The situation was too foreboding to risk tarrying, despite their rather callous avoidance of the dead Misao. The villagers, the few that were left, had to shoulder the responsibility of the death of their own. Their fate was a despairing one, bereft of half of their number for reasons surely associated with the doom of the crimson, one in madness, and now one more dead. Echigo could not respond affirmatively to Satoshi's earlier request to lead them through the forest, not with the death; there was no mutual help here to be gained.
It must have been that Ikari and Kayo spent a longer time immersed in the atmosphere of the village, for their clothes were now more damp with misty condensation. If anything, Kayo's more finespun fabric appeared bolder in colour, almost glistening like Rinzu silk. Ikari found that his leg was not as unstable as he remembered it to be, for he did not seem to need to lean against his stick that much. Hakusa found his skin pretty much immune to the effects of the drizzle, as if there was little that could blemish him further. Genji's largely exposed body seemed to relish the effect of the mist; he felt even stronger, if that made any sense at all.
---
The path beyond the village approached the forest very quickly, a wall of cypress and juniper greeted them as they left the dismal mood of Itsuno. Echigo had described the route he took that led past first a grove, then a cave, before reaching one of the residents of the forest, beyond which he had never ventured, not having seen the temple himself. Stepping into the heavily branched canopy, twisted and gnarled over the past year as the eclipse perverted all natural flora and fauna, made the night gloom even more foreboding than out in the open village, the six of them were assaulted by the sound of silence, punctuated by the occasional cry of some strange beast whose voice they could not recognise. The foliage began to thicken as the path narrowed, ironically this meant that they were now less wet from the drizzle than when they were out in the open.
The six of them had the opportunity to move past their hasty introductions earlier: Hakusa, Genji and Kenji were told about the severed arm of doshin Nira and Sawada's search for answers which brought Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi to Itsuno. (This was when they found out the name of the village.). In return, Ikari, Kayo and Satoshi were provided the graphic account of the yurei attack at the Owari bridge crossing and the relentless march of the undead.
They trudged for a while longer, with no way to keep track of time without sight of the moon, and with no sight of their yurei target either, except that they could hear the baying of the same beast come closer in intervals, until they could see ahead of them a clearing amidst the trees with a small shrine, which might possibly indicate the way to the temple.
OOC:
Wasn't expecting anyone to fail the rolls! Genji, Ikari and Kayo are now tainted like Satoshi, and have +1 Vigor but -2 Resilience. Hakusa passed the test, and is immune to future exposures to this blood rain, as is Satoshi. Kenji still needs a roll.
I've deleted and reposted my earlier post with some small edits to give us a more logical sequence of posts. You now have left the village and entered the woods, and are about to reach the section of the woods that indicate the start of the road to the temple.
