(Jan 5 - Feb 10, 2011)


Kagemaru and Kiara leave once more via the roofs, this time with more purpose than "explore". After all, now they know that they're far from the only ones playing on the city's rooftops - and not introducing themselves would be quite rude, indeed.

It doesn't take long for them to spot a runner - several youths seem to be vying for the fastest route from a baker's shop to a public bathhouse, scrambling up walls and jumping gaps to the widespread indifference of the people on the streets below. Either they've gotten used to it, or they're too busy to notice.

Being ninja, your approach has gone unnoticed so far, and the high rooftop you use for a perch leaves you with an excellent view of the surrounding city, as well as the youths freerunning beneath. Perhaps it's time to get their attention.

---

Kagemaru smiles as he watches the freerunners. He turns around to Kiara. "Let's show them how it's done." he says enthusiastically and leaps to the next roof.

[Kagemaru's Acrobatics: 1d20+11 = 28]

Kagemaru and Kiara take off from their hiding spot. Being that they are on a higher roof, their first jump is already impressive: with a running start, they cross a busy street, drop down twenty feet and roll with the landing on the next roof over, taking off towards the runners. They seem frozen in place for a few seconds, as if admiring your work - and then they scatter.

Kagemaru lands in a roll and is back up in the blink of an eye. He dashes in the direction of one of the freerunners and signals Kiara to chase another one.

[1d20+11 (Kagemaru) = 25]
[1d20+6 (Thief) = 15]

Kagemaru easily scrambles up a nearby wall to a higher roof, immediately gaining the height advantage on his target of choice. The thief, by contrast, chose his direction rather poorly, scrambling through a roof full of clotheslines on his way south. Kagemaru almost has to give him a few seconds advantage before he starts running again, heading parallel to the thief's course on the higher roofs to his left. Kagemaru's now close enough to shout - or to jump the thief.

Kagemaru sees the freerunner below him and decides to end this chase now, even though he hoped it'd be a challenge. He leaps right at the boy, trying to use his inertia to throw the boy to the floor.

[1d20+13 (Kagemaru) = 24]
[1d20+4 (Thief) = 19]

Kagemaru puts the "flying" in "flying tackle", as his jump takes him off the high ground and right onto the fleeing thief. That, predictably enough, leads to the thief falling and a lot of rolling about before their combined momentum gives way to the two of them struggling for the upper hand on the dusty roof. Kagemaru's almost on top when Mr. Runner rolls again, dropping the two of them from a nice flat roof onto the shingles of an angled roof, Kagemaru's back first. The impact knocks the wind out of the ninja, but he doesn't let go, and the pair tumbles down the slope, clattering shingles following them.

[1d20+9 (Kagemaru's Reflex save) = 22]

Kagemaru's hand shoots out for purchase; a lucky move finds his right arm and right foot making contact with the house's rain gutter. The ninja hooks himself in just as the rolling action takes him and the thief over the edge. One hand on the gutter, the other on the thief - and then suddenly all the momentum has to be stopped somehow. The gutter groans, and Kagemaru joins in, gritting his teeth and pressing his eyes shut. By the time he opens them again, he finds himself hanging from his right hand and foot, still holding on to the gutter, and his left hand on the slowly-slipping jacket of the thief, dangling below him. A few shingles slide off the roof next to the pair and clatter to the ground below, causing the crowd to look up.

"Scheisse!" the thief whimpers, struggling to reach something to grab on to. It doesn't make it easier for Kagemaru to hold on to the boy, but for the next, oh, ten seconds or so, he's got a grip on the situation, literally.

"HÖR AUF ZU ZAPPELN UND HALT DICH AN MIR FEST, VERDAMMT NOCHMAL!" Kagemaru yells at the thief, hoping to get both of them out of the situation alive. "Ich schwinge dich jetzt zur Hauswand. Konzentrier dich darauf, daran Halt zu finden, verstanden?" he says as the Thief seems to be a bit calmer.

"Ja! Ja!" the thief shouts.

"Gut, also los!" Kagemaru says and starts to swing towards the wall of the building.

First swing - miss. The gutter groans. Second swing - the thief grabs a window frame but slips off. Kagemaru groans. Third time's the charm - the thief finds purchase and hooks himself into the window, taking the weight off Kagemaru's arm. The ninja has a moment to catch his breath - which would, in turn, let the thief climb down and try to run for it. However, the thief makes his way onto the roof, scrambling over the edge. A few seconds later, he grabs Kagemaru from above and helps pull him up. Once on top of the roof, the thief sits down on the slope to catch his breath.

"Do you understand?" he says, trying for Imperial. "Many people. Not talk about anything in our language. What want you?"

Kage takes a second to regain his composure, he's infinitely relieved that he isn't guilty of killing a young boy. He doesn't even care that much if he'd make a run for it now. But instead the boy climbs up to the roof and helps the ninja back up. Kagemaru is surprised, but glad at the same time. The thief begins to speak to him in broken Imperial.

"I want information. Why were you guys watching us as we entered the crime scene?" Kagemaru asks calmly.

"Can't say that to you," the thief replies. "Talk you to Adler." He looks Kagemaru up and down. "He will see you."

"Alright." Kagemaru says with a smile, stands up and helps the boy to his feet too. "Let's go then."

"No, I must somewhere else go," the thief says. "Adler is at the inn. You can go see him anytime." The thief briefly explains the way, then takes off in another direction - clearly he's got some other task to attend to.

Kagemaru looks after the thief and then uses the roofs to quickly find Kiara. If he's going to meet this 'Adler', he's not going alone.

Kagemaru tracks his way back to where the chase started, leaving the growing crowd on the streets below behind. From here, figuring out where Kiara has gone is easy enough - just follow the screams.

Kagemaru's half-joking thought turns series when he does hear screams and the sounds of intense fighting a few houses away. The ninja hurries along - a few of those muffled grunts are Kiara's, he's sure of it. He arrives just in time to survey the bloodbath: two dead runners, four dead ninja in a clan uniform he doesn't recognize, and Kiara in the middle, pulling the Dragon's Will sword free from a still struggling ninja before she plunges it into his chest again, killing him.

"I may need some help cleaning this up," she says. "Did you get your guy?"

"I did. But what the heck were you doing here?" Kagemaru asks while looking at the whole mess.

"Chasing the runners," Kiara replies. "Two went the same way, I followed, then I come here and the ninjas are jumping them. So, you know..." Kiara trails off. "I'm sorry, I wanted to keep one alive, it just happened so fast..."

"Yeah, I know how fast it can go if no one holds you back." Kagemaru says, rubbing his forehead. "What should we do now?"

"I dunno," Kiara admits. "Search them?"

"I meant about covering this up, but yeah searching them would be a good first step," Kagemaru says and starts to search the dead bodies.

You search the dead ninjas and find:

* uniforms - black with a yellowish fringe
* weapons
* fuck all else.

The runners have their clothes, some hidden weapons of poor qualitiy and some Foreigner scrip on them. None of them seems to be keen on carrying documents or identifying marks on them, but then again, they are thieves and assassins. In lieu of taking nothing, you cut some fabric from the ninja uniforms - maybe you can identify that later.

After searching them, Kagemaru looks for possible hiding places for the bodies.

Kagemaru and Kiara set to hiding the bodies as well as they can on and around the secluded roof.

[1d20+13 (Kagemaru's Sneak) = 32]

Well, would you look at that - a toolshed in the corner, with a rusted lock that indicates infrequent use at best! Kagemaru quickly jimmies the lock open while Kiara starts moving bodies. A quick session of ninja tetris later, the shed gets closed and locked again while Kagemaru uses a sack of sand to soak up the still-fresh blood. Swept to the side, it leaves the roof - well, not exactly spotless, but less obviously the site of an assassin massacre. Kagemaru and Kiara admire their handiwork one more time before they pronounce it good enough and prepare to head off to Adler's hideout.

This is, of course, the appropriate moment for Kiara's sword to ring like a distant bell.

The two ninja look at each other in rapt confusion - what, exactly, is that sound? Kiara has to examine the sword for a few seconds before she finds one of the gems on the handle glowing faintly. This definitely wasn't built into the sword - one of Aogin's magicks, undoubtedly. With no better idea, she presses on the gem. The blade suddenly seems to gain a mind of its own, forcing itself into a swing.

"Kiara!" a voice calls out as the sword parts the air.

"Did my sword just talk?" Kiara asks. Kagemaru is forced to agree that it did. "Okay," Kiara muses, then swings it again, keeping the gem pressed.

"We need you," the voice says. Another swing. "The clan is under attack." Swing. "Send help." Swing. "Nagiko."

Kiara swings the sword again, but the voice stays silent. That seems to be it, as far as the message goes.

"She could have sent a pigeon," Kiara mumbles. "What do we do?" she asks Kagemaru. "They are my...responsibility."

"They are indeed." Kagemaru responds while looking at the floor, "although they have a really bad timing, you need to go help them. I think I can deal with this myself. Keep me informed though. If you need help, just send a pidgeon." Kage hugs Kiara and says "Take care, Kiara."

"You watch yourself, 'little brother'," Kiara says. This earns her a weak punch to her arm. "Don't call me that, Kiara. You know I don't like it," Kagemaru says with a frown. Kiara reacts with a sly grin, that doesn't last long. "Though I don't know," she says, looking westward at the mountain range stretching before them. "I don't know how to get there in time. Lot of good the sword is doing me..."

The law of dramatic irony proves itself to be in full effect as the dragon etchings along Kiara's blade light up, going from a dull glow to a bright red light. Simultaneously, wisps of red energy swirl around her shoulders, grasping at the air and stretching out into - wings?

It's a strange, strange world outside the safety of the clan fortress, Kagemaru concludes.

"Oh," Kiara says with a grin. "Nice. That should work." She flexes her shoulders until the red energy solidifies into a pair of wings stretching across half the roof; Kagemaru steps back, lest he get slapped in the face by them. To her credit, Kiara's not one to question something as imminently logical as magic - she simply takes a running start and leaps, trusting her newest body parts to keep her aloft. Kagemaru stares at her flying over the city and into the distance.

Thank the Gods people don't look up in this city.

Kagemaru should know better by now, than to be surprised. So many weird things happened since he left his small village, but now he watches Kiara fly off into the sunset. He stands there until he loses sight of her. Then he shakes his head. Now is not the time to be sentimental. I have to find this 'Adler' guy and get some information, Kage realises and dashes off in the direction of the inn.