From: The Empress Overlady To: Citizens of RhyDin
November 4, 2016
The Empress Overlady, in conjunction with the Kids of Summer Foundation, the Benson Boulevard Initiative, the Outback, and the RhyDin Welcome Center, presents The Mini Mentee Initiative.
The Mini Mentee Initiative will connect the children of RhyDin, many of them consigned to homeless shelters and orphanages, with positive role models. Children enrolled in the program will be paired with adult volunteers. Together, they will spend time over the course of a week in activities structured and chosen by the adult volunteer.
Those wishing to volunteer to be a mentor should present themselves at the Outback on Monday, 7 November 2016 at 8:00am RST. At that time, they will be paired with a Mini Mentee. Lunch will be served and there are several activities planned to give mentor and mentee time to become familiar with one another.
As a token of gratitude, all volunteers will be gifted a single loss forgiveness to use in Duel of Fists before the end of the current dueling cycle.
((OOC Details:
To have your character earn one loss forgiveness in the Duel of Fists, you must write a post of your character participating in the Mini Mentee Initiative in some way.
Your character can come to the initial event (details to be posted this weekend!) to be assigned a mentee or you can write out some other interaction with the mentee that takes place throughout the week, including completely ignoring the poor mentee :(
All posts should be posted by Friday, 25 November 2016. The posts can be posted here or elsewhere and linked to this thread.
The loss forgiveness will go into effect on November 25, 2016 and will expire on December 31, 2016.
To be eligible for the loss forgiveness reward, a character must:
-have dueled at least one duel in Duel of Fists at some point in time
-get their first duel in Duel of Fists completed before November 24th
All others are welcome to participate but are not eligible for the loss forgiveness. Any questions, please PM me!
Many thanks to Matt, Kheld, and Kal for making the participation reward possible!))
Last edited by JewellRavenlock on Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Down in Little Korea sometime after Monday the 7th.
"Ma'am.. uh.. Sir.. Uh.. Sarah's mentor got her icecream.."
"And I'm giving you a valuable life lesson! When you get a wife, you'll understand. Now keep rubbing and don't worry about getting a little rough." KC couldn't even look away from his magazine as he sat there in an empty spa seat while his little mentee was busy rubbing at the soles of some Yakuza bosses mistress. "She likes it a little rough." KC added on, to which the woman slapped his shoulder while laughing. "What? That's what I heard!"
The kid on the other hand didn't know what they were talking about.
So, "But my hands hurt..." the child went back to complaining.
KC had to take his eyes away from upcoming Rhydin winter fashion trends. Eyes peeking over the magazine and then furrowing some at the brow as he looked to the hard working kid.
"If you keep up the good work I'll get you some WcDonalds."
It was as if angels sang and the hand of God reached down from the heavens to pat the poor kid on his head. WcDonalds! He'd be given WcDonalds! He's never had it before! This seemed to be all the motivation the kid needed to get back to work.
With that out of the way, KC returned to his normally scheduled activities of magazine reading.
"Can you get me WcDonalds too?" The Yakuza mistress said with a fake pout.
"Yeah," KC continued to flip through the magazine. "but only if you give the kid a good tip."
KC rubbed a little at the side of his head then looked back to the now rather hard working kid.
Hard work. When you're young, have no parents, and need to help put dinner on the table for your younger siblings.. there's limits that have to be crossed.
Young. Way too young when I started this.. Before we found the mistress.. When it was trying not to cry when someone five times your size was doing something that they just shouldn't. Not when you're that age.
I wouldn't want to see a kid grow up with that. His hands might hurt, but at least he'll know that there's something more he can do with them instead of ducking into a corner store with a gun to try and get a quick buck.. or worse. Robbing and thievery, that was more Morgan's route, and I'm honestly glad for that.. At least Noona and I took on the other burdens and he never had to.
".. This is the BEST birthday ever!" the boy exclaimed before digging into his Fun-Time-Kids-Meal. With his work done it was only right that they went to WcDonalds as promised.
The sudden exclamation had KC blinking, along with the handful of women from the parlor who decided to tag along.
"It's the kids birthday? Getting this excited over fast food.." The Yakuza bosses mistress said in a whispering tone toward KC, who then scrunched his face some while the other parlor girls muttered among themselves.
"We're leaving," KC decided and suddenly stood. The women were quick to pick up their fries, burgers, and other such things -- all the while the kid looked in a panic. Why were they leaving?! That's the look he had on his face. Was it something he said?
That look would be completely wiped off his face when the entourage exited Ms. Yakuza Bosses Mistress's limo and started to strut toward Buck-e-Cheeses. You know the place, where children can be children or something.
At first the boy didn't know what to make of it. The outside was pretty lack luster.. But when a few of the parlor girls pushed open the doors and a third, who had currently been holding the boys hand, escorted him along? It wasn't long before a look of amazement came over his face at all the lights, bells, and whistles going off from the many arcade machines.
"How much do we got?" KC said as the girls all pooled together. Some started tugging bills from their bras, a few from their clutches, Ms. Yakuza Mistress had the largest wad of them all. They each dropped them in front of the employee in charge of tickets and tokens, who was quick to pour a multitude of little gold coins into a rather large bucket.
"See, kid? Hard work pays off." KC said when handing the bucket over for the boy who looked almost too excited to speak any words. "Now go have some fun."
"I want to play too." - "Me too..!" Came from behind. The girls were currently trying to flirt with the employee for free tokens.
Come Monday morning, the Outback has been taken over by a group of Welcome Center volunteers under the direction of The Empress Overlady and Lesser Goddess Koyliak VanDuran-Simon. Making the Outback presentable to anyone other than blood and sweat seeking fighters always proved a commendable challenge but with enough elbow grease and hot coffee the volunteers neutralized any offensive odors and created a safe space for the Mini Mentees.
Steaming trays of scrambled eggs, pancakes, french toast, bacon and hash browns were arranged buffet-style along the Outback’s glistening carved bartop. Volunteers ladled out warm oatmeal with fruit, nut and cinnamon toppings available while a miniature rainbow of available apples, oranges, bananas, grapes and blueberries rounded out the morning’s healthier fare. Pitchers filled with various juices, milk and water had been spread out around the room on the tables covered with Iron Fist-inspired tablecloths meant for eating. Tea, coffee and hot chocolate were made available near the bar.
The Empress Overlady may be seen seen adding a little something extra to her own coffee now and then!
The Kids
The kids available for mentoring range in age from six to sixteen and are of all different species. Several kids were recommended to the program by the city Watch because of prior criminal activity.
There is a short personality and skill test given to all potential mentors to help pair them with an appropriate mentee.
The Activities
The Outback is filled with different “activity stations” for those mentors and mentees who want to spend time together (or for the mentees to spend time with the other kids) and get to know one another.
There are chicken fights being held in the Pool and ice skating on the Ice Rink. Jewell vehemently insisted that the Pit not be open, but the Can is being used for some weird 360-degree game of handball that one of the mentees created.
Access to both Styx and the Bridge has been blocked off for safety reasons, but there are tire swings hanging down from the former. The Fern has not been blocked off, so the kids are free to bounce all over it. There are also watering cans available for the nurturing mentees!
One of the normal rings has been decorated with little flickering lights to create “The Ring of Truth”. The Mini Mentees and volunteers can take turns standing in it and sharing something about him/herself.
Several tables have been given over to art supplies: paint, markers, crayons, pencils, paper, canvas, and glitter. A lot of glitter.
There is a huge rack of clothes so the mentees (and maybe some of the mentors!) can dress up for any of the activities. There are materials for the mentees to be a ranger, a bandit, a Watch Guard, a RASG space pilot, a doctor, a chef, a few leftover pieces from some Empress Overlady costumes (scepter, blue wigs, and high heels), and many other items.
((Please play into this however you would like! Players do not have to write a post of their character attending this event in order to get a mentee.
Many many thanks to Koyliak's player, who wrote most of this description and had so many great ideas on how to make use of the Outback setting.))
Last edited by JewellRavenlock on Mon Nov 07, 2016 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
“Gio, I am the last person that should be actively mentoring or helping an impressionable young kid. You know this as well as I do, so again, why do you think this Mini Mentee Initiative thing is something I need to do?” Rhetorically speaking, she still would bet real silver that he would answer anyways. Giovanni Diamante was a persuasive man after all and the woman sitting across the narrow cafe table from him was always a hard sell. He called her good practice though.
“Exposure. And contrary to popular belief otherwise, you aren’t as terrible as you make yourself out to be.” It was only eleven in the morning which meant that standard alcoholic drinks were frowned upon, so Gio lifted his vodka soaked screwdriver for a long drink instead. November was crisp but autumn was still warm, leaving the pair to brunch on the front patio of an out of the way bistro in the old market.
“Except I am. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I am literally the worst possible influence on a child or young adult or whatever they would be having us mentee.” Claire had foregone alcohol in favor of straight black coffee laced with a single spoonful of sugar to lessen the bite.
“You give yourself far too much credit in the horrible department, Light.” Gio chuckled and set his glass down.
“You know who isn’t terrible? Terry and Hope. They would be great for something like this.” Because when in doubt, throw your teammates under the Gio bus instead.
“That is a terrific idea, actually. All three of you participating in this event would be an especially nice show of team solidarity. Add to the fact that all three of you are Barons and you hold a title in Fists, it’s the perfect storm of qualifications.” Well that definitely had not gone the way Claire had hoped. She stared at him across a spread of toast and fresh fruit, eggs benedict and pancakes, almost as if he had grown a third arm from the back of his head.
“That… is not at all what I meant.” She protested. Gio’s smile grew.
“I know it isn’t but it will be now. See, isn’t negotiation great?”
“You are literally the worst ever.” Claire muttered, stabbing the corner of her toast into the center of an over easy egg. Yellow yolk erupted from the puncture, oozing across the white until it could pool on the plate underneath.
“Which would mean that you are not. Therefore, you acknowledge that I was correct all along.” Smug, Gio lifted his screwdriver again.
“No, I do not acknowledge this because it is two separate categories of terrible. On one hand, you have me in the terrible influence category and on the other hand, we have you, in the terrible boss category.” She explained while she mopped up the yolk with the toast.
“Technically speaking, you’re my boss. But that’s just semantics.” The fae cambion shrugged, smirking behind his glass.
“Technically speaking I am going to put my foot up your ass.” She answered maturely.
“Oooh, kitten has claws. Color me terrified.” He deadpanned, trying not to laugh as her ire rose. After a moment he broke into a light smile and shrugged once more. “Really though, you do wonderfully with the youth at the center and the children at Dragon’s Gate adore you. This is pretty much the epitome of opportunity for one in your position. You have plenty to give with your influence and in turn it brings us good press. So, you can do it or you can do it. Those are your choices.”
“Some choices…” Claire mumbled through a mouthful of toast. After swallowing she sighed. “Fine. I’ll give it a go. Be sure to get Hope and Terry on board for your little solidarity thing and I will show up tomorrow bright and early and full of good influence or whatever.”
“Did you have fun?” Claire nervously asked the preteen standing awkwardly at the edge of the crowd readying to depart the Outback after a day full of food, activities, and dress up.
“It was alright, I guess.” The scrawny girl answered with a shrug. Silveriana was a twelve year old “Rhydinian Special”, or so she called herself. At least half human, she still carried characteristics of her mixed blood in the form of gently pointed ears and grey markings that made beautiful patterns across her tanned skin. The young girl had wide amber eyes that cut with a world weary sharpness behind a slanted fringe of straight tawny hair.
“Oh… well, we were thinking about taking a few of the mentees to this pretty cool obstacle course gym a little ways away. Do you want to go with us?” She asked, unsure of what the girl would say. Claire had tried her best to bond with the child throughout the day, going so far as to step into the Ring of Truth to share that she and her sister had grown up without parents too in hopes that maybe such a fact would make it easier to relate to her for her orphaned mentee. Silveriana, or Silver as she insisted on being called, had squinted pretty intently at Claire after that, as if trying to decide if she was being truthful or not. Eventually it seemed to make her relax a little bit but still, the preteen was quiet at best and standoffish at worst.
“I dunno… that sounds kind of lame…” Silver said reluctantly. Claire’s shoulders dropped slightly and she looked away, searching the crowd for a familiar face that might be able to help her out.
“Yeah, climbing giant rock walls is pretty lame. Zip lines too… those are totally lame…” Claire clucked her tongue and shrugged a bit, tugging her jacket on and zipping it up. “Well, thanks for putting up with me for today, Silver. It was nice to meet you.”
“Wait… I guess ziplines and rock walls aren’t totally lame… Can I still go?” Silver asked softly. Claire tried not to show too much of her relief when she looked back to the girl.
“If you want. Maybe afterwards we can get something to eat, if you’re hungry.” Claire offered, waiting for the departing crowd to thin a little bit more before stepping for the Outback’s double doors.
“Like at a real restaurant?” The girl perked a bit. She had already hit the sort of growth spurt that makes some girls older than most of the boys at that age, something readily evident when she actually stood up straight instead of slouching. Claire couldn’t help but chuckle as she nodded, ushering Silver through the doorway and following after her.
“Yeah, if you want. Ever been to the Sassy Owl Saloon in the marketplace? If we go there, we can have whatever we want.” Claire said in a tone low enough to be considered conspiratorial.
“Whatever we want?” Silver whispered back, her eyes widening further behind her too long bangs.
“Whatever you can think up. It’s like magic.” Claire nodded once and led the girl to where Claire had parked her Jeep.
“Magic is kind of lame…” The girl protested, climbing into the back of the black Jeep and buckling up.
“Not food magic. Food magic is the coolest thing ever, just you wait and see.” She answered as she hauled herself up into the driver’s seat, buckled her seatbelt, and glanced back to make sure Silver had done the same. Taking that opportunity to flash the girl a reassuring grin, with that they were off for the gym and a little bit of that food magic Claire had talked about. It was totally a thing.
Val had heard about the Mini Mentee Initiative in passing and immediately resolved to show up Monday morning bright and early to see what if she could find a likely child, or two, to mentor. It hadn’t taken much to convince Rand that he should join her in such a worthy cause. Stepping into the Outback, she paused for a moment to catch up with Jewell, and discussed a few possible ways in which she could help out with the Foundation - after all, with the wedding only a little over a month away, she’d need something to keep her busy!
Socializing done, for the moment at least, she made her way over to the craft table, some sixth sense directing her to a tiny little waif, pointed ear just barely peeking out through hair the color of marigolds. Foregoing the chairs arranged around the table, Val knelt at the child's side, taking a moment to admire the crude drawing before she offered a gentle “That is rather lovely...do you like flowers?” Bright green eyes blinked up at her, tongue still sticking out from the corner of petal pink lips as the girl nodded emphatically. “They’re my favoritest thing…’cept for my brother.” The voice was sweet and soft, with just a hint of a lisp, and Val felt her heart melt in her chest. “My name is Val...what’s yours?” “Dani…well, Dayneria, but everyone calls me Dani....”
Val let out a musical laugh, resisting the urge to brush a stray lock back from the pixie-ish face. “I understand...my name is Valentina, but it is such a lot to say, most everyone calls me Val.” She gave in, tucking the wayward strand back behind a delicately pointed ear, her movements slow and calm. “Tell me, Dani, what other things do you like to do?” The little elfling thought for a moment, in the serious way that young children have, before offering a hesitant answer. “I like being outside...flowers, and trees...music. Sometimes we listen to the folk playing music on the streets…”
Just then a lanky boy, with the same bright green eyes squinting beneath shaggy chestnut brown hair, set in a face a little harder, a little sharper than the girls, came striding up with what Val was certain was his best effort at a confident stride. Placing a hand on Dani’s shoulder, Val could tell the boy was acting out of concern, and guessed this was the ‘favoritest’ brother even before Dani turned her beaming smile up at him. “Fen! This is Val - she’s really nice and she likes my picture! Val, this is my brother Fen...Fenoran, really, but he doesn’t like it when people call him that…”
Val smiled up at the boy, and dipped her head in greeting. “Well met, Fen...your sister and I were just getting to know each other. I would like to get to know you as well, if that is alright.” Moss met grass, and the boy nodded, looking around the room before returning his gaze to Val. “You’re here for the event, right? To mentor a kid?” She could see the stiffening of his shoulders...expecting to be left behind. After all, she was only one woman, and not exactly dressed for the kinds of mayhem a boy his age might enjoy.
“Not...exactly. You see, Fen, I am actually looking for two children - my fiance and I thought, perhaps, to mentor siblings...We spend a great deal of time outdoors, riding in the woods, or in our garden...and he says I cook too much for just the two of us, especially when he is trying to keep fit for dueling…”
There was a spark of interest when she mentioned the rings, and Val barely managed to hide a smile. It didn’t really surprise her, given the way the boy clearly protected his sister, and the fact that, in the rings, it didn’t seem to matter where you came from, only if you could fight. “Oh, yeah? Who’s he, then?”
With a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, Val rose gracefully from her kneeling position on the floor, and held her hands out to the young fae. “Why don’t you come with me to the house...I think Rand would like you both very much. And we’ll see what fun we can come up with.”
Dani wasted not a moment, off the chair and birdlike hand in Val’s before Fen could recover entirely from the wide-eyed look of recognition, and the barely concealed blaze of excitement. Shrugging, he eschewed the offered hand, and scuffed a toe against the floor. “I guess that’s ok. I mean, Dani wants to go...and I guess it won’t be so bad, for a bit.” He was already heading for the door, though, Val offering a wink to Jewell as she left the building with her young charges.
"Boss, why is there is a kid hiding in the corner and staring at Rath? Don't we usually kick the urchins back into the streets?" Jerry, the bartender and chief bet taker at The Line, asked this as he slid a mug of Badsider onto the bar in front of me. The kid in question was a young man, maybe 12 years old if anyone was still around to actually tell him his birthday. He was slight of frame but on the tall side with unruly blond hair and brown eyes, not that his eyes were visible in the shadow he was currently occupying just outside Rath's field of vision.
"Jewell told me as Diamond I had an obligation to be a mentor this week. There may have been other threats to my well being. Anyway, that's my charge." I spared the kid a look, but not too long. I didn't want Rath catching on he was there and ruin the game.
"Ahh, yeah the mini mentor program. I read they were matching people up this week. I guess I won't kick him out then. How's it going?"
"Pretty well", I answered, "I picked him up from a couple of watch members doing a late drop off. You know how I feel about lines and I figured one's as good as the next, so I grabbed him when they weren't looking and picked the lock on his cuffs once I got him out of there."
"I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work, boss."
"Bah, you get a mentee your way, I'll get one mine. We're supposed to help 'at risk' kids, right? What's more at risk than having been caught." This all made perfect sense to me, though I'd already decided to leave this part out when Jewell asked me how the mentoring went.
Jerry sighed. This is his way of saying ‘wow, boss, great logic. I couldn’t agree more.’ It may not sound that way to the casual observer, but trust me. “Well, you haven’t killed him or ditched him on anyone yet, so I guess the pick couldn’t have been to bad.”
“Yet.” I repeated. “He’s been alright for the most part though after a bit of a rough introduction. I took him shopping down in Badside and got him a decent set of lockpicks and a couple locks to practice on and then we wandered through the market to work on his lifting skills. That’s what got him picked up by the Watch in the first place. Decent natural dexterity on him, but he needed tips on form. I told him he should find a partner too and taught him about how to approach as a team.”
Jerry stared at me for a long moment. “I think you might have missed the point of this event, boss. Shouldn’t you just teach him to fight or something. Give him something else to do to stay out of trouble, stay out of prison?”
“I AM helping him to stay out of prison. I’m teaching him to do it right. You’re awfully judgy for a one time art thief, Jerry.” I grumbled and pushed my empty mug towards him to be refilled. I gave the kid another glance. He was watching Rath like someone might have cased a bank. Capturing every twitch the big half-ogre made, trying to time when he would move from one side of his post to the other. I nodded to myself, pleased with what I saw, even though he was starting to run out of time.
I’d taken a dagger from its boot sheath and grabbed Jerry’s bar rag to wipe down the blade when he returned with my refill. “You never did tell me why the kid is stalking Rath.” mentioned Jerry, he too giving the kid another sidelong glance.
“Call it his final exam. Remember I mentioned he was a little unruly when I first picked him up? It was just a matter of proper motivation. He’s been great ever since. Paid very close attention, tried his best to pick up the tricks I taught him. Gotta say, I’m pretty good at this.”
“Yeah?” said Jerry, though I could hear the scepticism in his voice. “So you stashed something in the big guy’s vest pocket for the kid to nab? Nice. What is it? Gold coin?”
I was finished with his bar rag and tossed it back on the counter, now filthy with a flaky green dust. “The antidote.” I answered.
Last edited by Kalamere on Thu Nov 10, 2016 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Eden’s brows lifted as she looked down at the dark-haired child who sat on a bench with arms-crossed, glaring at her. Then she looked down at herself, head tipping to the side. Her personality test had not been of much help to the people trying to pair her with a suitable child. She listed pineapples under ‘likes/interests,’ and under ‘favorite activities’ she wrote kissing my boyfriend, Cory!.
“How big did you think I’d be?”
“I dunno.”
But since she’d arrived on a skateboard they matched her up with, Hiro, a lanky twelve-year-old who watched her with dark eyes from beneath a mop of black hair while resting his sneakers on a skateboard of his own.
“Like, big enough to beat all those bucks in the DQ, I guess.”
“Oh, yeah! I almost won!” Eden beamed her dimpled smile at Hiro. “That was fun!”
“Yeah, I guess.” Hiro watched her while she bounced on her toes in front of him, then looked away. “Would’ve been sugar if you won though.”
“Maybe next time! I’ll try again.” Eden smiled and shrugged.
The silence stretched between them. But she just stood there watching him, seemingly not at all disturbed by his sulking.
When he looked back, his brows lifted in surprise, as if he thought she’d have left already. “Uhh… so you wanna like… do something?”
“Sure! Have you had breakfast? There’s french toast! That’s bread dipped in egg and then grilled in butter. It’s from the country of French on the planet Earth! I’m from a different planet than that.”
“...yeah, I had pancakes, thanks.”
Eden looked around for something to do. “You want to go in the pool? Ooh! Or we could do that circle of truth thingy!”
“Not really.” Hiro looked away again, watching the other kids and their mentors in the Outback. Then he looked back at her. “How’d you do it?”
“Do what?” Eden tipped her head at him.
“Beat people bigger than you?”
Eden smiled, her eyes lighting up. “Want me to show you?”
"I dunno.. the new school years gonna be startin' soon and I'm still going through all these applications.."
It was for a good cause, sure, but she couldn't really spread herself too thin right now. Sometimes you have to worry about the home front more than everything else, and it was only two weeks ago that she had taken time off to visit Urst with Gabby.
But on the other hand — she had obligations to Team Dirty; though it wasn't as if Claire had been twisting her arm into showing up.
"I'll see what I can do.. if it's jus' breakfast, then maybe I can make it.."
A few hours at the charity event and then heading over to work after lunch to play catch up. It was entirely doable. Stressful, but doable.
"A'ight, I'll call ya in' the mornin' with a sure yes or no.."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. S'like I told Raven, she's in."
That maybe turned into a definite yes around 6:30 AM on November the 4th.
Seeing all the mini mentees run around gave her something to not be tired over. Actually, she was starting to get a touch excited. Sure she spent much of her time with kids due to her work nowadays, but it wasn't like she was observing in the corner, doing paperwork, or trying to get the highschool-level girls to stop cutting class and having them run laps for being rude.
It was nice not being an authority figure. A real change of pace.
Wondering who she'd get matched up with. A few of the younger kids running around brought a smile to her face when she watched wooden swords swung about. Her plan was to teach whoever she got a few moves with the rapier she brought along, so hopefully whoever she got matched up with was a swords fan.
"Terry King!" One of the charity staff said while waving to her. The kid with her.. well, didn't look like much of a kid. He must have been fifteen or sixteen years old and didn't look exactly thrilled when he saw who he woudl be matched with.
"This is Dominic. Dominic, this is Terry." The woman gave a smile with her introduction. "I'll leave you two to get to know each other!" And off she'd go.
"Nice to meet ya'," Terry reached out with a hand for a shake.
"Why couldn't I get someone with bigger tits, like.. ****, maybe Hope? Oh, hey. Is it true you banged Melanie?" He didn't take her hand but instead scrunched his face at some of the food being offered.
You're doing this for charity.. she told herself. Repeatedly.
But why'd she have to get stuck with some horny teenager.
“Nn,” she untangled one arm from around Kal’s neck and tried to wave away whoever had nudged her without pausing her rather amorous display of affection.
The person nudged her again.
Jewell made a noise of protest, pulled away from Kal, and twisted to look down at the intruder: the young man Kal had “selected” to mentor. She didn’t have to look too far; he was tall for his age and The Empress only had high heels on today instead of sky high ones. “What?”
“Where’s mine?”
She blinked. “Where’s your what?”
He raised his chin, eyeing her boldly with those brown eyes. “My kiss. Mentors and mentees, they’re supposed to share.”
She looked back at Kal, incredulous, but the bookie just smirked.
The Empress got an impish gleam in her eye at that. She stepped back from the half-elf and faced the young man with the sweetest, glamour-touched smile on her face. “Well, aren’t you just adorable?” Then she leaned forward to kiss him square on the lips, and immediately jumped upright and back, surprised. “He pinched my butt!” she exclaimed indignantly.
The kid gave her a crooked smile.
She narrowed her eyes at him in return. “I’m on to you, kid. Better watch yourself. I’m ten times more dangerous than he is,” she nodded towards the tall half-elf.
Having procured a promise of dinner and drinks for later, her main reason for stopping by, Jewell headed for the door. She got halfway there before realizing something was wrong. Spinning about, she marched right back to the bar, hand outstretched to the kid. “Crown. Now.”
Mini mentees came in all shapes and sizes. Most of the volunteers were established citizens in Rhy'Din who had accomplished feats or were looked up to in the community. Hajime had a different outlook on what a mentor should be than the rest.
Early morning began with his preparations. Scouring the foliage and flora around his village he made sure to pick all of the necessary berries, fruits and other goodies for his trip into the city. He tied a rucksack from one of his sheets and filled it to load with some more materials and began his hike down Mt. Yasuo.
Noon was the busiest at the Marketplace. Hajime went stall to stall looking for the right things he'd need to make sure he was the best mentor available. Durable paper, some ink and a handful of brushes were all on his list. He wore a smile of relief once he finished and made way for a nice clearing on elevated ground.
Half past two the aromas of crushed greens, beans, assorted vegetables and broth began to brew and waft through the city. He had been scouting out the area in the recent week or two while adventuring and had stumbled upon a disheartening discovery. The young boy could not have been over eight when he bumped into the ronin on his way.
It didn't take long for the orphans in Rhy'Din city to find their way to the melting pot and each try out the mountain recipe. Only when the pot had been cleaned did Hajime begin laying out the paper in rows. Each child was given a brush with ink and were then instructed to listen first, then imitate.
"A community is only as successful as those that it harbors. One can measure from the top where success is defined in riches or land. Or one can measure from the bottom where there are plenty of dreams and hopes. No creature can survive without its young being cared for. We are no exception to that. Yet to right the way you must never forget that you too will one day be where they are and recall where you have been today."
He held up to them the symbol which he had drawn and held it for them to mimic on their papers.
"Together we can accomplish more than any one man can dream. Apart we are nothing."
Lorleen was a nine and a half year old bundle of energy that Gren had been matched with for the Mini Mentee initiative. She was a Halfling, and her slightly pointed ears could be seen beneath the grey cowl of the hood of the Ranger costume that she gleefully put on when she found out she was going out into the forest with a real life unicorn (aka Disgruntled Alfred). She punctuated that glee by pumping her fists in the air and shouting out her three syllable chant.
“I didn’t think we’d get one this loud. Can’t we trade her in for a dwarf or something?” Alfred complained, as usual, as Gren led him into the forest on the outskirts of the City.
“Hey! Be nice to our guest! You promised!” Gren gave Alfred a wag of the finger.
“I’m sort of a dwarf, Mister Unicorn! I’m a Halfling! Look at my feet!” She stuck her bare foot up to Alfred’s nose for emphasis.
“Aggggh! Oh man, how much abuse do I have to take?”
“I want to be a Ranger when I grow up! This is so neat! I bet you know all about different kinds of wood, Mister Gren!” Lorleen seemed nonplussed by Alfred’s rejection.
“Yeah, ask him about “Morning Wood”. He’s an expert on that one.” Alfred replied grumpily.
“What’s “Morning Wood”, Mister Gren?” Lorleen asked with wide eyes.
Gren turned red and gave Alfred a pained look. Then he tried to make the best of the bad situation. “Ahem . . . “Morning Wood” is when you take a nice lady out into the forest during the first rays of sunlight so they can see the beauty and majesty of nature.” Gren nodded emphatically. Situation resolved.
“Aw, come on with that boring crap, Gren” Alfred said.
“Let me tell you something . . . “, Gren began while pointing his finger at Alfred, upset at calling the grandeur of the forest boring. “I’ve shown *plenty* of women my wood. I show women my wood all the time! In fact, I don’t know a woman that *doesn’t* enjoy my wood!”
“Gren, you animal.” Alfred commented with a grin.
“Are we going to get to fight any bad forest monsters?” Lorleen said excitedly.
“Well . . . . “, Gren began, “. . . there were reports of a fierce grizzly bear in the area! We’ll have to be on our guard.”
“Hey wait a minute, we can’t take this little kid out to fight a grizzly bear.” Alfred interjected.
Putting his hand up to his mouth and attempting a stage whisper, Gren said to Alfred, “It’s just “Ralph”, don’t spoil the excitement!”
“Oh, you mean the “teddy bear”. Well that’s different.”
“I wanna see the “Teddy Bear”!” Lorleen shouted with her little fists thrust into the air again.
Gren slumped his shoulders briefly as his little scheme failed. “Let’s be on the lookout just in case . . . “
Just then, out of the brush, “Ralph” the grizzly bear burst onto the forest path in a flurry of branches and leaves. He ran up to Gren yelling and flailing his paws around.
“Stand back! I will handle this!” Gren made theatrical gestures with his hands, then pretended to struggle with “Ralph”. Unfortunately for Gren, something seemed amiss.
“What are you doing? You were supposed to . . . . What is that smell?” Gren cried.
“RAWRRAWRRAWRRAWR”
“The mulled cider was . . . . Fermented?? You mean you’re drunk? Hold on! No, wait! Calm down!” Gren got “Ralph” into a front face lock and tried to wrestle him to the ground.
“I wanna hug the “teddy bear” too!” Lorleen cried, oblivious to Gren’s plight.
“RAWRAWRRAWRRAWR”
“What do you mean “You don’t know how to be a happy grizzly bear anymore?” Hey! No biting! Alfred!” Gren screamed, still frantically grappling with the drunk bear. “He’s plastered on fermented cider! Get the tranquilizer gun, quick!”
“Does it look like I sprouted opposable thumbs in the last five minutes? Oh wait, hey squirt, grab that gun in my saddlebag.” Alfred said to Lorleen.
“Muh-muh-me?”
“Yeah, it’s just like at the arcade. Just aim at the “teddy bear’s” @$$. It’s his Achilles’ Heel.”
“Okay, Mister Unicorn!” Lorleen happily pulled the tranquilizer gun from the saddlebag.
“Hurry up . . . ACK!” Gren was trying to get “Ralph” into a Kimura lock, but the burly bear had flipped Gren over his head, causing him to land flat on his back. Luckily for Lorleen, that left “Ralph”’s butt in the air. She stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, as she aimed and fired. The dart hit “Ralph” square in the keister. “Ralph” pulled a Willem Dafoe from Platoon, meaning he slowly sank to his knees with his paws in the air, then dramatically pitched forward onto his face.
“YAY! I’m a Ranger! I’m a Ranger!” Lorleen raised her fists joyfully.
The switchblades opening was unmistakable behind Kruger. It wasn’t the first time a blade had been pulled on him from behind or otherwise. It might not be the first time it was done by someone that was supposed to be part of his group.
“Jim Lake, model S 23, special edition.”
Silence greeted the smith at first, then a defeated sigh. “Yeah, how did you know?”
Kruger turned to face Damien Richard’s sixteen year old, bad boy, self. “I’ll tell you, but you’ve got to decide what it is you want from me. I can tell you how I know, or you can try to use it on me and we see how long you get to keep it for. I’m good either way.”
If it bothered the smith that Damien was already taller than he was it didn’t show. It likely never would, he had to look up at most people anyway.
“You really think you could? Take it from me I mean?” Damien was standing defiantly as he looked at The Anvil. There was probably a reason they’d paired the kid with Kruger, but it seemed like Damien just couldn’t see it.
Kruger turned and kept walking, saying nothing. He didn’t need to see the kid glare at him to know it was happening. Still he put the knife away. “You didn’t answer me.” It was said as Damien caught up to The Anvil.
“No.” The brick face of a building rose up next to them on the sidewalk, then faded long before Kruger had more to say. Damien had stopped looking for an answer by then and kept his eyes straight ahead. “If you’d been serious, you’d have simply moved, not stood there talking about it. If you’d been too afraid to do it with me facing you. You’d have jumped when I turned around. If you were truly curious, you’d put the knife away and try to catch up.” He didn’t look at Damien as he spoke, just shrugged a bit. “I’m glad you picked the last one.”
“So how’d you know?” Damien was still curious it seemed.
“Ever notice that slight catch to the switch? It’s kind of a flaw to the model and barely audible over the activation. It’s there though. I could fix it if you want.” Kruger still hadn’t looked at Damien, but peripherally he could see the boy looking at him. He fumbled in the pocket of his leather jacket, and Kruger assumed he was trying to feel for that flaw he’d spoken of.
“So… where we goin’?” Damien’s head turned away, looking across the street as though he could see their destination in the buildings picture windows.
“Seems like a long path to nowhere doesn’t it. We stay on this road, it goes straight there. Nowhere special. Where do you want to go Damien? Surely not to nowhere.” His direction was truly aimless, they’d given him trouble likely because they felt he was in a position to deal with it. Maybe he was, even if at this point he’d have preferred to break Damien Richards in half.
“I’d like to know how to do that thing you did.”
It might be the first honest thing the kid had said to him. Kruger cut a hard left at the next corner, then wove a path that led through the marketplace. The smell of brimstone gave much away. Ahead the door to the smithy was closed, but inside were the bell tones of hammer striking anvil. He pushed his way inside, causing the smith at work to look up at him. At first the man’s blue eyes were perplexed, his brows dropped almost angrily. Then he dropped out of sight only to appear next to them. Head at hip level he put his fists on his hips.
“Told you never ta come back here, Allen.”
“I ain’t here, the kid is. Says he wants to know how to tell the good from the bad. I don’t like you Stoney, but I respect your work. Kid’s carrying a Lake… Needs your help… If he ain’t here every day early enough to get the fires goin’. I’ll close for a month.” The dwarf’s eyes flickered, it was subtle and it was all the surprise he’d show to Kruger.
“Why not take em yourself?” Impertinent questions Kruger took a deep breath and held it.
“I don’t take apprentices. You already know that. He’ll be here tomorrow, we have a few things left to finish today.” Kruger eyed Damien sternly. It was a look that said if you’re not I’ll have a month to track you down.
Captain Morris, who took his position at the Battlefield Park post very seriously had sent a messenger to request that Sabine meet him at the Armory to discuss a situation that had arisen.
It was late in the evening by the time Sabine arrived, not fearing the 35 men who stood guard nor the other ghosts that the park tended to attract. By gaining the trust and respect of Captain Morris and his men, Sabine had both their loyalty and protection.
“Captain Morris?” Sabine called out into the night as she approached the seemingly abandoned armory.
“Baroness,” The Captain said as he came around from the backside of the armory after doing a patrol. He politely bowed his head to Sabine and then approached. 

“Thank you for coming to meet with me. We have a situation on our hands and we are not quite certain of how to proceed. I thought perhaps this particular situation may call for the help of lady such as yourself.”
“Oh-k,” Sabine said with a hint of confusion. She wasn’t sure what situation at the armory could possibly need her involvement.
“One of our men, John Fitzpatrick had a daughter. She was seven years old and it seems she has crossed over.” He paused to make sure Sabine was following along and she nodded her understanding.
“She has come to find her Father in the afterlife and after years of searching has arrived and so she is here with us men at the armory. The child as you can understand is in need of a female figure in her life, also she has expressed a desire to learn the arts of sword fighting and hand to hand combat.”
“Ng-h.” Sabine was cringing already. Children. She wasn’t really a child person let alone some role model or figure for one to look up to.
“Captain Morris, men can do an excellent job at raising a child. Science proves that-“
“Baroness,” he politely inserted himself back into the conversation to cut off her coming protest. “if I may.” He bowed his head again. “We men are not equipped to deal with a small child, let alone a female. Of course her Father is happy to have her with us, but we feel the presence of a Lady might help her adjust to life here at the Armory.”
“Captain Morris, with all due respect, she, well she’s a ghost. How much trouble can a ghost be? I mean, technically she doesn’t need to eat, sleep, you know, do other things a living child would. Right? Besides, you and your men are trained in several forms of combat. You’re certain there is no one here she would rather learn from?”
The Captain smiled down at Sabine. “I heard you and your gentleman friend talking the other night on your walk. Forgive me, Baroness, I wasn’t trying to pry but I did hear. I know you are nervous in regards to children, but I heard how your gentleman friend praised you for interacting with his younger siblings and nieces and nephew on your recent trip. That is when this idea came to mind. I registered the child in a program that I saw the Outback was holding because of that conversation I overheard. Maybe you do not feel that you want children of your own, but you are good with them. That fact seems undeniable. I cannot think of anyone else more qualified when it comes to combat who could teach her.”
Sabine pretended to be shocked that she and Josiah’s conversation had been heard but she couldn’t maintain her scowl with Captain Morris trying so hard to praise her.
“Any of the men here are more qualified.” This was muttered as she mulled over the idea.
“Yes but you are small and spirited, as is she. I think you two would make a fine pair, student and teacher. Will you consider it? ”
“Well, I could use the practice for hand to hand combat.” She clicked her tongue and rocked her head side to side as she thought it over.
“What’s her name?” She sighed out the question which really sounded like more of a confirmation that she would mentor the child.
Captain Morris smiled and waved a hand, urging Sabine to come along.
“Emmaline.” He called out. “Come out and meet your combat mentor.”
A small ghost with black ringlets and a faded dress that nearly swallowed her up with lace came bouncing out of the armory and ran up to Sabine and quickly kicked out a foot at her shin. Sabine flinched in reaction and dodged away from her. Looking to Captain Morris, Sabine grimaced and then raised an eyebrow as if to ask, “really?”
The Captain smiled and lifted his hands. “Spirited.” And he turned to go back into the armory, leaving little Emmaline scowling up at Sabine.
(Note: I know I am cutting it to the wire with this. I'm not worried about the loss forgiveness, I just wanted to write something because it's a very cute idea. Also, I changed things up a little bit because lets face it, Sabine would never have gone to the Outback to sign up for this. Thank you for the inspiration Jewell!)
“We spoke eternal things that cannot die.” -Charles Baudelaire, from The Balcony; Fleurs du Mal (tr. by Roy Campbell), 1857
