"The Cast: The Mysterious Man"

  I would have to think up reasons that will keep this from being so pedestrian, but partly as a personal quest for Sensha, she has spent years tracking down this legendary and mysterious, nameless swordsman.  It's become nearly an obsession for her.  I say "nearly", because she's not the type to become obsessed, at least to the point of it being a negative thing.

  It is this quest that has taken her to countless cities, towns and villages, but it was her deeds while visiting those locations that has developed her own reputation.  Grom has accompanied her on many of these treks, for one self-serving reason or another.  In some regions, they are thought of as a team.

  Sensha followed clues and artifacts believed to be about, or to have belonged to, the man.  She comes across the best clue yet that she is certain gives the location of this legendary swordsman

  The man is viewed as the greatest swordsman ever, and certain clues suggest that he is still alive, but the thing that makes him a legend is that it is said that he was a student of Musashi, himself, which was ancient history, so how could he possibly be alive?

  If it is true, then she must find him and learn from him whatever she can.  If it is not, then she must know who it is that the more recent clues talks about.

  The last clue suggests he's in a particular area of land far from any civilization.  It's an area that the surrounding terrain makes it very difficult to reach.  A portal opener owes her a huge favor, and he has been near that area before, long ago, so he agrees to teleport them to the general area.

  Sensha, Grom, Mike and Crysta travel, and search for him.  They eventually come across a cabin in a forest clearing.  They have a back view of a well-built naked man, across the way, sitting and meditating on a large tree stump.  He's not bulky with muscles, but he is in obviously "perfect" shape.

  She tells the others to stay back and stay quiet while she walks across the expanse, stopping about 20 feet from him.  He's maybe 100 feet from the others.

  As she gets closer, she becomes certain that he is the one, because at a certain level of discipline, a martially trained person can get a sense of how generally powerful another martially trained person is.  It is more of a mental discipline, which in itself requires some training.

  The closer she gets to him, the greater this unseen aura gets, and it's more powerful than anything she's ever felt, by far.  When she gets about 20 feet away, she gasps and drops to one knee in a bow.  She dare not even look at him, since she comes uninvited.  She does not even make a sound.  She just waits.

  Shortly, she feels his energy change slightly, and she just intuitively knows that it's okay for her to speak, even though he never moved.

  She does not grovel or diminish herself in any way.  She merely shows him tremendous respect.  She explains her quest, her desire to learn, and the mission she is on regarding a warlord (not the Jaba Wokai one, remember).  She requests that he join them.

  A moment passes, and then he gets up and returns to his cabin.  We still never see his face.

  She sits on the ground were she is and waits, not sure if he's actually agreed or not.  A couple of minutes later, and man covered in a hooded robe steps out and walks towards the others.  Pleased, she stands up and rejoins the group.

  They have a lot of walking to do, but he knows ways to easily traverse the surrounding areas.

  One of the things about him is that he never removes his hood and he never speaks.  He does not do much reacting at all.  At most, we get a dim glimpse of his jaw line.

  He carries a katana in a wooden sheath, but he never draws the sword from it.  He barely ever even uses it.

  Unless his help is actually needed, then he typically just stays put.  Crysta bitches at him about it a few times, but Grom thinks he can handle almost anything on his own, Sensha understands that the man will not let any of them come to harm, but also will not rob them of their personal development, and Mike subconsciously understands, but mainly he's just trusting Sensha's judgment.

  Sensha hardly ever even talks directly to him, much less try to converse with him.  She is an excellent example of humility.  She is fully aware that this man needs diddlysquat from any of them, and she is in no way going to presume to give him orders.

  She also knows that trying to be familiar with him (casual conversation, asking questions) is highly unbecoming, to say the least, but this concept will be explained in a future section.

  In one comedic scene, I would have him temporarily away from the party, for some reason: perhaps gathering some food.  He will be traveling along the path, and three or four bandits will try to rob him.  He, of course, sensed their presence, and knew they were of no danger to him whatsoever, so he just stops and does nothing, surrounded by them.

  They threaten and yap on until one finally tries to attack, and with minimum movement, he dodges everything they try to do, and end up making them clumsily, but without injury, defeat each other.  They eventually run away, humiliated and knowing they are out-matched.

  We see him just standing there, still, while they run away, and then once they are gone, he just casually continues walking.