[JFCMHT] Amazing Grace

[Golnax]

Hours had passed since the fight on the roof had ended. Aimi and Fuhen had both been disarmed and brought back down the tower from whence they'd come, marched back the way they had came, and were put into cells for holding for the time being. Mo was not brought with them this time. Instead, she had been taken away by both her aunt and the elder woman who had watched over the duel. Whatever was happening outside of the cell was anyone's guess, but Aimi liked to imagine that Mo was sitting down meekly at a table while people more powerful than she tried to decide what to do. As he stood leaning his shoulder against the cool cell wall, he felt that there was no doubt in his mind over the likelihood of the results of the duel being debated. There was a lingering thought whirling in his imagination that, if such were the case, it was his fault. Despite having obeyed every rule set forth - which was to say he hadn't used a single ninjutsu once the entire duel - he felt certain that the truth of that was being fought over right this second.

Of course, he could prove none of these baseless thoughts. There was no evidence here in this cell that told him as much. There wasn't even a guard posted to make sure that they didn't escape. The two had been left alone with their thoughts and as such, Aimi's drifted to a darker place of blame. Hours ago he had chastised Fuhen for getting them involved in matters that they had no obligation in. Now he wondered of the consequences of his actions, and what he might do if his darkest imaginings came to pass.

"How long are they going to keep us in here, you think?" Aimi asked his cellmate without looking at him. "I could break us out. It'd be easy - as easy as, say, bending the bars. Or melting them. Or just using the key." He listed off the possibilities one by one, not bothering to go into detail about what he meant for each one. If the frog wanted him to bust them out, they would become evident soon enough.

[Nick]

"Getting out isnae a problem, Aimi." The Frog started, laying on his back on the floor of the cell with his legs trailing up the wall, his hands behind his head. "Ah'm sure I dinnae 'ave t'tell ye, but they know they can't stop us." He let out a deep sigh from his diaphragm, tapping his foot against the wall impatiently. "More likely they dinnae expect two outsiders t'win against two o' their best and brightest... did you see that man? He shot lightning out of his fingers! Who does that?" It was perhaps a little ironic, as it was something Fuhen himself could do, and mostly just... chose not to. He pointed up towards the ceiling and made a sound vaguely mimicking that of a thunder crash.

Another sigh. His hand returned back behind his head, and the tapping resumed. "They're tryna figure out what t'do. Code o' honor states we're beyond recourse, seein' as that was all officially sanctioned, but as outsiders... Hard t'know if they'll extend us the courtesy of a samurai." It wasn't something that made Fuhen worry for himself. He was under no illusion that some of those present in the Holy City would be stronger than him, but running away was something that nearly nobody could safely say they could beat him at. Rather, it was their mutual friend, Mo, that made him worry. Not being back in the cell with the pair of them meant that they really didn't have an idea where she was.

She seemed perhaps in good company, as even her aunt seemed to be more duty bound to bring them where they were today than out of personal vendetta. Luckily the pair would not have to wait too long, as down the hallway, the sound of a door opening could be heard. Fuhen's arms came out from behind him, pushing back against the ground as he twisted his body in an unnatural fashion, pulling himself to a standing position next to Aimi. "No matter what, I wanted t'say thank ye fer bein' a good friend."

Footsteps marched in time, not a cacophony of discordant civilians rushing in the market, but trained soldiers taking their steps in time with one another. Fuhen took a step forward and pressed his face up against the bars to better see outside the cell, and a smile traced over his face. One long, gangly arm stuck itself outside and waved, and the in time marching became suddenly less in time, at least one pair of footsteps breaking time with the others. As the group came into view, four presences made themselves known. Two soldiers whose only armament consisted of short spears sheathed at their hips as though they were blades, the older woman who had overseen the odd duel, and... Mo.

"Oi, are we bein' executed sometime today? I've got a lunch date..."

[Golnax]

Aimi elected not to answer Fuhen's thunderous jape about his opponent. The word 'ninjas' would have been a sufficient answer to his question but the Kaguya simply wasn't sure if he was behind ironic or not. The white-headed shinobi hadn't quite known the frog long enough to know if his question had been a joke or if he was being sincere - which was to say, how dumb Fuhen actually was. All the same there was truth in his words. He doubted there was anyone who could stop him from breaking out of his prison, grabbing Fuhen and simply flying away. They likely were simply deciding what to do with them, being that they were foreigners and what not. Especially since Aimi was a shinobi. Mo's aunt had display the typical sort of resentment felt towards shinobi in samurai dominated countries. It was easy to imagine that a large part of the discussion was whether or not to kill Aimi and hide his body and whether or not that was worth the risk. Ninja went missing outside of their home countries all the time, after all...

The sound of a well-oiled door reached their cell, prompting Aimi to turn his head and look out of the bars. He listened carefully for a moment and estimated there were anywhere from three to five people coming towards them. Hard to tell for certain as he'd never quite mastered the skill of discerning an amount of people without looking directly at them. It was definitely more than two, that much he knew. Pushing himself off the wall he stood up straight and faced the front of their shared cell full on. What came out of Fuhen's mouth next, though, caught him by surprise. The word 'friend' caused the Kaguya to turn his head and look at the raven-haired samurai with a quizzical look on his face.

As the guards, the elder who had overseen the duel and Mo rounded the corner Aimi turned back and looked at them. As was characteristic of Fuhen he cracked a joke while Aimi remained stoic and quiet. "No. No one is being executed today," the old woman said before looking at one of the guards and gesturing to the cell door with her hand. The guard stepped forward and pulled out a ring of keys from a pouch on his left him. He fiddled with the metal keys for a moment before finding the correct one and placing it into the lock.

"The two of you are free to go," she said, a smile absent from her face but her tone soft all the same. "Your arms will be returned to you and you will be escorted out of the city. However, before you go, Mo has a request of you..." At this, Mo stepped forward once the cell door was opened and the guard stepped to the side to let them pass only to have Mo rush into the cell and look between the two of them for a moment. "Come with me," she said pleadingly, reaching out and grabbing a hold of both Fuhen and Aimi's hand. "Please!" Aimi looked down at his hand being grasped by hers and then up at Mo's pleading face. He said nothing, but was pretty sure that he knew what Fuhen was going to say...