Blackfeather Woods the assassin's road

what was this? the younger man stepped forward. his words sounded like an offer at first, then an insult flowed as freely as air; and how was kikyo expected to react? he stopped short. he watched as the hooded man moved to place himself then, between the man and his meal.

a hardened stare, red-eyed to the haughty man's apple green, followed by the slightest shift of his weight. there was a change in the tension between them as the stranger sought to take control of it—his chest swelling and his body poised in defiance of something unnamed.

the arrival of another man does not quell kikyo's restlessness in the moment. the new arrival had been hidden from sight, and well enough to be truly concealed; but he makes himself and his alliegance to shinjou known, plainly.

it is clear to kikyo that this is the man in charge, not the boy.

kikyo does not turn the glacial look away from shinjou, but he commands with is own voice, loud enough so that the new arrival may hear him (and perhaps this shinjou would understand better, once it was reiterated...):

ushiyo kikyo—warlord of the black mountain; second son of lord sadasane! I await the return of my kogara, so that my quest of vengeance may continue. The force of his voice matches the confidence that was once spouting from shinjou, and when he is finished with his refreshed introduction he takes a steady breath with his nose—his jaw giving the slightest twitch as it closes, his features taut.

he waits—at the ready—for the man's order to be obeyed, unless his katana sought further insult.