Starlight

[The Future Warrior]

Predictably, the actual meaning of that phrase sailed right past the edges of the majin's awareness. The faint whoosh as it slipped right over her head was almost audible. Slowly, her gaze dropped down from its skyward cast to look curiously at the old scholar, watching him fiddle with his pipe. He had finally managed to locate whatever it was he had been searching for, though what he was up to was beyond the capacity of the diminutive azure creature to worry or really put much care into. "What do you mean?" she finally ventured to ask, tilting her head just slightly to one side.

A few moments of silence followed, the Sage just looking ever so faintly amused. "Oh...think nothing of it," came the eventual answer. "Just call it the passing thought of an old man, if you must."

The result of that was several long, silent seconds full of an unwavering, unblinking stare leveled straight at the old man. But it did seem to satisfy the alien girl's curiosity, as she eventually nodded. "Right. Okay then!"

She turned away, staring out into the streets and watching all the nothing that was out there. Eventually, however, as seconds dragged on into minutes, and those minutes dragged on into whatever came after minutes in timekeeping (she had never really been too sure; it was probably hours, but she had never really been too sure), she started to get restless.

The Sage had, for a time, occupied himself with just idle thought, and further questions. She was a hero, but that was what she did, not precisely what she was. What about an answer to that? And other such things. Why had someone of her demeanor and attitude joined such a bloody competition as Dante's Abyss to begin with? The answers that came forth were...something less than fully illuminating.

She was a majin, that much she was able to answer clearly enough. In her homeworld, it was a word which apparently meant demon. Or simply 'magical', in some circles. She wasn't really all that knowledgeable in terms of history and things like that, which wasn't really much of a surprise, but from what insight she was able to offer, her entire race, such as it was, came around a long, long time ago, from a creature known as Majin Buu. He got lonely, and split himself into two halves to make a wife. And their descendants spread and grew, into the eventual numbers and race that she was. Or...something like that. Basically some kind of magic alien demon, as she summed it up helpfully.

The explanation of why she had chosen to enter Dante's Abyss was much shorter, and came while she chose to balance on the corner of the crumbling wall, standing on one hand. Despite the worn, uneven purchase of the wall, and the sand making it a precarious prospect at best, not to mention the gusting wind, she seemed to manage it without trouble. Almost seemed natural for her.

She revealed it had been...more or less a misunderstanding. She hadn't really read all the rules, or looked into it as deeply as she should have. That it was even supposed to be a death match at all, she had managed to mostly miss, much less some of the finer details.

Such a revelation left the Sage absolutely flabbergasted. This...this creature was completely clueless. Watching her now, carelessly going through a routine of one-armed, handstand push-ups, only to hop up and switch to the other arm without trouble, and see the expression (such as it was) on her face, though...it was entirely too easy to believe it. She had just legitimately failed to get the full picture. Eagerness, more than a lack of intelligence, as she'd certainly realized the weight of things by the time it came down to the final confrontation over the last piece to end that entire ordeal.

By the time all was said and done, much time had passed, and faint traces of daylight were beginning to show. Just the faintest glow on the horizon, traces of pale violet and red breaking through the deep blue and black of night.

"Well...arduous as that entire experience was, it looks like our wait is over," the Sage noted, turning to look along the deserted street. "Perhaps soon we can see to making some actual progress in our search."

"Oh, hey!" Graowr planted both hands on the wall and pushed off, springing into the air. A quick flip and she landed on her feet, tugging her hooded cloak back into place. "That didn't seem like it was all that long at all!"

The old scholar just shook his head. "Yes...how time flies..."

All word/character counts according to wordcounter.net
Word Count -- This Post: 784 // Total Word Count: 4,884
Character Count -- This Post: 4,432 // Total Character Count: 27,256