Starring:
Odo and Aryanna (Jayde)
Date: October 11, 2010
Summary:
This is the start of a long term personal plot for Jayde (Aryanna). Jayde has gone undercover to monitor the actions of Odo, a leader in the Takokujin. In this scene, she has to convince him to take her with him, which for her, is a bit different from anything she has done before.
"The Siren’s Song"
In the Land of Rice Paddies, on the side of the road near dusk
The sun was setting in the west when the young and beautiful, albeit,
disheveled Aryanna came to rest by an irrigation canal that fed the paddies. She
glanced spotted a small farm village not too far away, but she knew she hadn't
any money and would be too proud to beg. However, if a farmer passed her by and
offered her a few coin for her song, she would surely take it. She glanced into
the water that filled the ditch and nodded slightly, before hitching up the
skirts of her kimono and sat on the side of the road, out of her lips began to
flow the sweet sounds of an old classic folksong that pretty much everyone would
know. As she sang, she pulled off her sandals and socks and dipped her feet in
the cool waters of the ditch.
And who to pass by but a man who's go a bit of change in his pocket, but
no interest in hearing a song? Odo just kept on walking by, only casting a
glance as he shifts his pack on his back continuing on down the road. He stops
for a moment, turning around at an angle a bit to look in her direction. "You
know bandits are coming this way. They should be passing by in about a half hour
once they find out their leader is dead. You really shouldn't be around here."
He turned around to head down the road further. Good deed for the day..
whatever. He just kept walking, figuring it would be ultimately his fault if a
little girl on the side of the road died from a mob of country thugs.
Target found. Aryanna offered a weak and shy frown up to the passing
man. It would have been a smile had the news been better. "A mob of thugs huh?
Sheesh, what is this world coming to. Let me guess, they have their
undergarments tied in a knot because you killed their leader?" she asked in a
slightly frustrated tone. She shook her head and looked into her nearly empty
coin purse. "Well, if they spill my blood to revenge the leader you slayed, let
it be known that the blame will be all on you. In fact, what is your name? I'll
write it in the dirt so when my corpse is found they have a clue to go on."
Odo just kept walking. Really, "Yeah, ok. I warned you. So now it's all
on your shoulders, kid." He came to the small fork in the road, sighing before
pulling out a map that folded out far too many times for how small it was before
he opened it. "Hmm.." he tried to fold it up, but ended up just crumpling it
together against the grain here.. there.. and oh wow, that shouldn't fold that
way.. whatever… fold you stupid thing! He finaly could shove it into his
pocket once more, giving her a glance before heading down the righthand path.
Was he really that mean of a man?
Aryanna watched him from where she sat, soaking her feet in the water
filled ditch. "Perhaps I'll get lucky. Maybe they will come with enough time to
spare that instead of giving up in frustration and slaying the first innocent
thing they come across, that they ask me what path you went down. That path,
would of course, be the one I saw you venture down." She said, pulling out a
small tiny note pad and jotting down a description of the man, to include a
pretty detailed drawing. "Yes, this will probably work even better than a name."
she said. "I'm sure the authorities will know exactly where to look too."
Odo breathes deep. "What do you want?" He says this as he turns around,
looking at her. He'd dealt with annoying beggars before. Why should she be
different? "You want a few ryo? Hell, you want a few hundred ryo? Those
authorities don't matter. Neither do the guys following me. Mainly it's because
they offered me a position, and I declined. Their leader tried to kill me. Too
bad I'm faster at killing than he is." He crosses his arms over his chest. "So
what, you want safe passage? You want something other than a farmer to talk to?"
Questions questions.
Aryanna looked up at him, her eyes sparking a slight fire in the
reflecting setting sun as she stood with slow and determined grace. "Money
disappears too quick and it makes you a target. What I need, is a traveling
companion. I am a musician, though I am confident you have tone deaf ears." She
said. "So, what say you, we give it a try, see what we can work out? You know, a
girl on my own, my options are limited, so I'm a bit desperate. Especially if
you have got a posse on your trail that will slaughter anything they pass."
Odo furrows his brow for a moment, "So you'd rather come with someone
who's -obviously- hunted… and you yourself oddly know that authorities are
after me in some shape or form- Which I'll have to ask you about sometime
later,- instead of going on your own to which end you are doing fine, not dead,
dismembered, or chained in some basement for some fat guy to visit each evening
after he beats his other girls? Of course, he's dead now anyway." Odo thought on
that for a minute. "Alright. Any money you make goes to me past food and
clothing. I'll arrange any housing we will need and any other oddities we need.
You will have to figure out how to get yourself life's little… niceities." He
made the motion to follow him. "Of course, if you are an assassin in disguise,
I'd have to kill you." He didn't look at her with a smile or grin, or anything
showing he was joking or serious. "And… smart sailors stay away from the
siren's island. Rocky shores and death are all that await them there."
Aryanna stood, "Oh, I don't know if the authorities are after you or
not. Just, I'd hope if I was killed on the side of the road, someone would be
blamed. Perhaps I am a little too naive for this world, in which case my need is
obvious." She stated casually as she dried her feet and put back on her shoes,
"And I haven't been on my own long, my idiot brothers got too happy with the
drink and found themselves killed cause I wouldn't bed my employer." She spat
slightly on the ground at the memory as she thought a moment on the offer.
"Sounds fair, clothing for a performer doesn't come cheap, but usually my labor
is fruitful enough." She stated, "And I know the story of the Siren. Smart
sailors have a good woman on hand that is immune to the Siren song to keep him
heading in the right direction. However, good question and I may enjoy pondering
it my slightly devious mind. Am I the Siren, or am I the good woman?" she gave
him a slightly mischievous grin and was ready to go.
Odo listened to what she was saying, but it didn't look like he was
paying attention. He didn't believe her too far at the moment. "Naive, right."
Yeah, he didn't really believe her, did he?
"Do you always talk this much?" His drab tone made it easy to understand
even to the most naive of listeners that he was about done talking for the
moment.
Aryanna could take a hint, and actually she had been a little nervous
about this one, usually she could smuggle herself into a daimyo's castle as
naught but serving wench, she would be there. However, this was the first time
she had to get someone to take her with them and it mattered that much. She
sighed an inward sigh of relief and nodded her understanding, following him down
the path, humming a little song. If he wanted to think that Aryanna was a
chatter box, she could do that. Just have to be careful not to be too annoying.
Odo couldn't shake some wierd feeling he had. Most of the time, people
asked him to walk with them to the next town. He shook his head, "I only take
you with me as far as Fuuma Alley, two days walk from here. After that, you are
on your own again." He grew a contemplative look for a few moments, then
breathed a bit deeply, and returned his face to that normal slightly angry look
it usually keeps from the years of fighting.. and war.
Aryanna nodded slightly, that wasn't what she had wanted to hear, but
she could understand him being cautious. "Well, a companion for two days is
better than being dead on the side of the road." she said casually. "And who
knows, perhaps you'll change your mind. Or not. Fuuma Alley has it's own
reputation though, perhaps I could sway your mind to take me to somewhere that
is a little more orderly." she said with a slightly hopeful tone, while in her
mind she was already pondering what she could set up over the next two days to
prove to him her worth.
He took another breath, focusing for a moment when she starts talking
again. "Yes, orderly. You know, silence is very orderly." He was about to just
keep quiet and ignore her until the trip was over. Are we there yet? "And you
could sway me to not like singers unless they are singing."
