• When morning finally came the next day Shiro was greatly relieved. That dream had kept him awake all night, much to Kuro’s dismay. When the man beside him finally woke he was shocked to see Shiro was awake. “Wow Shiro, looks like I won’t have to pour cold water on you today. Looks like you’re wet enough anyway. Why is that?”

    Shiro was leaning against a nearby tree. His head was down making his hair cover both his eyes not just his right. When the man spoke Shiro smiled. “I was seating all night because of a dream I had. Aw…you care about me, so sweet Kumo.” He could barely keep himself from laughing as he said it.

    Kumo remained silent as he placed a pot of tea on the fire but replied once he finished. “Of course I care about you kid. If you get sick and we’re attacked my life is at risk.”

    “The only reason we would be attacked is if one of those village’s soldiers found us. We wouldn’t have to worry about that if you didn’t cheat so many people out of money with gambling.” Shiro raised his head to watch Kumo pack everything. “I guess we do need the money though. Also when some catch us we get some training out of it.” When Shiro noticed the teas was heated he stood up and stretched a bit. Kumo had all ready poured two cups saving Shiro some time. He grabbed a cup and drank it in one gulp.

    “We need to head toward the nearest town next. We must get supplies and we could use some horses too. After that you two will decide where to go.” Kumo put the supplies onto his back and began to walk down the dirt road beside their camp.

    Shiro soon followed behind him wondering where they were headed. “How long will it take to this town? What town is it anyway?”

    Kumo looked back at Shiro with a smile. “I want it to be a surprise but we should be there by mid day.” Shiro didn’t accept this answer and kept asking questions but Kumo just ignored him. This continued until they finally reached the town several hours later. “Welcome to Kusaban, the gambling capital of the kingdom!”

    Immediately after hearing this Shiro slapped his hand to his forehead. “I can’t believe you brought me here. Next you’ll want to take me to the prostitution capital of the kingdom.”

    “Nah, I wasn’t planning on it but if you want…” Visions of women in skimpy outfits flooded his mind making him pant like a dog.

    “You stupid pervert!” Shiro spun around and kicked Kumo in the face sending him flying back several feet and then landing on his back. “Now would you mind telling me why the hell we are here?”

    Kumo stood up slowly and wiped off the blood dripping down his chin. “We are here for supplies like I said this morning. Unlike most places it is illegal to gamble for money. Instead you buy these special coins and gamble with them. Once you are finished you can buy anything in town with the coins. It’s an interesting system.” He dug into his pack and pulled out a bag of gold. “Take that and do what you want today. I’ll be out gambling for the rest of the day and most of the night. Send me a message when you get us room in an inn.” He then began to walk away toward the exchange building. “By the way kid, happy birthday.” He didn’t turn around as he said this, he only raise his hand as a farewell.

    Shiro was shocked when he heard those final words. I’m surprised Kumo remembered what day it was. But I still wish that b*****d would stop calling me kid! He’s only a couple years older than me after all! He then realized that he was blocking traffic in and out of the city. There weren’t many people entering or leaving the city but he still thought it would be wise to enter the city soon.

    As he walked through the gates of the city he threw the bag of gold into the air and caught it repeatedly. The second he entered the city a black streak flashed threw the air and a lone figure stood where the streak ended on a nearby building. Shiro immediately jumped on a barrel next to the building and then flipped onto the building. “Would you mind giving that gold back? I don’t want to fight you but I will if I must.”

    The figure laughed and smiled cutely. “You can’t fight what you can’t catch.” Before Shiro could do anything to stop her, the girl disappeared with another black streak. She would have been impossible to follow if there wasn’t that streak revealing her movements as she hopped from building to building.

    Shiro smiled when he saw this. “I doubt that will be a problem.” He studied the pattern the streak followed and started jumping toward the place he anticipated he could stop her at. When he reached the chosen building the girl ran right into him. They rolled together on the on the building, nearly falling off. The two stopped just before they fell off, one more roll and they would have. Shiro looked over to the girl and saw she was getting up. He leaped on top of her, pinning her legs down with his and grabbed her wrists pinning her arms to the ground.

    Before she realized it she was pinned to the ground. “Let me go!”

    Shiro smiled but didn’t release his grip. “Give me that gold back and I will release you. It doesn’t belong to you.”

    The girl struggled to break free but was unable to. “I can’t. I need it.”

    Shiro was surprised with this answer. “Why do you need this gold?” He waited for an answer but she didn’t give one. As he waited for an answer he began to smell something. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t smelt it sooner. “You smell like rose petals…and death. What happened to you?” By the time he had finished speaking a tear had appeared in the girl’s eye. Shiro raised one of his hands to her cheek and wiped the tear away. The girl took this chance and pushed him off of her. She disappeared once again but this time he didn’t follow because the gold had been left on the roof top.

    Shiro remained on the rooftop for several hours. This city didn’t have much that interested him so he didn’t have much else to do other than watch the clouds. When he finally decided to jump off it was nearly sunset. “I guess I better go find an in for us to sleep in tonight.” He didn’t notice until that moment he had landed on top of a food stand.

    “What have you done? Selling these vegetable is the only way I can pay for my family’s food!” The farmer who owned the said this while walking over to Shiro. He grabbed Shiro’s collar and pushed him into the wall of the building. “How do you intend to pay me back for my ruined crops?”

    Shiro took hold of the man’s wrist and forced him to release his grip. “I’m sorry for destroying your stand and crops.” He unhooked to of the bags hooked to his sword belt and handed them to the man. “That should be more than enough to compensate for the destroyed crops and the second bag has candy for your children.” With out another word he left the man to gape at the small fortune he had just received. I’m too damn nice, Kuro.

    Kindness can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. It depends on when you are kind. Kuro yawned rather loudly. I’m getting bored. Kumo should get in some trouble here so I can fight some people.

    Shiro laughed at that. Who’s to say I’d even let you fight?

    Kuro growled and didn’t say another word.

    Shiro searched the city and found several inns but all were already full. It was to be expected, this city was all about gamboling and people all over the kingdom came to gambol here. As he left the fifth inn he began to get impatient. “Is there not one bloody inn in the wretched town that isn’t overcrowded?” Just as he said this, a familiar smell rushed past him, rose petals and death. He ran in the direction of the smell and found the source just in time to see the girl sneak in a window.

    Shiro was shocked by the coincidence but dismissed it as fate. He walked into the building and was greeted by a woman with a big smile. The woman was quite beautiful for a woman her age but there was no ring on her finger. “Welcome to the Blade’s Edge Inn. Would you like a room, young man?”
    Shiro didn’t respond immediately, he walked into the room and looked around. Inside there was a bar to the left with a few waitresses passing out drinks and to the right there were several chairs and tables unfilled in front of a stage. He looked to the back to see a spiral stair case that lead up, to what he assumed were, the rooms. “Yes, I would like a room. Slow day today? There doesn’t seem to be many people in here.”

    The woman’s smile faltered but it remained. “Our entertainer said she couldn’t perform today. I don’t blame her though; she does odd jobs during the day to get extra money. Sadly she’s the only real reason people stay here now. When she leaves I’ll go broke.” She started laughing after she spoke and started heading toward the staircase. “Follow me. I’ll show you to your room.”

    Shiro followed her up the staircase and then down a hallway. “She’ll be leaving? Did she tell you where she would be leaving to go to?” The woman stopped at one of the doors in the hallway and he stopped also.

    The woman’s smile finally left her face and was replaced with a worried look. “No, she didn’t tell me where. She’s a very secretive woman at times…” As she spoke she stared at the door across the hall from the door they had stopped at. When she finished her expression turned back into a happy one and turned to look at Shiro. “This will be your room and here is your key. If you need anything I’ll be in the tavern down below until later tonight.” She handed him the key and walked back down the hall.

    Shiro waited for the woman to leave his sight and after she did, he walked over to the door she had been staring at. He placed his ear against the door to try and maybe find something out but even with his enhance hearing he didn’t heard a thing. He sighed and took his head off of the door. “She must have sound proofed the room. Evidence that the thief and the entertainer are the same person I suppose.” Then he caught a familiar smell and smiled. “That and I smell her smell.”

    He walked back over to his door and slid the key into the door knob. The door unlocked and he opened it. As soon as he did open it his jaw dropped. “What is this, a palace?! Kumo is going to kick my a** for spending all his money!” He started to search through his pack to make sure he had the money but he remembered what happened with the food stand. “Curse my kindness! All the money I have left is my tea money and now I don’t even have any candy left!” He sighed and walked into the extremely well furnished room.

    The room had two huge beds in it and these weren’t the beds with straw filled mattresses most inns had either. These beds looked fit for royalty. “No wonder people only stay here for the girl. Only a king could stay here for more than one night.” There were candles in several places around the room, a small wardrobe, and even had its own bathtub.

    What are we going to do until Kumo gets back from gamboling, Shiro? Kuro had remained unusually quiet most of the day and Shiro had been getting used to it, so when he finally did speak Shiro nearly jumped.

    “Rest for a bit first, and then when I wake up I want to find out some more about this entertainer. I want to see if this entertainer and the thief are the same person.” Shiro jumped onto one of the beds and landed with a thud.

    Why are you so interested in this girl? She’s just a common thief.

    Shiro rolled over so that he was looking and the ceiling and stared up at it. “That’s just it Kuro. She isn’t just some common thief. No common thief could have that level of agility or have such a strong smell of death.”

    That’s still no reason to investigate this

    Shiro sighed and rolled back over on his stomach and buried his face in a pillow. You may not think so but I still want to find out. Now if you don’t leave me alone I’ll never get any rest. He waited for Kuro to respond and when he didn’t Shiro thought it was safe to go to sleep.

    Shiro woke up about an hours later with the image of a man swinging a blade at him left in his mind. He couldn’t remember what he had dreamt of but for some reason the man stayed in his mind. Soon even he slipped out of Shiro’s mind. Once he was fully awake he began to notice a bunch of cheering coming from downstairs and decided to find out what was going on. He walked out of his room and walked down the hallway toward the stairs. As he got closer to the stairs the cheering grew louder and louder. It finally reached its maximum when he reached the stairs and got to the bottom of them.

    Shiro looked around to see what everyone was cheering for and found a woman in a black silk dress bowing to the crowd. He looked around for a place to sit and discovered that there wasn’t a table unfilled or a seat not taken. I can almost bet that most of these men are here not only for here singing but also for her beauty. She is quite attractive.

    Shiro almost stopped to enjoy the view along with the other men but Kuro snapped at him. Stop acting like Kumo!

    Shiro didn’t give a reply but he did take Kuro’s advice. He saw out of the corner of his eye a man get out of his seat at the bar and quickly took his place. He sat their watching the woman on stage until the owner came to his side of the bar. “I thought you said she wasn’t going to perform tonight?”

    The woman walked over to where he sat with a smiled and a bottle of ale. “Well she had said earlier she wasn’t. She came in about half an hour ago though and got on stage. It didn’t take long for the men to rush in and the inn to end up packed.” She ran off to pour more drinks for the men at the bar and then returned to this side of the bar after some men called out the name ‘Joi’, Shiro assumed that that was her name. The woman stopped at Shiro first. “Would you like something to drink?”

    Shiro gave her a small smile and shook his head to say no. “No, thank you. I don’t drink ale, but if have any tea I’d love some of it.” The cheering had finally died down and he could hear the woman begin a new song.

    “We don’t have any made at the moment, all of the people here now want ale, but I can get one of the girls to go put some on the fire for you.” She reached out her hand and was about to call out to one of the waitresses but Shiro shot out his own hand and grabbed her wrist.

    “There’s no need, I don’t want to trouble you or any of these women.” Shiro released his grip on her wrist and then gestured to the stage. “Do you not have a musician? Music always enhances a beautiful voice.”

    “That’s always the problem. Every time we get a new musician they quit because they think Kari upstages them.” Joi poured a couple cups with ale and slid them down the bar to the men who had originally called her over to this side.

    “Well I can’t really blame for thinking so. Everyone in the room is focused on her.” Shiro himself had his gaze on her again. When he realized it he turned his head back to Joi with a sly smile. He had an idea. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll be her musician for tonight and in exchange I get to stay in that room up there for free.”

    Joi had a look as if she was contemplating the deal. “Are you good enough to play for Kari? If so we have a deal.” One of the serving girls walked up and asked for some cups of ale. Joi filled the cups and set them on the girl’s tray. The girl walked off and Joi turned back to Shiro.

    “I’m not the best in the world, but I’ve played in palaces several times and never gotten any complaints.” Joi nodded to him and Shiro went off to get his instruments. When he got to his room her searched threw his belongings to find his harp and flute and when he found them he all but threw himself out the door. He arrived back in the tavern just as Karin finished another song. As the cheering commenced he walked through the crowd to the stage. When he reached the stage they were still cheering. “Hello Lady Kari. I’m here to play music for you tonight.”

    Kari gave him a quick glare and then turned back to the crowd. “What are you doing here?” She took a bow and waited for the cheering to end.

    “I’m here to play music, as I just said.” Shiro ignored the second glare sent his way and set the two instrument cases on the stage. He opened them and took both of the instruments out.

    “You can’t intend to play both instruments at the same time.” The cheering had softened now but not by much. Kari didn’t know when it would.

    “I don’t intend to. I intend for you to play the harp. We’ll be singing ‘The Hawk and the Dove’. You know the song don’t you?” Shiro handed her the harp and jumped on stage with the flute in hand.

    Kari reluctantly took the harp. “Yes, I know it. You just don’t seem like a person who can seem.” The cheering finally ceased when the crowd realized they were about to hear another song. A few faces looked confused at seeing Shiro up on stage with Kari.

    “I don’t? You don’t have a very keen eye for people then.” Before could respond other than a quick glare, Shiro began to play the song. It began with Shiro playing the flute and Kari singing. Then it alternated to Kari playing the harp and Shiro singing. It alternated on and off during the whole song, and sometimes they were both singing and playing. The song told the story of two lovers separated by feuding nations. Kari played the part of the woman and Shiro played the man.

    Obviously most eyes were on Kari during the song, the men’s eyes at least, but most of the women’s eyes were on Shiro. When the song ended everyone was clapping and cheering even more than they had earlier, probably because now more of the women were cheering, even Joi clapped.

    Shiro took a quick bow and when he rose he felt the p***k of a knife against his back. “You will come to my room after this is over or I will kill you after. It’s your choice.” He glanced behind him to see Kari walking to the side of the stage to ask a serving girl to bring her a glass of water. He couldn’t help but laugh. She is definitely the thief.

    The two played a couple more songs such as ‘The Road to Exodan’ and ‘Silver
    Butterfly’. It was the middle of the night when Kumo walked in looking surprised to see Shiro on stage. The two finished performing not long after he walked in and Kari went straight off to her room but not without giving Shiro one last glare.

    When Kumo noticed Shiro was finished he called him over. “So, would you mind explaining to me what you were just doing up there?” Kumo was seated at the bar with his pack still on his back and a glass of ale in his hand.

    “I was getting us a free room, but that’s not important right now. Follow me.” Kumo didn’t have time to protest before Shiro began walking toward the stairs. He had no choice but to follow, so he set down his glass and followed after. They reached Kari’s room in a matter of seconds and Shiro turned to Kumo before knocking. “If she threatens you don’t attack. If she attacks you attack her if you think it’s needed. Don’t hurt her too bad if it does come to that.” Leaving Kumo even more confused he knocked on the door.

    “What are you…?” Before he could finish, a throwing knife came straight at Kumo’s head from the now open door. He dodged easily enough and was about to counter attack but Shiro stopped him.

    “Who is he? I told you to come alone.” Kari was now wearing an orange version of the black outfit she had been wearing earlier that day. She alternated from between looking at Shiro and Kumo as if making sure neither of them made a move to attack her.

    “You said to come; you never said I had to come alone. He’d spy in anyway so he might as well come in also.” Shiro ignored the fourth glare she had sent him that night and walked in with Kumo following behind. Kumo closed the door behind them and then the two took a seat the only two chairs in the room. “What is it that you want?”

    “Who are you two? Why are you here? What do you want with me?” Kari sat down on the edge of her bed and faced the two with determined look in her eyes.

    “I’ll answer in order. I am Shiro and this is Kumo. I’m a nomad and he is an illusionist. We are just stopping in this town to pick up some supplies. All I wanted to know was why you smell like death.” Shiro could smell it at the moment, the smell of death and that rose petal smell that made his head spin.

    Kari’s face had a look on it now as if she had just been stabbed in the back but she still sounded determined. “What makes you think you can smell death?”

    Shiro thought of whether he should tell her the truth and decided there was no harm in it. “I’m possessed by a wolf demon. Being possessed gives me…certain abilities, one of them being a heightened sense of smell.” He leaned back farther in his chair and laughed bitterly. It’s one of the few good things that happened because of Gisei’s imprisonment. “So, will you tell me about why you smell like death?”

    Kari looked as if she didn’t believe him about being possessed. “Why should I tell you? I don’t even know you.”

    “Because Kari, I can get you out of this town and to where you really want to be.” Shiro smiled a bit at the surprised look on her face after he spoke. “You can come with us when we leave. You just have to tell me why you smell of death, where you want to go, and why you want to go there.”

    We can’t bring her along Shiro. I was lenient about Kumo because of his abilities but she has none.

    Shiro simply ignored Kuro and waited for Kari’s response. Kari didn’t respond immediately, obviously she had to think on it. “…I smell of death because my entire family and everyone in my entire city were killed…while I hid. I’m from Amasu. The City of Thieves as it’s more commonly known. We aren’t thieves though! We are warriors!” You could tell her voice was strained, it was a tough memory to relive. “Anyway where I want to go is the capital city of Altear. The king was the one that sent soldiers into my city to kill all of us. I’m going to kill that dreadful man for what he’s done to my people!”

    “You will not speak of the king in such a manner! He is a great man, greater than most! He’s not the one doing these things it’s…” Kumo had risen out of his seat and Shiro was sure he was about attack the woman.

    Shiro grabbed Kumo’s arm and clenched his hand tightly around it. “Calm down Kumo.” We can’t let her know the truth about you or about that man just yet, not until we’re sure we can trust her. Shiro was looking up at Kumo, ready to intervene if he continued what he had been about to do.

    I’m sorry. I just don’t like people talking about the king that way. Kumo sat back down silently with clenched fists.

    Shiro removed his grip on Kumo’s arm and then looked back at Kari. Kari looked prepared to defend herself against Kumo. He didn’t blame her for it but if they had fought she wouldn’t have had a chance at surviving. “The king isn’t holding the reins on his kingdom anymore, someone else is. By happenstance we are also hunting that man. How about you join us?”

    You tell this girl too much. Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? We shouldn’t bring her along.

    Don’t worry, she could be useful. Shiro thought he heard Kuro cursing at him but he ignored it. “What is your answer?”

    Kari sighed heavily. “I have no idea how Joi is going to react to this.” She then laughed suddenly. “She’ll probably try chasing you around with a frying pan.”

    Shiro wasn’t sure if she was being serious about that but he still smiled. “We all need to get some sleep. We’ll be leaving in the morning after we finish buying supplies.” The two stood up and Kumo went out of the room immediately. Shiro bowed with a smile. “Goodnight Lady Kari.” When Shiro arrived in their room Kumo was already in his bed. “You really need to control your temper when the king is mentioned Kumo. We hear him being talked about all the time.”

    Kumo turned to face Shiro and glared at him. “Just shut your mouth and go to sleep.”

    Shiro lied down his own bed without the covers over him. “Goodnight Kumo.” He heard Kumo grunt and then he fell asleep.