The Old and the New (Private)

Zenshin hadn't quite met the new guildmaster. He didn't even think he had met her prior to her induction into the honorable seat of Sabertooth's highest position, but he did now. Not only that, but he wanted to introduce himself to her, such a powerful mage should know what other powerful mages she has to use as her shields and swords after all. So, it only made sense to him to approach the staircase to the announcement balcony and speak the words, "Hey Raven, could you meet me on the main balcony". Hopefully that'll get her attention. Can't wait to see the newest guild master of this glorious guild he thought as he waited upon the balcony overlooking the cloud layer. I wonder what kind of person she is. Well, if Marick chose her of all the other guild members, then I have faith that she'll definitely be a great one the man thought again while looking up at the sky.

Cold wind sneaked into the white room through half open windows, softly caressing everything it passed by. Including a certain sleeping woman with pale violet hair which resembled the beautiful flower, lavender. Inside the four white walls of her white painted office were almost empty with very few pieces of furniture here and there. What easily caught others eyes were a large wooden cupboard placed roughly to the left of the door, filled with books and files of all colors. Opposite to the door, tucked close towards the right wall was a simple wooden table decorated with an ethnic vase at the very center. And moving up and to the center, close to the windows, was a large desk, carved in the finest mahogany wood, messily occupied by small stacks of paper. The walls were not bare for Raven had hung a few pictures to her taste on them within a few weeks of moving into that office. On the ceiling, instead of artistic carvings and decorations, there was a huge painting of Sabertooth insignia, almost glowing from the gold color mixed with the warm sunlight.

Raven was sitting on her chair behind the mahogany desk, a piece of paper in one hand and a pen on the other. She sat with her head tilted down, almost hidden behind the report she had received that day coupled with an official complaint from the Magic Council. She sighed in disappointment and placed it down on the desk before linking her fingers together and resting her head on top of it, her elbows supporting her by exerting its weight on the polished mahogany wood. The nineteen year old young woman wore a tight fitting white dress shirt with tiered, almost frilly looking sleeves with a pair of slim fit black pants. Circling her waist was an interlocking buckle brown textured elastic fabric waist belt and her feet were covered with ankle length black boots. Resting against the smooth skin of her neck was a silver chain with a pendant in the shape of a pixie, decorated with stones of blue and white. On her left hand wrist was a silver watch, its strap in the shape of half wings connected together.

It was the rather familiar voice echoing through the guild that bought her head back up and her eyes were like two pools of violet colored water, dirtied by pouring bloody red wine over it. However, the new color that formed was almost magnetic. But in this case, the odd color of her eyes indicated that she was angry with something and it wasn't aimed at the sudden deep voice that called out for her. As if going backwards, the red was gone, leaving pure violet eyes full of emotions in the end. Raven had managed to calm herself down.

She recognized the voice immediately to be Zenshin's, the former guild master of Sabertooth. Last she heard of him, he was traveling the world after transferring his duties to Marick, the person she inherited the title from. To have actually heard that voice and for it to be calling for her, Raven knew he was somewhere in the guild, seeking a meeting with her. If it was any other person that day, she would have completely ignored it. But, this was the former guild master and she had to force herself out of the chair. She slid towards the door,pausing to look all over herself once more before slipping out of the open door, not forgetting to close and lock it behind her.

Raven rounded the corner and started up a series of stairs, picking up speed but not exactly running either. As she climbed, obvious questions passed by her head, ranging from why Zenshin decided to visit to what he wanted with her. Maybe he just wanted to see what the new guild master was like. She had no answers yet. When she stepped out into the white tiled floor of the main balcony, she found the place empty and frowned. "Zenshin?"

"Ah, you're her then? Raven, I mean. I've heard a lot about you" the man with the white hair said to the girl who know ran the guild. He walked up to her and looked the woman wearing white, right in her eyes. His white and black eyes stared deeply and for a little bit of time, as he was assessing her state of soul. They say that the eyes are the window to a person's, after all. After he was through, and liked what he saw, he decided to take a step back so that they could have an actual conversation that was more than him staring at her piercingly with no one around. "Anywho, you must be quite the someone if Marick picked you to follow in his place. Not only that, but you must also be quite powerful". Zenshin snapped his fingers and two tall seats appeared behind both of them. These chairs were quite fancy as well, the kind you would see in a well decorated study, possibly in front of a fireplace where the owner of the study could read their novels.

"Have a seat if you'd like. I promise they're quite comfortable. They were built for people who could spend hours and hours sitting without end" he told her as he took a seat and relaxed with a sigh. "Before I forget, I'd also like to thank you for respecting my wishes and not forcibly removing Frederik from the guild. I know he's very broody and quite frankly seems like he belongs in Eclipse Soul, but he has some good in him. Or at the very least, doesn't have evil in him. I made sure of that when I brought him into our family" he continued, trying to rid any doubts that the young mage may have about a very, very powerful man that continues to strain the guild's relations with Blue Pegasus and causes them to be hounded by the Magic Council.

"Would you like something to eat or drink? You must be hungry after all of that paperwork that I know must be littering my old chamber" the Recreationist spoke aloud with a smile on his face. He had a bowl of noodles in his left hand and a fork in his other. "I'm also curious as to what your magic is. Frederick has his darkness, I have my recreation, Marick had... cards, I believe, how about you?" Younger than I expected, but she does seem to have a nice taste in dresses. Doesn't seem evil in any way as far as I can tell, though she does seem disappointed

Raven whipped her head around when she heard the familiar voice behind her. She found Zenshin standing not too far away from her with a knowing look in his eyes. He stared at her for a while and Raven stared back. She was unconsciously rising up to the challenge he presented her with. For a moment, Raven was only aware of the heterochromatic eyes fixed on her violet ones along with the biting, cold wind blowing towards them. Consequently, her outfit and her hair got carried along with it, moving with the wind.

For a moment after they broke their eye contact, Raven said nothing. She chose to bow respectfully at him instead. "I'm glad you think so about me, Sir" she told him before moving to sit down at the chair in front of her. Zenshin might not remember her. But she remembers him. She had been here when he was the guild master and she was also aware of his magic. The sudden entrance of the chairs out of nowhere didn't surprise her for the same reason. But he was right. The chair was, indeed, very comfortable.

She looked up when the matter of Frederik was brought to the surface. For some time, she frowned while thinking of what he was going to talk about. When he continued, however, her facial expressions lightened up again. "You don't have to thank me. Frederik is a dear friend and mentor for me. I won't let him go," she told him, returning the smile. Her relationship with Frederik was better than many others in the guild. She had, also, came to know more about him from the few missions they went on together. To her, he was a friend she wasn't ready to lose just because of their strained relationship with another guild.

"Ahh the paperwork. It's as boring as ever," she sighed, rubbing the back of her head. " But, no. I don't want anything to eat. Thank you," she continued. At the mentioning of her magic, Raven leaned back on her chair, her laughter sounding like the ringing of bells. It didn't occur to her till a few seconds passed that she might have looked like a mad woman. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh like that. My magic is the same as my name," she said and raised her right hand up. She sat still as if expecting for something to happen.

In the next moment, a raven would come flying from behind Zenshin. It would swoop down to Zenshin's right hand in an attempt to steal the fork in his hand before flying up to Raven. The black bird would then drop the fork on Raven's lap and then come up to rest on top of her right hand. "This is my magic. I'm not of this world, you see. I'm half demon". She was wondering what his reaction would be. A half demon running his guild. She was, indeed, very curious about his reaction.

"Hey, that doesn't belong to you" he said, slightly peeved that this beautiful bird took to a life of crime so soon in its life. Zenshin pointed his index finger at the fork in the talons of the criminal and wrapped a thin string of mana around it, then pulled, getting his fork back. "Raven magic, eh? How interesting. Them and crows are my favorites birds you know. Very smart animals, unfortunately plagued with unlucky connotations." he said, dropping his fork and bowl onto the ground. In place of them shattering or hitting the ground, they immediately broke into glowing fragments that floated and dissipated into the air.

"Huh, so you're a demon. Funny, because I still think Frederik is the biggest demon in our guild, haha, and I think he's actually human. I think it's pretty amusing we people can be bigger demons than actual ones" he said with a smile, ignoring the spooky laugh that Raven had just done. Seriously, what was up with that? Zenshin decided to ignore it for conversation's sake, but still. "Anyways, glad to see someone picked up the leader ship role after Marick left. You need to remind me to kick his ass when he returns" he said while squinting his eyes.

The place is looking pretty good, and I believe I'm coming back to the guild. My vacation was fun and I saw a lot of new things, and I'll tell you the tale of my travels if you'd like, but my place has always been at Sabertooth. One day we should also fight. It's only customary of two knights to test each other's strength, or at least that's how I was taught to fight by the guild master before me. You aren't the only one in command of creatures though, I also have something like that. Except they aren't alive, and can't really fly, but I think they are equally as neat. You'll see them if we ever duke it out, as I want *something* to be a surprise the man said before standing up and catching his breath.

He could be quite long winded when he wanted to be, the the surprise of many. "You may wanna get up off the chair, it's about to disappear" he finished, his own chair disappearing while he stood up and despite what he told Raven, her chair wouldn't really disperse until she stood. "Thanks for your time, I think I'm going to nap on the couch inside of your quarters. If there isn't one for some strange reason, I'll just make one" he said with a bow before walking past her and towards the guild master's quarters.

"Ah! Almost" she chuckled when the fork was pulled out of her bird's claws. She stroked its head when it landed on her hand. She just loved her beautiful dark birds.  

"Indeed. Some people just can't appreciate their beauty and majestic features. You know, some say that birds carry the soul of the dead. Out of all the stories I have heard of them, that was the most ridiculous one so far. They are simply intelligent, as you have said, and strong. They are fighters. Especially when they are together. But of course, they fight to protect and not to kill as people believe," She replied when her former guild master complimented her family, in a sense. If she wasn't a crow demon and instead was a normal human, she wondered if her love for these birds would have been seen as obsession....

Ah. Most probably.

Her eyes followed the utensils he held in his hands as they fell and disappeared. She had always found his magic interesting. Although, she had heard that it was almost the same as Sabertooth's first guild master, Aegis. She had never had the fortune of meeting him outside one time where they were welcoming a new member. She remembered getting drawn to him because he spoke as wisely as some legendary beings out there. She would have loved to have a meeting with him much like the one she had now with Zenshin.  

"Ah Frederik and a demon? Honestly, I think he is one those, ah, what do you call them...tsunderes! Oh yah those type that mask their feelings with anger because they are shy. Oh and I suppose you haven't really seen my other self," The last part was a whisper for herself to hear as she shifted her eyes from him to the side. She wasn't very proud of mentioning her other side.  

"Knights? Oh my..." she stopped mid sentence and covered her mouth as she almost bluntly blurted it out to him. She knew Sabertooth was a guild for knights before Marick took over and reverted it back to the way it once was by following the three principles of faith, conviction and selflessness. Now the biggest issue was that she had no idea of how to explain that to him. After all, she didn't know him enough to predict his reaction.  

But before she could tell him anything, Zenshin was up and heading towards her office. She stood up too and followed quietly behind him. "Uhhm" she brought her tongue between her teeth and gently bit it, just like how she does whenever she thinks she is in a pinch. Without a word, however, she quickened her steps to get ahead of him, taking out the keys to her office from her pocket. She had started locking the room when she was out ever since one of their members took the guild stamp from her office. It told her that she had to be careful since the office actually holds some very important files.  

When they reached the door, she decided to speak. "To tell you the truth, Sabertooth isn't about knights anymore. We went back to following faith, conviction and selflessness right after Marick took up the position. I fell in love with the concept, to be honest. That's why I have not changed it to anything else. I know this is surprising but heh."

She twisted the key around in the keyhole. A click and the door opened as Raven pushed it. It was weird that she didn't have a couch. She never just saw the need of one. It was rare that she had visitors. And if it was for sleeping purpose, she rarely slept and when she did, she would usually sleep on the desk. Of course, she would wake up with a stiff back the next morning but the thought of buying a couch never actually crossed her mind. "Oh and yah. I don't actually have a couch," she felt sweat rolling down her forehead when she laughed and went straight to her desk. She had forgotten that she had left it messy.  

"Please uhm...make a couch and...sit down....," she couldn't believe she was telling the former guild master to actually make his couch and sit on it..."I uhh Will you be in need of something other than a couch?"

"Frederik? A tsundere? Hahahaha! That's great Raven. I'm glad the new girl in charge has a sense of humor, but Frederik can seriously be a scary guy when he wants to be. I actually had the chance to kill him once before, back when I was an ice making mage. I was prepared to do it too, before Zeno stopped me. Everyone knows who Zeno is so I don't think I have to go into great detail about him, but he was my old guildmaster and we were hunting for the Liche's right hand. That was Frederik. He was looking to revive the Lich along with other Savage Skull members and we ambushed him in the woods. The worst I did was give him some frostbite, me being the king of ice and all. It happened what feels like ages ago, but he remember it, and he knows I do too" he explained to Raven as they walked towards the door of her dwelling.

When Raven mentioned that the guild was no longer about knights and told her what she believed it was about, Zenshin laughed again. "People who uphold those three values are Knights Raven! Haha! That's what we have always been about. Call them what you like, but to me, anyone whose goal is to uphold the sacred values of Sabertooth are Knights to me." he explained, trying to ease her worry that she would upset him by saying that the guild was "no longer about Knights". Upon entering the room, the guildmaster told him to make a couch and make himself comfortable, or something to that effect anyways. "For a person obsessed with Ravens, your room is strangely devoid of furniture that is raven related. Actually, it's devoid of furniture in general! You seriously need to take some time to redecorate, Raven. Or, just decorate to begin with" he told her as he snapped his fingers and appeared a black felt couch against a wall. It was large enough for two adults and was a single piece.

The cushions were built in, and like most pieces of furniture Zenshin decided to store in his bank of recreation, it was quite comfortable. "Picked this up in Pergrande. They have advanced far beyond the furniture capabilities of Fiore, that's for sure. Most of the furniture I have in my recreation 'bank', I guess you could call it, came from there" the mage informed Raven as he hopped onto the couch and laid on top of it, his legs resting on the far end of it, on top of the arm rest. "I won't even ask what you did with my belongings that were here prior to you and Marick taking over, as I'm sure they are around here somewhere. Also, there are secret rooms throughout the guild in case of emergency, which Marick didn't even know, so I doubt you would. Just a heads up about that." he continued, informing the newest leader about certain aspects of the guild hall she probably didn't know about.

Laying on the couch reminded him of his travels across the different nations of Fiore. What a fun time that was. He got to see how all sorts of different cultures act and how exactly they differ from his own. The change of pace was refreshing to say the least. Now that he was back in Fiore though, it was time to start contributing back to the peace of the land, which was something he would get back to doing eventually. "So what have I missed since I've been gone? Are there any new threats to the nation that I should know about? Rumors of new dark guilds? Corrupted politicians in the higher ranks of the Magic Council? Some demon returning from some indeterminately long imprisonment?" he asked, wanting to know what was going on. Zenshin had been slacking on current events in Fiore since he left, instead focusing on the different places he had visited.

Now, though, he wanted the newest guildmaster to catch him up. To give him the latest scoop. Whatever it was, it would be a lot more interesting that what he was currently doing, which was laying down in a bland room on an abnormally comfortable couch and otherwise doing absolutely nothing. It was boring, really. He had gotten enough relaxation time from his little "adventure". His primary goal now, other than to help the people of Fiore and his own guild flourish, was to attain the highest power he could. Although it felt as though he was very powerful already, and could already take down kings just by waltzing in, he had a longing for a peak. He knew there was a power beyond his and he wanted to achieve it. It was only a matter of time, he thought.

Redecorate the room? Hmm maybe she should do just that. The simple fact, though, was that Raven was the type of person that didn’t care much about it. She had actually thought that filling up the empty spaces with pictures were all she had to do to make the place look nice. She was mistaken, quite obviously now. But then again, she also liked seeing the huge room half empty. In fact, she believed the room appeared more professional with less furniture. It wasn’t her intention to fill it up with things she didn’t use or need. Though, maybe, she could buy a couch sooner or later. ‘Yah. Let’s buy one later. It’s not like everyone has recreation magic to create their own couch out of thin air…’ And knights, huh? Well, Raven wasn’t sure if she agreed with that or not. Knights made the guild sound as if they are playing some medieval drama. She wanted to keep it simple. Family, is what she had always thought of Sabertooth as. But then again, Zenshin had the right to think the way he wanted just as she had her own views.

Raven silently made her way towards her desk and sat down on the chair behind. Soon, she planted her elbows on top of the cold wood and placed her head on her palms which cupped her emotionless face as she stared off into nothing. “Your belongings…ah when I first came into this office, the room was completely empty. I’m the one who had to spend money on this beautiful desk and other furniture,” Raven spoke, slowly drawing a line from the door to the couch Zenshin rested on with her eyes. “I have no idea what Marick even did here. And, even if Marick did know about secret doors, I wouldn’t know. That man just got up and left one day after leaving me a letter. Who knows what he was thinking,” she complained, puffing her cheeks as her thoughts traveled to the night she discovered the letter. She had just woken up after her battle with Ikaros. The girl had no clue about what happened on the couple of days that she was unconscious.

“Nothing much. The guild is running just as great as how it always have been. Of course the Council likes to breathe down up on our necks all the time and one of our members is so immature that he assisted a dark guild’s member in killing innocent people,” she sighed heavily, picking up the paper that she had been reading at the beginning. “I doubt he knew what he was doing…he left the guild a few days ago and I managed to pacify those old men for now,” she reported, waving the piece of paper in front of her. “So how were your travels? I mean… I love traveling too. In fact, before taking up this title, I was often away from the guild. I suppose that’s one of the reasons you haven’t seen me much around here.”

"My travels? They were fantastic, actually! I've never had the opportunity to see the world outside of Fiore, as much as I wanted to. It was mostly because Sabertooth needed me, and I couldn't just leave them while they did. But, once they didn't quite require their guild master to be present, I took the opportunity and left. Let me warn you now, though. Those Pergrande warriors are no joke. I had the luck of being found out of being a mage and had one of the captains of the guard fight me in the street. To make a long story short, we tied and fought again a few months later, then I won by a hair and took this nifty sword that she was known for." he said with a smile as he recreated a ruby red scimitar which didn't look at all like a standard weapon of the type.

"They respect strength in Pergrande, so now I'm allowed in and out as I please despite being a mage. I kind of won my citizenship there. After that, I headed to Ca-Elum, seeing as how I was still kind of not welcomed in Pergrande. The general population in the city I was in was a bit scared of me, as they'd never seen a mage beat one of their warriors I guess." he continued, sounding a bit upset that he couldn't experience more of Pergrande's culture while he was there. "In Ca-Elum, there's nothing but volcanoes and blacksmiths everywhere. They're primarily eat fish and cook it a certain way that makes them just absolutely delicious. Everything there is smokey and hot, even their foods, but they've taken it to such a level which normal food can't even touch". There were few places he'd like to eat more than the islands that he'd visited, but that was quite a trip for food, so he decided against it every time his mind brought it up.

"As neat as their food and culture are, I actually went there to repair my prize from Pergrande, as the smiths there wouldn't even give me the time of day and other nations aren't quite known for their forges. Plus, I was already traveling anyways and I hadn't made it to that particular nation, so why not. From cliff diving to watching people perform a highly respectable trade, there's a lot more things to do on that chain of islands than I thought. Those were only two places I visited, though. I have stories of my travels to every country while I was gone, but that would take way too long. How about you? How did you end up taking over the guild and why? Being a guild master isn't the easiest job as I'm sure you've experienced with that... mistake that one of your former members made"

How did she end up with the title of Guild Master? Well, how indeed. All she knew was that Marick disappeared all of the sudden and the baton got passed to her. Aside from the paperwork and responsibilities, she didn't feel that anything had changed either. Everyone still treated her the same and she still viewed everyone the same.

"It really is not the easiest job but I can see that it has its own positive sides as well. I'm just happy that I'm of use to this guild. Sabertooth did take me in when I could have just died in the streets somewhere. To be able to protect that guild is my greatest honor. Sure there are small "obstacles" along the way but I believe Sabertooth is strong enough to overcome them," she spoke, shrugging as she chose each word carefully. The last thing she wanted was for Zenshin to think she was unworthy of the title.

Sighing, she then got up and walked over to the window, looking out at the scenery outside. "I only wish I could protect this place. I would never be able to recover if that ever happens again. I'm afraid that one day something will burst out of me....something with the intention to destroy," the last sentence came out as nothing more than a whisper as she closed her eyes. One day, would she kill everyone with her own hands? The question had haunted her from the day she decided to lead and protect this guild. All she could do was believe in her new family.

"Anyhow, how long are you planning to spend here, Master Zenshin?" she asked, finally turning around to fully face him. "Are you going to go traveling again or are you going to be staying for a while?"

"Well with you in charge, I don't think I have much of a choice to stay here. Not trying to say you can't run the guild, but eventually there will come a point where I will have to step in to stop you. As much as I encourage you to make Sabertooth even greater than what it has become, I will not hesitate to kill you if you threaten the guild. That, and I want to take a break from all the traveling." he said, switching from a serious tone to a much more lighthearted one. She wouldn't be the first guild master he put down for the good of others, but he hoped it wouldn't come to that. "I know of that, er, incident, and that's something I don't want to see a repeat of. Keep that in mind Raven. You may be powerful when on a rampage, but you can't take on the guardians of the guild, those being Ryo, Frederik, and myself" he continued, walking towards the door. "Until then, I'm at your command. Keep up the good work Raven"