The Purpose (Open)

[Akio Nyuhara]

The water from the ocean slowly creeped up towards the sand and faded downwards, going back into the ocean it came from. Akio was seated, his knees pointed upwards and his head on his knees. It was a comfortable position to meditate in, but not the most efficiant. His knees fell into a cross-legged position as he closed his eyes. He focused on the energy of the water and matched it with his own. He inhaled, then exhaled. It was a peaceful way of strengthening one's self that his former teacher had taught him.

One of his eyes openned as he heard someone walk by the shore. The other soon followed. His eyes traced towards to the person walking there.

[Rio Fairfax]

Rio carried his grey sneakers in one arm, pressed against his chest as he strolled along the shore in the ankle deep water. His jeans were rolled up just a bit past his calves so they wouldn't get wet, and his socks were found poking out of the inside of one of his shoes. His feet made small depressions in the submerged sand as he lifted them to take another step. However they never lasted long as sand rushed in to make the depression the even surface that it once was. Rio was slouched over, watching his feet do this through the crystal clear water, zoning out a bit to any action around him.

He had home on the mind, not that he was home-sick, but rather he was worried about his mother and how she was faring. The e-mails and messages he got stated all things were well, but that wasn't enough to cure an uncertain itch in his stomach that thought otherwise. He hadn't had much money to send lately, but he was waiting out for an opportunity to arise that would get him a bonus or something similar. So far, no such luck.

The water was getting his toes wrinkled, and this minor inconvenience was enough to lift his head from his own thoughts. He glanced to his right noticing Akio, a fellow Kuma Clan member, sitting cross-legged along the beach. The other boys eyes seemed to be looking right at Rio.

"Hey Peace," Rio greeted, stepping out of the water towards the other duelist, "I didn't know you came out here to do your meditations 'n what not." Sand clinged to Rio's wet feet as they walked into the sand. He hesitated for a moment, his face adorning a look of concern for a moment. "Er, sorry. I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

((Hey, sorry I went ahead and assumed our two characters know each other. I figured it could make sense since they've both been with the clan for a while, and introductions in roleplay can be long. If you'd rather they didn't know each other that's fine with me too, I can just redo a bit of this post.))

[Akio Nyuhara]

((Yeah it's totally fine. They should know each other since they're in the same clan and what not.))

Akio was greeted and closed his hands as they seemed to fall in slow motion towards the ground. He jumped up rather quickly, his eyes open now and a smile on his face. "You aren't interrupting anything." He blinked a couple of times. "Yeah this is where I usually meditate. Kinda funny cause so many people are usually here but...well nevermind it will sound weird." Akio looked around at a few of the people that were around them and blinked a few more times. Sure, he was kind of known in the Kuma clan as a 'monk' but he never liked being called that. A lot of people came to him for an inner piece.

That is where he made this assumption. "So, does something trouble you?" Akio's smile faltered a bit, but it seemed to bloom back into picture. The true high that he got in life was helping others deal with emotional problems. His bare feet digged into the sand a little. His fingers tapped lightly on his sides in a sort of rhythm. It actually seemed that being around Akio made you forget about a lot of bad things soley because he was a man of such peace.

Akio was nothing more then what his mind had designed him to be. His moves and dialect held no true emotion unless if he wanted to show one. It was weird to imagine a person who literally only did what they thought they should do, but he was definately that person. His smile lowered and became a blank stare. He awaited the response of the other person.

[Rio Fairfax]

Rio resumed his stride until he was a few feet from the seated boy, relieved he hadn't disturbed Akio. "Ah, no," Rio responded to his question, "Everything's okay with me right now." He paused for a split moment as his eyes met Akio. The serene quality of his fellow clan member always got to him, making him feel real comfortable around the younger boy. Rio's face relaxed and he felt his heart rate slow as his emotion mimicked his friends. "Well, I guess I'm a bit worried about money right now..." Rio suddenly admitted, blurting it out. With a quick flick upward with his brow he snapped out of the dreamy trance, gaining tight control of himself. "But hey, who isn't these days?" he joked, trying to save himself. It wasn't Akio's problem, and it wasn't a terribly big deal to himself either, just a small worry.

"Mind if I sit down? It feels weird talking down to you." Rio said, sitting on the beach across from Akio. Placing his sneakers beside him, he took one of his bare feet in his hands and rigorously rubbed off the sand with his other palm. "But, how are things with you?" Rio inquired, covertly changing the subject, "How's your decks? How's your battles been? Fill me in buddy." His head was up facing Akio, but his eyes occasionally glanced down to his sand-scrapping.

[Akio Nyuhara]

Akio smiled when he finally got to Rio, but frowned a little when Rio had tried to change the subject in a desperate attempt to not admit he had problems. "Well I suppose my dueling and decks are fine." He didn't go on much further about the subject. A smile caught his lips. "You don't have to be a closed book with me Rio. You of all people should know that I only help and nothing more." He realized that Rio had said money was tight. "Money's tight eh? What problems does that create?"

Akio was pretty good at depicting information. Since Rio had said that money was tight, it means that there was something not that Rio wanted to buy, but something that Rio needed to buy. And it must have been expensive. Akio's toes played in the sand as he kept his smile. "You see, if money is in fact tight with you, there is something you need to buy." A feeling of peace had radiated from Akio. "After all, if you had simply wanted to buy something you would have chosen a different expression." Akio laughed a little. He loved playing the detective game. "I don't want you to feel pressure though. Only talk to me about the things you want to talk to me about."

The ocean's tide began to lower. The water wasn't even close to Akio's feet. Some of the children began to leave after the water became less fun to play in. Typically this happens when the sun is about to rise. Right now, it was a moment of a lazy sun, as Akio called it; a time in which the sun rose later then normal.

[Rio Fairfax]

Rio pursed his lips, annoyed that he ever brought up the subject. Nevertheless he made eye contact and went along with it. "Look buddy, I know you like to help, but I don't think this is something you can help with," Rio explained, getting the last specks of sand off his foot before moving on to the other. "Not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but it's also not worth looking at right now. It isn't something that's say, dragging me down or anything." He was half-convincing himself of this as he was going along. It was something on his mind, but he never liked it to show. Any mention of how he's trying to support his mom might give people the idea that he's secretly a sensitive type, which he did not want.

However Akio wasn't like that - he wouldn't go ahead and spread rumors or gossip about others. Rio smiled, it wasn't like he was some trashy teenage girl - an archetype of person he was only all too familiar with. He decided to give Akio a bit more. "I guess I just wish there was some extra mission or something that was up for grabs. Y'know, one that would have a bonus little cash incentive. I'm just saying I wouldn't mind anything like that." Rio slipped his socks on after his feet were as clean as he could get them. As he got them on, he still felt some granules here and there, but he had braced himself with the discomfort when he first decided to get his feet wet at the beach. His head looked up for a moment to Akio. "You... didn't happen to hear of anything like that, did you?"

[Akio Nyuhara]

Akio frowned when he was scolded, but knew that it was all just a part of the "process". He took the scolding and didn't show any signs of trying to stop the person. Apparantly, the person was someone who was willing to open up. Though judging by the difficulty, this man had obviously been hurt through the word before. He smiled when he began to open up. "Work?" Akio thought for a second. Rio was obviously going to be the first one to join. "Well, I'm not one to give work." Akio stood up. "But if you follow me, you won't be dissapointed."

Akio began to walk towards the edge of the ocean as the water cleaned off the sand from his feet. He didn't look back to see if Rio was following him, but he had a feeling Rio would. He smiled, just being amazed at the pure beauty that was the ocean. His hands were at his sides, to many he wouldn't appear as a teenager at all.

[Rio Fairfax]

Rio paused a beat or two as Akio rose, waiting to see what he was talking about. When he began to leave, Rio was taken by surprise. "Hey-" he blurted as he scrambled to put on his shoes beside him. He got up swiftly and caught up to behind Akio at a comfortable distance. With each step he took however, small specks of sand rubbed gently but irritably against his feet. He made a mental note to clean the inside of his sneakers when he got back to HQ, lest the sand still be there on his next venture out.

When he arrived facing the shoreline edge with Akio, a puzzled look ran across his features. Piercing green eyes searched the horizon for something to stand out, or be a sign. After giving it a minimal rundown of his own he gave up. "The ocean?" Rio questioned with confusion, then continued with a sarcastic tone, "Hate to break it to ya but the ocean's nothing new." He paused, knowing Akio wouldn't just show him it for no reason. "...What are you getting at?"

[Akio Nyuhara]

"Isn't it beautiful? It raises with the moon and lowers with the sun. The darkness increases its size and the light weakens it. The ocean proves that darkness and evil are too very seperate things." The ocean continued to go forward. "It clears your mind in a way. It makes you forget about problems. They just seem to fall." Akio took his hand and scooped up some water, then drank it. Salt water normally tasted very bad, but Akio had no hesitations or looks of disgust after drinking it. "The beautiful things are those that will hurt you the most." The salt water trickled from his mouth onto the sand before he swallowed it. With his foot, he tapped the salt water and drew a circle. The circle was small and it was followed by a word. The word was peace.

The ocean's wave trampled the word peace and retreated back to the water. "Do you see my point? Things that sound good, things that provide life, are in fact the evils of life. If something sounds good more often then naught it will have a bad consequence." Akio's face went blank. "You see, though, there is a way to stop this from happening, but that way is for you to find." Akio looked Rio straight in the eyes. He smiled, "The road to enlightenment is one that you must take on your own. I can not help you with your problems, only soften them. That is what I do. Only a monk can truely solve a problem, and I am far from one."

Akio took off his hat and put it on Rio's head. "Show this to the farmer by the mill, he'll take care of your money problems." Akio smiled and kept walking, motioning Rio to follow him.

[Rio Fairfax]

Rio nodded fluently throughout Akio's speach, looking out into the wide sea of blue. He took in the metaphors and contemplated their meanings. Wheels were certainly turning upstairs. "Ah..." He exhaled, and slowly, his nod turned into a shake. "Yeah sorry, I'm not understanding any of that." He spoke rather bluntly, a noticeable contrast to his friend's serene quality. "At least for right now." he added, showing he wasn't trying to disrespect what Akio was doing for him. Though, what he said wasn't all true. He had a gut interpretation of what the younger boy meant; although it maybe wasn't a message, it was certainly a feeling.

"Show this to the farmer by the mill, he'll take care of your money problems."

"Wait, wha-?" Rio kerfuffled over his words, once again in surprise. He looked up in vain towards his head new adornment. His hands were second to react as they went to grab it. They didn't move it however, for Rio was stumped as to what to do. He didn't know whether to keep it on or take it off because he wasn't fully aware of what Akio meant. Thus, he stood frozen in that position, looking bewildered at Akio.

Before Rio had a chance to speak or ask questions, Akio had turnned to leave once more, beckoning him to follow. "Hey, what do you mean? Are you like using a favour somebody owes you for me or something?" He played along with the other Kuma member following his stride. His hands finally made a decidion, taking the hat down and holding it out in front of him. "How is this farmer going to take care of my money problems?" He bombarded Akio with questions as fast as they were popping into his head.

[Akio Nyuhara]

Akio laughed heartely when Rio said that he didn't understand it. He decided it would be best not to go any farther on the topic. After all, Rio had already ended it with his next comment. "Oh it's nothing much really. He does owe me a favor but I rarely collect. If he knew you were my friend he'd probably give you some work to do."

Akio continued walking, not asking the further questions. "Hm, this looks like a nice spot." Akio took out his deck and loaded it. "Why don't we have a duel?"

[Rio Fairfax]

"Work..." Rio echoed staring at the back of Akio's head as he followed him. His jaw was slightly dropped and his brow had a subtle lift to it. He held the hat still out in front as he walked. Rio was taking it in, in awe of how easily an opportunity arose from just talking to the other boy. His dumbfounded look then began to morph of one of disapproval, starting with a small shakes of his head. "No..." he began quietly, almost to himself. "No, wait! No- this isn't right. I feel like I should earn this somehow, I want to-" However his words were cut off as Akio spoke again.

"Hm, this looks like a nice spot. Why don't we have a duel?"

Rio hesitated for a beat, but soon followed through. "Yeah. Yeah, I think that's exactly what I'd like." A smile took its place to reflect his lifted mood. He winded back his arm and threw the hat back at Akio with his fastball pitching technique he was famous for among his friends. "Only under these conditions though: I win, and I get to use up this favour of yours. But if I lose, I'll walk away and go bug somebody else." Rio liked this; it made him feel more independent. And besides, the anticipation of a duel got the competitive blood flowing through his veins. He got a fierce look in his brilliant green eyes as he repositioned himself into a strong stance. His intense glare shot at Akio, waiting for his response.

[Akio Nyuhara]

"I accept those terms." Akio drew his openning hand, "And I suppose you're allowing me to go first?" He looked at his hand, smiling. "Right, I'll draw." Akio drew one card. "How interesting." He summoned a card in attack mode. "I play Sangan, attack mode! Then I set one card face down and end my turn."

CiH: 4
S/T: 1
Monsters: 1 Sangan (1000 AttacK)
Graveyard: 0
LP: 8000/8000

[Rio Fairfax]

"Sure," Rio smirked as he allowed Akio to make the first move. Rio picked out the only deck he was carrying with him at the time from his pocket. It was sealed in a compact leather casing, but it didn't take long for Rio to pop it out and slide it into his own duel disk. The click and the flash of coloured light it briefly made put a bigger grin on Rio's face. That rush of battle - it always got to him.

Rio drew his hand and then conducted his draw phase, still not losing the energy in his eyes. His eyes darted from card to card in his hand, seeing familiar cards in a random order. He made a satisfying grunt before he lay down a spell card. "I activate a spell called brain control! By paying 800 lifepoints, your sangan obtains a little change in heart in this battle until the end of my turn." Rio explained, despite whether Akio knew this or not. As the three-eyed creature made its way to his side of the field, Rio continued. "However his visit won't last long due to I'm tributing him to summon Curse of Vampire!"

With another flash of white light the small fiend was gone and standing in place was a strong looking man, pale as bones, with a single demonic wing stretching out from beneath his armored clothing.

CiH: 3
S/T: 1 Facedown
Monsters: None
Graveyard: (1) Brain Control
R. from Play: (1) Curse of Vampire
LP: 7200/8000

[Akio Nyuhara]

((Alright, I'm using Bottomless trap hole on Curse of Vampire, that's my only chain))