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 Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:21 am
The things Owle knew and didn't know were a hodgepodge, a mismatched mush from multiple lives squished together and often half-forgotten. Sometimes she could tell you the entire plot of a cartoon show from some far off universe, and sometimes she hadn't the faintest idea what a cell phone was.
She listened to his tale, saving her comments till the end.
"Eh, a lot of zombie towns seem to be springing up lately," Owle said with a shrug when he was done, as if this were an every day occurrence. "And if it's any consolation I probably would have gotten kicked out of a place like that, too. I don't take well to doing what I'm told..."
Her brown eyes slid nervously to Flare. "Well, least when I don't like the one doing the telling."
She seemed to shy away from the crystals, a tiny flinch that was nonetheless perceptible.
"Anyway, sounds pretty rough. There's a lot of idiots out there who'll just take to waylaying random travelers, tearing up the countryside, that sort of thing. Fortunately this place isn't too far from civilization...we're near the town of Gambino, if you're looking for a place to get back in touch with people."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:32 am
"Eh... well, can't say I'm too fond of people though."
Jack thought it might sound kinda contradictory considering he showed a lot of appreciation for running into civilization again.
"I'm just looking for a place to kinda call home for a bit or a partner to adventure with. I'm tired of traveling, the fighting and adventure is kinda fun, but not when you are doing it all alone."
Jack Handy chuckled, shrugging his shoulders and placing the bottle of JD back down.
"For example... where is the fun in taking on five zombies with a couple of chair legs, and the only one who is watching you do it is the spiders on the wall? I mean really... adventuring alone can only be fun for so long."
It was obvious that Jack was merely 19, a lot of spunk and ambition still in him. He lowered his hi-tech glasses so his sea blue eyes looked to hers.
"Ya know?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 10:58 am
"Well...this place has some rooms upstairs, if you'd like to stay a while," Owle answered, smiling as her brown eyes met his. "And enough crazies pass through here I bet you could find someone to go with you on an adventure. I've got a bit much on my plate to go running off just right now, but..."
Normally, she would probably have offered to go wandering around with him, but with Flare dragging her into a tournament and things finally getting busy around here, well...random adventure was not the best thing in the world.
"I kinda like traveling alone, to tell you the truth, cause then you have to meet people. And no one's around to laugh at you, if, instead of taking on the zombies you run and hide in a corner," Owle chuckled, knowing that might well be her own reaction to the creatures. "But I think I know what you mean."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:08 am
"Are you implying I am crazy?"
Jack chuckled after she mentioned that crazzies passing through might join him on one such adventure. A hand removed from the back of his head and tipped his shades back from the tip of his nose to his eyes again.
"I've been doing the traveling alone bit for nearly three years. In the Marines, they had me sneak into enemy territories and bases to gather information and kill targets. So, I couldn't really meet anyone. And I don't consider leaping corpses to be good company."
Jack shook his head with a sigh, folding his hand back behind his neck. He looked to the upstairs that she had mentioned. Then to beside him where the large backpack and his sleeping bag was located. The idea of having a bed was rarther appealing.
"I don't have money... but perhaps I could serve as a bouncer while I take up a room."
Jack spoke with a questioning tone, slowly looking back to her from all his equipment.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:17 am
"We all are," Owle replied lightheartedly. After all, what else could you call people who liked to just wander out and find trouble? Owle was perfectly happy with the fact that she had this tendency, and with the idea that it wasn't normal, nor entirely sane.
She nodded in agreement to the statement that leaping corpses were not good company.
She would have offered him the room for free, but she remembered how she had felt when she first moved in here. Rage and Tarrasque had never asked her to do anything to earn her keep, but she kept at being a waitress and bartender anyway, just to pay them back a bit. So what she said was...
"Sure, if you'd like. We could always use another bouncer, this place has been destroyed more times than I care to remember."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:33 am
"You'll have to tell me who I should keep an eye on though. I'm relatively new to this... kinda place."
Jack didn't come here on a rocket ship, so he couldn't really call this a different world. He wasn't particularly bright in science of philosophy either, so that ruled out calling it a different dimension. Sincerely, Jack was mostly just living and not caring about the kinda place he was in.
He'd survive. Adapt. And do his best to be Jack in the process.
"What happened the last time?"
Jack was curious how this sort of place had been attacked, bar brawl or something he figured.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:40 am
"Well...I guess anyone who starts glowing. Or draws weapons on people." Owle shrugged. She really didn't have a profile of the dangerous types. "The regulars here are pretty friendly, and most everyone keeps a weapon on them or has some kind of hidden power, so..." She let her voice trail off, not sure where she was going with that one.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be able to tell if someone's starting trouble," she added lamely.
"The last time..." Owle's brow furrowed as she thought back. "I think it was over a year ago. A guy named Rasmus Asimov blew it down...I wasn't here for that, though, so I'm not really sure what happened."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:54 am
"There was a musical group called Rasmus back home."
All this talk of fighting had brought back a lot of memories. Jack wasn't too afraid of the hidden powers stuff, figuring those neat little stones on his knife straps would take care of that.
"Hmm..."
Jack's hands went onto the table, and his fingers tapped against the surface. A michevious look crossed his face.
"I overheard some talk of a tournament. Are you a fighter?"
With that look on his face, Jack's intentions would be obvious as he stood up.
"And how 'bout we go see that room for me you were talking about. I'd like to drop my stuff off as we talk."
A good hundred or so pounds was heaved up over his shoulders once more.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:11 pm
That look made Owle back up just a little bit. "Um...well...no, not really, more of a healer and a spectator but my sister wants me to fight for some reason..."
She had the sinking feeling she knew that look. He wanted a spar, and it would be impolite to turn him down...
But with those stones of his, she couldn't even access her simpler tricks. She was just your average woman with wings and patched of armored scales.
But she rose from her seat anyway, and led him toward the upstairs. "Most of the rooms are free, I think...the first one on the right is Rage's, third on the left is mine and across from that is my son's...other than that you can have your pick of the lot."
Having his pick of the lot didn't really give him any advantage, as the rooms were all pretty similar. Furnished with a bed, a dresser and mirror, a nightable, and their own bathroom each, the Firebrand's rooms could hold their own against some hotels.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:19 pm
Jack nodded, walking with her and then passing to the second on the left.
"A healer and spectator eh..? Well, you ought to do some training and practice before placing yourself in a tournament. Don't you think?"
Jack asked, letting her think about that while he entered in the room. The fact that he had those crystals, and that she had asked him to back up had crossed his mind. However he knew, that if one was reliant on more then what they were living with, that could be taken away and leave them helpless for a big hurting.
"Hmm..."
Jack had placed his stuff on the bed, and was back out in a jiffy. The man with the slick black hair looked no worse for ware from all the travel, being built like a brick as a Marine. However, the food and refreshment with some relaxing conversation had obviously done him some good.
"I've got a bit of mixed martial arts training from the core, and no how to use most anything as a weapon. If you'd like to do some practice outside, I'd be more than glad. It's been a long time since I was engaged in some physical activity that didn't mean life or death."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:24 pm
"Yeah..." Owle replied nervously. "I guess." She really should train, it didn't mean she was looking forward to it, though.
She waited for him in the hallway, knowing somehow that he would have more to say to her. And indeed he did.
"Well..." She sighed in resignation. "If you insist. I'm really not much of a fighter though...lessee..."
Her knives would scratch him up too much, and she didn't want to hurt him. She couldn't fight with her fists without hurting herself. The only form she knew how to fight in was a cat, and she somehow doubted such a small creature would give him any trouble.
"I've got a staff I can use, but it's been a long time since I've tried to battle with it. If you don't mind how incompetent I am, I can, uh...well, move away from those crystals and fetch it."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:30 pm
"I don't know 'bout staffs, less you want me to go make myself one out of some nearby tree."
Jack blinked as he looked to her, tilting his head. Women were usually rather agile and adapt at hand to hand fighting, but she obviously seemed to want to avoid that.
"I've got a couple knives, and a sword if you want to do some blade sparring. Back home we'd go till someone got cut and that marked the end of the match. A little draw of the blood never hurt anyone, and it taught us how to not get scratched for when the big fights actually came."
Jack also suggested, as he started walked to the downstairs and waited for her.
"Still, if a weapon gets knocked from your hands, you ought to know how to use what you got. Know what I'm saying?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:39 pm
Jack "Still, if a weapon gets knocked from your hands, you ought to know how to use what you got. Know what I'm saying?" "Mmm..." Owle thought about that. "Well, I guess so. If you're patient enough to teach me. "Usually, though, I rely on my abilities to get me out of things...and my knives, but even then I don't know how to fight with them. Just poke people." Of course, getting out of things wouldn't work in a one on one duel till a victor was decided. In her every day life, Owle was the victor if she stayed alive, not if she won a fight.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:45 pm
Owle Isohos "Usually, though, I rely on my abilities to get me out of things...and my knives, but even then I don't know how to fight with them. Just poke people."
Jack laughed nervously about the teaching thing.
"The best teacher I've ever had was experience. Get your knives, or whatever and if you wanna wear something different. Then meet me outside. I'll be standing on the shore. Something about a spar or teaching..."
Jack couldn't believe he was talking of teaching someone. But he didn't wanna see his new friend get hurt in this tournament. He'd try. He wasn't the best though, but at least he could try.
"Well, it should look neat."
With that, he'd dissapear outside the door and head to the beach. A good cleared spot without much debri. He'd take off his boots and socks, just walking through the water on the sand as he waited for her.
Jack laughed at the situations life seemed to throw at him, and looked out into the water.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2006 12:56 pm
Owle nodded. She knew the truth of what he was saying...he had proven she could come up against her opponent who took all her abilities away. And even with them, she was not strong.
But, hey, who said she had to be?
"Alright," she smiled, and walked into her room. She wasn't sure why she did it, when everything she wanted was right on her.
She didn't change clothes, opting to stick with the tank top and loose jeans she always wore. The jeans obscured the scales that encased her calves and feet like boots...though that wasn't why she wore them. They were comfy.
Viscous black liquid propelled itself from her hands, forming into two knives. One was simple, and made of mythril, the handle engraved with her name. The other was ornate, covered with runes. Owle didn't know the name of the metal, but it shone silver. The False Blade.
She didn't know if she'd use them, but he said to bring them, so she would. Preparations now complete, she headed down the stairs and out the door to the beach. As she approached, Jack would probably get the feeling that this girl wouldn't last a minute in any tournament, unless there was way more to her than met the eye...she was holding the knives like she was afraid of hurting someone with them!
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