The Tower of the Spider Ninja Clan (closed by invitation, PM Armphid if interested)

[Armphid]

A group of men and woman clad in shorts and sleeveless shirts came into the Eye of Agamatto, the largest and best Inn in Noah's Landing. They wouldn't be staying here tonight, no. But it was a good place to start a bar crawl after you'd been at sea for a few weeks. "Wench," called a burly human with sun tanned skin, "Drinks for me hearties, gar!"

A slender human girl wearing the most peculiar clothes any of them had ever seen started from where she'd been gazing out the window. "Nani? Uh, right!" She was cute; a willowy but feminine build and long jet black hair held in place by a white ribbon. Her clothes were the odd thing about her. Her shoes were made of something that looked like leather but wasn't and were low, paired with white socks that pulled up to her knees. She wore a dark blue pleated skirt that came just to her knees and a somewhat baggy shirt of the same blue that clung to her modest curves somehow, with long sleeves that had two white stripes around the cuffs, and a large collar that was edged out and in with white as well, ending with a loose knot tied in it. "Sure, sure." Yuki Kurita sighed as she went behind the bar and began to pour the bitter ale for the sailors as they sat down.

"So," said one, "strange rumors a foot, they say." Many of the others nodded and offered non-committal grunts, farts, and somewhat disturbing bodily noises in agreement. "Town seems tense from when I was here last."

"Aye," said a buxom dwarf woman who was practically spilling out of her top. "I heard one o' th' fish mongers talkin'. Says folks have seen shadows movin' th' wrong way at night."

"Aye, and gar," said the man who'd ordered the drinks. "An' there's th' cursed Lighthouse of Lysandra near too." Everyone at the table nodded knowingly. The oddly dressed waitress returned, starting to pass out the beers. "Th' one whot kept the bay safe for four hunnerd years after th' priesthood of Lysandra stamped out the cult of the evil sea goddess Alrinach. Until th' Dragonlord invaded it t' claim th' High Priestess fer his bride, only for the whole thing t' disappear with a chuck o' his army and the Dragonlord hisself inside, only reappearin' t' th' world on th' full moon, full of dark and dangerous creatures, and th' famed treasure o' Lysandra's church, an' any souls as survived the deadly attack and th' many years since."

The wench paused. "Uh, sir...did you just talk a lot about something that everyone knows? As if for the benefit of someone listening in who wasn't from here and didn't know anything about all of it?"

The sailor paused, tilting his head. "...Now tha' ye mention it, girly, I'm not sure why I said all that. It's old hat t' everyone here, isn't it?" He looked thoughtful, then stricken as though he'd forgotten something, "Oh, and...garrr."

The other sailors let out answering "garrrrs" and struck flagons together, starting to drink. Yuki sighed and walked back to the window. "Then...that means the game's actually started...so who's the party then?"

~~~~~~~

"Yaaaahh!" The youth leaped in towards the massive monster; a fusion of tiger and man that stood at almost 8 feet tall, as wide at the shoulders as a man. Both the valiant youth and the towering monster were garbed in dark clothes, save for a long scarf of red about the young warrior's waist. Around them lay the feebly moving forms of others wearing similar clothes.

The youth was lean and graceful, his movements fast but strong. His face was handsome, almost pretty, with a gleeful, savage smile and wide eyes. His hair was a wild mane of brown hair, and trailing along behind him was a tail covered in golden-brown fur and tipped with a tuft the same color as the hair on his head. In his hands was a short, one edged sword with a straight blade and simple guard. "OrryAAA!" He swung down, then up, then across to the right in a flurry of blows.

The huge beast-man stepped aside with deceptive speed and struck back, knocking the boy out of the air with a light blow from one of it's gigantic hands. The youth grunted, hitting the ground hard and bouncing off of it to land a few feet away.

The beast took in a deep breath, surveying the carnage around it. The walls were festooned with throwing stars and kunai knives, weapons laying scattered about the ground, straw and bamboo dummies tossed about here and here. It nodded. "Good!"

Master Swift Ending strode back to the middle of the group sparring ground. "Several of you got close to hitting me that time." He didn't always end classes this way; but it was good training. Having to fight against an enemy you had no chance of beating put steel into your back and fire to grow stronger in your guts. "We are done for today."

The tiger nekojin giant almost smiled as the students slowly got up, several moaning and rubbing at sore spots and fresh bruises. Almost. "This place is a mess," he growled. Who was on light chore duty today? Ah, yes. "Nash, Cassandra, Lashala, clean all this up and put everything in it's proper place before dinner." He turned towards the pagoda that dominated the complex, taking a few steps and then pausing, "And NO ninpo to do it." Then he strode away, his long legs eating up the distance.

The youth who'd made the final attack sat up with a groan, "Hellfire. We get kicked around AND we get clean-up?" Apprentice Ninja Nash sighed, "And I wanted to go to town today..."

[JadeKnight]

The red-haired nekojin had been trying to practice her use of throwing stars for most of the training session. Well, trying was the word to describe her actions. She had shied away from trying to fight with Master Swift Ending for this class session and it had seemed to work well for her. She had just thrown the last throwing star in her hands when Nash's sparring session caught her attention this time. She stepped up quietly beside Lashala to get a better view of the session.

She winced a little at remembering how sore the last session of sparring with Master Swift Ending had left her. She stood up a little straighter as Master Swift ended the session for the day. She pouted a little as they were called for light duty, but a little grin was on her lips as he walked away. Her ears drooped as they were forbidden to use Ninpo.

"Master takes all the fun out of things."

Her comment was of course made after Master Swift Ending was out of earshot. She grabbed several of the weapons off the ground, carting them over the the weapons rack, placing them back in order. Her tail twiched back and forth behind her as she glanced over her shoulder with a grin.

"It's your turn to sweep up Lashala."

[HookerBoots]

Lashala had stayed mostly out of the fight - not that she'd had much choice. She'd been knocked down early on, and the rule was that when you were down, you stayed until the sparring match was over. It helped make it more like a real battle, with a growing number of obstacles on the ground. But it was shaming that she'd been knocked out so early. So she lay there, listening to the fight above her while she reviewed what she could have done differently, to be better. Her reach was longer than most humans', but not longer than Master Swift Ending's, so there was no way to out-distance his hits without running. Maybe if she were faster . . . .

And then it was over, Nash bouncing in the dirt. In a heartbeat, Lashala was sitting up, shaking the dust from the courtyard out of her long hair. Normally, she'd have it up in an arrangement, but it wasn't smart to have anything too elaborate for Master Swift Ending's classes. Even if it were, he always pulled them out; it was disheartening to spend half an hour on a hairstyle and have it ruined. As she stood up, her long, lithe form straightening, he called them out for clean-up, and she paused, then shrugged. Someone had to, and if it was her turn, then it was her turn. She saw Cassandra pick up the weapons, and was on her way to get a broom before the nekojin girl even spoke. "It is, yes," she said just loudly enough to be heard through her mask and over the noise of the other students filing out.

Instead of simply sweeping, she decided to use the broom as a training weapon for bo skills. Not that it was perfect. With a solid staff, you never wanted to actually hit the ground. After a few passes, she stopped and started sweeping normally again. It wouldn't do to learn bad habits, and hitting the ground with the end of a staff could be jarring - Lysandra knew she'd done it before, and it had shaken her to her teeth. "That means," she said over the sound of the broom, "that Nash gets to put away the practice dummies."

[Armphid]

"Ch," Nash grunted. "Fine, give me the hard work." He didn't really mind, but it was fun to rib them a bit. Besides, it was just how he was. "Ah, well. Just make sure you bend over to pick up those weapons, Cassandra. And Lashala, get plenty of swish in that sweep," he added with a wink.

The agile youth rolled up onto his shoulders, kicking himself up to his feet. "Hup!" The half-breed stretched as he walked over to the sorely abused dummies. He felt kind of like one himself. Master Swift Ending sure could hit.

He looked at the dummies; thinking a moment. How could he make this fun? Or at least worthwhile? Oh! Nash grinned, sliding a foot under the shoulder of one, and then kicking it up, "Up and at 'em!" He then spun quickly and drove an elbow into it's mid-section to send it flying back towards the rack that the humanoid shaped targets were stored in. "That works." He'd get to practice some of his strikes too!

As the energetic ninja in training pummeled the other dummies closer and closer to the rack for them, he started to talk. "So I was thinking of going into town for food tonight. And just to poke around in free time. You guys want to come? It'll be a blast!"

[HookerBoots]

"I don't know," Lashala said teasingly, moving the growing pile of dirt she was sweeping up to the center of the courtyard. "I don't think I'm fast enough to keep up with you nekojin. I like to pay attention to one thing for more than two seconds at a time." She winked to let them know she was joking, her hands moving the broom in long practiced strokes. This wasn't the first time she'd had to sweep the floors, and she'd quickly learned the most efficient way to do it.

She'd also learned that there was a crack in the floor that would fit all of the dirt in it without her having to get a dustpan. That left more work for the person on clean-up tomorrow, but it solved her problem neatly. "If you don't think I'd hold you back, however," Lashala said, sweeping some of her dirt down the crack, "I could use some time away." She shook her head. "Greshan has been trying to get 'alone time' with me, and I don't want to have to hurt him to get the message across."

[JadeKnight]

She just grinned at Nash's comment.

"If I bend over anymore, I'll just be standing on my head."

Her hands were empty at the moment, so she decided to to demonstrate for them. She placed her hand on the ground shoulder width apart and did a headstand for a few seconds. After several seconds she lifted one hand and balanced herself on one hand. It wasn't a matter of strength to her, just balance. Her tail whisked back and forth, dipping to grab a couple of throwing stars from the ground.

"See? I bent over too far."

She giggled and flipped herself back over onto her feet, scooping up a couple of swords in the process. She threw them back on the rack before dusting her hands off.

"That sounds like fun Nash. You can always count me in for fun on the town."

She moved over to Lashala and patted her shoulder lightly.

"Greshan is just a sucker for trouble. I don't think he would get hurt too badly."

She frowned as she spotted the batch of throwing stars she had been practicing with earlier. As she strode to pick them up, her tail gave Lashala's right wrist a gentle squeeze before it was gone. She pulled the stars from the practice dummy and dropped them on the correct rack.

"So how will you wear your hair this time?"

[Armphid]

Nash grinned at Cassandra, "Yeah, but I liked the initial bending over the best." Yeah, he was a little bit of a pervert. He was a teenage guy, what did they expect? And around these two? Gods have mercy!

At Lashala's comments, he sighed. "That guy...I shouldn't be surprised." She'd have to hurt him. And even then, he probably wouldn't stop for long. He was such an embarrassment. If he wasn't true blood Spider Clan, he'd be a street sweeper somewhere. "May as well put off his maiming for another night. Cool then, it's a date," he winked. "Me on the town with two sweet hunnies."

He laughed, kicking the last practice dummy into the rack. They were all askew, and looking the worse for wear from his "cleaning up" than from some of the practice. "When do you want to go?"

[HookerBoots]

The elf shook her head. "If I told you, Cassandra, it wouldn't be a surprise," she said with a wink. The last few bits of dirt went down the crack in the floor, and she spun, throwing the broom up into the air and kicking it towards the corner where they always kept it. She could get just enough oomph behind the impulsive action to get the broom there, and her accuracy was spot on. Excellent.

Turning to Nash, she tilted her head slightly. "It depends on what we want to do. And whether or not we want to eat dinner here, or pay for it." Amusement twinkled in her eyes as she looked at them. "I myself would be willing to pay not to have to eat tonight's entree of mystery meat and cabbage. But that is your decision, I think."

[JadeKnight]

Cassandra put her hands on her slender hips for a moment as she looked at the crooked target dummies. She smirked and shook her head for a moment.

"Nash, even when you clean up, you always make a mess."

She stretched her arms above her head for a few seconds, getting up on her tiptoes as she did a full body stretch before relaxing. She smiled and grinned.

"Anything is better than mystery meat. And try not to get us into too much trouble again Nash."

She paused for a moment as she turned to head out of the training area. She glanced over her shoulder for a moment.

"Come and get me when you guys are ready. I'll be in my room."

She gave them a wave of her tail as she walked out of sight, showing off the gracefulness of being a full nekojin.

[Armphid]

"Pshh, no promises." He didn't get them in trouble. Things just happened, that's all. Still, he liked it when that girl stretched.

The half breed grinned at Lashala, "Alone at last," he winked. Then he laughed. Not that he would have minded, but he liked teasing the lovely elf about it, since the attentions she got from others were such an annoyance to her. "I think I'm with you ladies too. I mean, I dig meat, even mystery meat, but cabbage? Bleh."

He shrugged, "So, let's get out of here. Uh, half an hour long enough to get ready?" He didn't really know what she'd need to do. But she did like to mess with her hair. He turned around and bellowed at Cassandra, "Meet back here in half an hour!"

[HookerBoots]

"Half an hour will be fine," Lashala said, making sure her mask was in place before heading out of the room. It would be enough, but she'd have to work quickly, and do something simple with her hair. Maybe she could try something like Master Bitter Water's braided buns . . . .

From behind her, she caught a furtive step on the stone of the courtyard and sighed. People who lived in a ninja clan were always trying to sneak up on her. Most of them forgot that she was an elf, and her senses, especially hearing, were a little sharper than most humans. And the person following her wasn't very good. But she kept walking, her long hair swinging behind her, acting as though there was nothing wrong.

Shortly before she reached her room, Lashala heard the steps increase in speed and turned in time to see a body flying towards her. She turned to the side as whoever it was flashed through where she'd been standing, grabbing an arm and flipping them over her hip in a classic martial arts move. Master Swift Wind would have been proud. With a bone-bruising thud, the male body hit the floor grunting. In a second, Lashala had one foot braced on his chest, the other aiming at his head. Then she saw who it was. "Dammit, Greshan! I told you to stop following me!"

The slightly younger boy gazed up at her in rapt adoration. "I can't help it, Lashala, my beautiful goddess. You draw me, like a candle draws . . . what do candles draw?" The eyes above his bushy red beard gleamed with confusion.

She sighed and lifted her foot from his chest. "Moths, Greshan, and the fact that you don't know that is part of the reason I keep telling you to stop following me." Turning away, towards her door. "Go back to your room."

"Sit with me at dinner!"

Lashala waved one hand at him negligently and slipped into her room, sighing at the feel of being able to pull down her mask. The young dwarf was persistent, and she'd have to dodge around him for the next few days. Lashala went to the small mirror in her room, picked up her brush and comb, and started to section off her pale blonde hair to start braiding it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Exactly half an hour later, the elf, still dressed in her black academy garb, stood at the entrance to the sparring room. Her hair had been braided into a multitude of tiny plaits, the biggest no wider than one of her fingers. The braids had, in turn, been twisted into discs, buns all over her head, looking as though she'd managed to attach studs to it. It wasn't as flashy as she might have liked, but it would cover up nicely if she had to, and Lashala had decided to remember how she'd done it - it was fast, and would be good for a mission requiring stealth.

[Armphid]

Nash ducked into the apprentices' quarters long enough to take a quick splash in the male side of the bath to rinse himself and most of his smell away and change clothes. It wasn't that he didn't feel that it was important to take time for such things, he was just...he really couldn't wait to go to town!

However, he got distracted when his fellow apprentices Cedric and Mint came down after he'd changed with a new cryptography assignment. After puzzling it over a while with them, he was actually late to meet Lashala and Cassandra.

Nash came in from above, having climbed up onto the roof and sprinted over it, then leaping down to where the elf was pacing. "Hi! Sorry! I know it was my idea, I'm a total jerk! Cedric and Mint were working on this code, and I took a look, and got distracted and, hey, your hair looks nice. That's a new style, right?"

[JadeKnight]

Cassadra took her time getting ready, mostly messing with her hair. It took most of the time to get her hair braided into a pair of pigtails that hung down behind her head. She switched into a clean ninja outfit, not liking the smell of what she had worn earlier. As a final touch, she tied a black bow a couple of inches from the tip of her tail. She took a few moments to admire herself in a mirror before bounding towards the sparring room.

She grinned as she spotted Lashala before getting spotted herself. She pulled back into some shadows, deciding to play her usual stalking game when she greeted her friends. She creeped along the walls silently till her was only a couple of feet from the elf. She poised to pounce for a moment before leaped and catching the elf from the back in a hug.

"Gotcha. Oh I like your hair. It's quite cute."

She kept Lashala in a hug, releasing it as Nash came running up late. She smirked a little at his explanation and giggled.

"We girls know how much jerk boys can be, right Lashala? Besides we can forgive you for being late this one time."

She gave a little wink as she pulled herself from LAshala to stand beside her.

[Armphid]

Nash's tail whipped behind him in annoyance, "Hey, how come I'm a jerk? It's not like I kept you waiting long or blew you off or something," he said, his tone quite nettled. He gave Cassandra a hard look, then shook his head. "Just for that, you'll have to try and catch up."

He leaped past the two of them to perch on top of one of the training pells. "Last one to the Eye of Agamotto buys drinks!" Then he was off like a shot, bounding from there to the roof of the nearby house, then to the wall. He ran along it, whooping before he gathered himself and leaped off of it in the direction of the town.

In the cafeteria, Master Black Wind looked up with a frown. The gorgeous chocolate skinned ninja sighed, "...One day that boy will learn that yelling at the top of your lungs is not the ninja way."

Master Bitter Water patted her shoulder, "That's thinking positive."

[HookerBoots]

Lashala looked after Nash with a grin that was hidden by her mask. "Come on, we have to catch up." With a quick flip, she bounded to the top of the same pell Nash had used, then braced herself and made it to the top of the close house, bouncing off the rain gutter and onto the wall, running lightly along it.

She was quick, and lighter on her feet than Nash, and had almost caught up to him by the time they reached the end of the wall. As he hopped down, she executed a graceful leap, landing in a roll to her feet. "I thought you were in a hurry," she called as she ran along side him, glad that her hair had stayed put - if it were down, it would be like a banner behind her, slowing her down.

[JadeKnight]

Cassandra grinned and shook her head a little at Nash's rashness.

"Right behind you."

She ran after Lashala through the training grounds, mostly for the challenge. It caused her to fall back just a little bit, but she kept to the shadows for the advantage. She was very light on her feet and quick, despite the terrain. She soon leapt up the wall right behind Lashala, keeping up with her to the end of the wall.

"You guys make this too easy."

Instead of dropping straight down, she took a leap from the wall over her friends' heads. She landed softly in a tree and down to the ground below. She gave the two a little way before she raced towards the lights of town.

[Armphid]

Nash grimaced as Cassandra bounded out ahead of him. It was bad enough that Lashala had caught up so fast, but to be overtaken like that after he had a head start?

No way.

"We'll see about that." The half-cat reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out two ceramic spheres about the size of a clementine. They were a plain brown with a patch of swirly gray paint on them. "Take this!" He threw out just ahead of Lashala as his arm, swung around, the other whipping out towards Cassandra.

The smoke bombs landed on the ground with faint thumps. The one that had been thrown farthest cracked and a trail of gooey sludge oozed out of it. More duds? Both of them! "Damn it, damn it, damn it! They can't all be duds!" He pulled out a third, making ready to throw it when it suddenly exploded in his hand, wrapping him in thick, greasy smoke that completely obscured his vision yet clung to him. The running smoke field surged ahead for several paces, wavering, the youth within unable to see his path clearly.

There was a sickening impact as he hit a tree at a dead run, the smoke continuing on, though Nash himself was left behind, mashed into the trunk. He fell over, unconscious for the moment, and as he landed the remainder of the smoke bombs in his belt pouch went off, covering the whole immediate area around him in the thick, obscuring haze.

[HookerBoots]

Lashala heard the meaty thud, and looked down to be sure she wouldn't trip over anything before looking back, seeing Nash tumble to the ground, then being enveloped in smoke. A stifled giggle turned into a little worry, and she slowed. The smoke from those bombs could be nasty if you breathed it too long, and Nash hadn't fallen like someone who was getting up quickly.

She'd let Cassandra win this race. The smoke from those things would leave him with a nasty headache, not counting the one running into the tree would give. Lashala turned around, calling out, "Nash fell, Cassandra - go on ahead, we'll meet up!" Oooh, real stealthy, ninja-elf.

As she reached the patch of dissipating smoke, Lashala took a deep breath, ducking into the smoke and reaching for the ground, her hands finding Nash's arm and tugging the dazed nekojin out of the smoke and crouching down next to him. "Come on, kitty, wake up." She grinned down at him, waving the last vestiges of smoke from around him. "We've got to get dinner."

[Armphid]

Nash's world has exploded when he hit the tree. He knew it was a tree because as he toppled over there was the faint scent of pine before the choking fumes whirled over him and he was lost to darkness.

He lay unknowing, unseeing, unhearing, his lungs unconsciously gulping in the noxious fumes released by the smoke bombs that had betrayed him. All he felt was pain and his body limp and as if it were made of lead, dull and inert and ponderously heavy.

He felt something warm pat one of his deadened limbs and then seize hold. He was heaved up and away from where he had laid and the air was suddenly different. He coughed, dark smoke venting from his mouth and nose. His head was pounding and he still couldn't see or hear, really. Everything was distorted. There was someone, something, next to him. She, he was sure it was a she, was speaking to him. Her words didn't seem to come from her mouth though, but from all around him, harmonious, sweet tones in some crazy moon language. He could only see the creatures eyes, forehead and hair, done up in some elaborate style. But they were very pretty eyes, and it was a pretty forehead even.

Nash blinked, looking at the elf blearily. His eyes were still glazed and his gaze was unfocused. "Nuh..." He coughed again, more black smoke billowing out of him, "ninja angel...don't tell me I died hitting that tree..."

[HookerBoots]

At least he was talking. Lashala rolled her eyes. "I'm not an angel, Nash, and you're not dead." She leaned back slightly and tugged the glove off one hand, the bare fingers groping at her belt for something. The black belt had hidden compartments, just large enough to hold a small item or two. Smoke pellets, a vial of healing tonic, a tin container of salve, and . . . ah, there it was. A pouch of powder which she tugged out of its compartment. "Here, have a sniff."

She pinched a little of the powder from the pouch and held it under his nose. The stuff wasn't the nasty sulfur of the smoke bombs, but it also didn't smell like perfume - it was made from several herbs that grew around here, as well as a special herb she'd found on her way to the clan. The best way to describe the scent was . . . astringent.

As Nash breathed in the scent of the powder, Lashala refastened the pouch and slipped it back into her belt. "Now then. Do you know who I am?"

[Armphid]

Nash felt his nose catch on fire. "Guh!" His tail lashed wildly, his ears sticking straight up and stiff. If he had whiskers, they would be vibrating. "Angels don't burn the good!"

He hopped up shaking his head, sneezing, trying to get the astringent herb out of his nostrils. Nash leaned back against the tree he'd run into, his ears drooping. "Great. Now my head hurts, my ears are ringing, I taste oil and ash, and I can't smell anything but pain." The normally exuberant ninja looked up at the elf. "...Thanks, Lashala. I know you were helping me."

It was actually touching. She'd stopped to get him out of the smoke and make sure he was okay. She did have a heart after all!

The half-cat leaned off of the tree and groaned, "But we both lost. Man, I hate these damn smoke bombs. They just suck!" He grimaced. "Well, we might as well go and catch up with her. I dropped out first, so the food's on me."

[JadeKnight]

Cassandra heard a small 'thump' behind her and stopped for a moment. She glanced around to find out what the source was, but couldn't see anything. She tilted her head for a moment as Lashala yelled at her to continue onwards because Nash fell. She wondered if she could go help, but there wasn't much she thought she could do. She didn't have the kind of herbs that the elf had.

She watched for a few more moments to make sure everything was alright. Since Lashala didn't motion for her, she turned and continued onto the town. She leaped along the rooftops, light on her feet. She soon arrived on the roof of the Eye of Agamatto. She slipped into the inn and grabbed a table near the shadows of the room. She shook her head for a moment when the waiteress YUki approached the table.

"Not yet ma'am. I'll wait for my friends."

She gave a sweet smiled to the girl as she watched the door.

[HookerBoots]

Lashala grinned as she stood up from her crouch. "The smell's not that bad," she said, amusement thick in her voice. "But you're right, let's get moving - the sooner we can get into the inn, the sooner you can lose the taste of ash and oil in a tankard of . . . milk!"

With that joke, she dashed away, heading after Cassandra toward the town and the inn. From behind, she could hear Nash's footsteps start up, catching up to her fairly easily. She glanced over at him. "Think you can handle a higher speed?"

Without waiting for an answer, she increased her pace, fairly flying across the grass.

~ ~ ~ ~

They both reached the door of the Eye of Agamatto at roughly the same time, and Lashala stopped at the stoop, arms folded over her chest. It had been a pretty easy run, even though she and Nash had pushed each other pretty hard. But that was what friends were for, in their case: pushing you to be better. Wasn't it?

"Ah, the smell of food and ale," she said with a wink. Lashala made sure her mask was secure before they opened the door - the Men that frequented inn taprooms often saw her face as an invitation. She would keep the mask up until they were seated, preferably with her back to the crowd, to keep the number of potential play-partners at bay.

Thankfully, Cassandra had sense and had picked a table that wasn't in the center of the room or overly well lit. But then, they all were ninjas - in training, at least - and it wasn't very ninja-y to pick anything other than a shadowy corner. Lashala walked over to where the neko girl was sitting and plopped into a chair, making sure her face was away from the rest of the patrons. "Good choice, Cassandra," she said, tugging the mask down slightly.

[JadeKnight]

Cassandra smiled seeing her two friends finally decided to show up. Even though her mask was on, it was evident she had a grin on her face as she spoke.

"About time you guys showed up. I was about to start without you."

She winked teasingly for a moment before she motioned for the serving wench. Yuki looked a little displeased at just having to work tonight. The neko gave a little smile as she took off her mask and folded it up neatly.

"A tankard of milk and a leg of lamb please. And whatever these two want."

She leaned back as her friends ordered, strecthing her arms on the edge of the table. She tilted her head as she relaxed in her seat once more.

"You gonna make it tonight Nash?"

[Armphid]

"As long as he doesn't call me "ma'am" like some people," Yuki huffed. Really! She was a flower of teenage beauty! She had long, supple legs and cute, perky tits, and a sweet ass, if she did say so herself. Ma'am? Hmph!

Nash just shook his head, "I'm dashingly reckless, not stupid. I'll start with some ale and we'll see about food later."

"Whatever you say," the so-called wench commented, "but if you vomit in here, handsome, you'll be cleaning it up." He was cute...but she really called him that because if she called the younger guys things like that she got better tips. "We've got a nice meaty stew going back there too. And the innkeeper let me make a classic dish from my homeland! It's called yakitori, and-"

"Homeland? You mean Silvertown?" The men at another table broke into laughter. Yuki's claim that she came from another world was usually laughed away as either a cute dementia or a story of an obvious runaway.

"Did anybody ask you?" She sniffed and turned back to the ninjas. "So, what else can I get you?" She paused a moment, "Uh, this may seem like a strange question, but...have you guys had any periods of enjoyable normalacy up at the ninja tower lately?" The slender girl shrugged as if she'd asked everyone the same thing, "Or on anyone coming of age or into their inheritance or something?"