[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/JfZ3LOa.png[/img][hr][hr][b][colour=FF3131]Event:[/colour][/b] Ashon & Juulet [b]|[/b] [b][colour=FF3131]Location:[/colour][/b] Ersand'Enise[hr][hr][/center]
When he first saw Juulet, it was a pleasant surprise, and she greeted him enthusiastically. Their time together in the past was brief, but it was memorable, and she became his first friend following the death of his parents. In his childish way, he perhaps even entertained immature feelings of belonging with her. She was a girl who had lost everything, and together, they could take on the world and put everything right. Even in those days, she spoke of being the avatar as her eyes sparkled with vision. However, things were not to be, as she went toward the selection committee. As for him, some Time Walker needed a servant boy to tend to things. Maybe it was Juulet who originally put him on the path of serving the avatar Vyshta way back when, before his true purpose and mission came to light. There was some guilt he felt as he looked toward her. He had said he would return to support the Avatar, and yet, he never came for Juulet. Even if the clue was cryptic, the redness in the avatar's hair was not there. Tyrel, Juulet, and many of the other candidates like them. They might be blessed and strong in their own right, used as pawns and tools by greater powers, but they were not the true avatar.

He had always been an actor, and he even knew he fooled others, and most of all, himself. It was easy to become what she wanted him to be, and part of him longed for it as well. She was the key to what he needed; she was of Hyparii, and he had seen what became of Mandelein. The prophecy was becoming true—the forest was burning, there was war, death, and destruction. Here she was, the perfect ally, a girl of such determination, strength, and power. He needed her; he needed Juulet, avatar or not. Perhaps together, like they were as children, they could do great things. Create a future for his own family and children to enjoy.

Part of him wished, truly. But he had known from the beginning this could not be the case. When Dory uttered those words in Mandelein, he knew who they were about. He didn’t know what happened to that girl he knew as a child, but rumours spread long before he left his homeland. He heard of those ‘broken’ by her in Dervishers, her appetites, her… peculiarities.

He watched, he listened, he played his part well. Likewise, he heard the tantrums, the crazed rants. He spoke with her, gleaned what details he could have back home, though it always seemed to be focused on the past and not the present, as Juulet resisted letting him in. She targeted some of the other students, some names he barely recalled anyway. Though he grew uneasy, what if next time it was someone he cared about? What if…

He frowned inwardly; the mere thought of Penny in danger caused his stress levels to increase dramatically, and with what she allowed him to know, he knew he had failed her. The idea of allowing that to happen again sickened him, to the pit of his stomach. Especially now, as she was carrying three of his beautiful children.

Juulet entered after another long night out as he sat waiting for her, [colour=FF3131]“Vail’saluuv, suunei?”[/colour] [i]"bitter sleep, sister?"[/i]

[color=6495ED]“Nah.”[/color] Juulet made her way into her temporary residence in Ersand'Enise, crutches under her arms and her hops particularly vigorous. She was worked up, but not enough for there to be any sort of catastrophe. [color=6495ED]“Just thinking about our next move. The Yaniis - they're gonna make us look like chumps. Can't have that.”[/color]

A light tug with the gift had her draw a chair out of its corner with an obnoxious creaking to go with it. She sat a couple of metres away from Ashon, elbow over the crest rail of the old seat. [color=DA70D6]“What about you?”[/color] she inquired, lips distorted as her cheek pressed firmly on her forearm. [color=DA70D6]“Trouble with that Yanii girl?”[/color]

He simply nodded and yawned, expressing his fatigue. [colour=FF3131]"Yanii girl...,"[/colour] he tilted his head for a moment as he weighed his thoughts, [colour=FF3131]"Eh, not particularly that one. There is another that has been a cause for concern, though."[/colour] He went over to pick up a couple of purple bananas, then moved to crouch on the chair beside Juulet, offering her one of the fruits. [colour=FF3131]"Though, could say two yanii concerns. We now have a tan-zeno yanii to deal with, a particularly strong one at that. We've got to hope luuntai turns up soon like a benny, or we won’t be winning this thing."[/colour]

[color=DA70D6]“Luunai, eh?”[/color] Juulet accepted the banana and manually peeled the thing before taking a bite. Crude as ever when appearances weren't necessary, she spoke whilst chewing. [color=DA70D6]“Don't worry 'bout it.”[/color] she gestured in dismissal with her idle hand. [color=DA70D6]“I can handle that crippy blonde. You just gotta be sure that the other Tarlonese clowns carry their weight.”[/color] she pointed the banana right at Ashon, seemingly as a threat first before she began to giggle. [color=DA70D6]“Oh, by the way-”[/color] she regarded Ashon with a growing smile. [color=DA70D6]“Remember those stories you used to talk about regarding that Legend.”[/color] she snapped her fingers as she recalled the details. [color=DA70D6]“Yeah, that Jamboi-man with a magic stick and had to go on a Journey somewhere?”[/color]

He raised his eyebrow, saying, [colour=FF3131]“Why you bothered picking them is beyond my simple understanding,”[/colour] as he huffed in reference to the Tarlonese.

Jamboi smiled widely as he saw the banana pointed toward him like a gun, moving forward to take a bite out of it as he playfully disarmed her. [colour=FF3131]“The legend of the Monkey man who journeys everywhere?”[/colour] He clicked his fingers, [colour=FF3131]“Why, yes, you are looking at him,”[/colour] as he posed toward her, spreading his arms with a goofy smile. He opened his own banana and took a bite. [colour=FF3131]“… but there is the tale of the traveling illusionist from ReTan that I used to love. Though, I find I prefer to smash things,”[/colour] he said, squeezing what remained of his banana as the sweet and sticky fruit oozed between his fingers.

[color=DA70D6]“Because they're strong. Simple as.”[/color] Juulet added dryly. [color=DA70D6]“And it makes me feel very warm inside to boss around Tarlonese. What can they do about it.”[/color] she snickered.

The banana was finished and the skin was tossed for a future passerby to slip on. Truly the most wicked villain they had ever met. [color=DA70D6]“Yeah, that tale. He had a stick, right?”[/color] Juulet gleefully reminisced as she drew a paltry amount of temporal energy. [color=DA70D6]“I've got something just for you - And it helps to smash.”[/color] a small portal opened before her. Her hand dived into it and retrieved a ReTanese style Bo Staff. One attuned to the arcane magics in particular. A small droplet of blood could be found on a tip. [color=DA70D6]“Ta-daaa! Mister Monke.”[/color] she extended the gift with both her hands.

Focused his eyes on the stick as the coldness filled his gut, he felt cold. His smile grew wider as his fangs were bared, [colour=FF3131]“Ah, you have been out shopping for me? I feel flattered.”[/colour] He reached out to take the stick within his hand as he swung it around him, rotating and spinning. He brought it down on Juulet’s head, the blood-spotted end stopping just shy by a hair’s width before contact, then tapped it. [b]**Bonk**[/b]. [colour=FF3131]“Qitoip. This is an agile stick.”[/colour]

[color=6495ED]“You like it?”[/color] smiled the gleeful Juulet. She followed the movements with her violet eyes, and didn't do as much as flinch when it nearly hit her. [color=6495ED]“Ow.”[/color] she playfully uttered. [color=6495ED]“That lost thing was gonna get stolen. So I figured you'd like it.”[/color]

Then, she opened her arms for a hug while still sitting on her chair.

[colour=FF3131]“Oh, someone misplaced a stick like this?”[/colour] He looked up and down the length of it, [colour=FF3131]“Don’t tell me, a yanii’jexof.”[/colour] He shook his head knowingly as he looked toward her in the eyes. [colour=FF3131]“You rescue it from them?”[/colour] he questioned, curiosity in his gaze.

He moved to step up from the chair, crouching down to pick Juulet up within his arms, as he stood up, hugging her. [colour=FF3131]“Tell me all about it.”[/colour]

They hugged, and then she leaned back, eyes up to his visage and hands on his shoulders. A dimple-revealing smile graced her expression as she nodded energetically. [color=6495ED]“Left behind and forgotten. Now with a worthy wielder.”[/color]

When Ashon pushed for details, however, she canted her head and reached her palm out to caress his cheek. [color=DA70D6]“Oh Ashy.”[/color] her thumb gently brushed under his eyes with a tenderness none could ever expect from her. [color=DA70D6]“She'll be fine. I'm sure.”[/color] and with that, she shifted to stand up on her one foot with her crutches being drawn back toward her. [color=DA70D6]“You can do whatever you want with it. I won't be mad.”[/color]

He smiled as he brushed his thumb over her lips, caressing them gently. He returned the tender gesture, tugging lightly on her lips, [colour=FF3131]“Where is she?”[/colour]. His thumb pulled down on her bottom lip, a playful motion prompting her to respond, letting go as it flicked back up.

Juulet shrugged, but didn't want to leave. If she could purr, she would. [color=6495ED]“I dunno.”[/color] she confessed. [color=6495ED]“Somewhere in the lands.”[/color] she hummed, palms and digits brushing over his chest. [color=6495ED]“It'll be okay.”[/color]

Ashon grinned in agreement, [colour=FF3131]“I know, because I will make it be okay.”[/colour] He pointed his thumb back towards himself, [colour=FF3131]“After all, I’m the great Jamboi, with the stick, who goes on great adventures.”[/colour] He moved his hands to lightly pinch Juulet’s sides as he whispered against her ear, [colour=FF3131]“She needs to be here if we don’t want the yanii to succeed in their schemes.”[/colour]

Juulet frowned. [color=DA70D6]“You're a fool, Ashy-Jammy.”[/color] she pressed her index finger to his forehead and pushed him back a few feet. [color=DA70D6]“The Yaniis won't stop me. Even if they hurl their best.”[/color] and with that, she began to turn toward the adjacent hall. [color=DA70D6]“Don't waste your time on caring about them. There's enough of their kind to do it for you. Your people will need you, Ashon. Imminently.”[/color]

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