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A breath // open // of fresh air - jacob w.c. - 04-04-2018
JACOB W. corleone
✯ — he'll be the best of us
space
Jacob could remember how it'd happened. The cards on the street. The allowance he was given but was told to never bother with such games, they were a scam and a disgrace. Still, the little boy was intrigued by the bright colors and trying to see where the lady would land. She was never where you expected and always where they didn't look. He didn't spent any money but he watched. Then one day he found it. He was so excited, he'd gone and told his Babbo but he didn't believe him. Jacob begged him to let him spend the money and he said if he wanted to throw his week's allowance into the sewer then he had a right to do it. Jacob swore he'd come back with double of what he'd left with.
He went out to the table and approached for the first time. He'd given his usual awkward smile. None of it was an act or a trick. Jacob genuinely felt uncomfortable and nervous. He wasn't much of a liar or an actor but he didn't need to be, not for this. He remembered watching the cards move back and forth, as they always did in the same old patterns. Then moments before it'd stop, he fell forward and slammed one of his paws on the table. No one ever paid any attention to where his other paw went. When told to select a card, the man began to flip it over with a smug grin but the lady waited on the other side and Jacob was given double of what he'd bet. Some called it cheating but he called it fixing broken rules. The man moving the cards was unfair so Jacob leveled the situation.
When he brought the money back to his Babbo, the man had been both surprised and confused. From that day on, he took Jacob into his meetings and suddenly all became clear to him. Patterns. Every single movement, whether intentional or not, had a destination and it could be predicted through a series of questions and probabilities. It wasn't a certainty but he could guess what was most and least likely and act accordingly. It was more than just cards, too. What started as a game pulled the boy into a string of activities he wouldn't partake in now that he knew the true nature of them but at the time he'd only seen it as helping the family business. When he started hanging around Jersey and the older boy found out about his talents, they used more than a few tricks to get some extra cash. Jacob wasn't proud of it and he wished he hadn't been so malleable when he was young but he couldn't change it. All he could do now was use the skills he'd picked up.
That was what he was doing. He wandered the territory every single day. Everyone had to see them and one purpose was clear enough, that being to stretch his damaged leg but there was another reason no one thought of because they didn't need to. When he was out, he saw the way prey scurried about. Jacob wasn't stupid, he knew he wasn't fast enough to catch up to any of it, not with his leg. No, instead he'd set up traps. He'd never built any before but after his failed hunting excursion days ago he hoped this'd be more successful. First, though, he needed the pattern and he needed to know where to put them. So, he'd taken some paper and drawn out a map. It was a simple, rough sketch of a border and a few different landmarks. It was nothing particularly prominent but there were certain things like large rocks or a collection of dead plant-life that caught his attention while on a walk.
All of it was laid out before him and there were dotted lines trailing all over the paper, seemingly in a random fashion. He'd seen the usual routes prey took, he'd let his eyes wander to every single crevice he could find and this was all he'd collected. The boy chewed on his cheek in thought while making markings every once in awhile. He'd been working on his little project for the better part of the day but he was sure he was getting close now. He'd gathered about three weeks of data at this point so he thought it was enough to start trying to place and create traps. Thankfully, this was just identifying the pattern and he wouldn't have to distract anyone or switch anything. In a place like Snowbound, prey was more important than any kind of currency and he intended to make sure no one starved during their first few months here. The clan was new and they needed systems that worked. He was convinced this could be one of them.
He went out to the table and approached for the first time. He'd given his usual awkward smile. None of it was an act or a trick. Jacob genuinely felt uncomfortable and nervous. He wasn't much of a liar or an actor but he didn't need to be, not for this. He remembered watching the cards move back and forth, as they always did in the same old patterns. Then moments before it'd stop, he fell forward and slammed one of his paws on the table. No one ever paid any attention to where his other paw went. When told to select a card, the man began to flip it over with a smug grin but the lady waited on the other side and Jacob was given double of what he'd bet. Some called it cheating but he called it fixing broken rules. The man moving the cards was unfair so Jacob leveled the situation.
When he brought the money back to his Babbo, the man had been both surprised and confused. From that day on, he took Jacob into his meetings and suddenly all became clear to him. Patterns. Every single movement, whether intentional or not, had a destination and it could be predicted through a series of questions and probabilities. It wasn't a certainty but he could guess what was most and least likely and act accordingly. It was more than just cards, too. What started as a game pulled the boy into a string of activities he wouldn't partake in now that he knew the true nature of them but at the time he'd only seen it as helping the family business. When he started hanging around Jersey and the older boy found out about his talents, they used more than a few tricks to get some extra cash. Jacob wasn't proud of it and he wished he hadn't been so malleable when he was young but he couldn't change it. All he could do now was use the skills he'd picked up.
That was what he was doing. He wandered the territory every single day. Everyone had to see them and one purpose was clear enough, that being to stretch his damaged leg but there was another reason no one thought of because they didn't need to. When he was out, he saw the way prey scurried about. Jacob wasn't stupid, he knew he wasn't fast enough to catch up to any of it, not with his leg. No, instead he'd set up traps. He'd never built any before but after his failed hunting excursion days ago he hoped this'd be more successful. First, though, he needed the pattern and he needed to know where to put them. So, he'd taken some paper and drawn out a map. It was a simple, rough sketch of a border and a few different landmarks. It was nothing particularly prominent but there were certain things like large rocks or a collection of dead plant-life that caught his attention while on a walk.
All of it was laid out before him and there were dotted lines trailing all over the paper, seemingly in a random fashion. He'd seen the usual routes prey took, he'd let his eyes wander to every single crevice he could find and this was all he'd collected. The boy chewed on his cheek in thought while making markings every once in awhile. He'd been working on his little project for the better part of the day but he was sure he was getting close now. He'd gathered about three weeks of data at this point so he thought it was enough to start trying to place and create traps. Thankfully, this was just identifying the pattern and he wouldn't have to distract anyone or switch anything. In a place like Snowbound, prey was more important than any kind of currency and he intended to make sure no one starved during their first few months here. The clan was new and they needed systems that worked. He was convinced this could be one of them.
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Re: A breath // open // of fresh air - | KILLUA ZOLDYCK | - 04-04-2018
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[shadow=darkblue,right]KILLUA[/shadow]
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Strategy and smarts. One of the easiest ways to get the better of opponents no matter if they were stronger than whoever was fighting them. Being able to play off of someone's weakness as a true challenge, and something that rarely happened when it came to the likes of a clan. Killua had been raised so that he would be able to see other creatures weaknesses given himself a little bit of time to analyze his opponent. The way that their muscles moved. The outlook that they had on life. Their personality. The common way that they attacked others and a way to counter those movements. Any type of speed usually helped in that regard because of the fact that most animals had difficulty dealing with anything that was fast. With enough speed, no matter what the size, a lethal blow can easily be done. Such as anything going at high enough speeds can pierce through metal or even concrete. It wasn't hard for the likes of Killua to accomplish thanks to his species but there were other issues that were at hand at the moment. When he was younger though he had been through different kind of strategic simulations on he was forced to figure a way out of the situation that he was in. Which ultimately led him to be chained to the ceiling constantly, while he was being tortured. He had been forced to think through the pain that coursed through his body when his brother used a kknife against him. He had been forced to not cry out even if he sustained an injury, especially if he was out during a job. The assassin was able to get through the clouding of his head and through the pain. While someone could be in the middle of an attack, it was rare for them to change direction unless they had incredibly fast reflexes. Following patterns had also been a stern lesson. Luckily for him most of the time it wasn't him in a life or death situation. He had simply been ordered to follow these group of animals that lived in the area to be able to identify their patterns and take them out accordingly. The guards had the same sort of pattern that they would patrol through, and they would swap themselves out based on the time of day. This meant that there were small openings to be had while the guards were busy talking to one another. Killua usually took that chance to take out two at once, while hiding the bodies obviously. Because once a guard saw that there was a post empty, no matter how dumb they could possibly be, they would figure out that there was something seriously wrong and that there as probably a threat nearby. Obviously. The assassin would then have a short amount of time to find his main target, but had memorized the patterns of the guards he was up against, he knew exactly when his target would be alone even for a couple of seconds. If he really wanted to, he could have killed every single guard, but then the guards closing to his target would gain suspicion when they weren't given updates on the specific times that they had going for them. So, he might as well leave fewer animals killed while he worked away at the target. As one grew older and were given time, they were more than capable of identifying said patterns. Killua did it even to this day even if he wasn't considered to be an assassin anymore. The albino serval was able to find the patterns in the way that a clanner would walk. Making it easier to identify those from a distance if he had to thanks to his amazing hearing. On top of that, if he listened close enough he would be able to identify the patterns of someone that was breathing and go off on their emotions how they held their breath or quickened it.
It wasn't exactly rocket science, but he had been taught everything that he knew. He didn't have the innate talent that Jacob had when he was younger just to be able to identify the patterns by himself. Did that make Jacob better than him when it came to the patterns? Maybe. Killua didn't have to worry about the pattern of prey though, as he could always conjure up any sort of food that he wanted. Not like he really ate that healthy when it came to prey animals anyway, but at least it was something. He knew that he probably wasn't taking great care of himself, but part of him didn't really care as long he was in good enough condition to be able to defend himself and attack others. Ever since Guru had attacked London though, and since his return to the Typhoon, he knew that he was didn't. He was constantly on edge as if waiting for something to come out of the darkness and devour him for one final time. His claws twitched every time that he saw a living being, and the nightmares were back. It was all because of his brother, and he had no way to stop the others control on him, at least he didn't know that the other had control over him either. Killua remembered when he had caused the Typhoon member to cry out in pain, and he ENJOYED it. A feeling that he had repressed a very long time ago, and yet he felt glad to finally inflict pain on someone else that actually deserved it. After the months of not attacking anything and almost growing rusty in his skills. The assassin also had the factor that something had happened to him. He didn't know what, he didn't have the memories. Which was the issue. Somehow, he was missing memories, which caused him to be paranoid. When could that have even happened? How many memories did he end up losing? He didn't have any answers because there was no one around that he could ask about his memories. He was on his own. Part of him felt like he had always been on his own. Exploring the territory was all the serval could do right now. His emotions were running wild in his head, and yet he looked as calm as ever on the outside. He needed to keep his mind from the voice that now spoke in his head. The voice no longer being the whisper it had been for the past month. The assassin flexed his claws on the tree branch that he was on, his tail lashing behind him as he bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood. It didn't cause him any sort of pain thanks to the large amount of scar tissue in his mouth, but he still felt it. It was while he was standing on the branch that he had been on he caught a familiar scent nearby. Jacob. The guy seemed to be nice and concerned about those around him. He was probably the only one in the group that he got along with. Except for London but she got along with everyone. Should he approach the other? He wasn't quite sure about what he was going to do next. Illumi's voice didn't ring out in his head so that meant that he wouldn't have any issues when he interacted with the other. He just needed to do something. Putting himself into action, the wildcat leaped from branch to branch silently, and it didn't take him long to notice the hybrid a bit of a distance away.
Killua had approached the canine in the trees behind him, so the other probably wouldn't see him coming or expect him to be there. Landing on a branch that was directly above Jacob, the assassin laid himself down on the branch, his pelt blending in perfectly to the snow that was indeed on the branch. He flicked one of his large white ears as he was able to look over the other's shoulder a little bit and look at the paper that he had. It was a map. And there were lines in all sort of directions. He recognized some of the patterns even if they seemed random. His sapphire blue eyes were calculating as he guessed what the map was about. Movements maybe? He obviously wasn't marking down any sort of landmark on the map. Killua would humor the other, as he raised one of his paws and conjured up a lollipop that he stuck in his mouth. The scent of the candy taking a couple of scents to waft in the air. "What's that map for?" Killua would ask out of seemingly nowhere. It didn't seem like the young male had any care if he scared others or not. If Jacob were to look at Killua, there was a chance that the look in Killua's eyes would tell him that there was something wrong. But there was also a chance that he would see Killua like he usually did. The albino serval spoke in a calm yet curious tone, not the usual bored tone he constantly used.
It wasn't exactly rocket science, but he had been taught everything that he knew. He didn't have the innate talent that Jacob had when he was younger just to be able to identify the patterns by himself. Did that make Jacob better than him when it came to the patterns? Maybe. Killua didn't have to worry about the pattern of prey though, as he could always conjure up any sort of food that he wanted. Not like he really ate that healthy when it came to prey animals anyway, but at least it was something. He knew that he probably wasn't taking great care of himself, but part of him didn't really care as long he was in good enough condition to be able to defend himself and attack others. Ever since Guru had attacked London though, and since his return to the Typhoon, he knew that he was didn't. He was constantly on edge as if waiting for something to come out of the darkness and devour him for one final time. His claws twitched every time that he saw a living being, and the nightmares were back. It was all because of his brother, and he had no way to stop the others control on him, at least he didn't know that the other had control over him either. Killua remembered when he had caused the Typhoon member to cry out in pain, and he ENJOYED it. A feeling that he had repressed a very long time ago, and yet he felt glad to finally inflict pain on someone else that actually deserved it. After the months of not attacking anything and almost growing rusty in his skills. The assassin also had the factor that something had happened to him. He didn't know what, he didn't have the memories. Which was the issue. Somehow, he was missing memories, which caused him to be paranoid. When could that have even happened? How many memories did he end up losing? He didn't have any answers because there was no one around that he could ask about his memories. He was on his own. Part of him felt like he had always been on his own. Exploring the territory was all the serval could do right now. His emotions were running wild in his head, and yet he looked as calm as ever on the outside. He needed to keep his mind from the voice that now spoke in his head. The voice no longer being the whisper it had been for the past month. The assassin flexed his claws on the tree branch that he was on, his tail lashing behind him as he bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood. It didn't cause him any sort of pain thanks to the large amount of scar tissue in his mouth, but he still felt it. It was while he was standing on the branch that he had been on he caught a familiar scent nearby. Jacob. The guy seemed to be nice and concerned about those around him. He was probably the only one in the group that he got along with. Except for London but she got along with everyone. Should he approach the other? He wasn't quite sure about what he was going to do next. Illumi's voice didn't ring out in his head so that meant that he wouldn't have any issues when he interacted with the other. He just needed to do something. Putting himself into action, the wildcat leaped from branch to branch silently, and it didn't take him long to notice the hybrid a bit of a distance away.
Killua had approached the canine in the trees behind him, so the other probably wouldn't see him coming or expect him to be there. Landing on a branch that was directly above Jacob, the assassin laid himself down on the branch, his pelt blending in perfectly to the snow that was indeed on the branch. He flicked one of his large white ears as he was able to look over the other's shoulder a little bit and look at the paper that he had. It was a map. And there were lines in all sort of directions. He recognized some of the patterns even if they seemed random. His sapphire blue eyes were calculating as he guessed what the map was about. Movements maybe? He obviously wasn't marking down any sort of landmark on the map. Killua would humor the other, as he raised one of his paws and conjured up a lollipop that he stuck in his mouth. The scent of the candy taking a couple of scents to waft in the air. "What's that map for?" Killua would ask out of seemingly nowhere. It didn't seem like the young male had any care if he scared others or not. If Jacob were to look at Killua, there was a chance that the look in Killua's eyes would tell him that there was something wrong. But there was also a chance that he would see Killua like he usually did. The albino serval spoke in a calm yet curious tone, not the usual bored tone he constantly used.
snowbound -- apprentice -- male -- 8 moons
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Tags | Updated 03/26/17:
Re: A breath // open // of fresh air - jacob w.c. - 04-06-2018
JACOB W. corleone
✯ — he'll be the best of us
space
Jacob was used to being alert of his surroundings but maybe he'd let his guard down since staying here. His Babbo would be disappointed but the thought nearly brought him joy. Perhaps he'd been right. Maybe the fresh air was good for him. He was finally relaxing. Even with all the maps in front of him, even while using his old skills, he felt more at ease now than he had in months. Of course, that wasn't saying much. He still wasn't sleeping and he could still constantly smell smoke and sometimes he swore he saw flames just out of his line of vision but he as doing better. He wasn't sleep walking, as far as he was aware, and when he did fall asleep he noticed he'd been sleeping for longer periods of time before he was inevitably woken by his night terrors.
There was a whisper behind him. A creak of a branch. Panic seized him and his lungs filled with air, his body tensing as he turned to look towards Killua, looking as though he was prepared to spring away at any moment. He let out a sigh, smiling to see the man in the tree. He wasn't sure what Killua thought of him, whether they were friends or if he was simply tolerated by the other boy, but he was glad to see Killua rather than one of the many attackers that'd be sent for him in time. He was sure they'd find him. This was just a reminder. He didn't have the right to relax, not with the names he carried in his blood. "'S the patterns ah' the prey. They don' come out often 'cause ah' the cold n' we need ta' keep a steady supply ah' prey. I was thinkin' if I set up traps in their usual paths, which I found by watchin' 'em for the last few weeks, we'll be able ta' keep things pretty steady so long as we rotate them every once in awhile so they don' get smart n' try ta' avoid them." Every good conman knew you couldn't use the same trick more than once on the same person. If you got away with that, you certainly couldn't do it three times. They'd catch on eventually. It was safer to change targets so no one learned who you were or your patterns. Even acting randomly, patterns were inevitable and they made it easier to get caught.
There was a whisper behind him. A creak of a branch. Panic seized him and his lungs filled with air, his body tensing as he turned to look towards Killua, looking as though he was prepared to spring away at any moment. He let out a sigh, smiling to see the man in the tree. He wasn't sure what Killua thought of him, whether they were friends or if he was simply tolerated by the other boy, but he was glad to see Killua rather than one of the many attackers that'd be sent for him in time. He was sure they'd find him. This was just a reminder. He didn't have the right to relax, not with the names he carried in his blood. "'S the patterns ah' the prey. They don' come out often 'cause ah' the cold n' we need ta' keep a steady supply ah' prey. I was thinkin' if I set up traps in their usual paths, which I found by watchin' 'em for the last few weeks, we'll be able ta' keep things pretty steady so long as we rotate them every once in awhile so they don' get smart n' try ta' avoid them." Every good conman knew you couldn't use the same trick more than once on the same person. If you got away with that, you certainly couldn't do it three times. They'd catch on eventually. It was safer to change targets so no one learned who you were or your patterns. Even acting randomly, patterns were inevitable and they made it easier to get caught.
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Re: A breath // open // of fresh air - london r. - 04-07-2018
Everyone had a different upbringing, a different story. London had thought her's was rather normal, but perhaps it was not so. She had not been a natural or trained prodigy at a certain craft, not like Jacob and Killua, in fact, she was blissfully unaware of such things. Her life was like a different universe in comparison to theirs. She had had her own struggles of course, but none of them were ever as severe or life threatening as those of her clanmates. Well, except for the one time when she had broken her leg, the blood had not stopped leaving her system then either, and bleeding out had seemed likely, but she had been saved by her mother. But that was not the point. Perhaps she was extraordinary for not having a messed up secret life, for being genuine. The girl held no secrets, one could ask her anything, but she supposed not many would be interested in learning about her past, it wasn't all that exciting.
She has lived what she believed was a normal life, but in a world where normalcy was as rare as it seemed to be, normal did not mean the same thing. She had been given the chance to be a child, when for so many other kids that was no longer an option. She was still a child, and all the other had already grown up, or so it seemed. But that wouldn't stop the girl from being herself. She wasn't going to mold herself to fit into the status quo, that wasn't the way she had been raised, though she was also not quite sure how she had been raised. The young girl had always been told to offer a helping hand, and to be kind. In a way, she had been raised to not depend on anyone too much, but she was far too clumsy and fragile for that to be possible. But eventually she did hope to return the kindness she was shown, as it seemed unfair to accept help without giving anything back in return.
The albino hadn't expected to run into anyone on her way through the forest, trying to find a way to find some way to repay the kindness she had been shown, when she came across the sight of two of the few beings that she was actually somewhat familiar with in this snowy expanse. A pleasant smile graced the girl's gentle features, and she would join them, curious to see what those papers they had were. Many clan animals were illiterate, and although she did not believe that to be the case for these two, at least not for Jacob as he had made those flyers, but perhaps they did need some help deciphering some words. What else could that paper have on it anyway, well there were other possibilities, but the girl hadn't really considered that yet.
That is, until she'd heard Jacob's words. A map? Oh, that was such a clever idea! "Wow, that's amazing! How did you do that?" the soft spoken voice would chime in, her accent obvious in her words. It was quite an astonishing feat that this boy had conducted, in her opinion anyway, but surely others would agree. The husky-dog seemed to be full of surprises, London wondered how he came up with and accomplished all these things. It was rather impressive, perhaps she needed to find a way to come up with something amazing as well. But oh, where to start? She couldn't even figure out a way to repay Killua and Cry for saving her life, much less anything that might benefit the clan.
She has lived what she believed was a normal life, but in a world where normalcy was as rare as it seemed to be, normal did not mean the same thing. She had been given the chance to be a child, when for so many other kids that was no longer an option. She was still a child, and all the other had already grown up, or so it seemed. But that wouldn't stop the girl from being herself. She wasn't going to mold herself to fit into the status quo, that wasn't the way she had been raised, though she was also not quite sure how she had been raised. The young girl had always been told to offer a helping hand, and to be kind. In a way, she had been raised to not depend on anyone too much, but she was far too clumsy and fragile for that to be possible. But eventually she did hope to return the kindness she was shown, as it seemed unfair to accept help without giving anything back in return.
The albino hadn't expected to run into anyone on her way through the forest, trying to find a way to find some way to repay the kindness she had been shown, when she came across the sight of two of the few beings that she was actually somewhat familiar with in this snowy expanse. A pleasant smile graced the girl's gentle features, and she would join them, curious to see what those papers they had were. Many clan animals were illiterate, and although she did not believe that to be the case for these two, at least not for Jacob as he had made those flyers, but perhaps they did need some help deciphering some words. What else could that paper have on it anyway, well there were other possibilities, but the girl hadn't really considered that yet.
That is, until she'd heard Jacob's words. A map? Oh, that was such a clever idea! "Wow, that's amazing! How did you do that?" the soft spoken voice would chime in, her accent obvious in her words. It was quite an astonishing feat that this boy had conducted, in her opinion anyway, but surely others would agree. The husky-dog seemed to be full of surprises, London wondered how he came up with and accomplished all these things. It was rather impressive, perhaps she needed to find a way to come up with something amazing as well. But oh, where to start? She couldn't even figure out a way to repay Killua and Cry for saving her life, much less anything that might benefit the clan.