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(Y/N) and Mizu walked up the snowy hill, leaving a trail of footsteps behind them. "How long do you think it will take to find Heiji Shindo?" (Y/N) asks as the pair walk up the hill and enter a bamboo forest. "A day, perhaps longer." Mizu says.
As they walk through the forest they hear a clinking noise before hearing humming. Mizu and (Y/N) stop walking and turn their heads to the sound. After a moment of suspense they see Ringo walking with his eyes closed on the path they were taking.
Once Ringo opens his eyes he is met with the tip of Mizu's katana. "I found you!" Ringo says happily as he sees Mizu. "I'd never catch up on the path, but I remember this shortcut 'cause when we traveled to the Izushi shrine for my 7th birthday, I went to pee and got lost, so I slept with a family of tanuki for three days and ate leaves and scarabs, and got to know the forest really, really well, so..." Ringo says with an expectant smile before his eyes wander around and he tilts his head, a confused expression crossing his face.
"Wait.. where's your friend?" Ringo asks. "Behind you." (Y/N) says, when Ringo turns around he sees (Y/N)'s katana pointed at him just like how Mizu's was. "Wow! You were so quiet! Stealthy." Ringo says with a smile before turning back to Mizu. "Go home." Mizu says as he sheathes his katana once more. (Y/N) walks around Ringo and goes back to Mizu's side, her katana already back in its sheathe. The two turn around and begin to walk away.
"I hate home!" Ringo exclaims, his voice sounding like a whiny toddler. Ringo chases after them. "Please. My whole life, I couldn't do anything right, but now I know what I'm supposed to do." Ringo pleads as he catches up with them and walks in between the two. "Be a samurai, like you." Ringo says as he extends his stumpy arms towards Mizu. (Y/N) looks at Ringo and Mizu from the her eyes, an amused smile displayed on her face. "Please. Let me be your apprentice. I'll do anything!" Ringo pleads, making Mizu stop in his tracks. Mizu takes a deep breath in and out. "A breeze can throw a crane off course, you.. are a typhoon." Mizu says before continuing to walk and leaving (Y/N) and Ringo behind.
(Y/N) pats Ringo's back before catching up with Mizu. As Mizu and (Y/N) walk they hear foot steps approaching them quickly before Ringo goes in front of them and gets on his hands and knees, begging. "Please! I'm strong. I can carry your things, and you can have the best soba in the world every day! And I'll do anything you ask... Master." Ringo reasons and pleads. "Anything so I can learn to be just like you." Ringo says softly as he looks up at the two, mostly Mizu. "Like me?" Mizu asks as he looks down at Ringo. "You're deformed, but you're still strong." Ringo says. Mizu looks down at him pensively before an idea pops up in his head.
Ringo is tied to a tree, his bag stood about a foot away from him. He struggles against the ropes for a while before sighing in defeat and starting to hum instead.
"What if he gets hyperthermia... or someone comes along and robs him?" (Y/N) asks Mizu as they walk. "That is not our concern. He is not our problem." Mizu replies, not giving it a second thought. "I suppose you are correct.." (Y/N) says with a sigh. As they continue walking they notice a shrine on the side of their path.
Mizu sits on the prayer pillow and takes off his kasa, (Y/N) standing just outside of the shrines doors to allow him his privacy but still stick with him. Mizu looks back to check that there is no one else but the two of them before taking off his orange colored shades and setting them down along with his kasa.
Mizu bangs a hammer against a piece of metal until it is heated enough to burn an incense. He lights the incense and sticks it in the Incense burner before putting his hands together to pray. "To a man lost in the dark, an ember can light the way. Thank you for my ember." Mizu starts his prayer, closing his eyes. "I was lost without course for so long. Please. Let this ember's light brighten a path from this Heiji Shindo to the men I seek." Mizu prays as he lowers gauntlet sleeve, showing a X tattoo with a dot at the bottom. "Please guide my steps until I find them. Please give me the strength to kill them. Or let me die." Mizu prays, opening his eyes. The incense sparks and Mizu looks up, his expression softening. "Please protect swordfather from time and harm." Mizu says, finishing his prayer. ____________________________________
