“agh!”

“shhhh!”

“Aghh–you’ll squeeze my wrist off like this Shiryu.”

“Keep quiet it’s not easy scaling an enormous wall with one arm and holding you up with the other,” hisses down Shiryu to Pinoki hung from his grip,

The bright colored sky now settled into a nightly black, sends little rays of white light onto the sleeping earth below

Not many bats exist in these parts, owl or any nocturnal animals for that matter, it’s just a smooth and silent night on the outskirts of the Great Wu Tang city

An impenetrable fortress of a city surrounding by tall burgundy walls thick and dense as steel it’s surface is carved with imagery of dragons and winged beings from which spiky magic crystal penetrate burning or zapping anyone daring to climb the walls….

“It just had to be us” grumbles Shiryu burying his hand into the gems slowly inching himself and Pinoki upward

“I get this is difficult Shiryu but you don’t have to take your frustration out on my wrist,

I only have one arm left, and this was your idea by the way,”

“I swear it didn’t look this tall from below,”

“We’re almost at the tip anyways,” exhales Pinoki as if he was the one doing the heavy lifting

The north, south, east and west gates are heavy guarded and unwelcoming Shiryu and Pinoki were instantly turned away the moment they approached

“Ahh finalllyyy” Shiryu pulls himself and company to the top of the wall finally

“If we ever get put in a situation like this again I’m choosing to brute force my way in.”

“Cant say I disagree.” Pinoki rubs his wrist gingerly

The two take a breather looking over the city

A large red building, the imperial castle looms over everything else hogging all the attention in the large chunk of yard and space it claims the regular city is quite congested but in a neat orderly way, the buildings are olden and rustic like of Tonbo expect these are built of stone rather than wood

Despite being night the streets are alit and lively

“I wonder what’s the commotion?” Ponders Shiryu leaning his entire body over 

“Easy,” Pinoki pulls him back

“You don’t want to die in a stupid way like this.”

“I’d probably survive the fall”

“We can’t even see the ground from here.” Monotones Pinoki

“I can see just fine”

“You are an exception Shiryu.”

“Look can you see the water fountain over there?” 

“I think I can see the water, yes.”

“It’s close to us, you can see our reflections from here.”

“What does that have to do with any–”

–Splashhh!♪

“uwagh!?” gasps Pinoki in shock as cold water knifes into his skin without warning.

“Look we’re down on the ground now,” Shiryu rolls out of water nonchalantly 

“Wait, 

How??” the little man rubs his eyes in confusion

“Could you always do that?”

“If you’re thinking that I was using teleportation or space displacement magic then no,

That’s not what I did,

I moved through reflections,”

“Could you always do that?” Pinoki asks again

“Yes and no, it wasn’t to this extent I could hide reflections now I can leap from them,”

“What else is about you is new Shiryu?”

“Mmmnmnmn” he shrugs as a response

“Lets get moving, before people spot us.”

….

****

“Hey stay in your place don’t try anything foolish!”

“Or what?

We don’t fear you people in the slightest!”

“Wait till the emperor decides what he wants to do with you.”

“Wait till our chief orders us to decimate you.” 

“Lively night tonight♪” whistles Pinoki as he and Shiryu slip into a crowd in which a conflict brews between two opposing groups,

“These are Bakufu warriors,” whispers Shiryu

“Aki is definitely here.”

“Aren’t we here for something else?” Pinoki tiredly yawns

“Yeah, yeah the requiem 

“Yeah, yeah the requiem, but it’s not like we have any hints where it is in this large city, we might as well gather information,” 

“And does gathering information involve chasing after the chief?”

“Look, I just need to know if she’s ok,

 The requiem isn’t going anywhere,”

“As long it’s an adventure,” sighs Pinoki unmotivated,,,

(So who do we ask….)

“Your chief is nothing compared to our emperor don’t kid yourself!” 

Then two parties continue arguing 

“Our chief could most certainly–”

“–Excuse, excuse,” Shiryu taps one of the armor clad warriors 

“Do you know where Aki is in this city?”

“Who are you to call our chief by name!?” The man barks back

“Shh,”

“Don’t silence me!

Are you trying to insult us? You Wu Tang scum,

Calling our chief by name,

I can do you the same,

Cash,

Emperor Cash will lose to our chief.”

“Hey, watch your mouth!” Threatens the Wu Tang guards 

“You people started it calling our chief so casually like that!”

“First off all, we won’t say it again don’t ever speak his name the emperor,

Cash rules everything around us next time you speak it without it respect your head will be on a pike and secondly those two men do not look like one of–

Hey?

Where did they go?”

….

…

“Nice plan Shiryu, go around and start calling names,” drawls Pinoki as the two scurry away into the night 

“I forgot how prideful people could get over their leaders names,

Even I won’t dare utter the name of my supreme leader,” Shiryu says as the pair duck into an alley 

“Let’s just do what regular people would do Shiryu,

Sneak around eavesdropping around guards until we hear what we need.” Suggest Pinoki

(Regular people?)

“Lets ease drop around the imperial castle then.”

“No way, and risk getting beheaded if caught…

Actually,” Pinoki thinks it over

“That sounds pretty risky,

Let’s do th–”

“–You two aren’t from around here.” A cold voice suddenly breathes through the night

“…..”

“How long have you been following us?” Shiryu swiftly turns to the speaker

“You knew?”

“No, but I can’t hear your footsteps, smell you or feel your presence,

That means you’ve been following us.”

“I have.” The voice breathes and a unidentifiable person steps out of the shadows

And by unidentifiable I mean that literally, their face is blank, completely no eyes, nose mouth, just a plank surface,

Their body like a lanky mannequin but covered in metal piercings and punctures 

Voice chillingly calm

“If you’re following us then you already know we’re not from here.” Shiryu tenses himself 

“Yes, that’s why I didn’t ask.” The person steps closer,

“One of you isn’t a human,” their face turns to Shiryu

“A wolf in sheep’s skin?

Or a beast in human’s?”

“I am human, are you?”

“I am, they call me the humanfaced slaughterer,”

“The what..??” spurts out Pinoki

“That is just my nickname,

I also go by the name Cash, as in Cash who rules everything around you,

The emperor of the Wu Tang.”