In This Corner...

[Anonymous]

Just another normal day in the kingdom of Connlaoth, with trainees and maid servants going about their daily business. Even the nobles seem busy. The only one in the halls of the palace that doesn't seem to have much to put effort into is none other than the silent ninjesque Mordecai, Kuro Kiraa. Dragoon Kiraa 'patrols' the halls, heading generally towards his own room. At the same time, he holds open a flyer that was anonymously sent to him from outside the palace. He reads:

To all interested,
A spectacular underground arena has been opened up for anyone daring enough to challenge the trophy. A tournament of pride has been set forth, available to anyone willing. All entries must be in teams of two or less. No one under the age of eighteen is allowed. Anything could happen...

As if he may have misread something, Kuro continues to stroll through the halls while still reading the flyer. This anonymous letter may perhaps interest him.

[Rhindeer]

[Obviously this takes place on a random day that is...sometime apart from the other threads. xD]

Out of the kindness of her little black heart, Beatrid had given her student the day off. Which also meant a day off for her. Maybe it that was a little sneaky, but she needed a break now and then, too, to go do...Mordecai things. Yeah. That was her excuse. Like read smutty romance novels, avoid a few people, and hit the town for a little fun and cutting loose. After all, even she knew how to have fun. Just...not when she was on duty and supposed to be professional. Nah. Here she was just a bitch.

And she rather enjoyed it. It kept away all the stupid people.

Well. Most of them.

Stepping out of her room and closing her door behind her, dressed in street clothes with her hair braided and chest bound flat beneath her shirt, Beatrid headed down the hall, resolved to go outdoors and maybe see if Hek was up to some goofing off and being a pair of regular idiots together. After all, it wasn't like he did anything. But as she rounded a corner, she ended up nearly colliding with none other than, and she would have never expected it, Kuro. Hah! Who was she kidding, after she'd learned of his return, she'd been expecting the usual stalkerish antics to resume, to find herself randomly bumping into him. She'd practically resigned herself to that possibility, though it didn't mean she liked it.

Beatrid jolted, perhaps a bit too obviously, but quickly regained her composure and drew a quick breath. Then her lip curled slightly and she turned briskly on her heel, preparing to leave and head in another direction without a word. She had nothing to say to him, didn't need to waste her precious time dealing with him when she didn't have to, and besides, he seemed absorbed in...

Whatever it was he was reading. A flyer of some sort.

...Maybe something important.

Nosiness replaced her need to get away, and she slowly turned back around. "What're you reading?" she asked bluntly. No hellos, no how's it goings, nothing like that. Just a direct, curt question with no hints of friendliness nor formality. It was just, well, painstakingly neutral and disinterested.

Even if she really was interested. She couldn't help but be a little paranoid lately and if that was something important, she didn't want him knowing something she didn't.

[Anonymous]

(I feel I should post Kuro a little more often than most, considering how long it takes you to post back :P)

Unlike his usual stalker self, Kuro had not noticed Beatrid almost run into him. He was too absorbed in reading the flyer. In fact, he kept walking as she made an attempt to get away from him. His attention was finally drawn to her after she had spoken up to question him about the flyer. The ninjesque Mordecai stops and takes his time to roll the flyer into one hand and slowly turns around to face Beatrid. Oh yes, he is definitely not acting normal. Something is up.
"It's not anything important. It's just an anonymous letter from the outside." Kuro answers her question without hesitation.
"If you don't mind, I'll be about my ways." Kuro finishes as he bows his head and turns around to head in the opposite direction, flyer still rolled up in hand.

[Rhindeer]

Nothing important her ass!

If there was one thing Beatrid hated, it was being ignored when she didn't want to be ignored. Any other time and she would have loved being ignored by him, but when she asked a question, she expected an answer. Grumbling in annoyance as he bowed and turned to walk away, Beatrid wasn't about to just smile and nod and let him leave. Oh no. Instead, she marched right on after him and this time, instead of asking him to tell her what the hell that was, she just reached out and yanked the rolled up flyer out of Kuro's hand. "I asked you a question," she snapped, before spinning around so her back was to him and unrolling the flyer.

She scanned the paper briefly, brow creasing a little, then blinked and raised an eyebrow. Eh? Underground tournament, huh? Interesting. Anything could happen. Even more interesting.

It sounded very, very illegal, whatever it was. Why else would it be underground? And what about those catacombs rumors...

Hmm...

Rolling the paper back up and turning to Kuro, she tossed it back to him with a shrug. "You going?"

[Anonymous]

When Beatrid ripped the flyer from Kuro's grasp, all he could do is sink his head into one hand. He knows what would come of this. He knows his fellow Mordecai all too well. He slowly turned around to face Beatrid on time to get the flyer thrown back. Her two worded question rang in his mind a few times before he shook it off.
"I thought about it" He mustered up an answer. That was half true. Of course he's going. He also knows of the danger in store. He's been to an underground tournament before. Plenty of death is also to be expected. Gives him plenty of room to relieve stress. He wasn't about to let her come with him, if that's what she has in mind.

[Rhindeer]

"Huh." Beatrid nodded at his answer, then gave a shrug.

"Yeah, same here. Only I know I'm going. No real question about it. I mean, think about it...it's obviously illegal if it's underground and 'secret'. Whoever sent that to you, shit, no one knows that we're real...if there are mages there, they could go completely unnoticed by a normal soldier. Though it's still odd they invited a soldier to begin with, so maybe they'll just be regular criminals, and not very intelligent ones, obviously, unless they didn't know you were a soldier somehow." She gave a snort. Yeah, that was unlikely, but it could happen. She couldn't really think of any other reason they'd willingly invite a soldier to an obviously illegal activity unless...it was maybe a set-up.

That was likely.

But then shouldn't they worry about more soldiers coming? Yeah, this whole thing didn't sound well organized at all. The tournament was probably thrown together by a bunch of amateurs, so despite what she'd said, she couldn't really imagine any notorious criminals showing up unless they were absolutely-fucking-stupid, just too crazy to care, or insanely confident.

"Still. Anything could happen? Sounds like killing isn't an issue. So just imagine the sorts of criminals it'll attract. There might even be a few with bounties on their heads." She folded her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at Kuro.

"So I dunno about you, but I'm going. That place is in the slums, right? The picture sure looked slummy."

[Anonymous]

All Kuro could do was sigh while looking at the ground. It was too late. She's already made up her mind to go throw her life away. Of course there was no way Kuro could stop her from going. He has no choice but to partner up. Though he knows there's still one thing stopping her from going into the tournament successfully, the dark Mordecai believes this opportunity to be a blessing in disguise.
"Very well then. I guess I have a teammate." For once, Kuro didn't object to Beatrid's decision. He knows how stubborn she is, no matter the circumstance. This is an opportunity for Beatrid to take a glimpse at what Kuro used to do on his free time.

[Rhindeer]

"Teammate?" Beatrid looked sharply at Kuro, blue eyes narrowing and back stiffening. "Who said anything about that? The flyer says teams of two or less and if you don't think I'm perfectly fucking capable of handling--"

She cut off abruptly, a more rational thought cutting off the others. No, she just had to chill out here. As much as she disliked the man, couldn't stand being around him, splitting up in this case might not be a good idea because then they might just end up facing off against each other and, well, that would be a disaster. It would also place her in a very curious dilemma...as much as she despised the man, he was a Mordecai, on her side, and pretty good at what he did, and she couldn't possibly bring herself to actually hurt him more than a little roughing up. At the same time, he was her rival and her pride wouldn't let her lose.

If they were going into this, they had to be on the same side all the way. Meh. Frowning, Beatrid considered the possibility of getting some other soldiers to go, alerting them to this suspicious event, but decided against it. Too many people going would blow subtlety out of the water, and if there was illegal activity going on, Beatrid planned on observing it first to make sure of it. Then they could bring in the big guns once they had their proof.

As much as she was going to hate this, it would be best if they cooperate. Two should be enough. No use getting anyone else involved yet.

Sighing, she lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Fine. Yeah. Guess so. So does it say when this is?"

[Anonymous]

Kuro stood his ground as Beatrid started ranting at his decision. He waited patiently as she went silent and started pondering the rest of the options. Finally, she breaks down and agrees to Kuro's choice.
"No, the flyer doesn't specify when the tournament is, but it is taking place today." The ninjesque Mordecai answers Beatrid before turning away and begins to walk off.
"I'll be outside the gate when you're ready." He finishes.

[Rhindeer]

Beatrid didn't say anything when Kuro walked off, just heaved another sigh and checked herself over briefly. Eh. What she was wearing now would do just fine, her chest was already bound as usual, her twin pistols were on her...she was as ready as she could ever be.

With a slight shrug, she started after Kuro, reaching behind her to tuck her braid down the back of her shirt where it would be out of the way. Stupid thing. She didn't know why she just didn't hack it off since she didn't even like having long hair and it was just a pain in the ass to care for. Only option she could think of was that she was just attached to it. Pah. She'd have to rectify that the next chance she got...like when they came back from the tournament. Yeah, she'd give herself a hair cut. Maybe.

Bah.

Beatrid made a quick side trip to her room to grab more ammo, but after that it was a straight shot to the gate. There she made a beeline to Kuro and threw an impatient glance his way. "Well? Ready?"

[oh, the suck. *wince*]