"So you admit it." The ranger looks at Set."You dislike me. That's fine. Most don't. But if you have known what I have seen and what I have been through..." He shakes his head."Leave the horses. Cannot hide upon them." Quin looks at them, despite having the monk seems to ignore him. He then goes to move further, looking back at them at times.

They avoid the fire pit and the old campsite. After about a hour, the ranger stops and looks around. They get to a mountain pass and he kneels down again, probably checking for traps."Flower is in the mountain. I know about where it is. It will take some time. As for orcs, I don't see anything showing them." He stands up."Few have been into the mountains. Be careful."

Zokiro represses a sigh and strives to look cool and unruffled.  "There are pressing matters we have been tasked to attend.  Let us focus our attention upon them, as the health of a young girl lies in the balance."

Qing was prickly, and quick to form opinions of them, when as of yet he had seen little of what they could do.  But Setsuko and she were dependent upon him to guide them to the mountains, so they could only carry on in a polite and efficient fashion, even if there would be no warmth to this partnership with him.  She only gave her clan sister a glance of solidarity and kinship to let her know she was with her.

When Qing told them to leave the horses though, Zokiro hesitated slightly.  "You mean for us to abandon our mounts?  Or will we return this way after finding the flower so we can speed our trip back to the Temple?"  Her mount Nori is carrying all of her gear, and Zokiro is quite short and while not weak, is not overly robust.  And how would the horses survive?  They could starve, be killed by orcs or wild animals, or be captured by anyone, never to be seen again.  She had brought Nori as she had assumed speed was of the essence, and Qing could find them a trail to use.  To suddenly be bereft of their strength when heading into unknown territory was an unpleasant surprise.  If she had known that was going to be necessary, she would have packed and planned differently.

"They will be fine. You cannot hide upon it. I suggest we leave them behind. You need to trust me." The ranger watches them and shakes his head."We will return." He waits, wanting to keep moving forwards.

"Then I shall very easily be able to hide off of her.  You shall lose me instantly in tall grass," Zokiro mutters, swinging her gear off of Nori and looking up at the other two from her nearly childlike height.  The remark seems one directed at herself.  She leaves the heaviest of her gear on her horse, tightens the strap of her backpack, and sets off after Qing when Setsuko is ready.

"Want to try?" The ranger looks towads Zok."If I can see you, the orcs probably can. I suggest you use the woods around you. The mountains can provide little cover."

Without rolling he has a +11 spot and listen :)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Sun 20 Oct 2019.

Setsuko will silently dismount, making sure to leave her horse a place that is out of plain sight and has access to food and/or water (If possible). She too will leave the heavier gear on her horse bringing her backpack, weapons and other personal supplies.

Following directions she will join her clan sister and the ranger on foot.

Zokiro shoulders her pack and sets out after Setsuko and the ranger silently, as apparently they were entering a more dangerous environment that required their attention to the world, rather than their conversation.

The path goes up at a steady pace and then its more of a uphill for quite some time. For a horse this would be very tough. He stops, looks around for a moment then keeps moving. Nightfall slowly hits and he finds a small cave for the three of them. He sits down by the foot of tie cave, watching the outside silently.

In reply to Rokugan (msg # 108):

Setsuko quietly moves past the ranger and sets her gear down slightly deeper in the cave. She turns to Zokiro and says calmly, "Please clan sister ask our guide if there is anything we should do to prepare to pass the evening. If we are not allowed to have a fire to warm ourselves, then you are welcome to share my bedroll so we both can sleep warmly."

The ranger gets up and moves to be in front of Setsuko."If you want to get her to talk to me when I am standing here it shows you act like a child. No, do not make a fire. It will show anyone where we are. You do not want that nor Zokiro." Qing stares at her."If you want to talk to me, ask. Do not use her like that. I assume she doesn't want it. " He sighs and looks out down the mountains and then upwards."I am cold as well." The man keeps looking outside then tosses them a winter blanket despite being cold. He wraps up in his cloak."I will take first watch. Rest."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:04, Sat 26 Oct 2019.

Zokiro gives Setsuko a sympathetic glance and rolls out her bedroll and blanket so the two women can huddle together for warmth.  "You were quite insistent on not being seen, so I assumed a fire was not possible this evening so we would not attract hostile attention," she says quietly to Qing, and gestures for Setsuko that she can get in the bedrolls.

"Come, sister, let us rest after the long day," she says.  Then she adds softly, "Our expertise will be needed in time.  There is a reason the master sent all of us on this quest."  She squeezes Setsuko's hand, then tries to sleep.

Pointedly looking away from the ranger, Setsuko speaks calmly, "Forgive me clan sister if I have offended you. Qing has said that my words are nothing therefore I have nothing to say to him. I hear that I am to ask him should I need to speak to him. But my words are nothing to him, therefore I have nothing to say to him."

She pauses to look to Zokiro bringing her belongings closer to those of her clan sister. "Yes, let us rest together." Setsuko coucludes as she joins her bedroll to Zokiro's, squeezes her hand in reply, and attempts to sleep alongside her

"Will you stop acting like I am not here?" The ranger watches Set and shakes his head."So be it. Acting like a bloody child." He stares out and stands up before grabbing his bow.

"You have not given offense, Setsuko. It seems we are all out of sorts on this long day," Zokiro says.  She glances over at Qing, his temper seemingly quite brittle.  "A fair watch to you," she says softly.

The man sighs and steps out into the darkness.

It starts to get rather cold. Qing's blanket remains untouched. There seems to be no signs of him returning as of yet and its been about two hours.

Zokiro woke up in the chill, eyes sweeping but finding no sight or sound from their guide.  She rose slowly, touching Setsuko's shoulder, and whispers, "Qing is not back yet. I want to go look outside the cave and see if he is there."  Then she'll slowly move to the entrance to see what can be seen.

Setsuko listens to Zokiro and nods, "I will go with you, two sets of eyes are better than one." The young monk follows her clan sister.

With the darkness outside, Zokiro knows they need something to see, lest they only be dependent on their ears.  She whispers a few words, makes a few gestures, and some small balls of light appear, dancing around slowly like lazy fireflies.  While not as stealthy as undoubtedly Qing would prefer, it was something they needed now.

OOC: Casting dancing lights.
08:35, Today: Zokiro Mirumoto rolled 9 using 1d20+1.  Listen check.
08:34, Today: Zokiro Mirumoto rolled 7 using 1d20+1.  Spot check.

Relying on the light from Zokiro's magic, Setsuko also tried to see or hear what she could. "See anything yet, clan sister?"

OOC:
14:49, Today: Setsuko Osagai rolled 13 using 1d20+8.  Spot check.
14:49, Today: Setsuko Osagai rolled 28 using 1d20+8.  Listen check.

The two look around and start checking on the mountain pass. It looks safe enough and besides the occasional normal creature moving about it seems quiet. A large cave looms ahead as their dancing lights swirl around themselves.

In reply to Rokugan (msg # 120):

Setsuko moves closer to Zokiro and whispers into her hear, "I cannot see much of anything but I hear something large moving up the pass towards the cave. Maybe we should try to see what it is."

Waiting on her clan sister's agreement, she prepares to move quietly towards the cave.

Zokiro nods her agreement and moves just behind Setsuko's shoulder.  "Lead and I will follow closely. I have magic to protect us or flame our enemies if we encounter any," she says very softly, and then follows in Setsuko's wake.

The two enter the cave. Its damp and feels warm oddly, and its about twenty feet up. Rocks stick down and its hard to get around. Spiderwebs appear as the group keeps moving, small ones then larger ones but no spiders least not visible.

Keeping quiet, Zokiro touches Setsuko's arm briefly, nodding at her to go forward, sending her lights to illuminate their footing so they don't blunder into any webs, uneven ground... or anything that might be alive.

Setsuko attempts to look carefully around and listens for the slightest sound. She makes a point of looking at both the floor and ceiling, taking special care not to be caught under a large hanging rock or larger than normal spider webs. With Zokiro close behind her, she continues to move forward.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Thu 14 Nov 2019.