Description: Seeking ancient secrets and daring adventure to achieve ones dreams! Well there is seeking but it's more in the form of a ninja hunting a knight down to ask her aid in an upcoming tournament. There is however epic shushing and cramped media rooms to be had, and really what's hotter than a cramped little media room full of two girls? Team Tanuki grows by one as Ibuki asks Amy to join her team.
Amy doesn't like owning a cellphone.
It's an undeniable boon to her line of work; surely, she thinks, if the questing knights of old possessed such marvels then their trials and tribulations would have been far swifter and smoother in nature. Fewer roads would be travelled in vain, and many problems may have been avoided entirely. But there also would also have been drunken text messages from fellow errant warriors, those irritating ring tones breaking the spell of country air, and a lot more unnecessary chatter. Lord, how she hates the chatter.
"Never mind that, Professor." Her clipped, brisk accent rings out through the halls of Taiyo as she slips through the corridors thronged with student and teacher alike, a manilla folder tucked beneath one arm as the other holds the phone to her ear. "Did you say a letter had arrived for me? I'm at the library now; would you mind...?" She trails off as she pushes open the door and slips inside, immediately affixed by the scything death-glare of the librarian as she detects incoming noise. "You've got the number from last time. Thanks. Speak again soon."
Eking out a small, apologetic smile, the Templar closes the call as she makes her way to the front desk, reaching to the back pocket of her jeans - she's dressed casually today, just jeans and a simple blank tank top, her black hair down and recently washed - where she dispenses her phone and exchanges it for the laminated form of her library card. She passes this across with a nod toward the reason she attends this particular establishment; the antiquated fax machine in the corner.
The librarian takes the card curtly, and holds out her free hand, into which the British woman deposits a bit of loose change. She's not a student - she pays for the privilege of using school supplies. A few moments later, the machine rattles to life and dispenses a single, monochrome page. It's a letter, the content of which would be familiar to perhaps more than a few of the present teenagers. Because it's more than that; it's an /invitation/.
In spite of her loathing for it, the cell is pressed back to Amy's ear within seconds.
"King of Fighters?!" She blurts, still holding the piece of paper before her, staring at it with wide, stormy blue eyes as she tries to process this revelation. The man on the other end stammers and starts to reply in his habitually stuffy, academic fashion, blustering his way up a dark and lonely road of excuses... "/Why/ didn't you tell me sooner!" Though were the aforementioned professor to be in this place, at this time, he would sooner keep the controlled and relatively mild fury of Amy Johnson, rather than come face to terrible face with the mounting rage of the librarian.
Here it comes. The battle cry.
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ibuki had been tracking yet another member for her team for a while, something about the footage from some of Amy's prior recorded matches had spoken to the teen ninja, as though it was assured that she should be part of their team. So she'd set about looking around Southtown for her, since it seemed at some point every fighter passed through the city for on reason or another. Ibuki, however, hadn't expected for her search to lead her to Taiyo High...and the library in particular.
Once she'd found out that Amy made stops here fairly regularly to get faxes, Ibuki had stolen into the campus shop and obtained a girl's uniform in her size for infiltration. Having dodged and slipped through the hallways for the last couple of days she grins widely when Amy makes her way towards the library the teenager walks behind her perfectly camouflaged as another student. And once the Templar speaks up and makes it clear that she's been invited to KoF Ibuki grins cheerfully as she starts scribbling on a notepad...
One horrendously loud shush later, Amy would find her shoulder being gently but eagerly tapped on and should she turn to look a notepad held in suck a way to hide Ibuki's mouth with a neatly penned note in English, 'Follow me please, I need to discuss something with you! <3<3' Her warm brown eyes rather mirthful after seeing the British woman getting shushed by the Librarian, though she just waits for Amy's response before doing anything else.
"I..." The Templar cringes inwardly at the first sound of sibilance, and when it sharply increases in volume she makes a very outward show of discomfort. It's a sound to raise the hairs on the back of one's neck; put it through a decent amplifier and it could wake the dead. "I'll call you back." Her voice is meek now, by comparison, as she starts to put away her phone for the second time - only to be interrupted by Ibuki's insistent tap-tapping upon her shoulder.
To Amy's credit, she does not jump, though her posture tightens minutely as her gaze flicks to one side. She quite specifically avoids turning around with any sense of immediacy, folding away the raised letter with the deft movement of one hand before placing it with her phone in the pocket of her jeans. And then she gives the disguised kunoichi her full attention, reading the note with the ghost of a smile and a narrowly arched dark eyebrow.
"Lay on, Macduff," she murmurs in return, her tone low, barely on the edge of hearing as she acknowledges her intent with a slow nod of her head. This done, she turns and accepts her card back from the still-glaring librarian - who also still has a finger clapped firmly to her pursed lips. She might not be using this location much longer. Ah well. Rolling her eyes, uttering a soft snort of laughter, she prepares to follow this mysterious stranger.
Not that she's in the habit of doing such without certain other preparations, and a warrior of Ibuki's level will no doubt sense a faint prickling about the Templar's palpable aura. She may not possess tremendous power, but it speaks from the heart of her being... and it is aroused.
As Amy accepts her offer Ibuki peeks around the British woman, holding up her finger tips so that her hands come together slightly in a begging gesture to the librarian as she flicks her eyes to one of the very small but unused media rooms. The glaring librarian scowls at the teenager but finally relents with a quick nod of the head. Ibuki then straightens up and gives Amy a quick playful wink as she turns to head to the small nearby room...
The room is relatively small with a few types of audio and video players and barely enough room for two people to sit comfortably, very obviously the small library didn' want to devote that much room to a media room, waiting for Amy to come in she then closes the door and looks at the Templar directly her own face covered by her usual mask, "So you just got an invite to the King of Fighters huh?" Her eyes twinkle slightly as she speaks, "But I bet you don't have a team yet do you?" She pauses for a moment before continuing again, "You're in a great deal of luck though, I just happen to have a team looking for two more members!" Her voice getting a bit loud but this room is designed to keep sound inside right?!!!
Ibuki does notice the slight suspicion from the Templar but if the ninja gives off anything it is a aura of good natured mischief and eagerness about something. Though from the way that Ibuki is looking at her the eagerness is probably related to what her answer is going to be.
If there's anything that the youngest of the Knights Templar should know, at this point, it's that the intense paranoia she is inclined to exhibit - a relic, an heirloom imparted by the teachings of her master - is rarely appropriate. And in this case, too, Ibuki's bright eyes and youthful mischief seem hardly to scream deception. Telling herself this, Amy she turns with a shrug of her shoulders and begins to ease herself into the situation, breathing a sigh and reaching up to rub at the back of her neck as she crosses the library floor to the tight confines of the 'media room'.
With the notepad down, the teenage ninja's face is that much more familiar. Or at least her mask is. Though not exactly a follower of the professional fighting scene, there's been no missing the mark that Ibuki has made. She cannot immediately place the name, but a vision of a legendary weapon flashes across the mind's eye. Stormy blue eyes narrow with piqued curiousity. Does she have a team? Amy laughs beneath her breath, tossing her head, a little defensive but ultimately willing to be disarmed as she reaches up to brush a sweep of raven hair back behind one ear.
"No," she responds in a clear if gentle murmur, looking Ibuki up and down. It's a little tough not to linger on the down, on certain things she wouldn't notice when watching a fight. "I don't have a team, but--" Her protestation dies before it begins, not interrupted but allowed to hang in place as she listens to Ibuki's veiled offer. It's surprising, honestly, and her head cants to one side, watching the younger woman with an inquisitive, intelligent gaze. She'd be quite serious, but it's impossible not to echo that minxlike twinkle with at least a half-grin, one side of the Templar's mouth quirking upward as the enthusiasm spreads in spite of her self-control.
She responds after a moment, not tarrying too long.
"It has to be said, I'm hardly a famous name. I'm a little astonished to even receive an invitation. But if you're who I think you are... you're skilled. You're a lot better than I am." She says it frankly, without chagrin, folding her arms loosely across her middle as she leans back upon her heels. Her smile spreads a little wider - she's not always an easy lady to read, but she's flattered, and she allows herself to show this. "Do I have to prove myself, or is my reaction the test here...?"
Suddenly, a thought occurs. Descends. Revelation! She just hopes it's right.
Amy nods, just once. "I'd be pleased to fight alongside you, Ibuki-san."
The teenage ninja merely stands there with a wide smile hidden beneath her mask, Ibuki was fairly certain that the girl before her would agree to join her team as she was pretty certain that Amy didn't have a connection to any other team already at least not one that didn't have a full roster already. While she mentally reviews she blinks for a half second as Amy checks her out and wait does the other girl's eyes settle on her chest? The ninja girl shakes it off not being used to girls looking at her like that let alone considering her chest all that large really it had to have been just her imagination.
Noting the silent but quick conflict of emotions that pass through Amy as she starts to make a decision Ibuki is at first worried she'll be declined and starts to speak up with a counter offer but then Amy smiles at her and admits she's not the best fighter in the world. Then teen ninja chuckles gently at that and then as she's asked about tests Ibuki's eyes twinkle a bit more, "Despite being a ninja I really do value honesty." She muses cheerfully in response before Amy seems to get that all she had to do was say yes at this point, "Great! It'll be a lot of fun fighting with you on my team Amy-san." Her tone very pleased as she responds to the other woman.
Ibuki then nods her head, "Welcome to Team Tanuki and do not worry too much about fame or lack thereof a team is more than the sum of its parts after all!" With as much as the teen is chirping loudly one hopes the room is sound proof or the Librarian is going to rather upset. "That said, a team that doesn't practice together isn't much of a team at all is it?" The teen's eyes flick down to where Amy had stored her phone a few moments ago, "I'll contact you shortly for a time and place for our first team practice, look forward to it, we'll all help one another out in the challenges to come. First though I need to contact one more member for our team and then we'll be ready!"
After giving her enthused and quick speech, again hoping the room is soundproof due to her boisterousness, she pauses with a rather thoughtful look on her features for a moment and then finally, "Hmm, have any questions or concerns?" It seems the moments of mild reluctance has made the teen want to comfort her new team mate if for no other reason to show that Amy had made a good choice in joining Team Tanuki.
Footloose and fancy-free is the Templar, though her eagerness to be relaxed and easy around Ibuki is owed in part to a recent resolution. The air of reluctance is the spirit of a former self that she wishes to leave behind - to not remain steeped in the choking mire of crippling doubt and forced solitude. The expressive, apparently open nature of the kunoichi is making her happier with this arrangement by the minute. Perhaps this is what she needs; new alliances, impulsively made, with all the flood of dizzying experience that such things bring. Although...
"'Team Tanuki'?" Amy echoes it with a chuckle, hugging her midriff a little tighter as her gaze turns a little dubious. Her mind casts about for a reason to believe in the cutesy moniker; other than it going wonderfully with this chirpy and chipper young ninja. Perhaps, she thinks, what is a good luck charm for the people of Japan could herald her own form of prospering fortune. She nods her head, lips pursing as she reaches the point of approval. "So shall it be, and you our glorious leader."
That's an assumption, and she knows it. It's said with good humour, but there is a magnetism to Ibuki that seems to run a little deeper than her mere persona would suggest. If she were more unnaturally gifted, the Englishwoman would be equipped to describe it in more detail. It's almost, a sense of destiny. She pictures that blade again, the weapon recently used in a battle against Alma Towazu, the oceanic blue of her eyes intensifying as she imagines it. She shakes her head a moment later, snapping out of her ponderance with a smile, and turning her attention to Ibuki's question.
"Questions?" She bites her lip momentarily, and nods. "Only the obvious for now, I suppose. Who else have you in mind for this endeavour? I'm more than willing to leap, but I'd like to know who I'll be sailing through the air with, other than your fine self." Her speech is formal in pattern, but there's a little play in her words, and in the quirk of her lips. There's no hiding a trace of excitement either, a budding enthusiasm creeping through her tone, and showing in her posture as she thrums the fingers of one hand in a subtle rhythm just above her hip.
Amy's amused tone is met with a simple nod of Ibuki's head, "Yep! Team Tanuki, I named it that for my pet!" She points up and sitting atop her head is a tanuki with it's tail curled around the ninja's neck as though it had been there the entire time, "His name's Don-shan." The little critter then focuses on Amy for a long moment its eyes having a rather strong spark of intelligence as it stares at her. Then Ibuki chuckles loudly, "Well I am the team leader but you don't need to call me anything but Ibuki." And in that split moment of distraction Don-chan had vanished again leaving not even a hair behind.
Ibuki seems thoughtful for a long moment after Amy asks her question. It's not that she doesn't want to say but she rather hoped the team would hold together because people wanted to be a part of it instead of by who was on the team then again another part of her does realize that it's kind of also bad not to say should the team member want to know who else they'll be working with is. The Japanese girl rocks back and forth on her heels before finally she makes a decision to answer the question honestly as there was no reason to hide it at this point.
"Well besides myself and you, Pullum Purna and Ken Masters have both agreed to join the team." She admits then she smirks beneath her mask, "And I still have one more person to ask but I want to keep that a secret until I speak with them!" She sing songs playfully as she speaks the fact that Amy is excited by the prospect of her team even without knowing whom is on it does a lot to put Ibuki at ease about having given away her roster before the first team meeting and training session.
The titular tanuki's introduction actually brooks a faint gasp from the Templar, who draws away instinctively before settling back into her heels with a second prideful toss of her head, matching the creature's stare with one of her own. "Nice to meet you," she offers partway through, her crisp tone a little distant, directed away from Ibuki and very distinctly toward the beast himself. Raising a hand from about her waist, she offers out a couple of fingers for sniffing, and a tentative stroke of the head. Amy seems to be a bit of an animal person, relaxing even further once she disengages from Don.
Which is when she hears the name 'Ken Masters'.
"Are you winding me up?" The Brit glances askance at the kunoichi, simultaneously shifting a little closer to make the stare more direct and personal. "Ken Masters." She repeats the name, recalling her own run-in with the nigh-legendary Ansatsuken warrior - remembering exactly how devastating a single, seemingly effortless strike from the man was. She was willing and pleased to stand alongside Ibuki before, but now?
She reins her reaction in, but a faint flush spreads across her cheeks, which dimple as she forces herself not to smile too widely. The younger woman before her is undoubtedly possessed of great talent and incredible potential; but surely they both know that Ryu's eternal rival is in another league, pun most certainly intended. "Well." Is all she says, however, drawing a deep lungful of air and releasing it as she glances around the room, sighting for the nearest piece of paper as she pulls a pen from where it sits clipped in the waistband of her jeans. "While you busy yourself with more surprises..."
She finds a sheet of folded A3, much doodled upon, and tears off a corner. Scribbling her name, 'Amy Johnson', she adds her mobile phone number underneath and presents the scrap to Ibuki with a brisk nod and an irrepressible grin. "I'll go and prepare myself to deal with them. I have a feeling, Ibuki," she states the name plainly - taking the offer to do so with some relish - "That meeting you may turn out to be one of the most interesting things that will ever happen to me. We'll speak again soon, yeah?"
Once the paper is taken, she offers a casual, playful salute to both the girl and her pet - flickering her gaze between both, before her eyes linger on Ibuki. "I can hardly wait!"
Ibuki chuckles at that reaction, "Why would I tease or fib at this point, you already agreed to be part of the team, no need to impress you or anything." Her tone light and amused in response to Amy's own surprise. While Ibuki is aware of just how skilled Ken is her training also forces her to not be intimidated even if she knows she will likely lose a confrontation and due to that training she is more likely to be respectful rather than awe struck by other fighters.
As Amy begins writing down her number the teenager watches her quietly before Amy hands over the number printed on the sheet to her, Ibuki gives it a quick once over as though commiting the number to memory then slides the paper away carefully. "Well, we'll see how much of a shock they provide you then..." She goes quiet for a moment after Amy's response then she winks at the Templar, "I will endevor to not let you down then Amy-san." She then nods her head, "Very soon should I have my way and the last person agrees as I believe they will."
A playful salute is returned back to Amy as the girl shares her anticipation, "I'll try and hurry it up then!" She winks and with the conversation done she leaps up and through a lose tile in the suspended ceiling which is quickly replaced leaving no trace of the ninja being there.
Log created on 21:24:01 01/21/2011 by Ibuki, and last modified on 01:29:20 01/22/2011.