Looking to Yoshi, Hekasu tilts his head slightly. He responds in a quiet voice, so as not to interrupt Aoi and Aruzhan's conversation. "How so, Yoshi-san? Not worried that you'll have to show him up tomorrow, are you?"

" Maybe ." Yoshi responds. " Hiruma Reo-san's expecting not to be allowed once again, and isn't allowed, and we're told it's respected great clan samurai only, and then suddenly Yasuki Aki-sama reverses her decision ."

He half-turns toward Hekasu.

" She hasn't relented on Suio no Ide Bakin-sama, and he's a regular competitor here. It took Kenshin-san a fair bit of fast talking to get her to allow a ronin to compete, even with the letter from that Daidoji patron of his. Then he tries to get me added to the lists with the same letter, which should make things worse and suddenly Yasuki Aki-sama can't be more helpful ."

" Lo and behold, within half an hour, Hiruma Reo is also added to the competition that Suio's nikutai says he's been dreaming of entering since he was... " he makes a gesture at waist height "... about that big. You don't smell a scheme? I'm just not sure what it is, yet ."

Yoshi nods.

" Looks like they're heading out through the back door. "

"Hmm, I see. Then I would expect you will indeed face Hiruma-san tomorrow in the first round." He turns and follows the others as Yoshi indicates. "Let's hope that discovering these spirits will prepare you to cross blades with that ambitious youngster then! You deserve at least a fighting chance," Hekasu chides him slightly. He then turns his attention to Aruzhan to see what she has learned.

Aruzhan stops. "We can't go yet. I had thought to commune with the spirits here after repairs were finished, but these water and air spirits are quick to move on. We must commune with them while the event is still fresh."

Aruzhan begins to set out materials for communing with the spirits.. while communing with the water spirits she actually gets out her Jewelers kit and begins talking to them while making a simple, but elegant, bracelet. (she views the act of creation to be as much an offering as that which she is creating.)

Performing her ritual, Aruzhan follows the sense of disturbance that she detects to the ruined back wall of the villa.

Seeing her coming, a gangly heimin steps down off the stool he was working from and scurried out of the way, bowing to the ronin shujenga.

The disruption is easy enough to read for a shujenga. Hiruma Aoi's 'storeroom' would not disappoint a well-appointed reliquary in a small rural temple to the Kami. A pair of small burners waft pleasant incense scent into the room - contrasting in a not unpleasant fashion to the smell of the rain outside.

In addition to a collection of old artworks and armour on small shelves around the room and an inscribed teak prayer wheel suspended from floor and ceiling, pride of place clearly belonged to a pair of ornate weapon stands, both of which are empty.

The first, a daisho stand, is marked with a Hiruma family mon and the characters ' to honour what was lost ' - presumably normally occupied by the swords Aoi is carrying. The second is a yari stand, marked with a carving of a fish being scooped out of the water by a bird.

There are few spirits in the room, but all give off a general air of settled comfort. At the moment, though, they are gradually creeping back into the room from sheltered corners as far from the yari stand as possible.

The stand itself almost crackles with residual elemental energy: Aruzhan is put in mind of the blistering of lacquer on a wooden table after a hot skewer is foolishly put directly on it. It is hard to discern much about the missing object - it does not seem to have been actively malevolent, but the sheer caged power made the spirits normally resident here recoil until it was taken.

There is something faintly familiar...what might, if the ronin were using more mundane senses, be called an 'aftertaste' or 'the corner of her eye' but it is frustratingly difficult to place.

Out by the tree, Yoshi smiles at Hekasu's jibe as they wait for Aruzhan to return. Hekasu's eyes keep flicking to the burn mark on the tree, which Hiruma Aoi does not seem to have noticed.

" Kami grant that I'm up to that challenge ." He responds with a wry grin. " As I say, that's what I don't understand - if Yasuki Aki-sama wanted to give me - or Hiruma Reo-san - trouble, she could simply have stopped us from competing in the first place. "

"Perhaps Kenshin-san was simply too persuasive, then. I've heard of toy boxes, stuffed to overflowing with colorful paper. They're like a prize and a trick in one package. When you open the latch, the lid pops open, showering you in these colorful flecks. They take forever to get off of silk... Now what," he points to the mark, "do you suppose left that? Other than the incense, is anything else around here burnt?"

"I haven't noticed anything. " Says Yoshi. " Besides which, it's raining. It looks like something was...wrapped round the branch?" He looks down at the turf and points at the rough suggestions of horseshoe marks in the soft earth. " Reins, maybe? "

Hekasu looks closer at the marks. In addition to the scorched wood, there are a few drops of brown-black residue along the edges of the line.

It's hard to smell much beyond a general burnt scent but they look like drops of beeswax from a candle.

"It seems that the spirits here were troubled by the presence of Ryoshi no Yari, but there is little worry about any invading spirits. It leaves one to wonder whether it was in fact a spirit that absconded with the weapon, or perhaps something of a more earthly nature which was trying to disguise itself. " Aruzhan turns to Aoi "Still, it is perhaps possible that the spirit of Ryoshi no yari itself awoke and chose to return to it's rightful place. I'm afraid I don't know enough about Ryoshi no yari to understand how likely that is in this case. At any rate, while the spirits of the forgotten shrine may have more knowledge, I don't think they'll have had anything to do with the events here."

" It would be an impressive trick, to allow a fully armoured bushi on a warhorse to evapourate into thin air! " Hiruma Aoi responds, as they return to the tree where the others are standing. " Yoshiki is no scout but whilst he may be of heimin stock he is a competent woodsman, and he assures me the tracks lead to the - empty - shrine and no further. So if the thief was a mundane one, I cannot see how they escaped. I think it would be wise to investigate the shrine's ruins, even if more from thoroughness than hope ."

He turns to the other ronin.

" Hekasu-san? Yoshi-san? You found something unusual? "

"Some residue of dragon-powder," Hekasu indicates the burn. "I have very little idea what to make of it, though. It's usually something left behind after setting off fireworks. Do you have any of those here? Perhaps stored for the festival?"

" No...nothing like that ." Says Aoi. He gestures up at the willow tree's fronds, and the gentle audible patter of raindrops. " There are always a few half-hearted firecrackers in town, but the very nature of the festival is that it's almost always held during a moderate downpour, so what would be the point of much more than that? "

He stops for a moment.

" This tree is where Yoshiki says he saw the ghost, I think, before he ran and hid. I'm unsure what else to make of it, too ."

Tracks? I don't think I've had the chance to follow the tracks of a spirit before. Then again, amongst the children of the wind, flying horses are probably more believable.

Hiruma Aoi gestures in the direction the tracks go in.

" Otherworldly beings can sometimes have tangible physical forms. With respect, that's a lesson my kin have learned all too well over the centuries, both near the wall and on the outskirts of the Shinomen forests. One thing we can say with confidence is that whatever 'it' was, it's no longer here, and if there's nothing more to be learned without following it... "

Aruzhan takes a moment to study the tracks before continuing to follow them. "Yes.. for now the possibilities are too numerous. To move forward we must proceed." Given that Aoi may not be the most experienced "scout" amongst the Hiruma, The Shugenja will have to keep a keen eye out for anything along the way that he might miss.

The horse tracks are easy enough to follow as Hiruma Aoi and the ronin proceed into the trees.

Either side, footprints can be seen darting from tree to tree in the same direction - Yoshiki and the gardener? - and some way off to the right.

As the trees become closer, the canopy becomes thick enough kept the earth dry - or at least relatively so - but whilst the footprints of Aoi's heimin servants become steadily harder to follow the heavier outline of horseshoes cutting through the turf remains obvious enough.

Reaching the shrine takes about half an hour of brisk walking. Ahead, the trees thin suddenly, revealing a clearing with the remains of a building - something that could credibly have been a single-room shrine and an adjoining covered well occupying most of it, the rest of the clearing little more than bare, damp earth of browns and blacks and the odd wisp of drifting straw. Once again, the footprints of heimin footwear - identical to those seen earlier as best a passing glance can tell - are visible again in the mud.

The ruined shrine is largely overgrown: a canopy of ivy and the remaining ceramic tiles form some semblance of a roof and have kept the rain over the years off age-blackened wood. The beams supporting one side have given way regardless, bringing the roof down so it now rests awkwardly on a row of stone lanterns at little more than waist height. The other side has stayed sound - one column is moss-covered, cracked and split in several places, and has fallen across the gap between shrine and trees, but the others all seem solid.

Inside - so far as can be seen from outside by the light of Aoi's lantern - the shrine looks empty. Despite the seemingly solid roof, what you can see of the stone floor is dripping wet.

Seeing the ancient shrine, The young priestess seems to lose track of all else. She carefully approaches the crumbling building with an archaeologist's caution, as if the place could crumble at the smallest of mistakes. She gently brushes moss away from the columns, in an attempt to better see the craftsmanship that went into this shrine, in order to ascertain it's true age and purpose.

Giving a respectful bow to the shrine, Hekasu then turns his attention outward, watching for anyone who may approach.