Yunosuke threw Hattori a dirty look. It was irritating as hell to hear the yokai calling Mike a supporting role. Sure, it was her skill set, but it didn't make her test any less difficult. Hattori was crowing like an absolute cock. It must be hard, thinking you're a gift to mankind twenty-four seven.
He found it difficult to stay peeved after hearing Miko's report. "In one hit? You're not shitting me, are you?" If anybody idolized Daigo more than him, it was the badass' own partner. There was no way Miko would be hyperbolic. A quick glance at Hattori proved that they wouldn't be at 100% tomorrow. "I guess we can't take this lightly. You think we're ready, right?" he tried to cheer himself up by asking Miko with a teasing smile.
The bespectacled girl's lips wavered and she tapped her chin, "Honestly? Hattori could take the exam blindfolded. He's the one who passed up a chance at a higher rank, after all. And I'm confident that you're smart enough, Yuno-chan... but it's what comes after that frightens me. What's the real difference between a C Rank and a B when there's forces out there that defy our classification?" She was always so literal, so statically minded, and when it came down to it, blunt. He'd be lying if he said his pride wasn't throbbing with the wound she just dealt. Putting money on Hattori was a no brainer and he was the perpetual underdog.
Hattori stood up and made his intention to get out of there quite clear. Yunosuke was all too happy to quit the bleak surroundings and depressing conversation, but he'd be damned if he just accepted a scooter ride without some remark.
"I'll take you up on that, but only because you look like hell. What kind of man would I be if I let you out of my sight after a massacre like that one you just went through? If you're gonna be doing any passing out in the road, I'd like to be there," he swiftly pulled out his phone, "Even if only for blackmail."
At first, he didn't realize what the yokai was asking him. Had his brain got all scrambled from one too many hits in that squabble? Then he realized that Hattori had come crashing through the window just a few moments too late to hear the good news.
"We're being treated to a Rank Challenge tomorrow," he explained as he stood against the wall, arms folded, "You were out cold while he was telling me about it." Actually, he would have liked a little more information about the process because it felt abrupt. He hadn't been a C rank for long, and part of him wondered if the Shinigami's appearance had had anything to do with the decision. It didn't sit right. In fact, it made him even more uneasy to think that Chosokabe hadn't called in backup to save their asses. People like that didn't show up to do favors and goodwill projects. Shima was the type of guy who took orders about shadowy problems and made them disappear. A low class Berserker wouldn't be a blip on his radar, and based on the not so friendly greeting, neither would his kid brother. At least, not on a normal day.
"I'm proud of you both," Miko added, clutching the book in her hands with a clear look of repentant bashfulness, "It's a good sign that the headmaster is noticing you. There's so much talent here that it's easy to blend in... which would be a shame for you guys."
Yunosuke playfully nudged her shoulder, "We don't know the first thing about subtlety." That seemed to cheer her up a little, but he couldn't help still feeling suspicious. "Truth be told, though, I don't like this at all. I have a bad feeling that something unpleasant is coming." The last thing he wanted to do was point fingers, so he quickly removed a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, taking a deep drag to signify he was not in the mood to elaborate further.
He felt furious currents of wind and glanced up to see Miko waving her book at him, more accurately at the tiny orange glow that gave the cigarette its soul, with a horrified expression. "Not in here. What is wrong with you?"
That drew out a chuckle, but he still remained resolute, "I've had a long day, and I want to clear my head to make sure I'm not getting paranoid." Yunosuke looked back at Hattori, "How are you feeling? Are you gonna be able to take such an important test tomorrow?" Admittedly, he asked as a means of introspection. He'd absolutely love to hear his partner say he was a little caught off-guard, because it would make him feel a little more comfortable with the whole thing. He didn't want to push the yokai with questions or his outlook on today's events while they were in the building. In fact, he wanted to be on the other side of the veil as fast as he could.
"Oh, hey Miko," Yunosuke said, smiling warmly. Hers was always a welcome face, no matter the occasion. However, he was much more interested in Chosokabe. The headmaster was practically beaming, going on excitedly about the ability to engage in a Rank Challenge. Not only that, but to be tested as a team with Hattori. Frankly, he wasn't even sure that was a thing. He always thought going from rank to rank had to be done on an individual basis, and potentially in a small, dark chamber with torches and trap doors. There wasn't a lot of time to bask in the praise, though, especially when glass shattered almost in his face.
Pure instinct drove him to dive to the side, tackling Miko out of the way with him, careful not to hit her too hard, but attempting to keep them both out of the line of debris. He ended up on the floor with her, doing his best not to look directly into her eyes as he quickly stood up, brushing himself off and working down a small, embarrassed blush as he sought the cause of the disruption. Unsurprisingly, it was Hattori, hands aflame and blades out, grappling with his smarmy older brother. The only thought racing through his mind at the moment was, oh fuck, this had better not screw us out of our little try-out. Well, that and he hoped against hope that he wouldn't get stuck cleaning this shit up.
He watched Hattori go down like a wet rag doll and felt his jaw hanging down. That was brutal precision, and it was amazing. Terrifying, too, of course. Yunosuke watched Shima as he showboated his way through his threat. It was rather funny, actually. Much as he was warming up to Hattori, he could definitely see the smart-ass family resemblance.
"Look, Shumai, I'm gonna take good care of your precious little brother, but I can guarantee I'll wipe the goddamn floor with you if you pull something like that again," he said, with a sneer. He felt confident in making such a presumptuous bluff with the headmaster in the same room with him, but deep down, he meant it. Shima and Kazuya both rubbed him the wrong way, and Shima had just come in raising hell and endangering his friend and partner. That was two strikes in rapid succession.
With that, he hoisted Hattori, slinging his arm around his shoulder in order to help drag the slightly taller guy. He gestured to Miko, "You wanna lend me a hand?" He would definitely appreciate the company.
"Don't mind if I do," Teijo smiled as he crept up beside the human, seemingly from nowhere, to carry his half of his fellow yokai.
"Weren't you...?" he began, stunned.
"I told you the headmaster summoned me. I came back to see Hattori down and thought he wouldn't mind if I stopped to give you a hand," Teijo looked to Chosokabe who nodded in approval. Miko giggled slightly.
"Don't worry, Yunosuke, I'll come with you," she chuckled, following behind the pair of mismatched guys. She had been impressed, of course, with Yunosuke's performance with the Berserker, but perhaps most of all, with the fact he was starting to feel more at ease with yokai. It had been a huge obstacle for him to overcome and he was blossoming as a result. They walked quickly and got Hattori in an examination room with the staff. Miko had hoped for a moment to be alone with Yunosuke, but Teijo struck up the conversation once more.
"Before I get going, I want to tell you to watch your back," he said, deadly serious, hardly making eye contact. It appeared to be bad news, whatever it was, but he was having trouble putting it into words, "You're good at what you do. That's going to make you a target, especially if you keep running into Shinigami with such spectacularly destructive results."
Miko's eyes darted between them as Teijo once more made an exit. She approached Yunosuke, who was ruffling his hair with a frustrated sigh.
"Man, every time I think I'm starting to like the guy, he gives me bullshit like that," he shook his head and then turned his attention to Miko, "It's been a crazy day. Do you want to wait with me here for the dumbest yokai alive to wake up? I can really use a break."
His body felt like lead after going toe to toe with the creature for as long as he did. As a result, he was more grateful than concerned or skeptical when a fancy light-show completely obliterated the Berserker that had been giving them such hell. The two figures were welcome sights in his best estimation.
That was until Hattori's grimace told him that they weren't. He had yet to see his partner give a disdainful look like that, as though something truly disgusting had crawled up and died in his favorite pair of headphones. The hand-sign used by one of the men looked familiar, but it wasn't until Hattori flinched at the word brother that all the pieces finally fell into place. Well, almost all of them. Sibling rivalry didn't explain where Shima and Kazuya had come from. More importantly, would unrequested outside assistance count against the victory?
"I don't want to sound ungrateful, so let me be the first to say thanks," Yunosuke started, slowly rising after he had put his hands to his knees in an attempt to catch his breath, "But did somebody send you guys to fetch our asses from the fire?" He chose his question carefully to hide his overwhelming ignorance on the matter. Taking a few steps forwards towards the Academy that they had just been unceremoniously dumped in front of, he glanced between Shima and Hattori. The last thing he wanted was for the yokai to start going at each other. He would be put in an awkward spot, should that happen. It wasn't completely clear if Hattori would expect or welcome assistance, if this was a "blood bros before bickering bros" type scenario, or if he was going to end up right in the middle of it. Worst of all, he didn't like the looks of Katsuya. Even though there weren't any discernable features under the mask, he still gave off the aura that he potentially ate kittens for breakfast just for kicks.
He was glad to hear Shima mention Chosokabe, no matter how much shit-eating sarcasm was barely contained in his tone. It left him thinking there might yet be a means to escape the tense reunion.
"You know what? Good plan. I'll run ahead to tell the old man we're alive and kicking. If you need a couple of minutes, Hattori, that's cool. You know the way to the office probably better than I do," the human inched away as he spoke, but in his mind, it seemed more like he was dashing off in an outright sprint. He passed a few quasi-familiar faces of classmates whose names he ought to know by now, and successfully slipped into three building.
"How's Hattori?" came the voice of Teijo from atop the staircase that led to the headmaster's office. The yokai peered down at Yunosuke, leaning against the railing and smiling with as much good-will as he could muster.
Yunosuke struggled to match the pleasantries, "Actually, not too bad, but I worry he's going to be getting into some sort of fist-fight outside with his brother."
That caught Teijo's attention. His brow wrinkled and he pursed his lips with a dissatisfied noise, "Was anyone with Shima?"
It took a couple of seconds for him to recall that Shima was the name of the brother, but he responded, "Yeah, actually. Some human Shiningami? Kazuya, I think."
The yokai's expression was hard to read, "Well, Chosokabe is in a meeting right now. It seemed like something of a surprise, because he had sent for me just about twenty minutes ago. I'll let you steal my spot in line." He looked a bit distant as he said that, and he passed Yunosuke in order to check what was going on outside.
The fact that his on the fly strategizing had actually managed to turn the tide of the battle had admittedly gone straight to Yunosuke's head. Had they not needed to finish off the beast, he knew he would be smirking like a fat cat in a tuna factory. As it stood, his heart still hammered rapidly as he pulled himself free from the one crate that had gotten a little too close.
"Do you want to do the honors or should I?" the punk cracked his knuckles and scowled at the Berserker, ready to finally grind it into a fine paste.
As he said that, the massive creature shifted under the weight of the avalanche and slowly rose to its full height. Yunosuke noticed a change in its demeanor. Its eyes had lost the crazed swivel and it seemed wholly incapable of recapturing its former frenetic pace. However, as the human soon found out, looks could be deceiving.
The Berserker bellowed and lashed out with its massive forelegs, causing Yunosuke to duck for cover and crow, "You've gotta to better than th-"
His sentiment was cut short as he felt something sickeningly warm and moist above his foot. With a disgusted grunt, he looked down to find its tongue wrapped around his ankle. Maybe standing directly in front of the beast wasn't exactly the best course of action. I'm just an unarmed human, though. You'd think it would be more worried about the yokai with a bladed hand and a fistful of fire, he grumbled. Without wasting another second, Yunosuke stomped directly down on the mucus-laden tongue that had made itself a soggy manacle and leaped away the moment it retracted with a shriek.
"Come on, Hattori. Let's put an end to this clown!"
Admittedly, he wasn't sure how much more help he could be, seeing as his normal tactic of blinding and gassing wouldn't work too well here, but he knew if Hattori started swinging that edge around, he could sneak up behind for some close quarters finishers.
The land of Velja houses four nations within its borders, the Kingdom of Aliod, the Zigraes Empire, Pryocor, and the Catugan Republic. Aliod is the newest among these powers, having successfully separated from Zigraes in a bloody revolution that was spearheaded by the grizzled veteran, now king, Leontes. Zigraes limps along after their loss, having recently suffered the death of their beloved empress due to illness. Catugan, always the stalwart diplomat, attempts to build a relationship with the newly sovereign kingdom, leaving Zigraes very much to its own devices.
To be frank, things look bleak for the young Emperor Immanuel and all of Zigraes. Since coming into power, he has proven himself meek and ineffectual, failing to muster his mother's charm and appeal to the masses. Many blame his age, but whatever the reason, the empire fears another rebellion that would further decimate the populace. Immanuel's advisers have proposed a political marriage in order to restore a sense of hope within its people. One of Pryocor's many clan leaders, a renowned manakete warrior named Nasara, has agreed to such a union in hopes to bolster relations between the two nations. While the promise of support from such a strong ally quelled the majority of the citizenry, a vocal minority took issue with the idea of relying on Pryocor. Manaketes, laguz, and scions make up the population of Pryocor, and some humans still hold an antiquated prejudice against such races. While those in Zigraes mainly stay quiet, the senitment is much stronger in Aliod, and Leontes has seemingly been looking for any opportunity to incite his soldiers to finish off their former home nation.
Immanuel and his advisers plan to push ahead with the ceremony, banking on an alliance with Pryocor to keep themselves safe. While violence has erupted in the streets and numerous threats have been made, Immanuel refuses to loose his army against his own people in order to protect himself and their plan. His younger sister, Aria, decides to form her own band of soldiers to keep the peace in her newly hostile environment, being desperate to see Zigraes in a tranquil state once more. The siblings have parted ways, firm in their conviction that they are doing what is best for the empire. Immanuel faces a challenging road full of political pitfalls and thousands of unruly denizens, while Aria now embarks on a quest to prevent bloodshed at the hands of lawless bandits who prey on the unease felt since the war, as well as countless groups who threaten assassination come the night of the wedding.
She suspects that Aliod is to blame, and sets out to expose what she believes is a well-orchestrated plot. However, during her self-righteous quest alongside a ragtag group of knights and eager volunteers, she may well discover truths best kept unearthed, and involve the four nations in a far-reaching bloody conflict. Velja is more of a powder keg than any one single person could ever hope to realize.
As stated, the continent of Velja contains four distinct, and conflicted, nations. Pryocor and Zigraes once lived in a peaceful state of general ambivalence, with neither power wishing to make trouble with the other. Catugan stood between them, both physically and politically, acting as a facilitator during times of strained patience. The former empress of Zigraes earned some ire from conservative members of the populace when she attempted to reach out and form an official alliance with Pryocor, which pushed internal tensions to a boiling point, leading to the revolt and formation of Aliod. Aliod, as a result, has only stood for six years as a separate sovereign power.
Zigraes, once the largest nation in the land, has always been home to a grand paradox. They house a highly skilled army and are governed by seemingly the most benevolent rulers in all of Velja. Never one to incite war, the empire has proven time and again that they are more than capable of handling any violence directed against it from without. Zigraes is home to an economically and socially diverse citizenry, even after the separation, and is only now experiencing some of the ill effects that go hand in hand with such a demographic. Money-hungry mercenaries and war-crazed bandits now lurk in cities once considered pristine, casting a dark shadow over the once idyllic nation. Emperor Immanuel seems ignorant of the small problems in order to focus on the larger picture, but that has made him unpopular, causing growing resentment throughout the empire.
Aliod, a new, yet powerful kingdom, commands respect from all corners of the land. King Leontes is a strong and efficient leader, proving himself more than capable of inspiring his citizens to work towards making Aliod a wealthy and powerful nation. Economically stunted, the war-like Aliod still has much work to do if they wish to thrive away from the well-oiled center of commerce that they once belonged to. They are openly hostile to Zigraes, still apparently debating wiping them off the map, and bear resentment towards the diverse land of Pryocor, but haven't been in the position to act on either hostile relationship, instead preferring to focus on self-development instead of rampaging.
Catugan is the wealthiest and most spiritual nation on Velja, and is as such in the best position to keep the peace. The republic has done exactly that for decades, providing an example for the bickering countries that surround it. Catugan has always had open trade routes with its neighbors, and its religious influence has spread along those commercial lifelines. They revere the manaketes, especially, as they view the race as being closest in form to their gods, and as a result, have always attempted to keep those prejudiced minorities from assaulting Pryocor directly. Its army is nothing too impressive, and many wonder if its diplomatic tendencies will continue to suffice to keep Aliod in line.
Pryocor is the oldest of the nations, and contains fascinating ruins and vast deserts that once house glorious cities and monuments of a time long since passed. Many who remain behind are those who feel irrevocably connected to that past, such as the scions and the manaketes, but others who may have been considered outsiders have taken refuge in Pryocor's loose government, which consists of powerful clans instead of a centralized system. Some of these clans hold traditional ways of life, while others emulate the lifestyles of the beorc-centric lands around them. It is hard to generalize so vast and diverse a locale, but with a population that consists mainly of those whom face bias outside of their lands, it is safe to say that Pryocor mainly prefers to lead an isolated existence.
Four races populate the continent, and they are chronicled here in the order of their prevalence.
Beorc are most commonly called humans, and they vastly outnumber the other races. Being creatures who mainly rely on cunning and strategy, they utilize tried and true weapons in combat and hold an astounding number of beliefs, some of which involves gods and beasts, while others still are more incendiary, which causes them to quarrel among themselves.
Scions resemble the beorc in every way, except for slight physical differences, most notably being a point in the ears. Descended from a now extinct race, scions excel in magic that is completely unknown to beorc, laguz, and manaketes. While they are skilled in the tomes and staves of the other races, their native magic seems to involve spirits, known as golems, and strange devices. Their ancestral ruins are often obsessively studied, and many long to better understand the golems that some scions are still able to manipulate.
Laguz are the sister race to the beorc, and they hail from a distant land known as Gallia. While beorc use weapons made of metal, laguz are blessed with their own tools in the form of claws and fangs. They are able to assume the form of the animal that represents their tribe, and this transformation is done without the use of stones, unlike the manakete. Much is not fully understood about this process of morphing, but it is notably quite temporary, leaving laguz susceptible to reverting to their human forms if they exhaust themselves in battle. The two tribes of Velja are the beast and bird tribes, consisting of cats, tigers, lions, and wolves, as well as the ravens, hawks, and herons, respectively.
Manaketes are the rarest of the races, but they are also some of the most respected. By utilizing magic stones, the manakete are able to awaken to their dragon forms, a feat with makes them respectable warriors. However, manaketes tend to be more intellectually curious and inclined towards pursuits outside of combat.
The ability to evolve and promote units is central to Fire Emblem, and will be a focus in the roleplay as well. Obviously, the mechanics of seals don't translate particularly well outside of the games, so promotion and class changes will be handled more organically. After enough battles, a unit might "promote" to its higher form, giving a wider range of weapons to utilize, or improving the chances of certain tactics working in your favor. In terms of changing to a completely new class, say, magic user to sword user, a unit will need to seek out someone to train them. Units in the party are the logical choice here, so keep in mind the abilities of the other characters on your quest. Each unit will be able to learn the basics of one other class, allowing them the chance to promote along two different lines. You'll see the effects of this in the actual game, seeing as stats as shown in the series won't factor into battles exactly.
Unit Types
Being cheap and using Awakening's unit system as the base for this game. For reference:
This will one day be an easy-access list of the units in the game, to be used in conjunction with the characters tab.
CS materials:
Name: Age: Sex: Class: Homeland:
Appearance: Biography: (Nothing extravagant needed. Who are they and why are they doing this?)
Strength: The classic stats of Fire Emblem, resistance, speed, attack, magic, etc. What do you want to be good at? Weakness: And what will you sacrifice?
Yunosuke had to collect his jaw from the metaphorical floor after seeing Hattori chop up that Berserker like it was cheap meat at the butcher's. The actually action wasn't exactly what had drawn his attention. He'd seen enough movies to know what slicing the limbs off a giant frog would probably look like. No, it was more to do with the brazenness of calling out attack names as though he was a half-cocked young hero in an anime. Yokai could get away with that shit. Their ancestors passed on the names, and generations upon generations added the subtitles, and even that still didn't diminish the coolness of the technique. He smirked a little bitterly.
Credit where credit's due, I guess. He did turn his arm into a scythe.
Regardless, he didn't have time to think about it. Unfortunately, though not wholly unexpectedly, the Berserker was able to regenerate after the attack. That suggested some really inopportune stuff about their opponent's physiology and levels of power, but the delinquent was still sure his plan would work. Brute force wasn't gonna win the battle today, so he had to be a crafty underdog tactician, which was a phrase he sort of wanted tattooed across his chest.
He reached the top of the stack of crates and pulled a cigarette from his pants pocket with one hand and his lighter from the inside of his jacket with the other. He lit the cigarette as he surveyed the battlefield, taking a few deep drags upon watching the frog beast regrow its arms. They were covered in some sort of slime like you see in bad horror shows, and it twitched even more erratically than before. That might become a problem, honestly, but he figured they'd see in time.
"Alright, Hattori. Thanks for the distraction!" he called out to his partner as he pulled the cigarette from his lips and raised it above his head. He tried his best not to sound too condescending, but he was full with a cocky eagerness to see this plan finally come into action. "You've chosen a fine tomb, beast," he addressed the Berserker with all the menace he could muster, "And it's time to lay you to rest." With a flick of his wrist, Yunosuke concentrated on the thin trail of smoke produced from the burning tip of his cigarette and managed to extract a plume, burning up the rest of the cylinder and sending the smoke skywards into the sprinkler system up ahead. The detectors sensed what it mistook as fire, and soon the whole warehouse sputtered to life under a curtain of artificial rain.
"This is the Rain-Slick Gambit Number One: Industrial Coffin!"
Or something.
It had looked a lot cooler in his head. He didn't end up resembling a drowned rat in the conceptual trial runs, but it seemed to be doing its job so far. The Berserker hadn't expected it, clearly, and it began to frantically jump around the enclosed space. Yunosuke wasn't sure how long that'd last, so he leaped down from his perch and addressed Hattori as he ran.
"While this thing is freaking out on us, I want to trap it. Get to one of those forklifts, if you can. I'm going to lead it into the center of one of these stacks, and if you topple some of these boxes onto it with that lift, we can see what sort of damage we're able to do to it while it's pinned," he was headed into the direction of the convulsing frog while he shouted, and thought to add one useful tidbit, "Don't worry about catching me in the avalanche. Just give me a heads up and I'll turn myself to smoke and slip right outta there."
He slid to a halt in front of the Berserker, taking into account just how slippery concrete got against his worn-out sneakers. Yunosuke cracked his knuckles and stared down his foe before punching it right between the eyes. He was surprised he managed to get in a hit. Admittedly, the monster looked rather taken aback, too. The shower was definitely having an effect on the creature, slowing its reaction times in favor of more mindless hopping. That seemed to end the moment his fist made contact with its skin. Skin? Face. The Berserker narrowed its eyes and let out a monstrous croak, leaping forward in pursuit of its prey. Yunosuke ran as fast as his legs would take him, and it still wasn't fast enough. He expected as much. He took a hit to his back, which sent him stumbling onto his hands and knees. Trying to keep his composure, he scrambled and did his best baseball slide under the beasts' belly and managed a two-legged kick which sent the Berserker back to bounding.
It was good timing, too, because Yunosuke was starting to feel the effects of the spirit world once more. That overhanging sense that everything was monstrous and inhumane was messing with his head a bit. He wasn't entirely sure if the water was throwing him off his game, or if the subtle differences between this reality and his own were causing him problems, but he knew he was faring much worse against the Berserker, physically, than his partner. It didn't seem like poisoning or blinding was really gonna do any good against a demon frog, and that was what he was best at. Pulling himself back to his feet, he took a small box and threw it in the direction of the monster, trying to buy Hattori a few more moments to get situated.
I was AWOL, but I have returned. I've posted this time around and apologize for missing the last deadline, but luckily, it's not like Hellis dropped us somewhere and gave us no time to get our bearings.