|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:01 pm
Anthony Darrow was standing on top of a three stepped ladder, reaching to the top of a book shelf in order to get the books that had apparently been tossed up there by some trouble making kids or something.
Maybe someone really didn't want their book being checked out, and hid it so no one would get the chance. Then apparently forgot about it. Or, more likely and less optimistically, someone was just being a jerk and giving him more work.
He didn't mind either way, and didn't wonder too long about the reason they were up on the top of the shelf. He had just seen one, peeking out during an in house pick up, and decided to get it down.
As he was reaching for it, he glanced around the tops of the shelves and noticed that there were many other 'missing' books. Clearly the work of someone messing with him or the library just because. He sighed.
His mind turned to Nate, though he had absolutely no proof.
In any case, he had to get them all down now that he had seen them, so he took to scooting the ladder to each book, trying to get as close as he could. One was slightly out of his reach after he climbed up the three steps. He was tired already, his cane making things difficult, and he opted to reach for it instead. Just a little more.
And then, of course, he fell over.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:33 pm
Curiosity had him in the library again, even though he had no school work that needed immediate attention. He had all summer to work on his honors paper, so nothing to really worry about, there. Instead, Chris found himself making his way to the mythology section, pulling out a few Norse themed books, as well as Roman, trying to figure out if there was more of a connection to his name and his apparent planet.
The little voice in the back of his head was telling him to just accept it and not worry about connections too much, but he couldn't help it when his curiosity got the better of him.
Walking past one of the isles of books, Chris had to do a double take when he saw the resident librarian up on a step stool doing... something... Dusting, maybe? He wasn't really sure, but with the mythology books in hand, he couldn't help but wonder if the older man had learned anything more about their, uh... uniqueness... Or maybe it would turn out that they weren't unique at all?
He'd only just started to approach the man when he saw him lose his balance, and Chris quickly reached out to grab onto his arm, hopefully slowing is fall, if he wasn't able to grab him in time to right his balance.
"Hey! Careful!" he gasped, feeling as though he could have had a heart attack if it had been during exams and he'd been super stressed. "Are you okay, Mr. Darrow?" he asked in concern, really hoping he didn't break anything. Jeez... that would suck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:34 am
Tony let out a cry of surprise as his balance gave out of him on the step ladder, but he was more than thankful for Chris's sudden appearance and help. He clung to the shelf, only preserved from a full face plant on the floor by Chris's intervention. He stepped down from the ladder, taking a breath.
His arm was already in a cast: he didn't need to break anything else.
"Ah, thank you. I'm fine. I'm... shaken, but not newly bruised. I'm very glad you arrived." He laughed, taking a moment to pat himself and make sure his feet were firmly planted on the ground now. No more overreaching for books: he should have known better. It was the leading cause of Darrow related accidents in the library.
After Youma, maybe.
Once he was sure everything was still attached, he smiled at Chris, shifting gears.
"What brings you to the library?" he asked, though he wondered if he already knew. They had said, after all, that if Chris ever wanted to talk more about being a knight, he could come and find Tony in the library. And here there were.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:54 pm
Chris frowned at the older man as he got down to the ground without getting hurt, although he indulged him with a weak smile when he laughed. Maybe it was just a nervous laugh? Either way, he didn't think it was very funny that he could have gotten seriously injured... Er... maybe not that injured falling off a step ladder, but still.
"Is that new?" he asked as his frown deepened, nodding to the cast. He couldn't remember if he'd seen it when they'd first met — he could have easily been wearing a sweater or something over top of it.
Regardless, Chris lifted the couple books he was holding in his other hand, letting Tony catch a glimpse of the titles that implied they were full of information about Norse and Roman mythology, although he did have reasons for talking to him, as well. "Just checking out some books," he said in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner, before glancing around to see if there were any people hanging around. "Is there anywhere we can talk...?" he asked, lowering his voice a little.
He'd wanted to see how the man was doing, and seeing that he looked a little worse for wear, he would rather not be overheard about... certain things...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:18 pm
Tony looked at his arm, putting it behind his back bashfully.
"Ah, yes. I uh..." well, Chris knew about the knights, about fighting and about the dangers they could get into. Or at least, know OF it all. He was Valhalla, though, and he knew Tony was Camelot. Since they were alone in this part of the library, Tony dropped his voice to briefly explain.
"I met... someone... who was not... too happy about what I had to say concerning... things..." he shrugged, knowing that was a bit too vague to be useful. The fight resonated with him. He had managed to put words to every belief he had, and in that he solidified his need to follow those beliefs. Make them more than just words and thoughts.
Noting the books, he nodded his head, approving. He wasn't much of a reader himself, but he did like it when people came in to use the library. And researching the origins of the title they had as knights was a good use of time.
"Yes, let's ah... we'll go to the private collection room. It's generally empty up here, anyway. But that room has a door and is quiet. Though, I hope you don't mind many books of legends and about... ah... Camelot." he laughed. The room was where he housed his collection, personal not property of the library, of such books. They had been collected over many years at the library, though. It wasn't this sudden change that sparked his interest in Arthurian legend, by a long shot.
He moved to lead the way.
"How have you been doing?" he asked conversationally, meaning 'since being chased by a youma', the night they had met.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:25 am
He frowned at the older man as he hid the arm behind his back, as if that would prevent him from unseeing the cast. And then he frowned even more deeply when he found out that it was someone who did it to him, instead of some clumsy fault of his own.
"You met someone who wasn't happy about what, exactly?" Chris asked, watching the man warily as he followed him to whatever room he had in mind, shaking his head to let him know he didn't mind books of any genre or topic. He was the one carrying around books on mythology, after all. He figured it was only natural to be interested in the name of which they'd suddenly become aware.
Valhalla felt as though it had always been a part of him... he'd just... forgotten it... like a dream you wake up from and can't remember... only the opposite. He couldn't remember at first, but now it was clear to him who he was. Well... name wise, at least. He still didn't know if he had a specific purpose or if anyone else felt the same as he did on the subject.
"I've been fine. Busy... exams just finished and I've been spending most of my time studying," he told him, wondering if he should be out, looking for monsters. "You're still the only person I've met like me..." he admitted, hoping that wasn't a bad thing...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:59 am
Tony was more than likely to break his own arm, though so far he had managed not to. By some mixture of miracles and unfathomable luck, perhaps. He had decided, now, that he was not a fan of broken arms and would much rather do without them. The broken bone part, not the arm.
"Really? There are a few of us," he nodded his head, closing the door behind them once they were in the private collections room. Once he opened the window it was bright and there were a couple of seats and a desk in one corner. The books and shelves, glass cases and a computer took up most of the rest of the room. Tony sighed, sitting in one of the plush arm chairs that sat near the table.
"Alright. Well, as far as my arm goes, I ran into one of the original... ah... terrorists. Do you know about the Senshi and the Negaverse? Senshi are essentially defenders, though they have their own purpose beyond just keeping civilians safe. Sometimes that falls to the wayside, which is where their bad reputation and a lot of collateral damage comes in. They're fighting the Negaverse, who use people to steal energy from, and don't like the senshi. At all."
He summarized quickly, in case it was information Chris knew already.
"I ran into a soldier from the Negaverse who didn't like what I had to say about their war. I believe in a peaceful resolution, and that the fighting isn't necessary. She didn't agree." He shook his head. "But I'm not deterred. She pushed me down the stairs. Ah, here, in the library. And she fell as well. I managed to protect her in the fall and she didn't take advantage of my injuries. She let me live, telling me next time she would kill me. But if she were so keen on it, if she didn't have something in her agreeing with me, she wouldn't have just spared my life. Whether I helped her or not."
He took a breath. Now he was off and it was difficult to get the words to stop pouring out of his mouth.
"I think we're capable of helping them. Both sides. Us knights, I mean. More than that, I think we're capable of ending the war between them, and protecting all the innocent lives that get wrapped up in it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:06 am
Chris frowned again, wondering why he hadn't run into more than just a cat and another knight if there really were more of them running around. Then again, it wasn't as though he ran around in his powered up form, asking for other powered people to chase after him and whatnot.
He did listen to how Tony broke his arm, though, trying to put what he was telling him together with what little he already knew. "But why are they here?" he couldn't help but ask, moving over to an empty chair to take a seat as well. "Why aren't they elsewhere...? Are are they and that's just one more thing the public doesn't know?"
Really, who was in charge of this system? Shouldn't they, as the civilians being attacked and/or protected, know a little more about what was going on than just the basics? Or was that somehow being kept hushed up? Maybe he really would have to corner his dad to ask about things like that... and hope that he knew and was allowed to tell him.
Tony's recap of what happened didn't bother him. He was known to ramble, himself, when there was a story to be told, or just... talking in general.
He frowned even more as the older man told him how he'd gotten hurt and why, although he couldn't help but be curious about this... Negaverse woman.
"They're all just normal people like us, aren't they...?" he asked slowly, glancing towards the shelves of books. "Why is there a war...? Either way, I think it should be stopped. Somehow." he wasn't sure how easy that would be, or how long it would take, but he would like for people to sleep easy at night, not worrying if the people they knew would wind up dead, like his best friend worried about him...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:35 am
"To be honest, I don't know much about how vast they are, or if there are other places outside Destiny City suffering the same kind of strange situation. I've learned that Senshi are from different planets, or they're connected to them, and the Negaverse consider them aliens here. On Earth, I mean, and they want the senshi gone. Knights, likewise, are connected to planets. But I'm from Earth, that's what the mark on my... uniform means. I don't really know where we fit into the whole scheme of it."
He sighed. There was a lot of information to gather, and it was difficult to do so when most of the time he was trying not to get killed by youma or Negas, and usually when he ran into a senshi they were immediately busy trying to save people or fend off a fight.
But he was doing his best.
"We all have magic to keep our identities safe, and I know most of the Negas and Senshi I've seen are very secretive unless they're comfortable. And then they mostly offer general explanations or their own private opinions. But the more I meet the more I learn, and I'll pass whatever I find out on to you if you'd like."
"I believe they are like us. Like we were, before we woke up, as well as how we have our lives to keep on living even now that we've become these knights. I think everyone deserves a civilian life, and I know a lot of senshi, and even some Negaverse officers, who want just that. If we're suddenly this... third group we must have a purpose. I think we are the solution to the war, in a way. We can help, both sides, not to fight one another but to end the fighting. And we can definitely protect the innocent civilians who keep getting wrapped up in everything."
He watched Chris, nodding his head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:55 am
Ah, so they just never got any publicity...? They apparently didn't get much in Destiny City, otherwise he was pretty sure a lot of people would be leaving their homes, if that was an option for them. Still, Chris nodded lightly as he listened to Tony explain things, hoping that he was getting everything and that he... wouldn't screw up the information later.
"There wouldn't happen to be some kind of manual or guide book, would there?" he wondered, only half-hopeful. If there was one, he would have assumed that it would have been mentioned to him before. That would be much too convenient, wouldn't it?
Chris felt himself blanch a little at the mention of keeping identities a secret. "Oh..." he said softly to himself, thinking back on how he'd just... changed in front of Tony when they first met. Well, if he'd gone off to make sure he was out of sight and keep his dog out of danger, wouldn't that have been an insult to Tony's intelligence? Since it would have been painfully obvious that it had been him to begin with?
"What should we do...?" he asked, looking up at the older man. He hadn't seen any fighting yet. Heck, he hadn't met anyone other than Tony and his best friend who had any kind of magic powers, so he was definitely new to all this... but he didn't want to see people getting hurt. "What can we do? To stop the fighting, I mean... Preferably without getting killed, ourselves..." Because that would... be a pointless effort at that point.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 9:20 am
Tony laughed, shaking his head.
"Things would be much easier if there was one, wouldn't they? But I think we all have to go through the same thing. Finding information out as we go along. There might be some benefit, though, in sharing what we know." He sighed, looking around at the books around them. "Still not as handy as a manual though."
"I don't intend to waste my life. Part of being a knight, I mean, a knight from one of this books, was living to serve King and Kingdom. There were many noble deaths in battle, but more stories followed the full triumphs of a knight: they accomplished more in life serving each other and their country then just throwing their lives away in the pursuit of an idea. I think we'll be more like that."
He smiled, though he looked thoughtful.
"We can talk. But there are people, particularly in the negaverse but even some senshi, who aren't interested in any other method than fighting and killing one another. I'm not asking you to, but I know I'll do everything in my power to stop these senseless battles, and to make sure civilians aren't caught in the cross fire. If I have to step between two combatants to do it, I will, but I think there are more options than putting ourselves in danger."
He rubbed his temples, with one hand, though he felt confident.
"I think if we knights stick together, keep each other safe, and work toward the same peaceful end, we can do more than apart."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:05 am
Keeping a manual of what to do would probably be dangerous — What if someone found it and used it against them. But then again, if they didn't keep some kind of documentation, how would anyone know what happened? Sure, there was word of mouth, but that went out of fashion how many centuries ago? It was something to think about, at least... Figuring out a way to keep track of how many senshi there were. How many negaverse officers there were, and how many knights there are. Then again, he was better when he could actually look at things, instead of just... talk about it.
"There was also a lot of pain and suffering and difficult times," Chris said softly, understanding that Tony meant about living a full life of triumph and serving others. He wanted to help others, and that wasn't anything new for him.
"Talking is a good start, I think," he agreed, glad that Tony included maybe needing to step in to stop the fighting if talking wasn't enough. "Having people with a common goal gathered together would definitely be better than just... wandering around on our own," he said with a small nod, before remembering how both Azzo and Zia had both said that the negaverse worked as a team and... the senshi were more scattered.
"If we're going to be sticking together... I think we should figure out... some kind of criteria for people to follow," he suggested, not wanting to end up looking like a scattered bunch of misfits like the senshi were more or less explained to him, as... "You could be the leader, or... we could get a bigger group and vote, if you're not comfortable with that. Just some kind of structure..." That's all he asked... structure, and maybe some consistency.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:29 pm
Tony listened, nodding his head.
"Well, take the Knights of the Round table. I can't go into any fight or meet anyone without them making some comment on it anyway, so I might as well use it as an example. They serve the King, and work for the peace and betterment of Camelot. But, they all serve their own personal duties and, more than that, their pledge to chivalry and to each other binds them. They're like this fellowship, ah, and they function as a structured unit, as well as independently."
He found himself leaning forward as he spoke, very much interested in the topic, and not just in a business way. He was a bit nerdy when it came to this stuff now, before he had ever known that he could actually call himself Camelot.
"I think we can do that, as well. Communication would be vital, and assisting each other would come even before assisting the innocent. We preserve each other's lives, so we can continue with our work for the city and to end the war. There could be a pledge, and a meeting place. An information structure, that spoken User's Manuel we were talking about, and at least a vague idea about patrols. I know most fights with youma and nega are... unscheduled... but we can also plan to try and meet up with senshi and negas we see around, to talk, or to stop their fighting."
His eyes were shining as he spoke of it, nodding his head. It sounded like more than a plan to him.
"What do you think? Would you join me in this?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:22 am
It was good to see that Tony was at least somewhat enthusiastic about what he was doing and the whole knight business. It probably helped that he was already into things like that ahead of time, but still.
Either way, Chris paused for a few moments, wondering if he really should join him in this... Well, where would the harm in it be? Tony needed people to help stop the fighting... He didn't want there to be fighting. They were both determined to protect people and save as many as possible...
"Yes," he said after a few moments, now confident in his decision. "I don't know why I am who I am, but I do know that I want to protect people," he explained, wanting Tony to know it wasn't just a random decision on his part. "You can count on me for whenever you need me. I have my own apartment so there's no one else who'd get involved and I have a car if we need transportation. I've lived here most of my life, so I know the city pretty well. At least during the day time..."
He'd never had reason to be out at night, but apparently he was going to have to start staying up later and getting up earlier. That was going to be stressful, but maybe he could work in naps into his schedule. But the point of all that was so Tony knew he wasn't some guy who wouldn't be useful. If he was going to commit to something, then he wanted to commit to it.
"If we do get into trouble, how do we keep in contact with each other to call for help...?" he suddenly asked, thinking about what it was like when they'd changed to their powered forms. "I could feel your energy, but... I don't know. I guess I'm not strong enough to feel much more than that," he said with a tiny shrug, feeling as though he really didn't know much about what was going on.
So much for being useful...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:40 pm
Tony smiled when Chris agreed, a wealth of pride and eager happiness swirling in his chest as he nodded, eyes shining. This was the start of something important, he could feel it in his very bones.
"Good. Very good! I'll likely need all the help I can get, and I very much appreciate your offer. I think I can handle the car. And the meeting place," he glanced around the room they were in now thoughtfully.
It would work. He was moving his books out anyway, save the most expensive ones. If he kept them under lock and key, no one would ever wonder about the locked room. The library had already allocated it to him for his personal use.
"I've been patrolling and I've lived here a... depressingly long time, truth be told. I know the city as well, at least. And at night. But that's where I'm stumped. Communicating. I don't know how we can do it, I don't think there's a way while powered up. So we'll have to come up with something ourselves, I think."
He rubbed his goatee thoughtfully.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
