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Drifting Petal	A new day dawns on Great Forks. The sun is rising, and the people of the city are waking to begin their hustle and bustle of activity, industry, and shenanigans. Two such shenanigan-makers find themselves amidst the crowd in the West Quarter, standing out by every metric of the word, though barely in a metropolis like Great Forks, so inundated with heroes and mercenaries hoping to earn the Exigency... or those who already have. Petal leads the pair through the crowds, although she has no idea where she's going, and seems to just be... 'keeping an eye out', in her words. The two seek the daughters of the man they seek to save, though with so little to go on... "What'd that god say they did again?"
Argent Princess	Argent Princess drifts along with Petal, smiling gently between politely covered yawns as she does her best only to eye the wares of vendors for just long enough not to draw their attention or engage with them. "Oh, one of them... Mochi? The other I believe she said was a baker." Shr murmirs distractedly. She slips up closer to Drifting Petal so she can slyly slip her tiny hand into hers, steeling her face with defiance before she's thrown off balance and she hitches Petal up for a moment as she veers wildly to the side to avoid stepping over an irregularly colored cobblestone.
Drifting Petal	Drifting Petal nods, not seeming bothered by Princess' odd gait atop the cobblestone - or maybe she just doesn't notice. She seems to be looking through the crowd, watching the shops and people and stalls, before suddenly bursting into motion, a blur of yellow and white and pink. She drags Princess with her, darting this way and that through the crowd, nearly body-checking people out of her way when necessary, until eventually the motion stops at a screeching halt, as the two break through the milling crowd. Petal stands before a stall with a brightly-colored sign, advertising little balls of mochi, staffed by a young woman. She points, rudely, and asks Princess, "Like her?"
Argent Princess	Argent Princess seems to float as her beloved yanks upon her suddenly, she'd likely flap in the wind behind her if such things were possible, so light and airy a being she is. Pulled to an abrupt halt she sways for a moment as if the world were turning around her at far to brisk a pace, not so much out of breath as out of mine, she lifts her hazy gaze to the sign, her painted lips moving slowly as she mounts the number of Mochi balls on the sign three time before smiling and nodding to Petal with admiration and approval. "This is her stall." She says, as sure as can be. She smooths her kimono over her body and passes a hand over Petal, tugging a little as if it could set her in any better order before easing the two of them towards the stall with a hand against the small of Petal's back, her face incandescent with a smile.
Drifting Petal	As the two approach, the young woman manning the stall seems to suddenly remember she's a merchant, lighting up and putting on a winning smile. "Hello, hello! Mochi for the ladies? A sweet treat is the right way to start the day! What's good for the spirit is good for the body," comes the pitch. Dozens of little balls of rice dot the table, of various colors and sizes, and the tools for making more are right nearby. Petal seems to be digging in her pockets and around her person for money already.
Argent Princess	Argent Princess palms a handful of the local currency into Petal's hand as she sweeps an admiring gaze over the wares, soaking in the sales pitch and the young woman with a gracious smile. "Everything looks so lovely, but it is a bit early for sweets." She dithers, with such hollow and weak protest that her obvious interest is hardly a betrayal. "Well, perhaps just a few..." She allows, with a look of avarice that only graces her features in such rare situations. As she indicates a few of the more elegantly pressed floral patterned mochi, she casually inquires. "Where did you learn to do such intricate work? These look so very fine." As she shares the smile with Petal, she starts to point out which ones she wants, and seems to fall into some pattern of selection based on color and sequence that results in her selecting nearly quarter of the stock for purchase.
Drifting Petal	For every piece of coinage Petal slaps down, she picks up a mochi cake and pops the whole thing into her mouth, chewing noisily and paying little attention to the ensuing conversation. The stall owner seems to shy away from the compliments, rubbing the back of her head and glancing away from Argent Princess, even as the coinage continues to hit the stall. She mutters, "Oh, well, I.. well.. there's nothing to it, really, I just... practiced..." she manages to squeak out, choosing to start gathering Petal's noisy coins rather than continue to avoid the question. Petal, for her part, is now attempting to see how many mochi she can fit in her cheeks at one time.
Argent Princess	Argent Princess looks frantic for a moment, and a careful observer of her would notice some light inside her going out as she watches the chaos Petal wreaks on the perfectly displayed and sorted Mochi. She opens and shuts her pale silvery-pink lips a few times until she gapes dumbly like a fish and her eyes glaze over as if she's at a complete loss of what to do.
Drifting Petal	The woman furrows her brow, waving her hand to get Argent's attention. "Ma'am.. uh, ma'am... are you alright?"
Argent Princess	Argent Princess looks at the Mochi, and whatever hunger or avidity she had before seems to have faded away into listlessness. She forces back her polite smile and after a moment gives Petal a soft pat on the arm and kindles some warmth again in watching her enjoy the confectionery. "You must have had a very good teacher." She says distantly.
Drifting Petal	The girl shakes her head, avoiding Princess' gaze. "N-no. It's just a hobby that became a living, you know, haha..." She starts making more mochi, idly working with her hands to distract herself from this line of questioning. Petal put too many mochi in her mouth, and seems to be trying to either chew them or get them out, and is having some difficulty, just off to the side.
Argent Princess	Argent Princess brushes her silvery fingernails against her cheeks as she lifts her hands and sighs softly. "Perhaps this is the wrong place." She says, to Petal, looking sideways at her. She picks her gaze across what remains of the Mochi but just seems more bewildered and uncertain, as if it physically pained her to look there. "Where is your father?" She asks, lifting her heavy and suddenly intense gaze up to the girl, she looks sorrowful and filled with regret as she presses herself close to the stall, too near to be ignored.
Drifting Petal	The woman seems unable to look away from Princess, suddenly, but tears start welling in her eyes. She wipes at them, keeping herself under control, then offers, "He's... he got drafted," she says with intense sadness coloring her voice. Her hands slow at the mochi-making, and even Petal looks over, brow furrowed. As the tears start to slide down her cheeks, she spills it all. "A kingdom to the east, Varfulla, their soldiers came and he... apparently he owed them something, and..." She sniffles loudly. "He went with them. I'm afraid we'll... we'll never see him again!"
Argent Princess	Argent Princess makes a soft sound as her own large eyes fill with tears of sympathy, the hollowness seems to fill inside her again as that hopeless look of dashed expectations is washed away from her sweet features. "Your father. The Confectioner." She murmurs dreamily, as she sweeps her hand across the mostly cleared stall top, pinching a mochi and moving it far to the right, while the places a larger leaf-wrapped one to the left and drags the point of fingernail in a swirling line between. She presses her dainty finger into the rightmost Mochi, tending it in and piercing it with the silvery tip of a pointed fingernails. "Varful la." She corrects, almost studiously. She casts a wide-eyed gaze back at Drifting Petal. As if there was something more she wanted to share, a dawning horror and realization, recognition. Her dainty finger makes a ruin of the confection as it smears it into the counter of the stall.
Drifting Petal	Drifting Petal opens her mouth wide, letting it fall agape, and two half-chewed chunks of mochi fall from her mouth to the ground below, narrowly missing sullying Petal's clothing. She speaks around the remaining mochi in her mouth, barely understandable, spitting out a, "whuh?!?!" before managing to swallow enough to speak. "What do you mean?!" she cries, left bewildered and a little bit worried by Himiko's sudden declaration. Then, the gears in her head start turning, and she offers, "Is it about the cat?!"
Argent Princess	Argent Princess covers the aghast look of her mouth and a delicate hand and is distracted enough to lick the mess of smushed Mochi from her fingertips as she stares off into space. "The cat? Mm, yes. But not the leaf, my love." She tilts her head to the side and squints, "Unless..." She ventures slowly. She turns her gaze back to the daughter, her eyes warm with sympathy, reaching out her clean hand as if to offer it in sympathy. "I know how you feel, my father was taken from me as well..." She murmurs softly. "Your father... Hmm. No. The pattern is all wrong. A thread pulled out of place, stretched and pulled until it makes a mess of the whole tapestry... The cat?" She asks, but who she's asking is just completely unclear.
Drifting Petal	Petal and the Mochi-maker exchange a look, each pleading the other to please, PLEASE help. Petal makes the first move, though, and shifts forward to lay a hand atop Princess' arm. She smiles, the sort of soft smile only a life of rustic kindness, hospitality, and moral upbringing can lend to a person. When she speaks, her voice is smoother than normal, her accent giving it a twang rather than making her sound quite so uneducated. "Princess," she starts, speaking the word with some reverence and wherewithal, not using the woman's real name, this time. "Whaddya want me to do? Where're we goin'? What do the signs say?" she adds at last, trying to glean something an idiot can understand from the much smarter demigod in the area.
Argent Princess	Argent Princess snatches up an undamaged mochi and nibbles on it daintily, her perfect teeth stripping away the coating so she can lick distractedly at the filling. "We have to go find him. He should be here. But whatever pulled him there, it must be a great force. To unsettle such as him." She flicks at a mochi, and flat bottomed as it is it tumbles unevenly across the stall's countertop and stops. "Such a man is not moved without a great imbalance." She says gravely. "Such a life is an anchor point." She tells Petal, with no hint of impatience or lack of trust in her understanding of her words.
Drifting Petal	Drifting Petal nods slowly, blinking twice, then eventually gives Himiko's arm a squeeze and turns to the daughter. "What's yer dad look like?" she demands, now filled with determination. "He's.. err.." She spends some time describing a man who is almost entirely average, but then she claims, "He always wears a, a ring our mom had made for him. It's, it's blue. And his name is Jinwa." That seems to suit Petal just fine, as she nods, turning to Himiko. "Don't forget. Blue ring. Jinwa," comes the statement, then she's ready to leave - she places a gentle hand on the small of Himiko's back, getting the woman started walking, then picks up her stride and heads through the crowd once more... her aim: the Temple District.
Argent Princess	Argent Princess lets Drifting Petal gently guide her way, seeming lost enough to be guided along empty-headedly as she chases down elusive leads in her mind, absently fussing with the gem affixed to her Obi as she nibbles on the mochi. "I am a powerful sorceress." She lets slip, almost as an afterthought, motioning through a dramatic pose that Petal ushers her out of as they slip off into the crowd. If the girl is impressed by this, neither Petal nor Princess bothered to notice.