First Day

[Quan Tian Meng]

Quan walked into the school known as 259 for the very first time. He smiled as he walked down the halls. It was a good day. The sun was shining and The 16 year old boy had only been in the city for two hours. It had been a long trip, these past three thousand miles but he was hopeful. The sun didn't exactly make it hard for the day to be good but it wasn't forcing the mood. He was a little tired as the truck that he rode on hadn't exactly been a smooth ride but at least he didn't have to walk. He was hungry too so maybe after he got his bearings he would go and steal some food from the cafeteria. Yeah, there was no denying it he was, off the boat, so they said. The clothes he wore weren't dirty as the day before he had gotten then into a washing machine/dryer set up but they were very worn. He wore a white t shirt with black outlining on the edges and a beaten up pair of jeans with holes at the knees. He wasn't wearing the band around his head today but he was wearing the gloves which were black and fingerless. There was one thing for certain that the other kids would pick up on, this kid wasn't rich. And to tell the truth what you saw was all he had.

He walked down the hall with a friendly smile on his face. He meant it to dissuade the feelings of negativity that were coming his way. It was obvious he was a newcomer but he tried to stay out of the general population's sight. Being the new kid that was impossible. Apparently transfers were not liked, nor welcomed too much around here. That would become apparent as one kid, bigger then him of course would shove him from behind. People started to crowd as Quan turned around, faked a confused look and asked in accented mandarin, "Shenme?" or "what?"

The majority of the crowd seemed to thin and some of the kids yelling encouragement to the bully stopped. No one really wanted to mess with a kid who couldn't understand them. The truth was though Quan did understand what this meant. He had been in the US all his life. This was a challenge. He didn't want to fight but neither would he shy away. Until his "language barrier" crumbled though he would attempt to not fight. The antagonist though was one of those dumb types though, a bully, dominant, aggressive. In his own stupidity he spoke up, "I don't like any of that gook language shit here."

"Wo bu shuo yingwen," Quan said apologetically trying to play it bogart. ("I don't speak english,") He knew though that things were about to get bad. Real bad. He was sure he could take the kid but he didn't want to fight on his first day. He didn't want to start to make any name for himself really.

"HEY STUPID DID YOU HEAR ME? NO GOOK LANGUAGES!"

Quan sighed as the kid took another step forward. This guy really was stupid. If he didn't understand english then none of that would of made any sense anyway. But the sarcastic side of Quan got the better of him. Continuing in his thick accent he asked, "Yingwen zenme shuo?/How do you say in English?" Then finishing his his typical, american and obliviously native, american accent that had a slight tinge of Boston in it, "Dumb Fuck?"

Oh boy, this was about to get ugly...

[Matrim Gallagher]

"HEY STUPID DID YOU HEAR ME? NO GOOK LANGUAGES!"

"Yingwen zenme shuo?"

Now there's something I haven't heard in a lifetime.....

"Dumb Fuck?" The guy said and Matrim turned to see the two looking at each other. Matrim walked up to observe what was going on but it seemed as though the idiot was picking on the Asian kid who had been speaking in.. Mandarin? Matrim couldn't quite remember. He had spent a lot of time in his youth traveling throughout Asia, including China and a few other countries that connected before finally getting on a boat to go to Japan. He understood the languages to some extent, but couldn't speak them. It was part of his memory skills, after determining what somebody wanted he could connect the sound with the proper response. But he never learned to speak it.

Either way he made his way through the thinning group, if the idiot tried to attack this kid, Matrim would intercept... or maybe better yet he'd do some preventative measures, "Hey, you," Matrim would say towards the one antagonizing the kid, "Dumb Fuck was it? I guess that's your name since that's what he just called you. Anyway, dumb fuck, leave the kid alone."

Hopefully the guy would take his threat seriously, being the School Captain carried a heavy amount of weight, and it usually gave people the common sense to not press the matter.

[Quan Tian Meng]

The Kid apparently didn't appreciate the humor. That much was obvious as he took an angry stride forward. Quan clenched his fists. So this was it huh? He couldn't make it five minutes into this school without getting into a fight? It wasn't that he was afraid, years on the street pretty much beat that out of him as well as taught him how to fight. He was confident that he could win because well he had no other choice. Losing was unacceptable, another belief system that came from years on the streets. He did want to avoid a fight though because he wanted to keep a fairly low profile. To attract unnecessary attention was generally a bad thing he had come to find, unfortunately. That appeared that it was an impossible option at this point. The real question now was what to do after the fight ended. He would have already procured a good deal of attention from the student body which would probably spread quicker because he had been faking not knowing english. So he wondered if he should just humiliate the kid afterwards. If you made the potential costs of coming after him so high then that would dissuade others. That was the hope. He knew just as easily he could paint a bullseye on his back with that action though. Making him a target for other, stronger fighters, something he was not. No, he thought that it might be best to just beat the kid and leave quietly but he wasn't completely convinced. Fortunately enough he wouldn't have to make that decision.

"Dumb Fuck was it? I guess that's your name since that's what he just called you. Anyway, dumb fuck, leave the kid alone."

Quan couldn't help but chuckle. The student who had said this stepped out of the crowd and Quan heard whispers of School captain. The other kid immediately shank back into the crowd and left the scene and the teen's attention turned towards the captain. Well he could honestly say that the guy fit the bill. He was fairly tall and seemed pretty built. Though there was one thing that Quan couldn't tell. Was this a good or a bad thing? It was certainly great that he didn't have to fight but he didn't quite want the captain to see his face either, he simply wanted to remain another faceless student of this school. Well that and a fight at this point would seem inevitable for Quan, though next time he might not have much warning.

Regardless there was nothing he could do now but thank the man. That being the case Quan spoke up, first in his mandarin accent, then his american accent, "Xiexie, hah, oops I mean Thanks."

Quan looked the captain in the eyes, not quite sure of what to make of the guy yet. Nonetheless he had a rather typical grin on his face that seemed to fit with the Chinese teen.

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Xiexie, hah, oops I mean Thanks." The guy said and Matrim nodded making sure the guy was gone and looking into the kids own Dark Brown eyes. He was a bit shorter than Matrim, but not incredibly so, Matrim smiled over at the kid and held out his hand to shake if the kid felt comfortable doing so. He was glad the kid knew some English, or at least seemed to understand a few phrases so far. Judging by the change of accent it seemed as though he should know quite a bit of it.

"No problem," Matrim would say, "My names Matrim, and I didn't think people even came that xenophobic anymore. Then again, I can tell you that I understand," He'd say, if one listened closely enough they'd hear a bit of a British accent, most of it had faded over the years though, "I'm not exactly from around here either." Once he had gotten a handshake, or if the kid hadn't taken the offer he'd retreat the hand by now, "Born and raised, well born in the UK, raised all over. Actually spent some time traveling, that was Mandarin yeah? I can't speak any of the languages but I was pretty good at understanding the intentions behind them before leaving for Japan where I had to start all over again."

He suddenly realized he had become a motor mouth, "Sorry I uhh, go on quite a bit. So, I take it your new around here yeah?"

[Quan Tian Meng]

Quan took the hand and shook it with a firmly acceptable grip. He was no stranger to the handshake. He had lived in the states his entirely life. The customs were no only familiar to him but a part of him. In fact as funny as it might seem to the guy before him Quan was probably closer to your average american then to your chinese american. True he spent most of his time in a China town but still he had never really invested into the community too much.

"My names Matrim, and I didn't think people even came that xenophobic anymore. Then again, I can tell you that I understand,"

The guy seemed nice enough. It was certainly a breath of fresh air when he thought of his last School captain, harsh, overbearing, power hungry. Quan had done a good job of keeping out of his way though so it wasn't a big deal. He was just surprised to see that this guy was different. Expect the worse and not only you'll live to see the next day but you might even get a pleasant surprise huh? He couldn't really tell that the guys accent was different then the others though, after only being here for a couple of hours he didn't know what people sounded like. He had heard a few different accents along the way which was of interest to him seeing as he had spent his whole life up to this point living in Bwoaston and his voice reflected that, at least not to that extreme, "The name's Quan."

The kid then gave him a history of his traveling and birthplace. It was kind of funny. If nothing else he could easily figure that Matrim did it to prove his point, that he knew what it felt. Quan could honestly say though that he didn't feel discriminated against. No big deal really. It was no different then wanting a mexican to speak english. He found it laughable really. People got more annoyed when hispanic people didn't learn english and clung to spanish then when another person clung to another language. Quan had a suspicion that this man wasn't like that due to his background, but it was just an interesting thing he had noted over the years.

"Sorry I uhh, go on quite a bit. So, I take it your new around here yeah?"

"No problem," Quan chuckled, a grin on his face, "And yeah, I've only been in town a few hours. How could you tell?"

[Matrim Gallagher]

"The name's Quan." The guy had said and Matrim made a point to remember the name since he had so far had a pretty good time saving the kid from having to throw down with some redneck, "No problem, And yeah, I've only been in town a few hours. How could you tell?"

"Well," Matrim said, "For one the goon," He said laughing, it was a joke to him so he answered somewhat obviously, "But we have a lot of fights in this school and believe it or not I haven't seen someone so.... ethnocentric," He said using a word he had recently learned and felt smart for knowing, it made him feel a bit more intelligent than he was to use terms like that, "I hope you can hold your own though, there are some people in this place who won't let up even if I do get involved... I guess it's just one of those things you get used to in time and you expect everyone to know..."

Hopefully this kid can hold his own in a fight. Especially with everyone around here being as strong as they are, and as determined to fight people.

"So, you just got into town huh? Where you from? They fight a lot there too?" He asked. He didn't know where this kid was from but he was interested in talking and learning about it. He would motion over to one of the tables in the cafeteria so that they weren't left standing and spending the entire conversation on their feet. Matrim would sit down at the table, his hands resting along it as his hands started drumming lightly against the table, it was just a habit he had sometimes when talking to people.

[Quan Tian Meng]

"I can hold my own in a fight," Quan said. He was without arrogance in his ability nor was he too insecure. He was confident that he would be able to hold up against the majority of the student body, even if nine times out of ten it was the minority he came up against. Better though in his opinion was to keep a low profile, keep to the shadows. Why fight if you didn't have to? Every time you fought you risked death, in Quan's opinion, though it was true he knew the majority of school fights were no life or death. He still held to his learned precepts though. It was also true that in a school the ones who were any good at fighting were often sought out by others wither for fights or gangs. In his opinion it was best to stick to the shadows because it didn't matter how good you were, there was always somebody better, "But I want to keep a low profile if at all possible."

"So, you just got into town huh? Where you from? They fight a lot there too?"

Quan sat down. He wasn't at all opposed to the questions or to conversation in general but he had to admit he was uncertain about the student before him. He was someone who held some form of power in the school and it was for a good reason, he could obviously hold his own. It was the power and position in the school that made him uncertain as to what his intentions were. It was true that he could just be a good guy but Quan had learned fast that people with position were generally not what they seemed. Even though he questioned his motives he would carry on with Matrim like he usually would, "Yeah, I just got in. I'm from the other side of the country, Boston actually. Lived there my whole life, well until now of course," he gave a chuckle and a grin, "And fighting? Yeah it happens a lot. As much as any other city I guess but there not so much like the school yard fights. It's best not to loose those fights."

Out of curiosity Quan would ask his own question, "So how'd you become school captain?"

Aside from simply curiosity it was also a question used to gauge more of what kind of a person he was...

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Boston huh? Yeah I don't think I've made it out to the east coast yet. Part of me has always wanted to visit New York sometime," Matrim said in comment to where he had come from.

"So how'd you become school captain?" The guy asked and Matrim smiled at the guy, he was going to really make an impression here.

"Well the last School Captain was someone who I had lost to before.. I tend to judge how far I've come by fighting those I've lost against to try again. I try to focus on those, as opposed to people I've already beaten since I have nothing to prove by searching them out and finding them. Well, she was School Captain and while I like the title and the responsibilities that come with it, I really love the fact that people come to me for fights and challenge me. So I challenged her for the title both as a way of gauging how far I've grown, and to earn something I really wanted. I beat her really quickly though and I'm kind of disappointed. I felt like if I hadn't come on so strong in the fight maybe she was holding back you know?"

That would probably give a lot of insight to the type of man Matrim was. It wasn't that he wasn't good, he had good intentions, it was mostly how he felt about fights he was in, and his own personal definition of growth and strength laid out right there. Sure he was a pretty decent leader, he was a smart enough and nice enough guy, but he really did like fighting, "But now that I'm captain I get to sit back and take challenges, and I'm hoping to find somebody to beat me... because when somebody beats me it means I have more room to grow, and it means I have another challenge, and to me....."

He stopped and laughed, "Sorry I didn't mean to get so philosophical about fighting I just... I've... had a very different life from other people. So your old school, you ever a Pillar or anything like that? Or did you keep a low profile there as well?" Matrim asked, fully intending to make sure that he had no part in making a name for this kid. If he wanted a low profile, Matrim would respect that fully.

[Quan Tian Meng]

Well this was certainly interesting. This kid really liked to fight huh? Not that Quan had a problem with it. It did answer a question though in a positive way. It meant that at the very least the majority of the fights in this school were not to the death. That was certainly a plus, that was one thing that Quan didn't have yo worry about then. While it was true he would still get hurt in fights he didn't really care. He didn't mind the pain so much as long as he could walk away from the fight. That generally tended to be a plus. But Quan could respect Matrim, there was nothing wrong with trying to be the best. His views on losing were very wise too. He had in someway admitted that he liked to lose to find some new way to grow. Losing was important sometimes in that regard to find out how you could better yourself, though sometimes there was no room for error.

"Sorry I didn't mean to get so philosophical about fighting I just... I've... had a very different life from other people. So your old school, you ever a Pillar or anything like that? Or did you keep a low profile there as well?"

"Nah," Quan chuckled, "That's cool, I've got nothing against fighting though I generally tend to avoid it."

Quan had to laugh though at the pillar question though. He would probably never go for a position like pillar or even accept one if somehow it fell into his lap. He just wasn't serious enough. Life was a game to him, not really the pillar mindset there. That was one reason among others, "No I was never a pillar at the other school. Ha, I hardly knew who the other pillars were, there were so many and I definitely never wanted to be one. You see pillars at my last school had a nasty habit of getting stabbed. I don't know about you but I'd rather not get stabbed. Maybe it isn't that way here, I dunno. But yeah when fights are like that you generally tend to want to stay out of sight unless you have a death wish. Since I'm here I guess that answers that question."

Quan was beginning to think that he might actually like this place...

[Matrim Gallagher]

"... But yeah when fights are like that you generally tend to want to stay out of sight unless you have a death wish. Since I'm here I guess that answers that question."

"Ahh, yeah we don't have that so much here," He said, "At least... not often. There are a few that get a little out of control, so you do have to be careful because not everybody is like me but... I think you'll be a lot safer here. Just train up in private, keep out of the major drama to avoid being pulled into the spotlight and you should be good to go here. Try to avoid joining any gangs or anything like that and you should be set you know?"

This kid was alright, Matrim wished there were more like him around here. Someone who knew how ugly a fight could get and didn't want a part of that. He was street smart, a lot of kids were really naive about fights getting serious but this kid got it. He'd avoid telling him some of the stories of things he's faced as School Captain, since he didn't want to be telling him horror stories and scare him off, but he gave him the warning of others not being so honorable and that should be enough to keep him on guard for people a little over-zealous when it came to fighting.

"Smart idea about not becoming a pillar back there, and you were smart to get out of dodge. This is a lot safer of a place for you. So, any other questions about this place?" He asked, since he was there and the guy was new if he had any questions he could answer them.

[Quan Tian Meng]

"Ahh, yeah we don't have that so much here,"

"Good to know," His grin widening, now that he knew that the majority of the fights here were not to the death he might be able to ease up. Not let down the defenses entirely but be able to have fun and focus more on his mission. He could afford to come out of the shadows a little more. That was good, maybe he could afford a few fights. Not go out and challenge everyone but still. It was good to know that he was at less of a risk to get killed by simply coming to school. He had no intention of joining any gangs either, for survival or other reasons, "Yeah, my gang days are behind me, no intentions of joining another."

"So, any other questions about this place?"

Perfect timing. He had meant on asking a question anyway.

"Yeah just one," Quan said before asking, "Do you know a student named Patrick O'Connor?"

Yeah, it was the real reason for him leaving Boston. He had always suspected that his friend was still alive but it was a big world. He hadn't seen him in Boston so for years that question was unanswered until he had hacked the a school's computer and did a national search. How he had learned to hack? Basically some kid showed him how to cause trouble and change grades. The national search gave a few results but narrowing the search there weren't too many people with the name Patrick O'Connor from Boston.

He went on to describe his friend, "He has red hair and a scar on the right side of his face, cutting his eye in half."

He ran his finger down his face to motion where the scar would be. He figured that the school Captain would be the best person to ask, aside from school officials who were unlikely to give him anything either way. He waited in anticipation for the news, anything was okay. Quan chuckled, he guess he just missed his friend and hoped he was doing well...

[Matrim Gallagher]

"Do you know a student named Patrick O'Connor? He has red hair and a scar on the right side of his face, cutting his eye in half." He said and Matrim thought about it. His memory was unrivaled in certain situations and then... finally... it came to him.

The memory hit him, Kate's voice... "Well Patrick, there is no need to yell."

"Yes." Matrim said. He didn't know much about him though, "I don't know if he's at this school, but the last I saw him, he had what you said, a scar that ran from his right eyebrow down past his nose, sorta as if splitting the eye in two. His name was Patrick, and he had red hair... green eyes...."

He was trying to remember, "It was from another school though, I don't know if he's back here but... a lot of people from that school came here, so he might have. He uhh... " He decided he wouldn't tell him about the reapers since he may not want to know what his friend was in on being one, what that meant. He'd conceal that much, "I don't remember much else I didn't see him much and while my memory is insanely good I just can't remember much more. I was drinking then, and since then I've stopped...."

He hoped that helped him, "Why did you want to know?"

[Quan Tian Meng]

After he had asked the question for the first time that day the grin from his face faded. He was nervous. He was restless. He had to know how his friend was, or even if it was him. He knew the odds were good that the student he had found was in fact the Patrick O'Connor he was looking for but still. He had not seen his friend in eight or so years, and the last that he had seen of the others in their posse was at the murder side where everyone had died. He hadn't seen Patrick there but that didn't mean that he hadn't died, he could of ran off somewhere. Though he had always hoped that the absence of his body was a sign that he had made it out. Even though the odds were in his favor the wait was unbearably long. It was like waiting for a sentencing.

"Yes."

Quan sighed, a relieved smile coming across his face as he said, "Yeah, that's him."

A weight was seemingly lifted from his chest. Though at this point it had been a little over half of his life since he had seen his friend he had still been on Quan's mind. Even through the hardest times the thought of him being alive, possibly gave him hope. To find him again. It might be stupid but Patrick was the last person he had really. He had watched his parent's deaths and he had seen the aftermath of all of his other friends deaths. Patrick was the last person that Quan had left possibly and finding out whether he was in fact alive or not had given him strength and a goal to continue when survival was not enough.

"It was from another school though, I don't know if he's back here but... a lot of people from that school came here, so he might have. He uhh... I was drinking then, and since then I've stopped...." "

Another school? Before this one? That didn't make much sense to Quan until he heard that a lot of other students came back. It must have been a massive transfer, or so he figured. Matrim though revealed he didn't exactly know of his whereabouts. It meant he would have to look more. It was to be expected though, he had only been here a few hours. He hadn't even expected to find this out so soon.

Though one thing did concern him. The verbal pause. There was something going on that he wasn't telling Quan. The teen frowned. That was an odd place for a verbal pause. It was his gut that told him this, from the man's pause placement. Logically as far as the boy figured he would not have paused before saying he or at the very least paused and then said he didn't remember, he was drinking. The answer was evasive. The question now was not so much what Matrim was covering up but why? It was true that Quan could just be twitchy because his long gone friend was in fact alive but Quan didn't feel that way. Over the years he had been fairly good at picking up on deception because he was good at it himself, that and after so many years on the street lie detection became a skill he was fairly good at seeing as being able to tell if someone was deceiving you was a valuable tool to staying alive. He just had that feeling. If he was right though it could simply be because Matrim wasn't going to give a guy away to someone he didn't know who came out of no where asking for him. Still though...

"Why did you want to know?"

"He, He saved my life," Quan said slowly. It was true on multiple levels. He had saved his life simply by teaching him how to survive on the streets but he had also saved him multiple times in actuality. Quan had to admit it, he owed Patrick a lot...

[Matrim Gallagher]

"He, He saved my life," The kid said somewhat slowly. Matrim nodded his head, it was definitely a good reason. Matrim didn't know much about Patrick, maybe he did have his reasons for being a Reaper, Matrim wasn't exactly a bad.... well he was sort of a bad guy but he wasn't always that way. He ended up betraying the Reapers without anyone ever finding out, mostly just because he wasn't quite on board with Kate. He was more along with Amtrum as being the leader of them. Either way, he had his Dragon Title in the end and that's really what he was working for since day one.

It was one of his few reasons for leaving Point Hope, the other one being to find stronger fighters such as Leon. In hindsight he should have learned more about this Patrick kid, he probably should have done in depth research to try and figure out more about every Reaper. He had Damien down, Kate down, Adrian down, but anyone else was a bust. Oh well, the gang was pretty much done now, and the only person who would be qualified to lead it would be...

well...

Matrim.

"That's a good reason to want to know that," Matrim said, "I take it there's probably a bit of back story to that but I'm sure you don't want to get into that. Best not to look back at troubling times yeah? So did you want me to look into helping find him, maybe let him know your around? Or are you satisfied just knowing he's at least in the same state?"

Matrim was generally good at finding stuff like this out, and he could always keep this kid in the shadows too, "You could stay in the shadows, I could just find him to make sure he's even here and all that. You'd remain completely anonymous."

[Quan Tian Meng]

Matrim said that he was open to helping him find Patrick. That was helpful as far as Quan was concerned and he appreciated that. Matrim listed ways that he could help or would be willing to help. Quan appreciated it. He paused for a few moments thinking of the course of action that he wanted to take. It was a possibility that Matrim could let him know but Quan shot that idea down in his head. Patrick was his friend he would confront him. Yeah, if anyone was going to tell Patrick that he was here it would be himself. So after a pause he spoke up, "No, I'll talk to him, thanks for the offer though. I would appreciate it though if you found him to let me know or something. After all these years I think it important that we see each other."

Quan wanted to do the deed himself because he had the inclination that Patrick believed him to be dead. Why? Because he knew Patrick back then, he didn't leave the other kids behind. As unreasonable as it sounded he was sure that If Patrick had known that he was alive that he would have done everything possible to find him again. If that was the case he wanted to be the one to let Patrick know that he was still alive instead of hearsay from others.

There was something else though. He felt even more like Matrim was hiding something. He got the feeling from the pause and all the different suggestions of how he could help. I mean why would Quan come all the way to California just to know that his friend was in the same state, or have him talk to Patrick. Well that last reason was just opinions, not really any logical basis. He wanted to confront Matrim on this but he was unsure. Matrim had already done a lot to help him and was offering to do more. It just seemed wrong to accuse him of that. Then again he had to know, "Thank you for all of your help. If you know anything else that could possibly help that would be much appreciated. I just want to know what he's been up to or if that kid got even more fight happy."