What Was Stolen (Yama)

The morning air was crisp in Kumogakure as Tamwyn moved through the residential suburbs toward a small manor. His breath was visible in the air as the chill of night slowly faded away due to the presence of the suns warmth upon the world. The cold didn't bother him though, at least not this later in the morning. It was different in the dead of night, but at this time of morning it was easily ignorable. He dressed in his usual attire, black dress shirt with a tie and gray vest. A black, hoodless cloak, black shinobi pants, and black shinobi combat boots. The clasp holding his cloak in place held the symbol of Kumogakure engraved upon it in lieu of a headband and his recognizable black bolero hat sat upon his pale white hair. The silver decorative piece on it was unadorned. His piercing yellow eyes took in all around him, instinctively wary, even here in Kumogakure.

Held in one hand and leaning upon a shoulder was a long Odachi, unadorned and within it's hilt. Tamwyn had been assigned a mission to retrieve a stolen heirloom and while he killed the man who had broken into a smithy to steal a weapon. He had returned it to find that the weapon belonged to a 'Yamamoto Akahana' and the weapon had been at the smithy to be repaired to be used. Tamwyn took the job of returning the weapon to it's rightful owner. Although he didn't really need to. As far as he was concerned however it was stolen once from the civilian. So why not ensure it reached it's intended recipient personally? Moving up to the address he had been given he looked around at the gate for a moment and finding no guard opened the door and entered, knocking on the wood solidly to announce that the door was opened. "Good morning! My name is Tamwyn and I'm here to return a sword belonging to one 'Yamamoto Akahana'?" He would call, his tone cordial as he stood just inside the gate. Coming into the property further would be extremely rude as he'd already had to open one door and step inside to announce his presence. He didn't want to intrude further.

Luckily enough, Yamamoto was awake and in the yard practicing. A rough night’s sleep had demanded her early rising and so, she had dressed into something warm and advanced into the yard, Shinai in hand. Slash, thrust, stab, step. The individual movements may all have been varied, and even the order they were carried out varied, but they always included those four general steps. The straw dummy before her, a converted scarecrow more than a proper training dummy, showed its age. 
 
Then, suddenly, she stopped. Her ears perked up to hear a voice from her gate, yelling something about returning her sword. Had that mission she put out finally been answered? In a manner more energetic and agitated than was normal for her, Yamamoto dashed to the gate. The latch was undone and the small gate, designed for a single man to advance through at a time, was swung open. As out of the ordinary as the dress of the man before her was, it was not what attracted Yamamoto’s focus.
 
Her eyes rested upon the sword this man held and, in a single viper movement, she thrust her free hand forth to snatch it from it, dropping the wooden Shinai in response. In a rare display of vulnerability, she hugged the sword close to her body, arms wrapped firmly around the full length of the Odachi. 
 
“Ahhh...Vaiśravaṇa Bishamonten…” Then, suddenly, she realised the circumstances with an awkward cough, snapped back up to her full height. The discomfort she felt at such an improper display was clear on Yamamoto’s face. Furrowed brow and irritated scowl, both of which soon pass as they transitioned into a soft smile of gratitude.
 
“You have my gratitude Tamwyn-San. What was the agreed upon payment offered for the acquisition of my blade?”

Tamwyn's call would be met with the appearance of a woman with white and black hair tied into a warriors ponytail. She stood at about three inches shorter than Tamwyn himself by his measure although with his combat boots that might be off a bit. Either way she appeared in an energetic and agitated manner and her eyes looked dead at the sword he was leaning casually against his shoulder. Without missing a beat he extends the sword toward her and in a viper motions she takes it from him and hugs it close, arms wrapped around the weapon. She proceeded to say something, was it a name for the weapon? He didn't catch it either way but regardless it wasn't his business anyway. His task had been to retrieve the sword and he had done so.

Just as suddenly as her strange actions had begun however they would disappear with nothing but an awkward cough to show for them. She stood back to her full height, and her irritation at the improper display was obvious by her expression. However it would disappear into a gentle smile as she thanked him. Her question regarding the agreed upon payment for retrieving it was odd but he'd shrug and answer it. "Well as you know the sword was stolen from the blacksmith that was repairing it. He put forth the mission order to have it retrieved and foot the bill himself, 25,000 Ryo. I was however told to inform that there would be no charge for servicing the blade as personal compensation to you for it getting stolen. I just decided to deliver it to you personally when he told me it was done. I figured it had been stolen from him once, so why not make sure that didn't happen again?" He would said, answering her question and giving her the breakdown of what had happened the news that out of it all she got to keep the money for the repairs to the weapon. All in all, not a bad day at all now was it? "On that note Yamamoto-san I'm going to be on my way if you don't mind. I see I came while you were training and I figure you would like to get back to it." He would say politely, looking down at the wooden Shinai and back up to her with a mildly amused glint to his stark yellow eyes.

Provided she did not stop him he would turn and casually stop through the gate, turning back to look back toward her with one yellow eye and raising a hand in farewell. "Ja ne, Yamamoto-san,  Vaiśravaṇa Bishamonten." He would say giving both her and the weapon she was clearly close to an informal but friendly farewell. It was a good day thus far and he rather liked helping people. Perhaps he could make more of a habit of it? He'd have to see.

[Attempted Exit]

“I see...still, you were slightly inconvenienced by coming this far. Wait here.” Yamamoto retreated inside her house, returning a few minutes later with a handful of Ryo. She extended the bundle of notes, roughly 2,000 worth, towards Tamwyn and would simply not take no for an answer. Yamamoto’s sword was the only thing her parents had actually left her after their untimely demise and so, when she heard the news it was stolen her initial response had been pure emotional distress and a great deal of ANGER but she had her blade back now, so it was fine.

“Ah. Feel free to take your leave if you have important duties to fulfil. I was simply practicing in my yard, as you undoubtedly heard however before you take your leave, may I inquire as to who had stolen my blade? And what exactly happened?” Yamamoto was hoping that the one who stole her blade had only targeted it because it had monetary value and not because of some more nefarious reasoning; after all its sister blade had been stolen on the day of her parents death.

She brought her hand up to her chin, rubbing it like a wizened sage in deep contemplation of the matter. Perhaps it was mere paranoia but as her brow furrowed in thought, Yamamoto could not help but consider the possibility that the attempted theft of her blade was linked to her parent’s murder all those years ago but if that was true, then why had the theft waited so many years to claim the other blade? And why had they even wanted it to start with? It was simply a well made sword. Questions...questions...questions. So many questions.

Tamwyn would blink as she told him to wait there and then disappeared inside of her home and returned a few minutes later with what appeared to be about 2,000 Ryo. "No no, I couldn't I got paid for a B rank mission for what honestly shouldn't have even been that much. I was out of the village for a couple of hours tops. I can't accept that Yamamoto-san." He would say holding his hands up in the universal sign up 'no, please, no, that's not necessary'. The mission really had not been that difficult. He had found the scum bag only an hour or so outside of the village, well inside the patrol range of the village itself. He had been sleeping in a cold camp and Tamwyn had tracked him there via scent from the smiths establishment. When he found the man he confirmed the blade the man had stolen, then silently slit his throat before picking up the blade and returning. Making sure to dispose of the body before doing so.

It really had not been difficult and he absolutely could not accept any additional ryo for what he already didn't consider enough work to justify what he was already paid. Provided this exchange concluded then when Tamwyn moved to bid her farewell Yamamoto would stop him, wondering who had stolen the weapon and what had happened. Shrugging Tamwyn responded "He was a middle aged man who kept spouting some nonsense about 'unlocking the true power of the blades and becoming the god of this world.'" He would say. He would give it a few moments before adding "Just kidding, to be honest he was a younger guy, maybe a little older than me and I snuck up on him when he was stupid enough to make a cold camp still within the villages patrol range. He was asleep, the sword nearby and I slit his throat, disposed of the corpse, and brought the sword back." He would say with simple honesty, shrugging as he did. "That's all that happened. He didn't get the chance to say anything because I slit his throat in his sleep. I'm sorry if that's not helpful Yamamoto-san." He would say, an apologetic tone on his features. Provided she didn't otherwise stop him from that point, he would bid her his farewell politely and leave.

[Potential Exit]

“...Well fair enough. I am not so foolish to push the matter. Money has value after all.” Call her insincere but as the offer had been made and rejected, she felt no moral obligation to push the matter. She thrust the money into her pockets before returning to resting against the frame of her estate’s gate, listening to the story of how her sword had been recovered. At first, she was understandably concerned to hear it was some old guy seeking to unravel the secret of the blade but then she laughed.

“....pffffft ahahahaha...yeah yeah...you had me going there.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no love lost for the kid whose neck had been slit. He had stolen her sword, foolishly camped out in an easily located place and suffered the consequence. It must have been a crime of desperation, where the thief had simply taken his chance and sought to make a quick buck,

“Heh. Serves him right. I guess cutting the rat’s throat clears up any loose ends. Well, that is all I really wanted to know. Have a safe trip Tamwyn-san.” She waved casually, seeing him off before shutting and bolting the gate behind him. She then retreated to her bedroom, eager to at least get a couple hours of missed sleep back before the day began in earnest.

[exit]