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Damn, how could I have been so careless...
An Oriental woman with long purple hair and soft white skin sits chained up in the cramped box as it bumped along the unfamiliar dirt road. Her cage was carried by a two-horse cart driven by two grunts in the front as well as being guarded in the back by two more grunts. There were just enough air holes so that the female didn't suffocate, but not enough for her to see where they were. She was dressed in provocative clothing that just barely covered her particularly feminine parts, forced on to her while she was drugged. Her usually neatly kept hair was unkempt and fell over her eyes. The untrained eye would think that her will to fight was shattered, and such a viewpoint was quite justifiable. The revealing clothing sent a message to her that she was to become a slave in this new landscape; as bleak as her situation was, the lady never lost sight of one major mantra that she always took to heart: a true ninja is a slave to no one and nothing.

As the cart went over a rock, one of the wheels fell off. The cart rattled to a halt, and one of the grunts jumped out to fix it. One of the grunts goes to tend to the horses while the other two check on their precious cargo. One of the grunts opens the door to find a log and a pile of shackles inside. The grunts stare in amazement, fear, frustration, and disappointment as they are taught the first lesson of capturing a ninja. Always restrain the hands. The female ninja, who goes by the name of Ai Nakamikado, watched from a nearby bush and admired the work of her substitution ninjutsu. Putting her plan into effect, she moves through the tops of the strange trees, looking for a common woman of this area and also to gather information on where exactly she was. After finding a traveler and "borrowing" her clothes after a lengthy and heartfelt apology, the kunoichi kept moving, glad to have ditched her revealing attire. It was worth mentioning that she wasn't quite happy with her replacement clothes. The lower half of the outfit hugged her legs too hard for her tastes, the blue fabric it was made of was too heavy and rough. The upper half wasn't able to be opened and the sleeves wre too short, not to mention too tight on the arms. At least she had a stretchy ring that she could use to restrain her hair temporarily.

After some wandering, she came across something strange. It seemed like a city, but it was...different. THe city she knew was busy with farmers and merchants and it had all sorts of flowers and animals. This sity seemed cold and lifeless. Tall houses of stone blocked out the sun, the townspeople seemed unfriendly and dressed like she was. The torches looked strange and stood on huge poles. She looked very out of place and Ai didn't know a lot about her surroundings. But she did know that her kimono had been sent to this nation to be sold. She also knew that she could summon her ninjato in a day or so. As she made her way into an alleyway to keep herself hidden from the public, her presence wasn't unnoticed...

While Ai hides around town, confused at where she is, a young man walks around the streets at day, looking up at the bright sun that shines over the lonely city. The young man was dressed in white, but he wears very fashionable clothing that almost looks like he's a nobleman...but in actuality he's not really a noble, but more so that loves wearing such fashionable clothes... Still the clothes were very nice, sharp, and comfy...but also good enough for him to fight in them as he has both thick metal arm bracers and greaves on his lower legs... Along with his clothes, the young man has beautiful royal blue eyes, and has short white hair.

His name is Viper Solkaizer, a unique name given to him as he's part of a special force of peacekeepers and enforcers. Solkaizer is on a special vacation, far away from his home, as he wanted to come on over and see the sights of this lonely town. The town itself is nice and large, but there's always a possibility of a looming darkness and corruption...you can never be too sure with cities that have some "shaky" reputation... Still Solkaizer has decided to come here, more so to his curiosity as looks around for something to do... During the day there was a lot of people out, so there's a lot for him to do, but he was hoping for something fun instead of just shopping around, and enjoy the sights.

"I wonder what I should do today?" muttered Solkaizer to himself as he cheerfully nodded his head back and forth

Solkaizer begins to wonder around, likely heading back to a place that he managed to rent out for a couple of days. With nothing bad or suspicious happening for now, he might as well head home to relax for a bit. As he was walking back though, he was going to walk through the alleyway where Ai took for a quicker shortcut in order to get back home.

Ai's instincts kick in and she feels that someone is following her. She ducks in front of an alleyway and reaches for a kunai on her hip. When she touches nothing but the heavy fabric of her outfit, she mutters a curse. I really wish I had my equipment, she thinks to herself as the man walks down the alley past her. She springs into action and strikes at the man's throat, determined to subdue who she thought was following her.

Solkaizer was totally oblivious to Ai's presence, including the sneak attack aimed for his throat. She was basically going to damage him a whole lot more than she'd bargained with his neck completely expose and his careless attitude, maybe even enough to damage his throat permanently. However, something within his mind reacted to Ai's sneak attack as he warns Solkaizer within his mind.

"Solkaizer, watch out!" cried a mysterious voice within Solkaizer's mind

The alertness and shouting of warning coming from the recess of Solkaizer's mind allow him to react almost immediately as he was able to block the hand strike that was aimed at his throat with his bracer, making Ai's hand rest on it to feel that he has metal on his lower arms as it feels rather hard. Managing to make a very close parry, Solkaizer immediately falls back as he looks at his attacker.

"Hey, hey, easy! What's with the unexpected aggression?" asked Solkaizer as he readies himself in case Ai attacks him again

(Ai doesn't have any kunai, she reached for it but she doesn't have any)

(It's fixed now to remedy this.)

Ai advanced slowly, taking an offensive stance. "You should have known better than to follow me. What do you want from me? What is this place? Who are you?" Although the ninja didn't have any equipment, she looked confident in her hand to hand combat abilities. She was screaming internally from her hand striking the metal bracer. She was strong and durable, but not even she should handle slamming her hand into metal.

"W-Wait...hold on a second... Can we talk about this first? You said I shouldn't known better to follow you? Whatever do you mean by that? Also the way you move...I don't think anyone from this town can move so quickly than you...are you from out of town or something...?" asked Solkaizer

Solkaizer is a bit nervous with Ai being very quick and skillful with that sneak attack of hers, but he's willing to continue to fight back if necessary in self-defense. If worst comes to worst, however, he may need to knock her out...which can be very simple and painless to do if Solkaizer can touch her head with his hands for just a moment... Solkaizer awaits for Ai's next move, and though he's prepared to fight, he rather want to talk things out...especially when it comes to fighting against a beautiful woman like her...it doesn't make him feel all that comfortable...

She looks at the well dressed man with an intense glare, although the pain in her hand was becoming harder and harder to ignore. "You didn't answer my question. Who are you? What is this place?" She assumed that this man was a nobleman, given his fashion; whether he was a leader or an oppressor was unknown to her, but she knew that for the moment she had to assume the worst.

"Now, now... Let's all calm down and take a nice deep breath, okay...?" said Solkaizer as he then calms down and smiles lightly at Ai "Anyway, my name is...Solkaizer... Yeah, my name is Solkaizer..."

Solkaizer kinda didn't want to reveal his true name to a complete stranger so soon...but he couldn't come up with any other name at the time, and he figured that stalling for time would be bad for him...

"Anyway, you're in the city of Gracidea. So I guess you're some sort of foreigner? Or a tourist? After all, why would someone be asking where they are in this city?" said Solkaizer

Solkaizer started to lower his stance just a bit, showing that he's now a bit defenseless, but he still has his guard up in case if something happens; however he really hopes that he doesn't have to harm Ai.

(Hopefully the town's name is okay... It was the only thing I can think up at such short notice.)

Ai stares at the man for a while before dropping her stance and sighing, finally wincing and rubbing her hurt hand. "A foreigner, yes. My name is Nakamikado Ai, I am from the Takanashi Empire of Japan. I am a medicine woman, and it seems like you are some sort of leader. Tell me, Solkaizer-san, are you a fair leader? Or are you an oppressive dictator?" She was very skeptical of Solkaizer, even though he was quite friendly.

(Sorry it took 5 weeks to reply, this forum disappeared by the time I returned to roleplaying)

"It's a nice and sincere pleasure to meet you, Ms. Nakamikado." said Solkaizer with a smile, but soon turns to surprise when she mentioned that she was from Japan "You're from Japan? So am I. This is quite a silly coincidence."

Ai can see that Solkaizer is rather very expressive, but she can also easily deduce that the reason why he's very expressive is that he is pretty childish as well, possibly making her think that he's either a young teen or a young adult...though his current height of 5' 10" would definitely think he's the latter... When Ai asked that he was some sort of leader, Solkaizer couldn't help but to be shocked that he even sticks out a waves hands away from her, like he's trying to force her to move away.

"Oh, no, no...I'm not a leader... I don't think that I can ever become one as good as my father, but I am destined to lead a group of heroes one day...I don't think that I'll be ready when that time will come, but at least it'll be a long ways off..." said Solkaizer as he starts to calm down

Solkaizer couldn't help but to stare at Ai rubbing her hurt hand as he starts to turn both sad and concerned.

"I'm really sorry about your hand... I wear both knuckle gauntlets and leg greaves under my clothing, since I'm a fighter that specializes in actual hand to hand combat; I can even fight against people that are armed with weapons. I'm pretty sure you're thinking that because I wear rather fancy nobleman clothes that why I'm also a fighter, right? Personally it's mainly because I like wearing such clothes since I love the style of them...though it does make me look like a foreigner, even to Japanese people since not many people wear these types of clothes...

Anyway I want to help you out with that hurt hand of yours, I do got some healing cream back at my room that you can use to soothe your hand. Also it appears that you look like you're rather lost and confused... I would really love it if I can help you in anyway I can." said Solkaizer

Solkaizer then starts to approach Ai with the intent to try and convince her to come with him, showing a nice and sincere smile on his face. Ai could use this moment of him being completely unguarded to either perform a sneak attack, or retreat if she wanted.

(It's fine. I'm just glad we can continue on.)

Ai considered a sneak attack as the man approached her but decided against it. He seemed to genuinely want to help her and she needed help. She shakes her head and says, "I appreciate the offer and I will follow you but I do not need your healing cream. I am a medicine woman back in Japan, I have healing lotion of my own in...<Dammit!>" She curses in Japanese, remembering that she had her healing cream confiscated when she was captured by the ninja clansmen. Correction: she desperately needed help.

Ai sighs and nods, "I will require your cream after all, Solkaizer-san. And perhaps some new clothes, I don't understand how any person could feel comfortable in this coarse fabric." She complains while tugging on the black jeans. She wasn't used to her clothes being so restrictive, and she longed foor her beautiful silk kimono again.

"...I see... You're really aren't used to jeans, which I can definitely understand for someone who's Japanese for most of their life. Personally I'm not much of a fan either since the material is more rougher than my clothes which is much lighter and thinner in fabric...especially when it comes to wearing my fighting gear underneath it..." said Solkaizer

Solkaizer soon has a telepathic communication with himself...as there's someone else who's living inside of Solkaizer's body... His name is Viper Majinkaizer, and he's the direct counterpart to Solkaizer's power and personality...two different sides of a same coin...

"This woman is very interesting. Wouldn't you agree, Majinkaizer?" said Solkaizer telepathically

"...She did attack you earlier though... I suggest that you be on your guard..." said Majinkaizer telepathically

"Aww... Don't say that... I can really sense that she's truly sincere and honest that she's in a lot of distress. You can easily tell by her tagging at her jeans in disgust." said Solkaizer telepathically

"I suppose, but you never know that she may be acting this way just so she can use you." said Majinkaizer telepathically

"How cruel... Sure I can understand your logic given that she tried to attack me, quite sneakily I may add, but seeing her lost and confused starts to make me wonder if she really attacked me out of fear? Especially since she asked me if I was a leader to an organization...despite wearing such fancy clothes..." said Solkaizer telepathically

"Not surprising that nothing I'll say will change your mind once you set on to it... Do whatever, but please don't die when she does betray you..." said Majinkaizer telepathically

"Majinkaizer... You do know that you have to deal with her...when nighttime comes..." said Solkaizer telepatically

"I rather not... Especially that we need to keep it a secret...or have you forgotten that we're not normal human beings, like her...?" said Majinkaizer telepathically

"...I...I know... Don't worry, I'll make sure we're not seen when the time comes..." said Solkaizer telepathically

"Good..." said Majinkaizer telepathically

They soon end their telepathically communication, that took at least 40 seconds of complete silence from Solkaizer. Still not only that it was very quick, but Solkaizer still continues to approach Ai to help her, making him less suspicious of slient treatment, if Ai picked up on it. It didn't take long for Solkaizer to be really close to Ai, but then goes behind her as their destination is through the alleyway behind her.

"This way, Ms. Nakamikado...or do you prefer Nakamikado-san...? Anyway, the place I'm staying around here is this way. Once we can get the cream to soothe your soreness in your hand, we can then focus on getting you some new clothes." said Solkaizer with a smile

The place that Solkaizer is staying, is a hotel that is down the block once they exit out of the alleyway. It's a relatively tall three-story building that is average in many ways. A three-star hotel to many people and circles, still it's a nice looking building with good service.

Ai walks after her, her posture a bit stiff from the tight jeans. "Okay. Thank you. And you can just call me Ai, I am not a very formal person. So, you live in this place. What is it like? Are the people here friendly? What are your houses made of? What crops are grown here?" She had so many questions about this unknown land.

"Easy, easy, slow down... I'll be more than happy to answer all of your questions, Ai-san." said Solkaizer with a smile...but is also showing a bit of a nervous expression on his, mainly from his closed eyes...

Solkaizer continues to lead Ai outside the alleyway as they make their way to the hotel that he was staying in.

"Anyway, first question, I don't live here in this city, but instead came here on vacation. My father didn't mind for me to leave for some R&R, so I decided to travel out of country to here. Remember that I did told you that I also live in Japan, just like you. Next question, what's it like here? Well it's a pretty urban city with very little greenery around here... Sure there are a couple of parks, greenery areas where people can relax and have fun in, but otherwise you won't see much aside from just tall buildings, cars, and a lot of things going on... As far as the people are here being friendly? Well, I didn't interact with many people here in this city since I also just got here about three days ago, but I've seen quite a bit of nice people here. As housing goes, all the buildings here in this city are made out of concrete cement, a very hard substance, think of them like moldable stones in a sense that does harden after a while. Finally in terms of crops...you may not be able to find something like that around here in this city given to how little greenery is around here... I believe that there are some farms outside that grows produce that gives to the city though...which I'm sure that you would like to see at some point once you're comfortable, right?" said Solkaizer

Solkaizer didn't mind Ai asking him so many questions, especially since he's very experienced in living in such settings like this, even from back at home in Japan that has a tiny bit of modernization since it still has many greenery and old-fashioned architecture.

"Hmm... I am starting to miss the nice and beautiful greenery of Japan... Maybe I'll come back early... Since you also live in Japan, I would be more than happy to let you come with me to take you back home. Anyway, the hotel that I'm staying is right up ahead." said Solkaizer with a smile

Ai followed Solkaizer, listening intently to what he was saying about the city. As she heard about the lack of farms and towering buildings, she wondered how a people could ever live here and be happy. There didn't seem to be any companionship between the residents; what would they do in the case of an attack or a takeover? Who will they depend upon in order to survive?

Ai had another question to ask her new ally. "I see horse-drawn carts along the hard street. They are moving, but without horses. How is this possible? Are they run by magic?" She asked this seriously, although such a view could be seen as comically uneducated.

"Ah those that you see on the busy streets here? They are called cars, a 'modernized' version of the horse-drawn carriages that you're used to. Unlike carriages, these cars don't need horses to make them move, instead they got engines that makes the car move on it's own. They are a much 'convenient' source of transportation that can go really fast if you want them too... Of course as amazing as cars really are, they still have their problems...one of which is that they're very expensive to purchase and maintain since they need gas, which is basically oil that is easily flammable, in order to drive them... They do also cause a bit of pollution due to smoke that comes from the exhausts, pipes that you see in the back of cars, that are harmful to the body if inhaled at very close range; otherwise it's still safe...but you may not get used to the smell...perhaps you would need a bit of a change in scenery once everything is settled...? Also cars can get you into very dangerous accidents...many people have lost their lives when a car suddenly goes up in flames if they crash into something, and may even explode due to the leaking gases and oils getting ignited as the car emits electrical sparks from something that breaks during the crash...

Hopefully this was a good enough explanation about cars...both their convenience and dangers... You mentioned magic, yes? Well cities like this have nothing that is really considered as magic...at least from what you're used to... Technology and convenience normally dominates this time of age...but then again, not all the Earth is like this as some countries rather like to have more simpler things than convenience... I'm kinda in the same boat kind of way..." said Solkaizer "Wow... I would never expect Ai-san to talk about magic...and I think she really meant the sorcery kind, not the ones used in illusions and tricks like what magicians uses... Hmm... She's a very interesting one...I wonder what she would think of me if I showed her my magical sorcery...? But I really can't as it would force me to reveal myself...and that's normally considered taboo to tell anyone who we really are..."

Solkaizer and Ai continues to make their through the city blocks for about 10 more minutes until they finally arrived at the hotel that Solkaizer was staying. The hotel is a very large square building that is several stories high, completely made out of bronze-colored cement, and has many windows that doubles as balconies all over. It's a nice looking...if a bit too generic...hotel.

"Here we are, Ai-san, this is the hotel that I'm staying in. I have a room on the third out of five floors. I don't know how you would like seeing a room in such a modernized setting than what you're used to, but I'm sure you'll get used to it in time...hopefully... Still it is a very nice looking room with plenty of space for the both of us to move around in. Anyway, let's head on inside." said Solkaizer with a smile "Do you have any more questions?"