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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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 Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:03 pm
One warm but windy day in late Ascent, a stroller in the marketplace might chance upon a tiny wooden stall at which a man sits upon a stool, his faded and ragged clothes and delicately wrinkled skin barely visible beneath a gigantic mass of damaged, dirty yellow hair, giving him the distinct appearance of a bipedal haystack. One forearm emerges from this mess, with elbow resting on the stall's counter and hand holding the man's chin; behind his crooked bangs he seems to be peacefully dozing.
On the front of the stall is scrawled in charcoal: Palm reading! Divination! & Other Services! in a barely legible, old-fashioned style of Porcelain script.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:07 pm
And as Shuuken walks the busy streets of the Land of the Dead, the Silver World, she begins to slow as she notices the one she has appropriately named "Hobo". She peers at him from the busy street before a breeze seems to push her towards the man--her hands move to grasp her coat and pull it tightly around herself as she steps forward.
Curiousity is the only feature on her eyes and it's piqued even more when she reads the sign. Her eyes leap up to the man and her hand smacks fiercely on the counter before she freezes, seemingly both interested in this man while also holding a sense of respect despite her lack of knowledge of him.
... Shuuken apologizes for the noise. She would like her palm read, though. Can he assist her?
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:18 pm
One of the man's eyes slowly peeps open, as if he was not startled by the sudden motion and noise at all. The orange-yellow eye regards her for a few seconds before he opens the other and leans forward, a grin slowly spreading across his features. Though his expression is not malicious and mildly pleasant feelings radiate from him, something about that too-wide smile is... kinda creepy. At least he has all his teeth, and they're all reasonably white.
He very slowly lifts his other arm, as if he is stiff, and reaches over to take her small hand very gently in his own, turning it over slowly and examining it with a strange expression, one eyebrow quirked while his eyes remain sleepy. ... He then leans forward even further, drawing her hand closer as he stares at one particular line, cross-eyed... and then sniffs it.
With that, he seems satisfied, and releases her hand to stroke his mouth, eyes slowly turning towards the heavens. One of his fingers catches on his lower lip and pulls it down inelegantly as he brilliantly opines: "Hmmmmmm."
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:13 pm
While Shuuken is not the most brilliant Bandit King to ever live, she most certainly is not the dumbest either. She furrows her brow at the diviner, her annoyed expression a shark contrast to the curious and awed one she had when he held her hand.
... To herself, she wonders sadly if he actually is insane, if he is devoid of the true mystery and greatness that he was garbed in within her fantasies. More publicly she states that he shouldn't have to sniff her hand to read her palm! Is this a fraud? Of course, Shuuken, unwise in the ways of the world, moves her palm close to her face and inspects it. ... Or does he?
Shuuken's eyes jump up to her interesting Hobo before she glances back down to her palm and gives it a faint sniff.
... ... ...
... She doesn't smell anything linked with destiny...
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:41 pm
As he wraps up his contemplation, the man's eyes slowly roll towards Shuuken, and that weird smile once again distorts his face.
"Four months," he explains. Four months still to be a carefree boy, and then Shuuken will be forced to make an unpleasant decision.
... Unpleasant? Or not unpleasant? His smile vanishes in favor of a look of intense concentration as he scrutinizes her face. ... Perhaps he shouldn't say.
He once again relaxes, leaning back on his stool, seeming dangerously close to falling backwards off of it. He sees in her hand, he tells her, a Queen and a Sorcerer, an Elder Princess and a Younger Princess, a company of Bandits and a brigade of Demons, and a long road traveled for such a young life. But such facts are easy to read; they are items from the past, boldly etched into the cliff-face of the canyon of time. To read the messages of the future in the yet-frothing river, before they are even written, that is much trickier. And so for that knowledge, he must charge.
He leans forward suddenly, so close to Shuuken that their heads almost collide. Just as quickly, he extends a finger and places it lightly under her chin, lifting it ever-so-slightly so that their faces are perfectly aligned.
The price, "Your love."
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:54 pm
And Shuuken hangs on his every word, her once-narrowed eyes widened by all that he can see. Her heart beats quickly and she opens her mouth as if to speak, to tell him that she'd pay anything--
--And then like a sudden wave, he sweeps forward and leaves her disoriented. Normally she would jerk back and screech at anyone who would have touched her, but here she is frozen in a confusing mixture of fear and curiosity.
Shuuken... Shuuken can't give him that. Shuuken can't control her feelings like that! The smaller Porcelain can't pull her eyes away from the adult's as her teeth dig into her bottom lip.
".. Sh--Shuuken has money," offers the normally fiery girl meekly.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:59 pm
And he leans back, slowly, still smiling, although a little bit of the mischievous happiness has gone out of his expression.
... It is too bad, but if she cannot pay the price, he cannot give her her future. Such things cannot be purchased with money; such things as fate and time require a finer type of currency...
... But he does like food. Does Shuuken have any food? he asks, leaning forward again and looking at her with excited, sparkling eyes.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:06 pm
And Shuuken feels her heart sink as he begins to lean back. To pull that away from her, to tease her with hints of destiny, of hardships, and then to jerk away! Shuuken's hair begins to bristle and her fist clamps--
--before the man speaks of food. Immediately her anger is quashed and she is left blinking slowly, almost uncomprehendingly, at the man. When the full weight of his words strikes her, however, Shuuken excitedly jerks forward, her hands clasping the counter as she shows off her pearly whites in an intense grin.
Shuuken can get him a lot of food! So much food!
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:12 pm
Good, good! The man rubs his hands together in gleeful anticipation. He hasn't eaten in days...
He quickly stands up, but in a display of superhuman clumsiness somehow catches his legs under the little booth, and both man and construction tip forward, landing hard on the ground where Shuuken had been standing. Had been, as a ferocious telekinetic shove from the man pushed her just far enough away to save her from injury.
... His own health, on the other hand, is uncertain, as he stays sprawled out over the flimsy wooden construction with his rear in the air and his face in the dirt. He is silent for a few moments before a wavering thought emerges from him:
... maybe weeks?
And he lets out a strange, strangled giggle.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:23 pm
And Shuuken stumbles back as wood and flesh crash to the ground with a violent racket. The princess is stunned for several moments, surprised at the sudden show of force that the Hobo displayed. Shuuken's heart begins to swell with awe; he's able to delve into the past and has such mental strength...
... And the awe dissipates as she watches his butt wiggle in the air. He can't even take care of himself, though. Anger suddenly jumps into her as she darts forward, her tiny hands moving to grab him by his shabby clothing before she starts shaking him like a dirty rug.
He can see the past and future, he is so powerful, and yet he has been unable to get food?! How much of a fool is it?!
"Idiot!" screams Shuuken, her teeth tightening as sadness mixes with the anger, slipping from her in a potent mix, "Stupid!" And as the pity continues to grow, she attempts to pull up the man while seeming to pay no attention to staring oculars.
Shuuken will get him food...
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:31 pm
The man would rattle in Shuuken's grip, as his body is almost completely limp, but for his considerable weight; his body can't be much more than wiggled by her puny preadolescent arms.
Silly, silly, he chides her, a small smile on his face even as his eyes look dizzily unfocused; Shuuken is thinking with too much Name! Why, with the right teacher she could learn to subsist off the energy of the stars or the affections of admirers...
But when she tries to pull him to his feet, his smile cracks, and an expression of pain briefly flashes across his face. He convulses slightly, then finally draws himself to his feet, moving slowly and tenderly as if his whole body hurts. Partially hunched over, he looks at Shuuken, his face suddenly seeming much older than it had a moment before.
So, where's the food...?
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:36 pm
Shuuken doesn't understand--thinking with too much Name? This man speaks and leaves her with more questions each time! He needs to stop speaking in circles!
But her chideful tone disappears as he begins to convulse in her arms, and that rare gentleness of her's again manifests itself as she looks up at him. ... He is so great, and yet he is so very weak as well. How can one feel admiration for one and yet pity them at the same time? Shuuken keeps her thoughts bottled within her head, however, and extends a hand to grasp at the Hobo's.
Shuuken will take him to it. She promises. Her eyes stare up at him with sincerity before she tugs his gracelessly agile form forward and begins to walk.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:24 pm
... ... ...
This man does not seem to know how to brush his hair, remember to feed himself, or how to eat. Any morsel of food Shuuken lays before him he will grasp with his fingers and devour with tremendous enthusiasm and no concern with propriety. Furthermore, after he clears a plate, he will not only lick off the last few crumbs, but chew on the before-unused utensils provided, even pick up the plate and nibble its edge experimentally, fearless of any splinters.
... In the midst of this he pauses, his teeth showing, rabbit-like, on the edge of the plate, and he stares at Shuuken with a sudden new interest. His thoughts are indecipherable, the same fuzzy and pleasant feelings he projects all the time, but his eyes seem to have snapped into seriousness, gleaming with intensity.
... Has Shuuken lost anything recently?
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:04 pm
And Shuuken watches him, again that sadness floating around her as she watches a man of his abilities seem to grapple with madness. Despite his obvious advantage over her in both age and power, she feels like the one in charge rather than him. She sighs lightly when he chews the plate, but he soon proves to, briefly, gain back a portion of his sanity.
Shuuken blinks before frowning and raising an eyebrow. He's the seer, isn't he? Shouldn't he already know that? Despite her barbed words, Shuuken eventually glances away uncertainly.
... Shuuken is far from home. Perhaps that is what he means.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:19 pm
The man puts the plate down and leans back, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he regards Shuuken. He was asking "Your opinion," see.
If it's a castle, a land, a people she's lost, he's not sure he can help her. His projections suggest that he was hoping she'd answer differently...
But he very quickly changes the subject, and asks Shuuken if she has any iron filings on hand. He has such a craving, she can't imagine...!
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