A First Meeting[Open-Non Combat please]

Walking about the city he marveled at the difference between his home Imuchakk and the city of Reim, he noticed the vast amount of people and they noticed him back. This was probably due to the fact that he seemed like a child at a festival they would easily be able to tell that he had never been to Reim before, especially since he traveled the same road multiple times.

He had no Idea where to go or what to do, but he originally came to Reim in hope to find information that he could use to help find a lead in his fathers death, even with this grim reason he did have others... like seeing the place he has heard of, to gain knowledge of the world around him for when he starts his own business , and finally just to get away from his home and memories.

He passed a couple locations that he seemed somewhat interested in checking out later to compare the qualities and cultural features of them so he wrote them down and a vague location of where they were, of course they were all taverns but he was looking for something that would make him want to go in immediately, something that stood out from the rest.

He would walk till sun down before he would make a decision as he knew no matter what part of the world you come from it was then you could see which section a businesses of the city flourished.

The teacup touched her lips as the warm tea made its way inside her mouth, wetting her dry throat and giving her a calming and warm sensation. She would then sighed a little in contempt, putting down the teacup on the table and enjoyed the busy scenery in the beautiful city of Remano. The liger who lie on the ground besides her chair waited obediently, he would growl softly, letting out a sound that almost sounded like a purr. He would lift his big paw and licked it, tasting the remaining of the sweetness there after he ate a slice of sweet cake that his master gave to him. Haku looked up at his master, wondering what was in the girl’s mind as she began to look around at the crowd of people that walked in the city.

It had been a while after Noir went out and spoil herself, well, she wouldn’t do it usually but the tea shop attracted her. She was supposed to just go out to buy some ingredients for dinner, but after she was done and she passed the street, she noticed this fancy looking tea shop. Thinking that the place is interesting, she entered it. At first all the people was surprised to see a big liger enter the shop and attempt to run away, but then the black haired girl called her liger’s name, making the liger to just sit and growl happily while rubbing his body on Noir’s feet, instantly stopping the people from panicking. It happened a lot though especially when Noir bring him out for just a casual stroll in the city, but she didn’t care about it and continue to bring her Liger out for a walk.

“Haku…” She called her liger, rubbing his head but she was staring at somewhere else. The magician looked at the tall blue haired man, who has this quite big body with all muscles stacked neatly there. There was only one race that resembles his appearance if he was not a human, an Imuchakk. She locked her gaze at the man, observing it from his head to his toe as if learning the man. The liger quickly stood up on four and growled before he ran away. “Haku?” Noir stood up, watching as the liger ran away and quickly took out the money from her pocket and put it on the table before chasing her liger.

Rawrrr…. Haku growled, making the townspeople gave him a way because they were afraid of the liger. He misinterpreted Noir’s meaning, as she only called his name to get ready and go back home. But he thought that Noir commanded him to chase after the man she stared at, and following that false command right now. He spotted the blue haired man and quickly pounced at him, but not in the ferocious way. Haku would looked back at his master, seeing her catching her breath before growling happily as if telling her that he successfully captured the man.

“Haku…” Noir gasped for air, but her eyes stared at her liger, throwing the white creature a dagger of cold glare. “Behave…” She ordered in a flat, sharpest tone and making the liger quickly stepped down from the man, letting her master to approach the man. She would then offer her hand to the man while saying, “My deepest apologize, Sir…”

Sundown was near but it was not coming quick enough, he was enjoying sightseeing but he would rather see what the night life would be like and he knew sightseeing could only amuse him for so long. He continues to walk down different streets looking at the shops as he went along. He  passed what looked to be a tea shop which usually he would stop at because he loved trying all different types of loose leaf tea, but there was an alluring smell of food he caught a waft of which impeded him from doing so.
He slowly traveled along the road trying to locate the source of the smell, but not too long into his hunt he began to hear people panicking from behind him, at first he didn’t pay any heed to it and continued onwards but he noticed that the odd person kept panicking as he kept going and he knew that he was not that scary looking so he was curious what it could be. So he turned to look at what the issue was but as he turned all that he could see was a giant whit furry thing leaping at him, and taken off guard this made him kneel down on one knee trying to catch himself, he could feel the weight of the beast and could easily see the beast was quite large but it didn’t seem as if the beast wished to hurt him, it was not aggressive at all.

Solomon took the chance to rub his face in the fur, it felt very relaxing, like the furs he had at home, suddenly interrupting his reminiscing he heard a voice calling out, “Haku” it seemed directed his way but he was unsure till he heard the order, “Behave” come out then he was entirely sure it was for the beast.
The beast stepped down from Solomon and this allowed him to identify the beast as a liger and also identify the master which approached him afterwards, she was a smaller women at least smaller than those at home, she had golden eyes like his own which he liked very much, as well as pale skin with black hair which made her look fragile in his eyes.
He found it amusing how that such a fragile women had such a large beast but he knew that in itself proved her strength, as he was thinking this she then reached out a hand saying, “My deepest apologies, Sir.”  He smiled as he accepted her hand in helping him up, as he got up he made sure not to apply to much weight on her in fear of knocking her over but also immediately took a step back once up as he knew most people did not enjoy being towered over or have so little space between them.

As he stepped back he stated, “No apologies needed, I like animals and it’s not as if he wished to do me harm.” If anything he wished to thank her for the encounter and having had the privileged to feel the fur but he thought to himself that may sound weird here.
“My name is Solomon,” he started out, “I’m new to the area so meeting with Haku can count as a good experience.” He went to pet Haku’s head at that point and then turned and asked, “Who may you be so I may better remember this encounter?”

As the man accepted her hand, she could feel that the man was not applying any weight on her as he got up. Noir would tilt her head for a while wondering why but she realized that if he applied any weight, she would be pulled to him and possibly lost her balance. ‘He is kind…’ The magician looked at the man who had the same Topaz orbs as her, seeing how it beautifully match his blue locks. But she had something else in mind as she approached the man, carefully examined his body by using her hands in case he was hurt somewhere and would back off a little bit when she found nothing, “Do you feel hurt somewhere?” She asked in a flat tone and emotionless expression, her usual one even though deep inside she didn’t mean to look cold to anyone. When the blue haired man said that meeting Haku was a good experience, Noir wondered why being pounced by a beast that looked dangerous would be count as a good experience but decided to not ask any further because she saw that the man may become fond of her liger as he pet Haku’s head.

She didn’t mind someone touching her pet as long as they understood the consequences, although there was never any dangerous situation when someone touched the white liger she had. Haku was pleased as well, letting the man touched his head and pet him. But then Haku would slightly stepped back, pulling himself away from the man’s hand when his master’s flat tone called his name again. As soon as he heard his master’s command to apologize to the blue haired man, Haku would growled softly and bringing his body near to the man. He would then rub his face on the man’s leg and then licked his finger, signaling that he was sorry for pouncing him so sudden earlier.

“Noir Ecryola… Nice to meet you…” She would immediately answer the man’s question, and continued after she bowed at the man a little bit, “May I have your name, Sir…?” Noir would wait until the man tell her his name and then she would approached him closer before taking his left hand and pulling him. Her strength was not matched with the man’s strength and her weak, vulnerable and little body couldn’t let out a strength that was strong enough to pull the man with her. She frowned a little bit, thinking that she may have to start to add some more training for her body before asking, “Do you have time, Sir…? May I treat you something as my apology…?”

Lance had just gotten off of some work he had to do at the church and thought that it was time to enjoy a bit of a walk around town. He rode on top of his giant fox, Pestis and looked around for something to do. "I may go take a job..." he said as he smiled a bit "Or at least find something to go do." he laughed a bit as it had been a few days since he had his moment inside of the church. He walked through the market places and around some different streets, hoping to pick something up that he could do.

Eventually he spied to people. A boy and a girl talking to one another. When he saw the girl he smiled a bit "So Noir's still in town." he said as he jumped off his fox and motioned for it to follow him as he confronted the two "Hey!" he had a cheerful expression on his face as he nodded to Noir and her liger and looked at the other man "Now your a face I haven't seen before." he said as he approached the man and offered his hand "The names Lance. Its nice to meet you!" he smiled at the man and backed away to go pet Pestis.

He looked at the two and smiled "Sorry if I was interrupting anything... You see I am a bit bored so I was wondering if you guys were going to go do something." he said with a slight chuckle "If you are busy I could always go and take on a job or something other." he nodded at the two and waited.

He was a little surprised at first when the women reached out and felt him with her hands but it didn't affect him too much as he was use to this, being raised in the strip club he was around many women as he grew this gave him a different perspective on how people should interact with each other, he noticed he blank expression as she did this so it seemed more of an examination then a desire. "I'm not hurt," he replied, he continued to pet Haku as he did he watched Haku obey the command. Solomon found it was amazing at how well this beast was trained but he was more interested in how cute he was. "Your forgiven." Solomon said as Haku licked the tips of his fingers.

He smiled as she bowed slightly, he wasn't accustomed to bowing, and laughed slightly as she asked for his name which he stated once prior, but he would repeat again as she possibly just missed it. "I'm Solomon King, it is pleasure to meet you." he bowed slightly. Solomon had a tendency to copy those he spoke to with gestures and wording, this was due to habit as he had to accommodated many that way at the club he grew at. As he lifted his head back up he watched her in her attempt to pull him along at first he wasn't too sure what she was doing but she then asked, “Do you have time, Sir…? May I treat you something as my apology…?” he then allowed himself to be dragged along with her, saying, "Most definitely i'm not too sure of the businesses and the best spots as of yet any how."

They were headed on there way but didn't make it too far before he heard, "Hey!" from nearby, Solomon could see a cheerful man approaching, he was much shorter then himself but rode something quite terrifying to have in town, at least Solomon believed so. It could be quite intimidating having a height quite taller then most of the things in this city, he rode upon a fox which had 5 tails and two long horns upon his head it looked similar to a demon. This man obviously had some sort of strength as well, that was easy to tell, but he also seemed to know Noir as he nodded to her with a smile. He immediately addressed Solomon and introduced himself as he offered a hand, Solomon would not give anything but kindness for kindness he accepted his hand as he replied, "The name is Solomon King, nice to meet you Lance." He watched as he went to pet his fox, and listened to what he had to say, "I have just met Noir, myself but you two seem to know one another and I'm happy to meet new people myself, I don't mind people tagging along but I will leave that up to Noir." He looked to Noir for a response and in that moment watched to see how she reacted and how he reacted to each other, it was interesting to run into two humans as he never really associated with them often coming from Imuchakk, they didn't seem too culturally different.

‘….Solomon…?’ Noir raised her eyebrow, feeling that she had heard the name before but couldn’t bring herself to remember where she had heard of it. It felt familiar in her ear, but she was sure she haven’t meet this man before so for her there was no point in asking the history behind his name. The magician would nod and pulled his hand, planning to bring him to the tea shop and treat him something delicious. Well, she believed Haku was at fault because he suddenly pouncing a man even though it was not threatening at all and since it was her pet’s fault, she was also at fault. Just like a slave, when the slave was at fault, then the master would be considered at fault too. But it was not how the girl saw her Liger, for her, Haku was not a pet nor even a slave. For her, the white liger was her light of hope, the one she cared the most right now and felt the responsibility to guide him into a right path. All that was just because she didn’t want Haku to face the same path as her past after being left all alone after his mother’s death.

After taking several steps while dragging the huge Imuchakk male along with her, Noir could hear someone’s voice that was very familiar for her. She would put the man’s hand down and nodded as the white haired man approached her and Solomon. “Good day, Mister Lance.” Noir would say to the man before reaching out her left hand to pet the fox named Pestis, “Hello cute one…” She said while gently caressing Pestis, making the liger came beside her and gave the fox a friendly greet. The white colored liger growled softly, sitting on the ground and lift his hand as if he was waving at the fox. After seeing how well her pet behaving, the yellow magician reaching out her right hand to give her pet a little rubbing on his head. “Arent you being a friendly one today, little Haku…?”

Lance’s words made Noir stood up and quickly saying while pointing at a direction, “Do you mind to go with us to that tea shop, Mister Lance?” She was happy as the Imuchakk man say that he didn’t mind at all if Lance go with them, making her carved a little smile on her face only for a few second, something that rarely happened. If the white haired man agreed to join them to the tea shop, Noir would bring them there and took a seat. “Like I mentioned before, I will treat you Mister King, so you can order anything you like. And tell me more about yourself… Is it a long journey from Imuchakk to Reim?” She would like at Solomon with eyes that was filled with a sparkle of curiosity, something that resembles a child stare to something new. She met a few Imuchakk before in the slavery, but never before she was as close to one like this.

Lance looked at the man and smiled as he shook the mans hand. "You too Solomon!" he wore a smile on his face has he laughed a bit. Solomon had just met Noir so it seemed and Lance was happy to make new friends so he nodded and smiled. He really was trying to change himself. Being mean to everyone just because his mom was killed was not right. He was trying to learn new ways to cope with his moms death as well as his friends deaths.

Pestis was happy with all the attention he was getting and gently knelt down to nudge his cheek on the people around him. When Haku raised his paw Pestis gently nodded to the liger and raised his paw as well. The fox was five meters tall and towered over the group but he was still able to love.

Lance looked at Noir as she explained that they were going to be going to a tea shop. Lance clapped his hands together and smiled "Perfect." he said with a gentle look his eyes. He followed them happily and took a seat when they arrived. He had never really met or even talked to an Imuchakk before so he was fairly interested in Solomon. Lance was basically studying the world at this point in time so his office was filed with jars of specimens, Ruhk, and other objects that would help him better understand what this world was.

He listened to Noirs question with interest then turned his head towards the man in front of him "Yes please do answer... I am interested in learning more about Imuchakks as I have never met one myself." he said as he leaned forwards on the table, eyes filled with curiosity and the lust to learn.

Solomon decided he would accept her offer for him to pick anything as he did not have a lot of money himself, he has just been doing the odd jobs here and there since he arrived to have shelter and the food he needed. Whenever the waitress would come over he would order a cup of Jade dragon jasmine tea with a toasted cheese croissant. “It is not too long of a journey; it is about the same distance from here to Magnostadt, if you’re more familiar with that place. However it is very much different, there are more beasts then men and it is a lot colder there with a vast amount of snow.” He did not really know what else to say since it was normal to him, “Did you want to know anything in particular?” He looked at both of them as he spoke, both their eyes filled with curiosity, “I’m not sure what is normal to you compared to what is normal to me. Other then it looks like most people from here are a lot smaller and I have not seen any hunters yet either.” He knew things were to be different when he left but in comparison things were very different.

“If you would like to know anything I shall gladly share, I left some time ago though so some things may have changed, and I do not plan on going back in the near future as I wish to explore the world and see its differences.” He looked as if he traveled of in thought as he finished the sentence. He paused for a moment before snapping himself back to the conversation, he wasn’t willing to share his troubles with anyone just yet. “What about you guys, tell me how you’ve come across such a creature.” He smiled to Lance as he asked then afterwards looking to Noir, “And can you tell me a bit about this place and Kou?”

‘More beasts….? And a lot colder?’ The magician’s eyes would sparkle as she was very interested in the Imuchakk man’s story. There was so many question stored in her mind the moment Solomon finished his story, “Are most of the man and woman there as big as you? And… what kind of beasts live there? Also, they say that Imuchakk was once a pirate tribe, is that true? And does all Imuchakk really have blue hair?” She would ask him question but decided to stop it first and not letting her curiosity to make the man became uncomfortable because of her endless questions.

The girl looked at her liger when the man asked how they meet with their pet, then gazing back to the Imuchakk man and said, “The King helped me to find him… we found his mother died after protecting him from the hyena…and we become close after he followed me after we spent some time together.” She didn’t want to share anymore details as by just remembering how she recalled her lost memories and how Haku’s mother died, she felt the pain in her heart and unconsciously reaching out her hand to tug Lance’s sleeves unnoticeably from below. She would then realize what she did and quickly let go of the white haired man’s sleeves, wondering why she did that to Pestis’ master. Solomon looked at Noir and the girl noticed it, quickly replying him without any pause to think, “This place is a peaceful kingdom, the king even erased the slavery here… He is a very kind and strong man too. While Kou…” She paused, wondering what she should share, “I was brought to Kou when I was still a slave… so not much I can share about Kou because they never allow me to go out that much… all I know is… they have a very beautiful building structure… and it was kind of harsh at that time back there in Kou, but I am not sure.” After that, she would wait for Lance to share his story and waited for what he was going to say.

Lance listened to Solomon with interest as he nodded "So its cold... fitting..." he said with a calm smile as he then listened to Noirs question about the girls over there and the blue hair. This topic interested him a lot but that was enough about Imuchaak for now as he was asked a question to answer. He would question more about this place later as more and more questioned filled his mind.

He smiled as he looked at Pestis "Well, he was bought for me by someone who works at the church I run." he said with a smile "The persons name is Rose, a good friend of mine." he gently pat Pestis on the head "The merchant said he came from a dungeon... now whether I believe that or not is a different story." he pet the five meter tall fox and smiled warmly "Pestis has stuck by me through the thick and thin... He is one of my closest partners." At this point Lance looked at Pestis with a new found warmth in his purple eyes. They almost seem to glimmer with nostalgia as he looked at the fox.

He stayed like this for a few seconds before shaking his head and chuckling "About Reim and Kou... Reim is a good place to be. Hell, I run a church here in Reim were I take care of some Orphans that think of me as some sort of god... it was their idea but I think its cute." he laughed a bit as he shook his head as he thought "I don't necessarily know anything about Kou as I have never been out of either Heliohapt or Reim." he wanted to go traveling throughout the world one day but he just had no time between taking care of the Orphans and trying to make money so he can provide for them.

Solomon smiled at that curiosity, "Most men and women there are about my size yes, but the men generally are slightly larger as it is here, there are some other men that are taller then myself and some shorter as well." He thought to himself, there were many beasts that lived there, "Well some beasts for example, would be just basic wolves, yetis, rampaging unicorns, freezing slugs, frost guardians and many more, just as I assume there are many beasts around these and other parts nearby. Solomon could easily tell that she wished to ask many more questions about the region he came from but stopped for the moment to reply to his, "Hmm, like a unbreakable bond to me, I think it would be amazing to have such a partner as Haku." he said as he smiled to her "... and this king he sounds like a good person to abolish slavery, and to be king he must be strong... at least that's the way it was from where I am from. If you were not strong enough you would not be followed. I am quite curious, hopefully some time in the future I may run into this king."

He did not bring up the topic of her being a slave in the past as it may bring up many painful memories, he knew how the pain is best forgotten even he wished he could, but he did clearly hear here and slotted that away in his mind in case she ever needed the support or assistance. He looked to Lance, "The cold was very fitting for me, at least I was use to it compared to here, it seems to be quite hot in comparison." He would listen to Lances story of how he met Pestis and smile contently as he did, he showed a genuine curiosity when he mentioned a merchant which carried the creatures from dungeons, he immediately wanted to find this merchant to get his own, but then slightly pouted as he realized he was poor.

He thought of this man to be very interesting as he heard that he raised orphans at a church, he did not know very many powerful holy men. "What is the belief of your church?" he asked afterwards. " He waved his hand as if swaying off the idea, "That's ok, I was just curious to know of a land I may be traveling to so I may know what to expect. Would rather not have conflict for no reason if I may avoid it, wanted to check who are allies, and enemies and such but I will find out as I go along." He would then eat his cheese croisant that was brought over without him realizing, "This server must be talented in the arts of stealth or I was just really sucked into this conversation" he thought and he would sip his tea to check if it was proper temperature for him to drink yet.

He would looked to them as they socialized with each other, and look to there pets, "it must be nice to have someone you can rely on... maybe I shall find one of these dungeons in search of my own companion... but one of my main goals of traveling would be that I wish to start my own tavern, and am in search of the best location and picking up information as I go along to help with that."

“I want to travel to Imuchakk some time…” she murmured, feeling very amazed with all the varieties of the creature existed there. And she would love to see any other bigger men and women who might be bigger than Solomon and Ani, so she couldn’t wait and added it to her mental next-to-visit list. Even when she heard it was very cold, she thought it was a good chance for her to train herself and Haku there, as she believe that harsh terrain would help them a lot quicker and making themselves learning to survive that harsh climate.

She is delighted when the Imuchakk man praised the king, she agreed with what Solo said and gave him a visible small smile. Then she listened to Lance’s story, she would answered back, “Besides all the desert and heat, I didn’t recall what kind of city it was Mister Lance. Do you mind to tell me more about Heliohapt?” Noir said while looking at the white haired man even though she was little distracted when the waiter serving their order before. Her Reim’s Signature dumplings were already served and there was this kind steam puffing out from the dumplings, making the girl couldn’t wit anymore to taste the food. The magician loved food as it was the first thing that made her feel warmness after she escaped from the slavery, but then if she remembered Solomon’s face, she could notice a hint of holding himself back shown on his face. Noir appreciated it, but for her who already accepted it, it was no problem to bring it out in the conversation, but she was not sure about Lance.

“….tavern…? Why do you want to build a tavern?” She asked back while tilting her head, never thought this kind of strong man would want to build a tavern.

Solomon smiled at Noir as she murmured that she wished to visit Imuchakk, he had nothing against the place itself, to him however there were just too many bad memories there. He would listen to what Lance had to say, and then reply to Noir and her previous question, "Many men are strong and they are out to achieve many great things, I myself just wish to create a tavern and a strip club, but the main reason is I wish to create myself a business." His actual main purpose he did not wish to be laughed at or share his past, he just wished to create his own family.

"What about yourself? Do you aspire for any great goal?" he asked curiously to the both of them, he would finish off his biscuit and tea as they talked, after hearing what they would he would then discuss with them about it further and some plans he had made to start off his business. They would chat till the sun began to set, "I think that would be our queue for heading out, it was a pleasure to meet the both of you. I hope our paths shall cross once more." He shook lances hand as he talked and kissed the back of Noirs hand, he would then travel onto the road and wave as he walked away.

[Solomon Exits]

She looked at the Imuchakk man in awe, liking the simplicity this man had and noticing the potential that the men besides her got. She was contempt, pleased that she was able to become friend to such interesting people like Lance and Solomon. But she was curious about something and wanting to ask about it before stopping herself when the Imuchakk asked about their aspiration. “For me… ending the slavery…” She said slowly in a low volume, knowing her strength might be still not enough to actually working on her goal right now but she was on the right track to be stronger. The cold wind breezed to her, caressing her cheek and made her feel a little cold. When Solomon bid them farewell and kissed the back of her hand, she tilted her head, wondering why he did that and what does that kind of kiss mean. It was too late as the Imuchakk male already gone and she stared at the sky, ‘It’s almost dark…’ She mumbled before staring at the white haired male. “I will be going home now too, Mister Lance. Goodbye…” Noir bowed down before gesturing Haku to follow her and left… going back to her home sweet home.

[exit]