The Midnight Prince

[Shisou]

Shisou takes a deep breath, then another, letting them out slowly. Think, Shisou, think! Get past your fear and focus. What's going on here? What do you know, and what don't you? I don't know who this is. She's not a fisherman -- they don't sleep in hay piles. Well, she might be, but if she's a fisherman she doesn't belong here, we buy fish from the 12th Fleet. She could be one of the ones that net shrimp for the menagerie, but she'd have said a shrimper, not a fisherman. So she's lying. Why is she lying? What is she trying to hide?

"D-d-d-do y-you have a  p-p-place to g-go?" he stammers, his tone softer, more tender. She could be a runaway. Or a fisherman's wife, fleeing a bad situation. She could be... anything. All I know is she doesn't belong here and she's a half-orc.

[Rokag]

W...what is he doing? If the lie wasn't working, he should get mad and Rokag would go back to the plan of trying to get her knife. If he was buying it, then he should act like it wasn't a big deal. Why the fuck is he asking...does he know and...no, this HAS to be a trick!

"O-of course I do!" And THAT was a little louder than she meant to be. FUCK! "And I should be getting there." She didn't want to leave the shed. She NEEDED those things for the next night to make for another island. They should be closer  to some of the others soon, and if she missed....she was NOT going back. She'd made this step, so forward was the only way.

[Shisou]

"W-w-w-wait," he says, hesitating. "I c-c-can f-forge, uh-- if you n-n-need a l-letter of r-r-reccom-mend-d-dation.. th-they're h-hiring h-h-handlers f-for the r-r-rabbits, i-if y-you're a-any g-g-g-good w-with a-animals..."

Poor thing, he thinks, hating how much his stammer hinders the conversation. I wonder what she's running from? 

[Rokag]

Rokag was caught off-guard by that. "...wait, are you serious?" This HAS to be a trap. That...what.. Why was this random person offering to forge documents? HOW can they forge documents, they check that crap and take people's ARMS when they find out! Suddenly Rokag tenses again. "Are you some kinda secret guard? Aren't you too short for that?" Which is kinda funny as the woman was about the same size as him.

[Shisou]

"N-n-n-n-n-no!" he stammers, his cheeks coloring a little. "I-i-i-... D-d-do I l-l-look l-l-like I... r-r-really?" 

The last thing the stammering, short, miserable-looking bruised boy looks like he could be is secret police of any kind. But then, isn't that what you'd expect from the secret guard? To look like anything other than secret guard? The whole concept is half-myth half-reality; nobody's ever confirmed the secret guard exist other than people who have subsequently been vanished by them, but of course nobody can be sure anyone's been vanished as opposed to just drowning or moving away. Certainly the concept is useful to the nobility, to help keep the masses of people they need to serve them in line. 

Even Shisou's not sure if there are secret guards. He's only a boy. His step-father, Indou, might know. His grandfather, Yasha, almost certainly does. His great-grandfather, Taisho, surely does. But Shisou? Who would trust him with secrets? To be fair, his stammering is so bad, he might have trouble sharing them, but otherwise, he was the sort of boy who was meant to do as he's told, keep his mouth shut, and serve the family. 

[Rokag]

"Well, I don't know. You're the one who finds someone sleeping in their underthings and asks if you can forge documents?" Still, Rokag can't keep the angry slant to her voice. The boy looked like he'd been beaten, and if they wanted to capture and arrest her they could have done that while she was asleep.

"Just...okay, look. The only thing I really need is a change of clothes. Everything else I can figure out." If he ISN'T some secret guard, then this might be easier than stealing the clothes anyway.

[Shisou]

"Um. I d-d-d-d-don't h-h-have a-any g-g-g-g-girl's c-c-clothes." 

The boy's cheeks redden as he forces the sentence out. He could steal his sister's things; a yukata or two won't be missed, even if it's not practical for working. But it would give him away as someone in the household, if not one of the Family. Their clothes are far and away less practical and more fine than anything a servant could ever hope to afford. No, it would have to be some of his secret stash of sneaking-out clothes, and those were all boy things.

If there's one thing Shisou could be that's worse than being a sodomite, a cross-dresser would be it. He can only imagine the beating he'd get if he were caught sneaking out to meet a boy while dressed as a girl. Such perversions violate natural law -- the order that keeps the stars moving in their appointed courses and prevents the sun from straying too close and burning everyone to a crisp also keeps male masculine and female feminine, and nary the two shall meet. 

[Rokag]

"....fuck." That was a problem she hadn't thought of. Most people on the Shore didn't care what your cut of clothign was unless they were trying to 'find a good time'. Most of the clothes she USED to have that would have fit that were traded away for bits of coin for food. But that's not how the fucking Families work. Even the servants would look weird in the wrong clothes...

"That's fine, I'll make it work with boy's clothes." Besides, the fucking robes they wore were a lot easier to run in and didn't have the fucking huge bows that never came out right the first couple of times she remembered....she quashed that memory and the slight twinge of pain it brought Now's not the time. It's NEVER the time for that, Rokag.

[Shisou]

"Okay," he whispers, and the shortness of the utterance prevents the stammering, thankfully. "I'll b-b-b-be b-b-back," he adds, nodding once, backing away. 

[Rokag]

This was a stupid, fucking idea.

Rokag had gotten into her scavenged clothes and, having fit her knife into the waist band of the clothing, was now chewing on a piece of the preserved meat she'd taken with her on this fools errand. There was NO WAY that kid was coming back. Five minutes after he'd run off Rokag was struck with the need to run.

But if he DID come back, and she was gone, he might decide that Rokag was a theif (which she wasn't right now) and would call the regular guards...so now she's been here contemplating running or fighting the kid.

[Shisou]

This was a stupid idea.

Shisou creeps through the halls of his family's home once more, this time with a bundle clutched in both arms. There was no way the girl would still be there. She was sure to have run off the moment Shisou left. Why would she trust him to come back? She had no idea who he was, had no idea that kinds of things Shisou did during his spare time at night, had no reason to believe Shisou would make good on his promise. But... what else could he do? If he didn't come back, he'd be proving her right. 

I'll leave the things in the hay. Maybe she'll come back later and find them, maybe not, but they'll be there, just like I promised.

Pushing the door open, he sneaks into the night, crossing past the stables and the smithy to the little shed. I'll leave the bundle, and I'll wait for Jotaro. Maybe things will still be alright.

He pushes the door open, yet again surprised by the presence of a half-orc woman (clothed, this time) in his shed. 

[Rokag]

Her hand went to where she knew the kni-oh shit, he was back! Why.....the fuck was he back? Is he some kinda idiot? But there was a...small bit of relief. If he came back alone, he's probably not a guard...and maybe the islands weren't perfect.

But he was still there. Shit, what are you supposed to say? Rokag was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact he actually came back with the clo- "Do those have splits in them?" She was indicating to the clothes. Focus. Clothes are what you needed and the guards aren't up yet. This could actually work.

[Shisou]

"It's n-n-n-not h-haka-ma," stammers the boy, offering the bundle. "I g-g-g-ot s-some t-t-trousers a-a-and a w-w-ork sh-shirt."

The bundle is made of kimono fabric, of course -- the coarse kind, something like what the boy is wearing himself. The boy wears hakama over his kimono, indicating that he's at least patriotic if poor; the Nyran-style trousers and shirt that he offers in the bundle are cheaper, but can lead to an assumption that you're foreign. Still, it's not like there's a ton of orcs in Toukami anyway. 

Shisou has added to the bundle a couple silver pieces in a little silk pouch, something just a bit nicer, like a prized possession for someone as poor as him. This could easily be his life savings. To prevent Rokag from complaining, he's slipped that bundle into the pocket of the trousers, for her to find later. In the bundle also is a scroll with some script in Tengu explaining that the bearer of that note is recommended for work anywhere on Cicada island, stamped with the Cicada clan seal. That's worth more than the silvers, even -- it's worth a job, worth safety. And Shisou's just... tossed it into the bundle of clothes like it's nothing.

He also slipped in a oilskin pouch with some dried meats and dried berries, just in case Rokag hasn't had a meal in a while. 

All this he hands over in the tied parcel, stepping back afterward so he doesn't seem threatening. "Th-th-th-that should he-help."

[Rokag]

Rokag hefts the parcel a little. This is...a LOT of stuff. She made a note to find some other secluded place to check over the bundle later. She'd heard that there were magics that could kill you if you disturb them or imprison you upon touching something, so she needed to find a way to open it without touching it herself. The parcel didn't have much on it, so she figured THAT was safe.

He's really just...gonna give this to me? He doesn't look too well-off, either. The bruises were a dead giveaway to Rokag about how well things were for Shisou....and it didn't sit well. "...What's your name?" This is a bad fucking idea.

[Shisou]

"Sh-sh-shisou," he stammers. It's an uncommon name, inauspicious as it is -- it contains the sound shi, meaning death -- but it's not a unique one. Who would connect the young Cicada with this shabby servant?