[sub][color=lightgray][i]Down along the creek,
I remembered Something…[/i][/color][/sub]

[hr]

[center][b][u][h1][color=92278f]Abe Kaitori[/color][/h1][/u][/b][/center]

[indent]Dark, yet warm eyes came open slowly upon the freshly dawned day. The young woman who owned them was awoken and alert without the preambles of sluggishness. To the contrary, she sprung to life quickly, and with much vigor. Her katana, which had been set across her lap as she had rested against the back of the second wagon, made its way swiftly back to its proper place upon the left side of her hip. 

As her legs pushed her body upright, the musings of thought began their flow through her mind. There were a great many things to think about too. First, but not least of all, was the prospect of the day’s task: escort the wagons to their destination in the capital of Ryke. Though not as long as other roads, it would have its due span, and the expectant dangers of beasts and bandits; her hand skittered anxiously along the hilts of her sword at the idea of combat, its edge not tasting blood since she began her journey south. In due time, it would have to see battle once more. Breathing, she settled her nerves and eased the twitching of her muscles. 

Rumination led to reminiscence. A long road might lay ahead. But a long one lay behind as well. 

The ebbs and flows of politics had rendered the young warrior listless, and without a master to serve; such had been the matters in her distant fringe of the Republic. It had been a grace enough for her to have fought her way from the estate, let alone survive the road to Ryke while still adorning the purple and gold, and imagery associated with her late Lord. Perhaps she had been that good at evading detection? More likely, a young bodyguard fleeing to another nation was of little enough importance to be pursued; there was no need to risk war over a retreating foe. 

Either way it was, she had managed to procure enough provisions and find adequate shelter to cross the border. With the threat of sentient enemies well behind her, she had turned her focus to the basic needs: Food, water, supplies, and suitable lodging, or at least the currency with which to acquire them. A week’s wandering had crossed her path with the Adventurer's Guild, and their offer to let her test her mettle and join their ranks. It wasn’t quite the same as serving a Lord. But it would cover all of her basic needs, as well as the seldom spoken of necessities of purpose and direction. 

She had made haste to the Bom Bom Farm upon signing on for the job. Finding little need to await the companionship of strangers, she had set off from the Guild alone, and arrived at the farm in the predawn hours, just as the matriarch, Marla, had begun loading the last of the cargo onto the wagons. It had, of course, taken some convincing to assure her, the younger girl, and the man tending to the second wagon, that she was no thief or bandit, but it had been achieved. 

She stood then, pensively, allowing the warmth of the morning sun to sooth her mind, body, and spirit. When she heard the first breaths of conversation from the front of the wagons, she tightened the tail of her black hair, tidied her garments, and stepped around to meet the new arrivals. Pacing cautiously past the man, and, not acknowledging the daughter [whom she presumed she had frightened upon her arrival], she approached the first wagon, where Marla and the other escorts were convened. [color=92278f]“Kaitori,”[/color] she announced herself, bowing low to who she took to be her allies on this new journey. [color=92278f]“My blade joins you in service.”[/color][/indent]