"A samurai?" Brenden asked, "That's so cool!"

The boy had learned of samurai before the trip to Cizok--he had learned much about the country, in fact. Its culture, political structure, and language. At current, he knew as much about Cizok as someone twice his age . . . which was, in fact, someone around Shin's age. To Brenden, a samurai was a lone warrior who fought for his honor, a type of man who could face down an entire army and defeat it single-handedly. His notion of a samurai was wrong, but not unfounded. While they were not lone warriors, they were much more powerful than a simple ashigaru--the conscripted regulars of the Cizokian military.

"I don't know my dad," Brenden didn't lose his cheerfulness, despite the sullen nature of what he was saying, "Or my mom. Me, my friend, and my uncle travel around. They're in town getting supplies for our next trip. We're gonna go to Xexoria next, you know? It's not as cool as being a samurai, but it's still really fun."

Brenden followed beside of Shin, not minding the fact that he was leaving the shore behind. He could catch up with his uncle and friend any time he wanted, so it wasn't that big of a deal to him.

It would take a while for Shin to get back to the Dojo, and in his current state it would prove difficult for the small boy to go far without having to rest and catch his breath. He attributed his loss of breath to his near death experience. His young mind couldn't percieve what actually had happened at that moment in time and he quickly pushed the empty feeling inside to the side as he looked to Brenden. "Xexoria? I have heard of the place before. But my father never allows me to leave the city, i get to rarely leave the dojo." Shin said sadly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Where else have you traveled?" Shin wanted to know of other places, he occasionally saw travelers from other lands and always thought they were a little weird. "What....are other lands like?"

"Xexoria is up there!" Brenden pointed north, though he was just a bit off, "That really stinks, though--that your dad doesn't let you out a lot. Traveling around is a lot of fun . . ."

That didn't stop him from opting to talk about the places he had been to, though. In actuality, there were a bit less than he had made it seem to be, but considering the distance covered, it was still quite a bit.

"I've been to a whole bunch of places. We came from a place called Ulster. It's got these huge hills and forests, then we went to another place called New Xexoria, which was kinda like Ulster, but a whole bunch less hills and a lot more mountains. Then we went to this place called Juno and . . ."

Then, Brenden had an idea. He came to an abrupt halt after walking a bit ahead of Shin, then turned on his heels to face the older boy. He had a mischievous smile upon his lips, but despite that, the actual idea he had in mind was something to help Shin out. Even though the boy almost died, he could still have fun while recovering.

"You know, while you're out like this, you should sneak into town with me!"

Shin listened attently to the places that Brenden had named, he had heard of all of them, but in name only and never in any sort of detail.

"Well..." Shin rubbed the back of his neck as looked back in the direction of town. His father would be furious if he found out, but then again, Shin HAD been knocked into the river and felt he had earned a quick break. There was something wrong with hsi left leg, though he guessed just a sprain. But couldn't know for sure.

"Alright," He said after a moment of thinking. "I never been to town without an escort before. Could be fun!" He said excitedly, stretching out his hurt leg like his father had taught him. It only a took a moment or to before the two had turned around and were walking back towards town.

"Aweso~~me!" replied Brenden excitedly.

On the way to town, Brenden narrated--and over-exaggerated--his "adventures" to Shin. He had been to a total of four different countries, officially, and he stressed how far apart they were. From Ulster, a land he described as pretty (but "kinda boring"), to New Xexoria, where he started to get on a roll with an adventurous spirit: he started to talk about being chased around by "creepy guys in masks," which was a bit strange, because he proceeded to note that there wasn't many people there at all, and that the few that were there lived in a place called Dorm. That, Brenden exaggerated to no end: he talked (with his hands) about massive metal monsters billowing steam from every pore, and how he saved a kid his age that was nearly stepped on by one.

Then the story twisted a bit more. Brenden went on to say that they crossed the ocean to go to Juno, where his uncle apparently had been trying to get to for some time, regarding some war that was running amok, and an old friend of his supposedly being in the middle of it. They failed to find his uncle's friend, though traces were leading them to Cizok--where the person had apparently escaped to. It didn't make too much sense to Brenden, but . . .

"And then all the crazy ladies went NUTS and started telling us to get out and that they were gonna kill us and stuff!" Brenden concluded that part of the story, only to realize where he was, "Oh, hey! I think we missed the turn . . . hey Shin, do you know where we are . . .?"

Brenden looked around confused, wondering where he was at the moment and how exactly they had gotten there. The path they had taken had lead them into a relatively dense forest, a bit far from any semblance of civilization.

Shin was captivated by Brendens stories, he listened intently as the two of the walked without a concept of time. He didn't ask any questions, but was sure to remember everything he could.

Brendens stories may have been over the top for anyone who knew anything, but Shin believed most of everything that was said. He even gasped at several instense parts. It wasn't until Brenden said something that Shin looked around... a forest.

"I think were by a competeing DoJo..." Shin said as he looked around. "...though im not sure, i've only left my Dojo a few times.' In truth Shin had no idea where they were, he simply remembered trees outside one of the many Dojos in Cizok, and every Dojo was a rival to one another so it wasn't an inaccurate description.

"Maybe we should just turn around." Shin said a moment later, stretching his stiff leg again.

"Competing dojo?"

It was something Shin shouldn't have said. Brenden's adventurous personality deemed that something like this pique his interest. A competing dojo meant that there would be other samurai--real samurai, too. Not the kind in training like Shin. They could possibly get into trouble, especially if the dojo was directly in conflict with Shin's father. This didn't demote Brenden's interest, though. If anything, that only made him so much more interested.

"I dunno. We should check around for some competing dojo!" Brenden voiced his interest loud and clear, "If there's one around, they might know where we are?"

Certainly, it would be easier to just turn around and go back the way they came, but that just didn't seem to be the type of boy Brenden was. Doing something the hard way guaranteed that there'd be some semblance of adventure ahead of him, something that the boy obviously sought out where ever he could.

If Shins already pale face could get any whiter, it did. The idea of just strolling into another Dojo made Shin visibly sick to his stomach. Before any words came out of his mouth, before Brenden had even finished speaking Shin was shaking his head.

"No..absolutely not." Shin looked like he was ready to pass out, hunched over and breathing heavy as if he had just ran a marathon. "My father would not allow it. There are..." Shin paused as if he didn't know the word. "..there are...uhh... ways of doing things." He finally said not able to remember the word his father used. "Samurai just do not walk into anothers Dojo." Shin explained. "Not unless you are challenging one to a test of skill. And even then it's polite to send word of arrival first." Not to mention Shin thought, that any contact with another school would ultimatley piss off his father. And Shin didn't want to wittness his father mad, again.

"I say we just walk back." Shin began to walk in the direction they came. "It's just safer for the both of us." He finished as he slowly went back down the road they came.

"Aww . . . really? That's no fun . . ." Brenden sighed.

He walked along with Shin, slow at first, dragging his feet behind him and looking back, as if hoping that Shin would decide against it and keep moving in that direction instead. But he didn't, which was kind of disappointing. The way Shin reacted told Brenden that it would be that much more awesome to do, but alas . . .

They eventually came to a cross road that they had been to before, but passed up because Brenden was talking and Shin was absorbed into Brenden's story. The road split into four, they stood on one of them, another progressed ahead before them, not as forested, but still pretty littered with trees, the one to their left seemed to lead to the river, and the one to their right lead to a road devoid of many trees at all. It was the clearest of the paths.

"I think town is over that way," Brenden pointed towards the clearer path.

Brenden would take point again and start walking in that direction. Going to the river would do them no good, and continuing forward would just taken them to the Shidens' dojo, which wasn't quite their destination right at this moment.

Shin walked back, thankful that Brenden didn't push the issue, once they got to the cross roads Shin remembered that that paticular area they were in was especially dangerous mainly becaus it was the Shiden's Rival Dojo. He pushed the thought from his head and his eyes locked onto the path that would take him back to his Dojo, they lingered there for a moment before he followed Brenden.

Shin was worried that his father would find out, he didn't really know why, but he simply feared anything that would make his father unhappy. He had never really been out and alone like this before, it was exciting but at the same time Shin was afraid, but he would never show such emotion because to do so was cowardly and a Shiden was never a coward.

"So what exactly are we looking for in town?" Shin asked as they walked the road, also fairly certain that this roas would take them to their destination, wherever that was only Brenden knew.

"An old guy and a girl," Brenden responded rather quickly, "The old guy is really tall and wears this long coat and hat, walks with a cane and stuff. The girl is my age, really cute, has really long blonde hair--so blonde it's almost white. My uncle and my friend should be around somewhere, probably in the market or something."

There wasn't that long of a walk at all to get to "town," which was more like a few houses built around a popular market. People on the widening dirt path marked that they were close, seen before they were even close to buildings--which were just stalls at first. In fact, that was a majority of what they saw after they got into town, a popular market town by the name of "Narashima." It was a market made for those too poor to afford decent food and items in the nearby Imperial City. Stalls lined the now wide path, with a fair amount of people casually strolling on either side of the path; at the side they had come in, the two people that Brenden described were nowhere to be seen.

Brenden did slow down the moment they were officially in Narashima, though. Clearly, he hadn't had the opportunity to look at what was all being sold, at least on this side of the town. Granted, Brenden had seen things like this before, but all the items sold here were completely different than he was accustomed to.

"I've been to a whole bunch of places like this; what's really cool is how everything is different each place. Like . . . you're probably never gonna see anything like that anywhere else," Brenden pointed towards one nearby stall, selling custom hand crafted pottery with a rather unique style. Close to that, there was a custom clothing outfitter; both were unique to the crafters' style, something unique to just them alone.

Shin passed the time by idly looking around, he didn't remember this part of the road very well. And when they entered the 'poor' district in town he noticbly cringed. Some items were decent, but on the all, this level of merchandise was far below the norm a samurai used, the type that a Samurais social status demanded, the type the Shin demanded. He relaxed after a moment, it wasn't like he had a coin purse on himself for them to steal.

A pack of rats, that was how his father described peasants. And Shin fully agreed, he wished he was wearing a Daisho, then they would recognize his position and give them respect he deserved. Shin tugged ruffly on Brendens shirt as the boy stopped and pointed to the potter and outfitter, not paying attention to the items in the slightest.

"Lets continue." He demanded more then asked, Shin didn't really look the part of a Samurai...other then his distinct blue hair, which was attribuated to his mothers side of the family, whom were also of the noble class.

"Huh?" Brenden quirked a brow. At the notion that Shin wasn't even listening to him, he looked away, folded his arms over his chest, and grumbled, "You're worse than that geezer uncle of mine . . ."

But then, Brenden heard a voice behind him that made his hair stick up like needles. "Your geezer uncle, huh?"

Slowly, Brenden began to turn with creeking knees. A tall figure loomed over him, so tall that the boy practically had to arc his head back to his shoulders to stare up at him . . . but then again, Brenden was awfully short. He was only five, after all, short and the like, but still extremely mature for his age. The one standing over him was clad in a brown long coat, one which covered his form in its entirety. Shin and Brenden wouldn't be able to see his face, partially because of how much taller he was than them, and partially because he wore a rather large, "Western" style hat.

"Ah . . . uh . . . my other uncle!" Brenden chimed innocently.

The man grumbled. From behind him came a new sight: the girl that Brenden had mentioned earlier. She was actually a couple of years old than Brenden . . . and a few inches taller. She side-stepped from where she stood behind the tall man, arms crossed over her chest. She was just as Brenden described: she had long, blond hair, so blond it was only white. A red hair-clip kept her bangs out of her eyes, and the little girl wore a blue casual dress--single piece blouse and skirt. Blue eyes looked upon Brenden not out of sympathy, but a half-glare, befitting the coy smile upon her lips.

"Wha~t other uncle? I haven't heard anything about him," her tone was like sand in Brenden's face.

"You~!" Brenden stammered, "Butt outta this!"

The girl simply stuck her tongue out at Brenden, shut her eyes, and turned her head away from him.

“This must be your uncle and the ‘really cute’ girl you were referring too.”

The old man was incredibly tall but more importantly too Shin was the way he was dressed, which was incredibly weird. He stared at Brendens uncle rather hard for a moment before looking back to Brenden. “Well, they seem to have found us and I still need to get back home.”

Shin was still in pain, his old body was sore and ached because of recent events and while he would have liked to do nothing more than rest he felt an obligation to get home show his father that nothing could deter him from his training, not even near-death experiences.

“I am Shiden Shin, son the Tenken.” Shin said with a bow to Brendens uncle, though it was a bit awkward because his left leg was still a bit stiff and walking on it had only made things worse.

“Brenden has been telling me of your adventurers. They are amazing!”