Both horses continue to gallop through the woodland, down the pathway. All that can be heard are the horses hooves and the wind blowing gently on their faces. Seijuro breaks the silence when he opens his mouth to speak,
"We're nearing the outskirts of my village. We should slow down."
In response to this, both of them gently pull back on the reins and the horse begins to trot slowly. Lily turns her head to face Seijuro,
"So, how far is this spot?"
"We're nearing it. I think it's the… shopping district?" Seijuro raises his eyebrow as he now gets a proper look at the map Frank gave him,
The shopping district? Why would there be boogeymen here?
Seijuro continues to look puzzled as to why they would linger in this location,
"You think? Don't you know your own village?" Lily asks rudely,
"It is the shopping district then. Happy?"
Lily scoffs and continues down the pathway,
"Where you going?"
"You said we're nearing the place, or are you unsure about that as well?" Seijuros grips tightens around the reins slightly and he frowns,
"What's your problem! Look, I get it I didn't want to be partnered up either, but the least we can do is at least talk to each other normally!" Lily scoffs yet again and glares at him,
"My problem is you, Yoshiki." Lily says while crossing her arms,
"We literally just met…" Seijuro is immediately cut off by her voice,
"And I can already tell that you are eager to prove yourself, which makes you reckless, therefore a liability." Lily turns away before speaking again,
"Just don't drag me into your hole of danger. We're allies and that's about it.
Seijuro doesn't reply back to her, he glares at her while she walks away,
Out of everyone… I get paired up with this moody, old cow…
The horse continues to trot slowly down the pathway, making sure he keeps a good distance away from Lily. After a moment, they reach the gateway to the village, a large stone arch which they both proceed through. The surrounding area in front of them had small shops on each side, the street ahead was filled with people, and further down was a bridge with a small river following underneath it,
"Is this it?"
"No, we need to cross the bridge, then head left."
"I'm talking about this being the right village." Lily rolls her eyes and Seijuros eyes widen slightly and a small blush spreads across his face realising his mistake,
"Yeah… my bad…" Lily scoffs again to his apology,
She then turns back around and they continue trotting towards the given location. As they cross the bridge, the road ahead is filled with houses, the sounds of people talking and children playing fill the air,
"We need to head left."
Lily nods and rears the horse left, as they keep trotting down the next street,
"This place isn't too bad. I see a lot of crescent moons though… what's up with that?" Lily breaks the silence with her question, her voice sounding softer than before,
"It's a tradition passed down. Whoever built this village seemed to like moons." They both chuckle at his remark,
"I see you have a necklace shaped like that too."
"Yeah… both my parents made each side of it, see?" He gently pulls apart his necklace and it splits into two pieces,
"I see… it looks good."
"Thanks, so where are you from?"
"Solar town, though I call it Solar city, because it sounds better to be honest."
"Yeah that does have a ring to it, to be honest." They chuckle again before Lily glances at the map and then looks around her,
"Anyways… this place looks different, is this it?"
Seijuro now looks forward, the environment looked brighter, and the buildings larger. Men and women walk around dressed in the finest kimonos, people sitting in carriages, and a numerous amount of shops filled with clothes, food, and even a few homes,
"This place definitely looks a lot more… wealthy…"
"Yeah, this is the shopping district of Lunar Village…"
"You come here often?"
"I used too.. but ever since my dad died I rarely come here."
"Did you lose him to a fear too?"
"No… he left. Just me and my mom now."
"I see." Lily looks down, her tone sounds slightly sympathetic, which surprises Seijuro,
"You got any family, besides Rose?" Lily suddenly looks up at him and glares slightly,
"I don't want to talk about that." Seijuro let's out a small gasp at the sudden change in mood,
"Sorry… didn't mean too…" Lily raises her hand in front of his face and Seijuro instinctively goes quiet,
"Look, I know I was… abrupt and harsh in my attitude before, but seeing as we are partners… talking isn't such a bad idea, but don't mistake me for saying we are friends and don't ask questions about me or my past either. Anything related to the mission then sure."
"So we're colleagues?"
"That's the best way of putting it."
"Noted."
"Good. Let's put these horses somewhere, and begin scouting."
Seijuro nods and they both move towards the stables, which are positioned on the left of the entry point to the district.
Both Seijuro and Lily head towards it and place their horses within it, before turning around and walking down the street trying not to bump into people,
"We should head to higher ground, that way it would be easier to move around, and we got a better viewpoint." Seijuro states and he looks to his left to see Lily's reaction, but to his surprise, Lily isn't there,
"Hey, Yoshiki!" Seijuro glances up and on the rooftop of the minka, Lily was smiling smugly and gesturing for him to join her.
Seijuro rolls his eyes and jumps up onto the rooftop and they begin jogging. The sun was beaming down and the sky was clear. Seijuro glances around, checking for any abandoned locations or anything out of the ordinary,
"Yoshiki." Seijuro turns his head to his left to look at Lily,
"What is it?"
"What's your type?" Seijuro seems surprised at this question and his eyes widen slightly,
"You mean…"
"I mean your mage type." Lily rolls her eyes and Seijuro let's out a sigh of relief,
"Physical, and you?"
"Element."
"So… do you use your hands or you got a weapon?" Lily stops jogging and takes something off her belt what looks to be a small metal pole,
"That?" Seijuro brings his head closer to get a better look when suddenly Lily faces the edge towards him and the pole extends, and the edge of it smacks Seijuros head, causing him to fall backward and rub his forehead.
Lily begins to laugh, which causes Seijuro to frown and to stand up. His eyes widen slightly in amazement, Lily was wielding a long, dark purple staff. She stares at him, continuing to smile smugly,
"Did Captain Frank train you?"
"Yeah he did. Captain Lisa taught me class work." Seijuro says bitterly, still rubbing his forehead and feeling angry to what she had done,
"Ahh I see. My sister trained me, while Captain Jade taught me class work."
"Captain Jade, who's that?"
"One of the Captains that went rogue. I'm sure your mentors have filled you in on that."
"Yeah they have, but they didn't mention names." Seijuro states,
Evil captains too… man, the fear foundation has a lot on their shoulders.
"Do you know why she went bad?"
"Not a clue. Three left, including Captain Jade." Seijuro sighs and opens his mouth to speak,
"The fear foundation have a lot to fight off."
"They sure do, but we're lucky to have some captains that didn't go bad. With Captain Kenji and Captain Ivan on our side, those three wouldn't dare try to invade, nor would their lieutenants."
"Why not?"
"Isn't it obvious? Captain Kenji is the strongest mage of us all, followed by Captain Ivan being the most experienced and the second strongest."
"I see." Seijuro looks up towards the sun and sees its approaching the middle of the sky,
"I'm guessing you use a sword?" Seijuro unsheathes his sword and holds the blade in his hands, Lily's eyes land on the small toy on the edge of the grip,
"What's that toy?"
"It is… it was… my little brothers, Ren. In fact, this sword is my little brother. He got turned into a fear, however Captain Kenji "condensed" him into this sword."
"Oh… I see." Lily looks down at the blade and Seijuro sheathes it again,
"Anyways, we should get back to focusing."
"That's the best idea you've had all day, Yoshiki." Lilys staff shrinks back to its normal size and she places it back on her belt, before turning around and jogging.
Seijuro doesn't think twice and he stays on her heels. After hours of searching, Seijuro and Lily decide to take a break, the sun now begins to lower onto the horizon, as the evening approaches. Stars slowly fill sky and the moon begins to enter it too,
"Where could they be?!" Lily, hee face flushing slightly red, clearly expressing her frustration,
"We haven't covered the entire area." Seijuro tries to lift her spirits, however she turns her head to face him, her glare piercing straight into his soul,
"We've ran across this damn area 4 times already!"
"I know, but maybe we will get more luck now, since the suns going down."
"Day or night doesn't increase frequency of fears. We both know that."
Seijuro was about to speak when suddenly a scream can be heard in the distance. Both Seijuro and Lily immediately get up and run to that area, they jump off the building and land on the street. A tall teenager was standing alone and he turns to face Seijuro and Lily, looking a bit scared noticing Seijuros sword,
"Who are you two?" The teenager asks sounding a bit scared,
Seijuro was about to answer when the teenagers head is suddenly grasped, and similarly to Ren, the teenager begins twitching violently and his body becomes distorted. His body vanishes and he becomes nothing, but teeth and a purple shadow. The boogeyman that had initially corrupted him, now appears too,
A boogeyman?! But… how did he corrupt him?! That's not supposed to be possible…
Seijuro glances at Lily, who has the same look of confusion on her face. She instantly draws her weapon and gets ready to attack,
"Yoshiki, ready yourself now." Lily says in a demanding tone and Seijuro doesn't hesitate.
Both of them stand there with their weapons drawn, as the two boogeymen slowly approach them.