[CENTER][h1][color=#814b46]SEIMEI KEIKO[/color][/h1][/center][right][sub]tags - [@Maxx][@Hero][@Queen Arya][@Lemons][@McMolly][/sub][/right][hr]

[indent]It had always been Keiko's way to be observant. Despite the reputation she had cultivated in the village as a troublemaker, despite her mother's scolding whenever she shirked her lessons, she was a perceptive young woman. When her interest was piqued by something, little managed to escape her notice. 

It went without saying that the terse standoff outside the village's smithy thoroughly piqued her interest. Though dread still roiled about in the pit of her stomach—or perhaps [i]because[/i] of it—she hung off every word that left Ashida Katsuro's mouth. If they had not been tended to by a smith for months at a time, there was no doubt to be had as to their origin. They came to the village from someplace outside the valley, and perhaps more importantly, wherever they came from was a significant enough distance away that their equipment had fallen into disrepair in the meanwhile.

She might've allowed her mind to race through the possibilities. How did they locate the village? Had they come through the gate or found another way in? How had they managed to get the gate open? What was the world like beyond those fragile utopias like the one she had called home for so many years? Were there [i]other[/i] valleys like Heiseina's own in the world they had discovered? Perhaps most importantly, what had become of those valleys?

The questions came to a halt as the glint of steel caught her eye. The item held so gingerly in Katsuro's hands was an uneasy sight. It resembled the tools some of the village's hunters used while performing their sacred duties. Given its length, she doubted it was used to dispatch humble wildlife. Keiko's unease grew.

Impulsive as she was wont to be, she struggled to maintain her deathly stillness. The conversation had nothing to do with her in particular: they stood in Tetsu's forge, requests being made for his apprentice's work. The man did not seek Seimei Tomo, but the village's headman. She had little reason to stay. The signkeeper's apprentice considered how she might plot her escape in the waning moments between the man's request and his eyes igniting like so many embers.

And with his words, her escape became less a nervous desire and more a sudden need. Every ounce of willpower the young lady had in her body dedicated itself to restraining the expressive orbs that were her eyes into indifference. Liberation from the demons? A prize in the valley? The dread that had filled her sunk into her stomach like a gaping pit as her mind pieced together just what the party of armed men before them wanted.

She had to talk to her mother. She [i]needed[/i] to talk to her mother. Everything else was secondary.

[color=814b46]"Uhm, well, that all sounds very important,"[/color] The trickster's nature in her bubbled to the surface as Keiko donned the same innocuous guise she had in the moments before their Blazing Fist's arrival, which had grated at Fumiko so, [color=814b46]"Maybe it's for the best if I clear out. I had only come by to keep Tsu-kun company, but it seems he's going to have his hands full..."[/color]

With a bashfulness in her cheeks, she placed her hands on her lap, offering a polite bow to the older gentleman in a show of courtesy.

[color=814b46]"I wish you luck in the endeavors that bring you here, Ashida-sama."[/color][/indent]