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Post by Melody on Jul 24, 2021 4:22:10 GMT -8
It had been two years since Bryce purchased the title to his farm lands, yet the mandroid was nowhere to be found, either because it was impossible to detect his power level, or he perished shortly after Melody parted ways in the ducal tower penthouse in Oolong City. The passage of time distanced the Duchess from everyone she knew, as she focused her energy on the territories north of the farmlands, where the rocky cliffs met the sea. The center of the westernlands was still grassfield plains that were for sale, while the villages and clans that made up the duchies surrounded the entire coastal borders of the mainland.
Being distanced from neighbors was only a temporary seclusion for Bryce, eventually the plots of land would be picked up by new clans to form their own villages, but Melody had no idea how long his life span as a mechanical bipedal android was. At no point were they too familiar with each other to know that information, their rapport on each other was forged when encountering marauders in the southern land desert, and teaching a traitorous tuxedo cat a lesson near Baba Yaga’s black forest domain in the city proper. Since the land was rich in soil, it would be a shame to leave undeveloped, and Melody was working the land herself.
In the distance her younger sister Cadence watched her farm the land, she stood by under the shade of a wooden paper parasol made from a tree of might sapling to protect her fair skin, keeping an eye out for any strangers.
[246]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 24, 2021 4:42:05 GMT -8
The time spent hunting down Modona and apparently Bryce in the process, was also time spent not working the land, or so it seemed. Tolvur had been studying the remains of the mandroid and through the state of the information in there he was able to learn quite a bit, even if it was all in binary. Being a cyborg himself though aided in translating bits and bytes, but where Bryce had been an 'ordinary' cyborg, Tolvur was one enhanced with quantum systems. Like Bryce, he was able to repair himself and scan almost anything. But unlike the mandroid this one could learn, and could also do so at just a simple glance. People would call it a photographic memory, Tolvur called it downloading an image. He found a small trove of information within the mandroid, ranging from who he had fought and why, where he lived and how and even who he called friend. One name in those memories stood out, '' Melody'. Duchess, apparently, and she had fought alongside Bryce. So now Tolvur knew that while he would wait for Modona to fix herself a failsafe, he could hunt down this Melody figure. Except, he didn't need to. His first action was to go the farm Bryce would call home, if only to get his own bearings and lay of the land. And maybe he had some goodies stored away for Tolvur to use. But his wildest thoughts couldn't prepare him for what he saw when he finally did arrive. ''My my.'' He uttered as he drew closer to the farmland, which didn't impress Tolvur to say the least. What did impress him however, was the fact that there was a woman standing on the edge of the land with some sort of parasol. ''He never told me he had a servant!'' Tolvur continued with a laugh before looking over the rest of the land, noting some other figure tending to the fruits and what else needed doing. ''Then again, I never gave him much time to talk.'' His eyes returned to the woman shielding herself from the sun, and as Tolvur walked closer he would nod in her direction. ''So now, you can do that.'' He offered with a smile. ''Now talk.''' =================== WC: 374 Melody
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Post by Melody on Jul 24, 2021 9:56:49 GMT -8
Melody noticed the unnatural shift from the wind, she stopped farming to look over to her younger sister who was supposed to be keeping watch being approached by a stranger, and the Duchess immediately appeared between the two in a single leap.
“May I help you with something, stranger?” The greenette placed her hand on the hilt of her sword casually, “Are you familiar with the proprietor of these lands?”
Cadence was alarmed to have missed someone nearby without noticing their approach, she held on to her umbrella tightly, and reflected on the few things the stranger managed to say.
“I am not a servant, you must be mistaking me for someone else, sir.” The braided haired pinkette closed her umbrella and pulled out her sword which began to move fluidly with flexible ki infused metal that shifted with the air like a ribbon. While her older sister was not remotely afraid, she was unnerved by the way this android spoke, and she immediately took a defensive stance in this precarious situation.
“You’re in Pig Demon Duchies territory. One false move and you will get a bounty placed on your head by our respective clans and villages.”
[197] [443]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 24, 2021 10:28:52 GMT -8
Now there were two women opposite him, one of which actually pulled out a sword. The other just.. threatened with one as her hand hovered over it. Tolvur just grinned and chose to ignore the swords beyond that, for now, and focus on one of these two women. Melody. She obviously didn't know who he was based on her questions, though he did know her. Not from experience, but from someone else's memory. And because of that his focus was mainly on her for the time being, that other, weaker thing next to her in the back of his mind.
''The proprietor?'' He asked, tilting his head as he murred over her question for a moment. ''You must mean Bryce, don't you?'' Tolvur asked as he produced a circuit board he took from the mandroid when he smashed his head in and threw it to the ground. ''I suppose you could say we're familiar, yes.''
Then, turning his attention to the other woman for a moment his hand, while coated with energy, would rest on the tip of the blade as he gently lowered it. ''Threaten me with a good time! Boy! Not even back a full five minutes and already my day has been made.''
Releasing the blade then he turned away from the women and walked in the direction of the farmhouse. Or rather, the stack of stones in the center of it. ''I'm not here to fight, not with you anyway, Melody.'' He smirked and looked over his shoulder as he said that, wondering, somewhere in the back of his mind if his mention of him having a part of the deceased Bryce would put an halt to any chatter they could have shared between them. ''I merely want to know, for now, why you are here on my friends' land?''
Maybe mentioning they were friends would help his odds a bit. Despite it being a lie. ==================== WC: 320 TWC: 694 Starting pl: 52,866
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Post by Melody on Jul 24, 2021 10:58:01 GMT -8
A cold sweat formed on Melody’s temple, not for the labor she was putting into the land over the past two years, but for the circuit board tossed at her feet which was all that was left of Bryce. The malice was hinted within the reverse silver lining of his words. What the HFIL. Who was this android? How he managed to destroy Bryce without being detected among the Duchies was beyond her understanding.
While Bryce was a mandroid with little to no emotion, he still made decisions that humanized him, and she held a secret hope that he would adapt to the Pig Demon Duchies lifestyle as a potential noble. All that was left was for loyal subjects to recognize the land as part of the fiefdom and for the Grand Dukes to acknowledge the contribution to western land society.
In fact as a Duchess, Melody could allied with this region and assign the rank of Lord on the mandroid, but it was all dust in the wind now.
Cadence swallowed hard, the moment this stranger touched her flexible metal sword, to lower it slowly she was nearly frozen over. While she was unable to detect his power level, the android’s body language was sufficient, the confidence in his words only confirmed things for the samurai noble.
The pair of sisters watched as the stranger walked to a pile of stones with familiarity, he even went as far as calling Melody by name, and without her earned title.
“Your friend? Funny. While he might have mentioned me by name to you. He spoke nothing about you in his lifetime. You’re really something else when you drop what remains of him on the land he once farmed. What’s your name?” Melody asked as she lowered her hand from the hilt of her sword and motioned for Cadence to stand back.
With a simple nod, the braided woman put away her sword, and then nervously bit her finger while covering her mouth with her hand. [338] [751]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 24, 2021 11:20:52 GMT -8
''My friend.'' Tolvur had his back turned, so they wouldn't see the devious grin he held as he placed his hand on the rocks making up this sorry excuse for a house. Still, he knew Bryce liked being alone so this was just making the best of a bad situation. He turned around then and nodded at Melody. ''His last wish was for me to return him to this place.'' His hand slid off the rock as he turned to the crops Bryce had planted. ''Having you here would mean a lot to him, I know that.''
His fingers hovered over the overgrown crops and weeds, noting the parts that Melody had worked on to be much cleaner than the rest. ''It's funny.. I never thought he had to eat.. he never told me about it.'' He said, almost in a whisper to himself. He hadn't even seen his need to eat, or want to eat. Maybe.. this was some kind of magic fruit? He had heard of those in the past. Tolvur picked one and took a bite, awkwardly suprised by the taste of it, yet it did make him pick two more while he held the third in his mouth.
He turned and walked back over to Melody and.. that other sword thingy woman, who seemed to listen to the former without question. Nifty, so she was the boss here. Tolvur could work with that.
''Hoo hey haa he Hophur.'' He murmured as he threw the two women the fruits. Whether or not they did anything with it was of no matter because it allowed Tolvur to take his own piece out of his mouth. ''Sorry about that. You may call me Tolvur.'' Tolvur introduced himself finally. ''I belonged to the same line as Bryce, and shared the same ambitions as him.''
It was just a shame he got in the way. And the fact that Tolvur enjoyed a fight played a big part in it too. ============ WC: 329 TWC: 1,023
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Post by Melody on Jul 25, 2021 2:41:02 GMT -8
White standing a couple of meters from the mandroid, he busied himself with observing the rock structure, and then turned to speak while examining the crops. Melody understood that Bryce was attempting to accomplish something with nature, he had done well in her absence, and the missed communication was unfortunate.
“You’re pretty expressive for an android.” Melody dead panned at him, keeping her violet eyes locked on every single gesture, and was completely relaxed as she stood by watching Tolvur.
After he spoke with his mouth full, a brow was arched in response, and then Melody caught the fruit along with her sister at the same time they were thrown.
“Are you sure you want us to eat these fruits? They are not ordinary crops.” The Duchess confirmed, “What ambitions are you referring to, Tolvur-san?”
Cadence was hesitant to eat the fruit, she was not nearly as powerful as the other two, and she lowered her shoulders feeling rather disappointed that she was still no match for anyone who held an aura of danger in the western lands. [178] [929]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 25, 2021 3:01:30 GMT -8
Ordinary or not, the crops did have some good taste to them. Tolvur silently thanked Bryce for that as he took another bite, while at the same time grunting an 'What's the worst that could happen' in response to Melody.
''His ambitions were..'' He mulled for a split second as he lowered the fuit and looked at the source of the question. Tolvur finally swallowed his bite and took a soft breath. ''He felt like he got his life taken from him, which is ironic since it was returned, but, he wanted to put a stop to whoever made him the way he is. He succeeded at that part, but it turned out that the one who made him had a daughter who followed in his footsteps. He.. wanted to finish her also.''
He turned for a moment to look upon the structure, to take in the whole of this land complete with crops and rudimentary furniture. Did.. Bryce intend on having people stay here aside from himself? Because there was a bed, and he didn't need any sleep. Odd. ''He failed to do that.'' Tolvur finally continued his short story, using the time he spent thinking of what this structure could be as a moment of silence, hoping Melody and that other thing would buy his little play.
''He perished at her hands, and she left. His last wishes were, as I told you-'' Turning once more he briefly looked at the second woman there and then back at Melody. ''-he wanted at least a part of him to return here.'' Tolvur motioned for the circuit board and tried to look sad about it.
A brief pause followed as Tolvur absentmindedly took another bite of the fruit, betraying that, even if he looked dismayed, he was really not. ''My ambition was to end the ones of our line and maybe any others that shared the same fate. Our ambitions were shared in that regard.''
Except.. Bryce had been doing it to make the nightmare stop, Tolvur was doing it to be the only one.
================= WC: 345 TWC: 1,368
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Post by Melody on Jul 25, 2021 3:22:32 GMT -8
All of this information was new to Melody, at no point did she discover what Bryce felt, and reflected in silence for a while at everything this mandroid had to say.
“Well, since you’re so familiar with Bryce-san’s past, I imagine you inherited the land. Whoever this mysterious woman is who destroys and creates new versions of your line managed to escape your grasp.”
Cadence’s expression looked rather horrified at this point, she could only imagine how scary this woman was to avoid detection even from someone as seemingly strong as Tolvur, and she shook her head from the thought while nearly squeezing the fruit in her hand. A trickle of juice cascaded down her knuckles and she panicked for a second until she dug a handkerchief from her skirt pocket to clean her delicate pale skin.
“Since she is so dangerous and as the new owner of this land. Do you wish to swear an alliance with the Bossa Nova clan of Samurai to defeat her?” The greenette added, while she intended to make this offer to Bryce initially, she was not going to waste time at gaging this mandroid further, and cut to the chase. [197] [1,126]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 25, 2021 3:42:01 GMT -8
''You could say that, yes.'' He replied at the mention of him inheriting the land. Tolvur just wanted to stay there and make it his base of operations, but for some reason Melody seemed to want to give it a reason, and so the mandroid gave her one. ''It just feels right, you know? To be on the same land as my brother, to h-.. to chase down the same people as him. It just.. helps me remember what we stand for.''
Someone had to give him a price for lying. Or maybe this company was so incredibly naive that they didn't think of anything else than Tolvur telling the truth.
But then, when the offer for an alliance was made, Tolvur stopped for more than a single moment. Because the implication of what she just offered was that he needed help. Which he didn't. Or at least he thought he didn't. But on the flipside, if he did agree to her offer Tolvur would have a way into this clan, a way to find new targets to hunt. It was.. tempting to just say yes as much as it was to say no.
''I'll gladly accept.'' Tolvur reluctantly kneeled right then and there, feeling that acting like this would at least get him some powerful allies and maybe even a good way to rise to power, or at least find jobs worthy of him. This shit-hole of a place needed cleaning anyway. And.. the memory of Bryce seemed to think highly of Melody. So the clan behind her should be worthwhile, right?
''Bryce spoke highly of you, wanting to prove himself to you, you in particular, Melody.'' That part was only partly a lie. Bryce had never said as much, but it was in his mind for all to see, and it would end up being a good way in for Tolvur. ''So in his memory, I will do the same.''
He looked up at Melody and that other one who seemed to have a certain reaction to him mentioning Modona got away. ''I feel like this will be a fruitful alliance.'' He grinned at his own pun as he got up from his knees. ''I'm looking forward to avenging Bryce. Thank you.''
=========== WC: 374 TWC: 1,742
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Post by Melody on Jul 25, 2021 6:04:57 GMT -8
It was apparent that Tolvur was reminiscent of Bryce, rather than move on from the subject, he gave his opinion openly. Melody simply nodded in response, silence was all she could offer for his fallen brethren, whether it was genuine or not life still goes on for anyone who manages to survive the ravages of time. The mandroid kneeled to accept Melody’s offer of an alliance with an established clan, the mandroid did not even hesitate for a second, yet Bryce declined her offer as a vassal in the past.
“Then I, Duchess Melody, hereby invoke the title of Lord over these lands, which is recognized by the Bossa Nova Duchy alliance of the Pig Demon Duchies. Please rise, Lord Tolvur.”
The Duchess then took a bite of the fruit, it immediately flared up her power level, and she looked over to her younger sister who was under the same effects. The fact that she could not detect the changes of the mandroid’s power after he consumed so many fruits, only confirmed that he was suppressing his power level, a formidable feat among his kind, as other earthlings felt nauseated of compressing their own power.
“I assume you know how to read? You may want to read what it means to be part of the Pig Demon Duchies. While we’re united as a fiefdom, rival clans still sabotage each other, and assasination attempts are still considered honorable in western land society. As allies we will support each other against our enemies and rivals when the opportunity strikes.”
After a beat she continued, “From now on we will respectfully call each other by our appointed titles. If you do well and prove your worth to the Grand Dukes we can someday be in equal stranding. Now, is there anything you need at present, Lord Tolvur?” [304] [1,430]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 25, 2021 6:22:48 GMT -8
The invoking of titles would at least prove motivation for Tolvur to avoid using her name all together. And while him being called lord was more than liked by him he had no intention of calling anyone by a title he had not given them himself.
''Reading is..'' While Tolvur could do so and absorb the information in less then a second, he didn't enjoy stopping to do so. Being told what was what seemed.. more to his liking. Besides, he was a lord now, reading was beneath him. ''-I can read.'' He answered. ''But why would I need to read if I can just be told where to go and who to hurt?'' The mandroid shrugged and took another bite of the fruit. ''Besides, Melody, I'd like it if you just treated me as kind of a.. mercenary you don't have to pay. I'm here if you need me, and will fight who you want me to, but I'm not one for titles and positions..''
He turned and went to pick up another fruit from the lands. This stuff was addicting! ''I'm perfectly fine just having this land right here as a sort of base for when I go and find the one who killed Bryce.'' Instantly he would take another bite of the fruit as he stood and turned to Melody once more.
''And don't think that I don't have any respect.'' He shook his head briefly with a moutful of fruit. ''I'm just-.. I have the most respect for you, besides, a friend of Bryce is a friend of Tolvur!''
And she would be just that. A friend, and not a superior.
''The rest of these so called Bossa Nova things.. I'm not sure yet, only met you two.'' He eyed both the women and grinned as he began to squat in the middle of the land that was now his, arm dangling over his knee as he took a bite from his fruit every now and then between sentences. ''Can't say I hate what I'm feeling.. and seeing.''
================== WC: 342 TWC: 2,084
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Post by Melody on Jul 25, 2021 7:52:29 GMT -8
“If you insist on calling me by name, western land residents will assume we’re in a close relationship that goes beyond rank.” Melody affirmed, “Our culture is quite unique in that sense.”
Of course to an android, all these social cues were the least of their priorities, and it seemed Tolvur was not in urgent need of hunting down his creator or making immediate changes to the territory. However, it was possible that with time the mandroid would adapt, regardless of his resistance to the permanent history of the continent.
“My younger sister Cadence, samurai to the Bossa Nova Clan, the rest are relatives or honor bound samurai who trained at the Koryu Academy.” The Duchess introduced her sister casually, then stared down at Tolvur as he crouched down on the ground, “What are you suggesting, Lord Tolvur?”
The compliments he was making, was either a result of their combined power level, which remained unsuppressed in order to keep Namekian hordes at bay from reaching the border, or as a suitor. Rather than make assumptions, she asked what he meant by it, and finished the rest of the fruit. In her peripheral Cadence waved gently, feeling out of her league, and turned her shoulder to eat the fruit she was given demurely. [210] [1,640]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jul 25, 2021 8:30:08 GMT -8
Ah culture.. been a while since Tolvur had seen any semblance of that while hunting down a certain someone. And it seemed he was now to accept one or.. do as he previously thought and avoid using her name altogether. He sighed and kept silent for a while longer as he just listened to her introducing her sister. Cadence. The robotic eyes found her and scanned her over, feeling out her individual powerlevel. Then, right as he found it he was asked what he meant by his comment about not hating what he felt and saw.
''I meant that..'' He would get up to his feet and draw his eyes away from Cadence, his focus back on Melody for now. ''Your power combined is almost twice my own. That's more of a motivation for me than some title.'' He offered. ''And in terms of me liking what I see.. well I have been away on a wild goose chase for several years now.''
''Speaking of.'' He suddenly remembered that his clothes were still tattered and he didn't really have time to change yet. And with Bryce's wardrobe being there, if anything.. well, he doubted there would be a fitting shirt. ''I need to find some new clothes. Is there a dresscode here, now that I'm part of the Duchies or whatever?''
Then, his eyes widened. ''Do I get a sword? You know, samurai stuff?''
==================== WC: 234 TWC: 2,318
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Post by Melody on Jul 25, 2021 14:37:34 GMT -8
“Rather than chase after your target, we should find a method to trap her, I am certain Bryce-san did not exactly have a target painted on his back when she found him in the middle of all this while you spent years looking.”
Melody looked down at his style of dress since Tolvur made a point to bring it up and she blinked a few times before answering. “As a Lord you can wear whatever you want. Western Land residents wear traditional robes, haori are patterned after their clan colors such as mine or my sister’s, and have a kamon to symbolize status for others to imprint into their memories. If such details interest you, I can hire a designer to get you situated, like the rest of the Pig Demon Duchies.”
The mention of swords formed a smile on her face, she may have not been raised by the Bossa Nova clan, but she was an expert at swords at a young age after being taken in by Duke Glacier.
“Not all Lords are swordsmen trained in the traditional samurai code, at the northern border lies Tundra Village, the first settlement between the western lands and the northern islands where our enemy Piccolo Daimao resides and consumes all who venture there. Duke Lancelot is a snow rabbit beastman, he is an instructor at the Ice Block Academy at Tundra Village, and he uses brute strength to carve out ice formations from the sea as well as protect the neighboring villages from daily Namekian raids.”
Cadence finished eating, then proceeded to open up her parasol umbrella, feeling the hard effects of the sun on her skin again. Since their encounter simmered down in tension, she was able to relax slightly, while still being wary of the surrounding area.
[297] [1,937]
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