Rising Star Tavern

[Ryvius]

[Beat]

In the middle of nowhere, yet not more than a day from the nearest town, in the perfect place, resides a newly built Tavern. The only sign of life in the area, that is the only sign of human life. It’s a stone’s throw from a mighty lake and great, ancient forest. The sign hanging outside the heavy wooden doors reads “Rising Star Tavern,” And the sign in the window reads in simple red letters: “Help Wanted.”

Inside, “The Magician” Beat surveys his new establishment: Plenty of tables, more than enough seats, a great fireplace that it wasn’t quite cool enough to use yet, bedrooms upstairs, “fairly” fresh food, and every drink from orange juice to bloodwyne. No customers had entered yet, and the floors had never had a drop of blood fall on them, his tavern was truly a virgin.

Working a bar Beat couldn’t help but think on his old job from so long ago. He’d had quite a few of his own adventures since his immortal master had found a way to end his life. “Gotta admit, I’ve never had a better severance package.” He said to himself, while feeling his wrist for the bracelet that had already sunk beneath his skin and fused to his bone. He could feel it’s powers radiating to every inch of his body.

Beat was tall and slender, his form hugged by tight jeans and a black-and-white striped long-sleeved shirt. It gave him a scarecrow-like appearance. He wore thick black boots that made him seem even taller, and black gloves on his hands. Tinted goggles hung at his neck, and jet black hair cut jagged at the ends reached down to his shoulders. His face was the only place that revealed his pale skin. His facial structure hinted at Asian ancestry, and his eyes were almost as black as his hair. His appearance in general was very androgynous, and it would be difficult for any stranger to determine his actual gender.

Beat sat back and lit a cigarette, his eyes closed as he rested peacefully while occasionally taking a drag off of his fragrant smoke, waiting for some customers to grace his not-so-little little Tavern.

[Sephiroth]

Dave strode up to the Tavern. "Might as well check it out" Dave mumbled. He pushed the door aside and looked in "Guess I'm the first one here" Dave thought. He took a few steps in. His brown spiky long hair illuminated withing the lighting of the place.

The door closed behind Dave with a thud.

(OCC: http://www.justmanga.com/jmcover/ffadcsephiroth.jpg clothing) His black cape fluttered behind him with every step. Dave had his 7 foot sword in hand encase some armed drunk was going to pick a fight.

Dave walked up to the bartender "Give me the hardest thing you got" Dave sat down "actually make it two" Dave proped his sword againt's the table and leaned back waiting for more people to walk through the door into the tavern to, make the place a little more lively.

[Ryvius]

Beat opened a single eye as his first patron walked in. He closed it back and remained motionless even as the stranger spoke to him. After about 6 seconds of silence, he mumbled to himself and began to get up. His cigarette was almost completely burned now, it's cherry still bright red. As he got up he plucked it from his lips with his right hand, and closed his fist around it. He stood up, his full height combined with his boots making him seem towering, though his frail looking body made it more inhuman looking than intimidating. He brought up the hand he had closed around the lit cigarette and flung it open in Dave's direction. Instead of a cigarette bright-colored confetti flew out all around Dave.

"Congratulations! You're the very first customer ever to walk through those doors!" Beat had a ridiculous smile on his face. His voice was as androgynous as his body, a beautiful soft tone. "How about...umm...you get a free drink?" Beats movements seemed fluid as he ducked below the bar and after some rummaging retrieved a plain glass and an unmarked bottle. He uncapped the bottle and poured some orange liquid into the glass, filling it until it was almost full. He then capped and replaced the bottle under the bar. The liquid looked like orange juice, but smelled like something that had been dead for a considerable time.

"It smells like death, tastes so awful it'll knock the breath out of you, and'll have you feeling like death tommorrow morning." Beat scooted the glass towards his customer, and brought his hand up to his mouth pulling a newly lit cigarette from seemingly nowhere.
"Oh, and just so you know, if you don't pay for a room before you pass out I'll just leave you outside."

[Sephiroth]

Dave picked up the glass and smiled " I guess you never met me before" Dave took a swig of the whole thing without even a slight change in his expression.

"Give me another" Dave smiled, at the man. Dave took out money to pay for the next five drinks "Keep the change" Dave smiled as he placed the empty glass in front of the bartender and with his right hand went into his pocket and pulled out the money and placed it, beside the empty glass.

[Ryvius]

Beat took the money, and grabbed the empty glass with his right hand and swung it behind his back. His left hand brought out the same glass, but full of the same liquid He set it on the bar before Dave. He then shelled out four more identical filled glass from behind his back, placing them in a row beside the first.

"You should be careful their, I got the recipe for that in a foreign land where men had limbs the size of tree trunks, and the sounds of their giant hearts pumping blood through their veins was like a roaring river. I've been using it as an herbicide." Beat leaned forward on the bar with his elbows, casually smoking his cigarette that never seemed to ash.

[Sephiroth]

Dave took the first glass in the row. No problem he swigged it down. He was starting to feel a little light headed. "This is a little kid drink" Dave said before he started laughing at his own little remark.

He placed the empty glass on his right. Took his left hand and grabbed another one. "Cheers for the new bar" Dave announced before he took one shot out of it and the orange substance's dissapeared into his mouth. He than again placed the empty glass onto the side where the other one resided. He did this for the next three remaining drinks. Dave started to feel a little more tipsy. "Ahh That hit the spot" Dave said as he made a fist and hit his chest once and than smiled.

"Those huge men must have been very lightwieght" Dave joked around.

[Ryvius]

[Beat]

Beat frowned at the stranger's lack of interest in his tricks. Beat sighed and quietly laid back onto nothing, hovering in midair, and closed his eyes. "You're a hard man to impress aren't you?" Beat's latest cigarette had neared the end of it's lifespan, and he swallowed it without opening his eyes.

"Those huge men must have been very lightwieght" Dave joked around.

"If you want some friendly advice, you might want to stop drinking that weedkiller before you become dead weight. Mr....what did you say your name was cheif?

[Sephiroth]

Dave looked at the man "Name's Dave" Dave put his thumb up and smiled.

"Dead Weight there hasnt a single drink that has ever got me in one glass" Dave stated facts with the man.

"Never caught your name" Dave looked at them man and awaited his reply.

[Ryvius]

Beat continued to hover for a few seconds, silent. He stared blankly at Dave and then righted himself, placing his feet back on solid ground. He pointed one of his long slender fingers at his pale face. "Beat's the moniker. But you may hear some call me...." Beat paused mid-sentence as if to let the anticipation build, and spread his arms out beside him, flinging his fingers out wide. Glittering sparkles of light flew from his hands and slowly drifted downwards as they faded. "The Magician Beat!"

[Sephiroth]

Dave opened one eye and looked as the sparks flew down. "A Magician" Dave smiled.

"Can you pull out a drink from the bar as a final act" Dave teased and laughed.

As he dug into his pocket and pulled out some money to pay for his beverage.
"What is your best trick" Dave said as he started at Beat.

[Aleister Black]

EDIT: OOC: Damn, my posts always end up being so long!


Rethel blinked against the bright sunlight. He was in a little clearing in a forest, and the only sound around him was the chirruping of birds and leaves rustling in a cool breeze. This would have been much less odd if his ears weren't still ringing from an explosion that had almost blinded and deafened him as the bomb fell so close to his platoon. Suddenly remembering the other people in his platoon, some o them as young or even younger than he was, he feverishly looked around to look if he could see them, or find some evidence that he was still where he was supposed to be.

There was none.

Rethel's knees went weak. What was happening? One moment, the young boy had been advancing through a war-torn city, no more than a carcass of ruins, with airplanes circling around it like vultures or flies, the soldiers running around and fighting the bugs that further consumed the cadaver. And in the blink of an eye - Rethel touched his face, and he felt that one of his eyebrows was singed by the fire - he found himself in a lush but ancient forest. His young mind could not find any other explanation for this than that he was

A) dead,
B) dreaming, or
C) given an escape by some merciful deity.

His life at the moment being devoid of any kind of clearly defined goal, he started walking into a random direction, hoping to find a place to stay and perhaps eat. Purely out of habit, he dragged his battered and rusty rifle after him. He had been shouted at by his sergeant for too many times that his rifle was his life and he ought to take it everywhere and sleep with it and give it a name. He would not risk losing it, even in such a strange place as this. Besides, leaving a gun in this beautiful forest seemed almost like sacrilege.

After a short walk, during which he had ascertained that his wounds were few and not serious, made to look worse than they really were by blood and dirt, he found a lake, its water so clear he could see fish swimming several yards away. He went to his knees and cleaned some of his wounds and washed the dirt from his face. As he looked up, his bright blue eyes fell upon a building not more than a stone's throw away. He suddenly felt his hunger return all the more and decided he'd try his luck there. He only had a few coins to spare, and he didn't have many of those.

Coming closer, he saw that he was looking at a tavern, and he eagerly went in. His eyes sparkled as he saw the bertender's magic illuminate the room. Slowly, almost reverently, he came closer and asked, "Sir, do you have any water, please?" Then, because even though he fought in the war he was also still a 15-year-old boy, he gave his voice a somewhat lower pitch and said, "On second thought, I'd like a beer. Please. Sir."

[Ryvius]

Beat cast a glance at the boy walking in, and then retrieved a glass bottle of whiskey and set it in front of Dave. "Here pal, I'm cutting you off of that herbicide. I can hear your organs dying, drink much more and you'll die right in my bar. And the safety of my patrons is important, after all." Of course, in reality Beat had just run out of the orange fluid and in fact would have no problem with a customer drinking himself to death except for the mess he made. "And I'd say my greatest trick...was making this Tavern appear." He said, with a knowing smile.

Beat then walked over, well he really just had to lean towards, a barrel with a tap in it and filled a glass with a fairly clear brew. "Even people who know I'm a man rarely call me sir. At least not before they get drunk." He set the beer in front of the young man, but before giving him a chance to grab it he leaned over the bar uncomfortably close to the boy. His soft pale skin almost touching the boy's own face. He spoke softly, with a hint of mischief in his voice. "Hmmm...aren't you a bit young for drinking anyway, little boy?" Beat looked the boy up and down, slowly. "And on that note, you look a bit rough as well. Is a drink all you need? We have food and bedding you know." Beat said without moving his face out of the boy's own.

[Aleister Black]

Rethel was about to protest the bartender's assertions that he may be too young for alcohol when his roughened appearance was remarked upon. The closeness of the bartender's face didn't do anything to comfort Rethel but he was used to platoon sergeants yelling at him so it didn't unsettle him as much as it would have without that experience.

Nevertheless, he cast down his eyes, his hands still holding the barrel of the old service rifle that rested on the plank floor behind him. Hesitantly, he said, "Well, si- [Rethel paused here because he had been used calling people 'sire' whatever their status -his status was always lower anyway- and he didn't really know what else to say] ... I'd like to, but I can't pay for it." One of his hands went inside a pocket and retrieved the small coins that was all he had.

Then he remembered something he had seen but not paid attention to as he came in. His head jerked up and he looked the bartender in the eyes that were still so close to his. "I can work for it, though!"

[Ryvius]

Beat backed off a bit, and tapped his lips with his slender finger as if pondering the situation. "Well, I could certainly use help around here. I'm sure I can find something for you to do." Beat stood up, giving the boy his space again. "Even if it's only cleaning duties." He smiled and winked at the boy. "So what's your name, new official chore boy?"

He scooted the glass of beer towards the boy., and placed a piece of plain, only slightly stale, bread beside it. "Drink up. I say, if you're old enough to kill you're old enough to drink away the memory of killing. Hopefully it'll make you a little nervous." He said, pointing one long finger at the boy's rifle. "You always keep a hand on that thing?"

[Sephiroth]

Dave looked over as a soldier of war came in he looked no older than 15, 17 at the most.

He looked back at Beat "No Drink would ever kill me" Dave laughed as he took a swig from the whiskey he slid it back to Beat "Keep that cold for me I shall take a walk" Dave said as he tryed to stand up and move his leg's wouldn't follow him causeing Dave to tople to the ground. "I got this" Dave said as he placed both his hands on the ground and lifeted himself back long the table.

He followed the table's path to the wall placing his hand on the wall with every step to give him stabability. He final reached the door. "Thank's for the drink, Beat" Dave smiled as he waved good-bye.

He now stood in the scene of a beautiful day birds chirping not a cloud in the sky. Dave saw a nearby lake. He stumbled over and place his Head in the crystal clear water. He looked around and saw fish swmming "Wow this is deeper than I thought" Dave said as he imerged from the water his face dripping his brown hair a watery mess.

Dave through himself back onto the hill and tooked up at the sky watching birds fly by. Dave eye's began to shut and he fell asleep on the hill.

[Aleister Black]

Rethel started feeling better at ease, and his eyes lit up when the man told him that he could work there. Uncunsciously rubbing his sore cheek with his thumb, he said, "It's Rethel. Just.... Rethel. And thank you! I won't let you down, promise!" The boy greedily wrapped his hand around the glass of beer, after having spilled some of it trying to stop the glass in its tracks.

After a short apolegetic glance at the bartender, he swallowed his first big gulp of the cold beer, the froth tickling his nose. He barely heard the man talking while he was eating and drinking, but when the bartender spoke while Rethel was just agonising over the choice whether to take a bite of the bread or another gulp of the beer, he got his attention.

"You always keep a hand on that thing?"

Rethel wasn't sure what the man was talking about until he saw his pointing finger. A few moment passed as he was looking at his rifle, not entirely sure what to do with it. It had been almost beaten into him that he was to take good care of the battered old gun; on the other hand, he wasn't really going to need it close to hand here, right? He looked up into the man's face again and spoke, "Well, I used to. I had to. But I don't think I need to here. Right?" he finished questioningly. He wasn't from around here; he had no idea what this place was and potentially how dangerous.

Rethel was briefly distracted when the man who had been here before him fell on the ground and stumbled out of the tavern. He was quite obviously drunk, or pretty close to it anyway.

"And si- I mean, Um... What's your name?" Retherl asked the bartender, his new employer, as he gingerly leaned the rifle against the wall.

[Ryvius]

Beat waved as the man exited. "When life finds you sober again, you know where to spend all your money. If you fall asleep, try not to do it on your back." Beat didn't seem to concerned, and turned to his young new employee.

"Well, I used to. I had to. But I don't think I need to here. Right?"

"Who can say? This place might get dangerous. If it ever gets any business." Beat cast a look around the empty and spacious tavern. "But I don't think you'll need to have it on hand. After all, since you're working for me I won't let any major harm befall you."

Beat flashed a smile that seemed to say he may or may not be joking, and gave the bread a light toss up in the air. He felt the energy from the bracelet beneath his skin concentrate as he extended a small energy blade from his hand. He moved almost too fast for the human eye to keep track of, slicing through the bread again and again from every angle. The bread fell softly back onto the bar, and despite the amount of cuts it seemed to endure it simply split perfectly in half. "Trust me, you'll be all right here kid."

"I guess you missed my flashy introduction." He said, idly flicking his fingers out to the side and creating 3 small sparkles that quickly faded. He made a fist and pointed at himself with his thumb. "The names Beat. Just Beat.

[Aleister Black]

Rethel stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the magic tricks. He had seen wandering magicians perform card tricks and other such trickery before, but that had clearly been sleight-of-hand, not real magick. This certainly was new to him.

"That was amazing!" the boy exclaimed.

His rifle leaning against the wall was all but forgotten now as the boy extended a hand to the sliced bread, which was still warm. He took a bite from it and nodded, pleased with the crunchy layer of toast where it had been cut in half.

His mouth still full, Rethel curiously looked around the tavern. It was quite empty, no rowdy guests making loud noises and singing songs. Not yet, anyway. This place smelled of possibilities. Had he been taken away from the war to be here instead? His eyes lit up as he contemplated a future working as a tavern hand. The prospects were certainly way better than being a soldier!

Rethel turned to Beat again, took another gulp of the beer and while a bit of the fluid dripped down his chin, he asked, "What's going to be my first job, si- I mean Beat?"

[SacredSilence]

Aria awoke and found herself lying amongst broken branches and moss on the floor of the mighty forest.

She sat up and drew in a few shallow breaths, which tasted stale and metallic, as she rubbed her eyes and brought them down she noticed fresh blood still covering her face.

"What happened to me?" Aria asked herself as she gingerly raised herself onto one foot as she realised her left leg was broken and so couldnt put any pressure on the limb.

Aria searched the area and found what must have been her chrome pistols lying in the holster belt on the ground a few feet ahead and hanging on a branch about hip height to her.

She reached down and grabbed a particularly thick branch and used it as a prop to help her move towards her guns.

After she had reattached the belt around her waist she set of through the forest until she came to a magnificent,clear lake once alongside it she collapsed on the shore just after she managed to take several handfulls of water, one to wash her face and the other to wash the taste of blood from her mouth.

When she awoke she found herself lying on her stomach on the edge of the lake as she looked around she saw a building several hundred yards away from where she was lying and decided that she needed to get to the building.

She hoisted herself up and limped along for about three quarters of the way until she collapsed just outside the entrance with a loud thump and a scream, with her last ounces of strength before she blacked out she managed to push open the door with one hand and slump her other hand inside the building as she blacked out.

[Ryvius]

((Sorry for lateness Black old bean, I forgot you had posted in here.))

"You like my tricks, eh boy?" Beat smiled. "It's all just sleight-of-hand, really." Beat was glad to have someone impressed by his magic, after his dealings with the unimpressed warrior drunk. Looking at the boy enjoying his "fairly" fresh bread so much, Beat couldn't help but think back to his own early years as a hungry orphan. It may have been because the boy reminded him of those days that he had been so kind to him in the first place, after all he probably didn't need the boy as an employee all that much. He didn't exactly look like he had a lot of experience that would be useful at a tavern. He would learn of course, and an extra hand is an extra hand after all.

Beats thoughts were interrupted rather rudely by a loud scream and the thump of someone collapsing mostly outside of his front door. He thought about making a comment about the passing out outside of his bar rule, but since the woman was unconscience there wouldn't have been much point in the joke. "Well Rethel, your first and second jobs are to clean up the drink you spilled." He said, pointing the small of amount of beer spilled on the counter. "And to drag that unconscience woman in here and see what we can do for her, and if she has money. You can do them in whatever order you see fit."