to him, who was less concerned about living another day and more about pleasing his goddess, who gave him scant few instructions, aside of being close and nice to Genji, whenever it was that they even met paths in his scrambled brain. "Find an inn, I'd say? And then see if we can find anyone to help us, be it a monastery, a church or something else. At least that's what she thinks is plausible, I think?", he suggested to Genji, who seemed on edge enough about entering the walled town in the first place. "It's going to be alright, I can promise you that much, Genji." As Otoha willed it, then? Mikuni couldn't help himself, he grabbed Genjis hand with his own and awared the man a shortlived smile. "Do you want to talk to her?"

"She already told me what she needs, but neither of your presence is required for that.", Genji replied. If Otoha wanted to find her remains, if it helped, Genji could do that on his own and bring back what he found while Mikuni and her would be save. He didn't quite understand why she ran from the paladins. As their goddess couldn't she just tell them what they should do? When she talked through Mikuni it was undoubtedly her after all. Genji was a threat naturally, but if they just parted ways her and Mikuni could leave in realtive ease again and Genji would find a way back to them once he got what Otoha needed. "It feels unlikely." He couldn't say why he thought that. Otoha definetly sounded like she could remember him perfectly and never forgot about him, but it didn't seem like there was a big attempt made and even when Genji first talked to Mikuni and she was there, she never overtook his body to talk to him like this. Maybe she couldn't until her vessel was weakned. If so what did that mean for Mikuni?

Arriving by the towns gate wasn't something Genji looked forward to in the slightest. "I thought she's sleeping?", he asked confused. Talking to people? Churches? Priests? All of this seemed like a bad idea to him, they should lay low if anything. Didn't those tw people they helped give them a place to go to? Genji wasn't out for a reward but something caught Mikunis attention it seemed. Genji flinched when Mikuni simply grabbed his hand, but he didn't pull away, instead he trotted after him, entering the town. The curse lay dormant still and yet Genji felt like that could change at any moment. "Let her rest... I thought this was your idea anyway." Something Genji shouldn't ahve agreed to but waiting outside did seem like a bad option too. What if someone here already knew what happened in the nearby monestary?

"It feels like she'd like to come with, though, but ... I don't think she can simply materialize a body of her own. So you'd still be stuck with me." A body that, temporarily, could brave all that it needed to to be equal to Genji, but even then, Mikuni found himself being nagged by the voice in his head from time to time. She wanted this of him, no that, and then, when she finally figured out how to make his body hers, she hardly ever wanted to hand it back. As obedient as the priest was, he hardly ever wanted to share his body like this, his brain still feeling somewhat tethered to Otoha from what happened the other night, when they were both talking to Genji like they were a single being. Disgusting. It still felt the same. Messed up, like he couldn't let go of something that would always be at the forefront of his mind from now on. "I suppose she has to adhere to where her vessel stays, and I guess a temple or monastery wouldn't simply let their goddess go and pilfer throught he lands to find a single man she once liked ... they're pretty strict." Which also sounded more like they found Otoha and made her their goddess, rather than the goddess raising her own faith. What a messed up idea that was, but Mikuni didn't know more than any average priest after all, he was simply unlucky.

"I can try and wake her, I'm not saying I will manage to, though." What a sad end to that conversation it would be if she found out that Mikuni could, under no circumstances, force her out of her own reserves like she did to him. Often times he heard the voice in the back of his head telling him it was better like this, that she needed her rest and he shouldn't get too involved, but even that seemed as if it was simply a rouse. "You like her a lot, don't you?" So much so he still held Mikunis hand as he proposed some stupid stuff, which he felt sorry for, but he had wondered just how absorbed Genji had been in his own thoughts. "Well, I ... figured you'd not want to stay at their place? Overall, you seemed like you didn't want to come here, so I figured maybe an inn would suit you better. But we can go there instead? Or do both ... I don't want to overstay my welcome anywhere." Or test Genjis infinite patience that, eventually, would run drier than the blood in his own veins at some point. "We could also just go to the markets and see if we can catch any sort of gossip there that might help us. You seem a bit apprehensive, are you ... scared?"

"It's dangerous... For both of you and also exhausting." If she could truly help Genji, then ehy insist on being by his side for a few weeks or months. They'd have a lot more time together once thos curse was lifted, unless of course it would kill him. He'd take death, he'd embrace it even but he didn't believe Otoha would do something like that, no matter Genjis opinion. "As the goddess shouldn't she be able to do whatever she wants? Then again, I wondered why you were caring about a stranger like me as if you weren't the most important person there." He showed him the bath brought him some clothes and a meal. Shouldn't he sit on a fancy pillow and get everything he wanted? What about Otoha? She let all this happen without complaint? This order felt weird and nothing Genji wanted to put any trust in.

"No it's fine." It was easier to talk to Mikuni anyway. Otoha knew what she wanted and she didn't back off at all. Genji had no room to argue and something felt off whenever she was around. "A lot of years have passed and we both changed... I know I liked her back when I knew her." And yet something felt weird, he didn't recognize himself nor did Otoha act like he thought he remembered her. "You want to stay the night?", Genji asked, this was a much bigger problem. They didn't have any time to waste, they would search for them in all nearby towns and a fight was the last thing he wanted. He looked at Mikuni. Yes he was scared. "O don't want anyone to get hurt.", he answered truthfully. Whether that be through his hand or because of someone else demanding answers about them. "What got you so interested in them? I don't think we need any information, Otoha seemed to have an idea of where to start looking."

"Exhausting? For you? Ah.", Mikuni was taken aback by the confession and seemed like a cat that one had dumped a water upon in no time. Truly, there was nothing to be gained from the unusual if all it did was give Genji more work and more things to worry about. How sad that was. "I ... don't know. I was born with that eye and raised in the monastery. I also don't think she ever did this before?" Someone sounded unsure of himself and it showed - Mikuni felt like he couldn't comprehend the blur that his own life represented, the state of blossoming and blooming and living and dying that life was turning into. How long until he lost it? "Simply because I'm not. Otoha is, I'm just the thing she's attached to.", Mikuni awkwardly confessed, not convinced that even this confession would ever change anything. And why would it? Nothing had ever come from lamenting the circumstances under which he lived, perhaps would die one day, but Mikuni was, after all, nothing if not a friend of the world he longed to see with his own eyes. Now he did, past the walls of the monastery, together with someone that at least cared a little more about him than anyone else, or was it just because of Otoha too?

"Just say the word if I can change anything." Not that he could force her out of his skull at any time he wanted, but Mikuni wondered if getting rid of the eye was also key of getting rid of- no, what a horrible thought that was. She was the only constant in his life, what did she ever do wrong? Mikuni swallowed his pride and thoughts, ignored them again for a reason. "Nothing more than that?", he curiously and carefully questioned as he weaved through the streets of town with Genji, who seemed less interested in being here than Mikuni was - he hadn't been to town in forever, maybe Genji hadn't either, but he giggled about it in his mind. "Do you think that's a bad idea? We could sleep in the fields outside if you're afraid something might happen, I don't mind." Regardless, he'd almost forgotten about that blunder as a whole. Well, was it just him or was this place awfully empty at the moment? Huh, now that he thought about it, indeed it was - he hadn't spotted a single soul. "Mhm, don't worry, I get it! Better safe than sorry.", he said with a proud smile. "I've never been out here is all. It's so peaceful and idyllic, but so exciting too..."

"No, for you. It is a long journey and we don't have any horses or money to sleep in beds at night. I know she can heal your body, but that is exhausting for her too. You've never been away from the monastery, right?", Genji asked him, knowing fully well how a journey like this was a toll on someone's body. He'd be faster alone too. "Otoha contained the curse for now, but it will come back too and I don't know what happens then. I don't want to hurt you again." Another factor and they'd travel for longer than he could hold back, he knew that already. Neither did he want to hurt Mikuni or Otoha, nor did he want to let him see Genji hurt someone else. "But they knew who's vessel you are, no? And worship her? Shouldn't they keep her body save?" Mikuni seemed more like a prisoner there, maybe a slave. Even if Otoha couldn't convey her wishes then, at least they should have put Mikuni on a golden pillow and keep him from harm, right? For a moment he wondered if Otoha could have stopped him earlier, if she wanted to get rid of all these people, but that was a silly thought. "And what would happen to her if you died?", he asked, not that that was possible, but he doubted they knew that.

"Nothing more? Well... I did... do? Love her. But the man she speaks of doesn't sound like me and no one I aspire to be either. I feel like it is only a matter of time until I disappoint her." She loved a man that fought for her, killed for her and sated the curse in exchange of having a family. He barely remembered any of it, just felt there were more than just the two of them. Not his own no, but he treated them as such. The city meanwhile felt eerily empty and Genji couldn't help but get more nervous about this, about a possible trap. "I have a bad feeling about this place... but I've not been to a town in a long time, maybe it's just that." Mikuni said he felt something that compelled him to come here and Genji was willing to follow his instincts that he surely shared with Otoha. There was no way those people on the road could have sent word ahead of them. "The world has become a saver place than what it was when I grew up, but you have to stay on your guard at all times." Strictly speaking Genji was probably one of the most dangerous people out there and yet he wasn't undefeatable, not by any means. While Mikuni danced through the alleyways with no particular goal, Genji kept an eye on the closed window shutters.

“No, the furthest I went out was to the fields I found you in and never beyond that. It's like ... they told me that straying too far could be dangerous and that I shouldn't just let anyone know where we live, that kind of thing? They let people stay with us from time to time, but they tossed them out the next day." Like they were keeping a secret in their midst that no one could know of, or that needed to be kept from the general public. Mikuni, or, well, Otoha fit that bill to a fault, like they both were something precious that could be stolen away by even the most clumsy of thieves. "We'll be fine, she will fix it, at least that's what she insists on. We could try and find out about the curse to make her life easier?" Genji surely had had an idea like that, but more to alleviate himself of the pesky symptoms of this thing and yet, Mikuni suggested it like the thought had never occurred to either of the two of them. "The body is replaceable, though. I'm not the first and not the last vessel, you know? Besides, keeping me safe and keeping me comfortable are two fundamentally different things.", he pointed out, like that hadn't crossed Genjis mind either - or maybe like something was distracting him? There was nothing out of the ordinary he picked up on, but there was something that he couldn't seem to understand: Why care about details like that? "She'd find a new vessel, or her fellowship would."

That all of them exempt for Mikuni - at least the one at the monastery - were gone and dead didn't help that case, but who was to say those were her only followers? Otoha was decently popular among a certain crowd of the religious persuasion and fiending for something like Mikunis eye, the one that held the goddess, didn't seem too out there either. No wonder they had had paladins on their behinds, or maybe they still did? "Ah, well, I can't judge that, but I think you're doing a fine job at not disappointing her - she seems rather pleased." Or she just liked humming in her sleep, something like that. Mikuni pranced about without a care in the world, spurred on by the resolve to see this place, even if it seemed oh-so desolate. Sure, the people seemed to be rather shy, or maybe these buildings were empty, but that didn't mean that something had to be amiss here, right? This could just be any other place, almost lost to time, until it would be left to rot by its lonesome when the last soul left it behind in this inconvenient spot. "Doesn't seem that odd to me.", he tried making his case, though found that that was about as far as it would go with him and his own decisions. How could he ever judge this town if he didn't know how it was supposed to function in the first place? Mikuni spotted a wooden mask - several of them, all of the same wood and all of them nailed to different doors. One depicted a ... hare? With wide eyes and alert ears and another, on a different door, a fox with narrow pupils showing its teeth. They seemed like decoration to him, but almost every door sported one with minor differences, some worn by wind and weather, others missing one or several chunks of wood, with the paint already worn down. "Shouldn't you relax just a little? I guess ... you can't, but still.", he mumbled as a suggestion. "What do you think these ornaments mean?" Obviously, he meant the masks.

"I... can't say I am very versed in customs and religions of this time." When he was young churches were big, grandious even and the more people came to pray the better. Otohas order almost seemed the opposite, secretive and exclusive. Was that odd? He couldn't say, he lived in so many different times, who could say what was normal? "Well I presume capturing a goddess can be a lucrative business, I don't think they were wrong in telling you it's dangerous. What I'm saying is though, you're not used to a long journey." Otoha seemed capable to look after herself, but on second thought, maybe it was saver for her and Mikuni to stay by Genjis side. Finding a save place for them wouldn't be as easy as he initially imagined and Otoha didn't seem like she wanted to go with the people on their heels. "She said she can help me if we find her mortal remains.", he let Mikuni in on the plan. "But to get to our former home will take some time." Time the curse wouldn't give him. "What about Otoha being comfortable? Have you never thought of telling them she spoke to you to get something you wanted?" Maybe that was precicely why Mikuni was her vessel, he seemed almost too pure, too innocent. He didn't think Otoha ever was like that... "Do you think she'd want someone else?" If she did, it seemed like she would have worked towards that. Besides, probably not everyone was suitable. "How did she find to you?"

"I think she is as happy to see me, as I am to see her, despite the fact that I can't remember her and the fact that I am not who she remembers.", he tried to explain to Mikuni. In the end Mikuni just spent time with two immortal beings way way older than himself. He seemed like a child to Genji, he'd probably never been in love. "I'm used to people hiding from me, but there was no way they could anticipate our arrival..." Why was it so empty then? As if everyone just locked themselves into their houses. As they passed the closed doors and windows Genji tried to see if he could make out any movement behind, any change of light in the slot between stone and wood. Genji knew Mikuni wasn't too pleased with his presence, he closed the distance between them anyway, walking close behin him just in case. "It's the middle of the day and all shutters are closed.", he explained once more why he couldn't relax. The masks on the door were giving him an odd feeling as well, but again, he'd not been to a town for a long while. "I don't know. In my time I would have guessed witchcraft. A protection spell maybe, but those kind of things don't exist anymore. Even in Otohas time those days were already over. The streets are much saver, maybe it is nothing more but a custom here. But I guess then you would know, seeing this town is not far from the monestary." Some upcoming festivity maybe?

Mikuni would never claim that Genji was too uptight or hellbent on preventing both of them from having fun, he was too old to not get that this was a job, that this man just did what he needed to with due dilligence and that, no matter what, he wasn't going to magically change his mind if he as much as tried to be more open toward the ways of the world. They both were old enough to understand just how this damned world worked. "That's alright, I only know my own after all as well.", he chuckled, running his fingers along a section of brick wall as he passed through the narrow alleyway, the cobblestone lined path in front of them stretching and winding endlessly, or perhaps just up that little incline of a hill. "Which means you're just looking out for me as I will tire out sooner, that's what you're wanting me to understand?", he tried to get clarification from Genji and maybe, that was exactly what the man wanted him to understand - that nothing in life was permanent and that none of the things in his life, as transient as they were, would ever pan out good if he kept only believing that people could be good if they truly wanted to be. "We're looking for Otohas bones?" That much he could ascertain by Genjis response. Nothing good ever came from digging up the messes the dead left behind, or at least by hoping to find something if they did - genuinely, it made Mikui a little worried, and yet, he kept that to himself. "How long do you think?" Maybe ages, but Mikuni was sure he'd learn and see plenty of places. "I ... don't remember. I was too young, too small, too ... childish."

It probably was the same as always with Otoha - she found someone, she took interest in them and she kept digging into their consciousness until she could find a part to latch onto. Mikuni liked her, because she was so easy to get along with - not because she gave him a better life than the son of a woodsman could ever dream of. "You've changed since you've known each other, then? I guess that makes sense, too." Who could say how old that woman was and, in turn, how old Genji was? "Which means ... we're either being shunned out for a reason or just arrived at the wrong time?" If the couple sent them here, they had to live here and it didn't exactly seem like there was anything weird going on, outside of people having their windows and doors closed tight. Was something sweeping through the streets? Had someone come up sick? "Never heard of something like this, not with a fox and a hare at least. I know there is something similar by the town closer to my monastery, about ... I think a flock of owls and a group of mice? It's always a predator and a prey, but never something you'd look at and immediately think of as such, at least for the predator." Both owls and foxes were predators, yes, but maybe not at first glance or in the mind of a child. The towns square came up ahead of them and, ironically enough, it too was empty - the stalls were void of produce and wares, of smiles and laughter, of people. Something was off, Genji was right. "I think it was the prelude to a festival ... the harvest festival in the area? No, that wasn't it, but it's related to harvest." Mikuni racked his brain over it and mulled, only to spot a single stall that ... seemed open an manned? Curious, he glanced over and spotted the older woman, bearing traditional garb and a mask on her face, waiting for something, someone, anyone, anything - Mikuni couldn't help but wave at her like an idiot. "Travellers? This time of year?", the old crone asked, motioning for Mikuni and Genji to come over and Mikuni, ever the curious one, threw all caution to the wind. "We're just passing through.", he told the lady - her own mask seemed to be neither fox nor hare, but that of a ... heron? Yet, she only seemed to sell those masks. "Not much to see during the preparations for the abundance festival, I fear. Well, if you do stay the night, you can enjoy the festivities. They start tomorrow.", she gleefully suggested, looking at the two of them. "But you'll need a mask ... and what a curious pair you are. Going anywhere specific?"

"We're not far from the monastery, shouldn't customs here be similar?", Genji asked. They fled down the hill through the forest and than followed a street, it really wasn't that far at all. Genji was surprised Mikuni didn't know this place, if only from hearing about it. "Just tell me if you need a break. Maybe we can get a horse somewhere." Genji didn't like to steal, but he'd do it if they had to. It wasn't like they had much money, aside from what they packed from the monastery, but he'd rather spend it on food and maybe some other travel necessities. In the end they should have prepared to leave sooner, then they could have brought more things. "Yes that's what she said she needs.", he then answered about Otohas bones, wherever those were. Genji didn't quite remember where she lived or where they were now relative to that. Things have changed so much over the years, cities collaped and were built elsewhere, settlements sprouted. "I don't really know. I don't remember where we lived and if that place even exists anymore."

Genji followed Mikuni who seemed not worried at all, while he just had a bad feeling about this town. He had a bad feeling about all settlements, but while he definitely preferred not to have a lot of people around him, this was still odd. "I think I did yes. From what she tells me.", he answered. Why would she lie about who he was? He felt too much and knew some of it was true, without having any actual pictures in his mind. "I don't think it's about us specifically. We would have seen someone being late to hiding, or someone being curious anyway... I don't know." At least that is what his gut told him. Why would the people on the road not have told them they'd likely not meet anyone in the streets? This smelled like some sort of scheme more and more. "Harvest? Maybe they're all on the fields, but not everyone is a farm hand." Guards, doctors, merchants, all of them just lay down their work? They arrived on the villages plaza which was as empty as everything else aside from one single stall. Mikuni was already in his way there and Genji followed him closely. The woman that greeted them wore a mask too, but not one similar to the ones on the doors. While Mikuni talked to her, Genji scrutinized her appearance a little bit. "In search for work, further south.", Genji lied about their intentions and their direction. "Where is everyone? We were hoping to buy some provisions for our journey." Another lie, but at least he was going to get some information. Growing up in an age full of witchcraft, curses and demons, all of this struck him as odd, but maybe he was just paranoid. Those times were long over, weren't they?