Killing the enemies with ease, the four-man (well, two males, one female, and one male dog) group made their way to the hold on a lovely walk. It was for Estelle so lovely, peaceful, and great to be able to walk near Yuri and Repede again and travel with them once more. She reminisced of the journey that started with coincidentally a trip to see Flynn and it ended up with a trip to every place in the world first stop blastia thieves, then about the Child of the Full Moon legacy and Alexei, then stopping Duke from his way against the Adephagos.
"I'm so happy!" she ended up cheering out loud, "This brings back such wonderful memories."
"Oh, right," Yuri said, smiling as they walked next to her, "It's just like when we both escaped out of the castle and hurried to see Flynn."
"Yes, and then we went towards Halure and ended up meeting Karol and Rita, and soon Patty, Raven, and Judith as well," she smiled, as the group started to travel towards the hold.
"Ahh, the tear-causin' memories of how I met you youngings," Raven said, making his voice to sound trembling as in to cry, "It warms my heart so to love those times we've had together."
"If I recall, not only did we meet in jail, old man, but you nearly screwed us back at Ragou's place in Capua Nor," Yuri rolled his eyes and said, not even looking at him, "Not to mention those times you whined about eating food you didn't like, the pervy things you've said, and the sheer stupid you... I've tried to get treatment to get those memories removed from my head."
"Yuri, that's not nice, even for Raven!" Estelle scolded him.
"Hah! At least, someone cares for the old man," Raven taunted in addition, "I guess it just takes a sweet lady to appreciate the greatness of ol' Raven."
"Yeah, yeah," Yuri waved it off and said, "Anyways, we need to get over to the hold. Flynn's gonna need our help cleaning up, so we should get over as soon as possible."
"Don't worry; we'll make sure we've cleanin' up as soon... as..." Raven began saying cheerfully, but suddenly he paled up with widened eyes.
"Raven? Are you okay?" Estelle asked, as the group looked at him.
"Oh drat! Estelle, we left Tai back in Zaphias!" he yelled to the princess, looking with a face filled with horror.
Gasping and feeling regretful for leaving the anti-social teenager behind in a place like this, she covered her mouth in remorse and said, "Oh, no! We need to go back and get him!"
"Don't bother... I'm right here."
The voice, which was filled with anger and fatigue, caused the group to turn behind them and see Tai, panting for air and bit injured a bit from visible monster attacks. After catching his breath, he looked up angrily up at the princess and old man and gritted his teeth.
"Estelle... Raven... I want answers," he said as he attempted to walk forward.
He walked right to the point of a metal sword that was suddenly held to his face and a sudden body stood in front of him. He looked to see Yuri holding his sword at him, keeping him away as he stood in front of Estelle and Raven. He also noticed that Repede had come behind him, and readied his blade in his teeth, slightly growling a bit and waiting for the signal to attack.
"Y-Yuri!" Estelle said, slightly taken back and worried as Raven blinked in shock.
"If you're smart, you won't take another step before I ask some questions," the man said with a serious look, "You make any movements before I ask my questions, and my partner and I won't be responsible to whatever happens to you. So, just calm down, first, alright?"
Four. This was the fourth person today to get in his face. He was not gonna let some pretty boy with long hair order him around. He closed his eyes and growled in frustration.
"Estelle, can you tell your boyfriend to get outta my face?" he said, in a bit of a demand.
It was then the biggest silence came as even the wind stayed still. But it was soon broken by Raven's hysterical laughter. The old man guffawed at what the teen said and literally struggled to breath as he fell on the ground and held his stomach, causing Tai to open his eyes and his rottenness to go away. The most baffeling look came across Yuri and Repede's faces as their eyes widened, totally not expecting such a thing to be said about the man. And poor Estelle's face turned red like a gel; she waved her hands at Tai as if to say 'wait'.
"B-Boyfriend?" Yuri was barely able to get out of his mouth as he managed to keep his sword in front of them.
"N-No, Tai! It's not like that!" Estelle said, waving her hands considerably fast.
"Oh, he's not your boyfriend?" Tai raised his eyebrow to her.
"No!" Estelle shouted a bit as Yuri looked down a bit and blinked a few times.
"Then how come he's so defensive of you when I talked to you angrily? I mean, I wouldn't attack you, but still; how he and his dog is so protective of you, it gives that 'dating' feel," the teen said.
"Estelle is a good friend of mine. We're not in a relationship, as much as you think," Yuri answered, recovering from the shock, "But she's a close friend of mine, and I don't take kindly to people just coming up to my friends and yelling at them."
"I didn't even yell... Estelle, can you please tell him and his dog to get off my back?" Tai groaned rolling his eyes, and then looked back to the princess.
With a silent yes, she walked over to Yuri's side, quickly healing the teen, and said, "Yuri, please. This young man was the one who helped me journey from Halure to Deidon Hold."
Turning his head to look at her, he replied with an instant, "Wait, HE helped you? I thought the old man was the one who brought you to the capital."
"Sorry, kid," Raven winked with a grin, barely able to say through gasps, "But that's where ya are mistaken. I only joined the two youngings from the hold. It was Tai here who helped Estelle make her travelin' outside of Halure to begin with."
"Ahh, well then, I guess I can back off for now, but I still want to ask some questions," the man said, turning his gaze back onto Tai, yet sheathing his sword.
Wow, this guy was a bit on the stubborn side, wasn't he? Even after Estelle told him to back off, he still was in his face about him. Watching the dog walk past him and sheath his own sword, soon standing by the long haired man, he put his hands in his pockets and watched Raven stand up, brushing himself off.
"What's your name?" Yuri asked.
"Tai Hurokido," the teen said, revealing his whole name.
"Where are you from?"
"Halure."
"What are you doing around with Estelle and Raven?"
"I thought Raven just told you," Tai folded his arms, grumbling from his hood.
"He may have explained why you three came to Zaphias, but that doesn't explain why you and Estelle left Halure in the first place," Yuri said, lowering his brow in a serious tone as if to intimidate him.
As the teen rolled his eyes, Estelle luckily stepped in, "I wanted to go visit Flynn for a nice chat. The mayor said I needed somebody to go with me, and thus Tai came along. However, Flynn had to go to Capua Nor and the rest is exactly how Raven explained it."
"Very well," Yuri said, still glaring at Tai, "but I am going to give you a warning. If you try to pull anything shady or sneaky while you're with us, I won't be responsible for what I'll do."
"...If this is your way of trying to intimidate me, you're doing a piss poor job," Tai glared right back and said straight-up, "I'm not scared of your little threat, all right?"
It caused Yuri to grit his teeth from behind his closed lips and become angry. This kid had one hell of a mouth and he wasn't backing down. He couldn't stand punks who would talk back no matter what, and he secretely worried that Tai would end up doing something bad to Estelle... and the old man maybe. Repede growled, bearing his teeth at the teenager after he said that to his owner. A slight glance given to him, Tai looked at Yuri again.
"And your dog can growl at me all you want; I'm not scared. If you're gonna attack me, then do so, but don't waste my time," he said.
"Hehe, might as well give up on intimidatin' Tai, ya two," Raven chuckled, suddenly lightening the mood, "He's not gonna be backin' down anytime soon."
Swearing a slight chance that there might have been a chuckle from him, Estelle walked in between the two, causing them to lighten up looking at her, and said, "Please, both of you stop it. I don't want us to fight; we're going to be traveling with each other."
"Yeah, she's right, ya know," the old man rubbed his head, "We can't have ya two and the pooch kickin' the crud out of each other."
"You're right," Yuri said, nodding as Repede calmed down too, "I lost my cool a bit. Sorry about getting a bit upset, Tai."
"No, it's all my fault," the teen replied, waving it off, "It's not you that made me upset. It's just the fact that you're the fourth time someone has gotten up into my face..."
"Huh? Fourth time?" Estelle perked her head up and looked at him.
"While all of you guys were talking, some bozo knights came up in my face, and starting accusing me of being a criminal," Tai explained, grunting a bit in frustration, "They said I was going to attack Estelle because I was apart of some claw that belong to a leviathan or something like that..."
All of them gave him different yet strange looks at this statement as Raven asked, "Really, now? What did these knights look like?"
"You want their description or MY version?" Tai said, glaring irritatedly at the old man, folding his arms.
"Might as well go with yours," Raven laughed, then put his hands on his head.
"One looked like a twig with bloated lips, and the other was fat and short like a baby," the teen grumbled.
"That would be Adecor and Boccos," Estelle said, realizing who he talked about.
"Tweedle A and Tweedle B..." Yuri sighed as he put a hand on his hip and shook his head, "Man, those guys are as dull as a pair of rocks."
"Yeah, they're retards," Tai scoffed at them.
"Tai!" Estelle said, shocked at the name he called them by, though even the guys were too and the boy just shrugged it off.
"So, what happened? How'd you get away?" Yuri asked, looking at him.
"I had no freaking choice! I had to fight them and sprint out of the city!" Tai exclaimed, causing the group to be worried for him, "Wonderful... now I'm gonna be labeled as a criminal over something I didn't do, all because some stupid dull knights jump to conclusions way too quickly."
"And if I know those tweedle-heads, they and their hard-headed captain are gonna be following you out of the city to arrest you," the city man said, looking at Raven for some reason, with the old man giving a shrug back.
"What, really? How do you know?" Tai asked, tilting his head.
"Let's just say... I know from personal experience and I've dealt with them before," Yuri said, turning around, as a question mark came above the teen's head, "Let's hurry over to Deidon Hold. We can decide what we'll do about this. Okay?"
"All right," Estelle said, nodding as she walked by his side before saying to the teenager, "And Tai, I'll explain why we're headed to Deidon Hold when we get there, okay? Don't worry; you'll get your answers."
With Tai's silent agreeing nod, Repede silently turned and walked by Yuri's other side, as the trio led the way. Although being safe with his companions, Tai felt like utter scum. Being labeled a criminal for a misunderstanding... this was not at all what he wanted. He looked down a bit in sadness, but soon felt a nudge from a nearby elbow. Raven had smiled at him, motioning with his head to walk beside him and hurry. Causing his smile to return and his attitude uplifted, the teen began moving and the five thus made their way to help Flynn at Deidon Hold.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Tai joined the party.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – Not a great start...
Yuri: (looks to his left, uncaring face) This Tai sure is a cranky guy who can be put in a crappy mood fast, isn't he?
Estelle: (angry/perseverant face) Yuri, you pointed your sword right in his face!
Yuri: (head tilts to the right, upset face) I was standing up for you! What, you want me to just let him be angry at you and possibly harm you?
Raven: (head tilts to the right, eyes shorten, curious face) Ya know, ya could've handled that a lot differently. (Yuri then does neutral face, closes eyes) I think ya could've talked him down instead of pullin' your sword out like that.
Repede: (looks to his left) (Whines) …
Yuri: Look, I acted that way because he acted like that. He was angry and looked hostile; can't help it if I perceived him as a threat. (opens eyes) I was doing what I felt was right. You can't deny I had good intentions.
Tai: (portrait pops up, neutral face) That's easy to say when you're holding the sword. (Everyone looks surprised)
Estelle: Oh, Tai! You were listening?
Tai: I just happened to catch a bit of what Yuri said. So, buddy, here's a tip; (grumpy face, Yuri tilts his head to his left, looks angry) if you want me to calm down, waving your weapon in my face and giving me threats is not the way to do it. You might want to try something more peaceful next time. Just a tip. (neutral face, portrait goes off screen)
Yuri: … (portrait goes off screen)
Raven: (looks to his upper left, tired/thinking face, Estelle looks down, sad face) Whoa... totally right in what he said there. Not a great start.
Repede: (whines) …
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Yikes... Not a great way for Tai and Yuri to meet, is it? And man, again, a escape from Zaphias as knights chase after our heroes. What will happen next? Can Yuri and Repede somehow get along with this anti-social kid? Will they get to the hold in time to assist Flynn? Please let me know how I'm doing and keep going. ^^
