First time? (Yoshiko/Arianda)

Minatumi... This place may not have gone to shit, but it certainly was not the pleasant place it was before. The mayor had long since passed, her protective energy no longer fueling the bastion that could have been Minatumi. It was depressing to see it like so. It was no longer so bright. It still shone, still shimmered... but the bright sparkle no longer danced in the lights of the eyes of the citizens. It truly was sad to have lost such a city. But, perhaps, it was destined to be. Ulv, Mirja... They both put others before themselves, even her own safety and well being; even sanity. Always others, always. Perhaps it was her way of making up for the issues of the past, making up for the ways she had failed as Mirja. Whatever it was... Ulv did not deserve the death she was dealt. However, Ari was not about to cry over spilt milk. Both of them were okay with their deaths, in some manner of speaking, and both never seemed to regret. Ari still managed to take care of that regret part. For, the demon truly did loath what became of this once grand city.

So much so, on a trip to retrieve more valuables and trinkets from her old house, her old mansion, Ari found herself wandering the city streets instead. It was an impulse, a habit. Ari had always loved to wander. It let her mind wander where it needed, helped her find places she needed to, and it especially helped the demon truly reach decisions when she needed to; simply, it helped her think. Such a wandering was how she first met Mirja, the woman whose essence was transferred to the test-tube Ulv upon her death. A strange world, really. Eventually, the demon found herself in an area of the city that seemed to have fallen to some certain realm of thugs. And, as if to prove Ari's observation, she spotted a small group of street thugs partially surrounding, and hassling, a girl; or perhaps a woman. Whichever, she was dressed finely, and far out of their league even if they were kind men. However, the sight... it enraged Arianda beyond all physical and mental belief. Ulv's been dead for no more than a few months, if that, and thugs were already on the streets.

The demon grit her teeth, walking toward the men as she whipped a small pair of scissors from a pocket in her skirt. She spun them by the eye of the handle. With each revolution, the scissors grew, and grew, until she held a pair of scissors that were easily five feet wide. With a practiced arm, and practiced aim, she threw the scissors like a spear; which they were not. It was fast, probably faster than even the woman being accosted could see, but it impacted right in front of the lead thug's foot; and sent the man back scrambling. It was, in all honesty, not a very powerful throw. It was intimidation, not obliteration; she wanted to send a message, not separate the man's big toe. Then, she drew closer, and the man's compatriot's turned on Ari with wolfish grins. But, they were facades for the fear that likely played upon their beings. Or they were just stupid.

"REALLY? JUST BECAUSE ULV IS GONE YOU THINK YOU FUCKERS CAN JUST WALTZ IN AND TAKE OVER? HUH?"

Clearly, of the five, Ari was the least coolheaded. She was pissed. Ulv, essentially sacrificing herself to keep this city safe every day, and these bastards want to trample over her memory. The demon drew closer, and Yoshiko would see Ari's form a bit better. She was short, just a little over five feet. Red cloak, red hair, and in fact even her black hair was highlighted by red. Could seem like her favorite color at this rate. But, she wore boots that worked surprisingly well with the outfit, and looked flexible despite how most boots could be; especially ones that halfway up the shin. Silver eyes that shone with rage, and, not to mention, a strange energy, if Yoshiko could feel it of course, that the woman could not pinpoint unless she had prior experience with demons.

Soon, Arianda drew closer, not even flinching as the Thugs essentially tried to intimidate her with switchblades and even what seemed to be a hunting knife; rather nice length too. Not like any of those could honestly hurt her. She yanked her scissors out of the ground with obvious ease, and gently placed them against the concrete, holding the weapon by one of the handles. However, she simply stood there, glaring at the men, making no attempt to harm them, only intimidate. She faced the trio before her, her back to the girl as her cloak ruffled in the wind gently.

"How about you three twats piss off before I show you what Ulv might've done with thugs like you, hm? Or is one of you brave enough to try me?"

Clearly, Ari was acting foolish, she was pissed; and she wanted to send a message. Unfortunately, for him, the one with the hunting knife dashed forwards and aimed a stab at Ari's abdomen. Arianda blinked at him, avoiding was easy, but, instead, she shifted the position of her organs and let the man stab her; the blade piercing all the way through her stomach. Frankly speaking, even the woman behind her might now be concerned, because she could see the blade poking out of Ari's back thanks to the convenient gust of wind that blew her cloak aside to show the blade piercing through; right above her left hip. However, Arianda didn't even flinch. She simply grabbed the hand of the man in front of her, the hand that was gripping the knife, and made him bury it to the hilt. She sneered at him as he looked at Ari in clear fear. She was injured and blood was indeed leaking out of the wound made by the knife, but she was standing, and, worst of all, she wasn't even acting in pain.

"What a brave soul~ Perhaps I'll let you off with a broken arm~"

Arianda growled at the man, gave him a flash of her true eyes, blue, demonic, and let go of the man's hand; but not before swiftly, and minorly, fracturing his wrist. He ran away, screaming in fear and some unknown pain, his knife forgotten about in Ari's abdomen, hell, even Ari forgot about it. His friends soon followed, wholly frightened by the woman who took a knife, might be something beyond their wildest imaginations, and likely could cut them in half with those scissors, and Ari turned towards the woman behind her with a careful smile; her silver eyes still quite the same despite what she had shown the man before. Before she spoke, she carefully shrunk the scissors and stowed them away.

"Are you alright? It sickens me to know that Minatumi has people like them now... Thugs with no regard for others, just for theft, and likely for drugging women. They're lucky Ulv isn't here to... Anyway, you look a little lost, in all truth... Need some help around? I used to live here before well, the Mayor passed away. Long story..."

Arianda gave her a smile once again, still having forgotten about the knife that was piercing through the left side of her abdomen, which was causing a small trail of blood down her clothes, and leg, and likely a few droplets here on there on the ground. It might be unnerving, but... if this woman was able to speak so calmly to those three thugs, it's likely she was no normal woman to boot.

Perhaps Arianda was being reckless and barbaric right now. She was pissed off. Some thugs were dishonoring Ulv’s name. Even if Ulv was a bit of a shit, she didn’t deserve to have HER city polluted by thugs and miscreants. So much so was Arianda’s recklessness from her white hot rage, she completely forgot about the knife piercing through her side. At least, until she felt liquid trickling down her ankle.

Out of everything she had done earlier, this was probably more surprising than the sudden display of force earlier. Arianda squeaked into an audible ‘eep!’ as the demon swiftly whipped off her left boot and stood on her one still booted foot. The demon grumbled softly, yanking the knife out of her side with obvious ease and lack of care for how the flesh tore from the knife being yanked back out in such a way. However, instead of bleeding out, the bleeding completely ceased as Arianda regenerated from the wound in moments. She touched the wound gently, to make sure she had stopped the bleeding before returning her internal organs to their normal positions; once the tissue was not damaged. Eventually, the demon used a very quick, mumbled, spell to remove the blood from her clothes; thereby removing the risk of getting blood in her boot. Eventually, Ari let out a gentle sigh and slipped her boot back on, doing her best to wipe off what little dirt and dust had gotten on her skirt. Eventually, the demon gave Yoshiko a warm smile.

The demon was far different now than she was earlier. Hell, even the hole in the left side of, what looked like a corset, she was wearing no longer had a hole in it; which may be a tiny bit surprising. Such careless and such a barbaric nature seemed to be more born out of the brief rage and anger than Ari’s actual nature. Not to mention, Ari was being quite nice; not barbaric or rude. She was just being cordial and seemed to know her way around words a bit too well.

“Well, if you’re curious about the history of this once illustrious harbor town, then perhaps I can satisfy that curiosity. I’m Arianda Vael, it’s nice to meet you~”

The demon gave another warm smile before she briefly returned to her clothes, paying extra attention to her cloak to make sure blood didn’t get spattered on it. Eventually, however, the woman before her asked a question that sat the hair on the back of Ari’s neck on end.

Indeed, she did not answer. For the time being. She simply looked at the woman who asked such an intimate question and gave her a melancholy smile. Afterwards, however, the demon resumed caring for her appearance before she finally spoke once again.

“Let’s just say that Ulv was a dear friend. But, nevermind that. I was just heading to my old house to collect some belongings I had left behind. Just ended up wandering along the way. It’s been a while since I’ve been here. The state may not be bad, but it saddens me to see thugs on the streets.”

After one more quick look over her clothes to check for dirt, and blood, and taking the knife that was in her side earlier, she gave the woman a warm smile once again and gestured her head in the general direction of her old home.

“Come if you like. May as well tell someone not from Minatumi how this place used to be. Maybe I can treat you to the better parts of Minatumi later as well. Some of the old joints should still be around…”

If Yoshiko was willing, the demon would lead the woman to her house all while playing with the knife she had essentially won from that little encounter. Perhaps she would keep it, perhaps not. It was something to decide. But in the meanwhile, the demon simply lead Yoshiko towards what hopefully still remained the nicer part of Minatumi.