The Dead Want to Play

[Zeke Omoihake]

"How much longer Kouji?" It was a question Zeke had been asking more and more frequent as their travels took them through the continuously depressing Guasto landscape. It's charm had worn off and Zeke was starting to get depressed being in the bleak wasteland. Kouji said they had to pass through Ignis, a land of fire. Zeke had spotted it in his sparring with Kouji, and it looked exciting. All he knew was that anywhere had to be better than this place.

The journey had been uneventful so far, save for the first exciting day where they had met Kouji. Zeke had quickly become comfortable with the boy in their few days together. Despite the cold and curt facade he put on, Zeke could see that underneath that Kouji could be lighthearted at times. He must have gone through some tough stuff to feel he has to be like that. No matter how often he asked about Kouji's past, he hadn't been able to get him to budge.

Though Zeke had enjoyed the chance to relax for once since the game started, he was starting to wonder if they'd be in for an exciting turnabout soon. After all, even the heroes in his RPG games had to deal with random encounters every once in a while. How long before they'd have to fight monsters, or even worse one of the Sumata?

[Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami]

Kouji shrugged. "I don't know. Maps around here aren't exactly the most accurate thing. All I know is that we need to head west until we reach Ignis, then turn north towards Crepusculum."

Zeke's incessant questioning had grown to be a little grating, but he didn't ind so much. At least the journey had been relatively uneventful. Still, he couldn't help but feel that things were jsut too quiet...

[chika]

"And what is it that you are looking for?" a voice rang out only a few feet away, belonging to a woman who...probably hadn't even been there seconds before. She smiled as she looked over the three young men, tilting her head slightly to the side and she folded her arms. Her hair was long and black, skin ghostly pale, and she wore at the moment a black and white, short-skirted dress.

A bit of an odd look for a place like this, but that was what made up Chika regardless of where she was.

She studied the figures of the men carefully - they were lost, and she thought she had seen the boy with the bandana before at least once. She couldn't be too sure, and she would cause no harm until she knew who they were and what they were doing here.

[Donovan Siroaki]

Donovan had been enjoying his time in the barren plains for the most part. It was nice to be free of the bustling streets of Shibuya and the bundled masses that were the cause. Of course, Donovan never seemed to be able to enjoy himself for long, possible a repercussion of his lost luck.

The woman's appearance was a surprise and an annoyance, but then again, any new person was an annoyance to Donovan. As usual, he made himself look relaxed and at ease, but he was ready for anything should the woman decide to try anything funny. In the corner of his mind, he thought her dress was rather inappropriate for where she was , but then remembered he was the one with the Hawaiian shirt, slacks and sunglasses.

"So what's your deal?" inquired Donovan as he slid his sunglasses up onto the bridge of his nose while ignoring her question.

[Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami]

Kouji wanted to kill DOnovan.

"Ma'am, let me apologize for my rude friend," he said. "I assure you, we mean no harm."

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke practically jumped 6 feet up when the woman appeared from nowhere. Not only because of her surprising appearance, but everything about her felt...unusual. There was a sort of familiarity in her prescence, like an aspect of her that radiated a well-known glow. He shrugged it off and greeted her as best as he could.

"Hi, nice to meet you." He said with a quick bow. "We're travelling to the fire kingdom. What's a young woman doing out here all by her lonesome? You aren't lost are you?" Zeke said, his voice and face filled with worry for the pale woman.

[Donovan Siroaki]

"Hey kid, I ain't you friend and you know it. Besides, don't you or Zeke have suspicion of people who just randomly appear and then start asking questions, cause I know I do."

This world was quite different from Earth and Donovan had only had seven days in the UG and several days here to familiarize himself with the idea of magic and other unknown forces that now played a dominant role in his life. Magic made everything a lot more complex, especially when dealing with people. Sure this woman looked pale, slender and quizzical, but who knew who she was, why she was here, and what she could do if provoked. All these things were reasons to be cautious and distrusting towards their new acquaintance.

[chika]

Chika was silent throughout their arguing, and she took note of the three men and their interactions with each other quickly.

"You aren't friends yet you're all travelling together? How interesting," she quietly said as she continued to observe them. This meant a couple of things to her, such as if they truly weren't friends and viewed each other as such, then the chances of them actually cooperating with each other in battle were slim.

Which, of course, meant only good news to Chika.

The other man, without the arms, she couldn't quite register yet. He seemed nice enough, and the least intimidating out of the three...which made her worry. Those types of people always pulled the tricks on you if you weren't watching them.

And to keep his suspicions (and ultimately, any of his actions against her) at as low as she possibly could keep them, she answered him quickly with a smile and, "My name is Chika, sir. I'm not lost, I'm actually a citizen of Guasto - living in the outer parts of Phasmatis city with a good friend of mine. You're looking for the kingdom of fire?"

She turned on her heel and pointed to the north. "You'll be heading in that direction. If you're looking for food and rest, you'll probably want to side-track to Phasmatis for a day or so, though."

Chika happily ignored the loud and ignorant Donovan, though. And she'd try to ignore him as long as she could - he'd be the one to start the trouble here, she was sure.

[Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami]

Kouji nodded.

"Thank you," he replied to her. He believed in beign polite to everyone, even people he was suspicious of. Just being suspicious didn't give you the right to be obnoxious, and he'd learned the hard way that more trouble was started by being openly antagonistic toward strangers than being pleasantly vague. "Is the city far? I hear there's conflict going on in these parts... is it safe?"

[Zeke Omoihake]

Ugh, they were at it again. Though he'd tried hard for the past few days there was no getting Donovan and Kouji to get along. He sighed a little before turning his attention back to Chika.

"Really, that is a huge help actually. I'm starving. How about you guys, huh?" He hoped the change of topic would get everyone refocused. "Hey, so what's someone like you doing in the middle of this place all by yourself? Are you travelling to another land, or on some kind of an adventure?"

[chika]

Chika shrugged. "It's about as safe as you can handle," she said as she gave a look in the direction of Phasmatis, "things happen out here all of the time. No one ever knows you're gone if you manage to go missing...it's a strange place, it is."

She herself had only lived out here for eight years. The place had become like home to her, yet at times she still missed the skies of Ariadelvento. Guasto had its..."quirks"....as did the people (and not people) that inhabited it.

"I'm out here because my job requires me to travel, actually. I mostly like to keep within the boundaries of Guasto, keep watch for suspicious people and things that come into the country...I take appropriate actions on those that are viewed as dangerous," she calmly answered as she gave the three men another look over, "you boys certainly aren't the dangerous type I have to put down, are you?"

She couldn't help but giggle a little as she said it, and she smoothed her short dress a bit over her legs.

[Donovan Siroaki]

Donovan was sure of it now, this woman was dangerous. It wasn't till her last comment that she seemed just a little eccentric, but now it just sounded like she was making vague and idle threats.

"Alright, lady, that's enough. We just need to get from point A to point B, and we don't need waifs making idle threats in some attempt to scare us or coerce us to some other end, you got that? Zeke, kid, lets get moving, we should probably stop at this town and grab something to eat along with traveling supplies," suggested Donovan as he bobbed his head north, in the direction for the purported town.

[chika]

Just as she had thought, it certainly was the obnoxious man she had to be wary of making trouble for them.
No matter, she just had to remember to keep herself cool...which could be easily done.

She continued to smile yet even at Donovan delegating orders to the other two, yet her voice grew a little more serious as she said, "I wasn't making any threats, sir, I was answering your friends' questions. This place isn't the safest to be at, I'm here doing my job, and you're being a little indignant..."

As she spoke, she walked around and stepped in front of him, arms slowly folding in front of her.

"That makes me wonder, actually...why are you in such a hurry to get to this town, and to get to Ignis? Is it a sick relative? A wedding? Or maybe you're smuggling harmful substances into Guasto," she gave Donovan a cautionary look before she narrowed her eyes at him, "...I'll let the other two go on ahead. I want your name, sir. Your name, where you come from, and references that can prove you're not a criminal. Now."

[Zeke Omoihake]

Zeke stepped in the middle of Don and the Guasto woman. Things were getting bad and the last thing any of them needed was getting in trouble with the authorities. Zeke remembered enough of Kouji's words to know that anyone of power in a kingdom besides Crepusculum was someone he was to be careful with in revealing who they were.

"Hey hey hey, wait one moment. Please, we're just a few travelers passing by. I assure you my friend is merely worried for our friend and my own safety. We've had... "less than pleasant" encounters with the locals here so far. You can understand that much right?" Zeke turned on his charm, giving her a big grin and wide pleading eyes.

"He means nothing by it, he's just a little overprotective and total strangers makes him uneasy. Just say your sorry Don, please?" Zeke knew better than to outright lie, as he sucked at it royally. Yet he hoped that the reassuring info he'd given would be enough to displace the ire Donovan had set in the mysterious woman.

[Kouji - Hikari no Shiro Okami]

Kouji sat back and let Zeke do the talking. The young man was amiable enough and he seemed good at talking his way out of a bad situation without lying outright. Still, kouji was ready to draw his staff at even the slightest threatening move... and, mentally, was cursing Donovan for getting them into this situation.

Dosn't he know that the bad guys are much less likely to be suspicious if you're nice to them?