Lord of the Flies

The Devil Slayer could probably call this the first he actually went somewhere of his own free will, rather than being thrown here. It was a decent-looking day, save for the light drizzle of rain here and there. Ryuhei remembered the events of Edolas, where he was played like a toy, yet wasn't able to remember that day on which he was killed by the armored man known as Samedi, and brought back to life a short time later.

One thing that he did want to forget was when he learned his new magic. It was a turning point in the story, and one that was...eventful to say the least. Either way, a new chapter would begin today.

He would walk through the established city in Central Pandora, until he decided that the pangs of hunger were too much for him and he walked into a restaurant.

"I swear, why do I get the thought of some old man slipping and falling..."

@Kasey

The Iron Fist Tournament seemed liked a good idea the more she thought of it. The concentration of power crazed people bound to a few rules with the promise of a prize. While that happened, people who were a threat would be gone from common ground. It would give her time to relax and explore without having to keep her guard up for every person she met. It put her a little at ease. But she knew better. She could never let her guard down.

Taking her plate of sushi from the man behind the counter, she enjoyed her own company at the bar table. The place seemed rather empty, and so was her stomach. She needed to get a meal before she explored the rest of this Pandorum. Or whatever this place was called.

Ryuhei would look around at the interior of the restaurant. There were very few people here, it seemed. Maybe it was the morning or something. Places like this never got customers that early, of course. It probably explained why there were hardly any people at Roshi's shop on that day. Ryuhei would most likely never know how much blood had been shed that day, besides the scar that was on his face until a few weeks earlier. But that was unimportant. At any rate, the Demon Slayer was hungry, and he couldn't possibly leave here without having quelled his hunger,

He would take his seat at the bar table, next to a woman who was getting her food. He'd probably stay here and get himself some more rest until he decided to explore the rest of this city.

"I'll have some General Tso chicken with Lo Mein."

Lifting the rolls of rice, seaweed and egg, she rose a brow as the man sat next to her. She didn't speak a work, and simply paused only for a few seconds as the rice softly lay on her tongue. "There's plenty more seats." she thought to herself, "But he did take the next closest seat to the chef. So it's a good seat as well..."

She brushed off the thought as her teeth divided her food into halves. She would have to think of her next venture. Perhaps in the rest of Fiore. There seemed to be ruins of cities she saw in perfect condition before she got to Pandora. But who was to say why zombies roamed the city. Swallowing her food, she would tap her wooden plate with her chopsticks as she thought of possible reasons.

You only needed to tag once.

The Devil Slayer began chomping down on his food as soon as it was presented to him, forgetting that he actually had to pay at some point. The deep-fried chicken made a stinging sensation as it swished around Ryuhei's mouth. He wolfed down the Lo Mein along with the meat, as for them to compliment each other. As he ate, a thought came into his mind about an old man, the same one who slipped and fell, firing off a wave of energy. He would dismiss this thought as soon as he found that his plate was almost clean.

He would change his train of thought to the woman he was sitting next to. She didn't seem to be one of many words, but Ryuhei was itching for some conversation. And he'd have to do that without coming off as some sort of creep.

"This is certainly some good food, wouldn't you think?"

She would pause as she lightly surrounded her next prey. She was no doubt going to devour it in a matter of seconds, but it would seem that the man required conversation to his meal. An odd thing to have, considering that you eat better when your mouth is not full of words.


She spoke, lifting the innocent mound of rice and egg to her lips once more. She wasn't one for conversation. But to think about someone else to take with her on an expedition would make things a bit easier in hauling, as well as an extra set of eyes. Perhaps she would have to tolerate him... for her own benefit.

"I take it this is your first time in Zion?" she would ask.

I hope you know, the face of the old man that was stuck in your head after that thread, isn't Roshi, the shop owner, but a DIFFERENT old man. As if HE was the one who brought you back to life.

Even if it were just a light tête-à-tête, Ryuhei felt just the slightest bit better being able to talk to someone. Ever since he had woken up from being dead, he noticed that he was always in a foul mood most days, even not being able to get up from his bed, rather resting place, wherever it was.

"Yes, and it just so happens that I stumbled into this shop out of sheer hunger."

He thought for a second. Fate must have undeniably brought them together in this moment, but it wasn't as though they were destined to stay that way or something...At least that's what the Devil Slayer thought.

"It would be great if I could stop blacking out at random places like this..."

Rolling her eyes, she would turn back to her food, grabbing the next egg roll from her plate. She didn't know why she bothered, all men seemed to be odd to her. But who was to say she wasn't odd to them?


She spoke, wondering what would become of it. She couldn't say what his reaction would be, but together there was a gain. She could travel with a bit more ease, and whatever problem he had she would have to bear with. It was a bit of give and take, but it was something she'd have to live with for the time being, at least until she found the prize.

She'd lift her meal to her mouth once more, leaving a single survivor on her dish. She had things to do, and it would help with a pair of eyes to watch her back.

"You can certainly say that again. It seems as though in this world, solitude is a prerequisite for early death."

As hard as it was to believe, there was just the slightest bit of truth in the Devil Slayer's words. Pandora was a mixing pot, to say an understatement, of various people from various different walks of life. Of course, that would include the mentally deranged who would kill a man just because they feel like it.

It was those people that a person like Ryuhei would need to watch out for.

"To live another day in this world, one must watch out, and nobody can watch out by themselves."

"Mhm." She would give a nod in agreement as she fetched the last of her meal. He spoke the truth in a way. She could only wonder what world he came from and what powers he held. But to say that his voice was already getting on her nerves would only be stating the obvious. She would have to make work of it all, if she was going to get anywhere.

Staying silent for this part of the conversation, she would stuff her face with the final part of her meal. She would reach into her pocket and pull out a few dozen gold coins. The more she thought about it, the more the mixed currency of Pandora made sense. How could you regulate Yen, Dollars, Jewels, Ryo, and Gold? Her gold coins were used wherever, and we either taken from the treasure of a ruin, or made with dirty work in Bosco within Fiore.

"Pardon me for being nosy, but I've never seen currency like that before. If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get them?"

It wasn't true that the Demon Slayer only knew about the currency of De Fiore: Jewels. However, out of the various currencies he had seen during his travels, he had yet to see those gold coins the woman pulled out. They looked like the kind of gold coins that you find only in a treasure chest, of a castle.

He would think back to the time that he, a pug, and a Snake raided a castle. Asides from the chances of dying, they were good times. And he'd been lucky to be working with good people...even if some of their personalities were on the outlandish side.

"I wonder where they are now..."

He was observant to say the least. But who could blame him for questioning a money he had never seen. "Republic City." she would say. She would bring out two other coins that looked identical, but different in color. "It's called a Yuan. It comes in mainly copper, silver and gold values." She didn't care speak of the spirits she saw. She knew these worlds were so different from each other, but never again did she wish to meet those spirits. . . They seemed to speak to her, just as her own blade did. . . with memories she never had.

"And by powers of deduction, you must be from Fiore or something, right?" she asked, a bit curious. The only people who passed by were from Kai, Toonville or Fiore. He looked too normal to be a toon, and she hadn't heard or seen of him in the festival. So it left only one other place to call home.

"Yeah. It's the only place I can call home, though I never stay there long enough to actually hold it to that standard. Most of the time, I just roam to wherever the wind takes me."

Sure, he knew De Fiore was where he was birthed, but he hardly remembered actually being there for a long-term period. Most of his time was spent in Pandora, or at least he thought he kept finding himself in random places.

Narcolepsy was a daunting disease indeed. The loss of the brain's ability to regulate sleep cycles. He wasn't the kind of person who slept late every night, so why was it that he was stricken down by this curse, this neurological ailment.

Either way, he'd have to find a way to suppress this malady, before he found himself sleeping at the worst possible time. But that wasn't the point right now.

"Hopefully this shop takes Jewels as payment..."

With a smile she gave the man his money as well as a hefty tip. It wasn't so much for the service, but so he would not utter a word if someone asked about her later. She had to keep her own reputation low. She knew others were going to look for her, in both for help and hindrance.

She would place her chopsticks on the wooden plate and slowly get up out of her seat. There was much to do that day, as well as money to be made. She couldn't make runs for all of her life. She needed to find something to cut to the end of it all. That was why she did it.

That was why she was a treasure hunter.

"Leaving so soon? That's really too bad...eh, no matter. Perhaps fate will cross our paths once more someday."

He meant Kaseki by that epithet. At times it unnerved him to know that there was a person above him dictating his life, as though he were a puppet; He wasn't really alive. However, there was no getting out of it, so he resigned himself to the fact, resolving to not think about it at all.

The last piece of chicken was devoured with a hint of contempt and made its way from the Devil Slayer's mouth through the tube that was known as his esophagus down to his stomach, where its physical form would dissolve into nothingness, with Ryuhei's body absorbing the nutrients.

He had to decide that even if he were being watched and steered, that he would do something with his life, however long or short it was.

She smiled as she begun to walk away. This was truly an odd world full of mysteries behind every corner. She couldn't let her guard down even for a second. She couldn't trust anyone or anything, even if she wanted to. With a single step, she continued her journey again.

"See you around, pretty boy." she would say. Everyone was bound to cross paths at least twice in their lives. If he wasn't a threat then, then maybe there would be a mutual gain for them to work together on. Until then, she would work alone. Besides, someone had to steal things for the black market.

"Until we meet again, beautiful."

A smile plastered itself on the Devil Slayer's lips as he slid the plate towards the edge of the counter. He would then take out a piece of currency, a thousand Jewels, and slide it so that it was sitting nicely next to the plate.

Perhaps this world wasn't so violence-ridden after all. In that shrot conversation he had with that woman, he noticed that fact.

"Maybe I should start living for something. Something I believe in."