Round Robin? *looks hopeful*

Apr 02, 2014 23:06

Is anyone interested in writing a Legend of Sun Knight round robin story with me? :3 I would very much like to work on a collaborative story. XD ( Read more... )

the legend of sun knight, round robin, fic

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Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu March 13 2015, 04:26:08 UTC
(*rolls sleeves up* No Hero story? YES, LET'S DO IT. Taking idea letter f from the comment above)

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I'd heard about him from the other merchants. Lately, there's been this guy dressed in a funny fashion going around from stall to stall, buying food in bulk. On top of dressing weirdly, he also talks in a funny way, all old-fashioned, like someone from a previous century or something. I hadn't thought much of it. After all, it was much more likely to see someone running about in revealing clothes and run their mouths off than the opposite.

But when I first saw him myself, I immediately understood why everyone made such a huge fuss about him.

Seriously, who dresses in old-fashioned suits like that in this kind of weather, covered from head to toe?

I watched him chat amiably with the stalls nearby, his bags growing with each stall he frequented. He wore a faint smile on his face, friendly, but not overly inviting. Among the crowd at the market, he stood out a lot. Of course, his clothes had to do with it, but his manner set him apart even more. It couldn't be comfortable always maintaining a posture like his. It was completely bizarre watching such a man carry a bunch of groceries. Gaudy jewels and other expensive stuff would be much more fitting.

When he came to a stop before me, I started and slammed down the chicken I had been holding. I pretended to be busy with the chicken.

Did he notice me watching him?

His next words were even more surprising than his presence, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I was, after all, trying to sell chicken.

"May I ask how much it would cost to purchase three chickens?" he asked, as if his hands weren't already full with groceries. I'd already seen him purchase bags full of pork!

Seriously, who talks like that?!

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu March 31 2015, 06:50:03 UTC
I selected five chickens and placed them on the counter. As the man readjusted his bags, I quickly held out my hands to help.

What the-?

My arms sagged at the weight. I couldn't help but remark, "That's a lot of food. You stocking up for an apocalypse?"

The man smiled and bowed slightly rather than shaking his head, "Not at all, Charles is simply buying groceries for the children of his family."

Okay, it's not just his clothes. His way of speaking is simply too stiff!

I pointed a chicken at him suspiciously. "Aren't you a little too young to be calling yourself a father?"

From the way he stiffened, I could tell my guess was right.

"Does Charles really look so young?"

This guy, did he seriously think he could pass for an old man?

I decided to tease him a bit. "Nevermind a father! Are you even of legal age to be married?"

"..."

This guy is simply too entertaining! It looked like my words had struck a huge blow. All he had to do was look in a mirror to tell I was joking!

I laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. "If you're going to pretend to be a father, at least wear a wedding ring."

That seemed to break him out of his stupor. He looked at me apologetically, "Charles must apologize. He did not mean to mislead you. By children, Charles only meant his younger siblings"

...Did he really think he could change his mind at the last second?

"Siblings huh? How many?"

"Tw- twelve." For a second, it sounded like he'd wanted to say two. He handed me two chickens.

I placed the first chicken on the chopping board. "You take care of all them? What about your parents?"

“Our esteemed mother passed away early.”

"So you're the oldest?"

"No," He spoke carefully as if afraid I would suspect his age again. "Charles is the second eldest. However, while Father and Dage are working, he would take care of the kids."

I finished packaging the second chicken and he handed me the third one.

"Okay, that still doesn't explain why you're wearing so much."

"That's..." I could practically see the gears whirring in his head.

I smacked him with the chicken. "Don't worry about it, Charles! Your secret is safe with me."

He paled but still tried his gentlemanly smile on me. "I-it's not what you- I don't understand what you mean."

He snuck a sheepish glance at me. I just grinned. He finally dropped the polite speech!

"Yeah, you know, there were signs. But don't worry I won't tell anyone!"

"What signs?"

I lowered my voice. "You're wearing so many layers even though it's this hot! Only someone trying to disguise their gender would do something so unnecessary."

Did I guess wrong? Unexpectedly, he was making a helpless expression at me.

"I mean, what kind of man goes grocery shopping regularly? Right?"

He sighed dramatically. (And if I wasn't imagining things, with some relief.) "The truth is Charles is allergic to sunlight."

"You are? What would happen if you- you know."

He smiled looking paler than before. "I'd die."

"....."

I gave him a fourth chicken on the house.

After that, I helped him gather up his bags.

I couldn't help but sigh. "It's a pity."

He tried to console me. "It's not so bad not being able to touch direct sunlight. Really."

"Not about that. Don't get me wrong; that's a pity too. I meant your gender." I shook my head. "Sigh, if you had really been a woman, you'd totally be my type."

"Type of what?" He tilted his head completely dismissing the important part.

"I mean, where else are you going to find someone who can cook, likes taking care of people with a gentle smile and won't wear revealing clothes in front of other men? Tsk tsk what a waste!"

"Ow!" I didn't get to see Charles' reaction because I felt the smack of a chicken on the back of my head.

"Son, you'd better not be slacking off! Look, you made our guest drop his things.”

I retorted, "'Son, don't go smacking people with chickens. What will our guests think?'"

Ducking the second swing, I crouched down with Charles to pick up the few items he dropped. "Sorry Charles."

"It's no trouble, thank you."

I picked up a small box and was about to hand it over when I happened to glance at the cover.

It was a pack of bullets.

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(/o.o)/ *passes on

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 4 2015, 16:53:51 UTC
Charles suddenly didn't seem so much like ideal girlfriend material anymore.

Carrying around small handguns wasn't too uncommon in a crime-infested place like Sunset City, especially for a weak-looking guy like him, but carrying around an entire box of bullets was considerably weirder.

How many times did he think he'd have to refill his gun? Did he meet muggers everyday on the way back from the market? Who would think a guy carrying around vegetables and five catties of pork had anything worth stealing?

He must have noticed the odd expression on my face, but took the box naturally from my hand.

“My apologies. Charles was being too careless. My younger... My younger fifth sister insists on learning how to protect herself, since she is away from home for most of her time. I promised I would teach her to shoot this weekend.”

No wonder he needed an entire box of bullets. At least I wasn't dealing with a trigger-happy psycho.

I winked at him as I moved back behind the counter, trying to show that no harm was meant. “Away from home? Is your sister living with other relatives?”

Must be difficult having a guy as a surrogate mother. Even if Charles could cook and take care of people, the overly-polite way he acted made him seem more suitable to be a high-class chef somewhere than a mommy.

“After our mother died, Father decided he did not want to lose anyone from the family again. But my younger fifth sister was required to move to a dormitory for college and she may only return on the weekends.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at this, I'm wondering where the chicken merchant's father went...
I wasn't sure where I was going with this, so someone else can take a turn now!

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 5 2015, 00:49:32 UTC
If Charles' sister looked anything like him, she would be quite the looker. I wonder if she's just as conservative as her older brother? Or is Charles a special case?

Ahhhh, I'm so curious!

It was too bad Charles had already left, or else I would definitely ask him about his younger fifth sister.

"Was that Charles?" asked the old granny who sold vegetables.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"What a considerate fellow, isn't he?"

"Yup."

In this day and age it was rare indeed for someone to do so much for their family. I can't imagine having such a huge family with so many siblings, and having to take care of all of them. Weird though he was, Charles was a good fellow. Heh, he seems the kind that would never get his head smacked with a chicken by his dad!

The rest of my customers for the evening were a lot less interesting than Charles, and most only bought one chicken or even just half of one. Charles had already bought bags full of pork, yet he still walked away with four chickens. I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last I'd see of him!

As the sun set, I cleared up the stall, getting ready to go home. As I was covering up the crates, the television screens on the side of the far buildings flashed with today's late night news.

I looked up at the screen. The other vendors did the same.

-----

(Oh wait, this was supposed to highlight the awesomeness of the chicken merchant hmmm XD;; *passes it on*)

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 5 2015, 05:50:13 UTC
There wasn't much to watch so far: First Wind dropped off another “surprise present” drug dealer in front of the police office today. The police apprehended some petty criminals of their own. A house in the south end of the city had caught fire. The reporter announced a "thrilling news story" about the heroes once the commercial break was over. I hoped it was about Dragon Peace.

“Excuse me. I would like to buy another two chickens.”

I looked away from the screen.

It was unusual to have a customer this late past the afternoon rush for dinner supplies, but then again, Charles was a pretty unusual guy in the first place.

“Back again? I would have thought those groceries would have been enough to last even your family an entire week!”

Charles smiled wryly. “My younger fifth sister called home to say she would like me to cook some chicken for her when she returns tomorrow. She is quite fond of it because she claims it has less fat than most other meat. If I do not buy more today, all she will have left to eat at dinner tomorrow will be the bones our younger siblings have left behind.”

“In that case, I have two chickens left here... They may be a bit small, but they're definitely tender! Boiling them for soup would be the best, but they'd also be perfect to fry up. Even if the young lady's watching her weight, little kids like fried food the most! And indulging now and then in comfort food has no harm...”

Charles' wry smile turned into a genuine one as I spoke. He chuckled, “That's certainly true. Would you mind cutting them into--”

“Hands up! Put that bag down! Now give me any valuables you've got! Including those fancy clothes!” A wild-eyed, unkempt, young man was holding a Taser, aimed at Charles.

Charles set down the only bag he was currently holding, taking care not to damage the container of milk it held.

The man seemed to be paying no attention to me.
~~~~~~~~~
*forcibly drags Charles back for no good reason* Sorry Charles. You probably can't score a free meal off this guy. Anyway, he doesn't sound too clean. I don't think you'd like him.

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 5 2015, 07:18:03 UTC
Even though it wasn't all that bright anymore, the sun wasn't completely gone yet. The guy wants Charles to strip? Charles would die! I can't let a customer die! He hasn't even introduced me to his younger fifth sister yet either! What would happen to Charles' family if he died? Who would take care of them?

Since the guy wasn't paying any attention to me, I slowly reached behind me, hands blindly trying to find something useful. Good thing Charles' bag is blocking the guy's view of the table.

Rats, I'd already packed my knives and hadn't had time to take them out again before this man came stumbling in.

"Take those damn clothes off!"

Charles wasn't moving, no doubt in a dilemma over getting exposed to the sun.

Come on, isn't there something I can use...

My hands touched something cold.

Ah.

Well, this would be for a good cause!

I closed my hands around a thigh, lifting the rest of the body, and flung the chicken at the man, watching the dead bird soar through the air under the red hues of the sunset.

It was beautiful watching the very moment the featherless lump smacked the guy on the face, but no luck, he still had the taser gripped firmly. Hm, the chicken really was too small.

I grabbed the second chicken.

It was then that Charles reacted.

-----
(the poor chicken!!!)

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 8 2015, 17:28:30 UTC
Charles dove towards the man faster than I’ve ever seen a person move. With speed like that, he could have easily knocked the taser out of the man’s hand.

But, completely disregarding the man, Charles reached out both hands to catch the chicken.

Thanks to his fast reaction, Charles was able to grasp the edge of the chicken’s wing.

But, caught off guard, the thief knocked Charle’s hand away from him, and chicken slipped from his grasp and landed with a small plop on the ground.

Charles stood frozen in his position.

Although I couldn’t see Charle’s face, the thief’s eyes began to widen. His hand held the taser up to his face in a white knuckled grip, not as a weapon but as a shield.

After a few moments, Charles lowered his hand slowly, but the thief flinched and fell down on his backside.

“Watch out!” I shouted. As the thief fell, a click told me he’d pressed the button on his taser.

Metal probes shot out from the mouth of the taser. Charles ducked and the probes flew over him.

Oh wait, aren’t I standing behind Charles?

I yelped as the probes flew at me. On instinct, I raised the second chicken and smacked at them.

I felt a small jolt in my arm and quickly let go.

We watched in shock as the second chicken fried to a crisp.

“Shameless!”

I must’ve blinked because the next thing I knew, Charles had closed the distance between him and the thief who was standing again. He grabbed the thief and held him up by the collar. With a great show of strength, Charles slammed the thief against the wall of a building.

Damn Charles, all that for a chicken?

Clap clap clap! To my side, my old man had come out to see what all the commotion was about. But why was he clapping?

My father wiped a tear from his eye. “I’ve never seen such a wonderful display of respect for the chicken! Indeed, the chicken should never be dirtied by the floor or cooked until it is overdone. Bravo Charles!”

Charles wiped his hands and turned towards us. “I agree, esteemed father. When you personally take a life for the sake of food, in respect for the one who gave up its life, you must never waste food.”

My father nodded profusely. “Yes yes! It’s a pity you are not a young lady or otherwise, I’d have liked to have a daughter as well-mannered as you.”

“…Charles, stop nodding! Don’t bond with my old man over something so unnatural! Old Man, Charles is clearly a man.”

My old man shook his head at me. “Ah, but there’s no way I’d ever be able to convince Charles to marry this worthless son of mine.”

“You-”

“Monster!” My old man was saved from my brilliant retort by the cry. The thief suddenly charged towards Charles.

Charles easily grabbed the thief’s fist but his hand held no weapon.

The thief jeered at Charles; spikes shot out from under the plastic skin of his hand.

So he had modifications!

Charles let go and shoved his hand in his pocket but not before I glimpsed red.

With a kick, Charles sent the thief flying back to the wall.

“STOP! YOU IN THE FANCY COAT!” A hero stood on top of one of the nearby buildings. “Don’t you dare bully the poor! What are you doing attacking a weaponless man!”

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Indeed, the poor chickens. Charles and the father definitely understand your pain. *nods* o.o

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Re: Story 4: A Day in the Life of lucathia_rykatu April 9 2015, 03:15:21 UTC
Obviously, I was using the term “hero” very loosely here. The “hero” on the roof clearly wasn't any of the four great heroes, and was even inept enough to completely misinterpret the situation here. If the kid wasn't careful, he'd end up dead in an alleyway in no time. It takes a lot of smarts to avoid being killed by the bad guys.

He was dressed stylishly, but didn't have the presence of a true hero. It was more like a youngster playing dress up.

I yelled back up to him. “Leave this to the professionals! Call the police to clean up, or help us shoo off this punk!”

The mugger didn't seem like he was planning on going any where. In fact, he looked like he was trying hard not to pass out from being flung into a wall.

Maybe Charles wouldn't need to carry around a handgun to defend himself after all...

Charles was making no move to finish off the mugger, but he was wearing an expression as if he was staring at something nasty he was about to wipe off his shoes.

The “hero” looked down at us and hollered, “Don't you dare touch him! Or I'll ensure you're paid back in kind!”

My father suddenly joined in our long-distance conversation and boomed back, “In that case, you can help pay for these two chickens! Your 'friend' lying there is responsible for accosting our customer and ruining our merchandise!”

The “hero” looked taken aback. He said something that we couldn't quite catch and disappeared from the rooftop.

“Is he gone then?” I asked, mostly to myself.

Charles was back to his usual unruffled appearance, although he was still carefully watching the mugger. He replied, “The hero said he would be coming down to deal with the miscreant.”

I frowned. “Do you think that guy will be taking the stairs or the elevators down from the roof?”

The “hero” reappeared at the roof's edge, lowered a rope down, and began climbing.

Why does this look so pathetic...?

We patiently waited for him to inch slowly downward until he finally made it back to the ground. My father spent the time we were waiting to wipe down the counter once more.
~~~~~
XD I can totally imagine the chicken merchant and his father being Dragon Peace fans now! For the animals!

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