A War of Dark and Light [July Catch-All]

[wolfstrike]

Characters: Yuri Lowell and YOU!
Date: All of July
Location: All over Keeliai
Situation: Varied
Warnings/Rating: Some Violence

A) July 5th - Midnight Hotel
Yuri was late. This was pretty unusual for him as he was typically on time every day, always being in the kitchen in the mornings to serve breakfast. But this morning he was a no-show. There were likely some very disappointed and grumpy people as a result.

About an hour after he was supposed to be there, he finally does make an appearance. Walking casually into the kitchen as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Just going about his business and pulling out the cake he'd made the night before and setting it on the table.

Nope. Nothing to see here.

B) July 7th - Water Sector Pub (Closed to Shay)
This day Yuri was very on edge, for several reasons, but one of the big ones was the vision. The one where the innocent baby turtles had been crushed by the supposed force that was Malicant. It had been disturbing to say the least, and Yuri had mostly internalized his feelings about it. Which drove him to visiting a local pub in one of the poorest parts of the Water Sector. The sector that he actually felt the most at home in.

Unfortunately, he had gained the attention of a few Kedan who decided to press his buttons a little bit. Some jabs being made at the fall in of Erol'a trade, which led to him mouthing off and well... eventually someone threw a punch and it was just downhill from there. The place erupting into a full out brawl which had Yuri beating the crap out of a few of the Kedan. Some chairs and other articles flying across the room, the sound of breaking glass and angry shouts filling the air. One thing he hadn't taken into consideration though was that he was vastly outnumbered.

C) July 7th - Water Sectorish
After the fight, Yuri was promptly thrown out of the pub and slapped with a fine to help pay for the damages. Not that he particularly cared. 

Now he was wandering the streets, beaten up and not seeming fazed by that at all. It was nothing serious after all, just a few bruises, cuts, and a split lip. Nothing he couldn't handle. It was the thoughts that weighed on his mind that troubled him the most, though you wouldn't be able to tell that just by looking at him.

D) July 11th and Onward - For Brave Vesperia members and those wanting to join.
In an attempt to get Brave Vesperia's name out there, Yuri is leading the effort into finding odd jobs for the group to do. A lot of it involving some light construction work in the Sky Sector to help out the Kedan building there. For some pay of course. Hope you're ready to get your hands dirty!

E) Anything else!

Comments

[irishthor]

The one time he actually wanted to drown his sorrows and just get blissfully, numbly drunk...

Shay Cormac wasn't dealing with the vision too well, either. He's managed to blend quite well into the crowd in this particular dive, but it's easy when you've had the level of training he has. Humans, kedan, they're all the same. Watch the crowd, learn the behavior, the patterns... Nothing is true, everything is permitted.

He was fully intent on ignoring the argument going on, until a bottle smashes near his boots and he looks up to see the situation; A foreigner outnumbered by quite a few kedan. Well... Looks like he's about to ruin his cover.

Standing up, he's going to start pushing through the crowd to get to the front.

"Right, then!" He calls out, voice clear as he tries to draw attention. "What the bloody hell's goin' on here?"

[wolfstrike]

By the time Shay decided to interrupt, the biggest of the Kedan had already grabbed Yuri from behind. The big guy restraining him while another landed a few punches on the Foreigner's jaw and stomach. The others crowded around were cheering them on.

But then another of the Foreigners decided to interrupt and Shay was given several unpleasant looks. The one doing the beating pausing to scowl at him as well.

"What's it to you? This Foreigner has a mouth on him. We're just teaching him a lesson."

Yuri said nothing and just gave the Kedan a withering glare, a bit of blood already dribbling from the corner of his apparently big mouth.

"Back off, or you might be next," the Kedan sneered.

[irishthor]

"I have it on good authority that he didn't start it." Shay persists, hoping to give Yuri a bit extra time before things sink even further. "And I'm sure the landlord would prefer to not scrub blood out of the floor."

Here he is, standing, hands visible, making no threatening movements... All pertaining to the façade that he's helping... despite having every intention to throw punches with the best of them.

At least, this way, no-one can say he wasn't provoked.

[wolfstrike]

"Nobody cares about your authority," spat one Kedan, his words slurred a bit. Some of these guys obviously having had a few too many drinks. And they weren't letting Yuri go either. So while Shay distracted them, Yuri threw one elbow into the gut of the one holding him. The Kedan gasping in surprise as the wind was knocked out of him, letting the human go.

Yuri then threw a punch at the first Kedan that had spoken, the one that had commented about his mouth.

"I have a fist too."

[irishthor]

Shay is about to retort to the authority remark when Yuri makes his move. The kedan, assuming Shay's on Yuri's "side" split their attentions between them.

Two start encroaching on Shay, so the Irishman drops his stance to a ready one.

"I'll warn you fellows, I may be smaller, but if you think I'm losin'... You got another thing coming." Of course, they don't listen, taking Shay's words as a challenge instead of the warning it was supposed to be.

And, quick as a flash, one of them thuds to the ground, clutching his stomach, groaning loudly.

C!

[readytopayit]

The Water Sector was peaceful, the calming kind of place that made it much easier to put one's thoughts in order. Given how many thoughts Terra had that required consideration and organization lately, it was appreciated, and a walk through the area was what he needed right about now. His initial frustration with not being able to leave had died down for the most part -- thanks only to Aqua's presence -- but he had more than just the present to mull over.

On the other hand, it hadn't escaped his attention that this sector, with its peaceful atmosphere and love of fountains and aqueducts, was a dim reminder of Radiant Garden. Not nearly as grand or majestic, but that wasn't what bothered him. He had mixed feelings in his memories of that world, most of them negative, and it left him thoughtful and a little broody even without that troubling vision to consider. Not long into his walk, he was debating changing course and checking out one of the other sectors he hadn't seen yet.

With the number of people on the street, Terra had dropped into the habit of not looking too closely at anyone in particular, falling back on simple instinct to warn him if trouble decided to rear its head. As he stopped to gaze out over one of the canals, it was pretty much coincidence that he happened to catch a good look at a guy passing by. Terra did a double-take, speaking up on impulse.

"Hey. Rough night?"

He'd normally have been more tactful about it, but the stranger didn't seem all that fazed or hurt too badly (although that latter point was subjective); who was Terra to make a big deal out of it if he didn't?

[wolfstrike]

Yuri blinked as he heard someone speak up, and since there wasn't exactly a lot of people out here, he could only assume it was meant for him. Especially since the comment came from another foreigner, and... he didn't know this guy either. Maybe he's new?

"Uh... yeah."

Yuri paused, wondering just how bad he looked. So he meandered over and leaned over to look into the water of the canal. ... Oh. He used a hand to wipe some blood off the corner of his mouth.

"Kedan are tougher than they look. And they hit pretty hard too."

[readytopayit]

The only sign of Terra's surprise was the rise of his eyebrows. Another Foreigner, then, he realized. He was trying to drop the habit of labeling everyone here as belonging to this world; his lack of cultural segregation wasn't helping things, for once.

"I knew things were tense, but I didn't think they'd reached that point." That was more of a thought spoken aloud than a reply, so he added with a frown, "Do fights break out a lot?"

[wolfstrike]

"Sometimes I wish they would."

All of this political nonsense that went on around here really drove him nuts. He'd much rather kick someone's ass and get something done. Though... nothing really got done tonight.

[readytopayit]

...Definitely worse than Terra had thought. Not all that surprising, given the circumstances -- as used as he was to being tugged around by fate, he got over this adjustment pretty quickly. He couldn't expect the same of others, especially when many had likely come from much better circumstances.

"No offense, but I hope you're wrong there. A friend of mine works at the Healers' Guild; I don't want her to be too overworked." He offered a casual smile to indicate that it was a lighthearted remark, though not entirely a joke. More seriously, he indicated the stranger with a nod. "Want me to heal those up for you?"

Given the casual mentions of magic that he had encountered since arriving, he was assuming healing spells -- the knowledge of their existence, at least -- were common knowledge.

A

[gistful]

Anton liked to think he was a fair enough employer, though he hadn't really employed anyone until Keeliai. When Yuri was quite obviously not arriving, Anton took over the breakfast--or at least the parts of it he was allowed to take over. It amount to not much more than making some scrambled eggs, which wasn't up to his standards.

He turned over the kitchen to Yuri when the man did show up, but waited until the end of Yuri's shift, and that Yuri was alone, before approaching him again. And then he asked bluntly, "What happened?"

Dun dun dun

[wolfstrike]

Welp, Yuri had kinda suspected this might happen. But this was his first infraction, so hopefully the boss man would be forgiving? Regardless, he's already thought up what he was going to say, so he doesn't miss a beat when Anton approaches him.

"Sorry, boss. My soul gem went crazy again and it was kinda a long night."

Which... wasn't a lie, but he was leaving out some very important details. Cough.

[gistful]

For a first infraction, yes. For the lack of warning, perhaps. The dismissiveness? Was not helping Yuri's case. Anton had raised eight younger siblings and spent four centuries wrangling a happy-go-lucky idiot into not getting them both killed. His lie-radar was pretty refined by this point.

"I can concede to emergencies, especially ones which leave no room for you to warn me you won't be able to arrive on time," said Anton evenly. Surely the man had a radio. "But I'd appreciate full disclosure, particularly since your room is only just upstairs."

With regard to everything else, Anton's newly activated condition had been a nuisance. But with this? He hadn't been able to make it up the stairs to even see if Yuri had been in his room. Possibly that was contributing slightly to his demeanour.

[wolfstrike]

Full disclosure? Really? Are you sure you want that Anton?

But Yuri could see that Anton was not at all pleased with him. It seemed like he might have to tread lightly here. ... Especially if he wants to avoid going into... details. But this almost made him feel like he was in the Knights again, which didn't exactly settle well with him either.

"C'mon, what's the big deal? I'll promise it won't happen again."

And this my friends is why Yuri Lowell doesn't keep a steady job.

[gistful]

The truly frustrating thing was that if anything had happened, Anton didn't know. The wards detected emotional spikes. Frequently that meant things he didn't have to worry about, but on rare occasions it meant things he did. But the wards were tied to his keys, and Erskine had stolen Anton's keys while he slept so Anton was forced into 'relaxing'.

Yuri handled food. Was he ill? He shouldn't be handling kitchen duties, in that case. Had he gotten into a fight? He didn't look injured, but healers weren't hard to find. If his claim about the soul-gem was true, why obfuscate? He hadn't said 'I overslept', but left the sentence dangling, implying that he had without actively saying so. Mark of a lie, or at least an avoidance.

Anton didn't even want gritty details. Just to be able to trust that his employees were taking things seriously as Yuri, apparently, wasn't. This was exactly why Anton didn't want to be forced into bed-rest--people beginning to think that because the proprietor was relaxing, they could as well.

"The big deal," Anton said very quietly, "is that you are late for your assigned duties, without forewarning, and you are being dismissive of that fact--and of my right to know about things which interfere with the Hotel's function. I take the security of my Hotel very seriously, Mr Lowell. If you cannot do the same, then I will consider you a threat to the establishment and remove you. So: assure me that no one within the Hotel died, was injured or otherwise incapacitated, and that you are not deliberately hiding a threat to its patrons or integrity, including any illness on your part. And do it without lying."

D

[gathersnomoss]

It had seemed simple enough. One of the stores had had some kind of rodent infestation. They failed to mention that the little things ran fast and chewed through everything. And collateral damage is not on the option.

"Any ideas?" he asked Yuri.

[wolfstrike]

Yuri sighed as he thought back on anything that might try to help them out.

"Well the inn I lived at used had a pretty bad rodent problem once. Got into everything and ruined a lot of the food. We tried using poison and traps, but that only works for so long. If we can find out where they're coming from and take care of it, that should keep them from coming back."

[gathersnomoss]

"You mean, how they got in here in the first place?" Zelgadis considered that. "We'll be shifting a lot of things in the cellar that way."

[wolfstrike]

"Heh, rearranging warehouses is almost our specialty back home. Shouldn't be too hard. Unless you've got a better idea. I'm all ears."

As much as Yuri would like to just use a few artes and slaughter the things, that would kinda fall under the whole 'collateral damage' thing.

Mind if I jump in?

[lasergrenades]

Pepper still isn't so sure about the guild, but she's happy to help out and make a little money for it. Plus, she gets to wear her armor so she can do some seriously heavy lifting during the construction. She's kept the faceplate retracted so the kedan are more comfortable.

There are also, apparently, rats. Eavesdropping is her specialty.

"Uh, I can probably find them without moving anything," she says, approaching Zel and Yuri. "I've got infrared sensors in the armor."

E - 7/11 evening or something

[radiantwingedone]

Duke tends to get his plans and then set them into motion. Having decided Dein Nomos would be helpful in this attempt to ... find if the turtle's mind is trapped, it easily follows that two Dein Nomos would be better than one. Even if Duke only told Yuri the dispersal function, which wouldn't be any help in this situation.

Wouldn't be hard to teach the gathering function. Now it's just time to find the young man.

Lots of wandering, peering at fights, anyone who sounds like they're using lots of sarcasm or perhaps high on adrenaline. He'll eventually eye the construction workers.

[wolfstrike]

Yuri is actually just finishing up for the day when Duke stops by. He will spot the raven haired man as he's leaving one of the construction sites. Yuri manages to spot him as well, giving a slow blink as he hadn't expected to see Duke of all people.

"Thinking about doing some heavy lifting?" he asks. "Could always use extra hands you know."

Not that he'd think Duke actually would.

[radiantwingedone]

He does think about it. Borrowing Yuri, or Dein Nomos, if Yuri didn't feel like coming along, in return for helping with one of Yuri's jobs. It would work out.

"Perhaps." It depends on Yuri's answer. "I was looking for you in regards to other matters."

[wolfstrike]

"Looking for me, huh? Must be serious."

Duke didn't often go out of his way to seek him out after all.

"What is it?"

[radiantwingedone]

It feels serious.

"There is a plan about seeing if Tu Vishan is still alive, but trapped." He pauses, because wait, Yuri doesn't know this aspect of Dein Nomos yet. "... And if one Dein Nomos could help gather power for it, two would likely be better."