Ryozanpaku

[Apollymi]

It seemed the friendly approach was the exact opposite of the one which Inosuke wished her to take. It ended with the lad tantruming and flipping the plate of cookies towards the face of the pink haired Kitsune. Well, she didn't really intend to be hit in the face with confections. Besides, she could see herself sharing them later. Her reaction speed was just enough that she opened a portal before her own face to capture the confections before giving the lad she was with a playful wink. She could open these portals with the speed of her thoughts, and that was just a little bit much. Ah, but that was a thought for another time. "Ara ara, that's a bit too lively for so early in the morning. Keep it up, you'll have to take a nap~" the pink haired lass teased the lad before her, accusing him of childlike crankiness. In the meantime, Kuono chuckled and nodded her head. "I'd agree with something like that, if you'd like to sleep... I can prepare rooms for you~" she said happily. "A strong young man like you has to keep his strength up!" she added seeming to aim to entice the lad. Beyond that joking conversation, another portal opened before Kuono and out of it emerged her Hoshinotama. The pulsing glass baseball which fell into the hands of the pink haired fox lass. She felt from the lass immediately a purity of spirit which she couldn't deny, and more over, she knew that there was no one before her more trust-worthy than this girl. She could feel her divinity through her touch of the object connected to her soul. "You... already got it?!" she exclaimed seemingly shocked. "Hai hai, I had an exciting morning, and an even more exciting breakfast~" she mused in a manner most teasing. "I'll return this to you. I'll also take care of your pest problem, but we do things my way until I am ready to leave. Deal?" she asked of the golden fox. Kuono wasn't expecting any of this, if this lass had truly already done something so great, she deserved the benefit of the doubt, she'd trust her words. "Alright, whatever you want to do. I'll support completely." she said. And with that the object would pass back from Tamamo's hands into Kuono's. "Good. We do this on my terms, no making decisions until I say so. Also, I'm in control of our outer dealings, I'll fix up your tea house business as well. My group is probably busy setting up similar arrangements so we have some time to work on it." Tamamo said content to gently sip her tea, while the Fox woman before her radiated the power of her returned item. The barriers around this place strengthened as did the Leylines. She was no longer only drawing power, now it was an exchange.


At the same time, the lass known as Shutendoji was making her way in the company of her brother towards the encampment of the East where all the Oni were known to be housed. It was a steadfast military encampment with high walls and a sturdy structure. It was backed on three sides by steep cliffs but within the crater there were houses, open spaces and a large circular ring. All around there were mighty weapons being clashed, hand to hand fighters sparring and military formations being practiced. Noticeably to the lass there was no magic being used or practiced. "Eh, Nii-san, does all this practice just seem, hollow to you too?" she asked of him her noting of this land made her more disgusted than she had been previously.

[Bloodedge]

Madness. How dare this fox think herself fit to avoid being assaulted by confections as he saw fit? To then be offered refuge in this pompous city was infuriating, even enough that Inosuke huffed and puffed as he kicked the chair from beneath himself. He wouldn't be having any of this. If nothing else, he would simply storm off and find a pile of hay, or something similar worth resting his head on. Or... perhaps he'd do no such thing, and choose instead to sharpen his tusks for the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the new Assassin Avatar of Aiba Yugi walked along in the company of his 'twice sibling' for a bit of a... special quest of their choosing. High noon was nearly upon them as they set foot in the quadrant of Ryozanpaku inhabited by Oni, and those the current leader of Oni considered worthy companions. How repulsive. Giyu's origin remembered this area, and it had been nothing like this. Shuten was right as well; something seemed very off about the area. "It's not just hollow; it's purposeless. Where's the fighting? Nobody cares to even train anymore?"

[Apollymi]

Shuten found herself looking at the area and she had to agree. It didn't seem like anyone cared about strength, not in the proper sense anyways. She didn't know when Oni became so... docile but she definitely disliked it. Well, that was the wrong word, she was disgusted by it. It repulsed her, to the very depths of her being the core of this new individual and this old individual didn't like what they were seeing. "Eh, you aren't wrong about that... the might of Ryozanpaku, definitely isn't here," she said only to have her face shift into a much larger smirk. "Fufu, or rather it wasn't before we stepped foot here!~" she said with a devilish giggle. There were a few movements here and there which caught her eye, but they still didn't seem to be what she would have expected of the once great Oni Empire. "So then, what do we do?" she asked, though her former self would have made an example of the leader without question, striking fear into the hearts of all present. This current version of the young woman, had a slightly softer approach, though the end would be just as vicious. Still this pair walking through was starting to gather attention, a girl who looked mostly human was walking about with a piece of bamboo stuck in her mouth. She had radiant pink eyes and seemed to scurry along without stopping, but the aura of these two made her pause those eyes of hers narrowing, her claws sharpening. Her instincts telling her that this pair of individuals were worthy of her attention, she would have snarled if such a sound could have passed her lips.

[Bloodedge]

"If it's not here, it's not anywhere. Nothing to worry about; we'll get their shit together," Giyu proclaimed. These lands had become sick, and were in need of healing. What better place to start than here, where its unbridled strength should have been? The only question now, was one involving what they would do now that they had reached this quadrant. There were a few reasonable options in the mind of Giyu. What he chose, however, was up for debate for reasons other than usual selectiveness. That irksome sense was beginning to bother him again, prompting the male Oni to stop in his tracks as if suspicious of something nearby. He was hornless in every right, bar the singular horn on the skull plate of a mask he wore. By that simple fact, he should have been considered weak by the current standards of Oni; he could tell that much just from the obvious changes in modern times here. With that being the case, why were there eyes on him? No, that wasn't right... there were eyes on both of them, but none more intensely than one set. "What we do... is make our Great Lord notice us," he said, waiting where he stood. If the current leader received a challenge, he figured it would be just an ordinary day, something rejected by virtue of perceived 'weakness' in certain potential opponents. If they drew attention, however, there could be no such cop-out by the man in charge; it would already be public knowledge.

[Apollymi]

"Hai, of course we will~" the purple haired lass mentioned. Her horns were small and slender judging by the looks she was being given, this probably made her look weak as well. In fact, her horns were fleshy extensions of her body, not the boney outcroppings which seemed to have become the standard of Oni kind. As her brother came to a stop, looking around she caught slight of a pair of pinkish eyes. A young woman also showed no signs of horns seemed to be marching her way towards them. Each step being taken came with a none too gentle stomp in the ground. The girl was only a bit bigger than Shuten who was quite small by all appearances. And she stood before them with a silent stare and a meanacing visage. "We should probably start with this one!~" she said looking at the girl. Shuten felt no animosity towards this person, in fact, she found it all too strange. Why was a girl with such a human looking demeanor being gagged by a piece of bamboo which kept her mouth from being able to properly open or close.

"Rengoku-sama noticing you won't end well, unless you have a really good reason to approach. He noticed her..." said as an arrow was shot between the black haired girl and Giyuu meant to stop this pair from coming to close together. "I've told you before not to immediately approach strangers with that kind of aggression. You give off the wrong impression," she said to the black haired girl, whose visage softened just a bit. She shrank down in size and ran over to the white haired lass instead. Her eyes lost their sharpness and she still looked back at this pair and then made a strange set of gestures, her arms flapping inside of her pink kimono, which was interpreted by this white haired Oni. "Sou ka, well, if you think so..." said this lass who was now eyeing the two strangers with a familiar twinkle within her eye. They widened immensely before she turned her head. "Carry on," she said to the younger lass who ran back over and grew back to her previous size. The white haired young woman for her part in this took a meditative seat underneath this tree, and waited knowing that she couldn't interfere too quickly.

[Bloodedge]

A girl? Interesting. She seemed rather aggressive, much like any Oni his source would have encountered so many generations ago. Shuten was right; they could have started with her. Why was that pointless thing in her mouth, though? The fangs of this girl must have been considered a danger of some sort, but the reason was lost to him. One could only wonder why Oni would reject one of their own strengths. "I guess we shoul─" Giyu silenced himself abruptly as an arrow zipped between Shuten and himself. His eyes followed the 'warning' shot's path, finding its source just in time to hear the white-haired Oni's speech to the siblings, and to their... host, so to speak.

What this woman had to say... it was interesting. The one called Rengoku was not what one should seek the attention of without great purpose, but the important thing spoken was that he noticed the gagged, hornless Oni among them. Giyu set his gaze upon this new face, piecing together small bits of information. Surely, there was something she noticed about them. What then, made their situation comparable to that of the gagged girl? 'Think, think,' he mused internally. His source did recall something, one strange reason a young Oni would be gagged. If they had particularly powerful abilities of a magical nature, they could sometimes manifest in dangerous ways before being controlled. Perhaps then...

"... How did you keep him from noticing you, while managing to get so close?"

[Apollymi]

The extra movement of this group was stopped. That was good, the white haired lass didn't want them doing too much right now. It would be bad for them to go forwards without knowing the risks. Besides, she'd barely gotten away with talking Rengoku into sparing the child before them, she doubted her own ability to spin a pair of strong magically inclined Oni to Rengoku. Shuten looked at the arrow as it went past, it was obvious to her if no one else. "Fufu, it seems like someone thinks we'll get ourselves into trouble here," said Shuten, still nothing made enough sense. If this girl was gagged why wasn't the arrow shooting one? She was obviously more powerful and just as different as one of them. Actually, there was a certain assumption that Shuten was entertaining, one which she'd make obvious, if and only if it was necessary. Though she knew for a fact that her brother was clever enough to figure most things out on his own.

As for the question posed by Giyu to the white haired woman, she gave a gentle shrug. This boy was quite clever, she liked clever. Maybe, just maybe, this could go well. "I've been here for quite a while. There was no way he wouldn't notice me," she said softly. "So, perhaps, I am accepted because my powers are shown as an extension of his?" she said carefully. It wasn't the truth, everything about her, was of her own design. Even so, if a person of this world, believed that she wasn't simply powerful of her own accord then she'd be allowed to live in peace, and beyond that, keep others like herself alive. "And maybe as an extension, my opinions are considered so I can negotiate on behalf of those who can't for themselves," she said a knowing smile, while the girl with the pink eyes nodded her head thoroughly. "You two don't really fit that bill, you can definitely take care of yourselves. Though you're both a bit under level," she commented absently. "And she likes you by the way. She wasn't being aggressive in her greeting, she recognized you as kindred, Rengoku will not though," she said of the girl with the bamboo in her mouth, who opened and closed her arms gesturing more than saying anything but her method of communication wasn't clear to Shuten. There was a grand sweeping towards the black haired lass with open harms like she could welcome them by comparison. She likened their powers to her own which made both of them the sorts that she'd want her other friend to help look after. She'd growled and shown aggression because that was simply her first reaction, it wasn't negative though, it was simply her way as an Oni.

[Bloodedge]

"A lot of them will think that. That's the point of proving them wrong," Giyu stated plainly. This woman had a few oddities about her already, and he was keen to discover all of them in due time. Now was not that time, though. For now, there was a simple matter of her unnecessary warning toward these two. Of course... there was also the way she spoke of her 'hiding' in the presence of the current faction leader. "Extension, huh? Sure," he spoke, sighing within the confines of his own mind between clauses. "You sound like a lawyer." Indeed, her methods reminded him of a very specific lawyer who worked for his father in life. It was almost repulsive to think, but given this woman's choice in approach when having such an ability to manipulate information, he couldn't detest her for it.

Shared information had reached Giyu's necessary quota. The one called Rengoku was no more than a phony shell of Oni from ancient times, and he would soon be exposed as such. In fact, watching he gagged girl flail about with her random gestures would have made other versions of the male laugh. One thing was clear to him, simply by the fact that she had such a tool keeping her mouth sealed. "Our levels and Rengoku are nothing to be concerned about. That hornless one is stronger than him," he said without having much reason to believe so, other than his own assumptions. Perhaps she wasn't literally superior to Rengoku, but his source knew better. She could be far more powerful than one who shunned the spiritual side of their kin, and if she had the means of accessing her abilities, she likely would be already. "Are you bringing him out, or do we need to cause a scene?"

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai!~" the purple haired young woman said. The words which came from the white haired young woman under the tree did indeed sound like the words of a lawyer. But they also seemed to be a lot lighter than that by Shuten's approximation. Perhaps she as a different sort of legal expert, she definitely wasn't outright manipulative. If she was, she'd likely already be in charge, and they definitely wouldn't have met a strong outcast like the hornless oni currently in front of them. The Oni with the reddened horns scowled at the mention of lawyers, why did people always think that. "You, sound like my boss, which is surprising. Still, I resent that. I am not so crass as to bend the truth to get people out of things they've already done," she said softly as she stood. She'd been sitting under the tree to concentrate, because the sign she had to send Rengoku was a special one. "I'm an Image Consultant, specifically a PR Representative. Public faces are important and I advise those faces... against actions which could negatively influence their outlook, this is all," she said. This was indeed how she'd gotten the girl with the bamboo in her mouth gagged instead of killed. And how she'd managed to keep her own power while being obviously a different kind of Oni from the standard. She stood very still pulling a bow from her side and holding it before her. It began to glow heavily and an arrow exactly like the one she'd fired earlier came to be in her hand, but this one, immediately caught fire.

She'd heard what this lad had to say about strength and she had to say she agreed. Still, she'd been waiting for this girl to be ready to lead and she wasn't that. Instead she'd waited for someone to show up who was capable of it. Right now, these two 'lesser' looking Oni seemed the most capable so she'd back them, if they managed to win against Rengoku. "Causing a scene and bringing him out are the same thing. This will actually make him come here though..." she said and then she fired the arrow. "Good Luck!" she mentioned as the arrow rocketed in the air. Bursting into a small sun-sized ball of gas in the air. This of course, should signal Rengoku, at the very least it would make him consider that someone showed up who was worth more than a warning shot. A sign that 'true power' was needed at the grounds would be enough to bring him forth. Of course, this show of power was also quite high, and would have made it obvious to most that she could have taken this place on her own, but something was keeping her from it. The pink eyed lass walked closer to Giyu tugging gently on his kimono she looked up at him her eyes shining with determination on his behalf and then she scuttled off to the white haired one for the show of the century.

[Bloodedge]

Of course this woman wasn't a lawyer. If she had been such a thing, he would have referred to her as exactly that. Still, that changed nothing about Giyu's assertion. "Working in PR just means you're a pre-lawyer. Get people out of things they haven't even done yet, whether they do them or not. Nothing's wrong with that... depending on who you decide to work for," he asserted, moving on from the matter then and there. His eyes traveled toward the gagged Oni, who seemed oddly attached. Perhaps she had a decent enough sense for the similarities between them, or perhaps there was something else. No matter what the case was, the matter of importance was the one called Rengoku, or rather how he would be dealt with after arriving.

Following the heralding ritual performed by the Archer, a torrent of flames crept across the open sky above. A bit of a light show ensued before said flames spiraled downward to the ground, giving way to a tall, male Oni with shoulder-length blonde hair featuring red accents. He sported a crimson kimono, and showcased a strange pair of horns. Both horns were protrusions of flesh, though the right was rather short and seemingly split, while his left horn was very long and seemed almost molten in a way. A very long pipe filled his right hand, and his left hand rested upon the hilt of one katana among two kept on the small of his back. "Yare yare, Gozen. What's this you've brought me now? Outcasts?" he asked. This particular Oni seemed more lax than legends may have claimed, but Giyu appeared skeptical of such a demeanor. "I guess 'outcast' is one way to put it. . ."

[Apollymi]

The white haired young Oni seemed to be slightly displeased, even so, she went on with this aspect of the conversation. She was having the strangest sensation of Deja vu talking to this young man. He really wasn't the first to say something this blunt to her, the person she acknowledged as her boss had similar feelings about her choice in profession. Technically speaking, it was her responsibility to make sure that person was appealing to the public regardless of how their actions could look. "I feel like I should be bothered that you know the difference, it's a pretty thin line..." she said of the lad before her, his words indicated a fair bit of knowledge he had a strange air about him, she couldn't quite tell what it was yet. About her job though, she had only one real thing to say. "Being the social conscience for the right person is a fun job. I do miss it..." she said with a strange amount of nostalgia. She was basically doing the same sort of job now, but her link to her new 'employer' wasn't quite the kind of thing she liked. HIs methods didn't suit her, and though he wasn't bad, he wasn't necessarily the type of 'good' she preferred to deal with. She liked those who were misunderstood, whose intentions were clear and whose consciences guided their actions beyond mere survival. Rengoku didn't necessarily fit such a bill and his methods required more curbing than her normal employment dictated.

The ritual she'd performed heralded the arrival of the Oni they'd been discussing. His demeanor seemed very calm to everyone around. Even so, the gagged girl growled when he showed up hinting to Shuten that her dislike of this man wasn't completely unfounded. "Iie, Rengoku-sama... I didn't bring you anything. I can not speak for two who speak for themselves..." she said with the same tone she'd maintained. Still, she was curious as to what this pair would do when faced with Rengoku. He was a formidable individual, as she looked him over she remembered her own awakening here. She'd figured out how to preserve her own existence and that of a few others, even so this man, born in this world was something else entirely. In the meantime, Giyu answered Rengoku's words, but they made Shuten scoff. Something about her overlayed personality didn't let his words sit well with us. "I don't like that. We're not outcasts... we belong here," she said, motioning between herself and her brother. That sentence was one which belonged to the original the one whose memories were slowly blending with the rambunctious personality of Aiba Yumi. Shuten-Doji had no intention of being called an outcast in land that belonged to her.

[Bloodedge]

"There's no such thing as a thin line. All lines are as thick, or as thin, as the angle they're viewed from," Giyu stated as plainly as possible. He had no qualms with the existence of a PR Representative, and this one in particular didn't seem to be questionable at all. Her current employment was something of an issue, but perhaps the fault was Giyu's own source. More of a problem though, was the blonde Oni standing before the group. He thought Giyu and Shuten were outcasts, and the latter seemed to take exception to that claim. She had a point; they did belong here. On the other hand, they also didn't belong at all. "This isn't where we belong. This entire place is a phony representation of what we created," he said, also speaking more as his origin than as himself in this moment.

Rengoku viewed the young Oni, sensing little physical might in their forms, and feeling no intimidation whatsoever as a result. With a cheeky smirk upon his face, he averted his gaze toward his associate. "Wrong. You brought me out here because of them, and isn't that the same thing? If I have to get up every time riffraff is running around, I'll never get to rest," he said, sparing no glance at the growling, gagged Oni. "Funny. I thought the same thing once, and now riffraff is in charge of my city. Shuten, what should we do about this now that we're here?"

[Apollymi]

"Now who sounds like a lawyer," she said with a click of her tongue. This lad's ideas were a bit strange, perhaps lawyer wasn't the right word, but it was a gateway into the sort of 'job' that such a person would normally come from. What he said was almost diplomatic, and what were diplomats if not lawyers for social reasons. Whatever the case, their conversation would be cut short indeed. It seemed the youngest of these Avatars, took exception to the way that Rengoku viewed them. "Semantics, I don't care what he turned it into, he took advantage of our absence to make it. I'd commend him if it wasn't in such a shit state," said the purple haired lass. Oh, the base of that Avatar was full of malice, hidden just below the surface of that girl's visage. She was almost at the surface but the actions of this 'head' oni bothered her core too deeply for it to remain quiet. And Rengoku himself seemed to be the sort to ignore them completely choosing only to talk to the white haired lass before them.

"In this case, Rengoku-sama, they aren't riffraff, and how you deal with this, will have a great effect on what happens in the future. And you rest enough already," said the white haired lass. "But as always you can do what you wish," she mentioned. This was indeed how she felt. She'd seen way more active youths take a greater interest than this man did. His way of keeping order was outside of what she liked to do, but she was just enough of a decent person to not want to leave this place to fall simply because of incompetence. "There are only two real options, the first of which is for him to hand over this place without fuss and do what we say. And as a reward for keeping it together, even in this state, he can continue his annoying but useful existence. The second is we fight him for it and kill him and take it, as punishment for not acknowledging his betters," she said, these words were definitely that of a mob-like boss of the Oni. And there were more to come. "That being said, if he continues to act like he doesn't understand, we can always take him apart piece by piece as an example to all the riffraff, fufu. I'll start with his jaw."

[Bloodedge]

"Of course they're riffraff. The same could be said of everyone below me, bar the few I lay claim to," said Rengoku as he stepped closer to the white-haired woman, reaching out to her chin with a hand after abandoning his sword's hilt. Lax hardly began to describe the demeanor of Rengoku, but he did eventually set his sights upon these intruders to 'his' territory. "I'm feeling good today. I think I'll even let you into my den today, Gozen. Oh... but first, I guess these two things need to be dealt with. One chance, kneel or be wiped out. I don't tolerate weaklings, but I might keep you two around to clean my den. You can even start tonight; right, Gozen?" he said, laughing as his clause reached its end.

Giyu scoffed, then sighed. This was what counted as a leader among Oni in this era? Disgusting. Perhaps it was best to go with the latter plan presented by Shuten. "Our descendant thinks we're weak, and he obviously hasn't even fully grown yet. Take care of him," he said, gesturing openly toward the blonde male. If Shuten wished to rip away the man's jaw or anything else, she was free to do so. After all, there was little point in both of them doing anything, and he'd yet to directly observe his sister in good health within a scenario such as this one. Her abilities were clear, but how would she approach single combat? Giyu's curiosity had been piqued for quite some time; no opportunity could be better than this.

[Apollymi]

Rengoku's words were indeed ones this white haired lass had heard before. She was so used to his bad behavior that she didn't even seem put off by his approach to her person, still as he reached out to touch her face she gentle moved his hand out of the way. This invitation to his den was one she'd never take willing. He wasn't at all her type. "I'll politely decline such an invitation, as I always do. Besides, I am pretty sure I already have plans," she mentioned, having more than a gentle idea of how this situation would turn out, but leaving her words open enough to save face regardless of the way it ended. With that out of the way she gently left him to what could potentially be his fate this day and it would strangely come at the hands of the purple haired young lass who was dressed rather scantily. "Kneel?! Who the hell do you think you are?" this was a question it came from the seething form of the purple haired lass. On was she on the verge of a tantrum the likes of which this world had never seen.

Normally speaking her brother would hold her back from such an outburst, but in this case, he made the claim that she should take care of him. A smile came to her face as she approached gently her magical powers seeming to come out of her person. They weren't very obvious before but something had changed drastically in the last few moments and she wasn't sure what it was. Whatever the case, her connection to this land was stronger, she could feel extra energy prickling across her skin, perhaps a show of dominance was all that was required here, if not she'd go for something worse. Yeah, that was a good early lesson, nice first because no one will believe you are being nice if you open up too scary. Soon enough she was standing before the blonde man with a sigh which caused the smell of fruit to permeate the area, it had the effect of being immediately intoxicating enough to subdue even the rowdiest of Oni. Strong enough as a magical charming effect to overcome all but the highest tier magical defenses. "I'm no servant. I don't clean dens, I don't kneel, and I only accept genuine apologies which you should offer me as your leader, fufu~" she giggled but the sound was ominous this time. What was more, there was a stealthier magic at play, if he happened to be immune to the effects of her magic, and took even one step towards her, she'd use the more aggressive of her abilities in that instant extracting a single bone from his body without causing an obvious injury. This bone would be his left knee cap, which would likely cause him to fall should he put weight upon it, but that would only take place if he didn't fall victim to her charms.