At the Edge of Town (Veara, open)

[Tsumiko]

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.”
From one of the alleys of the wondrous Radiant Garden, a voice could be heard singing. To those not listening for it, it may have well been nothing more than a whisper with how soft the tone was.

“When the blazing sun is gone, when the nothing shines upon,
then you show your little light - twinkle, twinkle, all the night.”
The body baring the voice emerged out into the open, rounding the edge of the town square. It wore a set of questionable clothes, the kind that made some of the townspeople shy away. She couldn't blame them for being cautious, though. The danger that was the unknown was always a frightening thing for those incapable of protecting themselves.

“Then the traveler in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so.”
She continued singing as she made her way through town, towards the outer wall. If she was going to be here, may as well do something with her time. Strapped to her arm, underneath her sleeve was her armed targe. For a while she debated on bringing her gauntlet but decided that she wouldn't really need it if she didn't do too far. Instead, there was a small pack hanging off her shoulder.

“In the dark blue sky you keep, and often through my curtains peep,
for you never shut your eye, till the sun is in the sky.”
The song continued as it's singer teetered on the massive water fountain's edge, arms outstretched for balance. Falling in never taught her a lesson, as she still continued the act after getting soaked countless times. Other times, she'd jump right in and wonder what the view was like form the top. One could probably see most of the city from up there. But that was an answer for another day. She had placed she wanted to be, things to do. No time for dilly-dallying.

“As your bright and tiny spark, lights the traveler in the dark.
Though I know not what you are, Twinkle, twinkle, little star.”
Every other syllable was met with a hop as the hooded figure made her way up several sets of stair cases. Almost there. Then she could complete her goal for that day. Call it nostalgia or whatever you like, but it brought a smile to her face. It had been a while since she found the time to do this. Though unfortunately there was no one to share the experience with like she used to. Oh well. Doesn't mean it was all for naught. She was going to make the best of the situation.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.”
After having jumped the gap of the aqueduct and almost falling in and a few more minutes of trekking, the singer breather in satisfaction at the sight before her. From atop the tall stone wall encircling Radiant Garden, Tsumiko looked out into the horizon, fists on her hips in pride. As far as the eye could see, an evening sky lit the blueish stones that seemed to be the foundation of this world. Slinging off the pack over her shoulder, she sat on the wall, letting her legs to swing off the edge. The songstress chuckled mischievously to herself as she reached to open what lay inside.

[Veara]

It had been four days, eleven hours, and somewhere in between five and forty five minutes since Veara had contact with anyone. Currently a couple of islanders had taken a couple gripe's with them for this, due to the fact that his ice cream shop obviously enough, hadn't been open that entire time as well. Veara had been spending most of his time on top of waterfalls, the quiet and soothing caves within them. Upon beaches late at night, and of course places where he could generally find solitude. A task that was extremely hard to do on a world the likes of Destiny Islands, so after the third day of trying he gave up and left the islands. Not for forever, he the islanders could never get rid of him that long, no, he only left because he honestly had some honest and much needed alone time thinking. Ever since that night and the events that transpired, not a single thought that past Veara's mind wasn't interconnected or had something to do with that night.

There he sat dressed within his usual garb, he tugged at his scarf every once in a while or he adjusted his hood ever so slightly over a period of only five minutes. These were two more little nervous ticks he picked up thank to this situation. There he sat high, high, up the top of the great maw, looking out and over at the entire sight. Far, far, far away from the gardens and the lights of the city or perhaps the castle that seem to be steeped within mystique. His only companion currently was the wind and he enjoyed that. He needed answers to his questions. Another heavy sigh bellowed forth from Veara as once again he tugged at his scarf gripping it from the point around his neck.

He just couldn't get over it, he had such a wonderful night that almost ended really badly, however it actually ended on an incredibly positive note for him. He made a new friend(or at least he hoped she considered him a friend) that he had felt incredibly comfortable with her presence even though it was the first time he had ever met her. Hell, he even ended up using her back as a pillow as she, herself ended up singing a beautiful song. So beautiful he actually ended up falling asleep before she finished speaking. Hopefully she didn't say anything too important before he fell asleep, he would definitely feel bad if that was the case and that's why she ended up leaving four days back. He honestly had to wonder when indeed he would see her again, and to be honest it would be a lie, if he said this was the first time he had thought about when he would be reunited with her. Though Veara's personal exile wasn't because of her, he wasn't crazy enough to go on a soul searching journey because he fell asleep while a women was talking.

It was what happened while he was sleeping. An everything that occurred within that place that...maybe was a dream or maybe it wasn't. Veara adjusted his hoodie and once more a heavy sigh came from his epicenter. "Everything felt so real, even the fact that I was singing...I never even knew I could sing." Veara spoke and laughed at his own words to himself, just as he had many times in the past laughing at his own jokes. "I guess the most important part of that was...will I ever see that marble statue again...he said inside...what in the world could that mean? Why inside? Why not outside...ugh I don't understand, that song I sung I don't even know. An yet it felt so natural, just what the hell happened...why can't I make sense of the situation." A frustrated Veara grabbed his hood and started ruffling it while he thought more and more of the situation.

[Tsumiko]

From within the pack, Tsumiko pulled out what appeared to be a small box. Further inspection revealed that there was indeed two small boxes – with lids! Setting one to the side, the songstress happily opened the other as she kicked her feet merrily. The aroma that was released created a quite gurgle in her belly. “Lunch time~!” she said out loud with a wide smile. Digging into the homemade bento box, Tsumiko wasted no time in satisfying her appetite. She worked really hard all afternoon to make them decently presentable, as she was taught all those years ago.

“Cooking is an art,” she was told. “It has to look as nice as it taste or people won't try it!” The voice of the old woman who took her in rang in her ears, placing a bittersweet smile on her lips. The hood she wore cast a shadow over her face, her spork hanging limp in both her lips and hand. That old lady... was a really good cook. Made the best little cakes, too. She always gave Tsumiko the biggest strawberry to top if off, much to her granddaughter's dismay. Those days were the best. But nothing lasts forever...

She spent a little more time there before packing up her things. Though there was a reason she came to that specifically. Placed beside where she had been sitting was the second bento box, a sealed envelope, and a single purple hyacinth shoot. The flower was a little tedious to find, but it was worth it. The old man brought her here on occasion when Tsumiko was having a bad day. They'd spend hours out here, just talking. This was their hideaway from the troubles of society. And the flower the songstress left was her silent plea for forgiveness. She felt like she needed to be told that it was okay – that it wasn't her fault.

Bowing before she left, Tsumiko decided that she needed to go adventuring to shake off some of this bad energy. Hopping down the steps and back into town, Tsumiko went to retrieve her gauntlet. Was going to need this to get to where she wanted to go. Hopefully she wasn't going to have to use it too much, though. Weaving her way through the streets, she hummed a bubbly tune to herself. Doing what she could to avoid setting anyone on high alert with her attire and whatnot, the songstress left the safety of the wall surrounding Radiant Garden and made her way for the fissure. Each step she took was coupled with a sort of bounce, rhythmic and precise to match her humming.

Entering into the wide expanse that was the Great Maw, Tsumiko kept her guard up for anything that moved however didn't cease her playful bouncing. “Makin' my way downtown. Walkin' fast, faces pass – and I'm home bound~! Starin' blankly ahead. Just makin' my way – makin' my way through the cro~wd!” The songstress would continue to match her steps to the rhythm. Until suddenly she stopped. May as well have some fun with her travels. Right?

“And I need you!” She took a dramatic step forward.

“And I miss you!” She placed a fist to her heart with her next step.

“And now I won-der...” There was a sultry raising and lowering her shoulders with the last tw syllables.

She raised her hand to the sky after inhaling, belting out the next few lines without really caring how off-key she was. There wasn't anyone around to judge her as far as she knew so it didn't matter much. Satisfied, Tsumiko continued her bouncifull walk, humming the rest of the song quietly to herself. All that could be seen of her glee-filled expression was her broad smile. Now. To get to her destination...

[[Inactive]]

The beating of heavy feet pounded on the roofs of buildings as a brightly-colored blur whirled on by. He caught a quick glimpse of a blue-themed girl but ignored it as he was running away from a group of thieves he had stolen from. In his tail, he held a bag jingling and jangling with the sound of rubbing coin. "Ooh-oooh! Come and get meeee~. Dirty boys shouldn't be taking coin from the old." Yao tossed the coin in the air, doing a hand-spring before catching it with his right and and hooking his tail around a pole. Instantly he was launched to the ground. Like a monkey, he would tumble and toil with the bag of coins as the sloppy movements of the thieves dragged them behind. Dashing through the alley, Yao switched around the bag between his appendages, laughing with animal-like sounds. It alerted the people around him. Running down the streets, there was a loud crash from behind. "Aaah~AAH! Persistently the bee digs at the wood..." Yao began running like a normal monkey. He extended his arms and dashed forward with the bag being held by his tail.

The people just stared, some even laughed that the thieves were being made fools of as a monkey made away with their treasures. They eventually stopped, leaving the monkey to escape. Yao put the bag of coin away in his satchel, Turning around and walking backwards as he dramatically pointed in their direction. "Ooh~Aah! LOOO-SERS!" Yao did a cartwheel as he spun his body, using his hand-like appendages to maneuver. Walking further down the street, he came upon a nice-smelling bakery, causing him to walk in  and wave to the cashier. "Breads, bagels, bagettes, oh my! I think I spy a treat for me! Oh, such a wonderful view for my eye~ How much?" Yao pointed down at a wonderfully looking, glazed danish. The cashier checked the menu and looked back. "Uh, that'll be 150 Munny. Yao furled his face in reaction, shrugging before whipping out the back and juggling a couple coins. "One-coin-two-coin-three-coin-more? How many throws before I'm bored? Watch it, watch it, oh!" One of the coins flew too high, going behind the cashier who turned around to pick it up. Yao sprang onto the counter into a hand-stand, arching his back to allow his tail to snatch the danish.

"Th-hank-you~." The monkey then dashed out of the store as the clerk yelled at him...yet there had been three golden coins on the counter. "Hey!...Huh? This...this is worth more than..." Yao knew the coins were worth more than 15 munny, as they dense chunks of gold. As he enjoyed his danish, the monkey noticed again a blue-hair girl running on by. Disregarding it, he just continued forth until he heard the slip of the blade, metal being drawn, and a distinct clicking noise. Sighing, he looked behind him to see a couple of thieves. One touted a crossbow, the others donned daggers. Yao laughed with his animal accent, waving his fingers to provoke one of them to attack him. Yao tossed the back into the air before dodging with a roll and whipping his leg into the thief's face. His hand-like foot punched him hard, his leg bent to hook him. The thief went soaring to the ground, sliding a little bit as the other two moved out of the way. In the same motion, Yao extended his tail and batted the crossbow upward. As soon as the monkey landed in a crawling position, he sprang up and superman punched the crossbow-wielding thief. "Ooh-ooh~. Floating fly, slithering snake. My fist, your aches." Yao spun out of the way of a lunge, grabbing the thief's wrist and gripping tightly.

The might of his monkey side gave him the strength to squeeze in between the hand and arm, putting pressure on the joint. He came back with a mighty punch to the man's elbow, a distinctive crunching and snapping sound ringing throughout. "AAAAH!" the thief cried out. More had come, presumably the reinforcements for if something went wrong. "Fool-hardy you are. Playing with fire, only for you to be the bad monkey and I the mad monkey." Yao caught the bag of coin and began running, cutting through alleyways and reaching the edge of the city. The thieves were daring, but not enough to follow him into the Maw. He was simply taking a vacation from his job, traveling like his parents so that he may visit the worlds they visited. A few people recognized him, but they were older. As the monkey journeyed the grand wasteland of the Maw, he saw two people distanced from each other that he thought he'd prank. Whipping out a stink bomb, he made sure to crawl reaaaaal quiet. He had to choose who to prank, so he decided to get the girl. Shaking up the canister, he giggled quietly. "Eeee-eeee-eee!" Throwing the canister, he expected it to land in...the blue haired girl's face? Odd, but he expected it to explode and cover her in stink. He was at a distance, allowing him to hide behind a rock as he giggled to himself.

---

OOC: Stink bomb's still fine right?

[Veara]

"The only truth that I can honestly be sure of currently is that...ohh who am I kidding I have no idea, what I can be sure of right now...of all people why in the world did he have to show up...and why now...everything seemed to be going my well for a change...where did I screw up..."

Veara sitting on top of the Great Maw continually talked to himself and out loud for that matter. He just couldn't understand anything that had happened that night. An more importantly, this made Veara think more of his past. "Of all the things I'm forced to remember...how I gave them my everything and then at the end...they denied me and betrayed me...all for nothing.." Veara thought out loud once more as still more and more thoughts about the past started to resurface and what had happened.

As quick as those thoughts happened and how Veara was almost about to have another flashback about quite a prominent marker on memory lane. Though all of his thoughts were suddenly shutdown with the sudden sound of a loud voice screaming out something from the entrance of the Great Maw. Every deep thought that Veara had was suddenly shut down and he was taken completely outside of his serious thought process. Even though he was far away thank to his sensory abilities he was able to see who it was. A small smile appeared on his face. Maybe this was the break that he needed from his thoughts and what better way then to meet a friend again. He stood up while on the side of the Great Maw and began to wave towards the entrance. Realizing his error he chuckled at himself realizing there was no way she'd be able to see him especially with this huge difference of range. He quickly began to jog down the side of wall, looking towards her.

Though his eyes widened, when he saw that suddenly something was being thrown at her from behind. Quickly he called out to the girl, and began to run towards her. Though he still had quite a run before he even got close to her. "Hey, look out!" Veara screamed out in urgency towards her seeing the two what seemed to be grenades approaching her faster. His pupils became larger and he suddenly stopped running as he tripped and started to fall down the wall. The entire time his eyes were on her... was he about to watch her...

Oh no.

[Tsumiko]

A loud voice off to Tsumiko's side was what initially caught her attention. Turning to look, there was someone running down the side of the wall. Wait, hold on! No, they were falling down the wall! But that wasn't the only thing that had her almost screaming. From the corner of her eye, there was a small something flying at the songstress. Her heart nearly stopped when the shape was recognized. Eyes widening in horror, she wasn't able to get away fast enough and it was aimed right for her face. Which it collided with.

And then hit the ground with a small 'tink'.

“Ow! The hell!?” Tsumiko stared down at it, holding the side of her head where she was hit. For a moment, the fact that someone had fallen completely escaped her memory. Puffing out her cheeks in annoyance, she bent down to pick up the projectile. Mistake! Just as her hand grazed the grenade, it exploded. Though it wasn't exactly what she was expecting.

In a matter of seconds, the entire area around her was blanketed in a green, rank stench that made her eyes water. Hell, her eyes being on fire probably would have felt better. Instantly, a hand shot to her nose to pinch it shut and act as a poor filter between the air and her lungs. Holy maker of Cheezus, was this the worst thing to ever creep up her nostrils! Running as fast as her feet would carry her, Tsumiko aimed for whatever safe haven that wasn't green and smoke like in composition. When she felt she was far enough away from the epicenter, the songstress crouched into a ball, still holding her nose but now coughing like mad. She used her free hand to fan the air in front of her face. HA! As though that would really help.

A zap was sent down her spine when she finally remember the falling person. Jolting to her feet once again, she'd have to put her pranking attacker on the back burner for now. Probably just some punk kid with a complex of some shape or form. Damn kids... Skirting around the area of green stink, Tsumiko ran with both hands to her face towards when she thought they might have landed. As she neared, the songstress spotted a familiar eared hoodie.

Aw hell naw!

(JK Vea-kun. JK. <3)

[[Inactive]]

The monkey tried his best to hold back the chuckles and laughs welling within him. It was hilarious, watching the girl's face become consumed in the green gas. She was clearly distraught upon leaving the fog, and he thought he saw her cry a bit. "Kee-Kee-Kee~" He was starting to crack, his defenses dropping progressively. Holding a hand over his mouth, he cradled his body along the ground. A man had rushed to her aide, but even he tripped in the end. The monkey was being given so much reason to let loose, however he knew he'd be discovered if he did. Yao knew the girl would stink for a while, especially since she was completely masked by the fog. The more and more the pressure built, the monkey felt his hand loosening. Yao began tearing up, and holding it caused him a great deal of pain. "AAAH! AAAH! AAAH! Oh, blueberries rotten by dingleberries!" Leaning over the rock, Yao pointed directly at the girl as he continued laughing.

"OOH-OOOH! Poison-berry now!" The monkey was aged, however he did enjoy his pranks. While some didn't take too kindly, he still persevered with his trickster developments. It was rude, indeed, but it helped him journey away from the shame of his nature and the loneliness he felt. A monkey born from bestiality? Ha. Like anyone wanted to associate with that, especially in China. So, he had to entertain himself with things that make him forget of the truth of things. Laughter in the face of danger, tricks in the face of death. The girl or her acquaintance could individually have the ability to snap him in half...yet he wouldn't care. Nonchalantly rolling over the rock, the monkey crawled on over before hopping up and stopping himself with his tail. It turned into a sort of coil, compressing while he crossed his arms. Yao rose a hand and rested his face on it, sighing. "Ought to look out for the stray-est of areas. Aaah! Aaah! No one understands, though. So if you're mad...Not suprised~" Tossing a stink bomb up and down, the monkey was prepared to throw it between the two had one of them decided to lunge. Delinquents liked to lunge.

[Veara]

When Veara eyes widened at the unimaginable sight before him. She disappeared completely into a mist of green gas. Forgetting about his own problems for a second while falling in the air he pulled at his hoodie and he wanted to shout and scream and cry all at the same yet nothing came from his mouth. She....she was just... taken out before his very eyes, and what's worse of all he didn't do a single thing to help. He closed his eyes and a moment before hitting the ground activated his ability Momentum Null upon himself. Two seconds before hitting the ground his entire body halted and he no longer moved he simply hovered in the air.

After a couple of seconds, he uncovered his eyes and it was clear that his eyes were red, however the moment his feet touched the ground once again his eyes were widened. She was fine...wait what!? He quickly rubbed his eyes and looked towards her, she was alive, however she didn't look so happy to see him. To which Veara was a little surprised and it honestly made take a step back. He wasn't honestly expecting that face if he were to see her again.

Quickly though he jumped backwards and looked at her tilting her head. "I know that usually in these situations you are supposed to say hello or how are you...but why do you and that area smell so bad did you..." Veara stopped talking and jumped backwards about six feet looking at her and being in a stink free zone. Either those were stink bombs or....she must have had a really healthy lunch.

[Tsumiko]

She watched as Veara stood to his feet, hands to her face, eyes watering. The songstress didn't realize at first the expression that she was making but when she did, she adjusted accordingly. It was somewhat difficult though with what just happened. As he took some steps back, Tsumiko could only assume that he was finally getting a whiff of whatever it was in that grenade.

Hell if I know! She wanted to yell at him, venting her frustration as though it were his fault. She knew better than that, though. Instead, she shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea... All I know is-"

Her attention was drawn away to the movement coming from her side. Eyes blinking at what was suddenly before her, Tsumiko had to wonder for a moment if the stink fumes were messing with her head. The new arrival's entire existence seemed out of her range of imaginings to be from her hallucinations. And the fact that he didn't go away after a few moments prodded her to believe that it was true. Though in his hand, tossing it up and down like he was ready for round two, was another helping of death in a canister.

"Well yeah, I'm mad. That stuff smells awful! And there's green something all over my clothes and my eyes burn. Though I might understand if you explain it to me," she was trying her best to stay composed and not sound hostile, though she could feel her eyebrow twitching in aggravation. It was best not to give the Monkey Man a reason to toss the bio-hazard in his hand.

On a side note, Tsumiko was trying to figure out how to handle confronting Veara while she stalled with the monkey. She still hadn't come to terms with the guilt she felt that day. To be honest, she pushed it off thinking that she'd never end up seeing the blonde again, choosing to even go so far as to forget about it. Now that he was here in her presents, her mind was going a mile a minute trying to think of what to do.

[[Inactive]]

Man, the blondie was such a artist with women he even specifically made note to tell the girl she stunk. The monkey chuckled after the alarmed man detailed her rankness. Yao knew never a man should insult a woman and anything physical to do with her. Besides, human females had such a fragile mind. Not like animals, all of them had mighty women. Besides, animals gave a better downward motion at the top and bottom. Yao didn't like how rigid humans had to move, always careful about their actions. So it brought him joy to prank them, as they never took it well and that just influenced him further to laugh. The girl was clearly angry, and had actually acknowledged his presence while the boy was still in a trance. Letting the stink bomb dissipate into a burst of stink that would disappear, he clapped his hands and feet together. "Well! Ka! I feel some explanations arrrre in order! But, order what words or why's? Ha, call me the prankster's lord of flies!" Yao was indeed experienced at pranks and tricks alike.

Fireworks, stink bombs, 30-mile-per-hour walking teeth. Putting a motor on the teeth was one of his best inventions, and indeed a pleasant trap for racers. They might have almost died, however they didn't and that's all that matters. Yao wondered what kind of connection the two had and now that his prank was over, didn't know what to do. However, he did need to explain why. It was simple, "Just because. KAA! KAA! I like the smile on my face, but I'll make it up to you. I'll show you the way. The way of prankstin'. Or, ah, the lion cannot teach the gazelle to hunt. I mustn't be anything but merry and you mad. That's the game! Maybe birds shouldn't be lovey in the eye of doom." His words were nonsensical to some, and partially it had truly been that way. But sometimes he had lines that decoded into actual wisdom. Yao needed this kind of amusement, exaggerated and harsh. It helped him hide the feeling of isolation he's come to know and trust from consuming him. He'd rather be the punk he was before twenty with some wisdom than a bitter old man as he went through the days.

Behind each laugh was the face of despair and, 'I'm sorry'. However, the monkey was a master trickster and the skill of facades was parallel with that. Yao fiddled with a coin in his finger, letting it roll in between his fingers. Eventually, his smile drooped into a bored frown. Sighing with his head on his free hand, Yao wondered if the two were worth his time. "So, birdies, mind if this mad monkey swings on in? I don't mind being a breed-shield if that means I'm at least a little entertained. Kaa! We could always, suggestion of course, go prank some of the punks in the city. Gets lonely making them stink. Birds are better with their wings flapping rather than tied down by their own emotion, unable to fly." Yao knew he was cock-blocking the blonde, as they were still young and believed in love. Love doesn't exist, and the only true source of happiness was one's own actions. The monkey had everything taken from him, so he has little patience for the notion of close relationship. To him, sex is sex and as long as his monkey-drum can bang he's fine. Watching the happiness of a world torn away and mankind refuse to save his mother, Yao was not as happy as his pleasant outside had spoken.

[Veara]

Veara wasn't that wise, when it came to certain encounters with people and he certainly wasn't that wise when it came to encounters with monkey-human hybrid. Yet, something was Veara for some reason Tsumiko wasn't that interested in speaking to him at the moment. Veara could accept and acknowledge that, he understood if maybe she was still a little mad about the last time and first time when they met each other.

In Veara's mind it was already confirmed that today was possibly not the best day for him and Tsumiko to talk about that or rather he should forget what happened that night. He had more important things to worry about, even with the monkey hybrid saying that he would explain his actions, Veara's mind was still on the marble statue and what happened when he apparently fell asleep. Though when Veara heard the monkey talk again and he began to talk about pranks, Veara looked at him with a slightly confused face. Pranks? The only pranks that Veara knew about we're the ones that the children played on each other and some of the other adult's back on the island. Most of the time the pranks weren't that bad.

"So in short you want someone to come along with you and prank people...umm I got nothing planned so I'll come along too. Though all I'm asking is that these are pranks that are all in good fun and your not aiming to hurt people." Veara spoke to monkey man he walked past Tsumiko understanding that currently she wasn't exactly in the mood for him, which as he said earlier was quite understandable. Veara walked up to the monkey and waved at him. "My names Veara, yours?" Veara spoke feeling a little bad about ignoring Tsumiko, however what could he do, she definitely wasn't that happy about about that night...the face she made when she first saw him definitely was a fact. It was better to simply go with the flow...that's what he always did.

[Tsumiko]

"I think..." the songstress let her arms fall to her sides. The hood she wore cast a dark shadow over her eyes though her lips bore a gentle smile. "...I'm just gonna go home and shower..."

She said this, but "home" wasn't really a valid destination. All her belongings sat in a room at one of the many Inns the city had to offer. They didn't need to know that. Tsumiko just needed more time to think. Being put on the spot like that all of a sudden made any functional thoughts she had all but nil. Perhaps Veara would be occupied long enough for her to get her thoughts together. After she cleaned up, the songstress would look for him. Yeah, that was good for now.

Bowing towards Sun, she said, "Thanks for the offer, though. Sounds like it'd be loads of fun, especially around here." Tsumiko stood up straight again to face the monkey man with a wide grin and giggle. "Bye Veara! I'll see ya around!" she called from over her shoulder after having run a few paces away.

And she ran until they were no longer in sight, flopping against the wall of the closest building as she was now in town. Looking down, Tsumiko registered just how much paint was actually on her clothes. It wasn't too awful, though it was going to be a pain get clean. Sighing, her head slumped against her chest. That was completely besides the point. Veara had completely walked past her and to some extent ignored her. Was he not going to forgive her? Was he mad at her? The only thing he did say to her was in mentioning her current aroma. Which several residents had already taken notice of. Ignoring them, Tsumiko continued on her trek towards the Inn. All the while, she was mumbling to herself, rehearsing and rewording just what in the blazes she was going to say. There were even some hand gestures, for good measure. Some would say she looked like a raving psycho, the way she was going on. One woman even ushered her child to continue walking with suspicion in her eyes when she spotted the hooded songstress. She hardly noticed, however.

Entering her room, Tsumiko immediately disrobed and hopped in the shower equipped with the most effective bathing tools at her disposal. There was no way she'd go the rest of the day smelling like stank.

[[Inactive]]

Yao thought on how the girl had nervously left the two alone. He was a stranger, however they seemed willing to just...go with the flow. The monkey remembered a few childhood friends who were like that. They met randomly, made random plans, and became close, random friends. Pranking around the town, summoning the ire of the citizens like it was a 9-point summon. Yao chuckled mentally, avoiding doing it on the outside as it was somewhat unrelated to the situation at hand. Looking back at Veara, he held a hand to his mouth and chuckled with his natural monkey noises. "Kee~Kee~ you must know when the heart ricochets against another. Hitting to and fro, each other and in the end preventing visibility. She certainly has the nervous nature of a young flower, boy." Yao slapped his hands on his thighs, sticking a tongue out to the side as he made a face of certain cynical planning.

"So, onward we go and away we make the stink fly! As for my name, by the way, I am the one-and-only Sun Gong Yao. Prank king of...of..." Yao stopped, his smile washing away. It was hard thinking of his former life in Disney Town. It was always going to be hard, yet he had no tears for it. He was a man now, and he knew that the only way is forward. Persevering through discrimination of those who know his identity in China and traveling the spaces to see whatever his parents saw. "Well, that's unimportant. The only ones, if we have to, we hurt will be the thieves thinking their shiny butter knives scare people. Kee-kee! The gull of those kids. Had to rough some up in the alleys." The monkey cracked his knuckles and waved his eyebrow, but furled it after wondering if the boy could handle being alone with him. "Can you break the infatuation for a moment to make a friend? I may be older, but I'm a child at heart. Besides...haven't had a partner in crime since the days of young. Mating season was me throwing stink bombs at the swinging monkey. Ka!" The monkey laughed, and just waited to see if the boy would stay with him.

[Veara]

Veara looked up at this guy before him, more or less Veara wasn't the brightest bulb, though he did understand some metaphors though this guys were on the next level. Looking back towards Tsumiko he thought about calling out to the girl, however maybe, just maybe she didn't want to spend her time with him or perhaps that smell that she had gotten targeted by turned out be too smelly for her senses to handle. If that was was the case, Veara honestly wouldn't be able to blame her at all. Just the smell alone when he initially came towards her was wretched and he wasn't even completely close to her. Though when the monkey, mentioned something about her having a nervous nature made Veara start to wonder...maybe she was nervous? On the first night that they met, she was by no means the word nervous. Of course that was a party and possibly Veara could have simply encountered a party attitude.

Veara currently was confusing himself, started to scratch the back of his head though it looked like he was simply ruffling the hood of his hoodie. Though once again the monkey would speak and it seemed he was saying his resume which Veara noticed many people liked to say when introducing themselves, especially those of the other worlds. Yet, unlike the others he stopped mid sentence after saying his name he seemed to be hesitating for a moment. Veara tilted his head at this slightly confused...this was the part where he was supposed to list off a whole bunch of different things, however he didn't. Though he was reassured by the monkeys next words saying the only ones that would be getting hurt would the thieves that like to pray on the innocent who enjoyed their nightly strolls. "Well as long as those type of folks don't get hurt too bad, you can count me in." Veara said to the hybrid smiling at him. Knowing this would be definitely what he needed in order to get his mind off of current events. Who knows maybe he'd see Tsumiko a little later on.

[Tsumiko]

It took three bars of the Inn's cheap soaps and almost an entire bottle of shampoo to make herself smell decently good again. She understood that the stank wasn't permanent and would dissipate after a time, but that was not a time that she was willing to wait for. So eager, she was, that her skin was red from how hard she was rubbing it. Or was that her anxiety talking..? Regardless, when the songstress was clean to a point of mild satisfaction, she stepped into the room in nothing but a towel. There were attempts to wring her hair out, but the sheer length left puddles in her wake. This realization had Tsumiko staring at the puddles in contempt. Maybe it was time for a haircut. It'd been ages since she last had one of those... Pushing that thought to the side, she couched before the side of the bed and pulled from underneath it a suitcase. It was sad to think that all her possessions could fit into something as small as a suitcase. It was something that the songstress came to terms with a long time ago, though. No use crying over spilled milk.

Pulling from her limited option a white and black dress, she was really wishing that she had done laundry as the only other thing remaining was her polar bear pajama bottoms and a cat-eared hoodie. Staring for a moment at the hoodie, she sighed when she thought of standing before Veara – who himself had an eared hoodie – and the mysterious monkey man whose name she never caught with a hood that had a winking cat face on it. There was no need to mention the hidden compartment along the bottom hem that concealed a tail. What was she thinking when she bought that thing..?

Standing and laying out what she was going to wear, she got to work on putting it all on. Looking in the mirror at herself ,she wondered if perhaps she was now too dressy. There wasn't much of a choice, however, and placed laundry at the top of the To-Do list for tonight, for sure. Brushing one of her long pigtails back over her shoulder and grabbing her targe, she turned for the door and left the Inn. Now, the next order of business was to find the two men from which she made a hasty retreat. As she began wandering about the streets, Tsumiko began to wonder just how she was going to find them. Guess just wander and ask the locals if they've smelled any rather unpleasant people, most likely the ne'er-do-wells, and go from there! By now, she had some semblance of what she was going to tell Veara though not much else...

[[Inactive]]

Yao thought on what they could do. Simply throwing stink bombs around would be too boring, so he began devising an ultimate plan to deal with the punks around town. Humiliating them and taking their reputation out in one swift blow. As he thought, a sudden strike of genius gave him an idea. "Ooh-Ooh~. I have it! The delinquents, we take them and we bathe them. Save the water and give the stink, and you have a humiliation sink! Ah! Ah! We just have to rough them up, dress them up, and hang-em by their breeches! Then, we commence operation monkey stink!" Yao wasn't really focused on the two love birds anymore, as he was trying to refine his plan and hopefully receive some pointers Yao didn't realize the girl had to wash herself so much, and he'd come to find that out later hopefully. Summoning a stink bomb in a gust of stank, he handed it to Veara. "This canister contains a fluid mixed with paint I call my signature stank. No one has had the same recipe as me since I've been a kid, and it soaks deeply into whatever it hits. I'm thinking..." Out of nowhere, a pad of paper and a pen are pulled out so he can illustrate the event.

Crudely drawing stick figures as the enemy, he shows a detailed monkey and human striking the boys and then dragging them into an open area before hanging them by their breeches. The picture further illustrates replacing their clothes with frilly clothes before dumping the mix over them. "This is the plan. I want to show those boys a lesson in manners. Can't go around cutting purses and throats and expect to get away with it. So, do you agree with it or is your wings still flapping for the attention of another?" Yao chuckled at his last statement, however he was still more focused on the goal ahead. He didn't like how the punks were going around and treating the oldsters, so he decided himself that they needed to be dealt with. It was sickening to watch them so frivolously attack people who have done nothing but be peaceful. Kids need a spanking every now and then.

[Veara]

For now Veara pushed every other thought out of his head, except for the one about his current dilemma with Tsumiko. The most he could do with that one was simply push it to the very back of his head. The thought honestly no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't erase it completely from his head.

Though he simply needed something to preoccupy his mind and get it off that situation. Something he felt he kept having to do continually for the past two months.

Though, the sudden laugh of the monkey came into his head. Apparently there were delinquents of sort around the town, that was to be expected of course. Every world had there share of ne'er-do-wells it was simply how you dealt with them was the key factor whether or not they showed their faces a lot. An after what he said the first order of business was too simply in short beat them up. Make no mistake, Veara had no problem messing a couple punks up that were messing with people.

Attacking them out of nowhere though seemed a little...wrong...whether or not they were the nicest guys on the block he couldn't simply go and rough them up. Looking over at monkey with shady eyes he listened to him continue to talk about his plans crossing his arms unsure of what exactly this was supposed to do. He began to explain what was within the canister, though Veara couldn't help but simply continually nod at what the monkey spoke about. Most of it flying over his head while he continually began to debate within his own head whether or not it was a good idea to go roughing up the local sharks and jets.

Observing the crudely drawn figures that he had seemed to had just created. It was pretty much exactly what he had just talked about...though Veara simply had to wonder...how in the world did he create that so quickly...this guy must be quite the secret artist or at least it seemed that he was quite the secret artist. When he finally finished talking Veara looked up at him and uncrossed his arms nodding at the guy. "Well...you are quite committed to hanging them by their breeches, and alright if you're telling the truth and honestly believe that they are bad...then I suppose we can straighten them up...and THIS has my attention now...don't worry about it." Veara spoke and simply nodded to the guy. Trying his best to still keep his mind of other things and so far he was successful...until he reminded himself of it again. "So what are waiting for lets go!" Veara spoke and then began to walk back towards the town stomping towards it. He didn't understand, why in the world this situation bothered him so much.....but it really really did.

[Tsumiko]

So far, there wasn't much to go one. The only lead she has was from a young employee at a bakery mentioning a strange monkey-featured man coming in a good long while ago. Said he took things from behind the case and left before she could stop him. Tsumiko was beginning to get a negative image of the man before the young lady said that she found more than enough munny on the counter to cover the pastry. An internal sigh swept through the her.

Thanking the woman before she left, Tsumiko stood outside the shop, thoughtful fingers at her chin. Looking around, she began to wonder what her next move should be. From the corner of her eye, she seen a group of four men huddled together, whispering among themselves. It wasn't the fact that they were huddled, nor their whispering, that had Tsumiko quickly exiting the area, but the fact that the moment she left the bakery they kept peeking up at her every so often.

At a brisk pace, though not in a manner too obvious, the songstress walked away and into the network of alleys that she'd traverse many a time before. Turned out it may have been the best of ideas as the sound of footsteps began to echo behind her.

---

Sorry, short post. Just giving y'all a little more time. XD

[[Inactive]]

Nodding, Yao began to run off and expected Veara to follow him into the city. It was a long dash for him, seeing as the maw was such a wide area. He thought on the kind of change he could bring. The caped stinker. The masked monkey. By bringing the thugs down with humiliation, Yao believed he could crush their credibility. As they neared the urban area, Yao saw flashes of his old days in Disney Town. Happy, colorful, and dastardly. His crew and he had been parading about the town with their stink and their trifling bombs. They used to do a lot of clean-up when bandits came along, but were still delinquents who threw around their harmless yet annoying pranks. Yao was happy then. His parents were still energetic, his mother was healthy. But eventually she grew frail and so did their energy and relationship. Yao never lost his gusto, yet there was something missing. The adventurous nature of his parents had passed on to him, and now he just wanted to see the world. He played the herbalist, for a while, but it was too restrictive.

He actually had to hide his identity because they wouldn't accept him. To him, that just encouraged something he'd like to call the big plan. Yao planned on unleashing a storm of stink on China as soon as he could. They'd all pay for allowing his mother to die, and they'd all decay in the event of their drowning in the paint and stink. The monkey had his own qualms that he needed to work on, of course, however he was especially bitter in the memory of his home. He lived there for his entire life, then just month or two ago someone destroys it. Grumbling as his heavy hands and feet slammed along the ground. When a wall came up, he sprung up with his might and cleared it. As he fell, a rod sticking out of a building served as fulcrum for his tail to grip. The monkey swung, spinning in a full circle to gain more momentum as well as making up for lost momentum before launching himself forward. He then stopped to wait for Veara, realizing he ran on ahead without him.

[Veara]

Veara watched as the hybrid monkey started to run away from the great maw....without him....Veara raised an eyebrow...didn't he just completely go away from what the initial plan was supposed to be...Veara was quite the confused Veara. Not exactly sure what the whole deal was supposed to be...but, knew for a fact his newfound friend should have at least waited for him.

Jumping up into air, Veara began to float higher and higher into the air. Whatever the case was he knew the guy was heading towards the town so might as well head that way and start searching for him. Veara began to fly that way, unfortunately he didn't know enough about the area for himself to teleport there.

Flying towards the suburban area and touching down in a what seemed to be peaceful area with only few people out there.

"Might as well start searching for the monkey dude here." He said to himself while looking around, surely it won't be too hard to spot his new found friend in a crowd....he hoped.

[Tsumiko]

Ducking into one of the many crannies of the alleys Tsumiko stilled her breathing, waiting with her body pressed against the stone wall behind her. A few seconds passed and the trio of men that was attempting to follow her passed by. Their hushed whispered spoke of their confusion as they lost sight of the songstress. Peaking out from the corner, she was just in time to see them split off into different directions. Sighing, she let her tense muscles relax. When she no longer heard the sound of footsteps, Tsumiko stepped out of the alley and turned back to head the way she came, towards the bakery.

She didn't even make it two steps before stopping again, coming face-to-face with the fourth man. There was a short moment in where they stared at each other. After which, the man smirked at her, cracking his knuckles. Tsumiko responded with an innocent, flirtatious grin before dashing off. The dark-haired man reached out to try and get a grip on her arm, but was just a hair too slow. Instead, his fingertips managed to curl around one of her long silver-blue pigtails. This jerked her back as he pulled on it, causing her to yell out in surprise and pain.

Tsumiko landed on her backside, skinning the palms of her hands as she landed. She wanted to scream at the man and ask what his problem was, but the sound of oncoming footsteps had her biting her tongue. Just what was she going to do?

[[Inactive]]

Yao was baffled by the fact Veara didn't just follow him immediately into the city. Scratching his head, he wondered what had happened to his new found friend. Wandering about as he was turned around, the tall monkey had shook his head. Slow, slow- what was that? Hearing a sound from afar, he summoned his staff in a cloud of stink, resting it on his shoulder. His legs swung like pendulums forward as he goose-stepped. He held a silly composure with his march as he moved towards the sound. Children to him were so mischevious and criminal that they lost sight of proper delinquency. It was an art to maintain the level of skill he applied to his lifestyle. Peeking around the corner, he saw the blue-haired girl now fresh and clean. She was on the ground and he leaned against the wall. Chuckling, he crawled up the building using his hands and feet with the staff entangled by his tail.

Perched on the building's tip, only up a few stories, Yao looked down. Summoning two stink bombs, he let them drop into the alley below. Filling it with green stink, the outside and inside were visually separated from each other. Dropping down, Yao released his staff into one of one of the smaller thugs. Swinging his body around, he spun around before kicking another one of the punks twice. Sprawling his screeched like a monkey before arching his back to slam both feet into the thug's face. He slammed against the wall. As the stink cleared, Yao was recovering his staff as two thugs had been laying on the ground. Blood came from the nose of one and the other was rolling around and groaning with blood seeping from his face as well. "Kaa! Monkey on your back now, kiddos. Monkey attacks, monkey teaches, monkey does the denial of what he preaches~♪. You shouldn't go around trying to trap young...Oh! KAAAA!!! I~got~you!" Yao proceeded to burst out laughing at the green-and-blue girl. The also green thugs weren't pleased either.

[Veara]

The night sky seemed to currently be quite bright, there weren't any clouds in the sky for the moon to hide behind and more importantly Veara had been asking around for a moment or so about the monkey man. So the only answers he gotten were similar to the simple phrase, "Kid your nuts, there are no monkey man around here." Guess the phrase 'No I haven't.' Never crossed a couple of these fella's noggins. Not that Veara really cared, however the least they could have done was some simple kindness. Approaching a young man in a blue coat Veara was about to ask him, until it happened and at that point everything happened so fast.

For a moment he picked up extreme stress on his sensory ability behind him it was a little far away, however that wasn't a matter of worry to him since he picked that up from time to time when he was walking from place to place...however what did shake him to his core was a scream. An the only reason it did shake him to his core was simply because of the fact of who it was...not again...his mind quickly flashed back to earlier and just showed him the picture of watching those grenades fall right in front of her...that feeling of powerlessness...he would not allow her to be hurt again. He would not allow her to be harmed.

Not again.

No!

"Not again!" Veara screamed into the face of the boy with the blue coat unintentionally, spinning 180 degrees on the heel of his foot. He ran forward an every step that he took literally broke the ground underneath his feet. Jumping into the air and activating his skill momentum burst the pressure around her snapped as he traveled forward flying into the sky the exact location already pinpointed within his head. The short time in the sky Veara already was believing that the worst had happened. The higher he flew and came closer towards the situation the more his mind began to become more hazardous. Veara started to feel every vein within his body begin to pop out becoming visible, the constant flow of blood flowing through his body could literally could be seen the angrier the boy became, every vein upon his face became defined and visible. Long gone was the green within his eyes and all that remained was the pure white eyeballs that were primarily used as an internal scare tactic when Veara felt it necessary to use.

Flying high above the buildings he approached the destination and looked down already it seemed as though his job had been done the punks were on the ground and the monkey man had taught the lesson. Usually to Veara this would suffice however currently in Veara's head.

It wasn't even close.

Veara allowed his entire body to drop and he quickened the drop by pushing his weight down. The entire time his empty and disgusted eyes remained fixated on the thugs on the ground. His entire body was felt like lead and it was currently the perfect feeling. The ground approached ever faster and faster yet Veara made no signs of activating any abilities to save himself, it was clear at this point for anyone who was in this area they were to bear witness to a show of power, a punishment for their actions. Finally Veara came close and collided with ground a plum of smoke arising along with some bricks that shot out. An in the fight between Veara and the ground...

Veara won.

He sat there crouched his fist was completely impaled into the earth while the immediate ground where he had landed was completely broken into the dirt. Removing his fist from the ground, and staring ahead at the four that were already dealt with the monkey hybrid and Tsumiko he decided to put monkeys plan in effect. Give these children a good scare indeed.

In his current state of mind the smell didn't bother him or mess with his senses one bit. The soulless eyes looked as though they were staring forward when in actuality, Veara was examining to see which one of them were the least injured. An he found him. Veara's head slowly tilted left facing the one boy that was alone and was kicked hard into a wall. Currently playing possum to avoid anymore pain coming his way.

He had no idea what he was about to receive and never again would he even dare dream of harming another.

A secret skills of Veara's at that moment finally activated, telekinesis. Quickly the boy shot up into the air currently looking similar to a rag doll. His body jerked this way and that it was obvious he was trying to resist now the closer and closer he came towards the blonde, his efforts proving to be meaningless. Veara stared at he boy who was stuck in the air before him. Veara slowly brought his left arm towards him and finally deactivated his skill. Gripping the boys shirt in his hand despite him moving this way and that in panic, a small warm smile crossed Veara's lips. "You were fine earlier when it was four on one and now you wish to get away....you don't deserve the life you were given." Veara spoke to the boy, every word felt as though it simply dripped from his mouth like acid, as though another voice was speaking alongside every word that just spilled from his throat. Changing the position and now holding the boy by his arms Veara began to grip the boys arms and slowly the sound of cracking could be heard. Slowly Veara was breaking the bones within his arms the tighter he gripped.

Panic began to set in upon the boy before him as he begun to twist and writhe in pain. Exaggerating his pain only a little while Veara planned to have his bones become brittle. The more he struggled the tighter Veara's grip became, however that wasn't the end of it. Veara opened his mouth to once again speak, however this time no words came out. His mouth simply stayed open, for a moment when all of the sudden the boy in Veara's grip began to plead with him, however to no effect would begging work. Energy began to build within Veara's body audibly it could be heard and finally it happened.

A large bolt of electricity came rocketing forth from his mouth and striking the boy before him in pointblank range, Veara didn't drop him and forced him to take the entire hit, not allowing for him to be dropped or be pushed away from the sheer force which would have been possible had Veara let him go. After a moment or two Veara dropped the scorched body to the ground, knowing he would live that bolt had enough power to kill, however he needed him to live to spread the word.

Looking towards the rest of them with empty eyes and that small warm smile on his face.

The response was clear.

Which one of the punks should be hung by their breeches next.

[Tsumiko]

From her position on the ground, Tsumiko remained steadfast in keeping her expression formidable, unafraid. Even as the man kneeled before her, inching ever closer with the songstress' long locks still entwined in his fingers, did she show an ounce of fear. Without causing too much commotion, she was well aware that she could take the man and his arriving companions on by herself. And if anything, she could slip away with a spell or two. It wasn't as though it was her first time being attacked in the inner streets of the city.

Nor was it her first time getting bombed.

Once again, the all to familiar stench of a stink bomb blanketed the area. The green paint clouded the alley, billowing in every every direction as its rank scent burned the songstress' nose and eyes. Immediately choosing to cover her face, the sound of the man before her falling over as well as the commotion behind her earned her attention. A few more thuds and the fog had started to clear. By then, Tsumi was able to make out the monkey man's figure as she got to her feet, as well as those of the men he had incapacitated. All four of them seemed to have been knocked out in one way or another. Though it somewhat surprised her. The fact that she hardly knew him and he stepped in to help her. Even if he dropped another stink bomb on her. She'd make him pay for that one day...

Her sudden admiration was cut short when laughter echoed against the paint covered walls of the alley. Sun was once again getting a kick out of pranking her, even if it were to help her. Putting her hands firmly on her hips, she opened her mouth to scold him. All she managed to get out was, “Just what are you-” before a fast-moving object collided with the ground. The impact shook the ground she stood on, knocking her over once again. It cleared whatever lingering green hovered in the air, revealing a large crater that dented even the buildings on either side of the alley. Inside it, and the cause, was a hooded Veara.

The expression he wore... chilled the songstress to her core. His irises were missing, leaving nothing but white in their stead. Dislodging his fist from the stone, he stood up and surveyed the area. It didn't take long for his attention to fall upon one of the less injured men. It didn't take long before that same man was lifted high into the air by some form of magic on Veara's part. The man struggled, kicking about until he was in the blond's grip. From where she was on the ground, Tsumiko could see the horrified look he gave Veara. She wanted to tell him to stop. That enough was enough. But the anger seeping from him had her at a loss for words, a knot forming in her chest at the words he spoke.

Slowly, the silver-haired woman got to her feet. Not once taking her eyes off the sight unfolding before her. The sound of breaking bones made her want to cringe. She could almost her the man's pain as he cried out. She wanted to tell him to stop, to leave them alone and walk away. There was no reason for any more pain.

The crackling energy forming in Veara's gaping maw was the most unsettling yet. From beside the tall monkey hybrid who hadn't been too far off, Tsumiko found solace from the sight of the man being fried. Her eyes were clenched shut so she couldn't see, hands pressed against her ears so she couldn't hear. The knot had risen to her throat as the urge to cry made itself present. Was this the “gift” he was afraid to mention when they first met..?

“Stop...” Tsumiko whispered almost inaudibly, just barely squeaking out the words. What the blonde was doing... was overkill. “This is... enough.” Against her will to do so, she peeked from her shelter to see him looking around. “Stop it...” The man that had formerly been in his grasp lay motionless on the ground, shadowy wisps of smoke coming off him. But Veara looked for his next target, despite that.

“Stop...” His warm smile unnerved her, but... “That's enough, Veara!” she ran to stand before him, arms outstretched in a defensive manner. It was quite obvious that she was afraid between her expression and her quivering knees. “Y-You've done enough damage. These people are already hurt, and yet you want to continue causing them pain? I kn-know they didn't mean well, but they didn't actually do anything to me. So please...don't hurt anyone else for my sake.” Her eyes drifted to the unfortunate man on the ground. She couldn't help but feel responsible for his current state. If she hadn't let these people get the idea that they could mess with her, maybe this all could have been avoided. It was her fault, and yet … it was to be expected, no? She was a walking jinx, wherever she went, dragging others down with her.

“Who do you think you are, hurting others like this?” her head was tipped down, facing the shattered ground at her feet as long bangs shadowed her eyes. There was a self-pitying grin that played her lips. “What kind of monster are you?” She spoke the hushed words aloud, though was talking solely to herself. It wasn't meant to be heard, though due to their close proximity, Veara most likely heard it. Looking up at him as she lowered her arms, there were tears welling in the corner of her eyes. “Best stay away from me from now on, hm. Nothing good comes from it,” she said with a forced smile.

With that, she ran off and into the nearest not destroyed alley. All the while, she was cursing herself for the misfortune she brought to others. All she was was a living magnet for unhappiness. As hard as she might try, nothing ever turned out in a positive manner. Not her family. Not her life. Now she messed up the chance of making a friend yet again. Maybe it really was better that she never got close to anyone.

All she ever did was cause hurt to those close to her...

[[Inactive]]

Anger. Rage. It was something Yao felt in place of his giddy nature at times, an insatiable one at that. When he was younger, he felt estrangement forming rapidly between him and his parents, causing him to have outbursts more severe than his normal pranks. He would brawl with people who were violent enough to engage, create nastier and harmful pranks. In general, the people began to hate the boy, except for those that understood. Eventually, Yao wound up being taken on by a mob of angry husbands who proceeded to beat him until he needed medical attention. His own salves helped, however he was too injured to continue on. When he was rested, he hunted down each one that attacked him and brutally injured them. Needless to say, the hospital was busier than usual for quite a while. When he finally reconciled with the community through various acts of kindness and charity work, he resumed his harmless pranks as if everything was fine. But he never forgot, and part of him had a sort of self-loathing that revived the regret within. While the person before him, Veara, was much stronger...they were the same.

Terrible responses to things, and the outside looking in could only judge and insult. No one understood unless it was painted for them, so the monkey has to keep his riddles and his smile to keep himself amused and the outside at bay. Looking at the vital injuries across the thugs, the monkey just kept a worried face about him. "Many a man keep the demons within. Only the key of emotion can unlock the gateway into freedom. Many a man try to keep it within, only to fail and greet Pan." Resting on top of his staff, the monkey sighed as he noticed there was green soaking into his thick fur. He would've laughed, however now was not the time. Whatever possessed the man before him, it had been from something built up over time. The airhead nature didn't excuse the torture society gave. No matter the relation, something always pecked at one's emotions. "Don't consider him a monster, Blueberry child. He is simply a man who has seen life as the outside. A window stands between people like him and the world, and that window filters in nothing but fuel for the fire." Yao looked down at his hands resting upon his crossed legs. "Trust me, misplaced judgment is just terrible and ignorant. Judgment cannot be passed through ignorance."

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