After eating a couple more of the meat pastries, Fuyuko decided to try ambushing Amrydor. Sure, he could sense her life force, but if he was distracted and she acted fast enough, maybe she could at least ambush him. She'd just need the right timing.
So she pulled her backpack on and continued her people-watching, but this time with an eye toward Amrydor's location and attention. However, a subtle change in a shadow caught her attention. Fuyuko couldn't quite make out what was happening, but given the location of that patch of darkness, she had her suspicions.
So she found a different shadow on a balcony above her new target to step to and carefully peered over the edge. Below were two children quietly arguing about attempting to steal something from a nearby stall. Fuyuko tapped her lips thoughtfully as she studied the kids: one boy and one girl. Now, if they had been looking at food, well, she'd have simply bought them some. She had filched some food to feed herself or others before and had no problems with that if it was a necessity.
But they were looking at some cheap jewelry. Oh, the boy mentioned something about a gift. A little better than just greed, but Fuyuko doubted that whoever he wanted to give it to would want them to steal a gift. Hmm.
The two had reached an agreement and though the girl was a little reluctant, she was going to back up her brother. Fuyuko appreciated the loyalty, but it was time for her to interfere.
A shadow descended upon the pair as Fuyuko landed silently behind them and grabbed the scruff of their shirts, yanking them backward. "No ya don't," she said sternly, "that ain't food and ya don't look that hungry yet anyway." Her street accent had come back instinctively, but Fuyuko decided that was fine for now.
Her words and the indignant yelps of the two children drew some attention their way, especially that of the woman running the stall who scowled at the duo. "Petty thieves I see. You hold them while I send someone to fetch a guardsman."
Fuyuko snorted. "Nah, I ain't doin' that, I'll just be takin' these two fer a little talk."
A third voice cut in as the merchant's expression turned indigent. "Ma'am, I think you should let the matter drop. My companion's judgment is very good and I trust her."
Ah, Amrydor. Of course. Well, it could be a good thing to have a champion for a stalker. Fuyuko grinned at him and nodded before dragging the two struggling kids a little further away. "Now be quiet as a rat fer a moment if ya want me gettin' us out of here fast," she said to them quietly, which surprised them enough that they did pause for a moment as they stared up at her.
Amrydor's intercession had drawn attention away from them, which made it easier for Fuyuko to wrap shadow around all three of them. Dragging someone else through shadow was always more difficult, and she was only able to bring them to the far side of the building they were next to. It was far enough away to not be heard and the building would keep them from being seen, but if someone searched fast enough they could still be found.
The effort left Fuyuko gasping as she let go of the pair. The siblings stumbled a few steps before they caught themselves and looked around. "What?" The boy asked in confusion.
"She dragged us through the shadows," his sister whispered while she stared wide-eyed at Fuyuko.
"And ya best be glad I did," Fuyuko said as she recovered her breath. "They had a minor ward up that would have left you two wrapped in a sticky net. They used charcoal on dark wood, but it was visible if ya looked close enough."
The boy frowned at her and asked, "Why'd you save us?"
Fuyuko shrugged and said, "I know what it's like, but I remember the safe place I was stayin' at had some rules." Both of them looked uncertain, so Fuyuko pulled out her necklace with the token of Li on it, making sure she did not show her new coin necklace in the process. "Now," she said as she leaned forward so she could show it to them better, "if ya know any grown-ups who take care of safe places fer the likes of us, I'd like ta talk ta one. Now go on, I'll be just close enough that they can find me."
She shooed the pair off, who glanced at each other before they took off at a run.
In different directions.
Neither of which would be quite the correct direction of course. Yep, looks like there was a Sanctuary here. Fuyuko grinned and let them run as she put her necklace away. Then she closed her eyes as she considered what she had seen of the city so far. The Sanctuary would be somewhere on the poorer end, but Fuyuko wasn't sure what to look for with all the stone buildings.
Ah, some of the colored cloths that were hung up high were more faded than others, and Fuyuko had seen more of the faded ones in that direction. So she opened her eyes and started meandering in that general direction, but without taking care to notice exactly which streets she was traveling down. Even just to get close, she was going to need to let instinct guide her.
Which didn't mean she wasn't paying attention at all to the world around her. She knew better than that. So Fuyuko wasn't entirely surprised when she noticed footsteps trying to time themselves to her own. Not that it mattered; even if he had succeeded perfectly she would have smelled the man.
Fuyuko didn't particularly want to hurt anyone, but this was clearly not who she was looking for. So it was time for a little warning. When she passed a wooden door frame, she tapped a few times on a single spot without slowing down. A few steps later she spun and in one smooth motion called forth her bow and fired, leaving an arrow quivering in the door frame a couple of inches in front of the man's face. "I didn't miss," she said. The arrow was almost perfectly at the spot she had tapped. "Now tell you and yours to leave me alone, I'm not even the scariest one you'll be dealing with if you don't."
The man looked startled but not scared, and his eyes narrowed as he reevaluated her. So Fuyuko pushed her will out, creating an aura that collided with the one gathering around the man. Hers was stronger by enough that the man tipped his head in acknowledgment and backed away.
She'd take it. Fuyuko retrieved her arrow and examined it. The speed of her shot had been partly from not drawing her bow all the way, which also saved the arrow from breaking when it hit the wood at such a close range. Satisfied, she unsummoned both bow and arrow, then fetched out a pair of copper coins to slide under the door before continuing on her way. It wasn't a lot of damage, but such things add up.
In some ways, a thrown dagger would have been better but that felt like risking a dagger unnecessarily, even with their enchantments to bring them back to her. Losing an arrow wouldn't have been any sort of problem.
A couple of blocks later, Fuyuko noticed a man sitting on a barrel. Which was interesting, because she had noticed the barrel already but was only now noticing the man. She stopped with plenty of distance between them and waited in silence.
The man chuckled softly, "No threats for me? But then again, I'm not pacing your steps. Well done by the way; while I don't like his kind I would have been unhappy if you had tried to kill him. Which is probably what would have happened — I don't think I could have interfered in time. Now, based on your actions and your height, you have got to be the mysterious heroine two younglings I take care of just told me about."
Fuyuko relaxed a little. She hadn't been entirely certain if he had been from Sanctuary or had been a much more senior gang member. "Heroine might be stretchin' things," she said, "but I did keep a pair of kids from trying to steal a present for someone, who I suspect would rather not be receiving stolen goods."
He lifted a brow at her before saying, "Interesting, your accent slid mid-sentence there."
Fuyuko shrugged. "I got adopted, and my parents are giving me an education. That doesn't mean I've forgotten my roots."
"Tall, wolf ears and oni horns, adopted into recent wealth; you sound rather like a girl I received a letter about last year, from up north. Would I have the honor of addressing Lady Fuyuko?"
She stared at him before asking, "Ya did? Was it from Yvonne? What did she say? Why did she send it? Wait, how did you know I'm a Lady now?"
He grinned at her. "Slow down. Most of our kids go on to live normal lives, but we usually can tell when that isn't going to happen. So we try to keep each other appraised of our more adventurous young ones in case we can help. As for knowing your title, I have heard a bit of news about a certain nexus that has been stirring things up. The description of their adopted daughter was also in that news. Now, you were seeking us out, do you need some help?"
Fuyuko shook her head. "No, the opposite actually." She reached into her cloak's pocket to pull out the heaviest of the three pouches she had been given by Mordecai. "A gift, thanks to my parents, and maybe my grandparents too. I had some options and I wasn't sure what sort of charity I was going to give this to until I saw the kids and realized there was probably a Sanctuary here."
She held out the pouch and the man rose from the barrel before walking slowly toward her. "I see. You've grown quite strong too, given the time involved. I imagine your memories are coming back pretty fast." He extended his hand to receive the offered gift, keeping a fair distance between them still.
"Yes," she said as she handed it over gently, "Not everything, but a lot of little details. Um, do you think you can send her a letter for me? Let her know I am doing well? And, um, I might have the chance to visit in a month or two."
The weight of the bag had surprised him, but she had been careful to release it slowly and he was able to adjust to the weight quickly. "This feels very generous indeed. I was wondering what instinct had driven that man to stalk you; the greedy types often get bolder if they get the feeling that a potential target is wealthy."
"Eh? He could just tell I had money on me?"
The man nodded, "Probably. Avarice is a driving emotion too, and that can become a focus of power as one grows stronger. It also leads some to great risks when their greed outweighs their survival instincts."
Huh. Fuyuko supposed that could make sense, she already knew that one's personality could shape power and magic. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. So, um, be careful spending that, maybe use someone who can dress up to look the part?"
"Look the part?" He peeked inside the bag and his eyes widened. "Ah, I was expecting something a little more, mm, yellow, with that weight."
Fuyuko laughed and said, "That was pretty much my reaction too. Well, I'm around for a couple of days; if you guys need anything, have someone head up to the flying wagon that just arrived. My name will get you help, and my parents, or Amrydor, can find me if you need me specifically. Take care."
With that, she had selected the lightest bag for herself and the heaviest bag for charity. Now how to spend down the middle bag?
The first part of her answer came when she got back to the marketplace. Amrydor was still at the stall she'd last seen him at, but this time he was talking with a girl closer to their own age, who looked like she might be the daughter of the woman who had been there before. Fuyuko paused to observe them for a moment, running Moriko's lessons through her head. After studying them, she felt pretty confident that they were both flirting and enjoying it.
He knew she was there of course, and she'd seen him briefly glance her way.
Fuyuko walked up next to him and bumped his shoulder. "Thanks fer the assist, Amry."
"I'm glad to have helped. How are the kids?" he asked
"Oh, they're in a safe place," Fuyuko replied, and his slight nod showed he understood.
The girl's face had frozen briefly, though she was now doing her best to look polite and pleasant again, though somewhat more distant. Fuyuko still wasn't sure she understood the whole competition thing, but she had a fair idea how to fix this particular issue.
She grinned at the girl and said, "It's good to have friends, yes? Speaking of, Amry, my parents gave me some cash to spend on others. As you're the first to find me, and you gave me an assist, you get spent on first. But I don't want your friend here to feel left out, so here's something for both of you, but the rule is that you each have to each spend it on the other." She held out her closed hands and waited for each of them to put their hands out.
Amrydor did so without hesitation, and he looked amused. The girl hesitated before holding out her hand too.
Fuyuko placed the coins in their palms and pulled her hands away before they could register what she had just handed them. "Now, Amry's a good friend, so be nice to him, alright? And Amry," she was taking a step back already, anticipating that he was going to protest, "If you find any place really tasty to eat at, pass the word through my parents, I want to try everything. Now, I'm going to go make up my own game to mess with the rest of our friends. Have fun!"
She ran off with a laugh before they could react to her gift. She'd given them five platinum coins each.
When she was someplace private enough, Fuyuko touched her purple and gold earring, activating a connection to Mordecai's and Kazue's cores. "Hey, could you tell your other selves I want to change up the game a bit? I'm going to try buying stuff for the others without them spotting me, but I don't think they should know that. Oh, and Amry's power is a cheat in this game, I don't think him finding me should count. But he did help me with something, so I helped him out with a date anyway. Um, oh, and I plan to find someplace to sleep for this challenge, I'll be back at the wagon in time. Is that alright? Yeah? Thank you. I love you all, bye!"
Fuyuko cut off the contact hastily after saying that last line. She meant it, but it was still a little hard to say sometimes.
Now, time to hunt the hunters and see if she could figure out what things they were interested in, buy them, and then get someone else to deliver them, all without being spotted.