The Short Train...ing. [Invite, Mentor, Guild]

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

So, training was it? Weegee had been sent a letter by someone from the Guild requesting his presence for some level training. He figured he'd show up, since he really could use some extra levels honestly, it'd been a while since he'd actually done anything to really, focus on training.



Weegee stood outside the Guild Hall, making slight adjustments to his outfit as he mused to himself out loud.



"Hmm... if I actually do some leveling, I'll have to get this armor upgraded... oh my scarf too. Hmm, costly but worth it in the long run, no? It'll be easier to deal with monsters in those areas I haven't had a chance to explore completely yet..."



He tugged on his scarf as he spoke to himself. The cloth came free of his collar and caught a breeze, the leaf-shaped ends fluttering out behind his white leather jacket. He looked up to the sky, his mind wandering about like usual as a familiar voice echoed in his mind.



'So, why did you make us join a guild again? I thought you had massive anxiety attacks with large crowds.'



Time seemed to stand still for the Monk, as he had an inner conversation with, what was ultimately just himself, but, to him was an entirely other person named Zeek.



'And why did you decide to get us into a courier business?'



Zeek's laugh echoed in the halls of their mind, Weegee could almost see him smiling that dark, malicious smile as he replied.



'Money of course. We're not making enough with your original plan of what was it again? Oh yeah... Facewood.'



The sneer in Zeek's voice was so easy to tell Weegee couldn't do more than roll his eyes.



'You weren't even there for that. Anyways, its not like I stay AT this place. I do have my own home. Well... we have our own home. It's not like you're safe from the panic attacks either.'



The groan from his other self made Weegee laugh a little, before snapping back to the real world. He had drawn some attention from a passerby, wondering if he was alright as he'd been staring into space, without blinking mind you, for about ten minutes. After assuring the Lander he was fine, they departed, leaving Weegee to take a seat with his back against the wall. Hopefully he wouldn't have too much longer to wait.

Word Count: 400| Green= Weegee, Blue=Zeek
Tags: @dumah

by requiem of <remoor>

[Deleted]

Kuro was waiting in the Guild Hall of Noihara. The reason for that was a message from his friend and guild leader Dumah, telling him that he's gonna train with somone and if he'd (Kuro) like to, he could join 'em. The Assassin wasn't sure if there was a hint behind that invitation, but he accepted it nonetheless. (A bit of training never hurts... well... at least your skill. I can't say anything about the body.) And he was following this logic even now, as he was practicing his sneaking/blending in "skill", hiding in the dark spots of the Guild Hall.

After few minutes a fox-tail male walked into the Guild Hall. The Assassin was pleased by the fact that the fox-tail has not noticed him and grinned a littlebit. After the "intruder" settled down, not so far from Kuro, the Assassin took a better look at him. His name was Weegee. He was rather tall, with dark brown hair and black 'N white "fox-parts". Kuro was a bit disapointed when he looked as this guys face, because he looked like he wasn't really paying attention. Which made Kuro doubt if he was truly unseen, because of his stealth. (Oh, he's from Noihara. I guess that means he ain't an intruder, huh... Man, Noihara's gettin' quite big.) He looked around to see if anyone elses is coming, but noticed no one. (Well, since Dumah messaged me to be here around this time and I don't see anyone else, I guess this is the guy that's coming with us. I think I should introduce myself then.)

Kuro stepped out of the shadows and headed towards the Fox-Tail. Once Kuro was sure that he was noticed by Weegee he introduced himself: "Hello. I'm Kuro. I guess you're here because you're going to train with Dumah. I don't know if he told you, but he invited me to join you, so I hope you don't mind."
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[Word count: 324
Tags: Weegee @dumah
Note: Although you didn't say you went inside the hall, you also didn't say you didn't go inside the hall, so sorry if it bothers you somehow.]

[Deleted]

Words: 1529
Total: 1529
Tags: Weegee @kurosan
Note: Holy frickin' hell, this was a huge post for me!

---

The sword slid easily into the sheathe hanging from the Spellsword's hip as he prepared himself for the day to come. Dumah had scheduled a small training day for Weegee, Noihara's newest member. As the guild master was dressing himself for the day ahead of him, one of his oldest friends in this world - a handsome Person of The Land around Dumah's age - stood leaning back against the wall of Dumah's bedroom, his hands in his pockets. "So you got some training planned for the new guy, huh?" The bartender said in his soothing voice.

Dumah took his shirt off of an ornate, wooden armor display in his chambers. As he slid the white dress shirt on, first with his left arm through the sleeve and then the right arm going through the same process, he spoke. "Yes, Weegee. He is a Monk, and this is actually not the first time he and I have crossed paths." Tugging lightly on the open shirt, Dumah began to feed each button through the corresponding holes, beginning with the bottom and working his way up.

"No? Well I suppose that does make sense. I mean, really when you think about it, that's how it is for most of us Noiharans." The handsome fellow took a small paper stick from his pocket, similar the stick you would find on the end of a lollipop, and put it in his mouth. The sight really fit his persona as a bartender, looking almost as if it were a thin cigarette. He held the stick between his teeth lightly as he spoke, explaining how most of Noihara's members had some connection to Dumah before. "Your co-founding members are obvious, so we'll pass over Kat, Klyde, and Alette. You met Keyala on that big expedition when Noihara was practically brand new; Sotarou was an old friend of yours and a brother in arms from your days leading the Boston Tea Party; you came across Sark while helping with the establishment of the trains; you met Kuro along with Kat in that party early on; Noctis was there when you helped to clear out the tunnels beneath Londinium, again in preparation for the trains; Sayinh commissioned a scarf from you; and Weegee... I don't even know. Aside from Lamenta, Kaos, Teuthidia - bless that precious angel - and Actaeon, you have had some encounter with every other Noiharan in the past."

Dumah slid the last few buttons through their matching holes as he listened to his friend. To be honest, it was a point which he had never really thought about. Despite this, it made sense. "First impressions are strong, Aleister." With the last buttons buttoned, Dumah retrieved his black coat, sliding it on over his white dress shirt. "It makes sense that those I have made a strong impression on would wish to join and support me. Especially in a world like this where we Adventurers lost our families, our friends. We were lonely and had to make new friends, new families." With his clothes on, the Spellsword turned around to see his friend, a light chuckle escaping his lips as he saw the paper in his mouth. He activated his Fireball Pitch skill, holding the ball in Aleister's direction.

Unsurprisingly, the Person of The Land simply looked at his friend in a bit of confusion. "What are you doing, Dumah?" He took his right hand out of his pocket, extending his thumb, index finger, and middle finger to take the stick out of his mouth for a moment. Letting his friend speak, he twirled the paper stick between his fingers casually.

"In the old world, the world we Adventurers came from, we had rolled up paper sticks similar to that one you have there, though in the paper was a mixture of different plants and drugs. People would light the tip of the paper and ingest the smoke. We called it smoking. I myself never smoked, but I had a few acquaintances who did."

The bartender scoffed a bit, looking disgusted at the thought. "My god, that sounds disgusting... Who in the hell would wish to intentionally inhale smoke? I can only imagine what that would do to a person's lungs. Frankly, I don't even want to imagine what it would do..." He put the stick back in his mouth, his right hand returning to the warmth and comfort of his pocket.

Dumah disabled his skill, the flaming sphere in his hand disappearing. He smiled as he walked over to his friend. "It was often thought considerate to light a person's cigarette for them, much like I was sarcastically offering with my fireball."

Aleister sighed, the stick pointing up at an angle as his jaw was forward a bit. "Well I'm pretty sure if you tried to light my stick like that, all you'd end up accomplishing is burning my lip, and possibly singeing my hair lightly. And we wouldn't want either of those, would we?" The man smiled at his joke. "So anyways, is this new guy the only one joining you on the training? You may want to invite Kuro to tag along, he's been falling behind the curve of the Vanguards lately. Or maybe the problem ain't that he's slow, rather it's that you guys are just too fast." Both men smiled softly as they walked out of the bedroom.

Dumah tapped at the air, accessing his user interface and looking at the members tab of the guild menu, looking at the levels of those who had chosen to join the Noihara Vanguard Corps. Beside Kuro was a relatively meager nineteen. "Yes, you're right... He's a good kid, honestly. He has the potential to be a great fighter, and he has certainly improved over the years." It brought a smile to Dumah's face as he recalled a vision of the young boy who could barely make a scratch on a level one enemy in the wake of the Apocalypse; Dumah thought proudly of the improvement he had seen in Kuro, and he was proud to be the Assassin's guild master. Perhaps Kuro was perceived somewhat as the son Dumah never had - not that he was complaining of course. Not only Kuro though, but Sayinh as well; the Spellsword couldn't help but consider himself a sort of father figure for those he had trained and mentored. It made him wonder for a moment if Kuro considered Dumah to be a father figure to him... "Kuro needs to learn some adaptability. He is improving with his crossbow skills, but ranged combat can be difficult when you do not have any close combat skills to fall back on. Take for example if I were fighting Kuro in a spar: His abilities as an Assassin give him a bit of a mobility advantage, but it is difficult - almost impossible - to fire a bolt at a target that is moving so quickly. Not only that, but if I keep pushing towards him, he will be stressed for space and pressured. He will not be able to aim a bolt that well if I am mere centimeters from him. That is why I believe he would benefit immensely from learning to use a dagger, or perhaps a short sword." With that, he sent a message to Kuro, allowing the speech-to-text function of the telepathy to write out his letter. "Kuro, today you will be needed to help train our newest member, Weegee. This will not only serve to improve both his skills and your own, but it will also help him feel welcome here. Building a bond will be important, and I would hope to stop the banter you and Katarina share from reaching more than just Katarina."

The two waited for time to pass, Dumah sitting at Aleister's bar, his friend mixing up a sweet mixture of fruit juices for him. Dumah had a liking for the sweet concoction, and it had been a staple of his order for over a year now. Dumah had already prepared everything that would be needed for the training session today, and with the turn of the hour almost upon them, he stood from the bar stool. "I must be off. Take care, Aleister."

Aleister, who was in the middle of washing a glass, put the cup down and leaned on his exquisite bar. "Actually Dumah, mind if I tagged along with you three? I could use some fresh air. Besides, that bugger Sark gets a lot of his enjoyment out of making my life hell... He can only do damage to my bar if I'm there for him to pester..."

Dumah chuckled a bit, glancing at the bar that had been repaired countless times to keep it looking perfect after every other gash Sark's massive sword left in the wood. "Of course you may come. We will likely be out for most of the day, but thankfully it has not been too hot. There is actually a nice breeze blowing today." With that, the two gentlemen walked out of the bar and into the hallway, finding the two apprentices near the Cathedral's entrance, introducing themselves to each other by the look of it.

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

Weegee checked the time, giving a rather distressed sounding sigh before he looked at the Noihara guild hall. He had no real desire to go inside, for all he knew it could be packed with people, considering how much normal people desired to band together. He had joined the Guild simply to have people to ask assistance of, not really thinking it through before being accepted and realizing just how big of a mistake to his nerves he had made. With yet another sigh he turned on his heel and walked in, hands tucked into his pockets. He didn't venture far within, leaning against another wall close to the entrance he had used.



'So, you're really going through with this then?'



The darker voice spoke, almost like a friend sitting next to him as the monk seemed to gaze into a distance that didn't exist.



'Yeah, why not right? The best application of getting over your fears is to place yourself within them, no?'



He could tell the other side of himself was shaking his head, he could almost feel a hand being placed on his back as if to reassure him.



'Causing yourself to have another heart attack isn't going to solve anything you nitwit. If things get bad I'll come in and take over, alright?'



Weegee simply nodded as he came back to the real world, to find himself staring directly at someone. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't still dazed, before lifting his back from the wall and nodding as the guy spoke. Weegee answered him, his voice dull and monotone, like it were some kind of recording or the monk was just some lifeless soul.



"Yeah, I'm here for that very reason. As for informing me to your presence, the answer would be a solid no, though it does not bother me. My name is Weegee, a, pleasure to meet you Kuro."



Weegee turned his head slightly to notice Dumah walking this way with another man at his side. His face betrayed no emotion as he looked the new person over. He had no idea who anyone was, but he figured introductions would be given soon enough. He turned his attention back to Kuro as he watched the two approach.



"It seems we shall not be waiting much longer at least."

Word Count: 389| 
Talker Colors: Weegee, Zeek, NPCs
Notes: I actually did say he stood outside only =P but there, went with it cause I'm nice.

by requiem of <remoor>

[Deleted]

When Kuro was introducing himself, the Fox Tail seemed confused for one second but seemed to realize where he is and what he is doing quite quickly.
When in return he introduced himself, Kuro was surprised by his tone of voice. It was really monotone and without any sort of emotions put into them. This reminded Kuro of his recent "dungeon-scouting-trip", where another member of Noihara was affected by miasma, but as far as he could see, the monk didn't have any signs of miasma effects. (Sooo... I guess this is just how he talks. Odd... but whatever.) Weegee confirmed that he is here to train with Dumah and told Kuro that he was indeed not informed that the Assassin would be joining them, but he doesn't really mind. "Oh, well. Even though you say that, I still apologize for 'intruding' like this so suddenly." (Hmm. I think Dumah could have at least PMed him that they wont be alone. 'Speaking' of which, I wonder when's he gonna get here.) Just after this thought went through his head, the monk notified him that it looks like their wating is at an end. Kuro looked around and noticed Dumah and the Person of the Land bartender going towards them. "Heh.." ("Think" of the devil... I guess that even that works. And Aleister's with him, that's surprising.)
The Assassin waved at the pair. "Hey. We've been waiting fot some time now... although not together. Also I didn't know you'd be training as well Aleister." He started grinning: "Are you preparing yourself for your inevitable duel with Sark for all the scratches 'N stuff?" Waitin' for a response Kuro thought thought for a second. (... I changed... This is definitely Kat's influence. At the beggining I would definitely not do stuff like this... damn, at the beggining I wasn't even able to talk to more people properly... but the second part is probably the influence of Kat and Dumah.. and later on the people of Noihara.) He chuckeld. (I guess Kat was right. About me joining the guild and how it would prosper me.)
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[Word count: 350
Tags: Weegee @dumah
Note: Oh well, at least you had more "sources" to work with, but thanks for rollin' with it.]

[Deleted]

Words: 504
Total: 2033
Tags: Weegee @kurosan

---

As Dumah approached today's students, his old friend by his side, the apprentices seemed to have gotten their introductions out of the way. Nevertheless, Dumah would introduce them to each other anyways. "Thank you both for coming. Kuro, this is Weegee." The guild master gestured with his arm towards the Monk. "He is a Monk, and he will be training with us today." With that out of the way, he turned his attention to the aforementioned bushy tailed brawler. "Weegee, this is Assassin Kuro. Everybody calls him 'Kuro' for short; he will be training alongside you today. As for this gentleman," Dumah glanced to his side towards Aleister, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "this is Aleister, a dear old friend of mine and Noihara's local bartender."

Aleister smiled a handsome smile, standing with a hand in his pocket, speaking with his soothing voice. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Weegee. Dumah here has told me a bit about you." The blonde stepped forth towards Weegee, extending his right hand. "Welcome to Noihara."

After everyone was doubly introduced and acquainted, Dumah spoke again, informing everyone briefly as they left the guild's holy stone fortress of a guildhall. "We will head out to Windsor Castle Grounds. The monsters there will be around your levels and will serve as good practice. I will mostly be avoiding combat myself and leaving it to you two, but I will be there to jump in if anything unexpected occurs." As the party of four walked through the streets of Londinium, they could feel the intense glares and stares of countless Adventurers who had heard the rumors surrounding Noihara, how they bought the Cathedral and abused their ownership for their own gain.

Dumah had started to become accustomed to the disdain and kept walking as he had been before. Aleister was also unaffected it seemed, simply returning glares while facing forward, his eye shooting to the corner of his peripheral view. "You know, this city doesn't seem too bright if they're still thinkin' you abuse the Cathedral, Dumah." No response came but silence.

The party soon came to Londinium's gate, leading out into the surrounding forest area. "The walk to Windsor Castle Grounds should only take a couple hours. We should make it there by noon." The party walked along the gravel road leading out of Londinium, thick leagues of tall trees on both sides of the party. Dumah looked aside, watching the occasional Adventurer fighting slimes or boars; the sight reminded him of his early days when he was first leveling up. The Spellsword kept his left hand rested upon the pommel of his sword, hanging by the left side of his hip. The wind blew the occasional fierce zephyr, cooling the party from the heat of the sun. Thankfully they had not been met with too much opposition, and what few monsters they did aggro were easily dispatched by the party's two students. However, the further from Londinium they got, the stronger the enemies that would spawn.

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

"Again, I say it is not an issue. If your presence was requested as well then it has no negative effect on the aforementioned training."



He knew the guy was probably just trying to be polite by apologizing like that, but Weegee had no need for the words. As Dumah and his friend approached, the guild leader began to speak, introducing both Kuro and the man he had arrived with.



"A pleasure to meet you, and Kuro has thankfully already introduced himself when he arrived."



Weegee turned to Aleister as he approached, shaking the outstretched hand as it was offered. His own monotone voice clashed against the tone that the man used, showing the sheer difference between their speech patterns.



"Thank you, sorry to say that I have not heard much of you, I do not, venture here often as it is much more crowded than I can stand to be within."



With introductions tucked neatly away, Dumah introduced the idea he had for their training, which involved the monsters of the Windsor Castle Grounds. Once he was finished mentioning the plans, Weegee spoke up, looking mostly at Kuro as he did.



"The main enemies that will be there are the Lesser Soil Golems. Easy enough to outmaneuver and incredibly easy to deal with if you have means of remaining airborne. They possess no special abilities that can be used aside from the ability to sense nearby beings through vibrations in the ground, basically seismic detection."



These enemies were ones he knew pretty well, to be fair. He had trained on them for quite some time, though he had dedicated most of those levels to his Acrobat class. His thoughts kept him distracted from the countless stares that were sent their way, even though he was used to them in one form or another himself. He didn't speak up again until Dumah mentioned how long it would take them to reach the Grounds. He couldn't help but tilt his head slightly in confusion.



"Ah... right I would have to guess you do not travel as I do, as we're currently taking the road. Well... if that is the case then I shall stay with the group... in a fashion."



With nothing more than that, Weegee leaped into the air, gaining as much height as he could before landing and repeating. This was one way to train his body, and he was much more accustomed to leaps and bounds than he was to walking. Besides, this gave him a great chance to dive bomb unwanted enemies before they could fully aggro the group.

Word Count: 432| 
Talker Colors: Weegee, Zeek, NPCs
Notes:

by requiem of <remoor>

[Deleted]

Kuro's attempt at a joke was bluntly ignored, but he didn't realy care, he was satisfied with it. Dumah intoduced everyone here again, although Kuro and Weegee had already introduced themselves, which Weegee pointed out. After that he informed them where the acctual training is gonna take place. To the Assassin's surprise, Weegee seemed to know a lot about that place and informed him about the enemies there. "Stay airborne? Hmmm... What about switching between high places?" (Kuro trained his "parkour skills", but he wasn't sure about staying airborne that much) "Oh seismic detection, well I guess that works.." (Shouldn't be that hard.) 
After that they headed to the Windsor Castle Grounds. 
Along the way people were staring at them angrily. In return, Kuro started at them, like they were idiots, which in his opinion, they are. (If it's about those rumours, then they are dumber then they seem. If we were abusing the Cathedral, they would have noticed it already.) 
But neither Dumah, Weegee or Aleister seemed to give a damn. There was only one idication from Aleister when he basicaly said, what was Kuro thinking. "I completely agree with you there, mate."

After they finaly got to Londinium's gate, dumah told them that they should get there by noon. Weegee seemed that he disagreed, but said that he'd stay close-ish to the group and started leaping the way they were going. The Assassin was amazed by Weegee's jumping/leaping abilities. (Well yeah, he is an "Acrobat" so I guess it's not that exceptional, but still.) 
In return Kuro turned to Dumah: "You sure this guy needs training? By the looks of it, I thinkn he'd beat my a--... I mean he would beat me quite quickly." (Not that, that would be hard to do...)
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[Word count: 296
Tags: Weegee @dumah
Note: Sorry for the wait and short post.]