melodiesoflife | THE ROOM(MATE)

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THE ROOM(MATE)

WHO: Rukia Kuchiki, OPEN (especially to people in B-03)
WHAT: Rukia explores the city to learn how to navigate this new place ~~and to find the best trees to climb what no~~, as well as get a look at the house where she was assigned to live.
WHEN: Backdated to September 5th - Early Evening
WHERE: Aqures Ixren, then B-03
WARNINGS: None. Rukia is short.

[Moving Around the City]

Chappopo the Moogle was lucky. The hero she'd been assigned to was a couple of inches under five feet tall. As such, there was no need to worry about keeping up with a long-legged stride. Rukia's pace was brisk and confident, but her stride was short. She showed her curiosity without reservation, moving past the populace and pausing occasionally to examine a vendor's cart or a shop window. Doing so allowed her to catch a glimpse of her reflection. The ninja's hood and mask were slipped down long ago, and she was relieved to find that her appearance was largely unchanged. She still looked as she had when she was a Soul Reaper.

"I should like to know the places of importance," Rukia said, pulling herself away from a clothing shop. Wearing robes of black so openly amongst other humans was a little strange, but at least she wasn't alone. She saw at least one or two others wearing the same ninja garments as she did.

"Kupo? Should we visit the airship port?"

Rukia smiled. Airships... She could imagine what those would be like. She inclined her head. "I would like that, thank you."

Maybe they could get something to eat, as well. Surely they would have given her some of these 'gils' they'd mentioned, to see to her basic needs.

[Finding B-03]

It was dark by the time Rukia had got her fill of the city. There was still much more to see (particularly the Chocobo Stables, which were closed much to her disappointment), but she was tired and more than ready to rest. Following Chappopo's directions, Rukia approached the house to which she was assigned. It seemed like a comfortable place, at least from the outside. As to what the interior held, she couldn't guess. Rukia rapped politely on the front door with her knuckles.

"There will be others living here as well?"

"Three, I believe," Chappopo answered.

Rukia nodded slowly, thoughtful. Interesting. It would be good in any case to meet others who were better versed in the world and the duties of being a Hero of Light. She stood patiently on the front step, arms resting loosely at her sides.

"I'll leave you to it, then. Good night, Rukia-po!"

She smiled warmly. "Good night to you as well. Thank you for your guidance this day."

[OOC: Still new, feel free to let me know if I made a mistake, and I'll edit!]

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His grin returned to its fullest. "Okay! I'll let you know when I'm out there again!" Having lost a few of his previous training and hunting partners to crystal stasis, Ven wasn't about to let that get him down; he wasn't about to forget them, either, but until they recovered, he'd have to keep his skills sharp. Besides, making more friends was always a-okay with him.

That last remark earned a curious look -- not because it was strange, necessarily, but familiar. "Oh -- was your body affected when you came here, too?"

"It was," Rukia confirmed, laying a hand on her chest. She wasn't exactly pleased about it, but she had a vague idea as to why it was necessary. "My strength, speed, and access to kidou are no longer present. You may have already guessed, but I was not human."

It had nothing to do with her stature; she was naturally short, and her frame appeared delicate due to genetics, and possibly malnourishment at a young age.

"I am a shinigami -- a soul reaper."

There was no indication in Ven's expression that he was familiar with either of those terms -- all the same, Rukia's claim of not being human received zero reaction. Rather, he was focused on her first explanation.

"Huh... It was the same for me -- I'm not as strong or fast as I usually am," he remarked with another light frown. He'd adjusted for the most part, but he still noticed the difference from day-to-day. "Kidou -- is that a weapon?" he guessed uncertainly.

"In a sense," Rukia smiled. "Literally translated, kidou means 'art of the demons.' They're a type of spell, arranged numerically. The higher the number, the more difficult the spell is to cast."

She was proud of his reactions. No one in this world seemed to be afraid of her when she told them what she was. Probably because it wasn't easy to be afraid of someone that short.

"Oh! So magic," Ven mused. "Where I come from, the spell's name tells you how high it is -- the usual name is the lowest level, like Aero. Next is Aerora, then Aeroga. It's actually the same in this world -- some of the spell names, anyway." He'd never heard of a water spell before coming here, for instance.

"But if you knew spells before, then you shouldn't have any trouble with magic Jobs. Some of the Heroes here didn't have any kind of magic in their worlds, so it's been kinda tough for them."

"Yes," Rukia confirmed with a calm smile. "It is magic." She was curious about these magic Arrow and Arrowrah and Arrowgah spells. What did they do? She hadn't heard of the like before, but if she could learn, it might be worth her while to study the necessary incantations.

"It does take some getting used to," Rukis agreed. "I was able to manipulate spirit energy at a fairly young age, however. It is easier for me to learn than swordplay, if I must be honest."

It was nice, she thought, speaking so candidly with a living human about her life in the Soul Society. Ventus was so nonjudgmental and engaging that she found him extraordinarily easy to speak with. "Perhaps once I determine how to cast spells here, we may compare our abilities."

Rukia couldn't know it, but that mention of being good at magic -- well, manipulating spirit energy, as she put it -- reminded him a bit of Aqua, which was certainly not a bad thing. His smile softened, but warmly, not sadly.

"Sure! That'd be great! What Jobs do you have? I've got--" Ven paused and reconsidered that. He was used to throwing out Red Mage and Dragoon as his defaults, but he'd stacked up quite a few by this point. "--uh... a few, actually," he finished lamely. If his hesitation was any indication, he didn't make a habit of using all of them. Even as he tried to do a quick mental count, Mograe stepped in for him.

"Six, kupo. Although you wouldn't know it," she added with a touch of dry humor.

"Hey, at least I'll have my main ones maxed soon!" Ven pointed out. In his mind, specializing in the Jobs he knew he'd use was better than being well-rounded in those he might never touch. ~~Engineer, for instance, why did he even still have that one?~~

Rukia chuckled to herself. It seemed he had a good relationship with his Moogle; it was nice to see.

"Just two," she said, holding up an equal number of fingers. "Ninja, and Red Mage from what I've been told."

She didn't know how to switch between them just yet, but that was something she could attend to later once she began her training.

"How did you come by so many of them? I wasn't aware we could acquire so many."

Ven perked up at that. "Oh, yeah? I've got Red Mage, too! It was one of my first ones." He could have had it maxed by now, but a couple others had taken his attention recently. Still, he was pretty far along with it considering his (relatively) short time here. "It's a good balance between magic and swordplay. I think you'll like it!"

As for that question-- "We can have up to... ten, right?" he asked with another glance at Mograe.

"Eleven, if you count the extra Onion Knight Job, kupo."

"Right, eleven. We can ask for new ones -- or... we used to be able to, but they're working on that. But I got all my extra ones through Cid and Jessie and the others -- whenever they find or make new ones, they give 'em to all of us. We can get rid of any we don't want, too."

It seemed she'd run into the right person to talk about jobs, then. Her grasp of the subject was rudimentary at best; she didn't even know what abilities she could access with either of her jobs. All she knew was that her clothing closely resembled what she wore as a shinigami when she was a Ninja, making it the most comfortable option for now.

"Onion...Knight?" Rukia's expression grew skeptical. Why would anyone want a job with a title like that? What purpose could it possibly serve?

Ven nodded once, confidently. "I just unlocked it myself -- once you max out one of your Jobs, you get Onion Knight automatically. Somehow." He wasn't too sure of the logic behind that himself; neither was Mograe, judging by her silence. "It's not really meant for fighting, though. It can give you different stat boosts depending on how many maxed Jobs you have. Something like that, right?"

"Right, kupo. It's a little complicated, so that's why I'll just teach you the skills as you get them. But basically, kupo, the more maxed Jobs you have, the more useful the Onion Knight is."

Rukia nodded thoughtfully. So she'd be stuck with the job of...ugh... 'Onion Knight' automatically. She couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of clothes she would have to wear with such a job. Would she smell like onions?

"That must take quite a long time," she noted, holding her elbows as she crossed her arms. "But the process seems less complicated than I thought. I wonder... What happens once you complete ten of these jobs?"

Ven and Rae exchanged looks. This was where it became more complicated, to say the least.

"Mastering ten unlocks the Onion Knight's true power, kupo, and thus the true power of the Hero of Light who manages it. Its final skill -- some kind of major attack, kupo."

Humming in agreement, Ven added, "But... there's this lady, Kalki -- no one's sure if she's an enemy or what--"

"She's certainly acted like one, kupo."

"--but she's definitely done some bad things through us," Ven finished, ignoring his moogle's interruption. "There's been some talk about what she really wants; a few people think she might want one of us to unlock the final skill so she can use it somehow." It was Rae's turn to hum, a disgruntled sound. She clearly had less questions about Kalki's true motives. "So for now we're trying to avoid mastering ten Jobs. At least until we have a better idea of what's going on."

Kalki... Was that a name she knew? She didn't think so. She hoped she wasn't taking up too much time with all of her questions, but there was a great deal she didn't know. Ignorance was not as blissful as some might think.

"What did she do?" Rukia asked. "Has she been urging Heroes to complete their Jobs?" Based on what she knew, that could take at least five years. Did Kalki have the kind of patience to pull off something with that much planning?

Ven hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not really the best person to ask -- the Heroes were having trouble with her before I showed up. All I really know is that she's tricked us before, and people got hurt because of her and Jessie -- uh, Palitutu," he corrected himself. "That's her real name. We don't know where Kalki and Palitutu are now, or if they're working together, but..."

His frown deepened. He knew next to nothing about Kalki, really, but he'd met and spoken to Palitutu -- he'd argued against her plan to use the Ultima Weapon, only for her to dismiss his concerns while he decided to go about the battle his own way. He'd moved past that little guilt trip, but his grudge against her was a bit personal all the same.

"But if you ask one of the Heroes who've been here longer, they can probably tell you more."

Rukia made a mental note to purchase a pad of paper and some markers at her earliest opportunity. There was a lot of information being presented, foreign names and places that would be difficult to remember, without making some sort of personal record.

Plus she needed to be able to demonstrate her teachings with her usual drawings.

"I'll be sure to research the both of them, then," she inclined her head. "It seems important to know." Perhaps she should go to the library. It was close by, wasn't it?

"I should go do that. Is there anything else imperative that I know, before we part?"

"Mmm..." Ven considered, thinking back to when he first arrived. She knew about Jobs, the monsters around town, the state of the city...

After a moment he smiled again, shaking his head. "I'd just say trust your moogle. They know a lot, and they're really hard workers -- and they make really good friends if you let 'em. Right?" He glanced at Mograe, who flustered slightly. Ven had openly called her his friend before, but she wasn't used to such blatant praise.

"W-Well -- like anyone, kupo!"

That made Ven chuckle, but in good humor. "Anyway -- if you have any other questions later, I'd be glad to try and help, Rukia! I'm always around."

Rukia chuckled. The relationship he shared with his Moogle was obviously one forged of trust and care. "I appreciate your help. It is a favor I will not forget." She glanced at Chappopo with a smile, then gave a faint jerk of her head before the two of them set off to resume their tour of the city.

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THE ROOM(MATE)

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