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Naomi felt like she was standing on the very face of god when she gazed down upon the small traditional town of Shirakawa from atop of what many considered to be, the sacred mountain. The lady of chinese lineage, drew the light and silky blue kimono about her when the breath of life seem to wash over the mountain face in the form of wind as it descended to lush green farmland below to feed it's life giving energy into the plants that in turn gave them the life they needed to make there undecided journey from start to finish.

Her hometown was a simple village, surrounded by a vast mountain range and spread out along a river that has fed the farm land for generations. Oh how she loved the cherry blossoms, even after all these years in this one town, it never failed to take her breath away. Naomi wandered down the makeshift crumbling stone steps down the winding mountain path to her village, watching with mild amusement as a Red furred Kitsune (Fox) chased it's mate, tumbling over each other down the grassy green slopes as the ground leveled out.

While it was still very early, many of the families had already awoken to start working on the farms. That was pretty much the way of life here in this humble village. The rest of the world had become modernized, many had decided to close themselves off the Industrialization of the world. There were no towering buildings here, most of the homes were still made of wood and older than many were here. That was how Naomi liked it though, and so did many of the other families that occupied the township. While some modern touches were accepted and tourists were allowed, nearly all the locals kept to this rustic lifestyle.

Naomi made her way into the cobblestone path through the thinly laid out township, stopping occasionally to exchange pleasantries with one of the her neighbors, Mrs Koyo, who had stopped to take a break from the farm harvest.

“The Children driving you out of town again dear?” said Mrs Koyo with a rather crooked smile, leaning on the Hoe before continuing on with slight amusement in her voice. “There a handfull your young ones are. I can see why you spend so much time on that forsaken mountain.”

Naomi gave a small smile and a little giggle, though it was somewhat strained before replying. “Yes, they can be as much, but my parents are getting on in there years and the eldest must keep the forge running.” She bowed politely to the Elder Mrs Koyo before moving on down the path between the farms to the road winding it’s way through the sparsely laid out town.

It seemed even out here, everything was becoming modernized. The road she now tread had been paved over with tarmac, street lights and bus stops had been built as of a few years ago when the tourism started to boom. All the Westerners were just fascinated by the quaint and peaceful village.

Naomi glanced down at her watch, one of the few modern devices she owned and hurried her pace past a group of American tourists taking pictures of the cherry blossoms. She was now entering her thirties, so she had many responsibilities and they mostly revolved around looking after her other brothers and sisters. But there was another job tasked to her that was far more important than cleaning up after her siblings; Guarding the Masamune Blades. Each was originally forged by her the ancestor of her adoptive parents, Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, and each of them alone was worth more than the very town she lived.

It was almost time for her Guard shift and she still had to make dinner, thankfully she had already prepared most of it before going on her walk up the mountain side. Naomi dodged past a cart that was coming up the street, since many several still prefered to use this method, and kept up a steady pace until she turned the corner to come into view of their family home. The vast majority of the populace had naught a clue that lay beneath it. Not that many here were obsessed with wealth mind you.

As she passed there resident homeless old man for the what seemed like the hundredth time since he first appeared and she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity in her heart, he had lost everything in the last world war, his family obliterated by the atomic bomb that dropped on hiroshima while he while he was fighting for survival in papua new guinea. Now he was too old to work and had no one to look after him. The increasingly grey haired man shook his coin bowl at her as she passed and she gave him an apologetic look and patted her pockets to tell him that she had nothing on her but she mouthed the words and signed “i’ll come back.” since he was bordering on deaf.

Naomi made her way inside of her house being as quiet as a mouse as she changed her shoes for the slippers, not wanting be pounced on by her brother and niece, Haku and Sakura; who were watching TV in the entertainment area. They were definitely the most mischievous of the family, the little anarchists of the home and Naomi did her best to remain undetected as she made her way to the kitchen to find her adoptive mother Kisha and her teenage sister Akemi who had become a sort of rebel of the family and her mother was in full argument over her nose piercing.

“Akemi you look like a damned bull, all you are missing is the horns and tail, or are they coming next?” asked Kisha with a fiery glare across the table at Akemi who had her arms folded and the typical ‘i dont give a crap about anything anymore’ posture as she snapped back at her mother. “The only bull here is the bullcrap coming out of your mouth.”.

Kisha snarled and slammed her fist onto the table with alot of force for an elderly lady. “You’ll be lucky if i don’t brand your *** if you don’t take that thing out of your nose, you are leaving for tokyo in less than and month and you’ll be making a statement of our family there.” she said with a growl, but all it seemed to do is cause her sister to roll her eyes and fall into silence as Naomi checked on the rice in the cooker which was just cooked before doing the same with the porky belly that stewed on the stove. It was all ready just in time and she started laying out the bowls and a bento box which she filled first with the delicious pork belly and rice.

Naomi grabs up a pair of chopsticks from the counter before taking the box and sneaking back outside and up the deserted street to the homeless man on the corner, she brushed back her dark ebony locks from her brown eyed as she bowed respectfully to the man and then held out the bento box to the elderly man.

The man’s eyes started to tear up as he took the box in his frail shaky hands as he muttered his thanks over and over before placing it down before him and pulling Naomi into a tight embrace as he let out a dry sob. The girls heart almost broke when she heard him let out that tormented sob and she hugged him back despite the appalling smell. When they finally parted, Naomi straightened up and headed back inside to start her shift for the night as she was not really hungry.

Naomi made her way into the cellar, unlocking the heavy steel door with a pin code on the modern door lock before entering into this almost vault like windowless room with thick concrete walls and ceiling, the walls of which were lined with the priceless Artifacts of ancient japan, most notably the legendary Honjo Masamune Katana that sat on the far wall and separate from the others.

The room was empty currently, guessing her father had gone to take a break, she sat on the padded mat in the center of the room and closed her eyes to meditate on the day gone by.

She had never thought that she’d go to Japan without her brother. It had always been something that he had wanted to do for the culture, whereas a teenage Every had been more preoccupied by the surfing scene or the talk of drifting on the streets. Different as day and night, the two siblings had planning a trip to multiple places around the world after her high school graduation. He had wanted to go to Japan, Italy and New Zealand. She’d wanted to see Greece, visit their cousins in Brazil, and see the Pyramids in Egypt. And then he had joined the Marines and stepped on an IED only a few months shy of her graduation.

Six years later, her own heart would stop beating when she moved to Harper Rock and run across Micah in an alleyway and as she looked up at the mountain face from her spot in the shadows, watching the sun creep along the the town, it was a bittersweet reminder that she had made it to Japan alive, either. Although, she didn’t mind admitting that she preferred her life as a vampire, as her life had really only begun and she’d gained a new family, a new home while certain interests developed that catered to her personality. After a few minutes, Every stepped back inside the small wooden home that was rented out to multiple tourist at a time and made her way back to the room that she had been occupying.

Although she had only ventured out when the sun wasn’t facing the building so that she could observe the lifestyle and habits of those in the village, people didn’t seem to pay her sleeping habits much mind as there were other college-aged tourists that slept during the day. The difference between them and Every, of course, was that she hadn’t gotten wasted the evening before and were suffering from hangovers. And, admittedly, she welcomed it. And she also welcomed the fact that some of the chaperones weren’t entirely sure if she was part of their group or not as it just made her job easier to blend in with tourism, not allowing them to get too close to her.

But, her reason to be there was more business rather than pleasure.

And as she slid the door shut behind her, Every moved to her bags, pulling her sunglasses off her face and crouched down. She pulled unzipped it, humming quietly to herself while she collected the map she’d purchased down the road from a vendor and pushed off growing desire to rest as the sun drew closer to her house. The village had been different than she thought, but she liked the simplicity. Simplistic lifestyle meant there were likely no sensor alarms that would trip even if she were in shadows. Unrolling her map, she reached over and collected a red sharpie that she had in her jacket before marking an x beside the cherry blossom trees that she’d visited with the group earlier on in the evening.

There weren’t many more places to search left and as she tapped her fingertips on the map, her hazel eyes fell onto the mountain and the home that rested on it. “Tomorrow.” She thought and pressed her lips together as the auburn strands of hair fell around her shoulders. She could still smell the temporary dye from the recent shower she’d taken, reapplying it and she really wanted to wash it all out. “One more day, I’ll find that sword and then it’ll go back to brown.” She thought to herself, grabbing an elastic band and beginning to braid her hair over her shoulder loosely before removing her shoes and crawling into the sleeping bag that she had brought with her to keep the sun off her skin, bundling down into it as her eyes fell shut.
When the sun had set, she ate quietly and listened to those around her as languages meshed, eventually adjusting to push her knife further up her sleeve before going for a walk towards the farmland with a camera in hand as she followed a group of teenagers wanting to take pictures of the cherry blossoms by moonlight. After a while, putting distance between them and her, Every pulled the shadows around her and became them, enjoying her disappearing act while she made her way silently past the group and headed towards the mountain after putting her camera back into the bag on her shoulder.

Keeping to the side to avoid carts, the woman wasn’t bothered by the distance as she began to jog, mindful of her surroundings as she moved. And, before she knew it, her destination was within sight and her hazel eyes fell on an old man sleeping on his side, a frown playing across her lips as she stopped and glanced towards the coin bowl. Reaching into her pockets, she removed a couple of notes that she’d stolen from habit in passing other tourists and tucked them under the bowl, leaving it upside down as she continued on her way without looking back.

Mentally, Every mapped out her route and as the time ticked away, she walked around in shadows to search for different escape routes as she calculated her plan. Steal the katana she wanted, bury it just outside of town, return to the village as normal. She would leave the next day after dinner with her host, thank them for their hospitality before going, collecting the sword on her way out and slip back into shadows. It was easy. She’d done it countless of times in Harper Rock, priding herself on stealing relics and being able to retrieve difficult items for her sire when needed, or even win raids with her family.

Every adjusted the bag on her shoulder and waited until some of the lights faded in some of the rooms before she made her way closer to the house, listening for footsteps and heartbeats and after a moment, the shadow stepped towards a window and peered inside. She could hear arguing coming from within and although she couldn’t understand the words, she gathered that there was disappointment over something and she rolled her eyes, picking out the voice of a teenager before she made her way elsewhere, searching. “You won’t win that argument, kiddo.” She thought, continuing on.

When she looked at a clock inside one of the walls a few hours later once she’d walked the home completely, she wasn’t surprised at the time being so late in the evening and she pulled the shadows back around her just before she found the cellar and carefully slipped inside it. A pleased look crossed her features as she saw the steel door and she reached into her pocket for an electronic lock pick and approached it. “Bingo.” She moved to the lock, her hand moving lightly to align it, listening as she waited. Click. She pushed it open carefully, collecting her shadows around her once more as she made sure she’d stay invisible and peered inside.

It was definitely what she was looking for.

But, there was one problem.

The woman.

Every stepped inside, pushing the door open some more so that it would look as if it’d been blown open by something and inched off to the side, staying close to the left wall while her hazel eyes took in the artifacts before they fell back to the woman in the middle of the room. “Definitely should be easy.” She thought to herself and tried to remember which pocket she had put her knockout bombs in before it dawned on her a moment late. She hadn’t made any. “Son of a *****.” She wanted to slap herself in the forehead. Her footsteps were silent as she made her way to a jade pendant, studying it and glancing back to the woman, thinking.

And then she saw the blade on the far wall. Her fingers itched to touch it.