BOOYA! [Lion =^_^=]

[Anonymous]

Carefree as ever, Yisa made her way through one of the roughest towns in the world. There was a sickening scream somewhere to her right. Closer yet in an alley were the rhythm of flesh meeting flesh, whatever that was about. Her sparkling eyes were kept forward, a hint of a pleasant smile on her face. People passing often gave her odd looks which she either ignored or gave a wave to. Nobody waved back, but Yi' kept it moving so as to not even give them time to. Her billowy pants, vest, and flat cap were various shades of brown, and her sleeveless shirt beige. Even though the colors were different than her normal wear, she still seemed to be one of the brightest individuals in the vicinity. Maybe the fading day was to blame for it. Sundown had to only be a couple hours away.

Absently she petted the horse that walked next to her, the cart attached to it made a nice sound as it constantly moved on. The reign for the chestnut mare were not in Yisa's hand, but securely around the saddle horn for some reason. They both made their way without pause through the city's edge. Her thoughts weren't on where she should go, but her feet seemed to know. In her gut, something told her she was close to their destination. There was something else closer too.

She patted the horse twice, leaving her hand there a bit longer as Yi' pushed herself ahead of her. The horse stopped, ears twitching to ward off flies before munching on some nearby sandy grass. The blond made her way over to a large bush, pausing by it. For a few moments she stood there with hands in her pocket. She herself was in clear view of anyone who passed. The cloth-covered sword on her back, and the elegantly sheathed sword at her hip were also in sight. To the casual passerby Yisa would seem to be a boy contemplating the bush.

"Hi there!" Yisa said to the thick bush. There was no reply. Her smile dwindled slightly as she peered into a bit more. "Hello?" When a hint of movement caught her eye, the smile returned, this one brighter than ever. Her ocean green eyes slid shut. "Oh there you are! Is there something I can help you with? You've been following us for while." Still there was no answer. Opening her eyes, she gave a nod.

"Speechless, eh? well how about you?" She looked up at the roof top of the building on the other side of the street. From her angle no one could be seen, but her gut told her someone was there. Her gaze shifted to the tree not much farther above the bush she was paused in front of. "Or you?" No hint of reply at all came to her. Her glance went to the horse before  returning to the bush. "Alright. Well, if you need anything, let me know." With that, she made her way back to the horse, ready to lead them down a street perpendicular to their own. The easy smile returned to her face.

Behind her, the three darkly clad men could only stare in confusion as how a pretty boy could know where they were. Maybe he didn't really know and was just crazy. Their hesitation in to pursue the blond or stake out another victim didn't last long. Exiting their respective spots, they made ways to continue following the teen. Surely three men would be able to take down a smaller one.

[Lion]

He didn't bring a stick this time like he should have.  People avoided a man with a stick.  Especially if he was a man with a stick and had a blindfold on as well.  The blindfold made it obvious that he couldn't see a damn thing but if he had a stick—well, then that definitely meant that had at least some means to feel his way around.  But Ginzu was not that man!  And he didn't want to be.  Just because he couldn't see a damn thing didn't mean that he was inept.  Sure he stumbled around sometime but that was only due to the fact that he swam the line between sweetly sober and mumbling drunk.  Personally, he preferred the latter.  But nothing could stop him from getting around just fine.

However, though he could get around just fine, he had a habit of wandering in the strangest of places.  How was he to know that he had just wandered into the cutthroat town of Zantaric?  Ginzu was never one to think about where he was going or where he wanted to be.  He just walked....and wherever he ended up, that's where he was.  So the people who saw him, bushy ponytail, blindfold, skin-n-bones, and all, did not take the time to give him some room in which to walk.  Yes, he started to think, partially grimacing, he really should have brought a stick.  Maybe then passersby would stop trying to knock him over.

Walking shorter than all the rest, his back muscles doing little to nothing to keep him erect, the blind freak of nature made his way deep into the town, pushing away people who made a grab for him.  "Hey! Back off!  Keep your distance!" he would shout out on occasion.  "Get your damn hands off me!"  Of course, he didn't realize at the time that he was busy fighting with the retractable branches of a tree bending by the force of the wind.  To the blind man he thought that there at least a dozen or so people attempting to pickpocket him or worse: Steal his calabash!  Oh that very thought alone was enough to send him flailing stark mad!  He shot his fists and wrists out, cracking the tree branches at every turn.  "Bastards!" he cried out in a final strike.  "Ugh!  What's with this town!?"

And when the mock fight was over, Ginzu stumbled away, drunken bumping into a crowd of darkly clad men.  "Hey!  Not again!  I said no!  Get away, you bastards!"  And at this Ginzu was flailing again at the men that trailed some young boy...or was it a girl?  He could not tell all the people in his immediate surroundings right now as he was busy trying to fend off the men that he assumed were starting to attack him.   But the way he heard her strides he could tell right away that it was probably a boy, the sound of her gait implied man-ish steps.  "Oi!  A little help here!  If it ain't too much to ask!  Hey! You boy!  Help me!"

[Anonymous]

The sound of the scuffle a short distance behind Yisa didn't gain her attention. Beginning to hum, she continued making her way to the mare. Instead of looking at Yisa though, she stared at the spot where the girl had come from and made a low sound. Yisa's humming paused at this, her steps slowing slightly. She heard the shouts for someone to help, but this was directed toward a boy. Yisa turned back to see s strange man and three men. Without word she started to run towards them, but stopped midway to turn back to the horse and cart. She ran past the horse and looked at another darkly clad man who was trying to sneak under the cart's cover. He froze at the sight of her.

Yisa thought nothing of it. "Come on, there's no time to hide! He wants us to help!" There was a slight pause as the man looked in surprise. "You are a boy right?" The man's eyes were glued on her to try to keep her eyes from the dagger he was drawing. Yisa didn't see, but didn't really give much time to answer. Without looking, she grabbed his wrist of the hand with the weapon. "Come on!" She said before pulling him out of the cart and towards the fray. He may have been taller, but her speed didn't give him time to react or slow them down. He eventually managed to take out another dagger in his other hand. Just before he could strike, Yisa jumped into action. Literately.

Letting the man's wrist go, she jumped onto another man's bent knee before letting her knee collide with his face. She landed before him as he stumbled back. The darkly clad man who was "helping" lunged at her. She bent down at the last second, arms poised  behind her neck and back to assist him to reach the other man on her other side. From here she was bent low enough to deliver a solid kick to another one approaching her. Her moves continued without thought, she also had the man they were helping's attack to dodge and duck out of the way. For the majority of it, she was within 3 feet of him, the man with double daggers coming after her for "assistance" as if his life depended on it. He was in truth trying to get a good blow on the blond. How dare a punk get the best of him!

[Lion]

He couldn't have possibly known that he'd made a huge mistake in calling out for help, instead summoning more buffoons to come in on the attack.  If he'd known where he currently was—Zantaric, one of the roughest places on the continent—he would've kept his mouth shut as that was best thing to do in a situation like this.  He liked to think that he could take care of himself and while he could for the most part, there were times when a little aid was necessary from an outside source.  But never in his existence would he consider his being blind a disability in anyway.  It was more of a manner to perceive things in a different way other than normal people.

Ginzu thought he sensed the presence of the boy he called for help as he fended the men off one by one.  He fought drunkenly; swinging his arms and legs around, jumping and leaping as needed and hitting each man with surprising accuracy.  Each movement was as if a stumble, dropping down here, rising up with a knee strike there, and dodging as if in a drunken dance.  But because he could not exactly decipher friend from foe in the midst of his fighting frenzy, he struck at out at anything that got in his way, even the feminine voice that reached his ears.  "What's a girl doing here!?" he said in the middle of a fist intercepting with his jaw.

He fell back a ways and dispatched two of the men when they came after him for a fourth time.  A few quick strikes to the head for one and a broken thigh for the other and he made quick work of them both.  He felt his fist intercept with another of the men, or what he though was a man and felt the whistle of a blade sing through the air, as if one of them had a knife.  "Oi! Boy!  Watch out!"

[Anonymous]

The boyish looking Yisa weived between blows with clumsy grace amongst the fighters. Her movements were mostly fast to counter their strength, high to off balance the mid blows. She utilized their own skills against them. The way the she rushed around sporadically attacking seemed as if she was a typical blond taking advantage of luck. It was quite interesting for passerbyers to watch a drunken man and a sugar-high teen fumbling around and falling over the darkly clad men. Even more so that the odd pair seemed to be winning. However, it being the shady city it was, no one paused long enough. No one would aid the blind man and your teen, even if they didn't need help.

Casually Yisa grabbed a charging bandits' wrist and flipped him over. His arm twisted awkwardly and his weight caused her to go off balance. She fell heavily on the man, crushing the wind right out of him. "Opps. Sorry!" She said before rolling off of him. Though she had no clue of the broken ribs from her kick earlier and the fall, he was painfully aware of it. Coming to her feet, Yisa was noticeably closer to the blindfolded man. One attacker was left, standing right between them. She was ready to deal a quick blow to his neck when the the man unexpectedly dropped with a yell. She was unable to slow down her strike too much, but thankfully the man was able to intercept it.

There wasn't much time to dwell on anything as a sound familiar to her reached her senses. The taller, hunched man yelled it out first though. The one she had grabbed to help him was a bit too eager for battle it seemed. Maybe he meant to low five her for the good work they did, but forgot about the blade in his hand. The downward swipe was heading right for her. She hopped back away from it to give him time to cool himself. The spot she had landed on wasn't very solid. A yell of pain came from under her as her arms went out to the side to steady her balance. Her leg came up in delay and she ended up kicking the male right below his belt.  He fumbled from his own weight against it. Yisa fell down and landed on the one with a broken thigh. He had let out a yell that eventually faded to nothing as unconsciousness claimed him. Yisa looked at him and patted his shoulder. "See? Not as heavy as you thought am I?" His lack of words said it all for her. The blade landed in the ground as the standing man lost his grip on it and stumbled back toward the one with a blindfold.

[Lion]

Ginzu, working through his paranoia and frantic mental state, detected the stumbling man long before he fell.  It was instinct now, second nature, to predict the actions of enemies in battle.  And though he could tell little who exactly was his friend or who was his enemy, Ginzu would attack anything that was resolved to come at him in a hostile fashion.  He fought best when drunk, but he could fight just as well sober.  Right now, he was straddling that line.  He had sipped about half his calabash on his way over here and that little bit of drink was enough to make him only slightly tipsy.  So far, in his thousands and thousands of years of existence, he could out-drink anyone, any day.  And this slight tip of his sanity, his fluidity and flexibility would be heightened tenfold.  All he needed to do was control his wits about him.

The man came tumbling toward him quite quickly, perhaps faster than a normal being would've been able to intercept in time.  But with the quick dispatching of the other foes, Ginzu could now focus on a single opponent.  With focus reclaimed, he poised himself with such steady readiness, and, as soon as the man came in range, reached out with a palm strike to the gut, right in the pit of his abdomen just below the sternum, a blow that was so powerful, the man's insides just about exploded internally.  Ginzu did not charge the blow with a plethora of his own internal energy, but just enough to keep his opponent at bay.

Indeed that was all he needed as the man groaned in agony before he collapsed to the ground, either dead or very close to it.  Ginzu, slightly sweating, breathed carefully and swiveled his head back and forth still detecting the other presence.  Even with his collected thoughts, those were for fighting only, and he scarcely could tell if the other person was a fiend or friend.  "Hey! You still there boyo!?  Where are you?  Or better yet, tell me who you are, and who the hell these people are and why they were following you, before I kick your sorry little ass!"

[Anonymous]

Yisa lifted her ocean green eyes to the sound of a new groan. The man fell on the ground, landing in not-so comfy position. At least she felt the rise and fall of the one she was sitting on. Her eyes squinted. She couldn't say too much about the other one. Laying an arm over her knees, she rested her head in the crook of her other palm for a brief moment. She watched the one with a blindfold. There was something that told her she liked him. It also whispered to her that if she got too close now, it'd be painful. Neither of the thoughts stayed long in her mind as new words came from his mouth.

"He's sleeping right now," A brief glance to the practically stilled man told her so. A bright smile fell on her features. "Not sure what they were doing really. Maybe they just needed some exercise. But I helped you out, too! Not that you needed much help with your dancing skills." She looked over to the horse when it made a low neighing sound. Yisa was pleased to see the chestnut mare munching on grass before going to sniff the hair of another dark clad figure laying on the ground by her. He was still, so he must've approved. Yisa's eyes returned to the slightly-drunken man, not seeing the horse casuallt step on the man in her own attempt to reach the blond.

Placing her hands on both her knees, Yisa pushed herself up before extending a hand to the man. Her eyes closed out of happiness for a moment. "Hiya, I'm Yisa. What's your name Mister?" As cheerful as her words were, her tone was thankfully not grating on the nerves. Alto in pitch, it made it a bit obvious to anyone still believing her to be a boy that she hadn't reached puberty yet.

[Lion]

"Sleeping?" Ginzu mimicked in confusion.  Why would the boy be sleeping?  Didn't he help in?  He couldn't tell the difference between the voice of a young boy and that of a teenage girl.  He was older than dirt, and even in the years of his experience, he still couldn't tell.  Well, that just went to show that he spent more time around locations where young people were not often found.  Particularly if there was liquor involved.  He knew that some people drank no matter what age and, in reality, he didn't mind that so long as that person stayed away from his own liquor.  To merely touch his calabash without his permission was a calling to get throttled completely.

He relaxed a little bit and shook his limbs out that maybe this boy was not a threat.  He seemed a little off his rocker, but not a threat as of now.  Arching his back painfully, he stretched before slinging over again in his usual hunched stance.  But what he heard startled him most was the sudden bursting of a name.  And when he heard that that's when he jumped and took several steps back.

"What do you mean you're name is Yisa?  That's a girl's name!  Why would your parents name you Yisa?  What you trying to pull?  Are you a guy or a girl!?"  He was well aware that she had asked him a question but he wanted to give her some time to answer.  "Eh, well, I'm Ginzu.  I'm old as you probably know...  Weirdos..."

[Anonymous]

((Back in Business!!))

Yisa stared blankly at the man who jumped back. Something told her that she just witnessed the strangest reaction to her name ever. At his last question, she blinked twice before tilting her head to the side. "There's a difference? Well let's see..."

She tried to think about it, but the answer wasn't coming up right. Was she a boy or a girl.... A warm nose nudged her arm. It jeered her from her attempt to think. Turning, Yisa verified that it was the mare with the cart still attached. Instead of grass, she was munching on the hood of one of their friends. She looked down to where the man still laid. His face was bearded and he seemed to be at peace, aside from the occasional eyebrow twitch.

"Boys grow up to be men. Girls grow up to be women," Yisa began, her eyes wandering elsewhere while rambling out her answer. " Men are hairy and smell funny. Women can stop people with their eyes, and have curves. I don't have any of those. But I have hair on my arms!" She outstretched her arm triumphantly. Even if the blind folded man could see, there wouldn't be much to look at. "They only come out when it's cold though," she admitted sadly. "I don't think that counts much. Well, since I'm not hairy and don't smell right now, I guess the way it's looking, I'll grow up to be a woman more than a man. So I'm a girl." She said with finality, as if solved the mystery of life itself.

She closed her eyes and gave a beaming smile. "Whoever named me was smart to give me that name after all, huh?"

Yisa was equally thrilled to hear his name. "Ginzu, eh? Funny name like mine! Where are you off to? I think our dance partners are too tired to tag along for the moment."

[Lion]

Morons, the whole lot of them were.  This was why he didn't like hanging around too many people.  Most of them were more nuts than he was, and he was the ancient corpse monk who crawled out of his grave and into a bottle, that is if he remembered at all where he came from.  Ginzu never gave much thought to his origins, only perfecting his favorite art of all: the art of the wine flask...or bourbon if that was all that was available.

Speaking of which, Ginzu put up a large hand in pause, and uncorked his calabash, effectively taking several long swigs before clearing his throat and returning his attention to this girl-boy thing that couldn't seem to know who the hell she was.  He didn't like that to say the least.  Not one single bit.  Ginzu could handle most people, but damn, this was starting to get annoying.  Now he decided he'd ask her/him a bunch of questions just to set the record straight.

"Alright, Yisa-Wo-MANish person thing," he said when she was finished.  "Now that you've figgered out the question to all life, why don't we get the hell outta this joint.  I don't even know where the hell I am.  And frankly I'm very cranky if ya can't tell from my body."  Ginzu cracked his back then hunched over again.  "I think I'll just tag along to wherever ye're goin' and we'll stop at a bar along the way.  I'm runnin' low.  Let's go!"  And with that he ran off toward her, or rather...into her and fell back on his butt.. "Hey, watch where ya goin'!  I said get a move on," he said and stood up before pulling her up too.  "Lead me, Wo-Man-ish thing."

[Anonymous]

An enthusiastic fist rose to the air. "O.K!" Yisa exclaimed. Her eyes sliding shut in delight at Ginzu's idea. She had no idea where she was heading off to, but having a friend tag along seemed just fine to her. When she head quickly approaching footsteps, her eyes opened too late. Before she knew it, she was knocked to the ground.

She stared up at the sky in wonder. Somewhere behind the wall in her mind, she wondered how he was able to get close without her realizing it. Things that happened in that part of her mind, never made it to Yisa's conscious mind. That part was more interested in watching the horse drop her "treat" near the blond, and the words spoken by Ginzu. "OK," She said once he pulled her up. "We'll go on this wagon." Yisa stated without letting his hand go. She then attempted to lead him (or drag rather quickly) to the back to the wagon. Once there, she hoped up and sat down on the open back, waiting patiently to see if Ginzu would ride along or walk.

The wagon was really a cart of course. It's contents underneath a large, rough cloth. The chestnut mare would wait a bit before continuing along toward one of the main roads. If Ginzu didn't get on soon, she would start to walking at a decent pace. She was a confident horse, but certainly smart enough not to go slow enough to invite thieves. "I'm not sure where we are, but it sure is a lively town," Yisa said, leaning back as her legs dangled off the side. "What did you come here for anyways?" She asked to Ginzu.

[Lion]

The corpse-man stumbled along and surprisingly bounded over the fallen bodies of their opponents around them quite deftly and without needed assistance.  He looked as tired as he felt.  Just because he looked like he could immortally take a beating (and he did with every step he took), he sometimes suffered under the most benign conditions.  He was sweating liquor from his bones, and felt the sun trap the heat underneath the sour-smelling perspiration.  It was a curious condition and one probably no one living suffered unless they'd been as old as he was.  He was far older than he could care to remember, but the age had yet to catch up to his limber joints.

Ginzu was dragged with quite a significant yank.  This Girl-man thing was quite strong for her size, or what he expected was he size.  He couldn't tell as he wasn't yet listening to the way the wind was traveling around her.  That was sometimes the best way to determine how large a person was, by how they reacted to the environment around them... Or rather how the environment reacted to them.  Ginzu allowed himself to be led and stepped where was necessary.

He pounced right up onto the back of the small cart and folded his legs beneath him.  "You're a strange little person, Ching Yisa.  I'll call you that for now.  Ching Yisa.  It means, 'wonderment' in some tongue that nobody speaks anymore."  He hiccupped and smacked his lips.  "Ah I was originally here on some business.  The best business of all that is, of course, tavern business."  Ginzu chuckled to took another swig of wine from the container around his neck.  "Zantaric I hear has some damn good liquor and I wanted to get my hands on the stuff.  Until I got intercepted by those goons.  Whatcha doin' here kiddo?"