Yu-Gi-Oh! The Exiles [In Character, PG-13, Started, accepting]

[BANZAI!!!!]

 The OOC link: http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/300299-yu-gi-oh-the-exiles-ooc-thread-pg-13-not-started-accepting-co-hosted-by-majoras/

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Opening Theme: Soul Society, Kamelot

 

Gaea. The largest, safest city on Earth. Her white walls protecting all who call her home from the harshness of the world in which she was constructed. On this, the eighteenth anniverary of her birth, she glimmered in the sunlight, the silvery metal of her buildings relfecting the warmth of the cloudless spring day. The whole of her populace rejoiced, for their city had protected them for the better part of two decades. In short, she wass a beacon of hope in this harsh, scorched world, and today wass a day to celebrate that beacon. True to form, this celebration had, once again, taken the form of a competition in which the best duelists from around the world vied for supremacy.....

 

The whole town was alive with tourists, vendors, and of course, the miltary police. The congested streets clogged with pedestrians trying to get from point A to point B. It was like this every year around this time, but this year was especially busy. The annual duel tournament held in honor of the city's, and by extention, CONSNT's founding was larger than ever this year. Repesenttatives from both Ophia and Kinsfeld flocked to Gaea to participate and take part in the festivities. Even the Exiled duel spirits, whom usually saw little point in the human festivites, were having a good time. Dragons and Winged Beasts danced in the air above the streets, Warriors and Spellcasters entertained patrons with dazzlieing dipalys of magic and swordcraft (for a fee of course), and Fiends swindled unliucky tourists with rigged carnival games. The whole town seemed to have come out to enjoy itself and take a break from the arduous work of living in a post-apocalyptic world.

 

 

The Hydra sports complex, so named becasue of its nine interconnected arenas, stood imposingly in front of Zane Marcer as he slowly made his way through the crowded street. He checked his white duel disk again, making sure his deck was still where it was supposed to be. After all, one could never be too careful, especially with this deck. It had been a long week of travel for him, and the crowd was becoming a little to much to handle for his weary body. Still, he soldiered on through the throngs of people, saying hello to the few who recognized him from the televised qualifying tournamnets. He even signed an autograph.

 

As he neared the front gate, the world around him suddenly grew dark. Quickly, instinctively, he reached for the top card of his deck, but stopped himself when he saw the shadow's familiar, draconic shape. He turned around to face the white Dragon that landed just a few feet behind him. The beast looked down at him with its pale, reptillian eyes, a toothy grin on its face. "Hey there, Astrum." Zane said, putting a hand on his hip. "I almost thought you left me stranded here. Find what you were lookinfor?" Almost immeadiately, a deep, calm voice echoed in Zane's head. Other people in the immedite vicinity turned their heads toward the two; they could also hear the voice. However, most of them kept on their merry way after laying eyes on the speaker.

 

"I found a bite to eat, if thats what you were asking, Zane. Took awhile because most food vendors aren't used to dragons buying hot dogs, obviously." The dragon let out a gruff "hmph" to finish the retort.

 

"Well, great. C'mon, we have to go let them know that we're here at least. I haven't slept in an actual bed in four days and I want to get to my room." Zane replied, shrugging it off.

 

"You humans and your beds. I've already found my perch for the next two weeks. And, before you ask, yes, I did register myslef at Hunter HQ. They tagged me."

 

"Thats good. Well, lets go. The first round starts today, and i'll be damned if we're in the first match and don't make it." With that, Zane led his partner up to the front gate...

 

After checking in and registering his and Astrum's identification with the tournament staff, the pair was led to a competitior's dormitory between arena's five and six. Zane quickly brought up all of his belongings to the room he was assigned on the third floor. Astrum, meanwhile, had done some flying around the immeadite area in order to get better aquainted with the city. He met his partner outside the dormitory about a hour after registration. "So, whats the plan?" Asked the dragon.

 

"Well, we won't know what the brakets are for another hour, so why don't we go check out a place to eat or something?"

 

"Am I going to have to buy my own food again?"

 

"Why are you still on that?"

 

"Because it was awkward for me and the vendor. They don't expect dragons to be able to buy food, let alone telepathically speak fluent english."

 

"You need to quit bitching. Anyway, yeah, I'll buy. See anywhere in particular from on high?"

 

"The competitor's lounge in that building over there has a food court. We have to wait there for the braket announcement anyway. Didn't you read the information sheet?"

 

"Of course I did! Ugh. Lets go." Zane hung his head slightly in defeat. Why did Astrum always get the last laugh?

 

The competitors lounge was a large, high ceilinged room with plenty of couches, benches and tables for the duelsits gathered there. Like Astrum said, there was a food court over in one corner, and there were Tv's all over the walls for teh competitors to watch the matches and recieve scheduleing information. "Listen, Astrum. I'm gonna go get some food for us: the usual if i can get it. Make yourself at home and don't get into trouble ok?"

 

"You don't get into trouble, Zane Marcer. Try not to step on any toes just yet ok? I don't want to have to face down another Blue-eyes again."

 

"Yeah, yeah. Wise guy...." With that, Zane stormed off to the food court to buy dinner.

[Serenade]

Leah walked into the terrifyingly large plaza, filled to the brim with people, practically in the shadow of Justice. She had only recently met Justice, but she completely trusted him. Leah felt she could only return the favor by gripping on to her shoulder bag as tight as she could; she did want to lose Justice's card in such a crowded area. That simply would not be fair to him. Leah gently brushed two loose bangs in front of her eyes to the side of her face and behind her ear as she looked up to Justice; he had very determined eyes; he was here for something. She was almost afraid to ask him what it was, considering they hadn't know each other for that long. She was simply here for a duel tournament; she had hoped to perhaps find a new card she would enjoy putting in her collection; of course now, she would need to assemble a proper deck for her new friend; before him, she had a completely different deck.

 

"Justice?" Leah spoke quietly; she did not want to startle him, "Are you feeling hungry at all?" Leah gently motioned over to the building where her section of competitors would be. Truth be told, she was feeling rather hungry, but she did not want to bother Justice if he had better plans for the day, she could wait. She did want to find some cards for her new deck with Justice in it, though, and a crowd of duelists is probably the best place to start looking.

[Wave_Sine]

He had gotten up early, competed his morning exercise regimen, showered, and watched the news, just like any other day. However, unlike most other days, Sgt. Davidson had something planned beyond his usual routine that he had instinctively fallen into. Most days, he would drive to the CONSNT "Monster Hunter Base" and help guide new recruits in how to properly respond to and Exile emergency. Today, and a few weeks before, he'd requested time off to compete in the anniversary tournament. He figured that he had to have fun some time, given how straightforward his life had been for a few years, and also decided that he could help whatever security staff CONSNT assigned to the tournament by being there as a competitor, closer to the action should something occur.

He walked around inside the expansive sports complex, almost unconsciously noting weaknesses in the building's fortifications should something try to break in, or out, and had actually gotten somewhat lost. Guess my internal compass needs recalibrating. Stopping to get his bearings, he instinctively felt around his belt for the combat knife he knew should be there. He hoped that he wouldn't have to use it or even grab it, but it's presence helped ease his nerves about all of the Exiles that were around. He also had a few cards, not actually in his Deck, stored in a pocket in case he needed them, but had a similar hope that he wouldn't have to.

Starting to walk again, he saw someone with a white Duel Disk appearing to argue with a large Stardust Dragon as he hurried past. Civilian must be a competitor. Hope he's on the up'n'up, that dragon's probably his... With that in mind, Sgt. Davidson changed direction to follow the duelist and dragon, and arrived in the lounge after them. Checking his own Disk and deck, he walked over to one of the TVs, and waited for bracket information.

[a coffee]

(OOC: Being Co-GM has all the perks in a life a guy could want; I can make rules and do stuff as I please, and I don't have to right obnoxiously long entrance posts.)

 

Joe looked around the Competitors' Lounge for anything suspicious in his CONSNT brand hat, wearing a Dr. Fizzer soda brand T-Shirt, and blue jeans, ripped up at the knees. Truth be told, he might look a little suspicious himself. Being so tall, he was able to see over a majority of the crowd, and from a far, he could have sworn he saw the Sarge. Joe decided to walk through the crowd, making his way over to him.

 

"Sarge!" Joe yelled in his usually deep, gruff tone, trying to get his attention. He had met the Sarge many times before; after all, Joe has been a monster hunter his entire life, and Sarge has been around for a while. He loved talking to the Sarge and hearing about all of his time in the military. To make sure he heard him, Joe shouted, even louder, one more time as he was approaching; "Sergeant Davidson! Sarge over here!" In all of his excitement, he had completely lost Brione.

 

Whatever, he can totally help himself.

[TwilightSoul]

Justice entered the immaculate city of Gaea, alongside Leah of course.  As the pair entered the city, Justice placed a firm grip on the hilt of his sword. He took a moment to view his surroundings. He was checking for anything, or anyone who may pose as a threat to Leah. Once he deemed the area safe a sense of relief filled him. He released his hold on the towering blade, which was strapped to his back. Justice was known as Silent Swordsman level seven, in the game of duel monsters. However, in this world he was an Exile bound to Leah. He had just met the frail girl but he shared a strong bond with her. So strong that he vowed to protect her with his life.

 

Justice viewed the humans and monsters coinciding as one. He personally did believe that the monsters should exist in this world but he still enjoyed the peace that the two were able to create. He was so focused on the people around him , he almost missed Leah's question. As she spoke the world around him became silent, until only her words existed.

 

"What is it Leah?"  He questioned telepathically.

               

After hearing Leah's question, Justice simply stared at her. He peered into the foggy blue pools, which made up her eyes. He did not have to gaze at her for long, because the purity behind her words were clear to him. Truthfully he did not want to eat but, he was worried about Leah's well being. The two have been traveling for awhile and she did deserver a rest. A small smile graced his face.

 

"I guess I am hungry. Shall we?" He said telepathically in his usual calm, yet soothing voice.

[M-Cube]

Mathias practically had kicked down the door out of the hotel after he had completed his registration and quickly dropped off his belongings in his room on the third floor. He wandered into the bustling plaza with a "swagger" that reflected his obnoxious attitude. Looking around at all the various people, he could tell that there were plenty of tough duelists who had entered the tournament, many with Exiles under their command. None of the duelists were as tough as him of course, and he was looking forward to eventually mopping the floor with these amateurs. He recognized a few from the headlines, but none were really noteworthy, not that he remembered their names anyway. Besides, he had just finished in first in the tournament back home; he could handle anybody.

That's when he noticed her. It was a girl, an incredibly fragile looking thing, talking to a tall swordsman. He noticed her light blue eyes behind some large square-rimmed glasses, her pale lips, and the beautiful brown hair that, even in a ponytail, complimented her almost cherubic face. Matt couldn't help but stare. He took a step forward, and...

Mathias shook his head. He didn't come here to fall in lust with some broad from across the plaza. He came here to duel! And there's nothing more important than a duel. Still, she definitely was a duelist. That swordsman she's speaking to was one of the silent swordsman monsters. Clearly she controls an exile. He couldn't just approach her with that dude standing there. The Swordsman looked like he wanted to chop up the first person to come near them.

"I'll just follow 'em and stand from afar, I guess." Matt mumbled to himself. Even as he did lean up against a wall in an attempt to look as suave as ever, he couldn't help but keep a stupid grin on his face.

[Wave_Sine]

Having heard his name called by a familiar voice, Sgt. Davidson turned to see a tall young man wearing a CONSNT hat and civilian clothes shouting over the noise that had started to build up. Deciding to look back at the screens later, he walked over to the owner of the voice. "Yo, Joe! I haven't seen you in a while, been busy with newer recruits. Kids these days..." Sgt. Davidson trailed off, trying to think of a conversation topic that didn't involve work quite as much. "Anyway, you're participating too? It'll be nice to see a familiar face out there; the competition looks fierce." He gestured with his rugged Duel Disk toward the gathering duelists. "It'll also be good to have backup if anything goes down out there. Speaking of which, I haven't seen your partner today. Did you lose him or something?" His facial expression sank slightly with these last sentences, just enough to be noticeable.

[BANZAI!!!!]

"Yeah, can I get bigger container for that?" Zane asked as the worker behind the counter worked to fill a large box with raw meat specifically put there to feed Draconic Exiles. "I got nothin' bigger, kid. I'll just give you two ok?"

 

"Yeah... Thanks." Zane wasn't amused. After seven years, it had really started to bother him how much Astrum ate, but he couldn't really do anything about it. Astrum had to eat what he had to eat, and that was that. Usually, he'd hunt, but that was impossible in a large city like this, so the Dragon was forced to subsist on meat provided by Human farmers.  Either way, Thinking about It certainly didn't make carrying two boxes of meat and his own meal any easier. Being unable to balance the three at once, Zane decided to make two trips, and the first went off without a hitch. "Here's some food, you fatass." He said half jokingly to his partner, who greedily began to devour the morsels.

 

Zane sighed and shook his head as he walked back toward the counter that he'd left the other container of meat on with his own meal. "Man, that dragon is gonna bankrupt me one of these days!" He thought angrily to himself. Zane was completely absorbed in his thoughts, and wsn't paying very much attention to where he was walking. It didn't take long for him to feel the impact of his leg colliding with another individual's and the next thing he knew he was on the floor. Face-first. About a second later, after recovering from the shock of the fall, Zane lifted his head looked over at who he had tripped on. Standing before him was an odd looking pair. Most imposing was a tall man in a navy overcoat whocarried a very large sword. Zane could only assume that he was the one he had tripped over, on account of the fact that the other person's leg had not given out and that the other person, a girl, was probably too small to have kept her balance had he tripped over her foot instead. Zane looked up at them, his face beet red from embarrasment. "I'm really sorry about that!" He said as he began to stand up.

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

The streets were quite busy, it was a good thing Seth and Selina had taken the time earlier in the day to go to the lounge, where Seth had been sitting for quite a while drinking his "Blue-eyes coffee" and reading the newspaper while his younger sister Selina had commandeered one of the TV's and hooked up her game console to play around a few duels with people across the city, the only time she didn't have to worry about a giant Dragon whipping people with Tentacles. "Big Brother......Big brother.....Onii-chan.......Onii-chan......" she pestered him while winning her online duel. "You promised it wouldn't be more then an hour.....we've been here for three...." she said with an exasperated tone, slouching on the couch she was in, as she was luckily distracted by something else. "Oooooh, Exiles!" she said giddily as she looked at the Rogue and Bound Exiles that had come to live with the people of Gaea, she loved the small ones, she loved the scary ones, but despite her huge love for plants, she loved the majesty of the Dragons, they always seemed so regal, and coming into the lounge she thought she saw a Stardust. "Oh My~" she cooed as she jumped off her seat and started skipping to get a better look "be right back Big Bro~" She said as she was already gone, seemed her afterimage had said it.

 

On the other hand the older brother was sizing up the competition, this was a tournament to decide the skills of the current members of CONSNT, and that was something his sister seemed to forget constantly, he didn't really have time to meet new people and establish bonds with other members as the banners and posters said, but for now, there was no threat, and with this many Monster Hunters, he doubted that any Exiles would attack during the tournament, they weren't stupid after all, he knew that from experience......

 

"Seth.....has the tournament begun yet?" he heard telepathically from the rafters where the larger Exiles normally were kept "These conditions are pitiful.....they expect me to take this perch again like I'm just any other Dragon....."

 

"I get it, quit whining Noxus, they don't have the time to deal with your crap right now" he responded while placing his hand on his chest, where he kept Noxus' card in a pocket and a hardened sleeve, calling himself the "King of all Dragons" was an overstatement, but it was definitely a title that couldn't be argued at the moment. "Like I told Selina, it'll be soon, they're waiting for the Stragglers to gather....." Seth said solemnly, as he took another sip of his coffee.

 

"OH MY RA A STARDUST!!!" Selina yelled nearly at the top of her lungs (she has a lot of lung capacity too.....*sigh*) as she saw the white Dragon and began circling him. "So cool, I always wanted to see a stardust! your wings look amazing! I'm Selina, what;s your name?" she said as an unending torrent of questions came one after the other while probably leaving the large dragon dizzy. She stopped to admire him, as people were staring, some at her crazy attitude and a couple at the fact her chest jiggled with every move...just to add on to the awkwardness..........

[BANZAI!!!!]

Argentum Astrum recoiled in surprise as he was suddenly accosted. He accidentally swallowed the chunk of meat he had just been muching on, and it made a loud noise as it dissapeared down his long neck. He gagged a little as it went down, but was then able to regain his composure and asseess what was actually going on as Selina finished her flurry of questions. The girl asked them almost too fast for him to comprehend them, but a quick solution to this problem crossed his mind. With a swift movement, the dragon moved his long right wing into the girl's path, stopping her orbit around him as she made contact with it.  Once he had finally been able to get a clear look at her, Astrum flashed his teeth in a draconic grin when he heard her compliment his wings. Back home in the spirit world, to compliment a Stardust Dragon on his wings was the simplest way to befriend him. Astrum's voice echoed in Selina's mind. "You're quite energetic for a human female." He said in a friendly tone. "My name is Astrum. What is yours?"

[M-Cube]

While still trying to appear cool by leaning quite awkwardly against the high walls of the building, he was thinking about how he could approach the pretty young girl with the freaky swordsman. The exile looked dangerous, but Matt was sure the swordsman wouldn't strike him in public. There are cops around here, for Pete's sake. Maybe he could throw something to get her attention. No, that could provoke the swordsman. Maybe he could yell at her. Challenge her to a duel? Maybe he could bump into her or something...

At that very moment, some guy who looked abnormally displeased for reasons unbeknownst to Mathias just happened to trip over the large foot of the Silent Swordsman. He fell inelegantly to the ground, landing face first. Matt couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. A little slapstick always got the best of him.

"Look at his face!" Matt grinned. The guy's face was redder than a ripe tomato in the summertime. The guy tried to pick himself back up and seemed to apologize for that carelessness of his. Matt checked his watch, and there were only ten minutes until the big meeting that would take place before the brackets were to be released. Those two were also duelists so they would be heading back there as well. Matt would just see how this played out before he headed off.

[Serenade]

Leah smiled at Justice and started walking towards the food court, her black flats with small, white bowties at her toes tapping against the ground with every step. It was then when Zane have weaved between Justice and herself, and managed to catch Justice's foot with his, forcefully flying towards the ground and slamming into it headfirst. Leah gasped in slight terror; she hoped he was okay, this had kind of startled her. When Zane picked himself and started apologizing like a madman, she became nervous; why was he apologizing so profusely for such a harmless mistake? If anything, she felt as she should be apologizing for getting in his way, he was quite obviously in a rush.

 

She stared at him for a few moments, completely wordless, until she finally asked if he was alright; he seemed to have a small welt on his right cheekbone from when he landed.

 

"Should I call a paramedic?" Leah's face became increasingly more worried. That was until she heard Matt's voice ever so slightly over the loud hum of the crowd, poking fun at Zane's misfortune. She looked at him, but she was quite unsure of what to say; she was too nervous to speak up and say something to him, because he was rather tall and seemed very confident. So she continued to stare at him with a mixture of shyness and disapproval. She only hoped he would come over and at least apologize.

[a coffee]

Joe's face kind of sunk at the mention of Brione; the Sarge was likely not very happy with his foolishness,

 

"Well yes, he seems to have wandered off. But he is a fully grown exile, sir, I am more than sure he can handle himself. But to answer your question sir, yes I am participating today, I figure the fun and games of a few duels, win or lose, could take my mind off of the paperwork." He laughed cautiously to make sure the Sarge was feeling in a good mood. An old man like him could be just a few jabs away from a nervous breakdown, a trip to PTSD and days of holding cacti as cover from the specters of war's past, holding a shoe as if it were some sort of explosive device.

 

Joe kind of internally laughed at the prospect of the Sarge going completely out of his mind, but decided after a few minutes of thought that it would probably do more harm than good, because after all the Sarge was a good duelist, and an even better man.

 

"Have you been given a partner for the first round yet, Sarge? The bracketing information seems to be few and far between today. I wonder what's holding everything up."

[BANZAI!!!!]

Although his cheek stayed red from coming in contact whith the floor, the rest of Zane's face started to return to normal as he stood up and brushed himself off. He turned toward the person who had just adressed him, and was pleasantly surprised to find himself taliking with a girl his age. And a really atractive one at that. Not wanting to look like a bigger idiot than he already did, he brushed himself off. "Sorry I got in your way like that. I can be a bit of a clutz sometimes." He gestured to the red mark on his cheek. "You don't need to worry about it. The only thing that's hurt is my pride." he said with a little bit of a laugh. "Thanks for the concern though." Zane gave her a reassireing smile and extended his hand. "My name's Zane. What's yours?" he said, deciding to use the opportunity ot make friends. No harm in trying, after all.

[Lord JZ of the Enigma]

Selina's eyes lit up as she was talking to a Stardust Dragon, a motherflippin Stardust Dragon. "Wow! a psychic link, I wish I had that with Black Rose, but she never stays long enough to want to talk, but either way, I'm Selina~" she said with a curtsy as if speaking to royalty. "I'm really in awe Mister Astrum, your much different from my Brother's Exile partner, his wings are all dark and metally and they're just not nice and feathery soft, it's hard to hug a Dragon like that, though I'm not too sure about hugging Dragons, I wonder if Dragon's hug other Dragons.....I should probably stop talking but this happens to me from time to time" The excited young girl managed to take a deep breath and finally slowed down, looking around where she noticed Zane in the distance. "I can feel that your card is over there, is that your partner? that's so cool, I'll say hi to him later, but for now I'm more interested in what your time has been like here.....oh but the meeting might be starting soon, I wouldn't want to impose on your time, have you eaten yet, I haven't and......" and so she continued.....

 

In the meanwhile, Seth had been laying back long enough to see that people were beginning to talk now, making slight bonds.....it annoyed the crap out of him to watch, especially his sister, she was always too giddy when she saw new Exiles, she'd be hounding every other Monster Hunter and their Exile Partner's this day. "That girl brings unwanted attention.....but at least it keeps her off my back...." He says to himself as he decides to stand up and size up the competition. Luckily, from his point of view he could already read those that were a challenge, maybe saying hello wouldn't be such a bad thing..... "I could give it a chance....but who to start with...." he wondered, it wasn't easy to say hello with his eyes terrifying most people.....

[BANZAI!!!!]

Astrum took a deep breath, once again waiting for an opportunity to get a word in edgewise. This girl was already trying his patience, but at least she meant well. Besides, he wasn't used to flattery, and it felt refreshing. When Selina's flow of words slowed just enough for him to respond, he took his chance, stoping her by tapping her with his wing again. "You said your name was Selina? I've never met a female with that name before. Interesting..." The dragon's mental voice took on a calm, soothing tone. " And yes, that's my partner over there. Zane." Astrum said a he turned his head to watch the unfolding scene with the holder of his card. "...In all of his glory." The dragon said, while physically letting out a sort of draconic laugh. "And in any case, I was eating when you came up to me, and I still am actually." He said, gesturing to a half empty container of meat on the table nearby.

[Wave_Sine]

Sgt. Davidson laughed a bit when Joe did. "They've got a brilliant soldier like you doing paperwork? Guess that's why I haven't been running into you." He followed this up with another hearty chuckle, then returned to his usual neutral expression. "To answer your question, I haven't been paired with anyone yet. In fact, I was waiting for bracket information when you called me over. You know how it is, with the higher-ups, all the bureaucracy and indecision. Can't exactly expect things to be on time unless it's an emergency." Sgt. Davidson scanned the room again, and noticed that an energetic girl was talking to the Stardust Dragon he'd seen earlier, and that the dragon's partner had tripped and was now talking to a different girl and a tall swordsman that was obviously another Exile. "I'm sure your partner will be fine on his own. He doesn't stick out in a crowd quite as much as some of them do. Anyway, let's hope that the brackets get posted soon."

[TwilightSoul]

Justice felt at ease when he saw Leah's expression. Her smile was enough to warm his heart . Though his face did not show it, Justice was filled with bliss. His blissful moment was soon interrupted when a young boy tripped over him. Justice's instincts immediately kicked in. He placed a hand over Leah's chest, attempting to guard her, and the other on the hilt of his sword. Justice was such a custom to the monster hunter lifestyle that, he sometimes forgot danger did not loom around every corner.  He narrowed his eyes at the boy but he eventually realized that it was an honest mistake. He removed his hand from Leah and released his grip on his sword.

 

Surprisingly justice offered his hand to help up the boy. The young man began to apologize but Justice remained silent. He listened as the boy, who called himself Zane, and Leah spoke. Zane seemed like an honest guy but Justice still kept a watchful eye on him.  For a brief moment ,Justice believed he spotted a hit of attraction from Zane, which only intensified the glare he had on the boy.

 

Justice would have kept his eyes on Zane but something drew his attention, more importantly something caught Leah's attention. A smug looking guy stared at her causing her mood to shift.  Justice focused on Leah, giving her a look of concern.

 

"Leah you appear to be nervous. Is something wrong? Is that boy over there bothering you?" He said to her telepathically.    

[Serenade]

Leah turned around to answer Zane, answering Justice telepathically first,

"He just seems so rude. He laughed at Zane for now reason. It wasn't his fault that he tripped. It was noone's fault; it was just an honest accident. I hope he doesn't come over here. I don't want to have to talk to him."

 

Leah's face froze when she realized that he was asking her questions; she barely knew this person, and she scared him a bit. She hated talking to new people; life would be much more simple if she never had to talk.

 

"Uhm, Leah." she softly uttered. She made it almost hard to understand, it was so soft. She did not even realize that she had talked to him before in the heat of the moment. Still, she could not help but notice that perhaps he was a tad attractive. Nevertheless, she was already so far out of her element that she could not even fathom flirting with this man that she had never met before. Leah was far from a flirt, but very hard to receive love from; she just did not trust people like that.

 

She took a small step, to make sure that her shoulder was barely touching Justice's midsection, while slowly, nervously extending her hand to accept his invitation, it would have only been polite to do so. Her blue fingernails slowly slipped into his palm, the touch of her warm, tender palms meeting his. He also had somewhat nice skin. Her handshake was less than impressive, but it was already a large to step to have met his hand with hers in the first place.

[a coffee]

Joe took off his hat and scratched his head "Yeah, yeah. It's just some relocation stuff here and there, making sure everything is in order, well you know how they like it up in the office. If it's not planned 3 months ahead, it's too late. Can't stand it but hey, that's how it's done around here. What deck are you using these days, Sarge?"

 

Joe took a deck out of his pocket in his jeans, inside of a blue box with the CONSNT logo, with waves of water underneath it, "I'm still sporting the good old water deck. It's never let me down before and I'm pretty sure Brione would have my head if I even thought about rocking the boat with so little time before the tournament. So how about those new recruits? Are they any good or are we still looking at more of the same old same old?"

[BANZAI!!!!]

((OOC: I have colored speech now too XD))

 

"Leah, huh?" Zane said while gently taking her hand in his. His hand was a good degree larger than hers, so the ends of his fingers approached her wrist, which felt slightly colder to the touch than her hand. Zane had already gotten a sense that she was a shy girl, but now she appeared fragile and delicate to him too.  After a second or so he finished his thought. "You have a nice name. It suits you." Zane gave her another friendly smile as he pulled his hand away. He was also aware of the large Swordsman glaring down at him. Zane could guess that he was some sort of duel spirit, but he payed the subject it no mind to him for now.. "You must be here to compete too, am I right?" He asked, hoping to prolong the conversation and move farther away from the subject of Zane falling flat on his face. After all, talking about something more familiar to both of them, dueling, would make things less awkward, and besides, it would take his mind of of the stinging in his cheek. He stood up straight now, completely regaining his posture, and gestured to his duel disk to emphasize his question.

[Serenade]

Leah nodded and blushed just a tad at his compliment. She wasn't sure how to feel about it, it wasn't necessarily a good feeling, but it was far from a bad one. She nodded at the question regarding her competition in this year's tournament;

 

"I had planned on perhaps buying or trading for some cards to complete a deck for my new friend, Justice. My old deck is not quite compatible..." Leah then took a glance back towards Zane's face, his cheek specifically. It appeared to be swelling, instead of getting better. 

 

"Uhm... Your cheek. It really does not look okay. Surely we can find some ice at the food court?" She looked at Justice, signaling him with her eyes for him to keep close to her; she did not want Zane to pull anything while she was being kind.

[M-Cube]

Matt watched helplessly as the two seemed to strike up a conversation. He frowned and lowered his head ever so slightly, thinking to himself: That coulda been me. Why couldn't I bump into her? The dang swordsman, that's why. Idiot. He was ticked at himself for letting out that light chuckle, because as soon as he made that teasing remark about the guy, the girl turned and gave a look of disapproval for his actions.

 

The face she gave him was heartbreaking. Almost, in a way, haunting. It sort of stuck in his mind, nagging. He felt a strange sort of emotion, an emotion he was not used to and couldn't identify. Guilt was the word. He usually wouldn't care if he were to be caught making such a statement, but something in the girl's innocent demeanor made him feel he should walk over and say something. Apologize.

 

He took a step forward, head held high. He approached the guy, the girl, and the giant swordsman. Matt sort of scratched the back of his head as he reached them, and tried to play himself off as at least a halfway decent fella. He turned to the guy "I, uh, wanna say, ya know, sorry about all that, man," Matt sort of half-grinned, but still appeared sincere. "Didn't really mean to, you know... laugh at ya there. Never meant any harm."

 

He turned to the girl, who was actually much shorter and timid than she appeared to be from a distance. He gave the most idiotic looking smile in his entire life, and felt his face go red. "Hiya." He then focused on the swordsman, as stern as ever, and he lost the stupid face immediately. He quickly regained his composure, and turned back to the guy.

 

"See that you's part of this tournament." Mathias, raising his duel disk, gave a thumbs up. "Pretty sweet! I registered too. Name's Mathias McCarthy. You can call me Matt, though!" He extended his hand for a friendly handshake, and gave a smile. "So, we all cool?"

[Wave_Sine]

Responding to Joe's question, Sgt. Davidson drew the top card of his deck, noticed that it wouldn't help describe it, them replaced it and drew again. This time, he revealed the card, Machina Soldier. "I found out about this set of cards a few years back, and figured they'd work best with my playstyle. Also, they remind me of the squad I led as a newly-promoted sergeant, shortly before the cataclysm. Those guys... I've lost touch with most of them by now though; wish I could talk to them again." He trailed off slightly, tilting his head upwards slightly before he realized. Looking straight ahead once more, he responded to Joe's inquiry about the new recruits that Sgt. Davidson was in charge of. "Well, some of them need to be taught discipline and respect; you know how the recruits are these days. Even so, a few of them remind me of how you were during basic training. I'm trying not to be too rough on them, but they'll come round to the chain of command, one way or another." He scanned the room again, and saw that another kid was approaching the girl, swordsman Exile, and dragon owner.

[TwilightSoul]

Justice studied Leah's behavior around Zane. It was very subtle but she was opening up to him. Zane may have seemed nice but Justice still did not trust him. With the tournament approaching there was no telling what dirty tricks the other competitors had installed. He knew that many people would mistake Leah's innocence and kindness for a weakness, which is why he did not trust Zane. He once again remained silent as the two chatted. His mouth was shut but his ears were sharp, catching every word that the boy spewed. Justice was annoyed but did his best to hide his emotions. Justice found Zane's reaction to seeing a bound Exile, up and close, very odd. It was true that Exiles populated the streets but, Justice was not bombarded by the typical question most humans offered. He took a moment and replayed all of the information he knew on Zane so far in his head. Zane did not seem very surprised to see an Exile and he was a duelist. Could he be in possession of an Exile as well? Justice questioned. It was too early to jump to any accusations but he wanted to know who exactly Leah was talking too.

 

Justice turned to face Leah. He caught her signal and responded to her request with a slight nod of his head, letting her know that he would keep an eye on things. Suddenly the smug guy, who Justice was eye earlier, made his way to the two. Justice immediately took a step forward, reducing the distance between Leah and himself. There was a difference between Zane and the duelist, who introduced himself as Mathias. Zane could have been harmless but Matt seemed sleazy, within Justice's eyes. He disapproved of all the attention that Leah was drawing but he had no right to dismiss them from her. It was to be expected, seeing how Leah was a young woman. Justice laid a comforting hand upon Leah's shoulder.  

 

"Leah, keep in mind that these two boys will be your competition in the upcoming tournament." He said to her telepathically.