Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ryugi jumped as he felt something touch him on the forehead. He'd heard Walter approaching him due to the footsteps, but he hadn't expected the poke. Nor had he expected to be able to see. He blinked as he adjusted to the strange new take on the world, and then noticed that Maximos and Joshua were busy fighting each other over what appeared to be Maximos' hat.

Oh my... I don't know what you did...Walter I believe it was, but I thank you very much.

It was then that Ryugi could see the table and the many different assorted foods covering it. He smiled and headed towards the far end of the table, away from the fight, and the girl. He wanted to be as far away from that girl as possible... And who could blame him? He then looked around the table, and gathered a large helping of food, and gingerly took a bite.

This is DELICIOUS!!

Like a wishbone the chair was split in two; Maximos having the larger half this time, but Joshua still holding the prize.

He didn't care how old the chair was, nor did he care how much it was worth. If they wanted to throw him out for breaking the chair, they could throw him out. There were probably eighty chairs at that table, each identical to the last, and not a soul had visited this house in the year that Joshua had been waiting. They could spare it.

"Then why am I wearing it?"

Joshua accentuated his statement by driving a fist into the chair seat; the cushioned side wouldn't absorb enough of the impact to keep the already damaged wood from splitting down the middle, though with the hook on the punch Joshua was really more interested in catching the cushion with his knuckles to pull the seat out of Maximos' hands and clear a path for the chair back to be shoved down his throat.

The chair base snapped across the left side of Joshua's face; his head turning to the right sharply with the impact... though it didn't seem to Maximos like it had been a clean hit, it felt too light. Joshua had turned his head to the side when the chair hit and absorbed most of the impact, though there were still two small cuts across his cheek from the splintered wood which each spilled a single drop of black blood...

"Heh..."

He turned back his head and already the scratches seemed to be gone, leaving only those two drops of blood upon the skin where they had been.

"...I did, didn't I?"

His left foot slid in across the ground, moving his base forwards suddenly as the man slammed his left fist upwards towards Maxi's gut. If the house was allergic to light, it wasn't going to like the sudden flash that came with the punch as a surge of spirit energy fired itself off from Joshua's fist to enhance the impact.

Outside, the weather was nice. Things were quiet, too. Other than the comforting sound of a slight breeze, all was still and silent aside from the occasional creak coming from the windmill. The very edge of the rear half of the island was the same- calm, serene.

THUMP.

A halberd, as if the weapon itself had sprung 6000 feet out of the ocean below, was flung over the edge of the island and onto "land". The halberd was massive- at least eight feet long not counting the bladed end. The shaft of the weapon was made from some sort of metal, that could be told by the way it fell to the earth after its master had heaved it onto the solid ground. The bladed end was rather elaborate- many a smooth, attractive curve would become a jagged, wicked edge. The shape was almost organic- and it seemed to actually be made of some type of green stone, smoothed and sharpened to deadly perfection. The last detail, but one which holds much meaning, is the tattered and worn red ribbon tied around the bottom of the pole. Overall, the weapon was fit for a king- not the cold, hard ruffian that was its true master.

"Alright," The voice, coming from over the islands edge, was rough and cold, "this is it."

A hand gripped the top of the landmass not far from where the halberd landed, followed by another. A couple seconds later and a man with long, jet black hair and green eyes would be dusting off his clothes. The man wore nothing that matched the grandness off his weapon- a black leather jacket over a tight, white t-shirt. A belt; jeans; boots. Something of rectangular shape was being held securely in his right jean pocket- probably smokes.

His hair snaked about his face in the breeze as he looked around, careful for signs of life. There was nothing- nothing but this windmill and some bushes.

Then it hit him.

This place, whatever story it had behind it, reminded him of the old Barton Forest. It wasn't in the sights, the sounds, or the smells. It was in the lack of anything that made you feel like you were in total control of how you stood against your surroundings. Yet, he remained unharmed.

"Not here to cause trouble," He said quietly, cautiously, to no one, "just here to find a friend."

He may have looked like a moron to any random jerkoff, but he knew more than anyone that a place like a deserted floating island was far from truely deserted. There were forces about here that he had no control over and was at complete mercy to- of this, he was nearly sure.

He shifted his right foot a little and wormed it under his weapon. With a flick, it was sent into the air in front of him. Without hesitation and almost absentmindedly, he snatched it out of the air and shouldered it as he made his way towards the lighthouse- the only structure he'd managed to see from dragonback*.




*Explanation (for kicks): Stryphe has a sense for the spiritual signatures of those he's familiar with. One of those is Joshua- Stryphe, having learned of the Heavon or Hell tournament, decided to set out and find his old ally from back during Grand Wish.

As for how Stryphe actually got here: A while back, Stryphe was given a dragon by one of his friends. To this day, he uses it when he needs to get to certain hard to reach places (like islands 6000ft. above the ocean). Before the events in my post unfolded, he checked out Shadow Island from afar, then was dropped off and left to climb the islands face. He'd figured it was better to climb a little ways to the top than to land an entire dragon on this potentially dangerous place.

Joshua touched the rim of the hat again; tilting it to the side slightly with a disappointed expression. He still held his fist out between them, not having moved it at all from where it stopped after driving itself into Maximos' chest.

Maybe you've been dead, but you shouldn't be this rusty...

But then... something happened.

Stryphe stepped onto the island. It was easy enough to sense his energy since there wasn't really that much distance between them, even if he wasn't putting out much at the time. A simple thing to note, like noticing the color of a shirt: there was another guest, and this island was starting to get a little crowded.

He was just the same as the last time they had met: his energy, and Jourgamond's energy... and...

"What th-"




It was like a cartoon. Joshua went one way, and the hat just seemed to hang in the air, slightly spinning from the motion as the man who had been wearing it went flying back onto the dining table and knocked a wave of dishes onto the floor as he skidded across.

"Mnnt..."

He rolled back onto his feet; recovering quickly enough from the hit. The time spent sliding had been more than enough to get his mind back on the matter at hand.

"...kktnhu..."

One hand flat on the tabletop in a crouched position, he raised his head... with half a steak clamped between his teeth.

"...hfft!"

:: The hit connected with a series of snaps as each of his knuckles popped on impact. His extended entire force of motion impacting Joshua's chest, stopping him in mid air at the impact point for that fraction of a second until Joshua went soaring back, the dining room table skidding back a few inches, scraping the hard wood floors.

With a step of clops his feet hit the floor, just and inch off from where Joshua was standing, without hesitation his left hand reached out to snatch the spinning hat before it hit the floor.

He actually hadnt tried that attack yet. His rolled his right hand into a fist, as the tentacles retracted from the ground returning to their inky ethereal black forms and fading as they draped around his right arm. As his fist clenched he could almost feel the rust shattering off of it. He wasnt back to 100%, but it felt good to be back in the game.

Now granted, he had just lost countless fine china, and while Walter had summoned shadows to bring more food, they just wasted hours of preparation. But he had the hat! And a triumphant smile.::

Serves you right, thief!

"Mmnnnffnnt..."

He bit down, and tore a chunk out of the steak as he pulled it away with his free hand. There was time for a few quick gnashes, then a swallow.

"Walter, this steak is awesome."

He bit down on the rest of it again; too much to just cram into his mouth at once; and took off like a runner from the blocks. The table shook like it was an earthquake as he pounded down the length of it before leaping off the edge with a left flying side kick intended for Maxi's smug grin.

Up! Up! Up and away! The table tilted itself up on end, scratching the ceiling just slightly as it turned over and began falling backwards through the dining hall.

But there was no sound of a body sliding to the floor.

Despite the slippery slope Joshua had ran straight up the table, even when it was nearly vertical he had hardly slowed down at all. When it reached its apex he leaped off of it with a kick; turning over in the air like a backflip, only that when his feet touched the ceiling they seemed to stick there. Joshua crouched on the ceiling for only a second as the end of the table swung past on its return to the ground before he jumped down, onto the underside of the table.

Maximos was paying too much mind to his guests, if he was already worrying about tablemanners. Joshua, on the other hand, had a downwards slope and a clear line for a shoulder check that could send the shadow man clear into the far wall.