Kagome slowly walked towards her doomed destination. When she finally reached the main gate, Hojo was waiting at the carriage door with a wide grin plastered upon his face. Kagome greeted him oh-not-so-happily, and climbed into the carriage. Hojo followed in after her. Hojo ordered the carriage to go and started blabbing himself at Kagome once again as the horses started in a trot.
They had reached down in the market when the carriage stopped suddenly and Hojo got out. He offered his hand to Kagome who accepted out of her manners. When Kagome had finally gotten down, she gazed up at the place they were at. The sign above the door read, " Weapons and Armory". Kagome sighed indifferently. This would be no good to her. This place only let Hojo brag more.
And indeed, Kagome was right. As soon as they walked in the shop, he dashed over to a sword rack and pointed out different swords, and along with it, he told of his so-called, conquests that involved him using the specified sword. Kagome rolled her eyes. When she was eight, her father had already shown her the swords as well as many of the other weapons. She ignored Hojo and walk around the small dusty shop.
The shopkeeper was currently helping Hojo pick up a rack of swords he clumsily knocked over. Kagome ended up wandering towards a section that had clusters of different kinds of arrows and bows. A specific bow intrigued her. She walked over towards the mantle. The bow was clearly made by an expert. The wood was made out white birch, which made it very endurable. It was cut so fine and smooth that Kagome had the urge to touch it. But she knew if Hojo saw her handle a bow, he would definitely exclaim it to her mother, who would maul her down for "humiliating" herself in public. Kagome then moved on and found a man fletching arrows. The man then looked up and saw Kagome watching her curiously. He smiled at Kagome.
" Are you into archery, young lady?" said the man.
Kagome was surprised that he would ask, and rethought her words so she didn't sound too interested.
" I am intrigued by you handiwork. Did you make that birch bow over there?" Kagome pointed to the bow.
" Why yes. It's my best work yet." The man walked over and took hold of the bow and brought it over to Kagome. " You may hold it, if you want", the man said.
Kagome was about to reach for it when Hojo called for her. 'Damn him! I was so close too!' Kagome thanked the man and said she had to leave. Kagome asked the man for his name.
" My name is Ran, please come visit me whenever you like, miss." Ran replied and waved goodbye to Kagome.
Kagome left and went inside the carriage, followed by Hojo. ' He was a good man. I shall come visit sometime later' Kagome thought. The carriage started up again. They rode for a short period of time before the carriage stopped again and Hojo got out and helped Kagome out. They arrived at a restaurant attached to a tavern. Hojo led Kagome into the restaurant and ordered items from the menu for them to eat. Kagome looked about in interest. There were many men in the tavern part of the restaurant, brawling and gambling. She found she was one of the very few women in the restaurant/tavern. Other than the serving ladies, there were only 3 other women about, and they seemed disgusted at the sight of their men drinking. Kagome didn't mind and waited for their meal.
Hojo was now ranting about something again when there was a loud 'CRASH' from the breaking of dishes and glass over on the tavern side. It seemed that a brawl was taking place. Many of the men got up and started to cheer for whosever side they rooted for. Kagome decided to get up and look at the fight. The two fighters had black hair. The one that seemed to be winning had a weird brown type suit on and had sharp blue eyes. His long black hair was tied up in a ponytail. The other one had his black hair falling straight down to his hips and was wearing a red type of hakama and a sword was at his side. But he didn't use his sword. Instead he lashed out with his fists. The man clad in red tripped over the brown clad person and fell, losing the match. The winner snuffed in his face and let out a cheer. Then he sneered down at his fallen opponent and walked off. The crowd started to break up. Kagome went to the fallen man's side and helped him up.
" You really shouldn't fight you know. " Kagome said to the stranger. Kagome dabbed a wet cloth that a maid gave her and wiped off the blood from the stranger's head. The stranger looked up at Kagome and stared at her intensely, as if to memorize her face. All too soon, Kagome heard Hojo and abandoned the stranger to the serving maid care and went to Hojo. ' God knows only what mother will do to me if she finds out that I was helping a stranger, a MALE stranger for no reason. But...he seemed kind of familiar...I wonder why?' Kagome pondered the rest of the carriage ride home.
They had reached down in the market when the carriage stopped suddenly and Hojo got out. He offered his hand to Kagome who accepted out of her manners. When Kagome had finally gotten down, she gazed up at the place they were at. The sign above the door read, " Weapons and Armory". Kagome sighed indifferently. This would be no good to her. This place only let Hojo brag more.
And indeed, Kagome was right. As soon as they walked in the shop, he dashed over to a sword rack and pointed out different swords, and along with it, he told of his so-called, conquests that involved him using the specified sword. Kagome rolled her eyes. When she was eight, her father had already shown her the swords as well as many of the other weapons. She ignored Hojo and walk around the small dusty shop.
The shopkeeper was currently helping Hojo pick up a rack of swords he clumsily knocked over. Kagome ended up wandering towards a section that had clusters of different kinds of arrows and bows. A specific bow intrigued her. She walked over towards the mantle. The bow was clearly made by an expert. The wood was made out white birch, which made it very endurable. It was cut so fine and smooth that Kagome had the urge to touch it. But she knew if Hojo saw her handle a bow, he would definitely exclaim it to her mother, who would maul her down for "humiliating" herself in public. Kagome then moved on and found a man fletching arrows. The man then looked up and saw Kagome watching her curiously. He smiled at Kagome.
" Are you into archery, young lady?" said the man.
Kagome was surprised that he would ask, and rethought her words so she didn't sound too interested.
" I am intrigued by you handiwork. Did you make that birch bow over there?" Kagome pointed to the bow.
" Why yes. It's my best work yet." The man walked over and took hold of the bow and brought it over to Kagome. " You may hold it, if you want", the man said.
Kagome was about to reach for it when Hojo called for her. 'Damn him! I was so close too!' Kagome thanked the man and said she had to leave. Kagome asked the man for his name.
" My name is Ran, please come visit me whenever you like, miss." Ran replied and waved goodbye to Kagome.
Kagome left and went inside the carriage, followed by Hojo. ' He was a good man. I shall come visit sometime later' Kagome thought. The carriage started up again. They rode for a short period of time before the carriage stopped again and Hojo got out and helped Kagome out. They arrived at a restaurant attached to a tavern. Hojo led Kagome into the restaurant and ordered items from the menu for them to eat. Kagome looked about in interest. There were many men in the tavern part of the restaurant, brawling and gambling. She found she was one of the very few women in the restaurant/tavern. Other than the serving ladies, there were only 3 other women about, and they seemed disgusted at the sight of their men drinking. Kagome didn't mind and waited for their meal.
Hojo was now ranting about something again when there was a loud 'CRASH' from the breaking of dishes and glass over on the tavern side. It seemed that a brawl was taking place. Many of the men got up and started to cheer for whosever side they rooted for. Kagome decided to get up and look at the fight. The two fighters had black hair. The one that seemed to be winning had a weird brown type suit on and had sharp blue eyes. His long black hair was tied up in a ponytail. The other one had his black hair falling straight down to his hips and was wearing a red type of hakama and a sword was at his side. But he didn't use his sword. Instead he lashed out with his fists. The man clad in red tripped over the brown clad person and fell, losing the match. The winner snuffed in his face and let out a cheer. Then he sneered down at his fallen opponent and walked off. The crowd started to break up. Kagome went to the fallen man's side and helped him up.
" You really shouldn't fight you know. " Kagome said to the stranger. Kagome dabbed a wet cloth that a maid gave her and wiped off the blood from the stranger's head. The stranger looked up at Kagome and stared at her intensely, as if to memorize her face. All too soon, Kagome heard Hojo and abandoned the stranger to the serving maid care and went to Hojo. ' God knows only what mother will do to me if she finds out that I was helping a stranger, a MALE stranger for no reason. But...he seemed kind of familiar...I wonder why?' Kagome pondered the rest of the carriage ride home.