Mary
*Shit.*

*As soon as Hitoshi finished asking Artoria this question, she realized that she had completely overlooked the fact that her sword and armor, with the latter being changed slightly as to fit a woman's anatomical figure correctly, were still one and the same from before her transformation. When she imagined that Hitoshi wouldn't recognize her identity, she was so fixated on the appearance of her own face and body that she wasn't able to identify the things that would stand out the most. If she remembered, she could have quickly stuffed her belongings into her backpack; the crying Hitoshi probably would have... Well, continued crying as Artoria could have done away with her armor, at the very least. However, she remembered that aside from the armor, she did not have a seperate change of clothes; being stark naked in the middle of the city was, obviously, one of the lowest things on her own 'to do' list.*

*That being said, she really couldn't come up with a good excuse as to how she acquired the armor and weapon. Obviously she couldn't say she had killed Arthur Dax; that would attract suspicions from all parties, especially the authorities, seeing that one simply couldn't 'Kill' the man. As for the black blade? She hadn't recalled ANYONE with a weapon such as this. It was especially reforged into it's current coloring when she had visited Dragor, a hill lora, a good while ago. The likeliness of some random mercenary or bandit obtaining such an item was, obviously, quite low. What to do...*

"Well, I-" *She stopped. She had to choose her next words carefully, otherwise Hitoshi would have suspicions on who 'she' truly was.* "Some asshat put a false bounty on my head a while back, and I got these when I looted the hunters that were after me. That's... Kinda how the story goes. Sorry if you were expecting something more... Dramatic?"
Tammy
*Hitoshi narrows her eyes at the woman. "False bounty"? Yeah, alright. As for the armour and weapon, that explanation seems... Off? Of course, you do get blacksmiths with a particular style... So maybe it's that? Except... Again, something feels off about that description. Wrong, you know? There's a consistent style, and then there's "I've seen that exact sword before".

With Artoria's lies, Hitoshi is less and less convinced that this woman is anyone else. But... In the off chance that it's not Arthur, albeit in a similar position to her, Hitoshi is just witch hunting some poor woman who did nothing wrong. It's better to let a guilty man go free than punish an innocent one, right?*

*And again, if this really is Arthur... Hitoshi can't bring herself to do it. Ugh. Why the hell not? Hitoshi can't help but thank the gods that it was her Arthur met (him?) and not her brother, Akira. Who knows what he's up to?



"Fucking Akira. You backstabbing bastard. We were supposed to be going it together after they died. But you fucking left me when you had the chance. Didn't even tell me about it. Hope you're dead. Piece of shit."*

*Hitoshi sighs and rolls her eyes. Why is she doing this for Arthur?*

"No, that was silly of me. I just wondered, is all..."

*Hitoshi gets up and sighs again, wistfully this time and folding her arms loosely.*

"You know, I met the first friend I ever had in this place right here. He's long gone now. Don't know where he's at... Just hope he's okay."

*Blood runs thicker than water, and Hitoshi does consider Arthur to be blood. The closest thing to blood she's had in a long time besides Mevis, anyway. If it's indeed just some random lady, it's nice just to talk about these things. But... If it is Arthur, then Hitoshi hopes he realises how much shes missed her first friend here. And how heartbroken Hitoshi feels, now that Arthur left them.*
Mary
*And... There it is.*

*Somehow the thought had crossed Artoria's mind that Hitoshi would, in her mildly-depressed state, start talking about her (his?) first meeting with Arthur in front of this very store. After all, the conditions that they found themselves in were almost a recipe for something of the sort to occur: Familiar store? Check. A friendly stranger that shows up to spontaneously comfort an unfamiliar face? Check. Said stranger has familiar gear to an old friend? Check, check, check.*

*Hitoshi, at least in Artoria's eyes, never seemed to be quite the sappy type. She - well, he at the time - fit the "Stoic, silent" Type quite well, if one only scratched the surface of his personality. Even though they had met after Arthur's rampage in defiance against the New Sunlight guild, she hadn't changed much internally. When Arthur followed Hitoshi into that lone alleyway, much like how events were playing out now, she spoke with a gray, sentimental tone in her voice. However, now? Now there were fleeting, graceful hints of emotion in her friend's voice. Even though she had stopped crying, Artoria could sense that Hitoshi was still deeply bothered inside. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that, in a sense, it was like a pain that was eternally inflicting harm on someone. The black kitsune, upon realizing this, felt a pang of shame dig into her side. She never expected a reaction like this from her friend. Upon continuation of her spiel, she felt a stab of guilt dig into her spine when Hitoshi finished with... "Don't know where he's at, just hope he's okay."*

*There was an old saying that Artoria had been told in times past: Blood runs thicker than water. Years ago, he thought about it in the most literal fashion - "Aren't they both liquids, though? That can't be right. It doesn't make sense!" - and even when she finally had learned the meaning, she threw the knowledge away with a bittersweet thought. Water, blood, whatever it was - as long as it ran and flowed, it was all the same. It was almost synonymous with how people seemed to be; all faces she'd seen on her travels, all the incoherent passerby that crossed roads with her unknowingly, all the faces of her targets, all the bits of singed flesh and burning buildings... They were all the same. Blood doesn't run thicker than water. In fact, it was quite alike to water. There was no difference between the two, besides the fact that one was colored crimson, while the other was clear. A friend wouldn't jump in front of an arrow to save you. A friend wouldn't risk their own life to save your own. Anyone with rational thought and a desire to live would obviously choose themselves over someone else. Artoria had made the notion that only families with deep, carved bonds could accomplish such an action. Not the hollow relationships of two that have barely met. Hell, her two friends, even though they were some of her most sacred treasures in the world, were after her! The thought of that betrayal, the thought of that treacherous behavior brought forth even more articles for the quote, "Blood runs thicker than water. It was the everlasting assurance that stood in the kitsune's mind.*

*And yet... It would seem that her previous notation would be challenged from what she'd just witnessed and heard from her friend in front of her. Hitoshi obviously had a shattered heart over Artoria's own actions. Artoria, however, just hadn't noticed. She was so blind and hellbent on walking her own path that she hadn't bothered to reflect on the fact that each time she did something 'wrong' or 'evil', she was creating an even deeper wound in her friends' hearts. It was shameful for her; she'd always been selfish, but even she had a limit to how self-righteous she could be. When she took on more tasks from the boss, she was turning the shards of hearts into dust. When her bounty accumulated, the dust turned into particles. And when she would get caught, those shards would scatter off into the wind - too late to reassemble into something whole. Ever since she came to Ramul Ta, Hitoshi and Mevis had been the only ones she'd ever held dear in her own heart: the only ones she'd treated like family. It was as if they were all akin... In blood. She had a personal agenda which she always put at the forefront, but an infinitesimal distance behind it was the agenda of her close companions, it would seem.*

"You... It sounds like you really do care for your friends, Hitoshi." *The woman started, a mixture of shame and respect lining her voice.* "I'm sure wherever your friend is - he's ok. He could be thinking about you right now, even. If you two were close, if the bonds between the both of you were as thick as blood, I'm sure he wants to get back to your side as well."