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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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 Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:37 pm
 BLACK AND BLUEOn the third morning of training following his proposal to Yue, Jianyu found himself locked within a fierce fistfight with one of his men.
"Get - off - of - me - !"
With a severe amount of effort, Jianyu gave a roar of anger and threw his knee upwards, driving it into the man's chest. He stumbled backwards, coughing and spitting, then gave a shout of fury, diving towards Jianyu, who sidestepped easily and ran his elbow into the spot just below his neck and above his back.
The man dropped like a stone. Jianyu glared down at him, then let his gaze move upwards, raking across the men standing stupidly around him.
"Does anyone else have a problem?" he said testily, wondering if they all thought they way Pang did, whether they believed him to be incompetent, a "Noble lover," someone who could not be trusted. Word of his close friendship with Bataar - a Noble Captain - had somehow gotten out, and since then there had been murmurings, whispers that their leader was not as fiercely dedicated to his alliance as he showed himself to be. However, Jianyu had endured much worse treatment, and so the whispered conversations behind his back were not particularly bothersome.
At least not until he had been confronted face to face about it.
The unconscious body of Pang still lay on the floor of the dining tent. Jianyu stepped over him, his blue eye flashing dangerously as he glared out at his men, daring them to defy him. Then one man stepped forward - a tall man, thickset and muscular with dark red hair pulled back from his skull into a knot at the back of his head and a thin-cut goatee and beard.
"Noble lover. Why don't you go join their side?"
Niran spat on the floor in front of him. Jianyu had had an altercation with the man before, so it did not surprise him that he had been the first after Pang to step forward.
"I do not take orders from you," said Jianyu calmly.
"And I do not take orders from a Noble loving, scum-eating rat like you!" screamed Niran. He pushed aside the table impeding his way and threw himself forward, colliding with Jianyu with his arms around his waist. There was a loud crash as they slammed back into another table, cracking it in half, wood splintering everywhere. Men leaped backwards, none of them daring to step in.
Niran was enraged; one of his fists found Jianyu's stomach. Winded, coughing, Jianyu rolled sideways, rearing his hips upwards to slam a kick to the side of Niran's head. The man fell back instantly, clutching at his skull, and Jianyu took the opportunity to rear his own clenched hand back, sinking it into the man's torso. There was a grunt, a scuffle, and Jianyu felt something connect with his temple. Stars exploding in his eyes, he fell sideways, Niran atop him as his meaty hands closed around his throat, thumbs pressing into his windpipe.
"You should just go die like the rest of them," he hissed, and Jianyu, his vision blotching with black, bucked his hips upwards, wrapping his legs around Niran's chest and pushing hard. The movement succeeded in forcing the man's hands away from his neck as he grappled to shove Jianyu's legs from his chest. Pinned in an odd sort of wrestling lock, he grunted out "b*****d - !"
"Takes one to know one, doesn't it?" Jianyu gasped out hoarsely, and released the man, scrambling to his feet. A short distance away, Niran was doing the same, massaging his sore collarbone. Jianyu rounded on him.
"Get back in line, or get out," he said, and there was a general murmur of uneasiness from the men around them.
"NOW."
They scattered, Niran the last to go, looking mutinous but going nonetheless. Jianyu knelt beside the prone body of Pang, pressing two fingers to the side of his neck to check for a pulse. It was still there, strong and steady, and with a sigh, Jianyu straightened, looking around at the now deserted dining tent.
Just another day at work. 
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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
3!
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:21 pm
TWO DAYS( ** this was written prior to Jianyu's engagement,
but I'm just posting it now because I finally found where I left my notes ** )
He'd been trapped within the confines of this house for two days now.
Two days without any word, without any sign of ever being released. Jianyu leaned his head back against the wall of his prison, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, quietly, so as to not attract too much attention to himself. He was alone at the moment, but that did not mean that the slightest sound would not alert the two men who were sitting guard outside of the room he was in, ready and waiting to skewer him with the spears carried in their hands.
Two days. Two days of being trapped here, in a room hardly bigger than a closet, his arms chained in heavy steel manacles above his head. The whip marks against his chest were clearly visible, but they did not hurt. On the contrary, Jianyu was quite calm, his mind clearer than his captors thought it was. They had thought to give him drugs to force the secrets of the Legion Alliance from his lips, but rather than swallowing the pills, Jianyu had merely held them beneath his tongue and then spat them out when they had left him to dissolve into delirium.
He knew his strategy would not work for long, however; too soon they would discover that he was still lucid, still capable of getting free - which he almost was. Jianyu had managed to work his hands free of the shackles; it had taken quite some time, and his wrists were raw and bloodied from pulling, yanking, squeezing, and finally wrenching his hands through the metal that they were not meant to move through. However, they were still strong enough to hold a bow and arrow should the time come; the Nobles had not broken him as much as they thought they had.
But now he waited, wanting the opportune moment before striking. Two days he had sat in this squalor, his pallor turning pale, his strength slowly ebbing away. He needed food and water; the thought of the cool, clear liquid made his already dry throat even dryer, if possible, but Jianyu wrenched his mind away from that thought and focused on one thing - getting free.
There was a clank, and a shudder. The door to the room was opening, and Jianyu arranged his position carefully, making sure to keep his hands slipped just right into the cuffs as the head of this Noble faction came stepping into the room, looking down at him with an expression of disgust.
"Get rid of it," he said, half turning to the guards, and Jianyu seized his opportunity.
Pulling his arms free, he swung his leg out in a sweeping movement, knocking the faction leader onto the cold wooden floor. There was a sickening crack as his head hit the mahogany, but Jianyu did not wait to see if he was dead. The two guards from outside had leapt inside at the sound, and one of them thrust his spear towards him, Jianyu dodging it by inches. His reflexes, dulled by two days without food and water, however, were dulled, and the next jab from a spear caught him in the side, spinning him around. Jianyu toppled to the floor, rolling sideways immediately to avoid being skewered, and threw his leg upwards, feeling it connect with the guard's leg. There was a loud crack as the man's knee shattered, and he let out a howl of pain, dropping his spear instantly, falling to the ground.
"GET HIM!"
The faction leader was still alive, blood clotting his hair as he surged upwards, latching onto Jianyu's leg. Furiously, he kicked out, struggling to free himself, his fingers grappling uselessly on the smooth wood floor. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing to grasp to hoist himself away, so Jianyu had to settle for twisting around, aiming his knee towards the faction leader's face. Another crunch as his nose broke, and his arms slackened, Jianyu scrambling away as fast a he could.
A spear cracked across his shoulder blades, sending him staggering forwards, pain ricocheting up and down his spine. The one guard with whom Jianyu had not fought yet was bearing down on him, the point of his spear catching Jianyu's cheek in a thin line as he threw it forward.
Now was the time to leave. Ignoring the blood that had begun to drip down his cheek, Jianyu threw his leg up again in a wide, roundhouse kick to the side of the man's head. Then he turned, taking the split second while the man recovered, to dart free from the room, run down the hallway, and disappear out the front door.
Two days he had been held hostage, which meant two days since his family had seen him, and were most likely going crazy. Once he was far enough from the horrid Noble house to breathe normally, Jianyu slowed to a walk, his ribs aching, his head throbbing. He'd gotten away, but he hadn't won the fight. The moment he had gotten caught doing a Legionnaire job, he had lost.
He gave a sigh, the gesture painful, then slowly made his way back to the Qian House.
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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:53 pm
ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING( ** this was written prior to Jianyu's engagement,
but I'm just posting it now because I finally found where I left my notes ** )
Arguing with the men with whom he'd argued with several years previous seemed both pointless and useless, but it seemed as if there was no escaping it. They were shrewd men, calculating and cold, with no desire to compromise.
"For the last time," Jianyu said, resisting the urge to throw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I am not going to pay you that much for this amount. That is ridiculous."
The owners of the rice paddies just gave him a disgruntled look, one of them smirking. "That's the price. Pay it, or leave it."
"Fine," said Jianyu shortly. "I'll leave it."
And he turned to go; or rather, he would have, had not the telltale whistle of an arrow shot past his ear and embed itself into the tree in front of him. Slowly, very slowly, Jianyu pivoted on the spot, his eye flickering to the men who stood there, one of which was holding a longbow that he had picked up.
"Y'don't understand," he said - he was a squat little man, with a balding head, thick, watery eyes, and a face like a pug. "You ain't goin' nowhere without givin' us something."
Jianyu's moved to the arrow, and so did the man's. In a split second, they both had thought the same thing, the man stringing the bow quickly as Jianyu dove for his own crossbow, swinging it around and snatching a bolt from the pouch on his leg. He threw himself behind the nearest stack of rice bags just as an arrow soared through the air behind him, missing him by inches and splitting one of the rice bags. Tiny white pellets spilled everywhere, across the wood floor, and enraged, the owner strung another arrow, but Jianyu had had enough time to pull back the string of his own bow. Raising it, he peered over the bag and took aim.
Thwack!
He'd missed the man, but managed to hit another stack of rice bags. The floor was now covered in a sea of what looked like sand, making it difficult to walk without skidding everywhere. There were a few curses from the two men, and Jianyu heard heavy footsteps as one made their way towards him.
He didn't think about it beforehand. As soon as the man's foot was in view, Jianyu slammed the crossbow down onto it and pulled the trigger.
There was a spurt of blood, a shriek of pain, and the man fell to the ground, crying out in agony. Jianyu darted out from around the bags of rice, throwing himself at the man with the bow. He snarled angrily, his aim off as he tried to shoot Jianyu again, and the arrow went flying off to the left, clattering uselessly to the floor. The two of them grappled around for several moments, each attempting to disarm the other, but it seemed as if they were at a stalemate. Jianyu was lithe and wiry, whereas the other man was strong and stout. Neither seemed to be able to wrestle the weapon away form their opponent, and finally with a growl, brow glistening with sweat, the rice owner took a step backwards.
Jianyu, waiting for such a moment, lifted the crossbow and swung it without loading it, slamming it against the side of the man's head. At the same time he felt something connect with his leg - the man who he had shot through his foot had kicked him with his good one, and all three men toppled to the ground in a heap of limbs, swearing, arrows, and blood.
After several moments, Jianyu managed to crawl away, pulling himself free from the bloodthirsty men, who were both glaring at him as he straightened, panting.
"Go before we have you hung from the highest tree," said the man with the bow. It was not a mercy statement; rather, he was too worn out to finish the fight now, but he would be back again soon.
Jianyu did not waste time, abandoning the rice paddies and making his way hastily back to Main Street.
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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:23 pm
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM( ** this was written prior to Jianyu's engagement,
but I'm just posting it now because I finally found where I left my notes ** )
The Ichi-Koi Inn and Bar was, as usual, packed full to the brim. There were patrons milling about, jabbering and talking loudly as they clanked their mugs together in jubilee at the day's work being done. Several people were crowded in a corner together, playing what seemed to be some sort of card game that involved a lot of raucous laughter and pounding of the table, and a man and woman ensconced at a table that was shrouded in shadows seemed to be making good use of the semi-privacy.
Jianyu, however, was not as gleeful as the card-playing men, nor as relieved that the day was over as the drinking men. And he certainly was not entwined around some woman in a corner somewhere.
Instead, he was sitting in the midst of a group of men, all attempting to play a game of dice. Jianyu was losing quite badly, and could not figure out why. He kept murmuring to himself, attempting to discover the reasoning behind his apparent lack of skills. Why should this game be so difficult? He had counted the number of dice right when he cast his lot, had he not?
"Hey. You there, princess."
Jianyu looked up. Across the table from him sat a man with a scar across the bridge of his nose, and he was glaring at Jianyu with the force of a javelin. "You rolled snake eyes. Pay up."
"But I don't understand," Jianyu said, looking back down at the dice as his brow furrowed in bemusement. "I should have won. Your own lack of abilities notwithstanding, it should have been I who called the right amount - "
"What did you just say?!" roared the man, and Jianyu had just enough time to scrabble hastily backwards before the entire table was upturned, dice, cards, and drinks flying everywhere. One heavy metal mug whacked into a man sitting at a nearby table, and he immediately toppled to the side, looking dazed, but angry. "WHO DID THAT?"
Immediately all hands pointed to Jianyu, who glared back. "I beg your pardon, but I did no such thing - "
It was too late; the damage had been done. Instantly people converged on him, like dogs to a bone, and Jianyu was forced into fighting, grabbing his crossbow and using it like a bat to hit people with. He did not have the time to load it properly, so he settled for swinging it around, one time connecting it with the side of a man's head so hard he dropped instantly and did not move again.
"I SHOULDA KNOWN SOME LEGION SCUM WOULD CHEAT!" bellowed the scarred man as he threw a chair across the room towards Jianyu, who ducked and darted out of the way. The chair hit the wall and shattered, splinting into dozens of broken and cracked wood pieces. The owner of the bar was looking furious - after all, his inn was destroyed very nearly on a weekly basis, and Jianyu did not want to draw attention to the fact that he was there for most of the destruction.
"I DIDN'T CHEAT!" Jianyu shouted, and finally managed to load his crossbow, lifting it up to fire an arrow at a man advancing towards him with a dagger. The bolt caught him on his shoulder, spinning him around, but he didn't fall. Instead he managed to right himself and then leap back towards Jianyu with a sort of savage vengance, intent on strangling him.
The arrow that sank into his stomach prevented him from doing that, however; the man dropped like a stone, and Jianyu moved away, leaping over an overturned table in an attempt to reach the exit.
"NOT SO FAST!"
Something huge and heavy caught him about the waist, knocking him completely off of his feet. Jianyu felt his head crack against the wood floor, and he gasped for air, completely winded. An enormous foot appeared over him, the scarred man apparently attempting to smash his face in, but Jianyu seized his foot and twisted hard. The man gave a yell of pain, and Jianyu threw his lower body upwards, knocking the scarred man off his feet and off to the side, still moaning in pain.
Jianyu thought it best to leave as soon as possible; crawling across the floor to be as inconspicuous as possible, he finally managed to reach the door, scoot out of it, and run off into the night.
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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:54 pm
BLACK AND WHITE( ** this was written prior to Jianyu's engagement,
but I'm just posting it now because I finally found where I left my notes ** )
Niran was laughing at him again, scorning him. Jianyu could hear the hoarse laughter, the mocking voice as if coming from deep within his mind. He did not understand; did not fully get just how far Jianyu had come, just how much he had had to endure in order to be where he stood right at this moment. The man was ignorant, incapable of fully catching on to the struggles, the desperate attempts to overcome a terrible, horrible thing as blindness.
No, thought Jianyu, as he surveyed the man from where he stood, a few feet away. No, he cannot possibly understand.
That much was true enough from the way that Jianyu had been enduring Niran's taunts and sneers for weeks now, ever since he had told the man to leave it well enough alone. The comments were low and muttered beneath his breath, casting angry and resentful looks towards his Captain, but Jianyu had ignored it all.
At least until now, when in the cover of night, he had been ambushed by Niran as he walked home from having a drink at the Ichi-Koi Inn and Bar.
Jianyu's lip was bleeding, and Niran's pallid face was even paler in the darkness, his expression holding one of the deepest loathing. The scent of smoke and blood hung in the air, as tangible as a knife in his gut, and Jianyu reached up a hand, wiping at his mouth.
They'd been at it for nearly a quarter of an hour already, without having rested, and Jianyu's limbs were aching, his chest heaving for air. Niran was limber and stocky, Jianyu faster and more agile than he, but other than that, they were relatively evenly matched, and therefore were having difficulties triumphing over the other. Niran was not a Captain, but he was as strong as one, and quite as cunning - he had already proven that with the tiny darts he'd flung at Jianyu's head earlier.
"Let's end this already," sneered the man, drawing a short dagger from his waistband. "I'm tired of playing your games."
"You chose to play," said Jianyu in response, and they both leapt for each other simultaneously.
Niran swung the dagger around, narrowly missing Jianyu's chest, but it caught at his arm, ripping into his sleeve and cutting a thin line on his shoulder. Jianyu had raised his leg, slamming it into the man's side and sending him careening sideways, spitting curses. Jianyu's next kick managed to hit his hand, and the dagger spun from his fingers, disappearing into the darkness.
There was an angry shout from Niran, who threw his arms around Jianyu's waist and sent them both crashing to the floor. Jianyu raised his knee, shoving it against the other man's torso, and they rolled over, this time Jianyu's hands around Niran's throat. However, the Legion man was strong, and he bucked his hips once, successfully throwing Jianyu off of him and off to the side. He leaped - Jianyu was waiting, catching him in the side with his foot and hearing a muffled crack as one of Niran's ribs snapped. He let out a scream of pain and frustration, throwing his fist down and narrowly missing hitting Jianyu full on the face; as it was, he caught his cheek, scraping a bruise down the side.
More curses. More scuffling, near blind in the darkness of night. It went on for some time, until both men could not go on any longer.
"I'm not surrendering," said Niran, panting heavily, an evil glint in his eye.
"Nor am I," responded Jianyu, just as forcefully.
Both men glared at one another. Then, without a word, they both turned and disappeared into the night.
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kuropeco generated a random number between
1 and 3 ...
2!
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:58 pm
MAKE YOUR MOVE( ** this was written prior to Jianyu's engagement,
but I'm just posting it now because I finally found where I left my notes ** )
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:56 pm
MAGIC IN THE AIRA solo goes here.
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