After another fifteen minutes of marching, the Zhuo army came across a camp set on the crossroads near the edge of the district. A roughly erected wooden wall encircled a large white tent and a number of smaller surrounding ones, and the soldiers guarding the main entrance were dressed in gray and white clothing; it was just bright enough to stand out quite distinctly in the sunlight. At the front of the army, Ragna, Kan'u, Chouhi, Ryuubi, Shoukatsuryou, and Houtou were all together. Ragna was leading his horse, giving it a break from bearing his weight, and his jacket was back on, removed from the saddle of his horse.
Ragna shaded his eyes with one hand as the army approached the entrance to the camp; the sunlight was bouncing off of the tent and the soldiers' uniforms. "Shit, is she trying to blind us on purpose?"
"General Kousonsan is often called the White Horse General," Shoukatsuryou replied. However, she too was squinting her eyes. "It seems that her taste in color choice extends to more than just her mounts, though."
The soldiers at the camp's entrance raised their spears once Ragna and his group were close enough to talk to. The one on the left side of the entrance gave Ragna an appraising glance. "And you are?"
Ragna rolled his head around and folded his arms with a shrug of his shoulders. "Ragna. I just kicked the crap out of some Yellow Turbans that got past your campsite. Let me see Kousonsan."
The soldier that had spoken looked mildly impressed, but the one on the right was significantly less composed, and his eyes widened. "Ragna, as in Ragna of Zhuo...? Then, y-you're the Messenger of Heaven!"
"So I've been told," Ragna said. "Now if you're done letting your jaw scrape the dirt, would you mind letting me through?"
The guard immediately nodded, and stepped out of the way, as did his partner. Ragna turned to Kan'u and Chouhi. "You two stay here with Ryuubi and the army. I'm taking Shuri and Hinari in with me to see Kousonsan. When we're finished figuring out what we're doing next, I'll come get you."
Kan'u nodded, and took the reins from Ragna when he offered them to her. The horse shifted slightly, and looked in Ragna's direction for a little bit, then turned away again with a slight snort. "As you wish, Lord Ragna."
With that, Ragna, Shoukatsuryou, and Houtou all went into the camp, leaving Ryuubi to clasp her hands behind her back and dig her big toe into the ground with an awkward smile. Chouhi immediately turned to the soldiers and shouted, "Take a break, everyone! Big bro is figuring out what we're gonna do next!"
Kan'u stroked the horse's mane a few times as Ryuubi kept looking between her and Chouhi. Neither general seemed interested in carrying on a conversation with her, but the silence eventually got so awkward that she almost wanted to run away. However, Kan'u seemed to notice her discomfort, and asked, "Is there something bothering you?"
Ryuubi flinched in surprise, but eventually managed to put on a weak smile. "I… I'm not really sure what to do right now, I guess. I'm not used to being in such company."
Kan'u blinked, and stopped petting the horse. "Well, I'm certain that Lord Ragna's offer to relocate you somewhere else still stands. If you'd like me to take you somewhere else, I can speak to him about it."
"N-no, that's not what I meant exactly," Ryuubi said, her face growing slightly flushed with embarrassment. "I'm fine with waiting until we get back to Xizang. I think that that'll be a good place to settle down." Her expression gradually went from flustered to pensive as her eyebrows drew together. "We didn't travel together for very long, but Shuri and Hinari have come to mean a lot to me in that time. I got lost in the forest a couple of days after I left home, and they found me before I starved to death."
"As long as they're working with us, we'll treat them right," Chouhi said. "Shou and Hou look like they're really smart. We need people like that. Big bro and old Gan try their best, but..." She paused, and scratched her head. "Nya, how do I put it..."
"As you can see, Lord Ragna takes a rather unique approach to leadership," Kan'u said, finishing Chouhi's thought while the young girl was still trying to figure out what she wanted to say next. "It works well enough on the battlefield, but in terms of civic matters it can be a little unhelpful. I know enough to help him and old Gan keep things running smoothly, but Shoukatsuryou and Houtou look like they'll be much better at advising him than me, at least as far as managing the city and its resources."
As she listened to them talk, Kan'u's calm confidence and Chouhi's cheerfulness eased Ryuubi's nervousness quite a bit. Combined with the somewhat less frightening image of Ragna she'd seen earlier, Ryuubi was beginning to feel much less apprehensive about Shoukatsuryou and Houtou's safety amongst the Zhuo forces. Still, the aftermath of the battle that day lingered in her mind, and she turned toward Kousonsan's camp, absently brushing the red gemstone set in the pommel of her sword. Kan'u noticed this, and asked, "By the way, Ryuubi. That sword, where did you get it from?"
Ryuubi shook her head as Kan'u's question brought her out of her daydreams. "It's a family heirloom," Ryuubi replied. "My mother always used to tell me that our family was descended from Chuuzan Seiou Ryuushou, and that this sword was from his dynasty. We don't have any real records of it, though, and if there were any in my home, I can't get to them now."
Kan'u's eyes widened. Chuuzan Seiou had been a legendary emperor in his time, one of the most well known in all of China. If Ryuubi was his descendant, she was practically royalty all her own. "Why not?"
Ryuubi squirmed a bit, and pressed her lips together very tightly for a few moments, then looked down at the ground. "My house was built on rented land. When my mother died, I was allowed to retain it, but I couldn't make enough money to keep paying the rent, so the landlord repossessed it and kicked me out. She probably took everything that I had to leave behind or let the new tenant keep all of it."
The atmosphere took a sudden turn when Kan'u's brow darkened at that news. "I see," she said. A sudden ominous wind blew Kan'u's ponytail backward as her hands clenched into fists. "Ryuubi, we should take a trip out to your home once you're settled in Xizang. I would like very much to meet this landlord of yours."
Ryuubi laughed nervously and put her hands up in a placating gesture. The hard frown on Kan'u's face was a reminder to Ryuubi that Kan'u had a temper to match her maturity. "Really, Lady Kan'u, that isn't necessary. I appreciate the sentiment, but it's all right."
"It most certainly is not!" Kan'u retorted. "Even if the land was not yours, any items left behind in that house most surely belong to you. If nothing else, you should go and see if they still remain." A small, surprisingly scary smile crept across her lips. "And if they do, the landlord will give them back to you."
Something about how calmly Kan'u spoke that threat made Ryuubi's skin crawl. Even if it was for her sake more than anything else, the sheer malice in Kan'u's voice made Ryuubi wonder if her landlord would survive even standing in the same room with Kan'u with the kind of enraged aura that the general was throwing out. "Lady Kan'u..."
"When Aisha gets like this there's no stopping her," Chouhi said to Ryuubi, shrugging with a catlike smile. "Don't worry. If big bro goes with us he can probably keep her from doing something really stupid. Though he might not want to after the last time..."
Something about the way Chouhi said "the last time," and the doubtful look on her face, made Ryuubi feel like going to curl up in a little ball somewhere.