[Sunagakure] Sunagakure Marketplace۞

[Cobra_X]

As soon as Reiko's footsteps hit the sand in the open areas behind the main marketplace, the men who were outside were alerted to her presence and they both turned, raising up the knives they held in their hands. At the very sight of her however, the thieves relaxed their stances and a stared a bit as she approached. Her questioning voice reaching them, the one closest to her seemed a bit shocked that she spoke first and seemed to falter with his own words. Maybe he had never been spoken to a woman who looked so good before, or maybe perhaps he was simply shocked that she would approach them so casually, but eventually after she got a few steps closer, his wits returned to him and with a struggle to return his line of sight to her eyes, he held up his knife and barked back at her...

"Hey, keep back lady. It's none of your business whats going on here. Now scram before we get the boss and he wraps you up with the other one!" With that he tried to keep his composure, but for some reason he looked uneasy. Careful observation of the man would note that the grip on his knife had to be re-adjusted several times, and continually looked back behind him to see if his partner had his back. His partner was doing much the same but seemed to every now and again slip his foot backward as if he were getting ready to run, or inch away from the scene.

Unrelinquished Despair

 

[Cobra_X]

The nervous man's grip faltered and he nearly dropped his weapon when Reiko stepped closer and suggested that he wrap her up. He looked nervously back at his partner, but the man was gone, having ducked into the shop nearby a few moments earlier. "Hey, Kensei, you blockhead, where'd you go" the man shouted over his shoulder before looking back at Reiko nervously. By this point the man was sweating, but before long his partner arrived back from the tent with a rope and a swaddle of cloth.

"We don't have time to deal with this. We'll put her with the other one and blindfold her. We can't afford to have her run off and tell others she saw us here. The boss will decide what to do with her." Gruffly, the man approached Reiko and eyed her with a bit of a smile before walking behind her. Expecting no resistance from a woman, he slipped the cloth around her eyes and then tied it so she could see nothing. Then, somewhat roughly, a few times grazing areas he didn't need to, he wrapped the rope around her waist and arms. After this was done, the voice of the nervous man spoke once again, "Walk forward" and with the command Reiko could feel herself tugged forward and led into the building nearby.

Inside, it could be heard that people were moving around, but not much else could be learned. After a few moments, Reiko would was stopped with a jerk, "Now sit down and keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut, or we'll gag you too". Since she could not see, Reiko had no way of knowing how far she had to go to sit, but there was a box right behind her, though it was likely a little lower to the ground then a normal seat that she might expect. After that, the man walked away and all that could be heard was the bustling and busy feet of unknown workers, though it wasn't necessarily near her, but off a bit. If Reiko had to guess, she would probably guess that she was in a corner, away from everyone else.

{{This post assumes that you do not resist when they tie you up and lead you inside. If you choose to resist, that's fine. I'll just pick up with their reactions as if you resisted in my next post. Otherwise, everything goes as I have written.}}
 

[Cobra_X]

Reiko's comment did not fall on deaf ears, but at the same time they had not reached the one she was expecting them to reach either. The man had already walked away when she made her comment and did not bother to wait for her to sit before heading back to his post. However, a response came in the way of a soft voice to her left... "He already left...". The voice was that of a young girl who sounded sweet and innocent, but sad, as if she had been defeated and captured and now had no hope. She spoke softly so as to avoid the others hearing her and she was afraid, but having someone else join her in captivity awoke her from her inward thoughts and made her rather curious.

"You're a shinobi, aren't you?... I can tell. None of the others are, well, maybe one is, it can be difficult to tell sometimes... but you definitely are. Oh, but does that mean you're here to rescue me?... sounds like you got caught though. Too bad. I wanted to go home real bad." The girls voice started out hopeful, but died away towards the end as her own line of questioning thoughts answered her and depressed her again as all hope was removed from her situation once more.

Unrelinquished Despair

 

[Cobra_X]

The young girl was beginning to enjoy that she had someone to talk to and it was helping her forget the situation she was in which lightened her spirit. As she spoke, her voice, though still remaining soft began to sound more playful, as a child's voice does when they are enjoying a conversation. ""I said he might be a ninja. Sometimes stronger willed civilians seem like ninja, well, at least that's how I see them. But, I don't know what they are doing. They move around a lot and carry things from place to place. They keep talking about a shipment though... how they need to be ready for it."

Reiko: "We'll just bet on him being a ninja for the time being. Probably the leader of the group, then. A shipment? Do you know anything else about it?"

The little girl hummed to herself a little, as if trying to recall, then responded childishly, not realizing the importance of the question she was asked. "Nope, they just keep saying the boss will be mad if the shipment is late. Something about getting it out before anyone knows its gone.""

Reiko: "So they're part of a larger group, then. Not simple looters. Is there anything else that you know that might be useful?"

Shrugging as if Reiko could see her, the girl responded casually, as if she didn't understand what she was being asked... "I dunno... what do you want to know?"

Reiko: "How long have you been here? Do you know anything about any of the men? How did you end up here?"

Humming to herself again, the girl responded ina surprisingly light-hearted manner as she was beginning to enjoy being given so much attention when she had been alone for so long. It was clear that she was now beginning to trust Reiko, and likely would answer any question she was asked, though her child's perspective was not always easy to interpret. "Hmmmm... well, I don't know who they are, but they aren't very nice. I got lost when a building fell earlier and I couldn't find my mom. I saw them moving behind the stores and I thought they would help me find my mom, but instead they just tied me up and put a bag over my head and stuck me in here. I didn't cry though. Mommy says crying is for little girls and I'm a big girl now."

The young girl puffed out her chest, again as if Reiko could see her, but then got excited once she realized she had more she could say... "Oh, but I know lots about them... I know how big they are, where they are, how strong they are. I can guess what they are doing and where they are going. I can't tell you their names or describe their faces though."

{{For anyone wondering why I was speaking for Reiko, me and Despair just did the dialogue in chat for a few erchanges to save on posting time since our schedules don't always line up.}}

Unrelinquished Despair

 

[Cobra_X]

The response to Reiko's question didn't come immediately, but after a bout of disturbed laughter from off in the distance, one of the bandits spoke up... "Shut your trap Wench!... when the boss is done loadin, he'll have some fun with you alright. Whether you'll consider it fun or not, I guess that depends on the type of person you are. I know what I'd do, and I can guarantee it wouldn't be much fun for you." The comment set off another round of laughter among the crew and Reiko and the other girl were quickly re-ignored as they went back to their work.

"Fun?... what kind of game are they talking about?" the young girl asked innocently. She seemed to think about it fora bit, but then broke the silence once more, seeming to be uncomfortable with their situation now... "Well, you're a ninja aren't you... you can get us out of here and beat them right? That's what ninja do in the village. They punish the bad people. That's what you're here for right?"

Unrelinquished Despair