A Day in Shirotsume

It was a nice day in Shirotsume, not cold yet not hot, clear weather with minimal clouds and the nice golden sun high in the sky. It was around noon, now, or rather 1pm, as it was exactly 12:38 but no one pays attention to specifics anyways. The sounds of birds could be heard chirping, and one could say it almost seemed perfect.

Almost.

Of course, since this was a feudalistic society, there were military leaders patrolling around and watching over the serfs who slaved away in the fields while the prissy rich got to stay inside and enjoy their games of chess. Well, most of them at least. One specific noble in one specific mansion got his ass handed to him in a game of chess. He was a short, pudgy man with an extremely large moustache, and his face was scrunched up so hard you could see the anger through every one of the folds. He yelled and screamed at his opponent, then got his personal Guard to throw the winner out, literally.

"I WILL NOT LOSE IN A GAME OF CHESS TO SOME SLEEPWALKING PANSEY!!!"

The man yelled, and waved his fist at the body laying in the middle of the dirt road, face down and not moving. The purple haired girl, as today she was a girl, Alexis Hata's coat just comforted her too much and she didn't want to move. She just raised her hands in a thumbs up, and curled into a ball and went into her dreamland, still half conscious of what was going on around her. She never woke up, even after being thrown out, but now she is out cold for the most part. The serfs around her gathered in a group and stared, muttering amongst one another about her being crazy. Alexis turned her head on the ground, not really caring. She was in bliss, until a sharp pain caught her in the lower back. Her chessboard struck her from above, a projectile thrown by one of the guards out one of the windows of the mansion. Alex yelled in agony, and rubbed her back after shooting upward and grabbing the board. Luckily, it wasn't broken, and every piece was still inside it. It was a board that had a little drawer inside of it to hold the pieces, as well as checkers pieces too.

"Hmm... Time to find a partner..."

Rhyolo had walked around Shirotsume for a couple of hours and took in the scenery around him. He looks and notices there were quite a few mansion around here. Most of these look nice, he thought to himself, maybe I'll consider retiring here one day. The weather was fair and it was pretty warm. There was a gentle breeze blowing and it messed up his hair blowing it all backward. Rhyolo then attempted to smooth it down but eventually gave up knowing it was futile.

Rhyolo kept walking until he saw a girl on the ground. He then speed walked up to her and offered his hand, "Hey, are you all right?"

Soon, after placing the chess board inside her pack, Alexis was confronted by a young man, a teenager. She could tell from his voice, it wasn't like she could see him. Her eyes were closed. That was the bad thing about her, she didn't know what anything definitely looked like. Of course she had ideas, with sounds, touch, etc, but only after practice could she find the looks of things with her eyes closed. It took Alex years alone to master the chess board while asleep, so identifying a young man's looks would be hard right off the bat.

"Yes of course, I'm fine. Just a sharp pain in my back from a chess board crashing into me while laying prone is all. No biggy."

Alexis tossed her hand in a lighthearted manner, and grabbed the young man's hand and stood up, then afterward grabbed her pack with the newly acquired chess board inside it, and placed it around her shoulder.

"Hmm.... Would you by any chance call yourself intelligent? Could you perchance be adept at war games? I do so require a partner to play with. It's fun, I'll have my army against yours."

Alexis yawned and rubbed her eyelids, and let out a light, barely audible snore while waiting for a response.

"Sure, a good game of chess should be fun." Rhyolo notices the girl has her eyes closed and looks asleep but is still able to function perfectly fine. How is this possible, is she in a sleepwalking state? or is she just acting. Honestly I don't really care, I just need to be on my toes. Rhyolo then introduces himself. "My name is Rhyolo Ruby by the way, and i'm from the guild Infinity Hydra."

Alexis smiled when she heard his response to the game, and quickly put her pack down and sat.

"Please, sit. It won't be the most comfortable, but it'll be sufficient. By the way, I'm Alexis. Alexis Hata, guildless for now but I aim to join a guild very soon."

She opened her pack and pulled out the chess board. Opening the little drawer, Alexis pulled out 32 pieces, 16 being red and 16 being gold. They were separated based on color in little baggies, so that Alex could differentiate between the colors. She grabbed one by random, the red pieces, and opened the bag, and then set all of the pieces in their proper place. She then gave Rhyolo the golden pieces.

"Please set up, then we may begin. You can have the first move, if you wish."

Alexis folded her legs and rested her chin in her hand, waiting for her newfounded opponent to set up and make a move. Hopefully this young man would make for a good opponent, unlike that rich guy who said he was amazing at chess, yet lost in 5 turns!

Rhyolo proceeded to take the pieces out one by one and put the baggie in his pocket. He the move his right most pawn two spaces up. "Your move." He then looked at her and said, " How can you see like that?"

Alexis waited as he set up his board, and then moved his pawn forward two spaces. After acknowledging that it was her turn, Alexis moved her B2 pawn forward two spaces, and then nodded to Rhyolo.

"It's your move."

After pondering over Rhyolo's question, Alexis thought of a suitable answer. However, she couldn't fully answer it as she didn't quite know what he meant.

"I don't understand fully, but if you mean my eyes being closed, it's simple: I can't see. Well, I am capable of sight. It's not like I'm blind or anything, I just have my eyes closed. But, if I may, I'm not quite sure what you mean. You said 'how can I see like that,' yet I'm baffled. Like what?"

Alexis raised her eyebrow as she waited for the response. She wasn't fully aware of her sleep, and by fully aware, it was more like Alex only knew she was asleep, nothing more. Everything seemed like a dream, so she was debating between whether or not this was dream or reality.

Rhyolo moves his right most Rook up to behind to pawn he just move before hand. He then though about his next move. But before he finished thinking about it the girl had asked him about what he meant. "What I meant was you look like you are asleep with you having your eyes closed and your kinda snoring but seem perfectly aware of your surroundings. How do you do it?"

Alex seemed to wince a little at the question, having heard it so many times before. If her eyes were open, they'd be rolled, but instead she just continued her game. Alex took the pawn in front of the bishop and moved it next to her previously moved pawn, then gestured towards Rhyolo.

"It's your move... And as for your question, I just simply... Do it. I've, for as long as I can remember, have had the uncanny ability to be aware of my surroundings while asleep. I don't have any real abilities linked to it... It just... Happens. I dunno, but for simplicity's sake, let's continue the chess game."

Once again, Alex gestured towards Rhyolo, awaiting his move. She was going to attack in a very simple, powerful, yet hard to set up tactic. It'd take quite a few turns to apply, but when it was in play, it's nigh impenitrable.

Rhyolo nods and proceeds to make his move. He moves his rook To B6 and waits.
"Huh, Cool. Well other than chess what do you like to do?"

Alex observed the move, and then proceeded to move her C1 bishop to A3, and then once again gestured to the boy in front of her.

Such subtle, short movements? What are his goals? He gets the freedom of movement to his rook now, but that's just about it. I'd have moved another pawn or two before releasing the rook... But who knows, maybe reserved, defensive play is his forte?

Alex thought to herself, with arms folded. Her light snore vanished as she felt herself grow hungry, and so she pulled out a baggie with various snacks in them from her pack. Taking out a handful of cashews she picked one out with her opposite hand and munched it with glee. Salted, roasted, the best kind. Either way, silence was beginning to become a nuisance so Alex decided to make light conversation.

"Who taught you how to play chess, Rhyolo? Friend, family, who?"

"I learned it from a book. More specifically the rule book. I really just read and played. How about you, Alexis." Rhyolo Then moved his knight to F6 and ended his turn. Hopefully she will move her bishop to be mine for the taking.

Alexis perked up once she heard the question. She moved her G2 pawn forward 2 spaces, and then gestured. However, she began to tell her story.

"My father, who is from Fiore, was a renown tactician. We all lived with my mother in her country as a child, and he put me through straining tests of strategy. They were all similar to chess, but not exactly. Far more complicated. Anyways, when he bought me my first chess board, he didn't do anything but teach me how the pieces move. Never any strategies or anything. I was all self-taught. To be honest, I didn't know there was a rulebook. Anyways, I instantly mastered the game, and won various tournaments in my mum's country. So, that's how I learned to play chess.

Alex took a few more cashews and munched on them happily, savoring the flavor while enjoying her newfound game of chess.