Friends in Strange places (Social) Cyrus/Oliver

Cyrus woke up late in the afternoon after trekking through the vast bamboo forests of Kou all through the night, he was very tired. looking down from the cliff he was on, he saw a new city in the distance, finally! its probably where his sister is. it was the reason for coming all this way, to help he fight in the war. but Cyrus didn't feel like fighting. He had already seen the carnage and was reluctant to participate in the conflict any further. Instead, he wanted to help people. remain completely neutral and make sure that both sides could have access to treatments during the war and after, create a smooth transition this was easier said than done of course, so Cyrus thought about it as he moved to the city. Finding a new place to sit in a park the orange haired vagabond would relax and people watch just thinking about random stuff.

"What in the bloody hell--who the hell gives a job to find a special patch of bamboo that's supposedly better for woodwork than the rest? IN A FOREST OF BAMBOO?"

Oliver Oxford, Runaway of Magnostadt, was justifiably annoyed. Sure he needed the money and experience to prove himself to his mentor that he was better suited to become a better assassin, but to be given a cryptic job as this? He clutched his forehead in his palm, fingers splayed across his hairline, thumb underneath his left eye. He could only grumble as he used his Big Dipper to move the heavy branches growing from the ground out of the way as he moved through the thicket. On his back was a quiver filled up with several shafts of bamboo, of a considerably darker and richer color. The sound of bamboo stalks smacking against one another could be heard as the ashen haired blonde boy made it through to a clearing.

"Would it bloody well kill anyone to make a damn walkway through this forest? Damn near squeezed to death every step I take by glorified grass!" This was followed by a string of made up expletives that would make even a sailor feel ashamed to have ears.

Making his way back into town eventually, Oliver turned in his findings, and collected enough money to get a nice hot meal to take out for the evening. Why? It was a nice night! The weather was great! The first thing he thought was that he would get some skewers of meat spiced and treated with savory flavors. He would take that box of food with himself to the park and sit down on a bench, nearby a small pond where koi fish would usually leap out of the water and splash back into it. In that park was one orange haired individual, the only one of whom stuck out to Oliver aside from all of the dark haired Kou citizens. The writer in him just screamed to look at this person and talk to them.

Approaching the orange haired person, Oliver spoke with a skewer of meat hanging from his mouth, "Sumfin got you down?" Of course it came out strange as he spoke with food hanging from his mouth, not in the process of chewing.

The orange haired man did not really pay attention to the man muttering to himself as he walked up towards him. Slowly he realized that he was being spoken to. "Oh umm...ya just getting some logistics suff figured out" he debated with himself if he was going to divulge the rest of his plans...despite his rough exterior, he seemed like someone who could be interested in what he had to say. he looked up at the young man "Well, I am trying to plan an organization to help stop this carnage or at least give people the ability to help treat them."

Cyrus looked down, half smiling as to the things that he just said. He had just revealed his deepest desires to some one who he had never met before. How very unlike him. perhaps this war had already broken him. He needed to have to talk to someone finally acknowledging his need for human interaction for the first time since he had gotten here. Looking back up again, Cyrus would ask about this other young man anther person who looked like a vagabond like himself. "So what are you here for?" Cyrus asked cocking his head like a curious bird, "You don't seem to be someone who benefits from this war at all"

Oliver, who took the cutlet of meat on a stick from his mouth, ruminated on what he was here for, looking off to the sky as he pondered the question.  This person was here to build a relief group for those that were about to be put out of place by this war, whenever it was to start. It was an admirable, albeit morbid thing to do.  Enough that Oliver moved to sit down next to the person while he contemplated his own decision for being in Kou.

This person didn't seem like they were any sort of mercenary, or he could just be losing his cautious side from all of the interesting characters he had run in to up to this point. But he looked over when it was suggested he might not benefit from the war.

"Stories." That was all he said at first, putting his meat skewer back in the box with the others, looking out at the koi pond as the orange and white fish danced with each other.  The moonlight reflected off the rippling surface as Oliver closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked over at this new person, opening to reveal their garnet color, "I'm gonna benefit from finding the most interesting people, learning from their stories, and making a real good character for the book I'm writing. Of course the aftermath of all of this is gonna be dog-shite. But when it comes to conflict, the best you can do is suggest the big heads to fight out somewhere there won't be that much damage or casualties."

Oliver shrugged and grabbed one of the skewers he hadn't touched, and offered one to the orange haired individual. "People normally ask for names for their first question by the way, a bit of a lesson for future interactions if you intend to meet them more than once." Was he hinting that he was already interested in learning more about this person? Who knew? Oliver knew, or maybe even he didn't know. Maybe his mind was just that confusing that no one could really tell what he was thinking. A mind reader would likely hear multiple thoughts at once.

Cyrus, being a very guarded person hesitated about giving his name but since he was asked he wouldn't be rude. "Its Cyrus, my name is Cyrus Argentum I'm from Riem. I'm sorry but  I don't belive I know your name either..." Cyrus turned his head the other way as if to think about something to say.

"Stories...you would come to a war zone for stories?" he looked at the young man directly now, "That's admirable a you going to tell the stories of the poor people that are dying in the war in an attempt to help quell the conflict?" Cyrus asked hopefully in an uncharacteristically reasoned manner perhaps they could help each other after all He, as one point was a bard singing tunes of his travels before leaving that life all together to pursue many different paths. needless to say, he was in intrigued by the man. "please, sit down lets talk a bit more you seem rather interesting."

Cyrus gestured to the young man to sit down he wanted to talk to him a bit more he could use some more allies before he found his sister and her husband in order to fully get his plan up and running properly. "Still though, there are many stories that you can tell in this big country of Kou do you have anything in mind?" he would shift both of his eyes both ways before asking the second part of his question "or are you in the business of looking for a more fantastical story like a dungeon..." he would squint his eyes in curiosity he was interested in seeing what his new acquaintance was interested in perhaps they would go on a dungeon adventure together he half hoped...

Oliver rolled his eyes, this person could have mentioned that he didn't introduce himself to start off and call him out on his own words, but it was okay. Smiling, Oliver sat down next to the orange haired ruffian.

"Of course I would come to a war zone for stories on how battles are carried out. How else am I supposed to make my own world if I don't see what there is to see in this one?" Oliver set his food box down next to himself, bracing his palms on the bench while looking up at the starry night sky.

"I'm not here to recount their stories, they are going to turn their survivors into legends on their own, that's the point of surviving a war, to recount the memories of the fallen. Not my place to relive their memories for them."

"I am here for the essence of war however." What did he mean by that? Well Cyrus was about to find out. He still hadn't given his name oddly enough, and the color of his eyes seemed to change from amber to garnet. "Well I want to write a book myself, obvious enough as is. But I want to write a book of a genre and world the kind this world hasn't seen before. I want to be the trendsetter that makes everyone think about what could be, and inspire people to try and repeat it in practice or in writing. The one that gets the gears moving so to speak."

"And of course I need to see a dungeon. I want to see seven of them," oddly enough, the first time he told someone about that dream it was one dungeon, then it was three, then five, now seven, "From what I hear they're out of this world. So I don't want to be accused of plagiarism of the work of another person."

There would be some silence, a few shooting stars and the breeze blowing to keep them warm yet refreshed, "It's Oliver by the way. Oliver Oxford, from the Oxfords of Magnostadt."

That was the first time he confidently told someone about his family name and who they were, he was certain they wouldn't send a single person to drag him back home, so this person didn't seem like a mercenary.

As Cyrus listened to the young man reasoning for why he was in Kou during the hight of a civil war, he was surprised at the young man's ambition at wanting to see seven dungeons for he himself only wanted to see only one maybe even two if he could but seven! that was unimaginable to him places so rare he figured must be one in a lifetime events. Still, it made Cyrus even more intrigued..."what would you do if you captured a dungeon anyway let alone seven? Seems like overkill if you ask me," He said has he looked up at the greyish sky and chuckled dryly.

After Oliver introduced himself, he would wonder aloud, "Magnostadt...but you don't look like a mage...its where my younger brother lives and isn't  all magic users there?"this young blonde man was getting even more interesting by the minute he was even more interested in getting to know this traveller

Oliver had to answer the questions in reverse order. he sat down back against the bench, reclining all the way back, eyes closed and hair falling from his face with his attention turned skyward. "You'd think that, with the country being known for magicians. But the thing is, they like to call non magic folk goi. And they like to keep them behind the scenes or doing menial labor with magic tools. I actually come from a family of magicians but no I am not one."

"The son of a grand magician and nobleman, born without any power to show for himself." He chuckled at the irony and opened one eye, showing the garnet color to Cyrus as he looked at the orange haired person, "If I manage to conquer one myself? I'm showing it off back home, showing that goi aren't useless and that I deserve to be treated as more than a bargaining chip for political marriage."

"After this war blows over, I might head to Balbaad, or Reim."

Cyrus would see that Oliver's eyes had turned a deep shade of red a stark contrast to his pale green. Enjoying the breeze, Cyrus turned to Oliver "Balbadd's a nice place if you know where to go...there was a dungeon there not too long ago but I missed it" looking down at the ground as the wind rushed through his orange hair, Cyrus stated, "Frankly, I wouldn't mind a place with a better climate I could use a nice beach"  he chuckled a little as he shifted a bit on the bench "Riem isn't bad either there is a lot to explore plus you can really hone your skills at the coliseum if you like. " Cyrus thought about what he was going to do next obviously he have to find his sister and brother in law in order to start his business of at least vaguely trying to save the world. Figuring that he should get back to trying to implore his sister to not fight in, he said "Well, if I do find a dungeon I'll be sure to let you know. I've had quite a few near misses in my wanderings I've always been just a bit too late to the party if you know what I mean...besides its probably dangerous to go it alone I know very few people who went in by themselves and ended up unscathed" Cyrus got up and stretched "if you ever need a scythe user all be around." he would wait to hear what Oliver had to say before he would make his way back home the day was coming to a close and he wanted to get some training in before there was no light left.

"Sounds like a plan, if you ever have need of a lad who's speciality is agitating the shite out of the enemy, come swing my way will ya?" He would wave off Cyrus as the orange haired fellow would leave.

When he was alone, Shinra took his time to start eating away into his kebabs, "They've gone cold. Bugger. They were still quite edible, and he contemplated the things he had spoken about with this new person he met talked about. Reim and Balbaad, two places to travel to after he finished up what he was doing in the country of Kou.

No matter where he was going to be going, he would have to go past his home land. Oliver leaned forward, hands on the back of his head and eyes toward the ground as he considered just how the hell he was going to go through that plan.

After a while, Oliver would get up, and head back to his room at the inn, figuring it was best to sleep on it.

-Exit-