2022-05-10: Noble Red Dragon meets the Noble Snow Fox
- Log: Noble Red Dragon meets the Noble Snow Fox
- Cast: Hiro, Rixia
- Where: Meribia
- Date: 10th May 2022
- Summary: Rixia rests at a park with a delicious fresh bun while someone spies overhead. CRIME happens!!
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Meribia! Wonderful Meribia...
Rixia is taking a break today after the Guard's dragged her off to hitherto unspoken adventures, and is freshly cherishing her relative windfall of Actually Having Money to treat herself to that most luxurious of Rich People Foods... ... a cup of hot cocoa? And... a fresh bun sitting beside her too.
"Haaa... having money sure is nice..." Rixia kicks her legs, draped in black leggings with white boots at her feet.
She kinda looks like a Guard, insofar as the uniform is... sort of there. It looks modified to look... cute? Which can't be regulation, with the detached sleeves and the colourful accessories and the Moogle Charm at her waist. It's very plump and cute.
"Shoes ~ without holes ~ fresh clean clothes ~ don't have to eat ~ stale bread o/~"
She's so happy she starts singing to herself without thinking who's there.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Mmm - she's really living it up. Cocoa. Freshly baked bun. What do you think Hiro - Guard or not?" "That uniform isn't regulation but looks like." Hiro says as he puts a spyglass away, "Probably one of the nice ones? I just get that vibe, but we'd best steer clear." "No no. In fact, I think we should make a point of introducing ourselves to members of the Guard who might be open to our point of view! That way we can come to a mutual understanding. Why don't you go introduce yourself Hiro!" "Huh-! That's very mature of you Ruby. Alright. I'll do just that." "Make a strong first impression why don't you! It's all about the entrance! I'll come in later!" As she waves her little pawsie. Hiro waves back and departs... "Sucker." Cue BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYhNHhxN0A
"I'm gonna snatch that bun!"
-=-=-
"Hey there." A certain shape appears in Rixia's field of view, a hand waving at her, just from the wrong direction. "Really living it up today huh?"
He's opposite to the side of her with the bun, hanging upside down from a lamp post, on the crossbar that someone hooks a lantern on during the evening hours. His legs curled over it with an acrobat. "It's good that someone's paying you for a job well done. Sounds like it was a bit rough for you before?"
Once Rixia looks away, a pawsie starts to slide over the edge of the bench... right towards the bun.
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
dunna naaa! dunna naaa!
Rixia has absolutely no idea she's being spied upon, and blinks a few times with a jolt as someone suddenly greets her while she's singing! That's so embarrassing! Uwaaaaah!!
She lifts her head up and looks at... Hiro, who's... hanging upside down. "Uhhh... yeah, but why're you upside down?"
Oh no, this is way too easy. Ruby's got a clear shot of the delicious bun! That freshly baked aroma! That golden-brown glistening surface, with soft, moist bread waiting to be tucked into within!
Rixia pumps her hands to psyche herself up, tail wagging behind her. "D-do you need help? Hold on, I can get you down!" She declares this before having a real gameplan, waving her hands and trying to get closer to the lamp post to hold her hand out.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro's actually never had anyone ask him why he's upside down - and he's upside down a lot. He's about to answer when she suddenly pumps herself up to come to his aid. "Promise I'm okay!" He says as he waves a hand at her. "I can get down anytime. Though if you're kind enough to offer a hand - feels wrong of me not to take it."
Letting her take his hand with one hand, he swings up his other hand to grip the bar and lets go with his legs. Then he simply drops down, without wrenching or twisting her arm. "Thanks." And then he lets go, not holding on too awkwardly.
"I'm upside down because it makes everything more exciting. A lot of wise people say that life is an adventure, so I just try to take that a bit more literally." He says with a bit of a silly grin, "Whether it's just making an entrance, meeting someone for the first time, or seeing someone again that you haven't in a long time."
He then sticks out his hand again, as if reversing it to offer her /his/ hand. "I'm Hiro by the way. It's nice to meet you Miss-?" He truly is making an introduction, though it's partially a test. He matches a goodly number of Wanted Posters posted up by the Guard in both name and appearance.
Oh no it's too easy. Does Ruby feel guilty about it? ... ... ... The dotted line where the bun once stood points to no. Ruby has already made her getaway and is currently behind some nearby bushes gobbling it up and enjoying every minute of it. She truly is a Vile Fiend!
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia catches Hiro's hand as he promises he's fine and accepts her help, swinging with his hand to grip the bar and drop down in one fell swoop. Rixia's eyes basically shine excitedly and she claps, saying, "Wow, you're super acrobatic! That's amazing! Are you a performer? You could totally get money for that!"
Hiro delivers his wisdom, though, and she goes, "Huh... I've never thought of that. Life's an adventure... so you're treating everywhere you go like you're in the middle of a Dig? That's one way to beat boredom."
Then he introduces himself. "Oh, Rixia! I'm Rixia, from Sagahli."
Sagahli is... an extremely remote, backwater village that dwells in the shadow of Mt. Zulan, and has nothing of particular note in it other than a reputation as somewhere one goes when they want to disappear off the grid. It's not a nice place to live, frozen over all year-round, their crops scarce even under the bounty of the Goddess.
If she knows Hiro's wanted, she sure doesn't respond. Instead, she smiles and says, "Are you a Drifter? I've been meeting so many Drifters ever since joining the Guard like two weeks ago. I've been learning so many shocking things! Tell me some of your stories--"
She moves to lower herself onto the bench and paw for her bun, but it is GONE. She stops and gawks, staring. "Hueeeeeeh?!?! Where'd my bun go??? My bun's gone!! Fueeeeeeeh!!"
Ears and tail have gone to maximum flatness. Morale is down! Critical, critical!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Nah. Though a good friend of mine was part of a caravan of performers. I've learned a lot from her!" Before he then adds as if to assert evidence of the truth of her statement about it beating boredom, "I'm rarely bored."
Then she introduces herself. "Nice to meet you Rixia. Sagahli eh? I've swung through those parts quite a few times, though never visited. I'll have to remedy that sometime."
He's saying that /despite/ it's reputation. Perhaps he's just someone who wants the experience of being there more than thinking he's going to find something.
"Everyone okay back home? It was only a few winters back that the freeze lasted longer than usual..." He knows that because he was a part of the band that brought that unnatural weather to an end, though he doesn't introduce himself that way, simply concerned since he doesn't /know/ how that small village took it.
"Yeah! Though I guess that while we're here on the Silver Star - I'm an Adventurer. And sure, got plenty of tales - what do you want to..."
And then... she returns to find that her bun has been purloined, pilfered, who would be responsible for such larcenous behavior! Hiro sees Rixia so disheartened by it that he's taken aback.
"Oh no! This is awful!" Ruby says as she lands on Hiro's shoulder. The pink winged cat like creature still has a big crumb of bread caught up in the fur right beside her mouth. "Who would do such a thing? ... Ruby by the way!"
Hiro looks sideways at Ruby. A big blinking Utena hand points at the crumb. A hand suddenly runs down his face as he realizes what just happened. "I think I can imagine who /would/ do such a thing." Taking his hand off his face, "Rixia - I'm truly sorry this happened to you while you were..." As he leans his face to eye Ruby, his tone becoming somewhat strained as he realizes how he got duped too, "... /offering me a hand/. Mind if I replace it for you to show my appreciation for your kindness? I can throw in enough for a slice of cake too."
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia whines low and slow as she tries to find the bun but only finds meagre CRUMBS! But then-- Ruby lands on Hiro's shoulder, and she turns to stare at the pink, winged cat creature and--
"Whoa! Aww, you're super cute!" Rixia immediately inflates back up to at least Normal status, taken aback by how adorable Ruby looks. "A talking cat! Ruby, you said? I'm Rixia!"
Rixia doesn't know how much she's just thrown the gauntlet down.
Hiro mentions he should visit, and Rixia rubs her nose. "I mean... there's not a lot there, it's not a real hospitable village. I'd also pack your own food and tent for the night, the inn's a real rat's nest."
Being asked if everyone's okay back home gets Rixia silent for a moment, though. "... sadly, no. My dad left me three years ago, and my adoptive grandma's been taking care of me, but she fell ill when that real bad winter hit and six months ago..."
A longer pause, then she psyches herself back up. "But-- but I'm better now! I mustered everything I had and made the perilous trek here to Meribia -- then the Guard took me in. Mister Leo and Miss Hilde gave me nice shoes and new clothes and even ten silver to eat bread with. They even promised me they'd help look for my dad, since he left with them to Spira three years ago."
Rixia hasn't really spotted the crumbs on Ruby's mouth, but Hiro's generosity has her eyes twinkling again. "Wh-- really? Sure, I guess I'm not gonna say no, but--"
cake
"W-wait, really? Cake? But that's rich people food!"
... yup, this girl's a real backwater bumpkin.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Ruby preens as Rixia calls her super cute. Yet, 'talking cat' causes violence to burn in Ruby's eyes yet, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A-" Suddenly a hand of Hiro's clamps down over Ruby's mouth. "Ruby, be nice." 'After you STOLE her bun!' he seems to say without saying.
Hiro nods along sympathetically, eventually easing his hand off Ruby's mouth. Even without saying it outright, he can guess what happened. He's about to offer his condolences for her grief, when she shifts tonally to one which seems more upbeat, and he figures that she doesn't want to dwell on that right now. "Striking off your own for the first time can be real rough. I'm glad you fell in with Leo and Hilde. They're good people." Hiro rubs the back of his neck, "Ah. If you tell me more about your Dad - I could do my best to keep an eye out too? I travel all over..."
Part of him really wants to give her a hug, but he's kind of afraid that if he did he might make things worse when she's trying to put herself in a better place.
"Yep. Really. My treat." Hiro smiles at her. He doesn't look down on her being a bumpkin, because he /was/ in her position when she first struck out from Gwyn's shack in the desert. He didn't know anything about the world, hadn't even tried basic things. "I know right? It's such a luxury. I never had it myself until I struck out on my own years ago. Now I eat it every opportunity I can. So how about I buy you your first slice to celebrate this great adventure you've set out on?"
Somehow Ruby has deescalated enough to put a great idea into action. "Are you gonna pay for her eye exam first Hiro? Because I feel like you should get your eyes checked Missy!"
Suddenly alighting off of Hiro's shoulder, there's a quick flash of light, and suddenly there's a teenage girl standing before Rixia. Tomboyishly short pink hair with a yellow bow in her hair, a simple white tunic with a pink sash that becomes a bow in the back. White pants that trail to just below the knees, and a pair of simple pink shoes.
"Because from where I'm standing-" Ruby points a finger right at her, "-you're the only talking cat here!}" The crumb is still on her cheek, absolutely shameless.
"Well that's one way to prevent her from having to enforce the arson laws." Hiro quips at Ruby, just shaking his head with a rueful smile, though mostly he's listening to Rixia.
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
Rixia jolts back as Ruby suddenly explodes into violence! She starts waving in mild panic, but Hiro clamps her down. She starts walking towards the direction of the bakery as they talk, as Hiro reminisces about how striking off alone can be rough.
"Yeah, I got lost a few times... nearly got eaten by a bear! Also, my shoes tore apart and the soles were flopping... I pretty much collapsed when I finally made it to Meribia, ahaha..." Rixia scratches her cheek. "I had a bad map, and I was reading it upside down too..."
Hiro offers to look out for her dad too, if she tells her more. "Really? Well-- his name's Alwaid Ronso. He's this big, burly cat with a big horn with white hair and a scraggly beard... and--"
She looks left, and right, for a moment, since Ashe has taught her some basic sense of secrecy. When she's satisfied it's safe, she summons the gunblade into her hand in a small shower of translucent data cubes.
... they sure don't make stuff like that out in the country.
"--he uses an exploding sword that looks like this. He's swing and it'd go BOOM!" She sighs, sagging a little. "He left me all on my own with just a letter three years ago, saying he had to jump on the chance to go back with Spira... so I'm with the Guard to track him down, since apparently he sailed east with them."
... given what happened in Spira, and him being a Ronso, there's a high chance this story has a very unhappy ending ...
Hiro speaks about how he never had it until he struck out, and now he has it every opportunity he can. "Y-yeah! That sounds good. Wow, having cake every time you can have it... do you think I can get that loaded off adventures too?"
Ruby escalates again, though, and-- whoa! Suddenly, she's become a teenage girl with pink hair and a yellow bow in her hair! Then she accuses her of being a cat, and Ruby can just see the exact same reaction fly into Rixia as her eyes burn and her ears and tail shoot up--
"HEY! I'm not a cat! I'm a fox!!" Rixia balks, before-- she seems to realise Ruby just said that a moment ago. Kinship...! She clears her throat and says, "Okay, I guess that was my bad too, Ruby. I'm sorry. What should I call you?"
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"A bear? Yikes. I almost got eaten by some sand sharks first time I set out. ... And a Sand Porpoise, they're even worse than the Sand Sharks, believe it or not." Though it's more than that! Shoes falling apart, a bad map, not reading it incorrectly. Hiro winces in sympathy, "I'd had years of training before I set out, so it wasn't quite that bad. If you ever want pointers - I can offer some... like for example." He holds up a leg that's wrapped up, with part of the shoes too, "Wrapping like this can help keep your shoes intact longer while you're on the road."
The more important subject is her father though so he shifts to that, "Alwaid... Alwaid." Hiro thinks on the issue. He doesn't... remember an Alwaid. However he was there at the battle of Mount Gagazet. He sure /hopes/ that Rixia's father wasn't among the corpses on that field between Heldalf and Seymour. He's not gonna say that though. There's no reason to scare her like that if he doesn't know for sure.
"Can't say that I've met him, but I'll keep an eye- whoa!"
That's him catching sight as Rixia summons her Gunblade into being. "Is that a sword AND a gun put together? Wow! That's so cool!" Hiro says in earnest admiration. "Yeah Hiro - she's already casually outdoing you." "I-It's not a competition!"
Hiro takes a deep breath though as she says /how/ he was going back. A lot could have happened, but again he doesn't want to crush her hopes. "Well if anyone has the resources to find him, it's the Guard. Leo's the kinda guy I bet that'd get pretty invested in that search of yours - so don't give up."
Hiro is if anything an optimist. Despite the odds... miracles do happen.
"Absolutely! Though it can be hard... and dangerous. It's been a long time since my purse has felt light." "Thatttt was the curry incident with Ivan and Talia." "That poor hotel manager..." Hiro asides to Ruby.
Ruby's transformation though causes a sudden face off and denial in a very Ruby way from Rixia and Hiro actually snerks softly at the parallel, putting a hand up to his mouth to cover it. Ruby laughs out loud, before putting both of her hands on each hip and leaning forward at Rixia, "I'm a sacred creature of Althena - the Noble Red Dragon! Yes - yes I know you're very impressed. Praise me more."
"She's definitely... something else." Hiro asides to Rixia before pointing out a bakery, "So what's your heart's desire? If you could have any flavor of cake - what would you want? Basic white? Chocolate? Feeling adventurous and wanna try carrot for your first? Or wanna go real fancy with some Red Velvet?"
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
"Ooogh, I believe it," Rixia's shoulders sag. "There was this one time an Albino Baboon crashed into our house, I think it wandered down from Mt. Zulan. Dad chased it off, but I had a big hole in my room for months and it's real cold, brrr."
Hiro offers pointers, and Rixia lights up as she says, "Oh, that's a real good idea. I know my feet chafe after a while against the boots. Boot sores are no fun at all. Wow, you're just full of cool ideas, Mister Hiro!
Hiro seems impressed by her gunblade, and she takes a moment to preen and lap in the admiration. "I don't know what a gun is, but, I guess?" She dispels it a moment later, just as easy as she summons it. He also encourages that Leo'd help her... she nods.
"He... did seem a bit down when I mentioned Spira--" A pause, as she laughs, "I accidentally made a Yevon gesture my dad taught me as a greeting in front of him and got told off, oops. Thankfully, they're understanding."
A fresh recruit of the Guard using the Yevon greeting after their campaign in Spira /sure/ is one heck of a faux pas.
"Wow, you've really made it, huh? Being able to eat what you want, that's a sure sign!" Rixia grins. A few blinks. "Curry incident? Do I wanna know...?"
But she turns her attention to Ruby and she declares herself as a sacred creature of Althena -- there's a moment where Rixia's face flickers and she frowns, but then she redoubles herself and pumps up. "The Noble Red Dragon! All right. Then I'm Rixia, the Noble Snow Fox."
... she just made that up on the spot, didn't she?
They arrive at the bakery, and Rixia's eyes light up as her tail swishes from side to side. "Carrot cake?? Wow, that'd get me to eat my carrots as a kid, that's for sure... red velvet... ooh, it all sounds so good! I'm gonna go with chocolate, though. I'm always jumping up and down every time I get to have chocolate."
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
"Oh I remember those." Hiro also remembers something else - his arch nemesis of monsters on the Zulan slopes, "Please tell me that one of those wolves up there that curls up into a ball and rampages around never got loose in your village."
Hiro nods along in sympathy about her feet chafing and boot sores, "No fun at all. I had to figure out how make my boots last when I was a kid. As there was no telling how long it'd be until Grandpa would be able to sail into town next."
Hiro considers how to explain how a gun is and then eventually gesticulates into the space where her Gunblade once was, "So take the blade part off your weapon - and that's a gun. It fires small projectiles called bullets at high speed rather than just... blowing things up when you slash. You mostly see it on the Blue Star, but it's also around in Spira too. You might hear it being called an ARM too? Just an ARM can refer to all kinds of weapons, but all guns are ARMS." He leans over and whispers, "It gets kinda confusing to me, to be honest."
The Yevon gesture and being told off though makes him frown a little, and he rubs the back of his head, "If that's how your Dad taught you and it's special to you - I don't think they should have told you off for it." He's not a fan of Yevon - but he's also not a fan of many things the Guard has done. "I get why you might not want to do it around the Guard - but don't let them take that away from you."
"The lid blasted through the ceiling." Ruby summarizes. "Thennn came back down and wrecked some more." "We had to do /several/ digs to make up for that." Hiro finishes off... before Ruby turns to Rixia, takes her hand and shakes it. "Our pact is sealed - Rixia the Noble Snow Fox." If either calls each other a cat again though, it might just be war.
"Can't argue with chocolate for your first time." Hiro then goes up to the counter, and makes an order. Eventually he returns to a table with a platter and half a cake worth of slices on it as he sets it down for them. "This one, is called death by chocolate."
It is just layers with layers of chocolate. Frosted by chocolate. And drizzled in hot fudge that's still dripping down.
"It's name may not be an exaggeration."
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
"Uuuugh. Not my house, but one of those got into the village square and trashed the one cart we had," Rixia slumps wearily as she remembers that memory. "No one was hurt, but we had no way to haul stuff from the fields back home until we got a woodworker in weeks later... it was a pain."
She scratches her cheek and says, "You're telling me. Those floppy boots were the one pair I owned for years. Heh, you had a grandpa... I had a grandma, Rui, who looked after me, after dad left. She was a member of the clergy in her youth, but spends most of her days stargazing. Eheh, she kinda got me into it too, But... well--" She pauses. "I like to think I'm fulfilling her last wishes for me, going out into the world."
Hiro actually explains how guns work to her, and Rixia has this puzzled look on her face. "O-oh, huh... is that how it works? Wow, I..." A pause. "Dad got all 'don't touch that, that's dangerous!' every time I poked it, so I didn't know how it worked. All I knew is that it goes click and boom! Geez, the Blue Star, huh... I just learnt it wasn't a wasteland like, yesterday."
She shakes her head. "There was this pirate lady with a STEEL GIANT, and I was freaking out about it, and she just kinda climbed out of its chest cavity and was moving it around like a puppet. These Drifters are something else."
Hiro offers his opinion on the Yevon gesture incident, and Rixia rubs her chin. "To be honest, I... well, it isn't that special. Just a little thing to remember dad by, I guess. It was just something I remember him doing out of habit. I don't even know the meaning behind it..."
Her face falls when Ruby summarises that a pot lid exploded through the ceiling. "Hhhhow did you manage that? Wow!" she laughs for a moment, then-- puffs up and brushes her palm off, before shaking Ruby's hand.
Let's hope the peace treaty holds...
"D-death by chocolate? Oh my gosh... wow, look at that, there's like, three different kinds of chocolate... I might just die from happinesss...!" Rixia's drooling a little, tail happily swishing from side to side.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Hiro winces as if feeling sympathy pains from that. Because he sure remembered a whole pack of those trampling all of them in frenzied unpredictable movements. "Rough living where you're from." Though he also feels that if she was surviving there, that Rixia despite all appearances must be a /very/ resilient soul. After all despite all of her difficulties, she still made it, she's still here.
"The last wishes of someone who gazed at the heavens. Feels like she had so many grand things in mind for your future." Hiro says with a sense of solemnity, "Bet she's real proud of you already. My Grandpa was sorta like your Dad, in that we're not related by blood... but he's my Grandpa in every way that matters."
Hiro nods quickly at Rixia, "Y-Yeah I could see why he was a little scared. Guns can be dangerous. And..." Hiro adds quietly, "Yeah it's not. There's a lot of good people up there, just trying their best to survive each and every day. So I try to help them whenever I can." He doesn't add 'And I intend to ask Althena to help them more as well - right after we clear a few things up.'
Though as she clears up that the gesture wasn't special to her - just something to remember her by... he does explain what it means as best as he can. "It's, like a greeting... and a prayer in Spira. It lets people know you believe in the teachings of Yevon." He unfortunately does not know that in ancient times it was the Blitzball Symbol of Victory.
"... ... ... Ivan and Talia are not very good cooks. Also I think they tried to use fire magic - so the pressure built up until BOOM!"
That is the moment where Ruby vanishes in a puff of smoke, becoming her tiny form again. She can't maintain it for long. "Ugh... bit longer this time I think." As she lands on the table, looking ultra exhausted from the transformation in how she's drooping but looking forward to cake.
"Don't worry." Hiro says with a certain sense of solemnity as he sees Rixia drooling, "We won't let you die." As he uses a piece of cutlery to bring a piece of cake to Rixia's side of the table, "Feels only right that you get to dig in first." "And me next!" As Ruby moves towards the cake, Hiro pulls it out of the way. "You can wait until after she's has seconds Ruby." As he makes eye contact that seems to say 'I know what you did.'
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.
"Yeah. Real remote, though. Dad brought us there after he made a name for himself, and a whole buncha guys started going after us... I guess in hindsight it was to lay low, but it was real uncomfortable," Rixia squints. "But I mean, it was still better than wandering around battlefields as a kid in Glenwood. ... kinda still don't want to go south if I can help it."
Definitely resilient, in her own ways.
"Ahahah... I hope she's proud. She was kind of strict with me, trying to teach me some basic magic so I can care for myself, but I know she means well," she answers. "I mean, my grandma's also not related to me, but I never knew my real parents since... well, war. I've been raised by so many different people, in saloons dad stopped by for months a time... I'm grateful to all of them."
Guns sure are dangerous... "Huh... so you've known the truth for a while, have you? Wonder how many people from around here know. Knowing there's an illusion up in the sky, that's something else... but it sure sounds like they have it just as tough up there."
Hiro explains the prayer. "Wow, so it's religious too, huh...? I kinda see why-- it's less that Leo and Hilde were offended, they were more afraid someone else'd get upset if they saw me. Yevon... I've got a lot to learn when I finally get there."
Ruby peters out and turns back into a tiny dragonet, and Rixia-- reaches out and pats her. "Hey, you did really good! Maybe someday I can transform into a fox too..."
Maybe once you've earned a few extra tails, by Kitsune logic, Rixia...
Hiro offers the first bite and she just happily noms it up, giggling. "Ommmmmfpfhgoshhh that's so gooooooooooooood--!!" She's a very animated eater. "Aw, it's fine, it's fine, I'll share my piece with Ruby too."
Rixia, on the other hand, still hasn't suspected a thing. Oh dear...