Purpose (Maverik)

[jellar]

(OOC: I suppose other Watchmen members are welcome to this thread, but try not to steal the stage-light should you join)

Jellar walked into the small, quiet restaurant. It was apparent that this place did not get very much business. It was a rather cheap Vietnamese cuisine that offered the general Vietnamese food served in general Vietnamese restaurants. In any case, Jellar was not exactly going there to enjoy the food. He had a bigger purpose here.

-Flashback: The Day Before (Friday)-

It was after school and Jellar recalled his position in Varron and his own in Hircine while walking home. He had recently joined the group of people known as the Watchmen. Their purpose was to fight other gangs to ensure the safety of Varronites that simply want to graduate peacefully. However, their purpose ended before it started. Varron was abruptly shut down and many students were drafted to Hircine High.

Jellar had to know: What was the purpose of this group as of now? Was it worth staying in? What would become of them in the near future? And Jellar knew who would provide these answers.

Flipping out his cell phone, he sent the appropriate text message to the one that would answer his questions.

"I'll request to meet you at the local Vietnamese restaurant Saturday at 1:30. My treat. See ya there."

Taking a deep sigh, Jellar arrived home, continuing his activities for the day.

-End Flashback-

The waitress came to Jellar and asked how many would be seating today. The response was "2." She lead Jellar to a small table in the far corner of the restaurant and set two menus on the table. Jellar ordered a glass of ice water for himself and began browsing the menu, seeing if there was anything good to eat. The current time was 1:20 and some. Maverik should have been arriving soon. Jellar had some matters to discuss with him.

[Maverik]

Maverik sat in his office mulling over some paper work that he had set in front of him. Something about the school wanting to revoke the medical plan he had carried over from Varron and replace it with a much less useful one that would pretty much only pay for a bandage and some comforting words from a doctor. He didn’t really care because he could easily afford to look after any injuries he incurred, but it was the principal of the thing.

Suddenly his mobile beeped three times, signifying a message. He grabbed it, not really paying attention to it and flipped it open, bringing it to the text message. He glanced at it for a second, but didn’t really read it. Rather, he finished reading over the sheet before him, and contemplated any loop holes he could exploit before finally actually reading the message. “Jellar huh?” He said to himself as he read the message. “There’s only one reason he could be trying to contact me…” He said quietly as he reluctantly signed the water tight contract. He would meet with him for lunch… Xian was going out anyway so he didn’t have any plans.

- - - Approximately 1:40 Saturday - - -

Maverik walked into the restaurant quietly, fashionably late for once. It was a good thing for Jellar that this was the only Vietnamese place anywhere near the school, otherwise his rather vague message might have lead Maverik to the wrong place. He looked about the place and spotted the Varronite relatively easily. He walked over and sat down across from him at the table, picking up a menu and scanning down the list quietly a moment before saying anything. “I can guess what this is about… But why don’t you enlighten me Jellar?” He asked, barely looking up from his menu.

[jellar]

It took quite a while for Maverik to get to the restaurant. In fact, Jellar had already finished three glasses of water before there was any sign of Maverik's arrival. The time was 1:40. A little bit late, but nothing Jellar could complain about. He was getting a little full of water though, so he was about ready to get an appetizer in the very near future. Maverik walked over and sat down across from Jellar and asked the expected question. Of course, Jellar would have to give the details, but that could wait until after he ordered a small appetizer. He signaled the waitress over, almost as if he was ignoring Maverik, and then ordered a dish of two egg rolls. Once the waitress scurried off, Jellar would begin his talk with Maverik.

"The Watchmen," he started. Of course Maverik probably already knew that Jellar was intending to begin the subject concerning the Watchmen, but in all formality it was necessary to let him know exactly what this meeting was about.

"In Varron, one of our main purposes was to protect to school from other gangs, providing normal students with the chance for normal education. Gangs like the Hand and the one lead by Stern were a threat to the student population. I, at least, was under the impression that the Watchmen existed to battle them when we were not improving our own personal fitness. And now, as you obviously see, we have moved to Hircine."

Jellar waited a bit, letting this information be processed by Maverik. Given on how Jellar started speaking with the 'In Varron' comment, Maverik probably knew exactly what Jellar was going to ask next. He took another sip of water through his straw, letting the ice-cold liquid run through his mouth and down his throat. He saw the waitress nearing with the dish of egg rolls, and Jellar intended to finish his statement before she arrived.

"In Hircine High, what is our purpose now?"

The egg rolls arrived, and Jellar took one and took a bite out of it, gesturing Maverik to help himself to the other one.

[Maverik]

As the waitress went to remove her hand from the egg roll plate, Maverik quickly swung his arm out and placed his extended index and middle fingers on the inside of her wrist, instantly catching her attention, though he barely touched her skin. “I’ll have a bowl of Bún bò huế please” He said gently with a smile. The shocked look on the waitresses face slowly changed into a smile and a slight bow. He took the offered roll and looked back at Jellar. “That was indeed one of the groups functions yes…” He said before taking a bite of the roll, chewing it slowly as he placed his menu to the side where the waitress could easily take it when she came back for Jellar’s order.

“The Watchmen is simpler than that Jellar…” He said slowly. “I created the gang so that you could all better yourselves, and at the same time, use those skills to keep the peace, and protect that which is important to you.” He took another bite of his roll and swallowed it after a few chews. “You may not see any gangs here, but I see two large gangs that are in the middle of one of the most tense situations I’ve ever seen.” His eyes locked with Jellar’s, and his face became serious. “All it will take for a full scale war to break out between the Varronites and the Hircinian’s is one act of violence in the wrong place involving the wrong people away…” He popped the last of his appetizer in his mouth and swallowed it. “And I do not intend to let that happen…” He said seriously. “Our goals remain unchanged Jellar… We train, keep the peace and protect what is precious to us.” He told the student, finalizing his explanation.

[jellar]

Just like how he was chewing slowly, Jellar thought slowly. He absorbed everything that Maverik was saying. It wasn't all that complicated either. Their goal was to simply keep the peace. What the man in front of him was speaking right then was quite logical in all concept. Two things, however, were in question for Jellar, but those could wait. He had decided what he would order for lunch and, after signalling a waiter, ordered a dish of minced broiled chicken with rice and broccoli.

He remained silent for at least a minute, drinking his water and pondering. The Watchmen's goals were the same for here as for Varron. Better yourself. Protect what you must. Keep the peace. Three main commands that should be kept in mind when in the Watchmen. Jellar was now going to clarify his small questions though.

One: which two gangs was Maverik referring to? Jellar knew of the Hand. He knew of lots of stuff. However, he had not heard of the Hand being active in Hircine. Had some of this stuff been kept undercover, Jellar would like to know. Stern did not seem to be present. The only major powers seemed to be the pillars. Former Varron elites commanded little to no authority among the Hircinians. What did he really mean by gangs if Jellar could see no trace of them?

Two: What guidelines consituted keeping peace? If a fight broke out between two major powers, would it be Jellar's duty as a Watchman to break it up? That could have ended up in the harm to Jellar's own. The pillars seemed to be doing quite a good job. Jellar had not seen too much tension between Varronians and Hircinians. Was he false in believing that any fight may actually break out?

However, first thing is first. Question one. The pondering took quite a while as silence remained, so it took a little effort to break that silence. But, he started regardless. "Maverik, which two gangs are you talking about?" He gave little information about his own knowledge, rather, his goal was only to add to his own knowledge pool.

The food was soon to arrive. Chopsticks, forks, spoons, knives, and a napkin was already arranged. Both orders arrived accordingly and Jellar set his napkin on his lap, took his chopsticks despite the food being on a dish, and began to eat.

[Maverik]

Jellar seemed to become slightly confused by Maverik’s words. He understood most everything that was said, but then, Maverik’s mention of gangs seemed to be lost on him. “The two that are right in front of your eyes Jellar…” He said slowly as the waiter placed his bowl in front of him with a soup spoon for the broth. “The Varronites and the Hircinians” He said simply as he scooped up a collection of the spicy noodles with his chopsticks, blowing on it a moment and then placing them in his mouth, using the chopsticks to lift the noodles up at intervals to avoid slurping.

He finished his mouthful and looked back at Jellar. “Think about it… Both groups are large… Both mingle exclusively with their own… And either side could start a war at any time…” He stuck his chopsticks into his meal as he said this. “So in my eyes at least… For the time being, they are gangs…” He removed his utensils from the food and grabbed hold of a bit of beef, tossing it into his mouth and letting it’s spice burn his mouth slowly as he savored it’s flavor.

Maverik decided not to say anything else for the moment, as it seemed Jellar had something else on his mind. He did wonder how he would take such a revelation however, as perhaps Maverik was the only one who had actually thought of them like that… It would be interesting to see if he would agree, or if he thought that it was too harsh a view…

[jellar]

Maverik's train of thought was most amusing, at least to Jellar. Such large groups of people could be considered gangs by the man in front of him, eating spicy noodles. The Hircinians numbered in the thousands, the Varronians in the hundreds, and such large bodies of population were considered gangs. Quite frankly, Jellar disagreed. Not all Hircinians were following the same ideals as the person next to them. A gang, in Jellar's mind, was a unified group of people who set to pursue a purpose together. Not all Varronites were bent on destroying the pillars or something of the kind. There were many varying motives; not both sides were completely allied with their respective side.

But, Jellar had no reason to express his opinion. The information given was enough to settle Jellar's confusion. He acknowledged this thinking with a nod and continued to chew his food and drink his water. He continued speaking in intervals of eating, moving onto his second subject.

"And," Jellar began, leaving the previous topic completely, "What is your definition of keeping the peace? Defending the helpless and settling fights; aren't those the jobs of the pillars? Or are they not enough to keep everything in order? Should we step in, we are meddling with the local authorities, almost as if we are challenging them to say that they cannot handle their jobs. Regarding their status as authoritive figures in the school, I feel it is in best interest to avoid making enemies with them. In any case, I am having trouble discerning what is considered 'keeping the peace.' Harm to ourselves can result if we attempt this at the current day."

Jellar continued eating, wolfing his food down but not too fast, as to show manners to his gang leader. Heck, he wasn't even sure if the group of people were even to be considered a gang. He didn't even know the definition of gang as of present day. So many things were all in gray. Life would have been so much easier if everything was black and white.

[Maverik]

Jellar asked about how the Watchmen were to be expected to keep the peace, which Maverik considered the right question to ask. “I’m not asking you to do the pillars job. Or my job, as it may be more appropriately referred to…” He said with a slight hint or irony to his voice. “Keeping the peace is a matter of prevention… Once a fight breaks out, the best you can hope for is that there are more of you then there are of them, because if there is no authority around, then that is when things will get bad.” He said as he held another piece of beef with his chopsticks.

“Basically, since the Hircinians will not listen to you, I can’t expect you to affect things on that side… However, what I can expect is that you use your mind to defeat the true opponent… Provocation.” He quickly popped the beef slice into his mouth before continuing. “The Varronites as a general mass have violence in their nature… They will fight to defend their very pride, and the Hircinians will exploit that… What I need you all to do, is make sure that the Varronites do not feel obligated to lash out because of that provocation.” He paused and took a sip of his drink.

“And if it does come down to blows, the question of personal injury isn’t exactly something I’d expect you to bring up… Never try to stop a fight alone, because you will always be outnumbered… That is why we are the Watchmen. We work together as a team. And that is what gives us the advantage… Not only over these incidences, but over the eventual foe of the pillars, who will come after us eventually.” He took his spoon and sampled some of the soup portion of his meal, before explaining his meaning. “For you see… I’ve studied the pillars… They stand strong alone, but their ideals aren’t exactly aligned, and that can be used to defeat them if and when that time comes…” He said rather definitively.

He took a decent gulp of soup before changing the subject slightly. “I want all who still bare the mark of the Watchmen to meet me at this address…” He said as he slipped a card across the table. It was an old business card from some store in Varron, but on the back he had scrawled a street and a number. “We have a new base of operations, and I wish to both introduce everyone to it, and at the same time, issue a challenge to you all… To pass the test shall be simple… But to succeed… That I believe will be less than easy…” He explained rather vaguely.

[jellar]

'This guy has taken some time to think things through thoroughly,' Jellar thought, chewing some rice and chicken followed by taking a swig of water. His plate was nearly finished by now, as he had been eating a somewhat high pace. He was paying close attention to the man in front of him as well. His questions were answered and things were being made to light rather easily. Provocation was something that very rarely seemed to be a problem to Jellar, but he indeed saw how it could be a problem to others. The thought of working as a team went very cleanly with Jellar. There were many Watchmen, some more important than others, but indeed they were great in number; more than 50, probably many more.

Jellar remained silent as Maverik passed a business card over to Jellar. It had an address to some place in Varron, but on the back was scribbled another address. Instructed was to go there and receive a challenge. Jellar gave a nod and made a mental note to be there, somewhat eager for that challenge. It was in Jellar's best interest to become a worthy man of this group; one that Maverik could trust, and one that would earn the respect of the fellow members. It was time for Jellar to become involved in school politics, and being active in the Watchmen would be the path Jellar was going to take.

By this time, Jellar had finished off the last of his meal. The check was dropped off by the waitress at the edge of the table and Jellar quickly took it, not giving Maverik the chance to see it. The total was $17.38, covering the eggrolls and their meals.

"Thanks for this meeting, Maverik," Jellar said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. He took it out and slipped out a twenty; it would cover the cost and the tips, "It's my treat. I'll be sure to do my duty as one of the Watchmen. I'll see you at the base."

Unless Maverik had something else to say, Jellar would put the twenty on table and stand up. After giving a nod to Jellar, he would walk out of the restaurant and head home, abruptly leaving Maverik to himself.