As they entered into the village, the group immediately split up. Ayame ran off to find suitable work, while the Band split in half, half going to confront the Lord of the West, and the other half going to find lodgings for their stay as well as stocking up on supplies for when they move on from this village. Bankotsu, Jakotsu and Renkotsu make their way to the castle to collect the money, waving to the others as they break off. Bankotsu smirks as he notices the guards of the castle begin to fidget upon their arrival.

No one tries to stop the three of them from walking towards the throne room. Most people quickly get out of their way, all too aware of the power just these three men have. Opening the door to the throne room, the Lord snorts on his tea, not expecting this intrusion. After cleaning himself up a bit, the Lord clears his throat before addressing the mercenaries, "So, you survived. I take it this means my enemies are dead, yes?"

"Of course. The entire army was taken care of. Now, if you'll just give us our pay we'll be on our way."

The Lord purses his lips, thinking of greed, before nodding curtly and calling for his attendant to bring in the gold. Once the attendant comes back with the money, Bankotsu grabs it and turns to leave. "You're not going to count it?" The Lord asks.

"Nah, if I find you short changed us, it's not like I don't know where to fins you."

Not waiting for his reaction, Bankotsu leads the other two back out to the village with the intent of helping his comrades with the errands, wondering if Ayame has found work yet.

OoO

Ayame was having some luck today. She had already completed four random jobs before she went back to the inn Suikotsu had told her they were staying at for the night. Although what she earned wasn't too much, it was enough for a room at the inn—she knew the Band wouldn't put her up—and a couple of meals. Definitely not a lot, but enough to get her to another town with the Band. Who knows, if they decided to stay a couple more nights in this village, she could raise even more.

After paying the inn keeper for the first night, Ayame went out to look for the Band. Not too surprising, she found them in their room, eating up a feast. As soon as she walked in the room, Jakotsu groaned, thinking he'd have to share his food with the girl. Glaring at the cross dresser, she sits next to Bankotsu, asking, "What's his problem this time?"

Bankotsu shrugs before replying, "He thinks you're going to eat his food." Ayame rolls her eyes, "I'm not going to eat your food. Look," she says holding up her small pouch filled with coins, "I've got my own money now, I don't need to steal your food. When I' hungry I'll buy my own."

Jakotsu says nothing, but does look a little sheepish now. Bankotsu brings her attention back to him by asking, "So what did you do to get that money?"

"Just a few odd jobs here and there. A guard from the castle asked me to help him find a criminal that ran off under his watch. He didn't want his Lord to find out, so he paid me to help him. It wasn't too hard. He was hanging out by the front gate, waiting for the guard switch to escape. That's where most of my money came from. I taught a pair of brothers how to perform some beginners offensive and defensive sword moves. Then I returned a lost little girl to her mother, and helped an old man clean up his shop." She shrugs, "Nothing major."

Bankotsu nods, returning his attention to the food in front of him. While the Band eats in silence, Ayame stretches her arms above her head, and heads out of the room, planning on asking the inn keeper to send some food to her room. Upon finding him however, he is not alone. He's surrounded by at least five other bodies, all gossiping with one another. Chuckling at their antics, Ayame can't help but ask, "What's got you all in such a twitter?"

The keeper looks up startled, but then relaxes when he sees that it is just a girl. Coughing into his sleeve, the man answers, "Well miss, the news has just reached us, it seems the Lord of a village just south of us, Lord Akihiro, has had a terrible occurrence. His son and heir, Atsuo, I believe his name was, has just recently passes away."

Ayame's breath gets caught in her throat. She almost can't believe Atsuo's dead. Although she never talked to her half brother all that much, she still knew he was a good man, much better than their father. A new thought emerges into her head: now that Atsuo is dead, Akihiro will definitely try to track her down to discover the whereabouts of her younger brother. Hopefully they''ll be leaving tomorrow and put even more distance between them and him.

Trying not to let the keeper know of her inner turmoil—she hopes it's not showing on her face—she asks him to bring her some supper before spinning on her heel and walking as fast as she can without suspicion back to the Band's room to tell Banotsu of this new development.

A/N: Sorry it took a while for this to be updated. Hope you like. Let me know what you thought.

Pastry~