[center][h1][color=slategray][i]Oz Morioka[/i][/color][/h1][/center]

The sound of tumblers clicking in place rang in Oz’s ears with dispassionate finality. Strangely enough though, shuttering up the workshop that he had called home for the past fourteen years was proving to be a far more anticlimactic affair than he had expected. Sure he would almost certainly return to this out of place building on the outskirts of Lifan once he had finished his Rites, but still, he had been expecting… well, more.

Raiha’s letter had been so flippant and out of nowhere that Oz couldn’t even bring himself to be all that surprised. It was just like his master to suddenly drop everything and anyone around her in order to pursue the latest object of her interest. Although in her defense, the redheaded Searsinger had never done so on quite the same scale as this before. Her letter didn’t even say whether she would be gone for only a few months or if it would be years before she would return, only that Oz shouldn’t bother waiting around for her.

Taking one last sidelong glance at the workshop, Oz did just that and started walking towards the center of town. His recluse of a master lived as far out of the way of the city proper as possible, so the sooner he started walking the better. 

[hr]

[color=slategray]”One way to Toran.”[/color] Oz’s voice just barely cut above the busy din of the station’s morning traffic. While he personally wasn’t a big fan of them, the only way to get from Lifan to Toran in anything resembling a reasonable amount of time was to take a train. He handed over the necessary amount to the attendant and glanced around, losing himself in the bustle of the place.

[b]“Just a moment,”[/b] the attendant said, completely stopping in his tracks mid transaction. The older man eyed Oz up and down, as if trying to confirm something with a rather scrutinizing look. [b]“You’re that Morioka woman’s apprentice, aren’t ya?”[/b] he asked innocently, to which Oz could only nod his head slowly in silent confirmation, his face scrunched up quizzically. Yet the attendant said nothing while he rummaged through the drawers on his side.

[b]“Aha! There we are,”[/b] the man finally proclaimed as he held up a letter for Oz to see. [b]“An odd one, that master of yours,”[/b] he went on to say nonchalantly as he opened it and took out the money inside. [b]“Said her apprentice would be coming through here and that he would probably be going to Toran, so she left enough money for your ticket.”[/b] He finished his little explanation as he produced the ticket and handed both it and the money Oz had previously tried to pay with. But when his eyes fell on the aforementioned apprentice’s face, a small, unnecessarily apologetic laugh escaped him.

[b]“Looks like you have it rough. Try to hang in there kid.”[/b]

[hr]

By the time the train finally pulled into Toran, Oz had come dangerously close to becoming completely stir-crazy. The brown haired youth was off the train before the doors had even finished opening. He could have sworn that one of the train operators muttered something along the lines of “kids these days,” but he was already too far ahead of the words to worry about it much.

Oz didn’t have a particular destination in mind as he took off, simply enjoying being free of the oversized metal box that had been his prison for the past few hours. But even at his quick pace, he couldn’t help but marvel at how different Toran was from Lifan. While he didn’t stop at any point to truly appreciate any of the art adorning the various buildings and bridges, he couldn’t help but be impressed by their sheer ambition.

It didn’t take long for his gallivanting around town to take him to the town square, where some kind of commotion was breaking out. It didn’t take much detective work to figure out who the perpetrators were, as the crowd had been polite enough to give the two trainers duking it out plenty of room. The woman was instantly recognizable to Oz as a Lifanite, a true Lifanite unlike himself, while the dark skinned man she was trading blows with was much more difficult to place.

As his footsteps finally came to a stop, he noticed he was standing right next to a short girl with blonde hair.

[color=slategray]“Looks like I’ve missed quite a bit,”[/color] he announced good naturedly, as if the two of them were old friends. [color=slategray]“Who do you think is coming out on top here?”[/color] 
 
[@Atagait Denral]