Sokka & Genis - early spring catch-all

[strokeofgenis]

Characters: Sokka or Genis... AND YOU!
Date: Late March, early April
Location: Turtle
Situation: Critical
Warnings/Rating: Much sarcasm. Such boomerang. Many foods. Wow.

[A. Genis Sage - Closed to Bakura - Dojo]

[Genis still had Bakura's note from the last kedan festival. In fact, he'd almost forgotten it after the festival as it had fallen out of his pocket at some point and hadn't quite found its way back to Genis' attention. But find it he eventually did, and that was reason enough to immediately dash off to the Wood Sector. He had a big brother mentor good friend to go see. After all, Bakura was going to be teaching him magic, and what better way than to go to someone who invited him?

[The address that Bakura had given him led him straight to a dojo, and so Genis, being the good kid, will actually knock on the front door of the building, waiting for someone to answer.]

Helloooooooo? Anybody home?

[B. Genis Sage - Open - Midnight Hotel or Keeliai]

[Genis had finally gotten a job. It had taken quite a while to finally get it, but he was finally on the up and up and not completely hating this world. (Because let's face it, Genis isn't going to completely turn a new leaf over for the kedan, even if things are getting better, when there are still kedan bullies on the street. Just a little too raw. And the fact that many kedan wouldn't even give him the chance didn't help either.) But Genis managed to prove himself pretty handily pretty quick. Of course, he's starting out low on the totem pole, nowhere near the most senior of the chefs, but he already has proven capable of being a being both the saucier and the poissonnier, so there's a good chance ordering something from the menu will come from Genis.

[Genis will be experimenting with foods in the kitchen in the Midnight Hotel as he's still getting accustomed to an entirely new range of spices that aren't from his world as well as a host of different meats and vegetables that resemble but aren't quite like the things from back home. So you might smell something tasty coming from the common kitchens... or you might actually be dining in the restaurant Genis is cooking for and want to give him thanks... or you might find him out at the marketplaces buying some fresh ingredients for a new master stroke of genius cooking.]

[C. Genis Sage - Open - Edge of Town]

[When Genis isn't being grumpy about the kedan or cooking, he will be off practising the magic. He hasn't actually gotten to use any magic in a small while, and so he doesn't want to get rusty. One might see him holding a wooden little figure in his hand which actually is a kendama, a Japanese ball-and-stick toy, as he casts his spells. He's not casting of the high-level ones (for the most part), and so as he concentrates, a small glow of light will appear beneath him, and the colours they emit depend upon whatever he's casting. As he's practising, someone watching him might hear some rather... disturbing lines coming from this 12 year old's mouth.]

Come get some! Air Blade!

I call upon thee in the land of the dead to unleash the fury of thunder. Indignation!

Engulf this pathetic soul! Ground dasher!

Drown! Aqua laser!

Pancake time! Stalagmite!

[Hopefully you're not anywhere in front of him as he's casting these or else you'll get caught up in... something: water, ice, wind, fire, thunder, or earth.]

[D. Sokka - Open - Keeliai or Stark Industries]

[Sokka's got a few things on his plate at the moment. Of course, he's helping out finish up the deconstruction of the Palace, and he'll be hanging around there with a clipboard, running in between teams of kedan and foreigners alike, and generally doing his part to plan out the last bits of the reconstruction effort. If he's not there for work, he'll be out helping on the railway lines. His work there is less middle management and more guard duty and occasional gopher. He'll be running supplies between teams as they're needed and making sure that shipments get through from place to place... and of course occasionally collecting the odd report. And then he's occasionally delivering those reports back to headquarters.

[You might just happen happen to catch him while he's on break though. Feel free to interrupt him or have him run into you (possibly literally).]

[E. Sokka - Open - Midnight Hotel or Keeliai]

[The puzzle is annoying the crap out of him. Two months in, and he still doesn't have any solid leads on what in the world they're even supposed to do. It's got to be simpler than he's making it, but at the same time, for the life of him he can't actually make heads or tails of it. He'll either be in the common room staring over his notes or out in Keeliai, perhaps following some random route through the city—especially the Central Sector, trying to track down anything that might resemble a landmark.]

So if the purple star is the Metal Sector, and that represents five... then what in the world am I supposed to do when I get there?

[F. Sokka - Closed to Milyn - Milyn's Apothecary]

[It's amazing how just a few seeds can germinate into a full-fledged idea. And it's amazing how far those apple seeds can fall from the tree. An idle conversation with Gene and Tony a while back mixed with conversations from Enjolras and Akito formed a plan. It was time to break out of his small circle of friends and start finding out more about these strange kedan that they lived amongst. And to do that, he needed to go see Milyn.

[He had heard her name cropping up more and more over the past few weeks, though the reasons were still unbeknownst to Sokka. Still, she seemed to be the one kedan that was more on their side than anyone else, and Sokka knew she knew the kedan leaders perhaps more than any of them, so it made sense to go and find out more of what he was dealing with before going directly to them. Besides, he didn't even know what he was going to talk to them about. He barely even knew Milyn, but at least he had an idea of who she was and where to start from. And so, in true fashion, Sokka is planning on just improvising as he gets there. All of his plans never seemed to work out as written anyway, right?

[He approaches the apothecary and heads on in, looking for the Cherrywood Healer.]

Hello?

[G. Sokka - Closed to Toph - Keeliai]

[Sokka is actually kind of out of practice when it comes to swinging Space Sword around.  Truth be told, there hasn't been much need for all that much fighting around the Shell in the past months, and that had made him just a little bit restless.  He definitely wanted to get out and get swinging and make sure he was keeping his sword skills up to snuff.  The one problem is that he didn't have a training partner.  Granted, not that he needed a training partner per se, but it was more enjoyable if there was someone else there doing kata with him, even if it was a completely different kata than him.

[Which is why he had fetched Toph.  First, she would be eager as anything else to go with him to go punch some rocks around... and perhaps even punch some rocks towards Sokka, though Sokka would ask them to not be massive boulders, please thank you very much.  Second, well, he enjoyed Toph's company, and now that she was here, he was going to take advantage of it.

[And also, it gave him a good excuse for him to figure out what exactly Toph knows of this place.  She'd been here before apparently, but not... recently by the sound of it.]

Okay, so... tell me what you know of the Creep Lord, [he says whilst they're walking to their training house.]

[H. Sokka - Closed to Gene - Midnight Hotel]

[And if he didn't have enough appointments already on his docket, he's certainly come up with one more.  After all, if Sokka was remembering rightly, it was Gene that had actually gone to Zanru and Yunxu and Heojin to find out about their opinions as to the demolition of the Palace of the Landed Sky, and that would prove interesting.  Sokka still didn't exactly have a solid direction as to where to proceed with his long-term plans of being involved with the three gangs, but he knows for certain that figuring out these three reclusive characters was going to be a good first step.  It's at least better than showing up completely unprepared, not knowing what in the world he was going to go talk to them about.

[And besides, he really ought to get to know Gene better anyway.  Oddly enough, at their last encounter, he seemed less surprised by Sokka's world than Tony.  In fact, he seemed less surprised than Sokka was to about half of those events!

[So Sokka heads upstairs to pay Gene a visit.  He doesn't exactly know when he's going to be there as he doesn't have a solid timetable for him yet, but he'll periodically go knocking on Gene's door or look for him in the common room to have that nice little chat.]

[Z. ??? - Choose Your Own Adventure]

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Comments

[denyamenti]

Bakura nodded, leading Genis through the back door of the dojo. There was a small, partially fenced grass area -- too small to really be called a proper yard, but good enough for a little bit of outdoor privacy. He'll grasp the outer edge of the Ring absently, the Item beginning to glow as Bakura sets about summoning three examples. They're all low level, and thus don't require any preparation, and three summons isn't the upper threshold of the thief's energy reserves anyway. As they materialize in front of the pair, he'll name them.

"All Seeing White Tiger, a Beast-type with a Wind attribute. Meda Bat, a Dark Fiend-type. And Lyna, the Light Charmer, a Light attribute Spellcaster."

The first two seemed fairly placid; the Tiger sat, tail swishing lazily over the grass, and the Fiend bat flapped around without straying too far. The Spellcaster however, was clearly sentient and aware (they all were, it was just harder to tell with the first two) and she offered Genis a sunny grin and a jaunty salute of greeting.

[strokeofgenis]

Alright! Time for the gun show summoning exhibition!

Genis happily follows Bakura out to the small patch of land that might be considered a back yard of sorts, and it's not long before he sees three creatures—or really, what Genis would consider two monsters and one beautiful girl—summoned before him. And Genis can't help but be just a little amazed.

"You can summon them that quickly!" Genis says, almost breathless at first. "It takes Sheena much longer to summon the Summon Spirits!" Okay, "much longer" is only a few seconds, but that's still enough to be incredibly impressive. Genis looks at the trio with eyes amazed, considering them each as their own while also watching the exchange of mana flow between them and Bakura: Wind, Darkness, and Light... all with a tinge of darkness underlying it, which is extremely odd in the case of Lyna. Something to ask about in a moment.

For being around a large tiger and bat, Genis seems relatively relaxed. After all, they're not attacking; plus, they're Bakura's, so he feels relatively secure despite that part of him is telling him he should be on guard. "Not going to lie, that's kind of a creepy bat that you have there," Genis says with perhaps a minor dose of trepidation.

As for Lyna, well, let's just say she's much more curious to Genis. "So she's kind of like the Flame Princess, right? Someone that you've only brought here but kinda acts on her own accord?" He walks over to Lyna and offers her a handshake. "Hi, Lyna. I'm Genis." Well, that's one good way to test the theory.

[denyamenti]

"There are stronger rules for attacking," Bakura answered, extending an arm and letting the Meda Bat settle onto it for a moment before lifting off again. "As for creepy, its actually fairly tame for a Fiend. Most are quite a bit gruesome looking, and some aren't even as bad as Zombie types."

"She's like Fire Princess in some ways," Bakura agreed. In that they were both humanoid, even though their attributes were different.

Lyna seemed momentarily surprised by the offered handshake, but then grasped Genis' hand with a smile and shook it with her free hand. "Hello!" she said, but her voice wasn't exactly normal-- it reverberated slightly, like it was being heard both through her and from her. A side effect of her tie to the Shadow Realm, it created just a small amount of dissonance in the air, although it didn't seem to bother her, and Bakura didn't seem to find it strange. Duel Monsters summoned normally couldn't speak, but those pulled through the Shadow Realm, it was possible.

"It's nice to meet you, Genis."

[strokeofgenis]

As the Meda Bat finds purchase on Bakura's arm, Genis will perhaps get a glimmer of a possible intelligence within it. Though certainly that's something that any old bad might do. Still it's an interesting creature all the same.

Genis almost looks a little awkward when Lyna is taken aback with Genis' hand, but that awkwardness melts into nothingness when she reaches forward and talks. "Hey, you can talk too! I guess you've got something over the Fire Princess then." Granted, maybe the Fire Princess could actually talk, but she wasn't doing so at the festival.

Genis looks over at his "big brother" with another question on his mind. "Just how many things are there to summon from the Shadow Realm?"

[denyamenti]

Lyna giggled a little. "Careful," she said impishly. "Or I might tell her that you said that! Are you learning to become a Duelist too, Genis? You have magic too, I can tell!"

Bakura shrugged. "More than I can name, certainly. Thousands, I'd say. It's not even just monsters, there are Spells and Traps, too. Some of them are just effects, and some have 'people' attached to them."

"Lots do!" Lyna volunteered helpfully. "Like the Change of Heart, or Kid Guard."

Bakura gives the Light spellcaster a look, like you had to bring up Change of Heart, but said nothing.

[strokeofgenis]

Genis looks a little sheepish for a moment, though it doesn't phase him for too long. After all, it's probably just an idle threat. Right? "Duelist? Is... that what Bakura is?" he asks the spellcaster. "I mean, I really hadn't considered it. I've only learned how to cast spells before."

And it's then he looks over to Bakura, somewhat perplexed by the reaction he gives the lady of Light, but he lets it go; it's not like those names of spells actually means anything to him. "How does what exactly become a Duelist? And why would someone be a Duelist?"

[denyamenti]

"Mhm," Lyna nodded, although there was a just a fraction of hesitation while she looked at Bakura, as if somehow surprised to hear him referred to by name from someone else. "To be a Duelist, you have to be connected to the heart of the cards. At least, that's what the Ph-- what it's called now," she amended quickly, still grinning cheerily at him. As a Light aligned monster, she was far more familiar with many of the other Duelists of Domino City; she wasn't typically in Bakura's arsenal. But rules were different outside of the card-based games, and technically any Duelist could summon any entity, so long as they were strong enough.

"As if it could have any more pretentious of a name," Bakura rolled his eyes, although he considered how to explain it to someone who had no context of the Shadow Games -- precursors to the Duel Monsters method -- that the effect referred to.

"Magic is separate from being a Duelist," he said. Indeed, there were Duelists in Domino who didn't have an ounce of usable magic; Yuugi (and so by extension, the Pharaoh) collected them like rare tokens. Jonouchi, especially, was a strong example of it. "I have both, but they're not dependent on one another. I don't suppose you use any magics that work on chance? That would be the closest analogy. Or gambling, but don't tell your sister."

[strokeofgenis]

"Gambling, oh brother," Genis repeats with a bit of a chagrined face. "Yeah, she would not like it if she found out about that, so I think I'll just have to skip any bit of it if I ever go that route." If, indeed. "I mean, magic that works on chance? About the only magic I've got is whether or not I actually put my spell where it needs to be. I could totally miss my target if they move quick enough, but I'm betting that's totally different."

But Genis looks between Lyna and Bakura. There's definitely something interesting here between them. It's almost as if there's history, a connection of sorts. And it fascinated him, the ability to have that common knowledge despite her knowing other duelists.

"And so... you summon these from the Shadow Realm, and then they do battle for you? What is it people from your world fought for?" He's encroaching on ground that's perhaps tender and sore, but it was an innocent enough question when it had escaped his lips.

[denyamenti]

Genis' reaction to the mention of gambling is certainly interesting, in the amusing sort of way, and Bakura files it away until later. "Chance plays a large part in Dueling," he said. "But your analogy works as well. Think as if you were casting a spell that you needed to place correctly, and there was a great deal riding on your success. There isn't any guarantee you can hit what you're aiming for, even though you absolutely have to make it work, so you cast it on blind faith. And somehow it works, even when there was no logical reason that it should."

[strokeofgenis]

That explanation just kind of swirls in Genis' head. It isn't exactly the sort of logical explanation that he had been hoping for or expecting. But Genis ponders on it for a while, and after he does so, he guesses it makes a little more sense... at least in an abstract way.

"So what you're saying is... you've got your own basic strategy when it comes to summoning the creatures and things from the Shadow Realm, but you don't really have a clue if the things your summoning will actually be useful in the long run? As in, maybe they'll help you out, and maybe they'll just waste your time?" Huh. "Actually it sounds almost more like trying to find the elemental weakness of an enemy when you have now idea if what it is. You just cast something and hope they react badly to it. And if not, you try something else."

[denyamenti]

Bakura shook his head; that hadn't been the understanding he was trying to convey, but ultimately it didn't matter. Genis didn't need to grasp the finer points of Dueling to still get information about the magic used.

"Perhaps you can demonstrate a spell, for her to see," Bakura said, nodding at Lyna.

[strokeofgenis]

Well, he was using a fairly weird analogy to describe this. Genis certainly was trying, but he was stuck on the finer differences between his own magic and Bakura's. But still, at least there was something that he could do, and Bakura's offer will be greeted by Genis enthusiastically.

"Okay, sure," he tells Bakura before looking to Lyna. "Prepare to be amazed!"

He takes a few steps away from Bakura and turns to the side, looking away from the trio of summons. Genis starts to concentrate. He brings out his kendama, and as he does so a ring of purple appears around him as he begins to draw energy from his own mana. He's shuffling the ball on the kendama between the two cups and occasionally the stick with rhythm and preciion.

After a few seconds, Genis holds up the kendama, the ball perfectly atop the stick. "Wanna charge? Spark Wave!" Several feet in front of Genis, at the other corner of the room, a rather large burst of purple energy is emitted, the air electrified as purple blasts of lightning erupt.