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 Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:11 am
 
This is a private RP between Sakngea [audio fiend] and Youhei [Izayin].
Setting:
Sakngea, reminiscing on recent events, finds himself being challenged to a game of chess by none other then Araki Youhei.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:54 am
The sun was midway through the sky, and the winter was melting into a warm spring, the heat kissed Sakn's skin as he rested on a bench in a small public atrium. He straddled the marble seat, hunched over a one-sided game of chess splayed out before him, and had been gently toying with his rook for the last couple of minutes as the wind combed through the freshly budding trees(awkward in their partially naked state; speckled with young green nubs). To most, it would look as if the young man was deep in thought over his next move, but in reality, he was staring hard at his hands. Those who came close would notice the barest of shakes in his hand, a nervousness that vibrated through his body.
The blood was like a stain, something Sakn could never remove. He had scrubbed day and night at his hands; his face; his arms, yet the mark was never gone, burned forever into his mind. "T'think, I though' she wus helpin' me," the redhead mumbled in his warm, twangy accent, though it lacked the usual laughter. And he had, indeed, believed she-Hyun Chun, his ex-mentor and master, a malevolent and violent spirit- could help him.
Sakn had believed she could give him power, but he had never thought about what he would have to sacrifice for that. He had never thought he would sacrifice his humanity. He had hurt so many people--killed so many people.
The redhead pressed the palms of his hands to his sea-green eyes, trying for the hundredth time to rub away the images, the memories. But they stayed, as they would for the rest of his life- a haunting reminder, a memento of what he had been, of the beast inside.
As the wind shifted direction, the redhead felt a change in the atrium. It was as if eyes were staring into the back of his head; someone else was here. Sakngea stiffened, body naturally going on the defensive, ready to react if this new presence turned violent.
"D'ya always stare, or is thissa special occashun?"
The fisherman never turned his head as he spoke, but instead slipped his rook into a new position and eyed his invisible opponent. Either his words would spark a conversation or chase off impending annoyances. Either way, the young man would be distracted from his current thoughts, if only for a moment.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:46 am
Cold would have served to clear his head, Youhei thought, picking his way through the stone tables of the open-air conservatory and the old men gathered around them, eyes hooded with concentration, mouthing pipes. But winter had buried itself like a dream, and flowers were slowly returning like a small animal scared by a loud noise.
Youhei moved past the couples marvelling at new blooms, Lunarians stripped of their outer garments, leaving only him pallid and scarved. He stood out, which was why he preferred sleet and ice, when everything was pervaded by the atmosphere of constant exile and he didn't demand attention just by breathing. Because his breathing, where Akahana was concerned, was crime enough.
Nearing the corner of the atrium, he lifted a hand to his covered neck, mimicking the way she'd pressed coral nails to his throat while pretending to cup his chin. That morning, he'd told her to go to hell. She'd told him not to be foolish, and then she'd 'slipped' and drawn blood.
The bruises were tender but forgettable. There was no pain outside the mind. By the time his eyes cut to a chess game, suspended, absolutely nothing was wrong. The black and white world beckoned like a sanctuary, and Youhei studied the board, mapping the moves and the rough hands they belonged to, the rook held aloft.
He noticed the stilling of fingers before the stranger's voice sounded, heavy with the brogue of the docks. Broad-shouldered and tan despite the season, he was probably some sort of labourer. It made for an odd picture - the young man with sleeves ripped off solemnly bent over an intellectual pursuit. But if he hoped to scare Youhei away, he was out of luck; Youhei was more offended by the play than the hostile words.
"I only meant to observe, but since you asked, you should be aware that you're about to put yourself in check."
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:55 am
Sakn paused while the other man spoke, then let the rook rest back down on the game board. He stared at the pieces for a moment then, registering that he was indeed in check, then said in a gruff tone, "Perhaps I meant t'put m'self there," before sending a white pawn forward to capture the rook he had just set down, "Even d'greatest attack can be counter, iffin y'plan it out right," Sakngea added lackadaisically before lifting his head to actually look his visitor in the eyes.
A young man, perhaps around his age, with analytical eyes and narrow lips. A serious character if Sakn ever saw one. The redhead raised a brow in the young mans general direction, looking him over for a single moment before waving a hand at the seat across from him. "W'ud I be wrong t'think y'may want t'play a game? I'ssa lot better playin' against someone beside y'urself," indeed it was, especially when 'yourself' was two people until barely a month ago. Sakn shuddered as a ghost of Hyun's fire rolled across his skin, a reminder of all those emotions he had unlocked and released. All those people he had hurt because of it.
The redhead scowled at the board for a moment, but with a single glance back at the stranger that had spoken to him, he forced his feelings back into their box and patted the free side of the bench.
"Y'afraid y'u're gunna lose or whut, little boy," while the words had some bite to them, there was a hint of laughter-- rusty and strange to the redhead after so long in a grim place-- that was unmistakable. It would be nice to have a friendly challenge with a stranger, to just enjoy someones company without being constantly pestered as to how he was feeling and if he was okay.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:21 am
Watching as pawn toppled rook, Youhei tipped his head in acknowledgement of the point. "Perhaps," he said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, "But a careless counter may prove even more fatal." He slid into the seat almost before the man could extend his invitation, sparing a moment to note the way the other sat, leaning forwards with rounded shoulders and legs splayed as if astride a horse. It was unmannerly; coupled with the speech patterns Youhei was tempted to write him off... but living as he did had taught him appearances could be deceiving.
Bringing his left hand up to catch his trailing sleeve, Youhei played the next four moves rapidly as logic dictated, ending with the White King in check again. Bold, maybe, but the stranger did not seem like someone who would mind the liberty. "I wouldn't be averse to being your opponent," he said, and glanced up sharply from beneath his bangs at the sudden tremor that overtook the man's frame.
He recovered quickly enough with a jibe that set Youhei's teeth on edge - people always spoke big words before they challenged him, but he was not little - still, Youhei would not soon forget the green eyes that had for a few seconds gone flat and haunted.
"No," Youhei said archly, "Not to you, at least." There were more important battles waiting elsewhere.
"If we are to play, I'd prefer to begin with introductions." Although, in some ways the game had already started. "I am Araki Youhei. Shall we set the board?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:26 pm
Sakn did not make comment to the quick, strategic way the young man executed his moves, ending the game proficiently before agreeing to a game. Sakn could see this was a young man who wouldn't bother with emotional issues like Xiu often did. While he was certain the stranger was more then aware of his movements and actions, he wasn't the one to question people.
The redhead was relieved by this, and when his new chess companion shot down his taunts with precise words, the young man laughed roughly again and lifted a hand to fiddle with one of his dangling braids, a nervous act from childhood. Playing with his hair helped him to feel more comfortable and at ease.
"I am Araki Youhei."
At some point between Youhei rejecting his teasing and when he introduced himself, the redhead had drifted off into thought again, eyes trailing off into the trees around them. It had been a long time since he had actually bothered to keep company(or it felt like a long time to the rather social man), and as Sakn looked back up into the other mans eyes he felt a touch of embarrassment flush his cheeks, before extending a hand across the board, his whole body leaning forward in greeting as a unused smile, friendly if a little awkward, curled on his lips. "Names Sakngea, jus' Sakn though," eyes dropped down to the board then, and he didn't bother to speak before quickly setting them up, making himself black and Youhei white.
As such, this would give the other man the advantage, since he would start, but the young fisher was prideful, and preferred a challenge over a speedily won game.
"Make a move, stranger," he grinned at Youhei before letting his eyes drift down to the board before him. It was strangely nice to have a companion, especially a stoic one like this Youhei figure.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:49 am
There it was again, an odd abruptness in the redhead's behaviour as he laughed throatily one moment, stared with a pensive expression off into the middle distance and then snapped back, smiling like he couldn't quite remember how his mouth should move. Youhei didn't know the meaning behind his strange mannerisms, maybe nothing but a lack of social graces. A faint intuition was stirring, however, as he shook Sakn's outstretched hand, maintaining contact just long enough to be polite.
With closer inspection, Sakn was younger than Youhei first thought. Despite the length of his body, evident even with the way he was folded up on the bench, his face was unlined, aged only by shadowed eyes as green as another set preying on Youhei's mind of late. He was reminded of the men who sometimes came knocking, hoping to be hired as his father's guards; war-torn men, fresh from some recent trauma.
But how Sakn came to be too old for his skin was not Youhei's business. He appreciated when others did not attempt to pry into his affairs and wasn't about to subject anyone to the same treatment.
Of more immediate interest was Sakn's choice to let him play white. It implied a certain level of confidence. Good. Youhei would not turn down an easy victory, but defeating a worthy opponent was that much more satisfying.
He flicked forward a pawn in the traditional opening, planning to use his first-move advantage to its fullest. Time to test Sakn's mettle. "Now you."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:51 am
Sakn watched Youhei when he sat down, noting the softness of the boys hand(he obviously was not a soldier, or at least not yet, then) and the way his eyes traced Sakn's face before looking at the board before them. And while Youhei focused on deciding his move, the redhead focused on trying to figure his new chess partner out a little.
Yet, the harder he tried to read the young man, the more difficult he found it to be. Youhei was stoic, a calm sea without a single ripple or wave to hint at what lies beneath. Instead of glass, he was a mirror, reflecting the world instead of exposing himself. Sakngea found this interesting, and different from most people he encountered on a usual basis.
And this stone-faced attitude would make him a fine partner in this game; it would be hard to read his moves before he played, and harder still to gauge his reactions to Sakn's own plays.
So when the light-eyed man made his move, Sakn took a moment to think, which was unusual for him. He was often the type that brashly moved forward without a single thought over the consequences; his whole goal being to win and defeat the enemy. But he had a feeling that his eccentric, random actions would most likely ruin him in this game. So the young war-torn man gently fingered a pawn, before sliding it forward; mirroring Youhei's own piece.
"Y'ur turn, 'gain, boy," he idly played with one of his rooks as he spoke, tilting the piece under his finger, eyes lazily staring at it before glancing up at his new companion. Silence reigned for a moment, only the murmurs of other people and the sigh of the wind broke the quiet, while Sakngea decided if he should attempt a conversation. In the end, he decided he would, though he wasn't sure what to speak of. Youhei seemed rather serious and straight-laced, while he was...well. Not so straight-laced, to say the least.
"So, Youhei. Tell me 'bout y'urself," it was something, at least. Even if the statement could just as easily be a conversation-killer as it was a starter.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:54 am
Sakn's perusal of him had not gone unnoticed, and Youhei wondered what the other man thought he had divined from looking at his hands and face. Probably nothing of merit; the callouses and old scars were tucked away from the wandering mouths and eyes of gossipmongers, and with Akahana watching every little gesture made and each unconscious twitch, he'd devoted more hours to training his expressions than his body to keep up with his mind.
But Sakn was hardly interested in ferreting out his secrets, he reminded himself, only his strategy - to know when to sneak past a trap, when to appear ensnared and how to think four steps ahead of his game. He had already learned that Sakn was not as simple as his exterior belied. With his rough and tumble air, Youhei half-expected him to throw caution to the wind and adopt a haphazard, instinctual style of play. Yet, Sakn took his move with something close to calculation, a pause between breaths that suggested he knew the value of a piece - or perhaps, how easily it could be lost?
Youhei had the suspicion that Sakn didn't know what a study of contrasts he presented. It was displeasing on a basic level; Youhei liked to know what he was dealing with at all times, in minute detail.
He picked up another pawn, feeling the comforting, well-worn weight of it in his palm before he walked it forward a square. His father had shown him this world, guiding his chubby, toddler fingers around the board and never calling Knights horses. Practising for war.
"I ceased being a boy some time ago and I'd prefer it if you didn't refer to me as such." He was no more a boy than Sakn was, and would have considered the conversation closed. Still... Know your enemy, was it? "I'm of Noble allegiance, if that is your meaning."
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:24 am
Sakngea openly smiled when his chess partner demanded he stop calling him a boy. He let his eyes connect with Youhei's for a single moment then, and it was evident he was enjoying this conversation by the glow in his eyes that had not been there moments before. No matter what words Youhei had used, his tone was not requesting, but expecting Sakn to listen; it was nice to be stood up to, to be treated normally.
"T'be honest, it wusn'. Do ya always tell that to strangers or'm I special?" he said those words lightly, teasing the young man as he rested his fingers on his right bishop. He slide it forward, since the pawn he had moves before opened a space, and stopped it in front of Youhei's freshly moved paw.
"Y'u're either supremely foolish, or y'u're braver th'n I thought."
He let the words slip from his lips as his finger left his piece, and then Sakn brought his gaze back up to Youhei's face, meeting him with awkward, unsure energy that shined in his half-smile and steady eyes. "I wus meaning it liter'lly. Tell me 'bout you. 'Bout d'secret life of Youhei," it was obvious now that Sakn was nosy and persistent, even though he was picking up on the fact that Youhei was not a very open person. Actually, the redhead couldn't remember anyone being so stoic before. Even Jianyu opened up to him, and they were enemies(or something like that).
But Sakngea was stubborn, and he wished for nothing more then to be distracted with someone else's life, to escape from his own for just a little bit.
Youhei was going to help him with this, whether he wanted to or not.
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