milliways_bar | (no subject)

Hello, don't think we've met. I'm Akane, would you like a drink or something to eat?

"Hi, Akane!" Fighter beams, and the words come out in a torrent. "My name's Fighter. I like swords and rainbows and lollipops and puppies. Also I'm not supposed to eat anything more tastier than bread and water because, um, Black Mage said 'maybe if I weaken him through starvation he'll have to take off that damnable armor of his and stabbity freedom can finally be mine.' So bread and water please." He pauses for a moment. "Er, what's your name again?"

Sure thing, um, Fighter. *turns to the bar* Fresh bread and water please.

*hands it to him looking a bit confused* Why would you want 'stabbity freedom'? Come to think of it, what is that?

*frowns slightly* It's Akane. And you're Fighter. 's a nice name.

Fighter scritches his head. "I'm not sure what stabbity freedom is, but see, Black Mage said that, not me. I think. Yeah, Black Mage said it." He takes a bite of bread and chews exactly twice before washing it down with a giant gulp of water. "Black Mage is my friend, but he keeps trying to stab me. We all know he's just joking when he says he wants to kill me, though. I trust Black Mage 'cause he told me to."

He scratches his hair. "And, um, thank you about the name, unless you mean your name's nice, which I agree with you, it is. But what's an Akane?"

You're obviously a very loyal friend, if you listen to everything your Mage says. Where is he now? *grins* I have a few 'friends' like that. What do you have that he doesn't?

Oh, I meant your name, but thank you. 'Akane', it's a name. It has lots of meanings, something complete, anger although that doesn't count, but the best one's crimson. My favorite colour.

"Black Mage is with the others back in camp. He told me to go wander around in the forest with my eyes closed--" an expression of horror passes over Fighter's face. "Oh no! I've opened them!"

I'm sure he won't mind. Just say you finished your exercise and decided to cool off with a drink. Maybe he'll even be pleased you found a bar to go to, and will want to come see it. This is a good thing!

"Yay! You're full of good ideas. I like you." Fighter nods decisively. "Black Mage says not to ever tell him about any restaurants, taverns, bars, inns, smithies or ESPECIALLY any shops that sell swords, /ever/. But enough about Black Mage! Tell me all about /your/ friends, Akane."

Thanks, I like you too!

Well all right, I've a friend named Ryoga. He helps me train sometimes, he's great. My fiancee fights with him a lot, but than Ranma's an idiot who'll pick fights with anything male. Um, let's see... Oh! Ryoga has a slight problem with directions. He's the reason I'm here, actually. *hands over her 'map'* I was supposed to be meeting him in some top secret training ground, but... well, you can see why I had trouble.

Fighter beams. He does that a lot, apparently. "That's just like my friend Black Belt! See, the first time I got here I asked him where the nearest grocery store was and I followed his directions /exactly/ and I got to 'the bar at the end of the universe.'" He makes a face. "And when I got back and asked him about it, he said it was an easy mistake to make and anyway I probably didn't follow the directions right.

"Wait, what are you training for?"

*laughs He does the exact same thing sometimes! I guess it's a matter of pride, and I don't want to hurt his feelings. He's so nice, he deserves kindness, at least from his friends.

Just to keep my strength up, mostly. If I'm not in the best of condition, anyone could come after my father's dojo. It's going to be mine one day, I'm the heir even though I'm youngest. *grins proudly* Besides, there may be some who are just a little bit better than me in my town. Very little

"Sometimes I think there are people who are better than me, but then I remember I'm inventing a new form of martial arts so there's no one who's better than I am /at that/. I call it the art of swordchuckery, y'know.

"Is this the kind of dojo where you get to use swords, by the way, or is it just a hands-and-feet thing?"

You're inventing one? Neat! How long have you been working on it?

It's the type where you use everything you can, so swords are in there. 'The Tendo school of Anything Goes Martial Arts'. And I'll be teaching it, someday.

"You'll make a good teacher 'cause you're friendly, instead of always shouting at your students and making them pay attention to you." He seems to sulk. "I never did like to pay attention.

"Anyway, the art of swordchuckery... it goes back a long way. I forget how long, exactly. But see, what you do is you chain these two swords together-- first you take off their hilts-- and then you hold /one/ sword in one hand, and wield the /other/ at your enemy like a pointy, slicy nunchuck."

That's - fantastic! What gave you the idea?

[OOC: OK, the slight pause there cracked me up.]

"Well, I was in a sword shop one day, and I was thinking about swords, and the shopkeeper mentioned nunchucks and I just went, 'Swordchucks, YO!'" He beams. "Most smartest idea /ever/, if I do say so m'self."

[Ooc: *bows* It's Fighter, he inspires me to soar}

Wow. Aren't you a bit worried that people just starting could lose appen- hurt themselves? Do you use plastic or wodden swords to start out?

Fighter looks gravely concerned. "That's crossed my mind, yes. The problem is you'd cut your hand off and even if you didn't, the /other/ sword would disable or kill you. But I'm looking at ways to solve that problem without losing any metal-osity. Wooden swords? What's the point?"

There's a three-beat pause, then he beams. "I made a pun!"

*beams back* It's a great one. Do you like to make up puns?

*nods with a small smile* Well of course, I meant simply to practise with, until you can use a real one. It would never work to use a wooden swordchuck in battle.

"No, no, I didn't realize I'd /made/ a pun until just then. Hmph. I might consiiiider using wooden swords to practice with, but still!" He furrows his brow. "Wait, doesn't running a dojo mean you need to be good with numbers and with money and stuff?"

Sort of. My sister is much better at it than me, but I can make do. Why, do you need help with something?