Post by Zaru on Jan 3, 2020 15:35:03 GMT -8
Man, of all the things Lina could've entered him into.
By this point, Zaru was used to members of his family randomly putting his name forward for competitions, either because they wanted company while they did it and knew he'd turn up, even if he complained, or maybe they just wanted to annoy him. If it was the latter, it was certainly working. He didn't want to either be a coward who backed down from a competition or someone who went back on his word, so if Lina had put him forward, or at least made it seem like he'd put himself forward, he couldn't not follow through. What would people think if he backed out now? His reputation was at stake, the one he'd built up through numerous martial arts tournaments and with the fights he kept getting dragged into thanks to his brother's influence and his stupid gang. He'd gone out of his way to avoid anyone wearing a Tatsu-Kai badge whenever he was in Central City, if only because they'd try and make friends or pick a fight just to prove something to their boss. So, maybe Lina and the others weren't so bad in comparison. All they did was enter him in ice sculpture competitions.
The actual competition seemed to be well underway by the time he had arrived. He was late. Great, he'd put himself at a disadvantage already - but maybe he was right to! After all, he should give everyone else a chance. That was some of the graciousness the old man talked about, the stuff that he needed to start showing. He was being really generous to do that, in his opinion. He was eventually led to his own block of ice, which he stared at in confusion more than anything else. He looked like a normal guy for once, being dressed in a white shirt and jeans, with a brown jacket over it. Zaru carried a backpack with him, and made sure nobody was watching him when he reached into it, pulling out a small notebook. He flicked through, mostly to try and get his head around the kinds of designs there were. There were all sorts of things in here, from dinosaurs to the symbol of the Orin Temple. He had admittedly asked around some of his younger (much younger) cousins to give him ideas, if only to get them to sit still while he had to deal with babysitting. They were kind of cute designs in some cases, from things like flowers to crudely drawn versions of Lina's puppy. Even if it missed out the parts with the stupid dog slobbering over everything.
Finally, he stopped on one design that seemed to catch his eye. He looked away from it for a moment, then his eyes darted back. It was the symbol that he'd often seen on that one jean jacket his grandmother liked so much; the Red Ribbon Army logo. One of the kids had probably drawn it just because they'd seen it on her, but it cast Zaru's mind back to an earlier time. He hadn't asked much about what she had done in the war against the demons or what she had really done in her work with the Red Ribbon, and he hadn't got much of a reply when he did ask, either. The most he knew was that she was involved somehow, and that she'd become an Android later in her life. Well, technically a cyborg, but she never bothered calling it that. Still, the symbol meant something to her, and maybe to the old geezer as well. It couldn't hurt to do something that was for them once in a while, he guessed. He'd see if his partner was up for it, and if they did it, he'd take a picture. Try and get someone else to take the credit for it. At least he knew they'd be happy with it, and that was enough for him.
Speaking of, where was his partner? Zaru knew he was late, but he was supposed to be in a team of two. He had no idea who Lina had signed him up alongside, though all he'd managed to get out was that he wasn't related to any of them, so at least there was that. He wouldn't have to deal with an annoying family member. As he looked up from a book, he could feel a presence near him, not like he could with a ki user, or even with a regular person, but he just had that itchy sensation that someone was nearby. He glanced to his left and right for a moment, realising that whoever it was must've been behind him, maybe had just walked up. "There you are. I'm Zaru, your partner. Good to-"
1d100
By this point, Zaru was used to members of his family randomly putting his name forward for competitions, either because they wanted company while they did it and knew he'd turn up, even if he complained, or maybe they just wanted to annoy him. If it was the latter, it was certainly working. He didn't want to either be a coward who backed down from a competition or someone who went back on his word, so if Lina had put him forward, or at least made it seem like he'd put himself forward, he couldn't not follow through. What would people think if he backed out now? His reputation was at stake, the one he'd built up through numerous martial arts tournaments and with the fights he kept getting dragged into thanks to his brother's influence and his stupid gang. He'd gone out of his way to avoid anyone wearing a Tatsu-Kai badge whenever he was in Central City, if only because they'd try and make friends or pick a fight just to prove something to their boss. So, maybe Lina and the others weren't so bad in comparison. All they did was enter him in ice sculpture competitions.
The actual competition seemed to be well underway by the time he had arrived. He was late. Great, he'd put himself at a disadvantage already - but maybe he was right to! After all, he should give everyone else a chance. That was some of the graciousness the old man talked about, the stuff that he needed to start showing. He was being really generous to do that, in his opinion. He was eventually led to his own block of ice, which he stared at in confusion more than anything else. He looked like a normal guy for once, being dressed in a white shirt and jeans, with a brown jacket over it. Zaru carried a backpack with him, and made sure nobody was watching him when he reached into it, pulling out a small notebook. He flicked through, mostly to try and get his head around the kinds of designs there were. There were all sorts of things in here, from dinosaurs to the symbol of the Orin Temple. He had admittedly asked around some of his younger (much younger) cousins to give him ideas, if only to get them to sit still while he had to deal with babysitting. They were kind of cute designs in some cases, from things like flowers to crudely drawn versions of Lina's puppy. Even if it missed out the parts with the stupid dog slobbering over everything.
Finally, he stopped on one design that seemed to catch his eye. He looked away from it for a moment, then his eyes darted back. It was the symbol that he'd often seen on that one jean jacket his grandmother liked so much; the Red Ribbon Army logo. One of the kids had probably drawn it just because they'd seen it on her, but it cast Zaru's mind back to an earlier time. He hadn't asked much about what she had done in the war against the demons or what she had really done in her work with the Red Ribbon, and he hadn't got much of a reply when he did ask, either. The most he knew was that she was involved somehow, and that she'd become an Android later in her life. Well, technically a cyborg, but she never bothered calling it that. Still, the symbol meant something to her, and maybe to the old geezer as well. It couldn't hurt to do something that was for them once in a while, he guessed. He'd see if his partner was up for it, and if they did it, he'd take a picture. Try and get someone else to take the credit for it. At least he knew they'd be happy with it, and that was enough for him.
Speaking of, where was his partner? Zaru knew he was late, but he was supposed to be in a team of two. He had no idea who Lina had signed him up alongside, though all he'd managed to get out was that he wasn't related to any of them, so at least there was that. He wouldn't have to deal with an annoying family member. As he looked up from a book, he could feel a presence near him, not like he could with a ki user, or even with a regular person, but he just had that itchy sensation that someone was nearby. He glanced to his left and right for a moment, realising that whoever it was must've been behind him, maybe had just walked up. "There you are. I'm Zaru, your partner. Good to-"
Zaru turned around as he spoke, and now realised as he looked forward that he was staring right at someone's chest, not their face. Whoever this guy was, he was more than half a foot taller. The smaller man slowly craned his neck up to meet the other man's eyes, finally finishing his sentence. "..meet you." The guy had an imposing presence about him, or at least a more imposing one than Zaru's. How did he work on something like that? He'd kill to be able to give this kind of feeling to opponents. It'd be nice for someone to understand what they were up against, for once. "So, you done anything like this before?"
WC: 918
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1d100