You love this town

[carrytheshield]

WHO: James Rogers and OPEN
WHERE: Around the City
WHEN: Any time
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: James explores his new habitat alone, meets interesting people
FORMAT: log, stuff, words

Comments

[inthirds]

Further from the downtown sector, there was a fairly generous space of vacant land squeezed between a trio of condemned buildings of fairly generous size, giving it an almost arena-like quality to it on three sides. The block itself seemed more or less abandoned, given the amount of damage it had seen in the past two years of imPorts. The business-minded types may have forgotten it, but their absence was filled by a scarce few other people that put it to good use.

After all, it was damn near impossible to find a decent place to train for anything in that damn City.

The ground was cracked and uneven, dusted with rubble and the odd, broken boulders and spires here and there. There were scorch marks on fewer, indicators of more than a little average horseplay. Weeds had sprung up all over the place, making the whole plot look uglier, but hey. Space was space.

Zelgadis had grown to like that plot the best for its lack of company. Before he'd been cured, it was safe to study and train without his heavy mantle stifling him in the summer. He didn't need that to hide anymore, but the day's wind-tunnel breeze was damn cold, so the hood was drawn up as he worked. He was standing straight and still, sword held tightly in both hands. The blade was black and red, crackling and humming with a spell that he'd long since catered for himself. Sure, it was no Sword of Light, but he'd evened the playing field between himself and the monsters with this trick.

The goal at the moment was to make it last. Spells like the Astral Vine required a lot of willpower to endure, and sometimes it just wasn't enough to keep going in a fight. For lack of a sparring partner, Zelgadis had chosen a bit of conditioning for his benefit. And, if he were honest about it, it was a comfort. Trying to fit in with the people of that world was hard and oftentimes humiliating. The blade was something to come back to and at least feel marginally good about.

So that was the scene: a mainly-vacant plot of abandoned land with a mostly-distracted swordsman therein with a definitely-magicked sword hissing in his hands. His attention kept him from noticing any passers-by right away.

[carrytheshield]

As James past a vacant area with rubble and noticed someone with what seemed to be a magic sword of some kind, he slowed down. People had told him there were a surprising number of people with powers here, but James hadn't seen many of them yet.

This guy was probably one of those people. James stopped to watch, curious. He had never used a sword himself, but he'd grown up alongside Torunn, who's sword was as much a part of her as James' shield was a part of him. It was a little strange to see someone else with a sword, although the way he moved seemed nothing like how Torunn used her sword.

Regardless, James was fascinated, and watched in silence for several minutes.

[inthirds]

Zelgadis held position for those several minutes, arms twitching with fatigue now and then. Willpower was only as affective as the attention span was long, and it was hard to keep the mind from wandering after a while. One stray thought could immediately cascade into another, and it was no exception then and there. He stifled a grunt as his focus waned, setting the spell to crackling. It left in a shrill whistle, dispelling and leaving the blade its regular color.

The weight of effort lifted and Zelgadis sagged, stepping out of stance with a heavy sigh. He'd hoped to hold out a little longer, but it wasn't a complete loss. That was minutes longer than his last attempt - a sign of getting stronger without being subject to Rezo's curse.

He glanced the spectator while he was wiping his forehead. He stopped immediately, straightening back up and squinting. Who-?

[carrytheshield]

After a moment of quiet staring, James spoke. "Hello." He wasn't sure what else to say. He considered asking about what he'd been doing.

Instead he stood there awkwardly, wondering if this guy was one of the many villains James had been told lived here, or if they were on the same side. Well, if he was a villain, at least James knew help was only a call away.

[inthirds]

Neither the voice nor the face was at all familiar, Zelgadis was certain. Fairly certain; his track record with recalling this or that in the City wasn't very immaculate.

"Who are you?" he called, perhaps a bit harder than he'd intended. Whoever it was didn't look that formidable (or old), but appearances only counted for so much. That was just as true in the City as it was back on his world, the major difference being how damn impossible it was to keep track.

Hence, caution came before giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. It was hard to be all that friendly-looking with a smoking blade in hand, too, but that wasn't really on Zel's mind at the moment.

[carrytheshield]

"I'm James," He said, although that probably wasn't very helpful, James didn't know what to add to it.

He wasn't worried about a fight. James was sure of his skills against a swordsman. But he didn't want to get into an unnecessary fight either. "Who are you?"

[inthirds]

Zelgadis shifted weight to one leg, considering. A sign of (relatively) good faith came by way of letting his arms drop and take the blade with it, propping it up in the dirt and resting his hands on the pommel. If he ended up needing it, it was faster than outright sheathing the thing. This 'James' was probably just a regular civilian, anyhow. A...fairly toned one, sure.

...With a giant shield on his back. Right.

"Zelgadis." A slight pause, still wondering about that shield. Maybe...

"Did you come here to train?"

[shoot me if he doesn't actually have the shield on him at the moment sobs]

[carrytheshield]

[Oh he will always have the shield on him. It's like another limb.]

James shook his head at the question about training, "I'm new here, I'm just learning my way around the city," James explained. Zelgadis seemed to have calmed down, so James relaxed a little more too.

"Do you always use a sword?" His curiosity was obvious. From what he knew about the recent past in his world, most people didn't use swords, and James had been under the impression it was rare.

[inthirds]

"There's not too much that can be done with a sword in this place," Zelgadis replied, frowning faintly. It was true enough, despite not liking it. Had the blade been his only quality, it would've been harder to admit. Still, his head tilted up just slightly with what pride he had in remarking beyond that. "Magic is handier."

[carrytheshield]

Knowing nothing about magic aside from what he'd heard in stories, James was willing to take Zelgadis' word on that. Some of the stories he'd heard about magic were very impressive.

"I have a friend at home who uses a sword... but I don't know anyone that can do magic. How does that work? Were you using magic just then?"

[inthirds]

"You're asking something pretty broad," Zelgadis said, tone flattening. He was either new or woefully uninformed, that James-person. "Magic seems to have different properties depending on the world."

The sword tilted as he shifted weight, still keeping it upright with a palm on the pommel. "But that was magic. My magic."

[carrytheshield]

"I've heard stories about travel to other realities before, but I've never done it until now," James explained.

"That's really neat."

[inthirds]

The compliment (as it was, he supposed) was bypassed; Zelgadis' attention was on James' other remark.

"You've just arrived here, then," he observed, his tone a slight inquiry. It was still possible he'd been around for a while, only less interested in exploring. Zelgadis could've understood the sentiment; the City was a ridiculous mess to him.

[carrytheshield]

"I didn't just arrive, but I haven't been here for more than a few days. It's so loud in this city," James answered. Much louder than Ultra city had been, with the constant soft buzz and hum of machines and only occasional loud noise of a large robot nearby.

[inthirds]

"Hmnh."

It was a dull but agreeing sound, sign of someone either not very sociable or just trying to act a bit cool. Or both. In Zelgadis' of case, it was both. He turned a quarter of the way away from James, lifting his sword again and holding it level, twisting it to catch light and spot any fresh nicks or chippings.

"It's been quieter than usual," he remarked dryly. "There's too many troublemakers packed together here."

[carrytheshield]

"I've been told that strange things always happen here," James said, "But it sounds like there are enough people here to stop the troublemakers."

He looked at the sword curiously as it caught the light, and took a few steps forward. "Have you always used a sword?"