Participants:
| Scene Title | A Brief Clash - Respect between Warriors ensues? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Bran medidates in front of a war memorial statue, surrounded by a crowd due to his knightly appearance. Nomiki decides to make sure there is no disturbance. Melanope confuses Bran by both trying to help and insulting him. A brief fight between the two men ensues. |
Battery Park - Lower Manhattan - New York City
Ringed by statues and monuments, this park is named after the cannon that were once stationed here. A swath of green on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, it is an escape from the bustle of the city. Battery Park is as far south as you can go in Manhattan. It offers an expanse of green from which to view the harbor and the Statue of Liberty. The 23-acre park is where the colony of new Amsterdam first began more than three centuries ago. The skyline of southern Manhattan and Wall Street is clearly visible from the park, the huge buildings dominating the view to the north and east. The trees do often hide the view, however, growing thickly around many sections of the park. Looking the other way is the harbor and Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty stands out to sea. During the day, flocks of tourists can be seen, putting money into telescopes to see the famous statue. Many choose to venture down to the Port and onto the ferry-boats which shuttle vistors back and forth to Ellis and Liberty Islands. Off to the north, at the edge of the Park, a huge building stands serving no purpose other than pumping air into the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel.
Battery Park sees a rather strange sight today. Tourists are gathered around one spot, whispering in a hush if they were trying to be polite or, more often, chattering and questioning amongst each other loudly while taking photographs. In the center of the crowd which circles around him kneels a man. Not just any man, though. Perhaps he was a street performer, or some sort of madman. Perhaps he was one of those gods talked about on TV, or a copycat of some sort.
If he was, though, he was pretty damn good. A tall man with a powerful, well-defined frame kneels in front of one of the East Coast Memorial, a large bird of prey serving as a remembrance monument to World War II. He wears strange armor of a colour as dark as his raven-black hair which contrasts starkly with his pale skin. On his back rests a large swords in its scabbard. There is a certain somberness to the image of the man kneeling there. A certain quality of quiet dignity and worship that makes even the tourists keep a modicum of distance.
"Mommy, mommy, is that man a knight? He looks scary."
"… I don't know, dear."
Call it paranoia if you like, but the fact remains, even if he was just out and about, Nomiki saw no reason to risk being caught without his equipment, which is why he carries it practically everywhere, in a rather large duffel bag on his back. It wasn't like this was terrible taxing in itself, after all, and, when ten minutes ago he had caught sight of the gathering, and a glimpse of the rather… menacing figure in the middle of it, he had slipped off behind one of the more private memorials to strap on his armor. After all. That guy had a /sword/. That's not something he was crazy enough to address without having some kind of protection.
And now, Nomiki has walked over to the crowd, and is shouldering his way through. He's clearly wearing a uniform of -some- sort, even if it doesn't look terribly NYPD or even Park Authority-related. When he gets to the front of the crowd, he clears his throat, looking fairly meaningfully at the crouched figure.
"Alright, alright, that's enough." He states in his best 'calmly approaching the situation' voice. "Lets move along, folks, there's nothing to see here. You too, buddy. Lets get going. You are making people nervous."
If this -is- a street performer, weeeell. He was going to have to take a closer look at those swords. Surely that couldn't be legal.
At first, the Tuatha de Danaan's Black Knight did not react. His mind and spirit were concentrated upon the remembrance monument. It was strange, but thinking about what it stood for and the feelings so many people had poured into it set his mind at peace. He had come to the Park assuming that perhaps at some point in the past a real battle had been fought here, but the large statue was almost as effective in calming him. He was, after all, the son of the Phantom Queen.
After a moment, though, he raised his head, dark eyes gazing up towards the- what? Police man? Anti-riot officer? SWAT operative? It was hard to tell, and his garb was all white to boot rather than some regular uniform. Rather strange. Bran considered this for a moment as he calmly sized Nomiki up. Then, he finally spoke. "I do not wish to cause a disturbance," he offered. However, despite his words, he didn't do as the other strange person here had bid him.
"Good, then we don't need to have a problem."
The words are calmly spoken, but the subtext is clear. Truth be told, Nomiki had little desire to start a fight with so many people around. Let alone when the person /probably/ wasn't actually up to anything that bad. In his experience, the sort of evil that he had run up against wasn't much for subtly. Far more likely to just try and out-and-out run him through the moment he asked him to move on.
"Look. If you don't want to disturb people, you have a funny way of going out of it." He offers his hand, to help the strangely-clad man up from the ground. "Now come on. I don't want to have to toss you out of here myself, but I will if I have to."
And there's Melanope. A soft chuckle escapes from her lips as she giggles and heads on over while looking back towards the familiar Irishman. Her brows raise as she spies a new figure and smiles warmly, bowing her head a little. For now, she just watches..
Of course, there's a little bit of surprise at the Black Knight. She blinks blankly for a few moments and just stares..hey..this should be interesting..
"Mommy, is the white man going to beat the black man up?" "Hush, dear. Come along."
Of course, Nomiki wasn't exactly inconspicuous himself. White riot gear wasn't exactly an everyday sight and some people were staring at him, too, instead of moving along. Probably hoping they'd get into a fight. Damn gapers.
For his part, Bran reached out for the base of the monument for a moment with his fingers, closing his eyes and whispering a prayer to the dead in a language in very much the same state as its intended recipients.
Then, he got up, his metal armor clinking from the movement and turned to face the Greek man. Once more the Alaskan scion paused to study the other. He was tall and well-built, likely with more developed muscles than he under his armor. A fighter, obviously. Still, he seemed to just want to keep the peace up here … perhaps it would be prudent to find out a little bit about this man before he continued. After all, one could always use strong allies — or at least a worthy challenge in combat.
His eyes unfocused for a moment as he gazed further than just the mortal shell of the man, towards the strings of fate that bound him, onto his Enech.
There's a moment of tension as the man stands. This moment drags into an eternity at the look. Call him crazy, but Nomiki… doesn't /like/ that look. Never mind the amount of people resolutely not moving on despite his attempt to get them to do so. He straightens himself up, meeting the gaze levelly. The strange muttering. The dark eyes. It looked… bad.
"Alright buddy, that's enough muttering." He states, firmly. Reaching out, he intends to clamp his hand down on Bran's shoulder, and begin to tug him along. He's had quite enough of this. Time to get this asshole on his way before it started raining demon squid and hellfire, or whatever crazy mojo he was trying to work up!
There's a bit of recognition and she looks at the two with raised brows. Melanope just remains passive for now, merely watching. Is that Bran's lover? who knows? She did get rejected by the well built and muscled Dark Knight afterall, and she just continues to stare, listening for a few moments before Bran is suddenly tugged.
"I..don't think that's necessary. Sure..he's a little weird, but that's my fault..my.." and she looks towards the Irishman as if to get him to play along. "My boyfriend..kind of weird..cosplay.." she says with an impish and nervous chuckle under her breath.
Bran smirked, suddenly. "You are a vengeful one," he pointed out mysteriously as Nomiki put a hand on his shoulder. He reached up with his own hand to brush the other's off rather nonchalantly. Just as the black knight was about to say something else, intent on trying to defuse the situation, Melanope suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Well, out of where Bran hadn't seen her before, anyway.
He just stared at her for a moment, not exactly sure to react to both her presence and her sudden claims. He certainly did catch her intent, though the term 'cosplay' wasn't one known to him. Nor was he one to make excuses, sadly. "You … from the beach," he noted in recognition. "I appreciate your intent, but I am not in," he hesitated, obviously unsure of the word, "'cosplay'."
The large greek man looks between Bran and Melanope carefully for a few moments. Noting the… ease with which he had been brushed aside. Hrm. Definitely no… normal man, then.
Folding his arms across his chest, he certainly doesn't look… impressed. But nor is he all that certain of himself. The pair had apparently met before, which meant he would be outnumbered. And despite the rather… gruff and menacing aura that the black knight was giving off, he hadn't really made anything in the way of a definite offensive motion yet.
He was just damn freaky.
"I think you two had better start explaining yourselves." He says, solemnly, looking between them. "I don't know what is going on here, but that." And he points to the sword Bran was carrying around so casually, "Is definitely -not- acceptable in a public park. Even if you are some sort of whacked out 'cosplayer'. Or an item." He narrows his eyes. "If you are doing this on some kind of stupid bet…"
He doesnt want her help? Melanope just shrugs her shoulders and lets out a soft chuckle of amusement as she grins wryly and looks towards the big burly cop. She chuckles once more, clearly amused at the whole thing.
"I just thought I'd help him out. Feel free to arrest him..I did nothing wrong.." she says softly before she rolls her eyes at the gay Irishman as she looks towards him. "I understand I'm not your type..obviously he is..take care handsome.." she chirps merrily before she starts to walk off.
"I …" Bran stared at, or rather after, Melanope for a moment in confusion. Did she just say what he thought she did? He had never been able to understand women all that well, but this one was especially weird. First she wanted to help him, then she insulted him? Strange ways indeed. He considered going after her for a moment.
Before that, though, he glanced towards Nomiki again and narrowed his eyes. "You hold no authority over me," he paused for a moment and recalled the strength with which Nomiki had grabbed onto his armoured shoulder, then continued, "brother."
Then he, too, attempted to walk away in the direction Melanope had been heading for.
"-STOP-."
It's a loud shout. Finally. Nomiki's rather… short amount of patience gives out. "Both of you. I'm getting some answers, here."
There's no way he's brooking any challenge, here. Bran might think they were brothers, but all Nomiki was seeing was someone walking around with a damn big sword, out to cause trouble and not taking no for an answer. Taking the truncheon off his belt, and following after Bran. Sure. He was probably picking a fight, now, but he couldn't just let them walk away, could he?
Picking a fight indeed. Bran's hand was on his sword rather quickly and not only did he turn around but he also slit his weapon out of its scabbard in one smooth motion. Now that it was free, it was quite the sight to behold. It radiated ancient power and a feeling that was almost … sacred. Runes were edged along the blade, the ancient language of the Tuatha de Danaan, though this was likely not known to the Son of Zeus standing before Bran.
"I have told you," he said, "I do not wish to cause a disturbance. If you think you can order me around you'll find me more than you can handle, godling." Well, that remark was pretty obvious. "I'll afford you this much, however; I am Bran Morrigna of the Tuatha de Danaan and you'll have to face Caliburn if you don't change your tone."
Nomiki is, for a moment, hesitant. After all. He wasn't entirely certain this is … the best course of action. But, after the initial moment of hesitation, he simply draws his truncheon arm back, and lashes forward, the truncheon packs quite a punch behind it, moving in a blur of motion in an overarm swing against the Black Knight- fully intending to hammer down on Bran's head—
The Scion of the Tuatha de Danaan had been expecting an attack. Surely the desire for vengeance he had seen within the nature of this man had made him quite an angry individual. He narrowed his eyes once more as he quickly responded with a strike of his own, aiming not for his opponent but rather his weapon. A deft, precise swing of his enchanted blade to deflect the truncheon. Already he was ready to attack back in kind, but in this precise moment he noticed that one of the spectators had not yet fled and he was standing just a little behind Nomiki. Not too close, but close enough for a powerful strike to cause him damage through his close proximity. Thus, Bran chose to instead adopt a defensive stance, reaching for the black shield that had been losely tied to his hip with his free arm and raising it high.
He leveled a glare at the remaining tourist, to scare him away. With success. Yay.
Naturally, Nomiki is not going to back off quite that easily. Swinging his weapon around in a second blur of motion, the sheer speed with which the heavy steel truncheon is wielded is breathtaking in itself, and this time, it finds its way past Bran's guard… only to bounce easily off the impressive armor that the Black Knight sports. "Hmph… it seems you aren't just talk. Still. I should warn you, I haven't even begun to fight. I'll give you one last chance- yield!" The riot officer was, admittedly, impressed. But he's not… -that- impressed.
"Neither have I, hothead," responded Bran coldly as he suddenly brought his sword forward in a fast swing. He wanted to surprise his opponent with a quick stab — so far Nomiki had been unable to hurt him, though he was a rather fast and strong opponent the ichor flowing through Bran's body made him thougher than any mortal and a weapon without blade did precious little against him.
"I relish a challenge," he commented as he stabbed forward, perhaps a little too confident in his first proper attack.
Nomiki's shield arm seems to move of its own accord, the slash glancing off the toughened artifact in a shower of sparks. Nomiki grits his teeth, in the very same instant, his nightstick had struck hard against the breastplate of his enemy, but, again, Bran's armor held firm against the impact. The son of Zeus straightens himself, and simply… steps backwards, not quite allowing his guard to drop, but making no further effort against him. Three times he'd tried to bludgeon the man, and twice he'd successfully hit with all the force he could muster, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on him!
"Obviously you have the skill to back up your attitude." He states, coldly. A grudging respect, perhaps.
"Indeed," Bran stated with cold determination. His first attack had proven a failure and for all the good Nomiki's attacks had done him, neither had Caliburn tasted his opponent's blood. "You are a powerful warrior, but I do not intend to let you go so easily after you struck me twice. I owe you one more attack."
After actually declaring his intent, he adjusted his posture into a low crouch, taking first one slow step, then two fast ones as he suddenly charged forward! His path was clear, a straight attack from a dash head on towards his opponent.
Nay! A feint! Bran suddenly moves to the side with superhuman dexterity in his step, rather delivering a sharp slice from the left!
Nomiki stands strong, the attack ploughs into his side, and it takes every ounce of his divine heritage to shrug off the blow. Very different to the ease with which Bran had been negating his attacks, nevertheless, the attack glances clean off his side, not quite piercing his armor. Through it all, Nomiki had stood firm, his shield covering him, but not quite able to deftly slide past the attack, he takes it full, and then he allows his shield to return to his back.
"You strike me as a man of his word." Nomiki states, offering his hand to the man. "But. It would be a waste of time to continue our fight. We should meet somewhere else, where we can settle our dispute as men, privately. A test of skill, perhaps."
After the blow struck at full force, Bran lowered his head for a moment, then looked up at Nomiki with a somber expression. He stood up to his full height, returning Caliburn to its scabbard as he met the other man's gaze. "Perhaps," he repeated. "As you see now, I have no ill intentions. When next we meet it'll be on different terms." After all, in battle, one could learn more about an opponent than in hours of discussion and he was certain that the Greek would not attempt to attack him now and dishonour himself through deception. Surely Nomiki had come to a similar conclusion.
After a moment, the Black Knight turned and started to walk away from the monument. He would look for the girl from before, but he was fairly certain that she had fled by now. And it was wise to not stick around too long now, lest the proper police come upon the scene and a true disturbance was caused. Thus, he headed towards the place where he had parked his car hours before. The quick exchange of blows had revigorated him and he felt like continuing with his apartment hunt. Minus the armor and Caliburn, of course.
