[center][color=a187be][h1]Yayama Yama[/h1][/color]
(Ft. [@Goggy] as Charlotta)
Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Banishing Flats / Dragon Punch Juice Bar
Status: Ready for action
LV: 5, EXP: 27/50
Word Count: 1369 (+3)[/center]

Yayama, after some additional exchange of pleasantries, information, and food at Quick Rise, headed out to get her matchups, and to follow up on an earlier appointment. In the chaos of having her true past revealed to her and the attack on the hotel, she’d nearly forgotten the latter. The bulletin board held what seemed like a good omen to her; the first foe Yayama was to face was someone called Buzzsaw, with another individual called Skullcrusher backing them up. [i]Nobody that’s actually a threat calls themselves something like that. It’s ridiculous.[/i] Ideally, of course, she’d have more information about her foe than a name, but there wasn’t much time to research.

Rather than head down to the pools immediately, she proceeded as swiftly as her legs would carry her to another spot in the Middle Tier, first. An establishment by the name of Dragon Punch was where she’d agreed to meet someone before pools started, and head there together. The Warrior of Darkness needed someone to serve as her Kameo, and as it happened, she’d encountered somewhat of a kindred spirit during the time between her arrival here and her fateful meeting with a certain exploding catgirl. They’d sample the place’s signature spicy beverage before heading to their first match in the pools together.

As agreed upon, the figure standing at the Dragon Punch’s counter was a woman of the same size as Yayama, bearing a crown almost as tall as she was and a head of luxurious blonde hair. She was currently seated at the counter… a small box added to the base of the chair so that she could actually be at head level with the counter itself.

Once the telltale sign of the door opening rung out, the girl turned in her seat, smiling brightly at the sight of Yayama, “Ah, Lady Yayama! How fares your travels in this fine city? I heard of an assault on a hotel in the Mid Tier” the knight’s smile fades for a moment, replaced by an angered shake of her hand, “Such vile fiends to attack innocents before this tournament even begins… As Captain of the Lumiel Order, if I happen to find the ones responsible..!”

“Believe me, if I get my hands on whoever did that, they’re going to pay,” Yayama responded, expression darkening. “I spent last night digging through the rubble for survivors. But,” she began anew as she clambered up onto her own chair, electing to stand on the seat to reach a similar height, “we have other matters to deal with in the meantime. I have friends on the case already, so we need to prepare for the match ahead. Did you see our matchups? Never heard of this Buzzsaw or Skullcrusher, but honestly I’m not that worried based on the names.” 

The woman, Charlotta, ponders the names for a moment, “I had taken it upon myself to indeed look at our matches. The names stuck out to me as odd. But I do concur, if they chose those names than they must certainly be compensating for a lack of true presence” Charlotta nods in affirmation, her confident smile returning, “They especially shall not be a match for two honorable knights like ourselves!”

“Right. So, you remember the plan, right? I’ll take the front, soak up the damage from our opponents, then you’ll come in for the coup-de-grace when I’ve got them set up. Except, you know, the part where that term generally means killing someone.” She paused briefly to answer a staff member, ordering herself a drink to go at their inquiry. 

“Of course! Even in a tournament such as this, a Knight of Lumiel restrains herself from cutting their foes down! Unless they’re truly evil” Charlotta adds the final part almost sheepishly, feeling the need to make sure that Yaya knew that if things came down to it, Charlotta would certainly be ready to smite down evildoers, “But yes, I shall strike when they are at their most vulnerable. You can count on me for that!” with that said, Charlotta takes the moment to order her own drink.

Yayama nodded, not feeling the need to clarify that she agreed with said stance. “Good. We’ve got about a half hour before we need to be down to the pools, so we should probably get moving as soon as your drink gets here.” Her eyes slide down to the box, then back up to Charlotta, the lalafell visibly wondering what her plans were for it.

Charlotta simply stares back at Yayama for a moment, glancing down at the box that helped elevate her position and then back at Yaya, her expression turning serious, “A knight needs a good vantage point to be ready to face any dangers” she says, her tone completely straight even as a bead of sweat formed at the side of her head.

“I was just wondering if you were planning on carrying that down with you,” she said neutrally.

“N-No, this is just a… Temporary thing. For the seat. The owner offered it to me and I could not refuse such a generous offer” Charlotta fidgets in her seat for a moment, glancing nervously behind the counter, as if praying the drinks got here quicker so she could change the topic. Fortunately for her, they arrived almost as soon as Charlotta turned away again.

Yayama sniffed at hers out of habit, then took a careful sip. After waiting a few moments, she took a bigger one. The flavor was an unusual mix - spicy wasn’t often associated with punch, after all - but, after a moment of deliberation, she decided she liked it, and took an even larger drink. “Right then, shall we?”

“Yes, let us commence!” Charlotta said, quickly grabbing her drink and then downing a big chunk of it in one go, hopping down from her seat… Right before her face flushed completely red, “BLEGH, AWAWAWAWAWAWA-!” the knight immediately regrets her decision to down the beverage in that amount of speed.

Yayama nearly choked on her drink at the sight, trying not to get it all over the bar and its customers in the process. “Yeah, plainsfolk tend to not be as used to spice,” she said, managing to get this out with a straight face before cutting into giggles. “Come on, wipe yourself off on the way.”

Charlotta hacks a few more times, pounding a fist to her chest, “I-I did not expect so much power in a single drink. I would not attribute spice to a punch like this-” she coughs again, quickly jumping up to grab a napkin from the counter and cleaning herself off, “L-Let us be on our way! Our battle awaits!”

[i]She reminds me of my cousin.[/i] Nanamo had always been a bit too excitable for her own good. Some said it didn’t befit a sultana, and at one point, Yayama might have agreed, but after biting multiple primals and a brief stint as some sort of swamp dweller, she wasn’t inclined to criticize. 

Fortunately, their journey down to the Pools wasn’t particularly eventful. The locale itself, however, was a bit more literal than Yayama had expected. She’d seen the waterparks while traversing the other levels, of course, but hadn’t realized they were dedicated to hosting the opening bouts of tournaments. [i]Esaka really is a strange place. That seems like something the Loporrits would come up with.[/i] 

On arriving to their assigned arena, Yayama looked for a chair to climb atop to scope out their assigned opponents. After peering over the crowd for a bit, she gestured down to Charlotta to come up and see what she was looking at. “You think that’s him?” She pointed to a humanoid automaton of some sort, positively covered in circular saws. “The name’s a bit on the nose, if so.”

Charlotta clambers up onto her own chair, scanning the crowds herself, “Hrm… I would not be surprised. I pray that their partner isn’t covered in skulls as well if they’re trying to be very literal” she states, eyes narrowing slightly, looking at the people nearby the sawbladed automaton, “Either way, I can tell from here that we should not have much trouble taking them on.”