Footsteps echoed through the emptying streets as Xovos wandered through the middle class district. He had heard that he might find employment under the Golden Mercenaries, which was apparently led by the man on the speakers of the city. The food had become scarce and even consistently doing jobs, Xovos couldn't gather enough to feed himself effectively, so he finally donned his armor and spear.
Due to the lack of use, the armor had a certain sheen to it, as if newly cleaned. It was in great repair and lacked the use and wear that had became akin to the rest of the city. Among the quiet streets, Xovos stood out like a sore thumb, his armor reflected the sunlight with a flare and made a great deal of noise with each step as large animal skulls that adorned him collided with the metallic surface of his armor. Thus it was no surprise when he arrived at the Bank which doubled as the entrance to the Mercenary base, likely having had his presence announced a great multiple of blocks ago.
A nearby Mercenary on guard at the entrance of the bank had been watching Xovos arrive since the moment he saw the glint on the large man's armor. He nodded to one of his squad mates, signaling that he would take care of the man. "Evenin'," he said, eyeing the spear in Xovos's hand. "State your business here."Xovos looks towards the mercenary, out of his own reverie, following his line of sight before slinging his spear in a well-practiced motion into a holster placed on his back. "Good evening to you too, I heard there was some sort of enlistment going on here?" He took off his helmet, it was quite obvious he was young, and though his features could be defined as handsome in the tradition since, they also looked worn and scarred from the combat and beatings that he had experienced, his face alone made it quite obvious he had tasted defeat at one time or another. "My name is Pelias Xovos, and I have acted upon rumor to join this...organization", it was followed by a bit of a flourish and half-bow, though it looks somewhat awkward in armor.
The Merc smirked, glancing at his buddies in amusement at this man's sophistication. He then straightened, becoming serious once more. "Do you posess a kage?" He asked, going through the normal protocol for entry to the base. "Kage? Oh, you mean the voice, correct? Yes, I do", Xovos's lighthearted smile slowly faded as Sven woke up as if sensing he'd been mentioned. "You done being passive yet?" Sven inquired, sounding all too excited. Xovos shook his head, still unused to sharing his head with another voice,"I need food, Sven, don't think I'm going around eating people or whatever it is you want me to do", Xovos stated to Sven inwardly,"I need to eat too, and we're just eating their Spirit not them themselves". Xovos didn't like the idea of consuming somebody else, but he put the thought off for another time. He refocused his attention to the gaurds, his interior conversation worsening his mood, though he didn't show it.
The Merc nodded, glancing him over as Xovos was silent for a moment. He continued protocol and screened Xovos, making sure that he wasn't just joining the Mercenaries to cause trouble. Once he cleared the screening test the Merc nodded. "Alright. Follow me." He said before turning and opening the bank door. He lead Xovos to the back of the bank and nodded to the Mercenaries on duty. After the vault door was unlocked, the door swung wide open to reveal the elevator that would take Xovos down to Sector Zero. "You'll want to be debriefed in the main building to the right. They'll tell you what to do," he said before holding the elevator's gate open for Xovos.
Xovos offered a small smile before entering into the elevator. His large frame matched the size of the doorway, and as he traveled down he held a conversation with himself and Sven, attempting to ward off Sven's desires to consume spirit."When do we get to eat?", Sven inquired, much to the annoyance of Xovos
"When we're offered food, Sven. Why were they asking about you anyway?"
"How am I supposed to know? All you did was mope around and occasionally go out for a drink or for some work!"
"Whatever Sven, I'm not eating people, I'd like to think my mental fortitude is great enough that I not go insane from something as survivable as this."
Sven remained silent, pouting in his own way, Xovos merely fiddled with his pocket pistol, spinning it until it suddenly went off, barely missing himself as the pistol dropped to the floor. As the elevator doors opened, Xovos timidly picked up his small firearm, holstering it before making his way towards the specified building to his right, placing his helmet back over his shaved head.
As Xovos entered the building, he noticed a Mercenary in his fourties waiting for any new recruits that came at a time that Hector wasn't available. The Merc took him through the basic briefing, explaining the process of signing up for the hosts' squads and getting a dorm. The Merc showed him the maps of the training grounds, telling him that each host squad had a designated, and numbered, spot where they were to train at 9:00 A.M. on the dot. After the briefing was done, the Merc smiled at him and held the door open. "Welcome to the Golden Mercenaries, lad." Xovos paused for a moment, "What is the procedure for someone who has already recieved combat training?" He asked, his helmet tilted somewhat. The Merc grinned. "You may know your own way of fighting, but you still need to learn the Golden Mercenary way. Also, you need to get acquianted with a squad and learn how they fight to better suit your squad. You'll find out a lot from one training session." Xovos nodded in agreement, "Understandable...is there a living space of sorts I could, perhaps, acquaint myself with?" He seems to be uncomfortable with the idea of living with other people but takes it in stride.
The Merc shook his head. "All hosts are to be monitored together. Just to make sure the civilians and, well, some of the Mercenaries feel better sleeping at night. Just sign up, get your dorm, and get some rest. You'll get used to it." Xovos nodded in respect to the Mercenary before heading towards the office like building and reviewing the bulletin board. He wrote his name in, but that's about as far as he got before becoming stumped, for his specification between Kamikage and Onikage he merely wrote the name Sven, as for his abilities, he simply filled it in with "Good with spear". Xovos's handwriting was more akin to scribbling though it had a great deal of flourish to it, containing long curls finishing off his letters.
Xovos eventually headed towards the dorms, his rather slow rate of travel allowed for a great amount of time to think. He disliked acting on such small amounts of information but he needed the food, he preferred fighting blindly over wasting away. When he had finally found the bed he could claim as his own, he ungracefully flopped onto the sheets in his full armor. The bed protested under his weight but he simply closed his eyes with a sigh, having become as still as stone.
