damned_institute | Nightshift 27: Hallway Outside M81-M120 Block

“I could pick on your posture if you want boy,” The sword snapped out harshly as his arms folded stubbornly across his chest. Amber eyes narrowed in annoyance, the Night Rune incarnation followed by grumbling, “But if you’d prefer to go without my aid then I shall take my leave. I’ve more important things to do than babysitting an ungrateful feline.”

Scar nearly voiced the first thing that came to mind, but managed to swallow the snarky remark. As much as despised it, he needed help. It was the very reason he had ventured out of the -- he believed to be -- save confinement that was his room into the dangerous hallways. As proud as a being of his status was, he also had the logic to realize it wouldn't pay off to act upon his pride. He couldn't afford such a thing while being on such a huge disadvantage. He needed to do what he was good at; using his brains.

And if he had to enlist the help of this disrespectful idiot, then so be it. ~~He had plenty of experience with the kind, anyway.~~

"Very well." he replied, this time more calmly. "Show me how it's done."

The sword seemed to consider his options when the calm request was asked of him. Of course there was little that he would gain from helping this pesky cat and their balance problem, but even despite that, the Night Rune couldn’t help the very subtle desire to remain and actually aid this unworthy mortal. Why he was feeling such a useless need was beyond him, but still, the Star Dragon Sword remained and turned his full attention onto the other.

“Your leg muscles should be more than well developed enough to support your weight - which means that your problem solely lies in your balance.” He said with a gruff voice as he reached out and tapped against the other patient’s thigh. It was still an odd concept to actually be able to do such things, but it was hardly anything to distract himself with when there were far too many other important things, “You need to stop relying on the wall for support if you’re to regain any sense of balance in your step, and keep your back straight.”

'Keep my back straight? Like a meerkat?'

It was the first thing that crossed Scar's mind. He was now leaning forward, both his legs and back bent while his hands were attempting to keep his balance by supporting the wall. The other patient did have a point, however, and the king was hardly getting anywhere by not doing what he was told.

For once.

As awkward as the movement was for the former lion, he slowly attempted to straighten his back. He hadn't let go of the wall just yet, but he figured one odd movement at once was plenty for now.

Who would have thought he'd be receiving walking lessons?

[]

Something had changed. Putting his finger on what was nearly impossible to be done, but the air was no longer merely filled with the still silence that came before battle. It was heavier now, as if something far worse had come. Oriya frowned unhappily, his sword would be useful now... Being unarmed in this place gave the swordsman no sense of assurance.

Glancing around the hall for any signs of a possible ambush, Oriya quickly began to make his way towards the nearest door before the sound of two separate voices caught his attention. Strange... He paused. He really couldn't afford to delay any further if he wanted to find this 'hospital's drug supply, but...

Oh well. His curiosity was captured.

Changing directions, Oriya approached and soon found two other... Well, they were not men. They may have appeared so, but they felt nothing like it. One of them appeared to be having troubles too.

"Pardon my intrusion, but is everything alright?"

Taking a step back, the sword folded his arms across his chest in a seemingly impatient gesture as he critically assessed the others attempt. It will take them some practice, but with their posture actually correct for once, the mangy feline should be able to get a handle on walking before too long.

The sword took notice of another in the halls with them, but didn’t pay them any mind until it seemed they were approaching. The last thing he needed was another useless bag of flesh to teach something, although judging by the sound of their footsteps, at least this one didn’t have any problems trying to walk. Not to mention it seemed as though they held some scrap of manners in them.

“This useless feline is learning how to walk.” He answered in an annoyed gruff tone. Glancing back over his shoulder at the newcomer, he clicked on his flashlight and shone it towards their chest as he spoke. “And who might you be?”

Scar had also noticed the man approaching, but it didn't appear to be some kind of threat.

"Oh, I'm brilliant." Scar replied dryly. If no one counted his now shattered pride with at least ten elephants dancing on top of its shards and the entire embarrassing situation altogether, everything was perfectly fine.

And gee, his teacher was as kind as ever. He should 'thank' him for rubbing everything in.

Voicing the sarcastic remark didn't appear to be quite wise, however. The last thing he needed was his remarkably pleasant companion to stomp off angrily while he still had the balance of a cripple hyena.

Thinking it was perfectly safe, however.

"I am Mibu Oriya."

Was there no normality at all here? Oriya's eyes gleamed in the light of the flashlight as he cast a glance at the 'feline'. Was that a reference to a nickname, or perhaps a hint at this man's original form? It would make far more sense if it was the latter... Neither of these two felt right in these forms. Like creatures in the skin of man. Oriya frowned.

"It is a difficult process to learn at first," he replied simply to the first man's comment of the other's 'uselessness'. The first appeared to have no difficulties walking though, perhaps he was more used to doing so than the other was.

“Yes yes utterly amazing.” The dry remark went entirely unnoticed by the sword as he raised one hand up and gave the feline a dismissive gesture. They were hardly brilliant, and even if their tone was more in the realms of sarcasm, the Night Rune didn’t believe one shouldn’t boast in area’s they were currently unskilled at – especially when it was a comment made in jest.

“Well met Mibu Oriya.” It was a style of name that the incarnation was unfamiliar with, but it didn’t surprise the Star Dragon Sword. Such oddities were to be expected outside of your own realm, and this was simply a small drop on the scales. “While the process of walking would be difficult in an underdeveloped body – this feline here was given one which is fully capable. They merely lack the knowledge of proper posture.”

Glancing back up at Scar there was a definite disappointed frown on his features as the sword snapped. “I hardly gave you permission to stand around doing nothing boy. You’ll hardly function properly if you slack off on your training.”

Suddenly, Scar found it incredibly tempting to test the usefulness of his teeth on a certain someones' throat. He almost did it...almost. This was a disgrace! He didn't tolerate being treated like a common ~~hyena~~ piece of dirt! How dared this arrogant fool even do such a thing?! He could barely surpress the snarl coming from his throat, but somehow managed.

The former lion forced himself to calm down, once again reminding himself that any foolish actions wouldn't get him anywhere. The sooner he could walk, the sooner he could rid himself of this idiot's presence.

With that in mind, he continued attempting to straighten his back.

Oriya had to admit, this was a strange duo if there ever was one. The swordsman found himself torn between shaking his head and raising a brow as he watched the exchange between 'man' and 'feline'. But then again, if Oriya ignored the fact that neither of the two were wholy human, that one of them was learning to walk and that they were doing this in the middle of a monster infested hall deep in the night within the bowels of a two-faced hospital...

This was perfectly normal. The first man didn't make a half bad teacher either and, thankfully, he had some very sound logic.

Oriya nodded politely in return to the man he had introduced himself to. "Very true, but learning proper balance is yet another factor that contributes to the difficulty."

The ire from his student went entirely unnoticed as the incarnation scrutinised their attempt at standing. Nodding his head as he found the posture to be sufficient, the Star Dragon Sword shot a meaningful gesture up towards Scar’s supporting hand as he instructed. “Support yourself on that wall any longer and I’ll have to deem you unworthy of my instruction.” The sword snapped, before tapping the back of the feline’s knee. “When you believe yourself ready to walk, focus your balance on your legs rather than that precious wall of yours.”

Dropping his arm back down to his side, the sword took a few steps back and away from where Scar stood. He didn’t trust the mangy feline as far as this physical body could throw them. The chances he’d be used as some form of support when his student stumbled was far too high for his liking. There would be hell to pay if anybody treated him with such disrespect.

“Most humans don’t ever consider balance during the motions of walking – they simply just ‘do’ the motorised function.” The sword muttered as his attention drifted over towards Oriya. “Only those who require balance skills for their occupation, such as street performers or swordsmen, are the ones to look deeper into the mechanics behind it all.”

"I cannot say I had considered my balance before arriving here, either." Scar muttered, resisting the urge to narrow his eyes. He had dealt with brainless hyena's for years! He had dealt with Mufasa!! Surely, this person who appeared to be so fond stating the obvious shouldn't become a problem!

And if his idiot of a teacher could do it, why couldn't he?

He carefully attempted to shift his balance from the wall to his two legs by letting go of his support. However, two legs seemed more unstable than four, and the former lion had trouble trying to retain his balance and not falling over. It took him a couple of tries, leaning once again on the wall whenever the king threatened to fall (he really had no desire to fall on top of the other man, thank you very much).

Scar couldn't help but think this was all rather awkward. But as it was, he stood straight without the support of the wall, though still unstable and wobbly.

For a moment Oriya was tempted to ask if the two knew each other before arriving here. Both simply acted far too much ~~like an old married couple~~ at ease with insulting and glaring at one another without fear of how the other would react. It would be interesting to know if they did just meet and why neither would just walk off already if they could barely tolerate one another.

While the one learning to walk could hardly do so, the second man could easily just leave (unless all the gruffness was merely a facade...) Oriya shook his head slightly.

"But you're not very human, now are you?" Oriya questioned perceptively. "Although you both appear that way."

He kept part of his attention fixated on Scar’s walking attempts while the rest of it remained on the other patient. There didn’t seem to be much that concerned him as the feline tested out their balance. They weren’t falling flat on their face, and that aspect was only taken as a positive result.

Oriya’s perceptive question pulled the sword from his thoughts as he turned his full attention onto the other patient. There seemed to be brains in this one, and that left the incarnation with the pleasant thought that perhaps the human race wasn’t entirely unsalvageable.

“Your observation would be correct.” The Star Dragon Sword muttered as he gave a short nod of his head. Glancing down at his body, there was a decidedly displeased expression on his face as he sighed and poked his fleshy stomach. “I was previously the Great Star Dragon Sword before I was pulled from my realm and given this useless bag of flesh to reside within.”

Scar partly listened to the conversation between the two patients in case they said something interesting, but none of the two had thus far. Conversations were hardly interesting when still in the introduction-state, so for now he merely focused on his balance rather than socializing. He still felt unstable, as if he could fall over any time now.

It would seem he'd have to try and walk now, however. Walking was a matter of putting one feet in front of the other, and than shifting balance. The former lion frowned while he stared at his feet, which looked remarkably strange compared to his paws. These humans used their whole feet while walking, which was something he had to remember.

He carefully put a small step forward as he tried keeping his back straight. After a small moment of hesitation, he attempted to shift his balance to the leg he had just moved forward. Instead, he lost his balance and fell face-flat on the floor. A small grunt escaped his throat as he hit the ground.

He crawled back up in some kind of sitting position. Feeling more embarrassed than he already was, he felt blood rushing to his head -- or more specifically his cheeks -- which was a remarkably strange sensation. It didn't help making the former lion any more comfortable, however, neither in his body or the situation.

Gee, I wonder if there are more surprises coming with this new form.

It seemed he had to start all over again, though. Not quite a pleasant thought, but sitting in this hallway wasn't too appealing either.

At least he had lasted longer than he did this morning...

He carefully proceeded to get into the odd standing position again.

[ooc; I assumed lions don't blush when embarrassed? XD]

Everything was beginning to grow clearer, yet only more questions were beginning to develop with each new discovery. This man was previously a sword, a sentient object if Oriya was correct, and the other was once a feline... Whether that was a simple house cat or something far greater was yet to be discovered, but that was not the problem. The problem was determining just how powerful the ringmaster behind everything was. Abduction was one thing, altering the form of a creature was another.

The same went for playing with time.

Oriya frowned slightly, dragged out of his thoughts as a loud 'THUD!' cut through the silence. The swordsman looked over to find the feline ~~who truly needed a name~~ with his face to the floor. Had he given up? Oriya waited, pleased to find that he hadn't. There was nothing like a man who refused to keep trying merely because it was difficult. Oriya turned back to the Star Dragon Sword. "If you do not mind me asking, do you recall how you were trapped in that form?"

Nightshift 27: Hallway Outside M81-M120 Block

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