The Ibashiyama Festival(Closed, Makaru, Kouzai)

Taron munched on some of the food shared with Kenreimon  "Wow, this is really good.  Pretty much good enough to make it worth being stabbed today." he said licking his fingers and lips a bit.

After they ate, they proceeded further into the festival.  Kenreimon pulled Taron a bit closer to whisper to him.  He listened and a puzzled expression came across his face.  "Injured? I don't recall injuring... Oh.  That might not be Kobimaru, but his lackey.  I think I can identify him if I see him. Taron stood up straight to his full height and could see over most heads.  After they went a few more paces Taron caught sight of Kobimaru's buddy.  Some tension entered his body and he quickly relaxed his gaze before eye contact was made.  That guy probably had some other weapon on him.  "Ok, I see Kobimaru's friend, should we play a game to blend in, I don't think Kobimaru will be far off.  This guy seems like the type to carry a lot of weapons, he might be armed."

Taron put a smile on his face and gestured towards a festival game. "After you, miss Kenreimon." a hint a flirtation rested on his voice that he couldn't hide.  He hoped the lack of a title didn't offend her.  He shoved that thought aside and focused.  Taron needed to know where both Kobimaru and his thug were before making a scene.

Kenreimon hid her blush at being called "miss." It was such a simple term, but not in a bad way. The simplicity of it had caught her off guard. It was quite a refreshing feeling, actually. It was always Mother Kenreimon-in, Kenreimon-in, High Priestess, Your Highness, Princess, Minister, or whatever many more titles she held.

Miss was a nice change of course.

Kenreimon thought over Taron's words. He was probably right. Kobimaru was probably close to his lackey. Keeping him nearby in case he needed to make a break for it, and throw his underling to the dogs while he made a break.

The distraction would prove enough for him to get away; if the remaining underling made enough of a scene or fought back in any way, the crowds would panic and scatter. In the chaos, as stalls and people were shoved and trampled in the mad dash to escape the fighting, Kobimaru could easily slip away with the rest of the fleeing townsfolk.

What's more, his adrenaline and fear would be masked by the massive crowd around him who were all running on and feeling the same emotions.

It was then that it struck Kenreimon. Right as she caught sight of a suspicious looking, hunched over man who could only be the wounded underling.

While Kobimaru was likely not aware that he was being tracked by his spiritual energy, he was STILL a very seasoned, and infamous criminal. A man as experienced as him would not be skulking around the festival on the fringes filled with fear and anxiety. Kenreimon had completely misjudged him and the situation.

No, a man like Kobimaru would be blending in just as Taron and Kenreimon were. In the throng of the action, acting like just another traveller who came to the town for the festival. He would be taking in the sites and playing the charismatic and kind traveller. Who would suspect someone who doesn't act suspicious after all? He would just be one of the many hundreds of pilgrims who had come here on this day from the surrounding areas.

Hide in plain sight. That was likely Kobimaru's tactic to escape Taron and the law now.

Kenreimon cursed her short-sightedness.

She relayed her new thoughts to Taron as the underling, no more than fifty feet away, shifted nervously. He had, luckily, still not noticed Taron. Likely, he was keeping looking for Kobimaru, ready to throw himself at Taron and cause a scene as he had been instructed.

"We're in the right area," explained Kenreimon, "But I've been looking for the wrong kind of energy signatures. We'll need to track him by sight. Scan the stalls, maybe see if he's talking to any of the local geisha or hot-water women who attend these festivals. Someone acting like part of the crowd. Could you recognize him if you saw him?"

The blush on Kenreimon's face didn't go unnoticed, Taron was a bit sharper than that.  He certainly pretended to not notice.  Internally he was screaming at himself to focus, now was not the time to be getting worked up over a princess.  Kenreimon caught a glimpse of Kobimaru's man through the crowd and she appeared to be thinking for a few moments.  Taron focused on the line to the stall they were in, deliberately choosing to not look at the minion.  Kenreimon spoke up and Taron listened intently.  He nodded along, it made sense, he didn't think of it himself until a moment ago.

"I could recognize him pretty easily.  I got a pretty good look at him while I was... well, trying to capture him."  Taron tilted his head seeing if he just happened to hear anything through the crowd, but to no avail.  "Follow me, I think I have an idea of where he'll be."  Taron inhaled a measured breath and grabbed Kenreimon's hand and began leading her around Kobimaru's minion.  Moving towards not the least obvious stall, but the second least obvious stall, one that had a few Geisha performers and an arrangement of seats.  

He stared at the seats eyes darting around from person to person, meticulously combing through the details.  "Come on, come on!" He thought to himself as he scanned the seats.  A man caught his attention on the third row then Taron realized that it was their target. He could see the side of his face, unmistakable.  Long dark hair and the same exact outfit he had on.  "Found you" Taron resisted the urge to smile. Kobimaru hadn't even bothered to change and he was sitting comfortably in one of the seats seeming to enjoy a little food of his own.  This was definitely a man who thought he had gotten away, the minion nearby was likely just a slight precaution, but a bad one.  Once more Taron lead Kenreimon, this time, just around the corner out of sight.  Taron moved as if he were wandering around just like any of the other people moving about.  

Taron, in that moment, briefly considered his own situation.  This Kobimaru had just tried to kill him for being a rival and very nearly succeeded.  If he tried again, it wouldn't be as easy to get out of.  Taron had to get him out of the way, either behind bars, or dead. However, first he needed him to tell him what he had come here for in the first place.  He needed a situation where he could interrogate the man.  Maybe, Kenreimon would allow him to if he played his cards right.  

"Found him. Third row on the left side, dark long hair, red clothes, looks fairly relaxed.  He must have evaded other people this way before."  Taron paused considering options and letting Kenreimon glance around the corner.  "This man is a firebender, if we engage him now, it could cause some damage..." Taron gazed intently into nothing considering his observations and his possibilites. "...Do you think you could track him specifically now that you've seen him?"  Taron took some paces back and forth, this was a frustrating situation.  "I might be able to quietly threaten him into following me.  I still have a dagger, but there's so many fast ones he could pull I am unsure."  Taron sighed "We may just have to wait and risk tailing him."  Taron waited for Kenreimon's answer.

Kenreimon kept an eye on the minion while Taron scanned the throngs of people for signs of Kobimaru. If that minion saw them, or saw Taron, all of this would mean nothing. He'd cause a scene, start fighting, or find some other way to tip off Kobimaru and the latter would be able to escape with the fleeing masses.

Taron spotted him! Finally! Not a moment too soon.

Kenreimon took a moment to memorize Kobimaru's face and location. "I've got eyes on him," she said. "I've seen him, I've memorized his chi and aura. I won't forget it. I'll keep an eye on him. What's the plan?"

Taron wanted to avoid open confrontation that would hurt anyone else. Honestly, Kenreimon couldn't disagree. These innocent people didn't need to be severely wounded or killed just for enjoying their festival. Moreso, Kenreimon was still doubtful they could reach Kobimaru through the crowds before he started a rampage to flee. He'd escape easily, and that would be bad.

"We need to flush him out. Move him obviously. How do we do that without making it obvious who we are? We need to get him moving towards the outskirts," pondered Kenreimon.

Then it hit her.

"Take this," she handed over a small clay seal that she produced from within her sleeve. A seal of the royal house of Ezofuji, denoting Kenreimon's name and rank. It was an outdated proof of her nobility, since she had been granted her own Kuge House, but it was good enough for a guard. "Hand this over to one of the guards. Explain the situation, tell them to start slowly, but covertly sweeping through the crowd. Tell them to cast a wide net. We don't want to spook him, just make it look like a regular patrol. Kobimaru might be wary enough to start backing away, slowly. We'd be able to push him to the outskirts if we're lucky. I'll keep an eye on him so we don't lose him in the crowd."

Kenreimon turned back towards Kobimaru and kept a trained focus on him without staring at him directly. She "saw" him through his chi, which was easy enough to "see" without staring.

She could feel a rush of adrenaline through her body. Perhaps it was the excitement of hunting the criminal Kobimaru, or maybe something else? No time to focus now. Taron was coming back, and the guards were already starting their sweep.

Kenreimon's strategy was sound, Taron had not thought to bring the soldiers into this.  A brilliant, but simple move really. "This girl gets more interesting by the second." Taron mused to himself. The seal was acquired by Taron and he wasted no time taking a route away from the view of Kobimaru and his minion.  He found a Guard and produced the seal.

"There is a criminal in the festival, Kenreimon-In and I need help collecting him quietly."  The Guards eyes widened in surprised by he led Taron quickly to his superior.  Taron once again explained the situation and then proceeded to explain the plan. "Kobimaru is in the midst of people and is likely willing to injure people if he gets caught.  So we need to lure him out, a loose patrol through the stalls in that direction should get him to move."

The familiar feeling of ordering soldiers to work entered Taron's body.  It was also a feeling to be controlled.  The soldiers that had gathered there went quickly over their patrol plan and then began to carry it out.  Taron excused himself saying he needed to be in position and moved with haste back down the route he took to get here.  He needed to beat the guards to Kenreimon.  

He soon once again found her.  He quietly approached within her field of view.  "The Guards are on their way, let's stay out of view but keep track of Kobimaru and we will catch him nice and easy.  He is a moderately trained firebender so keep that in mind.   Taron paused letting the adrenaline run it's course, it was odd that he was so worked up.  A suave tone entered his voice as he tried to make eye contact.  "Anything else?"  The flirt was subtle and could be written off easily.  It was risk free he reasoned to himself.  Absolutely no harm in that.

Taron was not gone long before he returned, his mission completed.

Kenreimon could already see the guards slowly moving through the crowds, pretending be on a regular patrol. They hadn't sent too many, but not too few. Their net was wide, but Kobimaru noticed. He was twitching. His heart rate went up. He noticed the guards, and he started to move.

Kenreimon smirked. He was going up the hill, towards the vendors, keeping calm, smooth. His face betrayed the minor panic within.

"Yes, actually," said Kenreimon. She smiled at Taron and took his hand again. "Let's go up to the peddlers and see what wares they've made this year." She added in a quieter tone. "Kobimaru seems to be going up towards that area. Plus they have the prettiest hair pins and artwork on display."

Kenreimon smirked and led Taron off towards the artists alley, as it was known. Traditional woodblock prints, water colour paintings, oil on canvas, and even sculptures of wood and stone were in abundance here. The spectrum of art was vast and beautiful, and every artist viewed the world in a unique way that affected how they played with colours and the canvas.

But for all the enjoyment Kenreimon portrayed and showed as she browsed the wares, she did not one take her "eyes" off Kobimaru. They were closing in.

Kenreimon once again grabbed Taron's hand so easily.  This is much more dangerous for me than for her he thought to himself, amused.  It was ok, Taron was used to danger, in fact he kind of liked it.  He certainly liked this.  To top it all off she brought him through the richly cultured area of the art vendors.  He was really Inured by it all.  

Staring at the art, fascinated, he said “Incredible, this place really does have a rich culture.  Maybe if I retire one day it could be here.”  The two of them came to a vendor that sold hair pins.  Taron eyed the flower based ones and found exactly what he was looking for.  The hair pin had some pearl like ornaments and other small intricacies, but the flower topped on it was a little white Gardenia.  

He wondered if Kenreimon would grasp the meaning of this flower.  It really depended on how much she knew about the culture of it, which was admittedly, likely a lot. “Let's see here... sir, I would like...” He moseyed his finger about as if just now selecting. “That one.”

The Vendor smiled broadly and nodded. “Excellent choice sir.”  Taron had a theory that this man knew what that meant, judging by that silly grin.

He exchanged the necessary money and held out the pin for Kenreimon.  “A small gift.”  He said.  He brought his eyes to look into hers, he wondered if she understood it.  If he could make eye contact, maybe he could convey the meaning without causing too much of a scene.  Of course he knew not to stare too long either.

He re-focused himself hoping the distraction didn't cost them too much time. “We must be getting close to Kobimaru now yes?”