Leon Ostrum's Story

Small streams of sunlight drifted in through the slits in the heavy red curtains. they were bright enough to illuminate the inside of a rather swanky tavern. Walls of sandstone but they were lined with velvet wallpaper and some of the lounging furniture was genuine leather. The bar itself was made of a rich deep wood obviously imported. The most out of place thing in this room was a man lying on a couch, sleeping soundly, if quietly.

Just then the sound of keys jingling, and then the front door to the place opened to reveal a man who looked to be mid-20s with deep blue hair. As he entered the bar, he glanced over at the couch and sleeping man. "Yep, right where I left you." He said with a small smile on his face. He flipped on the lights and the place lit up. In the light it looked even nicer and and an engraved sign in lapis lazuli could be seen above the bar stating "The Blue Palm".

The blue haired man approached the sleeping one. "Hey.....hey get up. Leon......Leon!" The man then kicked the couch a couple of times. "Yo Leon, I'm taking to you! Wake up!" But it was to no avail. The man sighed. He then lifted his hand up and in the center formed a crystal clear orb of water. It then sprayed a violent amount of water directly into Leons face.

After a beat. Leon slowly opened his eyes. "Good morning, Lupin." He said calmly in his deep voice.

Lupin rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, morning. Now get up. Your fights soon." Lupin said, putting his jacket on the back of a bar stool. Leon gave him with a quizzical look. Lupin rolled his eyes. "The tournament? Your guild? The Twins big event? Ringing any bells?" A light went off in Leon's eyes. "Oh yeah. I should probably get going." With that, Leon got up, stuffed his hands in his pockets and went out the door.

Lupin called behind him. "Try to take this a little seriously! I bet serious Jewel on you!" Leon simply waved him off.
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As Leon walked through the streets of Ivalice, he got a couple of friendly nods or waves, which he returned in kind. Leon glanced up at the sun. In a place like Ivalice, you wanted to wear layers to protect yourself from the rays of the sun. Leon simply wore a shirt and pants. Had to do with him being a Heat Mage. It never bothered him. Leon made his way to the town square. The large crowd and loud noises were a good indicator he was heading the right way.

He immediately spotted Ivan making a spiel to the crowd. Leon sort of just smirked. Even as a kid Ivan was a fast talker. His age only made him better at it. It looks like he was catching the tail end of a fight. It looked some guy he didn't recognize and.....Onyx. He was one of the newbies at Foxtrot. Leon never really got a good read on him, seemed a bit aloof. Knew he was a summoner, pretty strong one too.

Looks he just finished beating an Air mage. Though it seemed he used spirits rather than Magic. Interesting. The guy was berating Onyx about something, but he couldn't hear it. He looked around and wondered when his fight would be.

The match between their emotionless Guildmate and his fiery summon was a quick and painful one for the opponent at least. Finally the dust settled back into the fine grain of sands beneath their feet, a few on-lookers hissed insults at the defeated Air mage as the stirred up dust had coated clothes and over-priced festival food, which many hopelessly replaced much to the joy of nearby food merchants. The mayor's voice let out a wheezy cough before ordering a few nearby mages to erect a protective barrier around the stands to prevent further accidents. At least the mages weren't deliberately going all out that could cause outside property damage. That didn't stop Ivan from haggling with clients with small insurance slips..at fair prices for the sudden demand. One could practically smell the blood in the water for the merchant eagerly pocketing Jewels.


Irritation spread throughout Iris's body at she already hear her brother's gloating over his haul. The man prided himself at earning his keep, she couldn't fault him for that..it's just his success made her failures seem all the larger. That her accomplishments would always be second-rate to his, the little sister trailing in her brother's footsteps. Then again her brother's infamy in the town did seem to stick to her like a leech at times..in way it allowed her to vent some frustration. Anger welled up inside her as she gritted her teeth, just in time as the mayor's bellowing voice echoed through the air "Our next match up will be between the Flashing Swordsmen Renard Ewo and the Lady Chessmaster, Iris Fenil. If the combatants would please take their places in the arena now."

Cheers and jeers came for both combatants as a faint smile wiped away the frustration as loud words of encouragement came from her guildmates. A dramatic wind seemed to quiet the crowd as Iris eyed her opponent from across the arena, dressed in bandages along his body and a black sash around his waist. A single katana was naked at his side, shimmering in the bright sunlight. Clearly the man's name was due to the bare sword as it did flash in sunlight..or was there something else? Nicknames aside, Iris didn't have another chance to contemplate it as the man called out "Flash Step! and vanished into thin air. Chances are there was only seconds before she felt like cold steel at her throat as she hastily called out [color= #c56320]"Take the Board!!'.[/color] Black and white squares grew from the sandy depths as Iris took a step back as she felt the air whip by her face as the shining blade came in upward slash seconds after her movement.

The swordsmen merely mockly called out "Trying to run little rabbit?". A calloused hand grasped at the fur collar of her jacket as she struggled to escape the much stronger grip, a single black piece dropped to board below as she coughed out "Come forth my Pawn!!". A small puff of smoke blinded both on-looker and combatant as Iris felt her knees hit the board roughly below her as a pair of large paws slammed into the swordsman's torso with alarming strength. A single large hare sat in front of the fallen Iris looking annoyingly innocent as it gave a single thump of triumph. Swears came from Renard as his blade flashed quickly, neatly cutting the creature in two much to the shock of children in the crowd. Yet instead of crimson liquid, the hare merely blinked as shadows began stitching itself back together within seconds as a determined Iris rose to her feet "You won't skin this hare so easy!". Her magic allowed her versatility, yet had to be carefully observed as she felt droplets of fatigue, the Pawn was a good starting point but wouldn't win the match.

Anyone with a brain could see this creature wasn't meant to last long in combat as Renard placed his palm on the top of his sword "Flash Dance!". Once again his body vanished as the Hare valiantly sacrificed itself as slashes attempted to rain down on it's mistress. Regeneration was a simple task for the chess piece, but sweat began pouring down Iris's face at each blow sucked at her magic reserves, her hand grasped her next move in a tight fist as she called out "Checkmate!". Once again a smokescreen covered the views of everyone as the swordsman blindly swung only to hear a dull thunk at each strike. Suddenly the smoke was blown away by hazy white steam that could easily blister bare skin, not to mention heat up metal.

Retreating in both pain and surprise as Renard nearly dropped the heated hilt of his blade before glaring at the cause. A surprisingly large tortoise merely snorted in response as a perfectly safe, and almost arrogant Iris sprawled out on the reptile's sand colored shell before calling out "Summoning the Bishop. What's wrong Renard can't handle a harmless old turtle?". Said tortoise gave a rumble as it dangerously shook itself nearly dislodging it's mistress as a warning. The creature may be used for defense, but it still had a stubborn streak of pride and did not take kindly to false pretenses. Patting the shell with a quick touch as Iris cooed "Oh don't be so sensitive old man, you know I mean well". Apparently age did not always mean forgiveness as the tortoise did not find amusement in the teasing Iris as a familiar plume of smoke covered the two followed by loud swearing from Iris "Get your scaly butt back here!! Come on Bishop I was kidding!!".

It seems the tide was turning once more as the swordsman mocking blew on the now cold katana before him taking a menacing step forward readying for the final blow. The figure vanished once more as Flash Dance was once again used darting daringly into the plume of smoke. Small feminine yelps came from Iris as the ground began to stain red with blood as the crowd only saw flashing silver and merely concluded this would be the end of the match. Eyes widened as yellow eyes gleamed in the clearly smoke as did the ringing sound of metal screeching against one another followed by a bleeding Renard tossed unceremoniously onto the ground. A clawed hand lifted a relatively cut-free Iris by the scruff of her hoody as only a few cuts marred her face and a serious cut across the stomach as red flushed across her cheeks as she was roughly shook before being dropped to the ground. Scuffed boots stood in front her protectively as a grumbling voice merely scowled "Really now, should have called me earlier little brat. Could have avoided all the blood on your cute face..". A mumbled excuse came from a blushing Iris as the Rook's ears merely laid back in annoyance before licking the small amount of blood off his brass knuckles.

This was another offensive piece known as the Rook as the half-human creature merely lashed out a flurry of blows against a tired Renard who feebly tried to block the faster fists of the creature. The brass knuckles slammed into bone and cut into flesh with ease. Stupidly, the man tried to jam the hilt of the blade into the creature's mouth and let out a howl of pain as razor sharp teeth bit into the tender flesh before shoving the human away into the dust, spitting out crimson blood "Dear god man, you need to lay off the cheap booze..".

The defeated swordsmen merely fell to the ground as cuts from his body began changing pale sand into bloody grains. An excitable Iris merely flipped off her opponent as her smile faded as the yellow pupils of her Rook caught her ruby ones as booted feet stomped over to his mistress. Running a hand through his own ruffled hair as the Rook challenging leaned down inches away from her face before cheekily licking a small cut on her face before declaring "Had to get that horrible taste out of my mouth. Try to not get beat up so much boss. Would hate to have to scavenge your corpse for a meal ya know?". Too stunned to say anything as Iris merely dismissed the creature with a condescending pat to the head before walking out of the arena, as she tiredly sat next to a demure Onyx "Now remind me again, why I get such unruly Chess Pieces. Oi Ivan told you I wouldn't get my ass kicked!". A chuckle escaped her brother as he tutted "It's only the first round baby sister, besides I know you enjoyed that little kiss from Rook." Once again red flooded Iris's face as she merely sulked after pulling up her fur hood, not even replying.