[The sun rises on this side of Thae! Which is good, because it means less vampires and zombies and such. We don't like vampires. They make the house smell of garlic.] [Which you all became intimately familiar with, I'm sure. Tairan, give me a soul roll.] 2d6 * Dicesuke reaches into his gut, removes his spleen, and rolls for Tairan ( 2dSpleen ) and gets 2, "CRITICAL SPLEENING! FATALITY!" He promptly collapses in a bloody heap and dies. [Instead of a nightmare, Tairan gets the Best Dream Ever, which probably involves sex, so we won't talk about it in this nice rated PG-13 and occasionally R for violence game.] ( I'm trying to raise the rating but Millie hasn't agreed.) [You're all waking up, because the sun is shining in your faces. Or you've been up for a bit, or you're a deep sleeper and you're not, but that's the way things are.] [As a reminder, Mikoto got a room, Tairan got a room, Millie has her own room, and Jinx and John ended up in the living room. You're where Millie used to live, and her father put you up for the night due to vampires roaming the area, which would explain the garlic.] * Mikoto is not awake, because his not a morning person and was also exhausted. He is, however, splayed on his guest bed in a white tank top and boxers, having lost what appears to be a drunken wrestling match with his bedding. [Mikoto's cute, by the way. Not that y'all care.] (I'm cuter. :P) (You're handsomer. Not the same. ;) [Millie's father's nowhere to be seen. *punts John through the window* Session Start!] (... Yeah, you're right.) (I'm cuter?) (Looks like Team John's blasting off agaaaaiiiin! *TING!*) (*spikes Millie's hair, tapes a gold coin to Jinx's forehead*) * Millie yawns as she steps out of her bedroom and heads down to the main bedroom. She makes herself right at home because, well, she is. * Tairan is already up and about. In fact, he's out in the front yard, doing katas with his katana blade, dressed in a loose cotton tunic, shorts, and his ever-present hat. (*fires up VBA* I have to play Aria of Sorrow while this goes on ^_^) * Jinx gets up and stretches. "Well, another weak or two and practicing with the Naginata will stop hurting in the morning." * John is sitting on the couch being a lazy as- err, good guest. Yeah. His clothing's pretty much similar to what he was wearing last night, because I'm lazy in describing a new outfit. Oh, and *ting*. ( *ting*?) [Tairan's noticed the very sparse early riser giving him odd looks, but they continue on their way. Seems everyone isn't up and about at sunrise here, though it's probably easy to see why.] (John's teeth sparkle when he smiles!) * Tairan has attempted to be polite, stopping his katas and tipping his hat at anyone who actually passed by, but other'n that he hasn't really paid much attention to them. * Millie goes out into the yard. She's not wearing her vest this time and took the opportunity for a convenient change of clothes. Looks like she has a lot of jeans though. She's wearing a light blue loose blouse as she leans on the railing of the porch. "Hey, Lanky! Ya seen where Pa went?" * Mikoto snores. Then rolls, Then rolls too *far* and falls off the bed with an audible *wham*, followed a moment or two later by a muttered "Ow." * Jinx snickers at hearing that in the other room. * John chuckles. "Go at it then." * Tairan pauses his kata, and looks back at Millie. "Nope, sorry. Got up and came right out here pretty much at first light." * Jinx nods and goes over to the stable to get the Naginata. He grumbles as he goes, "Better be a good horse." Sure it'll be worth your time. If anything, you'll know how to use a Naginata when this is over. * Mikoto walks out of his room wearing the fringed Injun jacket he's had on tied around his waist over the deerskin breeches and in the tanktop. "Morning." A pause. "Ow." * Jinx nods to Mikoto as he's heading out. "Morning. And I really prefer guns all told. Mostly kept the first one around in case I needed to get around Sakura's armor." Good reason. * Jinx nods. "I thought so." * John waves to Mikoto. "'morning." * Millie frowns and looks out slightly to the stables. "That idiot. He's gonna get himself killed if he wandered out when it was still dark." * Mikoto rubs his eyes, then looks around and finds... only John, basically. "Everyone else must be outside. How long have I been out, anyway?" * Millie starts walking towards the stables. * Jinx walks to the stables as well, going for the Naginata. * Tairan calls out to Millie. "He coulda easily gone out another way. I wasn't really payin' that much attention." * Tairan shrugs, and continues with the kata. He's not fantastic, but he's pretty darn good. Katana's darn purdy, too. The entire night, most of the mornin'. [Jinx and Millie approach the stables! About half the horses are missing.] [Jinx's horse is still there! As is the naginata.] * Jinx goes to grab the Naginata, petting Lightning as he does so. "Good girl, probably best night of sleep you've had in a while. [Lightning nuzzles Jinx. Aww. Must trust him after she hasn't died yet.] * Tairan is switching between one-handed and two-handed grips with his sword at various intervals, going mostly for jabs and spinning slashes while one-handed, and more power strokes with two hands. * Millie frowns and looks at what horses are left. 'This don't seem right...where could he have gone?" * John gets up and stretches. "Daylight's waistin', anyways." He heads outside torwards the stables. * Mikoto rubs his eyes again, then heads outside to find a cistern and get some water. [John meets Jinx and Millie in the stables!] G'morning. * Jinx looks over to Millie with a shrug. "Couldn't tell you." He then nods to John. "Morning." * John checks for Hazel. She's there too, ne? [She sure is.] * John smiles and makes sure Hazel's doing alright. "Yer pop's missing?" [Right about now, Harold walks in, from the door that doesn't connect with the house. He's dressed much like he was last night, minus garlic and shotgun. "Mornin'," he says with a nod. "I trust the horses're taken care of to yer satisfaction?"] * Tairan has no horse, and as such leaves the horsing around to the horse people. * Mikoto walks in from the other direction at the same time holding a wooden cup of water and looking for Nami. "So this is where everyone is." * Millie puts her hands on her hips and frowns as she looks at her father. "Apparently not.." She doesn't say anything beyond that though. * Jinx nods. "Lightning seems quite happy, thank you." [Nami is there and looking quite happy.] Very much to my satisfaction. * Millie looks off to the side. "Pa's the best at taking care of horses.." It's an idle even comment. * John nods. * Mikoto walks over and rubs Nami's nose a little, then downs the rest of his water. "Thank you for your hospitality." [He grins. "Y'all have some fine horses. Hope you keep takin' good care of them." He goes about opening the stall for another horse - Blacky, maybe. "There's food in the kitchen. Help yerselves. I gotta put the rest of these out to pasture."] (Remember, if you rest your horses at a stable, they increase their movement for one turn.) Where's the rest of 'em, Pa? I'm sure we had more... [Harold starts leading the horse out. "Yeah, well. Can't have people dyin' out there. 'Specially not friends of Millie's." He blinks at Millie. "Oh, already put 'em out."] * Jinx gives Lightning a last pat before walking a bit away with the Naginata. "Thank you, think I'll take you up on that food." * Jinx then starts practicing in the yard. * Millie looks at her father and sighs, rubbing her hair. "Silly me...I guess it must be the atmosphere...got me all jittery..." * John nods. "Thanks." ["Vampires don't stay 'till the sun's up. Otherwise, they turn ta dust. Got some time right before, if ya take it."] * Mikoto tilts his head at Harold. "You seem to know a lot about it." * Millie just frowns and doesn't say anything. [He shrugs. "Been havin' this problem fer years, Easterner. It becomes routine after a while." He leads the horse out.] * Tairan must have heard the mention of food, because he winds up a kata and sheathes his sword. "Solid hour'a practice. Not bad." [Tairan, give me a perception roll!] * Mikoto turns to Millie. "...how long has this been going on in this town?" (Mmm, -2.) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-4) and gets 1. * Jinx keeps at the Naginata practice, he's got a somewhat resigned look, but is definately taking the drill seriously. [As Tairan sheathes his sword, he sees someone walking up the road, toward this particular ranch. The few people who are around are looking at him equally oddly as Tairan, probably for a similar reason: He's Shomuran.] * Millie sighs and folds her arms across her chest, looking off to the side and sounding distant. "Apparently it happened shortly after I left. This is the first I've heard of it..." * Tairan tilts his head. "Guy comin' down the road. Shomuran." * Mikoto frowns. "Oh. I'd thought it was the source of your perfectly rational fear of the undead, but I guess that theory's out." Aaaaaaaand he's headed this way. * John shrugs. * Jinx glances at the arriving figure as he drills. Your dad have any Shomuran friends he might be expectin', Millie? * Millie looks at Tairan, blinks and shakes her head. [The Shomuran continues heading his way. He's in his mid-twenties and handsome (not pretty like Aki), with waist-length black hair, wearing a white gi and a black hakama. He's carrying what looks like a polished walking stick or maybe a bokken.] (And perception checks, from all of you, just to save me time later.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Millie (2d6) and gets 8. [As he nears, it becomes obvious that he's fairly tall. For a Shomuran, anyhow.] 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jinx (2d6) and gets 8. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Tairan (2d6-2) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for John (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Mikoto (2d6-2) and gets 4. ( "I am Shi-mon Bellumonto. I hear you have a vampire problem." "..." ) * Mikoto follows Tairan's line of sight and blinks. "...what an interesting accessory that is," he says in a cautious tone. * Millie just stares at the new comer * John doesn't mind him much. ... mmm. With a katana. Not exactly a shocker, I know. Almost looked like a bokken, what with that sheathe. A *concealed* katana, meaning he doesn't want anyone to know it's a real weapon. Well, then, he's doing a pretty poor job of that, hmm? * Jinx halts his drill to head in with their being a visitor and all. * John chuckles. * Mikoto drums his fingers on his thigh. "What would a Shomuran wearing the traditional samurai costume want all the way out here?" * Shomuran eventually gets there. Glancing around the stables. Good question... * Millie eyes the Shomuran warily ( I have come for... a hamburger. ) ( With cheese, please. ) ( Will you gladly pay us on Tuesday? ) Good day. Where is the owner of this ranch? * Jinx looks to the Shomuran, he got back to the stables shortly before the new arrival did. * Mikoto looks at Millie briefly, since she's the closest thing to "owner" there is. * Tairan watches the Shomuran walk past, and wanders over to the others at the stables. What do ya want? I need a horse. ( Of course. ) * Millie eyes him. "For what?" ("For riding?") ("For dinner!" There we go.) * Shomuran eyes Millie back. "I require a means of transportation." * John glances at the Shomuran. * Mikoto raises an eyebrow, and appears to be unable to refrain from saying, "You've come a long way for a horse." ( It's 'cause your horses are SO COOL! XD ) My former steed met with an unfortunate accident last night. What kind of accident? ( A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! ) * Jinx shrugs and goes out to get back to the Naginata drills. He's content to let a man buy a horse in peace. ( er, my Shogunate for a horse! ) I was attacked by several men who were not men. They were not alive. ... yeah. This area has something of a vampire problem, apparently. * Millie sighs and rubs her forehead. "I figured as much. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint but I don't think these horses are for sale...I can get the owner if ya'd like though.." Please do. * Millie walks towards the pasture, giving the Shomuran one last look before she goes. * Mikoto tilts his head. "But why would any undead want... horses? Aren't they a little extraneous once you've died?" Food? * John nods. "Food, I'm thinkin'." I don't believe they were after my horse. They were takin' down your horse to get at you. Makes more sense. * Shomuran nods. "Like I said, an unfortunate accident." * Tairan eyes the Shomuran, and offers a quick bow. "Tairan Hoshimoto, of the newly non-psychotic clan Hoshimoto." * Shomuran bows back. "Kojiro. A pleasure." ... (Already suspected ^^;) * Tairan blinks. "... your reputation preceeds you." (It's the amount of description, I'm sure. We'll have to make sure we give way too much for everyone!) * Mikoto raises an eyebrow. "Provided it's his reputation in the first place." The man isn't always behind the name. I hadn't thought it would reach so far into the other country. * Kojiro shakes his head. "No matter. Most of what you've heard is probably just rumor, anyhow." * Jinx blinks at hearing the name and enough of the conversation outside to realize what's up, he heads back in the stables. * Mikoto hmms. "I suppose if I can buy Alexis' insane stories about her life, I can presume you're the 'real' Kojiro." He grins a little. "Kind of a letdown after Calamity Jan was so true to life." * Kojiro raises an eyebrow. "I apologize if you expected something more... recognizable." Wouldn't doubt it. Action becomes legend becomes myth becomes fiction. And then some. * Mikoto shrugs his shoulders. He doesn't look that disappointed. "It's less about you in particular than about the tablet in specific, now that I reflect on it, as you almost certainly do not have it." * Jinx looks Kojiro over again once he's inside, mentally updating his internal image list of people it'd be best not to tangle with. ( And this is why Mikoto gets to do the talking. He's sneaky. =P ) (Sarcasm noted. If *you* want to give a shot, feel free.) (He wouldn't have said anything if he wasn't more than 90% sure it's the truth. ;) [Harold enters the stables with Millie in tow.] * Jinx grins at that comment, leans the Naginata against a wall, and wraps his fingers together. "Given the size of the thing, don't think I need to call the odds on that one." * John chuckles. * Kojiro nods, then turns his attention to Harold and Millie. * Harold comes walking up, his big boots making noise against the ground. Millie's father isn't even remotely sneaky. He looks the new Shomuran over, then says, "Howdy. What can I do for ya?" * Millie walks in, eying the Shomuran. She lets her pa do all the talkin' though. * Kojiro bows to Harold. "Good day, sir. I need a horse." ( Actually, I was being serious. That was a rather nifty way of getting the tablet into the conversation. ) * Jinx walks over to Millie and comments quietly. "In case you were curious, his name is Kojiro." * Mikoto pipes up helpfully, "He doesn't have our tablet." * Harold hrms and nods. "Yeah, and a few years ago, you might've come to the right place. But I ain't ready to sell any of 'em just yet." (He also lacks a badge. Clearly, he is not Samurai X.) * Millie looks the Shomuran over again, then to Jinx, then to Mikoto, then to the Shomuran, then narrows her eyes. (Cry. Two people could have gotten that joke! And they didn't!) * Kojiro frowns. "But I have no other means of transportation." * Millie doesn't add "Ya got yer feet" because that'd be rude. * Harold folds his arms, looking the Shomuran over. "I see... how'd ya manage to lose yer horse, anyway? If walkin' ain't good enough for ya..." Vampires. They killed my horse during the fight. * Harold frowns. Figures. Around here, we're figurin' everyone knows about 'em, but it looks like that ain't the case. How are you at carin' for 'em? * Jinx keeps drumming his fingers together and glances between Kojiro and Tairan for a moment. He then makes sort of a "hm." comment and edges slightly away from Kojiro, whatever he's thinking of seems to have caused him to stop with the drumming. I've always treated my steeds well. ( "I usually try to stab them." "..." "Oh, you meant the horses. I treat them well, as I need them to travel." ) Right. Well, I'm gonna make sure of that. Wanna come with me for a bit, answer some questions? And do ya have any dollars? That Eastern money don't work around here. * Mikoto smirks the "I knew it" Mikoto Smirk of Know-it-allness #44 a little, then glances at Jinx and walks in his general direction. * Jinx glances over at Mikoto. * Kojiro shakes his head. "Most of my money is Shomuran. I've only pocket change." He looks at Harold. "But I can do something for you." * John leans against one of the posts. He lets his eyes wander around the stable. * Harold huhs, leaning against one of the stalls. "A favor? Don't know anythin' about ya, Easterner, but if yer good with horses and willin' ta work in the stables for a year or two..." ( I am a swordsman of some skill. Do you have an vexing enemy or relative?) (* Harold points at Millie.) I haven't the time for that, I'm afraid. * Millie looks at everyone and gestures her head a bit outside, but half listens to her father deal. * Jinx heads outside, keeping an eye on Mikoto as he does so. Then I ain't sure what ta ask for. If yer in a hurry, maybe I can take somethin' as barter, but it looks like ya travel light. (Harold ends up with the tablet, which Kojiro hid before coming here. :P) (w00t! I am the real bad guy!) My deal is this: If you can provide me with a horse and enough feed for three days, I will destroy the vampires that plague this village. * Mikoto follows Jinx, looking totally natural. Just two men starring in slash fiction. Nothing to see here. * Harold frowns. "Really. Ya think you could do that." * Kojiro nods. * Millie heads outside too, still keeping an eye on Kojiro. * Mikoto waits until they're out of earshot, then smiles faintly at Jinx. "Just a minute ago you got that look in your eye I have come to recognize as a cockamamie scheme." * John just watches the conversation pass. The others will catch him up with their ideas if need be. [Mikoto, Millie, and Jinx end up outside! As Mikoto already said.] * Millie looks back to the stables, and then back at the rest of them. "So, this is just great...Kojiro came right up to us. He seems to be missing a certain something though, don't he?" * Millie sighs and folds her arms. "Who's best at tailin' without gettin' caught?" * Mikoto says, with a resigned sigh, "Fanfan." ( Actually, I am. =P ) * Jinx grins slightly. "Working on it, although I should take a moment to state what's likely fairly obvious. Kojiro's skill with a sword I'm betting lives up to the legends." * Millie frowns. "Yeah. I meant from who we have. Where'd she wander off to anywho?" * Millie sighs and looks off to the side. "She don't know 'bout Sakura yet..." * Jinx shrugs. "I'll tell her. I shot Sakura in the head twice after all, seems fair." * Mikoto frowns. "I don't think any of us are really that stealthy, and my little dig at him in the stables means I'll be under suspicion." * Millie frowns as she gets an idea, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead. "I hate ta say this...but ain't he rumored ta be a womanizer..? Can't we use that somehow?" Anyways, maybe we should offer to help him with the vampires. Say we're honorbound or something. Seems like there's a big reunion happening and Kojiro here is probably our best bet for finding what the hells going on. * Millie perks up and points to Jinx. "I like his plan. Let's go with his plan." * Mikoto looks at Millie, then at Jinx, then nods at Jinx. "Me too." He pauses, then looks back at Millie. "Are you going to be okay fighting vampires?" I'll... * Millie sighs. "I'll do my best." * Mikoto smiles, genuinely. "If it makes you feel better, I am deathly afraid of large beetles." * Millie rubs her forehead. "That don't do me a damned thing, Mikky. Gah, why my home town? Why'd it hafta be this...?" * Jinx looks to Millie and nods with an approving smile, he then shrugs. "Fortune's a bitch with a wicked sense of humor." I'd like ta shoot her in the head then. Jus' one lucky shot. * Mikoto looks around at the scenery. "Well, it's happened to John, to Tairan, to Sakura... really, we appear to just be disposed to it." ( The bullet ricochets off fortune's head and hits Jinx. ) ( /me dies, but doesn't look remotely surprised. ) (/me loots Jinx's body. It's what he would have wanted..) (/me tears up a little at that, and hunts Millie down once he's up again.) * Millie sighs and leans back against a convenient post. "There's one problem though...we got anything ta take out vampires..?" * Jinx chuckles. "My plan sort of depended on Kojiro doing most of the work. I mean they're creatures of legend, he's a creature of legend." [Right about now, John leaves the stables and heads outside. To where you are!] * John walks out, seeing the crew. "So, what have you fabricated on him so far?" * Tairan is walking behind John! * Mikoto looks at John as if he'd just said something that made no sense, because he had. * Tairan deadpans. "Hooray, hooray. We're accompanying the legendary Kojiro on a vampire hunt. In exchange, Kojiro gets a horse. If we kill the vamps, that is." Pretty much it. Well, he's definitely got the ability to do some slaying, and vampires have nice stuff, comes from living a long time and killing anyone who comes to collect taxes. * Millie sighs and looks off to the side. "Wonderful." * Millie must not be totally with it. She would have appreciated Jinx's joke more if she were. * Mikoto smirks a little at Tairan. "How gracious of you to agree to our proposal before we even made it." I dunno what your proposal was, but I wasn't about to leave Millie's hometown under seige from freakin' vampires. * Jinx looks faintly guilty for a moment and doesn't really look straight at Millie. * Mikoto stretches his arms behind his head. "Well, proposal or no proposal, it looks like we're helping Kojiro with the vampires, so we might as well start preparing ourselves." He stifles a yawn, barely. "Perhaps I should start drinking coffee. I'm still quite tired." * Millie says rather distantly. "That's.." she chokes a little but catches herself. "Rather kind of ya, Tairan..." * Jinx shrugs. "Helps some." *shrugs* Hey, I might wanna throttle ya sometimes, but you're basically a good person. And you helped me out with my hometown issues... (Not said: "Although your contribution was mostly getting captured...") * Mikoto rubs his chin a little. "What worries me is that it's an unknown NUMBER of vampires. They've sort of implied more than one." Huh, wonder if I drive a Naginata through a vampires heart and keep pushing until the blade goes through if the wooden shaft counts as a stake. * John nods. Well... Magic should work against'em, right? Dunno. But Millie's dad said normal bullets don't slow 'em, and Kojiro said magic does. Dunno about magic swords and bullets from magic guns. Ya know... if they're undead, wouldn't healing'em hurt them? ( Only in Final Fantasy. :P ) (AND in DnD!) Or it might heal them, we should probably be sure before trying it. (Yes, that tactic will be a viable (and very useful one) against undead.) Yeah, yer right. Better ta stay with the lethal stuff. * John grins. *Ting!* * Jinx looks at John. "So you a mage now, or you just have a lot of those magic bullets left?" * Mikoto tilts his head. "I suppose if it were actual Life magic, possibly..." He frowns and looks at his palms. "But the truth is I'm lucky I'm able to cast that spell at all. It's 90% instinct." 5'll getcha 10 we find Crazy somewhere in town willin' ta sell us magic bullets. I got one left. Not really enough ta take on vamps. Hopefully, cause if most of us seem to have a firepower problem at the moment. * Millie sighs and slackens a little, closing her eyes. Her voice has just a tad of a whine to it. "Why of all things did it hafta be thiiis?" * Mikoto shrugs his shoulders helplessly. "Because we seem to be cursed." [Session End!]