Ten minutes of swift first floor searching yields zilch in gain; the kitchen is barren and to bake bread from the outside wheat will exhaust more daylight than Hisame can afford. This made options for food and drink limited if not impossible; if the basement holds nothing then she must surrender to hunger or improvise. Now in the dark underbelly of the building lit only by beams of glittering, dusty light she spends an additional five minutes sifting through shelves, drawers and cardboard boxes. All of them prove empty but luck strikes in the finding of a pair of full wine bottles so old their labels have peeled off; in the very least guaranteed to be of mature age.

With a bottle strangled in each hand she makes way from the scratchy stone floor, up the short set of noisy steps and back into the inviting light of the kitchen. She sets the wine down on the table and goes back to the sink, leaning over it with hands astride in a glower while she stares at the rusty metal basin below. Dismal thoughts parch her throat and pull down her heart; alone again, Hisame may take proper time concocting a scheme to outsmart her nemesis. A plot which has her looking up through the dirt-stained window at the wall of the barn in a glare of fiery defiance, speaking a frosty promise.

"I won't you let you have him."

It seemed her challenge had been heard when her ears hear the [i]screech[/i] which slaps her face with horror and locks her throat shut as blood turns to icy slush in her veins. She runs for the front door, outside and toward the barn. Ten feet from the broken-down entrance her pace is like a snail as her and every possible source of the sound's origin twists her tummy into dreadful knots. Nevertheless her dragging feet carry her forward, inching to the opening to turn and look inside...

...to see nothing at all; the barn undisturbed and derelict.

Except for her sword now aslumber in the center of the room upon a bed of straw.

She looks in every direction, outside and in, aching to see some person nearby to explain the impossible sound she'd heard; no one is found and once again it is just her and [i]it[/i]: she and her parasitic companion. Hisame swallows the lump in her throat and shakes her head with a prideful grin. "No... not this time. I'll just leave you [i]right fucking here[/i] and [i]ignore[/i] you..."

Hisame turns to walk away–

–and a cold clutch yanks her by the ankle, pulls her down to the ground and drags her into the barn, screaming; brought deep into the pervading shadows and left before her blade as the outside doors slam over the entrance like paper mâché to seal her within.

She lays on her side with listless, unblinking eyes; gazing at the katana she'd cursed herself with; what now enters her ear as a single whisper finds friends to create a congested cacophony. A myriad mutterings all demanding individual attention but it's not difficult to inference their ultimate desire: compliance.

Hisame blinks, peering out of the kitchen window at the barn; it doesn't register at first.

Then she gasps and falls back onto the floor in near-hyperventilation and cold sweat, scurrying backward until she feels the stiff wall. Eyes dart to every corner and crevice until she's sure she's alone; sure what just happened was only a vision and they were still safe. Finally Hisame catches breath and closes her eyes with a sigh of sweet relief; reminding herself of the partial control she has over present circumstances.

"I only have to get the information I need and leave before nightfall..."

Hisame picks herself up and wobbles toward the wine, scooping them up in each hand as she says, "I also need a fucking drink..."

She comes to the steps, slips off her sandals and ascends the staircase; her coming is announced in creaks while she comes over the crest and into the hallway toward a closed door. Only wet sensation beneath her feet gives pause and she stops to look at the puddle she now stands in; another shake of her head, but this time joined by a resurrected smile at how silly Magnixx is for a king. Did he not know how to fill a bath?

With a pair of knocks she calls to him, saying, "There is no food but I have found wine... when you're ready, join me in the bedroom... you'll know the one."

So she travels onward, glancing into each room until she found something suitable: a spacious interior with a queen-sized mattress and a nightstand nearby. That is where she sets down the wine and doubles back, untying the black ribbon of her ponytail before exiting with the door partially open. Hisame decorates the handle with a bow and runs her hands through her long locks to drape them over each shoulder, then continues her search for the final pieces of seduction's puzzle: a good place to get suitably dressed and perfect timing.