[OPEN] fight fight fight!

[paladinforhire]

Who: Fridtjof and OPEN!
What: Fridtjof is bored. He imagines others are bored as well.
Where: Top deck, near the pool.
When: Day 6-8ish?
Warnings: Violence probably, but preferably controlled violence.


Around day 6 there's a poster that appears in various parts of the ship. It's clearly hand-drawn, but someone at least looks like they've put a lot of time into it.



The person in question is loitering around the area, leaning against a tree. There's a rough circle made out of dirt, large enough to be a modest arena. He's wearing his shiny blue and white armor with a blue and white shield on his back. He looks to be very bored and his rabbit-like ears are twitching, searching around for any sound. Sure, she said there were no monsters, but...

In any case he greets anyone approaching with a smile and a wave.

"Hello! Here to fight or here to watch?" He'll show off for people if they want, he's just trying to not be flashy.

Comments

[paladinforhire]

More or less. He's close to six feet tall, so he could definitely be taller... but he's still pretty tall.

"Ah, hello there." He's used to short people, it's fine. He looks down at Mario and grins. "Whenever you'd like. Would you prefer abilities or no abilities? ... And I suppose I should check if you want weapons or no weapons." He's no monk or pugilist, but he knows how to throw a punch or two.

[mamamias]

"Oh! The sign was because you were-a looking for to duel, I understand now," Mario nods very seriously. "I was-a expecting something more organized... like-a Glitz Pit, or-a Smash..." This is not disappointment, just musing.

"In that case!!!" Mario rolls up his sleeve, and then holds his hand up to shake. "Names first. I'm Mario!"

[paladinforhire]

"I don't think there's enough people for something really organized." He crouches down slightly so he can shake the other's hand. He's shaken hands of people who are three feet tall before, he knows how this goes.

But the man is right. "Fridtjof. Though you can call me most anything you want as long as it's not insulting, I know viera names are hard for some people."

[mamamias]

Mario taps his foot. "Hmm... I guess-a not! Maybe for a small tournament... Well, let me know who all wants to duel you! We can get a list of names, and then-a see, for later."

Handshake. Mario's grin is easy and wide. "Fridtjof?" He repeats, just to make sure he got it. His consonants might not all be there, or maybe mixed up so it sounds more like "Frit-jof", but his accent doesnt mangle it, and he doesn't think it much hard to say (though he might be a little surprised to learn how to spell it!) "Is that right? Fridtjof? I do not think that's much too hard."

[paladinforhire]

"Closer than most get it. It's spelled with a 'd', but it's... somewhat silent? The 'j' is more like a 'y' in most dialects." His own would sound like Icelandic if he were from Earth, but he wouldn't have a clue what that meant.

"And my surname is - you know what, it doesn't matter. The whole name together roughly translates to 'Warrior of the Heavenly Wind' or 'of the Typhoon', but I don't see much need for formalities here."

[mamamias]

Mario nods along, though he's even more confused about the spelling now. There's a j??? Well, whatever.

"Wow! That's-a real fancy! Is there a reason you're a typhoon?"

He is genuinely intrigued, but, understandable if it comes off as making fun.

"Me? I'm-a just Mario. I don't think it really means anything."

(We're not getting into the last name thing, here. Don't worry about it.)

[paladinforhire]

Don't worry about it Mario, just say 'frit-yof' and you'll be close enough.

"There are twelve surnames for Rava males and -" Okay, how to explain this simply? "... Basically there are two tribes and among my tribe the males either are born into a clan or are renamed to fill the spot of a missing clan. So among the six elements there's a 'worldly' and an 'earthly' version of each, which makes twelve."

Hopefully that's simple enough. "Basically it's tradition and while I'm not attached to my name for any particular reason I never found a 'city name' I quite liked. So I kept my old name which is... a bit odd, even among we outcasts."

[mamamias]

Mario nods along, very intently. "Ah, it's a bit like-a goombas!" he says, with complete understanding. (No, he doesn't elaborate.)

What a fascinating culture! "Do you swap clans entirely if there's a missing spot?" he asks, unable to help his intrigue. "You don't have to leave your friends behind, do you?"

Then he realizes himself and holds up his hands. "Not that-a you have to tell me! If it's a bit, uh, touchy...?" Mario doesn't know how to tactfully phrase the outcast thing. "I like to learn more, but I don't want to hurt!"

[paladinforhire]

He has no idea what a goomba is but he wouldn't be horribly surprised to see them. There's mushroom creatures in the Shroud, so it's not a totally foreign concept to him.

"Yes, you do swap clans if there's enough of yours. And as for leaving your friends behind... men and women are somewhat separate. The men train to be Wood-warders, keeping the area safe from encroaching threats." They... could only do so much against Garlemald, but they did everything that they could do. "The women are the one who live in the villages and defend it against anything that slips by us. And there's a lot more women than men, so it's... we don't tend to have large friend groups. Usually the ones who train you and any fellow trainees that make it through."

There's no real sadness in that - it's just the way of his world. Or was, at least. "It doesn't bother me. Viera are somewhat rare outside of our native lands, so it's not like I haven't explained it before. But I can't go back. Those that leave the Wood aren't allowed to return."

[mamamias]

Mario listens intently; not much of a hardship, seeing as he's listened to duller from duller people. At least Fridtjof isn't spending several hours talking about his love life, unrelatedly, (Thanks, Merluvlee).

"Huh," Mario says, appreciative. Something about it feels a little weird to him, but who is he to judge? Some places just do things way differently from what Mario's used to, and that's fine! It's none of his business!

"Well, I'a hope you at least found some friends or somewhere to call'a home outside the Wood? Though, I guess since we're on Ship now, maybe it does not matter. Hmm..."

He's derailed this so bad. well, he'll remind Fridtjof of the duel fighting thing in a second here.

Endwalker spoilers!!!!!!

[paladinforhire]

It's fine, it's not like he's gotten back on track either. "I have, yes. My friends are... they're the world to me. And the person I left the Wood to follow is someone I care about deeply." He pauses and waves a hand in front of him. "N-not like that, though! I just really admire them..."

Ahem. "But I've traveled to different worlds with them, gone to the edge of existence and back... sacrificed myself for them so they can get where they need to go." That was a particularly... distressing time. Still, he doesn't regret it. "But with them, everything seems possible."

[mamamias]

Mario is nodding along intently, his grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Wowie! They must'a be a real important to you, if you were willing to sacrifice yourself for them... I'ma glad you know someone like that!" The idea of love as sacrifice has made a big impression on him, after Super Paper Mario. What Tippi and Blumiere did... What his friends did for him... He's not even baffled to see Fridtjof alive and well, because for the most part, none of the sacrifices he witnessed were fully permanent, either.

"That's what being friends is about!" Er, not the sacrifice. "With'a mine, everything seems possible, too!"

"...Oh! You can ask'a me some questions, if you want. Only fair, since I asked you a lot!"

[paladinforhire]

"Oh." It... it's a little overwhelming to try to figure out what he should ask. He pauses - should he try to ask about what sort of Hyur/Lalafell hybrid Mario is? No, that's probably rude. "What are your friends like? A lot of mine are just... well, they're a lot more learned than me. But a lot of them are from a place that hordes knowledge, so..."

It's fine, he doesn't really mind being the muscle most of the time.

[mamamias]

"My friends? They're - well." He doesn't know where to start. He's grinning, ear-to-ear, but he doesn't know where to start. "They're a wide bunch, I guess! I make a lot of friends, doing what I do! But my closest, my family..."

He flaps his hands as he speaks, unable to contain his energy.

"They're all just so cool and smart and strong! Luigi is'a so brave, even if he doesn't think he is. Peach is'a so beautiful and so funny and I wish I was even'a half as collected as she is. Even'a Bowser is - he's a pain sometimes, but he always has my back when it matters, and I don't know what I'd do without him - without any of them."

[paladinforhire]

"I know how that feels. I haven't known them as long as some of them have known each other, but I can't imagine anything bad happening to them without being really angry or upset. I think that just means you care about them a lot."

Which is a good thing, even if it's sometimes painful. It's also an Important thing. "It's just really hard when things keep happening. The world keeps going and it's complicated, but you do what you can where you can to keep the people you love safe."

[mamamias]

Mario nods along, grinning. "Mm hmm! I'm normally a pretty easy going guy, but if you hurt my brother, oooh..." He pantomimes throwing fists, then laughs.

"Things never-a stop happening, do they!! It's-a liike it's just one thing after another, over and over again - I'm-a lucky enough that I can tell myself it will always be okay in the end, and know that to be true... but that doesn't-a stop it from being scary."

He gets it, is what he's trying to say. He gets it.

[paladinforhire]

"My friends are basically my family now, but I get it." Gods it's tempting to ruffle this guy's hair. He's too cute. "You don't ever want anything to happen to them."

The things start coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming - "You've got that right. Things always turn out okay with enough determination... but it's still a hard road. But we'll walk that road together."

He nods firmly at Mario. This guy gets it!!!