Yokai Seven: Gems and Dust

Darkness surrounded Osore as he stood atop the hill, overlooking the town below him. The sun was setting, leaving a veil of twilight over the land. The assassin looked through his binoculars, eyeing the townsfolk and the activity below. It was a tiny town near the farm which held the necklace. He wanted to survey this area first, see if there was anyone here that didn't quite belong in here. It was a farming community, warriors wouldn't be common. Anyone here that looked like a mercenary or shinobi for hire, Osore would take them out before striking the farm. He pulls the binoculars down as he noticed nothing yet.

"Junko, what do you make of it?" he asked the partner that he was working with. As smart as Osore was, he might have missed something...though he doubted it. In truth, he wanted to get a better opinion of his comrade. She was rather new to the organization, or at least a little too green for Osore's tastes. He needed to know what he was working with before he dared take her in to a life or death situation. Becoming part of the Yokai Seven was not enough for Osore, and he'd make sure this girl wasn't green by the end of this mission.

The bar was not overly crowded, three tables holding three people, one person sitting at the end of the bar, and one table occupied in the corner by a single person.  This table sat in the back corner of the building, the same spot among all taverns that he normally rested.  The location set himself apart from the loud groups, and let him be left alone as he contemplated whatever happened to be on his mind that day.   The man sat alone, hood just barely up and hanging on the very back edge of his head.  A pencil in one hand and the other propping his head up as he studied the content of the notebook in front of him.  This town did not offer much to him to add to his notes, besides their rather unwillingness to move trade goods for anything but unheard of returns.  Their stubbornness in trade showed one of the reasons that the tavern was rather unoccupied.  However, he simply wrote it up as a bad harvest at this time, and then it made sense to him.  Surama took a sip of the water that rested near his propped up elbow, and then sighed.

(just posting this intro to get it out of the way. Ill probably follow Kasumi in the order of posting tho)

Surama had slightly dozed off after propping his head onto his arm. He had been lost in thought and his body decided it was time to nap, and that is what it did. He heard his name get called from across the bar and was startled, but did not visually flinch. He moved his eyes up to the door, and was startled a second time. What? Why is the puppet girl here? He never expected to meet the fascinating creature again, in the bar of a tiny town. With his free hand, he waved at her, and then looked back down to his notepad, reading what was written. Instead of a page of notes, all that was there was a sketch of a puppet design he had been tampering with in his spare time.

Surama looked up at the non-organic creature with the faintest hint of a smile on his face. The mention of Elm's Peak created an interesting stream of memories for Surama. People he was forced to fight besides because of crazed citizens in a small town. He still had his notes of the phenomenon, but he refused to share the information with any scientist he met. Once he enters a similar phenomenon, then he would feel prepared to share the findings. However, over all of this, what stuck out most was the.... thing? girl? puppet? He still was not sure how to refer to a creature such as Junko. The idea that it moved on its own, while still being controllable was intriguing to him.

Surama noticed Junko look back to the door and do a simple head nod. Was she malfunctioning? An error in repair? Or was someone hiding that did not want to be seen? Surama peaked to where his short sword rested on his hip, making sure he had not left in his bag, where he could not reach it. Although he had put his guard up ever so slightly, he understood Junko meant him no harm.
"How else would I keep any new information that I find on my travels?" He noticed her trying to sneak a look at his notepad. "If your are so curious, why not take a seat and see what I have here?" One of the things Surama enjoyed most was sharing the information he so proudly gathered. At least, he preferred to share with anyone who was not going to try to turn on him and publish any new findings as their own. The page he had open to was a sketch of a new puppet idea he had, one of the many scattered throughout his many notebooks.

The puppet on this page took the form of a crocodile. It had a flamethrower that shot from the back of its mouth, and sharp blades for nails. The most intriguing part was the back, which could quickly shift into a immobile, yet large shield wall for the user. It was an idea he had been playing around with, but was trying to find the right type of puppet to utilize it with.

"Thank you, although this is more of a quick sketch than a finished product. Some of my other designs are far more intricate and interesting." Surama watched Junko as she seemingly searched the room, and then shrugged. Is she expecting someone? Or this similar to when she looked back earlier? Maybe she is just having a glance at the area.... The shrug did not help him discern what she was attempting to accomplish by searching the room. She simply could be disappointed with the lack of drinks or locals.

"Why am I here?" He thought for a second. "Well, it isn't for pleasure. However I wouldn't say it is business, either." Why was he here again? He had been so engrossed in his notebook that he had momentarily forgotten what his goal was. But then it clicked in him mind, "Oh that's right! I have always wanted to learn the basics to archery, and I had heard from some contacts of mine that one of the better instructors today is in an area close to here, so I decided to venture this way." He paused for a moment. "What brings you to this town?"