[Festival] What's a Festival?

[Kabu]

In an effort to help Yuu learn about and integrate into the world at large Nozomi had taken her to the Iron Banner festival in Pebble Country, a gathering of all sorts of different people from around the world. It had been a long trek but eventually the pair had arrived and after getting settled Nozomi had given Yuu some money and urged her to go mingle and have fun with others.

Meanwhile Yuu didn't protest but nonetheless already found herself a bit overwhelmed and more than a little confused, despite her caretaker's best attempts to explain the situation. For a time she stood outside the inn, head tilted to the side as she looked around at various passerby. Nozomi had told her to go have fun and mingle but what was she supposed to do now? She was in a strange place surrounded by strangers. She barely had started getting the hang of things back home... and that was mostly thanks to Nozomi and Cho helping her along. Now she had been left to her own devices and she didn't have the first clue on what she was supposed to do at a festival in a foreign land. Nobody had even really explained to her what a festival even was, Nozomi having simply told her that she would have to find out on her own.

Realizing after a while that thinking would get her nowhere she began walking down the street, her gaze on a constant swivel as she kept her eyes out for anything interesting. Perhaps she would come across some interesting people or maybe she would find something good to eat... Anything could happen really.

[Golnax]

Shiun was hungry. Her stomach told her so, loud and clear.

Wandering through the crowds of people, the purple-clad Kinoko was looking around simultaneously for her group, whom she had been separated from maybe half an hour ago or so, and something to eat that seemed appealing to her. There were plenty of pleasant smells wafting around in the air that certainly belonged to things which were edible, but she didn't know what a lot of them were and therefore didn't know if she'd like them or not! She might have been brave enough to try regardless, but she had a limited amount of ryo on her person and didn't want to make a purchase she regretted - plus, without someone there to inform her what was or wasn't in the food stuffs, she was all the more paralyzed by her choices!

Because of this Shiun was trying to discreetly just move from place to place until she (hopefully) found either her group or something that was familiar and therefore safe to eat. She strode down the street with her head tilted forward so that her speckled mushroom cap was facing forward mostly, her eyes on the ground and her hands balled into fists. She wasn't watching where she was going exactly, more just trying to hide her face than anything as she looked around for either of her objectives. Subsequently, she didn't realize that she was about to bump into someone before it was too late!

Although she had been walking for a while with her head tilted forward she did lift it occasionally in order to make sure she wasn't about to hit a wall or anything. It just so happened that, this time, as she lifted her head up she was almost face to face with an older girl who was directly in her path! Shiun reacted quickly as she could, throwing her entire upper body back, stopping her marching in her tracks, spinning on the spot and trying to side-step the other young lady. Alas, all she accomplished was to make it so that instead of bumping into her head on, she instead ended up bumping her booty against her side instead!

Worse, yet, she lost her balance because of this! Letting out a small cry, Shiun waved her arms around in circles to try and get her balance but ultimately fell forward but caught herself with her hands before she fell completely face first! Once again acting quickly, the young Akibushi turned around and looked up at the young woman she'd bumped into. "Sorry! Sorry! I didn't quite see you there!" she said from on the ground, apologetically pleading for clemency while on the ground as others in the crowd looked over towards the pair with nonchalant curiosity.

[Kabu]

The farther she walked the more Yuu found herself wishing that she had some kind of company. There were so many things to do and see and she was feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. For perhaps the first time she understood why Nozomi insisted on treating her like a child despite her age. It was honestly a bit frustrating, which in itself was a foreign and brand new sensation for her. It was a feeling that she really didn't like, nor did she truly understand it, barely having been able to even recognize it.

Lost in thought as she was she barely was paying attention to where she was walking, snapping back to attention as someone bumped into her. As if on instinct she reached for her weapon only to realize two crucial details in that moment. First of all, there was no way she would be attacked here.. she had been assured of that much and then secondly, she didn't even have her halberd on her person. She couldn't help but sigh at the realization. Even now she was still being affected by the memories of her time in the facility... herself and the other children having been in danger of attack at all times. She hadn't been able to let her guard down at all during those times... and it seemed that she hadn't quite overcome that mentality just yet.

With that in mind she turned her head towards the direction the bump had come from, seeing a girl face down on the ground. Remembering one of Nozomi's teachings she squatted down and offered her hand towards the girl. "It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going either." she responded to the girl's apologies, a stiff smile on her face. "Are you okay? That fall must have hurt."

[Golnax]

Culture was a funny thing. An invisible hand that held sway over an individual that changed it's shape, number of digits and grip based entirely on where one happened to be from and where they had grown up. For the young, like Shiun, this hand was still taking shape but even still it held sway. As such, with the young woman kneeling down and offering a hand in apology, Shiun's training kicked in in much the same way it had for the woman (though she hadn't seen) and, rather than taking the offered hand, the samurai threw her hands down to the ground, bent her head until her cap was touching the ground in front of her, and said the following:

"Sorry! I have to apologize properly, ma'am! The fault is entirely mine, I should know better than to not pay attention to where I was going! Forgive me!"

A bit dramatic, sure, but certainly heartfelt. Samurai, especially those of lower rank such as herself, were trained to prostrate themselves in apology like this when they felt it was necessary to do so as a physical expression of regret for their actions. The older the individual the slight had been directed towards, or the higher rank they happened to be, the more you had to put your all into the act. Younger samurai, like Shiun, were expected to put more of their youthful energy into an apology and make more of a show of it, where as older, higher ranked, more experienced samurai were allowed to show a bit more decorum and subtlety with their apologies, as the very act of such esteemed warriors bowing their heads to another was seen as analogous to humility itself and thus needed no dog and pony show.

However, none of that didn't make the act any less embarrassing to perform! Within a couple of seconds of her finishing her apology Shiun was shaking as she felt herself growing red in the face from being in this position. Her training had made it so that she threw herself down without thinking about it, spewing the words that she had been taught were expected of her, but still. She never meant to put as much gusto into it as she usually ended up doing. Slowly she lifted her head and, almost looking like she was on the verge of tears from the shame, she gave a shaky smile to the woman. "Ehehe... I'm fine, thank you... uh... goodbye!"

Shiun shot up to her feet in one swift motion, turned, and started to march off, not wanting to face the woman or anyone else in that moment. Gah, if only she had her comrades around to turn to...!

[Kabu]

Yuu couldn't help but frown, feeling uncomfortable and unsure of what to do as the girl prostrated herself before her and profusely begged for forgiveness. What did someone do in this situation? If someone like Cho or Nozomi was around they would probably have some kind of comforting words but she couldn't do anything like that. She couldn't so much as muster a convincing smile. "Umm, please don't go!" she shouted in desperation, reaching out to grab the girl's hand as she turned to run away.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel upset or uncomfortable, I'm just not very good at expressing my emotions. Just please don't run away." she pleaded. She wasn't sure herself why she was so desperate but somewhere deep down she couldn't stand the thought of upsetting someone and then just letting them run off without making things right.