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 Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:02 pm
  This is a private roleplay between Yue Lao [face your demons] and Sakngea [lungrot].
Setting:
After leaving the Ichi-Koi, Sakn is joined by Yue and the two take a adventurous walk through the Black Market,
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 1:36 pm
The evening was warm; the air curled around Sakngea like the comforting arms of a lover, and he inhaled deeply as he walked. It was such a pleasant night, and he was glad to be enjoying it with a friend. The boy glanced to his left and smiled at Yue, who was his companion for this nights adventure. Of course when he had left the Ichi-Koi he hadn't actually expected Yue to take up the offer to join him, and had already started walking away when she came running after him.
The redhead had eagerly accepted her company and now as evening dwindled into night, the two of them made their way towards the black market. Most imagined it as a frightening, shadowy place, but Sakn only saw strange wears, exotic weapons and people mingled together in a kind of brotherly secrecy. Little golden-paper lamps were placed far apart to give the area some dim lighting, and it felt strangely welcoming to the redhead.
"Lookit dat," he exclaimed, coming to a halt as he stared at some cesti(gloves covered in metal plates for fist fighting) that a dingy streetrat was selling to a finely-dressed, aristocratic lady. Not only were the weapons beautiful and shining in the golden lamp light above them, but how strange it was to see two very different people talking in such a friendly manner.
He stared longingly at the brass knuckles and wooden fists the man was selling before moving on. So many things to see here! He pointed out several more fascinating things as they walked along. Like the golden hairpins a woman was selling(most likely hot items) and the brightly colored birds that preened themselves on a perch near their long-bearded owner. So many strange and exotic things. He even pulled Yue over to a man selling caged monkeys that screamed and chittered at them excitedly while the man tried to convince them to buy one.
"A cute couple like yous could use a pet like thees," the monkey-man coerced, giving the two of them a wink. Sakn felt his face heat up before quickly shooting down the 'couple' comment and moving away from the stall to explore the rest of the backwater market.
"Dis ain't as bad as people mak'it out ta be," Sakn mused as they stopped to look at some 'medicinal herbs' a old toothless woman was selling, glancing over at Yue as he spoke. Sure, the place was full of theives, hot items and illegal wears, but it was frightening to say the least. It was lively, buzzing with business and probably the only part of Lunaria that was enjoying the war(since a war meant a need for weapons, which the black market had a surprising surplus of!).
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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:54 am
Every time Yue left work, the air felt so nice. She could hardly explain how good it was to take a full breath and not worry about smoke or the smell of sweat, to take a step without the tacky peeling sound of spilt beer on the floor which'd dried up already. She kept taking deep breaths and grinning, casting a glance over to Sakn every now and again. She'd followed him out, yeah; why not? By the time Sakn was ready to leave, her shift was already ending. So she'd stripped her apron off, excused herself from her post and headed out after him.
She was a little uncomfortable, since she'd been working all night and her clothing was damp. It stuck to her skin in places, and the air which should have been warm felt like a chill occasionally. It had been a while since she was out this late. Usually Jianyu was the one she sat with, spending time at the bar or out. A little part of her twisted as she thought of that. It was hard not to miss him, lately. She felt stupid for it, sometimes, but it wasn't as if caring or not caring was going to change the situation, so she did what she always had to do when these thoughts rose into her mind unbidden: let it go.
It was her distracted thoughts that kept Yue from really paying attention to where they were going. It wasn't until the soft light fell across Sakn that she noticed the little golden lanterns and fully realized the nature of their location. She nearly laughed at the thought, but instead grinned and shook her head. Of course, who else would bring her to such a place? She didn't make it habit, but since Yowai wasn't officially affiliated with her, there was no real way Yowai could be publically shamed by her daughter frequenting such shift places. To everyone else, Yowai was just a family friend.
It wasn't long before she forgot all her worries about Jianyu. Sakn had led her somewhere truly wonderful. She bumped into him accidentally, when he halted to look at the cesti. All of the hand-to-hand items made her nostalgic for the fighting style she was trying to move away from. She missed her meteor hammer then, looking at all the wares, but she was so distracted by wonderful sight after wonderful sight that she soon forgot. When she noticed the aristocratic lady conversing with the streetrat, she didn't think of their differences in social status, but rather wondered what they were saying. Her ears perked up as she tried to eavesdrop, but it was no good. Which, of course, made her remember eavesdropping with Kiran. It wouldn't do any good if she kept wandering through her memories that way.
Again, that didn't last long as far as concerns go. Yue was already looking at fine cloth with intricate designs that she was certain Chichi would love, though Yue couldn't help but wonder exactly where it had come from. She admired the birds, the weapons, the hair pins... but it was the monkeys that she couldn't take her eyes off of. Wide-eyed, she stared at them, and one of them stared back: a little golden lion tamarin with fluffy gold fur, complimented by the lanterns' dim light. It chittered at her excitedly and made a face which was either a grimace or a smile. One way or another, it startled laughter from her. She winked at the monkey, and it puffed out its cheeks. She turned to Sakn, her eyes lit up. She didn't say anything to him until they had left the vendor's area; she knew how bargaining would be harder later if she made it too obvious she had bonded with that damn monkey. "Sakn!" she hissed with excitement, grabbing his shoulder, her grip a little too tight, "Did you see that!? That little gold monkey! It has stolen my heart, much like most of these goods have probably been... well, acquired uniquely," Yue said, ammending her half-formed statement. All the same, that monkey. One day, it would be hers. Yue Lao was so distracted by the monkey she had not even heard the shop-keeper suggest they were a cute couple. Sakn and her, that is, not her and the monkey. Yue's eyes glittered with the prospect of a tiny, furry partner in crime.
"So you're here often?" Yue asked, excited still. She could barely pay attention. The old woman selling herbs just made her think of monkeys. Everything was making her think of monkeys. However, it was a nice improvement on her previous depressing trains of thought. Yue faced Sakn, her eyes flickering over his face and hair again, taking in his appearance. She could not be more pleased nor excited to be there, even if it was perhaps kind of questionable in nature. "Well, I am certainly enjoying it to no end... but maybe it's just because I have someone strong like you here with me," Yue said, grinning. She gave him that compliment because she was so excited to have see all those treasures, she figured the Lunarian who brought her here deserved at least that little compliment.
"What's next?" She asked, half to herself, half to Sakn; her eyes were already scrolling across the different booths, eying the weapons. She wondered if any of them had the meteor hammers used at higher levels.
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 1:58 am
Sakn had never seen someone so excited as Yue was over that monkey. The way her eyes lit up, as wide as saucers, it was like seeing a small child receiving their favourite treat. He smiled, biting back his laughter as she spoke. She was most definitely an interesting character. Any other girl he might have brought here would have felt uncomfortable, on edge and most definitely would not be swooning over a golden monkey. Only Yue, it would seem.
Her next question was easy to respond to, but Sakn took his time, because he liked to think that taking his time with responding made him seem more interesting. "I have been here a few times before," he didn't mention that the few other times he had been here he had quickly turned back. For some reason, every other night Sakn came here, it never seemed as lively, as exciting as it did tonight. Tonight there was a buzz in the air, a certain electric feel that attracted Sakn to the low-lit alley like a fly to sugar water.
Sakn smirked at Yue's compliment, and even gave a goofy wink in the magenta-haired girl's direction. It was always nice to know that someone out there believed in his tremendous strength. "I's good t'know dat y'feel that way, YuYu," the nickname slipped out before he could stop himself, but Sakn didn't correct it. It almost fit Yue, and rolled easily off the tongue.
What's next?
A fair question, and Sakn scratched his chin in thought before noticing that Yu was staring down the way at some shanty stalls selling weapons of various shapes and kinds. A girl after his own heart, it would seem. Sakn eagerly motioned for Yue to follow, saying as they walked, "I see where y'ur lookin', Yue!" there was laughter in the redhead's voice, and once they came up to the stand, he quickly started scanning the variety of weapons.
It wasn't until several minutes later that Sakn heard the jeering. Of course, it had been going on the whole time, but until that moment the redhead had been happily sucked into the wares laid out before him. He had been quiet excitedly showing Yue a gold-hilted knife with a dragon pressed into the blade, but set it down as the jeers proceeded to get louder.
"Y'hear tha'?" Sakn asked excitedly, because he had a feeling those cheers were exactly what he thought they were. And in the distance he could hear someone yelling out bets, and that confirmed it.
It was a fighting ring.
"Yue!" the redhead exclaimed, already turning to look for the source of those calls and caterwauls, "Follow me!"
And when that, the redhead rushed down the alley, squeezing between people and bumping into others as he made his way towards the ever loudening cheers. And finally Sakn saw them. A group of at least twenty or more men were standing around two men who were both bloody and bruised. Sakn glanced back at Yue then and said, "Ain' it cool?"
Because nothing was cooler in Sakn's mind the fighting, and gods, he wanted to fight now. Watching those two lunarians swinging at each other got his blood pumping, his heart racing. Sakngea wanted to fight so bad now.
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Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:50 am
Yue would never have wandered into the black market on her own. It wasn't somewhere for a respectable girl, of course, but with Sakn it didn't feel like she was doing any wrong. It felt like spending any time with a friend, just enjoying life, exploring. She almost felt like a tourist, browsing the stalls filled with fascinating objects. She was so excited that she didn't even notice Sakn seemed to pause a little longer. "I'm glad you didn't keep this place to yourself," Yue said, grinning. If he'd been there many times before, she was glad that this time she had been with him to see it too. Her skin tingled: surely, something promising was in the air. The tension of something delicious and mischievious, just under the surface. If she could hunt that down, maybe there would be even more fun that night.
She laughed when he gave her a nickname. Now she was a Stargazer, and a Yuyu? She loved both nicknames. Jianyu's name for her was almost tender, in a way; Sakn's felt fun and like it was full of motion. She wondered, looking at Sakn, what nickname she would have for him. She was usually eager to bestow more "accurate" names on Lunarians, like calling Kiran "fiend" or Jianyu "fierce warrior". With Sakn, she felt like no nickname could possibly capture the essence of what she saw when she looked at him just then. So instead, she grinned wider. In comradery, she slipped an arm around Sakn's shoulders (or however high up she could reach, given she was more of a tiny fury than a very tall Lunarian) and squeezed, before letting go.
It was with delight that she followed him to the weapon stalls she had been eyeing. She scanned the merchandise eagerly for the fire meteor hammers she had heard the monks speak of, but found nothing like what they'd described. The Monkey Fist was more than enough for her at the moment, however; she could not even count the number of times she had punched herself in the gut or back while trying to wield it, during her first training sessions. At least now she could keep herself from losing an eye. She did admire the knife that Sakn showed her, but in turn she pointed out (rather excitedly) a tekko which appeared to be heavily weighted. She thought with longing at the damage that could cause, coupled with her old bone-breaking style of fighting. The Meteor Hammer covered weaknesses she couldn't afford to display, but sometimes she missed the simple joy of her hands connecting with her opponent's all too fragile body.
The cheering bewildered Yue. She had never seen nor heard of fighting rings, except maybe once or twice in passing. Had she asked Jianyu about them? They were shouting out bets, after all, and she knew Jianyu loved to gamble. She followed Sakn in contentment, curiosity overwhelming her. Yue jostled several of the men watching the fighters, and she nearly giggled with delight. Instead, she grabbed Sakn's shoulder much as she'd done earlier when she got excited over the monkey, and pressed her free palm to her chest. "Be still my beating heart, Sakn. This is wonderful."
And Yue's brain started to turn and click and whir, dreaming and scheming of fights and bets. She let go of Sakn's shoulder and faced him, after admiring the fighters' wounds and bruises. "I bet we'd give them a show they'd never forget," Yue suggested tenuously, her eyebrows raised, smile questioning.
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Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 11:59 pm
The glow of the golden lamps above, the heavy scent of blood and sweat; the roars, jeers and cries of the crowd. It kicked the senses into overdrive, sent the mind reeling and when Sakngea wasn't sure he could take it anymore, the adrenaline pumping through his veins doubled in strength. His own heart was beating against his chest, and when Yue spoke; her hand tensely-excitedly- grasping his shoulder, the boy's eyes widened, pupils dilating as his excitement was renewed Yue's own joy upon seeing the ring. How strange to find such a friend in a small, pink-haired girl, how strange to feel so completely at ease around her. Sakn had never been very good with women, and most hated him due to his rough speech and even rougher manners.
But here Yue was, clasping his arm and speaking in a utterly bedazzled tone. The redhead felt his face flush ever so slightly because of it. It was funny to think he had caused such a reaction in Yue, just by dragging her into a pit of smelly, sweaty men.
The redhead laughed then, because it was all so funny, and continued to laugh lightly as he watched the match unfolding. He would have happily stayed there, watching, and spoke no more, but Yue had other ideas, and as she spoke, Sakn's eyes lit up.
He turned his head to the girl and raised a brow, lips curling into a grin as he responded, "Yea'? Y'think," but he already knew they could, and as the bookies called out bets, the redhead realized what kind of money they could win here, and the greed and excitement was evident when he added, "Le's do it, YuYu," he clasped her shoulder, his arm slung across her back in a friendly hug, "W'd be d'best they'd eva' seen, yeah?"
How exciting! The redhead watched as the fight ended and money was given to the winner and bets were started again as two more men, both just as large and frighteningly muscled as the first two, entered the ring; the crowd only seemed to grow in size, it's loudness rising as the fight started. Sakn watched for a few more moments then glanced back at Yue(he wasn't too worried about being heard over the din of the crowd), "Buh...how we gunna do it?" The redhead had never been much of a planner, and he had a feeling one of them was going to have to purposefully lose. Sakn hated losing.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:28 pm
It was the reason why Yue didn't like to drink, even though she liked to brew: all the chaos overwhelming her senses, and she felt every impulse as clearly as if it was being chanelled directly into her skin. The dirt kicked up, lacing her tongue, gritting in her mouth. She spat at the ground, trying to get rid of at least the worst of it. It didn't do much good, since she just inhaled more on the next breath. It was coppery, and she ran her tongue across her teeth. The smell of it made her crave a good fight. Sakn looked just as excited as she felt. She laughed, and the sound seemed to drift upwards like smoke. It was true, she had essentially just been dragged into a black market and what was undoubtedly a fight on which bets were placed, prizes won or lost. Yet she didn't feel uncomfortable in the least. Perhaps that should have worried her, but Yue was never very good with what was supposed to be good for her. Yowai was much more calm than Yue, and Chishio was too tender to appreciate things like this.
When Sakn began to laugh, her own laughter subsided into a pleased grin, taking in all that was around her. She didn't often make friends at the bar, though she'd talk to many patrons. Jianyu was the first, and now it seemed like she'd made a second friend in Sakn. She'd never expected that by listening to his embellished story they'd end up here, though. They both seemed to have the fight coursing in their blood. She didn't hear the bookies, because her fascination was locked up in the excitement of facing, full-on, an opponent.
What struck Yue as the most wonderful about the fight was that, unlike her previous experience of fighting because of the war... The fighters in the ring weren't spitting over allegiances. They didn't bear crests, they weren't representing two sides. They were fighting for money, glory, skill... who knew? To be free of the side she fought for, just for one fight: Yue could barely contain her excitement and her fascination. So when Sakn responded positively to her tenuous suggestion, she beamed wide and clapped her arm around his back when he hugged her. "We'd be unforgettable," she added, nodding in agreement with him.
Yue thought long, and hard. She didn't want to rig the fight, but either way they'd end up with the prize money. Besides, unlike some of these combattants who were probably just fans of street-brawling, Yue was trained to become a fighter for the Emperor. Regardless of what side he was on, Yue had a feeling Sakn was also in training, which meant they could do serious damage to one another. She'd have to watch that, then; she didn't want either of them to end up with broken limbs in what should have been a friendly fight. She did want them to have fun. "I don't mind losing, if we'll split the prize money," Yue said, grinning, "But I do want a good fight! This should be fun. Let's not make it too easy, you know?" She winked. The crowd was so loud, Yue didn't want to shout out their plan, so she leaned in close to talk under her breath, "We can have a code phrase. When I'm ready to take the fall, so that we don't have to severely injure one another, I'll say 'I am nimble, like a monkey!' ... then, your next hit, I'll let it land, okay?" She leaned away again, conspiratorial work done. "That way we both have fun, but we don't have to get demolished? ... and then we get our prize."
Yue pursed her lips, flicked her braid over her shoulder, beamed at Sakn and asked, "Any suggestions?" She eyed the bookies, excited.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:56 pm
Sakn had to duck down slightly to listen to Yue when she whispered, but it was worth it. Unlike him, it was obvious that the girl was capable of planning, and when she mentioned the code phrase, the redheads smile intensified. It would seem that those monkeys had most definitely made an impression on Yue Lao. And while he hated to get a cheap punch in like that, Sakn was certain that the majority of the fight would be at least somewhat of a challenge. Yue may not have the strength of a man, but she had the spirit and the energy to be the top fighter here.
'Any suggestions?'
The fisherboy shook his head in response before glancing out at the crowd one last time. The fight that was going on seemed to already be ending(such a quick fight!), and when he looked up at the sky, he could tell that it was very late already. So Sakn added, in a less whispered tone, because they were no longer making secret plans, "I's gettin' late t'night," he didn't mention that he was pretty beaten up already and didn't know if he could survive a round with Yue tonight(because he would never EVER admit to that!), "Le's meet back here in three days, alrigh'?" that would give the redhead enough time to recover, and then they could fight at their full potential!
Sakn glanced back at Yue one last time and nodded to himself. Yes, this would be an amazing fight. They would be talked about for months after this. Everyone would know their names!
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:27 pm
Tearing her eyes away from the fight for a moment, Yue cast her eyes up to the sky. The light seemed to dim the stars, but she could still see them there, hanging over her. Her excitement came back in waves, though, and she looked at the fight again. Sakn was right; as much as she wanted to fight right that instant, to be impulsive, it was getting late. She didn't fail to remember his injuries, either. Of course he was in no shape to fight well. She didn't want to half-a** it, and tomorrow she did plan to fight well.
Looking around at the crowd, she realized it was abnormal that she was there. They were pretty much, as far as she could see, all men. It wasn't exactly lady-like to be knee-deep in sweat, blood and dirt, surrounded by stolen or illegal goods. Yet there she was. And in a few days, she would be back again. To fight, that time.
"Three days, Sakn. It's a deal," she said, grinning and clapping him on the shoulder.
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