Unlikely Companions (Private; Vivian, Kaseki, and Bea/Sonya)

Malm was amazed when he had finally reached Rose Garden. He had heard stories about this town before, but they didn't do it any justice. It just looked amazing, and it was only in the middle of the afternoon. Malm could only imagine how the city would look once night came.

So Malm began walking through the city and taking in the sights. He was really happy that he had went ahead to make the trip all this way to see it. Malm then began to smell the distinct scent of food in the air. Having not eaten lunch yet, this caused his stomach grumble a bit.

"Well since I'm here, I might as well see if I can find a good place to eat." He said to himself as he began searching around for a restaurant that caught his eye, and looked like it was around his price range.

Kaseki slowly peered out from under the lid of a trashcan. "Hey Malm, it' me! Kaseki... Are they gone?" he asked.

Kaseki was running from something... but what? He wiggled in the can, and he eventually fell over, to his embarrassment he simply just crawled over to his friend.

"Nevermind, they should be gone."

Vivian walked through the streets of Rose Garden, admiring the sights. Vi was surprisingly quiet for once; Vivian had taken advantage of this lull in Vi's nagging to take a short walk around town. The midday sun was very pleasant, making for a perfect time to admire all aspects of the city: The sights, the sounds, and the people.
Some people, however, made her wonder. Walking around for a bit, she happened upon a very odd sight. On one hand, there was the boy: Green hair, not too long, and an air about him that led her to believe he was a mage. On the other hand, there was a...Tree? Person? She wasn't quite sure what it was, especially since it was currently crawling out of a garbage can towards the boy. One of them probably needed help; either the boy needed to be saved from the plant-man, or the plant-man needed help getting up. Running over to the pair, she shouted, "a-Are you two all right?!"

Bea walked through the bustling streets of the Rose Garden mall. She had never realty spent much time in these parts, but today she had decided to take some time off and explore the city. Her dog, Cerberus, trailed besides her obediently, watching everyone that passed them with glowing red eyes. "Cerberus, no." She whispered at her hound. Cerberus glanced up, then foward dimming the color of his eyes. Suddenly, Cerberus stopped shory and burst into a run out of the mall. Bea reacted the next second and chased her hound through the crowds of people. Once outside the doors, she saw as Cerberus lunged atop of Malm, knocking him down. The dog began wagging his tail before hopping off and lunging at Kaseki, repeating the gesture. Bea slowed to a walk. "Cerberus, here." She commanded firmly. Cerberus whined mechanically and walked over to her with his head bent down. "Malm, Kaseki," she smiled warmly to her fellow comrades, "How are you?" she then turned to address the girl, "Hello there. My name is Bea. Pleasure to meet you."

Malm nearly jumped as he heard Kaseki speak to him from the trash can. The last thing he was honestly expecting at this very moment was the wooden leader of Dragon Fang to just pop out of a random trashcan he was happening to pass by. As Malm took a second to catch his breath, he heard Kaseki say something about people being after him or something like that. "Who was chasing, and what are you doing in a trash can?" Malm asked Kaseki as he was still trying to shake off the shock.

It soon turned out that Malm wasn't the only one who had notice as a random woman came by to see if they needed help. "No. At least I don't believe..." Malm was then unfortunately interrupted as a dog lunged right on top of him, knocking Malm down. It was at this point that Malm was having second thoughts about coming to this city in the first place.

As he looked up to see what exactly had just lunged, he soon recognized the dog that had just lunged at him. Cerberus. Then that would mean... And sure enough, he heard the dog's master call Cerberus off before asking the two if they were alright. "Well between Kaseki scaring me half to death and Cerberus attacking me, I'm honestly debating if I should just stay on the ground for right now Bea." He told his companion and teammate as he choose to just lie there for a few seconds longer.

Kaseki stood erect, looking at the group of people before him, "Malm, just some creatures from this... cave. So yeah. I'm fine."he looked at his two members, "Hm, not much to say here... Um, anyone want... stuff?"

Kaseki had been thinking about his group of Dragon Fang. Recently they had grown massively in numbers, more than some guilds. It was beyond Kaseki's control. "Dragon Fang..." the words slipped out of his mouth.


___
OOC: sorry for the short post, I dunno what to do.

Vivian stood there, panting lightly, as she looked at the three strangers before her. It seemed like they all knew each other, meaning that she was intruding on something. Bowing deeply, she stammered, "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't know you g-guys knew each other." Her face turned a bright red as she cursed her impulsiveness. They were probably just joking around, and she, being the fool she was, had intervened. She was so gullible, she -
"Shut up." Vi's voice echoed through her head irritably. "You're really frickin' annoying, you know that? It was a little screwup. Don't flood our head with these stupid, self-depreciating thoughts just because you messed up one damn time. Now let me rest." Vivian didn't respond, too shocked by Vi's sudden outburst. Instead, she looked up at the people around her, hearing the plant-man murmur, "Dragon Fang..." "D-dragon Fang?" Vivian inquired. "W-what's that?"

Bea raised an eyebrow in amusement as Malm just stayed put in the ground for a few seconds longer. "Well, that certainly one way to handle things." She grinned before turning to the girl and smiling warmly at her. "Feel free to join us," she grinned. "It is always a pleasure to meet someone new. Although, may I ask for your name?" Her hand then swept towards Kaseki, Malm, and herself. "We are but a few mages of the great Dragon Fang," she grinned, "But I believe Kaseki to be better qualified for speaking of it for he is one of the two leaders of the group."

Malm groaned slightly as he finally got around to picking himself up. While a part of him still wanted to just lie on the ground for a little longer, Malm knew that it would be pretty pitiful of him if he did. So he stood up and dusted himself off. It seemed that the girl didn't knew what Dragon Fang was, but that wasn't any surprise. The group was still fairly new.

Agreeing with Bea that it would be best to just let Kaseki explain what Dragon Fang is, he took a quick glance around as the treeman may or may not go into further detail. Once Kaseki was either finished with his explanation of Dragon Fang or obviously wasn't going to do so, Malm decided to ask something. "So have any of you gotten anything to eat yet? Because I was already on my way to finding a restaurant, and be happy to catch up on things with both of you." Malm told the others as he felt his stomach beginning to protest that it hadn't had any food yet, "You can join us as well if you want? I more then understand if you have questions to ask Kaseki, and what better way to ask them then over a plate of food." He then quickly offered to the girl.

"Oh... I'm Malm by the way. It's nice to meet you." He added with a smile, hoping that everyone had forgotten about him being trampled by Cerberus a few seconds ago.

"Dragon Fang?" said Kaseki as he tapped his chin, "I will make it quick, and later we can discuss this more in detail.

However, Dragon Fang is a paradox within itself. We are mages that have bonded together for one cause, to unite Fiore under one flag. Our goal is not to unite the world under the flag of Dragon Fang, but rather to raise the great flag that all of Fiore will be under. Now, one thing about us is that we are mixed mages... so you must learn to live and work together, legal and dark. We know that we are all different people, that makes us strong. We are mages of all guilds, backgrounds and powers.

The darkest of us do the dirty work, while the lighter side do the heroic deeds that you hear about. This is Dragon Fang." Kaseki proudly spoke. He was the dark leader of Dragon Fang, while his daughter Yuna was the leader of the light. She never killed a fly, while Kaseki had slain many men.

Once Kaseki was either finished with his explanation of Dragon Fang or obviously wasn't going to do so, Malm decided to ask something. "So have any of you gotten anything to eat yet? Because I was already on my way to finding a restaurant, and be happy to catch up on things with both of you." Malm told the others as he felt his stomach beginning to protest that it hadn't had any food yet, "You can join us as well if you want? I more then understand if you have questions to ask Kaseki, and what better way to ask them then over a plate of food." He then quickly offered to the girl.

"Oh... I'm Malm by the way. It's nice to meet you." the boy added.

"Yes, let us grab some food and discuss this a tad more, yes?"

Vivian looked at each of the three newcomers in turn. "K-Kaseki...Malm...B-Bea...It's nice to m-meet you all!" She looked at Kaseki especially, thinking. "This d-Dragon Fang...it s-sounds interesting. You have light and d-dark mages involved?" This could be what she was waiting for. Emi had inadvertently given her the idea of joining something to spite Vi; while it wasn't the Rune Knights, she had doubts as to whether she would make it into the Knights in the first place. This was a good place to start, at least.
Still, Vi was less than pleased. "Don't even think about it," she growled. "I swear, if you join this group of kooks..." "Stop it, Vi," Vivian responded. "I'll d-do what I want." Vi's eyes would have widened if she had a body. "Damn, you actually have some fight in you now? I wonder how long it'll last." Ignoring the rest of Vi's rant, Vivian smiled warmly at her new companions. "I'd be g-glad to go to lunch w-with you," she said. "L-lead the way!"

Bea looked over to Kaseki as he began to speak. "Dragon Fang?" He said as he tapped his chin, "I will make it quick, and later we can discuss this more in detail. However, Dragon Fang is a paradox within itself. We are mages that have bonded together for one cause, to unite Fiore under one flag. Our goal is not to unite the world under the flag of Dragon Fang, but rather to raise the great flag that all of Fiore will be under. Now, one thing about us is that we are mixed mages... so you must learn to live and work together, legal and dark. We know that we are all different people, that makes us strong. We are mages of all guilds, backgrounds and powers. The darkest of us do the dirty work, while the lighter side do the heroic deeds that you hear about. This is Dragon Fang." His voice was full of pride as he spoke of the guild. Yet, who wouldn't be when your group was growing bigger by the days?

As soon as Kaseki finished his speech, Malm was quick to speak. "So have any of you gotten anything to eat yet? Because I was already on my way to finding a restaurant, and be happy to catch up on things with both of you." Malm said as his stomach growled loud in hunger. "You can join us as well if you want? I more then understand if you have questions to ask Kaseki, and what better way to ask them then over a plate of food."

Now that they were acquainted, Bea smiled at the girl. "I'm glad you will be joining us." she said kindly. She called Cerberus to her side and followed Malm and Kaseki towards the restaurant. Upon reaching the entrance of the diner, Cerberus made himself comfortable atop of a bench that was nicely placed in front of the window. She went inside and took a seat. "So, how have you all been?"

"Well it looks like it's decided then. Let's get going then." He said as he started to set off. Yet he stopped suddenly as he realized something.

"Uhh... None of you happen to know of any good restaurants nearby, do you?" He asked as he turned to the others, rubbing the back of his head as he did so. If one of the others did happen to know of a restaurant closeby, Malm would be more then willing to follow them to it. If not though, Malm guessed he would just have to look for a random restaurant that looked good and affordable.

((Sorry for the short post. I didn't knew really anything else to add to it.))

Kaseki rubbed his chin. "There's a diner not far from here..." he said, "Not sure about the food, but it's a close place."

Kaseki led the way to a diner about 25 meters from where they originally met. He went inside and greeted someone, and kindly got the table for them to sit at.

______
OOC: Sorry for the short post... and I have no idea what to say.

((OOC: Wow, this is kind of an awkward thread XD))

Vivian followed her new companions to the restaurant timidly, eyes shifting from one person to the other as she tried to gather all the information she could on them. Taking a seat next to Bea at the restaurant, she tried to make herself comfortable on the seat as best she could and looked at all of her companions once again. "So, how have you all been?", Bea said, trying to start a conversation. "I've been f-fine, but-" Vivian started before catching herself. Turning red, she quickly continued, "b-but I'm sure you were t-talking more t-to your other friends than m-me. Sorry."

Bea smiled warmly at the new girl, Vivian. "It was an open question," she grinned. "No need to be shy." She looked around at the three mages in curiosity. "What brings you all to Rose Garden?" she asked as the setting.was getting quite ackward and uncomfortable. "And anything new?"

(ooc: i tried, but like all of you... I didn't know what to write... o.o)

As Malm entered the restaurant, he took a quick glance around the place. The interior of the restaurant seemed pretty nice. Far from fancy, but definitely had some work done in order for in to look aesthetically pleasing. Malm began to fear that this restaurant was mostly for tourist who had jewels to spend.

Malm took a seat beside Bea and across from Kaseki. He looked at the other three mages in silence before Bea asked how they were all doing. "Same old, same old really." Malm told her with a sigh.

The table had then got uncomfortably quiet before Bea broke the silence with a couple more questions. "Well I decided to take the time to come see this city. I've always heard good things about it, and I wanted to come see it for myself. As for anything new. Well... Sadly there isn't anything to report. How about yourself?" He told Bea.

It was soon after this a waitress came by and gave them all menus to look through. She then apologized for the wait and told them that she'll be back with them shortly. Malm picked up his menu and looked through it for a little while. He was happily surprise to see that most of the entreés prices were within his price range. That was good. Now he didn't have to worry about buying the most inexpensive meal they had.

"So anything popping out at you?" He asked the others in an attempt to keep the small talk going while also attempting to get him a better idea what he would want.

((Well I hope this helps ease some of the awkwardness this thread suffered from the last round of posts. Also, I have to say, it's surprising how few people don't seem to be afraid of Kaseki despite his intimidating appearance.))

Kaseki laughed, "I haven'y had real food in ages! I mean... I'm a plant, I kinda feed of the sunlight... but I think I'll have some chicken sandwich or something..."

Kaseki looked around the table of guests. He kept looking at Vivian. He could sense something odd about her. He brushed off the thought as he reached deep into his cloak to retrieve a small black pouch. He tossed it to the center of the table. It was a similar black back to that of the Treehouse Gathering. It was a Dragon Fang ritual.

"Vivian," the leader of Dragon Fang spoke in a cold tone, more serious than he ever is, "Have you made up your mind about Dragon Fang, or shall we discuss this a bit more?" he asked.

Kaseki was growing impatient, he really wanted that chicken sandwich.

Vivian watched the other three carefully, fidgeting; she was never one who was comfortable around people she didn't really know, although the group seemed nice enough. She smiled lightly when the green-haired one (she couldn't remember his name) asked what looked nice. "I th-think I'll have s-something sweet," she stammered, looking through the menu for anything in particular. "M-maybe a pastry."
When she looked up, she saw the plant-man pulling a black pouch out of his cloak. She scooched away a bit nervously; he was the only one she felt truly uncomfortable around, on account of him/it being a creepy plant person and all. "Have you made up your mind about Dragon Fang, or shall we discuss this a bit more?" He asked her, a serious and hard look on his face as he threw the pouch onto the table. Vivian fidgeted nervously, looking down; she hadn't expected to be asked to join their group this soon, even though she did want to join. She glanced around at the other two, noting their expressions; it was clear that it was going to be somewhat awkward if she declined the invitation. Since she had been planning to join anyway, she might as well just say it. "Y-yes," she stammered, "I'll j-join."

Bea smiled at the girl. "Welcome to Dragon Fang," she said simply before turning up to look at the clock. She had an appointment to keep and did not want to be late. She looked at her comrades and looked at them apologetically. "I apologize but i must get going." After the murmurs of goodbye, she got up and left the diner. The time she had spent there was short, but it was still a nice meeting. Bea called to Cerberus and both master and pet walked off, mixing into the numerous crowds of people.

((i sincerely apologize and so you can all advance, I have exited the thread. Hope you find it in your hearts to forgive me...))

((There's no need to apologize Sonya. We all understand that real life stuff takes precedence over RP stuff (or, at least, I hope we all do), so don't sweat it. :) ))

Malm was sad to hear that Bea had to go, but understand that she had prior appointments she probably needed to keep. "Okay. I guess we'll see you sometime later then." Malm said with a friendly smile that slowly faded as Bea left. While there was something he wanted to speak to her about, he guess he could just speak to her about it later.

Once Bea was gone, Malm then turned to look at the brand new member of Dragon Fang. "Well congrats. I guess this means your officially one of us." Malm said as his smile return, "Just so you know. If you happen to need anything from me, please don't hesitate to ask."

It was around this time the waitress returned. "So have you all come to a decision?"

"Uhh... I believe so." Malm said as he looked at the others for confirmation before pulling up his menu, "I'll have the chicken soup with a glass of herbal tea to drink." He told the waitress as she wrote the order down.

Kaseki smiled as he looked over the menu. There was lots of pictures of foods, but in reality, he only knew the name of one. "... and you sir?" the lady asked. Kaseki smiled. He lifted the menu and pointed at a picture. "Chicken sandwich. I want that please.. ooh, and a milkshake... wait no... I want two... Bring me one of each flavor. But I want this sandwich/" The lady looked at Kaseki completely dumbfounded. This man was fully insane... and must have the wallet to pay. "Um, would that be grilled or fried?"

Kaseki held a blank look. "Um... which one is chicken?" The lady let out a small sigh before answering, "Both are the chick-"

"THEN BRING ME BOTH, MILADY."

Kaseki reached in his pocket to pull out two black bags. He threw them upon the other dark velvet bag. "I bring gold, and jewels. Do I pay now or later?"

Kaseki never really paid for anything in his life. He worked, he built. All the purchasing was done by Xiaowei... So someone needed to explain this to Kaseki... but who?