Virtue be the Spring [Julian, Ajora]

Dangerous.
The rukongai had proven dangerous indeed. The thought crossed her mind as she stared down at the collection she'd begun. All of them, quite mundane. Their wielders had all proven difficult in their own ways. And she bore a few new scars because of it. It had been fascinating to see the difference. Those few souls that had given her trouble in the earlier districts mostly were just violent idiots. Mostly ordinary citizens who were a bit more aggressively unused to some new stimuli. A few had attempted to violently drive her away, but they had been quite easy to ignore, or simply drive off. She found herself far more capable than the average rukongai citizen, and even as she had gone into the darker, more run-down dredges of the city of souls, she had found little in the way of the monsters that Hiroe had spoken of. But now she was getting there.

What had initially been scared, distrustful eyes and riled superstition now turned to something else entirely. Those local enforcers seemed much fewer in number, and all the more, she had begun to run into those who seemed to seek violence. Not even at her in particular. These people simply seemed to be something like feral animals. Armed with weapons, and not flinching even in being maimed. Having earned her a few injuries of her own for her carelessness. It had been enough to send her back into the lower districts, rather than risk being jumped while she was injured. But it was not without bounty. A handful of swords she'd collected from some of the more stupid and gullible ones.

Three to be exact. But they ultimately did not seem special, she doubted any of them were something akin to the Asauchi that Hiroe had with her. And yet, she had collected them regardless. She lightly ran her fingers over the hilt of the largest one, staring at it with thoughtful silence. They seemed to be ordinary swords. Made from metal, small imperfections from being forged. But this was the spirit realm wasn't it? Was this spiritual metal? What else could one make a sword from? What else might THESE swords be made from? She could feel a ...slight difference to them. Some slightly more dense, but did that even matter? The Asauchi had looked just as benign as these weapons, and yet they were so very different. Would one of these hunks of metal wind up whispering a name to her in her sleep?

She couldn't help but smirk a little at the insipid notion. But perhaps that was an avenue she could explore. what IF she were to treat some mundane weapon like an asauchi? What DID Shinigami do with their weapons? She hadn't thought to ask.

However, something else snared her attention and distracted her from her little internal thought process. The sounds of footsteps. Something a bit more on the sparse side of things in these further districts, and promptly she grasped the larger blade's hilt. Had she been followed since her last little scuffle? No, she should be far enough away from that spot that it would have taken them a few more hours to have tracked her down. Rather, she spotted a man that seemed to be walking through the area. First and foremost, she noticed the weapon at his hip. But he lacked that feral searching look in his eyes that some of the others had had. All the more reason to be careful. She stayed where she was, seated at the front of what had probably once been some sort of storefront.Having specifically sought out someplace that wasn't inhabited.

She hadn't really improved much over the rags and cloak that she'd arrived in. Fashion was hardly a priority. She was out of the way, but also not really trying to hide. At first glance she might even seem like a swordseller with the two blades laid out in front of her, and the third resting across her lap. Hints of that scarring on her left side visible despite her layers and raised hood, though her left arm was hidden within her large sleeve as well as covered in bandages, not quite out of place with the scattering of other parts of her that were wrapped up from her wounds.

But no doubt, she would certainly match the descriptions he'd heard about.

Her expression remained light and passive as the man made his approach and spoke up. She raised her brow at the directness of his assessment. She'd gandered at his blace of course, but well. Even with that special eye of hers, she didn't sense anything radiating from it that would indicate that it was special. But, well, he certainly had a good deal more....placid purpose than the denizens that normally roamed around this district.

"That's certainly disappointing if true. So many new arrivals, and none of them ask any questions about this place they've ended up?" She murmured lightly, setting the sheathed blade across her lap before glancing back up to the man addressing her. "Nobody curious why we're here, why this ...afterlife is so lacking in hospitality?" She let her gaze briefly flick toward one of her bandaged areas as though to indicate just what sort of 'hospitality' she'd sampled as of late.

"I would hope my questions pretty normal for someone new to this ......Wandering Soul City. Don't YOU have questions as to why we're here, Randal?" She ventured calmly enough. He'd refrained from introducing himself and so she'd simply assigned him a name.

She glanced back up to him, taking a moment to study him as he gave his response. His words had a tactile nature to them that drew Ajora's attention. He certainly spoke with the voice of a man who had been here a very long time. With an interesting sort of disdain for those that were out here. And of course.....he also claimed to know quite a bit. 'As Much as he Needed to know' as he so particularly put it. An implication of a specialty.

She smiled slightly at that. The soul cycle? So there was a proper term for it, it wasn't simply 'dragging the lingering dead to the afterlife' there was a process to it? How fascinating. "I suppose? I thought my wonderings were simply natural curiosity. I don't know how comparatively curious I am. It's not like I can remember anything but my name. All I know is that this place doesn't seem to make a lot of immediate sense." She murmured, gently peeling the blade of one of the weapons from it's sheath the smallest amount, eyeing the blade's edge. "I got a little too curious. Went out to the further districts, and ran into some of the ....feral ones. Strangest thing was that they had weapons. I didn't imagine a blacksmith out in those parts. I almost considered if one of the Soul reapers simply supplied them. Give them weapons so that they can kill each other, save themselves the trouble. But they don't seem alive. The swords. I wonder where they got them." She glanced back up at Julian.

"One of the shinigami, she said she was a student. Said that all shinigami ferry souls from the world of the living to here. To keep them from becoming hollows. But what about this place is so special that it keeps souls from turning into hollows? It's peaceful enough. At least close to the gotei it seems. Is that why the outter districts are so feral? Are they less protected from becoming monsters?" She sighed and smiled. "I seem to be a bit stronger than the normal citizen, but not quite strong enough to go and find out for myself." She confided calmly, sinking the blade back completely into the sheath and setting it down.

"So then. What has you running around these parts looking for a girl with a lot of questions? Am I in trouble?" She asked calmly enough. That curious gaze promptly meeting his own as she waited for his response. Certainly there were a LOT of reasons for people to look for her. Having heard about her from the student. Suspicion because of her scars. Interest because of her strength. But her questions? Now that was something awfully specific to have an interest in.

She smiled calmly at that. "Is that so? Hm. I'm not sure if I feel proud to be the more inquisitive type, or more disappointed that there aren't more like myself. even the student seemed a bit caught off guard by my questions." She noted with a sigh, closing her eyes and resting her head back against the door. It wans't as if her other eye couldn't see him anyway. If nothing else, she saw him better like this.

She considered his explanation. That certainly would warrant caution. Interesting. She wasn't surprised that the rukongai citizens rebelling was a thing. The conditions alone could have tipped her off to that. But the fact that the Shinigami cared in the slightest WAS a surprise. She didn't imagine the far districts full of COMPETENT fighters would be much an issue. Why would they care about some malcontent among those so docile as these ones? "Perhaps it is simply my unfamiliarity, but a rebellion in the afterlife rings a tad insipid. Especially against those who sustain it." She gestured behind her, toward the further districts.

"The gradient seems quite uniform. There are no sparse districts which seem culturally unique in how they maintain some semblance of quality. Proximity alone seems to dictate the quality of the regions. Which means that the soul reapers likely lack the resources to police it, or are simply already doing as much as they possibly could. Otherwise there would be some holdouts." She smiled. Having by no means actually done any such survey. But perhaps he had, and would feel compelled to correct her.

Her smile widened.

Oh she liked this one.

How interesting indeed that he brought up those institutions. The Academy she'd heard of, but the University? That was a first. Was there some sort of rukongai government? She slowly raised herself up onto her feet and sighed lightly, a little grunt as she exerted strain on her injuries. She took a moment to collect herself before she matched Julia's gaze again with soft lidded eyes. There was no sexual element to them, but there WAS A sort of prowling flavor to the way she walked toward him, stopping just short of his reach and canting her head to the side just a little.

"You're serious." She murmured, peering at him for a brief moment, not a question, but a simple murmured thought spoken aloud as she studied his face. She took a moment to gently fasten the swords to her waist before she cast a glance back up to him. "And handsome." She smiled just a bit wider at that, before she turned her back on him and sighed. "Fóllame. How can I say no to a face like that?" She sighed, before glancing over her shoulder and giving him a suspicious look.

"I suppose you have a point. I admit...I didn't know if they accepted individuals from the outer districts. But, I won't turn down an offer. But I'm still a little roughed up." She gestured down at her bandaged self. "I don't suppose you'd mind taking me there? At least until we get to the safer districts?" She ventured, watching him closely as she waited for his response.