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Post by Melody on Jan 2, 2020 18:14:40 GMT -8
There were many occasions when the Grand Dukes that presided over Oolong city found themselves in a political problem that would lose favor among the locals. The red light district was full of gangs that were left unchecked, most of them were in the business of making a quick zeni and revel in the profits by having territorial control over certain areas. As long as these gangs paid their share of taxes the Grand Dukes looked the other way, it was one of many operations, apart from the casinos, that kept generating a steady zeni flow. However, the Devil’s Cooks gang deliberately began to add pressure to the competitive restaurants belonging to the former Ma-Te of the Tea Clan. Gang members were standing out in the street, glaring at potential customers with their thug like swagger, and eventually the daily profits started to take a dive. While Duchess Melody would have ignored the problem, it was affecting her truffle mushroom sales to the most prestigious restaurants, and that was enough to get involved. A secret meeting was called to order in Oolong City, it had been a year since Melody met with anyone from Oolong’s Tea clan at their annual new year's gathering in the Grand Palace, in fact she spent the new year in Truffle village and left Portobello to represent her. The secret meeting was set for today at a quiet tea house at the heart of the city, and deliberate on the fate of the gang affecting their profits.
It was still cold around this time of year, sometimes it would rain, but otherwise the air was like ice from the north and people would wear scarves or earmuffs to prevent frostbite. Melody was dressed warmly, a fluffy faux fur white scarf covered her neck, she was wearing one of her most prestigious faux fur lined red and gold embellished kimono to signify her status as Duchess in the streets of Oolong city. Apart from keeping her power level exposed, people recognized her for her green hair, and her deadpan expression as crowds of people stepped out of the way. Directly beside her was her vassal Cress, who was seemingly unaffected by the chill in the air, wearing exactly what he felt like despite the cold while casually smoking a cigarette with the same deadpan stare that forced people to clear from getting stepped on by his massive build; his demonic blood resisted all temperatures. Upon arrival of the tea house, it appeared to be a simple two tier level style home, surrounded by pines and bamboo. The building overlooked a pond with large koi and a water fountain echoing against the natural bamboo walls. While the city was noisy and full of people there was a sense of tranquility here as the door panels were slid open by tea house staff, who escorted the Duchess towards a large window walled room overlooking the pond in the mid-afternoon sun.
There was a black lacquer table with six chairs of matching carved design, at the center were an assortment of rice tea cakes, and a pot of tea. Melody sat in the middle chair on one side of the table, expecting the Tea clan member to sit across from her when he arrived, and she looked over at Cress decide whether he wanted to sit next to her, or stand in the room with a scowl on his face because he hated this type of setting that did not involve alcohol. With a sigh she cocked her head and sighed.
“Honestly, spiked tea sounds gnarly. Maybe you should carry a flask or something?” Melody reflected, “Don’t think I didn’t notice you selling cigarettes to those kids, the town council has caught you many times doing that in our village, and now that we’re in Oolong City where you’re in full swing of individual sales. Such a bad influence on today’s youth, I swear.”
It had been a month and a half since she was last seen in Oolong City, she was feeling nauseous from the tobacco smoke, and was flushed red.
[683/14,000]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jan 3, 2020 9:07:41 GMT -8
That whole shard thing was etched into his mind, and he found himself unable to stop thinking of it as if it had some kind of magnetic power to it. Wait, Melody was a big shot right? Maybe she could help Bryce figure this thing out. But the difficult thing here was finding the girl. He had removed himself from her the last time they met, and the only thing he knew she was somewhere in Oolong city, assuming she wasn't out on a 'business' trip somewhere like with those kids from before.
Either way he would make his way to the city, with the shard in his closed fist and almost breaking skin with it. Why he brought it, he didn't know as there was no exact reason for it other than letting Melody look at it, but that was only valid if she was actually around. And he could very well invite her to his home in the middle of nowhere to look at it and to examine it. Plus, he didn't even know where to begin looking, and sensing her energy was a moot thing as there would be a lot of people there with similar energy signatures. Simply homing in on hers would be a nightmare, and even if he was able to do so he would still have to figure out where she was physically.
No matter how monumentous of a task, Bryce still went to Oolong city, and before long he saw the buildings rise up to tell him that he was nearly there. Instantly, as he entered the city and found himself surrounded with people, he tried to sense where Melody was, which didn't really work as the signatures around him just distracted him from it. Not to mention the fact it agitated him. So he was just left to looking around and fish out this woman he had seen maybe once or twice in a crowd of people. It would be hellish to do so if he hadn't just now remembered she was a Duchess. She would likely be somewhere cooped up with security around her..
He was getting a lot of stares as he looked around, not bothering to put a jacket on or anything and just.. being out there in what people perceived to be cold weather, he assumed. The stares were starting to get to him as he finally saw something worthy of note, a simple house with an unusual aesthetic for this city. Melody looked unusual, so his best guess would make Bryce think she was in that building. However there were people just outside the entrance that stopped him from entering.
''Let me through. It's in your best interest.'' He said as he was barred without any spoken words. ''I only have your health in mind.'' =================== WC: 469 TWC: 1354
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Post by Juni on Jan 9, 2020 17:48:28 GMT -8
Hachi led the way down the street, hovering in the air gleefully until it stopped behind Bryce, finding the way to the Tea House blocked by the mandroid, and the guards standing outside the wooden gate. Juniper was dressed in a Kimono, with the Tea clan emblem on the pattern of the fabric, as well as a black faux fur lined collar, and carried along her giant paint brush to observe the commotion that was transpiring. “Excuse me, passing through.” Juniper said nonchalantly as the guards moved out of the way, she stopped in her tracks to look over her shoulder, “You’re looking for someone? I will bring them out for you, just wait there.”Once inside, she rushed into the room, panting as she ran over thinking she was late, and found that there were only two people in the private tea room. As she caught her breath she immediately recognized Duchess Melody except something was wrong, the mystic healer recognized immediately what was ailing her, and walked over to Cress to put out the cigarette by pulling it out of his lips. “The nerve, you shouldn’t be smoking around a pregnant woman, so rude!” She crushed the cigarette in her palm easily, her demon blood allowed her to resist from getting burned, and she hovered over to Melody. “Duchess, you really need to rest, the children are of demonic origin, and your human body is unable to sustain their growth. It looks like one of them is blood cursed which is forcing both of them to grow at an exponential rate.”
Without asking for permission, she placed her hand on Melody’s wrist, and detected her heart rate, “Your heart chakra has diminished quite a bit for the past month. Allow me to bestow a mystic sigil so that the blood cursed child is born in three months. Of course this will delay the birth of the second at around six months time. It is early by human standards but they are demon by blood and will survive...but you will not unless I bestow my mysticism.”
The tea princess began to paint the sigil needed to aid Melody by waving her paint brush in the air to draw it above them using Hachi’s ink, and she waved her hand to move the imbued symbol towards the green haired Duchess to touch it. “You will need to be bed ridden from here on out, I understand you are here to deal with the Devil’s cook gang, but you can entrust me with this problem. I believe there is someone outside who is looking for you and at first glance it seems he only possess two chakras, the root, and sacral...the rest are gone.”[455] [1,809/14,000]
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Post by Melody on Jan 9, 2020 17:50:30 GMT -8
Melody got up from her seat, feeling a bit a relief once the smoke cleared up, but when her symptoms persisted she had no idea what was causing her vertigo until Princess Juniper spelled it out of her. There was a faint smile on her face, along with a mixture of concern, and she knew that there was going to be a struggle even if Cress had no doubts before. Pulling her hand away from Juniper she reached for the sigil feeling relief from the healing properties of the young woman’s mysticism applied to stabilize her own health. With a slight bow at the Princess she dismissed herself, no time was wasted in making up her mind to return to Truffle Village immediately, she silently left the room, along with Cress following closely behind only to stop at the gate with the guards blocking Bryce from entering.
“Hello, it has been a long time--” Melody felt something pulse on her chest, she pulled out a handkerchief from inside her kimono that was glowing orange at the center, and unfolded it revealing an orange shard, “I found this at the beach of the southern islands, I had two, but misplaced one. A friend of mine, by the name of Bass, has the same energy signature as the shards so there might be a connection there. At the time, a giant shark was threatening south city when I was there, which also had a shard, and we discovered that some shards have the magical properties of a wish that was once made on the dragon balls long ago before they were shattered. This is the first time I have seen it glowing, perhaps it is because there is another shard nearby from the same dragon ball...”
Her violet eyes scanned Bryce’s fisted hand which was glowing, then looked up at him, her okobo sandal’s kept her stance near his line of sight, and she held her breath for a minute wincing slightly as she began to sweat from the pain she was suffering from.
“It seems you have one, too. I met a teenage mage by the name of Kiryu, who was one of the many martial artists protecting South City, and an expert in magic items. He mentioned that the shards can be used to forge an item imbued with its magic.” She smiled weakly, “I walked past your territory on my way here, you can build a forge, and make the item yourself. Well...I must be going, I am afraid, I was here on business on behalf of Truffle Village and the duchies but I am not feeling my best right now. The young woman from earlier, Princess Juniper, is a descendant of Grand Duke Oolong and would appreciate your assistance in dealing with the yakuza interfering with the local restaurants. It is affecting my mushroom sales, so you would be doing me a favor in the process. I seem to owe you quite often, so if at any point you need anything from me, be sure to visit me at Truffle village. It is good to see you again. Farewell, Bryce.”
Cress held Melody’s shoulder as they both walked down the street, rather slowly, until they were out of sight after turning the corner to take the main road back home.
[530] [2,339/14,000]
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Post by Tolvur-Q12 on Jan 10, 2020 14:01:50 GMT -8
''..dragon what?''
Melody mentioned dragonballs and they didn't spark a single memory for the mandroid, but what did help was her showing off the fact she had one for herself. And it seemed like she had been wondering the same thing as him because there came a wave of exposition, at first telling Bryce all kinds of useless stuff like where she found it, how they were created.. but she finally revealed the answer to his question once she was done speaking; he could turn the shard into an item he could use for his own good. He just didn't know how, and that wouldn't be told either. Not right now, anyway.
The woman told him there was someone who had told her all of this by the name of Kiryu, which did jog some of his memories. Didn't Nal mention him some time before? If so, he knew where to go. Though he wasn't allowed to take his leave without Melody telling him what she was up to.
''I'll pass.'' He told her after hearing that there was some kind of mafia around that was hurting her sales. ''You gave me something better to do.''
And with no further words, Bryce left the area. ================== WC: 205 TWC: 2,544
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Post by Koma on Jan 14, 2020 18:00:28 GMT -8
Koma felt odd walking through this city which he knew so well yet he had not been in for nearly five years. It felt largely alien in some ways, and the faint familiarity of things only made the sting of the unknown more profound. The Slate Gray eye colored Samurai continued to try to find things to busy himself with outside of training and the studying which they so far insisted that he did after the revelation that he was a member of the White Cat Clan, the Samurai Clan which was led by Grand Duke Yajirobe.
So he found himself fulfilling his loneliness and anger at the current state of things in the most human way which he could. He had begun to spend time at the restaurants which Ma-Te had owned, watching over them and enjoying their food while also helping their manager's deal with threats to them such as thugs intimidating the customers. Had Ma-Te still been alive, this would not be an issue at all, but given it was a Tea Clan business, it was technically something which would require a Tea Clan member or direct ally to deal with, and simply pushing around the Thugs wouldn't solve the issue permanently.
So he went looking for allies in solving this issue, outside of the strictest interpretations of the Law of the Grand Duchies. Even if she didn't know it, Koma had Melody dead to rights when it came to a certain situation, and he could use that situation to force her to help in the matter. So he had followed her and the big dumb brute she called a 'Vassal', when he didn't know the slightest thing about being a Samurai, to the Tea Clan tea house which she had apparently set up some sort of meeting in.
Outside, sipping a liter bottle of green tea, he watched those who came in, taking note of them and reading their power level. He almost moved inside when he saw the cyborg exit once again, and from that he cocked an eyebrow before adjusting his sword at its place on his sword belt, and walking in. Dressed in black and white striped sneakers, a black and yellow striped track suit, and a sleeveless shirt, he strode in and past the host stand where they would normally ask you to wait to be seated. He headed in, following the collection of spiritual energies. Was Melody trying to plan a coup or something?
He had no idea of knowing until he entered the room, which he did without so much as a knock of the paper door of the traditional style building. He simply abruptly slid the door open and stepped in, taking his sneakers off and putting them in the shoe nook before turning to look at the young woman sitting at the table and wondering where Melody and Cress had went, given he had detected all of their energies and given his previous interactions with Cress made him quite sure as soon as he came into the room, Cress would go about challenging him as if Cress was a yappy house dog, with so many barks.
Then he took a seat opposite of this strange young woman and simply waited for some sort of response or the arrival of Melody, who he had felt in this room only moments before entering.
“Where did Melody, Cress, and the Cyborg head off to? What kind of conspiracy are they up to?”
[582] [2452/14000]
I'm not counting Bryce's words because Easy Fails left the mission and as such given he had barely written any words, I have no intention for him to get the full mission rewards when we're done. He'll just get Personal Saga rewards for the words he wrote individually.
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Post by Juni on Jan 15, 2020 2:54:48 GMT -8
“It’s good to see you again, Koma.” Juniper bowed her head and smiled, “We should spend more time together so you can improve your communication methods towards a more refined manner of speaking. A proper greeting at minimum followed by asking how I am feeling rather than jump straight to business. Patience is a virtue.”
The tea princess served two cups of tea and took the time to take a sip before she continued speaking, “I understand you had a bounty placed on your head after being betrayed by your daimyo which may have made you a bit of a skeptic. Perhaps that is why you are concerned for Duchess Melody doing the same to us but I must inform you that she has changed since you last saw her. Two New Year’s Eves ago, Melody’s crown chakra was radiant with her ambition for zeni to control the world, she was spending time with my brother Ma-Te, but he hardly noticed her because he preferred loose women and she disliked him for being such a pig so she immediately gave up ever marrying someone like him since day one. It seems after amassing fame and fortune on her own accord, she has given up her ambition, and is now focused on heirs to continue her legacy. I believe Cress is the father of the unborn children, the demonic signature seemed the same, and I am happy for them despite what the Duchies might feel about the match.” Juniper ate some of the mochi cakes and drank more of her tea. “There is no conspiracy between the Duchess and the other two. I sent her home because she needs rest and I will personally take care of this matter involving the Devil’s cook gang. Maybe you can visit her when you have the chance. I do not personally know the cyborg but I recall him being territorial neighbors with Truffle Village after he recently purchased farmland to grow rice. So how are you? I believe a few others are joining us soon, some of who you met before at the estate, which still needs a proper name...Zen Estate?”
After a beat she elegantly poured more tea for herself and enjoyed the view of the pond outside the window with a smile. The tea house was relaxing and she hoped that Koma would be able to calm his nerves during the meeting in order to succeed in their objective. While they had been living under the same roof, Juniper had been traveling for a while, and she wanted to get to know the samurai better since returning to the city.
[439] [2,891/14,000]
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Post by Jade on Jan 15, 2020 15:58:10 GMT -8
Jade had just gotten up from bed. She was currently in the bathroom actually, because once she got up, she realized that she couldn't sense Juniper's ki anywhere inside of the house. She hadn't checked her room as yet though, but suspected that something was wrong. After her bath, she went in her room, and quickly got dressed in her favourite green hooded tracksuit, with sneakers, in which Juniper owns. She doesn't really have a problem with it as they were pretty much like sisters now. Once she was finished, she slid the door open when a servant walked pass. Jade stopped her, and said "Excuse me, uhh, could I have a cup of tea, please?"Jade closed the door, and sat on the floor, waiting for the cup for tea. It wasn't long after, when she came with it, and Jade took it, not without saying thank you, of course. She was in a rush though, so she drank the cup of tea as fast as she could, which took approximately 8 minutes. Once she was finished, she got up, and immediately ran outside of the house, but before that, she informed the the female servant that the cup, in which she drank tea from, was on the table. Upon reaching at the wooden bridge, she still couldn't sense Juniper's ki.. which was weird. "Where would she be? She didn't even inform me that she was leaving."
It was pretty cold outside, which was why the feline had to wear the hooded area of her tracksuit. She stood there, thinking about where exactly she should start her.. search. Finally, she decided to go to the city first. Weird choice, really, as Jade has never actually been in the city area of Oolong City. But anyways, she tried to locate the area with the most ki signatures, even though that might be a little bit risky. Once she did so, she followed on that path, with her paws in her jacket's pockets and her jade green stare straight ahead of her. To her suprise, she actually headed the right way, and was now in the large, well known Oolong City. Now, there was another problem.. she had to find Juniper. Finding the city was one thing, but Juniper not being in the city was another. Jade didn't even try to sense her ki, as there were too many people there at the time, so.. it had to be done the manual way. She wasn't exactly comfortable around everyone, while she walked on the crowded road. She observed the area for a bit, and Juniper was not in sight. She got pretty frustrated after a few minutes, to be honest. It was a large area anyways. She then came upon a simple two tier level style home, surrounded by pines and bamboo, which overlooked a pond with large koi and a water fountain. Once she looked up at the window she was rather confused. She raised a brow, as she thought about what exactly was happening. "Juniper? Huh? Why is she… Whatever, at least I've found her now."
She ran towards the the gate, but was stopped by the guards that were securing the area. This was bad. "Hey, that's my friend, Juniper, inside there." "You cannot pass here, young lady, please leave."Jade wasn't too amused by this. She didn't know how exactly to get inside now, and wish that Juniper would just look outside the window at least once. But there wasn't any sign of this happening, so it was up to Jade, herself. She observed the environment around her, and finally got an idea. She never thought she would've done this before, but.. she was left with no choice. Using the claws in her paws, she gripped onto the bamboo and climbed the fence, and once she fell, she managed to not get the attention of the guards. She tiptoed towards the door and slid it open. She closed it, and was about to run towards the room, in which Juniper was in, but suddenly stopped and looked at the ground. She realized that there were some sneakers laid there, so she decided to take her sneakers off also. Once she opened the door, Juniper was sitting around a table accompanied by a random guy that was wearing a track suit. She sensed his ki, and he was pretty powerful in her opinion, but that wasn't the problem now. "Juniper.. what's the problem? Are you ok? Why didn't you tell me that you left the house? Why are you here? What is this about?" WC: [766 | 766] Total Mission WC: [3218 | 14000] Tags: Koma, Juni
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Post by Koma on Jan 15, 2020 18:17:18 GMT -8
“Patience is a virtue? Well, Princess, time is money. So consider the equation there. Every moment we waste is a risk for the people who have sworn their service to your brother's restaurants and keeping them going. He loved those things, so forgive me if I'm a bit aggressive in my aims to solve the situation. They're the only thing that really remains of Ma'Te, aside from yourself and your sister Clove.”
The Samurai was not hesitant or bowing his head when he said it. While he was not raised a noble, he understood more than well they were of equal rank at the moment, and had no reason to be afraid to talk to her. Not that it had changed anything before when he thought himself a Vagabond samurai and was dealing with haughty duchesses and the like. He said nothing else as she spoke, simply listening to what she had apparently been told by her family.
He listened to the full statement, before snorting slightly at the idea that she had denied Ma'Te because of his like for carousing and loose women. Perhaps that was being overly charitable to Melody, because the mere idea that she had been impregnated by her vassal, a non-Samurai and non-noble, as well as someone who was not married to her – it kind of made the idea that she was not a loose woman herself somewhat laughable. The half-Saiyan samurai did not say such however, simply listening to the words spoken by the Princess of the Tea Clan before giving her a skeptic expression.
“I perhaps know more practical knowledge than you do about them. There's reasons for my skeptic attitude towards the Duchess of Truffle Village, and it is not simple hatred or mistrust because of that betrayer called Kuma. And to correct your knowledge about myself and your deceased brother, I did not know him as a child. I didn't know him until I was a twenty year old, first swaggering through the city. We met through me saving him from some belligerent drunks and thugs, and found that we got along well with each other. We made fast friends from that time on ward, but a tree cannot be planted on uneven foundations.”
He cracked his knuckles, and gave a simple smirk at her question about her training facility and castle. It was her castle, not his own, so why would she ask him a name for it? He simply gave a nod, “Zen Castle is a fitting name as any other, I suppose.”
It was then that the pink haired girl appeared in the room, and began to blabber about. Koma's eyebrows knit for a moment in frustration, this was not some crack team that Juniper of the Tea Clan was forming, it seemed.
“If you needed to know, she surely would have told you, would she not have, Jade?” he said, shaking his head for a moment as a worker strode in to bring them tea and he took a sip. This cat girl gave the average beast folk a bad name.
[518] [3736]
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Post by Misaki Kazamiya on Jan 15, 2020 23:13:27 GMT -8
The gentle humming of a beautiful young woman was the only thing floating through the airspace of Misaki Kazamiya. Well, that, and the gentle fluttering of her Parasol in the wind. The city was certainly not to her taste - Oolong city was expansive, yet to her tastes artificial and sinful. The plants here were few and often choked within the barren plains. They spoke to her of pain and suffering, and yet, also of their survival against the odds.
A broad smile took a liking to Misaki's face as she looked around. life here might be choked and struggling against the tyranny of human industry, but be it the mushrooms far below her feet or the grass eking out a living within the cracks of the pavement, flora would always find a way to survive and prosper.
The girl took to singing under her breath, the sweet sounds of 'cha la, head cha la' coming from the reminiscence of an old TV show she'd watched as a kid, and the Green-haired woman stopped paying attention to her surroundings as she absentmindedly headed towards the next bus shuttle out of here.
She was stopped via a rough bump against something large and hard.
The Gardener stopped, looking up, and blinking. her eyes beheld a gorilla of a man. scratch that, a man of a gorilla! A gorilla-man, from the looks of it, a strong, heavy chest compounded with powerful biceps and the facial features one would expect of a monkey... but with distinctly human eyes.
"Hey there, lady! How's about you watch where you're going?" The Gorilla snorted with a wicked grin, as his cronies showed themselves. a group of hyena-beastmen, from the looks of it. all of them yipping and jowling and cheering - and in one case, drooling - as their boss proclaimed his presence.
"She walked into boss!"
"Yeah, she ended up walking straight into him! How rude!"
"Who does she think she is, huh?"
"Hmm? But weren't you standing there, just now..." The botanist added with a look of confusion, bringing one confused hand to point. "I was trying to go that way, you see. My shuttle's over there-"
The Gorilla's lips were pulled back into a snarl as he thrust his face inches from Misaki's own, spittle flying.
Misaki, for her part, simply gave a small smile in response, cheery and unconcerned.
"Who do you think you are, talking to me in such a manner. Don't you know who I am in this city?"
"I'm sorry, mr. Gorilla. I'm afraid I've never had the pleasure of learning about you since I came here. I'm merely a tourist, after all." Misaki responded, red eyes meeting the large silverback's evenly.
"...Hah! you think you can fool me that easily?" The gorilla boomed. "Then explain how you knew my name was Mr. Gorilla! You've already trapped yourself in your own web of lies!"
Misaki blinked. then blinked again. then a third time as the realization hit her with grueling certainty.
'It seems I've ran into a "special" case.'
"You can't ignore an up-and-coming crime boss like me, and I know it. Pretty soon, the bananas gang will be ruling this city. Your choices are to work as part of my gang from now on, owing your life to me, or..."
A trio of yelps cut him off as Misaki slammed her parasol into the ground. a pair of large, golden beams blasted through the crust of the pavement and sent pieces of asphalt and yelping hyenas flying with no discrimination between the two.
Mr. Gorilla's eyes widened as he realized his back-up had suddenly disappeared. "w-what-"
Misaki's smile grew broad as she closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side. "I'm sorry, it's just that this conversation was taking a little long, you see? I didn't mean to be a bother, but I only have so much time for weaklings, and it seemed like this would be much faster if I cut to the chase."
"You little runt! I'll crush you under one paw!"
Misaki's response was merely a widened grin, as energy collected around her parasol. "That's very rude, Mr. Gorilla. I'd really like you to move out of the way now."
The slap of a glowing parasol was quiet, but the howling shriek and ooh-ahh-ahh's of the gorilla were incredibly loud as Misaki Kazamiya slapped the creature with enough force to send him flying out of control through the air.
The gorilla went bouncing, skidding, in a comical fashion. at first, every bounce was big, but then they got smaller as time went on, rolling with horizontal movement more than bouncing with vertical movement. eventually, though, after hitting a very sharp corner of a nearby automotive vehicle, his surge of motion went nearly straight up as he bounced... right into the Koi pond of a certain tea-house.
Misaki looked at her handiwork with a sadistic grin... for a very brief moment. then, a thought occurred to her.
"...I should probably go apologize to the tea-shop owner. those poor Koi..."
And with that, and a gentle humming, the green-haired gardener headed straight towards the tea-house, entering the first floor with an apologetic look. "Excuse me? I'm very sorry for the mess outside. Is the owner around? I'd like to make it up to them."
[885] [4621]
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Post by Juni on Jan 16, 2020 2:02:59 GMT -8
“I see...I thought we were the same age, I have not acquired the skill to determine these facts based on appearance, I assumed you and Ma-Te knew each other as children as he is only seven years older than me...which means it was ten years ago when I was eight that you were both enjoying everything Oolong city had to offer.” Juniper ate a rice cake in the shape of a small cube presented as a rainbow of pastel colors. “Time is money...I do not believe that philosophy, I studied the four arts, and money tends to solve the predicament we are in with the gang activity to possibly send them away.”
Juniper diverted her attention to the wooden paper screen door open abruptly, with the pink haired Jade looking rather panicked about being separated this morning. “Jade, your decorum needs an adjustment.” The tea princess took another sip calmly, “Take a seat, I will need your help soon enough, so enjoy some tea in the meantime.”
A staff worker at the Tea house escorted a dark green haired woman holding a parasol silently towards the private meeting room with Koma, Juniper, and Jade. Explaining that she had no desire to interrupt but that a silverback gorilla landed in the koi pond and that the young mysterious woman wanted to apologize to the owners. The tea house was owned by the youngest grandchildren of the Tea clan, Koma was now the partial owner of it after inheriting a stake in the business with the passing of Ma-Te, and it was Hachi that greeted the mystery woman first.
The black floating dumbo octopus seemed rather happy that the koi were accidently killed, it took no time to waste by floating into the tea house garden to eat all the large dead koi for himself. While it was uncommon for Juniper to respond to anything, her animal companion forced her to raise a brow, having him eat in front of guests was an act of uncouthness, and she stood up in her seat taking a deep breath to correct him but she felt faint instead. There was no point in focusing on the manners everyone exhibited unless she led by example instead. Juniper turned to look at Misaki stand by the wooden panel entry way with a smile.
“Greetings. I am one of the owners of this establishment, my name is Juniper Tea, my associate Koma of The White Cat clan is also the owner, and it seems the issue with gangs is affecting people that are out on their morning constitutional. Actions speak louder than words, since you seem able, would you be interested in helping us disrupt the oppression made by the local gangs in the area? We are presently awaiting one more person to join us for this meeting so we can discuss how to solve this problem. Which we all seem to have different opinions on...please take a seat and have some tea or rice cake. May I ask your name? How long have you been in Oolong City?”
[515] [5,136/14,000]
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Post by Fenrir on Jan 16, 2020 15:58:07 GMT -8
When Fenrir had been told about Oolong City, Sin City as one individual had called it, he had really drawn an image in his mind. That image was one of a city that was a hotbed of illicit activities; gambling, boozing, and various other activities best left out of polite conversation. He had imagined the city bright like some kind of bejeweled harlot, beautiful and glistening and alluring, calling forth any man worth his salt to woo her, to entertain her, and to have a good time. He imagined a city almost akin to West City in the Central Lands. It was a beautiful city, a technological marvel, propped up by Capsule Corp and all of its inventions and hard work.
Well, what he found, instead, as he flew toward the city was something both similar and dissimilar to what he had envisioned. Yes, the city was bright. In fact, it was so bright, that up above the city, as the evening sky slowly melted away into the wee morning hours and the sun began to rise its bright shining face over the world, he saw that the stars were almost hiding. Their twinkling faces could barely be seen due to all of the light pollution from the City of Sin underneath the, unnaturally blank, stone slate that was the sky.
The sleepless city did not really look like what he had imagined; in place of tall skyscrapers there were hills and mountains and upon those formations there were buildings, jutting from the sides. There were walls, strong and tall. There were buildings that looked ornate, old, classical architecture from a time gone by, yet that architecture was melded with new technology; there were neon sights, blinding and bright, stuck to the sides of buildings that, he was sure, existed long before the technology of the neon signs even existed. It was a strange, almost anachronistic, sight to behold. The odd blending of old and new. Yet, it was not unwelcome.
As soon as his feet touched terra firma, he felt as if he were out of place. Everyone else around him was somewhat bundled up; dressed with scarves wrapped around their necks, some had mittens on their hands while others walked about with big puffy coats and their hands stuffed in the pockets. They were bundled up; a chill was hovering over the entire area. There wasn’t what he would call an overbearing cold, there were no piles of snow growing wherever one could see, yet people could see their breath escaping their lips in white puffs of mist, and that was apparently cold enough for the people of Oolong to throw on an extra layer of protective clothing on top of their bodies.
On the other hand, there he stood, in his red leather pants, which were an inch shy of his pants not being legal as they hung rather low on his hips, a red leather vest - all but bare chested as the vest covered very little - as well as his long red leather coat with the fluffy lining. A stabbing cold breeze swept down the street, or at least that is how others reacted to it when the cold hit them. Some cringed, some wrapped their scarves tighter around their necks, and others cuddled up with their significant other as the wind passed in order to bask in each other’s body heat.
Yet, there he stood. He was unaffected, even with all that flesh exposed to the cold. The chill did not touch him. He felt something, he felt a breeze. That was it. That was all he felt. It was actually quite nice out there, he liked how comfortable it felt.
“This feels nice.” The blue haired man breathed a nice contented sigh and took in the sights around him.
He wandered down the street. His eyes trailing over every building, every bright neon sign, every waving face in front of every gambling hall - usually a woman holding or waving a sign beckoning people to come in and throw their money away at a chance to win a lot more money, though despite having never gone to such a city before, Fenrir already knew that the house usually won - and he attempted to find something to do, something to keep himself occupied. He had gone to Oolong City with a simple directive; find a gambling hall, increase his winnings, and maybe spend a few hours lounging about in the Red Light District enjoying pleasurable company from women and men.
Now that the great white wolf of the north was at Oolong City, he was having a hard time deciding just what he should do first.
It was at that point that the wandering wolf noticed something. It was a strange but familiar feeling; it was tugging on the back of his mind. He picked up an energy signature that he found very familiar; it was that woman, the one whom he had met at the Hot Springs in West City. The one with the hovering octopus, Hachi was its name, that he had found to be rather cute - the octopus that is, though the woman was also quite a sight to behold as well, he had to admit. She was adorable in both of her forms, her more demure and "socially pleasing" form as well her true form, with her ashy grey skin and her horn. He liked that form quite a lot. He enjoyed to see a person in their true form, their true face, showing their true colors.
The energy was coming from a building, and he could only assume that she was inside. But there were guards standing outside, stopping people from entering. He overheard a young woman comment she was looking for Juni. That was her name, yes, the one with the octopus. Juni.
She was in there? He moved a bit closer, rubbing his chin. He spotted someone, just out of sight, leap over the wall. He could only assume that the guards had stopped them from entering altogether and they decided to take an alternate route inside of the building.
Would he be able to take that route also? Probably so, but he could also very well walk up to the guards...And he did, he walked up to them, "Oi, is there a girl with a little hovering octopus in there? Do you mind fetching her for me?"
WC: 1,070 CWC: 6,206 / 14,000
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Toma Fudo
Prospect
Posts: 17
Power Level: 4,538
Faction: The Pig Demon Duchies
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Post by Toma Fudo on Jan 16, 2020 22:24:45 GMT -8
Toma was running late, he realized that, but he was quite literally the last person to be informed via messenger that the Devil's Cook gang were causing trouble for the local restaurants in Oolong City, and that his presence was immediately required. Although he would have preferred to bring a vassal along, there was no time to be wasted for such trivial things as he changed into to formal garbs that showed off his chest, abs, and toned arms. The giant then made his way for the city and still had to struggle with weaving through crowds on his way to the building where he was to meet with the other Duchies. It was a well-kept secret, but he was the oldest surviving duke and one of the more successful because his village was situated on very fertile land.
He then would come across Fenrir in his rush, and his eyes glowed bright yellow briefly in his impatience before reverting back to their honey-gold hazel. "Let him pass, he's with me." Toma's voice boomed in his irritation before leading the white wolf inside. They both were unaffected by the cold, and something about Fenrir put him at ease. He was certainly his type too, but flirting would have to until after his work was finished. "You, handsome, may call me Toma. I'll take you to Juniper, especially since my precense is urgently required. After all of this is settled, we should go for a couple rounds." Toma said once they were both inside and out of earshot from the hosts, a little calmer now as he made it clear that he was interested in the wolf as his Saiyan tail swayed thoughtfully. Once he got to the door of the private room, he took his boots off and slid the door open to step inside with his potentially new vassal. "Apologies for the late arrival, but a certain someone just informed me at the last minute." Toma said with a slight abrasiveness that was entirely out of character for him as he sat with the others. Hopefully he'd be able to return to his normal jovial self after these delinquents were dealt with thoroughly.
WC: 364
CWC: 6,570 / 14,000
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Post by Koma on Jan 17, 2020 2:58:32 GMT -8
As Koma sipped the tea that the waitress had brought, and further the other cup of tea which Juniper had poured him, the Slate Gray eyed Saiyan was silent about further matters. No one was addressing him and he had no reason to address them. Further, while he had not yet said such to Juniper, having not even expected her to be here and having originally expected to see Melody and force her and her entourage into helping with the situation, he had not yet had a reason or moment to explain his plan of strategy against the likes of the Devil's Cook Gang, from the Demon's Backhouse neighborhood of the capital city.
It was a plan which made sure they would not be wandering around trying to find the opponent's until some could escape. It was one that focused on using another gang, one which had been sworn to serve Ma-Te, as a counter to the thugs and robbers of the Devil's Cook Gang.
Ma-Te's vassal 'gang', known as the Dumpling Hill Gang for the fact they were formed shortly after Koma and Ma-Te had made friends, when the pair of them invited nearly ten orphans and beggar children into Ma-Te's singular restaurant at the time, the Dumpling Hill Restaurant. Unlike most gangs of young toughs, they were mostly focused on finding food for themselves and their loved ones and having roofs over their heads. These were things which Ma-Te provided without issue, as well as for some, training in the martial arts and in the culinary arts from Koma and himself, respectively.
Though that had been nearly ten years ago, the bonds formed then stood strong, and while many of the original group of orphan toughs had moved on to legitimate jobs working for Ma-Te's business organization, others remained as muscle and skilled instructors to keep the next generation going. The group specialized in non-criminal acts, such as advertising restaurants, staging fake sickness after exiting restaurants which Ma-Te had targeted as a threat, and of course keeping the streets around Ma-Te's restaurants watched and generally free of criminal elements. Thieves, they could deal with. Petty Pick Pockets were no problems. But grown men who were thuggish types and three times their size and body weight in muscle? That was out of the question.
It did not matter, however, because even at the moment Koma had met with Ma-Te's lieutenants in the Dumpling Hill Gang and given them orders as their standing leader, promising the same protections that Ma-Te had provided and more, but first saying that he needed them to do exactly as he planned.
Stage one was simple: Not even the toughest of thugs could stand on watch intimidating people all day and night, they would have to switch out. When they did, members of the group who were the most nondescript, youngest, or most stealthy, would follow them to where ever they went to when they left their shift as would-be mafioso.
Stage two was a little more complex but still simple: They would notate any traffic heading out that way, and then try to take covert pictures of them for later use. If it came to a fight, they were to run, Koma did not want them harmed.
Stage three would be something which Koma would have to prepare for himself, and which Koma would have to gather actual 'super class' martial artists for. A simple battle on the streets of Oolong City would not deter the Devil's Cook Gang, or any other would be gang of toughs from targeting Ma-Te's restaurants. Further still, Koma had it on good authority from contacts he had made in the city in the past and in the present that the members of the Devil's Cook Gang, or at least its higher ups, were all minor 'super class' martial artists themselves. Their former head, 'Heater', was known to have a world wide bounty on his head that proved his strength, infact.
To make Stage three work, Koma would have to get at least two to three other martial artists of the super class to fight along side of him, and they would have to hit the safe houses, businesses, and cafes of the Devil's Cook Gang in concert. By hitting them all at once, they'd make it known that they were not to be trifled with, and they would also make it so that it was less likely that the Devil's Cook Gang would escape unscathed.
Of course the workers in Ma-Te's kitchens who had been trained in the martial arts by Koma or Ma-Te's actual martial arts trainers hired from the Tea Clan would join in along side the super class fighters to help deal with the regular class of fighters that the Devil's Cook Gang might be able to hire and to keep them off the group's back. So too would the older teenage and young adult members of the Dumpling Hill Gang whom had been taught martial arts from Koma or one of Ma-Te's actual martial arts trainers. Even those who had retired to become cooks or chefs when they became older and more skilled in the culinary arts.
He knew for a fact that Fat Ichi was known to be a monster martial artist and one of the best cooks in the country, thanks to the training Koma and Ma-Te had provided the young man when he was a boy. From what Koma understood, he had mastered numerous culinary arts, and went so far as to open several restaurants as the partial owner with Ma-Te, including Ma-Te's favorite restaurant at the time of his death, the one which Ma-Te had written he wanted to take Koma to when they next saw each other. The Sweet Tea Boar, which focused primarily on wild game dishes and soup dumplings, and which was named by Fat Ichi entirely in the honor of Ma-Te.
He had also contacted one of his long time associates within the Oolong City Police, which contrary to what many people might believe, DO exist! And had strings pulled to find out about any wire transfers to or from Oolong City with the name 'Heater' attached, or any variant of. He had then used the Apple Dumpling Gang to scout the areas around the financial transfer and check cashing locations which the group might be using as a headquarters.
While some might have suggested he use the app that Ma-Te owned, 'BoarChores' to carry some of the load, the Samurai and newly found prince of the White Cat Clan found himself non-trusting of the application after the report that Duchess Melody had put in to the Dukes and Grand Dukes, though he didn't trust Melody herself either.
No longer thinking of his plan as he saw another of the Duchies' landed Dukes, Toma he believed, enter the meeting room, Koma took another sip of his tea, finishing it before putting it back down in the correct and polite manner, inviting Juniper to pour more before digging into his track suit jacket's left inner pocket, and pulling out a rolled scroll with modern fasteners. He saw the green haired gardener, but did not bother to intercede into the conversation which Juniper was having with her. Allow the Princess of the Tea Clan to take the diplomatic lead in this. They may have just found themselves another warrior for this cause.
He unrolled it, it was a map of the local areas in and around where Ma-Te's restaurants were all located, and it had each of his ten restaurants noted. Luckily, many of the ten restaurants were actually right next to each other, and as such it was only four distinct locations, to cover.
As he waited for Juniper and her attention to come back into focus on himself and not her instinctive hostess duties, drilled into her as they were as a princess of her caliber, Koma simply took out another piece of parchment and a pen and began to write out the power levels of each of these people whom had entered their meeting. Toma and this green haired girl were definitely super class, but at the lowest common level to be considered it. Especially given the fact Toma was a Saiyan. He further wrote out Jade's power level, along with her name, and Juniper's power level. Unfortunately for the princess who was not well versed in fighting, she would likely have to fight in this situation. Finishing up, he wrote out the power level listed by the final person, who he felt at the edge of his consciousness but who had not entered the room as of yet. Six separate super class power levels was perhaps less than what was needed to provide a full show of force, but he had Plum to account for as well, though she had no super class skills of her own, she could be useful in passing messages.
“Please have some tea, Duke Toma, for you are not late. But please be so kind as to pause the braggadocio that so many of your rank so often have.” the Prince who was in his mind technically still a Samurai said, speaking as much as well because of his keen knowledge at reading body language. Friends, associates, and vassals did not carry themselves like that near each other, which meant that Toma was acting as if this man who had a far greater power level than his own was his vassal. It was nothing new, part of choosing to fight your way into being a Duke or Duchess required some amount of arrogance, he supposed. He then turned to the green haired young woman, “As far as dunking that over sized, dung flinging chimpanzee into the Koi Pond, don't worry about it. They've had worse done to them, this is after all Oolong City. Someone getting beaten up by someone they did not expect is a daily occurrence here. But if you want to make it up to us, and our fish for their veterinarian's bills you could do us the favor of helping us in our current situation and the way we plan to solve this momentary crisis for our sworn vassals and workers.”
Taking a sip of his tea, he began his speech towards the room about said plan. “We- and by that I mean myself and Princess Juniper, have a plan, though for that we should each introduce ourselves. I am Koma of the Bear C-.” his words stopped in a pinpoint pivot, the Samurai's eyes flickering from their standard slate gray neutrality and color of satisfaction to gold for a moment, “I am Koma of the White Cat Clan, grandson of Grand Duke Yajirobe and former friend of Prince Ma-Te, whom we have gathered today to defend the remaining works of against the Devil's Cook Clan.” he did not bother to mention his own title, technically that of 'Prince', because it still felt alien. “And you are?” he said to the room, including Juniper, as a way to facilitate for each of them to say their name.
[1853] [8423/14000]
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Post by Jade on Jan 17, 2020 17:53:01 GMT -8
She seemed rather calm.. which meant that nothing exactly was wrong.. not with her, at least. Because of how worried Jade was, she didn't exactly saw who was that guy in the track suit, but once she did, a smile came to her face. "Oh, Koma. Hi again, it's been a while now. Actually, I was pretty worried, you see.. once I got up from bed, she was no where to be found, so I kinda searched for her. The good news is that Oolong City was the first place that came to my mind, and thankfully, she is here.. safe."For some reason, the atmosphere in the room didn't feel right. Everyone's face showed that something was going on. For now, Jade sat around the table, and tea was served by the servant. She sipped the cup of hot tea, quietly, not saying anything, but rather listened to the conversation of Juni and Koma. Suddenly, a green haired girl, with red eyes came into the room and started to apologize for something that happened outside. Jade wasn't really sure what she was talking about, but she was just waiting for Juni to call her, as she said that she will need her assistance. She bit into the rice cake, and it was delicious. She has never eaten those before so.. it was the first time. It wasn't bad. What got Jade's attention though, was when she was talking to Misaki about helping her to fight off gang members. "You didn't tell me about this.. if you did, I would've been here a long time ago. But.. the more people, the better.. I guess."
After several minutes, a muscular man, came into the room, in which she later learned his name.. Toma. Kona welcomed him, and introduced himself once more to everyone. After which asking for someone's name. Jade didn't know who exactly he was talking to but.. he already knew the girl's name so.. she didn't answer. WC: [328 | 1094] Total Mission WC: [8751 | 14000] Tags: Juni, Koma, Fenrir, Toma Fudo
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