[Post here first!] Main Gate

Jamil did not turn entirely in his saddle to regard Zakiyah, but he felt her presence there. They road through the gates and the streets, people looking at the oddity that was that Sakandi people. As they came through the gate of the mansion, he dismounted.

"If I may, Lady Sayuri," Jamil gently said after she had finished speaking of stable-boys and cleaning gear. "I have brought my own valet," he gestured to the third, so far silent compatriot that road with himself and the Sabina Majeh. "He can see to our horses and our gear, if you would allow it. The Sakandi horse breed and our equipment may prove too foreign to your stable lads," Jamil explained.

She smiled at his request and bowed to him once more. "Of course Jamil-sama. I have no objections to that. Eiji will show him the way." she said and gestured towards the stable boy that had taken her own horse.

"If you would follow me." she said with a smile and turned around once more to walk further into the mansion.

<Exit to the guest room>

Kaen walked by the front gates per routine, accompanied by his best friend and confidante. Kaen wore the robes of a samurai of the Hizashi clan. He kept his arms in his sleeves, his hair was loose in the front covering his left eye.

Kaen laughed, "Do you remember when we replaced the guard captains clothes with a bright pink kimono? It was too short, he had to hobble all the way through the courtyard from the baths, during a party. Boy was he mad." Kaen laughed harder.

Arashi would look over the heads of the guards as they discussed among themselves if they would aid her request ornot. It didn't take her long to notice her brother walking by. She didn't hesitate and at once rushed her horse through the open gates, past the guards who were soon chasing after her and shouting their words. She ignored them and only rushed her way to Kaen.

As soon as she was in front of him she jumped off her horse and landed gracefully on the ground as if she weighted nothing at all with the reins in her hands. As soon as she was able to look upon his face, her lip would start to tremble and tears would start to fill her eyes. She was far too exhausted to suppress her feelings anymore.  "He found out Nii.. Father found out..."

Kojuro watched the graceful dismount of the girl. There was something vaguely familiar about her. Only the striking almost-white of her eyes gave away her identity. It had been many years since Kojuro had seen her, and remembered Arashi mostly as the little girl who would follow Kaen around, that they would tease, and often leave behind when they went off on adventures deemed unsuitable for a small sister. "Arashi-chan, of course I remember." He didn't remember her having powers similar to Kaen's though... assuming that was what the siblings were talking about, and not an unwanted pregnancy or something mundane like that. He smiled at the young woman, and gestured to the guards chasing her to hold back. "Come inside. Do you need to talk in private?" he asked Kaen. A meeting room could be arranged, and naturally someone would come to take care of Arashi's horse.

It had been a week since the detachment of Hizashi riders led by Kojuro Hizashi had crested the distant hilltop near the Hizashi Mansion and dipped out of sight, not that Wuppo would know that. The ogre put ‘time’ in the same category as things like manners, proper etiquette, and social status; which was to say it hardly ever crossed his mind. As the 10ft tall ogre approached the gates of the Hizashi Mansion, it would become obvious he’d also put ‘bathing’ into that same category, as almost all of him was covered in dried blood and dirt. The ogre had made no attempt to wash himself at all after the veritable bloodbath on the battlefield, and a few nights of him sleeping on the ground now saw dirt caked in with the blood (presumably still sticky when he laid down), which was now flaking off of him.

Wuppo didn’t seem to mind his filthiness as he walked in the company of Rena and Kojuro, carrying what at first might have appeared to be a giant canvas bag slung over his back. As his form came into focus, though, any onlookers (of which there would undoubtedly be many) would see that it was in fact a two-man tent that he’d filled and now carried bundled up as an improvised bag. As the pack bumped along on the ogre’s back, a (relatively) small, green, leafy orb would fall out of the tent material and land on the ground with a thump. It was now made clear that Wuppo had packed a whole tent full of cabbages all the way back to the Hizashi Mansion.

Hearing one of his prizes fall, he stopped suddenly and swung himself around, bending to retrieve the delicious leafy treat. The sudden stop and turning around of such a big creature seemed to stir the horses behind him, which the tired ogre immediately took umbrage at.

“Dis’ MY green leafy bits!” he said, his giant hand wrapped around the cabbage, which was now covered in dirt.

It was unclear who Wuppo was talking to as he shoved the cabbage in his mouth, biting a huge chunk of it as he turned back around to continue walking towards the gates of the mansion. After two or three seconds of chewing, he stuffed the remaining bit of the cabbage into his maw, his mouth now completely full with the entire head of cabbage. His ill-tempered reaction to the potential loss of one of his cabbages now told the story of why no one in the party had suggested that he not fill a tent with the green produce, and carry it slung over his back all the way back to the Hizashi mansion.

Haya walked up to the gate guard and politely bowed.
"Hello I am Furusawa Haya. I come from the nothern areas of Kiyonai and belong to the Samurai of Kuzuyama." she said and gave the gate guard a warm smile. "I am looking for a certain person, and wonder if you would have anyone here whom I could ask about this? He would be a foreigner and perhaps have asked for entry into the Hizashi mansion." she said softly and folded her hands in front of her. The guard may not know the Samurai of Kuzuyama because they were not of noble descent, but for anyone who was well familiar with the martial sword traditions of Tawakoshi they might know. The Samurai of Kuzuyama was a small dojo training samurai for defending the land they came from, and they did so very well. But for war purposes they were normally considered rather insignificant and thus many war lords didn't recognize their name. 

It wasn't that odd the guardsmen didn't just let her in, but being accustomed to areas where everyone knew each other she was slightly surprised anyway.
"Alright I'll wait here." she said patiently and wondered who might show up. In the end a very official looking guy turned up accompanied by a boy carrying his things. "Yes. Furusawa Haya of the Kuzuyama Dojo - we are maybe better known as the Kuzuyama Samurai." she said, wanting to make sure he got it right as she tried to get glance at what he was looking at in that book of his.

"My mother is Furusawa Kaneru and my father is Furusawa Hiroji who were both samurais in our order." she said and hoped his papers would contain such information. Her parents were never noteworthy in the hierarchy but if his book contained a reasonably comprehensive list, they would probably be there. She paused a while thinking of an answer to the guy's question.
"The guy I'm looking for might be carrying the same surname is I." she said in a more serious tone. "He's my brother, Furusawa Izo. He might not be using that name right now." she said concerned and crossed her arms. "If possible I would like to enter to inquire about him. I promise I will keep a low profile and avoid any disturbance to the lords, but I believe that if he is inside the mansion or has infiltrated your troops, it would be best if I go have a look around." she said with a slight firm tone of voice.

Haya thought the Yamazaki guy certainly made her wait and she started tapping her foot slightly impatiently.
"Oh that? It is a matter of simple miscommunication! He is from Kiyonai too, but a foreigner to these parts of the land like me." she explained, hoping that would suffice. But it struck her that he was acting slightly condescending now and though she new it was better to keep tongue in cheek, she couldn't help herself.

"Yamazaki-san. Did I hear you saying that it was a 'insignificant corner of the country'? As I recall it, there still lives Kiyonai people there, and everyday we samurai fight to keep order in an area where the Hizashi soldiers only comes to collect tax! We put the bandits to the sword and risk our lives while claiming neither honor nor influence from the daimyo, Lord Genji! Actually I'm surprised Lord Genji even keeps track of us with that rude attitude of yours! I risked my life coming here and now I'm offering to help House Hizashi against a dangerous ronin. Is that insignificant? What if he's currently serving the lord his tea? Dressing his lord? What if he's..!" she said and stopped her outburst and crossed her arms. Immediately she felt like she had probably lost every opportunity of being allowed into the mansion.

"No Furusawa's entering? Okay then. He might be going under another name, or someone inside have heard that name. Look I just wish to help and at the same time hunting down my brother is giving me a fair amount of concerns regarding our already 'not so well known' name. I'd rather not see it sullied any more by his actions, and I consider him very unstable." she said, trying to argue a bit more calmly now. It remained to be seen if it was enough to sway the guy.