<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>As this is an intro on a brand new character, anyone is welcome.</td></tr></table> Timestamp Current Day: 41 Current Quarter/Month: Tria (Summer) Current Year: Year 81378 Current Time: Mid-afternoon A figure was all that was seen dragging a large and apparently heavy trunk forward through the main doors. The trunk was a large affair covered in black leather, the edges bound in a shiny silver metal. The figure dragging the trunk forward was not a large affair. In fact, he was a rather small affair, barley reaching 4 and a half feet in height and most likely not breaking 100 pounds. He was dressed in a loose button-up shirt of grey cotton, while his pants where patched in tan camouflage with large cargo pockets on each leg. The fur covering his body was pristine white, and the hair between his pointed ears was blond and standing on end. He face suited his tiny body, being very much like that of a Borzoi dog, long and pointed. Sitting up on his head was a red visor device with controls and plugs along one side. In addition to all that, he was also wearing a bulging frame pack on his back. "StupidÂ… HeavyÂ… ThingÂ…"
<font color=steelblue>out of character</font> <font color=lightsteelblue>Lovely post, heh. Hope you don't mind Xerxes and I barging in. :3 <font color=steelblue>in character</font> Well, today was boring. Classes, classes, classes, that was the emphasis here at the Janardan Academy. Xerxes didn't like them much but he had to go to them. Good thing right now was his free period. Though it was a pity that he had to sit here at the front desk while the lazy administration went off to lunch. Then again, he was getting paid for it, so, over all, it wasn't a bad deal. Most of the time all the young rebel had to do was kick up his feet and read, anyway. At the moment he was reading a book on poisons, trying to memorize some of the recipes for his latest creation. Testing out a mixture of two different poisons that might be even more fatal. Of course there was no one to test it on, but he could just sell it on the black market and see if new orders started to come in with force. That would tell him whether or not the components worked together in a way that ended up with the right results. Such as death, sickness, or maybe just paralysis, temporary or permenant. Any results would be good, actually. He would have continued reading - and writing, occasionally, as he discovered something new - if someone hadn't showed up. Before he saw the other pendragon, Xer' heard him. The male's ears pricked and he slowly slid his bookmark into the reading material, shoving it up against the spine before closing it. Setting it on his desk, the youth pulled his feet back onto the floor and peered down the hall, noticing a newcomer pulling something heavy. Oh, bloody hell, he better go help. Hopefully the other wasn't afraid of pendragons who wore lots of black and silver, because today was one of those days for Xerxes. A black shirt - with the Janardan logo in silver - a pair of black cargo pants, a silver dog choke collar around his neck, and various black rubber bracelets around each wrist. My, he did look sullen today. Though he gave a grin that belittled his appearance and approached, offering his hand in either a handshake or an offer to help, it wasn't quite clear. <font color=silver>"Hey there, you must be new. The name's Xerxes and I'm currently on duty for getting people signed up here at Janardan. So welcome and all that jazz. Need some help with the luggage there?"</font> He said, all of the words carefully said without any hint of slurring. Some were from far corners and wouldn't understand him otherwise. Besides, he liked to speak properly.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>donÂ’t mind at all. I was hoping for random people to just bounce in.</td></tr></table> "Names Dade." He gave up on dragging the trunk for the moment. "Bad thing is that IÂ’ve still got my snakes outside waiting to come in. Help would be great." His voice fit well with his body, though it was full in sound, the sound itself was fairly high pitched. He looked at the trunk with trepidation. "This monstrosity was my older brothersÂ’. Mom and Dad decided that I should just use it instead of anything that was more my size."
<font color=lightsteelblue><font color=steelblue>out of character</font> Hopefully this doesn't seem like powerplay to you. I didn't intend it that way, but I figured Dade would let go? If he wouldn't, just kick me, and I'll change it. ^^;; <font color=steelblue>in character</font> Tenor grinned. <font color=silver>"Alright, then, Dade, I'll haul this trunk over to the desk, and you can go get your snakes?"</font> Xer said, phrasing it as a question, though he didn't wait for an answer. Dark fingers wrapped around the trunk and quickly lifted it. Hopefully Dade relinquished his grip, because otherwise it was likely to be wrenched from him as Xerxes forcefully gave his help. It wasn't intentional, of course, but he had offered to help, it was accepted, and he was going to carry the trunk. It was tough if the kid had some sort of attachment to the object and wasn't going to let it out of his sight. The rebel presumed that his snakes would be more important, though he might be wrong.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>I didnÂ’t say it explicitly, but he dropped it, donÂ’t worry ;)</td></tr></table> Dade nodded to Tenor. "IÂ’ll grab the snakes, My brother is bringing the tanks up tonight after class is over. IÂ’m inÂ…" Dade reached in and pulled a sheet out of his pocket and unfolded it. "4015. Lemme get my pets." He ducked out in a flash of white fur, camo, and grey cotton. It was just a few moments befor he came back in, carrying a surprisingly high stack of plastic boxes with air holes drilled in them. Each of the boxes had a lid that snapped on firmly, and was opauge enough to give a decent view of the sawdust in them. Each was also marked with the name of the animal it contained. "Alright, you set?"
<font color=steelblue>in character</font><font color=lightsteelblue> Xerxes nodded silently at the other's explanation. So he had a brother here. Well, then, Tenor probably already knew Dade's sibling, if only in name. He knew most of the other students by name alone. A lot of them came to the desk with problems or concerns for various reasons and there were others that had reputations. Not to mention the fact that the military-oriented young Janardan pupil was quite interested in writing down little facts about every pendragon he met - something that had driven some of his friends crazy. He had notebooks upon notebooks piled up in his dormitory that had little tidbits of information, along with a photo, and other little snippets of information that he had gleaned about different students. Some of them weren't even interesting. There were some strange going-ons around here, though, and he did enjoy writing it down. As Dade came back, Tenor couldn't help but grin at the stack of cases, eyeing them in quiet interest, before nodding. <font color=silver>"Ready. I'm curious... all the same, or different types?"</font> He inquired, nodding his head toward the snake cages, clearly inquiring about the serpents.
"Alughas, all of them. My parents specialize in animal breeding, so I've been able to get a hold of some great colorations over the years." He smiled as he lead the way up to floor his room was on. "In fact, I just got Ralek from my Dad for getting accepted here. Though he did the same for Turrush when he got accepted. And then again when Turry got accepted as a teacher. IÂ’ll show them off when we get to the room." He was quiet through the rest of the stairs, but it didnÂ’t take long for them to get to the room, which he managed to open without putting the snake boxes down. The place was bear-bones right now but would soon be his home for the duration of his education. Carefully, he set the stack of boxes on the empty desk and turned on the light before throwing the backpack on the bed. "You can just shove that thing by the end of the bed or somethingÂ…" Dade shrugged, then headed over to the desk again, and popped the lid off one of the boxes. "This is Ralek." With gentle hands, Dade lifted a snake from the box. She was mostly white, and patched with sections of brown, charcoal and copper that glistened in the light. "Calico is really rare, so my father pulled out all the stops when he got her for meÂ… I think itÂ’s because he never belived IÂ’d even go to school, let alone have any interest in animals at allÂ…"
<font color=lightsteelblue>Tenor listened with interest as Dade spoke. Some pendragons didn't know how lucky they were. To have breeders as parents must have been awesome. His mom had always been a bit anti-pets and his dad just went along with what his mother said. After all, he was gone so frequently that it didn't matter to him what his wife did and didn't want their offspring to get. Once he had gotten here, the male had vowed to get a pet or two, but he had never managed. At first he didn't have the money, the he had gotten immersed in his schoolwork. Now he was just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. He didn't want to be an unresponsible pet owner, so he had to find the right breeder and the right snake - or anything else, for that matter. Once he had considering getting a Trisk and that was still a possibility. His mom would approve of that more. Though it would mean lessons on how to fly the bird and getting live flitters to feed it with. Not a huge problem, though he didn't like the idea of having to clean up that mess after the raptor was finished feeding. As Dade opened the door, Tenor grinned at the bare room. Ah, he remembered when his room had looked like that. Now it... well, didn't. There were posters of military geniuses, new wallpaper, bookshelves crammed with books, a decent sized desk, and a mess of photographs in a collage across an entire wall. Photos he himself had taken. A lot of them were quite good, but not the right subject matter to sell for the amount of money he would want to part with them. Thus, they remained pinned to his walls. He had also converted his closet space into a station for getting his photographs developed. Then there were those stacks of notebooks in the corners. Needless to say, Xerxes room looked like a mess, though he could find anything in a split second. It was an organized chaos. As Dade took out the snake, the male whistled appreciatively. Wow. Envy spiked up into his throat, though he shoved it down. Someday, someday. <font color=silver>"Now that's one good looking snake. I've been considering getting one, but, eh, I just haven't had time to check out any good breeders around here. School gets to be a drag, y'know? Though things should slow down, so might get myself one sometime soon."</font> Xer' said with a grin, running long fingers through his spiked hair. Wow, it had been a long time since he got to talk to anyone about snakes. The only time he heard about them these days was when they were in poisons class and the venom of snakes came up. Which was interesting, sure, but it wasn't talked about with the passion of an avid snake lover.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Sorry that took so long. I writers' blocked last night so I decided to break untill this morning in hopes that it'd auto-correct. It worked ;) </td></tr></table> "Thanks. Who knows, if youÂ’re looking later this year, I might be able to hook you up with a hatchling snake. Since sheÂ’s 4 years old, IÂ’m going to breed Ralek to Kevar." He returned the calico snake to the box and replaced the cover befor pulling another snake from a box. "IÂ’ve had Kevar for ages. HeÂ’s around 10 years old now." The brightly colored snake was brillante red-orange, marked bit a more matte red and tan. DadeÂ’s pride in this snake was long standing, for he was his only male snake an a wonderful example of proper Aztec patterning. After a moment he draped the snake around his neck like a boa and sat on the bed. "So, is there anything important that I need to know about this place? Anyone to watch out for?"
<font color=lightsteelblue>It was such a typical Xerxes thing to do, mentioning his own desire for a snake edgewise, incidentally sparking a positive response from the other party. That wasn't what he had intended, though Tenor had been planning on asking Dade if his parents had any suggestions for good breeders around here. Either that or - even better - if the other male's parents lived around here themselves. That way he would have someone that had further recommendation than just some stupid student that happened to have a snake who was willing to volunteer the information. Tenor nodded admiringly at the 10-year-old Aztec, noting the proper patterning with a interest. It had been a long time since he studied the possibilities in color and the like, but that was definitely an "approved" variation. One that would probably do an outstanding job in any competition it entered. Though Xer' wasn't even sure that the serpents tended to have that many. There weren't as many fanciers of the cold-blooded creatures as there were of the warm ones. Trisks, flitters, and ficalts were regarded with more awe and interest than the longer living, much more fascinating reptiles. <font color=silver>"I would say watch out for me, if I was anyone else, but as I'm not, that doesn't really apply. There will always be bullies and junkies, that sort, but no one of real note. Don't think you'll have much trouble as long as you don't go calling buff warriors idiots or something."</font> The male replied, shrugging a shoulder.
"I should be getting the Alugha Enthusiasts United Journal pretty soon. They put it out quarterly and they've got a lot of great breeder recommendations and who's been winning what prizes where, so if you're looking for one it's the place to look." Dade tickled the snake under the chin while he talked. Snickering at the thought of teeny tiny him picking a flight. "DonÂ’t worry, the only place I pick fights is virtual reality." <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Sorry this is so short... I've got writings block and can't seem to kick it today...</td></tr></table>
<font color=lightsteelblue>Xerxes nodded. He had heard of the Journal, but had never actually managed to get his paws on a subscription form. That was, he hadn't been able to back when he was very enthusiastic about getting one, and he had only recently gotten back into the idea. He envied Dade's smooth ability to know this sort of thing - the fact that he had animal breeders as parents must make it that much easier to be accepted at such things. Tenor was expected to be a military member, which didn't disturb him, as he enjoyed it. It was just that he was also a photographer, something no one knew. Which was why no one was allowed to come in his dorm. <font color=silver>"I'll have to keep that in mind. Though there are always the local breeders, including those in the dorms. Might have to check out one of their clutches sometime soon. Virtual reality fights, eh? Into Menlo then, I guess?"</font> He inquired with a brief smile.
He winked and tapped the visor sitting on this head. "Want to go professional someday. I fight whenever I can. I write my own suits, viruses, tools. You name it, I can code it." Dade's posture straitened slightly, and his expression spoke that this was not an idle boast. "I live the game. You play?"
<font color=lightsteelblue>Xerxes grinned at the tap. Ah, yes, it had been a bit obvious, but he hadn't considered it much after the snakes had been mentioned. The teen shrugged a shoulder at his current companion's question. <font color=steelblue>"I have a custom chip that I got for my birthday last year, but I haven't had much chance to play since I got it. School and the like."</font> He replied. It was true. He hadn't had much chance to test it out, though he kept intending to start for "alternative physical training". Xer' just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Dade was as excited, if not more so, over the mention of his favorite game. "Once I get settled in I'll have to get my board set up and we can fight. Back home I'm the local Amateur Champion. I was hoping to have new opponents here, so itÂ’s good to hear that people play here, too. IÂ’ve put together some custom areas for my board."
<font color=lightsteelblue>Xerxes listened with interest, nodding at the appropriate spots, and grinning at the comment about custom areas. Good. The better places to train were the unique ones, as it made them more capable than they needed to be. Then their fight in the regular Menlo boards were a cake walk. That was something he had learned in regular training. Diverse conditions were always good. <font color=steelblue>"Custom areas, ey? Got any with water areas? I've always thought that would be an interesting side suit to have, one that was aquatic. Underwater fights would be awesome."</font> He said with a grin.
"IÂ’ve fiddled some." Dade shrugged, frowning. "WaterÂ’s harder to program than you would think. MCC doesnÂ’t have any good anti-gravity area out with anti-grave already written. IÂ’m having to write that from the ground up. And since IÂ’m working on a new suit, I havenÂ’t put a lot of time into it yet. But I want to have a good ranged suit. So, what sort of equipment you run for a suit?"
<font color=lightsteelblue><Font color=steelblue>"Ahh, mine's probably rather typical. Haven't made many modifications to the basic my dad bought me. Virus blocker, virus sender, the normal sort of stuff. Did have an added "blank" installed, though, so that I can temporarily go nonexistant on the gaming board. A tricky bit of programing, that one, since it doesn't work all that well. Something a friend asked me to work with, though. It's actually rather hard to explain. It takes you off the game board and into nothingness for the briefest flash of a second, then returns you at your start point. Illegal in Officials, I'm sure."</font> He said with a grin. That part of his equipment had kinks to work out. A lot of kinks.
"Sounds more like a controled glitch than anything else." Dade looked thoughtful. "The boards are programmed to prevent things like that, so you'd probly have to sub-route it to not acctually take you off the board, but make you a part of it... Like the buildings... Maybe that would bypass the glitch prevention scanners and get it to work right."
<font color=lightsteelblue>Xerxes shrugged. Controlled glitch or not, it was something that took a lot of effort to temper, and he had been working on it for a while. Though he wouldn't call it a "glitch", really, as it was a program. But that was just his opinion. <font color=steelblue>"I haven't worked on it with official rules set up. The boards I have used so far are flat, since I don't want to end up inside one of the walls of a building or something when it returns me to start. It's really just a hobby, tinkering with that, seeing as I doubt I'll ever use it in a tournament."</font> The male replied, shrugging once more.
