What am I doing here?

[Judas]

The crown prince must be brutal and merciless when dealing with those that are like the scum of this Earth. There is nothing redeeming about a non-royal. They are barely even human. Among them, you must be the most fierce and strike the deepest form of fear in their hearts. This will separate the prince from the rest of this world. It is through their fear of you that you will lead them to the path of salvation. It is through fear and torture that their souls will be cleansed and become perfect like ours. Remember this, my son.

Judas woke up with a start. He looked around him to realize he had fallen asleep among the bamboo. It was their soothing sound in the afternoon breeze that did him in. It was now nearing nightfall.

Judas stared up at the coloured sky, the coldest face imaginable seemed permanently implanted onto his face. He let out a sigh and looked around. He could not remember the direction from which he came, so he just began to walk.

The night didn't bother him. He actually quite liked the peacefulness of it. He did not fear the wild animals either as it was usually they that feared him. Judas walked as the pitch blackness of night set in. It seemed like he had been walking for close to an hour by the time he heard a sound, another rustle of something in the thicket with him.

He stopped immediately and looked around, trying to see where the rustle was coming from. He did not think another person would dare enter this thicket at this time of the evening as there were some potentially dangerous creatures that would roam the area especially after dark.

Judas stood as still as possible, his eyes watching the rustle that seemed to be approaching him for what might emerge. He slowly pulled out his wand, hiding it beneath his arm until he could see what he was up against so that he would not need to explain if it were in fact a person.

[Duo]

'C'mon Duo, just one more sprint, NO HITTING ANYTHING this time, PLEASE!'

Duo was pretty well-known for his speed and agility, but never for his timing and responsiveness...which is pretty much the reason why he kept bumping into walls and tress and people so many times a day, if he didn't focus. Perhaps focus was his main weak point.

That is why Duo had chosen Bamboo Thicket as the perfect place to possibly enhance his timing and response in evading the bamboos, and with that immense speed of his, this isn't an easy task. The mechanic had bumped his head (and arms and shoulders and legs) into several bamboos already, he had sprinted back and forth from one end of the thicket to the other. From noon, to evening, to night.

This was supposed to be his last round, and he had deftly evaded each and every bamboo in his way, successfully leaping sideways on every tint of green he sees. He had even remember this path after so many sprints across it, so he naturally can tell now when to hop and when to slow down.

His blur of speed then suddenly stopped when...he had stepped over a snake or something. "Ho--" Only a breath of air escaped his lips when he was thrown off balance by the immense speed, hopped on one of his foot to try and regain back his balance point, but then he saw a person-- 'WHAT, A PERSON?!' --yes, a person in front of him.

Immediately, he spun his body sideways, and by that action alone he had managed to rammed onto this figure and slipped pass the person on his side, but only barely. He had, however, banged his shoulder towards a thick bamboo, spun around some more, breaks a few other bamboo sticks, and finally stopped onto a halt a few distance away from that stranger on top of a massive spectacular heaps of broken bamboos.

"...O-ow......"

[Judas]

When he recognized the shape of the shadow quickly approaching him, Judas tucked his wand away hidden. He noticed the person's speed was not letting up much and as it approached very close, Judas managed to move to the side opposite that the other moved to, creating an even greater distance between then as the person flew past.

Judas turned to look in the direction the person had moved and stared at the mass of broken bamboo that led to where the person finally stopped. "What incredible speed" Judas thought for a moment before stepping slowly in the direction of the person, his head held high.

"You there." He started as he approached even closer with a near menacing glare. "You nearly rammed right into me." He said, stating the obvious in an annoyed tone. "You could have possibly hurt me if the collision was not avoided. What do you have to say for your reckless behaviour?" He finished, staring at him with a glare that made it obvious he was looking down on him.

[Duo]

Duo honestly does not want to open his eyes when he was called by that stranger, he just wanted to lay there, not moving a muscle, until he's absolutely sure he can even twitch in this condition. He groaned a bit and then finally opens his eyes.

'Oh great, he's scolding me..' Duo heaved off a sigh, with that voice, the stranger seems fine and unharmed. He doesn't have a good look of the guy, since he's on his back, and all he sees because of the faint light of the moon up there is the silhouette. "Look, I'm sorry. Really, reckless is all I CAN do."

Duo tried to sat up to take a better look of the guy but flinched instead, "Ow, ow! Damn, my spleen.." The mechanic really doesn't have the faintest idea of the human anatomy so he just randomly picked that organ up to complain about, when in truth that part of his body isn't even harmed. It's more like his shoulder actually that really hurts.

"Ugh, whatever. You okay there, right? That was some nice reflexive response there."

[Judas]

Judas continued to glare down at the other who groaned in pain, not caring at all about him. His glared intensified a bit at the boy's pathetic apology. He seemed to be excusing himself from his action by settling himself into a persona that is inescapably reckless at all times.

His eyebrow twitched at him complaining about his spleen. 'Is there no end to this boy's stupidity?' He thought to himself, wanting to smack some sense into the idiot. 'Perhaps if is mind were able to keep up with his body...'

"Luckily for you, I am fine." He said, not responding to the other's comment about his reflexes. 'If his slow and childish mind would grow and be able to keep up with his body... he could be a fearsome opponent.' He liked the idea of using this person in some way as a fighter in the future. His speed was the only thing this pathetic being seemed to be worth anything for.

[Duo]

'Damn that feels cold..' Duo can tell just by the dude's tone of voice how the man generally is. His first impressions of others are usually correct with who they really are...most of the time.

"Lucky indeed.." Duo replied with an almost mocking tone and after making sure his own body is lucky from serious injuries, stood up and dusted himself. "So you here to dump a body or some--" He was letting his tongue loose as he regained back his posture until he gets a clearer look at the guy he almost rammed.

"....thing.." His eyes first landed at the long dark braided hair the man has, and for that split second, felt a pang of jealousy since his own hair is not that smooth and soft. Then he noticed the what the guy's wearing, "Um...dude. Midriff?"

Duo knows for a fact that women believe a bare midriff is rather fashionable, but he never heard of it being adopted in the men's fashion wardrobe. He was silent for a moment, staring at the dude's torso for a long while.

Then, the brunette slowly tore his eyes away to look at his own torso...and suddenly lifted his shirt just to seriously glower at his own stomach. When he looked back at the stranger, it was revealed that his face expression is of deep unsatisfaction.

Actually, Duo looks like he's about to cry.

"How come you have those bumps and I don't?!" And he actually pointed at the other dude's abs.

[Judas]

Judas’ glare intensified at the idiot as he questioned his motives for being in the thicket at night before seeming to mock his choice of attire. He grew increasingly impatient with the other as he noticed him staring at his torso then lifted his shirt, obviously to compare them.

What finally released from the other’s mouth made Judas’ burrows cringe with mental anguish at his idiocy. ”Enough!” He shouted with a glare at the moron before him. ”You may have some potential in your speed but your glaring idiocy is more than intolerable. If you do not wish to fight, then it’s best you be on your way before I stop being so kind as to let you leave after nearly colliding with me a moment ago and now annoying me further with nonsense.”

Judas was not in any mood to punish another or to fight, merely seeking his own solitude until he might reach civilization. He was, however, deadly serious that he intended to inflict a mass of pain on this other should he not back away. Judas would not be so stupid as to turn his back on a stranger, no matter how stupidly harmless they seemed.

He was taught to glare others down to make them leave first; this also enable him to be able to attack the other’s back at will should he desire to do so. It made for good punishment among those in his kingdom who thought they had gotten off the hook from their misdeeds. Many men and women before him were beaten down or killed in this manner when their actions or words had in some way betrayed or offended the royals. Though this was a frequent punishment, it was not nearly their favourite or their most performed mode of punishment.

The main goal of the majority of their punishments was to instill fear in their subjects, so many of these would be held publicly often in the largest courtyard where folk passed frequently. Men and women would be tied to the fencings and lacerated with whips and chains and other torturous objects slowly throughout the day. Some nights filled the city with screaming and moaning from those left there to suffer while hooked up to various devices that would hurt them more the more they moved even an inch.

Judas had no problem with punishing those he felt deserved it, so he would have no problem doing the same to this fool.

[Duo]

At Judas' sudden explosion, Duo literally jumped back in surprise with his hands wide in front of him in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" His hands sort of waved to the front a bit with every 'whoa' that he spluttered, and then cue the stranger's long explanation of how he does things if people annoyed him.

Duo stayed silent for a moment, not moving an inch for a short while save a few blinks of his eyes. He noticed how immensely sharp the glare that was drilling his whole being is, and Duo can't help but to slightly cringed and crease his eyebrows.

"B-but..." he stammered, almost as if asking for permission. "I didn't even managed to apologize properly to you yet." Because his heart overrules his stupidity. "So before I go, can I at least do something, anything, for you?"

Duo expected he could help this guy out a bit, maybe get him a discount in the restaurant he's working on, or deliver something for him for free, or simply treating the dude a meal as an apology.

"That earlier was my fault, and I'm honestly really sorry about that. So, just name it. I can help you out in anything as an apology. What do you need?"

[Judas]

Judas stood tall and stiff, a little on guard but his arms resting along his sides as he stared at the boy with a threatening glare. His glare intensified again at the boy's annoying blabbering then relaxed slightly at his apology. His body never relaxing from his tall, firm stance, he glanced the boy up and down once more.

"You may assist me in finding the way out of this thicket then provide me with dinner." He said in response to Duo's request of doing something in return as apology. Truthfully, he didn't want to spend another minute with this buffoon, but getting a free dinner despite himself being rich enough he figured to be somewhat of an okay trade off. There was one thing, anyhow, about this boy that intrigued him. His speed.

Waiting for the other to take the lead so as not to turn his back on a stranger, he thought perhaps an introduction was in order. "I am Judas Kahim, Royal Prince of Kalhibar." He said firmly, standing tall with that sort of glare still aimed at the other. "Take the lead, peasant, as I will not be turning my back on a stranger."

[Duo]

'Finally! Some cooperation!'

Duo smiled at the dude, and with a nod, accepted to help. "Great! I can do that. I'm hungry, myself.." He added that last part quietly to himself with a pout. Duo was about to turn and lead the way when the guy suddenly introduced himself out of the blue.

With jaws slightly jarred, Duo scrutinized this man in front of him after he had confirmed his name to be Judas and his title as a prince. 'What the hell, is this guy serious..?' With that stance and glare, plus that threatening aura, he didn't seem to be one of those joking type. 'Holy shit, he's serious.'

"N..Nice to meet..you..." It's obvious by Duo's reply that his mind's somewhere else. He's standing before a prince and he has no idea what sort of gesture he should do to a royal. Shaking his head from such thoughts, he guessed being polite is enough.

"Um...kay.." It's not everyday someone addressed him as 'peasant', so Duo turned and began to walk the way back to reach civilization. His whole idea of introducing himself died down, because what benefit would a prince get to know the names of his 'peasants'? It haven't even reached a few minutes until the braided man suddenly said, "Hey, check this out."

And Duo completely turned his whole body to face the prince while walking backwards. He side-stepped to his left, avoiding to hit a bamboo stalk that he didn't even see. Then he jumped backwards, evading to stumble upon a rock. Apparently, training to run back and forth on this exact same path for the past hours has its perks, Duo can remember each and every obstacle this particular path has.

"Careful, snake hole on your left," he warned Judas, moving his feet away from his right to avoid the thing. "I've got my foot stuck in that a few times running through here, eheh." He lightly scratched his cheek, then moved his body with ease through the bamboos without even hitting any single one of them, all while walking backwards.

"Hmm...I should try running backwards for more challenge next time...." He spoke out to himself in a thinking manner, apparently not realizing that he's speaking his mind out loud.

[Judas]

Judas watched the boy carefully as he moved around and took the lead. He followed the boy closely, never taking his eyes off the buffoon. Judas kept his eyes on the boy even as he walked backward, noticing his movements to avoid bamboo that he couldn't possibly have seen behind him. His eyebrows tightened inwards as he examined this boy's ability. Could he sense them or did he really know the layout of this forest just that well, he wondered.

Avoiding the forewarned snake hole without looking at it, Judas remained staring at and scrutinizing this boy. Memory then? He thought after the boy's comment, a bit impressed, though his facial expression never changed from that dominating glare.

Despite this boy being a complete buffoon, Judas was becoming rather impressed by his ability and memory of such a complex natural obstacle course of sorts. He figured if this boy was able to manage running backwards in such a place at a high speed and not run into anything, that would definitely be something impressive.

Despite those thoughts, Judas remained as he was, with a hard, dominant glare staring at the boy as they walked. "What is your name?" He demanded after a bit longer in his strong voice. He normally would not care for a name, but this boy had a talent that intrigued him despite being an idiot.

[Duo]

Duo is so grateful he has this entire thicket to distract himself with from looking at this scary prince. Fear can make him do stupid things, he noticed, such as babbling whatever came out of his mind, limbs becoming highly animated and might just accidentally slap somebody, or worst of all, having Solo unleashed.

Fear is like a call of death for Duo, so he refuses to face it head-on. Especially if there's someone glaring him down the entire time like this. Duo had his eyes downwards, sideways, upwards, anywhere as long as he doesn't face this scary dude.

So when Judas suddenly spoke up, Duo literally jumped. He's starting to appreciate the peace and quiet, save for some cricket sounds. Hence, when Judas's strong voice broke the still air, he accidentally smacked his elbow to a bamboo nearby, then pulled his arm inwards to rub that painful spot.

"M-my name?" Duo asked to make sure he heard it right. "People all over the continent knows me as Duo. So that's my name; Duo." He braved himself to lift his eyes and look at Judas, considering that's the polite thing to do when introducing himself. 'Why on earth is he interested in my name?!' The possibility frightens him so much, Duo decided not to question it.

The second he sees that hardened glare, Duo pulled back his gaze downwards with a wince. "Uh.. I've..never met a royal in person before, so I have no idea how to...refer to them." He had to pause to rethink over his words before saying so, which is a hard feat for the normally spontaneous Duo. "So uh... What should I call you as..?"

'I hope I word that out right...'

[Judas]

Judas watched the boy expectantly for response as Duo questioned him about giving his name. "You go by the name Duo simply because that is what others call you?" Judas questioned with his glare staring the boy down, rather annoyed by such whimsical reasons to accept a name. "If that is not your real name, as your introduction suggests, what is?" He demanded from the boy, disliking various things like nicknames, suffixes and other formalities.

Judas kept his cold glare on Duo as he went on asking what he should call the prince as. "You shall call me Judas." He said after a moment, his glare seeming to deepen a bit. "I despise unnecessary formalities." He said before relaxing his glare back to the cold and dominant one from before.

[Duo]

At the mocking tone Duo detected from this guy's question of his name, Duo surprisingly snapped a comeback, "Hey! I was born from a freaking test tube, without even having a genuine name besides the number labeled on it! I'm happy and content as it is that people called me anything other than digits..!"

His metallic blue eyes flashes maroon for only a short while, and at the disruption in his mind, Duo quickly closed his eyes tightly and inhaled a sharp breath. 'Stay... Stay..calm.. I'm not loosing it...' He had paused his steps as he seemed to be straining his limbs.

He then suddenly hummed a calming tune that sounded a bit broken, as if he's using it to try and calm himself. 'Its fine... I'm not angry... I got my cool... Yea its all cool.. I can.."[/b] His ragged breathing then finally returned to its normal pace, and the beads of sweat around his forehead had also decreased.

'..I got it.'[/i]

Opening back his eyes, Duo let out a calming breath and looked back up at Judas, now somehow with less fear since he doesn't feel that jittery anymore. "I'm sorry I'm not lucky enough to even have a name. So just simply call me Duo, please. And I beg of you, Judas, please don't anger me."

Especially now, since he can hear Solo quite loudly with how recently angry he was, but Duo tries his best to repress it down.

The man can probably tell Duo has issues now, so Duo briskly turned his back on him so he could walk normally and began pacing. If he were less pissed off, Duo could probably catch behind Judas's last statement of hating formalities as a hint that he has issues too, but alas.

Duo in a bad mood is a rare Duo indeed.[/color]

[Judas]

Judas' eyebrows cinched inwards slightly at Duo's comeback. From a test tube? He thought, curiously, having never heard of such things before. He inwardly felt a sense of pity towards a person who grew up without a name, but such feelings were unbecoming of a royal prince of Kalhibar. Because of this, Judas outwardly remained uncaring and maintained his dominant glare.

When the colour in the boy's eyes changed, Judas noticed the change immediately. His eyebrows cinched inwards a bit again in curiousity. His glare deepened in annoyance again, however, when he heard the nameless boy called Duo begin to hum. He noticed the slight breaks in the tune, unsure of what was going on within the boy, but his annoyed glare remained.

When the boy finally opened his eyes again, Judas noticed immediately that he seemed a bit more comfortable than when they first set off. His annoyed glare relaxed to his usual dominant glare at this, though his curiousity of the boy grew. "Very well then, Duo." Judas replied in his dominant voice in response to his asking he simply call him Duo.

At Duo's next statement, Judas' glare increased a bit again, almost feeling as though such a statement was meant as a challenge. Usually, when telling someone not to anger them, it means that they do not want to hurt the other, so Judas felt immediately annoyed at such a request. Instead of remarking on his statement, however, Judas chose a different observation to question.

"What caused the change in your eye colour just before from blue to maroon?" He asked in his dominant voice, cutting straight to the point.