((OOC The party takes two days to travel to the Hanafubuki Inn and hotsprings. After the first day Lily finally awakens. Kai is still seriously injured, but thanks to the combined efforts of everyone, he will heal. Both the Meteor and Asterion are in Ibis's "Hangarspace" dimension undergoing serious automated repairs. Everyone is onboard the cart though Kai is still lying in the center of the middle of it. You all have just arrived at the inn. due to the Mecha pilots having spent the last two days in hangarspace, they both smell quite predictably of sweat grease and ozone. They have only recently rejoined the group in the cart. This posts starts with the arrival at the Inn. Someone will need to set about getting rooms, medical treatment for those who need it, food and provisions for the PC's and then for the animals. Who does what is on a first come first served basis, so have at it.)))

The Hanafubuki Inn was more like a Japanese Shogunate castle than a simple inn. Great wooden doors held up a massive pagodda-like roof. It was easily a hundred yards across. The great doors opened and a young woman in an immaculate kimono emerged to greet them. "Welcome wayward travellers, to Hanafubuki Inn. Here you may set aside all your worldly troubles and relax and heal your bodies, hearts, and souls." A close observer would quickly notice a pair of cat-ears the same color as her chocolate brown hair and a short tail emerging from the back of her Kimono.

It isn't all that suprising considering Growler's heritage, but it would appear there are those who aren't human on this world as well.

Their hostess smiles. "How may I be of help to all of you today?"

Lily comes forward, wearing the dress Kai bought her now that it's dried out. She bows in the manner Growler's instructed her, and says, "My party and I would like to rent rooms please. One for each of us. We also would like a full dinner and the use of your springs for the night. We also have horses. And if there is a physician or doctor who lives nearby...we were set upon on the road here, and some of us are injured."

She looks back at the others, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"We'll start with that, I suppose. Are those things you can provide here?"

The young woman nods. "Easily. I'll first need to see your wounded so I know which doctor to call for." She begins walking towards them and smiles. "One other thing, how would you like to arrange payment for this?"

Lily pulls from a pouch on her belt a folded set of papers...quickly turning to follow the woman as she approaches the cart.

"I was given these..." She offers the Archmage's letters to her. They arrive at the cart, and Lily reaches in to pull the blanket over Kai's unconscious form down, then back up to tuck it in around him again.

"Is there a doctor nearby? Who would make the trip here tonight?" Lily asks hopefully. "He needs help as soon as possible."

The young woman takes the paper and reads it carefully. considering the four signatures at the bottom, she knew this was easy money, and what's more, their service would have to be expelmplary, as it was a chance to show true neutrality before everyone, provided these were the genuine article.

However that was forgotten with the sight of the seriously Injured young man in the cart. The symbol on his kimono, indeed the color scheme in all its facets, was that of the most honored Amaha, The Wise ones who had helped found the The Nations of the Seven Stars.

She looks to teach of the group, her face falling upong Growler, and recognition floods her features. "You're really their last champions, and this boy, he's really one of them, one of the Amaha?"

Georgi watches with concern as the physician is summoned. Yet despite their injured comrads, his thoughts were on Amane. She was fighting for her life back on Earth and he was not there to lend her his strength. Georgi realized that it might be best if he removed himself from the Hanafubuki Inn for the time being, so he could direct his thoughts towards the mission at hand, and not on the wounded.

"I will need the paper to use for the purchase of food and supplies." He says to the woman. "Might you know the best place to do so?"

Valerie had already recovered remarkably from the battle on the pass, thankfully not having been damaged a good night of rest on the cart returned to her the strength she had been missing. Walking forward towards the woman who had received them "Where might your best healer be? I will go gather him with haste if that's needed." Valerie dotted that sentence with some worry.

"Just tell me the directions, I will bring the healer here while the others rest."

Lily stares at the woman, too surprised to reply for a moment...then she nods. Obviously any chance of a low profile was already gone, so they might as well come clean.

"Yes," she answers the innkeeper. "We really are, and he really is. As you can see, we're in a position to repay you for your help."

Impulsively, she reached out to gently grab the woman's hand. "Please, if there's anything you can do...anyone you know...we need to recover as quickly as we can."

Saito appeared to be covered with black splotches on his skin.

"I would very much like to get cleaned up before we eat. I understand that there is a hotspring nearby?"

The woman seems to recover and nods once. She claps her hands once and from within the doors a dozen hostesses in formal Kimonos emerge. "If you will all follow the girls they will take Kai to the medical room and you to each of your rooms. I will alert the Master of the Inn to your arrival and our stable shall see to your provisions and horses."

She nods to Georgi. "If you require anything simply draft a list and I will send it to our suppliers in Kyoto. It will be here by the end of the week."

To Valerie she smiles. "We have an inhouse doctor. I'll get her after I see you all in." As she speaks six of the girls, three of them obviously catgirls like the hostess, three of them seemingly normal, have hoisted Kai from the Cart and are already carefully carrying him inside.

To Lily she nods. "It would certainly seem so. Now please come inside. I have some things to do so the girls will conduct you all to your rooms, and will help you with any other needs you have. I must go tell my Master what has happened. He will likely wish to speak to all of you at some point."

She regards Saito and Ibis and the others. "Just follow the girls inside and they'll take you wherever you wish. The hotsprings aren't crowded, but nor are they empty. We ask that all who enter respect the neutrality of this site and please do not draw your weapons."

She turns and follows Kai inside, leaving the remaining six hostesses to conduct the others to their rooms.

(((OOC each of you are now free to move about the inn. There are separate baths and Separate hotsprings for men and women, the coed one doesn't open until dark. The Men's bath and hotsprings have about 3-5 people in each of them, the womens have considerably more with 8-12 in each. The two Saunas are occupied by 3 men in one, and three women in the other. There seem to be literally hundreds of rooms, and in several the sounds of raucous partying can be heard. The smells of healing herbs abounds as the pass the medical wing, As the other areas smell of good food and drink, and others still of the clean purity of the springs themselves. Something seems slightly off here, as the trip through the halls of the building lasts far longer than it should, and they pass far more rooms than can be in a building this size. You are all free to go where you like, but for the time being there is no leaving the Inn(primarily because there's no need))))

Lily nods and goes into the inn with the others. When the girls start hustling Kai away, she hesitates, then starts to follow them.

"I'm going to go with them," she calls back. "I want to see where he's going to be. By the way, you can call me Lily. I'll check out my room a little later, okay? Thanks!"

She trots to keep up with Kai.

Georgi quickly notes any specific items needed by others in the group, before writing down commonly needed items. Included are dry meats, nuts, several loaves of bread, rice, potatoes, butter, jams and fruits. Of non-food items, Georgi made sure that they had two blankets each, several tents, a cooking pot, two 20m lengths of rope and two shovels to make a latrine.

After giving the list to the proper courier, Georgi follows one of the girls to his room. Once there, he drops off his equipment and hides his weaponry.

"I would like to go to the male springs." he says to the young woman who took him to his room.

As Lily follows into the medical wing, the door they enter closes behind her.

The young girl Georgi is tended by smiles and nods. When he is ready, she leads him on a short trek through a series of hallways and to a door adorned with the Banner bearking the kanji for "Men's spring."

She smiles to him as he enters. "Remember no weapons and please enjoy your stay. If you need anything do not hesitate to call. There are two male attendants here, and they're both on duty."

Back in the medical room, A tall Blonde woman in a very modern looking Doctor's labcoat and wireframe glasses smiles as Kai is carefully laid on one of the examination tables by six of the attendants. Another female is present and she acknowledges Lily.

"I take it you must be the young man's girlfriend." She pulls out a clipboard with a medical survey on it. "Fill this out real quick if you don't mind then please. I'm going to go ahead and do a couple preliminary tests." Only when she touches his robe and truly notices the symbol does she stop.

"Well now this is certainly interesting."

The tone of her voice suggests she knows the significance, and there's something oddly familiar about her but she can't place it. Like she's seen her face before.

((OOC There are 4 men in the Men's Spring, all of which are currently relaxing quietly. When Georgi actually gets into the Spring they will greet him. The medical survey is suprisingly extensive, alot of it things Lily couldn't possibly know. It does have a space for his name and Age and known relatives. Lily you may also make a mind check DC- 12 to peice together where you've seen the face before.)))

"What?" Lily blurts, startled. Her cheeks redden as she realizes what's being asked. "Oh! I...uh..."

This is embarrassing...but if I say I'm not, she might kick me out!

She quickly turns the shake of her head into a nod. "Yes!" she quickly assures the doctor. "Just recently, but still...I'm very worried about him."

Lily accepts the clipboard and is reading it when something occurs to her.

Clipboard?

She looks up at the doctor, for the first time really LOOKING at her.

"Excuse me, uh...doctor, but..."

If Lily was embarrassed before, now she's shocked. She stares at the doctor's face, flabbergasted, and then fearful!

"Amane..." she whispers.

Saito nods.

"Coach, I shall be joining you for your bath if you do not mind?"

She smiles at the name. "I haven't seen my little girl in two decades." It's somewhat hard to believe, primarily because the Doctor only looks about thirty herself. "I trust she's well, she was such a strong girl. I knew Avery and Hizashi and Raisho would look after her while we were away, but I really have missed her."

It was dumbfounding that this woman had left her daughter like she had. What could possibly motivate her to have done such a thing?

She smiles. "I'm sorry, you had a question miss...?"

"Amane is your -daughter-?" Lily asks, doubletaking from her earlier doubletake.

"She's...well, she's strong all right."

Lily has to lean against the wall for a moment to wait through the shock. Of all the people she'd never expected to meet!

"What? Question? Oh! Right. Well, I was just noticing that the things in here seem awfully advanced for this world. But I guess if you're Amane's mom, that explains that. When did you come here? Why did you come here? Why did you leave Amane?"

Georgi returns their salutations with a bow. He picks out a spot where he can sit and lounge and he invite Saito to take a seat near him. As he lowers himself into the water, he lets out a pleasurable sigh. A hot soak would relax his tense muscles and sore joints. As he leaned back, he closed his eyes and thought of Amane.

"Well yes, Our technology level here at the Hanafubuki Inn is easily on par with that of the standard Satoshi Industries Research Lab..." She gives Lily the same sly smile Lily'd seen Amane display. "...That said we do also have a truly amazing thing here."

"The waters from the hotsprings have remarkable rejuvenative abilites. It even showed the remarkable property of remedying veritably all diseases. As a Medical Doctors, When Hizashi and the board of Directors asked Michael and I to come here to lead the research team it was a dream come true. However there was a great price. Amane was much to young to survive transdimensional jumps and she wouldn't be able to come with us. I was torn between my daughter and and my Dream of curing diseases that couldn't be. I thought about it for a week, and Then Hizashi came and Introduced little Atsushi to Amane. He vouched for her personnally and said that she would train and live at the side of his son, that for the sacrifice we were making, he would help Raisho raise her. Hearing that she would be a guest of First Captain Hayami, Michael and I left her there and came here. Within two years we'd found cures for four forms of Cancer. Within the last two decades we've cured Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and HIV and AIDS thanks to this spring."

Her voice takes on a harder edge. "So before you launch into a tirade about what kind of mother can leave her only child alone with others to pursue her work, blease consider all the good that's come of it. I had and still have full faith in my daughter. When she graduated the Academy I watched with noithing but pride. When She was hand-picked to be a Lieutenant by Ryoma Nagare and elected by unanimous vote of the council, non were prouder than me. I have always watched my daughter, and taken pride in all her success."

She catches herself. "Sorry, several local mothers have given me the speech over the years. It's a sensative subject to me. You wanted to know about the technology here. The most obvious high-tech used, the one of the more subtle, is the dimensional-spacial warping. The outside of the springs and inn is one reality, the inside are another. Thus a relatively small exterior hides an almost infinite number of rooms. We use one of the geothermal vents that created the springs to generate the energy for everything else. There are currently at least twenty rooms dedicated to individual cure research, and several more that are devoted to lengthening life expectancy. I only have a staff of six, but together we've accomplished such great things."

Valerie sighed when she was told the house doctor was skillful enough to help Kai, but as all the others asked for things to do she noticed she was getting slightly alone.

Deciding against dwelling on that, Valerie went up to the cat woman. "Excuse me, by any chance do the rooms have mirrors? I was hoping to be able to rest comfortably for a change of pace." Being pointed in a direction and guided by one of the workers, she finds herself going into one of the designed rooms to be assigned to the rest and after stripping down to the bare necessities, she settles down in a bed to sleep, her body really needed the sleep.

Lily schools herself to listen to Amane's mother as she regales her with the tale. By the end, her face has fallen to a sad expression.

She quickly shakes her head, "I didn't mean it that way at all. I...well, I know your daughter, Amane. This was just a surprise meeting you here like this."

With that, Lily hesitates. Did she want to tell this poor woman what had become of her daughter?

Not just now.

She hands the clipboard over with the completed sheet. "Here you go. How's Kai going to be?"

The doctor smiles. "He's going to be fine, now that the manburn injuries have healed. I expect he'll be awake by morning, and I'll get him into one of the specially arranged healing baths as soon as I can."

Her face darkens a bit with concern. "Honestly I've never seen it this bad before. He was subjected to at least two S-class spells. Only Archmages and extremely powerful servants can even survive casting them. Most normal humans simply die by being exposed to them. His burns were serious, but not really life threatening. That defies all logic and common sense. Do you have any idea or know anything about that?"

"Uh...sorry," Lily says sheepishly. "We're new here. What's a 'manburn?' And what does 's-class' spell mean?"

Something occurs to her, and she adds, "You mean casting these spells is dangerous to -us- too?"

"No, any non-human is unaffected by the manaburn phenomenon. it only strikes true humans."

She smiles. "Manaburn is a unique resonance of lifeforce with potential and active magical energies. It literally can kill normal humans. Though there are considerations. Most humans have a very limited mana capacity. Mana burn literally does what it implies. It inflicts wounds as their own man is turned inward against them by hostile magical effects. Kai's is close to ten times that of a normal teenager. That alone is remarkable."

When all the Mana is burned it starts eating lifeforce. this results in the physical manifestations of manaburn, wounds that only heal through the passage of time. No healing magic can heal them."

It's only then she stops. "You cast an S-class spell?!?!?!"

There's a tone of Alarm in her voice. "Just what spells were cast around him young lady?" A hard edge has crept into her voice.

Growler sighs and shakes his head as he stumbles into the Inn, just having woken up from a nap on the cart. He heads over to the proprietress and smiles tiredly, "Excuse me, I assume my companions have secured a place to rest and heal up. Can you point me in the direction of the rooms they got and where they went?"

She nods once and one of the kimono-clad catgirls shows up to lead Growler to his room. His is fairly stately appointed as he is a recognized champion and deserving of a certain measure of respect. A clean robe and towels are on a chest of drawers on the side and a large soft bed awaits him.

"Please sir if you have any other requests simply call for me, my name is Rosa. I'll be tending your needs for your stay."

Lawrence remained quiet as they entered the in. With the feeling, and the presence of a Cat Girl, he really felt like he was at home. He had the urge to find a piece of fish, curl up on the floor, and make a real evening out of this place. He kept himself quiet though, even though it was taking some concentration. When Lily walked off, his urge was to follow in her footsteps, the urge for attention almost too much. Still, he stood, waiting for her to return. The others went off, one by one, leaving him in the front room. As he stood, he grew bored. Walking off in a direction, he noticed a Sauna. As he entered, the concept of the sauna left him entirely, so he was fully clothed as he entered.

As Lawrence sits down he feels a peculiar presence. "You know young man, it isn't proper to enter the women's sauna unless you're invited." A husky female voice practically purs. Through the steam he can make out the vague form of a very attractive woman laying on one of the benches. Then there's an odd clicking sound. The door for the entrance just locked for some reason.

"And you're fully clothed as well too, My you're no fun." The woman stands up, clad only in her towel. She has a very soft short light brown fur covering her entire body and large white cat ears sprouting from her head of long white hair, which is currently unbraided and falls to her thighs. She smiles and he can see the slightly pronounced Incisors. She's goregous, even clad in a towel, which does little to hide her ample curves and long legs. "Well hurry up and strip down to your skivvies if yer gonna stay in here, it's only polite. Besides it will be nice to have someone to talk to."

There's something odd about how she says things, not quite a command, not quite a request.

(((OOC here is a picture of the woman if you haven't guessed who she is.
http://www.xdanime.net/images/OutlawStar2.jpg

"Uh...well, the little chant said something about a 'ragna blade,'" Lily says, instinctively drawing back from the doctor's wrath. "And Val's spell mentioned an enslaved dragon. Which was kind of weird, since it didn't look like it had anything to do with dragons...except for all the fire."

She frowns. "Honestly, I'm not sure how the 'magic' in this dimension works. It seems like really advanced spiritual power, but I've never seen techniques like it before. Are you saying that Kai got hurt, because we used these spells too close to him?"

How can he be so powerful, but so fragile?

"Ragna Blade and the Dragonslave??!?!?!" She sounds suitably shocked. "What the hell were you fighting that you needed to call on two of the most power dark magical attack spells... No, I don't want to know."

She seems to calm a bit. "You can use spells without knowing their effects, and that you cast one like that shows you have incredible pool and bucket capacity."

She nods. "Yes. Kai is still just a normal human in most respects. He still suffers manaburn like all other humans. Only his large pool saved his life. casting both of those in proximity to any other normal human would have killed them. He has several incongruities, like his immense mana pool. Of course there's also the matter of the Insignia on his kimono. No one has actively worn the Emblem of House Amaha for seven centuries. That he does, is quite significant. I take it that he truly is a member of the Sacred House. That could explain certain things."

Lily goes over to Kai and looks down at his face. She and Val had almost killed him. Without even meaning to. A lump appears in the kimono's outer robe. A wriggly one that reveals itself to be Ratheros, who gazes up at Lily with her soulful yellow eyes and mews anxiously as she catches a whiff of Lily's mood.

She manages a smile and reaches down to scoop the adorable critter up into her arms.

"You'd better be sure to remember to thank Kai when he wakes up," she murmurs. "I know I will."

Still holding the cabbit, Lily turns to the doctor again. "I think we need to have a talk about spells and how they work. I don't want my ignorance to endanger my friends again."

Even through the steam, Lawrence could tell that it was no human. He was beginning to feel even more at home. He took a quick moment to contemplate as to why someone with fur would want to be in a sauna, and why they would enjoy it so much, but he quickly shook the thoughts from his head. Lawrence began unbuttoning his shirt, as he was stuck on her words. Piece by piece, he shed his clothing until he was down to his boxers. He realized he hadn't said a word at that point, and was shaking even though it was well over 80 degrees in the room. He took a moment to compose himself while in the act of sitting down, across the room from the cat girl. "I'm Lawrence." He spoke, trying to sound like he wasn't an equivalent of twelve years old.

"A cabbit, I'll be damned." She stands there speechless for a moment. "Cabbits are the rarest form of core computer for a Dalaraan royal ship, I never imagined I'd ever see one in person though. That must mean.. You're some form of Dalaraan nobility, maybe even true royalty."

There's a look of awe on her face, but intrique colors her eyes. "Just what would you like to know about Spells miss..."

------------------

"Im Asia" She says as she appraisingly watches him undress. "You're quite unique around here you know. I think you're the only male of feline persuasion within a thousand miles." There's a sultriness in her voice as she speaks. Her amber eyes narrow for a moment the relax as she smiles. "So just what brings you to Hanafubuki Inn?"