Sick of Tea? That's like being sick of breathing! (Open, Free)

[Kairyuu]

It was certainly a unique lifestyle. Ha was used to the two extremes of living. Born into a life of excess, he had only to say he wanted something to have it. Money had never been an object, and the child, while not spoiled to the core, was certainly never forced to go without. Then when he killed his brother and fled, he’d gone into a life of true poverty for a while. There were occasionally people willing to help the estranged son of their king for various reasons, but for the most part he made his money the same way every poor man did. Off jobs and the occasional theft. Often he would attack the taxmen of his father’s kingdom and take from them what his father took from the people. It definitely seemed to help the local economy when he came into town spending freely.

But this was new entirely. To work for a decent wage but still be forced to supplement it in other manners. While he was not by any means used to his old life of wealth, he did enjoy his new life of middling means. The discount here certainly didn’t hurt. Typically it was reserved for the charcoal makers, but knowing what this place truly was seemed to have some odd benefits to go with it, like his own. He could afford to take his morning tea here, for one. Or do his after work relaxing. Watching the prisoners wasn’t so hard, but it could be stressful to resist the urge to put several of them down for how they behaved.

However, he had a purpose here. He could not lose sight of that. And so he did as he was told, and as he was capable. Several times his coworkers invited him out to drink, something he turned down. None of them knew a drink more refined than swill. He would not stoop to that level. But tea, tea was easy to get right and the workers here certainly knew how to do that. Several of the places he’d been to were little more than hot leaf juice. This one got it right.

Especially their white lotus.

Before him sat a board, the pieces already set to go. He was certainly not a grand master at this game, but he found it helped him to focus his thoughts and reign in errant daydreams. The hard part was finding someone to play, but that was easily remedied by playing against himself. As he sips at the tea, Ha begins to move the pieces on each side. Pawns to the front, knights to flank, the queen acting as the enforcer of his separate wills. Chess was not a one player game for many reasons, but even when one made it such it could be calming.

And he needed calm right now. The blood lust was rising, and he had to bat it down. These people hadn’t had their chance. He could not do less than give them such. Conversion would one day come. But for now, it was tea, and chess. And an empty chair across from him should someone decide to sit and either play against him or just try to talk. While he wasn’t the friendliest of people, he could carry his part of a conversation if need be.

 

[Yaku]

A swift breeze rolled in as a new customer pushed the door wide, hitting with a loud thunk. The few in the establishment turned towards the doorway to see what was rolling on in. Invisible for the moment, the door just stood wide, as if beckoning all to witness something grand, something huge, maybe even dangerous to enter the building. Seconds passed feeling like minuets, a shadow entered into the building first followed by a soft whitish pink hand grabbing at the doorway. "Sorry, sorry. That freakish breeze got the better of me. " The tiniest girl in white walked in, grabbing at the door and pulling at the door and swinging passed it. Her dress waving in the breeze and pushing flat. She got behind the door and pushed it closed. "Sorry about that." She turned to what she was sure to be the shop keeper putting a hand up and bowing slightly.

The young girl flattened out her dress and looked around. It was her first time out in this forest. As she looked around, anyone that gazed upon her would see another amazing aspect of the young girl. Her eyes. They almost seemed to burn, a glow like that of a beasts at night when seen directly, more apparent every time she blinked. She clung tightly to a messenger bag fixing it on her shoulder and took several steps inside. It was the oddest thing about her, that bag.

It was her first time in this forest, having seen something written on a board around the enclosure that surrounded it. Something about it poisonous plants or something. It sounded like the perfect place to go and venture around. The bag was full of something, and it was fairly out of place from the rest of her wear. She looked around for a place to sit and found a guy sitting alone, moving small pieces of something on a board. The chair across from him empty, it almost seemed to be beckoning for another to sit across from him to join in. She headed towards him and spoke to the man,"Um...excuse me, would it be okay if I join you, sir?"

She didn't really wait for much of a response, placing her bag onto the chairs top rail and jumped into it looking at the board in front of her. Her head was just above the tables rim and she watched him play for a moment. The game looked familiar to her, something her uncle had but she never played before.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Shoji or chess was not the only type of board game they had in this unusual tea house, but they all seemed to have a military aspect to them. While the Templar sat at a shoji board, Minami was playing Go. Both games are about battle but going about it in different ways. Chess is an attrition based game. You start the board full of pieces which throughout the game they get eliminated and at the end you only have a few pieces left standing. The object of chess is to force your opponent to surrender by eliminating his army. Each member of the army has its own rank which moves in different ways and you win by killing the king.

Go however starts of very differently as in the beginning the board is blank. Is about resources and taking territory. The goal of the game is to occupy the most of the board with the fewest pieces as possible. It’s not about killing the opponent but claiming land. A Go player does not fight ahead on but tries to circumvent the opponent. In the teaching of the art of war it is said that it is more important to outthink your enemy than to outfight him.

Unlike Ha that had no opponent when the strange girl enters, Minami already had someone to play against. Sitting at the table next to the Templar’s, their backs were facing each other. Minami was fully armored like some sort of knight and a large battle axe was on her back. If it wasn’t for the armor accommodating her breast people would likely think she was a man. Minami hated this mindset for she believe any woman can match a man in a battle of strength; it is all about training.

As a server comes up to her and asks for Minami’s order. The paladin places her hands on her helmet and with a small twist she takes it off. Long black hair flows down her back and chest as it was no longer confined in the helmet. Her eyes were heterochromatic with one being and emerald hue and the other a topaz. “I’ll have some Jasmine Tea thank you.” It was around this time the small girl sits across the Templar. Minami places a stone on her board and makes a comment about the other game, “No point in playing by yourself.”

 

[Kairyuu]

The door opening threw his focus. Ha’s head pops up as his hand drops to his side and grips the hilt of his blade. He forces himself to relax after realizing what he was doing. Even if someone was stupid enough to attack the tea house, there were plenty of people closer to that door who would respond before anything reached him. He does not, however, take his eyes off of it. If this was an attack he would be ready. And finally…a tiny little girl makes her way in and shuts the door behind her. It was like something out of a tv show. Ha goes back to his game, sipping at his tea occasionally as he tried to outthink himself. It was a futile effort, the brain couldn’t beat itself after all, but it was certainly helping him to see the weaknesses in his own plans.

The girl heads closer, a fact he noted without turning his head as he kept moving. As she asks to sit he begins to respond in the negative but without missing a beat the child takes the seat across from him. Ha pauses for a moment before continuing the game. At that moment the knight behind him makes a comment on it.

”Sharpens the mind better than not playing. Sadly, there are few here who can offer a challenge in this game. Granted I’m not sure if your own opponent is much of a challenge at that game.” Ha looks up at Sara, his eyes hidden behind the mask on his face. His red hair was not very long in the front, but in the back he’d let it grow out just slightly. Not enough to qualify as a mullet, by any means. Two streaks of black hair flowed from his forehead and rose slightly above the crest of his head, appearing as horns. Combined with his black jacket, pants and boots he gave off an air of solitude. Which is why he often was surprised people would approach him.

”If you’re going to sit, perhaps you should play also.” Ha begins to reset the board, swiftly moving all of the pieces back to where they go and leaving the first move to the girl if she decides to take it.

 

[Yaku]

The masked man offered her a game of...Sho...sho something, that was all she could remember. She had seen others playing it, but never tried it herself. She never made time to try it, but maybe now was that time. "Um...right. I.." She tried to remember how the pieces moved when she watched those few times. She grabbed one of the tiles in the very front on the left of the board and moved it forward. She let go and then looked as the server came over. She turns and looks at the very close person and looks up at their face. She just stairs for a moment then looks at the board, the guys cup, then back up. 'It's a tea shop...hmm'. "Um, some Dango and...how about the house specialty for tea." 'What ever that was. Hopefully it wasn't something with milk or to sweet. '

The server went away to fetch her order and she turned to the man, "Never had Dango until we invaded this country.", she said with a slight cheerfulness to it. It might have been a poor choice of words on her part, but they were the ones she picked. Perhaps she was to young or inexperienced, or just not high ranking enough to know why they came to the Fire Country, but that was how she saw what they did. One day they just decided to make the move from the Earth Country, to the Fire Country, orders sent and followed. Though, it did appear the people in this village weren't to against such. Her cheerfulness about the subject could have been a slight against those from this country within the bar. It was just, "They are so much better then the sweet desserts we had back home."

 

[Ryu Hime]

“Don’t let appearances fool you. I have played many games and still yet to beat him.” The paladin’s opponent was none other than her sensei, the one teaching her how to truly be a member of the Faceless. Rarely does he walk out in his natural form, but there are times when he does and this was one of them. He was an old fox and a large one at that. One might think he was part husky do to his unusual size, but in truth demons are sometimes bigger than their animal counterparts. The elder vulpine had fur as white as snow and eyes the shade of freshly spilt blood. On his left shoulder was a mark imprinted onto his fur. It symbolized his rank within the Faceless and those around him would recognize him as the rank of No One.

The Faceless is a religious cult that worship a deity to which they refer to as the man-faced god. According to their beliefs it is he who taught the founder of the clan the true art of transformation. The Faceless freely sacrifice their former identities so that they may view the world through many perspectives. Many outside the clan view them as a clan of eccentric actors. Often training in the Faceless consists of the game of faces. A Faceless must be able to take a role without their true self bleeding through. Breaking character means getting hit with the spear. Needless to say that there are those who do not survive pass the initiate stage.

A rather nervous looking girl sits a cup of tea on an end table next to the fox. “Here is your tea No One sir.” Minami was not sure if she was scared of him because he was an animal, a demon or No One. Either way the fox thanks the girl and she quickly scampers off.

 

[Kairyuu]

(Many apologies. Wedding planning/mandatory OT at work/family/holidays/my honeymoon burnt down has led to my brain scattering)

As the girl makes a move, Ha reaches out and mirrors it. Chess was a far cry from Shoji. For one, the pieces did not move anywhere near the same. He would wait and see if she made the common mistake most people did between the two. ”Invaded?” Few knew Ha’s origins as being outside of this land, and while he hoped to keep that knowledge where it was, he also knew ways to ask questions without coming off as entirely ignorant. ”Don’t you mean liberated?” Always play the patriotism angle, if you can. It makes you seem less like an outsider and more like a fanatical loyalist.

Ha slides his cup to the edge of the table as the girl hands the other drink to a no one. ”White lotus again. Tell them not to add anything special this time.” His last cup wasn’t bad, but apparently someone thought he needed to relax and tossed in a hit of liquor. Not enough to have an adverse effect, but enough to be tasted.

”Well, good luck to you. We should all learn to best our betters. Else the world would always slip backwards and no one would excel.” Granted, it depended on your idea of a better. Ha thinks for a moment of his own conquests. Of Kiyoki. Of the death of a man who claimed to be more.

”So what’s the deal with the no one?”

 

[Yaku]

"Liberated? I...did we?", the young girl spoke softly with confusion. She pushed off the table and changed her position to kneeling on the chair, spinning it gracefully as it fell with a thud into position. "I am unsure from what. Weren't we the aggressors in the fight?...So many couldn't be saved..." , a hint of sadness was taken over from the confusion. She wasn't sure what the history of the country was but she was up to hearing it explained to her. "It seems so many do think as you. I..I don't know why." She grabbed another piece, on the right side end and moved it forward, a loud tap burst forth as she placed it down. Sara was hoping she was playing this game right, though it had just started. Expectations weren't high, but she didn't want to look the fool.

She leaned over to see the others at the table nearby that were conversing with the man before her, this 'No One', an odd name indeed. Perhaps trying to be rude but it sounded respectful. 'Um..that is a new one?' She leaned back. The young girl wasn't sure what to make of what was happening at the other table. 'Her better was a wolf? The wolf knew how to play strategic games?' She tried to whisper her words, but they easily carried in the quite room, "Is that normal? To allow your pets into tea shops and..is it safe for wolves to drink tea?" Plenty of medicinal uses for tea, but she wasn't sure what the effects could be on an animal. He seemed unsurprising by her words which too were surprising. 'What kind of person plays their pets....' that idea actually seemed great to delve on, but before she did she remembered another thing. 'Wait, did that girl just properly address it..er him? Sir?'

 

[Ryu Hime]

The armored woman stares at her opponent, “I’m not completely sure if he is actually an animal.” His soul definitely looks human enough to her. When she first met him she did not have this ability to see the souls of the living, but now that she does she questions the origins of her companion. “One of his clan has many faces.” This statement only causes the old fox to laugh. “I’m on to you old man.”

“Clever girl, but I can assure you that this form has nothing to do with the abilities I’ve learn in the clan.” The young medic might find it odd that the beast spoke but she found it normal. The paladin could not help but notices he did not object to not being an animal. Though they might be because he is a fox demon and they might consider themselves different than your average fox. However the way he responded still make her believe he’s actually human. Before she could think too much on the topic, the fox changes subject. “So what’s this seal you’re trying to get?”

She was well aware of what he was doing but she figures she would leave it be for now. “An astral seal. Only a few people can scribe it and thus it will not be easy to find such a person, but it will be worth the search.”

 

[Kairyuu]

Post will be up tomorrow. Apologies once more.