[It is Rising Sun Pioneers! Let's see where we can start...] ( As a side note, this is the last session; after this, we'll be focussing on the adventures of Aki and Alexis. ) (Hurray. I can sleep, then.) [Oh, I know! The sun isn't rising. And Will probably isn't dead. And you haven't saved Running Cloud just yet. You're getting ready to leave town, but John, Mikoto, and Millie decided to head over towards where they figure Will's place is, to give it a once over to see if he *really* got away.] [Maybe you'll find out about now, since Mikoto trotting back! The time: mid-morning. The weather: clear. The place: Garson City.] [Session? It's a go.] * Jinx checks over his weapons after his marginal victory over a cactus. * Tairan is finishing up cleaning his pistol, and is reloading it at the moment. * Mikoto is also trotting back. Well, his horse is trotting back, but he happens to be on it. * Jinx glances up at Mikoto and heads back over to rejoin the group. * Tairan finishes reloading, spins the cylander, and spans it back into place with a flick of his wrist. Holstering the pistol, he stands up and waves to the approaching Mikoto. * Mikoto looks, as he draws closer... not necessarily smug, but as close to "smug but concerned" as you can get. So, we have a plan? * Mikoto reins Nami in and clears his throat. "Well... not so much a 'plan', per se..." We never have a plan. * Sakura cleans her sword and watches the others quietly. * Mikoto sighs as he slips out of the saddle and looks between the two others a moment. "Jinx, you must promise me you'll keep what I've come to think of as a characteristic detachment when I share what I am about to share, alright?" ( We never have a plan. Everyone else has a plan. Even the Amoeba Boys have a plan. And it's not even a good plan, but it's still a plan. Why can't we ever have a plan? Are we too bad to have a plan? Maybe we're not planners? I'd like to be a planner...) * Jinx nods. "Well, I'll be a tad put out if you killed Millie and came back to brag. But yeah, will do." * Mikoto raises an eyebrow, briefly, then puts it back down. "We ran into a certain old acquaintance outside of Will's home, having a heated discussion with someone there." * Jinx nods, he still looks detached. * Mikoto takes a deep breath. "Said acquaintance was Calamity Jan." (Also, yes, I did kill Millie.) (But I didn't come to brag!) ... mmm. * Jinx just grins for a minute, then he goes to looking stoic. * Mikoto tilts his head a little. "Well, I guess that's as good a reaction as any. It's not exactly miraculous, but it *is* an opening. John and Millie are looking into things right now." 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6-2) and gets 2. She have that unprofessional prissy mage with her? 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6) and gets 6. * Mikoto shakes his head. "From what I saw, she was alone." ... so what does this mean, exactly? * Jinx grins. "Excellent. So we've got a wild card in for her own share of the evidence. At least that's my bet, don't think slavers are her style." 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6-4) and gets 4. * Mikoto mmms a moment, rubbing his chin. "Well, the old saying is 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. And let's face it, Jan is an excellent fighter. If we can form some sort of truce..." He pauses. "Of course, I don't know that's what John or Millie has in mind..." Screw fighting, we're superb fighters, Jan can plan. ... brilliant. Seriously. Not all of us are. * Jinx taps his forehead for a moment. "Which is not to cast aspirsions on her shooting ability." * Mikoto grins faintly. "I happen to think I'm a fair planner, but one person can only do so much." I suck at planning. Really, really suck. * Jinx nods. "Yes, and this sort of thing is her strong suit. I personally consider myself a fine planner, so long as the plan in question is a guns blazing direct assault. Otherwise I got nothing." 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6-1) and gets 3. * Mikoto nods, then drums his fingers on Nami's reins. "This is all well and good, but... where are those two?" * Jinx mounts up. "Were we supposed to meet them or they us?" 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6+1) and gets 8. [Fanfan comes back from wherever she wandered off to! What do you mean, I didn't mention that she wandered off?] ( You've been off washing your hair! Or stretching! Or pooping! ) To be honest, I don't know. We were short on time so there wasn't much in the way of discussion. Huh, well, do you know where they are now? * Mikoto shakes his head. "They said... let's see..." Millie went after Jan. John's following someone who rode out of Will's manse while we were there. * Mikoto furrows his brow. "I think we should head to where we were. Millie sort of implied I should go 'get' the lot of you." * John rides up at a steady pace on Hazel. "Howdy. Any luck?" Works for me, that a safe place to loiter? Oh, John, that simplifies matters. * Tairan waves at John. "What's going on?" * Fanfan nods to John in welcome. Yay, John. * Mikoto turns around. "We were thinking of going to find you to ask you the same question." [Jinx falls off his horse! Ow. Carry on!] * Fanfan blinks and goes over to poke Jinx. [He doesn't answer! Face in ground.] (I'm just heading back with the tablet. Don't mind me.) Guy ran off, had a billowing black cape and a big horse, and was heading to an even bigger troupe of folks. * Fanfan flips Jinx over so his face isn't in the ground and pokes him again. * Mikoto knits his brow. "How impressively dramatic. It bodes ill." I'm guessing he had just discussed with Will, so. Well, that's cheerful news. * Jinx groans from the ground. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6) and gets 9. Isn't it always? Any idea who this guy is? Or if there's any particular reason we should chance heading back into town? 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6) and gets 8. He could be Will's body guard. I didn't get a very good look at'em. I'm worried about Millie. And, yes. I think that's who we need to worry about. She should be back by now. * Mikoto smiles faintly. "Though you're never allowed to tell her that." You should be. She is probably being killed as we speak. * Jinx groans again and tries to get up, his hand initially slips on a loose rock so he finds a better handhold in a convenient piece of vegetation. He puts his weight on his hands as he pushes himself up and then suddenly yelps and rolls over on his side, his right hand full of cactus needles. Oh, excelle--wha? ... that would be a cactus, Jinx. Don't lean on it. * Fanfan sighs and walks over to Jinx, helping him to a sitting position. "Shouldn't you know about those?" * John raises an eyebrow. "She's not here, is she?" * Jinx stays on his side for just a moment as he whips out a pistol. "Alright, that's about two hundred times, enough is enough. Does your needled kind want a piece of me?" Man, you're just lucky. * Fanfan just raises an eyebrow at Jinx. [The cactus stands its ground, unafraid! Maybe.] ( "You Westerners are so illogical." ) [It doesn't swipe at Jinx, which is probably a good thing.] * Mikoto blinks a few times. "Putting mortal vegetation combat aside, I think we should go look for Millie and Jan." Those two together is a probability-defying tempest in a teapot. * Jinx checks where he's putting his hand down and slowly gets up. "I've got more in my arsenal than this pistol and that polearm. Don't think I'm not willing to dynamite the whole damn cactus forest." * Fanfan blinks again at Jinx, and stands back up. "Right." ... you mean a shitstorm waiting to happen? * Jinx continues to ignore Fanfan's help. Sometimes vegetation takes priority. Basically. * Tairan drags Jinx over to Lightning. *whisper* "Revenge later. Saving girl you're trying to impress now." * Fanfan mounts Horse and shakes out her dark blue cloak again. "So, shall we go?" * Jinx stares at the cactus for a bit more and then puts away his gun while he's being dragged away. "Right, so, remember this discussion." [The cactus doesn't respond. It's busy being a cactus.] * Mikoto pulls himself into the saddle. "We'd best, before it becomes a game of 'follow the billowing smoke'." * Jinx then picks a few needles out of his hand and then mounts up. "Damn it. Missed one." He then picks that out too. * Sakura hops onto Horse. ( Horse is the best horse! ) * Tairan adjusts his hat. "Don't see why not." ( Better then stupid Lightning. ) ( Lightning has survived *many* sessions with Jinx. And is therefore a kickass horse.) ( Just like the first four. ) * John flicks his hat and smiles. *ting!* "So, let's get going if we're going to do the hero business." * Jinx nods for a moment. "Sure, but, I don't actually know where to go. So, someone lead." * Mikoto shouts "WE RIDE! COME, OOKLA!" and ignites his Sun Sword! * Mikoto actually just picks up the reins and heads onward. ( THUNDARR! WOO! ) ( You reminded me of Thundarr. I'm going to kill you Todd. ) * John rides onwards in the direction Millie went! Go general descriptions. * Jinx blinks. "Well, that does the trick." He takes off after Mikoto. (Thank you, I'm here all week.) * Jinx does go fairly fast and doesn't even really look back at his nemesis, guess he cares about the mission. [SUN SWORD! I mean, Mikoto and John saw the way Millie went, so they go that way! Tairan, give me a tracking roll at -2.] (And grasslands for spec.) 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-5) and gets -2. [Tairan finds a pair of horse tracks! He figures one is Millie's because... oh, come on. AND he successfully followed the rest of you. How awesome is that?] ( I think we should throw him a party. ) (Yay! I'll bring the punch!) ( Not Awning Punch, though. I think it's time to cut Jinx off of that. <.< Cactus Punch, too. ) Got Millie's trail. Good. Lead on! * John would point dramatically if he was in a Japanese cartoon, but instead is just pretty. * Tairan nods, and motions for Jinx to lead the way. * Mikoto nods in approval, slowing his horse a bit so Lightning can take the lead. * Jinx leads the way. * Jinx goes about as fast as Tairan can manage. * Fanfan and Sakura presumably follow on Horse. Horse is presumably being an awesome horse. * Tairan gets Jinx to get Lightning to a good pace, reasonably quick without being a sprint. * Jinx keeps moving. Somewhere a "minutes without cactus attack" advances to two. ( This isn't gonna end up like the Blink Counter thing, is it? ) ( *blink* [99] ) [They ride for a few hours, the sun moving from late morning to early afternoon. Still in the prarie, they see Millie riding towards them. In the distance stretches a gray, leafless forest.] ( Dammit. I've already blinked like three times. [97] @_@ *is doomed*) * Jinx looks rather relieved. His been rather quiet and a tad listless for a while now. * Tairan notices Millie, and stops following the trail. "Well, good to know I can still follow a trail, at least." Wow, that's forboding. * Millie trots to a slow and blinks as she approaches the group. "Hey. I was jus' headin' back. Uh...what ARE all y'all doin' here?" Following you. ...why? I said I'd be back. * Jinx grins slightly. "It was boring without you." * Mikoto raises an eyebrow. "But you weren't, and we were simply sitting around waiting." This was faster. * Millie sighs and rubs her temples a bit before turning to Tairan. "I figured...you can track through there, can'tcha?" * Millie points towards the forest. * Tairan narrows his eyes. "Can't guarantee anything, but I learned tracking in the forests." Don't tell me that's one of those forest mazes. Different forests, but the basics shouldn't be too different. Figured it'd be easier in there since it's more like your homeland so I was gonna go getcha. Jan headed on through there. I don't think she spotted me... * Millie looks over at John. "Any luck with our bulky bodyguard?" Just so long as it isn't a cactus forest. Just that he's joining up with a bigger possey and is likely going to do something rash? Rash like kill Will or rash like kill us? Mmm... question. Why we following Jan? Other than general principle, the huge bounty on her, and the fact that she tried to mess up Jinx's purdy face. * Mikoto bites his lower lip in thought. I'm guessing neither, as in do something stupider. She probably is our best lead towards the tablet. Don't ya remember? An'...she was talkin' with that bodyguard. Well. But what would Will or his bodyguard know about the tablet? Well, frankly doing anything for my face would be about as stupid as one could get. I'm following her as I think we have a mutual interest. * Millie sighs a little. "That, I wish I knew. But if there's a connection, I intend ta find out." Oh, is that what this is about? Well, then I got no clue on the big man other than he's got a billowing cape and he's gonna do some kind of talkin'. * Mikoto nods. "It's worth investigating one way or the other. Though I ha..." He pauses. "Never mind." An' what the heck is she doin' with Will anywho? * Millie raises her eyebrow at Mikoto. ...unless... * Jinx glances over to Mikoto and waves his hand in a manner to suggest continuing. * Fanfan glances at Mikoto. If ya know somethin', spill it Speak up if ya got somethin' to say. Are you thinking what I am thinking? ( I think so Brain, but me and Pippy Longstocking... what would the children look like?! ) ( I would probably not be Brain. ^^ Although I suppose Mikoto *is* more likely to say "narf." ) * Mikoto knits his brow. "I've been giving something some thought, since seeing Jan." Please, by all means, share. There were two big names supposedly involved with the tablet theft in Shomura: Jan, and Kojiro. * Fanfan nods. "Exactly>" * Millie nods. "We still don't have any leads on Kojiro yet. Ya think you've figured out a link?" * Mikoto glances at Millie and nods. "Something Millie said to me made me think about it, and then something Alexis said while we were riding to Redrock." * Millie watches Mikoto thinlipped, letting him continue. I think...we do not have enough information to know for sure, yet...well, there is a possibility. I think our possible link is Hanomaru. * Jinx chuckles. "Go on." I was thinking that too... Oh? This'll be interesting. Alexis said her jujitsu master fought with Hanomaru in the war... and that he took down 20 Teckian riflemen without so much as a scratch. Sounds pretty legendary to me. * Jinx was thinking nothing of the sort. But he looks curious. * Jinx nods. We already know he's extremely showy but a very competent swordsman, and he's wandering Teck... pretty atypical. What better disguise than being a loud, seemingly insane ronin? Most riflemen are weak. ... and he was right under our noses, too. Beautiful. * Jinx grins. "Damn, if that's true, I'm impressed." * John smirks. "That is impressive." * Tairan frowns. "On the other hand, he seemed genuinely interested in freeing the slaves." Wouldn't you want to free your people if they were enslaved? No-one ever said Kojiro was a slaver. ...at least, I don't believe so. Also maybe he was in it for Running Cloud. Her magic might open more than ancient tunnels, might help open ruins. * Mikoto shrugs. "It's not a perfect plan, it's simply a theory. And just because Kojiro is infamous doesn't mean he's inhuman. I wouldn't put any of us on a high moral pedestal, but we helped too, after all." * Millie just stares at Mikoto. She looks at him incredulously. "Are you sure of that?" * Mikoto tilts his head at Millie. "Sure of what?" s'got a bad rep around where I'm from... of course, that could be because where I'm from is full of insane people, now that I think about it. * Fanfan glances at Tairan. * Millie sighs. "Okay. So say Hanomaru IS Kojiro...then why would he fight against the bandits? He is one, ain't he?" * Jinx chuckles at that. * Tairan notices Fanfan's glance. "I mean my clan territories specifically. Not Shomura in general." Ah. * Jinx snorts. "C'mon Millie, you know better than that." * Millie waves her hand from side to side. "I'm jus' sayin' I don't buy it. But if it's what you guys are gonna go along with..." He's not *quite* a bandit... he's kind of a wandering warrior. Ronin. Mercinary would be the best term. I'm asking if you got a better idea. * Mikoto mms faintly, then shakes his head. "Like I said, it's simply a theory to keep in mind should our paths cross again. Of course, we can always ask Jan if she's met the redoubtable Hanomaru..." No. I'm jus' sayin' it's a bit too early ta speculate. True. Okay, so we're tracking Jan with the aim of talking, not shooting? * Millie points to the forest. "But we know for SURE that someone we think is involved is in there. Let's go with the leads we have on hand before going on theories." * Jinx nods. "Well, if the tablet's involved, I still think Running Cloud might have been the target of that slaver raid." * Fanfan shrugs. "Well, it does keep us out of Garson for a while." * Mikoto looks at the forest. "Let us go, if we're going. Wouldn't want to be in there at nightfall." Running Cloud knows about the ancient tunnels. Chances are she might know about somethin' with the tablet too. * Millie mmms, then looks at Tairan. "You're our tracker. Lead the way." Probably. Why she didn't tell us before confuses me, but a lot of things do. * Jinx heads forward. "When we get near her, stay behind me. We got along pretty well last time." Except for the "shooting you in the head" part? * Tairan snorts. "Okay. Tracking starts now..." * Mikoto raises an eyebrow. "Would you believe me if I said she looked sorry?" (Although I had just broken her nose at the time, so.) * Jinx shrugs. "Trust me, I've had negotiations go much worse." He sounds like he means it. * Tairan mutters as he stares at the ground ahead. "Plus, she might be surprised enough at seeing you alive that she'll give us a chance to talk before gettin' hostile." * Millie mutters under her breath. "Yeah. She didn't kill him on purpose." * Jinx nods and grins wryly. "In the end, we're all professionals. Sometimes professionals have to shoot each other. Shouldn't take these matters personally." [And so, you head into the moderately well-lit, petrified forest.] [Session End!]