"Please join us, Hiruma-sama," Hekasu says, rising to bow and then gesturing to the room he made previously.

Yoshi bows a greeting, " Hiruma-sama. I am Yoshi-no-kazi. "

The thought of sleeping in a private room by a balcony is clearly tempting to Yoshi. And maybe he shoots hekasu the beginnings of a dirty a look when he so blithely says he's fine sleeping in the common room. But Yoshi masters himself before saying anything. And add to "grandma-san, " There was a fight with rogue ronin at Flint Quay village not all that long ago. The room with the balcony sounds wonderful, But the honorable Ito-sama would probably appreciate it if we were frugal while serving him. With regrets, I also will find the common room fine. Perhaps my next time through..." Yoshi again gives the old woman a small nod of acknowledgement.

She bows. "With your permission, I will go and chivvy the room attendants along, then."

Behind her, you see Hatsue wending her way back across the courtyard, if anything even more loaded than before. She places a large bowl in front of each ronin.

"There was perhaps not as much left as I had hoped, samurai-sama," She says, inclining her head to where the heimin family's children are demolishing their helpings, "But plenty of onions and a some fried asparagus to compensate."

The bowls prove to be full of heaped yaki udon, with what was probably originally three portions of smoked fish shredded up and mixed with some fried vegetables to make a fourth scattered over them. With less fish than she planned, Hatsue - or whoever the cook in the kitchen is - has tried to compensate with a healthy extra ladle-full of sauce-covered noodles.

"My thanks," Says Hiruma Aoi. "As I said, I find all things related to the spirits fascinating and I endeavour to take opportunities to learn where I can. Little but rumour of the Iuchi passes this far south, and I was intrigued to discuss with your colleague. Are you headed south for the First Cloud festival?"

::Yoshi nods politely and then tucks into his food::

"Good." Says the Hiruma samurai. "I have a small property on the outskirts of Uimi Mura; I would be most pleased if you had the opportunity to visit during the festival. Over the years, I have acquired a collection, and recently I obtained a new artefact, which may well be the pride of my collection - if it proves genuine. Which...it may not be, and I suppose I have only my own credulity to blame if it is not. I would be honoured to allow any of you to view the collection, but especially a shujenga."

::Around a mouthful of food Yoshi looks around the table. Quashes a sudden (and surely irrational) fear of maho and cursed items. Shoots a pointed questioning look at Aruzhan::

"I am sure we will have time to visit you in Uima Mura. And see your collection. You are most kind to offer. Will you tell us what your new acquisition is?"

"A spear. If you believe the man who found it - many times removed from the person who gave it to me, it must be said - the 'Ryoshi no Yari' is of rather exalted provenance. Either the ancestral weapon of an extinct vassal family, or perhaps of an extinct minor clan - the stories are vague and contradictory. Supposedly it is a nemurani of no trivial power, but that power slumbers until it is reclaimed by one of the bloodline for which it was forged. Which, if the bloodline is extinct...will obviously never happen."

Aoi looks slightly sheepishly at Yoshi.

"And yes, before the thought occurs to you, I realise this means, lacking any way of testing such a claim, what I have probably really acquired is a pretty but ultimately completely mundane yari from a spinner of extremely tall tales. But whilst the legend may not be true, it is true that there is a legend, and I am frankly more of a pottering collector of stories and trinkets than I am some great hero fit to really hold the ancestral weapon of a clan champion."

Hekasu leans in a bit, intrigued. "Well now, that does sound like a fascinating story. Did you get a family or clan name? From what area of the Empire? Uimi Mura is simply along my way, rather than my destination, but I would be honored to visit you while I pass through."

"From somewhere in the south, supposedly, though I can't imagine too close to here." Hiruma Aoi says. "Certainly the haft looks to be made of good southern oak, and the blade is affixed to it in a style reminiscent of Daidoji-made polearms. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine, samurai-san. The stories don't give a name to its wielder, beyond what inference you can draw from the name of the weapon. They don't even say what 'Ryoshi no Yari' is capable of doing in the right hands - if it were ever to find itself there again."

He smiles, gesturing at the food.

"Don't go hungry on my account, samurai-san. So, if you're not bound for the village and the festival tournaments, where are you heading to, if I may ask?"

"Of course you may ask," he chuckles jovially. "I'm on a mission for my city to secure a shipment of the finest sake in all the Empire: Friendly Traveler. So unless that village has set up a shop in Uimi Mura, then it will merely be a break in my journey."

Hekasu does begin eating.

" I wouldn't be surprised, you know, if Oshuko-sama's brewers had taken a space in the festival markets ." The crab responds. " Nobuto Tohashiro-sama is determined to throw a true spectacle for Onodera-sama, his new bride and his guests, and the festival celebrations, the tournament - and the market, of course - are supposed to be twice the size they've been in living memory. It's not Yasuki Yashiki, but for a week or so I suspect the village is going to feel like it!"

"We met on the road. Its not entirely clear if we are destined to travel far together, but in addition to personal agendas we are delivering letters for the most honorable Ito no Asahinato to people who are expected at the festival."

The Ronin continue to talk to Hiruma Ayoi for some time, before he excuses himself and returns to his room. As he does so, Hatsue's grandmother returns and announces that your beds have been readied; the ground floor around the courtyard opposite the one you are sitting in is a series of communal rooms. She says that she has set aside the southern end of the building for the four ronin, and that there will be some free-standing wicker screens to arrange as you see fit if you require any privacy.

The ronin finish what proves to be a very filling meal. Hatsue's grandmother shows you to the common room - taking you past the offices and discretely showing Ito Sora's letter of passage to a clerk who briefly materialises out of the office space. As they do so, they see Hatsue discretely helping one of the crane samurai (who appears to have had far too much sake for his own good) up the central staircase.

The room is under the eaves of the lowest tier of the building, and proves plain but comfortable, with thick futons laid out on clean tatami mats, and some plain screens that the ronin can use to provide themselves with some semblance of a 'room'. The inside of the outer wall is whitewashed stone, much like the outside, but in this case the addition of some stylised cherry tree murals break up the imposing nature of the wall, and skylights to the cloister on the floor above mean the area is still reasonably light thanks to the lanterns hung there. The common area is not exactly packed, and the heimin guests pointedly stay at the opposite end as much as possible, so the group sleeps well.

They are awakened the following morning by a gentle tinkling chorus. After so many months of the dry season, it takes Yoshi a moment to place it - it is the sound of a gentle morning shower striking the tiles in the roof above.

"Looks like we have to get moving!"

Waking Kenshin, Aruzhan and Hekasu at the sound of the rain, Yoshi leaves the inn for some fresh air.

Some of the staff are already awake, preparing food; Hatsue is visible making her way throught the courtyard to the passage to the kitchen, fierce concentration on her face as usual as she balances far more things in her hands than one person could logically be expected to carry. A junior servant follows in her wake, similarly laden but not coping nearly so well.

The tall Ronin watches as the rain stops - the shower was neither extended nor heavy, but it nevertheless gives the roof-tiles of nearby buildings and the leaves of the trees surrounding the bay a gentle sparkle in a cloud-dappled morning sun. The square outside, after the dry months, looks like a battlefield in miniature, where fat raindrops have left spattered, finger-tip craters of mud amongst the bone-dry dust.

Across the courtyard, Tamago is visible scurrying around the stable block, seeing to the brushing and feeding of the horses - Yoshi is somewhat unsurprised to see his tunic is sodden from the rain.

The tenuous wisps of cloud seen yesterday have thickened, and their presence is unarguable now. If the crab are waiting for a sign to commence their 'First Cloud' festival, it will be today.

I am an idiot, the big ronin thinks. Why did I leave my tunic out? Of course, it was nice last night...and if we'd slept in the private rooms my clothes would be dry.

Grudgingly he looks at his coin pouch and the 10 zeni within. Pulls 2 out. Leaves one where Hatsue and/or the servants are sure to find it by the bedding. Takes another out to Tamago. "Well need the horses ready soon. We'll eat a quick breakfast, then we need to get on the road." Yoshi places one zeni down on a rail or stall. "For you. In honor of the festival."

There goes 1/5 of my coinage. Ebisu and Daikoku, if you hear this ronin's prayers let there be a chance to at the festival to exchange honorable service for some portable wealth. Winter is coming. Even a wind blown ronin will soon appreciate being indoors at night.

At the last second yoshi stops and turns back. "Tell me Tamago," the big ronin shows a trace of uncertainty. Then just asks, "Are there any stories of trolls in the woods around here? I ask because we found a strange arrow on the way in. It seems oddly long for a garden variety bandit. Someone was hunting wild boars the other day."

The boy appears slightly startled. "Trolls, Lord Samurai? Not that I've ever heard of." He looks back and forth, then leans in. "I've never seen any sign of monsters, or heard of anyone who has - are you going hunting?"

"I don't think trolls are supposed to be smart enough to use a bow, are they? It'd be scary if they could - imagine a bow made out of a whole tree trunk!" He stops, with a thoughtful expression. "Hatsue-san told me she's heard that that some bandits took up residence deep in the woods over last winter. No-one's been able to catch them, and they haven't attack anyone important enough or often enough to justify the Yasuki turning out an army to find them. I've never seen any sign of them, but Hatsue-san doesn't usually let me go far into the woods. Pleasant Mooring Inn's like a little castle, anyway, so I can't see them ever trying to attack here. 'Close the big gates', Hatsue-san says, 'and Obaasan could hold off a small army with a broom and a vegetable knife'."

He sets his shoulders in what is probably intended to be a look of stolid determination, and bows.

"Your horses will be ready immediately, Lord Samurai."

As Hekasu awakens to the rain, he takes a deep breath, enjoying the scent. While packing, he contemplates a poem about the rain, thinking of one he knows and reworking it for the present inn. He quickly scribbles it down on a piece of parchment, but as he's putting his charcoal back away, three zeni just happen to slip out and land on the poem.

Of course, since he has already set aside the poem for the innkeeper to discover, Hekasu does not look back and notice the zeni.

A single firefly

Content after a calm night

Braves the morning rain

The ronin gather their things, and Kenshin and Aruzhan join their companions in the courtyard of the inn. They are amongst the first guests up, but bowls of steamed rice and miso soup are already flowing forth from the kitchens. Hiruma Ayoi is not amongst the guests - either having left already or more likely still abed in the private quarters upstairs, but several others recognisable are also preparing for a morning meal, including the heimin mother and her children, and the Sparrow Clan samurai, who greets the ronin politely as they seat themselves.

After a brief but satisfying breakfast, the four samurai find Ito Sora's horses brushed, cleaned and tacked, tied up around a rail outside the stable block, munching on some apple cores in a feed trough. Tamago is just fastening Sanko's reins in place as Yoshi and Hekasu reach him - he beams with a degree of self-satisfaction at being done in time, but Hekasu notes a momentary flicker of his eyes to the stall gate and he discretely slides it closed with one foot as he bows to the samurai, concealing the debris of stablehand's tools strewn everywhere inside in a panicked rush.

Off to the right, at the warehouse block, the father of the heimin family is checking over a small cart that has evidently been re-loaded with goods ready for markets.

"Very well done, Tamago-san. Exactly when we needed them. You bring honor to your family." Hekasu gives a nod, slightly tilting his shoulders forward in a complimentary bow to the peasant youth. He then mounts up and begins to guide the horse back onto the road.

Yoshi takes a moment to note whatever the heiman couple is loading. The information of what goods are desired commodities might be of some value. Grunts his approval as the horses are brought out, and offers a rare smile as Hekasu praises the kid. The he you ants too and heads out.

"You'll turn into a horseman yet Hekasu-san. Time to ride!"