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Misa	It's a bright, sunny afternoon in the outskirts of Great Forks. Quiet, too- most people are in the midst of business or spectating the grand spectacle that is currently underway. And yet, there's at least one traveller at this particular moment. For all that she's normally not an especially hurried woman- Misa certainly moves quickly today. Her small dojo and, at this point, home is a goodly ways away from Great Forks- almost straight west until one hits the river running south-to-north, past the drug fields and even farther. As a competitor in the grand tournament that is underway, she's a little short at time- which may explain why the woman moves at a speed just shy of what would be a dead sprint for most regular people. Curiously, doesn't seem to be tiring her much. Or causing much of a bother in general- barely even squinting in the opposed wind.
Tiziri	Meanwhile, another young woman, this one dressed in desert robes like from the southlands is sitting at a teahouse on the side of the road. She is holding the cup in both her hands a little below her nose to let the steam waft up and even near veil her face. Before her, on the table, a spread of various small dishes to eat along with the food is arrayed. She seems pretty happy in her repose, though on noticing the one running in the distance she ends up tilting her head a bit, and even reaching up to remove her veil just a bit to reveal some hair. It helps make her a bit more easy to recognize most likely.
Ignis	Fate? Coincidence? Luck? All of the above? These things are certainly at play as Ignis makes his way by horseback in the direction of Misa?s dojo. His intent is, perhaps, a touch more straight forward. Checking in on a colleague as it?d been some time since he was last in Great Forks to observe the spectacle that is the Congregation of Victory. CIrcumstances....well..'work'..has had him traveling. His steps cutting him deeper into the buried secrets of the east and of The Hundred Kingdoms in particular. Somehow, one way or another, Great Forks continues to pull him back. A city of splendor and rightfully named Decadence, it?s not hard to guess why though he?s positively milquetoast compared to others who indulge themselves. It is thus on this route that he espies the sprinting form of Misa, dashing away at speeds that others would find quite alarming no doubt. "What in the world..?" is about all he can get out before redirecting his horse in that direction and as such towards said Teahouse.
Misa	It seems the hurry has not quite dulled Misa's senses- it's not hard to hear a shoed horse making its way down the road and all the easier when it's pointed straight at you. She shifts to the side of the road in a smooth motion even as she slows and turns to look over her shoulder. A strange quirk of the brow as she recognizes the figure on it by coincidence. Perhaps an even stranger one, when she recognizes that in her position adjacent to this teahouse, she sees a second familiar face at this curious timing and in this random locale. She pauses a moment- she raises a hand to about shoulder-height for Ignis's sake before turning on her heel. "May I say I was not expecting the familiar faces- I had merely meant to return home and collect an item to hand off for a meeting regarding a prior investigation of mine," she comments to the other woman in mildly amused tones
Tiziri	The woman with the tea? She's not moving. Horse or not coming towards her. It's like she's confident it won't matter or something. Or maybe she's just confident she can get out of the way? Who can truly know but her? The woman at the teahouse looks between Misa and Ignis for a moment too, then just sips her tea. Before she gets a wan smile on her face and says, "Quite an entrance." She a soft giggle, and a tilt of her head. "But the beverage is good, the food is excellent. So if you'd like to sit, please." She gestures towards the seats at her table. "And encountering unexpected familiar faces is one of the joys of any day, or perhaps terrors in some case."
Ignis	"You did seem in quite the hurry there. I was on my way to see you actually." notes Ignis, offering Misa a smile but looking mildly amused at it all. "I was returning to Great Forks after some business elsewhere and looking to catch up. How's the tournament going for you.." He brings his horse around and then after settling it, slips off easily and hopes back down to its side, patting its sides gently as his attention returns to Tiziri and Misa.. "And hello again to you as well. I'm afraid I've still not built up tolerance to spices from the deepest south, mind you."
Misa	"I, by contrast, was at the mentioned tournament grounds," says Misa in return, shrugging slightly. "I simply had an appointment to keep and an item to retrieve for it. I thought it best to move quickly to keep monitoring the arena- but perhaps I can wait a few moments," she suggests, looking between the two for a moment. "Shall I take it the two of you have shared a meal before?" she asks, mouth quirking to the side in a wry, if small and difficult to notice smile. "I should hope you did not permanently scar our friend here, Tiziri."
Tiziri	Tiziri giggles a little bit at the statement from Ignis. "Fret not. This is purely local fair. Far more focused on the sweet and savory. While the tea proper is a wonderful jasmine blend that I'm loving." Tiziri then looks over towards Misa and says, "Aye. Though in this case I fear I got him to try something a bit too spicy for his tastes. Something I thought wasn't terribly bad, but I am from the Southeast, and even back home I liked spicier than usual." She giggles some more before looking a bit more somber, "I do feel bad about it, I was hoping the flavor was enough, and perhaps the heat wouldn't be so bad."
Ignis	"Hah. Don't feel too bad. I brought that on myself. I should stop trying to impress people by throwing myself in harms way. I suppose next time I'll attempt eating something seasoned with lava or the like." laughs Ignis. He then folds his arms and says with a gesture for Misa, "She and I have met a few times and discussed some things. Actually I believe I first met her when exploring the excavation site some distance from here. Imagine my surprise to learn, later, that the two of you have even sparred before. Honestly Misa, how is it that we've yet to cross blades to learn from each other and now you're a rising star in the arena?" Ignis smirks a little bit, running his hands through his hair as his smirk turns into a mild grin, "Should I be jealous?" He glances between them both now, "How goes the tourhament? You're doing some investigative work despite fighting in it? You work quickly.."
Misa	"I lead a very rich and fulfilling life?" posits Misa to the question of why the two haven't sparred. "Or perhaps because you seemed to always appear during that odd period of time when every visitor was part of a flurry of two or three, and each of them would inevitably be rather more than just some random passerby. Such are the fates at times, one must suppose. A look back at Tiziri as she considers the thought. "I do sometimes miss more southern fare, admittedly- I spent considerable portions of my life in the southeast, not far from the Dreaming Sea. Rather more of it there, than here."
Tiziri	"I'm pretty sure lava is pretty gross. Rahter like eating sand." Tiziri quips back to Ignis. "Spicy sand, admittedly. But still sand." Her smile includes her nose crinkling up a bit too. "I know many people of course, wandering, drinking, reveling, the likes? It all brings you in contact with them. So I should perhaps be less of a surprise knowing her than you knowing us both." She notes. Then to Misa Tiziri tilts her head and asks? "Really? Where abouts? I've been along a lot of the coast at least, well, at least the parts that were safe enough to travel and trade in. There's certainly some places best to avoid." She rambles a bit, then uses her eating sticks to pick up a green onion top to eat, the vegetable glistening with the brown sauce it was fried with.
Ignis	"A rich and fulfilling life. I suppose that's -one- way to put it." considers Ignis, arms folded now. "And yes..your 'dojo' seems a certified nexus of interesting people and encounters. Have you considered upgrading it? Surely you've got the clout now to consider a private venue closer to or in the city itself at this point... Especially with the competition happening? There's something to be said for the quiet solitude though. I dont' begrudge your choice to be here whatsoever but I do wonder if you might claim even more students with a more visible training facility?" He then gestures absently to Tiziri and adds, "As to all of that....you are quite right but this is hardly a city of just...fifteen or even a hundred people and a city of revelers at that. So the odds are still fairly high. Nevertheless....we all seem to be about beating the odds so you're right. Perhaps I should not be surprised.."
Misa	"Ah- in Prasad. Largely around Kamthahar, specifically," Misa answers to Tiziri, bowing her head a moment. And in fact, on the mention a familiar ear might hear more than a little of the Prasadi accent in her speech. She shrugs a little. "A lifetime ago now, really." "That is more or less it- I rather like the quiet from people and the sounds of the river and the like. I need no particular extravagance- though you are certainly welcome to spread word -for- me if you are concerned for my base of students," she answers of Ignis, that touch of wry smile returning a moment.
Tiziri	"It may be large, but we've already been shown to frquent the same circles. That is point number one. Point number two is we stand out for not being locals. Point three? We recognize each other now and that helps us find the patterns our minds like to see. Perhaps someone you see in the distance isn't, in fact, someone you recognize, but in truth someone that looks similar? You still think you saw your acquaintance until you ask and find out it wasn't." Tiziri notes in a sagely tone before sipping her tea again. "Regardless, all of these factors do make it far more likely, no matter the place, that we should see each other. It would remain true even if we had all decided independant to visit the Imperial City, or Gem." "Prasad is a wonderful assault on the senses." Tiziri responds with remembrance. "Everything there is. The colors, the smells, the tastes, the sounds. Just wonderful." She adds, then she says, "My own home? not so much. " She giggles. "But we're a lot further south."
Ignis	"Well then. Consider myself educated, from one wanderer who well understands the pattern behind the movement of people and their connections....to another who should know better." Ignis then quiets, considering the descriptiono f one of the civilizaitons of the southeast and he nods his head, "I'm afraid such wonders are ones I've yet to see. Nexus, I know all to well as I do the sprawling empty lands and ruins dotted the east. Perhaps one day I'll make my way to the lands of the Dreaming Sea but...likely not soon. We have mutual friends that have been though. I understnad the trip was...fascinating."
Misa	An outright- not even subdued- smirk from Misa at Tiziri's description. "I see you spent your time under the auspices of Clan Ophris to some degree," she says with a still-quiet chuckle. "I have never been quite that far south- at least not yet. Perhaps someday." A glance back to Ignis as he comments on the mutual friends. "It can certainly be. Coastlines that do not remain as you saw them first alone will do that to a person."
Tiziri	"It is indeed fascinating." Tiziri agrees. "Though how wondrous may depend where you come from. To someone like me, from near there? This place is a place of absolute fascination too. A different sort, but wonders all the same." R Tiziri finishes up a plate of some of the meat with her eating sticks. Then takes another sip of tea. "So much is relative, when you think of it. So much may be fascinating, if you but wish to see it as such. That's what makes it so wonderful." She looks pointedly towards Misa then, and asks, "May I inquire what it is you investigate? Perhaps something related to ears where they should not be? Or something else entirely?"
Ignis	"It is. Relative that is." confirms Ignis, "However I will say that from my understanding...Great Forks is paticularly unique in its own way. One can say that one massive city is as good as another and of course Nexus has its own....unique attributes..but a city ruled by gods seeking dominion here in Creation itself and the denizens that come forth such as those seeking the gift of the Exigence let alone...other chosens? That is a particular special bit of...spectacle." Ignis shrugs and moves back to his horse, "Which I suppose is why I'm so often drawn back but I fear that soon..I may have reason to base my operation elsewhere even though I return here often."
Misa	A quirk of the brow. "I investigate quite a number of things. My specialty is in the doings of less-savoury cults of questionable gods or non-deities. This was... simpler. Missing funds, I left a ledger at the dojo," answers Misa simply. "A new homestead, perhaps? Or something else in mind? Creating one of those unsavoury Nexus guilds, perhaps?"
Tiziri	Tiziri leaves some money on the table as she nods to Misa. "Interesting. Sorry if it was a surprise. Of course, ledgers and missing funds are interesting too." She nods. "I wish you luck, and definitely looking forward to seeing how you do in the tournament." She grins in an almost feral sort of way. Her fist moving to her palm in a bow. "Feel free to have the rest of the food. I have an appointment to read an interesting rare text about a cartographer who travelled near my home in the contagion, I'm curious what may have changed!" She says excitedly. Then to Ignis she says, "I hope you find some further reason to stay as well. As I said, and you did, this is a spectacle. The tournament alone just the latest in many. It's really what keeps me here when in the past I can rarely stay long in a place without feeling the call to move onwards."
Ignis	"I don't plan on leaving anytime soon and if I did I doubt my business would keep me from coming back. Things are afoot." Ignis once more takes to his horse and deftly pulls it away after a second or two of settling upon it. "For now, I bid you all farewell. Perhaps I'll see you both in the arena soon. Misa?" He grins a little at her, "Make me rich." He winks and then turns, beginning to head back towards the city at a brisk pace.