Iron and Rain

He smiled at her sarcastic response and watched her build her tent, impressed with how quickly she put it up. "Yeah if you got me tonight I can cook tomorrow." He said as he started pulling off his cloak, it hit the ground with a thud. Underneath it was black turtle neck shirt, a tactical vest, some cargo pants, and various small boxes attached to his clothes here and there.

He took off his hat as well and his hair was a smokey gray matted mess. "Worst thing about the get up his hat hair." He laughed a little. Though his mask didn't come off, instead he brought a cigarette to the mouth piece and it opened. He lit it and took a long drag "You smoke?" He offered her one.
 
Akane nodded and brought her hands together, rubbing them for a moment to get some heat back into them before kneeling down and opening up her bag. "Not a problem. Better sit back and relax while you can." She came to the fire that he had built, dragging her bag along with her and sitting cross legged at the edge of the flames. She reached up and pushed a button along her mask, allowing it to click open and reveal her rather elegant features. She had dark eyebrows that matched her equally dark cropped hair, her eyes a light blue like clear stream water on a sunny day, and her lips held a pretty little smile. The only blemish on her face was a single scar that ran from her upper lip to the outer part of her cheek.

She laughed softly before speaking. "I get that. That's why I don't wear one. I have a hood though and that does plenty well to keep the rain out of my eyes." She pulled out a little tin cup and a couple skewers. She pulled out a bundle of meat that had yet to be cooked, but she caught it fresh the other day and packed it with natural preservatives to at least last a couple of days. She slid the meat on the skewers before grabbing the tin up, putting a bundle of green looking leaves from her pack in it and filling it with water from her canteen. She then placed the tin directly on the flames while she held the two skewers and let the flames cook it.

She glanced up when he offered her a cigarette and shook her head. "No, I'm okay. I appreciate the offer though," she said, not minding if he did. It just really wasn't her thing. She preferred to stay close by the fire in order to get herself warm.
 
He took another drag as he watched her set to start cook, the tip of his cigarette glowed a bright red in the dim light. "A nomad and a cook, not a skill you see many of us have now a days. Can't tell you how many times I've eaten burnt food... That I made." He laughed a little.

There was a huge clap of thunder and a crack of lightning right outside the small cage. "Oooo nice one." He smiled. It was nice to have company and Akane seemed to be able to handle herself pretty well. To many times had he have a job with someone and they either betrayed him or died, so she was a breath of fresh air. "You know some people think we'll see the sun again. What do you think, ever seen it outside of the stories?" He looked over to her.
 
Akane laughed genuinely at him as he spoke and shook her head a bit. "My village liked to live off of the land up in the mountains. It was required for us to know how to survive off of it as well. I learned a lot of what I know from them."

She jumped a bit at the sudden clap of thunder, it just having surprised her as it was the first one of probably many that night. She sighed and looked back to the food, holding out one of the metal skewers when it was ready to Ryoshi. "I imagine we'll hear that all night," she said with a little chuckle, grabbing two small tin cups and pouring the makeshift tea into each of them, also offering him a glass. She took a bite of her cooked meat as she seemed to ponder the question. "I mean... maybe. I have yet to see it through this fog, but it still has to be there, right?" She shrugged and took another bite, chewing and swallowing thoughtfully.
 
"Yeah it's up there, it has to be." He took a bit of meat and smiled "This is pretty good, thank you." He smiled and sipped his tea. "I've seen it once, waaaaay off to the north. I had to climb a good way up the Kana mountains, I wouldnt recommend going there super cold, and for a brief second the clouds parted and there is was... This big yellow orb. First time I almost cried." He chuckled.

There was more thunder and a bright flash of lightning. He smiled and sipped his tea "Wow tomorrows traveling is going to suck. You have to admit though there is a beauty in a good thunder storm." He looked at her through his mask. "Where did you get the scar?" He asked.
 
Akane grinned slowly and listened to his story, it sounding like a legend or something of the sort. She took a sip of her tea and chuckled. "Almost?" She teased as though making it sound like he was making up the 'almost' part. "But seriously, I bet that was quite a sight... I don't do well in cold though so... that probably isn't the best journey for me." Where it was extremely cold she felt like there was nothing to live off of and therefore, she would die.

She looked out to the rain and just watched it for a moment, giving a small nod after another sip of tea. "It won't be great. Hope you have good boots to keep your feet dry," she said before looking to him when he questioned about her scar. She gave a little shrug, looking down to the warm little cup in her hands. "First bounty on my own. It kind of looked like a bird, long claws, sharp beak... it came at me when I wasn't ready for it and damn near took my eye out. I guess it serves as a good reminder though... that I may not always be prepared for every fight. But... you either lay down and die or you keep fighting."
 
"That's a smart mind set to have in our line of work." He smiled and finished eating. "Sounds like you had a run in with a Long Claw though, nasty creatures." He said as he pulled up his sleeve. He had a huge scar going down the length of his arm "Night Walker. Those big shadow things you see running around the forests at night, almost took my arm clean off." He smiled. "I manged to cut it's head off before that happened though."
 
Akane couldn't help her interest as he pulled up his sleeve, looking at the crude scar that decorated his arm. "Whoa... that must have been a nasty one. How'd you survive it?" With how long and gruesome the scar looked, she'd bet it ran deep and sliced multiple veins. He was probably lucky to be alive. "Good riddance to that thing," she said and finished off the last bite of her meat.
 
"Well I didn't, not at first anyway. Lost a lot of blood and passed out right there in the mud. I woke up a few hours later in a healers hut. You know the people who believe in juju and all that mumbo jumbo. Turns out she was the one who posted the bounty in the first place. Well she patched me up, cleansed my spirit what ever that meant, paid me and sent me on my way. One of the strangest job I had ever taken." He laughed a little.
 
Akane listened intently to his story, raising a brow and taking up the warm cup of tea in her fingers. "You're joking. That's the best coincidence that ever could have happened," she said with a chuckle, sipping her warm beverage thoughtfully. "Maybe her juju worked. Like I said, that had to have been a nasty wound. You're lucky she found you and was willing to patch you up." He had done the job. The woman could have easily left him for dead and kept her money. She was glad to hear there were still good people in this world.
 
"Mmm maybe? What about you? I'm sure you have some interesting stories miss nomad " he laughed a little and sipped his tea. "Every hunter does."
 
Akane nodded in agreement, bringing her knees to her chest as she basked in the warm glow of the fire. "That's true. We do have to unfortunately travel a lot for our work, huh?" She thought for a moment, trying to think of a good story to tell. "Well... I fought a marubai once. That was one of the worst jobs I've ever had. They live in caverns, you know. It was deep beneath the ground and kept coming out of its lair at night and terrorizing local villagers. As soon as it sensed a sort of danger it would just hightail itself to one of the large holes in the ground that led to its home. And you know how venomous they are. One bite from that thing, and I knew it would be over because no one was going to come down after me."
 
"So what did you do?" He looked over at her. "Anti venom? Long range attack? Come on spill the beans!" He laughed a little.
 
Akane chuckled softly at how into the story he was. She smirked lightly and continued. "Well, I stupidly crawled down into the hole! I didn't know what else I could do so I chased after it. It was dark and cramped, not a lot of places to fight or run if I needed to. I ended up getting pretty lucky though and got a slash in early on that wounded it pretty badly. Mad it an easy fight, but it was very careless of me. I just remember the venomous spit from its mouth that got on me and burned my skin because it was so potent. So yeah... never again if I can help it. Either that or I'm figuring out a way to bait it."
 
"Wow sounds a like a life lesson. He laughed a little. "Come on we should get some shut eye, we leave at first light." He got up and stretched. His mask closed back up as he started for his tent. "If you pray to a god ask them for good luck on our trip tomorrow. May horrible monsters come out after a heavy storm."

There was a huge clap of thunder so loud it shook the cave. Lighting struck a near by tree and it burst into flames. "Hmph mother nature is not happy... Good night Akane." He said before getting into his tent.
 
Akane stretched out her legs on the cavern floor for a moment, giving a nod. "That's probably a good idea." She rose and headed for her own tent, although she jumped at the sharp crack of thunder, furrowing her brows and giving a sigh as she glanced over at the now burning tree in the distance. "That's not foreboding at all..." she muttered before heading into her tent, her voice slightly muffled but still heard as she settled down. "Good night, Ryoshi."
 
Morning came and with it a horrible chill. There was a light drizzle and plenty of fog outside in the cold air. There was the sound of rushing water below thier camp as the valley had become a torrent of rain water and dirt. The smell of wet ash clung to the air as it looked like a few other trees had been struck last night.

However, there was respite in this situation. Ryoshi was already up and making breakfast with coffee. The warm sent of food being cooked was enough to main any rainy day cozy. "Good morning, hope you slept well." The hunter greeted. His cloak was on and buttoned up "I trust your armor comes equipped with some kind of heat source, it's going to be cold today."
 
Akane awoke to the smell of food and coffee, which was a start for a good morning, although the view to the outside would not be. "Should of known this was how it was going to be." It was rare when conditions weren't wet, but this would sure make travel a lot harder on them today. "Morning," she greeted Ryoshi as she stepped out of her tent and stretched. Sleeping on the hard ground was something her body just never got used to, despite doing it all the time in her travels by herself.

"I've got a cloak in my bag when it gets extra cold like this," she assured him, taking a seat beside the fire once more and letting it warm her frigid bones. "Thanks for making breakfast," she said, eager to have a taste of the coffee. "And it doesn't even smell burnt. Did you do that just for me?" She joked with a little chuckle.
 
He poured her a cup and handed the tin mug to her "Coffee is the one thing I can get right every time." He laughed. He then handed her a plate of rather dark looking eggs and sausage "I really tried with these tell me what you think." He was half serious.

He sat next to her and opened the face plate of his mask to start eating. "From what I've seen down there we have a lot of hungry fish in the river so sticking close to valley walls should be our best bet." He pointed.
 
Akane took the steaming mug and breathed in the heat, sighing contently. "Sometimes thats all you need, so this is good." She chuckled and took a sip, letting the dark bitter liquid warm her insides and spark her foggy brain awake. "Very good," she said before taking the offered plate of food. "Looks good to me. Charcoal is my favorite," she said teasingly, letting it sink in for a second before she laughed and took a bite, it just being crunchy on the outside which she didn't mind. The taste was fine.

"Seriously not bad," she said, looking thankful as she filled her stomach with the food. She took a look outside the cavern to see the rushing river that seemed to grow three times in size from the downpour of rain they received overnight "Sounds like we don't have a lot of options, so that works for me."
 
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