A Night Beyond Falcon River [Closed]

It was a night just like any other.  Ujiyasu had just finished his job at the shop.  "You have a good night Ujiyasu."  The shop keeper spoke, straining to lift a heavy box to a high shelf.  Ujiyasu smiled.  "Hey."  He took the box and lifted it to the shelf for him.  "You already threw out your back once this week.  Don't overdo it."  As he finished placing the box he went to walk out of the store.  A simple wave of the hand was his goodbye.  The night was still young, he had nothing to do.  Maybe he'd go enjoy it, as he always does.  Making a quick pit stop at his home, he grabbed his kimono and threw it loosely over his body.  With it, he put on a pointed straw hat.  It was chilly, some things to block the wind never hurt.  He also grabbed his halberd, since night time was the friend of many a criminal.  He didn't have any responsibilities, he never did.  Except for the shop, he just couldn't motivate himself to do work.  As he stepped back out he immediately observed the night sky.  There he saw the moon.  Somehow, it seems as if the moon is weeping.  Knowing it was just his imagination though, Ujiyasu shook it off and wandered into the night.  The city was winding down, the last of the children at play were being herded into their homes, all the shops were closing, and the dwellers of the night were coming out.  As he walked, he saw a beggar out, a young child in tattered clothing.  He casually tossed a silver piece to the boy as he continued out.  Normally he didn't end up encountering ones so young, unusual.  He wondered if they were omens of things to come.

The moment he left the city the breeze picked up.  The various buildings and other infrastructure no longer providing blockage.  Holding his hat to his head, he pressed on a bit.  The owner had a trip to be on so the shop was going to be closed for a little while.  He had grabbed some supplies and was just gonna go out to the river.  Easier said than done considering it's distance from Aria, but he didn't care much.  A few days later he arrived at the river.  Sitting down, he watched the gentle light of the moon reflecting off the water's surface.  The water was a little faster than he remembered.  Maybe there was a bit of rain upstream.  Normally he'd swim across, but even though he was strong enough, it would be exhausting to fight the current.  Plus he'd get his clothes soaked in chilly weather.  Once he finished admiring the mostly gentle river, he walked downstream a bit until he found a bridge and crossed.  The wind rustled gently through the leaves.  With each step one could hear the crinkle of the foliage.  Up ahead, he thought he spotted an opening full of moonlight.  A clearing?  Maybe a good place to sit and admire the view.  He made his way, and as the clearing opened up and.  Not what I meant by admire the view.  A naked girl.  Except in the bedroom or a brothel, that wasn't a good thing to randomly see.  "You're not dead are you?"  He said walking slowly up to her.  He looked around, not too many clothes seemed to be left.  Though he could see some shredded remains.  Then he saw it, body moving up and down, since she was on her stomach.  Her eyes open and trembling.  Her hands clearly had a grip on the grass.  "Are you hurt?"  He said, scratching the back of his head.  What was one to do in this situation exactly, it wasn't one he had prepared for.  He'd have to wing it.

It was perfectly reasonable to need to see bodily motion to determine whether she was alive or not. She was completely inert until he finally spoke the second time. Finally she looked at him, but it wasn't the most flattering of expressions. He couldn't quite tell since he was only seeing by moonlight, but he thought there were signs of tears on her cheeks. She seemed to wipe something away anyway. She kept stuttering. He wouldn't be able to figure out anything if she didn't just spit it out. "Slow down." He said as she continued to stutter. Finally she said she was okay. No, no she was not okay. It was quite plain to see that she was not okay. She looked like a rape victim, which was exactly what Ujiyasu figured she was. There would be no other logical explanation for this situation. Finally she continued and mentioned how ruined her clothes were ruined. Most likely, she was just coming to terms with it. She was obviously freezing, based on how her skin seemed to be reacting. She also seemed terrified of what Ujiyasu would do to her. He sighed.

"It's too cold for you to be naked like that, you'll get sick." Ujiyasu let his halberd drop to the ground with a thud, before going and taking off the kimono. Walking over to the weak girl, he placed it around her shoulders, covering much of her body due to it's size. "I don't intend to." He spoke in response to her fear of being hurt further. "What's your name?" He spoke. He'd wait a moment, then repeat. "You have a name don't you?" There was a slight chuckle in the second line. Not a malicious one, but a light-hearted one. He was trying to relax her, at least a little. He knew it wouldn't be that simple, but every little bit helps.

She was jumpy. Though considering it's size it wasn't surprising it was loud. She stiffened right back up as he covered her up. She couldn't even seem to look at him for too long. Finally though she told him her name. "Lanai huh." A gust of wind picked up, he quickly held onto his hat to keep it from blowing away. "Ujiyasu. Don't have a nickname." He said promptly. Then she spoke once more. She wanted to go home. He was actually fairly surprised to see her just fall over on her forehead. She desperately clasped the kimono to keep her from freezing. "And where would that be exactly?" He asked. Boy was he glad he didn't get his clothes soaked crossing the river, poor girl would probably freeze to death with no clothes. She just repeated that she wanted to go home, again. "I can't help you if you don't tell me where that is." He sighed, and then went and crouched down in front of her. "Do you live near here? Won't last long if we don't get you out of this wind."

Ujiyasu stood up and looked around. He had an approximate bearing on his location, though most major maps didn't note any villages nearby. They'd have to run into one by dumb luck unless she was from some small village or happened to know of one. "We need to find you some shelter to warm up. You wouldn't happen to know of any nearby would you?"

Lanai attempted several times to pronounce his name.  Oddly she got it right the first time, then stumbled on the repeats.  The girl was a wreck though.  She couldn't stop crying.  Even though the physical danger was no longer there, the emotional damage was done.  Even worse, she probably couldn't bring herself to trust that she was safe.  "Not a big deal if you don't."  He held his hat on his head as he moved to pick up his halberd.  Finally though she answered him again.  Ethaswen was only 5 minutes away.  It was?  Ujiyasu blinked.  "I must have traveled downstream by mistake."  That would definitely explain how he wasn't on the edge of the forest.  He got it set in place on his back.  "Good.  I never was any good at starting campfires quickly, especially with this breeze."  Lanai had finally managed to pick herself up to her feet.  She still had some energy, so she couldn't have been there too long.  He had been worrying it had been a couple of days, by that point the lack of food and water would have probably completely immobilized her.  "Let's go."  He stated as he began to walk on the path.  He didn't turn back to look right away, he knew she'd probably follow unless he heard a thud.

This was more than he felt like doing.  Of course he could never leave someone to freeze to death, his heart wouldn't allow it, but he was hoping to be able to just sit and relax.  Granted, this girl was probably thinking something at least a tiny bit similar before she was attacked.  He wasn't going to ask about it though, not until she was sheltered and by some heat source.  He didn't want to slow her down remembering some trauma.  "What kind of food do you like?"  He asked her as they walked.  He couldn't tell how close he was due to the darkness.  Only the path and nearby trees were illuminated.  "You must be starving."

It really wasn't long before they came to the city.  He was taken aback by momentary awe seeing buildings built on or in trees.  He was used to buildings being made out of the side of a mountain, but not trees.  Forest fires were probably one hell of a danger though.  Someone who seemed to be standing watched seemed to see them.  "Halt!"  They were being stopped.  To be fair there was something suspicious about a man with a weapon leading a mostly naked girl into a town.  Heck, he probably almost looked like a slave owner or something.  "Hey, we nee..."  A spear was pointed towards his chest.  "Relax.  This girl was attacked and left in the woods.  She needs some food, shelter, and clothes."  The man seemed to glare, keeping the spear to Ujiyasu's chest.  "We can settle this peacefully."  He hoped Lanai would clear up any potential misunderstanding.  Last thing he needed today was to be arrested.

Lanai was following him like a lost obedient puppy.  She followed meekly, and then with curiosity if he stopped or anything.  It was a tad strange.  He almost felt like there was more to the story than she let on, which there was, but not in the way he was pondering.  As he asked about food, all she could come up with was warm.  "Not very specific."  Of course she went to clarify she probably wouldn't be able keep anything down.  "You'll probably need at least a little something."  He said, though he didn't press her too hard.  Her throwing up would make her condition worse.  "As long as you don't feel too hungry, it can wait."  Upon being stopped by the guard, Lanai thankfully spoke up and got them through.  Her condition didn't exactly make it convincing though.  Still, since he wasn't going to do anything illegal, they shouldn't pull any heat once he gets her more clothing.  It wasn't too late, so people were still around.  It is almost a shame town as so close.  The walk being longer would have allowed them to slip in without being seen so much.

Unsurprisingly, Lanai didn't want to be seen.  Ujiyasu turned and pulled the Kimono closed.  "My kimono is too big for you, keep it pulled shut and no one will see anything."  He said reassuringly.  What he needed to find was a place for them to stay and warm up.  An inn or something.  A clothing store would actually be the main focus.  "Let's get you some clothes first."  He looked around until he found a clothing store.  He pointed to it.  "There's one."  He lead her to it.  She didn't have any money though, her lack of everything kinda made that clear.  Unless she stored it somewhere weird.  He reached into his shirt and pulled out some gold pieces.  He basically never spent his money so it kinda built up.  He placed them in her hand.  "Here's some money."  Scratching his head, sighed.  "I imagine you wouldn't be to comfortable with a man you just met clothes shopping with you.  I'll wait by the entrance while you decide, unless you'd prefer I come with you.  Just remember, there's nothing to be ashamed of." From there, he went to wait by the entrance, unless she wanted him to go along with her inside.

She couldn't do it apparently.  She fled back to him and gave him back the money.  He sighed.  She just needed to be away from the public.  He knew as much, but he had found the clothing shop first and he was trying to take it one step at a time.  "Alright.  We'll find an inn then."  He waved casually to the confused sales associate.  "Sorry about the trouble."  He waved his hand to say follow him.  So now they were looking for an Inn.  "Sorry about that.  I thought you'd want to get your own clothes."  He lead her around for a few minutes before finding one.  The place was big, and looked pretty nice.  "Whew, that might work."  He turned to her.  "Let's get you warmed up."  He lead her to the inn, making sure to keep her close since she was so uncomfortable.  Once inside, it was still pretty nice.  He looked and saw a bench to the side.  "If you want to sit while I go get the rooms."  He said as he pointed.  He walked over to the front.  Discussing with the receptionist, he found out just how much more expensive it would be to get 2 separate rooms.  Rather, one room was as expensive as 2 usually were.  He nodded and turned to Lanai.  "Well, I don't have money for 2 separate rooms.  Are you okay with that?  Or should I look for somewhere cheaper?  I'm leaving it up to you." If she wanted to go somewhere else, he would not stop her. Still, with how she was she probably needed to get to some private room as soon as she possibly can. If she was okay with it, he'd pay and head to the room with her. Of course, this Inn is expensive for a good reason.

Ujiyasu avoided gawking at the receptionist due to her beauty, and paid the fee and took the key. "Thanks." He lead Lanai to the room, and just went in first. He knew she'd follow and she had a bit of habit of just waiting for him anyway. "Wow it really is nice. One bed th...Lanai?" He turned and saw her hand shoot to her mouth and her other to her stomach. He went to point to the bathroom but she seemed to locate it first. She immediately ran in. She didn't shut it, and she dropped his Kimono, so everything was visible. Well mostly, some was covered by hair. He found a chair that wasn't pointed anywhere near the bathroom and just sat down, unfortunately having to hear the sound of vomiting for the next 10 minutes. Finally it seemed to stop. But then she was crying. He decided to leave her, nothing he could do but wait. When she finally did come out she had his kimono on properly, well at least as properly as she could given the size disparity. She immediately reassured him she didn't get any of it on it. "It's fine. You must have been holding that in a long time." It's impressive that she managed to hold back the vomit THAT long. "Have a seat, relax. Lay down if you have to. Once your stomach settles some more we should get something in it. It wouldn't be healthy if you didn't eat anything at all after that." His hat was down over his eyes so they weren't very visible, but he lifted it up. "After that it's up to you. You probably need some fun or relaxation after whatever you've been through, though you'll need rest to. Speaking of which." He lifted the hat all the way out of his face. "How on earth did you end up like that?"

She started to explain herself, but cut herself off pretty quickly.  She kinda gave away a lot of her reasoning there, but Ujiyasu didn't intend to bring that up.  She just walked slowly over to the bed and sat down.  She couldn't think of anything that would be fun or relaxing.  "I guess you're just gonna need some time to let this sit."  Then he asked his question about what happened.  She immediately whimpered.  "If it's too soon, you don't have to-"  She was grabbing her hair.  Suddenly she began to start rambling.  She didn't want to remember.  "Hey, hey!"  She just started shouting.  "Lanai, Lanai snap out of it.  Hey relax, nothing's going on.  Nothing's happening, you're okay."  He tried his best to stay comforting but he himself was a little loud since it was a surprising situation.  He already narrowly avoided being arrested as some slave owner, last thing he needed was to be declared a rapist.  He was actually afraid to touch her.  He didn't want to set her off more.  "Lanai, Lanai you're okay."  Finally he just had to try.  He gently held her shoulders.  "Lanai it's okay.  You're safe now."  He brought his voice back to his usual calm self, but added as much comfort as he could to it.  "Nothing is going to happen. Just calm down...okay? Take a deep breath."

Unsurprisingly, the moment that he put his hands on her while she was freaking out, she looked at him as if her life was in danger. Still, he managed to get through to her. Slowly she seemed to register her surroundings once more. She wasn't being attacked in the woods. She was sitting safely at a room in an inn with a man who actually had no intent on harming her. Then, she repeated what he said. She was okay. She was safe. Finally, she did as he said and took deep breaths. He could actually tell her heart rate was dropping down to more reasonable levels, that is how worked up she had previously been. Then she spoke again. She didn't want to remember. "I gathered as much. You don't have to do it." She gripped onto his clothing tightly, he practically was shaking from how much she was. She rested her forehead on his chest. He just let it happen. It had been awhile since someone rested their head on his chest. He vaguely remembered the feeling, though this time it was a complete stranger. Still it was an incredibly distressed stranger so he let keep doing it. She finally thanked him for everything he had done. Oh yeah, she hadn't thanked him at all until just then. Ujiyasu didn't even notice, mainly because he didn't mind. "You don't need to repay me for anything. No one deserves whatever it was that happened. Just keep trying to calm down. Then we can get you some food, maybe even some clothes if you're up for it." Ujiyasu looked out, there was a kitchen here. "Well there is food here. Once your ready we can go grab a bite. You said you wanted something warm right?" He spoke but remained still. She had been through a lot, so he decided to just let her rest as she was until she was ready to move.