*considers*
"Well that explains the Mia thing, kinda. I dunno there is too much chaos and raping...and incest to be anything but a madman's fantasy it seems like. I still say something is wrong, I just can put my finger on who or what is causing it."
J
Fizgig thinks on it for a moment, then answers, "Maybe someday you should meet Grandfather. All Draconians can trace their lineage back to him... he watches over the most secure tower in Syatan Fanilf. Not a whole lot of raping going on there." Chase stands up and says to you angrily, "HE'S the cause of all the raping. All the times that the Four Warriors have tried to take his soul and place it into another shell is the reason for all the rapists in our world; you can make it a bet that if someone is a rapist, they have an incomplete version of this guy in their spirit." After a moment, Fizgig shrugs, saying, "Maybe, but I don't really see how that makes it my fault. It's not like I committed the first rape ever or anything..." He looks to you. "Actually, I was involved in the first rape ever known of throughout Syatan Fanilf; I was the victim of it. But you don't want to hear about that. I don't even know why I brought it up.. maybe as an excuse for inexcusable crimes to a person I have respect for."
*sighs*
"You two are enough to drive a man to drink you know that?
"You" *points to Fizgig*
"Tell him your sorry for being an arsehole." *points to Chase*
"You tell him the same."
*shakes his head*
"Until someone fixes this trap, we are stuck here forever, and forever is a long time to be pissed off and angry at someone."
"I don't even believe I am having this conversation, your two are worse than the kids."
J
Fizgig instantly says, "I apologize sincerely for any insult to you, your family, your ancestors, your friends, your roommates, your acquaintances, and anyone else, living or dead, that I may have left out." He's good at making it seem sincere in spite of how obviously sarcastic it is. Chase doesn't even glance at him.
*shakes his head and leaves them alone, not caring anymore, turning on his laptop and making something so he doesn't have to think about those two*
J
Chase sighs after about four hours and goes and sits in a lotus position and meditates. Another hour or so later, Fizgig interrupts your thought process: "Want to see something cool?"
*looks up and saves his work*
"Sure"
J
He gets up, walks behind a tree for the full effect; he's about six feet tall, kind of alright looking for a guy, you would guess, lean and muscular; when he steps out from behind the tree, he's lost a full foot, gained a somewhat larger chest (though not much, by the petite form), achieved much softer features and a more toned musculature rather than a ripped one, grown longer, more evenly cut hair with a slight ripple to it; for all intents and purposes, he appears to be a far more than modestly attractive she at the moment. edit: the ninja garb has also changed, but that seems to be from a one-size-fits-all quality to it more than something it/he/she did.
*rolls his eyes*
"Sadly I'm not surprised, but I should be. So what was the point of all of this?"
J
She answers, with an entirely different voice and manner, "Well, it's just that.. I wanted you to see me how I really am. I don't usually show people who... I mean, the only other people who know are David, Shane, my father, my older sister, and Grandfather. I... I really appreciate what you're doing for these kids. I had to toughen up and be a man, in more ways than one, and I've taken out my anger at how unfair my life was on other people. Meeting you makes me feel differently.. something about you makes me want to be a better person... so, here I am, telling you about myself. My name is Ru Tan Ya... Ru is my draconian family name, and also the name of all the remaining living draconians in this world, Tan is my given name, and Ya is my father's name. My mother was human and my father was draconian, in a time when half-breeds were shunned and looked down upon. Grandfather showed me care and affection, but my father was very distant and I never met my mother. My older sister, Rid, was full-blooded draconian; she was the one who... yeah. I don't know why. I'll never know why, I think... just like I won't ever know how I came full circle and ended up just like her in a way. I became probably the best martial artist many have ever seen, I won support for half-breeds and have been a role model to them, proving that they aren't flawed; the Ru family of draconians have begged me to embrace my draconian heritage and come live with them, which is rare for proud draconians as they're an extremely proud race... you probably don't want to hear all this. I'm sorry. That's what I really want to say.. not to you, but to a lot of people."
*listens and nods*
"I guess what I don't get is why be a man to do all that? Speaking for myself, I wouldn't change my appearance for shear spite, to show everyone I did it on my own. Well you have a decision to make, whether you are going to tell your kids the truth and change your ways. If I were in your position, I would be Run Tan Ya, and leave Fizgig behind, and make real amends. Leave the negativity with him. I'm far from perfect, and sometimes I can be selfish, frustrated or angry, but when push comes to shove, your judged on your actions, not on your words. If I didn't help those kids who would? I don't really want to rule anyone, if there was another option I would take it. I don't want to see anyone who doesn't need to die for a crappy system. Anyway, I think you should be yourself, but that's just my opinion."
J.
Bump
Bump
She digests that for a moment, then responds, "I'm not ready yet.. after we kill Sefyr, maybe... I'm not sure if I can bring myself to kill him if I'm Ru Tan Ya... but as Fizgig, I know I can."
*nods*
"That's something to look forward to then, so till then, try not to antagonize Chase. It will make us all much happier."
*smiles*
She smiles in return, then steps behind the tree again and out on the other side. He says, "I really hate having her inside of me sometimes. It's like having a weakness you can't do anything about, or a split personality, or something." It's so clear to you that she's trying too hard to be a typical male./// The girls are awake before night falls, Chase and Mia are enjoying one another's company, Jewel and Eria are talking some and arguing usually but don't outright fight, Fizgig is quietly sitting against a tree, looking at the sky, and Val is talking to you about the time she was hunted by a man named Richard Connel. "I really wish you were with me... you probably would have made him change his mind about what he wanted to do."
*smiles and holds Val*
"Some men are just destined to be who they are, I believe I read a book, about him, and he did it to everyone. He would have done it to me, but I would have waited for him to exit his house and proceed to beat him to death with his own shoes. I'm sure as much as it was a horrible experience, you learned from it, became stronger. Your a ninja, even I'm not a ninja and I would have loved to be a ninja, so that's something you got over me.
*kisses her deeply*
"We are together now, and that's all that matters."
J
(difficult intuition check 16) You notice Fizgig and Jewel both looking as you kiss Val. Fizgig gives you a grin and a thumbs up and looks away when he realizes you noticed, but Jewel apparently hasn't realized you noticed, in spite of the fact that Eria is saying, "Jewel... Jewly... hey, I'm talkin to you!"
*grins*
"Well at least they aren't wondering the nature of our relationship"
*smiles*
"We have been on our best behavior with everyone around."
J
The remainder of the day passes rather uneventfully; Val starts a fire and cooks some of the bear meat for everyone for breakfast. It tastes better than Chase's rendering. Fizgig says, "I sure do love a girl who can cook," at which Mia makes a disgusted noise and shakes her head. Once the sun has set, Fizgig is all business again, throwing Jewel over his shoulder amidst her protests and continuing the journey at a brisk pace, saying, "We've got a lot of ground to cover before morning if we're going to get to Sefyr's after the next full moon." He seems in more of a hurry to get there than he did last night.
*sighs and gives a Fizgig a really? look*
"Ok let's keep moving, the more moving, the less sexual harassment we all get."
*grins*
J
ge roll: 11 After a few hours travel, you reach a break in the woods, looking over a vast, flat plain. Fizgig looks around and says, "I don't like being in the open like this... let's go ahead and use the zippers." He looks to the sky for a moment, apparently getting his bearings, then announces, "We're going that way." He points, Chase hands out the zippers, and no one has any trouble going across the flat ground in that direction. About eight minutes later, it's evident that you're approaching a large body of water with a shoreline in the distance; ten minutes of a lovely rush after you've started, a tiny grouping of lights appears on the horizon; less than a minute later and you're nearly on top of it, and Fizgig kicks up his board. It takes a good fifteen minutes for everyone to regroup, but you have a feeling that at least several days' worth of travel was just taken care of in less than half an hour. As your ragtag group approaches the gates to the city, a guard armed in metal plate with an open-faced helmet and a spear orders you to halt for inspection and to state your business here a this time of night. The silence which ensues tells you that everyone is looking at you.
*smiles going to use my 3@1 Suggestion P1@4, and a wave of my hand*
"We have urgent business to attend to inside, you should let us inside without incident."
J
He lets you all in without any further trouble. This street seems to be lit by oil lamps, and there are many people walking about buying and hawking wares. Fizgig is not carrying Jewel, and he has broken down the travelling pace signifcantly, more so that no one gets suspicious of a crowd travelling together than so that no one gets lost. He leads down an alley, and the rest of the trip is practically a ghost town at this time of night; you're in a thriving business district, but all of them are closed at this time. Fizgig picks up the pace again and leads you through several side streets, down another alley where you pass a sleeping hobo, and a little bit further across the business district until you reach the destination; the docks. There's a lighthouse here, its light something of a focal point amidst the chaos on the ground; there's a lot of movement going on, with workers both on ships and on the dock loading and unloading ships; it looks like the kind of place that never shuts down.
*Walks around taking in the surroundings, the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks this is the home universe of the other two versers he knows about. Keeping quiet and keeping up the pace, waiting to see the plan is.*
J
Fizgig stops at a rather small boat in comparison to most of the cargo ships here. It looks like a battle vessel, and a lone, masculine-looking man with shoulder length white hair and an eye patch is seated with a bo stick in his lap. He's watching everything closely with his one pale blue eye. Fizgig approaches him and says, "Shiver me timbers! Ahoy, Cap'n Dread! What're the chances of finding a scurvy dog like you here at a dock? Looking for a new victim?" The man glances at Fizgig irritatedly. "What do you want, Fizgig?" "Not much; safe travel across the ocean on the low. I don't want to take a passenger vessel because we would be noticed." Dread responds, "What's in it for me?" Fizgig answers, "Something you'll love. Why don't we take this conversation on board?" The captain looks at your bunch, then says, "Alright, let's go." He stands and walks onto the ship with the rest of you and takes you and Fizgig to a private cabin; Fizgig insists that the three of you go instead of the two of them. The others wait outside, below deck, and Dread says, "We can speak comfortably here. I'm Dread Dhmo, pirate and pirate-hunter, scourge of the seas. And you are?"
((Three of us, who is the other?))
*Listens to what Dread is saying, almost scared what Fizgig is going to offer him that he will love.*
"I am Jhiaxus, Disciple of Odin, interesting ship you have here."
J
"I thank you. Now, what's your offer, Fizgig?" (the three are you, Fizgig, and Dread.) "You know, your ship looks a lot smaller than I remember..." "Out with it! or do you intend to mock me all night?" "I remember Sefyr making you walk the plank of your own ship, that was funny, do you remember that?" Dread is looking impatient, and Fizgig continues, "Jhiaxus and I are going to sneak up on Sefyr and kill him, and you can play a part in that." Dread looks at Fizgig, then turns to you, and says, "I've never seen you before, but I ought to warn you.. Sefyr is a powerful enemy, not one many sane people would want to have. With this unreliable loose cannon on your side," he motions to Fizgig, "you stand a good chance, but Sefyr doesn't forget grudges easily." "You'll help us, then." Dread looks like he thinks he'll live to regret this. "Yes. On two conditions. One: I drop you on the shore, and you don't mention ever having been on my boat -- ever. Two:" He's speaking specifically to Fizgig now, "You keep your (expletive deleted) mouth shut until you get off the ship." "Aye aye, Cap'n!" Anything to add before shoving off?
*smiles*
"I think people around here should be more worried about me not holding grudges against them, not the other way around. There is a certain pedophile now, wondering why he is dead, and why he doesn't want to be around anyone anymore. Fizgig and I have come to an understanding, and we can say that I trust him completely, which is different then when I first met him."
*grins*
"Fizgig and I have a simular understanding, for different purposes. I promise to not mention being on your boat, and Fizgig will be on his best behavior while on board."
*as we are walking out*
"I like you both of you, but being a guy isn't about being the biggest pri*k you can. You gotta ease up, your a good person deep down, I can see how being here can beat it out of you, and not caring anymore, but that's how people like Sefyr stay in power."
J.
"I do like giving people grief, mostly because they aren't going to do anything about it.. but you're right. It's an a poor behavior that'll lead me right back down the same old path again, and if Sefyr knew my story, he would probably say that I'm overcompensating for feelings of inadequacy stemming from childhood trauma including but not limited to my lack of a prominent mother-figure." He grins; he apparently thinks he's griefing Sefyr now, but that diagnosis probably isn't too far off the mark. Dread leaves the cabin a few minutes later and goes above deck, leaving you and your group below.
*smiles*
"It's a good feeling knowing you are more powerful than most everyone else, and being humble enough to not show it. The price of power is knowing when not to use it. It's a lesson I'm still working on myself. Ok you have me curious, what you do with that realm, it reminds me of an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where the villain, Shredder found a sword, that could open up space and travel through a pocket universe like you do. It just struck me as so close, I don't remember my old life much, but that jogged a memory from childhood."
J
He looks at you, then slices through the air and beckons you through. He follows; "I avoid talking about the Between anywhere other than in the Between. This is the base of operations for the Black Ninja, a covert group of politcally-adverse anarchists who battle tyranny across many worlds. If you wanted an expert on it, you'd have to talk to Imidge, but the theory is that from within the Between, you can get to any physical point in any world at any time, as long as you know where to cut.
*grins*
"So you are fighting the good fight, so how do I join?"
J
He says, "Umm.. alright. Let's go, I'll introduce you. It's not like we'll be losing any time." He changes back into a she before you eyes, looks at herself, nods, and says, "Let's go." The journey is treacherous and travels over many days; you fall only once, during your second day of travel, but she catches you by your wrist and pulls you back up; with some difficulty, it seems. You finally arrive in the training camp; Fizgig leads you through the maze of men who are all immersed in various stages of training, to the far edge of the very large island they're on. There's a campfire here, around which are seated David, with his mask off, Shane, whose mask is also off, and several ninja who you do not recognize with their masks on. "Elders," Fizgig states, "This man is Jhiaxus. He wishes to join the Black Ninja." No one objects, and Fizgig nods and turns to you. "Let's get you started," she says. She takes you to another island, not so far from the first, and shows you an assortment of extremely finely crafted edged melee and missile weapons, mostly of a design resembling fine oriental workmanship, but also some occidental weaponry, longswords, axes, scythes. "These were crafted in arcane fire, and are so sharp that swinging them quickly enough will cut through the air and allow you to travel to the Between. Many of us find that it's best to focus on becoming as good as possible with our weapon before branching out and learning other abilities, so choose wisely." So, if you could use any edged weapon, what would it be?
*smiles*
"Well I have a crappy reproduction Katana, if I am going to choose a weapon, I might as well replace an inferior one, and be one I am already familiar with, so Katana"
J
She drops to her knees, rifles through the pile for a short time, then holds a katana up to you in the proper way, sheathed, with the blade facing herself resting on one hand and the handle resting on the other. You take it and take a moment to admire the workmanship; simple, beautiful, and absolutely deadly. She takes you a little further on the same island, and hands you what looks like a deep black sock for an infant. "This is a Black Ninja suit. It will adapt to your form to appear loose fitting to conceal your abilities, is resistant to freezing, fire, magic, it grounds electricity very well, spreads out kinetic forces, and can't be cut or pierced by any means any of us have ever found that I know of, and makes it easier to hide in just about any shadow, no matter how little difference there is between the brighter spot and the shadow... I think that's about it."
*I thank her for retrieving one for me, admiring the craftmanship, and placing it on my hip*
*Looks at the sock, and see if it indeed adjusts to size to go over my armor*
*Looks down, very interesting*
"Thinks back, so David playing paddleball, and Shane sharpening his spear are just a front? Interesting."
*considers*
"I took them as not wanting to get involved, I wonder if that was a true assessment."
J.
(Jonny was sharpening his spear; he you have not seen here. Shane looks to be some kind of fire elemental.) "Oh, David really is that bored.. he tries not to get involved with the politics in Syatan Fanilf in any way because he embraces the ideals of the Black Ninja wholeheartedly; don't get involved in politics, end tyranny with abrupt force and subterfuge and make it look like suicide, accident, or natural disaster." You put the suit on over your armor, and she giggles at you and says, "That's kind of funny looking. You probably won't need the armor on under that; maybe you should do it the other way around, with the ninja suit under the armor, if you insist on wearing it." She smiles. She goes back to the pile and pulls out another katana, and begins teaching you; she is really into the training, and seems as if she's trained many people before; in a way, you're glad that you aren't with the other ninja training, because you don't need to sleep; however, it's 36 solid hours straight of intensive training before she puts a hand to her stomach, saying, "Yeah, I'd say it's time to break for a meal," which turns out to be a rather tasteless and hard brick that tastes better than anything at this point. She explains, "This nutrition block will help you get your body in prime condition; it contains everything your body needs." She picks the training back up, and another 12 hours later, she says to you, "You need to take an extended break for your body of at least six hours, or else your body won't adjust properly to the training... any ideas for how to pass the time?"
((Thanks for the clarification))
*nods and looks down*
"I knew it would look bad, just wanted to see."
*taking both the sock, armor and his clothes off, putting on the sock, then the armor*
"I kinda have to wear the armor, it's the human interface for the Cyclone, but I do want to wear it, for when I am not worried about leaving the cyclone around."
*nods and enjoys the training, knowing time is not an issue here and thinking* "I really don't want to rule, but the tyranny needs to be dealt with. Might have an option once things are said and done."
*eats the nutrition block and listens to her and trains again*
*smiles* "If I was single, I could think of a way to pass the time, but I am loyal to Val, she is special, although perhaps an offer like this would be enough to make it interesting once the time comes to reveal yourself. So with that not an option, talk, converse find out about each other. I will give you the short to start, since you gave me the short when you revealed yourself to me. I am a verser, I got infected with scriff, died, and woke up somewhere else, in another universe. I got stuck in a training room basically, for a thousand years, and worked on my skills. At around 500, I was going stircrazy with no other contact, so I made Val. I spent 250 years, programming, making her, giving her morals, her own code human. I spent a long time to make her like me, and eventually I cast a spell to give her life, and free will. Teren Dakt'l created the room, and he warned me of Rapp Torre. Rapp came at year 1000, and destroyed the room, but not before I shoved my lightsabre in his mouth and ended him, but the lack of air got me."
*pauses*
"Thought it was fair, since you told me about yourself, my first life, I don't talk about much, it was long, boring and not very eventful till my death."
J
She blushes heavily and giggles kind of uncomfortably, saying, "No mind reading! It's no fair." "Rapp Torre? I think I've heard that name somewhere.. he might have been a target we took out once." "I'm sure your old life was more interesting than you're letting on. My first life was also long, full of events I'd rather not remember instead of things that weren't interesting... I can tell you about it if you insist and if you promise not to go telling other people."