Leaving his home, Imuru headed up to his village. He wound through the quiet village, offering a cheerful 'Good morning' to any Dark Devider he passed, their stuff nods softening at his familiar presence. His stop was the tavern Miilin, owned by Yot. The little brass bell above the door gave a soft cling as he stepped inside.
Inside was empty, and behind the bar, as usual, was Yot. Her eyes sharp and observant, sparked instant recognition the moment they landed on Imuru, warmth breaking through her bored demeanor.
"Lord Imuru, welcome, once again," Yot chirped. "This is becoming your favourite stop it seems... If only Tatani would admit it."
"Now on the other hand, I must say you're looking very stunning today… Love your hairstyle. You know what, I think twin-tails would look great on you."
"You think so?" Imuru softly inquired.
Yot nodded assuredly. "I can in fact see it right now. Gorgeous."
"I better stop myself from getting too distracted. Will you be having your usual?"
"Yes, please," Imuru said, taking a seat at one of the tables. His eyes calmly drifted around the establishment, looking over his shoulder, he eyes landed on a sign that caught his interest, 'Theatre'.
Once Yot returned from the back with the warm meal, Imuru was promptly on to inquiring about the room.
"Oh. That," Yot mumbled, glancing to the door with a glint of nostalgia in her eyes. "You can call it our entertainment area. On one of my first expeditions along with my mother, we came into conflict with a human settlement. During that conflict these humans had something just like that room, and I even got info about what it was used for: Stand-up comedy, performance of all kinds—such as reenactment of events, singing, musical."
"Conflict… Human settlement…" Imuru thought back to himself, twisting a strand of his hair. "It always slipped that these guys were really dangerous…"
"Lord Imuru."
"Lord Imuru!"
At the second call he snapped back to reality, to the nervous gaze of Yot. "Did I say something inappropriate?"
"No, no, it's not you at all," Imuru frantically waved her worry. "I… just got lost in my head for a second there."
"I was thinking about what you just said, and it sounded fun, I might give it a go."
"Ow. Yes," Yot said swiftly in agreement. "It would be incredible to have you reenact one of your legendary battles perhaps? A crucial event? Or maybe even a simple tale—anything would do."
"Sure." Imuru picked up the chopsticks, ready to dig in, with Yot leaving him to his space and moment.
Snuggly wrapped in her thick comforter, Yosho's eyes flickered open. She stretched with a soft yawn, spinning onto her back to face the window where the sun poured in brightly. Realizing with a jolt just how late it must be, she sprang up from her bed, threw on her clothes in a hurried fluffy, and rushed down the hallway to Imuru's office.
"Dear... what kind of secretary am I?" she muttered in frantic panic, breathless, as she called out to him behind his office door. After a moment of silence, she announced she'll be stepping in, before sliding the shojo door open.
"Crap... Since when have I been slacking off. I don't wake up late." Yosho sprinted out of the house, heading straight to the village.
In the village, Yosho asked around urgently, and was quickly pointed toward Yot's tavern. She moved swiftly, pulling the wooden door open with a soft cream to find Imuru inside, casually eating a late breakfast. She straightened her posture, cleared her throat softly, and approached with practiced poise.
"Yosho," Imuru said, his words slightly mumbled, around a mouthful of food. "You're finally awake."
In shame, Yosho bowed deeply, her face flushed. "Yes... Please forgive me. It's very unlike me to oversleep."
"Hm? Don't worry about it," Imuru said, waving a dismissive hand as he swallowed. "Doesn't that just mean you're comfortable?"
All thoughts Yosho had paused for a second. Indeed Imuru was right, she was admittedly comfortable with her overall situation and position in life.
"T-That would be correct… I'd simply prefer to not have it be a habit," Yosho replied. "A strange fear, dear I must say."
"Yea~..." Imuru yawned, leaning back in his chair, arms stretched up. "All of us really need a little Forcent in us. He's quite good at not letting stuff bother him…"
"Forcent…" Imuru reflected. "I better not forget to look into that…"
"The Ennom, does fit such an example." Yosho inhaled and exhaled, releasing the tension from her body. "Yet again, your words mean much to me."
As they idled away in the tavern for almost an hour, the tavern's silence was again melted away by the cling, of the brass bell.
Imuru glanced over to the face of an exhausted Roll, his body in motion, lethargic. He bowed quietly to Imuru, moving on over to the counter, Roll whispered a few words back and forth with Yot. Imuru minded his own business for the most, but did catch a glance of their facial expressions and it seemed to be a calm worry.
The conversation between the pair was over and down in a minute or two, with Roll on his way out to leave. Subsequently, Yot gripped his shoulders firmly, manoeuvred right down into a chair at Imuru's table.
Yot nudge Roll forward to consult with Imuru. Not wanting, he had no choice but to open up about the situation that's been wearing on his mind.
"Lord Imuru…" Roll cleared his throat. "You wouldn't by chance happen to see Arken these last three days have you?"
"No… I haven't," Imuru replied, his body stiffing up slightly. "Is something the matter?"
Roll glanced at Yot glaring down at him. "In fact I think there might be an issue. Though it must simply be my paranoia. I mean it's Arken after all." He shot up in his seat to bail out, but was promptly pushed back down by Yot.
"Fine. Lord Imuru, sir… I think Arken and a few others might be missing."
Imuru's eyes widened from Roll's words, but he remained steady and calm, keeping his reaction minimal. "Missing?"
"These are just my words. It doesn't mean they actually are…" Roll expressed in alacrity.
"Umm." He gulped, his expression drying and tension tightening around his throat. "The others are deeply worried. I promised them I'll look into myself. I-I just haven't been able to find anything yet.
"No clues? Suspects?" Imuru inquired, on the edge. Roll shook his head, making this, Imuru's top priority. Looking back, he started to ponder on a few possibilities.
"Could it be the Orcs? They left on their own? No way, Arken's too stubborn, he'd definitely wanna rub it in my face and do something drastic first, he surely wouldn't leave quietly. And the others, I can't imagine them doing anything against me…"
"Without even a single clue I'm lost here. What if they'd been captured by someone? The Persudos? Is this Erinot's next plan?"
His mind turned to a frantic mess, any and all possibilities were on the table. The situation made it even more difficult, knowing what little information he has to go off.
"I can't sit around and wait… I need to start searching." Imuru got up from his chair, his gaze shaky.
"Arken, where was he last scene?"
"From what I got from the others, he went with two others gathering fruits, west. I went that direction but found nothing," Roll informed
Imuru nodded. "Thank you. Everyone should stick together, preferably where you all have sight of each other. I'll take care of this."
"You're going out alone?" Roll inquired.
"Yes. Yosho." Imuru locked eyes with his secretary for a brief moment. "Look after them."
And with a reassuring nod, Imuru was up and out of the establishment. If he had to search the entire forest himself single-handed he would, his mindset set on returning home with them
Left in by themselves the trio felt the calming atmosphere of the tavern wither away, leaving nothing but the accumulated sense of stone worry that they began to marinate in.
"Roll!" Yosho called his name loudly, breaking him from the paralyzing fear that gripped him.
"Right… Yes. Need to get everyone together," Roll said, hurrying from around the table. He paused for a split second, looking around. "This would be a perfect place to bring them."
"Just stay here… Me and Roll will get the others," Yosho swiftly said to Yot, getting on her way.
Whilst this happened back at Imuru's lodge, something came crawling out from the depths of the forest, in purple clothes—a Dark Devider that had four pointed horns, two on the left side of his head and two on the other, coming out straight before making a sharp bend upwards. He wasn't alone, his companion at shoulder length, with an orange mouth mask from an animal.
There stood the Under-hands of the Dark Devider Settlement: Shadow Of The Moon.
"Disgusting, traitors," Stulte spatted out, his eyes and tone soaring with hatred.
"All of this for some backwater leader? Cag, let's burn this lodge down, and stuff them inside."
"Be calm," Cag replied swiftly. "The operation is almost complete. The final stage will begin, and after the capture of these traitors we'll wait for the return of our Head-hand to bring the head of their leader."
"Attacking during the day wasn't our plan, but with the leader out, an opportunity we couldn't miss."
Stulte gasped, his eyes widening with sickening admiration. "Yes! That's brilliant! Even... better than what I had planned."
Their forces had the village circled from all angles, moving in like ghosts. From the eastern edge, a sudden concussive boom shattered the silence. As expected, Yosho's form blurred, swiftly hurrying towards the disturbance.
Upon Yosho's arrival there, standing beside the destruction, was a lone member of Shadow of the Moon, features hidden from head to toe—a shinobi in daylight. Yosho had her guard up, highly suspicious of the clothing.
Stepping out on the street behind Yosho was another member, his steps quite like the fall of a feather.
[[>Baseline Skill<]]
[[-Shadow Gate-]]
Dipping into his shadow the shinobi removed a throwing dagger, tossing it, as it swept through the air, right to the back of Yosho's head.
Her instincts kicked in, enabling her to perform a maneuver from the path of dagger, with it just nearly missing her. The pair was stunned briefly, thinking they had her. Though it was not the end of the world and was nothing but a small setback, as they both vanished among the houses.
Yosho huffed, having just avoided death by sheer luck and through instinct. She didn't escape this unscathed, the deep cut across her cheek, welling with blood ran freely down her neck.
Yosho took a step forward, but her leg buckled—shaky, unnaturally heavy. The word tilted, her vision swimming and doubling as a cold numbness spread through her limbs. She collapsed to one knee on the cobblestoned streets.
"P-Poison...?" The word was a faint, slurred whisper—her final conscious thought before darkness swallowed her senses and she slumped limply to the ground.
The pair of shinobi reappeared from the clinging shadows as soon as Yosho fell, approaching her still form, with extreme caution from opposite directions. Up close, they confirmed she was unconscious, her breathing shallow. With a simple, silent nod to one another, one of the shinobi utilized their [[>Baseline Skill<]] [[-Shadow Gate-]] to swallow Yosho in their shadow.