Day 29: Courtyard

[deathbymidget.livejournal.com]

Hiei easily grew sick of the same walls--not to mention the same idiots always within those walls--and while not perfect, the chance to go outside was better than lingering in the boundaries of that damned prison. So when the chance came, the demon was quick to leap on it, heading outside almost quick enough to make a nurse wonder if he was attempting escape.

Almost.

But there were things Hiei had to take care of before he left this place, and first came sorting through his thoughts. Kurama was gone; the demon was sure of it, even without the use of his Jagan. The fox was one of the people Hiei was closest to, one of the few Hiei would admit being close to, and his presence weighed heavily on the demon, nearly as heavy as his absence.

It made him angry, that Kurama had vanished. Be it by escape or some other circumstance (which Hiei barely considered possible, only by his own refusal), the fox should be there with him, fighting with him. That was how they worked, supposedly. As a team.

Now Hiei would have to do without. And he would be fine with that, eventually. For now it was annoying, but that would pass. Perhaps quicker with a nap, and the demon moved under one of the trees. He didn't care that it was colder in the shade; his contrasting origins mixed with his stubbornness kept the weather from bothering him too much. Closing his eyes, he relaxed against the bark, as much as he could given the circumstances, and hoped for a lack of bothering.

Comments

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

"Well, there's the big groups, but I think most people just would like to have more people watching their backs in general, you know? There's no telling what'll happen at night--like what happened after the field trip--so if I meet someone by chance I'd rather they be on my side." Usopp gave a loose shrug, before smiling at Haseo in a way he hoped was reassuring. "I don't think most people have been here very long."

Luffy was here for two weeks...

"Anyway! What did you want me to draw?" Usopp unfolded his notebook to a blank page again. He hadn't asked anything personal about the new guy, and thus far didn't know anything about him other than his name, but asking could wait until he'd started drawing. And whatever Haseo wanted drawn might be a hint.

[multiweapon.livejournal.com]

Groups for those monster things, like the bird he'd seen the other day? "Oh yeah. Right." Haseo hadn't realized that they were enough of an issue to make big groups for, then again he'd only seen one monster like that and the people he'd encountered seemed rather scattered and disconnected from one another.

As for what to draw, Haseo had to stop and think for a minute. "How about.." He almost wanted a picture of his room back home to give him something that would make the place a little more comfortable, but telling a stranger what his room looked like was stupid. 'Not to mention creepy as all get out.' The room he had now was so small, blank, and depressing it was no wonder it seemed like he'd been here longer than he had. Hell, even made him feel a tad homesick, hence the thought about his apartment back home.

"I don't suppose you've actually heard of Breg Epona?" Up to now, no one had heard of anything reguarding The World. It seemed like a good way to ask about the game without actually asking.

Anyway, If he could get a picture of a Root Town like that, then it would help him think of the events that happened while he was there, and maybe he could figure this place the hell out. Anyway, Breg Epona (http://www.dothackers.net/gu3.php) was a nice and generic thing to get drawn--nothing specific about a high level root town. It would probably be hard to draw though.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

Usopp gave Haseo a funny look for the distracted 'oh yeah' response. Maybe he was someone strong enough that he didn't consider the monsters that threatening? Or maybe he just wasn't big on working with other people. That was fine; Usopp didn't really expect much, as long as Haseo wasn't likely to ambush him in the dark of the night or anything like that. Then again, maybe Sai was right in thinking Usopp was spending too much time working on things for other people. Not that drawing was a great effort...

"Nope, never heard of it!" Usopp answered perhaps too cheerfully. "Or him. Or her. You'll have to describe it if you want me to draw it. Or him. Or her." He remembered that the other taker for a drawing had wanted a picture of his girlfriend, or at least some woman he adored back home. He himself had drawn mostly pictures of people he knew, when he'd drawn for fun. It was understandable, everyone here was homesick, aside from those people who had practically an army of people around them from back home by now.

Aren't you one of those people? So why are you sitting around drawing and trying to get out of going along with them? a small voice in the back of his head asked. Because where they are going is scary and I wouldn't be useful for them anyway, he answered firmly.

[multiweapon.livejournal.com]

Guess that meant the running average for people knowing about The World was still a big fat zero. Haseo didn't seem that surprised or dissapointed by the fact that he had to explain what it was, even if describing it wasn't going to be that easy. Breg Epona was really big and it had a lot of different parts to it.

He thought clarifying what Breg Epona was would be best, first of all. "'It'. Breg Epona is a city." But how to describe it? Sighing under his breath, the rogue tried to recall the most prominent part of the city: the market. To get a better mental picture Haseo closed his eyes, then he put a hand to his forhead. "It's set up like a square; There are a lot of little stands where people buy and things on each side, like a bazaar. Every vendor stand has a bunch huge balloons tied to it that sway in the wind."

He was actually kind of...surprised he remembered this many details from an area. Before, he would just breeze through places without taking a minute to stop and see what they looked like.

Stopping and enjoying, maybe?

"Oh. The floor is sort of a stone color. The sky there is always blue, too--probably why they call it the 'Celestial City.'" As he ran through the details, the entire picture of the Celestial City came a little easier.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

A city? Maybe his hometown, or a favorite place. Usopp had drawn a lot of landscapes of Syrup Village from various points, although most of those had been done when he was actually living in the village. He didn't question it, anyway, starting to draw lines on the paper already and not noticing Haseo's expressions. There wouldn't be any color, but the mentions of colors would be useful for shading.

"What else do the stands look like? Do they have umbrellas or overhangings? Are they wooden stands or made of something else? What kinds of things are they selling? Fruit? Does the sky have clouds at all?" His idea of what a city bazaar might look like had been widened quite a bit through his travels, and especially after being told late that his subject last time happened to have round ponytail holders and other details, he was keen on getting this as clearly as possible. Burying himself in the work was rather oddly satisfying.

[multiweapon.livejournal.com]

Though it was a lot of questions to answer all at one time, Haseo supposed that it was only normal. He'd never had a picture drawn specifically for him before, and it was difficult to picture things that one had never seen. As the artist of many arts began to draw, Haseo had to admit, It was pretty amazing that Usopp could even start drawing lines from that description.

The rogue explained the best he could in order to assist, "The shops are little stands. They're, you know, like a little kids lemonade stand or something. They have a box for the base and the angled overhang roof is supported by thin beams; it's all made of wood." Though he couldn't remember what the stands were made of in that city, the stands in Mac Anu were wooden so that would work. "The sky there is always bright blue, heck, I don't think it's ever had bad weather." How could it? Breg Epona was inside a game, programming bad weather or weather at all would just take up time and space.

As for what the sold..that was kind of hard to explain. The people in that area of Breg Epona were guild shops and they sold anything and everything from weapons to armor to accessories. Trying to compensate for his sharp dropoff in explanation after the weather, Haseo made a vague gesture. "They sell just about everything. Most people go to the market to buy weapons or recovery items, though. The place is always filled with people."

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

[*smacks forehead* Failed to notice shift change. Well, this shouldn't take long? :D Sorry!]

At least Haseo's world didn't sound too insanely different. So long as Haseo wasn't leaving out any important details like "Also I come from a universe where dragons rule us all from the skies and everyone's hair is made of fire" it should be all right. Usopp kept sketching, even putting in a few people so the scene didn't seem too much like an abandoned place. He had no idea what Haseo meant by 'recovery items,' so instead he substituted some nice stands selling fish and fresh fruits, along with knick-knacks. The sort of thing that he'd seen particularly at the stands in Alabasta's streets, although the atmosphere was lighter than Alabasta, and the clothes on the few people weren't the desert fashions of that country but more generalized clothes that he hoped wouldn't seem too strange to his 'client.' Finally he turned the picture around, little wooden shops with overhangs and balloons backdropped by taller buildings of an admittedly generic shape and no clouds in the skies, the ground stone and the few people animated in discussions over the objects for sale.

It was rather complicated, in all, nothing like his sketch of Captain Usopp's Mighty Power. But it was also what he'd wanted, a nice change of pace and a serious relief of stress. Usopp looked hopeful as he handed the notebook over. "Is this about right?"

[multiweapon.livejournal.com]

( Yeah~ I think it'll be done in one or two posts? ;o )

In taking the notebook, he actually didn't expect the place he described to be resembled on the paper, but when he briefed over the page Haseo was plesantly surprised with how similar the drawing looked in comparison to the real Breg Epona. "Damn." He muttered under his breath. The people didn't have the eccentric character costumes like The World, and the balloons weren't exactly Chim, but it looked like the town reguardless; Like what Breg Epona would look like if it actually existed, rather than if it was a made up place.

"It really does look like it. I mean, there are differences and all but..I didn't think you'd get it so close." Comparing this with the real place was difficult. Even given the slight differences, he could still practically envision that pink-beast friend of his running the shop on the bottom left of the drawing. Haseo was very satisfied with the picture as it was. "Thanks. You sure its really okay for me to just have something like this?" It seemed like it belonged in a frame or something.

Cutting his question short, came the ominous dinging sound of the loudspeaker. Guess that went on longer than he'd thought.

[usoppsenchou.livejournal.com]

Usopp blinked at the noise, then sighed, before carefully freeing the page from the notebook and handing it over. Even though it had been difficult, he couldn't help his mood being lifted by the compliments to his work.

"I drew it for you!" Plus he didn't really have a use for a drawing of a place he'd never seen. "I'm glad you like it." He grinned, standing and brushing himself off. "Good luck tonight, Haseo! And nice meeting you!"