(OPEN) Just another day

[glitters]

((GUYS, I posted this for the sake of posting and trying to get some more of the not-so-active players involved. COME ON LET'S DO SOMETHING WITH THIS))



Jasmine awoke early in the morning to the sound of her parents chatting in the kitchen, a sound she was most unfamiliar with. She climbed out of her bed and got herself ready for the day, heading out to where the two adults were in the house.

"I'm not done with you, Vincent Loque," Hala's voice was stern, "you are anything but on good terms with me, yet."

They stopped the moment Jasmine showed up in the doorway. Vincent made an escape out the front door, a grin plastered on his face. Hala let out a frustrated sigh as she stirred her cup of tea in front of her.

"Jasmine, good of you to be up and about at this time," Hala said, motioning for her daughter to take a seat by her, "I have some advice for you."

Jasmine obediently took a seat, staring blankly at her mother as she asked, "What about?"

Hala grinned. "I've been thinking about you lately, and I was just speaking to your father--he doesn't understand anything, that silly man--but I figured, before he gets too carried away, I'd give you some advice on the wild horse you're chasing," she said and sipped her tea.

"Um...the...what?" Jasmine asked, raising her eyebrow. Hala's grin widened and she poured a second cup of tea, passing it along to her daughter.

"You know what I mean. Those types of people need someone with the haughtiness to match their's, but the gentleness that they can fall back on when the world seems to beat on them. And you won't catch their attention by just sitting there being cute, you need to take charge and find a way to lay it out on them and say 'hey, this is what I want going on, what do you say?'...otherwise, they won't pay much attention to you or what you want, you understand?"

An awkward silence. Jasmine stared at her mother for a long, long moment, her eyebrow still raised. She slowly shook her head at Hala, and dropped a spoonful of sugar in her tea before she began to stir it very slowly.

"I just don't want to see you heartbroken, so I'm encouraging you to deal with this problem yourself," Hala's eyebrow twitched as she mentioned 'problem' - given the context earlier, Jasmine assumed she meant her father, which meant he was probably up to something - Hala gave Jasmine another pleasant grin then, "just remember that who you're looking for appears to be an action-seeker, and in order to have your point be made across clearly, you need to bring action. You understand?"

No, Jasmine didn't understand. In fact, she still had no clue what her mother was talking about. She stared down at the cup of tea that was now going cold, but nodded to her mother who still had that odd smile on her face.

"Um...yes...thank you...?" she finally answered, stirring the tea in her cup again.

[Andy Jammer]

Andy strode inside the house and opened the door, he had some bruises and some dirt smudges on him from his training. But he seemed ok.

"Morning Jas," he said, stepping inside.

[glitters]

"Ahhh, guess who shows up," Hala's eyebrows raised as Andy stepped in, "I don't suppose you were kind enough to give my husband a kick upside the head as he left? Or was he gone before you showed up?"

Jasmine yawned and shook her head at her mother. Maybe it was because she had just woken up, but she couldn't tell whether her mother was joking or not. She gave Andy a smile, though, and got back to her feet to greet him.

"Good morning, Andy. How are you doing? Would you like anything?"

[Andy Jammer]

"Um..." Andy was a bit lost at Hala's first words, when Jas spoke he hastly answered back. "Yeah actually I am a little hungry."

[glitters]

"Mmm, okay. You just give me a minute and I'll get you something," Jasmine replied and disappeared to the other end of the room, pulling out bowls and jugs and whatever she felt she needed. Hala chuckled and looked at Andy over her teacup, patting a chair beside her at the table.

"You must sit," she said, "I'll pour you a cup. You'll drink it up while it's nice and hot rather than leave it to cool as ice just like my ungrateful daughter." Jasmine looked over at them with a frown; Hala smiled at her.

"Sorry..." Jasmine mumbled as she set herself to work cooking.

[Andy Jammer]

"Um ok..." Andy nodded, he sat down in the chair and tried no to feel strangely uncomfortable. He didn't like to be waited on by people, comes with being used to fending for yourself.

[glitters]

Hala quickly poured some tea for Andy and set the cup in front of him. "Very good, now you drink it," and with that, she finished off her own cup. As she poured herself another cup she said, "So, you were out on that little adventure with Kara and my Vincent, were you? He tells me you're crazy, but he tells me many things. Has he told you any of his wacky stories, yet?"

"Ow!" Jasmine hissed, apparently having burnt herself on something. She gave Hala and Andy a big grin as a way of saying, "I'm okay!"

[Andy Jammer]

"Crazy?" Andy blinked, he finishing sipping his tea before speaking. "I don't know what he means by-"

Then he paused when he recalled Xisa's castle, and he also guessed that to an observer it would look like he was...loopy.

"It's a bit more complicated than you think." Andy chuckled nervously.

[glitters]

"Just don't listen to my husband," Hala smiled at Andy, "he likes to tell his tall tales."

She then called over to Jasmine on the other side of the room, "Jasmine, you're cooking like you're feeding an army."

"Well, maybe I am!" Jasmine spat back automatically, placing some meat and fried potatoes on a plate. Hala laughed loudly. Jasmine reappeared shortly at the table, placing the plate of food in front of Andy and handing over a bit of bread to go with it.

"Ha, all done!" she said cheerfully as she took her seat back at the table and began playing with her cold tea, "I hope you enjoy it, Andy."

"Don't worry, it's safe to eat," Hala laughed again, Jasmine growled at her mother, and at the same time the front door opened and in stumbled two men. Both were fairly muscular, both with black hair, and one had what looked to be a bite mark on his right arm which was now turning a deep purple. Hala gave them not even half a glance before she shot Jasmine a dark look and rose to her feet to greet the two men.

"You're the healing sage who we hear lives in the area?" one of them spoke. Hala smiled and nodded.

"Loque? Yes, I am," her air about her was very pleasant despite the gruff men glaring about the room, "what could I do for you?" The wounded man breathed heavily and he showed off his arm to her.

"****ing animal, think it was poison. Caught that little **** and sliced its throat, smashed its head in and tore out--"

"I'll look at it," Hala cut him off - not only did she not care to hear about it, but she did have someone eating at her kitchen table at the moment, "please strip yourself of any and all weapons and leave them by the door. I'll see you just down the hall, then."

They gave her an incredulous look. "Blasted woman! We're not leaving any weapons," the healthier of the two men spat angrily. Hala remained entirely calm, looking over the bite mark on the other man's arm and giving him a sympathetic glance.

"It is the rule of my home. It'd be a shame if you didn't respect it, I'd deny you the treatment you need and you'll die before you find someone else to care for it," she gave the now startled man a hard look, "because you're right, it's poison. And a malicious one at that, by the looks of it."

"You dirty little..." the other man stepped forward and growled, Hala merely smiled and replied, "What was that?" He pulled out one of his knives.

"Threatening me won't do you any good, you'll never be treated," Hala's eyebrow twitched as she spoke, but other than that she remained unphased. One of the men looked over at Andy and Jasmine and asked, "What about them? I'm not leaving anything with them."

"They won't do anything, one is my assistant and the other is a patient himself," she avoided using the word 'children' in case they took the threat to Jasmine or Andy next, "Sir, I work this place on a mutual system. I trust you to respect and not harm me, and you trust me to care for both you and your belongings. I'll ask you again to leave your things by the door."

After a long, silent moment, there was more grumbling as both men threw all of their weapons on the floor by the door. Hala smiled again as she led them both down the hall and allowed them to step into the room before her. She gave another warning look down at Jasmine, who returned it with a frown, before she disappeared into the room herself.

The moment the door was closed behind Hala, Jasmine took a long sip of tea and muttered, "Trouble."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand marched down the dirt road alongside the lake, taking only a moment to enjoy the scenery before directing his attention back to the mission at hand. His spies had managed to track one of the Earth heroes down, and was currently residing at a small house nearby.

Seigmand pulled his compendium out to make a few small notes about the little that the spy had told him about this "Andy" character. A sword user wouldn't have too many surprises and the boy was said to be a brash and headstrong fighter. He'd make sure to guage Andy's skill and strength before he battled him.

At last the house was in view and Seigmand pulled the heavy brown cloak over his head as he rapped on the door. "Excuse me," he said with a slight whimpering in his voice. "I seek shelter for the night, may I bother you folks for a warm bed tonight?" He could feel the vibrations through the ground on the other side. There were 4, maybe 5 people inside. Stay calm Seig, a warrior who keeps his guard up will need to defend it. A warrior who never showed one will have no need for it.

[glitters]

Jasmine jumped, having not expected another visitor at the door. Her cup slipped out of her hands and spilled all of its cold contents across the table, yet the cup managed to keep itself intact.

'Lucky,' Jasmine thought as she got out of her chair and immediately went to answer the door, giving a quick glance at Andy before she opened it.

She stared at the man in front of her, neither smiling or giving him a frown, either. She heard what he had to say and listened thoughtfully, and he did not appear to be very harmful...
That didn't stop the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, though. However, regardless of what she felt the rule of the home was to be neutral.

Which meant whether they perceived the man as good or evil, he was coming inside and that was that.

"Of course, sir," Jasmine finally answered softly, stepping to the side and allowing him entrance into her mother's home.

[Seigmand Dezmar]

Seigmand flashed a smile at the young girl who invited him in. "Thank you for your hospitality, kind lady. My name is Eric, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He set his pack near the doorway, leaving only his staff holstered on his back. He scanned the room with a quick glance. Quite homey actually.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table his eyes turned to Andy. His spies had mentioned the Earthling had orange hair, and the sword confirmed his suspicions. Grinning towards Andy with a false cheer Seigmand spoke, "It's nice to meet you sir. That's quite an impressive weapon you have with you. Are you a monster hunter? I hear the beasts are quite vicious around these parts."

[Andy Jammer]

Andy was about to draw his sword if any of the men threatened to harm Hala... but she dealt with it quite nicely, then this new guy came in and was trying to talk him up. He seemed friendly...so why was he inner evil warning him about something?

"Monster hunter...sounds right, and don't call me sir, my name is Andy."

[Seigmand Dezmar]

"Excellent." Seigmand smiled and put his hands together in delight, maintaining his facade. "You see I have a small problem, I'm trying to get to the next village over and I'm afraid that though I have some experience in combat the creatures may be a little much for me." He said while pointing towards his staff. "I've trained a little bit here and there, but I need a seasoned warrior to protect me. I'd be willing to pay for your assistance of course, Andy." The last word coming out broke from the gleeful tone into something that sounded...almost malevolent.

[Andy Jammer]

"Well I-"

"Andy! There you are!" The figure of Kevin Uruhane walked inside, looking forth between the two men he blinked.

"Well, you're new. And who are you?" he leaned on his cane.