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Post by Noa on May 22, 2021 15:34:54 GMT -6
A bonfire, Noa thought, was a rather strange way to celebrate anything. Not that he was opposed to it; in fact he found it more appealing than most celebrations. Lights and food and drink were inconsequential to him, but at least a bonfire promised a certain amount of destruction. Even if, as he neared the site of the event, it was evident that all the usual trappings were also present: food and drink and decorations and crowds. Rhys was certainly in high spirits, but then he lived for this sort of thing. It had been his idea to come. Noa had given in to placate him, but also because he was curious as to whether he might see anything of real worth here. Unfortunately, some of his endeavors did require a certain amount of networking. With everyone concentrated in one place, it was more efficient to try to accomplish that on an occasion like this. 1
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Post by Briar on May 24, 2021 18:19:30 GMT -6
Briar still wasn't sure this was a good idea. In that sense, he and Yeo-reum were in perfect agreement. No, then again, perhaps not; Yeo-reum was certain that it wasn't a good idea, while Briar had entertained it far enough to pursue it, which spoke for itself, didn't it? But he had to do something. There would be no point to any of this if he simply contented himself with the status quo of his employment at Gracehaven, hoping for evidence to fall into his lap. He couldn't quite bear to spend more time cozying up to his new employer, even if Noa was, in his own perverse way, fond of Briar. After some deliberation, he thought observation might be the next best thing. This... outing was more a test of the theory than a real bid to find out anything in particular. At least if he was found out here, he had plausible deniability. 1
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Post by Noa on May 24, 2021 18:25:32 GMT -6
But now that he found himself at ground zero of the event itself, Noa doubted he was going to get much done in terms of finding connections. The people gathered here were a real messy mix of folk, not many of whom looked influential or even magically inclined. He might be able to find a willing sucker or two to sell him a piece of their soul somewhere down the line, but frankly at this point procuring the materials for nodes was still the more difficult aspect. And fishing for fools at a social event wasn't the most efficient way to find those fools either.
{Where do you want to go first? Oh, I wonder if they have any carnival rides!}
"This isn't a carnival," said Noa. "It's a bonfire. I wonder if they would let you burn anything you like, so long as it doesn't throw up too bad a smell."
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Post by Briar on Jun 24, 2021 14:53:03 GMT -6
That was the idea, anyway. Honestly he didn't even know if Noa would care -- about the reason, at least. If Noa found him, Noa would drag him into whatever the hell it was Noa himself was doing, and if Briar had wanted that, he would have simply announced his intent to go. The idea was not to get found, and to observe as much as he could in the meanwhile.
It wasn't hard to find Noa, because Noa didn't really bother to try not standing out where he went. Just another thing that marked out the difference between the two of them. Noa's clothes were flashy, and although Rhys wasn't of a size approaching a landmark the way that most of Noa's creatures were, he was also pretty easy to identify on sight. A white and pink Faeron with a plethora of glowing lights wasn't exactly a recipe for stealth either.
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Post by Noa on Jun 24, 2021 15:03:05 GMT -6
Rhys turned from eager to placating in a moment. {A-Ah, I think that's... best left to the people running this event, don't you think? We've never made a bonfire ourselves before, you know...}
"We haven't, but burning something couldn't be so difficult. I have fire magic, though not as much as I would like," Noa replied.
{Right! So it's best to conserve it,} Rhys insisted. Noa shrugged and let the matter go, but the issue still stood that he needed to find a way to entertain himself. He looked around, trying to see if he could find anything interesting in the throng of people.
It was the noise that caught his attention first, more than anything. Noa would recognize the sound of fighting anywhere. On this occasion it was mixed in with the crude cheers and jeers of the onlookers, egging on this beast or that beast as they watched the proceedings.
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Post by Briar on Jun 24, 2021 15:08:25 GMT -6
The two of them were merely standing there, doing nothing in particular. They must have just arrived, judging from the way Noa was looking around, taking in the sights. Briar's heart jumped into his throat as that gaze flickered over in his direction... then he breathed a sigh of relief as it slid past him, and onto other parts of the assembly.
Yeo-reum gave him a pointed look, as if to reiterate how stupid he found the whole affair. But as far as Briar was concerned, that was a good start. He hadn't been spotted, possibly because Noa hadn't actually thought to look for him.
Of course, just because he wasn't accosted by Noa didn't mean Briar was entirely in the clear. "Hey!" said a female voice, off to his side. At first, Briar ignored it; he didn't recognize it, and at a gathering, such a thing was most likely not meant for him.
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Post by Noa on Jun 24, 2021 15:13:18 GMT -6
There were always spectators at the Pit too -- or at least they were always allowed in, anyway. Whether anyone actually came to watch the matches was more variable. Noa didn't relly pay it any mind, but having been in a fair number of tournaments himself, he knew that the Sarane ones didn't get much traffic these days. Maybe if there was a match between two of the better trained contenders... Or, as of late, there was now a small fashion for taking bets in a fight of two equally untrained browns to see which would be the victor. Turnouts had been higher at the more classic tournament types, probably because the creatures there had to have some semblance of minimal training.
But those had been more... well, not structured exactly, but there was an energy to the crowd here that was more crude. They were also much closer to the combatants than they would have been in the Pit.
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Post by Briar on Jun 24, 2021 15:19:45 GMT -6
Briar had been the type to twitch at every loud word or motion when he had first gotten free, and he had had to break himself of the habit out of necessity. It drew attention, and that drew questions, and when Briar was hoping to not be so much as remembered by anyone he met, that was a problem.
But in this case he might have been better served by not disregarding the shout.
"Hey, you! Yeah, scarves, I'm talking to you." A woman, clearly well into her cups, staggered up to Briar, who froze, uncertain as to what to... well, what to do about it. He didn't know this woman, that much was clear, and he doubted he wanted any part of whatever she wanted with him. But he couldn't cause a scene here either, especially if he didn't want Noa to find him here, and if he didn't do something...
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Post by Noa on Jul 15, 2021 20:26:55 GMT -6
That didn't faze Noa in the least, given that he was used to handling dangerous creatures, and while Avander and the like listened to him well, there had been a point at which none of them did. But how many of these people could boast the same? Perhaps it would be more fun watching the crowd, if the creatures didn't turn out to be anything special.
And for the most part, they weren't. The current match was between a Vulticus and a Rakai-Sarane, the former oddly colored and the latter one of the basic breeds available to the public. A literal dog-fight, if one would. For a moment, Noa looked on, waiting to see if the Rakai would do something interesting, but it merely breathed a few gouts of fire. The smell of burnt fur filled the air, and he wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste, both at the scent and at the paltry little attacks.
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Post by Briar on Jul 15, 2021 22:12:30 GMT -6
But before Briar could do anything the decision was taken out of his hands. Yeo-reum interposed himself between Briar and the woman in a motion that would have been smooth if it wasn't so menacing. His mane was up, a plume of red framing his face as he stared down the woman with sharp gold eyes, teeth bared and a low rumble thundering through his chest.
He couldn't speak, but the message was clear. The woman stopped, brought up short by the approach of a large creature, then stumbled back a few steps as she realized she was being menaced.
Briar wanted to hiss at Yeo-reum to stop, not to make a scene -- but that wasn't something he could do anymore. Yeo-reum didn't know sign, and even if he did, there was nothing forcing him to look at Briar. All he could do was dart in front of Yeo-reum and tug on the Tat's mane.
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Post by Noa on Jul 15, 2021 22:19:17 GMT -6
It was evident from the way that the crowd cheered and egged the fighters on that they didn't feel the same, but Noa was already growing bored.
-Th-This is no fun, huh? Let's go see something else!- Rhys chirped. He was nervous, though Noa doubted it was about the Vulticus or the Rakai. They weren't fearsome enough to pose even Rhys a significant threat in a fight.
But just because this fight wasn't interesting didn't mean he couldn't introduce something to make it more worth his while.
"I have a better idea," he said. With a flick of his wrists, he called down lightning bolts that put down both combatants. The entire crowd turned to him, and Noa smiled, while Rhys shrank against his neck, long tail curling around him uneasily.
"What the hell!?" said a tall Mammalian, kneeling by the Vulticus.
Noa inclined his head. "Is that yours? You were going to lose anyway."
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Post by Briar on Jul 15, 2021 22:28:48 GMT -6
Yeo-reum broke off from what he was doing, barely, to fix Briar with a different glare. This one wasn't menacing, but there was a distinct sense that he wasn't pleased with Briar for getting in his way. He might have elaborated on this, but the sound of someone yelling caught their attention; the woman, already forgotten, had likely decided they weren't worth whatever trouble she had been hoping to invite upon them anyway, and slunk off muttering darkly. But neither had any more thought to spare for her. Briar caught sight of an all too familiar figure, and Yeo-reum's hackles were up again.
Noa.
Briar didn't know if he wanted to approach, or to get more distance. From here it was hard to tell exactly what the problem was, but he didn't doubt that Noa was at the heart of it. In fact, maybe it was more surprising that it had taken him this long to stir up trouble.
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Post by Noa on Jul 15, 2021 22:34:06 GMT -6
"Look, if you're trying to pick a fight, there are easier ways to do it," the Mammalian said. His voice was hard, carrying the undercurrent of a threat. The crowd was murmuring among themselves, their gazes still fixed on him.
Noa shrugged. "I'm doing you a favor, putting an end to this farce. But if you're going to be small-minded about it... Rhys?"
-I don't think this is going to make it better,- Rhys said, but obligingly he concentrated, and a moment later a pulse of light emanated from his body. Both creatures twitched, coming around with whimpers or groans. A different person, this one a girl with horns sprouting from her hair, ran forward for the Rakai, who licked weakly at her face.
"Now that that's out of the way," Noa said, dusting his hands. "Why don't we try something more interesting? All of you lot against my Faeron, for example."
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Post by Briar on Jul 15, 2021 22:43:26 GMT -6
He already knew what Yeo-reum would have wanted. But a sense of morbid curiosity was slowly getting the better of him, and... Well, Briar did come here to observe Noa, and it seemed as if Noa was pretty well occupied at the moment. Maybe he wouldn't get a better chance than this.
Motioning to Yeo-reum, he began drifting closer. Yeo-reum didn't immediately follow, hissing sharply at Briar and tossing his head the other way, but Briar simply shrugged and continued. In some ways it would be easier if Yeo-reum didn't come along, so if he didn't want to, Briar wasn't going to force the issue.
But whatever Yeo-reum thought on the matter, he reluctantly slunk after Briar in the end. Together, they made their way over just in time to hear Noa challenge the entire assembled crowd to some kind of match, all of them against his single Faeron familiar.
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Post by Noa on Jul 17, 2021 16:56:58 GMT -6
Noa could feel Rhys tense against him, most likely caught off guard by the proposition -- though Noa didn't see why he would be. Rhys had been with him for so long, and given the fact that he had telepathy at his disposal, he had to have known Noa better than anything.
Still, it wasn't as if Rhys had refused, so Noa kept his gaze turned on the crowd, smiling and expectant. But one by one they turned away from him, some muttering under their breath and others hurrying away as if frightened.
Only the Mammalian with the Vulticus rose and approached him, eyes hot with anger. For a moment Noa wondered if the man would take him up on his challenge, but instead his approach picked up speed, and he held his arms out, and --
-- ran up against a glimmering shield that manifested just as they were about to make contact with Noa.
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