Training Amongst Trash (Dar)

There was most certainly a lot of interesting places throughout the city that one could go to. Some places seemed to have vast amount of people going about their day whilst other places had a general dearth of people, but certainly made up for it with interesting things. This location was most certainly one of the latter. This place had a lot of stuff.

Zarakc walked through the junkyard, looking around at the piles of various stuff that was left in large piles or just scattered about the ground. He looked over various things, wondering what this vast collection of things was for. He didn't know what just about all the stuff here was or had been, but that didn't bother him too much, he was quite used to that. One thing that he did know, was that he had come here with the intent to practice his powers. There seemed to rarely be people around here, at least when he had been around the area before, so it seemed like a good location to practice his powers. The last time he had used them was during an interesting encounter in the cemetery. He learned a few things during that experience and he figured it might be a good idea to try and get more practice with his powers.

Zarakc had managed to find a table that wasn't too dilapidated and stood it up on its legs. He looked around for some various objects, something heavy would be preferable he figured, along with some smaller objects to try and test how much he could pinpoint the wind he used. A computer monitor with its screen smashed was resting at the base of a pile, he spotted it and brought it over to the table and placed it on top of it, along with two cans that he had found as well.

With the computer monitor on one side of the table and the two cans placed beside each other with some small amount of space between them, Zarakc stepped back away from the table until he was a fair distance away. He took in a deep breath as he shifted his arms around a little, gathering some wind around his person as he spread his legs out to get a better stance. A small breeze could be felt moving towards him as he took in another small breath before he quickly brought his hands up in front of him, palms flat with his fingers spread out. A large gust of wind emanated from his hands and sent the computer monitor off the table and tumbling a few yards away from the table. There was just the problem that the cans had also been sent flying as well.

Zarakc stood there, his arms at his sides as he thought about it, a somewhat blank look on his face as he did so. Could he manage to focus the wind to only knock over the heavy object? It was certainly something that would have to be experimented with since he did not have a fully understanding of his powers, simply that he could use them as he had in the past.

It was messy and insulting to the senses, but it was the perfect location. Dar smiled. This was land that nobody wanted. It would be his, and he would start his kingdom on this spot. Soon, the junkyard would conquer all.

The sound of electronics crashing together caught Dar's attention. He was not alone in the junkyard. He pulled his claymore free from the sheath on his back as a precaution. There had to be something wrong with someone who would come out here. After all, Dar was here.

He made no attempt to hide. It wasn't his style. Dar climbed the mountain of trash to stand atop it, looking down on the strange man below. It seemed he could manipulate the wind somehow. Was he training his abilities? There was nothing wrong with that. This was a wasteland, after all.

One could never have enough allies. The man seemed to be no immediate threat, so Dar sheathed his weapon again and smiled. He even deactivated his powers, to seem more non-threatening. "Hello there. I see you have powers. You're not a demon, I hope." It was clear just by looking at him. Absent were the glowing red eyes that Dar had already run into. He was no saint, but he did have certain standards he adhered to.

Dar liked this stranger, though he wasn't sure why. "You are training. I hope you don't mind me asking, but why? What do you wish to gain in this world?"

Zarakc had been making his way towards the table to pick up the heavy object he had knocked over and the cans when he had heard someone saying something. That certainly was not expected. He looked up at the man standing at the top of one of the mountains of trash as his mind looked to associated meaning with this 'demon' that his newcomer did not hope him to be. "I am uncertain of that, though I do not know what a 'demon' is." He replied in a plain manner as he stood by the table.

"I am not sure what I am capable of, so I am trying to find out. What do I wish to gain?" Zarakc answered the first question and repeated the last, his gaze being cast to the side as he focused on his thoughts. What did he want to gain? Well knowledge was the main concern, knowledge about himself that was. Beyond that, he did not have much he wanted to gain right now. "Information about myself. He stated as he looked back up at the newcomer, his tone having a slight sense of conviction, different from his somewhat passive tone. After he answered the last question, he simply stood there, looking up at the newcomer still, simply blinking as he seemed to wait for what else the newcomer might say or ask.

"Well, if you don't know what a demon is, you probably aren't one." Zarakc seemed like a lost soul. He didn't know who or what he was, and he didn't have any ambition beyond discovering more about himself.

"Man is defined by those around him, by how they act towards him and by how he acts in return. Right now, you are a stranger. Get to know me, and you shall become a friend. Study others, like me, and you will discover more about you yourself than you ever dreamed."

Dar walked down the mountain of trash to get on the same level as Zarakc. "My name is Dar. It is a pleasure to meet you. Do you know where you are? This is the junkyard. This is where people discard the very things that once brought them happiness. As soon as it breaks or loses its novelty, they throw it out, and it comes here. I think that is quite sad. What do you think of it?"

Zarakc simply nodded in response to Dar's initial comment about him most likely not being a demon. That made two things that people he had met assumed about him. So if random people he ran into were correct, which he assumed was the case, he probably neither from around Jump City nor a demon. That was certainly a start on learning things about himself, regardless if it came from other people that did not really know him.

The second piece of Dar's dialog was most interesting, it seemed like a reasonable statement. Zarakc had not learned much before he started to interact with people and people always seemed to help him learn somewhat about himself when he conversed with them. He stood still, processing the thought about his statement more, perhaps it was time he started to actively engage with people instead of going about his business and simply sit around and only really interact with people once they initiated it.

Zarakc's eyes followed Dar as he walked down the mountain of trash, his own mind thinking how it was curious how he managed to run into people when they had been places he went to due to the dearth of people. As Dar proceeded to explain what this place was, Zarakc nodded slightly in acknowledgment. It seemed that there were interesting places all across town that people seemed to know about and he certainly preferred this sort of explanation instead of rather different method of explaining what a place is to someone. "I do not know what all the stuff here is, but it seems that it could be used elsewhere instead of being in piles." He replied as he looked around the area. There was just so many things here, there was bound to be some sort of use for all the various things here.

"Is it a pleasure?" Zarakc asked, his tone sounding curious as he inquired about meeting him being a pleasure, his head tilting to the side slightly. The last person he spoke to commented that it was nice to meet him as well. Others might have said something like that, though he could not be sure. Was there something about meeting him that people enjoyed or was it something that people said and it meant something different, it seemed there were many cases of that.

"It is." Dar grinned. "That should tell you something about yourself. And I agree. These discarded materials could be put to much better use. I do not know how, but I intend to find someone who does. Maybe it's you. I will let you know something else about me. I want to take over the world."

Dar let that last sentence sink in. It was a statement that was usually met with resistance, probably due to world history. But Dar believed that he could do a better job of running the world than the current national leaders. Although he was currently homeless and without any sort of army, Dar was sure he stood a good chance. All he needed was a little help.

"You wish to learn more of the world, and I can teach you. In return, I want you to help me. Become my knight, and we shall change this world into a thing of glory. Then you will know everything about yourself. You will be the great hero who washed away the old order and replaced it with gold."

If Dar was able to gather enough metahumans around him, they would be able to conquer world governments. While Dar didn't yet think Zarakc's ability was that impressive, it had potential. On top of that, the man was a blank slate, perfect for molding to follow Dar's cause.

Zarakc nodded softly after Dar had confirmed that it was a pleasure to meet him. He wasn't sure why that was the case, but he simply let that thought fade away, for later perhaps. Dar wished to find someone who could use all this stuff, it was most likely not Zarakc; he wasn't even sure what most of the stuff around here was, let alone how it could be better used.

That last thing that Dar said certainly sank in, maybe not as fast as other who fully understood what that meant would grasp hold of the concept, but the thought was certainly working around in Zarakc's mind. He sat there, blinking back at Dar as his mind pondered the concept. He wanted to take over the world. Well Zarakc's current concept of the world was the city he had been in since he found himself there, so that whole concept was certainly brought down to a much smaller scale than it would actually be. "That seems like an interesting idea." He replied, his simple tone possibly expressing his general misunderstanding of the concept.

Zarakc let the rest of Dar's words ease into his mind to think it over. He certainly did not comprehend the exact scale at which Dar was thinking, but he offered to teach him things about the world, and he was quite curious about it. The parts about the knight and glory did not grasp hold all too well in his mind, but the concept about knowing about himself certainly did.

"You speak in an interesting manner. I do not know what you mean for most of what you said, but I am certainly interested in learning about myself and the area around me." Zarakc replied after Dar had been done speaking for a while. There was much he did not understand from what Dar said, the concept of glory was unknown to him as well as what a hero and a knight was. Also, replacing some order with gold? Wasn't gold a material or something?

It was quite obvious that he did not fully grasp the concepts that Dar was talking about but was interested in the end results that he spoke about. Well the knowing about himself part, that was the interesting part for him. The rest of it was just a lot of verbose talk tied in with that he was interested in.

Dar laughed. Zarakc didn't understand most of the things Dar said. The poor man must have been more lost than Dar had thought.

"It is okay if you do not understand everything, or even most things. The wise are willing to admit what they do not know. You, my friend, are wiser than most." Dar placed a hand on the table that Zarakc had been using to train. "I will teach you many things, but first I need you to teach me. What is your name?" Dar just hoped that the man had a name. If not, he would ask him to make one up. After hearing the answer, Dar patted the table. "I want to see what you can do. Your abilities are of great interest to me."

When Dar was around violent people, he became violent and reveled in destruction. However, when he was around calm people, like Zarakc, he became calm like them. He was like a human mirror, Dar thought. There was nobody calmer than Zarakc, and Dar enjoyed the feeling of peace. It was a nice change of pace from the fights he was always seeking.

If nothing else, Dar hoped that Zarakc would keep him calm when his bloodlust would otherwise get the better of him. A conqueror needed to keep a level head, or else he would lose it.

There does that sound again that people sometimes made. Zarakc simply blinked at Dar as she laughed and then proceeded to go on about how his was wiser than most. Was he truly wise if he knew so little? That concept certainly seemed reversed to him, this thought possibly being expressed by his gaze shifting around as he thought before his eyes returned to Dar as he continued.

Name? That was something Zarakc knew for sure. If there was at least one question he could answer with certainty, it was that one. "My name is Zarakc." He replied matter-of-factually as he simply stood where he had been since he turned to face Dar initially.

"As do I. I am interested in them as well." Zarakc replied simply. That was, after all, why here was here in the first place, to test out his capabilities with his powers. He used knew he could use them and had a vague sense of how to use them, not exactly the most in-depth understanding one could achieve about their abilities, but one had to start somewhere. Dar's statements had been processed as just that, statements. There was no request given to see the powers, they had merely been interest expressed. With that, Zarakc simply stood near the table, watching Dar simply blinking as he seemed to be waiting for what else Dar might say.

Zarakc seemed confused, and Dar wasn't surprised. Dar had called him wise, even though he obviously didn't know much. But intelligence was different from wisdom. Wisdom was what you did with the intelligence you had been given.

And judging by the way the man just stood there with a blank look in his eyes, he hadn't been given much.

Zarakc? Such a strange name. Then again, who was Dar the Ghost to question someone's name?

Sometimes, the best thing for a person was structure. Dar decided to provide some structure for Zarakc, at least until the man could act on his own. "Very well. From now on, you will do what I say. Practice using your powers here and now. Discover everything you can about these powers. Learn how to control them as well as you can. I will be watching."

Dar walked away and sat on a nearby mound of trash. He waited and watched to see what Zarakc was capable of. He didn't plan on treating Zarakc like a doll forever. Eventually, the man would develop a will of his own and refuse to be bossed around. Then they would be equals. Until then, Dar would carry Zarakc's burden for him.

Discover everything about he could about his powers? Well Zarakc was most certainly not sure how long that would take, but he certainly didn't have better things to do with his time. Oh, Dar had also mentioned to do everything he said. Everything else that was suggested was already the plan: come here, work with his powers and learn from them; time would tell how he would respond to doing what Dar said.

As Dar walked away towards the mound of trash, Zarakc seemed to shift to a more natural state, his body relaxing as he looked around the area, trying to figure out the best method of how to test his powers. He could certainly knock things over, that had been tested before today and just a bit ago with the computer monitor he had tried to knock off the table without moving the cans. Would strength or precision be more important to work with? He had not exactly been in a situation that would suggest one over the other.

As Zarakc thought about his, he made his way over to the device he had sent flying from the table and proceeded to pick it up. He made his way back over to the table and rested it upright again where it had previously been. He took the cans that had been scattered and placed them on the table as well, a small distance away from the device and each other. Walking back to where he had been before, his mind worked through how he should try and work with this. Perhaps there was part of his routine he usually used for his powers that he could adjust.

Zarakc spread his legs slightly to get a better stance as he took in a breath, a small breeze being able to be felt moving towards him as he gathered some wind around himself. The first idea that came to mind was possibly shaping his hand in a different manner. He was quite used to broad usage of his powers and was quite curious if there was a manner in which to narrow them.

Zarakc brought one hand up and reached it out, his hand making claw shape with his fingers on top being flat. This movement unleashed the wind he had gathered around him in a more focused shape, though the computer only turned slightly and the nearest can simply wobbled a little. That had been something close to what he was attempting; he did not want to bother picking back up that device until he got towards what he wanted.

Zarakc repeated the process again, taking in a breath before he began to gather the wind around his person before he quickly brought his arm out in front of him, his fingers pointing forward, spread relatively equidistant from one another. With the small surge of wind that brought forth, the computer monitor slid back on the table a bit, but the nearest can appeared undisturbed. That was certainly good and what he had been expecting. So now it was time to try with more force now.

Zarakc closed his eyes for a moment as he took in a deep breath, wind gathering towards him, creating another breeze that made its way towards him. This continued for a decent amount of time, at least to the point where his hair was being tossed around by the current of wind moving around him. With the same motion again, he swiftly brought his hand up and released the stored wind, though in doing so he felt his hand spread out his fingers as the energy was released. The wind quickly met with the table, the computer monitor and the two cans. The computer monitor was sent flying back, crashing into the ground much further away than before, sending it tumbling into one of the large piles of trash whilst the table was flipped on its side and dragged across the ground a bit. The two cans were cast quickly off to the side from the wind blast.

Zarakc stood there, his eyes looking over the results as his hand slowly lowered to his side. What had been different than just before? He had done the same positioning with his hand, but obviously with more power. It felt that at the end of the release, he did not maintain the position of his hand, had he meant to do that or did it simply occur? A curious question; perhaps he grew a little distracted by the questions working in his mind as he gathered his energy? Perhaps more testing could yield answers to those questions.

Dar watched as Zarakc practiced manipulating the wind. He was trying to make precise strikes, to move the computer but not the cans. He seemed to be succeeding, until he charged his attack for too long, resulting in an overwhelming blast of air that sent even the table flying. It seemed he lacked a fine control over his abilities, but that was nothing new. At least he wasn't accidentally causing tornadoes.

Dar stood. He picked up the table and placed a single can on it. Planting his feet, he stood directly in front of the can, blocking Zarakc's line of sight. "Knock the can over," he said. "Air is fluid, and does not move only in straight lines. Move something that you cannot see."

Dar stood his ground and waited. Throwing air around was all well and good, but Dar wanted to see something particularly useful. Right now he was wondering just how much raw ability Zarakc had. Training and precision would come in time.

Zarakc watched as Dar walked over to the table and proceeded to set up the table with one can on it. He pondered what Dar was attempting to do before it was explained to him. Was this meant to be difficult? His head turned to the side a bit as he seemed a little confused as he watched Dar.

"Is this meant to be difficult?" Zarakc asked as he watched Dar, curious about the answer. As he waited for the answer, he drew in a small breath. He raised his right hand in front of him, fingers pointing towards Dar with his palm facing his left. With a small release of energy and a slow sweep of his hand to the left, a small breeze started from behind Dar and proceeded to push into the can. The end of the breeze was accompanied by the sound of the can hitting the table and rolling as Zarakc watched Dar, blinking every now and again.

Had Dar been looking for something else? What was asked had been done but with Dar standing in front of Zarakc it seemed as if that was meant to make the task difficult. Then again, Dar was not fully aware of what Zarakc was capable of, so that might have been part of that.

Dar laughed. He had intended for Zarakc to attempt to make a curved attack, instead of a straight-on one. But he hadn't considered that Zarakc would be able to simply pull the air towards him instead of pushing. Perhaps Dar was the one who was too focused on a single solution. He did fight with a greatsword, after all. There wasn't much use or need for creative solutions to problems when you were wielding a claymore. Dar decided that he shouldn't worry about mentoring Zarakc in the use of his abilities. The lost man would discover it soon enough.

"Well done. I didn't know you could pull the wind as well. But now I have something far more interesting to ask you. Can you fly?" Having an ally who could fly would certainly be an advantage. Dar himself was built like a rock, sturdy and grounded. He couldn't fly, and he never expected to be able to do so. However, if he was the rock, then Zarakc was air. Dar chuckled to himself. Now all they needed was fire and water.

He waited to see if Zarakc could fly.

There was that sound again. Dar had made it twice now and did not seem to make anything of it, so it certainly seemed it was something people did every now and again. Zarakc would ask about it sometime in the future, but not right now; he just wanted to demonstrate as he needed to right now.

Zarakc nodded in acknowledgement, Dar's limited understanding of Zarakc's power was what made the test seem like a more difficult task than it had turned out. Far more interesting? Interesting could be many things, his experience at the cemetery was interesting. Fly? Of course he could fly, that was how he originally got to this location before Dar had arrived. "I am able to fly. That is how I got here." He might have failed to mention he was able to shapeshift into a hawk and that is how he flew, but that did not exactly seem necessary to mention. Besides, it took a notable amount of energy to shapeshift and he wanted to ensure he would be able to still do so after his training today. If he was left to walk back around the city, he was certainly going to have problems navigating the area since he had only done so from the skies, not the ground.