So I added an O.C. Beowulf. I hav a little backstory for him that I am not going to go into, but essentially, he came into the story during Odin and Kenichi's fight, and got the name Beowulf as a sort of joke playing off of the Fists of Ragnarock, but it ended up sticking. He is a weapon user, so spends some time with Freya and the Valkyries, and sometimes Shigure will instruct him. If you guys want to know more, ask in the reviews and I will set some story time aside to give his story.
On the way to the lady's house, Jack said nothing, and politely listened to the lady's ramblings. For such an elderly woman, she seemed to have no trouble talking seemingly without taking a single breath. By the time they reached her home, the Samurai felt like he knew her entire biography, as well as the biographies of everyone she knew. As they approached the door, she stopped and turned around. "I am so sorry, young man, but I just realized that I forgot to introduce myself." Jack thought about it, and it was true. Of everything she told him about herself, her name was not one of them. "I am Suzume Kugatachi." She said, bowing slightly.
Jack smiled and returned the bow, "They call me, 'Jack.'" He answered.
"Jack?" She thought about the name before continuing, "That is an American name. Are you from America? Your Japanese is beautiful, almost nostalgic. Americans would not learn to speak it anywhere near as well. Where are you from?" She was looking at him strangely now, as if she knew something about him that he did not.
"I am from here." He replied. As far as he knew, the portal only transported him through time, not space. And he did remember seeing a temple that seemed to slightly resemble his home nearby.
"So your parents gave you an American name?" she asked curiously.
"No, Jack was the title given to me by others. It holds dear significance to me."
She nodded as if she knew what he was talking about, "Yes. Names are powerful, it is wise to keep your true name hidden, lest the people of this world who walk the path of darkness try to use it against you." This comment threw him off, but before he could reply, she immediately returned to the kind –if not senile- woman whom he had grown to like, and walked through the door. Pointing down the hallway, she said, my husband is in the dojo room, just follow the sound of sparring. I'll go get you some tea."
With that, she disappeared. Jack glanced around the room as he removed his sandals. It was very simple, and old. It felt good. It made him feel like he was in all the different places he grew up in, but all at once. He walked down the hallway she indicated, and soon he heard familiar sounds of yelling, punching, falling, and wood crashing against wood, just as Suzume said. He continued along, realizing that the house was much larger than it seemed. He had made several turns, and had even gone up, then back down two sets of stairs. He was walking for about fifteen minutes He was just about to admit that he was lost, when he opened the door to the sparring room.
It certainly was not what Jack was expecting. Suzume told him that her husband coached a group of girls, but he did not think that there would be so many of them. Including all of the oddly color coordinated girls, There was one other female, much taller than the rest and most likely the oldest, she also had short, spiked hair. There were also two boys, one was very large, and wore a sumo robe. Most of the girls were attacking him all at once. The other boy was an American wearing a dark green and black vest with matching pants, he was sparring with the oldest girl, who had a Bo Staff, while he had a Naginata. It the middle of it all, was an ancient man who looked as though he was sleeping. This was most likely Suzume's husband. He stepped into the room, and watched them all for a few moments, judging what kind of fighters they were. The group of girls, he could tell, were not very strong individually, but worked together better than any machine, with amazing strategies, utilizing all sorts of different weapons to their advantage. The Sumo Wrestler, did not seem to be using actual Sumo, but more like a practical form that he could use in any fight, not just in a Sumo Ring. The other girl and boy were evenly matched, The girl's staff techniques were highly advanced, and he even noticed a few moves from a sacred technique that he was taught during his travels. The boy with his Naginata was equally skilled, And Jack noticed that he did not even attempt to use the blade at all. It seemed like he was trying to avoid using it. This confused him seeing as how it would be simpler to use a training blade instead, that way they would not risk him harming the girl, and he would be able to fight effectively.
"He does not want to hurt his friend." A voice next to him came out of nowhere, startling him. Looking down in the direction of the voice, he saw the old man. Not very many people could get that close without him noticing. In fact, none that he had ever even met before. The older man smiled up at him blissfully.
"Yes, I see." Jack replied. "Are you Suzume's husband?" He asked.
"I should ask Suzume to make tea for you." He said thoughtfully.
Jack was taken aback. Not quite knowing how to respond, he continued slowly, "Suzume brought me here to talk to you."
"What? Another lost pet? No, we can't afford to take care of that woman's strays."
At this point, Jack was speechless. Thankfully, Suzume arrived with a tray of tea and snacks. "Ok, everyone! Time for a little break. Come get your tea." She set the tray down and started pouring several cups for everybody. At the sound of her voice, everyone dropped what they were doing and ran over to the woman. All of the girls except the senior one were chattering happily together. The three oldest, (the two boys and girl) all stood together talking quietly. They all had serious looks on their faces. Slowly, a hierarchy was being spread out before him. Those three were the most powerful and the leaders of this group, however they were not disciples here. Suzuki constantly referred to them as students, however the called the one who trained at Ryozanpaku a disciple. This meant that these kids were only training here as a favor from the old man, but they have leaders somewhere else. Possibly Ryozanpaku. After all, Suzuki said that they were friends with the Disciple. Interrupting his thoughts, Danki walked up to him, and held out a cup of tea, smiling.
"Thank you." Jack returned the smile and took the tea. Joining the group with Danki, and knelt down, and sipped at his tea.
"Have you asked about that place you were looking for?" Suzuki asked him once everyone settled down.
"No, I have not had the chance." He replied taking a sip of tea. "I am called Jack." He began. "I am looking for a certain Dojo in Japan, however I do not know where it is. Suzuki San said that some of you may know where it is." He addressed the group as a whole, Avoiding directly speaking to Danki as he thought the man was extremely senile.
The three oldest glanced at each other before the Sumo Wrestler spoke, "My friends call me Thor. This is Freya, and Beowulf." He referred to the girl and boy next to him. "What can you tell us about this Dojo you are looking for?"
"I know that it is called Ryozanpaku."
As soon as he spoke the word, he felt the atmosphere change. Before, the room felt friendly, if not a bit awkward. Now there was a distinct sense of fear. It was not coming from the elderly couple, or the three leaders. It was coming from every single one of the girls. "I apologize, is there something bad about that place?"
"Don't pay attention to the Valkyrie squad," Thor laughed.
"Yeah, they just had a bad run in with one of the Masters there once." The one called Beowulf continued. "Something about a rice spoon."
"Th-the Rice Spoon Monster…" one of the girls stuttered in fear. "I have never seen anything like it…."
"If you do not mind telling me," Jack asked, " what happened?" He could tell that they did not want to talk about it, and felt bad for asking, however if he ended up fighting these people it would be good to know what they could do.
"N-no. It is okay," another girl said. "It really was not that bad, just a shock and a little embarrassing."
"We were chasing this kid named Shirahama." A third girl continued. "Back then, we were part of a bad gang that recruited kids who had fighting talent. Shirahama was one of those kids, but he refused to join. One by one he took out entire Gang divisions by targeting their leaders. Eventually, Freya sent all of us after him, but Shirahama refused to fight us since we were girls. Because of this, he didn't stand a chance against us. At least until one of his masters showed up. It was a woman in a short, purple Kimono. She was going to use her sword against us, but Shirahama wouldn't let her. It was really weird, he kept yelling at us to run for our lives while they argued about what weapon she could use. We thought he was bluffing, especially when he agreed to let her use a rice spoon." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "She destroyed all of our weapons, and shredded our clothes with that wooden rice spoon. We never even stood the slightest chance against her."
"A wooden rice spoon?" Jack repeated. He had seen many masters use odd improvised weapons in fights, but never something so… random. And from the way they described it, it sounded like she used the spoon so she would not hurt them. There was definitely something he was missing. "You said that she shredded your clothes?"
"Yeah, what is it to you, ya pervert?" another girls answered snobbily.
"No, you misunderstand." He explained quickly. "I was wondering if she hurt you at all?"
"No she didn't. she never even brushed out skin." Yet another answered.
He thought about this for a minute. If she never touched the girls, then it would not matter what weapon she used. So what was the significance of the rice spoon? "Can any of you take me there?" he asked.
It was the one called Beowulf who answered. "Sure, I don't mind. I need to talk to Shirahama anyway. We can go whenever you want."
