The Lightning Magician (open,social)

Tsukiju slung his small pack over his shoulder with a contented sigh.  He had finally made it back to Kou! He hadn't been here in a few years. How much a place could change over just a few years! The pale young man walked on, happily taking in the city. Everything was the same, yet different... Though the atmosphere remained the same as ever. Tsukiju smiled as he caught a glimpse of children playing, glad he was wearing his mask over the bottom half of his face. He preferred to seem neutral, uncaring, so that he wasn't targeted by anyone.

The Fanalis let out a soft sigh as she walked in the middle of the city, still trying to memorize the city that she had been residing in for a while now. Altan didn't have any difficulties to learn the layout of the city, but some streets and places sometime was forbidden for another people to enter so it was kind of frustrating. "Hmmm..." Some random thoughts began to cross her mind, mostly about how she could enter those forbidden places without anyone noticing. However, the girl, having so much in her mind made her lost her focus of her own surroundings. She just walked and walked, until she bumped into someone. She almost lost her balance because of the bump but her reflexes help her to regain her solid footing on the ground.

"I am sorry, i was careless!" Altan bowed her head towards the person, asking for his forgiveness. The moment she lifted her head to see, the redhead could only stay quiet and couldnt help but to stare at the man. He has a a spiky white hair, something that was a new thing for her. He looked pale as well and Altan was very curious about this man, considering she never met someone that looked like this man.

They had a long journey ahead of them, and if Aayla was going to be sure to not steal again, well thsn she would need to actually buy some food. She didn't feel comfortable walking into the city alone just yet, but Jericho assured her she would be okay... with her new 'papers' should anyone ask, then she was his hired hand... Although, she doubted a hired hand looked as dirty as she did.

Oh sure she had bathed, but without so much as a bar of soap to really wash off the dirt from her body... well, she still looked like she'd been living a harder life. Thankfully, no one paid much mind to her as she walked into the city. Sure there was the odd stare and glance towards the chains they expected to be on her... but apart from that no one said a word to her. No one beyond the merchants.

She made her way to a few fruit stands, purchasing smaller items that would be easier to carry with them, along with a cooking pot to use on their adventures. She eventually found a shop that sold all sorts of fine things, including soaps and other such fragrances. She took pause, staring at the building as she silently struggled with the decision to go in or not... surely this was far too expensive for them, even after all the money they had made on their jobs... but it was something that, for the first time, she really wanted for herself...

Her hesitation made it so that Aayla was still out on the street when two nearby people seemed to bump into each other. She glanced back when she heard the collision and found a familiar face had been bumped down, and was now apologizing to this mysterious person. For the moment, Aayla didn't move to approach them... chosing to see how this man would react before feeling the need to step in.

"Ow... That hurt." Tsukiju rubbed his head and looked at the person who had bumped into him. He pulled the mask from his face and squinted up at her, because he had fallen over when she had bumped him. He slowly stood up, gripping his staff, and ran one hand through his white hair. "Are you okay?" asked the magician, sighing. Being bumped into was nothing new to him, he walked with eyes closed half the time anyhow, fancying his senses to be strong enough to allow for that. He then held out his hand. "What are you doing wandering around like that by yourself anyhow? Anyways, i'm Tsukiju, Tsukiju Yamase."

"Oh, I am okay." Altan said and stayed still for a bit when the man held out his hand, her habit to be very cautious around a stranger made her hesitate to take the hand. However, the redhead decided to shake his hand and said, "I was just daydreaming, my name is Altan Bey. Nice to meet you." A smile was formed on her face as she locked her eyes with Tsukiji's eyes before pulling out her hand from the hand shake. "Are you from here? Your hair color seems uncommon... I am sorry if I sounded rude though." The Fanalis didnt even hide her curiosity and asked what she wanted to ask. She would then wait for the man to answer her.

Aayla couldn't help but to sigh in relief as she noted nothing violent came of the crash between the two.... she was so used to getting scolded or disciplined for something as small as this, she was half expecting him to strike Altan, but was glad to see nothing come of it.

She remained hesitant however... her last encounter with the other Fanalis had been a strange one, and she seemed quite content to talk with this stranger. She took in a deep breath to steel herself, silently deciding what she should do and what she wanted to do, finally deciding to slowly approach the pair as they conversed.

"Hello miss Bey, it's nice to see you again, I hope you're ok..."
She would ask lowly and shyly, only chancing a glance to the white haired man before quickly looking down and away from him.

Tsukiju looked over at the new Fanalis who had appeared, his multicolor eyes taking her in before returning his gaze to the woman who had bumped into him. "I am indeed foreign. You wouldn't know the place. Most people where I come from look like this. We all have different eyes and white hair. " The Magician looked at the others, adjusting the scarf around his neck. He rubbed his head and laughed. "I'm quite used to questions, no need to worry about that. Ask me anything. Within reason that is." Tsukiju waited for a response, his eyes focused.

It really piqued Altan's interest to know more about this place that this man mentioned to her, to think that there was a place where all of the people has white hair made the Fanalis wondered if there was a place where people like her, a Fanalis, lived together. The moment she wanted to ask about the place, a familiar figure was approaching her. It brought a small smile to Altan's face when she saw the Fanalis girl greeted her, perhaps it was because they came from the same races that it made the redhead felt close to this girl somehow. "It is to see you as well, Aayla. I am doing fine, how about you?" She would then wait for the girl to answer her before she gave her focus on Tsuki, finally able to ask him the question on her head. "May I know the name of the place? And in which region that the place located at? Is it like a clan?" Altan showered the white haired man with a lot of question and knowing that she already gave a lot, she decided to stop and wait for the man to answer.

To say Aayla was intimidated of the white haired man would be an understatement... of course he had done nothing to earn her uncertainty, but there was an air about him that just made the girl uncomfortable. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to approach them after-all... She should have just returned to her camp with Jericho and called it a day!

"I... I'm fine. I didn't mean to interrupt anything... I just... saw you two... hit each other so I... uh... wanted to make sure you were... both alright..."
She stuttered nervously, her eyes darting to and from the white haired man, to finally land on Altan. It did make her happy that the girl remembered her, and was still kind to her compared to what she had expected might happen the next time the two girls met.

she listened to the white haired man talk about himself and began to grow mildly curious, chancing another glance up to him and staring at his hair for a moment. So foreigners had white hair? She had only seen one or two slaves with similar features as him... she wondered why that was... wasn't white hair just as exotic and rare as red? Well not that it mattered! She wouldn't wish her life on anyone else!

Her mind settled on a question to ask him that followed her train of thought, but she chose to stay silent... it was quite inappropriate to ask some random stranger on the streets something like that...

"Tis similar to a clan in the sense that most of us are related... but it's a small island far to the south, you wouldn't know it." Tsukiju looked at the others. "Many of us have magic, or are masters of beast taming. My people had many skills indeed. But I left years ago. Apparently they don't tolerate gay guys." Tsukiju gave a sheepish expression at this, rubbing his head. "I would answer more but I was young when I left... theres much I don't remember." His face grew slightly darker after those words. He didn't want to recall his childhood... that had been a nightmare.

"Gay guys?" Altan's innocent eyes stared at the white haired man before tilting her head, she didn't understand the meaning of that word. "Umm, I am sorry but... like, you mean gay guys is something like an unwanted clan inside your clan?" The redhead became more interested to what he said and wished to know more, however when she noticed a change in the man's expression, she decided to take her question back. "I apologize, maybe I shouldn't have asked? But umm, I didnt get to meet many magician in my own clan, so it is really a pleasure meeting one."

Noticing Aayla's uneasiness, Altan slowly grabbed the other Fanalis' hand and said, "By the way, she is my friend, Aayla."

As the white haired man explained a little bit of where he was from and why he seemed to be an outcast from there, Aayla understood completely. It had been a rare thing in her line of work back then, but every so often you did get a man or woman who preferred the same gender rather than that of the opposite sex. Having grown up around such things, it didn't even strike her as odd... though judging by Altan's questioning gaze perhaps she should of thought of it that way?

It wasn't until Altan took her hand and introduced her to the white haired man that Aayla found the courage to speak up once more, first addressing the issue of Altan not knowing what a 'gay guy' was.

"Miss Bey... it has nothing to do with a clan or anything like that... Someone who is gay... well it means they prefer the company of someone their own gender, rather than the opposite."
She explained as lowly as she had been speaking previously. Clearly this girl wasn't about to be the loudest of the bunch with her muttering.

She would finally turn her gaze back to the white haired man and give a polite forward bow to him, though made sure not to linger in that position as she would have while still a slave.

"I hope I explained that right... it's nice to meet you sir..."

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I'm SO sorry that took so long... RL is kicking my butt.

"Urgh... that's the second time somebody crashed into me." Muttered Tsukiju. But the he began to laugh, his two different colored eyes twinkling merrily. He accepted the hand that had been extended to him, and stood with a slight blush upon seeing the man who had crashed into him. "You didn't interrupt much." He said to the red haired stranger. He pulled his mask back over his face upon standing in order to hide his faint blush. "And it's nice to meet you too." He added to Aayla. He smiled gently at the red haired girl. He had always been fond of Fanalis, and here he was with three of them.

"That's not a wrong thing, isn't it? Someone's preferences aren't supposed to be the factor to determine if they are unwanted or not." Altan raised an eyebrow as she talked about what she believed. You couldn't choose with whom you would fall in love and feel comfortable with, it just happened. When someone bumped into the white haired man, Altan was surprised and she would step back for a bit before hugging Aayla's arm. As she stared at the new person, she was amused to see another Fanalis joined the group. Perhaps interesting thing might happen soon... She might needed to ask Tenju if he wanted to join them but maybe he was slacking around now, so she just stayed still and wait until one of them start talking.

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OOC: Sorry it took so long ^^;;

Aayla shook her head as a no towards Altan's words when she asked if it was wrong. Truthfully she wasn't sure about how the outside world viewed such a thing, but where she came from it was simply business.

"No it's not wrong. At least I don't think it is. My Mast... uh... hm... previous employer used to deal with people with all kinds of different tastes."
She was quick to cover up her words during her little slip up. She couldn't let anyone know she was an escaped slave, at least not until she had gotten her full citizenship. The last thing she wanted was to be sent right back to the Cerulean Troop and into her previous masters hands.

Just then, a tumbling ball of red hair came rolling towards them, crashing directly into the white haired man and knocking him over once more. He really had absolutely no luck. First Altan crashing into him and now this man? And what was more, he was a Fanalis as well!

She caught herself staring at the newcomer silently, trying to understand what was going on. It had been so rare for her to see one of her own kind before, and now they were popping up everywhere she went! Did that mean there were more free Fanalis than enslaved one's? She wouldn't stop fighting for her cause even if this was true of course, but she found it strange still.

"A... are you two alright? Maybe... we should get off the streets. You seem to be making everyone fall all over you."
Aayla attempted to throw in a light joke, something the girl was completely horrible at as she tried to get them out of harms way.

"I think that may be best." The lightning mage said with a small smile, amused. "And to answer your question, where I come they are very strict about things like this, which is pretty stupid, but it's the way they do things where I come from. It means little if it's love to them, and they believe it is a choice when really it's not something that can be helped." Tsukiju looked down as he said this, remembering the cruel place he had been born in. The weak were cast aside by their parents, or those like Tsukiju, any child that was different was cast onto the streets and left to starve.

After listened to both Aayla and Tsukiju, the Fanalis nodded and answered, "I understand now, thank you for teaching me. I will keep it in mind." When the other red haired female suggested them to get off the streets, Altan would nod again and showing her agreement to the suggestion. It might be the reason why Tsukiju kept getting bumped by someone who coincidentally was a Fanalis like Altan. But then she remembered about Tenju and was afraid that maybe he would break things while she was gone considering how clumsy he was, so this maybe the point where she should get going now. "Ummm, I need to go back to my place, my friend is waiting for me. I hope to see all of you again, especially you, Aayla." She would smile at the woman before bowing towards them all, "Now then, see you next time." The Fanalis would then wave her hand and rushed back to her place, prayin that Tenju wouldnt break anything.

[EXIT]

Aayla was quick to step away from the road, their small group following in tow to a more safer location on the side of the busy street. The entire time they moved however, she would listen to the white haired man speak of his home and how they viewed such a thing, nodding her understanding gently. Only once they stopped, did Aayla speak up once more.

"I understand... it must not have been very easy for you."
She said gently, trying her best to think up how she could make a comparison to her own past, but she just couldn't. While they had both suffered, the suffering in itself had been different, none worse that the other in the end.

"I hope being away from your village makes things easier for you in the future... ah? Altan?"
She paused as she glanced over to the other Fanalis woman who was just now excusing her from the rag tag group. She wanted to protest Altan leaving, but clearly there was something else she needed to attend too. She waited a moment before turning back to the white haired man and gave a quick yet polite bow.

"Excuse me, good luck with your endeavors."
She would say quickly before rushing off after Altan. She couldn't solely rely on Jericho forever...

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[EXIT]