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 Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:33 am
Now that the House cup was over, things had gone back to being normal. As normal as this school could be, but it didn't hurt to have some downtime. There was only so long she could ride a adrenalin rush. Having just finished her classes for the day, Poke walked down the corridor, yawning as she woke her brain up from the boring drill that had been fed to her. It had been a struggle not to fall asleep. Her walk took her to her dorm room, where she threw her books into some random chest lying about, pausing to make sure everything in her cave was in order. She knew there were RA's about, and RA's meant dorm searches. She didn't have anything to hide, but there were valuables in here. If anyone was stupid enough to come in on her turd, well... Exiting the room, she then realized that she hadn't seen Xiu in a while. Hell she hadn't seen her since the tear. There were some things she wanted to ask her, plus it would be fun to hang out with the Baku. Exited, the dragon ran down the Mountain dorms and jumped out the window, shifting her wings to make the trip to the demon dorms quicker. Once she had located Xius dorm, Poke knocked on the door (and tried not to be too loud about it) "Hey Xiu, are you in?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:21 pm
With graduation quickly approaching for her, Xiu had had a lot on her mind during the past few days--or weeks, really. Things like finding a place to live, find a place close to Amityville for the Shifting Blossoms cafe, and discussing said cafe plans with her co-owner, Gene. There was so much to do, and not a whole lot of time left to do it.
Truthfully? The baku was starting to get a little stressed out.
She had spend the past hour chatting to her uncle online over Halloween Instant Messenger, taking advantage of his years of experience by asking him for advice with finding somewhere to live after leaving the school. They had just gotten through their eighth apartment listing when a knock came on her door.
Telling her uncle that she had a guest and excusing herself, Xiu shut her laptop and quickly trotted to the door, pulling it open with a smile. Said smile only grew even wider when the ghoul behind the door was revealed.
"Poke, hi! How can I help you? Do you want to come in?" Stressed as she was, Xiu was always happy to see a friend.
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 10:01 pm
Holy Jack. Seeing the door open and watching Xiu practically beam at her presence was adorable. Poke couldn't only grin back at the baku and laugh. "I haven't seen you in a while, so I thought I'd pay a visit to see how you were doing." And to confirm a few things as well. When offered, she stepped through the threshold with a nod. "Sure, if you don't mind." Once inside, the dragon took in the cozy little room, liking the dark reds and blacks of the walls furniture. "It's really nice in here" She commented. She then turned around to make sure she knew were her tail was, and made a note not to touch anything least she break it by accident. "Theres something that I've been wanting to find out as well." Poke then said, getting straight to business. "I remember a lot of strange things that happened during the time in the tear. But if I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw you in there as well." She looked to Xiu. "Were you?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:14 pm
Tail wagging behind her, she moved aside to let her friend enter. As soon as the dragon stepped into the room, she shut the door and then made her way (or practically bounced, really) into the kitchen, emerging a moment later with a tray that held a plate of cookies, a teapot, and two cups.
Yes, Xiu was pretty much perpetually prepared with baked goods and tea.
"Please, sit down!" She chirped, always eager to be a good hostess. There was a pause as Poke spoke, and the ghoul cocked her head to the side as she listened to the ghoul's inquiries. Wondering just why she was asking, the baku nodded slowly, her brows furrowing as a small frown touched her lips.
"Yes...yes I was. It was quite the experience too, to say the least...but why do you ask?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 11:32 pm
Waiting patiently for her return, Poke blinked at the sight of a fully prepared plate of cookies, and even tea to boot. "Woah..." Taking a seat as requested, she took one of the cookies and bit into it. A few chews, and the rest of it disappeared. Though not one with a huge sweet tooth, she could appreciate the sweetness of the food, and enjoyed it greatly. "These are great!" Eating another one in just a few bites, she noticed the frown on Xiu's face. Her own fell in worry, wondering if there was a memory that troubled the baku. There were a few memories that disturbed her from that place, there were also many others that she greatly enjoyed. "Oh...w-well I have a particular memory, though it's a little hard to recall the finer details. But if I'm not mistaken, you were there, and so were others, and everyone was fighting a giant black dragon. But more important I believe you went by another title..." Pokerus then leaned in close, lowering her voice. "I believe that was the Red king. Am I right?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 12:34 am
Perching on the armrest of the couch, the baku set her hands in her lap and listened patiently as her friend spoke, giving a little nod. Yes, she had definitely been there--she could still remember those...less than enjoyable experiences--but the particular memory that she was asking about in particular...
Ducking her head, a small, sheepish smile touched the ghoul's lips. "That was...the Red King, yes," She admitted, before letting out a quiet hum, "Who kind of is and isn't me. She certainly bears a resemblance to me, and I share her memories, but..."
Jack, it was quite the complicated concept. She could recall when she first met the Red King in a dream, and how she had recounted everything that had happened during the battle between the 7 Kingdoms and her friends. It had been pretty difficult to wrap her head around, to say the least.
"She's a touch sassier than I am," Xiu admitted, letting a grin spread across her lips, "But now that I think about it...you were there too, weren't you? And you conversed with said Red King?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 4:08 am
"I knew it!" Poke laughed once more, enjoying the idea that the cute little baku in front of her was linked to a very powerful Red King. Though her words did remind her that even her own fragment and herself were two different beings. "And yeah, I was there too...or more specifically my fragment self was. She's very similar to me, but I think she's less angry and more calculative." "It would be interesting to know more sassier you but." Poke returned the grin. "It's a shame I...we...I didn't get a chance to know the Red king more." As she sat there, it clicked. "Oh wait! If you were the red King..or your fragment self way, that meant you know the other seven kings, including The commander!" She didn't converse much with the other kings, but she did flip the gold one the finger... The dragon then blinked, and scratched the back of her head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Er, my fragment self is quite loyal to the white king, commander Wilson...I think it kinda rubbed off on me."
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 11:14 am
As a demon whose specialty revolved around dreams, Xiu was admittedly extremely interested about this whole fragment self thing. It was kind of surreal imagining that someone could have the same face as you, the same body and voice as you…and yet live in a completely different world. From what she had heard from other self—the Red King—their world had reminded her of a dream. Real so long as you believed it to be, but just a reflect of reflection of real life.
Xiu hummed thoughtfully as she lost herself in her thoughts, but then she perked up at Poke’s exclamation. Blinking at her, the Baku lifted a hand and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. ”The White King, huh?” She repeated with a faintly awkward laugh, ”Well, the Red King seemed to like him fine, but as for my personal encounter with the Whit—er, Wilson…well.”
The only time she could remember running into the hunter was when the red crown had already begun to corrupt her. Along with Shun and one of Wilson’s comrade, they had gone at each other with a violent fury until they effectively knocked themselves out. Needless to say…this wasn’t the happiest of memories. In hindsight, Xiu actually felt pretty guilty for the way she had acted towards people when she had first received the crown—the corruption had made her quite bitter, to say the least.
”I’d like to apologize to him sometime,” She admitted with a sigh, ”Of course, it’s awfully dangerous for Halloween creatures such as ourselves to willingly expose ourselves to Hunters, but he didn’t seem like a bad guy.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 5:49 pm
Xiu had trailed off after mentioning the relationship between the kings, leaving Poke to ponder about just how much each they knew and what ties there were between the kingdoms. As far as she could recall, information about them was scarce, even among the crew members. When the mention of hunters were brought up, the dragon sighed loudly and fell back against the couch as if she had a headache. "The hunters are such a pain in the a**. If they weren't such gung ho about destroying us all I'd be happy to get behind their cause. As it stands, I'd like to smack Caelius around a bit but the guys so overpowered it isn't funny. Plus if I were to approach them I would bet they'd capture my sorry hide and make a nice shiny sword out of me" "But at the very least, Wilson isn't a bad guy I don't think." She lifted her head and poured herself a cup of tea with the thoughtfully placed teapot. "We were a bit wary of each other at first, but we both calmed down when we realized neither of us were hell bent on fighting. It was nice to talk to him for a bit, and I could see he was a reasonable person. Probably fighting just to protect the human race from evil s**t. Kinda like a Knight." She laughed at the pure irony of the description. "His king self was every bit the approachable guy. He would always listen to everyone and I think he cared about us deeply. He granted me the position of Lieutenant. It came as a shock, but a deep honor none the less. I made it my mission to protect everyone and to defend the kingdom, to prove I was worthy of the title. Taking a sip of the tea, she watched Xiu with interest. "But I can assume you would have done similar things in your kingdom as well. Actually, what was the Red Kingdom like? I know ours was on a damaged ship called Feirg. It used to fly through space and was super high tech and everything. Hell it had flying motorcycles and hover boards.
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 8:29 pm
Xiu smiled wryly, shaking her head at the mention of the hunters. Yes indeed, maybe if a couple of them weren't so extreme...sigh. A few of the hunters she had encountered seemed like genuinely good people, but there were definitely others--like Caelius--who she would avoid at all costs.
...Even if she did want to beat him up pretty badly.
Listening to Poke with interest, she nodded when the ghoul told her that Wilson seemed like the okay sort. She had gotten that vibe from him too, along with one of the other hunters she had run into. They had refused to fight her unless she made the same move, exactly the same thing as Xiu. Essentially, they had just been trying to defend themselves and their friends, not provoke an attack.
The talk of the White Kingdom earned a smile from the baku, who was clearly quite interested in such things. When the conversation turned to the Red Kingdom, however, she paused and let out a thoughtful hum.
"It was very...traditional, with imperial looking buildings and a palace. There was a large garden with a lake, and a number of small bridges that led across the water. In comparison to the White Kingdom, it definitely seems a lot more old fashioned, but..."
Frowning thoughtfully, she cocked her head to the side, drawing up the memories that the Red King had shown her. "The Kingdom was definitely prepped for battle as well. I think everyone, from men, to women, to children knew how to fight and defend themselves."
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:36 pm
"Traditional and old fashioned are fine by me." Considering she rarely used technology in this world (because it either broke or short circuited when in contact with water), she could appreciate a less technological approach. "It certainly sounds amazing just to hear about it. A palace, imperial buildings..." It sounded a little like the conquest clan, except ten times better. Because there were no horsemen. When it came to the people that lived in the red Kingdom, Poke frowned a little. "I don't believe our kingdom were specifically designed to fight. Most of the people were just civilians who lived on the ship, and were all hoping for the day the it would work again...." Her frown deepened, biting her bottom lip as she recalled the feelings and emotions. "Though I enjoyed it...it was also a sad place. Everyone wanted the ship to work but we all knew it was impossible, the engine was so badly damaged it was beyond repair. And we had no way of retrieving the components needed to fix it.
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:21 am
Xiu let out an interested hum, absently picking up one of the cookies to nibble on at this new bit of information about the White Kingdom. "The White King's crown...grief, wasn't it?" At least, she thought that she could vaguely remember a mention of each Kingdom's title's from the Red King's memories. That being said...
"In the end though...they really were all just fragments, weren't they?" She murmured softly, suddenly looking a little upset, "They had friends, and family, and a whole Kingdom--but all of that was real only so long as it lasted. After that..."
She had had the impression that the Red King had disappeared for good after that dream, but that incident in the rift seemed to have indicated otherwise. Then again, she had welcomed her fragment self back, so perhaps her other self was simply an existing part of her now.
...How very confusing this all was.
"It certainly was strange though, thinking about it in hindsight. I mean, Halloween creatures, Horsemen, and Hunters all together...?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:55 am
"Grief? What do you mean?" Poke knew the white kingdom, but she had not know it had a bigger meaning beyond that. Though hearing the word....it made sense. It made much more sense considering how sad she had felt at times in that place. Well, how sad her fragment self had been, at any rate. "They may have only been fragments, but I feel that they were more then that." She started. "It's hard not to believe it had been real. We both remember our other selves, and I know others remember it too. Isn't it proof enough that it was more then some weird experience?" She had remembered the dream where she let her fragment merge, and the two had essentially became one. Well, sort of. More of less her conciseness had faded into her own. "I can agree though, it was very strange. All things considered though it hasn't been the strangest thing I've seen here." She chuckled. "Though all of us aligned on the same side...I kinda like that idea. It would be super sappy and all but at least we wouldn't be trying to kill each other."
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 11:40 pm
"It seemed each kingdom had certain...associations," She explained slowly, thoughtfully, "Honestly, it's not entirely clear to myself since I'm just going off of these memories that have been given to me, but it all really seems quite interesting."
She would have liked to converse with the Red King--or the other fragment selves--more, but she knew that that was probably impossible. The thought admittedly made her a little disappointed.
Xiu found herself smiling then, her tail flicking behind her. "That's true. Even if their reality was different from ours, they were still real. They existed, they lived, they loved--they did all the things that we do." Besides, who was to say that the world they were living in right now wasn't some kind of dream? It was such a odd thought, but an intriguing one as well.
At the mention of everyone working together, the baku's smile became slightly more solemn. "That would be nice, but unfortunately...it seems we've been caught in the conflict between the horsemen and the hunters." And despite the fact a few of her dear friends had become initiates with the lost clans, Xiu admittedly trusted them as much as she trusted the hunters...which was not very much at all.
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Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 12:20 am
"I wonder if there is a way we could find out more about our fragments, or even more about how that whole world was created." Poke rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe some of the teachers have more information...ehhh." She made a face at her own idea; asking teachers for information was like getting blood out of a stone; nearly impossible. "Damn. Maybe one day Excalibur would pop up again." Now That would of be a sight to see. Nodding along with Xiu, she smiled at her words. "And I'm sure that many of them have found their counterparts here. Even if the world is gone, they still live in in the hearts of others." The Baku wasn't the only one to become solemn when the talk chanced to the existing issues they faced. "I am not a fan of the horsemen." She replied, one hand clenched to hide the four clans mark that had been plastered there. "At least I know what the hunters want. With the horsemen? It's anyones guess what the hell they're up to. Jack damned secretive bastards..."
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