Of Water and Fog....

The Mantis took a close look at the mon, (32) or at least as close of one that he could, brain awhirl (10) as he attempted to place it and sorely wishing he'd taken more time to study the emblems of the Empire, numerous though they were. The man was armed with a wakizashi, or so Kumabachi assumed, but no katana that he could see, and yet he had a spear. Curious, very curious. Kumabachi returned the wave, silently for now, before continuing to pull the rope in.

He whistled, calling for Sasuke to come and land on his shoulder, for now. The hawk might be of some use in this coming exchange.

Kage left the Mantis to finish pulling the boat in as he strapped back on his weapons. He keeps his bow in his left hand just in case this man cannot be trusted and returns his wave with a slight bow.

"Thank you for helping us find our way back to land. Who are you and where are we?"

THe Matis sees that the mon is an odd Squirre or a ferret, maybe an otter?

"Kawauso Modan, I run a camp a bit north of here. Its hospitality is perhaps better then the lakes, especialy had you found your way to the island rather then the shore."

Beside the tree was a basic full of fish, and some other fishing tools as well.

"Come, join us and we can share a meal. I am sure you have a few questions at least. And I for one would like to know the current state of the Empire."

Kage gets out of the boat, not knowing if he can trust this man or not. He slings his bow but very obviously keeps his hand near his katana.

"You say current state of the Empire like we're outside of it? Where are we?"

"Not quite outside, traveler, but about as close as you can really get without being there. The real probablem about keeping in touch, is once some one leaves, they tend not to come back. So aside from the ocasional new visitor, we dont get many updates."

Modan picks up his things, and jestured up a rough hewn path.

"THis way then,""
And started walking

Kumabachi retrieved his weapons, tucking his katana into his obi and picking up his lovingly crafted Tsuruchi yumi and slinging it over his shoulder, lantern in the other hand. He looked about, taking in the scenery as much as possible as he attempted to form his mental map of this place. He did not suspect this man either, though the remoteness made him curious, of course.

"You are isolated, then?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He thought for am Moment before continuing. "What was the last you'd heard?"

"I beleive it was the passing of Toturi the first. Granfathers camp gets a lot more activity then here, and they dont tend to ask as much as listen. Thats a pretty good example of our differences, and why we dont share a camp any more either."

A sad smile graced his lips.

"Toturi th... why, that was that was almost half a century ago!" Kumabachi said with a shock, surely that couldn't be right! How isolated must they be? How had they gotten to such a place?

Kage fires an arrow past Modan's right ear. "That's far enough! I don't know who you really are but we aren't going anywhere until you answer my questions. And you better hope I like your answers. I want to know where we are and how we got here. Now." This last word is spoken in a near whisper and the sound of Kage drawing another arrow to his ear can be heard very clearly.

Modan comes to a stop his eyes following the course of the arrow back.

"You could have asked, in perhaps a less forceful way. That said, you surely dont have to folow me at all."

He turned back to face them,carefuly setting down the fishing supplies.

"You arfe in The Great Vale, at least thats my name for it. Grandfather would call it the Valley of Laughing water, the people in the village would call it their primary source of food. If you want to know what the kami would call it, well that would be a better question for those of Grandfathers camp."

His own hand rested slightly on the short blade at his side as he spoke,

"As to who you are, how you got here, why your hear or any questions similiar to that, I dont have good answers for that. Visitors just seem to be brought here at times. None that I know of have ever come here intentionaly, though I question that in the case of some of the bandits. "