''Hey, Shii?'' Looking at your blue friend's broken horn, you find yourself observing her surprisingly pretty face as she keeps a forward lookout. ''You grew up in Zipangu, yeah? Was it... difficult?''

''Hm?'' She leans back on the bench to look at you as she digests your question. ''Not any worse than growing up here, I'd say. Different place, different people.''

Following the direction of your gaze, she gently touches her broken horn, and her expression softens. ''That happened shortly after my capture here in the Allied Kingdoms.''

Your heart squeezes. ''Sorry, I don't want to make you remember bad memories.''

''We haven't known each other long, but I know you'll never want to twist any knife in a person's wound, Rey.'' Urk. Praises that don't come from my parents are hard to handle.

''Describing my people, their circumstances, and how everything works within Zipangu will take a while.'' She continues, directing her gaze away from you to look into the dark blue sky. ''My name is Shigeko of the Takara clan, my people live in a fashion not too dissimilar from the village here. I was raised amongst a group of orphaned girls and moved all over the territory of my clan to follow any teachers willing to help with the Path I eventually chose. Elderly matriarchs handled my education, and our shamans attuned us to our ancestors to make us understand a family is a whole community and not a dot amongst many others.''

Whoa. That's a lot to take in. You've seen enough Mamono villages to know that communal living is the norm amongst them, but you've always wondered if it was because of the conditions in the Allied Kingdoms. Spaces in the villages quickly become a problem; families share homes out of necessity.

''I've never known my mother, only the words of others have given me an idea of who she was... or is.'' She continues, and the face of your mom inevitably conjures itself in your head. ''She came back pregnant, gave birth, stuck around a few years, and her wanderlust never waned, so she set out to continue her Fool journey.''

''I remember you mentioning something like that yesterday.'' How could a mother leave...? That's a sensitive topic I won't press.

''Do you know the tarots?'' Shigeko turns her head to look down at you.

''Only by reputation. It's a set of fortune-telling cards used by travelers that aren't native to the Allied Kingdoms.'' You came across caravans of these gypsy travelers parked near smaller towns during festivals, but were far too shy to try discovering what kind of people lived like this.

''Indeed. Far before our times, my people used them as a base to create a method of communication with our Ancestors' Cauldron.'' Oh, now that sounds interesting ''And eventually, our Paths grew from the cards and messages that we could cobble from the spiritual remnants of those who walked before us.''

''Paths?''

Two men peek out to look down at you and Shigeko after making you wait far too long. ''Who's asking?''
''Rey Vesperus and my friend Shigeko.'' You make a little show of replacing a few wild strands of your blonde hair to emphasize your ears, they don't miss the gesture. ''Last I heard, his lordship didn't condemn the village please open the gate.''

''An elder with a monster?'' One of them states the obvious, causing a chain reaction of curious men to poke their heads to look down at your duo. Six of them in total.
''Bitch barely looks old enough to walk outside home.'' Come a comment from a man on the left. Bitch?
''I have business with the doctor who came here earlier.'' You do your best to keep the seething anger in your heart from leaking into your voice or face. ''Do open this gate so me and my companion can be on our way.''
Except they don't move to climb down, the guy's collective chuckle is an open mockery.
''I member a couple of days ago one of you pointed lot nearly brained Maurice with a kick in the head.'' The man in the center speaks; you give him better attention. You'd say he's in his middle thirties, garbed in the same ramshackle leather armor adopted by the lower-quality troops. A full head of brown hair, a badly kept beard, and sun-touched skin make him somewhat more identifiable than the teeth-missing squads that have been patrolling central Eichenwald.
''We're a tight outfit, someone related to that dangerous fugitive shouldn't be going somewhere like this.'' He gestures behind him, a wide toothy grin showing open mockery and contempt.
Calling my mother's names to make me react...Childish! ''Take your grievances to the duke, I only wish to do my duty here, in the village.''
''Start with saying sorry.'' The man replies, leaning forward to look down on you. He's enjoying that power far too much. His compatriot adds comments you prefer to mentally block.

''Do you lot have the means to repair this gate?'' Shigeko's sudden interruption caused an immediate souring of the guys arrogance as their faces twisted in revulsion.
''Who the hell permit a cursed blood to speak?'' Replies one of the guys.
''Right.'' Placing her big hands on your shoulders, Shigeko leans close to your ears. ''Step aside, milady Rey. I've never been one for chivalry but I think honor demands a little show of force here.''
''Shii? This gate won't stop a battering ram but it's still reinforced.'' It was big enough to let small carts through, only someone reinforced by miracles could break through.
''Don't worry.'' Her face showed a rare smile.

You give your blue protector her space while the men start jeering about letting you in for ''favors.'' Standing motionless with her eyes closed, Shigeko serenity looks out of place in this atmosphere, the men's insults washing off her like morning dew. Yeah, I shouldn't let them get to me.