[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/QLcqYBY.png[/img][h3][color=FF3131]Ashon'amar'loiyang[/color][/h3][hr][hr][b][color=40E0D0]Event:[/color][/b] After the Melon Derby [b]|[/b] [b][color=40E0D0]Location:[/color][/b] Ersand'Enise[hr][hr][/center]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/uPlVg7bmxec[/youtube][/center]
Tyrel. [@force and fury]

Ashon had continued in his search for the one known as the reincarnation of Vyshta after the Melon Derby. He never suspected that he would come across her so easily and early, but this academy does seem to have a mysterious aura around it denoting the way destiny shapes itself here. With a sense for temporal magic and the lack of Yasoi normally in residence here, it wasn’t too difficult to narrow his search for the one known as Tyrel from Tarlon. A somewhat unpromising revelation given what he knew about the avatar’s supposed destiny.

After coming across the group of Vyshta’s Favoured, he perched upon one of the rooftops as he looked down towards them. It would be a lie to say he had to expertly deduce who it was, using his cunning and intelligence, as there was only one girl missing a leg, but trying to approach a delicate subject alone would be another challenge given that their Tarlonese brethren tended not to be left alone. He shrugs, he can only come towards this one directly as he drops down upon the street not far from their position, brushing himself down as he approaches.

[color=FF3131]“Oira, I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Vyshta and her Favoured.'”[/color] His brazen confidence is hiding the social awkwardness of a stranger strolling up to the group, though with the games going on, this factor is significantly reduced than normal.

[color=98FB98][i]One of these.[/i][/color] Tyrel schooled her features into a dignified mask as the stranger approached. [color=98FB98][i]Constantian yasoi. Maybe a junkie?[/i][/color] She presented a light smile. [color=98FB98]“Well, it looks like your waiting has paid off, elar.”[/color] She gripped her crutch-canes a little tighter, ready for something unpredictable, but he didn’t give off an outright [i]dangerous[/i] vibe. 

Ashon clapped his hands together as he gave a giant smile, looking upon the girl and her companions. [color=FF3131]“Your hair is not as red as I thought it would be… but it is not far”[/color], he moves to examine the girl in front of her, eyeing her appearance more clearly, nodding, umming and ahhing.  He has a moment of self-awareness as he resumes a more natural stance. [color=FF3131]“It seems my excitement got the better of me like a mouse scurrying after a piece of cheese. My fancy name is Ashon'amar'loiyang though known more commonly as Jamboi.”[/color] He offers his hand out towards the girl, giving a big smile to Chad who he already pegged out to be a protective type. Offering a wave to the other companions too. Moments like this would be handy to have another pair of hands to do these greetings.

[color=98FB98][i]A stalker?[/i][/color] Tyrel came to a stop out of necessity, freeing her right hand from her crutch and going to rest her stump on the grip out of habit. She thought better. [color=98FB98][i] You only do that if you plan on sticking around.[/i][/color]. She let it slide back off and shook his hand, still half–moving, [color=98FB98]“Tyrel’yrash’dichora. This is my cousin Miret’thilan, my -” [i]Hmm, actually, let’s fuck with him a bit.[/i] “-loyal followers Velani’ashen and Ashon’dacuul, and my luush’elar, Chad’amis’yida. It is so nice to meet one of my faithful.”[/color]

Ashon shakes his head as he looks towards Chad, a look as if to suggest the poor man was on his deathbed. He snaps out of it a moment, as he smiles widely once again. [color=FF3131]“I am one of Vyshta’s Chosen, so you can imagine the excitement like a bee during Dorrad when encountering her potential avatar. The old seer in Hypari had foretold that I shall encounter her true avatar, and a prophecy about ‘hey, you’re not gonna die’ ! or something like that.”[/color] He stepped back a moment as he examined the look on their faces, hopefully encouraging some good news and positive vibes. [color=FF3131]“It was mentioned about the hair, but how reliable a blind timewalker is in that department leaves room for questioning the specific details.”[/color]

Tyrel cocked her head to one side. He was some kind of devotee of the goddess. That had to be it. Not a creeper, just… a really weird superfan. [color=98FB98]“That is um… comforting to know,”[/color] Tyrel replied. In truth, her supposed fate hovered over her like a sword on a string. She would either have to refuse to ascend or die by twenty-five. [color=98FB98][i]Eight more years. Only eight![/i][/color] Just the thought screwed her insides up tight. She’d lost her leg to hungervine in her sixth year and started to get her Gift in her ninth. When it proved prodigious, the grey hairs at the temple had come sniffing around, asking her to perform feats of magic and feats of fortune. A high capacity, a missing limb, and some improbably lucky card flips had been enough to declare her the leading candidate and put an end to any hope of a normal life. She’d have liked to believe…[color=98FB98][i]what was his name? Ashon?[/i][/color] but this was far from the first time some bright–eyed believer had run up to her bearing joyous tidings of her deliverance. [color=98FB98]“I truly hope so, friend.”[/color]

That was when a second new person butted into her life: very talkative, very human, very one-legged, and very… [i]chaotic[/i]. [color=F7976A]“I’m so sorry to just waylay you,”[/color] she called, the second person in about as many minutes to just rush up to Tyrel uninvited. [color=F7976A]“And I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I couldn’t help but notice your crutches. They’re… a totally different design than mine.”[/color] She came to a stop and blinked, a mirror image of the vessel. After a second had passed, the auburn-haired girl grinned sheepishly and held out her hand, paying Ashon no particular notice, perhaps assuming he was part of her group. [color=F7976A]“Penny Pellegrin - sorry - of Perrence.”[/color]

[color=98FB98]“It is… nice to meet you Penny’pellegrin’sorry.”[/color] Tyrel’s eyes flicked between the two new arrivals.

Ashon has a moment of self-awareness as he shrugs his shoulders, head tilting to the side as face is expressive in self-condemnation of his own actions. [color=FF3131]“I love like a horses to carrots with intentionally doing terrible pick-up lines. That one slipped by me. My sincerity and spirituality is defeated by the humble one-liner.”[/color] He claps his hand upon Chad's shoulder, for a quick sidebar [color=FF3131]“You're doing the Goddess's work, [i]elar[/i].”[/color] He takes some nuts from his pocket as he munched upon them, saved by the timely arrival of Auburn haired girl.

Ashon takes Penny's hanging hand and shakes it. [color=FF3131]“Call me Jamboi, Penny'Perrence'Pellegrin, you are rescuing me from making a monkey of myself.”[/color] the red-head beaming from yasoi pun, and somewhat correcting the name confusion as he sizes up the yanii. [color=FF3131]“That was kind of the [i]tar[/i] I was thinking of. If you were Yasoi, may have pegged you as the one. Though speaking of pegs…”[/color], casually redirects the conversation back to the subject at hand.

Penny had offered her hand to her fellow amputee, but this… madlad had just swooped in and intercepted it. With a snort of mirth, she decided to honour the gesture.  [color=F7976A]“If this is a rescue, Jammy, you’re doing a bang-up job leaping out of my lifeboat.”[/color] She released his hand.  [color=F7976A]“And it’s just Penny, thank you, or Penny Pellegrin if you’re feeling extra formal. I’m all of one-sixteenth yasoi.”[/color]

[color=98FB98]“Yes, well, anyhow,”[/color] Tyrel interjected awkwardly. [color=98FB98]“Nice to see a fellow…[i]tarsii’ciil[/i].”[/color] She forced a smile. [color=98FB98]“Maybe we can find each other after the game - shouldn’t be too hard. As for you, Loiyang, it was… interesting. Perhaps we shall uh… meet again.”[/color] With that, she turned ninety degrees on her heel, her team surrounded her, and she walked off. 

Without even glancing Ashon’s way, Penny shot an arm out to block him from trying to pursue his fellow yasoi. Her eyes slid over in his direction.  [color=F7976A]“Thanks a million, monkey boy,”[/color] she grumbled.  [color=F7976A]“I wanted to try those things.”[/color] She took a couple of steps back, letting out a sigh. 

There was a smash. A heavy tile slid off of the roof and crashed to the ground right where the Perrenchwoman had been standing mere moments earlier and where she would have remained had not Tyrel left. Penny yelped and jumped back, grabbing ‘Jammy’ as she did so.  [color=F7976A]“[i]Putain![/i] Ça serait tombé sur moi!”[/color] She shook her head.  [color=F7976A]“I-I mean, it almost fell on me.”[/color]

Ashon wasn't going to pursue them, glancing down at the arm preventing him from following, and smirking widely in return at the comment, [color=FF3131]“it was the sixteenth Yasoi bit, that was as the Perrench say, Pièce de résistance.”[/color], his further discussion rudely interrupted as the roof tile smashed upon the floor.

He was holding the Perrenchwoman in his arms as she instinctively grabbed upon him. He gently returned the gesture as his arms wrapped around her in a protective manner as he examined the roof edge, pondered foul play for a flicker of a moment returning his mind to the present. He started speaking softly towards her, [color=FF3131]“It should be safe now, but let's move to where there is only the sky. The arboretum?”[/color] An attempt to reassure her and smoothly avoid startling her further with their unexpected closeness.

[color=F7976A]“Ah, ahem…yes.”[/color] Penny separated herself from him and brushed herself off out of habit. Truth be told, she had little idea how to behave around boys and had seen not so much as a single yasoi in person before coming to this school. [color=F7976A]“So, you’re not actually part of her group, huh? You a student around here?”[/color] 

Ashon copied the gesture by lightly brushing himself down with no real effort. [color=FF3131]“She took the effort to actually remember my full name, either that is good news, or really bad, kicking over the hornet nest bad. Ashon'amar'loiyang if you wanted, but 'Jammy' is good, I like it."[/color] He takes a moment to clarify, [color=FF3131]“Only wanted to see the reincarnation of the goddess in person. Goddess to be. Similar to your Reshta”[/color]. He takes out some nuts from his pocket, offering to Penny, then eating as a snack. [color=FF3131]“That's me, still trying to get used to how flat this city is, like one of those crepes they serve. Hypari has these big trees where you can swing between them for miles.”[/color]

They were walking now, and Penny politely declined the nuts, but she softened it with a smile. [color=F7976A]“Sounds like you’re just as lost as I am, Jammy,”[/color] she replied. [color=F7976A]“I don’t know a whole awful lot about the treescapes of yasoi lands except what I’ve read in books and what my grandmother used to tell me when I was small. She lived with her Jath’nan during dorrads. But that’s because, honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about [i]anything[/i] in the real world. Sometimes, I feel like a two dimensional girl in a three dimensional place.”[/color] She snorted mirthfully and shrugged. [color=F7976A]“Maybe, between us, we can find some happy middle ground.”[/color]

[color=FF3131]“So the one sixteenth thing is true? I thought that was your natural flair for humour."[/color], Ashon gives a pleasantly surprised smile, [color=FF3131]“Only thing I'll say is the only books worth reading are the ones that involve Talit'yrash'osmax, now she was a  lelan. My jath'nan liked to boast that she shook her hand once, and believed it when I was a child, but I doubt she was that old. I think it is one of the privileges with age, they can make everything up and no one alive to refute them”[/color].

If this entire episode was unexpected, then at least it was not entirely unwelcome, Penny supposed. [color=F7976A]“Talit was my hero as a child,”[/color] she admitted, [color=F7976A]“For… obvious reasons, but who can really say what’s truth and fiction about historical figures.”[/color] She grinned ruefully. [color=F7976A]“Only our grandparents.”[/color]

After continuing to walk, with lack of further roofline incidents, the conversation seemed to have grown deeper. [color=FF3131]“World is all about perspective. The good thing about being up in the tree is that you can observe everything from above. No real privacy but you see how people interact and behave, even when they think others are not watching. No real secrets between us Yasoi. Even when we wish for them."[/color] He mentally recalls how a certain fellow yasoi student really needs to keep the door closed. [color=FF3131]“So let's get you on some rooftops and trees, and you can… I guess, confine me within one of these buildings you yaniis love for a while?"[/color] He scratches his head at how unappealing that sounds. [color=FF3131]“... what about instead, we try a field, preferably at least one tree, and we take some food."[/color]

[color=F7976A]“Sooo… a pic-a-nic?”[/color] Penny questioned, half-skipping and twisting to smile up at him.  

He clicks his fingers,  [color=FF3131]“There is a Yanii custom for such a thing? Sounds great like a morning bird song. Let’s go on a pic-a-nic together.”[/color] He beams widely towards the girl as he looks down towards her.

She spun on her heel, hands clasped behind her back, and leaned forward playfully on her tiptoes. [color=F7976A]“But dear Jammy,”[/color] she teased, [color=F7976A]“you don’t even have a pic-a-nic basket. If you want to take a girl out for a pic-a-nic, the basket is positively a [i]must[/i].”[/color] She winked, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

Jamboi made a mental note of the ritual item, [color=FF3131]“I may know the perfect person to help out, they look like the kind who may keep an abundance of pic-a-nic baskets.”[/color] He gave a wink in return and bent his knees to teasingly bring himself down to her level as he observed her dancing upon her tip-toes.  [color=FF3131]“Bigger the basket, the better right? Will have to fetch a large one for us.”[/color] 

Penny groaned a little. [color=F7976A]“At least we won’t need to bring the ham,”[/color] she remarked, smirking. [color=F7976A]“Already got a king-sized one.”[/color] She let herself back down onto the flat of her foot. [color=F7976A]“Anyhow, maybe as the sun sets, by the main gazebo in the arboretum but uhh… as far as possible from that hateful goose, hmm?”[/color]

He gave a laugh and a pfft at the mention of the goose,  [color=FF3131]“Don’t worry, we’re the best of friends. Emptied its nest of those melons this morning.”[/color] He gave a sly smile as he recognises he probably made the situation significantly worse.  [color=FF3131]“but let’s do this pic-a-nic thing, looking forward to it. Other than bringing the ham, anything else as part of the tradition?”[/color], he continues to look towards her with that goofy smile. After the stories he has heard, he imagined an eventful conversation and storytelling ahead.

[color=F7976A]“Bring lemonade,”[/color] Penelope replied sweetly, [color=F7976A]“And yourself.”[/color] She turned and began walking. [color=F7976A]“I’m looking forward to it, monkey boy!”[/color]

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