Re: In Transit (Open)

by **Zahn Skye** Tue Jul 01, 2014 4:44 am

The Jinx mage smirked as his adversary was thrown off-balance by his counter-attack. A small sliver of pride worked its way through Zahn's body, causing him to smile at his actions. Atrum was one of the best fighters he'd ever met and catching him off-guard had proven to be no easy feat. As he tackled the giant and rocked his world with a punishing cross-punch he did indeed feel proud.

Finally got him!

However, it was at this moment when things had gone awry. Before he landed, Atrum had counter-attacked once more with his most powerful move. At the time, Zahn was so focused on landing and winning the fight he hadn't really noticed. He remembered the sensation of being grabbed and then the rest was a blur. As he looked back to Atrum to see his opponent's condition he suddenly felt light-headed and coughed up bloody vomit. He'd been hit directly by Atrum's Thunderous Flame spell.

Oh, fu-

Another round of bloody vomit leaked from his mouth. He was in terrible shape. Not only had he'd not even noticed the attack, there was simply nothing he could've plausibly done to avoid it. However, the effects hadn't set in immediately. Somehow, the adrenaline of the fight had managed to keep him on his feet for a split second after he landed. Now, however...

"Uuurghk..."

On bent knees, and being held up only by his wobbling arms Zahn managed to puke up a little more. He was burnt and battered. The fight was over. He'd left himself open to attack for a split second, and like a true master Atrum managed to pull off a last second win. Zahn chuckled to himself mentally.

Well, that showed me a thing or two...

Zahn sat back, allowing himself to recover from the spell. He wasn't tough enough to pull himself to a standing position immediately, nor was he dumb enough to think that if he did he'd still have a shot at winning this match.

"Know when to fold, I say. There's no point in trying to continue this fight. I might get a few more good hits in, but you, my friend definitely taught me something today. Thanks..."

Zahn slowly, but surely, pulled himself up.

"Well, now I'm definitely hungry. I just had breakfast knocked out of me!"

Though he had lost, Zahn was happy enough knowing he could really hold his own against a tougher opponent. If that last attack hadn't been so powerful and so spot-on he might've even won the fight, but that wasn't how the battle had gone. He sat in silence for a few minutes. Then... he walked over to his cloak and eye-patch and re-fastened both of them then walked over to Atrum to offer him a handshake.

"That was a good fight. I'm sure as heck hungry now more than ever. That was amazing, Atrum and I'm certainly glad I got to have such a fun match but food awaits!"

by **Atrum Furea** Sat Jul 05, 2014 8:55 pm

Atrum was surprised when no counter attack came, when Zahn did not immediately strike back or go to put some distance between them. For a second he was sure that Zahn had not even been hit by his attack and he had instead just blew himself up for nothing, until he heard Zahn retching a bit away from him. He turned his head to where his sparring partner had fallen to his knees, had Atrum had scored a direct hit? From Zahn's condition he could only assume so, Atrum felt the smile grow on his face as Zahn began to talk after recovering a bit. The smile grew into full on laughter as he fell back down into a sitting position and placing a hand on his head as he did so.

'That was fun, Zahn is a resourceful opponent and almost as crazy as I am, if he had more experience I would probably be the one admitting defeat right now instead of the other way around. I was lucky though, with my head spinning like it was I still managed to grab on him.'

The pain hit Atrum hard now that he was no longer actively ignoring his condition and his laughter was stifled a bit by pain not that it did much to dampen his mood. He pushed himself back off the ground, and braced himself against a tree in order to keep his balance while he rested. Right, he had won. Through sheer stubbornness and a bit of luck he had overcome another battle, and now he was hungry. He had promised Zahn food as well.

"Indeed that was quite the match, I have not felt my head spin like that since I was back in my home country. I am definitely glad that we decided to spar like this, definitely worth the effort." He spoke the feral edge leaving his voice and the politeness returning. Now that he was no longer fighting he returned to the soft spoken tone he held when he first met the Jinx mage. Atrum smiled and reached past Zahn's hand clasping the area just past his wrist and taking his other arm and patting the jinx mage on the back. "It was a great fight, now let us get something to eat." He said before releasing Zahn to go retrieve his hat, he had enough money to get something to eat as long as there was a place to purchase food nearby. He just needed to find it first. He motioned for Zahn to follow him as he turned back towards the town when he suddenly realized that Zahn's magic was still a mystery to him.

'I could ask him but I would like to try and figure it out first.' He thought to himself defiantly, he ran through the fight again in his head no longer reacting and actively observing he got a lot more information from what happened it didn't actually give him any leads as to the type of magic. 'I guess it really does not matter, his magic is useful and his and that is all that matters unless I spar with him again. Right now I am more hungry than curious anyways, where do they sell food in this place?' Well that was a predictable thought process, fighting and food were stereotypical thoughts to float around in Atrum's head but it was easy to see why. Combat was his passion, and to fight you needed a lot of fuel, right now he was running on empty. He needed to fix that, soon before he passed out he had to eat more and more frequently than most people and he had let himself forget that little fact.

"Any ideas on where to start looking?" He asked aloud smacking his stomach when it gurgled at him.

by **Zahn Skye** Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:01 pm

"None whatsoever. I'm... actually pretty new to these parts."

Zahn didn't feel like he had to hold anything back from Atrum, but at the same time he wasn't about to spill his whole life story to the guy. He sighed mentally and collected himself as he turned back to his sparring partner.

"I'm sure that between the two of us we'll find a good place to eat though. We could always try scaring up some dinner ourselves. Still... that was a good fight. Wish I'd been able to eat beforehand. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

The Jinx mage knew he was being a bit nosy, especially since he would've minded if Atrum had asked him about his skills first. However, the giant seemed like a decent guy and Zahn felt like it was ok to trust Atrum, at least for now. Whatever happened in the future between the two didn't really matter. Zahn gave a small smile as he scanned the area.

"As much as I'd love to stand around and just chat I should really be moving on as quickly as possible now that our spar is done. Among other things I'm missing, other than a full stomach, I don't exactly have a place picked out to sleep tonight."

Zahn switched to a more matter of fact way of speaking, not trying to alarm Atrum but at the same time letting the giant know that he was feeling a little worried. Their fight had been fairly noisy and while they weren't near anyone else and the likelihood that the pair who be discovered by Seekers was low the Jinx mage didn't want to take any chances. Better for him to get into trouble on his own, and not involve other who just happened to be around him at the time.

by **Atrum Furea** Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:19 pm

“Come then, I can talk as I walk.” The giant started picking up his pace a bit, Zahn’s sudden need to leave the area was understandable. Most people seemed to dislike dealing with the authorities, regardless of their standing with the law. People seemed to really dislike the law enforcement in general, but Atrum was more interested in answering Zahn’s question. “I learned to fight from my parents actually, my people thrived off combat. Whether it was monsters or people, we survived by better the best fighters in the Northern Wastes.” Atrum said with more than a little pride in his voice. “Still my Mother and Father were in another league altogether, more like monsters than people. So learning to fight from them was pretty intense.”

A sly smile appeared on the giant’s face, he liked talking to others but he usually kept to himself until someone talked to him. It felt good to talk to somebody about his people, they were basically gone now. This was probably what his brother felt like, and why he was so insistent on going back. Atrum’s stomach grumbled again, there had to be a place to eat nearby it just made sense. While he was sitting there annoyed with their lack of direction he suddenly got the scent of food. A lot of food actually, a place to eat was definitely nearby in that case. It was time to grab something to eat before his stomach started eating itself.

“I am certain that someone is cooking nearby…” He murmured looking about before sniffing and walking in the direction he was sure the scent was coming from. “You are a pretty decent fighter yourself, quick witted and quick on your feet. You must have had a competent mentor as well, you were pretty close to leaving me on the ground back there.” Atrum chuckled rubbing his chin, remembering the last hit he had taken. His chin was still sore, and would probably stay that way for a few days. Zahn really clocked him. “I guess trained fighters are not unusual in Fiore anymore thanks to the war, to a mostly peaceful country that definitely would shake things up for people.” The giant had a bad habit of speaking his thoughts aloud, he rotated his shoulder to help soothe the pain in it.

‘It is actually kind of difficult to focus properly; maybe that punch shook my brain more than I thought? Well maybe it is simply my stomach that is ruining my focus, hungry and sore and looking for a place to eat. It is almost like I am back in Magnolia again.’ Atrum smirked at the thought and slowed his place to observe the buildings as they passed. They needed to find the place selling food, it shouldn’t be hard at this point, those places usually had rather large signs to attract customers.

by **Zahn Skye** Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:34 pm

((So I've been extremely busy. Which is pretty obvious considering the fact I haven't responded for something like 8 days... Sigh. I'm gonna try to wrap this one up pretty quick. I don't want to have you keep waiting for me each time but my schedule has been all over the place the past few months.))

Zahn matched his pace with Atrum, listening to the giant as he talked about his past and his people. He noticed the warmth he felt coming from the man as the subject lingered on the answer to Zahn's question. The pride in Atrum's voice was not ignored and Zahn found himself smiling, seeing his companion's own happiness. He nodded as Atrum finished speaking about his people and continued to walk. His nose was obviously not as well trained as Atrum's however, and the young Jinx mage only noticed the smell of food after his friend pointed it out. As he walked with Atrum in the direction of the smell, his companion commented on Zahn's own fighting skills. The Jinx mage's gaze darkened a bit and became slightly more somber.

I guess I am pretty good at fighting... but not much else. My brothers and sisters taught me how to fight... then went off to war. I didn't want to go however... I ran away and they... they all died. I didn't think the war was completely justified but I should have done something about it...

Zahn's brooding demeanor was becoming fairly obvious, even to himself, so he quickly wiped away his thoughts and tried to respond to Atrum as best he could.

"Yes, my teachers were very good. However, I actually learned from the before the war. Still, no time like the present to learn new skills."

The quickness of his shift in demeanor made it easy to see Zahn did not want to talk about the subject but he indulged his friend a bit anyway. He looked ahead to see if he could spot anything related to food but found nothing immediately within his sight. So, more walking in store. Still, it was fine. Now that Zahn had finished sparring he and Atrum could take their time finding a nice place to eat. Then Zahn would have to take off again, for parts unknown.

by **Atrum Furea** Sun Jul 27, 2014 10:07 pm

(Don't worry about it I occasionally forget that I have to post for people, just get to it when you have a chance but don't stress over it.)

Atrum chuckled at his friends response, he had noticed Zahn's demeanor change and figured that becoming somber and serious would only ruin his new friends mood further. The giant felt that if the young man didn't want to talk to him about whatever had brought him down that was his right, Atrum wasn't going to put his nose in his business if he wasn't wanted or needed. He kept following his nose sure he'd find a place to eat soon, it wouldn't be hard at least not as hard as he had originally thought he had begun to understand the architecture of Fiore a bit better. If he was right they had entered a sort of market area, these buildings looked like shops rather than places of residence. He gave Zahn a pat on the back, giving the jinx mage a soft and pleasant smile.

"We will most certainly part ways after this." The giant stated suddenly, before looking back at the buildings they were passing by. "Remember that you have at least one friend out there, alright?" Atrum didn't seemed to be looking for a response to what he had just said, in fact it seemed that he was almost unaware that he had said anything at all. He appeared to be so absorbed in looking for a place to eat that he might have just spoken whatever came to mind. "What about there, that look like a good place to you?" He asked more directly pointing out a building, large and decorated with a large sign that the giant was obviously having trouble reading. "This country's alphabet is really confusing. I think that says something about a restaurant, I think." He found himself grumbling obviously annoyed by his lack of ability to read the symbols in Fiore.

'I can only read my own people's written language, thinking about it now this is starting to get more and more annoying I should devote some time to learning how to read what they use here. That way I do not have to bother the locals with reading things to me, I spent most of my time fighting so I guess it is not that strange that I have not manage to learn it yet. Not that this fact makes my predicament less annoying, just more understandable. I wonder if there is someone at the guild that can teach me.' He thought to himself resolving to remove this particular weakness.

by **Zahn Skye** Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:30 pm

Zahn looked up at the sign and smiled. Atrum's instincts were pretty good. There'd be a lot of meat here. The way Atrum carried himself, and his tale about his monster parents led the Jinx mage to believe, without a doubt, that the giant would enjoy a good meal filled with meat dishes.

"I could use some nice meat, yeah... and don't worry. This country confuses me too, and I'm a native."

Zahn's words were chosen very carefully. He could read and write Fiore's language almost perfectly, but what he'd said implied he wasn't always on board the policies those words were used to create. Still, he loved Fiore. Not only was it the only home he'd ever known but the blood of his family was closely tied to this land.

Especially since some of my kin are buried within this country's very soil.

The Jinx mage took on a darker look, but it quickly passed. He was here to enjoy food with a person he could call a friend. That alone was enough for him to ignore any problems he might've been having at the time. This was a happy thing and he was going to enjoy himself as much as possible throughout the meal. He motioned with his hand, letting Atrum know that they should head in.

"Well, enough talk. Let's eat. Our meals aren't going to order themselves, unfortunately."

With that last bit of humor, Zahn headed inside, assuming Atrum would follow quickly after him.

by **Atrum Furea** Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:33 am

Atrum chuckled lightly and followed Zahn into the establishment, and as he removed his hat looked for a place to sit down finding a place near the back and in the corner partly out of sight. Atrum wasn't in his best condition and wasn't sure how well he could defend himself if he were attacked and so chose a defensible place within the building. He had to make up for being tired, hungry, and injured somehow, and this suited him well. Atrum visibly relaxed his body seeming to shrink down a bit and he removed his pouch and started counting the Jewels within, like he thought he had more than enough for a couple of meals.

He had only just finished counting when someone came over to take their order, Prompting Atrum to order several entire roasts before directing the person taking their orders over to Zahn. Atrum felt his stomach growl at him, he didn't actually need a reminder that he was hungry at this point he was simply waiting until the food came. He leaned back and relaxed a bit intending to enjoy this moment of peace.

"Feel free to order a bit, I have enough to feed someone like me twice so get what you need." The giant sighed waving a hand as he waited for Zahn to finish up on his end. 'I need to head back to Magnolia after this, and start accepting jobs from my guild rather than the Crossroads. At least I no longer owe them anything.' He laughed to himself, mentally imagining the Crossroads similar to a Mob.

by **Zahn Skye** Sun Aug 24, 2014 5:54 pm

Zahn sighed to himself as he was told to order as much as he wanted. He needed to eat. As all the tension drained from his body he realized, once more, how famished he was. Sparring from Atrum had worn him out even more and he'd been hungry to begin with.

"Thank the Gods... Food!"

The Jinx mage was uncharacteristically enthusiastic, though he did enjoy eating a lot. Still, his excitement was fairly obvious. He ordered at least two meat dishes and asked the waiters to keep the water full throughout the meal. He happily sank his teeth into his food when it arrived and sighed in contentment when he was finished. He looked over to his former sparring partner and smiled.

"That hit the spot. Thanks. I hope we meet again sometime. After all..."

Zahn smirked now that he had his energy back.

"I won't lose to you so easily next time, Atrum! I admit you're powerful, but I make it a point to be able to fight anyone anytime! You're my new goal, so you'd better watch out!"

The Jinx mage smiled kindly at his friend. It was nice to be able to tell his new rival that he was looking forward to meeting him once more. Zahn didn't usually like hanging out with other people, but the fact of the matter was that Atrum was a nice guy and a great fighter. Zahn had no problem declaring, fairly publicly, that Atrum should expect to see the young Jinx mage again.

by **Atrum Furea** Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:00 am

Atrum tore into his food like a starving beast, eating his food in it's entirety even devouring the bones, in his hunger. Again his body needed more fuel than the average person, that meant that he often ended up eating when he wasn't doing anything because the food he had previously eaten had already been used up. Yet hungry as he might be, he was surprised by the sheer enthusiasm Zahn was showing for their meal, Atrum figured that his new friend had been more hungry than they gave him credit for. He grinned glad he could help his new friend with this and hurried to finish his meal. He was still gnawing on a bone when Zahn Finally spoke up, obviously finished with his meal.

"Geh heh heh, You are pretty impressive yourself my friend. Anytime you want a match I am more than willing to give you one." He responded raising a drink in salute, he had met many people but it wasn't often he met someone who reminded him of home. "Know that if you ever find yourself in need of a Friend, you can count on me. If you ever need to find me Fairy Tail is based in Magnolia I will most likely be there, if you need help or just want another match." He said, smiling softly. Atrum only offered this extension of kindness to those he liked, those he was willing to call friend. Atrum did not call someone a friend lightly, to him friends were as good as family. Still there was something about Zahn that made him think that he was a good friend to have. "I am going to hold you to that by the way, you had better get stronger by the time we meet again. Because I definitely plan on becoming even stronger than I am now!"

Atrum grinned as he downed his drink, today was a pleasant day. A strong opponent, a new friend, and he no longer owed anyone money, he felt a lot better than the day before, and was grinning proudly over it. He was disappointed that he and Zahn were parting ways, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. Instead he was going to celebrate that he met his new friend and await the next time they met, as was custom. 'I have my work cut out for me, I shall be doing a lot more work in the months to come.'

by **Zahn Skye** Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:52 pm

Zahn smiled back at his friend. Atrum was powerful and very kind as well. To become a mage like he was Zahn would have to train very hard. He'd be wandering about, in the meantime, learning what he could and practicing his skills. He knew he'd need all of them the next time he met Atrum. Having finished his meal, he thanked his friend, shook his hand and made his way out.

The world sure is a big place. If there are a lot of mages like Atrum around I'll have my work cut out for me. Especially since I can't yet fully contol my powers... I need a place to train alone for now, but I think some traveling is in order. Maybe I'll head back to Era. I think it'll be a good place to get my bearings and reaffirm my goals. I haven't been home in a while though...

The Guildless mage wrapped himself in his cloak and headed off, once again getting on the train and feeling incredibly conspicuous. He really needed to lose the large, heavy black traveling mantle. It was not doing wonders for his feelings of safety or anonymity. He sighed, mostly to himself. He already missed the time he'd spent sparring with Atrum.

Why is it that I'm more comfortable being punched in the face than talking to a single person I don't know...?

The Jinx mage sighed once more, this time almost theatrically, and drifted off to sleep on the train back to Era. His dreams were not pleasant, but this was the first time Zahn had had a proper sleep in a good while.

by **Atrum Furea** Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:17 am

This was a good day, making a new friend, having a great bit of sparring, and some decent food to eat. This was an almost perfect day in his books, damped only by the fact that is was ending a bit too soon for his tastes. Still both he and Zahn had other places to be, and he had jobs to do if he wanted some more spending money. He also had to train as well, he had a obligation to do so he had family he wanted to protect and to do that he needed to be stronger. Stronger than he was now, stronger than he was in the war, stronger than when his home was taken from him. Atrum had gotten through life by being just strong enough to stay alive, that was going to change. There were those that saw him and called him friend, he had to be strong for their sake as well. He wasn't satisfied with being just strong enough to survive his life, he needed to be strong enough to fight back, to defend and protect, to avenge.

'Zahn, and Kotone. While they are neither blood nor guild mates, they are family to me, I wish them well. Though maybe I should go visit my family convince them to come closer to my home, I have a ways to travel I might as well go to them first. It would definitely be pleasant to see them again. I do not plan on spending money on the train anyways I shall walk there it will be good for me to see this country like that, it will be better to face down the creatures of this land as well. Fiore is my new home I should get to know it.' The Giant though to himself as he paid for his and Zahn's meal. Letting his smile widen Atrum stepped outside and put his hand over his eyes as he looked to the sun. "My name is Atrum Furea, and I am home." he said grinning as he lowered his hat over his eyes and turned in the direction of Crocus, his brother lived in that city. Doing what exactly he had no idea but he would figure out when he got there. Speaking of which he had gotten a letter from him and had not opened it yet. The giant blinked and took a quick look and smiled seeing that his brothe had asked him to come over. "Well as if I needed more convincing." The giant chuckled pocketing the letter and walking out of the town and into the wild. "I shall be there soon my brother."

[Exit thread]

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