Open Keeping the Pace (w/ Gybe)

[Shell]

29th of Summer, 515 AV

The Monks of The Sharp Blade. The men who occupied the north side of Nyka. What a practice to be held, as most monks are thought to be peaceful upon initial thought. She and her tiny friend had arrived earlier that morning only to deliver some goods to the local markets. What had started as a good morning seemed to go along fine and well.

For training to become a Monk of Bountiful Wheat, the tall girl of fourteen was tasked with simple menial duties. They would often take up most of her day, and so her tiny clay friend would accompany her, giving her the attention that she enjoyed, but didn't feel necessary to have. It was that day, however, that the attention they were additionally given was not wanted, no less positive. Their good morning had just ended terribly.

He was picked up by the head and shoved violently down onto the ground. He tumbled a little before struggling to get back up. He tried to push himself back up with his arms, but his exhaustion was beginning to take a toll. The kid who threw him to the ground grabbed him by his neck, holding him up. Shell was nothing to the seventeen-year-old, and he smirked, mocking his tiny size.

"You're friends with this little prick?" and his friend immediately came to his defense.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" and she threw a punch at the boy's face. She missed, and he grabbed her arm. Before he could twist it, however, Shell's friend gave a good knee into his gut, and it caused him to buckle. She picked up Shell and went to run off, until two more boys stopped them from leaving.

"Orinna, get out of here..." Shell managed, and his friend looked down on him quickly.

"Are you crazy? I'm not doing that!" she protested. The boy behind them grabbed Orinna by the neck, pulling her back and making her drop Shell. Shell landed on the ground, but was grabbed by the leg by one of the other boys before he could stop him. The boy holding Orinna unsheathed a dull knife, and held it up to her stomach tauntingly.

"You wanna mess with me, clay-man?" he sneered, "Cause I can end this, right here and now."

[Gybe]

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Gybe moved out of his house after changing into his "ceremonial garb" as he deemed it. It was the costume he put on every day, taking form as someone else entirely from who he was. It was meant to be worn for a special purpose until the day came where his rage was subsided. How he longed for the waves of the ocean, the love of the Otani, and to have a pod once more.

He moved down the road with a cigarette in his mouth that was lit from the candle on his bedside table. The fish smell was not so prevalent any more upon him but if you followed in his wake you may be able to detect it. He decided to head to the celestial square to check on some people, meet some friends, and just chat it up before heading over to the north district.

As the sun rose higher and the early morning started hold to it that heat of day, he headed toward the markets. As he approached the bridge he could hear a commotion. He knew better. Monks were always fighting in the celestial district even though they shouldn't be. The man curiously tried to witness what was going on in front of him and could see a monk of the Sharp Blades pulling a knife on what looked like a little clay figurine and a woman. There was nothing he could do about it. They were the law. He just moved to lean up on a building nearby and just puffed his cigarette.

Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Shell]

Since Shell was not facing his friend's adversary, seeing the tall and broad man with his cigarette held any sort of hope Shell had of getting assistance. He waved frantically, shouting to the man to get his attention.

"Mr! Sir! Please! Help us!" Shell waved one arm frantically while the other clung to the boy holding his leg. The boy holding Shell's leg looked back before tossing him to the ground, stepping on his head with his foot.

"No one would assist a potter's toy!" he answered, then turned to Orinna's captor, "Will you gut her or not?"

"No... I don't think we should, actually." The boy's face twisted into a cruel smile, "I have a better idea. Keep him from moving, then follow me..." the boy dropped the knife and dragged her off, Orinna being unable to call for help.

The one holding Shell's head down pointed to a heavy clay pot for his friend to grab, and once he did, they placed it over Shell so he wouldn't be able to lift it. They quickly ran off after their friend, leaving Shell to bake in the hot sun. Shell banged on the pot with everything he had, pushing against it with all his tiny clay body could muster. But to no avail, and the most he moved the pot was a couple centimeters. He sat down on the wall of the pot, panting and wiping his clay forehead. What were they going to do to her? He had to find her and help her.

[Gybe]

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These monks had some issues. The sun must have gotten to their heads. As he watched the little Pycon frantically waving his arms he almost gave off a chuckle, though it was completely hidden by his beard. He watched as the monk dragged off the girl, probably to do things with her in the back alley. They obviously weren’t too bright. It was one thing to assault a citizen and have your way with them sexually, but a monk was another matter. While monks were not automatically inducted into the order by birth, meaning they had to work hard to earn it, they certainly did have family members in the ranks of monks. Heck, even citizens did. That kind of behavior was rare in amongst the orders.

To beat someone up in a organized spar or challenge was accepted, this was not. Pushing off the wall, Gybe could hear the little Pycon beating on the clay pot. He moved so he could see where the boys were taking the girl and considered what he should do while he stood there like a statue. The little Pycon couldn’t do much of anything before, why would it be able to now? It would just get in the way. He moved over to the pot and looked down at it for a moment. When the struggling stopped he looked around. There was a stack of blankets near the pot and taking them, he set them on top. This added to the weight of the pot, yet reduced the baking of the sun upon it considerably.

Taking a puff on his cigarette he shrugged while looking down at the pot and decided if he was going to get beat up, he might as well get to it. Why he was saving a stupid Nykan he didn’t know, but a knife would make things better right? So he picked up the one that was dropped and concealed it in his pocket.

As he headed down the alleyway he moved at a medium pace, not wanting to make too much noise. He tried to observe what exactly they were doing to her before he came into view of them.

Other's Words -- My Words -- My Thoughts

[Shell]

Shell, after seeing the man's eye peep down the bottom hole, began to holler to tell him everything, "You have to stop them! They have beef with me, not her! They're gonna take it out on her to get back at me! Don't let them ruin her life! I know them, and this is my problem-!"

Before he could say any more, a pile of blankets was dropped onto the top, blocking off any more sound and increasing the weight of the clay pot. What was that man thinking? Shell needed to be out there, not stuck under here! But the blankets were cooling down the building heat. Seeing that he could do nothing, he sat down in the middle of the open space, waiting patiently and hoping that something good will come out of the bad.

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"Please! Let me go!" Orinna protested, but the boy pushed her back down to the ground, pinning her there. He was on top of her, and the twisted smile he wore earlier was now wider and more sinister.

His friends were standing at the front of the alley, pretending to talk and know of nothing occurring in the back. Any who seemed to stop in curiosity asked the boys of what was happening, and they shrugged it off as if nothing. They claimed they didn't hear a thing, and therefore waved it away like a meddlesome gnat.

He had a hand on her mouth, keeping her quiet as he began to remove the top of her dress. What a humiliation this would bring, and no one would know a thing. They'd have no choice but to remove her from her training as a monk, as she would be found to have an impure body. There would be no way to know who had committed the crime, and life could go on more pleasantly.

As his actions continued, he suddenly had another thought. Someone would know who! That damned Pycon! And he could give names and records, too. He had to be eliminated. No one must know about that either.

As he persisted, he quietly called one of his friends over to tell him of his new task. Take the Pycon, shut him up, throw him into the Aperture. Dust to dust was the codeword, and he sent him off. The friend began to walk back to the more open alleyway to retrieve his prey.

[Gybe]

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Gybe didn’t really know what he could do for the girl. He wasn’t a great fighter in any regard. He could hear her calling out at the end of the alleyway. He was passing houses now where the civilians inside were cowering from the monks. After about the third house he passed with people looking out of their windows, he got pissed. “Stupid Nykans. Do something for once” He hated them with a passion and he now decided to backtrack to the first house he passed. He forcefully opened the door and said sternly to the man and his wife who were inside. “Get your ass out here and follow me.”

He then proceeded to the next house. As Gybe entered it, the couple from the first house shyly came out of their home, answering the motivating call to do something about it. Gybe then grabbed the young man in the next house by the frilly bright colored shirt he wore and dragged him out of the next house. “You aren’t sitting by, get a move on”, he kicked him in the rump out the door and into the alleyway. Once outside the mans house he then went to the next house and the next house. Before long people could see they had a mob of people versus the monks and as the youth came back to finish off the Pycon, he was met by this growing number of people with angry faces. Most of all Gybe who calmly and cooly walked forward with the knife in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth.

He nodded threateningly at the kid to back off and he did, returning to his friend, whom he started smacking on the shoulder to get off of Orinna. It was then Gybe spoke up. “I don’t know how you feel about coming to a gruesome and horrifying death, having your heart ripped out forcefully through your chest by a Prior, but if you’d rather not face this girl’s father, I’d suggest you move along. He should be here shortly.”

Where Gybe lacked in intimidation, the mob, his knife, the cigarette, and his little bit of inside knowledge really aided to it. As he spoke, it seemed like many of the people who were hiding in the immediate area of the potential rape were getting more bold and coming out of their houses. Feeling a bit intimidated, the boys pushed off Oriana and let her go.

The friend who reeled back from the mob now pulled at his fellow monk’s robes and asked him to get out of there. In a moment of wisdom, the boy decided it was best to retreat for now. They bolted off down an alleyway, pushing some gathered citizens out of their way and then disappeared off into the distance around some bends in the path. Gybe didn’t help up the girl and personally didn’t know her to be honest. A bluff was what it was called, and fortunately for the sake of his skull, it paid off. He threw the knife on the ground in front of the girl and walked off through the crowd toward the Pycon.

Wading through the people he got some pats on the back but he paid them no mind. He just pictured their town burning in rubble. As he went he finally came to the pot. Taking a puff of his cigarette kicked it over lightly with a foot and then walked up the street a little bit to resume his spot where he was watching when this all began.

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