New place, New life. Old Friends. [Tsubame]

[Marcus Prasad]

Night time. Clear sky blanketed by a midnight sheet of stars.

Dragon Territory. Home of some of the most drop dead dangerous people in all of California. Nestled deep in their beds or hunched over their work desks.

And so he ran. A Shadow amongst shadows slipping through back streets and along rooftops. Like a shade with no obstacle able to impede his path as he moved with predatory grace. It had been awhile since Marcus had last had a good chance to stretch his legs. With a much needed change of scenery he had chosen The area owned by the dragons to be his Playground, using his skills in Parkour, the Fenris wolf, the Grim of the Crows cut a swift circuit through the boroughs. Allowing the 'Flow', obtaining a zen state of mind where the body is controlled by instinct and muscle memory rather than conscious thought, to clear his head and purge it of all the stress of the day.

Eventually he would find a gas station, it's pumps long emptied no doubt, to rest as he ran along a high wall and leapt up to the stations roof where he simply fell backwards spread eagled and looked up to catch his breath and admire the stars above. Enjoying the chill night air cooling his bare skin. He wore a simple T-shirt. Black, adorned with the his own personal sigil of a great wolf standing proudly atop of a rocky hill with the moon in the background. For pants he wore a simple navy blue pair of jogging pants. His long reddish brown hair he left bound in a single braided ponytail.

"Hmm. Wonder if they figured out I'm here yet......"
He mused to himself. Dragon Security was generally tight. But a man of his caliber would probably require the direct efforts of the Dragons best to track and find.

[Lasia Able]

A figure clad in a black trench coat and a baseball cap knelt near the pumps at an abandoned gas station. in the figures hands was a three gallon gasoline tank that when moved gave off a slightly sloshing sound. She had managed to coax about two gallons from the pumps though they didn't seem like there were gonna give up anymore fuel. Sighing a bit she hooked the tank to her back looking around. She had come deep into enemy territory to get this fuel but the solar panels back at the shrine could not be depended on if the shrine needed emergency power. Getting to her feet she dusted herself off and prepared to make the long trek back to shrine ground.

As she prepared to leave though a slight sound caught her ear on the roof. Much as she wanted to just jet off if she was spotted they could alert the Dragons and trap her in, and even with her speed she was no match for the Dragons in combat, at least from what she had heard. No it would be better to check this threat out. In a blur she would move leaping up and landing lightly on the roof her baseball cap falling off to reveal her long crimson hair. The sight of a man laying on the roof greeted her. This...was not what she had been expecting. The looked...familiar, though she could not place his face. "Who are you?"

[Marcus Prasad]

It would seem that his relaxing night out was to be interupted. His gamble fruit enhanced eyes piercing the darkness between himself and the woman, allowing him to see much like any other nocturnal predator.

And what he saw made him pause.
For the life of him he could not fathom why.
He recognised the expression on her face. That confused stare as if the sight of him had jiggled a long forgotten memory loose. No doubt Leon or David had informed the rank and file that Marcus would be paying nightly visits once in awhile.

Still, the aura that rolled off of her definatly did not taste of your average rank and file dragon soldier. This woman was strong. Very strong.
It made his blood quicken.

With a friendly smile Marcus raised his hands to show he was unarmed.
"Just a figment of your imagination friend Dragon. You need not worry about me causing any noise this night."

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame looked down at the man as she reached up to adjust her head band, now that her cap was gone she needed something to keep her hair under control. The man to whom, she was speaking would look up at her as she looked at him still trying to figure out if she had seen this man before. As he raised his hand her own would slide into her trench coat touching the hilt of her ever sheathed Dragon Slayer but he was only showing that he was unarmed. Relaxing Tsubame let her hand fall from her coat as she sat down at the edge of the roof.

She would raise an eyebrow at being called a dragon "I'm not.." she trailed off for a second. Saying that she wasn't a Dragon in Dragon territory to a guy who didn't know her might not be the best idea..still "I'm not exactly a Dragon." She let out a long sigh as she pulled water bottle from her jacket. Drinking about half of it she offered the other half to the man. "You want some? It's not the fancy stuff but it's clean." The fact that he seemed so familiar still bore into her mind. "Who are you?"

[Marcus Prasad]

'Twitchy little lady aint she.'
Marcus thought to himself with a mischievous smile.
She seemed nervous and uncomfortable, which started to get the gears turning in Marcus' head that mabey, just mabey she wasn't supposed to be here.

Not exactly a Dragon huh?

"Sure."
Marcus offered a hand to take the water bottle. Not exactly the smartest move considering he hardly knew the woman, but Marcus was a man who trusted his guts and right now his guts were telling him that there was definitely water in that bottle. Parkour was thirsty work after all. Getting a good look at the Asian woman as he chugged the last of the water, Marcus surmised that she was rather pretty, Her hair was the most natural shade of red he had ever seen on any Asian woman which made him wonder if she was mixed heritage, and that she still thought she had seen him before.

Well Marcus DID have quite the distinctive appearance.

This made him come up with a wicked little game.

"I tell you what."
He said with a burp as he wiped his mouth off the back of his hand, his lips a Cheshire smile in the darkness as his teeth gleamed in the night. He shook a finger before him as if a thought just occurred to him.
"I think I know you, You think you know me. So hows about we play a game. We take turns asking each other one question each. We can only answer with yes, or no. First to figure out who the other is wins."

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame watched as he drained the rest of the water her eyes narrowing slightly. He had been doing some sort of physical activity before he came here, at least that is how it seemed from the pace in which he drained the water. As she studied him though she still couldn't wrack her brain for the answer, where had she seen him before?

She took a small step back as he mentioned his little...game. She didn't like the tone that his voice took, nor was she fond of his expression. Still she did want to know who he was so she decided to go with it, at least for the time being. She glanced down off the roof before looking back at him. If need be she could make a break for it. "Alright I'll go first, did you go to PHS 259?

[Marcus Prasad]

"Nope."
The man would answe cheerfully. He had never enrolled even once, but the fact that she had to ask meant she herself had. Probably hoping they had passed each other in the hallways or some such.
"My turn!~"

Oh he had one ready to go from the start.
"Is that your natural hair color?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame crossed her arms as he answered her question. Seemed that it would not be so easy after all. If he had gone to this school it would have been a simple matter of matching faces of people she did know. But then again that would have been to easy.

She raised an eyebrow at the hair question. She had an answer but with only being able to say yes or no she was limited. "Yes..though..I mean yes sorry forgot we couldn't elaborate." She didn't dye it red, it had turned red on it's bloody own and no amount of washing to bleach would take it out. this of course meant that it was her natural hair color, or at least now it was. "My turn, Have you ever had soemone you considered a rival?"

[Marcus Prasad]

This one surprised Marcus a great deal. Of course he DID have rivals over the years. Falenor was a Rival of Marcus on the mental level as well as for the love of a young blond woman. Jack Connor was his rival on the physical. Both men never able to admit being weaker than the other. People who he measured himself against and found wanting, driving him to better himself. Even Silk Velasquez, his greatest ally and best friend was a rival once upon a time until Marcus surpassed her. One name stood out beyond the others though. Tsubame Hirotaki, A Young Asian woman from his high school days. A Chance meeting on a rickety old bridge in Central Park lead to one of the most Intense fights he had ever known which would birth a long standing rivalry where they met again twice throughout the years. Thier antagonism eventualy blossoming into a solid friendship after He saved her life the last time they had bet in Central Park.

It had been so long. More than ten years in fact. Marcus could barely remember her face these days. Something nagged at him then. Perhaps.....Perhaps? The odds were so astronomical as to be unlikely. Besides, he couldn't be sure. He would want to be sure.

"Yes."
Marcus said plainly, eyes narrowing. His expression unreadable.
"Your not originally from here are you?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame shook her head at Marucs's question. "No" she said simply remembering that they were not allowed to elaborate on their answers. He was still not reacting to her questions at all. Was she wrong about him..no...she did know him think think what rivals had she had. there was Zero, Micheal, Leon, Valo, Marcus....Marcus that man on the bridge, the one whom she had saved her from her lung poisoning? No it couldn't be..

Tsubame teared up a bit as she shook her head a few times her brain working over time. "M..Marcus? Are you...or were you Marcus?" Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke. Could she had really found such an old ally and friend all the way out here in this hell zone? No it couldn't be she had to be wrong but it only cost her one turn to be sure.

[Marcus Prasad]

For a moment the man smiled, tasting victory until the woman began to tear up, which was confusing. It was just a game, no need to get upset about it. Until she spoke his name that is.

A million emotional responses flooding his brain made his body spasmicaly jerk the second he heard her speak his name a second time. He was torn between pouting at losing the game, jabbing a finger at her and shrieking "ahHA!" And even leaping to his feet and pulling the teary eyed woman who turned out to be a very old and once thought lost friend of his into a great big bear hug.

"Tsubame. Should have known you survived."
The man said with warmth in his voice and smile. Though he WAS very eager to embrace an old friend, Marcus was well aware not everyone appreciated the sentiment. Putting his hands on his hips, he gave her a look over. Worse for wear but then again weren't they all? Even he was ragged around the edges himself.

"I'm glad! So...yeah. its Me alright. Most of the time anyway. Woulda called sooner but I've been busy."
He said with a roguish smirk.
"Looks like you have too, my god. I can't believe the odds. Small fucking world neh?"

[Lasia Able]

"Marucs...I..I can't believe it's you!" She reached up and wiped her eyes before smiling at him. "I'm so glad that you survived all this chaos" She holds back the urge to hug her old friend, not sure if the physical contact would be welcome. She instead just crossed her arms the five gallon jug of gasoline sloshing a bit as she moved. "In any case it is great to see you Marcus"

She thought a bit back to what she had been doing in the past few years. Her little temple had grown into a small little village for refugees. It was then that she got to wondering exactly what Marcus was doing these days. "So Marcus what are you up to these days? You got a headquarters of your own or anything like that?"

[Marcus Prasad]

Slowly stepping forward and into the light of the moon above, Marcus' keen eyes noticed the trail of tears running down the Asian womans face. The man blinked in surprise but recovered with a smile as he closed the distance and embraced his old friend and rival with a warm squishy hug.

"You'll find I'm a very hard man to kill."
He said with a chuckle before slowly releasing her.
"It's good to see you too Tsubame."

For a moment Marcus wondered about her hair. He always remembered her with black hair and yet she said the red was natural. Either she lied, or there was more to her than he knew back then.

"Been keeping myself busy doing this and that."
Marcus answered with a slight shrug.
"Found myself a group of people to run with. Good people. Fighting the good fight against Barker. The usual, Hahaha!"

"What about you? What happened after New York City? How did you end up here of all places?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame returned the hug finding comfort in the man's arms if only for a second. It was so good to see that at least someone from her past had survived. She had found a few other old friends but she rarely saw them confined behind the tall walls of her Shrine as she normally was. It was only recently that she had gone out in search of supplies.

As Marcus pulled away from her and told her that he was fighting Barker. It was nice to hear that he was keeping up the fight. When he asked her what she was doing though she sighed. "I transferred here and I've been spending much of my time taking care of refugees at my shrine. I've been trying to keep out of the fighting to protect them but I'm not sure how long I can do that" She sighed as she tapped her gas tank. "Trying to get some fuel at the moment."

[Marcus Prasad]

(OOC) The Quote is Paraphrased of course considering I don't have acess to the old logs Q_Q but I DO distinctly remember it at least happening that way.(OOC)

Tsubame Hirotaki.
Of all the people in Marcus' life, this woman held on of the most complicated place in it. Thier first meeting involved hostility and a rather impressive fight on an old bridge with the man escaping death by the skin of his teeth, her fingers seconds away from tearing out his throat before he managed to convince her otherwise. He remembered his words well that night.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you right now?"

It had been so long ago but he still remembered his words.

"Because. I know for a fact you want to do this all over again."

Apparently he was right. Because a month or two after that encounter they were both at it again on a full moon night on the same old bridge. Marcus lost once again, but this time they parted alittle more amicably.

A Rivalry was born. Friendly, for the most part. It gave the young man the fire he needed to apply himself as well as a milestone to measure his growth. He would lose countless times again and again against this woman. Each time strengthening his resolve. When they first fought she called him trash. By the time of their fateful final fight she called him friend.

Kind of helps that he saved her life that night.
Some sickness had been eating away at her, a sickness she tried to hide until she began spitting up blood. Panicked, He carried her full speed to the nearest hospital, cutting clean through the city with every ounce of Parkour skill he owned before collapsing into a heap on the waiting room floor.

The last known Contact Marcus had with Tsubame was before she had disappeared. He had heard about a group she was trying to start up and the man almost immediately put his name up for membership. But the scars of the civil war and his breaking up with his long time Girlfriend had snuffed the fire in his heart out. He drifted away, only to lose track of her, much to his disappointment.

Now after over a decade they found themselves face to face again.

"Transferred huh?"
Marcus asked.
"Seems quite a few folks from New York ended up here, huh?"
Something he had noticed before. The paranoid part of his brain wondered if this was on purpose or not....
Still, a Shrine? Refugees? It warmed his heart and put a pretty big smile on his face to know The woman was using her strength to protect others.
"Ha! Well good for you! Maybe if I have time I'll pop over for a visit!"

Tsubame mentioned the fuel, which made her words echo in his skull about not exactly being a dragon. Seems a little Clandestine, her being out at night. It didn't take long before the man quirked an eyebrow.
Something wasn't right here.
"Mind telling me why you're doing so at night all sneaky like?"
Marcus was more curious than confrontational. Gas was indeed a precious commodity, but if she WAS stealing it from the Dragons, then she would have their wrath to deal with. If Marcus could find another way.......