Let's Go For A Run [GoblinFae]

[Zane]

Scipio awoke and breathed out a sigh of relief, ever since the Djinn incident in Ketra, he was thankful for everyday. He shook that day from his thoughts, unwilling to think about it just yet. He got up from the bed and walked into the front room of the Runner's house, the house keeper was sitting there smiling as he walked in, "How are you this morning Scipio?" She asked.

"Glad to be alive" he chuckled, then added, "As is the new norm for me. Got any mail for me to deliver?"

"Not today, I have a special job for you today."

"Oh don't tell me your going to make you go and get your shopping list! Make a red sleeve do it!" That was one of the few things he would pull seniority for, he hated shopping, especially when the person who made the list was the Arca house keeper, she made some bleeding long lists.

"Don't worry I'm not going to make you go shopping. We have a second year red sleeve headed here for her final examinations and I wanted you to administer them, and I chose because you are the number one blue sleeve in all of Ser-"

"Oh shut up, flattery will get you nowhere, but yeah. I'll administer the tests. When is the red sleeve do in?" Scipio had learned that administering the second year exams were rather fun and a great way to spend the day. It began with a run through the city to make sure that red sleeve could keep up with a regular pace. Then a combat test, both armed and unarmed. Then finally a feats test to see if they would do well in the Red Cloak Games. The last test was not necessary to pass the exam but it help to be able taken seriously in the games.

"The red sleeve is a Soar Runner, her name is Jypsei Danzer and she is due in sometime around noon."

"Alright then, that gives me some time to make something to eat, do you want anything?" The house keeper merely shook her head, and Scipio walked into the kitchen, grabbing some eggs out of the pantry, he would make an omelet for himself and one for the red sleeve, Jypsei.

[GoblinFae]

Light feet pounded into the cobblestones as Jypsei ran up and down alleyways, hopping fences, and climbing walls to balconies with relative ease. A fine sheen of sweat began to glisten on her forehead but, she did not stop until her lungs burned with fire from the cold and her efforts.

Today was important in that if she succeeded in her efforts she would be fully recognized as a red sleeve SOAR runner. This was the last trial she would have to pass to prove her full worth as a globally recognized service-provider. But, it was not as much a point of pride to her as it was to most others. Jypsei could care less how many people she assisted. It was the running she cared about. She was born to do it and she figured that getting paid to do so only benefited her lifestyle.

At last she came to a sudden stop in front of Arca's main runner house. She was early, her test was not until noon but there was nowhere else for her to go and she did not fancy wearing herself out before the test had even begun. A good warm-up is one thing but being burned out would be a sure way to make her fail.

She strode in with purpose, making herself known to the nearest housekeeper before being sent off to the kitchen where her tester was waiting for her already. Jypsei slunk into the room quietly hoping to observe this Scipio before she would be forced to interact with him.

[Zane]

Scipio was adding spices and herbs to the omelets when Jypsei entered the room. He flipped the omelets and put them back out over the fireplace in the kitchen. He took that short turn to to the fireplace to sneak a peak at who snuck in. He was right, he noticed her lithe body, she would make a fine runner. He moved his eyes back to the food. When it was ready he transferred them to plates and got some silverware, one of the Arca house's luxuries, then turned to face the red sleeve, handing one plate to her.

"Hello, I'm Scipio and welcome to the Arca house. Eat up. You will need the energy today." Scipio went to the small table and pulled a chair out for her then went to the other side to sit.

[GoblinFae]

"Lovely," Jypsei stated, grimacing as she stared down at her plate in disgust. Her lips pressed tightly together in a thin line as her nose crinkled at the gooey, yellow lump on her plate. Rolling her eyes she walked over and carelessly dumped the food with a wet plot into the waste bin. She ignored the bits the slid off onto the floor and walked back to the chair that had been offered, grabbing its back and turning it so that she could straddle it backwards.

"I know who you are," the runner finally replied. Her fingers clicked on the table in impatience. "I expect you'll be done by noon then?"

[Zane]

Scipio's smile faded as the Soar hopeful tossed the eggs. It was a simple decision that the young woman made. But it told him a lot about her, there were three housekeepers in the main room, none of whom had made any indication of having eaten to her, instead of offering it to one of them, she dumped it. That was childlike selfishness. Then she, not even a full red sleeve, had been told to eat by senior blue sleeve and outright disobeyed. It was a simple decision. But one that showed so much. More then half of all runner deaths were caused by a disobeyed order. He would not put up with it.

"Miss Danzer. Will you kindly tell me the colors or your sleeve. Then mine." It was not a question but he didn't give her a chance to answer. "Well in case you are just stupid or you hadn't taken opportunity to realize. Your sleeve is red and mine is blue. Which means to you, my word is the only law you obey. If I say jump you do so without hesitation. If I say eat, you eat until I say you are full. Now you will retrieve the grim covered omelet from the waste bin and eat every god damned bite. Then you will join me outside and we will begin you examination. Have. I. Made. Myself. Clear?" He then walked out of the room and signaled the housekeeper. It was her turn.

The housekeeper, Oka Niabia, walked into the kitchen. "You know. I've known Scipio since he joined the runners, there are few times I've heard him get that mad. The last time was when he and the two red sleeves under his command were ambushed. He told them to run, and they refused. They were cut down by the attackers. What made him boil over is the fact that they would have survived had they ran. We here in Society have a dangerous job. You see, a runner's life expectancy is less then that of a front line soldier, and a blue sleeve's job is too keep a red sleeve alive long enough for them to become a blue sleeve. At times their absolute command seems trivial. But follow it. For their command is life saving in an attack. Don't worry about the omelet he went a bit overboard. But you might wanna get out there." The house keeper took Scipio's omelet with her then return. "Here is something that you know about Scipio, he just, within the last few weeks, prevented what would have been world war. At times he can be hard and at times he be your strongest ally, but whatever the circumstance, you know he has your wellbeing on his mind. Now go. Best not to keep him waiting too long."

[GoblinFae]

The woman sat in straight-backed, stony silence as her superior reamed her out. Scipio's words though did not have the desired affect on her. In the field she would follow every necessary order without question, but here without assignment or task she would do as she pleased. Jypsei hated eggs and she was not about to start eating them for this man's sake and sense of pride. He could patronize her and lecture her until he was blue in the face. She was not going to budge on this.

Added to Scipio's buzzing was then housekeeper's followup heart-to-heart with Jypsei. The woman rolled her eyes and rose from her chair silently without once glancing back as the other woman finished her yapping. She was not interested in the blue sleeve's records, she knew them by heart now anyway. Many bragged and talked of Scipio and all that she was enough to make Jypsei hate him from the start. She did not like showy people or people who always felt they had to be top dog. There was a time and a place and frankly this was not either.

Exiting, the runner walked to stand beside Scipio, the eggs still left in the trash despite his instructions to finish them. "The name's Danzer. Drop the Miss."

[Zane]

"Alright then Danzer, your first assessment is running. All you gotta do is keep up with me as I run through the city. The test ends in failure if light of sight is broken for more then twenty second. If you can tag the area of my back between my shoulder blades the test ends immediately with success. The test till begin in three. Two." and he took off running, that was standard for the running assessment. Never give the tester the time to end the test before it starts.

He turn off down a narrow alley ended in a dead end, two steps in he kicked off the ground and planted a foot on the wall, launching up and forward then planting his other foot on the opposing wall kicking off and forward yet again. He repeated the process as he ascended up to the rooftops. He didn't even have to use his hands. It was that ingenious maneuver that had won him the Red Cloak Games during his third year as a runner. Only those that had been taught by him knew the move. It was a perilous move to boot. One bad angle and you come crashing down. He didn't even turn to see how she got up to the rooftops. He just hopped on over to the next building. Headed for the city's outer wall.

[GoblinFae]

Her eyes widened in surprise before a growl followed from her lips. "Cheat," she whispered before taking off after him at a slightly slower pace. Jypsei had the strength and power to keep up but she desired to keep her energy for when she would need it. There was no doubt in her mind that he would try and pull other tricks to test her and while this would be a perfect time to show off her skills, cockiness would get her nowhere but back where she started.

There was no hesitation as she observe him bounce up the walls in front of her. Instead of attempting his motions, she jumped on top of an ale barrel of a brewery before swinging up to its overhanging sign and from there onto the roof to fall back into chasing after Scipio.

'You'll have to do better than that to lose me. I live this for this,' she thought, leaping from one roof to the next and feeling the sense of weightlessness that came from being midair.

[Zane]

He was three roofs tops away when he decided to look back, she wasn't that far behind but she had a long way to go to catch up to him. Arca was his playground. He jumped down to the streets, rolling to break his fall. Now came the fun part of the test, running through crowds. He dodged and weaved like a pro, which he was, he had years of practice doing this.

[GoblinFae]

Jypsei chose to remain on the rooftops for as long as she was able, running parallel to the blue sleeve to avoid the hoards of people gathering on the streets for their daily activities. However, she could go so far before they reached the open center square where rooftops were limited and vendor stalls ran in abundance.

She swan-dived off the roof top, rolling into forward motion and back onto her feet in the last seconds before taking off after Scipio. Running on the uneven cobblestones played with her gait making it hard to keep her even pace as she wove in and out of the crowds. The runner had to be conscious enough to keep one eye on her target and the other on the newest empty space to hop into before someone else stepped there on her way to closing in on the blue sleeve.

The problem though was that while short and quick, the tide of people was ever changing. While Jypsei could practice the streets all she wanted, this flow's only constant was the amount of random changing it underwent and that did nothing to assist her in the here and now.

A man suddenly knocked into her, sending her sprawling. By the time she was on her feet again, she did not know which direction Scipio had gone and was likely to lose if she did not catch sight of him soon. Continuing in the direction she had last seen him, she prayed that he could still see her as she pushed her way forward forcefully.

[Zane]

Scipio was losing Jypsei, that much he knew. Over half of all runners that take these tests fail when they have to run though the crowds, it was a fact of life. Most people that had only been a runner for two to three years would not have the expertise to keep up will someone that has been running for seven or more years, especially though a crowd, that is not something that can be learned quickly. the real test was what they did once they lost sight of the target, did they give up, or push forward. In reality, the only way to fail the running test is to have the target come look for you, which means that the tester gave up, or to go the wrong way.

Scipio was at the main gate to Arca, called the Heaven's Gate by runners simply because the Arca House was the most luxurious of all the runner houses not to mention the largest. He planted his foot on the wall and his fingers in the crack between the masonry and began to climb. In a short amount of time he had made it to the top of the wall, having done the climb countless times helped for speed. He looked out to the crowds. "Where are you Danzer?"

[GoblinFae]

Reaching the center with alleys in various directions all around her, Jypsei had no choice but to stop and assess her surroundings. There was no evidence to support her going in either direction yet if chose poorly she would fall even further behind. Staying in place though would inevitably bring about the same end.

She fought to bite back her frustration, knowing that it would only cloud her mind and would be the sure-fire way to make her lose her final test. The runner had not come this far and dealt with so many people, especially the arrogant blue sleeve, in order to fail now.

Jypsei closed her eyes and breathed out a long, slow breath before letting them flash open. 'I am no good here like a sitting duck. Higher ground gives the advantage of sight.' Scanning the vicinity around her, she caught sight of a somewhat crumbling wall. Using loose bricks as handholds, the red sleeve pulled herself up, to crouch on top of one of the main archways.

A hand raised to shield her eyes from the midday sun, as indigo eyes scoured the circle. 'There!' A shadow against the high sun revealed the tall figure of her objective. Not waiting to see if he too had caught sight of her, Jypsei took off at a dead run, feet placed surely one in front of the other on the narrow strip of stone, determination written in every line of her body.

'I will not fail.'

[Zane]

Scipio was still scanning the crowds when movement brought his eyes to a wall off to the left. "Well hello Danzer." He said to himself before turning and walking down the battlement he stood on. The wall Danzer was running on would become a battlement before it came to the edge of the city, where Scipio was.

Scipio climbed up the short ways to the top of a tower on the battlement. There was about thirty five feet between him and the ground now. Climbing onto the edge of the tower, turning his back to the drop. Danzer was getting closer.

[GoblinFae]

High up on the stone wall, there was not much Jypsei could do but continue forward. There was no room for error, lest she tumble the long, painful way down. She was determined to not let that happen though. She wanted to prove it to this arrogant blue sleeve that she was better than him, that she was both unafraid and qualified.

Putting on more speed, the red sleeve sprang forward to grapple with the parapet in front of her, her hands slipping as they struggled to find purchase even as her feet and knees dug in. Not allowing herself to stop, Jypsei propelled herself upward, anxious to reach the top before her arms gave out. A burn had already started to settle in and she made a mental note to work on her extended climbing. Swinging herself up onto higher ground was no problem but climbing the way she was now could pose problems in the future.

At last she was able to hoist herself up the final hurdle and onto the platform of the battlement. In order to get to Scipio she still had to get down the other side and run another length of wall before going to his corner of the wall. She paused long enough to consider her options as well as regain some of her breath.

'I won't be able to climb like that again but that doesn't mean that I can't fake him into coming down. He can't stay up there all day after all and I won't have lost because he will be within my sights. Brilliant! Nearly over now Danzer, show him what you've got!'

Making an incredibly risky jump, Jypsei let herself roll off the parapet with every intention of landing on the narrow strip of wall below to resume her run. What she had not expected though was the looseness of the stone her right foot would land on. The rolling dive was perfect up until that moment and then in a heart-stopping fall, she felt the stone give way and her body begin to fall over the outer side of the wall.

[Zane]

Spicio watched with awe at her jump, she was ballsy, and whether that was good or not remained to be seen. However, luck was not with her this time around as she toppled when the morter gave way. "Catch yourself Danzer. You could do this in your sleep." The Blue Sleeved Sirch said to himself.

OOC:Yeah this is a weak post. But it is a post nonetheless!

[GoblinFae]

Thankfully as she started to keel over the leg still standing on the wall was able to hook onto the wall. With an abrupt jerk her back slammed into the wall as the bend of her left knee kept her locked in place. Jypsei had just enough time to curl her chin into her chest before she brained herself right then and there.

Her first instinct after ensuring she was not about to fall that second was to glance in Spicio direction. "I still see you!" she shouted, more concerned about losing than falling from her precarious position. Already her knee was screaming at her for the strain of keeping her entire body from falling.

She tried to raise her other leg to latch onto the wall and found herself nearly flipping off the wall entirely. Relaxing again she placed her hands flat against the wall by her ears and worked giving herself a little momentum before pushing with all of her might at the same time as pulling with her leg and curling her body inwards.

The runner flung herself up to straddle the wall. She was not going to fall to her death today. Hands placed firmly on the wall, she pushed herself into a handstand before Jypsei was on her feet again and running. The race was on.

[Zane]

Scipio shrugged when she shouted to him but gave no reply. Once she was back atop the wall, Scipio nodded and continued to run along the wall. At this point, he was a good 20 feet above the ground outside the city. Quickly approaching the next part of the exams, he jumped, more dove really, towards a trail that goes around the entire city. Rolling into the impact, he popped back up onto his feet and waited. If she got to him, she passed the first part of the Exam.

[GoblinFae]

Not as willing to kill herself so soon after nearly falling mere moments earlier, Jypsei continued to run down the wall a bit further before she located one of the raised gate entrances into the city and used the metal grating to half-climb, half-slide her way down to the ground before racing off after Scipio.