Off-Campus Adventure

[Sparky]

[Refs]

   Birds were singing, the sun was shining, a gentle breeze blew calmly through the city streets, and Cyrus had only had two crashes so far. A record low. Down from the usual ten or so. Needless to say, his training was going well! Which meant, it was time to reward himself for a  job well done. Seeing as there weren't any classes to concern himself with, a nice little trip down into the city proper was a nice enough break. The young man hadn't been there since he ran into some random sand person via crashing into a shopping stand, most of the boy's time being eaten up by classes and what not. 

    Midterms were fast approaching, which meant the school festival would be right after. If Cyrus wanted any chance at participating, it meant he had to actually take his studies seriously for once. Not enough to grab attention, but enough to push the young mage's grades up. It was a careful balancing act he was performing. 

    Could he try harder? Sure. Was he going to? Absolutely not.

    Last person he wanted to grab the attention of was someone like Damien, especially after that brutal smack down the guy gave that Zedd kid. No, no, Cyrus was perfectly content with the way things were. He was improving bit by bit, and he could fudge his performances just enough to keep himself afloat.

    A perfectly average student.

    Which was exactly where he wanted to be. No one paid attention to those in the middle of the pack. Their eyes were always on whoever was at the top or the bottom. As long as Cyrus didn't lean into either group, he could keep his calm, quiet existence intact. A perfect plan, really. It let him goof off. The teachers never held lofty expectations over his head. He got to make his classmates laugh instead of intimidating them or becoming a mockery. Life was good!

    Cyrus walked through the streets, hands in his pockets as he window shopped around. Gazed at the sights, enjoyed the comfortable ambiance. He grew up in this city, and it always felt like home. That alley was where he crashed his second bicycle, and that wall over there was where he crashed his first! Oh, and that pastry shop was where his third now rested in shambles. The young man smiled at the memories. 

    It felt nice to get a break, relax in his normal attire instead of the stuffy school uniform. The hood of his jacket flapped a bit whenever there was a heavy breeze, and anyone paying attention could certainly notice the subtle blue glow of his shoulder pads. Meanwhile, the unique chain on his pants clanked against his leg with every step.
    
    The first stop he actually made was down in the primary shopping district. The air was filled with the sounds of merchants shouting their wares, and the smells of fresh baked goods. The latter half was precisely why Cyrus came here first. It was a nice bonus to get the student discount on his lunches, and the young man walked away happily with a bag of roasted nuts and a plate of fried dough. Now, was that actually a proper lunch?

    Well, no. Not exactly. 

    Look, he wants to enjoy himself don't judge him. 

    Cyrus was a blatant speed demon. His whole magical kit was based upon it. The kid liked to go fast and he liked the rush of doing exciting stuff. However, that being said, the young man certainly knew how to appreciate the quiet days. The peaceful calm. With that in mind, he chowed down on his "lunch" and returned to walking around. Where would he head next, now? The new music shop, Gorilla Groove, was always a nice place to stop by. Babel's Bit's and Bobs always had something interesting to find, and Babel was a nice little old goblin to talk to. Cheerful fellow. It was unfortunate that Old Dog's Oddity Emporium was solidly off the list after the... incident. Cyrus still had nightmares about that day.

    So... many... eyes...

    Alas, his shopping plans would, quite abruptly, come to a halt as he accidentally waltzed his way right into something. Wait, no, someone. Oh good. Gods, he was so tired of walking into lamp posts. "Oh shi- Sorry!" The young man exclaimed. 

[Naya]

Going into a city was definitely a change after living in a forest for so long! Not only were there things made of stone that didn't look like weird faces or that they were going to collapse but there were also people walking around, lots of people! There weren't wolves or deer or foxes or birds... Okay there were still birds and some people that looked like wolves but they weren't like animal ones that chased her through the woods that one time and made her hide in a hole.

Naya stopped her walking, putting her hands on her hips as she remembered that weird event. Why HAD the wolves chased her that day? Oh yeah, she'd been cooking venison on a fire. That made sense.

It took a few moments to realise that no one was going near her and she wondered why. Everyone was kind of staying away, glancing at her with worry and whispering among themselves. Had they thrown her a surprise party? No, that was ridiculous, they didn't know who she was. She wasn't like one of them champions or Gods, she was just Naya.

"I just don't gets it, Chompers. They's acting like am weird or somethins."

Her voice had a strange inflection to it and she clipped words too quickly, she didn't exactly have someone to teach her how to speak properly. The creature she spoke to turned its large lupine head to look at it before cocking it slightly, a fae look in its glowing blue eyes.

"Oh, I thinks that makes sense. Is not me they's lookin at, is you. Cos' yer like... A wolf..."

The massive undead wolf leaned in slightly, cocking his head in the other direction.

"...And likes dead too... Whoops."

Naya gave a hearty laugh and scratched the back of her head before patting Chompers on the head and then continuing to wander down the path. For her part, Naya had shed most of the thicker layers of leaves and leather, leaving her modestly dressed but not sweltering in the heat of the day, her deer skull was still firmly on her head though, her own antlers poking through the eyeholes of her hat.

"D'ya thinks that we can gets some food 'round here?"

She turned to look at Chompers just in time to completely miss a person that was also utterly zoned out, slamming into the top of his stomach, her antlers likely scratching his face slightly. She stumbled a step back, Chompers moving behind her to steady her before she looked up at Cyrus.

"Ooo... Blue..."

Was the first thing she mumbled, wide eyes transfixed on the blue parts of his hair, she shook herself out of it quickly though.

"Yous isn't scared a me! Thas good... You musts be specials. Am Naya, know where I can gets some food?"

She stuck her hand out directly up towards, a bit too close for comfort, a massive grin on her face. Chompers lurked eerily behind her which would likely be a bit of a shock. Being that Chompers was six foot tall at the shoulder, a full grown timber wolf with metal plating over half its body and ice blue eldritch energy burning in his eyes. It was pretty obvious for someone with magical training that he was a Wight and a powerful one.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

   "Woah... that's a big pup-pup." Cyrus blinked, surprised to see such a big beast in the middle of the city. Must... resist... urge... to... boop the snoot. The young man was pulled out of his thoughts by a hand being jerked up towards his face. "Oh! Name's Cyrus Lenze! It's nice to meet'cha Naya."

    Cyrus took a step back so he could properly shake the girl's hand. When he smiled, his teeth were shown to be sharp like those of a shark. Toothy bugger wasn't he? Cheerful though! And he certainly didn't seem to be scared or intimidated by Naya or her companion. "As far as food, there's a shopping district right back there a ways. There's some booths with different foods, cooked and uncooked. Some with fruits and veggies. You know, stuff like that. Oh, there's also a couple restaurants around as well. There's one place I like that has really good cheesy bread."

    A small breeze kicked past, and Cyrus rubbed his chin, thinking it all over. There was that one bakery he walked past on the way there, but they could be pricey. Naya looked as though she didn't exactly have much in the ways of money on her. He could certainly be wrong, wouldn't be hard to scare some gold off bandits with a furry friend like that sat behind her. 
    
    Could probably scare some gold off a lot of things with a furry friend like that.

    Cyrus scratched the side of his head. "Hmm, there's a butcher's shop that sells pre-dried meats and jerkys and what not. There's also a cafe..." He thought silently, knitting his brows together. With a smile he snapped his fingers. 

    "Oh! The local tavern!" He should have thought of it first. The tavern's were always a good place to stop by in any part of the capital, not just in Pillar Steppes. "It's a place called the Copper Cradle, it's a really popular place to go. Get drinks, stuff to eat, and people even go there to get information on jobs and bounties and stuff. It's a great place, honestly. The breakfast specials there too, always a great visit before school starts." 

    The young man perked up and started patting at his pockets. "Oh! Here!" Cyrus smiled as he pulled out the pack of roasted nuts, only a third having been actually eaten. "I was planning on snacking on 'em throughout the day, but consider it an apology for nearly runnin' you over." 
    
    "By the way, where ya from?" The boy's head tilted to the side as he asked that question. It was blatantly obvious she was not a local, from her attire to her mannerisms. He held the pack of nuts out to the girl, but his face was still one of curiosity, expecting, or at least hoping, for an answer. 
    

    

[Naya]

[Ref]

   

Huh, the boy did have pretty sharp teeth. Naya narrowed her eyes and reached up to poke his cheek, he looked like a person but there was at least a chance he was actually three wolves in a trenchcoat and Naya wasn't sure if she could trust that.

"Yous not like a bunch of doggos in a coat are ya?"

She shruggged and scratched her cheek for a second. Did she actually mind if he was a bunch of wolves pretending to be a person. She reached into her pocket and pulled something out, whispering into her cupped hands to it and putting her ear there. After a few moments she nodded and put whatever she took away back.

"Jeffers says if you is a bunch of doggos in a coat then yous not very good at hidins it. So I'mma trust you anyways. You seems ta know a lot 'bout this place, so yer at least useful ta me."

Her head then leaned down as he offered her a pack of nuts and she happily took them, taking a handful and munching on them. She walked past him a bit to look around, talking around a mouthful of roasted nuts, they were pretty tasty.

"Nows am not sures if offerin food is a normal thing but a friendly bear once tolds me that ya never passes up the opper.... Oppors...." Her eyebrows furrowed and she slowly pronounced the word out. "...Opp... Or...Toon...Itee... For free foods."

Naya gave a nod and then turned around to look at Cyrus again, giving him a far too wide grin.

"Bears is pretty smart ya know. As for wheres I comes from! I live in the woods... Always lived theres ya know? Totally normals, promise. Ya wanna show me wheres this Copple Craders is? Could go for some real foods."

She clicked her tongue and Chompers immediately went from staring down Cyrus to wandering over and sitting next to Naya, giving a yawn and then lying down, his head on his front paws.

"Whas about you? Yous from around here? Ya do anythin' intere.... Intres....Itnerere.... Ya do anythin' cool?"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Odd didn't even begin to describe Naya, but it was a wholesome kind of odd. A weird sort of innocence. It reminded Cyrus of a little kid, almost. Way too sincere for their own good, and yet endearingly so. Of course, then the young woman hit him with the question on whether or not he was, in fact, not a man but was instead just some dogs in a suit. By the gods, at this rate he was going to just adopt the girl. That was the kind of child-like innocence that made life worth living.

    "Dogs? No, no, no." He replied, laughing and rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess you could say I'm closer to a shark though. My mother's a mixed-breed shark faunus. I think it's like a third or a quarter or somethin' like that? It's enough to give me some cool teeth though."

    Cyrus tugged his mouth open wider with his fingers, showing off the set of chompers. "Shee?" The young man gave a grin and released his lips. Wiping his fingers off on his pants, the boy listened to Naya ramble on about a bear, until she finally broached the topic of where she came from. And honestly? Cyrus wasn't all too surprised. At best, the guy would have expected some isolated village, but the woods sounded about right. Made a lot of sense why she didn't know certain vocabulary or... societal norms. 

    Looking at you, Chompers. 

    Still, the girl had the kind of naivety that made her easy to trust. That sort of air where she was too innocent to do any real harm to anyone. The wolf on the other hand was an entirely different question but we're not going to focus on that scary murder machine just yet, as cool looking as his design may be.

    Cyrus hummed a bit as the girl continued her own line of questioning. With a smile and a nod, he replied in a cheerful tone. "Yeah I can show you where the Copper Cradle is. C'mon." Spinning around and motioning with his hand, the boy began to walk, expecting- or at least hoping- that Naya would pick up the cue to follow.

    "As far as what I do..." The young man continued, walking past a couple merchant stands. "... I'm just a student up at the city's academy. I don't really do much aside from training and studying. Of course there's the occasional training bout or school festival, but for the most part it's not all too exciting." 

    Certainly other students had better stories to tell of their time at Vyridel academy, but Cyrus wasn't one of them. Other than the few people who gave him shit, the young war mage just kind of... existed. There wasn't any sort of excitement around him, nothing like the stories or movies. So... well... in essence... school. It was a little bit surprising that despite the fact that Vyridel was the best of the best with so many unique systems in place, it really was kind of boring at times. Probably just came with the territory. Either that or Cyrus wasn't popular enough (or infamous enough) for anything unique to happen to him. 

[Naya]

[Ref]

So he was a person and not trying to trick her. That was good, would've been awkward if she'd made some joke about dogs and he got offended on account of him being three doggos in a coat. Then again, maybe Chompers could've kept her away from socially insulting a fellow dog? She glanced at the large beast at her side and it cracked open one eye, looking up at her and then giving a small shake of its head. Oh yeah, Chompers didn't know anything about society either... Good thing he wasn't three dogs then.

When Cyrus turned and started to lead them away, she crouched down and whispered to Chompers for a few moments until the wight huffed and got up. With a big grin on her face, Naya hopped up onto Chompers' back and he strode forwards, catching up to Cyrus and walking alongside him. "Uh so... I has an importants question fer ya..." She said, looking off into the distance for a moment, gathering her thoughts. It was vitally important and she had an intense need to know, this place was already so confusing and this one person was such a lifeline of knowledge for her. So with a focused nod, she turned back to look at Cyrus and gazed intensely up at his face. "...What in the golly-gee sweet heckos is a shark? Is they some big toothy thing I ain'ts never heard a'?"

Multiple thoughts flashed through her head as to what a shark could be. From Cyrus' appearance they definitely had some pointy teeth but that was it? Were they three foot high and known for eating knees? Were they towering monstrosities that could devour towns whole? Well, if Cyrus was anythin to go by they were at least somewhat friendly... And bad at watching where they were going.

"I also gots no clue what an... Acedmy is, sounds kinda fancies which woulds make sense as to the whole boring stuffs ya know? A big Dryad once tolds me that the fancier somethings is, the more boring it becomes! Was a heckin' smart Dryad... Thoughs she did tell me that fancy places got food, your Acemdy got foods?" She seemed almost hopeful, giving him a grin from her place on Chompers' back. The big wolf turned his head slightly and gave an almost tired look towards Cyrus, as though apologising for the way his master acted. By this point though she had finished the snack he had given her and was looking for her next treat.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Avalon had always been host to interesting sorts. Individuals cut from many different cloths. Some were local, others ventured from outside. So it wasn't abnormal for Cyrus to encounter the abnormal. Among them, Naya was a wildly interesting breed. The gal used a lot of different language that felt reminiscent of phrases he would have said with his old group of friends. And yet, it was a bit twisted. Stated less for force and funny, more because that was just the girl's normal vocabulary. Cyrus wondered what types of people she'd run across to develop her own little language. 

    If it was outside the city walls, probably a bunch of dudes shitting and screaming about a giant zombie-wolf-dog-thing. Which totally wasn't conducive to learning new words. Lot of screaming. Probably some colorful curse words. Maybe a bit of begging for their lives. Naya did mention Cyrus wasn't scared of her. Wait, how many people has this girl scared away with her doom-doggo? Shark-man was going to be about fifty on this one. No, wait, think it through clearly Cyrus. It's a big fuckin' pupper and it's real mean looking.

    Fifty-one. 

    With how many colorful phrases Naya likely heard wandering around, the young mage was a bit shocked her vocabulary was so tame. And... wholesome? Who the heck said Golly-gee sweet heckos? Hell. Who the hell said. Dammit, now she's got him messing it all up. Actually it was a pretty funny phrase. Might steal that one. Could definitely confuse a lot of his classmates by pulling that one out on them. Or piss them off. Sometimes the snooty kids had the worst sense of humor. Bunch of stuck up fuck-o's. Gods dammit there it was again. Gonna be hard to shake that one off.

    Pulled off that train of thought, the young man redirected his gaze back towards Naya. She looked so stern and serious atop her zom-dog. The young man quirked his brow in response. Patiently, he awaited the serious question the girl spoke of. Had to be pretty severe if an innocent kid was stuck on it for so long. Was she about to admit to being a murderer or something? Was her dog a murderer? Was she running from a murderer? Was he a murderer? Wait, no that's stupid, of course Cyrus isn't a murderer. Or was he? No, he wasn't. Probably. Hopefully? Damn now the guy was second guessing himself. Did he unwittingly commit mass murder while he slept, ruining the lives of countless families as he ran away from a past he never knew he had???

    Oh, she just wanted to know what sharks were. 

    "They're big ol' fish. Well, I mean, some are tiny, but mostly they're about as big as a rowboat. Super fast, a lot of really sharp teeth. Eat up a bunch of other fish and seals and other ocean creatures. So yeah, a big ol toothy thing you've never heard of." That part should have been obvious. Naya was asking what a shark was, so that meant she never heard of one. Come on Naya, think! Says the pot to the kettle. "You know how Faunus are like, animal people? Well my mother was a shark animal people person. And her mother was even more of a shark-animal-people-person." Cyrus waved his hand around in the air. "It's a whole thing. Family lineage stuff."

    Another gentle breeze ruffled up the young man's hair, giving a cool, soothing promise of lovely weather. Good day for a run. Wait he already ran. Into someone, sure, but it was still a run. All around the trio, some passerby's gave Chompers weird and fearful looks. Other's appeared startled, but seemed to calm slightly at the sight of Naya and Cyrus casually conversing. Simple signs of safety and what not. A good few really didn't look like they cared. Fuckers of iron will who probably saw weirder shit.

    Cyrus looked down towards the big wolf as Naya continued her own rambling. Pupper was expressive. For his part, the young man could only give a half hearted shrug of his shoulders. Wasn't his place to judge a person, but the implied apology was nice. "Uh, I mean. Combat courses are pretty cool. Get to punch a bunch of training dummies or dummies that are training." Implying other students. "A few of the honors students are just the worst kinds of people though. Spoiled, egotistical, rude. Now, I don't like running my mouth about others, but-" Cyrus lifted his hands to show his palms "-Some of em need to get their egos checked if you catch my drift. There's definitely a bunch of food at the academy, though. Big ol cafeteria. Personally I like the food off-campus better." Gave a good excuse to get out into the town, too. Cyrus left that part out, though.