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 Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:24 am
"Hum?" The hand on his face dragging off, he looked directly at Sunstrike now, and for certain paying him attention now.
"I..." He didn't really know how to properly answer his companions queries, without stumbling several times within his head. "Sure... we can talk. I don't anything to hide from you." That won't try to claw out at you along the way...
He decided to avoid coming up with an answer to the last statement entirely, for fear of losing his marbles.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:30 am
"Good!" Sunstrike suddenly sat up and laughed. "Then I'll start with one thing." He held his hand up very seriously, even though his face was laughing.
"Stop thinking I'm so bloody young. I'm as old as you are...this body was "borrowed" around the time that, I imagine, those runes in the temple you just sent those kids too, were being carved for the first time...My soul is quite a bit older then that...but that's were I run into difficulty, because Gaian time isn't the same as the time where I'm from." There was a casual shrug, as if that didn't really matter one way or the other.
"And that's the "me" statement of the day...if we get any furthur along without dying, I'll expect another from you." And with that he got up, stretched again, and started for the door.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:36 am
Regnier large ship found it's way into the ports of the desert town, slowly thew workers parked in perfectly and quikly tied it to the port poles attached to the ramps leading to the boats. Regnier stepped out of the captains cabin and onto the starboard deck and then onto the ports ramp.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:42 am
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:06 am
"Humour me." He said simply, as he sat up fully erect in the bed now, head tilted down to the side as he worked out the kinks from his shoulders and back muscles, yellowed eyes on Sunstrike.
".....Ah." He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't to find out that the red-head was older than even him. Sort of a boot to the face, which cast a different light on Sunstrike, the more Vahn thought about it.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:18 am
Sunstrike turned around grinning when he got to the door.
"What do you want for break-" He saw the look on his friends face, and sighed, his expression going softer. "Don't worry about it Vahn. For all intents and purposes, I'm twenty...let your mind slip over the little details...I certainly do. Now...breakfast? Or are you gonna sit there all mopey? We've got a bit of a deadline to meet after all...and I really suppose I should talk about my past..." Sunstrike winced.
"After all, s'not everyday it walks up and punches you in the face....literally x.x" He sighed and opend the door, nearly running smack into Nahara.
"Oh hullo there! Sorry 'bout that."
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 9:34 am
The wind was blowing hard in that great waste land. A loney traveler arrives in town. He throw off his clock and says (I''m looking for a fight) as he yells at the top of his lungs. He wait awhile and starts to move on looking for a bar to get a drink.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 10:49 am
Vahn half listened to Sunstrike, and half drifted through thoughts. It had been many years since he was honestly this dazed, this uncollected.
"I am a... Murmillion."
The young man's face flashed through his mind, as well as that grinning mask. He shifted uncomfortably, as Sunstrike turned to go open the door.
"Just like you."
Back to the last moments of the stadium, when he could feel that immense... hallowness within him. The grim mask that had begun to coat his face, born from his own blood and hardened by the flames. Vahn's eyes narrowed, as he started into thin air.
"Come to us, Vahn. You have a purpose..."
The young man had extended his own hand out to Vahn. smiling as if it were the right thing to do, the only thing to do.
"You aren't meant to stay with these humans."
"... ... ..."
"Good morning you two!" Nahara said sweetly enough, as she smiled at Sunstrike, then peeking over his shoulder and giving Vahn a smile as well. "Breakfast is ready, and there's a guest downstairs waiting for Vahn."
Vahn lifted his head up, wondering who exactly would want to visit him...
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:03 am
Sunstrike blinked as well, surprised, and looked over his shoulder at his friend, the door now wide open.
"You should probably go first, then. I need to find those goggles that we stashed in the pack last night." The grin that Sunstrike threw was infectious and Nahara, though puzzled, also smiled. Why was Sunstrike so dependant on those things her grandfather gave him?
He went over and started to rumage, humming softly to himself as he looked through the bags.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 11:33 am
"Yea..." The word didn't come out as reassuringly as he wanted it to, spared from looks by Sunstrike as Nahara tugged on his arm and began pulling him down the hall and towards the stairs.
"Good morning, Vahn!!" Even as began descending the stairs, what met him caused his eyes to widen slightly, his feet feeling like bricks, even if he continued moving down the stairs.
Waving up at him, was the young man from last night. ...He's acting like nothing ever happened...
"Ah... goodmorning, uh... Laffite was it?" Nahara said, as she waved back down to the man that was apparently Vahn's guest.
"Oh!!! You remembered my name! How sweet!" Laffite said, as he smiled warmly enough, waiting until she was finally on the ground floor, and giving her a warm hug.
"Hey, just wait one damn second, b*****d!" Hibon yelled out, coming out from the side, seeing the newcomer getting close with his sister.
"Hmm? ...How noisy....'The hell are you?" Laffite said offhandly, as he stared towards the obnoxious voice, which made Hibon even more flustered.
"Who the hell am I?! Hey, you better quit it with that 'I'm on better terms with them than you', b*****d! Because I'm definatley on better terms with them than you!!" Hibon stormed on over, more emotional than usual, most likely due to whatever he'd experienced in that tablet. "Just get your grubby hands off my sister! Look, she's suffering!"
"Are you insane?" Laffite said, staring at Hibon like he'd just crawled out of a garbage disposal unit. "If she was really in pain, she'll start crying, screaming, or even hit me. But since she's not, it means she doesn't care! Isn't that right, Nahara?"
"Seriously, Hibon." She said waving a hand towards her brother, her cheeks flushed and a bead of sweat going down the back of her head. "It's okay...relax."
"Man, look at her acting so indifferent!" Hibon stared Laffite down, pointing accusingly. "Dude... you definately did something bad."
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:15 pm
There was a soft strangled noise behind Vahn on the stairs. Sunstrike, eyes wide in semi-disbelief behind the found goggles, stared at the other man holding Nahara. That cut off noise suddenly changed to a low growl.
"Why are you of all people here...and daft enough to call us friends, Laffy...I woulda thought you'd crawled into a hole when the sun came up..." Sunstrike gripped onto the handrail and tried to keep his sanity in check. There was something severely wrong about this guy...something that his normal senses couldn't register....
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 12:50 pm
Wordlessly, Vahn moved forward, ignoring everyone else. "Eh?" Laffite stared on, whatever retort he had planned to give back to Sunstrike forgotten, as Vahn advanced on him. "Ah?" Vahn's left fist clutched a bunch of Laffite's shirt, tightening and dragging him away from everyone else.
"Get over here for a sec, Laffite." He said hollowly, giving everyone else his back as he proceeded to walk right out of the shop itself.
"Eh?" Everyone else was simply left behind in puzzlement, wondering if Vahn had been really that hot blooded to lose his temper already. Dain had been watching the entire time from a corner of the store, and wordlessly continued sipping his coffee.
"ARGH!!" Laffite groaned out as he was slammed up against a wall, Vahn's arm pinning him there for effect. "Owww, what are you doing...! You lose your temper too easily! She isn't your girlfriend right?! Yeah... there'd be no way she'd get with you anyway!!" Laffite sputtered out, a grin still on his face.
Vahn leaned in tight, keeping Laffite there as he raised his voice. "Hell no! But you'd better friggin' apologize to her later!! That's all I'm tryin' to say!!"
"You can demand that..." Laffite said evenly, as he began to stick out his tounge at the fighter. "But you really have no right to say so."
"Laffite, you--" Vahn pushed the man up against the wall harder. "Why the hell did you come by the shop?"
"What, are you crazy?" Laffite said, as he stared up at Vahn with a glimmer of annoyance. "I needed to buy some things."
Vahn tightened the grip, his voice getting louder. "Isn't the reason you came was to just try and recruit me?! Thus, you have no reason to come anymore, right?!"
"Unbelievable." The simple word froze Vahn over, as he stared down at Laffite. "You think a guy like me'd give up on a guy like you that easily?" Laffite stared up at Vahn, his eyes showing no hint of weakness in his words. "I'm a persistent b*****d, though. I'll keep trying until you decide to do it my way."
Vahn's grip began to slacken, as he stared down at Laffite.
"It's too late, you know. Once your devil comes out... You'll never be able to return to your original form." Laffite stared evenly at Vahn, showing no sign that he was speaking lies at all. "So what do you think of that? Like I said, you don't belong on this side anymore, Vahn."
Vahn stared at Laffite, feeling a cold sweat overtake his body, and more nervous than usual, while Laffite stared up at the fighter with tranquility.
"Sunstrike, Silver, Mitsuyo, all those others, did you really think they were your true comrades?" Laffite's eyes narrowed as his grin faded. "That's bullshit."
Vahn's hand seemed to try and tighten, but only as a reflex, as beads of sweat ran down his neck.
"They can help you out for a little bit, but even if you stay, you'll eventually lose control due to the devil inside you. And if that happens, you're screwed. Your power will crush everything around you... Your comrades, your future, your own body...Everything will be blown to peices."
Laffite smiled again as he leaned in and up towards Vahn. "You've probaly...figured this out already, right? The devil inside you... He's so huge that there isn't anything you can do without him." Laffite leaned up further, Vahn's hand numbed and falling to his side. "Come with me, Vahn. I'll teach you...how to keep control over your body."
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:25 pm
The hand came over Vahns shoulder so quickly, it was hard to see as anything more then a blur impacting with a smack and a crack. It had planted itself, open and smoking, to Laffite's face, right over that cocky mouth of his and knocking his thick head against the wall. Sunstrike wasn't nearly so gentle as Vahn had been when he hauled the other man up the wall, his eyes ablaze behind goggles.
He hadn't been stunned for long before he followed the two outside....though he had stood back, listening to the whole conversation until the point where his friend faltered, and then picking up the slack.
"Interesting sales pitch you got there, Laffy....but Vahn isn't the only one with a devil kept in check." Even as he spoke the black began to spread up his hands, twisting and turning like flames as they englufed his pale skin. "And you make mine itch." His voice was quiet compared to Vahn's had been, but there was a sense of compsed rage that even internally had him shocked. The hand tightend slowly, before releasing completely.
The same hand that suddenly gripped his friends shoulder was amazingly normal again, if a bit warmer then usual, though his voice was still directed at Laffite. "He is who he is...I accepted the road that I chose when I left my life in his hands...I'm not a "comrade"...I'm a friend...something I'm sure you have no definition for you sorry b*****d...Now if you'll excuse us, we've got more important things to deal with then lackeys." The disgust was apparent as he took Vahn's arm, spun his friend almost comically and set him going in the direction of the shop...complete with a small push to get him going.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 1:58 pm
! Yellowed eyes widened in genuine surprise as a fist came hurtling out of nowhere, and sent Laffite's head smacking bakc against the wall. The only response was laughter, as he apparently shrugged it off., even if a trickle of blood was running from his bottom lip now.
"And a good morning to you as well!" Laffite merely offered, as Vahn was pulled away, still leaning against the wall, before rubbing his jaw, and pushing off the wall.
Vahn was in a daze, hundreds and hundreds of things he wanted to say, scream out, blurt out; none escaping as they chose to instead clog up his head. He was uncharacteristaclly quiet, and chose to remain so, as he walked back towards the shop.
From the side, both Nahara and Hibon had watched the short exchange, before stepping back and moving down the street, without alerting anyone else.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:20 pm
Sunstrike bristled, but ignored the comment...more concerned over the really bizarre effect that man had on his friend. The door slammed behind them both, and he carefully steered Vahn to the table, pushing him into a seat rather roughly before grabbing a coffee cup and thunking it down in front of him.
Silently he grabbed the coffee pot and poured the black liquid into the mug, adding sugar and whatever else was needed before grabbing Vahn's hands and placing them on the warm mug.
"Drink!" Was the sharp order. When his friend had taken the drink off the table his hand came down with a loud bang, causing all the utensils to shake and a large crack to form. All the anger that had built up released itself as he glared viciously at Dain. "What the hell did you let that....that....creature...in here for?!" There was definately a hissing quality to the way that he was speaking as he hovered protectively over Vahn.
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