Closed Dead End (Victor, Rayage)

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

- 27th of Summer, 513 AV -

"Thank you for your time." Exiting The Bloddy Hunter of Nyka's northern quarter, newly purchased map of the outlands in tow, Jabari called out one last appreciation to the owner of the establishment. Hmm. Now facing the numerous streets outside the shop, the youth had to take a moment to try and retrace his steps. The city had so many twist and turns, it was a steep learning curve for any new arrival to learn their navigation. Slowly and surely, the adopted son of The White Isle had done his best to piece together the layout of the land during his short stay.

Taking a moment to gather his bearings, Jabari considered his options. This looks familiar. Making his way down one of the many passages that filled the road, Jabari felt confident he was heading in the right direction. He stopped being so sure once he reached the dead end on the other side. Turning back around to make another attempt at recollection, three large shadows joined him in the alley.

Not wanting to be stuck in a tight fit with strangers whose intentions were unknown, Jabari carefully walked towards the exit. Though, as he came closer to the shades owners, his mood was lifted. The sun must have made the figures appear much more imposing than they really were. Before the Chaser of Dreams stood three teenagers, each younger than the last, and all younger than he. Waving a welcome, Jabari called out. "Hello there." It felt rude not to greet someone you shared such a small area with.

"Whatcha got there outsider?" The eldest of the trio spoke menacingly as the boys to either side of him stepped closer to block the path out. Jabari took a longer look at each of them then. They might have been younger than he was, but something about their faces, and about their posture, told the Vantha that these individuals weren't interested in idle chatter.

Lovely.

Mod Note: :

Added "Map of Nykan Outlands" to belongings and removed 6gm from Jabari's ledger.

[Victor Freeman]

It was a hot summer day in Nyka, and Jack was walking through the streets, maneuvering between the awnings set out over various stalls and shops, trying to stay in the shade and out of the heat.

'At least I'm not in Kenash anymore,' He thought to himself. 'If I was still there, it'd be petchin' HOT, petchin' WET, and I'd be working all petchin' DAY!'

Eventually he made his way through the hot, busy streets to the place he was looking for: The Bloody Hunter. He was in Nyka to learn to fight better, to become deadly. It only made sense for him to start acquiring weapons to experiment with, and expand his skillset beyond just being decent in a fistfight. After all, every overseer at the Radacke plantation has armed and trained to kill. He had only escaped by luck and a lot of observation that exposed a momentary opening. If he was serious about seeing that place removed from existence- and he definitely was- he was going to need more than luck and slight competency against unarmed opponents. He as going to need to learn all he could about weapons, fighting, killing.

'Gotta start small though.' He thought to himself, looking over the different kinds of weapons in the shop. 'Only made it off the plantation 'cause I spent months learnin' the guards' shifts and routes. It could take years to become the man I need to be for this job. But if that's what it takes....'

Eventually he decided against making any purchases. They didn't sell swords like he had been hoping they would, and he didn't trust himself to learn a bow on his own. He would find someone willing to train him in that discipline and come back. He also made a mental note of the Hemp and leather being sold. One day, a mask would come in handy, thanks to the Radacke brand on his face. He couldn't expect to get anywhere near Kenash as long as that was visible.

Leaving the shop, he continued to make his way through the town, hoping to perhaps come across a monk fight, or something interesting like that. He always enjoyed watching them fight, and it was helpful for him to observe their technique. It didn't take him long to find something along the lines of what he was looking for. A black haired youth had made his way into a dead end alleyway and some urchins seemed to be about to capitalize, surrounding him as he tried to leave. Victor thought he recognized him from the Bloody Hunter- he had passed him on his way inside.

'Perhaps another warrior then. Let's see how he handles himself.' He thought, leaning back against the wall of a building directly opposite the alley, folding his arms and expectantly waiting to see what would happen.

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

If nothing else, Jabari certainly did not appreciate the tone the leader took, nor the way the trio blocked his path. Red clouds began to creep into otherwise dark brown eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how that is any of your business. You should consider learning some manners." It was difficult for the Vantha to keep his tone even. The blatant rudeness he was being faced with was outright uncalled for.

"Pff. Manners aren't a commodity in Nyka kid."

Why are they calling ME a kid? Jabari was officially frustrated now. The natives of Nyka hadn't necessarily been accommodating, but this was his first brush with outright harassment and he wasn't going to stand for it. "Well then I suggest you consider having it shipped in from somewhere else. You could use quite a bit."

Considering the matter closed with his last words, Jabari made to slip through the delinquents with as much civility as he had left. Head held high and focused forward, it was no wonder he didn't see the first blow coming. All he knew was that one moment there was an emotional annoyance emanating from his gut, and the next, a sharp pain took it's place.

Looking down to locate the cause of the affliction, Jabari discovered one of the children's fist withdrawing from his abdomen. From the corner of his eye, he barely noticed another of the group's members reaching back with ill intentions of their own. Out of instinct more than anything else, Jabari raised his arms at an awkward angle and flinched away, neither action done in time to properly defend himself from the incoming hook.

Knuckles connected with cheekbones as a loud *crack* signaled impact. Jabari could sense the inflammation immediately as the side of his face began to throb in protest. Indeed he would not stand for this. At the moment the Chaser of Dreams was more keeled over than anything else.

"You shoulda just let us have it." The youngest member of the band, not wanting to be left out of the bullying, clumsily kicked a foot forward knocking Jabari onto his back. Wind forced it's way out of lungs, as the adopted son of The White Isle looked up to see a beautiful, cloud filled sky. Strange how much time slows under such circumstances. The part of his psyche that ignored bells, chimes and ticks took in the pattern of one cloud in particular and reflected on it's celestial shape. Avalis?

With their victim's conscious mind lost in pain and subconscious lost in contemplation, the eldest of the boys went to rifle through pockets, while his prepubescent lieutenants kept watch.

[Victor Freeman]

Victor watched as the young man tried to talk his way out of the situation. Honestly, he hoped he could pull it off. Victor'd had a few brushes with the local flavor of criminal in Nyka since he arrived, and he knew that, though it wasn't particularly likely for a foreigner to just walk away from a street gang without incident, it could happen. Sometimes. He watched as that failed to happen, and one of the boys threw a punch into the guys stomach.

'This might really get exciting now!' Victor thought to himself, filled with anticipation at the certain thrashing these little brats were about to get. This guy didn't look particularly tough, but he was at least three or four years older than the 'leader' of these urchins. He could take them. So he awaited, for a moment, the return blow that would begin the fight. He was incredibly disappointed when it never came. Victor thought he could see surprise, maybe even shock on his face. "There's no way..." He said aloud this time, leaning forward, no longer backed against the building. But it continued, against his hopes. The next hit dropped the guy to the ground. Victor hoped against the odds that he would snap out of whatever stupor he was in and get to fighting. But it never happened. "Are they going through his pockets?!" He mumbled to himself. "And he ain't even trying to stop them?!"

In part, Victor had sympathy for him. He had been in such a position several times when he was younger, and the overseers wanted sport. There was a youthful naivete that was hard to overcome too early. On the other hand, Victor was fairly disgusted. He was confident this guy could handle these kids if he tried. But he wasn't trying. He was letting them go through his pockets. Victor knew what he had to do. He cracked his knuckles and neck, and sighed, before walking over to the scene.

He approached the two younger looking boys, who were apparently standing guard over the older one who was looting. He wasn't sure what they were standing guard against, since most of these people either obviously didn't care or were spectators with no intention of getting involved. As he approached, he could detect mixed emotions in the kids' expressions. They were very obviously surprised that someone was doing anything. Maybe even afraid. But they were also trying to be tough guys. They wanted to intimidate. As Victor got closer and closer to them, and even began to tower over them a bit due to the height difference, he hoped it would become more difficult for them to act so tough. But finally drawing within a stride of them, it was obvious they weren't going anywhere.

"Look at this outsider," One of them said to the other, with a nervous chuckle. "You here to interrupt us? You outsiders are all the same, tryin' to play hero. You best get moving like everybody else." He threw a glance to his guard partner, who replied, "Y-Yeah! Get lost!"

Without moving from his place, or kneeling as some might when speaking to children, Victor spoke, saying, "You see this?" Turning his face and pointing to the brand on his face. "I got this from a plantation I used to work. Grew up there, workin' every day. And you know what they told me on that plantation, when I was 'bout five, and I started to get uppity?" He paused for dramatic effect. "They told me you ain't NEVER too young to get beat!" At that, he stepped forward with his right foot, quickly placing his left on the chest of the boy on the left, and shoving- not so hard as to hurt him badly, but enough to put him on his back a couple feet away. Then, taking advantage of the complete shock that was now apparent on the other boy's face, he planted his foot back on the ground, and leaned into a vicious backhand with his right hand, putting the boy flat on his back and unleashing a loud *CLAP* that echoed through the street. He heard a few of the spectators gasp, probably not used to seeing an outsider get violent.

He then strode forward to deal with the last member of this little 'gang'. He was so busy checking out the stuff in this guy's pockets that he had only just noticed that his friends were out of commission. Jack stood now in the sunlight, causing him to appear as a looming, opaque shadow, towering over the child, still on the ground due to his activities. Victor watched as fear mixed with pride in the kid's eyes, and he jumped to his feet, using his legs to launch a punch at Victor's head with his right arm. But he was so slow, so obvious, that Victor easily sidestepped the blow, and returned with one of his own, a fast, strong punch straight into his gut. While he was doubled over, Victor grabbed the back of his shirt, and threw him to the ground in the street, between his two friends, who were only just starting to pick themselves up. As the two met eyes with him, he cast his most ferocious look, and said, "Now y'all get on out of here before you get yourselves in some real trouble." The younger two nodded in agreement to Victor's demands, pulled their leader up off of the street, and ran away.

Victor knelt down beside the man they had attacked. He was now fully confident that the man was neither from Nyka, nor able to take care of himself here. He wasn't sure if he was still in a stupor or not, and so gave him a gentle slap on the cheek, followed by some not so gentle words, though gentle really was never Victor's style. "Hey, you there? Why'd you let them beat you like that? You ain't got a bit of sense, do you?"

[Jabari Dreamchaser]

Muffled sounds meandered about his injury induced daydream, while Jabari's gaze remained on the clouds above. His body moved but not of his own volition, as prying hands rummaged through pockets in search of something valuable. The ten tiny fingers weren't given the chance to locate anything of note before a new voice entered the alley.

The wind blew and the clouds began to shift. What once reminded Jabari of the mother of all Konti now appeared as his hearts true desire, speaking to him from above. No, she wasn't speaking. Gabrielle was shouting something his ears were unable to sense. What was it she needed him to know?

A soft slap to the face brought him back to present. Eyes blinked and began to turn amber as Jabari took in the confusing scene. Attackers fled, while a tall man, tan of skin and tone of muscle, knelt over him. His uneven haircut might have caught the bruised teenager's attention, if not for the brand on the man's face. Disdainful lips were moving and sound was coming out, but Jabari had to close his eyes to allow enough time for the words to sink in.

"I... umm. Sorry. I've never been in a fight before." Although it wasn't really a fight was it? A more accurate description would be that a naive youth was attacked in an alley with no way to protect himself. Jabari sat up and remained there, absorbing the disheartening truth of the matter. Why was he so useless in an altercation? He had no interest in violence, it was true. But for the women of Konti Isle to send him off into the world without any means of self defense seemed quite the conundrum, considering present circumstances.

Jabari tried to piece together what he would have done differently. If he had paid more attention, then the first blow might have been avoided. He would have been able to see it coming, yes. He could have tried to dodge out of the way and at least made a run for the exit. A mental note was made; the next time he found himself in even a potentially dangerous situation, Jabari would remain alert. Injured cheeks throbbed in agreement.

Standing, the Chaser of Dreams heard a crunching sound, and followed the noise to the crumpled up map he had just purchased, freshly torn and sullied. With a sigh, he leaned down to pick it up, grunting at the strain it caused his wounded belly. Frowning, Jabari folded the map up as neatly as he could and slid it into his back pocket.

"Thank you... for saving me." There was no telling what would have signaled an end to his less than enjoyable encounter. Would the three children have found satisfaction in worldly possessions alone? It was a sobering thought. And what would Jabari do the next time this happened? There might not always be someone to come to his rescue, of that the adopted son of The While Isle was sure. Taking in a deep breath to further compose himself, Jabari looked the man in the eyes and straightened himself up as best he could before speaking, childlike conviction in his voice.

"I am Jabari Dreamchaser. Would you please teach me how to fight?"