Yorick wandered around the festival seeking his friends, as he did so recieving strange glances from the surrounding people. His bulky lupine form was a sharp contrast to his opulent and decorative clothing. Yorick, however, wasn't aware of this contrast so he couldn't figure out why people were staring. He continued his search, constantly getting distracted by interesting games, items, food, and other events that filled the festival grounds. He only wished he was with someone like Allister or Luthas who could explain it to him.
Continuing to wander, Yorick happened upon a gathering of people in front of a large stretch of empty land. Many of them were werewolves like himself, but there were all sorts of other Youkai, many that he didn't recognize. He was curious about the numbers many of them wore over their chests. He wondered if he should be with all these other Werewolves, but he didn't remember being told that any of these events were mandatory. He needed an explanation.
Walking around the festival soon began to bore Kotetsu. So far, he hadn't found any competitions that sparked his interests. He continued to walk until he noticed a large number of Werewolves around what seemed to be some tracks. Maybe it was a competition? He approached one of them.
"Excuse me but would you be so kind as to tell me what's going on here?"
The Werewolf looked at him with a smile. "We're holding a race with some werewolves now. Would you want to join?"
He thought for a second and decided to give it a go. "Sure, put me in." He then transformed into his Youkai form for the race.
Yorick saw another Werewolf approach the group and ask one of the other Werewolves the question in his own mind. So this was a race? That didn't make any sense. Races were something that attributed to people. He pulled out his dictionary from his bag to try and find another definition for "race", but he was interrupted by the same Werewolf that had explained things to the newcomer.
"What about you, you wanna join?"
Yorick looked at him for a moment before concluding that if he joined, he would figure out what this race was, so he nodded in agreement. "Hello, I am Yorick Amherst Lee, and this event intrigues me. Could you explain it?"
"Well, it's just a regular race. Not much else too it, really." He turned to address both him and the newcomer. "I'll just write you two in, and here's your numbers." He then handed both of them a number. Imitating the people around him, Yorick stuck the "28" on his chest. The supervising wolf then left them, leaving Yorick's question unanswered. The other boy seemed to know all about it, though.
Yorick walked over to the other boy. "Hello, I am Yorick Amherst Lee. Can you explain this 'race' to me?"
Kotetsu looked as a boy approached him and introduced himself. "Hello, I am Kotetsu but just call me Tetsu." An explanation for the race? Well how to tell the boy he had none? "Actually, it's just a normal race with people running against each other in order to get the first place. Ever heard of a normal race?"
"People running? What is this first place they have to get to? Why are they going there?" It was nice to finally have someone to answer his questions, but as usual, answers brought about more questions.
Tetsu smiled at the boy, it seemed like he never heard of the term race before. "Yes, people run against each other to see who's the fastest among them. The first place is the sign of victory."
Yorick rubbed his chin pensively, something he'd seen Luthas do. He wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of it was, but he presumed it probably helped a person think. "I see. So it is sort of like a game, correct? And you win by reaching this sign the fastest? But if the sign is the first place, are there other signs representing the second and third places, and so on? But then why would only reaching the first sign grant victory? Hmm..." By this point, Yorick knew all he needed to know about this race, but nowhere near all he wanted to know.
Even more questions from the other Youkai. Was he really that ignorant about races and competitions in general? Sure they weren't popular among Youkai but still... "I didn't mean sign literally, I meant that it shows you won the race." He really hoped the boy would get his point.
Yorick stared at the other boy for a moment before letting out an understanding "Oh." Now he was confused as to where they needed to run to, but before he could ask the other boy more questions there was a loud voice that made an announcement.
"Contestants, the race will begin shortly. Move to your starting places and prepare to begin."
The other contestants moved to one place on the empty land and began to form a line. Yorick decided he should just follow, so he moved in the line next to a three-eyed Youkai on a horse. Nearby, Yorick noticed another Werewolf talking to who he assumed were his friends. The wolf was gesturing towards Yorick and saying, "Hey guys, check out fancypants over there. Think that Lord Woofington the Third can run?" Yorick figured that they must have confused him with someone else, a person named Lord Woofington with a mobility-inhibiting injury.
Tetsu took place on the line, near the guy who had been questioning him. He looked at him with a smile. "Don't listen to these guys making fun of you. I'm sure you're good at running." The guy really seemed to be at lost and didn't understand things quite well. "Hey, ever been in the human world?"
"Making fun of me?" Yorick looked confused. "As in speaking badly of me for their own amusement?" Fortunately, that was something he knew of. Allister had mentioned it to him many times in regards to Cheryll and Janie. He was still, however, unable to understand what the purpose of it was. "If they are indeed making fun, I am not sure it is me they are making the fun of." He then addressed the boy's other question. "On the subject of the human world, I was, in fact, born there. My origins are in the Boreal forest of Canada."
He prepared to stop the conversation, but he remembered something that Luthas had taught him. You can make an entire conversation out of questions. If someone asks you one, ask them another in return. Ask about something more personal than the questions you are used to, like what their favorite foods are, what music they like, where they are from, and other things like that. Indeed, the conversation had turned to where he was from (not where he immediately came from, but it still applied), the sort of personal question that Luthas had mentioned. He figured that it was a good enough question, so he asked him, "Where are you from?"
Tetsu looked over to the boy who looked kinda confused. Seems like he didn't know everything about human interaction. He felt like he could get along with him well. So he was born in the human world. He never ventured into the human world himself and he wondered what it looked like sometimes. He really hoped that, one day, he'd have the chance to visit it. "I was born in the Youkai universe and never been in the human world myself."
Yorick nodded in acknowledgement. Honestly, he was unsure of how to continue the conversation. Should he ask another question? He didn't have too many questions about that last statement and he wasn't as curious about people's personal lives as he was about other things. Perhaps he could ask more questions about the race. He prepared to ask another question, but before he could open his mouth he was interrupted by the sound of a megaphone, something he had researched before after his research on PA systems.
"Ladies and gentlemen," the supervisor began. "Welcome to what we hope is the first of many races today featuring the finest and the fastest Youkai this academy has to offer!" Looking around, Yorick noticed that there were people standing around the edges of the track having come to watch. Many of them cheered when that last line was said. "Now, this race will be a quick 50 lap race with no room for error with monsters this fast! Now are you ready for this fast-paced struggle?" Again, there was more cheering. It appeared that instead of offering proper responses to the man's words, cheering was the preferred option. Of course, if everyone spoke at once there would be no way he would understand them, so using a seemingly universal gesture was a very good alternative.
"Racers," He continued, Yorick realizing that included him. "On your marks," Marks? What marks? "Get set," Oh, they were to prepare to begin running. Yorick's suspicions were confirmed when he saw the other Youkai taking stances to sprint or otherwise move quickly. "GO!!!"
Tetsu was fully ready for the beginning of the race. When the guy talked on the PA, he took his stance and prepared himself to run. He really hoped the other guy wouldn't have any problems on the race. When he heard the supervisor yell "GO!!", he took off as fast as he could. He was kinda having fun in the race by speeding through. It seemed that most of them were slower than him. And the guy he just met wasn't like that. At some point, the both of them were actually tied up for the first place.
Yorick was enjoying the race very much. It was different running on a track rather than in a forest, but not quite in a negative way. Actually, it would probably be boring if he weren't competing against others with speed that nearly matched his own and some that did match it. Even during the day, there was nothing in the forest he grew up in that could match his speed, and at the academy the only person who could so far was Oz, and even then he was unable to deflect all of Yorick's stirkes. Yorick became curious how a race like would feel under a full moon.
Losing himself in his thoughts, Yorick didn't notice the other Werewolves from earlier who were talking about Lord Woofington the Third. One of them turned to the other and said, "Fancypants is way fast. It pisses me off that some people get all of it; money, talent, friends..." It seemed that the wolf was unaware that Yorick didn't have a cent to his name. The image Yorick projected had touched a personal nerve with the boy, though. "Let's teach him that life isn't exactly a cakewalk, even for people like him."
"How are you gonna do that, Raz?" asked the Werewolf next to him.
Raz didn't answer, but instead acted on his plan immediately. He abruptly changed direction and rammed into his companion at high speed, propelling him forward and straight into the distracted Yorick. After the strike, he fell to the ground, trying to pass the incident off as a trip. Once commotion started, however, Yorick turned and saw the other boy careening towards him. He turned and jumped high up over him, but since he was no longer moving forward the other racers caught up. He was forced to dodge each of them to avoid being hit and was, in the end, left behind them all.
Tetsu watched how they seemed to take revenge on the other guy simply because he was faster and probably richer than them. Although he could have easily kept his pace, he felt he couldn't leave the other like this. He slowed down to reach him. "Need a hand buddy?"
Yorick saw how Tetsu slowed down until he reached him and didn't understand why. The purpose of a race was to be the first one, correct? He was quite strange. "No, I have both of my hands and do not need any others." He briefly recalled the tail-hand from the creature he ate last week but quickly put it out of his mind. He honestly doubted that Tetsu had a stash of hands as snacks.
"Ooooh, a bad trip from number 24 puts number 28 way in the back!" The supervisor who had also been commenting on the race addressed the recent events, shouting enthusiastically. "And... what's this? His only rival for first has gone back with him! Unbelievable! But with the race almost over, not even speed demons like those two can make it to first. Or can they?"
"Most likely not," answered Yorick in response to what was probably a rhetorical question. "But I think it would be interesting to see how close I can get. I've never been able to properly evaluate my speed and this is a wonderful and enjoyable way to do so." His desire to know more propelled him forward and he ran, seeing if it was, in fact, possible for him to catch up.
Tetsu smiled at Yorick's determination. That was quite good to see. Tetsu decided to enjoy the end of the race and test his own limits. He ran as fast as he could, enjoying the wind blowing on his face and trying to reach the first place.
"And there we have it, folks! Despite an impressive recovery from this race's fan favorites, the winner is number 19, [Whoever you decide]!" The crowd made a commotion, different people making different gestures this time. Some cheered while others made a 'Boo' noise. "Looks like pulling a miracle like that was just too much for them! Well, that's it for this race. Come back for the next one in another hour for more close calls, lightning-fast action, and festival fun!" This time, there was only cheering from the crowd. One supervisor, a different one from the first, came to the winner to give him what looked like a necklace with a big metal circle, and other supervisors came to the rest of them to retrieve the contestant numbers.
Yorick turned to Tetsu and said, "That was quite enjoyable, but I should probably continue searching for my friends." He looked thoughtful for a moment before he said, "You are my friend now as well, are you not?" Indeed, one of the definitions of 'friend' was one who gives assistance, and he had aided him in informing him of the race. He also fit the definition of one who is not hostile, although in the last week he had been taught that friends were more than just inhostile people.
"Well if you don't mind, I'd like to be your friend indeed!" That was quite good for him to make a friend so soon. Maybe he wouldn't be always alone after all. "Do you mind if I accompany you while you're searching for your friends." Yorick nodded in approvement and Tetsu smiled, he really made a new friend!
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