Stop Thief!

He took off his tri-corner hat and ran a hand through his reddish brown hair while his bo staff laid against his body, this assignment was turning into a real headache. Katsui was amongst one of the small villages that made up the monarchy that he was now a sworn protector of. He was still amazed at the mercy that the queen had shown him in sparing his right hand from the axe. He worked for the monarchy now in exchange for his freedom, but he now worked as a minor official for the kingdom. That was the reason why he was there now, to track down a minor thief that had stolen some valuable texts. The thief had been tracked down too the village, where it was suspected that he would met his dealer and try to fence the goods. The villagers though had proven too not be very cooperative since they were on the edges of the monarchy. He had taken a small room in the only inn and was out questioning some of the residents, when he heard a high pitched shriek. He would immediately pivot on his feet in the direction of the sound and immediately hauled ass.

Katsui would move through the streets before catching a fleeting glance of a man with a purse in his clutches. *A purse snatcher? You'd expect to see that in the city, not in a village like this.* The young man thought to himself as he continued moving at full speed trying to close the distance between him and the bandit. The bandit must have exhausted himself and because he was able to close the distance relatively quickly and tackle him too the ground. The thief would struggle against Katsui, but he held onto him and would subdue him in quick order. "Fucking quit your struggling." He would say as he reached into his pack and pulled out a length of rope and quickly began hog tying him. "So, what the heck would a bandit like you being snatching purses out here in the bum fucking nowhere." He asked mostly too himself while waiting for the village guards too come.

Katsui dusted himself off, but really he only succeeded in spreading the gray around. He would eventually just give up and looked around at the growing crowd. He could see the looks of suspicion, but he just had to pick up the bag an open it up. He could only shake his head at the food contained within it. It was rather unfortunate that this thief would steal for food. He looked down at the thief, but he seemed well fed and athletic. There was no way that he would just steal something petty like this. His thoughts were interrupted by a condemnation of his actions. He raised an eyebrow as he turned in the direction of the voice and quickly honed in on the girl who was behind one of the farmers. "Ma'am I would appreciate you not trying to incite the people here." He said though he doubted the farmers would side with her even if they didn't like the monarchy out in these parts. The elder and a few makeshift guards would arrive shortly along with the victim. There would be a small discussion between him and the elder before the guards approached the bound thief and lifted him off the ground with ease before carting him off wherever they would hold criminals. He then shifted his suspicions too the silvered haired girl. She might be his lead on the other thief, so he would approach her. "When did you arrive at the village?" He asked in a official tone.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion when she said something incomprehensible. She had gotten more suspicious as he followed her. "Ma'am don't attempt too play stupid with me. I know you can make speak the local language." He said quickly catching up too her and getting in front of her, where she wouldn't be able to leave just yet without honestly answering the question. "When did you arrive at this village?" Katsui asked her.

The woman instead of just answering the question and moving on had decided too get obstinate. It sparked something in him too plant himself in front of her. "You gave a deliberately vague answer, which raises my suspicion that you are hiding something." He said as he subtly prepared for himself just in case she decided too resist. "For the sake of not turning this violent, what would be your price?" He asked humoring her. Katsui was one way or another going to get an answer from her.

Katsui had been hoping for something straight forward like exchanging items for the information, but she was asking him too divert himself from his mission. He found himself sorely tempted too just bob the girl over her head and interrogate her at his leisure, but Katsui was sure that his captain would not be appreciative of that. He had pretty much exhausted his leads in this village. The next one could have more useful information, and it was in the same direction that the girl was going in. "Fine, I agree too your terms, master." He said his voice monotone.

Katsui would just ignore the girl content in following her right that moment. She reminded him off the female thieves who roamed the docks looking for easy marks too pickpocket or if they were really sadistic, kill. He regarded the silver haired girl in a much lighter tone, but he did keep his guard up around her. Katsui would come to a stop once he heard her order for him to find food for her. He just gave a little nod of his head. Katsui would look up at one of the passing birds that flitted above their heads, looked back at Eri, before leavitating off the ground slightly and with his staff moving quick as lighting knocked one of the birds out of the air. "There." Katsui would say simply as he came back down and picked up the bird and tossed it over too Eri for her consumption. She had never said how she wanted her meal prepared, so it was obvious too him that she meant to eat it raw.

Katsui cocked an eyebrow at her actions. She seemed to take the bird as some sort of mating offer. She had too be playing with him, which just made him twitch a little bit. "You wanted something too eat, there you go." He said enunciating just a little bit more, so she could understand if she wasn't playing around. Katsui would however pick up his staff and take a defensive position, end pointed towards her. He held himself ready against whatever attack she would throw his way.

Katsui almost wanted to burst out laughing. He just settled for a snort of derision. "Master's words were to get you something to eat. Do not blame the servant for the master's indiscretion with her orders." He would say as settled back down and resumed following her. He did not pretend too understand what she was saying, but Katsui assumed she was insulting him in that foreign language. Katsui did however take a specific note of this incident in case he encountered this girl again or one of her people. "Do you know where you are going?" He asked hoping too turn the conversation away from this confrontation too something else.

Katsui kept a placid expression on his face. It was pretty obvious that the girl thought him touched in the head. It was fine with him since he was annoyed by her antics, which seemed too include randomly stopping in the middle of the road and laying down. He would just give a minute shake of his head. She didn't answer him, but that was fine. Katsui would lean on his staff content with waiting for her to do something, eventually though he would get hungry, so he reached into his satchel and pulled out an apple he had purchased back in the village along with other food staples, then took a bite out of it as he watched the girl.

Katsui watched her impassively while she gave herself a pettiecure. It reminded himself of the petty courtesans of the monarchy, but he would continue observing before finally deciding too get a campsite ready. Food and water were not a problem. It didn't look like it would rain either, so he would not need too set up a tent. Much of the time would be spent gathering fire wood and getting a small fire started, where he would get the water too boil. "You want some tea...master?" He asked breaking the silence as he crouched opposite of her.

She seemed to hold a grudge for his rather literal interpretation of her order, so he gave a snort of derision. He would get out a iron pot and quickly fill it up with water and set it over the fire too boil. He then began rummaging through his pack before pulling out several different bags of tea. "Haven't had green tea in awhile." He said as he settled on a couple of bags of green tea and put the rest back. Katsui wouldn't bother asking Eri if she was okay with green tea and just settled for waiting the water too boil before adding the tea.

Katsui would regard what she said and looked up at the heavens. "There is a lot of speculation, but I personally think its the place where you go once you die." He said as he let the tea boil and went over too the bird and began defeathering it. Katsui pulled out a small knife and quickly gutted it before picking up one of the spare pieces of kindling and fashioning it into a spit and putting it over the fire. "What do you think is up there?" He asked her.

Katsui just gave a nod of his head. "They do carry a lot of illnesses and parasites, which was why I picked out the one that was the healthiest. Giving it a long cook time should kill off any other diseases that the bird might have had." He would say as he adjusted the spit too put it just in the right spot. "Well, it could be both." Katsui said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I guess we won't know until somebody actually gets up there and explores it fully."

He gave a little shrug of his shoulders. She didn't seem all the interested in food or talk, so he would just focus on the food he had prepared. The tea would be boiled and ready, and the bird would be cooking nicely. Katsui pulled out a tin cup which he would use as a container for the tea and take a small sip of it once it had cooled down. He could only give a shake of his head, and his mind drifted too what he would do for breakfast. *There is a stream nearby, could see what kind of fish are in there.* Katsui thought to himself as he took another sip of his tea.

Katsui would spend the rest of his time up drinking his tea and finally eating the bird. He would check on the silver haired girl, seeing that she was finally asleep. He gave a shake of his head as he adjusted his hat over his eyes and lightly dozed off. Katsui wouldn't sleep soundly since he didn't want too be surprised by any predators. He would eventually wake up well before dawn and have cleaned up the campsite. He would be leaning on his staff and watching the first few morning rays of sunlight crest over the horizon, when he noticed Eri up and about. He would just settle for following the girl silently.

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