The outside courtyard (outside; ground floor.)

"No prob, hope you enjoy." He replied, appearing blissfully ignorant of her dejected attitude.

barduwulf wrote:"No prob, hope you enjoy." He replied, appearing blissfully ignorant of her dejected attitude.

She straightens herself out and shakes her head. "Since the trouble seems to be done here, I think I can handle this area for the time being..." she says to the General, absently taking a biteful of cheesecake into her mouth and swallowed. Her eyes widened. "For randomly encountered Cheescake, it's surprisingly good." She continues to eat it, all the while wondering how the General could be so non-chalant about this. "Hmm...I guess hero's just accept things more than us common folk." she mumbles, her tone slightly obscured due to the pieces of cheesecake in her mouth.

At the top of the stairs now, the young High Priestess was now at the palace courtyard. Around her were puddles of human blood as well as demon blood. She could see the outlines of worn out Palace guards leaning against the palace which was about two or three football fields away from her position. She guessed that they were being treated for their wounds, and that those who were dead or dying had already been carried off. She walks towards the men before noticing 12 Sword Grunts patrolling the yard. She also seen the bodies of demon pirates being dragged away and then a familiar face.

"General Garamonde!" she waved gleefully, the sack of relics still slung over her shoulder. She runs up to the armored Samurai, dropping the bag gently before grappling the older man and clung her tightly against her torso-his armor bending slightly from her tug, but unlike the Samurai's wife, at least his back was still in correct alignment. "It's so good to see you!" She says tugging him tighter, with his arms pinned in her bear hug. As soon as she would let go his armor would undoubtedly would pop back into place, but at the moment she was still bear hugging him, and his feet were at least an inch off the ground! "How have you been? It has been a while!" she cried out with friendly laughter.

Returning the hug, though nowhere as tightly as the super strong priestess, and replied. "Wow Miko, freakishly strong as ever. Hoe have you been?"

barduwulf wrote:Returning the hug, though nowhere as tightly as the super strong priestess, and replied. "Wow Miko, freakishly strong as ever. Hoe have you been?"

She chuckles. "I'll take that as a compliment!" she started with just as cheerfully, before letting go of the man gently and releasing him from her grip. She folded her arms and grinned. "I've been fairing well, just returned to the City about an hour or so ago. Jeeze, I was just telling your wife if her coffee was to blame." she chuckles under her breath before pulling out a rice ball... where did she pull it from? Where exactly did it come from? That's a life mystery, but not the point. The point was that she handed the pristine rice ball to the Samurai. "Here, your wife says she forgot to pack you lunch today; I thought you would like it." she smiles.

"Thanks, I could use a snack after the demon piate attack." He said as he took the rice ball, and before he started eating, he said "Yeah, it makes about as much sense as it sounds." and then took a bite

She kept her smile. "So, what exactly happened here? I hear both the terrorist group Crimson Knight Brigade and a blue dragon attacked the city. The Empress safe?"

"Of course, remember who you're dealing with." He said with a chuckle. "That being said, it's been a long day, having to deal with Tenik as well before I got back here, then I have to slay a dragon, and then demon pirates appear out of nowhere. Maybe we can all grab a room in the palace and have some lunch." He said, while munching on the rice ball.

barduwulf wrote:"Of course, remember who you're dealing with." He said with a chuckle. "That being said, it's been a long day, having to deal with Tenik as well before I got back here, then I have to slay a dragon, and then demon pirates appear out of nowhere. Maybe we can all grab a room in the palace and have some lunch." He said, while munching on the rice ball.

She chuckled. "Sure, besides we have to catch up." she says walking towards the palace. "Where would you like to chat?" she asked.

"Hopefully somewhere that isn't destroyed." He said, then turned his head to Orihime. "Hey, you gonna join us?"

She nodded. "Right, that would indeed be a good place to start." she says before looking to the 12 swords soldier. "There's nothing to do out here now that the threat is gone. Wanna tag along?" she asked as well.

Orihime blushed slightly from both offers, just as she's finished with her dish. She swallowed and turned her head a little to the left. "Um...sure; I'll just switch out of my armor first. I'll catch up with you both in a bit, yeah?" she asked looking at them both with a nervous smile.

"Ok, see ya soon." He replied to Orihime. "Ya know, I should get Bre. "He said, pulling out his phone and calling his wife. "Hey honey, we're having lunch at the palace, want to join us?"

barduwulf wrote:"Ok, see ya soon." He replied to Orihime. "Ya know, I should get Bre. "He said, pulling out his phone and calling his wife. "Hey honey, we're having lunch at the palace, want to join us?"

"Oh thank the GODS your alright!! I was so worried about you, you should have called me sooner!" she at first scolded her tardy husband, but after that short burst of rage a girlish giggle rose up from the receiver; making her sound several years younger. "Well, at least your alright. Lunch at the palace? Alright I'll swing over in a bit then!" she says before adding: "I'll bring my special stuff then!" she says with a chuckle.

As Barduwulf conversed, Miko was looking to the Palace. She thought of an area to set up the lunch and smiled before turning to Barduwulf again. "We can eat in the Great Hall, down in the Koi pond area. I'm sure the Empress wouldn't mind." she says gently, as to not be too loud as Bard continues to converse.

As she waits for Barduwulf to respond, Miko walked over to one of the stone gardens which inhabited around the Palace. She hopped from stone to stone with ease before something caught her eye. She blinks, looking down at a small carving in the stone written in Beijionese Script. She blinked again, narrowing her eyes and brushing off the sandy stone as she read out loud: "Hmm. In case of idiocy, speak the word 'He-Den', so said idiot will land upon the sharpest rock..." She paused. "Hmm...Why, this looks like the Empress's hand writing...Why would she write something so cruel?" she said with a frown.

Quickly finishing his rice ball, he grabs Miko's shoulders, pulling her up, and pushing her to the Great Hall. "Trust me, it's more trouble than it's worth."

She blinks, noticing the new presence. She easily pulls away from the General and gapes at the ninja that had appeared. "Wow, so your the person who was mentioned on the stone!" She says walking up to him, bringing out a brown rice ball. "Here you go Sir, I'm sorry for saying those 'words', I just never thought that such words would be able to summon a person in thin air. And strangely they are in the Empress's hand writing too." she says, bowing and held out the rice ball. "Here, accept this as my apology if you may." she says sincerely.

The man looked between the woman the rice ball and the ever so changed Barduwulf. Ikai smirked bowing and put his hand out accepting the rice ball however, as he withdrew his hand a small cherry blossom was left in her hand. As he straightened his back he introduced himself saying, "I'm Ikai Boontai. I'm not surprised the priestess would leave such a message...she has her peculiarities though sometimes they pay off when I have the pleasure of meeting a woman as caring and radiant as yourself." Ikai could feel the rock underneath his feet and deciding that he was vulnerable stepped off of the rock onto more solid ground as he continued to watch the woman. He continued to smirk with the realization that once again he was in a position of Sango making fun of him and an attractive woman. Oh...how the world doesn't change.

She smirked bowing again. "Ah, thank you for the lovely blossom; a plain woman such as myself doesn't deserve such a beautiful object." she says opening her palm and blew the blossom from her palm to the wind so that it blew away into the high reaches of the sky. "Beauty such as this belongs to the world, and not a single person such as myself." she says before looking to Ikai. "I am the High Priestess, I must say your name sounds familiar, but I don't think we've ever officially met. I work for the Empress of Beijio as well as all of Beijio for that matter." she says folding her arms together in her kimono. "You can call me either High Priestess, or by my Priesthood name which is Miko Hakurei." she says with another slight bow. "And thank you for those kind pleasantries, though I believe I do not deserve them." she says, her large bosoms bouncing only slightly as she stood straight and cocked her head to the left slightly and smiled. "But either way, I believe we are well met Mr. Boontai. May I ask how you are associated with the Empress?" She mused.

"I have been in the Empress' service for since she was a teen. I trained her in ninjutsu in order to help her protect herself as a favor to her father. Most recently I was protecting her from a threat to Beijio and was head of her guard. However, time has taken it's course and previously He-den had called me away from here and until today He-den brought me back." Ikai explained as he watched the cherry blossom float away before returning his attention to Miko. Ikai moved around in order to get better look at Barduwulf slightly though he still kept a reasonable distance and eye on Miko.

Ikai noted that Barduwulf had been promoted to general before turning to Miko and asking, "What brings you into the Empress' employ? I've heard your name around the city as well High Priestess...though I have to say I've had enough of these pleasantries. I truly do believe you are a radiant individual but this formality is killing me." Ikai moves close to the Priestess and with a swift grasp of the hand spun her around by moving her arm over head before dipping her and bringing her back to her normal position. Ikai winked before releasing his grasp and taking a step back awaiting the repercussions.

Miko, wide-eyed and startled saw her world spinning before she was dipped. She blinks dizzily at the Ninja whom had just performed some half-assed tango with her body, but she still remained somewhat pleasant once he placed her upright again. She blushed slightly bowing her head and coughing into her fist. "Not bad. Your reflexes are quite remarkable, to be honest I did not see that coming." she says stepping out of the garden and into the vast open plain that was the tiled entrance to the Palace. "Would you mind if I tested how well your abilities are? I mean, I don't mean to brag, but I'm quite the heavy hitter. If you so easily took my arm with out any effort, your certainly an awesome opponent." she says with a smirk, clapping her hands together in a prayer formation. "Forgive me General Garamonde, but I'm going to 'play' with Master Ikai for a while." she says with a giggling grin.

She looks back to the Ninja. "So, what are your terms?" she asked, placing a hand upon her hip, her radiant white teeth closing to a closed lip smile.

Ikai smirked. He knew there was a reason he was brought back to Beijio. "My terms..." Ikai thought before replying, "...the same terms I gave Sango when we first trained. We can fight until one individual surrenders though a consequence be held for each of us. If I lose then you can select something for me to do but if you lose then we go to bed. These are my terms do you agree?"

As Ikai spoke he started to prepare for a fight. He started to clear his mind and focus on his opponent.

Barduwulf sighed, pulled out his phone, and contacted his lieutenants. "Everyone, this is General Barduwulf, we have a Code Pink situation, scramble the troops and get them into position." He said, and hung up. Code Pink was a plan enacted when Ikai challenged someone to a duel in Beijio, signaling the guards to be placed at strategic points to limit collateral damage and prevent civilian death."You haven't changed much, have you Ikai." He sighed, as he sat down on a nearby bench with Katsumi.