No Place For a Beggar [OPEN]

It was nothing but a regular day in London, the city bustling with life under the watchful eye of Shadow Fall. People were going on their business, going to their jobs, staring strait in the void between people or intensely in the ground. There was noise all around, though, mostly it was from cars, the rushing wind or people foot steps. It was hard to hear any human voices.

The day wasn't too sunny, gray, heavy clouds covering the sky and letting in little light. Those were the days, when begging went hard. People were in bad mood and they payed even less attention on the small blanket on the road next to Sam. He was sitting on his little bench for few hours already, about five or six, and no one had even as much, as slowed their pace near the old man. He too didn't feel too positive in this crap time, more because of the cold of the people, rather than the lack of sunlight, but the man tried to keep a positive way of thinking. Depression wouldn't help him at all in the state he was.

Two hours past and no one, but a local cop came to him. It was an law enforcer, who had daily patrols on this street and he came to get his "tax" for turning a blind eye. Something obvious in a town ruled by evil incarnated. The Danava still didn't know what to think of the creature ruling the land. He had heard stories, but nothing beyond that. As he heard she was some kind of goddess, but it didn't seem she relied on worship as the man did.

Finally something of a stroke of luck happened and a little beam of light escaped through the clouds and shone down on the gray city. Colors became brighter, mood was drastically lifted all around and Sam could visibly see how the pace of the people slowed down, them enjoying the sudden spell of warmth. Of course, there were those who still seemed as depressed, if not even more. He guessed they were those of the demon race, but couldn't be completely sure.

With the light shinning down people got lot more calmer. They started to notice the poor, old, black man, hunched by the weight of years on the street. They threw coins in his old, worn top-hat, but didn't take their time to look at the little luck tokens he had crafted. As it went on Old Sams mood became gloomier and gloomier, as, while money was all good, his real need was of, at least little, worship. Belief. It was needed as much, as air or water. But it seemed there will be none today.

At least it seemed so.

After the incident in Mexico any other, regular person would probably swear off traveling permanently. However, that ridiculous situation had the opposite effect on Yian Yijun. Something had been awoken in him, a feeling of wanting for thrills and excitement that his life always seemed to have a distinct lack of. Instead of that life or death situation closing him off to the world, he was now more ready than ever to see and experience new things. It was for this reason when his bosses at Nidzen Corporation requested he travel to London, England for a meeting with a potential business partner he agreed almost immediately.

Today Kai found himself walking along the quiet, gloomy streets of downtown London in the city of Westminster. The hustle and bustle of humans and demons alike between the grey brick buildings hundreds of years old seemed to dispel the myth Kai had been raised to believe of Shadowfall land being not only desolate, but Hell-like. It was due to this he had initially been surprised with the idea of a business connection being here in the United Kingdom's ancient capital, but having already been here for a few days it wasn't really that ridiculous to him anymore.

Though the city itself wasn't that dangerous, Kai was still distrustful of the people living within it. Having limited experience with demons meant the young man was still quite nervous around them, so he kept his head down and stayed quiet to avoid any conflicts. He might be looking for a thrill, but that didn't mean he was hoping to get into a life or death situation. The ray of light peaking through the heavy clouds far above his head did surprise Kai a bit as the entire time he'd been in London grey skies was the only weather he had experienced.

Noticing some people perk up a bit at the new light, Kai himself grew happier with his surroundings. It was about this time when his eyes became trained upon a dark-skinned man huddled over on a nearby bench, quite clearly homeless and downtrodden. Having a long track record of trying to help people in this man's situation as often as possible, Kai, in his peculiar dark green suit indicative of his personal wealth, walked up to the man and introduced himself. "Hey there, I'm Kai. Is there anything I can get you?"

Old Sam followed people. More precisely, his eyes followed them. Big, small, tall, short, different sizes, shapes, colors and races bustled pass the black man. It was not until a particular, well dressed man came up to the Danava. He seemed a tad bit odd, but hell, Old Sam wasn't normality himself. Fuck it, who was in this hell bent world of theirs. Monsters fighting monsters, old gods forced to beg on the streets just to survive and wars being waged on the moon. No, strange was normal and nothing was truly strange. Or maybe everything was strange, but Samedi had just gotten used to it. The man really couldn't tell anymore.

With this going through his mind Old Sam gave his big, wide smile and in a hoarse, but warm voice replied to the young man.
"Oh, no need to worry 'ya self about these old bones of mine! Just selling 'tha things over here." The man pointed his bony finger to the blanket next to him, the bone, feather and twig trinkets being lit by the afternoons bright sun rays.
"May'be wanna take someth'ng for 'ya lady, momma or 'yaself? Made them ma'self. Just like 'ma own mama did. Best quality! Plus, carries good juju, if used right!"

With that the voodoo god took a clean, paper white bone shard, decorated with green and blue feathers and attached to a base of a pin. If one looked carefully enough, symbols were carved in the bone, small as foot-steps of an ant.
"Ya seem nice! Nice enough, so me give 'ya this fo' now. Put some whisky out ta' window when sun sets. He likes that. And good things will happen to 'ya then. If ya' then happy, come back and tell me. Maybe bring a smoke or two. Entertain the old man. Watcha say, hmm?" Samedi looked directly at Kai with his hazel-brown, almost blind eyes, the bony arm stretched out, the small amulet pin laying in his wrinkled palm, a smile stretching through his whole face.

Kai appreciated that despite his apparent misfortune, the older man he was speaking to seemed to have been able to maintain a warm voice and a smile on his face. In his experience the homeless tended to unfortunately suffer from mental deficiencies of some kind like PTSD, un-diagnosed autism, or severe depression. The fact this man was able to seemingly stay positive was an inspiration to Kai who had never had to deal with such a living situation.

His eyes glanced over at the odd objects sitting on a blanket a few feet away from himself. The materials used to make them were easily identifiable which made the trinkets that much stranger given one was made of bone. When Sam said they carried "good juju", a smile spread across Kai's usually stern face. It isn't that he thought the little objects or the old man were dumb, it was more like he was just amused by the idea of good luck. To him luck didn't exist, only hard work and determination. Kai lived his life by these two virtues.

"I think I'll pass on those, thanks though. Just not really my cup of tea." When the old man spoke again, this time offering a different trinket to the Chinese stranger, a small object made of bone and feathers was in the palm of his open hand. It would be rude not to accept it... he thought to himself. With this in mind Kai took the trinket from the old man's hand and placed it in the left inner pocket of his suit jacket gently so as to not damage it. Then he reached out with his right hand and held it so the destitute beggar could shake it. "By the way I don't think I caught your name."

Samedi very well understood the green suited man and his attitude to the trinkets on the offer. Many, if not all people of today, didn't believe in such things as luck, miracles or higher forces. It was funny, seeing what ruled most of the world, but probably a mad demon queen was something easier to believe then a good thing to happen just because you believed. Of course, Old Sam didn't speak his thoughts loud, afraid to offend this Kai person. Instead he just smiled back at him, putting his convincing aside for another day, if it ever happens, that is.

Though, it did improve the old voodoo gods mood quite a lot, when the Chinese man took the bone charm from him. It was a bit odd that he was so interested in the old man, but, hey, maybe the guy was just a good soul, as hard, as it is to imagine in this gods forsaken universe. Anyhow, Old Sam grabbed the guys hand and gave it a firm shake, while talking,
"Me just old man, so call me Old Sam. That what all who care call me." After releasing the mans hand Sam moved his fingers so they would snap and crack.
"Sorr' about that! Thes' old bones of mine get rusty time to time now days."

Suddenly next to both of them a young women stood. Dark skinned, though, not as much, as Samedi, it was obvious she was young and really tired. Black circles were obvious under her eyes and the formal business women's outfit made it quite clear why. As she saw Kai with Sam it was obvious surprise in her face, even if it stayed only for a second or two. Samedi spoke to this girl, his smile becoming even warmer than before,
"Mary, you come today too? Hun, you too sweet for this old, old man. Shouldn't you go home, tho'? I see you had all-night job again." There was actual concern in the voodoo gods face, which made the lady, Mary, even lightly blush.

It quickly faded, though, as she turned to Kai, obviously intimidated by his well off appearance.
"I apologize, if I intruded. Just wanted to drop off this." The girl put down a white plastic bad next to the mans feet, speaking to Samedi,
"I'm fine, Sam. Just gonna go home and sleep. Actually, it was a good day. I even earned a bonus, a big one. Can I, actually, get another bracelet. The purple feathered one, maybe?" Sam simply nodded, so she took the bracelet from the trinkets, revealing one already around her wrist. Afterwards she gave a quick goodbye to both men and left for home, her frame soon merging with the flow of people on the street.
"Nice girl, that one! Nice to an old bones like me. Nice." The mans stare a bit drifted away, before returning to Kai.
"So, what ya' doing in this low part of the town?"

Despite his age, Sam seemed to still have a strong, firm handshake. To himself, Kai thought "Old Sam" was a bit of a strange nickname for a man in the middle of Westminster's bustling streets to have but he didn't say anything out of fear of offending the kindly individual. Instead he kept his thoughts to himself even as the apparently homeless man cracked his knuckles just from the handshake they'd just shared, which seemed a bit deceptive. In fact, the thought of this being's appearance belying an identity either more sinister or just outright unknown kept creeping back into the front of Kai's mind. He continued ignoring the urge to back away or inquire further in case he was wrong, but the young man had always been able to trust his instincts so this was a very odd situation he'd found himself in.

Suddenly Kai noticed the appearance of another stranger, this time a youthful member of the opposite sex adding even more strangeness to this happenstance meeting. He was silently shocked at how abruptly she had shown up, somehow avoiding Kai's peripheral vision. As Kai watched and listened to the two interact, his right hand reached up and scratched the top of his head. He was a tad uncomfortable loitering here, especially since it was a woman who'd shown up. In business situations and competitive environments they didn't bother him at all and Kai had no issue speaking at length with women, but this instance was neither so his own awkwardness was apparent.

Glancing at the bag Mary had dropped off, Kai's curiosity almost got the better of him as he considered asking what was in it but knew better. His parents had instilled many values in him, one of which was politeness, the exact opposite of being rudely nosy. Kai continued to stand silently as Sam handed the woman a trinket she'd asked for, after which she promptly made her exit and proceeded on her way. When Sam turned back to Kai to inquire about what brought him here, he smiled politely and responded. "Well I'm only in this country for work, but right now I don't really have anything to do so I'm just sort of....wandering. What uh, what about you? Any particular reason you're in this specific spot?"